30-Hour Famine in the News

The Wilson Daily Times covered the 30-Hour Famine. Check out the video here. Here is the article that was published in Saturday's paper.

A Testimony

God has given each of us a testimony. Be blessed by this video, this testimony, made by former N.C. State basketball coach, Kay Yow. When her cancer returned a few years ago she taped a 20-minute video to be played at her funeral.

You will be blessed!

When I Get Where I'm Going - I Can Only Imagine

I don't listen to country music that much now-a-days. I have in the past - I've seen George Strait (5 times), Randy Travis, Earl Thomas Conley, Reba McIntyre, John Michael Montgomery and Garth Brooks in concert.

Last night I was reminded of why I enjoyed country music. I heard the beautiful song "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly Parton at a memorial service. The memorial service was for Mr. Jerry Toler from our church. This song and the others sung and played (as well as the words spoken) were such sweet tributes to him and his life.

I added "I Can Only Imagine" to the playlist the other day upon learning of Mr. Jerry's passing. I could not only imagine, but I could see Mr. Jerry complete and whole worshipping God.

Surrounded by His glory how will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine

30-Hour Famine

In a few hours Wooten will be starting a 30-hour famine (fast). "The 30-hour famine is an international movement by World Vision to fight hunger and poverty." Several local youth groups (WAYnet) will be participating. Each youth member was asked to get sponsors to raise money to feed hungry children. "Before this day is over 26,000 children under age 5 will die - most of them from preventable causes like hunger, poverty, and disease. 14, 000 will die from causes related to hunger alone. That's one kid every seven seconds."

Wooten would like to say thank you to all of his sponsors. Because of your generosity he raised $250 (which is more than the goal he had set). The youth are also collecting canned food for local ministries.

Tomorrow night the youth group will be setting up cardboard houses to sleep in (because of the expected yucky weather - they will be setting up in an activity building). We'll pick Wooten up Saturday morning to come home and clean up. Then he will go back to church to help prepare and serve a community meal. The youth will then return to church and meet up with all WAYnet participating churches for the canned food weigh in and fundraising tally. They will then break their fast by breaking bread together. What an awesome experience for Wooten!!
(Quotes from The 30-Hour Famine Student Guide)

Tom's Birthday

We celebrated Tom's birthday - not once but twice. Twice the fun!! We celebrated two weeks ago (because of his work schedule) with his family. Tonight we had to celebrate. Tom loves breakfast food, so that is what we had for dinner complete with homemade cinnamon rolls (his with candles). Anna Gracen did an awesome job helping make them. She made some yummy icing! We tried a new recipe tonight - Waffled french toast - it was a hit. (I'll share recipes in another post).

Here is Tom blowing out his candles at MeMa and PaPa's house (triple layer chocolate/chocolate cake per request from Birthday boy).

Tom is a blessing to us and all who know him. He is a wonderful husband, father, friend, provider and spiritual leader of our home. We love you, Tom!!

Happy 38th Birthday!!

Love,

Amanda, Wooten, Anna Gracen & Christian

Love is Here

I love Tenth Avenue North. I have heard this song on the radio and LOVE it! Here are the lyrics.
Be blessed!!

Come to the waters, you who thirst and you'll thirst no more.
Come to the Father, you who work and you'll work no more.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed:

Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from
His hands, from His brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from His side.
Cuz love is here.

Come to the treasure, you who search and you'll search no more.
Come to the Lover you who want and you'll want no more, no.
And all you who labor in vain and to the broken and shamed,
Yeah:

Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from His hands, from His brows.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from His side.
Yeah
And to the bruised and fallen,
Captives, bound, and broken hearted.
He is the Lord
He is the Lord,
Yeah
By His stripes He's paid our ransom
From His wounds we drink salvation
He is the Lord
He is the Lord
Love is here.
Love is now.
Love is pouring from His hands, from His brows.
Love is near,
It satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.
Cuz love is here
Love is here.

More snow......

......fun!

Tom was so sweet to take us snow sledding again on Wednesday. He got home from work at 8:00 am and we were ready to go. I did not trust myself driving on icy/snowy roads. We headed out to a steeper overpass first. Then to the hardware store to purchase a new torpedo sled and two new snow disks. The kids then wanted to return to their favorite sledding spot to finish out the morning. The kids (and mom) had a complete blast!! Once we got home and tucked Tom in to get a good day's rest, we built a snowman (I guess with the pink hat and scarf it's more of a snowgirl). Then it was back to school and more playing in the snow before dinner.

