Little by Little Video

Here's a video of the song I posted yesterday.

Little by Little

Just yesterday, I was so small, I’d been learning new things as I grow.
Some people say I’m getting so tall, where did the little kid go?

 
Inside and out God is making me new,
you may not see it happen until He is through

 
Little by little
I’m changing, I’m growing

Little by little
I hope that it’s showing

I’m not who I’ll be, I’m not who I was
I’m somewhere in the middle
But God is changing me little by little

 
Sometimes it seems  that I’m so far away from all I want someday to be
But His Word says that He’ll finish one day, all that He’s started in me.

I look at me and I don’t understand
But God has a vision and God has a plan

 
Little by little
I’m changing, I’m growing

Little by little
I hope that it’s showing

I’m not who I’ll be, I’m not who I was,
I’m somewhere in the middle
But God is changing me little by little

God is changing me
Little by little.

We are so proud of our boys and all of their accomplishments.  They are precious gifts given to us by God and  it is an honor and a privilege for us to watch them grow to be mighty warriors for God.  We pray that they will always use their God given gifts and talents to bring glory to His name. 

Song:  Little by little
Written by: Joel Lindsey & Sue Smith
Sung by ACA’s K3 & K4 classes during graduation.
The version I found was sung by: Olivia Collingsworth

April 1/100 (maybe:-)

April was an extremely busy month for us.  Between field trips, Upwards soccer, youth Sunday, swimming as much as possible,Jesse’s birthday, Easter, and spring break we stayed on the go.  And to prove it I have almost 1,000 photos from the month of April.    Yes.  1,000!  So I’m going to begin randomly sharing some of my favorites.   I don’t know how many posts I’ll do.  Or in what order.  But I’m going to attempt to give you the highlights of the month.

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On April 1st Trey’s class visited the Jacksonville Zoo on a field trip.  I was extremely tempted to take Jesse along.  He was and had been for a long time begging to go to the zoo.  But, I have always tried extremely hard to make field trips special one on one  times.  So I resisted temptation and left Jesse at school.  And promised him a trip to the zoo over spring break.  Yes, I’m a sucker:-)

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So, bright and early Monday morning, the boys and I, along with Ay-ee, Aunt Lindsey, and Hinson loaded up and headed to Jacksonville!  And I must say that I am so very glad that I waited and brought Jesse during spring break.  Despite some very UN-wonderful events during our day, we still had a very WONDERFUL time!  We were able to see everything that we wanted without having to rush and did it all with some of our favorite people!

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A beautiful spring day, three handsome boys, and lots of laughter and fun…what more could a girl ask for!  Thank you Lord for my many blessings!

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Rough Weekend

Last Thursday was the boys’ last day of school.  Summer fun was lying just ahead.  And.  Jesse came down with a nasty virus Thursday morning.  It was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.  And night.  And next day.  And…well, it went on and on and on.  He was violently ill for 3 days, didn’t eat at all for four days, and still isn’t back to 100% yet.  And to top it off we spent most of Jesse’s  illness camped out at Papa & Ay-ee’s because our air conditioner went out making it H.O.T. at our house.  AND.  To top it off even more, Jesse broke out in hives on Saturday night.  I’m tellin’ ya, it was a rough weekend!  B.A.D.

And naturally, after being so violently ill for so long and not eating for days my baby lost a lot of weight.  He didn’t even look like himself.  He had us all very worried. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Thankfully my baby managed to stay hydrated in spite of it all.  And the hives went away after a bath and a dose of Benadryl.  And although he is a little on the thin side Jesse is doing so much better!  And the wonderful air conditioner man came on Monday and installed a new, bigger air conditioner.  And even when I was worried, tired, and frustrated , I was still able to get a glimpse of brotherly love.

 
God is good.  ALL the time!  And I thank Him for healing my baby boy!

Praying Man

On March 7th our youth choirs visited another church in our community to participate in their revival services and to get some more practice singing in front of crowds. As always they did a FANTASTIC job!!! Jesse and I sat in the back row along with the other little brothers and sisters that were there and Jesse sang along with the choirs. I didn't realize that he knew this song until he started singing. I can't wait to get my copy of this CD, Country Fried Praise. It has several of our favorites on it, including Trey's competition song, Can He, Could He, Would He and the one below, Praying Man.

