Verse of the day...

"...Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

Mark 6:31

What a glorious invitation from our Father... to rest in him, alone together in a quiet place away from the world, away from the noise... just you and him....

Have a great Wednesday everybody!
TeReSa

Sneak Peek

Little Miss Ally-oop came to play today, and since she was here we did some pictures that we have been trying to get done for a couple of months now. We will try to get some outside shots another day, but here is a peek of the studio shots we did today.

Verse of the day...

"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

Psalm 91:4 NLT

Sneak Peek!

Little Mr Teagan came to see me and get some three month pictures yesterday! And of course he brought his momma and his grandma with him. Isn't he just a doll! He's not too sure he's into the whole picture thing yet... but I keep telling his momma to just wait til next time.... 6 months is the best!!! :)

Crazy summer!!!

Hailey finally got her pool!! Thank you to her Nanna's and Papa's for pitching in on a pool for her to get her recommended daily therapy!! She is loving it! The first day she was a bit scared... had to have her floaties and her ring on and was nervous. But by day two she had her floaties off and is climbing the ladder and going under water (nose plugged of course)







when I told Hailey that all her nanna's and papa's went in together to buy her that pool- you should have seen the look on her face! It was shock and surprise and a huge smile!! She said "I didn't tell them thank you!.... I gotta tell them thank you!!" It was so sweet- I am glad that she has a thankful spirit, and I hope she keeps it!

And this is my little dare devil!! He will scale anything!! He.has.no.fear! He has climbed up onto the kitchen table, and his new favorite place is to climb up into my desk chair (that rolls and swivels)... sometimes he crawls up there to just 'work' on the computer, sometimes to just stand, and sometimes (like the picture below) he crawls up there and dances!!!

Even when I fail....

Romans 3:10-24

" 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is none who understand, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness'.....Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law...This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

I needed to read that tonight.... I will probably need to read it again in the morning. And I hope you don't mind me sharing it with you, but I just felt led to do so.... You see today I had to apologize and with that came some reflection time for me to examine my own heart and my own mess. I needed to be reminded that we all fall short. No matter how hard we may try- we will fail to be perfect, daily. But I think we live in a world that tells us that perfection is attainable. That through self-help and self-improvement and self- esteem and self-motivation we can get pretty darn close to perfect. Perfect body, perfect family, perfect career, perfect children, perfect decisions, perfect balance, and perfect 'christian living'.... Some of those things the world puts on us, some of those things we put on oursleves and and some we even put on our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Well guess what? Life's a mess! We all have our messes and our baggage. But the good news is.... God takes you baggage and all, and he loves you just as much as the poor sap next to you with either twice as much or half as much mess as you. His love is not based on how good we are or how much we deserve it; and that has been a tough thing for me to truly grasp. Because I have always felt that I had to EARN someones love. That I had to be WORTHY of it... But I don't. And that's good news because I am so not worthy!!! I am such a work in progress that I've got road construction and detour signs all over my life!! :~) But he loves me where I'm at, I am washed in the blood, I am redeemed. Now don't think that means I'm slacking though! I'm still shooting for that A+... I'm still shooting for a chance to hear my Heavenly Father say to me "Well done, my good and faithful servant" But if not, if I never get it right, if I keep striving for it and never get there, at least I know I'm still his with a C+, still loved, still his.

I think that we have this image in our head, this stigma that 'good' people go to church on Sunday, good christian folks..... you know what I say? IT'S A TWELVE STEP PROGRAM FOR SINNERS!! Yep that's right, I just compared the house of God to an AA meeting- but it is... it is sinners that recognize their sin and need of a savior. And we need the support of others that are learning to live as recovering sinners. It's a process to live a different life, it's not always easy to stand alone in your trials and in your tribulations- so we have our meetings, we have our biblestudy meetings, prayer meetings, VBS, church camp, and all the rest of it to learn, to love, and to build each other up and encourage each other. It's got it's hypacrites, some liars, and some fakers, but it's where they belong!! Bring em on! Bring more!! Bring in some folks out of the bars and casinos, off the streets and out of their living rooms! We as a church need to remember that when Jesus walked this earth, it was with the trash that no one would associate with. The rebels, the outcasts, the prostitutes and murderers and unworthy. Because only sick people need a doctor, not well people. Those people needed his grace, needed his mercy- so much more than the people that thought they had it all figured out!!

