Fasting day 3: Praying Like Daniel

It is my honor to be the mother of four amazing children....three of whom are old enough, with our guidance, but out of hearts motivated to obey and receive more from the Lord, to have entered into this fast in a very mature way! I am stunned (I think that's an IHOP word I picked up) by their commitment and their obedience.

Tonight we read Daniel 9 and talked about standing in the gap and repenting on behalf of a nation for its sin. We talked about breaking off generational sins in our family, also a form of "standing in the gap." They listed the sins that they see in our nation and our family and then prayed amazing prayers of repentance. I for one wept. I'm pretty sure God was moved. Already I see a change in the hearts of my children and an increased measure of the Holy Spirit on their prayers and in their hunger for the Word.

One thing we talked about tonight was that even while Daniel was still praying the angel Gabriel came to give an answer to his prayer. We were excited to think what activity there is among the angels even now as thousands of believers are praying prayers much like Daniel's for these 40 days!

I encourage you to pray Daniel 9:4-19 over our Nation and over your family in this season. Surely the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon us once again and turn our hearts toward Him.

The Fast Begins

I woke up today excited about fasting. I have never been excited about fasting. There, I said it... frankly, I have never been good at fasting. I feel grace for fasting for the first time in my life. It is like a kiss from God upon my heart today. This grace that seems to be like a tender cloud over my heart and mind this morning, says to me "Daughter I love you. I've seen your heart and I know your desire. Where you have lacked, I now come in with great grace to enable you to do what you long to do." Another thing this sense of fresh grace says to me is that this fast is incredibly important to God, and He wants me fully engaged body, mind, and spirit. How many times have we entered into fasting with our head alone, and our hearts far behind. I'm not saying the Lord doesn't honor those times of pure obedience, but I am quite grateful for the grace upon my heart as we enter this fast together.

This is my desire- to learn what it truly means to rend my heart before the Lord. I want my heart provoked to pursue Him with intensity. I want the affections of my heart to be changed. I want my heart to be set free from the entrapments that keep me far from Him, and lead me into sin.

(I recommend checking out this reading schedule that our dear friends Randy and Kelsey have put out there to provoke us as we fast together.)

Blogging During the Fast

The Fast starts tomorrow.
I will be blogging only as the Lord directs during this fast, and sharing insights that I feel might be beneficial to share with you all.
I will not deprive you of family photos, but will mostly like just post those once a week!

Blessings to you all,
Tracie

He Did It Folks!

Really, He did it!
And that's all I'm sayin!

Will You also pray for Keylor

Keylor is 2 and her momma reads my blog. Could you join in prayer for Keylor, she has contracted Lyme Disease and really needs prayer!

Please Continue to Pray

For my Aunt Lois... She is in a lot of pain and has broken two more ribs. This will require surgery again. In addition, it appears that her body is not responding to chemotherapy well.
The family needs much strength and comfort from the Lord! Please ask that God will do what only He can do and bring about a total creative miracle in Aunt Lois' body.

thanks

Join in the Fasting Fun

Check out this!

The title "Fasting Fun" isn't mean to be irreverent regarding the fast, but rather to show excitement about all that God has for us in this fast.

Sobering, yes! But full of eager anticipation for MORE REVELATION from the Lord, MORE OF HIS HEARTBEAT, and completely less of me and my selfish meanderings.

Cuter than Words

That's her wink! She's very good at it!


A Joy and A Delight! Yes, she is.


She's Smilin' a lot these days and so are we!

Stuff We Do: Part 4

Elia and I work for the Children's Equipping Center. She works as hard as she can, but I still have to do the bulk of the labor. She does brighten up staff meetings and makes our "office" (most times the couch) awful cute though!

I got involved with CEC shortly this winter mostly because the kids were involved on the Sunday morning worship team, and I wanted to be where they were. So, one thing let to another and now I serve as Director of Communications for CEC, writing newsletter, flyers, handling website edits (a new one for me!), and teaching on the Sunday Morning 6-12 year old team. We also serve at conferences helping the children's tracks.

