Verse for my daughters

This verse is a verse I stumbled upon one time during college. There was a large stone with this verse carved on it, so I literally almost stumbled over it at UMHB. This awesome stone with moss growing on it near a path really caught my attention. I later remember reading that this was a verse a pastor used when he talked to his congregation over the importance of starting a university for girls in Texas. Since then this has been one of my favorite verses pertaining to women in the Bible.

It is a prayer for my daughters. (I also like the first part of the verse for my son.)

"...that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace." (Psalms 144:12)

2 Chapters

Two Chapters that I love going back to when I think of my family and God's blessing in my life are Psalm 127 & 128

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

¹ Unless the LORD builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
² In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Children are a heritage from the LORD,
offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.

Psalm 128

A song of ascents.

¹ Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
who walk in obedience to him.
² You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
³ Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
⁴ Yes, this will be the blessing
for the man who fears the LORD.

⁵ May the LORD bless you from Zion;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
⁶ May you live to see your children’s children—
peace be on Israel.

How sweet it is to be loved by you

This kid is little firecracker Sydney. She brings so much joy and laughter to our lives. Though she has been pulling my hair out for about three years I will would not trade my thumb sucker, hair pulling girl for anything. I like the way she is so much herself, but also how much she is Seth and Selah. It is amazing to see how each person in our family influences each other. It is amazing to see how even we as parents pick up little things from our kids.

She is also photogenic and natural in front of the camera. (Sethsito usually puts on a fake smile and Selah usually cocks her head and looks off into space instead of the camera.)

There are times I can't believe how stubborn my sweet little girl can be. But then she'll just spread out her arms for a hug and kiss me and make me forget the difficulties of trying to be a good parent and failing 7/10 times.

I love loving you Sydney Elizabeth Carpenter and how sweet it is to be loved by you.

Love Memories

Yesterday was one month since my dad passed away. I have been sick and had a bad night coughing constantly but I still managed to have some dreams. I had a weird dream where my dad came and hugged me and my mom said it was a Valentines Day hug. So today on Valentines day I want to share a part of my love story that involves my dad.

One thing I appreciated about my parents was that we could share just about everything with them. Well on a certain day I got a call from Tim while we were in college. He nervously asked me if we could meet later on to talk. For some reason I just knew what this was going to be about. So after I hung up with him I called home to talk to my mom. My mom was not available so I talked to my dad. I told him that I thought Tim was going to ask me to be his girlfriend. I asked him what he thought I should do. He told me, "Follow your heart." I kinda smiled and laughed at his cheesy response. I never expected that kinda sweet answer.

Needles to say I did follow my heart and said yes to Tim. I am so glad Tim (finally) asked me to be his girlfriend and I am so glad I still am. :)

Kisses for Papi

Happy Valentines Day to Papi from your niños.
here is their message

Seth: I love you. Thank you for all the times with you. I love you. I like riding my bike with you. I like walking with you. I like loving you.

Selah: I think that you should love people with your heart and you are my cutest dad in the whole wide world. Shine your light to Jesus.

Sydney: I love you. I love you. You are a silly goose. I love you all of the day. I want to buy Elmo. I want to listen to Adventures in Odyssey.

Reading List from Harvest Bible Chapel

I am cleaning out my e-mail. Wow! What a job. I am going back to e-mails from 2007. I am doing this because I actually created a new e-mail account. What was I thinking. Now I will have to keep up with two accounts for a while. I have just been having issues with my yahoo account so I opened a google account. While looking through some old e-mails I came across a link to this.

So I am posting this for Tim who is a book lover. I love books too, but I have not gotten around to finishing a book in a month. Maybe one day I can get around to it. For now here is a list recommended by a pastor I love listening to.

Develop Your Personal Christian Library

At Harvest Bible Chapel, the church I pastor, we’re filling our minds with good books. We’ve developed a five-year reading schedule with what we think are some of the very best books available in a wide range of topics surrounding the Christian life (100 books total!). Join us in the pursuit of godly living and reading. Print the following lists and develop a reading plan suitable to your needs and schedule.


Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Year 1 Reading List

* Basic Christianity, John R.W. Stott
* Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper
* The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate, Gary Chapman
* God Wrote a Book, James MacDonald
* Honesty, Morality, and Conscience, Jerry White
* The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey
* Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer
* The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman
* More than a Carpenter, Josh McDowell
* My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers
* No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green, Melody Green
* The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges
* The Saving Life of Christ, Ian Thomas
* A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, W. Phillip Keller
* Shepherding a Child's Heart, Tedd Tripp
* The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving, Randy Alcorn
* Through Gates of Splendor, Elisabeth Elliot
* The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship, Matt Redman
* What the Bible is All About, Henrietta Mears
* Word Biblical Commentary, Gordon Wenham

Year 2 Reading List

* At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon
* The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, Lee Strobel
* Concise Theology, J.I. Packer
* The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective, Martha Peace
* The Exemplary Husband: A Biblical Perspective, Stuart Scott
* The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur
* Hard Questions, Real Answers, William Lane Craig
* The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun, Paul Hattaway
* How to Give Away Your Faith, Little
* Living by the Book, Howard Hendricks
* I Really Want to Change ...: So, Help Me God : God’s Power to Transform Lives, James MacDonald
* Message of the Sermon on the Mount, John R.W. Stott
* New Bible Dictionary, I. Howard Marshall
* Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life under Christ's Control, Elisabeth Elliot
* The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
* Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Enjoying God, Sam Storms
* Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life/Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, by Donald S. Whitney
* Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, Mark Noll
* Your Money Counts: The Biblical Guide to Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing, Giving, and Getting Out of Debt, Howard Dayton

Year 3 Reading List

* Bible Translation Differences: Criteria for Excellence in Reading and Choosing a Bible Translation, Leland Ryken
* Brokenness, Nancy Leigh DeMoss
* Continuous Revival, Norman Grubb
* Disciplines of a Godly Man, R. Kent Hughes
* Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do About It, Os Guiness
* The God Who Hears, W. Bingham Hunter
* Holman Bible Atlas: A Complete Guide to the Expansive Geography of Biblical History, Thomas C. Brisco
* How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Dr. Gordon D. Fee, Dr. Douglas Stuart
* I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Norman L. Geisler
* Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis, George Sayer
* Letters along the Way: A Novel of the Christian Life, D. A. Carson, John D. Woodbridge
* Marriage under Fire: Why We Must Win This Battle, James Dobson
* Operation World: When We Pray God Works, Patrick Johnstone
* Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War against Christianity, David Limbaugh
* The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
* Psychobabble: The Failure of Modern Psychology and the Biblical Alternative, Richard Ganz
* Strengthening Your Marriage, Wayne A. Mack
* Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem
* What Is the Difference?: Manhood and Womanhood Defined according to the Bible, John Piper
* Why Pro-Life? : Caring for the Unborn and Their Mothers, Randy Alcorn

Year 4 Reading List

* The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts, Sam Storms
* Church History in Plain Language, Bruce L. Shelley
* Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother, Carolyn Mahaney
* Keep in Step with the Spirit, J.I. Packer
* Hard Sayings of the Bible, Walter C. Kaiser, ed
* Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Roland H. Bainton
* How Now Shall We Live?, Charles Colson, Nancy Pearcey
* Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, Hudson Taylor
* Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change, Paul David Tripp
* On Being a Servant of God, Warren W. Wiersbe
* Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety: Becoming a Woman of Faith and Confidence, Elyse Fitzpatrick
* Sacred Marriage, Gary L. Thomas
* Set Apart: Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life, R. Kent Hughes
* Sex, Romance and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know, C. J. Mahaney, Carolyn Mahaney
* A Tale of Three Kings, Gene Edwards
* Three Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare, Clinton E. Arnold
* When Life Is Changed Forever/by the Death of Someone Near, Rick Taylor
* Why Small Groups? by C. J. Mahaney, ed.
* Why Revival Tarries, Leonard Ravenhill