So, I guess what I am saying is that I am glad that I am in a Sinner's Annonymous Sunday service!! I need to be there! I am a mess, I am a work in progress, I am being transformed by my God because I am God's Workmanship (Eph 2:10). And we are called to be like him, to love, to serve, to forgive and to obey.... never to be perfect. We don't have to earn it, we already have it! Isn't that awsome! Don't you just get fired up and excited about that? I do!! God is good!! Even when I suck, God is faithful and does not withold his love from me!! ( and by me... you know I also mean you :)

Have a great Monday!

Blessings,
Teresa

Social networking overload!!

" Blogspot, facebook and myspace.... oh my!!"

You know like the lions, tigers and bears... get it? Anyway- I am kind of on information/technology/social networking overload and I don't even Twitter!! I mean seriously- I have a Myspace, Facebook, Blogspot, photography website, and email to keep up with. I've got stuff coming at me from all directions! And now with everyone Twittering... my question is... does anyone really care what I am doing ALL THE TIME? Like, really care? ..... I doubt it.

So... If you read my blogs and leave me comments, or maybe you just stop by to see some cute baby/kid pictures- I am honored that with all the other places you may have to update status on, or upload pictures to, or write on someones wall... I am honored that you would spend some of that time over here, with little ol me.. reading my random, ramblings and admiring my attempt at photography!!

Ok... now on to other things......

Todays picture of the day is going to be a mental picture:

Hayden eating fist-fulls of sand out of the sandbox! and
Hayden slurping suds in the bubble bath this evening!

that boy will eat anything that don't eat him first!!

Have a great weekend everyone!! I'll see ya back here next time, hopefully with a REAL picture of the day!

~TeReSa

Miss Ava

This is sweet Ava Isabelle, isn't she just a doll!! She came to see me for the first time in the studio today. And she was awsome- I think she was really diggin all the camera time, so much so that when mom and dad had to get in for a shot, she wasn't too happy about it!! LOL Enjoy!!

Quote of the day...

"Who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing."

Too many times we define ourselves by our stuggles, our battles, our failures and our fears. By our circumstance, our status or lack thereof... and they are not the same thing! Think on that for a while... I will be back with more on that later, but I just had to share that with you, because when I read that quote and re-read it, and let it sink into my bones... I thought it was quite profound and a bit freeing.

Picture of the day...

... Look! It's Hayden!! In all his handsomeness. Drinking down his sisters CapriSun! (Just in case you thought maybe he was MIA since he hasn't had a picture surface on here for a while.)





And now some of Hailey...




Here she is jumping off the side and into the kiddie pool- Look at her go!!



And here's Ally and Gina who went and played at the pool today too- The girls had so much fun!!




And I've got a sunburn... go figure!! But it was worth it! After all, Haileys Dr. and OT told her to swim everyday... yes that's right... daily.... blah. Don't know that I can handle that much sun and that much stress everyday trying to keep two kids above water and from drowning in a public pool!!! LOL

Have a great day!!
Teresa

Random things from my week...

It has been so long my dear blog friends... I have missed you so. I would love to say that I have been away due to something worthwhile and blogworthy... but that's not the case. It's just been regular old crazy life. Does it get crazy in your life? Are there days that you wonder if you could get everything done on your list even if you had a whole 24 hours more in your day?! Me too!! :)
So.. since I don't have any photo session sneak peeks to share with you today I will just give you a bit of my randomness to get you through the day!! :))


Saturday I got to spend my whole day with my best friend Bridget as we worked on wedding preparations and finishing up her wedding flowers. Flower arrangements are alot of work!! But at least now she won't have any more nightmares that the flowers don't get done and she is frantically trying to finish them during the ceremony... she can move on to other irrational nightmares like walking down the aisle naked!! :)) We got the bouquets done, the boutiniere's and all but two corsages. We also got most of the table settings done- aren't they beautiful...



Hailey went fishing for the first time this weekend. She had gotten a pink fishing pole from her Nanna Tanya and has been really anxious to use it. Daddy finally took her on Sunday. She caught a total of 10 fish that day!! Here is some pics from the first few minutes they were out there. We loaded Hayded up in the stroller and he was a bit upset that he didn't have a pole and that he couldn't get out and get in the pond... so him and I had to go back home and leave Hailey and Daddy to catching the fish while we tried to catch a nap!