This summer we will be heavily involved in the Signs and Wonders Camps. We have one here in Kansas City, June 10-14 and will be traveling to do another in Colorado June 18-21. We are really believing the Lord to pour out His spirit on his sons and daughters!

The Only Thing Sadder...

...than a "sick TayTay" is a "sick TayTay who can't touch LiLi for an entire day!"

(Taylor was sick with the stomach bug yesterday, and was so sad that he couldn't play with Elia)

Taylor and Elia

As promised here comes the second tear jerker on my kids and their relationship with Elia. Tissues in hand, ready begin!

Taylor is 11. He is tender, caring, and quiet. He is a deep thinker, and sees life as very black and white. He was the first to dare to mention Elia's skin color from the first posting of pictures on the blog after her birth. He said to me on the phone, "Mom, she's really white!" (for clarification, we had been told Elia was bi-racial prior to her birth)

When we got Elia home, Taylor commented, "Mom, I just love to look at her. She doesn't even have to do anything, I just love looking at her!"

Taylor is one of the first to tune in if Elia needs something. He perks up at the tiniest cry, and moves in to the rescue! He does not like it when she is upset. When she was struggling with reflux and had some really bad spells that took her breath away, he was not a happy boy!

Taylor loves gazing times with Elia, we all do! But because Taylor's personality is generally quite and pensive, he seems to relish these eye to eye moments in a special way. Although Taylor is not into messy diapers and spit up, he is keenly aware of Elia's heart and it blesses me to look ahead to the day when she will realize what an amazing big brother she has. I picture someday in the midst of a busy day, Taylor stopping to stoop down to his little sister and notice that her heart is in need of compassion. I see him as one who will be able to quietly love her when she wonders about her birth and the reasons that she was placed in our family. I see him with eyes of compassion, listening to her questions, and then with few but important words telling her, "Elia, I love you!" I know without a doubt that Taylor will always gaze into Elia's spirit and nurture her with kindness. That's who he is and I love him for that!

Elia loves you so much Taylor. I can see it her eyes, just as I see your love for her in your own beautiful blue eyes!

Fasting 101 for Kids

When talking about the upcoming fast with our kids on Sunday afternoon, John used this analogy that I thought was so good in explaining fasting to kids!

If you have a shelf full of good books that you’ve read and enjoyed over the years, but you want to buy new books and have no room on the bookshelf for the new ones, you have to pull some of the old books off the shelf in order to make room for new ones. In our little analogy, the new books represent “fresh revelation”- things we haven’t heard from God before. And if we are so “full” of other things, there is no room for more of Him. When we fast we are symbolically making more room in our hearts for the Lord. Sometimes those old books need to be completely eliminated, and sometimes we just store them for a season.

When we fast from things like entertainment (TV, Video Games, Movie, Internet, etc). We are setting aside something that can take up huge amounts of time, but additional can dull our hearts from hearing God’s voice. Sometimes at the end of a fast, we have lost our desire for those things. Sometimes we allow them back in an appropriate measure.

When we fast from things like food (for kids, perhaps sugared foods, junk food, soda, etc; possibly even a Daniel fast for some), we are saying, “God we are hungry for you, nothing satisfies like you.” The pangs of hunger, the cravings for the foods that can comfort or even “entertain” us, remind us to turn our hunger towards the Lord and ask Him to make our longings be for Him alone.

Saturday Fun

We had a lovely evening with the Nielsen Family on Saturday! We attended the same Intro to IHOP internship with this terrific family, but FINALLY had them over for a picnic! It was a long time coming, and we had a great time sharing stories and getting to know them better!

The younger kids had fun in the tree house most of the night! And Zach and Nick hung out playing music in the basement for part of the evening!




One Loux and Three Nielsen's in a Tree!


Full affect! John Loux has been in the tree once and won't go up again.
John Nielsen took a trip up and thinks he and Cheryl might need their own tree fort!


Zack Nielsen feeding Elia. It's funny how all Nick's friends here are 'big brothers' and love to hold Elia! Zack had never had the opportunity to "bottle feed" any of his siblings, so this was kind of fun for him.

