O Come, Let us Adore Him!

Merry Christmas from the LHIGP. Here we are in our traditional Sunday-before-Christmas photo at church. More details to come on our celebration of Jesus' birth!

Sam at 8 months = LOVE

Day Eighteen - Prophecy of the New Covenant

symbol - a heart with writing on it

Memory verse - "I will put the law within them, and write it in their hearts." Jeremiah 31:33

A long time ago, God had made a promise or covenant with the children of Israel. As long as they obeyed His Ten Commandments, He provided for them, but if they broke any laws, He punished them. God saw the people continue to break His laws. He still loved them and decided to give them a new promise, or a New Covenant. He would write His law on their hearts.

Day Seventeen - Prophecy of the Suffering Servant

symbol - a cross

Memory verse - "I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:15

Children, can you tell me why
Jesus came to bleed and die?
He was happy high above,
Dwelling in His Father's love,
Yet He left His joy and bliss,
For a wicked world like this.
We were all by sin undone,
Yet He loved us every one;
So to earth He kindly came,
On the cross to bear our shame,
And to wash away our guilt
In the precious blood He spilt.

Day Sixteen - Prophecy of a Gentle Shepherd

symbol - a lamb and a staff

Memory verse - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27

The Lord is our shepherd, always watching over us and protecting us! He never sleeps, and knows each of us by our name. If you love and trust Him, then you are His sheep. I know I would be totally lost without Him.

Day Fifteen - Prophecy of the Prince of Peace

symbol - a dove and crown

Memory verse - "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

One name that the Bible gives Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus came teaching us to love and not fight with one another. We can show Jesus we love Him by serving one another and being at peace with everyone.

Day Fourteen - Prophecy of the Lion and Lamb Resting Together

symbol - lion and lamb

Memory verse - "His rest shall be glorious." Isaiah 11:10

We look forward to when Jesus comes back and makes everything perfect in the world again. It will be a place where everything will praise Him and where there will be no more sin. Come, Lord Jesus!

Day Thirteen - Prophecy of Shoot from the Stump of Jesse

symbol - a stump with fresh shoot or leaf

Memory verse - "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory." John 1:14

This is the symbol where we get the name "Jesse Tree." Jesse was the father of David, the king who established the royal family. A thousand years later, Jesus would be born into this royal line in Bethlehem. The stump represents Jesse and the green leaf is Jesus.

Day Twelve - Josiah Finds the Law

symbol - a scroll or bible

Memory verse - "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

Josiah became king at 8 years old and found the scroll that had not been used or read in a long time. He realized that it was God's Word, and encouraged his people to turn from their wicked ways and follow the Truth. We take for granted now that we have our Bibles....wouldn't it be terribly sad to lose it? We would lose our light in this dark world.

Day Eleven - King David

symbol - a slingshot
Memory verse - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:11

David became a mighty king because he obeyed God and did the things that pleased Him. Through David, Jesus was in the family line to be our King.

Day Ten - Ruth and Boaz

symbol - a sheaf of wheat
Memory verse - "Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Ruth 1:16

Dear Lord, we thank you for Ruth. She had nothing to give except her love for her family and for you. Help us to give all our love to You. Amen.

Day Nine - Canaan, the Promised Land of Blessings

symbol - a cluster of grapes
Memory verse - "Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all of his benefits." Psalm 103:2

God wants to give us many good things....if we will just let Him!
We praise you God for your best gift of all - your Son, Jesus Christ.

Day Eight - Moses and the Ten Commandments

symbol - a tablet with numbers
Memory verse - "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

We are thankful for the laws God has given us in the Bible to help us not sin. We know we will fail many times, but with His love and mercy, we will continue trying to keep them.

Day Seven - Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

symbol - a colorful coat
Memory verse - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Romans 8:28

God promises us that He will use everything (even our troubles) for good if we love Him. God allowed Joseph to walk through rough times for a greater purpose.