Tasty Tuesday: Annie’s Resurrection Cookies

A few days before Easter, my sister, Lindsey, asked me about making resurrection cookies.  A few emails back and forth and we decided to make them at Papa & Ay-ee’s on Easter Eve.  Unfortunately, Lindsey didn’t feel well so it was just the boys, Ay-ee, and me!  And unfortunately we made a BIG mistake with the first batch.  (Note to self:  DO NOT add pecans until the end!)  Thankfully, Daddy showed up and helped us with the second batch and they turned out beautifully!!!  They were absolutely delicious and they help teach a wonderful lesson too!

Annie’s Resurrection Cookies

These are to be made the evening before Easter.  Preheat oven to 300F.(This is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe.)

You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
tape
Bible

1.  Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.  Set pecans aside.  Explain that after Jesus was arrested.  He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.  Read: John 19:1-3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.  And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.  John 19:1-3

2.  Let each child smell the vinegar.  Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read: John 19:28-30 

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”  Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.  John 19:28-30

3.  Add egg whites to vinegar.  Eggs represent life.  Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read: John 10:10-11

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”  John 10:10-11

4.  Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand.  Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.  Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  Luke 23:27

5.  So far the ingredients are not very appetizing.  Add 1 cup sugar.  Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us.  He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Psalm 34:8

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

6.  Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.  Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sin have been cleansed by Jesus. Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

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“ Come now, and let us reason together,”
      Says the LORD,
      “ Though your sins are like scarlet,
      They shall be as white as snow;
      Though they are red like crimson,
      They shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”   John 3:1-3

7.  Fold in broken nuts. 

8.  Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.  Read: Matthew 27:57-60.

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  Matthew 27:57-60

9.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

10.  Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.  Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read: Matthew 27:65-66.

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.”   So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.  Matthew 27:65-66

11.  GO TO BED!   Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.  Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read: John 16:20-22.

Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  John 16:20-22

12.  On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.  Notice the cracked   surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow!  On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed
to find the tomb open and empty. Read: Matthew 28:1-9.

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Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,^[a] and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Matthew 28:1-9

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Indescribable

Our fourth competition singing group singing Indescribable. Simply beautiful!
Every time I hear our children's choirs perform I get chills. I can feel the Holy Spirit moving among us. It is amazing. It is wonderful. It is. Indescribable!





We spent the whole day yesterday competing in state competition. Our kids did an amazing job and represented our church, our community, and their parents well with their talent, their love of our Lord, and their behavior. We had children competing in seven categories and they placed first in four categories!!!! Our two oldest singing groups (the ones who sang I've Got to Stand and Testify and the group above singing Indescribable), our Bible Millionaire team, and our piano soloist will continue on to compete at national competition this summer! In fact, our Bible Millionaire team did not miss a single question!!! Although, we are disappointed that our younger singers will not be competing this summer, I am extremely proud of all of them, and especially my Trey. He was understandably upset when they didn't win, but he pulled himself together quickly, managed to smile big for the photos (those of you who know him know that this is a BIG step in his maturity), and is already looking forward to next year's competition where he hopes to be on the Bible Millionaire team, compete in one of the drama categories, and maybe even in an art category. These children love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, and minds and it shows in all that they do! I am blessed to have them all in my life.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

I've Got to Stand and Testify

Our older competitiors singing I've Got to Stand and Testify!
I had to break it into three videos. It is such an amazing song that I had trouble cutting any of it!








We leave bright 'n early in the morning (6:30!!!). Please pray for traveling mercies and that all the children have calm nerves and a wonderful time praising our Lord.

Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Christy

Can He, Could He, Would He

My favorite nine year old singing with our God's Muscians choir. They will be singing Can He, Could He, Would He for the competition on Saturday.

I've Been Redeemed

This Saturday, May 7th, we are headed to Hawkinsville with 18 children from our church to compete in the Free Will Baptist state CTS competitions. Our competitors have been working very hard for almost a year to prepare for this competition and we are very excited about the trip. We have four singing groups, a Bible Millionaire team, a competitor in Bible memorization, as well as others competing.