Calling America to Fast

Lou Engle recently issued a call to 40 days of fasting
We have set this week aside to ask the Lord for specifics on how AS A FAMILY we can participate in this fast. I urge you to do the same. I'm asking the Lord during this week to ignite my children's heart to embrace the urgency of this fast and to willingly step into it.

In the Children's Equipping Center this morning, we encouraged the children there to embrace the Daniel Lifestyle and ask God how he would have them participate in this fast. The spirit of this age is wooing children from all walks of life through media and entertainment. We want to raise up a generation who declares that there is ONE THING NEEDED and only ONE THING that will satisfy- A generation that will truly say "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere!"

Quick Update on Aunt Lois

I talked to my mom yesterday and she relayed that Aunt Lois was permitted to go home to Bentonville for a two day visit and rest in her own home! She will continue with chemotherapy when she returns for treatment in Little Rock. She has been able to stay at a hotel across from the hospital that is for patients receiving treatment there.

We continue to believe for TOTAL HEALING!
We ask that you would all pray against the "spirit of cancer", that it would be removed completely from her body. Also that she would continue to have strong faith and peace in the midst of what is seen and heard in the natural. Pray that there would be no fear in her heart or the hearts of the family. Pray that the truth of who God is and what He wants to do in her body would strengthen her daily and truly bring "nourishment to her bones".

Thank you for praying and for asking for these updates!

Stuff We Do: Part 3

Isabelle Dances:
Isabelle is part of a dance team that ministers in the House of Prayer twice a week. The team is led by Joy and Lauren, who both have such a heart for training up the young girls to minister to the Lord in dance. I'm so grateful that IHOP makes room for children to operate in their giftings and that women like Joy and Lauren are willing sow into their lives in such a beautiful way!

Nick and Elia

Each of the kids is developing a special bond with Elia. This post will focus on Nick and Elia, other posts to follow on Taylor and Isabelle:

Nick is almost 15. I think he's an amazing kid! In addition to being one of the most creative people I know, Nick is also strong, kind, and very compassionate. I love this kid! What blows me away is his attentiveness to Elia. He stops everything to spend time with her. He has quickly become one of Elia's favorite people. He can make her smile in a second, and he knows her little quirks so well. He's the best in the family at burping her; sometimes even I resort to passing her off to him so she can get out a good belch!

Yesterday I was blessed beyond what mere words can express to you right now. Nick sat in the chair (above) holding Elia and proceeded to tell her all of the fun stuff they would do together in the years to come. It kind of wrecked my heart, because I really can picture it. Big brother, age 18, comes in the door and little Elia, age 3, runs to greet him. He scoops her up in his arms and says, "Hey LiLi, let's go get an ice cream cone!" Big brother, age 21 shows up at the house for a Christmas visit and LiLi, age 6 greets him at the door with a plate of yummy cookies she has made just for him. He grabs a cookie, wrestles her to the floor, and says, "Come on kiddo, let's go Christmas shopping!"

I love this gift we've been given. This little girl has touched us all in big ways, and today I'm blessed by the way she has touched Nick's heart! I love that after her bath this morning, my almost 15 year old kid gets all googly-eyed, puts down his breakfast, wraps his arms around his sister, and kisses her clean, fuzzy little head and says, "Oooooo, I love you LiLi."

I love you Nick and Elia loves you too!

The Kansas City Zoo

Isabelle and Justin


My favorite exhibit!








The Kansas City Zoo goes on for MILES AND MILES! I'm not kidding, it really does. My feet still hurt from our trip there on Saturday! But we had loads of fun! It was a gorgeous day and the kids had a ball. That makes for a happy Mom!

Aunt Tara and Justin with Elia

We had a wonderful visit with my sister and her son Justin! It was sad taking them to the airport this morning! We are so grateful to have our family time in Michigan to look forward to in about 6 weeks! Makes saying Good Bye a little easier this time!

The Tunnel at Longview Lake

This is a tunnel at Longview Lake where we had a nice walk Friday evening. Photograph by Nick Loux, who was having fun hanging upside down over the top of the tunnel to take pictures! (I had to rotate this one 180 degrees before posting it!) After leaving the area, all of the kids decided to join Nick above the tunnel. Cousin Justin wanted to get a photo with his camera too, but within minutes was screaming very loudly and running in circles on the road! About as quickly as that, everyone spotted the very large garden snake slithering up Nick's leg very close to entering the "tunnel of Nick's shorts!"