Day Six - Jacob's Ladder

symbol - a ladder

Memory verse - "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou goest." Genesis 28:15

God, we are so glad you are always with us, and that you will never leave us!

same kind of different

Could my girls be any more different?
I love my days with these two.....
Josie, who loves to sing, dance, dress-up, watch cartoons, do Mommy school, color and create things with Play-doh.
Kate, who loves to read, dress-up, get messy, take shoes on and off, and destroy Josie's Play-doh.
Josie, who is loving, sensitive, silly, and curious.
Kate, who is intense, energetic, fun, and adventurous.
I love these girls and thank God for making them how He did.

Day Five - Isaac and the Lamb

symbol: a lamb
Memory verse: "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give Him a lamb
If I were a wise man, I would do my part -
But, what I can I give Him. I give my heart.
-Christina Rossetti

Day Four - The Call to Abram

Symbol: a camel and tent
Verse: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:3
What we took away from this day: We are so glad Abraham obeyed God, because, through him, Jesus was born!

Day Three - Inside the Ark

Symbol - an ark with a rainbow (we used a dove w/ a rainbow)
Memory verse - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Dear Lord,
We know we do bad things and deserve to be punished just like the wicked people in Noah's day. But we are so glad you promised to forgive our sins if we believe in Jesus. Thank you for the rainbow with it's beautiful colors, and thank you that you keep all of your promises. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Day Two - The First Sin

Symbol - an apple
Memory verse - "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way." Isaiah 53:6

Dear God,
We are so sorry we do wrong things. Just as Adam and Eve sinned, we are sinning every day. Help us to do what is right. Thank you for sending Jesus to us so our sins could be forgiven. Because of your love, we can now live close to you. Amen.

Christmas preparations

Advent - Day One

We were so excited to start the advent season last night as a family with our Jesse tree. The Advent Jesse tree seeks to tell the story of God's redemptive plan for the world through 25 symbols from the Old and New Testament. These symbols trace the heritage of Jesus Christ from the beginning of creation. Each symbol is explained with scriptures, devotions, questions, prayers, memory verse and songs.
Day one - The Light in Creation
Symbol - a globe
Memory Verse - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

wordless wednesday

giving thanks

What a great holiday! Thanksgiving 2009 will go down as one of my favorite so far....lots of time together, fun fall crafts, fresh organic food from Doc's garden, enjoyable weather, Aggie football, cousin bonding, happy kids, outlet shopping, safe travels, good health, and even a day at Sea World!
Thank you Lord for these memories.



Josie and Kate picked the carrots

Sam's 1st Thanksgiving

the kids made our table decorations

Jack picked the broccoli

Jack and Josie gathered the fall branches for the table centerpiece

Doc and Sam

we made smores at the farm

the girls with Aunt Tynan

Jack and two of his cousins, Liam and Luke

Kate loved the Sesame Street show at Sea World

simply seven

At seven months old, our Sam is simply:
a sweetie.
kissable.
a mover, roller and sitter.
a cereal-eater.
a smiley giggle-box.
ticklish.
a great sleeper!
adorable.
anxious around strangers.
a sucker of his left two middle fingers.
happiest at home in Mom's lap.
a grabber of all toys, hair, and jewelry.
predictable and content.
bald, fair, and blue-eyed.
my delight.

wordless wednesday

girls night (+ baby sam!) = popcorn, new Tinkerbell movie, pedicures, cookies, snuggling

nothing warms this mama's heart....

like seeing my kids loving one another.
jack left this on kate's highchair this morning. they don't usually see each other in the morning since he leaves for school at 7:40 and she doesn't wake until 8 or later.
i think they miss each other.

