And the winner is...

The winner of the drawing for the Siesta Scripture Memory Team spiral is...Janna!  (Just so you know I didn't make Janna up, she entered on facebook.)  Thanks for playing! 

A Giveaway!

I have been blessed by some bloggy giveaways, and I have always wanted to do one.  I finally found something to give away!  Beth Moore's Siesta Scripture Memory Team has made a huge impact on my life.  She is starting it up again for 2011, and she designed these cute spirals!  I have one for me and one for the winner of this drawing!  (You can absolutely do the Scripture Memory Challenge without this particular spiral.  A $1 one from Wal-Mart works great too.)

You can see more information about the challenge from Beth here.  If you are interested in joining the challenge and want a spiral, then leave a comment here or on my facebook by 10:00 pm on Tuesday.  I'll draw and get it in the mail to you as soon as I can so you'll be ready for your first verse on the 1st of January!  Leave me your name and email, so that I can get in touch with you if you win. 

Scripture Memory Team 2010 #18

I can not believe it is December 15th and the last Scripture Memory post for this year!  God has been so faithful again to love on me through His Word.  As I review my vereses, the theme that keeps coming up is knowing Him.  What a blessing it is to be able to have a relationship with the God of Heaven and Earth who reveals Himself to us--He wants to be known!  He has chosen us to know Him (Isaiah 43:10), we can know His love (Eph. 3:16-21), we can know what He reveals to us (Deut. 29:29), we know there will be an inheritance (Col. 3:23-24), John 17:3 even says that knowing Him is eternal life!  We know that our brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings and that God is the God of all grace (1 Peter 5:5-11).  We can't, however, know or imagine what He has prepared for us (1 Cor. 2:9-10)!  That blows my mind!  I love how the Message says this portion of 1 Corinthians 13 "...understanding will reach its limit.  We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.  But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled."  Even still, "my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately aquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly." (Philippians 3:10).  Knowing Him restores me, and makes me strong, firm, and steadfast (1 Peter 5:5-11).

That 1 Peter 5:5-11 is the portion that I have been working on recently and that steadfast has echoed through my days.  Then I heard this verse on Michael W. Smith's Worship album and thought it would be a fitting verse to wrap up the year...

Psalm 57:7  My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

I don't know what your year has been like, but I have done a lot of stretching and growing this year.  At least it feels like it--I hope there has been growth!  When I read this verse in the context of the whole Psalm, I could relate in so many ways.  There are days that I'm not so steady, but I want to be steadfast, knowing my God, and praise Him because He is absolutely faithful!

This is the song that Psalm 57:7 introduces on the Worship album.

Forever

by Chris Tomlin

Give thanks to the Lord

Our God and King

His love endures forever

For He is good, He is above all things

His love endures forever

Sing praise, sing praise

With a mighty hand

and outstretched arm

His love endures forever

For the life that's been reborn

His love endures forever

Sing praise, sing praise

Sing praise, sing praise

Yeah

Forever God is faithful

Forever God is strong

Forever God is with us

Forever

Forever

From the rising to the setting sun

His love endures forever

By the grace of God

We will carry on

His love endures forever

Sing praise, sing praise

Sing praise, sing praise

Yeah

Forever God is faithful

Forever God is strong

Forever God is with us

Forever

Stockshow and gingerbread

Only on this blog would you find a combination like "stockshow and gingerbread!"  Here are the stockshow tournament pictures that I mentioned in the last post.  SweetDoll did Pee-wee showmanship in both shows.  The first time she got a ribbon.  The second time she got a dollar!

This was SweetTate's first time out in the ring with the lamb for showmanship.  We borrowed a lamb (We thought Lightnin' might be a little fiesty for him to handle and that way both little ones could show.)  He did really good.  The judge asked him what the lamb's name was--he had no idea because it wasn't our lamb!  So they just decided it was Lightnin' II!  He got a dollar too.  When he showed it to me, I said, "That is better than a ribbon, right?"  "No."  And then Mom wouldn't even let him go spend it at the consession stand!  Poor baby!  (Enough sugar, that is all I'm saying!)  Anyway, I thought he was precious!

 SweetBoy had a great day showing.  He placed 7th in the first show and 3rd in the afternoon show.  He learned a lot and had a quick opportunity to put it into practice.  It was good experience for him.  And we had a fun day together.  (It was a long day!  I'm still learning to be an ag mom!)

 So here is where the gingerbread comes in.  This week the kids and I did a gingerbread house.  Mmm...it smelled so good when we opened the package!  We had a good time putting it together.

 Voila!

No promises that I'll get on here with pictures again before the 25th, so Merry Christmas from the Sweet House!



Thanksgiving pictures

I promised myself that I would go to bed early these three weeks before Christmas so I would be well rested and enjoy the holiday with family.  If my kids could only see that I break promises to myself too.  Oh well,  before it is January, I wanted to put up these pictures of Thanksgiving.  We had such a great time!

My kids

Three generations of Lastname men--blessings!

 All the ladies--precious!

 Surprise birthday party, SweetHeart!

 Cousins jumping on the trampoline.

 Big cousins playing games.

If you missed the happenings of the holiday, you can find them here.  Since we have been home, we have finished decorating for Christmas, hosted the Christmas lunch at SweetHeart's work, and had a stockshow tournament (sort of--two in one day).  But again, the pictures are still on my camera, so there is a little teaser for the next post that might eventually happen.  ;)  Good night!