A School Carol

This summer we had our very own theater production! We spent a few days perfecting our script and trying to make the characters come alive. The kids worked really hard on this, and we came up with, what I think is, an award winning story. I don't know why, but I am always surprised with my children's creativity. They have such unique ideas, and I love being a part of it.

Once our script was written and mastered, we practiced over and over again to get the scenes right, and to make sure our shadow puppet theater would be a success. You would be surprised how hard it is to switch scenes and characters while holding the script in your hand. We didn't have enough time to memorize our lines, and the show was rather long. It takes us about 15 minutes to get through it all.

The fun part was inviting all our family and friends over to watch. Each of the kids were blessed with a friend to perform for. This made it so much fun! We turned the lights out, invited our friends to grab a chair, and sit back for our family's production of A School Carol, written by Amanda, Ariel, Gabriel, and Allison (a friend of my daughter.)

We may not be able to perform the play live for you, but you can still enjoy the story here! Unfortunately, it just won't be the same. It was so much fun to hear the kid use expression in their lines. Even Zechariah got into his part as Chicken Cooper!

(The cast pictured above: Chicken Cooper - Zechariah,
Jacob Hawkley - Ariel, and Billy Burden - Gabriel) 

Once on a hot summer day, Billy Burden was hobbling along his seed paper route. He chucked a walnut at Chicken Cooper. Chicken Cooper was an apprentice to a nest builder. He was carrying a very delicate hummingbird’s nest and dropped it.

Chicken Cooper said, “Why did you do that?”

Billy Burden was a bully and answered back, “Because you always act like a chicken pooper. Bawk. Bawk. Bawk. Bawk.”



Later that night, in Billy’s room, he was reading a magazine and dropped off into a deep sleep. He was awoken by a sound similar to tree branches clinking together. Before him stood Jacob Hawkley his old classmate.

“Jacob Hawkley? Is that really you? Where have you been?”

“I’ve been in Juvenile detention for the past 3 years. I used to be a bully with you at Talon Academy, but now I feel so small. I am brutally picked on and beat up every day. I’ve seen stabbings and drug addictions. I’ve had things done to me that you wouldn’t want to see even in your worst nightmare.”

“Why, Jacob? Why did they send you there? What did you do that was so terrible?”

“I bullied kids. I stole lunch money, copied homework, and gave kids swirlies and wedgies. But watch out! You have done much worse, Billy Burden! Soon they are going to catch up with you! And you’re going to pay the price in Juvenile Detention!!!”

“What must I do, Jacob Hawkley?”

“You will be called on by the trinity. Without their visits you cannot hope to skip out of prison. In fact, your fate will be much worse than mine. “



Billy Burden fell into a restless sleep. Lightening flashed, fireflies flickered, and Billy’s bedroom door was flung open. Light flooded the room when God the Father floated in.

“Billy Burden, come forth! Chicken Cooper’s prayers have been answered. I am God the Father, and I will take you to the years of school past.”

“Who’s past? Jacob Hawkley’s past?”

“No, Billy. Your past!”

They immediately were transported six years ago, when Billy was a young kindergartener.

He saw a young Billy Burden playing on the playground. He was swinging with Chicken Cooper his best feathered friend. They were happy. The sky was blue. The clouds were white and puffy. Suddenly Jacob Hawkley pushed Chicken Cooper off of the swing. Chicken Cooper began to cry. Billy ran to help Chicken Cooper brush the rubble off his poor scraped knees. He gallantly carried Chicken Cooper to the nurse and gave Jacob Hawkley the evil eye.

Light flashed and the seasons changed. There was now snow on the ground. Billy Burden was curled in a ball, holding his wing, crying. Chicken Cooper had accidentally knocked Billy off the top of the slide. Billy’s wing was broken. Chicken Cooper tried to apologize, but Billy wouldn’t listen. His arm hurt too much. Jacob Hawkley swooped in and grabbed Billy with his talons. He flew him to the school nurse.

The school nurse was surprised that Jacob would take an interest in helping someone out. She told Billy sadly, “You may never fly again. Your wing is hurt beyond repair.”