It was great therapy for Hailey as she used her right hand to reel her pole. She had a blast!!











Oh I guess I do have a sneak peek for you... I did some baseball team pictures last week, and have another team to do tonight... here is the silly pic we did.... silly boys they were!!




One last one: Hailey is growing up.... check her out yesterday in the outfit whe picked out and braids in her hair... I think she was trying to be a Hannah Montana fan... I'm just not sure she's ready for that! And neither are her daddy and I!





That's all I've got for now... more later :~)

Blessings,
TeReSa

"No, I'm waiting for mommy..."

Tonight I had the priviledge of having a wonderful evening of food and fellowship with my dear sisters from bible study. So, during my dinner date Hailey and Hayden stayed home with daddy. They were both so tired that while Zack was outside swinging them Hayden fell asleep in the swing and Hailey was head drooping and almost there! So after bringing them in and getting ready to put them to bed Hailey said that she wanted to wait for Mommy to rock her and put her to bed. So, she crawled up in the chair to wait for me to get home...... and went right to sleep. Isn't she just the sweetest thing?



And to make matters worse the poor thing is sick, and you know that only mommy will do when you are sick!! And especially when you are SICK and TIRED!!
So, this is the only picture I have for you for now... but notice her small curled up frame with no brace!!! :))

Hope you all have a great Monday!!!

~TeReSa

She's free!!

We took Hailey to KC to get her brace off today. It went well. Her therapist met us @ the apt with the surgeon and Hailey showed off and reached up to touch her ear and her ponytail with her right hand right after taking the brace off! She is weak though. Six weeks immobilized and not moving at all definently shows! She has gotten so used to doing everything one handed now that we are having to remind her to use her right hand. ... which reminds me of the old days when that hand didn't work well and she didn't use it much at all. Her movement is stiff, as her arm is stiff and like I said pretty weak. But we have physical therapy one to two times per week in Parsons and once a month we will go to KC for occupational therapy at Children's Mercy.
It is so nice to have my snuggly little girl back. I just held her so much of the day today... at lunch when she snuggled against me, in the car on the way home I sat in the back with her and we napped togehter (when she wasn't holding my hand) and this evening when we got home she wanted me to rock her. It was nice to not have anything in between us anymore- I guess I had not looked at it that way until the brace was gone and I realized how much closer I can get to her again. She fits into the curve of my side as we sit and rock together, and if feels like normal! It was hard to hold her before and we both enjoyed things being back to normal today!

So... I am thinking that the brace was the easy part. Now the hard work begins- with therapy. The surgeon said we will be able to tell in about 4 to 6mo how successful the surgery was.

Thank you everyone for your prayers during this time in her little life. Through the surgery and the 6 weeks post op I know we have had many dear friends and family praying for us, for her and I am very thankful to you for that! Our prayers were answered as she sailed right through like a champ and the time flew by as she recovered! Please keep her in your prayers as she works to build up her new muscles.

Love and blessings to you all,
Teresa

(promise, pictures tomorrow! :))

Sneak Peek

I did a daycare photo session today for the first time and here is a peek at Kyle, Kinley, Kaylor, Kalob, Emma and Ava (but not in that order :)

Warning... Heavy religious content!!

After my last post I have had to fight the urge to take those photos down. You know, because, well it was pictures of me, and I am more comfortable on the other side of the camera! That was Saturday night. Then, after going to church Sunday I almost raced home and started what would become this blog... but needed time to let things in my heart settle. This is what I wanted to replace the picture of me with....




You see, God has been leading me down a narrow road to a place where I have to make a decision to stay where I am or follow him higher, follow him farther.
God needs to increase and I need to decrease. It's not about me. It's about him. My life until now has been mediocre at best. And I am guilty of judging my worth and my decisions based on what the world thinks, what my family thinks, my friends, my neighbors... I have looked at the women in my bible study and the women in my church and the few strong Christian women in my life to try to figure out how to do it, what is the way to go about this thing we call a 'walk', a christian walk, a spiritual walk, a Godly walk.... how do I do it? Cause I am a girl that needs a recipe to cook a casserole. I need directions with exit numbers to take a trip into unfamiliar territory. I need an example... it's just how I am...