Year 5 Reading List

* Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World, John F. MacArthur
* Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Everett Ferguson
* The Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster
* The Cost of Discipleship, Deitrick Bonhoeffer
* The Cross of Christ, John R.W. Stott
* Darwin on Trial, Phillip E. Johnson
* Decision Making and the Will of God : A Biblical Alternative to the Traditional View Garry Friesen
* Desiring God, John Piper
* How to Read a Book, Charles Van Doren, Mortimer J. Adler
* The Kingdom of God: The Biblical Concept and Its Meaning for the Church, John Bright
* The Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Ralston Martin
* Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
* Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever
* Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
* Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance, Os Guinness
* Religious Affections: A Christian’s Character before God, Jonathan Edwards
* The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Mark A. Noll
* Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
* Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, Nancy R. Pearcey
* The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog, James W Sire

Pics for Mrs. Jana

Here are some images I've uploaded for Mrs. Ewing to save and print to use for her new organization. I am so excited to contribute a little to this new and awesome endeavor of her's. :) We love you Mrs. Jana and are so excited about Jake E's Riding Roundup: Horse Therapy Healing Center. You can learn more about this on their website jakeesrr.com.






Click on image to enlarge first. To save right click and save or just pull on your desktop depending on computer.

A Valentine for all my many readers :)

I took this picture at Hidden Acres during one of our autumn walks. I enjoy the times at Hidden Acres where we can take a slow stroll and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. I love the little leaf shaped like a heart.

I've edited this as a Valentine. And sometime today I will have to start working on Valentines for a party we will be attending. There will be 42 other kids, so if each of my kids is making a card for every kid I will have to take care of 126 :| wow! The party we will be attending is for the new homeschool co-op group we've joined. Funny thing is only 12 families are attending with close to 50 kids in attendance :)

Tamales

So today for lunch we went by our favorite place to buy warm delicious tamales and ordered our usual dozen to take home and eat for our Sunday lunch.

Well, lately Selah has been more and more picky about food and she decided that she was not going to eat her tamal because she does not like tamales. I told her, "Selah you will eat that tamal, because we are a tamal eating family." I kinda cracked myself up when I heard myself say that. But it was funny that Tim agreed with me and we made her eat it.

Selah also kind of realized to what I was trying to get across. She said "oh yes I remember when it was tamales day." Meaning the day my sisters and I got together to make tamales.

This made me also share with my kids that one of the last meals prepared by my Papi for our family was tamales that he and my mom made when we went to visit in December. One thing I remember crying over as I was talking to Tim about my dad when I heard my dad had had a stroke was thinking back about the last time we visited my parents. I remember that even though my dad had just gotten out of dialysis he took the time to fix ribs and meat loaf for us. My mom and dad had also made tamales that week in preparation for our visit. I knew that this was a way my father liked to show us his love. My dad was a great cook and he loved fixing food for people to show his love and appreciation.

This may be funny, but I really do hope Selah learns to love tamales as much as I do and that maybe tamales will remind her of family and the love that abuelito had for her and for all his family.

One thing about my Papi

Today as I was looking at a wedding photographer's blog I had a flash back. I remember when Tim and I got married and we walked to hug my parents right after we were pronounced husband and wife when I hugged my dad I realized he was weeping. "Don't cry" I told him but he couldn't stop.

And of course after that I could not hold tears back and by the time we walked down the aisle and past the doors I just cried like a baby to my newly wed husband's great concern. He was wondering if I was happy or sad to be married. All I could say was, "My dad was crying...and he made me cry too."

I know I will not fully understand the significance of this until I to give my first child away in marriage and even not then fully through the eyes of a loving father giving his first daughter away.

Reason #1

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

¹ These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Love of Life Luncheon

click on image to enlarge

Hoping some of you can make it.

I have personally worked for Carol Everett's Heidi Group Ministry in the past.
You don't want to miss her message.