There is still a little bit of snow left in our yard, but it will be gone soon. The snow may melt but the memories we made will last a lifetime.

Ladies & Gentlemen we have SNOW!!!!

Today was an awesome snow day!! The kids wanted to go outside at 7:00 am. We did get bundled up and headed out around 9:00 am. They played and played. I played for awhile and then came in to get the chili into the crock pot to cook while we continued with our snow day. We watched the inauguration and then picked Wooten up from MeMa and PaPa's house. We rode around and took some pictures. Here is a Canadian goose at Toisnot Reservoir.

Here is one of the ten deer we saw in a field near Elm City. They were pretty far out in the field. How beautiful!

After we went sledding, we rode by to visit Nana. Anya, Darrell and Natalie were outside sledding with the 4-wheeler. Darrell was nice enough to take the kids for a whirl around the yard. Here is Anna Gracen having a blast.

While we were sledding, Christian takes a rest while waiting for his next ride down the hill. We enjoyed the homemade hot cocoa we brought along in the thermos.

Wooten decides to try snow "surfing".

After the visiting, sledding and picture taking we headed back home. The chili that was waiting for us smelled oh so yummy. I baked up a batch of homemade seasoned biscuits and we dug in. Afterwards we had bowls of snow cream.

We ended up with 5 to 5 1/2 inches of snow. We are planning on going sledding again in the morning. We also want to build a snowman. The snow didn't pack too well today. Who knows when we'll have more snow - we're going to enjoy it while we can. It will be gone soon - the high predicted for Friday is 50.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The first measurable snowfall of the season is predicted to start falling around midnight tonight. According to the local television station, tomorrow will bring more snow as much as 3 to 5 inches. I can not even begin to tell you how VERY excited we are. We have not had a measurable snowfall in three years. We are doubling up on our school work so we can take tomorrow as a snow day. We are getting the snow suits, boots, coats, gloves and sleds ready. What if the reports are wrong? We will just cross that bridge if we have to.

We will also watch the inauguration tomorrow and will be praying for all those in attendance (that it won't be too cold for them and for safe travel). It is an exciting time in our country. Let us not look at our circumstances - let us keep our eyes on Jesus. I will pray for President Barak Obama - he as well as all leaders need to be respected and lifted up in prayer. I pray also that people will realize that President Obama is a man, not a savior. Our Savior is Jesus Christ. I pray that President Obama will be led by the Spirit of the Lord - that he will hear God's voice and be obedient. I pray that people will put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and not in a man or men. This is one country under God!!! He is the Highest Authority in the land. We will respect and pray for those that have been placed in authority according to His Word.

Cookout in January

We had a cookout on Saturday to celebrate Mama's birthday. She said it's the first time she's had a birthday cookout. January and cookouts don't normally go together. It was usually warm on Saturday and Tom didn't mind cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.

I figured this would be a great time to get a photo of Nana with her five (so far - Brad may add to that number down the road) grandchildren. Left to right: Wooten, Christian, Carson, Sydney, Nana, Anna Gracen and Mr. Bobby. Carson got upset when he had to leave the light saber he had been playing with. He wanted comfort, so he went up to Christian and put his arms up for Christian to pick him up. Christian obliged. Too cute!!!

The January weather has come back with a vengeance. The high expected on Friday is 27 and the nightly highs are going to be in the teens. Now if we could have some SNOW!!!!

Happy, Happy Birthday!!

Cheers to you, Mama! Happy Birthday!

I'm blessed to call you my Mama and my friend. May you know how very much you are loved and treasured! May you have a great birthday and a wonderful year ahead!

All our love,

Amanda, Tom, Wooten, Anna Gracen & Christian

(In honor of Mama's birthday I have her favorite song playing on the playlist - "Unchained Melody".

Today is also Gwyneth Rose's 1st birthday. I've been following this family's blog since right before she was born. You can read more here. You will be blessed by all God has done in and through this family. Happy 1st Birthday, Gwyneth Rose!

Angels Among Us

Here is an e-mail & picture I received from a forward. It was originally sent by a woman who is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Presbyterian Blume Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina. This story was also featured on local television news stations. I did not view it personally, but was told that this picture is much better than the one shown on the news.