A young Billy said,” That dumb Chicken Pooper!!! I’m never speaking to him again!! He has betrayed me. I will never forgive him for what he’s done.”

“God the Father, take me back! Convict me no longer. This is too painful.”

Billy Burden was back in his bed.



Awakened in the middle of a loud snore, Billy heard a bell toll outside his window. He ran to see what it could be. As he looked out the window he noticed a church with a cross on top. Right before his eyes he saw a man attached to the cross. Suddenly the man flew off the cross toward Billy’s window.

“Billy Burden, I am God the Son, and I have come to show you things.”

“I have learned from God the Father, and I will learn from you too. Lead on, God the Son.”

Chicken Cooper’s house appeared before them and God the Son flew Billy in through the window. Together they crossed through a secret hole in Chicken Cooper’s closet which led up to the attic. Chicken Cooper was weeping.

“Why did this have to happen? How could Billy do this to me? He used to be my best feathered friend. My BFF. Billy chucked that walnut at me and broke the nest I was carrying for the Ruby, Queen of the hummingbirds. I was FIRED! Ohh why??? I worked so hard to get that job!”

Chicken Cooper began to pluck out his wing feathers. “Why does Billy hate me so? I never meant to hurt him. I have tried so hard to make it up to him, and he won’t listen. He always picks on me.“

At this point, Billy Burden was starting to feel really horrible. He remembered all the mysterious spy meetings that had taken place in Chicken Cooper's attic. They used to solve mysteries together and spy on their parents. Many fun times were had in that attic. It pained Billy to see the attic being used for a place of torture. The attic was special to him.

“Chicken Cooper, I’m sorry. I forgot about all the fun times we had together. You were a good friend to me.”

God the Son reminded Billy, “Chicken Cooper cannot hear you. He believes he is alone in this attic.”

“I didn’t mean for him to lose his job. I was just messing around with him. All those times I chucked a walnut at him. Jacob told me it was harmless. He said we were just having fun and the other birds would understand. I thought it was funny when the nest broke. I didn’t know it belonged to a Queen.”

“Why does it matter who the nest belongs to? Aren’t all birds worth the same thing to God?”



Billy turned around just as God the Son disappeared. A dense fog filled the room. Billy could see nothing. As the mist lifted, he found himself outside of Talon Academy his old elementary school. A shadowy figure appeared and pointed towards the school playground.

“Are you, God the Holy Spirit?”

The Spirit nodded.

The students were gathering under the slide, the place where all the gossip happened. They seemed to be discussing an individual.

“I heard he murdered somebody!”

“I heard he broke into the principal’s office and stole all the millet seed reserved for outstanding students.”

“Well, I heard he kicked one of his teachers, which put her into the hospital.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I heard he did all of that, AND he burned all of the library books in the high school!”

“Did you know he used to be a student here?”

“GASP!!!!!”

Billy asked, “God the Holy Spirit, who are they talking about? Is it Jacob Hawkley, my old pal?” The fog surrounded them both and suddenly before him appeared the Juvenile Detention Center. It was filled with hawks and falcons; every evil bird who had ever been kicked out of elementary school.

A fight broke out on the basketball courts in Juvenile Detention. Two birds were tearing each other up. The sky was filled with white as feathers flew. Billy Burden couldn’t get a good look at who the birds were. Suddenly, all the noises were silenced. Every bird took a step forward, and tried to see who the victim was. Death was in the air.

“God the Holy Spirit, tell me, who were those two birds? What happened there?” The police came and cuffed one of the birds taking him to prison, while the other remained injured on the court. The crowd disbursed, and in the middle of the basketball court in Juvenile Detention laid Billy Burden’s old pal Jacob Hawkley.

“Holy Spirit, who did this to Jacob? Who could do such a thing?”

With a sad silence, God the Holy Spirit, pointed to a case file lying on the bench next to Billy.

“Before I look at that case file, tell me one thing, are these the things that must happen? Or the things that might happen?"

Still, the Holy Spirit pointed downward at the case file.

