Me? Rebellious too?

Ok, so Vicki has been stirring up a hornets nest over on her blog but it goes right along with my life right now. I was confronted last night with my sin, and it sucked. Someone in authority over me said that I was "passive rebellious", and it took me by surprise. I'm not sure why...others have joked with me about being rebellious and I used to say I was a "Harding Rebel." (Harding is the ultra-conservative college I went to and I used to rebel against some of their rules b/c I thought they were stupid). But anyway, when I told Lloyd what this person had said, he said "Ya! I've known that for a long time." And no one implied that it was a good thing. I admit that I am questioner by nature. If something is given to me, I question, I weigh it, I look to see if it's good, if it's real, if it's right. I've always thought that was a good thing--that I don't take everything at face value. My intent has never been rebellion.
So all day today I've been struggling with it... Is there a time when rebellion is ok? Even good? I looked up what God says about rebellion and came across the same verse Vicki used in her blog on rebellion and many others, most of which were about God's people in rebellion against Him. It was never good.

I Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

Proverbs 17:11
An evil man is bent only on rebellion; a merciless official will be sent against him.

But I don't feel like I've been rebellious against God. So I looked up OBEDIENCE.

Hebrews 13:17
17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

2 John 1:6
6And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

So here's my question: Is rebellion always wrong? Some would have accused Jesus of being a rebel.

When I taught school, I worked for someone who did some very unethical things, and I totally rebelled against it. The verse in Hebrews says to submit to their authority so their work will be a joy. But do I submit if they're wrong? Kind of goes back to the same question Vicki's asking in her blog? God says to submit to our husbands. What if they're wrong about something? Do we submit anyway? God doesn't say submit or obey if they're right. It makes me wonder if some of the rebellion I'm seeing in my kids is coming from the example of their mother...

My ultimate desire is to be like Christ. Psalm 119:5 says "Oh that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees." I just pray that God will reveal the truth to me.

Encouragement

Lloyd, my husband, has really been struggling lately. He is stressed to the max and like most of us, he takes it out on the ones he loves. Me. And the boys. The problem is that I am not the quiet type... at all. I tend to say exactly what I think and feel about his issues and the way he's treating us. It doesn't exactly go over well with my already stressed out husband.
But God has been speaking to me lately. In fact last weekend, one of my friends prayed that I would shut my mouth. Well crap! Then God kept reminding me of the verse that talks about winning over your husband without words but in your behavior. Crap again! I hate when God reprimands me but I figured I better listen. So I looked it up.
I Peter 3:1-2 "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives."
I think I've just sort of passed this verse by before because my husband "believes the word." But when I read it this time, I was reminded that there are times when we may not believe ALL of the word and God's promises. I think that's where Lloyd is. He needs to be reminded of what good things God is doing. And he doesn't listen when I nag him. So last week before I left for Texas I wrote scriptures on the mirrors in our room and bathroom with a dry erase marker. Guess what? He looked them up and thanked me for them!
Tonight, my mouth ran away with me again, and I said some things I should not have said. God spoke loudly to me and my heart was convicted. I am supposed to Lloyd's helper and I am not helping! I apologized immediately and wrote a note of encouragement for him to read in the morning. And I wrote a new scripture on the mirror.
Here's the 2 verses I gave him tonight.
Psalm 22:8 "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
Psalm 37:23-24 "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."
I pray that we can all be encouragers, not naggers, for our husbands and that our behavior of purity and reverant lives will remind our husbands of God's goodness and faithfulness.

Help!

Someone very dear to me recently wrote me that she always feels guilty as a mom...wondering if she's doing the right things, spending enough time with her child, feeding them right, etc. She asked me "What do you do to reassure yourself that you're doing a great job?" So I'm posting that question into blog land? Talk to me!

I'm reading a book right now called Your Boy: Raising a Godly Son in an Ungodly World by Vicki Courtney. I love it, but it has made me really think further into things I was already pondering. (I like that word-pondering) Anyway, it has really hit me recently the things my boys see in me not only will define much of who they are, but will greatly impact the type of woman they will seek as a mate. That's a little scary!

So what kind of woman do I want my boys to marry? I haven't really thought about it. I just always pray that God is preparing someone for them and that they will love God. But here are a few qualities I've come up with.

1. God-seeker

2. Pure in heart

3. Loves my son unconditionally

4. Fun-loving

5. Compassionate

6. Kind

7. Serves others with a joyful heart

8. Independent yet needs God and my son

9. Adventurous

10. Family-oriented

So I guess the question is... If this is the kind of woman I want my sons to marry, is this the woman I am?

What you want to Know!
For my blog readers copy this and do yours on your blog too-- PLEASE

2008 QUESTIONNAIRE

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. Change all the answers so they apply to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!

