Bible Quiz

This past weekend my husband & I took our Junior Bible Quizzers to an Extravaganza in Mesquite, TX. An Extravaganza is where teams from all over come to quiz. We had teams from Arkansas, Colorado, Dallas, Austin, Louisiana, Kansas & all over Texas. It was a fun time. There were a total of about 80 teams between the junior & beginner teams. We have both a junior & beginner team and a total of 6 quizzers. Our beginner team got 13th place out of 33 teams in their division. We lost both of our games to the teams that got 2nd & 5th place. Jeff & I love bible quizzing and can't wait until our girls can quiz. A couple more years and Brooklyn will be ready. Bible Quizing is an awesome program and it not only teaches our children the word of God but also promotes positive character traits like good study habits, self discipline, how to be a team player, and how to respond to winning / losing. I believe that not only is our children's secular education important but their spiritual education as well. His Word impacts our lives in a way that nothing else in this world can!

The word says in Deuteronomy 6:4-9
(4) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
(5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
(6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
(7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
(8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
(9) And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates

It is amazing how they have the ability to retain and recall the scriptures at such a young age. They put most of us adults to shame with how much scripture they know. Their sharp memory and quick recall is awesome. These children devote themselves to intense study, they develop team-work and leadership skills as well as gain confidence and self-esteem. I am anticipating a trophy this year. We have a good team. We have 2 more tournaments this year. Our kids are going to do awesome.

If your church does not have a bible quiz team, I encourage you to consider becoming involved in this rewarding ministry. The rewards are innumerable and most importantly eternal.

WE LOVE YOU KIDDOS!!!!!

Happy Birthday BROOKLYN!!!

Today is Brooklyn’s 6th birthday. WOW!!!! This makes me feel sooooo old. Time flies so fast. It seems like she was just a baby. I love her so very much. Just a couple of nights ago we set aside time to spend with her since we knew we wouldn’t be able to spend time with her on her actual birthday, which saddens me tremendously. My husband and I will be gone to a Junior Bible Quiz Tournament today through Saturday so we had a mini party for her. It was just us…..daddy, mommy, Brooklyn & Ashlynn. We had a great time. I cooked our favorite meal….T-bone steaks, Au Gratin Potatoes (Sis. Smith’s yummy recipe) corn & Texas Toast. After that we had family Wii game time. Brooklyn always beats us at bowling. Then we got in the kitchen and let Brooklyn make her very first cake. Her own birthday cake. It was a blast. There is hardly a dull moment in our home. Especially with a 6 yr old and 19 month old…..oh and I must not forget the 33 yr old kid (daddy). Then we let her open her gift. It was a fun time. I am sad that our calendar is so full and not able to throw her a birthday party to invite friends to. However, I am grateful for the special bonding & quality family time we got to spend together. Nothing tops that. No gift is better than that and I pray that I will not allow my calendar, schedule, or busy life get in the way of spending time with my family. These times are priceless!!!

The best inheritance a person can give to his children is a few minutes of his time each day. –O.S. Battista

But most importantly our time with God is more valuable than anything. I hope to teach my children a valuable lesson about the importance of our time with God. There is not a day that goes by that we do not pray with our children before they go to bed. It is very important to us to not only have family time but to show our children they must find time to have God time too. A question comes to mind as I type this….What Would You Teach Your Children If It Was Your Last Day With Them? It made me seriously think about what my job is as a mother is really all about. Do I want to mold my daughter into a dream I have for her? No. I have to figure out how to empower her to be herself and achieve her own dreams and desires. For God says, “Delight in Me…and I will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-5 To teach my children how to fulfill their dreams, I need to teach them how to “delight in God”. What does that really mean? I believe it means to teach them not to be afraid of God, that He’s not some mean judge that will punish them for being bad, but rather to teach them to trust God with their deepest innermost thoughts and prayers. We never will know when our time on earth is through so every day is important…we must make sure we instill in them the importance of delighting themselves in the Lord.

SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL!!!

This photo was taken by my favorite photographer…Redonia Smith

Thought for the day...

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
-Frank Outlaw

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I Feel So Good...

I FEEL SO GOOD are the first words that came out of her mouth.

This is Ashley Perry. She is a 13 year old girl that attends our church. She came to our church from an outreach event held about 9 months ago. She has just recently received the Holy Ghost. She comes from an under privileged home. A home with several siblings who all have different fathers and so on....(you get the picture)

I was privileged to take her this past Sunday to Shoguns for lunch. She had never been to this type place before. Her eyes were so big, she was soooo excited and overwhelmed. To us it was just a Sunday afternoon lunch with friends like usual but to her it was heaven. After lunch my oldest daughter Brooklyn, my pastor’s daughter Redonia, & I took her shopping. We bought her several new outfits, two pairs of shoes, and other accessories. My daughter had so much fun helping pick out clothes. She was running back and forth to the dressing room with clothes for her to try on. As we were standing there waiting for Ashley to show us one of the outfits Brooklyn made the comment to me saying…”I want to do this for someone when I grow up.” That made me FEEL SO GOOD. All the money spent could not add up to what those words were worth. That made this trip worth it all. While trying to impact someone’s life, I impacted my daughter’s life.

Well, we got back to the house where we had a bag full of goodies waiting for her to freshen up with for her new outfit and shoes. She had lotion, perfume, soaps, and etc….She took a shower while I ironed her clothes. When she got done Redonia curled and fixed her hair. She looked so pretty. After it was all said and done she whispered…”I FEEL SO GOOD!!!! That put the biggest smile on my face.

I thank God for the privilege to help someone feel so good and beautiful. I think this is why we are here….to impact a life, to change a life, to help save a life, to love a life, to tell a life about JESUS…..this was our way to tell a life about JESUS!!!

Redonia, Ashley & me

Don't Worry About Tomorrow

Okay....so all day yesterday I wrote/worked on a to-do list for today....made notes beside each item making sure I prioritized each one and marking them off one by one as I accomplished them. I just now threw away the to-do list….FINISHED….well almost….

Have you ever done this?
Have you ever been so worried about the next day that you forgot or didn’t enjoy the day you were in? I’ve been so exhausted by the end of a day just worrying about a day that is not even here yet.
Do you ever have trouble enjoying today because you’re thinking about tomorrow?

To be truthful, I have been guilty of this more times that I should admit.

But Jesus says… Rejoice today…

“This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24

Thank God He has been patient with me… reminding me that today is the most important day in my life. Today is so important that I am to rejoice in it!

While writing this I realized that focusing on any day but TODAY will rob us of the potential joy and blessing that only TODAY can bring. I have found that thinking past TODAY and dwelling on tomorrow is a trap. Tomorrow can trip us up from enjoying TODAY.

So I guess my conclusion of all this is…what today will be is up to me!

Simple Rules of Life

Read books that you enjoy... Play with simple things... Do whatever you want whenever you want...

Look for affection when you need it...

Get serious once in a while... Forget about diets... Show some affection... Get angry once in a while...

Change your look... Be happy, above all, regardless what your challenges may be.

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

Leave the rest to God!

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

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Blogging is contagious.....

Thanks for stopping by. I am by no means a writer just ask my wonderful pastor's wife, Tracie Smith she is my editor, ha! She edits everything for me, I will type a memo, email, letter...etc....and I just hand her a red pen. We make a great team. I like to share ideas with people and hear about other's wonderful ideas. I love to read all of your blogs, but I can never comment on any of them because I did not have an account so hence this is why I have one today. I do have two beautiful girls and the best husband/father to our children in the whole world, that you will see and hear about now that I have a blogspot. Reading many of your blogs inspires me, triggers thoughts, encourages me and most times is how I spend my winding down time after a long day. Some of the "Little Things" you write are like...a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Proverbs 25:11