Billy Burden, terrified at what name he might read, crept forward slowly following the Holy Spirit’s finger.

He opened the case file, stamped in big red letters, Sentenced to Prison, and read his own name, BILLY BURDEN.

“No! It couldn’t be! I will change, Holy Spirit. I will be different. I will forgive Chicken Cooper. I will treat everyone with respect and kindness. Please say it isn’t so.”

Police siren’s filled Billy’s ears. “I will change. I will change.” He grabbed God the Holy Spirit’s fingertips, but soon found he was grasping his alarm clock which was buzzing loudly.



“I will be different. I will live in the past, present, and future. I have learned my lesson well, and it is time to make amends. First thing, I’m going to have a talk with Chicken Cooper’s boss. He must get his job back!“

Upon arriving at Nest Builder’s Incorporated, Billy Burden approached Mr. Nestly, the owner. “I need to tell you something, sir. Yesterday, I chucked a walnut at Chicken Cooper, which broke the hummingbird’s nest. It was my fault. Please don’t punish Chicken Cooper for my mistake. I will work hard to fix this problem. I will rebuild the nest at no cost to you. Will you be so kind as to give Chicken Cooper his job back?”

“What a fine young bird you are. I appreciate your honesty. Chicken Cooper is lucky to have a friend like you. I will give him back his job at once!”

The next stop for Billy Burden was Chicken Cooper’s house. Mrs. Cooper answered the front door. “It’s been a long time, Billy. How have you been?” she said in a stern voice.

“I’m here to apologize to your son. I have been very wrong in the way that I have been treating him. Will you give me the chance to make things right with Chicken Cooper?”

“Of course, Billy. I always liked you. Chicken Cooper should be in his room right now.”

Billy laughed softly as he knew exactly where Chicken Cooper was.

When he walked into the bedroom, there was no one there. He expected that. Quietly, he pulled open the closet door, and climbed through the hole. He heard the weeping of Chicken Cooper, “How could Billy do this to me?”

“I was being very selfish.” Billy answered.

Chicken Cooper gasped, “How did you get in here? Did you come to torture me more? I already lost my job because of you!”

“I know, Chicken Cooper. I am sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you. I have been a very naughty bird. Will you forgive me? I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I am a changed bird.”

Chicken Cooper hugged him tightly. “I have always prayed for this day to come. Of course, I forgive you. We shall be the best feathered friends again.”

And Billy Burden was better than his word. He became the best feathered friend a bird could ever have. He also went to visit Jacob Hawkley at the Juvenile Detention Center every month. By the end of that next year, Jacob Hawkley was released for good behavior. And the three birds became inseparable.


God bless us, every bird.


"What's the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries.”
Matthew 10: 29-31
The End
After the show we invited everyone upstairs for some delicious root beer cupcakes made by my daughter. They are very easy to make. You use a white cake mix and substitute the water with root beer pop. For the icing you simply add root beer flavoring to it. Add a cup of nice hot tea and you have yourself a delicious snack!

Kaleidoscope

One of the prettiest places is the gardens at Ward Meade Park. The flowers are gorgeous. I LOVE spending time there. The place is so peaceful, and it's almost hidden from the rest of the world. People frequently go on tours of the log cabin, mansion, and other buildings, but you don't often run into people walking through the gardens.

The most exciting thing I discovered; they have recently installed a huge kaleidoscope.

The flowers may not appear very attractive, and they were dying, however, when you look through the kaleidoscope it's absolutely beautiful! I almost didn't even look through the lens because I thought it would be disappointing since the flowers were mostly dead. You couldn't even tell when you look through the lens. It was amazing! It's a definite asset to the flower garden.

My pictures don't even do justice to the beauty of it. You must try it out for yourself!

What Women Fear

A couple times a month I get together with some friends for a book study. We are currently reading What Women Fear by Angie Smith.

It's amazing! The book takes you on a journey straight through your fears and out the other side to your faith. It's very inspiring to me because of the absolute honesty of the author. She has been through it all and God has transformed her into something beautiful. Angie has a definite strength in her that leaves you desiring to follow her path. I have been motivated to seek the same strength so that I too can face my fears and walk by faith.