let's talk about Kate

In July, I decided to call Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) to talk about Kate. She was frustrated and not communicating as much as I thought she should be. It was hard making that first step but I am so glad I did. Two sweet therapists came to our home to talk with us and get to know Kate. She warmed up to them immediately. Their next visit they tested her and she scored very high in cognitive and physical tasks, but not as well in verbal. At 23 months, they said she should have had at least 50 clear-spoken words. She had 5. She qualified for speech therapy once a week.
It's hard to explain how I felt in that moment. My daughter had not changed, but I felt our lives had in a way. I felt I had let her down. With lots of prayer and support from Will, family and a few friends, we moved on and became more intentional about things....labelling, saying names and sounds over and over, and making Kate's days even more structured than before.
Fast forward 4 months and many Mondays of speech class, and our little 2-year old is thriving! Sure, she still throws the occasional frustration tantrum because she can't get her thoughts across to us, but they are so much fewer. She is speaking in phrases, like "here ya go," "thank you mom," "go outside," and music to our ears, "love you too!"
Who knows if it's the therapy or if we would've seen this progress naturally, but we are so happy for our dear girl. She wakes up talking and saying hi to all her family members. She walks around imitating me and Josie during the day. She "reads" to Sam. She talks on the phone to Doc and Mam. She goes to sleep talking about her Dora books.
Kate, we are sorry you went through a frustrating time. That must have been hard to know what you wanted but not know how to communicate it. You are doing much better and not giving up. We like your feisty spirit and determined nature. We know you will have many more trials in life, but we want you to know that we are on your side and will help you through it. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON YOU.

October in pictures

October 2009 was a busy, fun-filled month at the LHIGP. Here are a few highlights from our October...


Aggie Football!

Trip to VA

Pumpkin Patch

Star Wars in Concert

Kindergarten Fall Harvest party

Trunk-or-Treat at GPBC

Princess + TX Ranger + Dalmation + Cheerleader + Batman = BFF

spiritual talk

I use this blog as my journal in hopes of making it into a book someday for my kids. I just have to record some of the things they have been talking about lately. It is so humbling to be a parent and feel the responsibility of teaching them about Christ, yet nothing fills my heart more than hearing them speak about Biblical truth.
Here's a few things I want to remember about the past few days...
1. We are memorizing Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:8 while we are talking about sin. Jack and Josie can say and sing both of these verses, and even Kate sings along. Yesterday when they came into my room to wake me up, Jack crawled up into my bed and said, "...but Mommy, does even Sam sin too?" And then I went on to describe our sinful natures as best as I could...
2. We read from a book called "3-Minute Bible Stories" each night. Josie likes to retell the familiar stories. Last night she was retelling the story of Adam and Eve. "And then God noticed that Adam was very lonely. While Adam was sleeping, God took one of his ribbons and made it into women. He named her Eve."
3. Awanas is a great program and I love that our kids learn simple truths there each Sunday night. Josie is in the Cubbies program and their main focus is to teach the kids that God is love, and that He loves each one of us. She has really been thinking a lot about Jesus and tells me every day - "Jesus is the only one who never makes mistakes, Mommy!"
4. It warmed my heart when Jack was staring at me the other day and asked, "but will you be in Heaven with me, Mommy?" Why, yes, I will. And I pray that the Lord will continue to work on each of my children's hearts and that they will trust in Him alone to be in Heaven someday too.

Coach Daddy

Will wears many hats....husband, father of 4, pastor to many, brother and son, and the list goes on...
One of his many jobs is that of Coach. We are so proud of him for his dedication to the volleyball team at GPA these past two years. It has been a great ministry for him and he is a natural leader and coach. When we are able, we pack up and go cheer for Daddy and the team. This picture was after the game last Saturday - a playoff win - which advances them to regionals this weekend.
Way to go, Coach Daddy! We are your biggest fans.

Tinkerbell and Dora

Thursday was "Dress like your favorite storybook character" day. We just chose costumes from our costume box and matched it with one of our many, many books. Josie was Tinkerbell and Kate was Dora! (or Go-rah as she says) The girls were excited to dress up for school and to see how their friends dressed, but Josie couldn't remember any of the other costumes in her class. These girls play dress-up every day but it was fun to wear the costumes out of the house. Here's to many more years of dress-up!

see ya at 3!