So many of you have heard me tell the story, but I wanted to pass it along anyway to those who didn't hear it and for those who wanted it in email. A couple of Wednesdays ago, I got an evening phone call from the pediatric ICU at Presbyterian Hospital, where I work as a child life specialist. Usually when they call at night, it means something bad has happened. This, however, was different. My coworker told me that the most amazing thing had just happened and she just had to call to tell me. We had a patient who has really grown up in and out of the hospital. All the staff knows her and her family. She had been in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for about a month, and had been intubated - on life support. She was not doing well. The doctors had approached mom about taking her off life support the Saturday before. Mom was okay with it, and said that she'd been through so much and if was her time to go she wanted to honor that. So they had taken her off. It was Wednesday and she was still alive. Amazing. The doctors approached mom about taking off her oxygen mask. Mom was supportive, and began praying over her daughter. The mother of another young patient who was in the bed next to her began praying with her. The nurse practitioner went to the nurses station to chart that she had taken off the oxygen mask. While doing so, she looked up at the security monitor that videotapes the double doors leading into the PICU. It records anyone who may be waiting outside the doors to get in since it is a secure unit. She saw a man standing there, and it looked a little funny to her, so she decided to walk down the hall to open the double doors personally. When she opened them, no one was standing there. She walked back down to the nurses station to finish charting, assuming he had walked away, but saw him still standing there on the monitor. So she opened the doors with a button near the nurses station and leaned over to see him walk in, but no one was standing there. She pulled over another nurse and both stood staring at this man on the monitor and opening the doors to find no one there. The nurse practitioner leaned in closely to look at the man on the monitor and said, 'Oh my gosh. That's an angel. You can see his wings!' They said that the sun starting shining so brightly and the whole PICU was strangely filled with light. They said he was a tall man and you could see wings behind him. They pulled over all the staff of the PICU and the two praying mothers and everyone was staring at this man on the monitor and opening the doors to find no one there. Crying, everyone pulled out their camera phones to take pictures, but no one could get it to show up on their camera. The mother of the girl pulled out her camera phone and finally got a picture of the angel who was guarding the doors to the PICU. He turned out as a man of light. I have attached the picture from her phone. The girl was later discharged from the hospital to go home. A Miracle. This story makes me so grateful for the way that God reveals himself to us, and the how Great He is really is. We have much to be thankful for this holiday.

Borrow Mine

This song is sung by Bebo Norman. I heard it this morning and it spoke to me. Be blessed!!

Take my hand and walk with me a while
Cause it seems your smile has left you
And don't give in, when you fall apart
And your broken heart has failed you
I'll set a light up
On a hilltop
To show you my love
For this world to see
You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on'
Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine
Take my love when all that you can see
Is the raging sea all around us
And don't give up 'cause I'm not letting go
And the God we know will not fail us
We'll lay it all down
As we call out
Sweet Savior help our unbelief
You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on'
Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine
When you are weak
Unable to speak
You are not alone
The God who has saved us
Will never forsake us he's coming to take us
Take us to our home
You can borrow mine
When your hope is gone
Borrow mine
When you can't go on'
Cause the world will not defeat you
When we're side by side
When your faith is hard to find
When your faith is hard to find
You can borrow mine
Take my hand
Take my love
Don't give in
Don't give up

Arise and Shine in 2009!

Well, I said I was going to take a vacation from blogging. I didn't actually think I would take such a long vacation. Today Tom headed back to work. The kids and I are getting the house back in order. I'm taking the tree down - boo hoo! Anna Gracen and I want to leave it up longer but the time has come to bid ado until next year when I take it out of the box again. I'll also work on lesson plans - gearing up to start school on Monday. Speaking of starting things on Monday - that's when the diet/exercise plan starts back up. I took a break from that over the holidays also. Luckily no major gains but there are goals yet to be met.

That's what I've decided to do - set goals instead of making resolutions. I know - "What's the difference?" When I hear "New Year's resolution" I immediately think of how resolutions are broken. You hear people joke all the time about not keeping their resolutions. I'm setting goals - some are lofty - some just take discipline. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

People come up with cute little sayings about the new year. One that came to me was "Arise and Shine in 2009". I read "Dear Abby" yesterday and she starts her column with "Dear Readers: Rise and shine, everyone!"

Isaiah 60:1-3
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

"Abby" also included the following prayer of St. Francis in the column:

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

May we seek Jesus daily. May we truly realize what it is to be His. To be loved by Him. May we love others as He loves us. May we seek deeper revelation of Him - not to prove others wrong, but to prove Jesus.

Happy New Year!!!