A Rabbi, Sweet Linda, and The Lesson

Well if you read my blog with any regularity you may think that I am a stalker of Shay....I'm not!  You may think I am a fan of Shay....I'm not...well, okay, maybe I am.....but the truth is the most influential influence and biggest encouragement in my spiritual growth throughout the years has been Shay, with perhaps the exception of "Sweet Linda."

AND GUESS WHAT?????

TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY!  SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAY! 

Shay aka around our house as "The Rabbi" has truly been that to so many.  He is a GREAT teacher of the Bible.  I love when he teaches at church, or in small groups, or through his Ponderings.  I also LOVE that he is THE BOYS Sunday School Teacher AND The Youth Guru. Talk about generational influence!  He is having that in my family!  He not only has been a Rabbi to Randy and I but now he is being a Rabbi to our children. Love, love, love, love, love that!

I can not talk about Shay without talking about Linda.  I know it's Shay's birthday but what is Shay without Linda?  What a wise choice he made in snagging Linda.  She is a quiet, SWEET, gentle, consistent, disciplined woman of God.  She quietly and faithfully pours her life into others whether they are her precious children, women at church, or kids at school.  One night we were getting ready to have the Reyner's over for dinner and TWINKIE BOY was so excited and asked for like the 100th time, "Who is coming over today?"  I asked him, "Who do you think?"  He yelled, "CRAZY Shay and SWEET Linda!"  Yes Shay is awesome....but so is SWEET Linda!

Anyway.....it is Shay's birthday.....so back to Shay.  He has also taught me lessons that have really stuck and helped transform my life in a daily way.  Very rarely do lessons make such an impact that they become so internalized that they change the way you live your life.  Shay has taught me to INVEST in what matters (eternity and people) and he has taught me to be INTENTIONAL in the way I live.  Not only has he taught this with his words but he has taught it with his life.  He and "Sweet Linda" not only preach missions and take youth on fun mission trips they are sending their own precious children unto the "ends of the earth."  WOW!  They not only say INVEST....but they do INVEST!  In big ways and in little ways which can make a big difference.  As an example when they had a chance to go have yogurt as a couple alone, with peace and quiet, they spur of the moment stopped by our house and INVESTED Time and Money and took my 5, not peaceful and not quiet children, so Randy and I could have a few quiet moments!  Who does that?  Shay and Linda!  Who hears about your child's salvation and shows up at your door just to celebrate?  Shay and Linda!  This is not a one time event....it is the tone of their lives!  This is how they have been for at least the last 18 years that I have known them.  Not just when I was "mom to 5" and walking closely with the Lord.  This is how they were when I was 18, smoking cigarettes, and NOT walking with the Lord.  This is how they were when I was 24 and just beginning to walk daily with the Lord.  This is how they are today.  How can you not love them? 

This is just a snippet of the reasons I love Shay (and Linda).  They are THE BEST....They are THE REAL deal......they point to Christ.......and they are investing in eternity with an intentionalness that is absolutely contagious.  I want to know Christ more when I am around them.

So Happy Birthday Shay.  How is he spending his birthday?  Serving Durham with a bunch of middle school kids.  That is Shay!  I am eternally grateful that the Lord brought him to RBC and that I have had the privilege of knowing him, sweet Linda, and their precious kiddos.  I am eternally grateful for the influence they have had in my life and in Randy's life, and now in my kids lives.

THANKS SHAY AND I HOPE YOU HAVE MANY MANY MANY MORE YEARS TO INFLUENCE FOR ETERNITY!!!!

Love,
Kim

An Oil Change with a Side of Grace

So at 7:00 this morning I was sitting with 2 other ladies at Tire King waiting for an oil change.  I was halfway watching CNN which was playing on the TV and halfway flipping through a magazine.  I noticed a  young, black, man come in and sit right beside me and we briefly acknowledged one another and then he proceeded to work on some sort of writing while I proceeded to clean out my wallet and continue to half listen to the news.

Just moments before the car mechanic called my name to let me know I was good to go a story that has dominated the news this week on the Congressman Weiner came on and the news reporter was interviewing people on the streets about whether he should resign.  Everyone was giving their opinion and many were labeling Weiner as a "pervert" and the like.

I was silently thinking....yeah he is a pervert....when this young, black, man to whom I had not spoken turned to me and said.  "It is so easy to judge people when we ourselves are doing the same things and just haven't been caught."  I was rebuked.  Kindly, without him even knowing, he spoke a TRUTH I needed to hear.
Oh....I am quick to judge.  Ugly, Ugly, Ugly sin.....This person next to me....who couldn't be more different....I am a girl....he was a boy.  I am white....he was black......I am not as young as I once was....and he was young....and yet we both found GRACE so attractive....so appealing.....so desirable.  This young man reminded me early this morning that I am not called to judge.  I can however freely and abundantly lavish people with unexpected, unmerited, undeserved....GRACE.

Thank you Jesus for pouring your grace on me!  I too am "perverted".  I too am judgemental.  I am such a sinner.  So quick to see the sins of other....yet so hungry for your grace.  Never have I enjoyed having my oil changed as much as at 7:00 on a Saturday!  What a blessing!

