Last Week on The Brady Bunch

Riley is The Academic Athlete at Washington Middle School.
Hallie was a Gnome in "Rumpelstiltskin"
Bailee was a Bee. In this play Rumpelstiltskin wanted Clara's Honey Bee Farm instead of her baby. I liked this version much better!
Jay gave me flowers! Riley took this pic and cut off the big dirty roots that were still attached. I loved those flowers!
Charlie played outside! It is hard to keep him in and even harder to get him to look at the camera! Our camera is fixed, Yea!!

Anger Management

Lately, I have been thinking about how we as humans deal with our anger. Since my boys are out into the world more and more I am beginning to see the need to help them learn how to appropriately deal with those frustrated and overwhelmed feelings that come out as anger.

Do we grow out of our temper tantrums or do we just change how they look? Do we become passive aggressive, calculating revenge, manipulating? Or do we stuff them down trying to ignore those feelings because they aren't Christ-like? In vain of course, because in the flesh it eventually finds a way out. Usually, when you really don't want it to and usually on the people you love the most. In an effort to avoid our adult temper tantrums people medicate their anger, try to drown it, or they might just eat it and everything else. In some of us anger fades into depression. Satan offers so many tempting choices for us to inappropriately deal with our anger. In your anger do not sin (Psalm 4:4 and Ephesians 4:26). Anger in itself is not a sin. We just need to deal with those God-given emotions in a God-glorifying manner.

I was thinking about my own anger issues and asked myself "What really gets me going?" "When do I loose my cool and why?" "Why do I get depressed?" Most of the time, it is when I feel controlled or when I can't control a situation. Simply put, things didn't go MY WAY. Which, go figure, are quite the same triggers for my boys. We want what we want. In the flesh, we are looking to please ourselves. The world sets us up to think we CAN have it our way. I don't want my children to fall into this trap. I so desire them to live a surrendered life. I know they have to see it in me first so, they will follow this blue print we are laying down in their little brains. It is a daily dying of self to accomplish this attainable goal.

The "good news" is... once I enter into a place where I realize I am not in control, ever! When I am reminded I am a servant of a sovereign God, a peace washes over me. His ways are not "my way," His ways are higher than mine. And I am glad I am not in control. I just need to ask Him to help me see things the way He see's them.

I hesitate to talk about our more personal struggles because I want to be a source of encouragement. Honestly, I think y'all probably get tired of hearing how great everything is. Everything isn't perfect it is just that I only seem to blog about the good, not the bad and the ugly. I feel like those of you checking in on us don't get the full picture. Just the carefully chosen cropped one.

TEN THINGS TUESDAY

1. I am thankful today because I am not loved because of my goodness (or lack there of) but because of His Goodness.

2. I am thankful today because of an intense prayer time with a fellow sojourner.

3. I am thankful today because what God finds lovely is NOT what the world finds lovely!

4. I am thankful today because I had time to sit down and be thankful!

5. I am thankful today because it is going to be in the 80's this week! (I'm holding on to summer as long as I can.)

6. I am thankful for gas in the tank and six kids to drive around. Yes, I said six and no I'm not pregnant, Bailee's best friend is staying with us this week!

7. I am thankful for Charlie saying "Princess" when I have on a dress!

8. I am thankful for Hallie's Praying Mantis Short Story. Here is an excerpt... "Hi! My name is Cookie, and I'm a Praying Mantis. I live in a lush garden with beautiful flowers. My hobbies are praying and going to bug-church and going to Bugopolis!"

9. I am thankful for the laugh I got when Jay called Barnes and Noble, The Noble Bookstore!

10. I am so thankful for my husband being my best-friend!

More Beth Moore

Y'all know my camera has been broken so my sweet friend Adrian(extreme right) and her sweet honey John (to Brady and I, they have been our closest friends, prayer partners, bible study companions, babysitters, entertainment ect, ect. let's just say HUGE blessing) emailed me some pics from our Beth Moore Weekend. When I found out that sweet Bible Teacher from the South was coming all the way up here I grabbed 24 tickets and 6 hotel rooms and lots of my favorite girls. We have studied Patriarchs, Daniel, and now we are studying "Stepping Up" together. Stacy(extreme left) is my favorite new friend she and her husband and three boys have started coming to our church and they are a huge blessing to both Brady and I!!