On Youth Sunday (April 10th) we got a chance to preview all of the singing groups, as well as a piano solo, and a portion of the Bible memorization. I videoed the singing groups and thought that I would spend this week sharing them with you. I am starting with our youngest group (one member was not present) who sang I've Been Redeemed,and although neither of my boys is in this group they were by far my favorite!!! The pureness and innocence of their voices is just heart-warming.

Please be in prayer for these children...pray for traveling mercies, for calm nerves, for the children to be able to recall all that they have learned, and above all that no matter where they place in the various competitions that they are able to utilize their talents to bring glory to God.

Have a blessed week!

Christy

***Disclaimer--I did plan to share the ENTIRE song with you, however, I have been working on publishing this post since Sunday but could not get the video to upload. I finally suceeded (I hope:-) by trimming the video which means that there is a part one and a part two and you still don't hear the whole song. However, there is a 100MB limit when uploading to Blogger and I refuse to upload our precious children to YouTube, so I had to work with what I had. If anyone knows of a way to upload larger videos without uploading to YouTube please let me know. Thanks!***

Brothers

There is no doubt that Jesse has his role as annoying little brother down pat.  He knows EXACTLY how to push Trey’s buttons  and generally takes great delight in doing so.  However there are those rare moments when I get a glimpse of the love and adoration that these two have for one another.  I got one of those glimpses yesterday while we were at the zoo.  And.  It made my heart melt.

My heart

Today was another busy but wonderful day spent making memories with my boys.  We started the day with soccer games, then the boys headed to DQ with Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Chris, and Hinson.  After resting for a little bit, it was time for the church egg hunt and sweets auction.  We finished up the day at Papa & Ay-ee’s swimming and making resurrection cookies (& if they turn out I’ll have a whole post about ‘em).  My boys are my heart and any day spent with them is a good day.

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Thank you Lord for my many blessings!

Christy

Precious little fingers…

Our Easter, as well as  our spring break, is off to a fantastic start!  First day of break and the boys have already baked and decorated cookies with Ay-ee, colored eggs with Mama, colored eggs with Cora Jane and Vera Kate, hunted eggs with Cora Jane, Vera Kate, and Whit, and tried out Grandma & Da’s new paddleboat!  Whew!  What a day we’ve had!  And between our adventures today and the boys school egg hunts I’m already at well over 200 photos commemorating our 2011 Easter!   But tonight I’m only going to share my three favorites…the ones I took of my boys precious little fingers today while we were coloring eggs.

Yes, these are my favorite photos from today.  However, as I look at my babies precious fingers it reminds me of the sacrifice that was made for each one of us on that first Good Friday.  I can not imagine my babies precious hands with nails driven through them.  But God did.  He allowed His Son to be tortured.  To have nails driven through His hands.  So that I could spend eternity with Him.  How amazing God’s love is that He would sacrifice His Son for me.  As you celebrate Easter, remember that it’s not about the eggs, the chocolate, bunnies , or baskets. It is about the new life we have in Christ, the gift that He freely gave to each of us.

I’m forgiven because You were forsaken,
I’m accepted, You were condemned.
I am alive and well, Your spirit is within me,
Because You died and rose again.
Amazing love,
How can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love,
I know it’s true.
It’s my joy to honor You,
In all I do, I honor You.
(Amazing Love sung by Chris Tomlin)

May you each have a blessed Easter!

Christy

A whole handful…

This Mama doesn’t handle her boys growing up very well at all.  So today has been very emotional for me for today my baby is a whole handful!  He has turned five and now says that he is a big boy.  I just don’t think I can handle having two big boys.  Where have my babies gone?

Happy Birthday Jesse!
I love you to infinity and beyond!!!

A little dirt never hurt

We have found our spot for watching soccer games!  It is over close to the building, close to the concession stand, and away from most of the cars.  And.  There is a dirt pile!!!  Jesse was in heaven during Trey’s game digging in the dirt…he made a volcano, a mouse trap, and two sand angels—one while lying on his back and the other one while lying on his front!!!  He was covered in wet, sticky sand, but he was well entertained:-)