I knew we would miss Jack while he was at kindergarten each day. I knew Josie would be a little lost, and that Kate would be sad. I knew that I would be wondering what he was doing and learning. What I didn't know is how his school schedule would totally set our schedule here at home. It's like our whole day is geared toward getting him to school at 8 (thankfully, my awesome husband takes him each morning) and picking him up at 3.
We have settled into a good routine around here. I won't bore you with the details but certain things happen every day....and one of these things is that Jack tells me each morning how many days he has been to kindergarten (today was #40!) and that he can't wait to see me at 3:00. I try to be the first parent in car line which means I wake the girls and Sam at 2:30, load the car and we drive to school. My reward is seeing his smiling face walk out those doors with his class!
I will leave this note hanging on my fridge all year. Jack wrote it to me and put in on my desk. It says, "Hi Mom, Bye Mom, See you at 3:00!" It's 1:30 right now and I can't wait to see my boy at 3!

wordless wednesday

a good life

"Live a good life and, in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years." Abraham Lincoln

My brother Clay would've been 34 this week. He lived an exceptional life in his 24 years. I remember him today and every day. I miss him today and every day. If you knew him, you could not forget him. It was my privilege to grow up with him, laugh at his jokes, argue with him, cheer for him, and cry with him.

He loved being the center of attention, so he loved celebrating his birthday. I have many birthday memories of him but I woke up on October 20th this year remembering one in particular. His birthday always seemed to fall around the A&M/Baylor game. I have no idea which birthday it was but we were going to College Station for the game. He got to invite a few friends to go to celebrate. Clif and I tagged along as usual. I honestly don't remember how the Aggies did but I do remember that we had a great time. I also remember after the game we walked around the stands picking up the Aggie plastic cups that people had left behind. (gross) We were sitting in the end zone. He included me just like I was one of his friends. He always did. This may seem small, but if you are a little sister, you know it was huge.

Many people have written me this week, remembering Clay, telling stories, and sharing their favorite memories of him. Thank you for this....it helps us so much. He lived a great life in his years and now lives an even better life than we can imagine.

praise

We all have struggles that bring us to our knees. Almost two years ago we were brought to our knees when we found out that Jack has a lifelong bleeding disorder. It made many things clear to us and answered many questions, but it also brought fear and sadness. We know that he will face many trials but we would be wrong to not give praise to God for His protection and plan for our Jack. It has been just over a year since he has had his last infusion for a bleeding episode. This is huge! We are so encouraged because this has been his most active year yet....playing soccer, t-ball, countless backyard baseball games, daily P.E. class at school, Awana games at church, and a gymnastics class. We know that he will have more infusions and trips to Children's. I know that I will question God and cry many tears for and over my son. Tonight, though, I want to praise God for this encouraging year of growth and protection!

"happiness is...

all the bodies together." My brother Clay was quoted saying this at a very young age. Our families love to be together. Unfortunately we don't get to do this very often so we are always planning for the next time! It truly makes Will and I happy to be with our families.
I was blessed with a gift to go and visit my little brother Clif and his family for a week. Josie and Sam went with me, while my Mom (super Mam!) stayed here and took care of Jack and Kate. Will was here but busy with work and volleyball practice and trips.
Jo and Sam did super on the three hour flight, and I think Kate got some much needed attention from Mam. Jack went to school and loved doing his homework with Mam in the evenings and taking a farm trip on the weekend.
What a trip...lots of memories made with the Virginia Kennedys - Clif, Kat, Clay, Evy and Scarlett. I will never forget playing in the backyard with Clay and Evy, and holding miss Scarlett. They have done an amazing job renovating their home and yard. The cousins bonded, and we were able to celebrate Clay's 4th bday while we were there with a camouflage party! My favorite part, though, was just hanging out with my bro and best friend in the evenings...laughing, watching tv, whatever. Oh, how I wish we were neighbors!
Thanks to Mam, Will, Josh and Shantel, and Clif and fam for helping make a memory. Looking forward to Christmas now!