My Camera Needs Prayer

For real, I want to keep those pictures coming and my camera is apparently on its last leg. It now captures a lovely (or not so lovely) rainbow striped pattern across my pictures! So be patient until the Lord provides a new camera or pray that I can figure out what's wrong with it!

$142.51 on Ebay

You've got to check out this FOR SALE on ebay.

(Thanks for sharing this Jenny!)

My Very Own Odd Couple

You remember Felix and Oscar right?
Well I've got my very own ODD COUPLE right in my house.

Set the stage- Taylor goes to his room to make his bed and pick up his side of the room.
Here's the quote of the morning, heard loudly throughout the whole house:

"I've seen some dirty things in my life, but this is unspeakable."

REFERENCE: Nick's "side" of the bedroom, strewn with paper, clothing, video props, etc.

Art Class is Fun... especially for me!

Even for the teacher. Today I had Elementary Art at the Daniel Academy, grades 1-6, grouped in 2's (1/2, 3/4, and 5/6). All in all a super fun time for all I do believe!

But here's the coolest point about teaching... the stuff you get to learn from the kids. We were discussing PATTERN as an Element of Design in the 3/4th class today. We were giving examples of patterns and looking for them in each others clothing. I mentioned that patterns are commonly seen in curtains, bedspreads, rugs, pillows, etc (things around our house). And one delightful young 4th grader said, "Yeah and on my dad's flowered boxers! My mom got them for him for Christmas."

See, it's way more fun being a teacher than a student! I get to hear all kinds of wonderful tid bits about parents. (I won't divulge the owner of the flowered boxers, but I think that just maybe the fine lady that purchased them might read this blog.)

Tuesday's at the Daniel Academy

Today was Prayer Room day! YIPPEE! We start out our Tuesdays with an all-school assembly. This morning we gathered at the Daniel Academy for worship and chapel. Bob Fraser spoke to the 5th-12th grade and Shelley Hundley spoke to the K-4th grade. Both spoke on living like Daniel. I was able to sit in on Shelley's session and she shared about being friends of God like Daniel. She had a captive audience for sure! Red hair and all!

After our chapel service we all trekked over to The Justice Prayer Room for our intercession set. 160 students plus a bunch of moms and dads piled in to the JPR and prayed for the schools across Kansas City including THE DANIEL ACADEMY. There was serious weight on the prayers of those kids today! And a special thanks goes out to the JPR for accommodating us so graciously- we certainly did pack the place out!

Daddy's in the Prayer Room

And Elia was totally engaged watching the 8PM intercession set on the webcast, praying for the peace of Jerusalem! (John is subbing tonight for Steve Offutt on Luke Wood's team.)

First Day of School

Today was it! The first day of school for our kids, and the first day THE DANIEL ACADEMY opened its doors. I am thinking this day is beyond momentous... in all actuality, I don't think any of us involved really knows the magnitude of what we've just stepped into.
Our kids gather three times a day for prayer and they really mean it. For real, these kids are serious about prayer. I had the honor of being with them for two of those three prayer meetings today. This morning some amazing high school students stepped up to the plate as true leaders, welcoming their younger classmates to school and showing them to their rooms, and then led in prayer, consecrating this school to the Lord. It was cool to have Bob Hartley and Lou Engle pray over the kids of course, but hearing the hearts of these young Daniel's cry out for the Lord to break in with His love, His power, and with a spirit of wisdom was by far the coolest!

The kids had lots to say tonight! Great classes, amazing teachers, and marvelous comrades! Words were flowing freely!

As for John and I, we both taught our first Daniel Academy classes today! I had 31 students in my JR HI ART class! WOW! Lots of energy and lots of fun! I peeked in on John's SR HI GUITAR elective and it was overflowing! We had a quick "meeting of the minds" and I decided to offer a SR HI ART elective at the last minute. I confiscated about 7 kids from John's massive class and hopefully it will be more manageable for him. Cool for me because I'm really excited to have a SR HI elective too!

John teaches a JR HI elective on Thursdays in addition to the two classes that he is teaching at Forerunner Music Academy (FMA). And I teach 3 elementary on Thursdays (1/2, 3/4, and 5/6)!

And lest we forget Elia Jane, she was at school today too, and was enjoyed by all the helping mom's while I was teaching! Here's a current favorite photo of mine!

Aunt Lois Update

Some of you have asked how Aunt Lois is doing so here is a brief update. She has been able to spend some time at home in Fayetteville with family and left for Little Rock yesterday. She is returning to the cancer treatment center there to receive another round of testing and treatment. It is a very intense process and can be quite painful. Please pray for a spirit of peace to rest on her and for protection from pain and unpleasant side affects.
PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT ALL FEAR!!!

(for new readers, my Aunt Lois has been receiving treatment for Multiple Myloma, a form of cancer that affects the bones and the blood)

I'm not good at being sick....

I never have been. It's hard for me to stop moving and just rest, but that's what I'm supposed to do today. So to compromised, I have stayed home today at least.

I got up at 7AM and cleaned my living area (you know the kind of cleaning you do when you know people are only going to see the main area of your house), then at 11AM we had a home visit with our caseworker as part of our adoption process. That went really well by the way!

