"In the Corners of the Night..." by Jake





Yesterday Jake, our 13 year old remembered at the last minute that his 6th grade class at church was doing talent night...nothing formal, just a casual night of talent/variety show among friends.  He said, "I'll just write a quick poem and read it."  Now, Jake is an incredibly gifted writer, but I didn't love the idea of him just throwing something together.  I questioned him on whether or not this was a good idea.  He said, "Don't worry mom, I'm fine."  He went to the computer and spit out a poem in no more than 10 minutes.  When he came in the room to read it to me I was blown away.  My first question to him when he finished was, "Can I have your permission to print that on my blog?" Love this.  Just a sample of the mind of this boy. Yes, I'm bragging...Mama's are allowed to do that, right, especially on their own blog?!  In all seriousness, I have to brag on our Lord.  I love seeing little glimpses in our children of what He's up to.  Hope you enjoy the poem.  I didn't worry about changing punctuation, capitalization, etc. Just left it how he wrote it. 




In the corners of the night where it glows dark red
behind the black gates of stone, iron, and lead
hides the dark creature, Satan, in his flowing grey robes,
he stands like a king as time unfolds.
Now Satan glares down, on the Earth below,
and gives evil demons seeds of death to sow.
He prowls like a lion, though he seems harmless as a dove,
he truly is a being who has no love.
As the clock goes tick, and then it says tock,
Satan says he’ll never give, he’s as solid as a rock.
His armies of horseman, it kills and destroys,
exploiting evil pleasures of men and boys.
It seems there’s no hope for the people of Earth,
for Satan keeps a coming in his fiery mirth.
But just when hope for mankind looked grim,
while we were oh so lost in our sin,
came a rider on a white horse with a gold crown,
we hoped his kingdom could strike Satan’s down.
As this man Jesus went from town to town,
saying turn to the Lord cast your sins down
Satan’s workers, the Pharisees, were still doing all the evil they pleased.
They bombarded Jesus, wherever he went,
with a great many questions but he did not consent,
Jesus turned to them and said with a loud cry,
"The way to the Father is no other than I!”
Satan drew back again, poised to strike,
like a crafty black serpent, with gleaming red eyes
he struck forwards, at Jesus’s heel,
and within a day Jesus’s tomb was sealed.
Satan laughed with victory, he thought he had won,
but he didn’t get that he was messing with God’s only son!
Three days later there was a rumbling noise, followed by a snap and a shout.
The stone of the tomb was rolled away, and Jesus walked out!
Satan perhaps had bruised Jesus’s heel,
but that wasn’t enough to make Jesus kneel.
Jesus went to that serpent, whose eyes glowed red,
and in victory Jesus crushed its head.


                                                  






-All I have left to say is, "HALLELUJAH!!!"

Zech is Two!!!

Well, I'm a little behind, but happy birthday to my precious, beautiful baby boy, Zech!  I know we all say it, but I am in shock at how quickly time flies (can't believe my baby's 2!), but also can hardly remember our family without him!  So neat the way God does that. 


I wanted to give God some praise here, because we had a dangerous situation with Zech when he was just 2 weeks old.  Everything had gone just fine with the pregnancy and delivery, but out of nowhere at 2 weeks old he started running a high fever early one morning.  To make a very long story short, we ended up in the hospital for the next 2 weeks with him getting antibiotics to save his little life.  He was septic, which simply put, means he had a bacterial infection in his bloodstream.  The doctors told us that if we had been just a few hours later it most likely would have been too late.  Needless to say, the Lord had His hand on this little guy from the beginning, and I believe with all my heart, He has great plans for His life! 


I will say, that from about halfway through my pregnancy with Z, I started feeling very strongly that his name should be Zechariah.  Now, I'm quite aware that this isn't your everyday, "normal" name to most!  All I know is that God wouldn't allow me to let go of it, and we were certain by the time he arrived that Michael Zechariah would be his name. (Michael after Kenny's brother) Zechariah means "the Lord remembers"...isn't that an interesting meaning?  I thought it was.  I spent a lot of time back then thinking on the meaning of that, asking God what it meant, and I can't say I know exactly why it's his name, but I do know that the idea is that "the Lord is faithful."  The Lord remembers His people and will not forsake them.  I believe with everything in me that this precious one's life is going to show many people that our God is forever faithful. 