1. What time did you get up this morning? Which time? I think I finally gave in a little after 8:00-roofers were pounding at 6:45!

2. Diamonds or pearls? DIAMONDS

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Prince Caspian--Braxton & I had a date

4. What is your favorite TV show? I don't watch much TV but I love a good reality show--Survivor, Big Brother, American Idol

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? I don't eat breakfast (I hear Robbie yelling at me right now!)

6. What is your middle name? Renee

7. What food do you dislike? fishy tasting fish

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Colbie Caillat--I don't own this but I want it!

9. What kind of car do you drive? Barney purple mini-van

10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey or a good PB&J

11. What characteristic do you despise? Meanness

12. Favorite item of clothing? Zip up Hoodies-I agree

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Ireland

14. Are you an organized person? No way but I think I could be if I could have a shopping spree at the container store and a professional organizer to get me started

15. Where would you retire to? The beach!

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My 30th last year!!! Back to the 80's

17. What are you going to do when you finish this? Put my boys down for a nap

18. Furthest place you are sending this? Blog Land

19. Person you expect to send it back first? Doesn't really apply!

20. When is your birthday? Next week--July 23rd!

21. Morning person or a night person? night

22. What is your shoe size? 9 1/2--My feet grew a 1/2 size w/ my 1st 2 kids!!!

23. Pets? Hershey the dog

24. Any new and exciting news You'd like to share with us? Nope

25. What did you want to be when you were little? A nurse

26. How are you today? Tired

27. What is your favorite flower? Gerber daisies

28. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?17th-my 9 year anniversary

29. What are you listening to right now? Braxton singing an original song

30. What was the last thing you ate? Christina's famous Burrito Casserole Recipe

31. Do you wish on stars? Kind of--but more like I pray when I see them--

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Today-a bright pink color

33. How is the weather right now? humid-it's Arkansas

34. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Lloyd

35. Favorite soft drink? Coke

36. Favorite restaurant? I agree, Someplace Yummy with a great outdoor Patio!-- Here probably La Huerta on Garrison

37. Hair color? blonde but it's getting darker

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? Care bears, Cabbage Patch Kids, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie

39. Summer or Winter? summer

41. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate

42. Coffee or tea? Coffee

43. Do you want your friends to email you back? No Just Blog it- and I would like it if ALL my friends had a blog-especially those far away!!!!

44. When was the last time you cried? 2 nights ago watching PS I Love You

45. What is under your bed?Lots of dust

46. What did you do last night? went to bed before midnight for the first time in weeks!!!

47. What are you afraid of? Something happening to my kids or Lloyd

48. Salty or sweet? probably sweet but both together is always good!

49. How many keys on your key ring? 3

50. How many years at your current job? Momland 4 years and Pampered Chef a little over a year for the 2nd time! BTW-If anyone wants to have a book party, let me know!!

51. Favorite day of the week? Saturday--Lloyd's home

52. Do you make friends easily? I'm good at making acquantices, but good friends are hard to find esp when they all move away! :)

53. How many people will you send this too? Who Knows?

54. How many will respond? not sure

55. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? yes

Hidden Treasures

Bryce, my 2 year old is a special boy, as are all my boys! He is delightful--full of energy, mischief, and joy! Right now he is very much enjoying pretending. He and Braxton, my 5 year old, spend much of their day pretending to be cowboys (or Ye-ah Ye-ah in Bryce speak) and pirates (Ya-Yas to Bryce). Earlier this week, I was headed out to the van to leave and Bryce ran back into the house jabbering about his "ye-ah ye-ahs" (horses) and "eat." I didn't know what he was saying so I let him go get whatever it was. A minute (or more) later, he came back with nothing in his hands! Evidently, he had to go get IMAGINARY food to put on the plates that he and Braxton had taken outside for the IMAGINARY horses. Then while at Walmart, I had to wait to load the boys into the van because they both had to put all their IMAGINARY horses in first. It's amazing we all fit! :)

So, yesterday we went to Burger King for a friend's birthday party. Bryce was busy playing and one of our plastic play forks fell on the ground. I just picked it up and put it in the bag thinking he must have stuck it in his pocket before we left. Well, he fell asleep on the way home. So my husband layed him down on the bed and decided to change his pull-up before his nap. This is what we found...

There's also a green knife on the right side that you can barely see! Don't you know all those utensils had to be uncomfortable, but he never said anything! We were cracking up!

