Family Worship

I used to let peoples ignorant comments bother me in regards to family worship, but not any more...I just give them the look:

An amazing doctors appointment

Today was another Doctor visit for Sarah but not the normal appointments like we usually have.  Today was a day to remember forever, to always be thankful for and another example of God's grace and mercy on us.  Our visit was with a new doctor, one that had never seen Sarah before.  He gave me an odd look when I told him how dark the birthmark was on her head at birth and throughout her first 3 or so years.  About the time his nurse pulled up her baby picture that was taken there and he saw on the screen just how it actually looked.  This Doctor was a very no nonsense, no small talk guy.  He made himself very clear.  He shared with me that he had never seen anything like this happen before.  EVER!!!  Her birthmark has lightened so much it would be considered a pink color in some areas and in other spots you don't even know that it's there.  This was the best thing he said that could ever happen.  Before if there had been any cancer under or around that area it would have been impossible to very difficult to see it in the early stages.  Now if anything were to show up it could be taken care of very quickly (just like anyone else that found out they had skin cancer).  This doctor just stared at her and said he was amazed and again repeated that he had NEVER seen this happen.  They always stay the same color or usually get darker.  I quickly told him that we had prayed and asked everyone we knew to join us in prayer that God would take it away.  To us, such a huge request that we had.  To even imagine that God would remove something like this from her was just almost more than we could ever even pray for.  Sometimes our faith is small but God is in control!!!! As the doctor was leaving the room his assistant stopped and told us that for him to say he had never seen this happen was HUGE!!  For one thing he has been all over the world to operate on children and also because of the fact that he was amazed by this.  She had tears in her eyes while we were all in the room and everyone was looking at her head.  Then she started to leave and stopped and asked us to remember her when we pray.  And we will!!!  Not that "we" have anything special that other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't have but because she saw with her own eyes what the Lord can do if it is his will.

When I was driving home I had so much on my mind.  What made him allow Sarah's birthmark, something we knew could cause her so many long term problems, basically just fade away.  I know there are parents all over that are with their children in hospitals begging God to heal them from cancer and other afflictions.  Just over a year ago we were praying for a healthy baby when we found out things were not what they should be for our Little Daniel.  We just knew that he would be okay and we would have our sweet baby boy with us.  God had other plans for Daniel.  That was so hard for us but we know that God is Good, All the Time!!!!!  In the future we may even have problems with this area on Sarah but I can say that we know that God is Good, All the Time!!!  Yes, ALL the TIME!!!!!

As we think back we are so glad that we did not jump at surgery for Sarah when she was smaller.  This would have meant many surgeries and much pain for our little girl.  After much research from others that have gone through this we knew it would be a very lengthy and serious attempt to remove something so large.

Now to share a few pictures on where we were and how she is now.  I had to add these.  I love to have visual reminders.  I also asked him about the texture of her hair and could that ever change.  One side is slightly course and thicker and the other side is sort of fine and thin.  He said that might just be a reminder of where she started out.  Sounds good to us!!!!!  We love her just the way she is!!!!  We will continue to do follow ups with this doctor and a pediatric dermatologist as well as our pediatrician.   We never want to get to a point where we take this for granted and also need to stay aware of what is going on with her head.  Also sunscreen and hats will be very important too.

We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been said for our precious little girl!!!  One day she will understand more of what today meant for us.  All she was thinking about was that "white" ice cream I had promised her after the appointment!!!

I also wanted to add a link that talks about the type of surgery she would have needed.  This is the expansion process of the skin with expanders.  I know these are VERY DIFFICULT to see what a child would go through but this is the closest thing that I saw that was like Sarah's spot.  This child had one a little closer to the front of the face.  That was about the only difference I could see.    

In Memory of Bonnie McGuire (our Mamaw)

Send Flowers  |  Send Card

Bonnie McGuire

January 24, 1928 - December 9, 2012

Biography

Bonnie Mildred McGuire, 84, a resident of Cleveland, passed away Sunday, December 9, 2012 in a Chattanooga hospital. She was a member of Four Point Baptist Church. She had lived in Cleveland most of her life.

She was preceded in death by her husband, James C. McGuire; daughter, Vickie Sue Kirby; daughter-in-law, Linda McKay Bunch; mother, Bertie Wilson; step-father, Bob Wilson; father, Sam Hill; sisters: Edna Morrow and husband Bit; Jewel Brown and husband Lee and Mary Ruth Hill; three brothers: Robert Hill, Fred Hill, Arnold Hill; half-brother, Sam Hill, Jr. and brother-in-law, Paul Hill.

She is survived by one daughter, Dolores Ann McCallister of Cleveland; two sons, Mitchell Bunch of NY and Larry Bunch and wife, Pam of Warsaw, NC; three granddaughters: Missy Parris and husband, Sammy of Cleveland, Rachael Bivens and husband, Jason of Cleveland and Aron Weinbach of NC; four grandsons: Jonah McCallister of Cleveland, Adam and Andrew Bunch, of NC and Brian Weinbach of GA; seven great grandchildren: Morgan, Katie, Josiah, Jacob, Sarah, Samuel and Stephen Parris; two sisters, Iola Hall and husband, Earl of Cleveland; Sammie Jean Starnes of GA; two special cousins, Reba Davenport and Betty Wiley and husband, Bob. Many nieces and nephews whom she loved; two half sisters and one half brother; one sister-in-law, Dean Dailey and one brother-in-law, Bill McGuire and wife, Mildred of Chattanooga and many friends.

Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, in the chapel of Ralph Buckner Funeral Home with the Pastor Ray Cheatham officiating. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

The family will receive friends from 5 to 8 P.M. Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at the funeral home.

We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the McGuire family guestbook at www.ralphbuckner.com.

Satisfaction

Are you satisfied where God has you now? Are you taking time to enjoy this "season" of your life. 
Missy and I meet so many people, especially those that seem to have their heart's focused in the right direction, but very few people that seem satisfied to bloom where they are planted. They seem to always be reaching for something more, some adventure they haven't experienced yet.

Do you find yourself asking questions like: If only I had?, If only we could have done?, If we could only meet or experience?

Please beware! One of the enemies greatest tactics is to get you focused on the what if's and next you will experience great anxiety and let me remind you what the word says:

Phil 4:6, 7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

John 14: 27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

^{Are you settled?
I've had to learn the hard way sometimes in my life, but "Thank You Jesus" for this peaceful, satisfying "season" in my life.}

 

Our family recently watched the movie Agenda free online. This documentary is well done and makes one think about the direction our country is heading.
This should make us all drop to our knees and pray. We need a 2 Chronicles 7:14 prayer.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Please join me in that prayer and stay informed. I invite everyone to watch by clicking the link below until Nov 4th.
God, some how some way, Bless America!


Watch Here

Convictions

Where do convictions come from? Are they something taught, felt, inherited? These are important questions in the life of a believer. I think the simple answer is yes to all 3 questions, but here is the crux for us to ponder on:
Convictions have to be grounded and proven in the Word of God. I can have a preference about a subject, but if I can't defend that with Scripture, then that is what it is; a preference.
Our Pastor is doing a series in Luke and we came to Chapter 14 Sunday. You know the story. Here's the KJV version of it:

¹ And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.

² And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

³ And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?

⁴ And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

⁵ And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

⁶ And they could not answer him again to these things.

⁷ And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

⁸ When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;

⁹ And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

¹⁰ But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

¹¹ For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

You may ask me what this story has to do with convictions. Everything! You see Jesus was making the Religious leaders of that day look inwardly and not outwardly so the real them would come to the light, not the one in the suit. Those leaders of that day were not doing things from a heart-felt, Bible believing conviction, but because that was how they always had done things, and they loved looking righteous and important on the outside. The Pharisees looked good by all accounts, but Jesus could see straight through to the heart of their pride issue. He calls you and me to "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God" and have convictions based on the truth set forth in God's Word, not because it's the latest christian fad, or because sister or brother so and so does it this way.

All convictions can be taught, felt, and inherited, but they better be confirmed and grounded in God's Word. Only He is our final authority.

Jacob's 8

Happy 8th Birthday Jacob!

We love you!

Daniel's Music - Wind at My Back Series Intro

I will forever call this intro from Wind at My Back "Daniel's Music".  When I was pregnant last year with Daniel he and I shared many long nights of me staying up and sewing when everyone else went to sleep.  It was nice and peaceful in the house but I didn't like that it was COMPLETELY quiet.  About the same time we had started watching a series from the library.  There were many things I did like about it but also some things I didn't.  What I did love though was the music for the intro.  Sometimes when I would be sewing  I would turn an episode on and not pay much attention to it but when it would go off the music would just play over and over till the play button was hit again.  I remember sewing and feeling him move and knowing that he was the only one that was still up with me.  It was our time together and I love that memory of him.  I would think about all the different blankets, burp cloths, and bibs that I could make for him. I would stay up way to late but it was still nice to have some time to myself and to do some sewing projects.

  Fast forward several months and Daniel was no longer with us.  I had no desire to sew or watch any episodes of the show.  Everything had changed.  A few weeks before his actual due date in March I felt like I was doing pretty good.  When someone would mention his name in the family I didn't bust out crying or get that sick throw up feeling.  We had made our way back to the library and once again I checked out the DVDs and thought I would watch them again when I had a chance probably later in the evenings if I could find a few extra minutes.  This was the week that I "should have" delivered our baby via c-section a week 39 just like I had the last 4 babies. As the kids were going to bed and I was going to lay down on the couch with Stephen to try and get him to sleep, one of the kids offered to turn on the TV for me and put on Wind at My Back.  Never did I imagine the flood of emotions and sadness that would overtake me when I heard the music playing.  All those nights of staying up late, just me and little Daniel, it was just too much.  I quickly turned the DVD off and decided not to ever watch those again.  That was 6 months ago!

