NT Day 1 Part 1...

So this is going to take me longer than I thought...I still plan to do it in the 30 days, but the days they have as "grace days" will be reading days for me. Today you read Matthew 1-12. That is A LOT of reading! But I am committed.

So today I read Chapters 1-4 of Matthew. I plan to read a bit more...maybe when my girls are in bed. Chapter 1 was filled with what most people think as boring genealogy. I use to think it was boring until I realized the importance of it. Needing to know that Jesus would come from the line of King David...now I always read it instead of skipping over it. But more what got my attention in the first couple of chapters is Joseph.

He is such a mystery to me. A lot of times when I see him depicted in a book or in a movie there are two ways they always seem to show him. One they always show him as very meager and taking a backseat to everything. Or they show him as almost biter. I think of him as a wonderful man who was so open to God speaking to him. He was sensitive in his dreams and listened to God when he was told to do something. He didn't question he didn't argue...he just did it. When everything inside of him told him that Mary was unfaithful and he didn't want to be with her...he listened to the Angel that God sent to him. He chose to believe the angel God sent. He took Mary and trusted her and cared for a child that was not his...but was the Son of God. What a responsibility to have...what a great task!

And then there is John the Baptist...you gotta love that guy! Anyone have any thoughts on John?

New Testament in 30 Days!

So I am taking a challenge to read the New Testament in 30 days. I tend to say I am going to do stuff like this and then I never follow through on it. But...I am doing to post on my 30 days of reading and I am hoping that together we can learn a little bit more of what God is saying to us through His word! If anyone is interested in taking up this challenge with me I would LOVE it!

http://www.newthru30.com/readingplan

You can find their reading plan on here. I plan to actually start today and have a bit of a head start on the reading plan, but my plan is to finish the New Testament by end date of Feb. 7th.

What will 2011 bring?

If 2010 has taught me anything it's this...You never know what a year will bring. It felt like this last year really started out hard for family and friends of mine. It was also hard for me to lose people who I felt so close to, and yet I still have a hard time accepting the loss, because others lost so much more than me.

This year also brought a lot of happiness in my life. One of the greatest was finding out that we had baby #5 on the way. Not everyone understands our happiness with have so many children...we just know that each one of them is a gift from God. Now...we will probably never have 19 kids, because I know everyone thinks that we are become that family. I think they are a great family, and I actually learn a lot from their family. We are not competing with anyone on the number of kids we have.

So from 2011...I don't know what it will bring. I am praying that it will be a great year for my family and people who are close to me. Even if I don't know you well or we are not close I still pray that it will be a great year. I am also praying that it will be a year that we will draw closer to God. And if you haven't yet...think about getting on that bicycle built for two with God!

Are you on a bicycle built for two with God?

Lots of people talk about God being their pilot and they are the co-pilot of their lives. But when I think about it that way I think of a plane full of people and why should I be the co-pilot and none of them are? Also I always felt like it gave me too much control over my situations. For example, if I didn't like what God was doing or what direction He was going I could always take over. So now I am starting to think that maybe I should go on a bicycle built for two with God and let him be in front.

You know the person in the front really has all the control of where the bike will go. Do you think maybe that is how we should be with God? Letting him have the front driving seat? We do our part on the back. We still have to pedal and help get to our destination. It can't all be God, He still needs us to do our part. I think though that God wants us to allow Him to direct where our lives will go. We need to give Him the steering power. Just a thought for today.

Potty Potty Potty...PARTY!

Ok...so you might be wondering about the title of my post! Well The Destroyer needs to be potty trained! I have been thinking about what I want to do since she is showing ZERO interest in it. We tried candy...but she would stand at the door of the bathroom crying at the candy that was just out of her reach. SO...that didn't work. Someone thought maybe I should just let her go without a diaper...but I don't really want a bunch of messes around the house, and knowing her she would not really be bothered by it even if I made her clean them all up!

So I am going with FUN! I am trying to make it as fun as possible. I actually made a really fun potty chart that is a bit of a spin off of another one I saw. I used my left over Christmas wrapping paper for the back of it! So every time she uses the potty then she gets a sticker! I hope she is as excited about it as I am! :)

So here we GO!

I love fun presents! The best presents are the ones that you can play with over and over again and not get tired of them. Much like the present that is pictured below that cost us almost nothing and to think I almost told my husband not to get them! What was I thinking? The Inquisitor and The Emotionalist have been playing with these non-stop since Christmas. They make an outfit and then tell me where they worn and by who...it's so much fun!This outfit is apparently a beach outfit that will be made for me. I asked if it was a cover to go over my swimming suit. Nope. Apparently it's just to be worn to the beach...not sure I will be going in the water with this one. This outfit is to be worn to dinner with daddy. I am not sure if it's for me or them. I wouldn't mind wearing something like this out to eat with my husband! This outfit is to drive in! LOL! I mean it would look really good if I was driving around in a fancy sports car! :) I think it makes a nice center piece for my table...matches the table cloth!

I think mine and my husband's love for Project Runway is rubbing off on our girls! :) I think pretty soon it might be a family show to watch!

997

So the day after Christmas I have been looking at my blog stats. Something I have never done. I started this blog in May and since then I have had 997 people view my blog! That is crazy! It was fun to see what post were the most popular and what people searched for when they eventually showed up at my blog! Some of them were kind of funny!

We had a great Christmas day. They girls have been enjoying their books and games and I have just been enjoying their excitement with the day. By the end of Christmas the girls just crashed and so did my husband! I ended up in bed by 9:30...so you could say we all crashed!

It was wonderful to have G-ma and G-pa over for supper on Christmas. My parents are great and they love being around the girls! They gave the girls some presents...the best was a nativity set they can play with! I have been wanting to get one FOREVER!

So for now I am just going to sit and enjoy my wonderful family! I hope everyone had as great of a Christmas as we did!