Standing in Lifeway, as I read the back of the book, and part of the introduction, I was hooked. I had to use it for the next study with my friends. The only conflict, there was no workbook to go through. We were going to be on our own studying, and discussing the chapters of the book. This posed a bit of a challenge.

As I read along in my book, I try to jot down thoughts and questions for the study. I also mentally mark how I came up with the question so I can justify asking it later when I'm with my friends. We meet at a local coffee shop for discussion and to build up our friendship.

I thought I would share the questions with you. Maybe it will give you a chance to dig a little deeper. I know I'm sometimes guilty of reading a book without putting myself into the picture. You really need to purchase the book for yourself! These questions are only to be used a supplement, not to take the place of reading the book. Feel free to use them yourself, or use them as a discussion starter with friends.

The book is ten chapters long, along with an introduction. Today, I will post questions for the first five chapters. Once I am finished with the study, I will post the second half of my questions.

Introduction - Did He Really Say That?
"Many times God responds to someone struggling with fear by asking a question of them. When He's wrestling with Jacob, God asks him what his name is. Of course He knows Jacob's name. What He wants from this interaction is a confession of sorts; an acknowledgement of who Jacob is in his own eyes" (Smith 1-2).
Who do you think you are? In your own eyes?

Angie shares a story about Santa coming to her house. She lies in her bed terrified that she wasn't good enough for Santa. She must be on the naughty list and everyone will see her shame in receiving a lump of coal.
Have you ever felt not good enough...even for God? If so, why do you think so?

Do you feel like you are in bondage to your fears?

"Yes the Lord desires for you to be free from the bondage of fear, but it isn't reasonable to say you will never have fear in your life again if you are a good Christian" (Smith 12).
Have you ever felt like you weren't a good enough Christian because of the fear in your life?


Chapter 1 - Sitting by the Well
"I heard You say that, God, but it seems like maybe You have forgotten that You did. It seems like maybe I need to do this in order for it to all fall into place, so I'm going to move on ahead of You and You can catch up to me at the next stop. Sound good?" (Smith 16).
Have you ever reminded God of His promises? Or tried to help Him out?

"Scripture tells us that God opens Hagar's eyes and she sees a well of water. Take note of the fact that it doesn't say He dropped a well of water right next to her, but rather He opened her eyes to see it" (Smith 27).
Looking back at a hard time, find where God was at. What "well" did He open your eyes to?

"I believe that Satan preys on these moments, taunting us with our own self-doubt, rejoicing as we replay things over and over, desperate for a different outcome. Scripture gives us powerful words about these thoughts and I encourage you to find strength in them when you begin to wonder" (Smith 25).
What scripture verse can you grab a hold of today for your life?


Chapter 2 - Foundations of the World
"In a sea of chaos and destruction, Job faces the fear that threatens to destroy him. Has my God abandoned me?" (Smith 32).
Have you ever been really angry at God before? What was the outcome of it?

"As I go through seasons of my life where others have hurt me and let me down, I can see the way my image of God was affected. It all lends to that overarching sense that you are your only ally, and anyone else (including Him) will fail you" (Smith 33).
Why do you think our image of God changes when it's other people who are hurting us?

"There was no ballet school" (Smith 36).
Can you relate to feeling like an outsider of the group, wishing and wanting to belong? What advice would you give to someone struggling with this?

"Leah can't win Jacob over with looks, so she comes up with another plan to make him love her. Despite the fact that she bore Jacob six sons and a daughter, he hated her" (Smith 39).
Have you ever feared rejection so badly that you were willing to do anything to be accepted? Why do you think we do that?

"When we depend on others to be our God, we strike out on a couple different levels. We burden them with blame for their lack of ability and we forfeit what God could have done if we would have honored Him the way we should have" (Smith 41).
When you are feeling alone, do you look to God for your fulfillment or man? What one step can you take to make Him (God) your sole provider?