  A few days ago we made a trip to the library again.  This summer we have made drastic changes in our television time.  We went from a no cable-netflix only family to a no cable/NO NETFLIX family that enjoyed a good family movie on a Thursday or Friday night sometimes.   Our trip to the library was for books but since it was the weekend we thought we would see if we could find a really good movie to watch.  We didn't see anything that grabbed our attention so I said let's get a Wind at My Back season and we can watch a couple of their really funny episodes.  I think the girls were surprised because they had heard me say how that music made me feel.

  This is what makes me so thankful and full of joy.  I can listen to that music and have my memories of Daniel without the deep pain.  Yes I do still miss him and think of him every day but when I hear that beautiful music I am able to smile and cry at the same time.  Strange!!!  Crying because he isn't here with us and smiling because I did have him for those few short months.  Now other things do still cause me pain, seeing a baby that would have been his age and sometimes when I see all the kids playing, running around and having fun I feel that pain of knowing there should be another one right there with them also Mothers Day Baby Dedication that was one thing I wish I had skipped.  The loss of Daniel will always be with me but I am so thankful that I do have my good memories of him too. This is why I now consider this music to be "Daniel's Music"  It has a very special meaning to me!!!


Eventually my plans are to journal everything about my pregnancy and delivery of our little boy.  I don't want to only remember the sadness of our loss but to remember all the days that we had with him.  I want to add a page to our blog of Daniel's story.  I believe I will keep these pages private for the public.  If though there is ever anyone who can be blessed by his story in some way I will gladly share this page with them. For now though I plan to add a little at a time about him.  This is something that was on my heart today and I wanted to share it while my thoughts were fresh.  We will always be  thankful to God for the time that he gave us with him.  To hear this our main music at the bottom of the page must be turned off.

Follow Up To Please Parents Don't Fail

I love Mark Schultz. He's a wonderful songwriter and musician. Here's a song he did a few years back about the dangers of being a parent/dad that doesn't have his family in a place of priority like a leader in the home should.

Listen:

Saturday August 25, 2012-It's the BIG day!!!!

She's studied long and hard.  We've spent MANY hours studying 2nd Timothy.  At times I felt like we were right there with Paul writing to Timothy and felt like we somehow knew both Paul and Timothy!!!  The scriptures spoke straight to us.  They challenged us along the way.   This has been a wonderful study for us.  The Bible Bee has made so many changes since we first started with it in its beginning  and I have to say I think this year has been a wonderful improvement as far as taking the focus off learning 600 verses and putting the focus on bible study.  We have also learned about many people throughout history that gave their lives or lived for Christ even through the hardest most difficult times.  Now in the morning we're off to Alabama.  It would be great to make it to Nationals, of course that is the goal to actually get there but knowing that our entire family has been blessed by this summers Bible Bee study, that has truly been a gift.  

Please parents don't fail!!

Here's a comment I recently read from Rick Boyer in a posting he made on Facebook:

"We don't have TV in our home; never have had. But the distractions of the internet are just as bad or worse, and we have to have it for business. The occasion of my posting the above was that last night I sinned by wasting a chunk of time on online entertainment. Nothing most people would call immoral, but it's immoral to waste our limited time on this earth. I was severely convicted for it. I know better."

This is a family we have kept up with and have learned much from reading their books. He (Mr. Boyer) even admits how the computer can waste time. I said this in an earlier post I made some time ago; "If the TV is the BEAST, then the computer/internet is the brother called the DRAGON". They can both take away precious time. God help us to not be legalistic into thinking just because we get rid of the beast, we don't have to worry about the dragon. 

My family and I still watch a very good movie that is family friendly from time to time, and I mean that in the strictest sense. No foul language, no harsh unnecessary violence (there are some civil war, historic things that can be taught at an appropriate age), no immoral images, etc.., and we even sometimes get safely on the dragon (like now),

But even being careful about all these things, I can still fail miserably as a parent if I waste time. It's that precious time God has granted me that I don't want to miss with my family. It doesn't matter how much of my story I can tell on a blog, or how much of my time I can give a friend, or my career, 
if I miss this opportunity to make an impact on the lives God has entrusted me with; I'VE FAILED!

But you don't understand, I've got a degree in......FAILED!
But you don't understand, I've been a success at....FAILED!
But you don't understand, I have an opportunity to....FAILED!

Do I make my point?

Katie turns 14!!!!

July 5th Katie turned 14.  Katie's birthday is always so much fun because there's lots of excitement with 4th of July activities that lead up to her birthday.  We had a fun night celebrating.  While we were enjoying cake and ice cream we realized that there was quite a windstorm outside. It didn't put a damper on things though we just kept on with the celebration.  Katie is probably on of the sweetest people I have ever been around.  She is a pleasure to have as a daughter and we are so proud of the young lady she is becoming.  Katie is always quick to forgive and also quick to ask for forgiveness.   She makes some fantastic brownies and cookies and always knows when her Momma is in need of chocolate. She has a very soft heart and a love for children.  She has been very interested in adoptions and has educated herself (and anyone else who will listen) with all kids of different information.  One of her gifts was a movie called "Rescued" the family that made this DVD also sent her one of their bluegrass CD's since it was her birthday.  Not your typical gifts for a girl turning 14 but this only shows just how big her heart really is. Our little "StinkerBell"  is growing up on us way too fast!!!