The above left pictured is a precious friend to me, Anna! She was one of Bailee's teachers last year and her great husband is our Dentist! They are about to have their first baby in December!!!
Here are some of us at the previously mentioned "chain restaurant"...The Olive Garden, there is no Italian restaurant in the Middle of Nowhere, unless you count Pizza Hut's new pasta menu.
Here I am with Bailee's soccer coach, Heather and my labor and deliver nurse for Charlie and prayer partner, deAmbra and the cute blond is Esther a mother of four girls, her husband is THE Internal Medicine Doc. and precious christian friend to me.

Here is the woman herself! It was so wonderful to hear her southern draw talk about what Houston and Galveston went through during and following IKE. I felt like I needed a first hand update and she did it beautifully and through God's eyes. We cried and laughed all weekend here's one thing I found quite humorous...Beth Moore was saying she enjoyed coming to the middle of nowhere (meaning Billings, MT) and we girls just laughed and laughed because we drove two hours to the "big city" to see her!

Beth Moore came to the Middle of Nowhere

Our Bible Study group of girls went to see Beth Moore this weekend. We had soooo much fun! We got to go to the "big city," thanks to our amazing husbands watching lots of kids. Mine even threw a party!

Here are some external blessings...
We ate at a chain restaurant!
Starbuck's for breakfast!!!
Went to a mall!
I heard someone else say y'all!

Here are some Eternal blessings...
Amazing worship!!
Sweet prayer time!!
Visiting Kari (One of the girls in our Bible study has recently been diagnosed with Leukemia and has been in the hospital in Billings for the last six weeks)

Things that I learned from God through Beth...

Memory Verse:But the Noble man makes Noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands. Isaiah 32:8 The noble plan is to show God to your fellow man!

Don't just be good, do good!

If it ain't one thing it's two!

She challenged us to be a willing volunteer in the Army of Jesus Christ. That I might not know victory but, I won't know defeat either.

Let my secret be my secret relationship with Jesus. Encouraged me to run to my hiding place with Him.

The last time I heard Beth Moore I was encouraged to Be still (Stacy do you remember that prayer?). This time I was told to get busy and be a benefit. Well, gotta go get going!!

Ridiculously Long Silence

This was a ridiculously long silence, I know! There are a couple of extenuating circumstances... 1. My camera lens has been broken for quite sometime. (I don't know if it was from going on Brady's Elk hunt last year or from Jay dropping it gently at the Christmas program, maybe both.)
So, it has been in the shop for quite sometime. 2. I really was busy this summer! Here's what you and my camera missed....

Hallie turning 9
Charlie turning 2
A trip to Dallas for my college roommate girl weekend.
I turned 36, HOLY GRAPES! (I stole that from Jay)
Cleaned out the garage
Had lots of swim parties
Brady and I in Seattle
Family vacation to Sioux Falls, SD (TONZ of Christian concerts and a waterpark)
The changing of summer to winter clothes.

Now that the girls are back in school I might have a little more time to blog. I'll just have to wait on pictures till my camera is fixed. I've missed y'all!

BEWARE OF CUTE LITTLE DOG!!

Hey y'all, it's me, Riley! My mom has been very very busy this summer so I thought I'd take this time to do my own post. As you may have guessed, I'll be talking about my precious miniature yorkie Molly! She is pretty protective of her belongings. (that includes our family, our house, MY fuzzy socks, and everything that has been in her mouth!) Which means that if those evil moths outside even THINK about coming to attack our sweaters, she'll bark ferociously (as ferocious as a 2.3 lb. puppy can) until I hop out of bed and turn the lights off outside.

She does all these crazy things that are soo soo cute!! For starters she sits under our table at dinner and stares at me until I throw her a piece of steak when mom's not looking! (sorry mom!!) She also runs away with Charlie's favorite toy until practically the whole household is chasing after her! Molly is very photogenic, so if she sees me with a camera she just sits looking up at me and smiles. (you know, that silly little dog grin?)But she doesn't love everything in life, like, she loathes it when I try to clip her bangs up with a barrette, or when I make her wait for dinner. Oh, and she hates baths even though she smells so good after it's all over with. Her most favorite thing to do is sit on my lap, curled up in a ball watching "So You Think You Can Dance," it's her favorite show (and mine too)! She is STILL sad that the season is over, haha! Anyways, she is the perfect little puppy for me and I wouldn't have it any other way!!