my "not-so baby" baby mc

So, after reading yesterday and reliving the feelings I had the first time I wrote the "one more thing" about "gratitude" we went on a family walk! It is amazing to me that I am ever able to forget just how lucky I am and how God has shown Himself faithful to me! What are you guys grateful for? 

Gratitude (x2)

I cant help but wander if those words are true. Do they represent me, my faith, my heart? Do I trust my God that much? Does my love for Him go so deep w/in my soul that no matter what happens (or doesn't happen) in my life it will still be solid and growing? How about you? Is your faith that solid? 

I find myself thinking about a verse in Hebrews (12:28-29- 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire.") 

Our GOd has given us His unconditional love and a kingdom that can never be defeated, can never be destroyed. He is indestructable!!  I can't help but wonder though, is my love for Him that strong. Do I, on a daily basis, give Him the control necessary to forge that bond within my own heart. If we understand the verse and apply it to our lives we can see that God in us is unchanging. He is always there walking with us. I want to get to that point- where my faith is like His kingdom- "unshakable".

In the song there are struggles; pleas for rain, for food, and for peace. God's power to grant those prayers is in the forefront of the song, but also there- just as plain and spelled out, is His power not to answer those pleas for help. As a Christian I often forget that God is not required to keep me happy and healthy. His goodness is not based on His speedy answering all of my prayers, no matter how heart felt they are. Sometimes I forget that I am full of sin and there are consequences for my actions and my choices- even the small, seemingly insignificant ones. Often it seems, I want God right in the middle of all the "Stuff" in my life, but at the time I was making the decisions that caused the "STUFF" I had pushed Him to a small corner of my heart and turned the light off! 

What about you? Do you make the choices, the decisions, and then get frustrated when God is not right there to fix your mess for you? Do you push Him away and then expect Him to simply "know" when you might want Him to get involved? What about the tough stuff? Do you struggle with the "or maybe not" moments? The moments when God doesn't answer a particular prayer? Is He still your rock in those times? Let me encourage you to let Him be your rock always! When life is perfect praise Him for it, enjoy it with Him, but when life throws you curve balls and you can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel let Him be your God and your source then too. Just trust. Open your whole heart to Him and He will do the rest.

 One more thing before i go, if your mad- tell Him, if your sad- tell Him, if you don't understand why- ask Him- and then remember this- "but maybe not, not today- maybe He'llprovide in other ways"! 

He is always there- you just have to let Him be.

Gratitude

One of my most favorite artists is Nichole Nordeman. She is deep, her songs, usually tell a story. But if you aren't listening then you can get lost in the words and not get the meaning. One of my favorite songs is "Gratitude". I am going to post the lyrics b/c I think you will all understand what I mean better if you get a chance to read them for yourselves. So, read the lyrics and then there is a"long-winded" post to follow!!

love you all!

Send some rain, would You send some rain?

'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again

And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade

Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?

Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down

Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid

But maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You

With gratitude

For lessons learned in how to thirst for You

How to bless the very sun that warms our face

If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread

Bless our bodies, keep our children fed

Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight

Wrap us up and warm us through

Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs

Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time

Or maybe not, not today

Maybe You'll provide in other ways

And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You

With gratitude 

A lesson learned to hunger after You

That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between

What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace

Move our hearts to hear a single beat

Between alibis and enemies tonight

Or maybe not, not today

Peace might be another world away

And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You

With gratitude

For lessons learned in how to trust in You

That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream

In abundance or in need

And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

dont you just love this little guy? he is sooo stinkin cute & yes, he knows it!

Mc in her big girl bed!

from baby to big girl in less than 10!

after much denial, tons of doubts, and even more, "but i don't want to's" i have finally converted sweet baby mc's baby bed! she is now a big girl in her very own toddler bed! there are no more baby beds in this Lett house! what am i going to do? she is right now "jump jumping" on her bed! she and butter are having a play date with her babies, his ducky, and every other toy they could find all piled on her new and improved bed!! i will post pictures soon! right now i choose to live in denial!

this was the little surprise in our driveway this morning! i had to use a stick to get rid of it!! i know it's a really small snake, but still i would prefer not having to battle reptiles in my driveway before school! reptile expert noah told me not to worry he would protect me and that "blue back" (the name he gave the snake) could regrow the tail and tummy i took off with the stick!! gotta love school mornings!!

so proud i could cry!

tonight i did homework with my sweet noah. as we were going over his list of sight words he began sounding them out and then he read each and every one to me. he didnt need me to help him. he did it all on his own and then he wrote the words all himself. i have never been more proud of my firstborn! he loved it; every stinkin minute of being a big boy! he is a learner, he loves to know things, to learn things! i can not thank my God enough for this precious little man!

trick or treat

so, tryin to come up with cute & fun ideas for nono's school halloween party!!! anybody know anything mind boggling? 