Fifth of July

Every year we go to Lloyd's cousin's house for an annual 4th of July party. We usually eat grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, homemade ice cream, and other yummy stuff. Then when it gets dark, the guys put on a fireworks show for us. It usually turns into "Let's see how many fires we can start in the woods?" or "Who got blown up by the fireworks?" But we love it! This year we decided to buy the boys a few of their own fireworks. So Lloyd bought a couple small things and sparklers of course. The boys loved it! Unfortunately, a storm came through and made things very uncomfortable so we left before the big fireworks show. It was a great night anyway!


Uh-oh! I didn't do it....(This is my favorite)

Bryce can't figure out how the chicken works!












Sparklers (sorry its a little blurry)









Helping Daddy light the fireworks
(This was actually a staged picture Gram--don't worry)

Brady Blessings

Yesterday Brady turned 3 months old. It's hard to believe that it has been 3 months since his life began! For those of you who don't know Brady's life started with great difficulty.

The doctor induced me at what we thought was 38 weeks because she didn't want me to have another large baby (Bryce was 10'7) and my blood pressure was starting to go up a little. So I went in at midnight on Sunday night and they started my IV. They broke my water and started the pit and I got my epidural. Everything was fine until I started itching all over. So they gave me some benadryl in my IV and then came back and gave me a new drug in my epidural. The combination of it all made me extremely sleepy. When it came time to push, Lloyd would have to wake me up. It was crazy, but Brady arrived at 12:20pm. He didn't cry when he came out and I thought that was weird but I was loopy. So they left him with me and I was trying to stay awake while I held him. One time I looked down and thought he was blue but again I was loopy. So I asked Lloyd if he was supposed to look like that. We called the nurse and they took him immediately to the nursery. Later, they came and told us that they had to put Brady on a ventilator. According to the NICU doctor Brady was only 37 weeks and his lungs were not fully developed.

Now when I look back on it, it was a blessing that I was drugged up for the first part of it because I would have flipped out. I never in a million years dreamed that we would be in that place with our baby on life support. And it was an awful feeling to think that I as a mother caused part of it because I allowed and even encouraged the doctor to induce me early. The first few days I struggled with a lot of guilt but then I chose to start listening to God's truth...

Evidently, Brady suffered from Respiratory Distress Syndrome which is typical in premature babies. His body was not making surfactant which coats the lungs and is necessary to live. So by Tuesday, they had given him a total of 3 shots of surfactant at different times and told us that we would just have to wait. There we were watching our little baby fight for his life and being told that they had done all they could do. Brady was not "out of the woods" which meant he might not live. That was the scariest day of my life. But people all over the world were praying for Brady and God answered our prayers.

And when I was at my lowest, God gave me this: Psalm 121 "I lift my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber, indeed, he who watches over Israel (I inserted Brady's name here) will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you-the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you (Brady) from all harm-he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

So we waited and we trusted that God would deliver His promise and He did. On Sunday, after 6 days, they removed the ventilator. The doctor and respiratory therapist thought he would have to have a nasal cannula to provide oxygen but he didn't! They also told me I wouldn't be able to hold Brady but I was able to hold him and feed him a bottle! And things just continued to improve. By the next Sunday, 13 days after being in the hospital, and on his actual due date, we went HOME!

Since then, Brady has been very happy and healthy! He's growing like crazy! He loves his brothers and laughs when they are around. Of course he laughs at the ceiling fan too so I'm not sure that's saying much. But we thank God daily for giving us our 3 precious boys. They are a delight to us.

And not only did God save our son, He allowed us to develop relationships in the NICU that have continued outside our stay in the hospital. It blessed us to be there. God not only answered our prayers, He put the cherry on top!

Stop the Whine with Christina's Help!

My friend Christina posted a blog called "Stop the Stomp." In it she described how she had her son stomp continuously for 1 minute to teach him to not throw a fit. She also said she uses it in a different way by having her kids repeat something when they say it disrespectfully the first time. Christina is also fabulous at using scripture when she disciplines her children. Well, I too am a Creative Correction fan so I had tried the stomping thing a while ago with my oldest son and it worked. He has stopped the stomp! But lately we are struggling with whining!!! So I decided to combine all of Christina's methods. So now every time Braxton whines or argues or complains about something, I make him repeat the following verse 5 times in a non-whining tone. (Of course, I added the whining.)

Philippians 2:14 (NIV) Do everything without complaining or arguing (or whining).

So far, its working and it usually makes Braxton smile whenever he has to repeat it! Thanks Christina! I think I'm about to add the first part of Philippians 2:15 that says "So that you may become blameless and pure" to give Braxton a reason not to complain, argue, or whine.

I did it!

My friends and fellow bloggers have been trying to get me to join their "club" for a while now. So here I am (the one on the far right). I'm not sure how much I'll have to offer in wisdom but my boys should be able to provide a little laughter for you all.