Margot

We had a nice day Sunday, so after church we decided to take Margot to the park. She had a great time chasing leaves and sniffing everything. There is nothing that doesn't interest this dog, which makes her squish up her brow (see below) and makes us laugh.

We are so ready for Spring; it truly can not get here quick enough. Green leaves, flowers, warm sun...

Hannah decided to use her sister today as her model as she continues to practice with artificial light. I still don't think she needs much practice!

Godly Wisdom

My girls and I talk often about life; about making good decisions, about what is really important, etc. It has become, as they have gotten older, more of an accountability thing for all 3 of us; a reminder that God is sovereign and He has a plan for each of us.

Recently Hannah told me of a discussion she and Sarah had had. They were talking about relationships and marriage and how they viewed them. She said they both believe that serial dating is not necessary and that God will send them His choice for a mate at the right time. Wow!

They both wish to avoid 'just dating' to say they are in a relationship and avoid unnecessary heartache. Both girls believe that they should be growing as individuals, learning skills, helping their family; just being productive.

Now, some would say that is seeing the world through those rose colored glasses, but I think not. If we trust the Lord with our families, jobs, finances, etc, why would we not trust Him with one of the most important decisions we will make, our life mate. If He is Lord over all, isn't He Lord over this. If He wants the best for us, doesn't it include this.

Unfortunately, so many girls seek out young men to the point of being the aggressors. Flirting, calling and texting guys, asking them out, etc. I sound backwards you say? It takes the whole thing out of God's hands and places it in our own. There is deception and manipulation by both sexes so much of the time. emotional promiscuity

In the scripture there is several types of relationships mentioned; friendship: Prov.17: 17, Prov.18: 24, Prov.27: 6 brother-sister in Christ: Heb.10: 24, 1 Jn.3: 1 marriage: Gen.2:24. Each of these three relationships have two common characteristics, a commitment to the responsibilities of that particular kind of relationship and a genuine care and concern for the other person.

There isn't another kind of relationship described in Scripture where a man and woman can share romantic intimacy with some physical intimacy without moving toward marriage? No, this kind of relationship does not exist in the Scriptures.

We must teach our children that forming non-physical relationships allows them to get to know the other person in a healthy way. It allows time for the relationship to develop along with care and concern for the other person. Above all we must teach them from a young age that physical intimacy (not just sex) is reserved only for the marriage relationship.

Modern dating or recreational dating (entirely unknown of when the scriptures were written) does not train young people to form a relationship, but a series of relationships. It also teaches them to 'harden' themselves to break-ups. One could conclude that it prepares one for divorce as much as marriage. It could produce an appetite for variety and change, ultimately creating a dissatisfaction within marriage.

As parents we must seek God as we help our children navigate the most important area of their lives, seeking God's will for a life mate. For each family, the approach may look a little different as they determine what is best for their children.


Finally here are some issues with modern dating from an unknown source:

Dating promotes lust and moderate sexual activity, opening the door for fornication.

Dating lacks the protections and guidance afforded by parental involvement of courtship.

Dating tends to skip the "friendship" stage of a relationship.

Dating often mistakes a physical relationship for love.


Dating often isolates a couple from other vital relationships.

Dating can cause discontentment with God's gift of singleness.

Dating leads to intimacy but not necessarily to commitment.


Proverbs 12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Philippians 4:8 Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.

Blessings,

We Can Build A Snowman!!

The kids have had a great time in all the snow. All 10+ inches of it, and for us southern folk, that is A LOT of snow!! In front of the fireplace is my designated seating; there I happily crochet.

The snowman went up today and he is charming. He sits near our front door so he can welcome guests, not that anyone can get to us!

Sarah and Hayden are also working on a snow fort which is taking a bit longer than expected. The shoveling and raising the walls has become a herculean task. And I think our snow is too dry. (is that an oxymoron??)

Anyway, everyone is enjoying themselves including our four footed residents. The dogs have had a blast leaping through the white stuff and chasing each other. The cats, on the other hand, have stayed toasty inside.

Handsome

Hannah has been playing around with artificial light; personally I think she has got it down!

WOW!

Christmas

We had a wonderful, crazy Christmas!

It started snowing around 7:30 am before the kids got up. I was so glad; I wanted them to have a white Christmas. And it continued to snow and snow and snow.

We started dinner around 1:00, almost had everything done and the power went out. Being the resourceful people we are, :), we finished everything on the stove top (gas), lit candles and had dinner.

We bought Christmas crackers, which came the day before Christmas from over the pond. We opened them before dinner and agreed that this should be a new tradition in the Queen household. They are quite fun with little prizes inside along with a paper crown and a joke.

Finishing dinner on the stove.

Our crackers!


Sarah and Hayden pulling the first cracker open.


Everyone got a paper crown in their cracker.


Milk and butter on the deck staying cold!


Then some fun in the snow, all 12 inches of it!! I don't think I have ever seen this much snow. Everything is stunning.

Sarah enjoying the beautiful snow. Her hair froze!


Hayden, being Hayden




A winter wonderland... did I mention that I love where we live.

Merry Christmas!!

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. ~Author unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby

Baby, it's cold outside...

but, somebody has had fun!

Crazy Saturday

Hannah had a wonderful day at the conference in Atlanta, but more about that later...

First, late last night Hannah decided to invite me along. I thought, "ok, she isn't a fan of Atlanta and it is her first conference, she wants her momma to go. More about that later...

Atlanta, A T L A N TA. I grew up in Atlanta, but not in this Atlanta! Everyone is rushing, oh, it is Christmas. Everyone blows their horn like there is some law requiring it. Everyone is driving a dadgum luxury car, in a hurry. Few people slow down to smile. I do not like the city, sorry, but I have been in the country for 10 years and there is just too much activity for this girl. BUT, I went for my sweet daughter.