What do I love about Zech?  (pronounced "Zack" in case you're wondering...just stuck with the traditional Hebrew spelling).  Zechariah is our only red headed boy.  Gotta love that.  He's also the only Dallas child with curl in their hair!  I love how he has his own little trademark in the mix with all these other boys, and, yes, we absolutely love his hair long and curly for some reason...it's just him! Zech is about the smiliest thing you've ever seen.  He is ALWAYS smiling and literally almost always happy!  I don't say that pridefully, because each of these sweet children have come with their own personality from the beginning, but Zech just has this way about him that makes you feel happy just hanging around him.  He's laid back and smiley, shorter and small for his age, but he can climb about as good as the big boys already!  He loves cars, choo choos, buzz and woody, and about anything cowboy there is...oh, yeah, and he would LIVE outside if you let him.  Z just makes me smile.  I guess God knew I needed an easy baby this time, because Zech has been the kind of baby who makes us look like really great parents! I love the way his big brothers love him to death and the way he loves them (they're already begging for us to let him join them and move into their room where the 4 of them already bunk together!) I love the way Elly can't get enough of him and even more how he thinks she's his second mama!  I think he'd do anything she said!  Zech just loves people (and at the top of his list is his Poppa, my dad!) Funny, now that I think about it, that sounds just like my dad...just loves people.  Neat the way the Lord works, huh?


Quick Zech story from the other day before I close.  My mom was keeping the kids, and she's had some problems with her knee for the past few months.  She had propped her leg up to ice it, and Zech came over, putting his little hand right on her knee and bowed his head praying for her.  Now, ofcourse, he doesn't use too many words in a row yet, but it was quite clear what he was doing.  That's about as precious as it gets.  That's gotta' make our Lord smile.


Well, I suppose I've done enough bragging on sweet Zechy for now!  I just want to celebrate his sweet little life and all that God has done and will continue to do in the years ahead.  I can't imagine him any other way right now, but I know before I blink it will be hard to remember him at this sweet little age.  Lord help me just savor every single second of it!  Doesn't get any sweeter than this!

13 Year Old Preacher Boy

Today I witnessed a pretty amazing thing for a Mama.  My 13 year old son preached at Middle School chapel at his school.  This all came about because about a month ago he felt led to start a Bible study with the boys in his grade at lunch once a week.  He took the initiative and went to his principal and got permission to start this.  He worked out with one of his teachers a classroom to have it in and started spreading the word to all the guys.  Now, I have to admit, I know Jake is incredibly gifted with an amazing mind, especially about the things of God, but there's something in me as a mama that was afraid FOR him as his first day of trying this out approached. Kenny and I both asked him did he want to talk through any of it ahead of time, or did he need any guidance, help, etc.  "No, I'm good.  God's already shown me what to teach."  Well, 22 boys showed up the first week, and the word from the kids and the principal was that it couldn't have gone any better.  The kids were engaged, listening, asking questions, and didn't want to stop when the bell rang.  The following week every boy in his class came, and he's even gotten some girls to start a girls' Bible study, too!  Well, the middle school principal asked him a couple of weeks ago to do chapel today, so needless to say I was SO excited for the opportunity for him. However, as the day approached I was doing the same thing again, even though he knew exactly what the Lord had given him to speak about.  I was simply nervous for him!  This was the entire middle school.  Some of the kids are older than him.  Would he be able to hold their attention?  Would he be able to get his point across?  As smart as he is and as much as I know his heart's desire is to honor God and listen to Him, what if he says some things that aren't really lined up with scripture?  "Ok, enough," God said.  "How about you just trust me, Shannon?" The Lord reminded me of something He started teaching me the very first week I brought Jake home as a newborn from the hospital. 

I can remember just like any new mama, just holding him, feeding him, changing him and feeling so overwhelmed at this new little life God had breathed into existence....this little eternal soul that God had, in his miraculous ways, entrusted for a time to Kenny and me.  I literally can remember hovering over the bassinet just about to explode inside with joy looking at this tiny little creature God had so magnificently designed.  You hear new mama's say it all the time, but I really did stand over him making sure he was breathing so many times, especially that first few weeks. I was worried to death...butterflies in my stomach...about doing something wrong.  Messing up.  Not protecting him the way I should or training him just right.  I was flooded with emotions I had never experienced, and it was overwhelming in my spirit.  The Lord reminded me at that time of something Beth Moore had said in one of her Bible studies.  She had described similar feelings with her first child and how she would just stand over her, worry over her saying, "Lord, who needs angels to guard over her, you've got me!"  That's about where I was.  God began teaching me from that moment, "Shannon, I've got this.  It's not about you.  You're going to have to trust me."  You know, I'm no scholar, but I've been told that the Hebrew word picture for "trust" is a man lying at the feet of another, flat on his face, hands by his side, fully surrendered.  I don't know about you, but trust is a tough thing for me.

