40 Days of Prayer Update

I just wanted to take a moment and give an update on how my 40 days of praying is going. I've actually completed my first set. Today marks the start of another 40 days and another group of people to pray for. I have felt really good about praying for others in this way. Better yet I have managed to stick to this plan. My main goal has been to pray for God's blessings upon each person on my list. The best part is knowing that whether or not I can see (or hear of) how God is blessing them - I know without a doubt God is working in their lives. It's all bonus when I hear their stories of how they have been blessed...and stories I have heard!! Praise God. He is faithful and great.

Kaylin's Fish

Kaylin turned five recently and Daddy felt it was time for her to have a small fish tank. She has been wanting some fish for a very, very long time. The other night we had a delayed birthday celebration with Grandma and Granddad. They were in on our little bday surprise and bought Kaylin a small fish tank. She knew instantly what it was for when she opened it. Her excitement level grew all night. But it was a different kind of excitement. She was not bouncing off the walls as you might expect. It was more of the "I'm so excited I can't stop talking about this" kind of excitement. When we got back home she was in full "talk" mode. We had told her we would get the fish the next day and this is what followed (there's really no way I can accurately describe it though): Kaylin in pretty much her own words: "We're going to go get some fish tomorrow, right? I'll remind Daddy in the morning. Yes, I'll remind Daddy in the morning. Make sure you remind Daddy in the morning. Are we going to church first? When we're done with church then we can get the fish. I'll remind Daddy. Will it be afternoon when church is over. Is that because church takes so long. And then we'll get the fish, right? Tomorrow. In the afternoon? Make sure you remind Daddy in the morning." This went on for about 30 minutes. It was way past her bedtime. We didn't think she would fall asleep she was so excited. I'd say: "You've got to go to bed." She'd respond. "Yeah - and then I'll wake up and we can go get our fish. Make sure you remind Daddy." It was really the funniest thing to watch (or in this case listen to).

To finish out the story - we did get her some fish as promised. She has been thrilled with them ever since. Unfortunately, they haven't been doing very well. They wouldn't eat at all. We lost the first yesterday morning. She semi-cried and was sad for about 5 minutes before declaring "It's OK. We can get a new one." The others have pretty much followed suit. Now - I guess it's time for plan B.

Oh - this is funny too. You know how kids beg their parents for a cat or a dog (or some other pet)? Parents have a tendency to say things like "A pet's a lot of work. Who's going to take care of it?" Then the kid appropriately responds. "I'll do all the work, I promise." Well the other night it struck me funny that Kaylin did that very same thing (and she's only five). We were talking about getting her fish the next day and she declared "I can take care of them all by myself." (She even put her hand on her chest for extra affect.) And then right after she made that declaration she said: "Yeah - Daddy and I can take care of them." Hmmm? Methinks she doesn't fully comprehend the meaning of the phrase "all by myself".

Bonus Kaylinism: Sometimes when Kaylin asks us for somthing we say "I'll think about it." The other day she responded by saying "Okay, you think about it in your brain."

Another trip to the "Beauty Shop"

Well - you know - I hesitated. It's not the most flattering picture of me but...words cannot do my experiences at Kaylin's beauty shop justice. So - here I am - ready for the "ball" as my little hair dresser puts it.

(I might need a new gown to go with the hair - but what color gown? Hmm, I guess just about any color will work.)

Kaylin Turns Five

The requested Princess Cake - (curtesy of Aunt Connie). It turned out very cute!

You can't tell in the picture - but I'll tell you for the record - the balloon you can't see is a Disney Princesses balloon. She was very excited when she saw it.

Ahhh! - That's my baby girl! She's so sweet!

How old are you? "I'm Five!"

"Blow" Her new most favorite pajamas - excuse me - nightgown ever!

Every Princess needs a pretty pair of high heel shoes.

How do I look?

My little girl is growing up - both in age and height. I measured Kaylin this morning. She has grown 2 1/2 inches since last year at this time. How does that happen right in front of me?

I love you Sweet Pea!

40 Days

If any of you are like me - praying consistently for others is a hard task to accomplish. It's not that I don't want to do it or that I don't have time to do it. I simply am not disciplined enough. It truly bothers me to know that family and friends need and want prayers lifted to God on their behalf and yet I continually fail them. I believe with all my heart that God wants us to pray for people - to be an intercessor. There are many things (circumstances, people's hearts) that I have no control over. But I know the One who does. I believe strongly that there is definite power in prayer. James 5:16 says: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." So why is it that I can't seem to get a grip on this incredible avenue of change and blessing that God has given us? I don't know the answer to that question and frankly all I can do is move forward and not give up. I have a desire to be the prayer-er that I believe God wants me to be.

So - I have come up with a new prayer strategy for myself. You may have noticed that there is great significance given to the number 40 in the Bible. I am taking that important number and applying it to my prayer life. I have determined to dedicate myself to praying for a specific list of people for 40 days without fail. And I look forward to watching the results.

1 John 5:14-15 says this: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him. This verse has often stumped me. But as I look at it again I go back to the "according to His will" part. What do I really know about God's will? Well - I know that He loves people, I know He wants to bless people, I know that He wants everyone to be with Him in Heaven, I know that He wants us to draw closer to Him, and I know that He wants us to take the fruit of the Spirit and be fruitful. So with that knowledge and understanding, I have begun praying for my list of loved ones with confidence in this way: I pray for God to bless their lives in the manner in which He chooses (not what I think they need but what He knows they need), I pray for their relationship with God to grow (at whatever level of relationship they have with God from non-existent to strong Christian - the relationship can always grow) and I pray for a hedge of protection around them. These are things I truly believe God wants - so therefore - are "according to His will". Then I know that I will have what I have asked of Him.

