I Rejoice in Thy Salvation

On September 13, 2011 around 8:30 p.m. I had the privilege to kneel beside my daughter as she prayed for Jesus Christ to become her Lord and Savior.  She prayed a simple prayer repenting of her sin asking for God to make her white and clean on the inside.  I then prayed and thanked God for her asking that His beauty would be upon her.  I often pray for my children to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and might.  I want them to have a deep understanding of God's word and to understand the kind of relationship that God wants to have with them.  Romans 10:1 says "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation."  On September 6th I really started to pray that for people including Ellie.  I also began thanking God for saving them because I knew it was His will and I knew that He has already completed His work. 

I close with a verse from Hannah's song of thanksgiving.
"Then Hannah prayed and said, My heart exults in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Thy salvation."  Father, I rejoice in Thy salvation! Rejoice and praise God with Brandon and me for saving our daughter!!

The Kid Wash!!

Okay, I love summers now since I am a stay at home mom because I get to spend time with the kiddos and I don't have a set schedule to keep.  However, my children were born May, June, and July so the summers are full of birthdays for us.  We have tried having separate parties but we wear our friends out coming to parties all summer so I usually try to have one big party in the middle of the summer.  This year I had just decided to have kids over to swim and Eli had requested a visit from the firetruck.  Of course Eli saw Cars 2 last week and decided he wanted a Lightning  Mcqueen party at the last minute.  There ended up being Cars cupcakes, a fire truck, and swimming, UH wait no swimming... yeah the swimming, well, there would have been swimming except our pool turned out looking like a green swamp the day before the party.  So plan B went into effect.  Plan B is always fly by the seat of my pants and see what my brain dreams up at the last minute.  I had been on the internet one day and saw a cute idea of making a sprinkler thing out of PVC pipe and then saw an even better idea of a sprinkler that you could run through like a car wash.  So hence comes the "Kid Wash".  Of course I had showed it to Brandon weeks ago and said isn't this cool and all I got was a uh huh and he kept watching T.V.  but on the morning of the party I showed it to him and he said I could make that in 30 minutes. I said "So why don't ya get started, otherwise the kids are going to be really hot and really bored.  He went to the store got what he needed and in about 30 minutes the "KID WASH" was born.  Yay!! It turned out to be a hit, the kids had fun and they didn't have to swim in the green swamp.  Thanks to all our friends that came out to play and endure the hot day with us.  My kids have the party bug like Brandon and I do.  The Potts all love a good party and we all love to have a house full of guests.  So now the kids are all a year older... Ellie is 10, Ethan is 6 and Eli is 4.  We have enjoyed another summer and school will be starting back in a few weeks.  I'm sooo blessed to have this time with my kiddos because these birthdays keep coming, and mine keep coming too. Mama loves you, Ellie, Ethan and Eli. You will always be my babies!!

Eli "Firetruck" Potts

Eli is growing up.  He still loves anything with wheels and loves to ride his tractor, as a matter of fact one of his favorite things to do is "cut the grass" on his tractor while following his dad who is on the actual lawn mower.  He gets so nasty and covered with dirt that all you can see is his little eyes shining through the blanket of dust covering him (Mom gets to bathe him).  Being the baby he always seems to fall in line behind Ellie and Ethan and just go along with whatever they are doing but this summer he has gotten to be on his very own t-ball team with no help from big bro or big sis.  He has done better than I thought, at first I didn't think he would participate because I couldn't go out there with him, but he has done it with no problem except for one incident where he wanted a hot dog and refused to take his turn at bat until he got one (I stuck to my guns, he never got the hot dog, of course he never went to bat either).    Here in the past few days he has surprised me by learning to swim.  Last summer I could not get him off the ladder of the pool but this year I put his arm floaties on, put him in the center of the pool, and told him if he wanted me he had to swim to me.  After 15 minutes of screaming he finally did it and then two days later he is jumping off the side of the pool and going under water, go figure!!  A few weeks ago he told me that he has changed his name to "firetruck", I wonder why? His daddy kind of likes those big red trucks with the sirens too.  Oh and his favorite catch phrases these days are "is that cool?" and "how bout that!".  Just wanted to catch ya'll up on the baby, who will be 4 in just a few weeks.  I can't believe how time goes by so fast.