Well, today I was reminded by my Lord of that same truth again.  Trust.  I've heard it said, don't be afraid to leave someone alone with God.  Yes, we are to teach, to train, to pray over our children.  But we also have to learn how to leave them alone with God and trust that He doesn't always want us to be up in the middle of everything.  His Holy Spirit spoke through a 13 year old young man this morning.  Boldly, clearly, and beautifully, the entire middle school, including adults, completely mesmerized.  I sat there amazed.  I don't know why.  I know that's who this boy is.  It's him to the core.  Everything he does just reeks servanthood, sharing truth, and knowing not only the things of God, but truly KNOWING God.  Still, the Lord spoke to me and reminded me that He's got this.  Yes, I was reminded how important it is to keep doing the things the Lord has impressed upon us as parents in teaching and training our children, from Jake all the way down to our youngest, but more importantly I was reminded that God does His greatest works when we let go and simply trust Him.

Pardon My Progress (or Attempt at Progress!)

You may be noticing that the appearance of the blog has changed a couple of times in the past few days!  That's due to me trying to learn as I go how to design a blog!  It's pretty amazing all the neat stuff out there, but due to me being quite a novice to all this and only having a few minutes here and there to work on it in between life, it may be a gradual process!  I'm learning as I go, and I have several things I've found I want to try out, but not sure exactly when that will happen, so stay tuned, because the blog may be changing a little more day by day!  If any of you guys have any advice or tips, I'd LOVE to hear from you! Thanks!  Have a terrific day! (:

17 years and counting





Any idea what you were doing January 29, 1994?  For most everyone reading this blog it was just another ordinary day that meshed in with all the rest.  Not me.  That was the day I had dreamed about since I was a little girl.  The day I had imagined in my mind over and over for years...even before I knew who would fill the role of the groom!  It was a dream come true in every way imaginable. (especially the groom!)  Tomorrow marks 17 years since I became the wife of my best friend in the world....and the crazy part is, the dream is still going strong.

We went to school together since 6th grade, but didn't really know each other well until our Junior year in highschool.  Our first date?  A double date with other people...yep, Kenny was with my good friend and I was with one of his football friends.  I never could figure out why that guy never asked me out again.  I felt sure he would and I hate to admit I waited by the phone a number of nights wondering if he would call.  I didn't find out until a year or two later that Kenny had told him I wasn't interested, & that's why I never received anymore calls from that fella...and the rest is history! 4 1/2 years later our wedding day finally came, and sometimes I still can't believe how good I've got it.  I certainly don't mean life is easy and we have it all figured out., but we are genuinely more in love with each other today than we ever were years ago.  Some say that's just the way it's supposed to be, but the truth is, we all know that's not how it usually is in this day and time. I can't really explain it, but all I know is that the privilege of walking through this journey of life with this man at my side is more than I deserve.  He is confident, yet amazingly humble.  He is wise beyond his years, yet can hang out and talk with even the "least of these" and do so in such a way that makes others just enjoy hanging out with him. He's a hard worker, a servant, a leader.  He's passionate about life and about everything he puts his hand to.  He is always talking to those he teaches, coaches, as well as our own children, about making the most of every opportunity and beginning with the end in mind.  In other words, if we fast forward our lives to our deathbed, what things really matter in that moment...REALLY.  If you let yourself linger there a while it's actually quite overwhelming.  The only thing that matters is your relationship with God, and behind that is your relationship with your family and the impact your life had on others.  If those are the only things that really matter at the end of this life, then why do we all live in pursuit of so many other things that have no real meaning? Kenny is certainly human, but it is inspiring to watch someone live their life on a day to day basis who genuinely lives like there's no tomorrow.

He loves me and our children with a love that is not of this world.  Just watching him be the daddy he is to our children makes me fall in love with him more and more. He's competitive and crazy with them and laughs a lot, but knows when to be firm and make the most of those teachable moments life just brings about every day. He has loved me through the good times and the hard times and been there for me through everything on my lovliest days and my not so lovely days!  I know our children are getting to go through life seeing a Mama and Daddy who love each other so much, love Jesus, and laugh together, hang out together, and enjoy them together.  He is the absolute best friend I could ever ask for. In some ways it seems like we should still be 16 years old hanging out in History class, but somehow I blinked and here we are 21 plus years later just loving each other and figuring out this journey together.

I feel led to close with this final thought. Ladies who may be waiting on that special guy to come into your life, if I could say anything to you about your future I would say this.  Don't you dare settle.  Don't miss out on what God has for you...His best.  I've heard it said that "good is the enemy of great"  Don't settle for "good" when God has something around the corner for you that is so great, so divine, it could only come from Him.

Here are a few pictures of our journey together so far!