My sweet daughter that wanted someone to drive home for her after the conference. That was her motivation, I didn't even see the inside of this $300.00+ a night hotel. Hear it was pretty though; has a marble staircase, I wouldn't know. :)

Anyway, her talk about food photography went great. Many people approached her and told her that they follow her on Twitter and her blog. One lady said, " your blog is charming and now I know why, you are charming". How sweet is that! She made a lot of good contacts and we praise God for the affirmations she received.

We stopped at Whole Foods on the way out to get some healthy food and headed north as fast as we could. I mean, we moved slowly in a northerly direction, never honking and smiling at everyone as we went!

My Heart's Desire

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after thee
You alone are my hearts desire
And I long to worship thee

The season we have been in as been very strange and unsettling in some ways, in other ways, it has been intriguing. There are moments where I feel uncomfortable, but peace ultimately prevails.

As I have said in the past, I have always seen God's hand in my life, from the beginning of my life to the present. He has ordered my steps and directed my path. I know that has not changed; it is only in my lacking that I feel ill at ease. It is only through a lack of faith that His direction is not felt.

Church and worship have always been part of my life. I sang as a child, I attended a Christian school that I adored and went on to attend and graduate from a Christian college. I have taught Sunday School, Awana's, led youth, sang in choirs and solo, led woman's ministry, sang and directed a Praise team, and suffered through years of VBS :), etc. I say all this to say that being where I am and we are right now is difficult; to not feel connected or ministering within the church body.

I realize that God does provide us times of rest, and I probably needed a sabbatical more than I realized. Disengaging is sometimes necessary to gain perspective. I know I had lost some perspective from trying to work within my on strength, not the Lord's, to minister where there was no leadership. How futile, except that I refused for so long to accept it while my sweet husband waited patiently for the Lord to open my eyes.

So here I am, we are, seeking God's will for where He would have us plug in; and plugging in is our desire. Ministry is in our DNA, it is for all true believers; a need to reach out in God's name to comfort others, and worship and fellowship with other believers.

I know He is faithful and knows the desire of our hearts, and that of our children. I know that during this time I have been the one to be hesitant to jump back into church which probably prolonged my 'rest'. I wasn't running from God, just the junk I had experienced. He had to turn my heart back to seeing only Him, my heart's desire.

Thoughts

After my 'brush with mortality' last month I have begun to notice little things that are different. They have come to me in small, quite ways, which I believe is just my Savior gently showing me new insights into my reliance on Him.

As I had wrote in an earlier blog post, I did not have regrets to go over, things I wished I had done or anything left really unsaid. The entire time was one of peace, a divine peace. I didn't have to re-prioritize my life once I was discharged from the hospital. Haven't even made a bucket list.

One thing that came just over the weekend was a softening of my heart toward the organized church. Those of you that know me, know I have been in church all of my life and have served as a lay leader most of my adult life. Ministering has always been apart of who I am until a year ago. After some very difficult incidents and situations, we found ourselves unchurched.

During the year prior to this, I had struggled with the organized church and its committees, controlling members and a lack of God's word being preached clearly and definitively.

I say all this to tell you that God has worked afresh in my heart. He has softened it again and I feel renewed. I don't know what He would have me do, but I am ready. I know this is an answer to prayer for my sweet husband.

As I wrote in the children's journals the other day the verse about how our days are already numbered and ordained came to me.(All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them ever came to pass Ps. 139:16.) It gave me pause to consider what I had gone through in October. I believe that God is sovereign, nothing in my life is by accident. What I experienced was just a physical thing, some may call it a 'brush with death'; I see it as an opportunity to be a witness before men. It wasn't my appointed time to die. It was just a thing; we are human and our flesh fails us.

I know that I will continue to get sweet tidbits from God here and there. I welcome the opportunity to share my story when led to show how incredible the God I serve truly is. We, as a family, still rejoice at how God's hand was on every part of that short journey from October 8 - 16; not just in the outcome, but in the people we met, the dr. I had, the caring Hannah experienced from strangers, the prayers that went up, the joy we experienced in the mist of a potential bad outcome.

So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgment of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.
Hebrews 10:23

Enjoy life, it isn't a dress rehearsal...

What else do you do on a beautiful November day. Take the dog to the park and watch two of your children fence with sticks!!!

And if you haven't been over to Hannah's blog, go NOW! She has a recipe for some very tasty brownies and they are so easy to make.

Happy Weekend!!

Amazing Photos

Hannah took some amazing photos of a friends baby this past week and today had her first professional photo shoot in a city 2 hours away. We are so proud of her!

I can't show the photo shoot; but I can show the baby, so here is the precious little bundle.

God has given each of our children amazing gifts and nothing gives us more joy than to see them use those gifts.

Mother-Daughter Retreat

The girls and I had a wonderful, long weekend with my best friend and her oldest daughter who is Sarah's best buddy. It was a great time of fun and fellowship.

We rented a cabin outside of Pigeon Forge, TN, bought some groceries and prepared ourselves for a girls only time! And a girl's time is what we had.

We cooked, laughed, watched cooking shows, painted fingernails and did some outlet shopping. Yes, we are wild and crazy. Seriously, if you saw how many people were at the outlet stores, anybody had to be crazy to get in that mass of humanity!

Coming home we ran into a lot of snow on the top of the mountain. It was amazing and beautiful. The girls made a snowman and named him Herman. We all said it looked like Narnia with the snow on the evergreens; just magical.