Please Consider

I don't know if you have ever been to the Dare 2 Share Conference but you should consider going. We take our junior and senior high every year. The last couple of years we have taken them to the Chicago location for the conference. Dare 2 Share is exactly what it sounds like. It gives teens the know how to talk to their friends, family, and strangers about Christ in a way that makes it a little easier for them.

The kids are challenged while they are there to call one of their friends on their cell phones (no teenager is without one!) and share the Good News with them. Some of them graduate right away from P.U. (persecution university)! We all consider that an honor.

When we first started attending (a mere 6 years ago) there were only about 400-500 teenagers that attended. This year there were more than 6,000! Praise be to God!!! These "krazy kidz" are really impassioned about The Cause of Christ (the great commission)!


One thing really gave me Holy Spirit bumps this year. Greg Stier, the pastor, was talking to all of us about the next Great Awakening. He was telling us that all the "Great Awakenings" have started with teenagers. He then began to tell how he thought the first one did also. You know, Pentecost.

You may not agree with me but just consider this. It is very possible that Jesus--the Promised Messiah, the Only Begotten of the Father, our Savior and Lord--was a youth leader and that the Apostles were under the age of 20 Consider: Jesus Himself was only 30 years old when He began His public ministry.

Consider: Jesus paid the Temple Tax and provided the tax coin for Peter. Men had to be over 20 years old to pay that tax. The Bible doesn't mention that the others had to pay the tax, so they possibly were younger than 20.

Consider: Only Peter's wife is mentioned, so it is possible that the others were not yet married.



Consider: The Apostles readily left their regular jobs to follow; they might have hesitated more if they had had wives and children to care for.

Consider: They had the passion and energy of youth.

Consider: A couple of them squabbled over position in the Kingdom, and the others got upset over the issue. That seems a rather youthful response--although I've certainly known older folks who have acted like bickering children at times.

Consider: I Timothy 4:12~Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Consider: America is ripe for another Great Awakening. Will it begin with you, young man? Or you, young woman? May this generation, empowered by the Holy Spirit, boldly lead in such a work. Take up the Cause of Christ.

Can you say Green?

We were feeling very festive yesturday. Partly because it was Ethan's birthday, but also because it was beautiful outside and maybe also because well...we just love the color green! So here are some random shots of our green day. Thank you Lord for my family and the sun and...the Son!

This is our St. Patty's day meal. Yummo! The kids had not had corn beef and cabbage before so I was not sure how they would like it. It was a HUGE hit and so was the shamrock punch





Some photos of our dinner table.





Also, my babies. Here Olivia is doing her homework and of coarse I had to get a shot of Ethan and Bella.




So tell me, how was your St. Patties Day? Did you do anything special? Did the Lord whisper any treasures in your ear?

My "Yeller" Dog

I can't fathom the idea of not having any children in the single digit age group. As of today, that is exactly what has happened. Where did the time go? My St. Patty's day boy has turned 10. We thought we would do something really special to mark this occasion and so decided to give him a pup...a yeller pup.

This all started this summer when my Ethan's(my son)cat ran away for the zilynth time. He decided he was fed up with cats and that dogs were the way to go. My response? Heck no! I had just had brand new carpet laid. No way were we going to house break a new puppy!

Then, my big mistake. See, the fall is my absoulte favorite time of year. I am an outdoor girl. I still love to climb into big old trees with a good book. I thought is would be sooo nostalgic to take my children along with me and read a classic novel. "How about 'Old Yeller.'" I thought. Well, let me tell you, it worked out just how it had in my mind...no, better. My children loved the book! Ethan especially loved it. At the end of the novel, he looked up at me with that tear streaked face and said, "Momma, I want a yeller dog." Oh boy, if that didn't pull at my heart strings!

That brings us to this past Saturday. A fellow homeschooler emailed me that he had Golden Retriever pups ready to take home. This was after I put out a search to see if anyone knew where I could find one.

It was road trip time! Olivia and I (daddy had buisness to attend to) took Ethan in the car. We told him we were taking him to get his birthday present. His eyes lit up as he spoke with that wide eyed expression. "Are we going to Wal-Mart or Target?" he asked. Olivia and I laughed. Neither, was our reply. We told him he would never guess in a bizillion years where we were going.

When we pulled into the home of the dog owners, Ethan asked, "Where are we?" I said, "You don't remember this place?" He of coarse had never been there. "Uh...kinda..." was his reply. hehe

The front door opened and a very smiley man invited us in. "Ethan doesn't know why he is here. He just knows he is getting his birthday present." I said. The man's smile brodened even wider. The man then said he had to go put the big dog away and then we could take a look.

As the man walked away Ethan looked up at me with the same face I remember from right after we had read "Old Yeller." My heart melted and the tears burned my eyes. "I'm gettin' a puppy?" he spoke softly with tears starting to sear down his face. Oh boy, I lost it. We both stood their in these stranger kitchen weeping. The man returned with a look of bewilderment on his face. I couldn't even speak to tell him what was happening. I'm not sure that I would have been able to explain it to him anyhow.

Ethan entered the kennel room and within 5 minutes had snuggled up to one "yeller" pup in particular. Now that pup, which he named Lady Bella Elizabeth Rice, is living in our home.

We have already had some pretty exciting adventures which I hope to tell soon! So here is to that sweet all-American boy of mine and his yeller puppy!