Saturday, May 3, 2008

Recent pics and Ethan's birthday party

Today we went to Ethan Pott's 3rd birthday party and as you know it was about 60 degrees, wind blowing and they still played on the slip and slide. I didn't know we would be in the water so Brayden didn't have a swim suit. Do you think that stopped him????
Ethan opening gifts

Ellie, Mari-Morgan and Karis swinging

Brayden satisfied on the slide with his balloon

The gang collecting bugs

The birthday boy Ethan "Batman"

Karis with the kittens we found under our shed this weekend

Brayden playing basketball

Karis teaching her brother how to climb out

Brayden got these new flip-flops on Friday (the first ones we have found to fit him). After he put them on, I said, "Brayden let me see your new shoes," and he replied, "I koot!" (I cute)

Joy in Christ

Wow what a beautiful day today! As the kids are napping, my house is clean and chores finished, laundry caught up, and no tv :), I have just enjoyed such a sweet time with the Lord. My heart grins at all that the Lord has done within me. I have truly experienced joy in Christ. Here is an excerpt from Experiencing God that I read a moment ago:

"Don't deny yourself that which is your birthright as a child of God. Don't be satisfied with a joyless life. There ought to be in every Christian a deep, settled fullness of the joy of Christ that no circumstance of life can dispel. This comes as you allow the Holy Spirit to express Himself in your life. One of the fruits of the spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22). This joy is unlike any happiness that is produced by the world. It fills you and permeates everything you do.

Jesus did not pray that you would merely be happy or even that you would escape grief. He prayed that you would have the same joy that the Father had given him: a divine joy, a joy that comes from a deep unwavering relationship with the Father. It is a joy that is grounded so firmly in a relationship with God that no change in circumstances could ever shake it. This is the kind of joy that Christ is praying will be in you."

Wednesday morning, Jay's grandad Pawpaw Lemonds had a biopsy taken of a spot they found on his lungs. We got a call yesterday from him that they had received the results from the biopsy. When Jay answered the phone, his pawpaw said something I will never forget. He replied (with a smile on his face I am sure) "Well the Lord has given me a free ticket to see Him!" In other words, the result is that it is cancer, the slow growing kind. We don't know much else; they go back to the doctor in Tupelo this week. However, I do know that his granddad has experienced TRUE JOY IN CHRIST. Like Pawpaw, I desire to be so rooted in Him that no "bad news" or circumstance could shake my joy in Him. How deep are your roots???

Friday, May 2, 2008

God is with us in the storm

Tonight as we were weathering the storms with everyone else, Jay and I were in the den working and Karis and Brayden were sitting in the kitchen eating dinner (rather informal at our house tonight) and we heard some sweet words coming from Karis. It was thundering pretty loudly for a few minutes and Brayden kept saying "train!" because he thought it was one I guess. Then we heard Karis say, "It's ok Brayden, it is just thunder and we don't have to be afraid of thunder. God is with us all the time right here in our hearts and He will keep us safe. It's ok, I will come and sit next to you so you won't be afraid. God and Jesus are with us to protect us." It was such precious words coming from a 3 year old. They DO listen to the things we teach them....beautiful!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Family blogs

Check out some of my families' blog sites at...

Jay (my husband)

Jonathan (my 18 yr. old brother)

Everything is Meaningless

I wanted to share something with you that the Lord shared with me this morning during my time with Him. As I was reading in Ecclesiastes, the theme of the whole book is that life is meaningless, useless, hollow, futile and vain if it is not rightly related to God. Only when based on God and his WORD is life worthwhile. I was reading specifically in chapter 2 which is titled, "Pleasures are Meaningless" and the Lord spoke to me about the "things" I fill my day with.

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all my hands had done and what I toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

What is the motivation behind the things that you will do today? Is it just routine or have you 1)thanked the Lord for allowing you to wake up this morning and 2)given the day over to Him to do as HE pleases? Have you denied yourself today so that you live in the spirit and not the flesh? Is your routine today "meaningless" or will it glorify the Lord? I desire to glorify the Lord today in all the things on my "to do" list and in my daily routines, how about you?

Monday, April 28, 2008

Laid to Rest

Yes, it is a sad day in the Lemonds' household...no more Duke ball, Andy Griffith or Dog Whisperer! We said goodbye today and Jay really wanted to have a ceremony...such a tragedy. We said goodbye to....DIRECTV!!!!

In all seriousness, Jay and I have decided to cut off our directv (and will be effective as of 12 midnight tonight) for multiple reasons. We have felt convicted for a long time about how wisely we spend our time. We have come to the conclusion that TV plays a bigger role than it should and honestly there is not one good thing about it. Although we don't watch anything "bad," TV (for us) is not good for several reasons:
1. It takes so much time away from quality family time. How much closer do you get to someone while both staring at the tube???
2. Instead of watching tv, what else could we accomplish? Read a book, take the kids to the park, exercise (much needed for both of us), memorize some scripture, etc. All are more beneficial than watching tv.
3. TV has so much influence of the world, and none of which has eternal impact. So technically it is just a waste of time.
4 Although this isn't the reason, it will save us $80 a month so that we can apply that to debt.
5. We want to teach our children that tv is not the only form of entertainment. I want my children to grow up playing outside, using their imagination, reading books, etc. and not thinking that you always have to sit and watch tv for fun. Cartoons all day can't do much for the brain cells! There are many biblical principles I am responsible for teaching my children and I want to be diligent in them. To teach my children to love the Lord and revere the WORD is my ultimate goal as a parent. I will be held accountable for these things.

We decided this a while back and decided to wait (per Jay's request) until the end of March Madness..haha. So we knew that coming back from Israel would be a good transition time and today was the day. In fact we haven't turned on the tv (except to check weather once or twice) since we returned. I will say that there is freedom in it. We have spent alot more time together and our relationships are better. And this is the goal for our family...that we all would glorify Christ in our lives and for now, this means sacrificing something that could be an idol.

"Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial." I Corinthians 6:12

By the way, we do not feel as if everyone should do this. It is our own personal convictions. However what in your life is PERMISSIBLE but not BENEFICIAL? Is it most beneficial to the kingdom or has it become an idol to you? Consider these things and allow the Lord to speak to you through His word.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Day at the Lake

Today our family went to Arkabutla Lake to enjoy the beautiful weather. The beach was flooded so we enjoyed the playgrounds instead. Here are a few pictures from our day...



Brayden received these balls from their Pap and Roxie...he is a happy man!

This is dad after he went geocaching with his GPS...

Karis hugging her doll she received from Pap and Roxie...


Dad and the kids playing hop-skotch


To see all the pictures, click here.