Where is that journal from??

Some have asked where my friend bought me the personalized journal from. She bought it from Paper Sunday.  And I really love it! 

Now the real question is....how should I use it? Have you ever had a journal that you love so much that you don't want to write in?  Yup,  I'm there.  I already have a journal I use for preaching notes and ideas for Sunday School and ladies meetings.  I have a prayer journal.  I have a planning journal. I told you I love journals!  Would love to hear feedback of how you use journals and suggestions on how to use mine!

2 Weeks of Summer Camp!

Camp season for VSIBC is officially over.  It's been great!  So thankful for the decisions made by our teens and Juniors!  The first week they attended Crossroads Baptist Camp in Georgia.  Southside Baptist Church from Tampa hosts the camp and does a wonderful job!

This year, since Freedom is still so young, and Tabitha wasn't able to go, Beth was the girls' counselor.  She loved it!  The girls told me that she balanced being counselor and friend very well!  Joshua was the teen guy counselor and did a great job, too!

They had "heart check" time after every evening service where they talked about what the Lord did in their hearts and decisions that they made for Him!  That's what it's all about!

They said the food was amazing.  Not the usual for summer camp!
And the games were tons of fun.  They had these kids going and busy!

Jason Gaddis from Southwood Baptist Church was the preacher for the week.  They said the preaching was awesome!

Then, the next week it was Junior Camp.  Brenna was the counselor for the girls and loved her time with these special young ladies! Joshua was the counselor for the guys.  Going to camp back to back was quite hectic, but my Joshua did amazing and was a wonderful example and leader for the young people of VSIBC! Silas and Callie were so excited about camp!

They had tons of games and just like the teens, they kept these juniors busy!

So thankful for the friendships they formed.  God is so good!

Our campers did great memorizing Bible verses.  Callie won the runner up Timothy award for saying the 2nd most verses in the camp.  Way to go, Callie!!

But the greatest thing about the camp was the preaching.  Hearing decisions that my children made for the Lord is such a blessing!
So camp season is over.  It's the final few weeks of summer.  God has been so good to us!!

It's not as hard as we think

I really do have some wonderful friends and family.  They are an inspiration to me.  The things they do for me to show me their love and encouragement brighten my day.  It reminds me that to love on someone and spread some cheer doesn't take hours upon hours or lots of money.  It takes thought and a little bit of time.  That happened to me this week.  I had three sweet people shower me with some goodies.  I want to share it with you, because I know it can be an encouragement for you to do the same with people the Lord has put in your path.


The first came in the form of a journal.  Anyone else have a love for journals like me?  The front of it has the verse, Isaiah 43:1, "I have called thee by thy name; thou are mine." And inside on every page is a Bible verse personalized.  It has my name on it!  How cool!

Then, I had my sweet mother in law drop off a bag of candy corn.  I love that stuff!  And it's also a sweet reminder to tell me that Fall is on the way....my favorite season!

Then, another sweet friend dropped off the hugest pan of lasagna.  It was bigger than a double 9 x 13...huge!  It was so wonderful and filled our family up for sure!  She timed it just right and brought it on one of my infusion days since I tend to be quite sleepy.

So thankful for thoughtful, inspiring friends that remind me it's really not as I hard as we think to be a blessing.  Just a little thought, a little time and you can brighten someone's day today!

One more month. Really?

We are now on the final stretch of summer.  We have one more month until we start school.  My start date is August 26th this year.  One month away!  Whew, it by too fast!  So, I have set some goals for our last month of our summer 2019.

~Go to at least 2 state parks.  We didn't get as many in this summer as I had hoped.  It has been so hot!  But, now is the time to squeeze some park time in!

~Junior Camp. As I type Silas and Callie are off to Junior Camp and are having so much fun!

~Daily reading with Micah.  My Micah is entering 2nd grade this year!  Wow!  I want to make sure and keep his reading skills up.  So, we've picked out some fun books for him to read to me everyday.