Chapter 3 - Chasing His Hem
"She just wants to touch Him from the shadows, all the while keeping her secret to herself. It was shameful, and she couldn't bear the thought of everyone knowing she wasn't what she seemed" (Smith 47).
Why do you try to hide your weaknesses?

"I think one of the reasons we, as Christians, fear baring our souls for each other is that we know the person may try to play God instead of trying to love us the way God commands" (Smith 53).
Have you ever experienced this? How has it changed you? Or has it changed you?

What "labels" have you created for yourself to live up to? What will happen if you don't measure up to it?

What gifts and talents has God given you?

"Immediately after Jacob says his name, the Lord replies, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel... Genesis 32:28. Israel. Contender. Soldier of God. God prevails" (Smith 60).
What does your name mean? Who are you now? Who do you want to become?


Chapter 4 - Midian's Hand
"You're so worried about failing that you're going to read yourself right into oblivion. You're not ever going to actually do anything with all this knowledge you're gaining, so it's kind of useless, don't you think?" (Smith 67).
Is there anything you need to "pick" back up again? Are you still in the reading about it stage? Or are you ready to dive right in?

What do you need to take a step of action in? Is fear of failure holding you back?

How does your definition of failure differ from God's definition?

What are the things in which you fear you might fail?

Are you afraid of success? Or the pressure of continuing to be successful?


Chapter 5 - Wind and Waves
"Fear of death"
How do you go on believing in a God who allows such bad things to happen?

"Satan delights in our sleepless nights and our doubts in God's sovereignty. We must continually turn it over to the Lord and surround ourselves with people who urge us to trust His goodness" (Smith 92).
Can you identify areas where you are giving the enemy a foothold?

Are you able to trust God to work miracles for others more than for yourself? Why do you think that happens?

"But I am little in the hand of a big God and I fear He will not be able to make His fingers small enough to hold onto me.... It's as if I believe that He might be busy with something more important and then look up and poof, my plane has crashed..." (Smith 102).
Do you ever feel that you have slipped off of God's radar? How do you encourage yourself if that feeling comes?

"Jesus does calm the storm, but He also poses a question to His disciples. This question falls squarely on our shoulders as we experience the same fear they did" (Smith 103).
Where is your faith? What does it lie in?

I strongly encourage you; get a copy of What Women Fear by Angie Smith. You won't be sorry you did!

I will post the second half of my questions next month.

Questions Over Chapters Six Through Ten

All quotes taken from: Smith, Angie. (2011). What Women Fear. Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Publishing Group

5 Minutes

The last few days have been rather bittersweet for me. As soon as the day of enrollment is upon us, we begin a countdown for the first day of school. This is an exciting time for our family. Ariel is beginning middle school, and Gabe will be in the third grade. Both children are too eager to grow up in my opinion.

I have been savoring these last couple weeks that I have with them. Every minute, and every second counts...

(Yesterday we took a day trip to Emporia to visit the zoo and treat ourselves to ice cream at Braums!)


As every second counts, that does not mean, every second is spent together. Not only do I want time with my children, I want it to be quality time. That means free of fighting, arguing, sassing, anything unpleasant to my ears.

The past month I've been rather disappointed in our inexpensive movie theater's selection. If you remember, I use this as a reward for my children on our grocery shopping days. The entire summer long, we've had one kid's movie to choose. I refuse to go back and pay to see it again, no matter how cute and funny it was the first time. This means, I had to get a little creative in my discipline. We no longer had the $10 in concessions money to work for.

This is where the 5 minutes comes in. During the summer I don't require any of my children to take a nap, this includes Zechariah. We would rather use the time to have fun. I can rest once schools starts!

So for the past couple of shopping trips, I have made my children team players. If anyone gets in trouble, the group gets penalized. This helps them try to work together. The penalty for getting in trouble is a 5 minute nap. For every wrong thing, I add an additional 5 minutes onto the nap. I chose to give a nap because almost all my children's impatience or wrong doings is the symptom of weariness, exhaustion, or lack of sleep.