In highschool working on a project at my house





Junior prom 1990







Senior prom-1991





 



College days (Union University) 





Wedding reception 1994



Wedding day January 29, 1994



Married housing (our first home...a.k.a. our little concrete box!)

We thought it was the most beautiful little place in the world!

Heading home from the hospital with our first baby...Jake

September, 1997

Here after with Jake (3 years old) and Caleb (6 months)

Kenny & me in Maui! (went as chaperones with TCA's senior trip)

LOVED it there!!!  Spring, 2001

In September, 2002 the twins were added to our bunch of boys!

This photo taken fall, 2004

Family picture...one of my all time favorites

(morethanasnapshot photography-thanks to my friend, Kaka)

In July, 2007 we added our first girl to the bunch

...and our first little red-headed boy, Z in March, 2009 (this was fall, 09)



Ken & me 2009



Christmas 2009










Dallas Family Summer, 2010

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

I know there's a lot of stuff out there to watch, but I beg you to take a few minutes today and watch this from beginning to end. He's speaking my heart...we MUST do something with this.

Use Me or Kill Me

Happy New Year, friends!  The Christmas decor is all put away and back to the old routine, right?  Sometimes the beginning of the year can feel a little more like just plain "relief" because all the running and gunning of the holidays is over, but isn't there supposed to be more?  Deep down somewhere, don't we all WANT there to be more?  It's a brand new year...2011.  Never will there be a 2010 again.  I think we all desire for there to be more to it, hope this will be a great year, but we never DO much of anything differently to make that happen.  I once heard a pastor say that the true definition of insanity is "doing the same thing you've always done and expecting a different result." How true is that?!  God is a God who is sovereign and absolutely in control, but he does REQUIRE something of us.  I was reminded last night as I listened to Beth Moore speak via webstream (Passion 2011 conference) that God DOES have a plan for us, but we are deceived if we don't believe Satan has his own plan for our lives,too.  He will do anything and everything he can to defeat us in our walk with Christ.  There is a battle raging for our hearts that will exist until we meet Jesus face to face, and it is a dangerous place for a soldier to be to not realize he has an enemy.  "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5:8. 
     We must also realize, though, who we are in Christ...what about that plan HE has for our lives?  Let me say something here that I frequently tell my children and must often remind myself of...Satan is our enemy, but he is scared to death of who you will become.  Listen to that again. Satan is scared to death of who YOU will become in the kingdom of God.  Why else would he seek to devour us and destroy those plans our Lord has for us?  Satan knows exactly how dangerous we can be and how much damage, through Christ, we can do to his earthly kingdom. 
     My prayer this year for myself, my family, and any of you reading these words is that we will be used to the fullest this year for the kingdom of God...not some of the time, but EVERY day in the little things and the big.  That we stay focused and declutter our lives of the things that are meaningless and not eternal, but this won't happen if we just do things the same way we've always done them.  The Lord has given me renewed vision about who He uses to do His work.  One of the verses that has shaken up Kenny and myself over the past year or two is Acts 4:13 where it says, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."  God's still in the business of using regular old people like you and me turn this world upside down.  (see Acts 17)  We aren't guaranteed another hour on this earth...none of us. This year...TODAY, let's get outside of ourselves, outside the norm, and do something that matters.  Yes, it has to start right where you are.  If you're flippin' burgers, mothering your children, working at the office, whatever it is...God has something bigger for you (and me) than we could have ever imagined in our own minds.  Don't miss it this year.  Let 2011 be the year we will always remember that we took it to the next level. Let's mark it down, set our focus, and not lose sight.  We must pursue HIM. 
     A dear former pastor and mentor to our family, Dr. John Avant, once said that he finally came to a point in his life where he SO wanted to be living his life to the fullest for the kingdom that he began each day praying, "Lord, use me or kill me!"  I remember being a bit shocked to hear such a strong statement (maybe our pulpits are full of too many men NOT saying enough strong statements, but that's another post, right?!) Regardless, it struck me so hard to hear this man say those words...and mean them.  That was almost 10 years ago, and I'd like to say I left the building praying that for myself, but I was scared to death!  I can say, by the grace of God and the way He's moved in my life, I can pray that daily myself now.  Please don't hear me wrong.  I'm not asking you to test God or say some bold statement that you don't mean just for the sake of saying it.  What I do pray is that you and I choose to pursue God this year daily in such a way that we come to a place where we SO desire to be used for the purposes the Lord has for us that we CAN pray this way...that our heart's desire is to KNOW Him and truly be used by Him to the fullest...and only then we can live the "life that is truly life" focused on Him and sharing His truth with the world around us.