Sorry Kiddos! No Yummy Hot Fudge Cake for you!!!

So, lets just say chicken spaghetti was a disaster! I loved it, but not one mini-lett even attempted to like it! Noah managed to eat three bites of the same noodle! Caleb held one bite in his mouth for the duration of dinner and Mckinly somehow ate the same piece of bread for ten minutes! I am pretty sure even Darrin was not thrilled with his dinner choice! So, after a few minutes hiding in the bedroom I decided desert was a necessity! So take a peek at what Darrin and I had for desert! No, we did not cave! Yes, we are mean! Sorry, kiddos no desert for you!!

supper, uprisings, and coup's, aren't these all one & the same?

So, the little lett's are sooo finicky; that dinner is usually a battle and to be honest darrin & I are usually the one's who lose. I mentioned this to mom this morning and she laughed; apparently I am (I mean "was"- hehe) picky too! And no, comments are not needed from the peanut gallery! So, if anyone has any kid friendly recipes please feel free to share them! Tonight we are trying chicken spaghetti! Here goes nothing!!!

One More Thing: Moses

You know in the beginning of Moses’s journey with God He was afraid, nervous, and probably we could even say scared silly. He knew that in himself he could not perform the tasks God was asking him to do and he knew that letting God down was not something he wanted on his “resume’”. So he whined, isn’t that what any good god-fearing servant does before beginning something hard and challenging? I mean think about it… don’t we whine when God throws us a curve ball? Don’t we fuss when all of a sudden the path changes and our desires take a back seat to god’s plan? But you know God didn’t change His mind, didn’t waver in the plan he had for Moses, but he did provide Moses with a helper, with a partner along the journey. God used Aaron to show Moses that His ways are perfect and when he says, “do this” we should never doubt that God knew how we would achieve and that more importantly he would give us the tools we needed to succeed.

So how do you think Moses felt as the Israelites were fleeing Pharaoh? Do you think he thought “oh yeah, I’m somebody and I’ve done something now”, or do you think even then after seeing all that God had done, all that God had used him to do he was still afraid, still nervous, and probably still scared silly?  I think he was still scared silly, but you know the cool part? You know what makes me want to be like Moses? He never quit walking! He never gave up and even when He and the people were stuck wandering in the wilderness year after year, he persevered. Sure he had moments of doubt, of anger, and you know I bet there were times He was certain he had a better plan to get the people to where they needed to be than God’s. And yes, there were a few times He did “let God down”, there were moments when his flesh took over, when his ambition got in the way, and his human emotions ran rampant. But he was man enough (child of God enough) to admit those faults, to take responsibility for those sins, and still cling to God’s promise of a new home for the Israelites a new life for his children. Moses was a man but more than that, Moses was God’s man. Yes, he had flesh; yes, he made mistakes, but you know what: His walk with God grew year after year, deepened day after day and in the darkest moments in the wilderness, when eating more manna made Moses want to cry; He still walked, He still trusted, and He still followed God. 

So, this is our new kitchen! Our old kitchen was so cramped- (not really)-- but I used it as an excuse not to cook!!  Believe it or not I have cooked almost every night for the past three weeks!! Anybody got any recipes? I am getting tired of spaghetti and chicken!!!

Our New Adventure

So, after many months I have decided to give this blogging thing a try! Darrin keeps urging me to do it, to write more, and to share my heart with all of you! I guess since we have moved and I have yet to find much to do other than work in our house and explore Target, this is a good a time as any to get started! I hope you guys enjoy sharing our adventures with us! Believe me, I know we are nothing special and our adventures are no better, funnier, or more ridiculous than yours! Enjoy!!