The kids could be required to rest for 5 minutes, or one hour depending on how the group did as a whole. Last time it was a 15 minute nap, this time it was a 60 minute nap. I have been so impressed by the way the kids bond together during this. They have been so encouraging to each other and they try so hard to keep one another from complaining or arguing.

Zechariah is often the culprit on the minutes getting added on; however neither of my other children has given him grief about it. They realize it would harm them. I have considered doing every man for himself, but I don't believe it would encourage the team effort as well. Getting along with each other is my ultimate goal. When each of them gets penalized for their siblings wrong doing, they encourage rather than tear down. They are truly working together!

Once nap time is completed, everyone gathers together in our own living room for a $5 movie we chose while grocery shopping. We pick out boxes of candy and have our own concessions. It's been a lot of fun! Today we are watching Where the Red Fern Grows...

Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo

Some of the easiest and best recipes I've found have come from the Kraft website. My sister found this one about a year ago. She was making a special meal for the family before she moved to Colorado Springs for the year. We all love it! I make it at least once a month. The best part is, in less than 30 minutes dinner can be on the table!

1 lb. fettuccine
1 pkg. frozen broccoli
½ cup Italian dressing
1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
3 1/3 cup milk
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil leaves

Cook pasta according to package directions. I add the broccoli for the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Over medium heat, cook the chicken in the Italian dressing. Stir continuously.

Once the chicken is cooked, add remaining ingredients. Stir continuously until cream cheese is melted and the sauce begins to thicken.

Drain pasta and add chicken mixture. Stir lightly together. I let it sit for a few minutes so the noodles can soak up some of the sauce.

This dish is so good! And it reheats great when there are leftovers. Although it's such a big hit with the family, there is rarely anything leftover!

Joy Unspeakable

I am very happy to report that God has remembered my son again. Zechariah was very appropriately named. He is my son that shows me God's protection time and time again. Without God, life would be so different.

Thursday of last week started like any other day, but soon changed into a very different kind of day. Zechariah fell off the toilet. Sounds simple enough, and you wouldn't think this would do much damage. However, it did. Somehow, when he was going to the bathroom and fell, his penis got stuck, and was cut pretty badly.

I heard him crying from the other room and came to check on him. I didn't figure it was anything serious. By the time I got there, his tears had stopped and he told me in a very calm rational voice, "I fell off the toilet, and my penis is bleeding."

It was said so matter of fact that I didn't believe there was blood. I then did the thing that mothers never should. When I lifted his shirt up and saw how much blood there was, I gasped out loud with a sharp intake of breath. This set him off and he began to scream and scream. No matter how many times I said, "You'll be okay." He could only remember the look of horror on my face. He thought he was in serious trouble because of my reaction. In fact, he would not stop crying and I had to leave the room to call the doctor. I honestly had no idea what I was to do for him.

I was afraid it needed stitches but I wasn't sure how to go about this. Do I carry him into the hospital naked? Do I try to get a covering for him? I knew it wasn't especially serious, but I thought it probably needed some attention.

By the time I heard back from the doctor, I had calmed him down enough to very delicately apply some antibiotic ointment, and carefully pull up his underwear. With the promise of time on the DSi, the tears stopped flowing. Whenever the pain subsides so quickly, it always makes me question whether it really needs immediate action. I debated for two hours as to bring him in or not. He seemed perfectly fine and was running and playing again.

This kid is always so tough! When he broke his arm, I almost didn't bring him to the doctor. He adapts so well. We all need a little bit of Zech's stamina in our lives. No matter what has happened to him, we've always questioned the seriousness of it because he keeps a positive outlook. Even as young as 7 months old, when he had a very serious blood infection, I couldn't get the doctors to pay attention to him. Whenever they saw him, he was happy and smiling; symptoms they didn't believe a very sick baby would show. He is an example to us all! No matter what happens, don't let it take your joy away!

(While at the hospital, He asked me to take his picture doing the splits. This is a boy who never lets life get him down!)
The doctor had told me he needed to be seen in ExpressCare. After an hour wait, we finally had some evaluation. The doctor took a look at it, and said, "It appears much more serious than we originally thought, and you need to bring him over to the ER for stitches and proper pain medication." They were going to set him up right.

