Wednesdays in the Word

I'm teaching a class on friendship and the lesson brought out a point that I had not thought of before. It used the example of Job's friends and said they usually get a 'bad rap'
because when you think about it,
how many of your friends would drop everything they are doing to come see you and:

-Wail and cry because of the pain you are in
-Put dust on their heads and tear their clothes. (no one I know of) ; )
-Sit on the ground with you for SEVEN days and not say a word
because of your great sorrow!
Wow!!!! Point taken!
So, here's to Job's friends
 and to us 
being better friends to our friends! : )  


~Becky

Dads are WAY more fun!

My love for Groupon is catching. Joy downloaded the Groupon app to her ipod and found a great deal on a kayaking trip for two. She was SO excited and talked about it for days. It is for a 5 mile trip down the Little Manatee River, where you can see alligators, manatees, get out and swim, (if you'd like) picnic and ride a rope swing. All for only $18. Great deal.
She and Dad are excited about it. She was SOO very cute when she said "Mom, I don't understand why you don't want to go on this trip with me?! I already have dates with Dad, this could be our thing!!!"
Isn't she the sweetest thing ever?! I love her to death but that is when I realized I'd do anything for her.....
EXCEPT maybe:

paddle for three hours straight,
freak out about alligators,
wonder if I've gotten us lost,
worry about tipping over,
all in the Florida heat in the summer and call it fun! lol!

-But I"m game for a trip to the mall! ; )

~Becky

Crafting some cuteness

The high-school girls Bible class I've been teaching has been studying friendship so, I thought it would be fun to make friendship bracelets with them to give away to their friends. -But not the friendship bracelets of my day...not so cute.
Don't you love that you never have to look farther than Pinterest for a good idea?! (here's a link to mine)

Here are the bracelets we made. They were so much fun that the girls want to have a party and make them again. They turned out really well.

 So, if you need a fun summertime idea, give them a try. : )

~Becky

Random happiness

Happy  to be back to the land of the living, after a sickness that had me in bed for a few days and the kids and wondering how they would ever get by. : )
I got a kick out of it when Andrew said "Two of me and two of Joy, equal an unstable you. (lol!) The amount of work you do around here everyday is HUGE." Yes, and amen! ; ) They did a good job staying on top of it all for me though.

Happy to say that I'm keeping the treadmill and the exercise bike from becoming over sized coat-hangers! Whoo-hoo! One hour a day! They are soooo much fun. I love watching an episode of something on Netflix while on the treadmill, it makes time fly by! And I love, love, love reading this fabulous book while on the bike. (more on this book in posts to come!) Most fun way I've ever found to exercise and the best part is not going out in the Florida heat!

Happy to say that hubby's C-PAP machine is doing wonders for his life! He is sleeping great every night and is  still in awe at the amount of energy he has now. PTL! But then waking up 42 times an hour will take its toll on a guy! At first it sounded kind of like I was sleeping next to Darth Vader, but I got used to it. : )

Happy to say that my clothes-drying experiment saved me $45 on my electric bill. Yahoo! -And I'm actually MISSING hanging clothes this week. How weird is that?! But it has been rain, rain, nothing but rain, so I'm thankful for the dryer instead.

Happy that hubby made an awesome summer schedule for the kiddos that is keeping me from ever hearing 'I'm bored.' If they get their lists accomplished, Monday through Thursdays then we hit the beach on Fridays! -Unless you have nothing but rain, rain and more rain in your life. : )

Hope you have a happy weekend!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

When my sweet kids want to bless me, they buy me Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which I love and don't buy for myself. It is the sweet thought behind it and the fact that they spend their own money, that makes them a sweeter gift than they already are! Well, in this story, David wants to give God a gift and it must have seemed a lot like buying a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup for someone who owns the whole candy store. "He himself existed before anything else did and he holds all things together." Col.1:17 

You see, in 2 Samuel 7, King David realizes something and says, "I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains!" (emphasis mine) To him that was just plain wrong and he wanted to do something about it! 

Don't you just love David's heart? He can't stand the thought that his house is better than God's house. I love the sweetness of God! God is so blessed by David's heart that He spoke to Nathan the prophet that very night and told him to tell David "the Lord tells you that He will make you a house." (verse 11) Wow! How cool is that?! You certainly can't out-give God! The Supreme Being of the Universe (as Abraham Lincoln referred to Him) has quite the resources and they extend throughout thousands and thousands of years and on into eternity. 'House' also means 'family and clan' and not just 'dwelling' and God was talking about David's seed. God's gift is a promise that David's seed will be enthroned as King forever. JESUS. The Messiah!

We know that David's son Solomon build God a house, as in the temple, and in this verse God promises a sweet relationship with him. "I will be his Father and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul..." 

Solomon ended up marrying all those foreign wives and they turned his heart from God. He committed idolatry against God and God said "I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant." That should have been the end of David's 'house'... BUT, it wasn't!!! 

1 Kings 11:13 says "However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom, I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David." God always keeps His promises!

And Matthew 1:1 says: "The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David..." Hallelujah!!! 

What injustice do see in the world today? What gift can we give to God that will bless His heart? What can we do that will get His attention and bless His name? You can bet that He won't be out-given. 

~Becky

The man baby

That is what hubby has been calling Zac's car.
He says that buying a car is like giving birth. (I refrained from saying anything about how it is WAY easier) lol ; )

So...
Here it is:

Zac's baby!

A 2004 Nissan Sentra!

It is now, sitting in our driveway! Whoo-hoo!
It is a manual! -So, it might sit there a little while, since he needs to learn how to drive a stick, which sounds really familiar! -My parents will smile remembering how long it took me to get the hang of a stick shift. I think I exhausted all their patience and my grandpa had to take over with the lessons. Bless his heart. He bought me that car and was determined that I would get the hang of it.

I'm pretty sure a drummer, won't have any trouble. He does different things with each of his feet all the time.

So, excited for you, Zac! Let the lessons begin!
(and maybe you should have Dad to teach you) : ) Just saying!

~Becky

It was all Greek to us

We took a little road trip on Memorial Day, with our youngest kiddos to Tarpon Springs, which is a cute little Greek town, known for its sponge docks.

Us, next to the statue of a sponge diver

Hubby had never been here before, but when the kids were little we came on a field trip and went out on one of the boats and learned all about the sponge divers.

Our kiddos looking like sponge divers

only cuter!

Dad with kiddos 

 We had fun walking around, visiting the little shops, buying homemade fudge and being reminded of how they harvest the sponges. Then it was time for Greek food!

Definitely didn't finish that Gyro but it was yummy!

After seeing lamb on a spit, these two wanted to hold out for a "Greek McDonalds." LOL

So, they just had the "best curly fries ever!" : ) And then we headed home.

That night, I made these, (not that we really needed to eat anymore). ; )  They got rave reviews. Then we watched the movie Redtails and called it a day, a fun one, at that!
~Becky