But that is not doing it. It's not real enough for me. I know that I am not called to be like the world, like other 'christians', I am to be like Christ. I am to worry only about his approval, his loving direction and his soveriegn will for my life. I want to be someone that doesn't just go to a church building on Sunday and maybe Wednesday and that means I'm doing the thing... I want to show in my daily life that I am a child of God- that I love Jesus Christ and I eagerly await his return because this earth is not my home!

So- I am taking a step back, taking a deep breath and taking a step up. I am taking the summer off from my bible study. (and I will miss my dear sisters terribly) But I feel like the Lord is telling me that it's time to dig into his word and find him, truly find him for myself and let Beth Moore off the hook! I want to get closer. I want to learn more. I want to touch the scars on his hands for myself so that I know they are real... I want to fall on my face and wholeheartedly seek his face. I want to feel his breath and hear his voice and know that he holds me in his hands. To know, truly know that he loves me- loves ME... more than anyone else does. More than my momma, my daddy, my husband, dare I say even my children. His love for his children is beyond our comprehension and I admit sometimes I dont feel it. I don't get it. I don't understand how he could possibly love someone like me, me who never gets it right, who is constantly picking up my cross and then dropping it again... sometimes in the mud. But he does... he doesn't give up on me. That amazes me. I want to know him MORE. I want to love him MORE. I want to praise him MORE. I want to hear him MORE. I WANT MORE!! I want more for my life, more for my children and my grandchildren.

This last sunday we had a missionary come speak at our church. And I don't think I will ever be the same. I hope I will never be the same. She was a woman. She was a redhead. She was on fire! She had such passion and was utilizing the power of God as she ministers and spreads the gospel in Sri Lanka with her family. I can't go into the details here because this blog would go on and on and on. But if you want to hear some of the amazing, mind blowing things that God is doing just call me, send me an email, come over and we'll talk and I'll tell you the stories because it was amazing!! I'm talking healings, I'm talking muslims saved by the hundreds! I'm talking persecution and people being beaten sunday morning on their walk to church!!- And they go!! Every Sunday they go! They risk their lives to go and worship their God that has saved them from the hopeless life they had before, they are inspiration to me as I sit in my minivan driving to church (running late of course) with Veggie Tales in the CD player... and I'm heading to church because it's Sunday morning and I am wondering what God's got for me this morning..... What about what I have to give to God this morning?! (have I even set aside anything for him at all?) and, Has he not already given me enough? Has he not already answered my prayers beyond what I deserve? Beyond what I have even asked for?! It's not about me... And if he asked me for something... something precious, something hard to give up, would I do it? would I lay it down? if he took Zack's job (our only income) would I still praise him? If he took one of my children, would I still praise him? If I was struck with illness, would I still praise him? If my life was uncomfortable, or even unbearable ... would I still praise him? follow him? believe in him? hope in him? rest in him and his promises? I hope so. I hope that I can say that I would- that I would gerd up and focus on his glory and konw that he is the same on sunny days that he is on rainy days... would I take up my cross to bear and follow him....



They took up an offering for the Hollis family and their mission work at the end of the service and I cried. I cried because I had no money to give. I had left our last five dollars at home on the dresser and I cried because I wanted to give it to her and her family to support them as they go out and do Gods work! I believe in what they are doing that much!! I am in awe of how God is using two (willing hearts) to reach thousands! I am in awe of her passion and of her love for our Savior! I am jealous with a Godly jealousy and that's when it all came together and the things that God had been whispering to me for weeks... became loud in my ears- it's not about you, it's about Me.

And so, as I thought back to my last blog post with the random picture of myself... I felt ashamed. I felt foolish. And I wanted to rush home and replace it with a picture of my Jesus. My Father, my Savior, my Rock, my Redeemer, my teacher, comforter, healer, my King! Who saved me, who loves me, who washed me clean with his blood, who hasn't given up on me yet... hasn't given up on you yet. He is awsome. He is coming soon. The earth cries out in pain as do his children...save us! Come quickly Lord and take us home... I hope to see you there sweet friends! I hope to see you all there....