 ~Shore up some things around our home.  I've been on a minimalist kick lately.  I've noticed that the more we minimalize things in our home, the more free time we seem to have!  It's been awesome!  So I'm wanting to get some things accomplished and in order around the house before school starts.  I'm especially going to attacking our laundry system.

~Family Vacation.  I'm not sure how this one will work out.  It might be more of a staycation type of year.  Either way I want to devote a few days to pure family fun!  And sneak in a trip the beach, too!

~Order School.  I think that's a given! :o)

~Listen to 1 extra preaching a week.  My older kiddos love to listen to preaching.  I want to make sure I'm developing a love for that in my younger 3.  We love to watch messages together and I want to make sure and fit in at least one extra message for us to watch each week of our summer.

~Pool time galore!  Need I say more?

~Sew time.  My sewing time hasn't quite happened this summer like I thought. I hope to squeeze in some sewing time soon.

~Yard work.  We need to desperately spend a day cleaning up and sprucing up!

~Trip to Fort Myers.  My hubby will be preaching at Winkler Road Baptist Church for Tuesday Nights of Great Preaching on the 20th of August.  I always love going to WRBC!

~Football party.  The season is almost here!  We always kick off the preseason with lots of hoopla and food!  This year will be no different!

One month left! It's going to be great!!!

Skippy or Jif?

 I had a fun little taste test with the boys and one of their friends to see which peanut butter they liked the best.  Skippy or Jif?  My sweet Callie is NOT a peanut butter lover and decided to sit this one out.

They didn't know which peanut butter they were trying.  They said one had a more strong peanut butter flavor and was slightly bitter.  The other other was sweeter, not as strong and creamier.
The winner?

Skippy!  It was the sweeter of the two.  Although, I liked the Jif with the strong peanut flavor.  To each his own!

Under the Big Top

We had another successful VBS this year at Victory Springs!
We chose the theme, "Under the Big Top"  How fun it was!   I love how the people of VSIBC rallied together and brought the theme to life!

We had 34 kiddos come for VBS!  We're so excited for all the Lord did in the lives of these children!

There were so many adorable snacks.

We divided the teams into the Elephants and the Lions.  Can you tell who the team captains were for each team?

Josh created this large popcorn for all the kids to get their picture by.

We had a dunk tank and my husband was nominated to be in it.  The kids loved it!  He was dunked many, many times (by kids and adults alike!)

They made adorable lions for a craft.

There were lots of exciting games.

Lots of funny songs!

There was a yummy lunch served.  Of course Liberty, my foodie granddaughter, had to get some goodies too!

We told the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den.  Brenna started out the story with the kids.  Then, Beth told the rest in the teen room that had been turned into the Lion's Den.  We had the walls blacked out with light up Lion's eyes peaking through.  There were rocks everywhere with snakes and spiders.  And to top it off you could hear the roar of Lions.  Quite scary!

My husband did a wonderful magic show that impressed the kids and adults, too!

There were lots of funny skits.  And Josh even juggled.



But, the most important thing, there was preaching!  So thankful for God giving our church the opportunity to present the gospel to these kiddos.  That's what it's all about!

4th of July Fun!

I love our church get togethers!  One of my favorites is our 4th of July picnic!  We have so much fun!  My husband decided that this year we would move our midweek service to Thursday and celebrate together!  So, of course, we had plenty of preaching and singing.

 We had planned on eating outside and playing lots of cornhole, ping pong and outdoor games.  Well....we had a huge storm.  Thunder.  Lightening.  Lots of rain.  So, we just moved the celebration inside!

 We had lots and lots of food!

 I was so glad my parents could make it!  I think my Dad has been to all of our 4th of July celebrations.  This was also their first time to meet Freedom Joy.  They are in love!

 Our ladies baked many wonderful desserts.  Isn't this pie so adorable?

 And then we had our 3rd annual puzzle competition.  I love this!

I'm so thankful for the wonderful fellowship of a great chruch family.  And I'm so thankful for the country that we get to call home!