This is a self-portrait Nick took after the incident!

Happy May 13th!

Every so often my Dad's birthday and Mother's Day fall on the same day! This year is one of those years! I love my mom and dad. They have been an amazing example to me of the faithful love of God. And they are amazing Grandparents!
I love you Mom and Dad! Happy May 13th! We miss you!

Me and My Sis

My sister Tara on the left and ME, yes I got my hair cut. Every bit of it!

Trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead

With Cousin Justin here visiting from Pennsylvania, we had to find some fun things to do! The Deanna Rose Farmstead was a big hit! Watch the kids blogs for some of their favorite shots!

Li Li's First Birthday Party

LiLi (yes, she's been nic-named folks! Pronounced LeeLee) attended her first birthday party on Wednesday night! Her cousin Michaela (KK), turned SEVEN! Happy Birthday KK!

Think on This!

Some thoughts just stick in the brain and seem to go deeper the longer one contemplates, this is one:

"We make intercession for our children every day. Sometimes, it's on our knees. Other times, it's with our hands or time. All of it counts in shaping them into the children of God who will walk in His plan for their lives." Randy Bohlender
5/8/07 Post

Stuff We Do

I DO LAUNDRY: I told you I'd enlighten you to in's and out's of our lives here at IHOP. So, I DO LAUNDRY! Don't laugh please, for a family of 6 that is a major part of my week. The real reason I decided to post this little bit of information today is because at this very moment, there is ABSOLUTELY NO DIRTY CLOTHING in my house. That will only remain true for about 30 seconds, and most likely by the time I hit "publish", this will be a complete lie.

This rarely happens, and I am quite pleased!

Elia Is Two Months Old

Hard to believe it, but our little lady is two months old (as of yesterday!)
She's smiling A LOT, trying to hold her little head up, and sleeping much better at night. My sister Tara and my nephew Justin are arriving today to see her for the first time. We are so excited!!

Bohlender is BACK

Randy Bohlender has resumed his blog.

Opinions?

Not sure i like it, what about you?

FMA Semester Ends

The first semester of FMA (Forerunner Music Academy)is coming to a close! Today John and the other guitar instructors are holding juries for all their students. Kind of like final exams on their instruments where they have to demonstrate proficiency is basic skills. I won't begin to pretend I know what's involved!

The semester has been very good! John has enjoyed teaching so much and the students are an amazing group of young people! John taught a Guitar Foundations course and gave private instruction to five of the guitar students this semester. He will be teaching Foundations again this summer, and it looks like in the fall he'll teaching Guitar Foundations I and Guitar Foundations II.

Stuff We Do....

I want to do a few posts that will highlight some of the "Stuff We Do" here at IHOP on the Missions Base.

Here She is Folks

Elia will be two months old in just two days! It's so hard to believe! For the record she is smiling alot now, trying to hold her head up though she still is a bit of a "bobbly head" as her brother calls her!

Thanks for all the fun comments the past few days!

Keep 'Em Comin'

See below! I love it! Your rewarding my curiosity quite nicely. And you'll all be rewarded with some lovely baby pictures shortly!

So Really I'm Just Curious!

I know people look at this blog based on the meter that keeps track of how many people stop by here in a day. I'm pretty sure it's not just my dad looking 10x a day for new baby pictures, but maybe it's just him!

So here's what I ask. Comment on this one post! For you who are new at commenting:
1. Click where it says "comments" then type your name, tell me who you are if you want and what makes you read this blog if you feel like it!
2.Then go down and click on the anonymous button if you aren't a blogger!

That's all ya gotta do folks!

I'm frankly just one of those nosey, curious individuals that just needs to know stuff, so I want to know WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE who read this and WHY!

saturday photos

should be back... i hope!

It Was a Long Day

And this was a nice way to end it. For both Daddy and Elia!

very strange

Some of you can see the photos of our Saturday and some of you cannot. I have no idea why! sorry! I could see them earlier today, but now I can't! I give up!