Maybe you have your own prayer system that works for you. If not, maybe this will be an encouragement for you to try this approach or rededicate yourself in your own prayer life. The more dedicated we are in prayer - the more Godly changes can and will occur through us and around us. When my first 40 days is over - I already have a waiting list of names for my next 40 days. I am excited about seeing the results of my rededication to prayer.

Kaylinisms V

Hi there - it's been awhile since I last blogged. I thought this would be a good time for me to inject some more of Kaylin's funny sayings.

Instead of saying pinata like it's suppose to be (like pin-yata) she actually says pin-nata.

When she gets tired of doing something like walking, playing, or working she says she's tired - only instead of using the word "tired" she says "dizzy". For example - she'll say things like "that's making me dizzy" or "my legs are getting dizzy".

James has been doing some fishing lately. One night while he was out, Kaylin and I were watching tv and flipping channels. On some "educational" channel there was a quiz about what animal related job was the most dangerous. The answer was fishing. As soon as Kaylin heard that she looked at me and said "Daddy should not do that then. He's not that good."

She says things like "That's too yucky for me." or "That's kind of not good."

One night she came out of the bedroom and tried to say something to James who was completely focused on the computer. He was not responding. She looked at me and said "Daddy's exsnoring me." I laughed so hard.

Kaylin and I were being silly together. She said to me "You're a goop." Thinking she got confused on the word I said: "Am I a goober or a goop?" She said: "You're a goober with goop on top."

Slice of Americana

Ah – the adventures of small town living – they give me something to write about. Last night James said we were going to the Delta County Fair. Mention the word “fair” and I have visions of food – the yummy greasy kind, the yummy sugary kind, the yummy pastry kind, and on and on. I grabbed some much needed cash and we (Granddad, James, Kaylin and I) were off to enjoy and partake of the Delta County Fair. Turns out my mental visions were much bigger than what my eyes actually saw. My fairground experiences come from large state fairs such as the Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas state fairs. I had never been to a county fair. So this was definitely a new experience for me. It was much, much smaller. We didn’t even have to pay to get in. I love that!! First things were first (no – not the food – that came second) we went to check out the poultry. Who knew there were so many different kinds of chickens? And can you believe there were some that I actually thought were pretty. And – the roosters – who knew they cock-a-doodle-doo’d all the time and not just in the morning? Well, I suppose farmers knew that. I didn’t linger too long with the chickens once I saw the bunnies. I have a thing for soft, furry, cuddly creatures. Some of them were so cute I thought for a minute about getting one of my own – I mean - one for Kaylin. My mind spoke quickly. “Wait! Snap out of it! That would me more pet responsibility. Don’t let their cuteness fool you. That’s how they reel you in. Walk away from the bunny barn.” The trance was broken and dinner was calling me. I went to get my obligatory corn dog. Let me input some advice here: when one stand says a corn dog is $2.50, another says $3.00 and another says $4.00 – go with the most expensive one. I started off at the $2.50 stand because I’m frugal. They told me there it would be 8 minutes for a corn dog because they were frozen. Are you kidding me?? I don’t want a frozen corn dog at a fair! That’s like anti-fair protocol. Please!!! Thankfully they told me. I politely excused myself and made my way to the stand where they were $3.00. It was fine but clearly not their specialty as the breading was more like bread than corn. Later on James had a corn dog from the $4.00 stand and that looked the best. So there is my advice. Time to move on – we grabbed our food and headed for the main event. Yep! I’m sure you guessed it. It was the tractor pull. In all my life I have never seen a tractor pull event. And I must say – I was strangely into it (well – for at least the first 15 or so tractors - after that it was a little repetitive). Maybe it was the excitement of the crowd around me in the stands. Or maybe it was the revving of the motors and manly testosterone seeping through the air. Or maybe it was the cute cowboys that drew my attention. It was all a little bit (to use an old favorite word of my husband) “sexy”. Again – I go back to - maybe it was the cowboys. Relax honey bun – one cowboy who had me at the first “rev” was probably 85ish. The other that tried to win me over was about 10. The second was closer to my age (thankfully) but still no match for the cowboy I already have at home. Besides – give James another year and I can totally see him competing in the next tractor pull. Oh! Oh! Oh! Moving on again – we finished out our evening with a little bit of the “team roping” competition in the rodeo arena. I loved the horses but wasn’t so big on watching the roping of the bulls. Not really my thing (you know – like the tractor pull). We finished out our evening with a funnel cake and sno-cone. Yummy!! Friday we will go back to watch our neighbors compete in the “team penning” event. Naturally, I had to get a lesson on what that is. I have been sufficiently persuaded by our neighbors that it is, indeed, quite the event. As long as they have the 85 year old cowboy showing the young’uns how it’s done – I’ll be there. The biggest observation I had of the night was this: whether or not fairs or rodeos are your thing – there is no denying that they do represent a definite slice of Americana. It’s a slice that plainly just makes you feel good! So go out there and experience a little bit of Americana. It’ll do your heart good!