Gurnee Hospital

At this moment in my life, I am thanking the Lord that I only have 4 children and 1 husband. Ok, well, I'm ALWAYS thankful that I only have one husband, but I digress. On Saturday Vincent got sick. I simply assumed that he was having a severe asthma flair up. Well, yesterday afternoon I came down VERY sick. Couldn't even hardly stay upright. Within hours the rest of the clan got sick and we are all presently still in that state. I needed to get out of bed so I thought I'd come and ask ya'll to pray for us if you think of it. We are going to try to get into the doctor today but getting 6 in - without an appointment is going to be a challenge. At any rate, being mom means that even if you are sick you still have to tend to everyone else so its been a challenge to put it mildly.

We are WARM!!

If you've read Byron's blog already, you know that we now have our new furnace installed and it is WONDERFUL!!! The kids rooms are actually warm for a change. Typically they are freezing even if the rest of the house is comfortable. With the old furnace we would have it set at 72 degrees and still be barely warm. With the new furnace, we have it set at 69 and we are almost TOO warm. What a wonderful wonderful blessing. And... best of all, it is using MUCH MUCH less fuel than the old one used. Anyways, we (the church) still has $650.00 to raise to finish paying for it so help us pray about that. For a bunch of pictures of the process click here.

Mama & Papa Gurnee came today to our house so that Papa could help install our new furnace. Mama arrived with a bag full of crafts for the kids to do. They spent most of the morning around the kitchen table coloring, cutting, etc. They had so much fun.

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Today my sister in law (Byron's sister) has a birthday. Happy Birthday Beth!!! Hope the coming year is full of pleasant surprises and much joy. Thanks for being such a kind sister in law.

(for pics of our evening together to celebrate Beth's birthday, see Byron's blog.)

Daddy Is So Proud

Conversation between my 3 yr old daughter and my 4 yr old daughter who were having a nice little tea party:

Kendra: This is boring.
Alyssa: Yeah. Lets go deer hunting!!!
Kendra: YEAHHHHHHH!!! Let's GO!!!

Then they went and found the binoculars and a stick and have been sneaking around the house ever since. Periodically I hear things like, "THERE HE IS!!" "BAM! I GOT HIM!! WOW! That's a HUGE rack!!" Typically they are speaking in a LOUD whisper.

So, lets see, in a few years this household will have the possibility of approximately 15 deer? I probably should start composing the waiting list of people who need venison. LOL

Blogger Malfunction?

Is anyone who uses blogspot having issues with their blog? All my right column contents is now at the bottom of my page. I've switched templates several times and it shows on the "dashboard" as being just fine but when I view it, it is NOT fine. Anyone besides me having problems?

Update!! My dear friend Candi fixed it for me!! Thank you SO much, Candi!!

Beware Future Boyfriends!!

See Byron's Blog for a hilarious post.

We can't give up!

I'm hearing alot of Conservative Holiness People saying things like, "the conservative talk show host ________ (you fill in the blank) says that Huckabee doesn't stand a chance." or "If you vote for Huckabee you are throwing away your vote." Well, one preacher told his church recently, that he believes that if anyone votes for a candidate who supports abortion, that the person who voted for him will also be held accountable for the abortions done while he's in office. That's something to think about.. It's an interesting thought. Not one that I've thought of before. You may agree with that or may not. However, at this point, I believe, conservative Christians have only one clear option. Here's yet another clip that again demonstrates why I will be voting for Huckabee.

Am I Beautiful?

This morning Alyssa staggered out of bed and found me in the kitchen. Her hair was sticking out every which way. She had 2 different colored socks on. Her bedclothes were wrinkled and twisted and her eyes were still 3/4 glazed shut. She was squinting to even see me. She came over to me and stretched out her arms. I picked her up and her first words to me were, "Am I beautiful, Mommy?" I told her that she was beyond beautiful to me. She was one of a kind. Then she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, do I look like you?"

After this was all said and done the spiritual application of that conversation hit me like a ton of bricks. In all our dissarray of humaness that must look to God like Alyssa looked to me this AM, he still finds us to be beautiful! The depth of love I felt for my little girl as she searched for affirmation from me is NOTHING compared to the love God feels for me as HIS daughter. I can come to Him just as I am and He loves ME! He sees "Julie" - not just the faults and the failures (which are many). Just as I found Alyssa to be beautiful inspite of the outter appearances, He finds me to be beautiful as well.

Then her last question really did me in. "Mommy, do I look like you?" Wow. Shouldn't our ultimate goal in life be to look like our Father? Lord help my daily prayer to be, "Abba, do I look like you?" When others see me, it is my deepest desire that they not see me, but that they see my Father.

Maybe I've totally spirituallized something that was not worth mentioning. However, God ministered to me through the experience. Oh to be a kid again!

Agora Skate Party

Kenton is homeschooled through Agora. Each month they sponsor an outing for the students and their families. Today we went to Erie and joined all the other area families for a 2 hour rollerskating session (for FREE!!!). Agora had rented the entire rink so we had it all to ourselves. We got to meet our teacher and many other great families who are also part of Agora. It was a GREAT day. Agora is a great school and we highly recommend it. The kids had never rollerskated before today. It was VERY interesting to say the least!! The girls did great from the very start. Kenton warmed up 1/2 way through and started taking off. Dear Vince fell a couple times adn said - enough of this!!! He spent most of the time out on the carpet. LOL