Kim

Summer Surfing

So.....School's OUT.  And Summer Break starts today!  What are you doing all summer?  I LOVE SUMMER and I LOVE IDEAS for good ole' summer fun.  I like classic ideas, creative ideas, tried and true ideas, and new ideas.  So I have included some of my favorite links so you can go "surfing" for summer fun!  Please give me some of your favorites too!

If you have a Summer Celebration this website is chocked full of party ideas for kids and for grown-ups.  Very cute and crafty ideas!

http://www.saraspartyperfect.com/

Family Fun's Website is a classic.  Lots of ideas, especially for the 10 and under set.  Lots of crafts, activities, cooking with kids and for kids ideas....really fun website

http://familyfun.go.com/

A few of my favorite Homeschool Blogs:
for preschoolers:
http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/
for older kids:
http://www.upatdawnreadytowork.blogspot.com/


My sister-in-law Holly turned me on to this next recommendation.  It's a blog called Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  It is full of yummy, EASY, quick dinner recipes.  I have really enjoyed it, and so has my family!
http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/

This is a new website Randy has subscribed to and seems to enjoy.  It's called Familyman Ministries:
http://www.familymanweb.com/

FREE DOWNLOADABLE of Summer Fun Ideas for June
http://www.unitstudy.com/Summer_of_Fun_Calendar.html

IDEAS for FREE activities to do with your kids this summer!
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/05/your-guide-to-free-summer-fun.html

Cute FREE DOWNLOADABLE Summer Reading Chart from theCraftyClassroom.com
http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/files/CraftPrintables/SummerReading.pdf

Cute FREE DOWNLOADABLE of 30 Days of Summer Fun.  Great and Simple Family Fun Ideas.
http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2011/05/summer-activity-board-sew-dang-cute.html

Cute and Fun Summer Crafts
http://thelongthread.com/?p=4054

Hope you enjoy checking out these sites and planning your summer fun!  It's cool to see how much you can do and how little you have to spend.  The main cost to these activities is TIME and the main benefit is MEMORIES.  I would LOVE for you to tell me some of your favorite idea spots.....LOVE IDEAS!

Happy Summer Break!!!!
Kim

Desires

Well....if you follow my blog you had a chance to see how we spent last week.  We stayed in a gorgeous ocean front home with a baby pool, big pool, hot tubs, fountains, 7 bedrooms, custom showers with 5 jets, pool table.....etc.

IT WAS NICE and IT WAS FREE for us!  Randy's parents very generously provided us with this all expense paid DREAM getaway.  If Randy and I were paying we would be camping out in our tent next door :).

So.....It was truly wonderful!  It was totally generous!  It was tremendously appreciated.  AHHHH.....and then the week ended.   We came home.  Picked up our dog.  Dumped out our suitcases.  Picked up the mail and Monday came WAY TOO FAST!

Vacation was over and it was back to real life....and while I certainly would not mind living a lavish life all the time I did get to thinking about my Desires.  What do I Desire?  To be rich....to have stuff.....to be "happy"....for life to be easy?

This has been tumbling around in my brain all week and then this morning I had a few quiet moments and I read a prayer from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

Desires
O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER,
Teach me to pray.
I confess that in religious exercises
            the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart
                  have not always agreed,
     that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue
            a name never pronounced above
                   without reverence and humility,
     that I have often desired things which would have injured me,
     that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies,
     that I have erred both on the side of my hopes
            and also of my fears,
     that I am unfit to choose for myself,
            for it is not in me to direct my steps.

Let thy Spirit help my infirmities,
     for I know not what to pray for as I ought.
Let him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask right things,
     then I shall know thou hearest me.
May I never be importunate for temporal blessings
     but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,
     for thou knowest what I need before I ask;
May I never think I prosper unless my soul prospers,
     or that I am rich unless rich toward thee,
     or that I am wise unless wise unto salvation.
May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.
May I value things in relation to eternity.
May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude.
May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing,
      rather than be successful in enterprise,
            or have more than my heart can wish,
            or be admired by my fellow-men,
                  if thereby these things make me forget thee.
May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexation of spirit,
       and desire to depart from it.
And may I seek my happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.

AMEN

So let me first say: NOTHING IS WRONG with being rich and having stuff.
Next-This is about what the Lord is teaching my heart....I am NOT preaching!
Also....I know nothing is wrong with enjoying the finer things of life....enjoy I do......However I must be ever mindful of my heart and it's deceit and it's desires.
Finally-about this prayer: I want this.  At least I want to want this!

Happy Thursday!
Kim
          

Randy Man

Well I obviously couldn't let the day get away without posting about my love....RANDY!

I thought about telling our love story.  I thought about listing all the reasons I love him....I thought about posting about our day and how we celebrated.....but I decided

I would simply be the scribe for my Guest Bloggers today:

I interviewed the kids....and the subject was....DADDY.....each child was interviewed in private so they didn't hear each others answers....

Here are their unedited words about Daddy:

I asked THE BOY:  "What is your best memory with Daddy?"
He said,  "The weekend we went to Charlotte to Nathan Smith's church and played secret church and then when we came home and he took just me to the Penguins game."