As we were heading over to the hospital, I have to admit I was a little frustrated. This entire day was not part of my plan. I had a really fun day at the lake figured out. We were going to use plaster of Paris to make all kinds of fun sandy keepsakes. I was irritated that this accident had interrupted my day. It seems like all my plans have been altered in some way this summer. How selfish I was! When the day was over, I was so thankful for God's protection for Zechariah. God holds us so tenderly in the palm of His hand.

Fortunately, my mom was with us, as we were supposed to be going to the lake, so she volunteered to take Ariel and Gabe to the library which is next door to the hospital. Zech and I were in for a very long wait. Even though they had called ahead, we still had another 3 hours ahead of us to go.

Through it all, Zechariah was as happy as could be. He treated the entire trip like an adventure. He doesn't visit the hospital very often, so he was happy to explore the areas we visited.

When we finally had our moment with the doctor, he took one look at it and said, it definitely needed stitches and the only way he would do that is if we sedated Zech. He explained that the pain would be over-the-top and he could not put him through it without Zechariah being unconscious. I thought this seemed a little extreme given the fact that he was still running around and playing like he didn't have a care in the world.

The alternative to stitches was simply leaving it alone to heal on its own, and applying some antibiotic ointment to it. He would also have to be really careful to not reopen the wound. This would mean no baths, showers, or even getting wet. Too much water can lengthen the healing process. Because of the area of the cut, it wasn't very susceptible to infection. The doctor also mentioned without stitching it, there was more chance of a scar, but this was still his recommended course of treatment.

I opted for the alternative. Zech had already been through a painful experience and I didn't want to put him through it again. We had our antibiotic ointment in hand, and we were on our way home. I don't know how this fact has escaped us until this moment; Zech is allergic to Neosporin. He broke out in hives all over his body, and his face started to swell. God still held him in the palm of His hand.

Zechariah never complained once about his pain after the initial hurt. He is such a tough kid. He's been through a lot in his life, and he has always dealt with it full of courage and bravery. He is such an inspiration to me.

We spent the weekend in Wichita with my husband's grandparents. The highlight of the trip for our kids is always to visit Riverside park with the computerized fountains. Zech was such a commendable little boy. We didn't want him getting more than his feet wet in the fountains, and he didn't complain a bit when we told him he had enough of the water. He sat on the bench waiting patiently for his brother and sister. He knew it was for his own good that he was taken from the fun and he went right along with it.

I think we can all learn a lesson from Zechariah. "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. When Zech couldn't play in the fountain, he found he could play on the toys at the park.

It doesn't say we must be happy about everything that happens to us. Circumstances will always be out of our control; however, our feelings are not.

Find something today to be joyful about.

Kids Think the Darndest Things

Right now my boys are obsessed with the Home Alone movies. They love to see the traps set and the bad guys walk into them.

As we were watching the movie Gabe asked me, "I wonder what Kevin really looks like?"

I was a little confused. "What do you mean? He looks just like that."

"No. I mean the guy who plays him. I wonder what he really looks like?"

"You mean now that he's an adult?"

A shocked Gabriel, "What? You mean he was really just a kid in the movie?"

After much debate back and forth, it came to my attention that Gabriel has never understood that children could have a job as actors and actresses. Whenever he saw a kid in a movie, he thought there was a grownup inside pretending to be little.

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Lately I’ve been noticing that Zechariah says a lot of words incorrectly and I’ve been trying to teach the correct pronunciation. I don’t know if he’s having trouble hearing it, or if he just got so used to saying the words in a babyish way that he doesn’t realize it’s incorrect.

One that we have a constant struggle with is “computer”. He calls it the “pooter”. This is very difficult for him. I normally take it very slowly, and make him repeat every syllable. “It’s com-pU-ter.” With help, I can get him to say “com-pooter.” He still has difficulty with the U in computer.

This morning I was awoken by a very early riser. Zechariah has been getting up with his father, and he was ready to play. “Mommy, can I play on the com-laptop?”