I needed to have a meeting on an upcoming newsletter that I'm working on for the Children's Equipping Center, but I did at least manage to have that meeting on my couch instead of at IHOP.

I ran Nick to the JPR (Justice Prayer Room) to play drums at the 4PM set and now I'm home to finally rest. The pillows are waiting for me on the couch, now I just have to talk my head into resting! Let's hope Elia thinks this is a good time for a nap too!

Heat Index

You know I never did understand the concept of a heat index... our local weather has a severe weather alert listed due to the heat. The temperatures expected to be at 100 degrees today ... but then they add this HEAT INDEX warning. It goes something like this, "THESE HOT TEMPERATURES WILL COMBINE WITH MODERATE LEVELS OF HUMIDITY..TO RESULT IN AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 110 DEGREES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER READINGS POSSIBLE OVER NORTHWEST MISSOURI." (for the record I think that we've been under this same advisory for about a week) For my northern family and friends, it's much like, but quite the opposite of our WIND CHILL FACTOR warning we get in Pennsylvania every January through March! You know the one that says, "Don't go outside for extended periods of time!"

So if it's going to feel like 105-110 degrees then why don't they just say it!

Anyway, here's one of the things my kids did to cope w/ the heat last week. Actually about all you can really do is stay inside! But this provided temporary relief to being trapped indoors!

Elia Teething on Nick's Head

Elia Jane has her first tooth!

Several things have happened in the life of Elia Jane.
1. She has cut her first tooth and is quite please with all the praise and attention that has been showered upon her because of it.
2. She is eating solids and very pleased with this new adventure. She kicks her legs and shakes between bites. And makes frequent squeals of pleasure or displeasure depending on how quick I am at shoveling it in.
3. She has been loaned a lovely play set (pictured) from her little friends Anna and Jeremiah Hall. She is very grateful! You'd think heaven came down to earth. She is truly delighted!

Oh, and if you can make out the tiny red cherries on her new outfit from Nana, they are quite a source of joy as well. She has been trying to figure out all day how to eat them!

Growing in the Prophetic Conference

I taught on Thursday morning on the Gift of Prophecy from I Cor 12 and 13. The focus of the teaching was two fold... first, that the Lord wants us to "eagerly desire the gift of prophecy", and secondly that without LOVE as the motivation for using our gift, it means nothing to God. We had a time of prayer asking God to pour out His gifta on the children, especially the gift of prophecy. At the close, as the kids prayed, they asked the Lord to show a picture of the gift He desired to give to them. This is some of the prophetic artwork that flowed as the children received from the Lord during the conference.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Today is my mom's birthday! My mom is an amazing encouragement in my life. She has always been one to remind me of the truth of God's Word when my faith begins to waiver. She has been a constant example of steadiness in her pursuit of the Father. She has continued to seek to have greater understanding of the knowledge of God. I have seen my mom walk through valleys and mountain tops and remain faithful to her pursuit of God, and I have seen the Lord reward her with a steady flow from His streams of Living Water.

I am grateful today for a mom who let me paint on freezer paper taped to the fridge and even on the picture window at Christmas time, helped me create costumes so I could do plays on the picnic table stage, taught me to enjoy creating (or making messes) in the kitchen, went on many wildflower picking walks with me, and who came to my 2nd grade classroom to make homemade tortillas for my entire class. I'm grateful that my mom committed herself to her family and set aside her career to make our house a home! And I'm grateful for a mom who was patient with this once teenage girl during the years that I didn't always show my appreciation and love as much as I should have!


I pray for my mom today on her birthday this one thing- that her "joy may be full."

Five Months Old

This is the yummy face that greets me every morning. For real, she is always this smiley and happy when she wakes up. What a way to start the day- better than Frosted Flakes!



And she's getting SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO big! Today is her 5 month birthday! Yippee Elia! She's rolling over, grabbing anything she can manage to get her hands on, and sitting with support. She has a fantastic laugh, brought on most often by her wild and crazy siblings! They crack her up. Oh, and she's teething. Happy Day Elia!

Painting Spree Photos

Well here it is as best as my cheapo camera can show. Living Room is "Sumatra Blend" (I know the name sold me); Dining Room is "Vineyard Green", and Kitchen is Cider Toddy (not quite as bright as this photo shows, more 'fresh baked pumpkin pie' feel).

Praying for furniture to fill that Dining Room! :)

I Didn't Run Away!

Really I'm still here. I've just been a little preoccupied with life! I decided to paint my living room, dining room, and kitchen. When you start one room, the others just look bad, so I had to do all three since they're connected! Then the hallway/foyer started calling out, "hey what about me?" So John and I attacked that this weekend (still needs another coat, but I ran out of paint- I think we were painting over primer!)

Today starts GBF (The Global Bridegroom Fast). I'm trying to wrap my head and my heart around it and really ask the Lord to speak to me. For those of you not familiar with GBF, as a missions base we set aside the first Mon-Wed. of each month to fast. I haven't been real good at this, but after the 40 day fast, I'm asking the Lord to change me and help me really embrace it at a heart level. Perhaps harder than fasting food, is the setting aside of unnecessary activity (meetings, planning, work etc) to really tune into what the Lord is saying. God, give me grace to lay low and listen to you these next days.

Photos of my painting to come... if they turn out. Photographing interiors is so hard!