I also asked, "What is your favorite thing about Daddy?"
He said, "He plays Call of Duty with me."

I asked THE GIRL:  "What does Daddy do when he is not at work?"
She said, "He plays with me."

I also asked her "How would you describe Daddy to someone who didn't know him?"
She said, "I would tell them he is hyper and silly."

I asked TWINKIE BOY: "What is the best time you ever had with Daddy?"
He said, "Throwing snowballs at each other."

I also asked him:  "What is your favorite thing about Daddy?"
He said, "He plays with me a lot"

I asked TWINKIE GIRL: "Who is Daddy's Best Friend?"
She said, "SHAY!" (I thought she would say me!)

I also asked her, "How would you describe Daddy?"
She said, "He has short hair.  He is white. He is handsome and he acts nice."

I asked THE BABY:  "What does Daddy liked to eat?"
She said, "roast beef, mashed potatoes, he likes drinking lemonade, and eating broccoli....He likes ALL HEALTHY FOOD!"

I also asked her, "What is your favorite thing about Daddy?"
She said, "He plays puppy dogs with me."

Happy Birthday Randy!

I love you so much! 

I love your character.  I love your sense of humor.  I love the Dad you our to our kids.  I love that you sacrifice for us.  I love the way you love us.  I love how smart you are.  I love sharing life with you!

This is supposed to say 36 :)

Love,

Kim

Picture Day at the Beach

So tonight we had pictures on the beach.....it was quite the undertaking.....but the photographer got some really great shots and all in all it went really well.....although by the end of the night....TWINKIE BOY was D.O.N.E.

We were so excited about the pictures! Had to get the classic looking at the ocean back pose.

peek-a-boo

The Boys

The kids...getting them to all look and all smile was a JOB.

Twinkie Kisses!

THE BABY....she hasn't had a "professional" picture taken since her first birthday.  So we're very happy to have an updated shot of THE BABY!

The Stewart Clan

Grandkids!

The Fab Five (well 4 five year olds and 1 four year old)

Playtime!

The photographer got some great shots when we finally turned them loose to play!

Another fun day at the beach.....but our vacation is coming to an end :(

Another Day at the Beach!

Tuesday we had another beautiful day.  We started off with a nice little stroll looking for seashells.

Aunt "Chi-Chi" found a jelly fish:

Left to Right: Twinkie Boy, The Baby, The Girl, Twinkie Girl, Texas Cousin B and Texas Cousin G.

We found all sorts of pretty shells

Then we hung out around the house.

The little guys played several rounds of corn hole.

Great Grandma Halsey taught THE BOY to play firehouse Rummy and they watched some court TV together.  I think they both enjoyed their special time together.

Then the Big Boys: Cousin Ty, THE BOY, and "Texas G" went with Randy, Uncle Ryan, and Pepaw to a museum, to play laser tag, a ropes course, Bojangles, Go-Carts, and Ice Cream.

I unfortunately don't have pictures of their adventures....but I hear they had lots of fun!

While the boys were out: The Twinkies, The Girl, The Baby, Texas B, TL, Grammy, Aunt Rhonda, Aunt "Chi-Chi" and I went to the Boardwalk.

The kids rode motorcycles

and teacups

several times!

the "baby" pirate ship

The "real" boats

and the carousel...

The Baby ran to the dog, of course....and spent the ride barking and petting "Mindy".

She misses her pup!

The girl was the biggest in our crew and quite a help with the little ones.

We had a lot of fun

and Lots of Smiles

However.....we had to head home after just a bit because IT WAS HOOOOOOOOT!

So I treated all the kiddos to icies....YUM!

and we cranked the air....and headed back to the house.

I'm not going to lie:

I had a screaming, hitting, fussing...bunch of younguns in my van....and it was NOT the cousins....it was MINE!

They were hot and tired....so it was most definitely NAP TIME!

ALL the kids ended up napping except Twinkie Boy and The Girl.  They just rested.

After a break we had a swim and a yummy dinner.

Ruth made Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Peas, and Salad.....YUM

Then....

Pepaw took Ty to the park.  Randy went to work on a paper for school.  Andrew and Great Grandma Halsey and Aunt "Chi-Chi" chilled and played some cards.

And we....meaning: Grammy, Uncle Ryan, Uncle Barry, Aunt Rhonda, TL, Texas G, Texas B, The Girl, The Twinkies, The Baby, and I went back to the Boardwalk.

We had all day ride passes.

It was so much nicer in the evening.

We rode whales

and caterpillar's

and big, scary, swings

and of course more "real" boats

it was even more fun at night!

They definitely got their money's worth.....

I wish I had gotten more night time pictures....but when we went to the car I ended up leaving my camera....but they rode lots more rides and we stayed until 10:00 and watched the fireworks!  Then we headed back to the house.  Stopped at Krispy Kreme to get HOT donuts and finally made it home.  What a fun day we had....exhausting, hot, and long.....but definitely fun!
We promptly tucked the kids in and headed to bed.......and again listened to the ocean lull us to sleep.  Yes....I am definitely a beach girl!
I do LOVE the beach!!!!