This little light of mine...

When I woke up this morning the song "This Little Light of Mine" was playing through my mind.  This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine...how many times did I sing this as a child?  Well in just a few days I will take my light to India.  I hate to be dramatic and I know that the trip will only be two weeks but I still find myself pondering over my life as I prepare and pack.  This isn't just a trip to me but it's being obedient to God and letting him chip a little bit more of "myself" away. You see I am not the adventurous type and my home is a comfort zone.  I like what I know and I tend to stay away from things that I don't know but that's not the definition of faith is it?  Faith is not knowing, not seeing, not touching, not being cautious but running as fast as you can, jumping without looking and falling into God's arms. 

I ask my family and friends that you will pray for lives to be touched.  Pray this 1Thessalonians 2:13 "that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is , the word of God , which also performs its work in you who believe."  My light that is shining is Jesus Christ.

Thankful!!!!

Yeah, I know it's April 3rd and my last blog was on January 1st. I'm on top of things!! Well it hasn't been boring around here at all. Brandon has changed jobs (answered prayer), we are going to INDIA in 20 days (another answered prayer), Ellie and Ethan are about to finish up a school year, Eli claims he is no longer a baby but a big boy:( and so on and so forth. I have entered that phase in my life where I am chaufering kiddos around to their different activities and my calendar is filled with guitar lessons, ball practice, birthday parties, school trips... fun times! I spend my days folding clothes, sweeping, and sneaking some time to dip my paint brush in a little paint (that is only after all children are delivered to the proper places). I can say that I am very content and thank God for this opportunity to be a full time mom. I'm thankful for a husband that bears the full load of providing for our family. The other day tears welled up in my eyes and I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was simply able to take Ethan's lunch box to school because he had left it in the back seat. That might seem silly but there was a day and time when I could not have done that, and I am just so thankful that I don't have to juggle too many hats like a lot of moms do. Can I say the word THANKFUL enough?! You know what else I'm thankful for... a smoke free husband. I have been praying for him to quit for, well, the whole time I have been with him (started dating him in 1996). He hasn't smoked in 2 months now. How did he do it, you ask? Well open your Bibles to James 5:16. All he did was confess his sin to our church small group then he was showered with prayer and scripture, God did the rest. AMAZING! ...His praise will be continually on my lips Ps. 34:1

Princess Mommy

I have to tell you that whenever Eli sees a picture of me in my wedding gown he calls me a princess. Tonight he grabs my face with his little hands and says I want to kiss you and then says "you're a princess". AWWW!! If he does that to a young lady in about 11 or 12 years its gonna be trouble... my little casanova.
I like to share these things because I don't want to forget plus I don't want Eli to forget that at one point in his life he thought his mommy was a princess.

2010 Recap

Let's see what has changed over the past year...
Eli definitely wins the award for the most changed in our family!! He began the year in diapers and now wears underwear. Potty training was a bumpy road for him but we are doing well now. He is also a lot more verbal now than at the beginning of 2010. He got a big boy haircut and he had his 3rd birthday in 2010.

Ethan has had a good year too. He was five in May so his big event in 2010 was starting kindergarten. He has begun to read a little. He has made new friends at school. This was also his first year to try his hand at athletics. He played T-ball (the Braves) and football (the Steelers) this year.

Ellie began 4th grade this year. She turned 9 years old and suddenly became too old for pink pretty princess things. Her main hobby this year was reading and she got her first library card. She got her first experience with babysitting the boys while I went for a walk on a road back behind the house. It was only about 20 or 30 minutes but it's good training. She has begun to cook a little (muffins, mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, canned soups, etc.) and she also has began to do some chores around the house. I'm most excited about her unloading the dishwasher.

Events that might sound trivial in the grand scheme of things are actually huge to us as a family or at least to mommy. I had the revelation in 2010 that I don't have any babies anymore just big kids. No more bottles, no more diapers, no more rocking just watching my kids grow up and experiencing life for themselves. Letting go of them one finger at a time so they can learn and be independent. I'm so glad we have a God whose name is Immanuel (God is with us). I know I have to let go one day but I take comfort in knowing that God never lets go!!! Happy New Year to everyone and I pray that 2011 is blessed.