Our Little "Light" (Elly Turns Four!)

The last couple of  "catch up posts" I have to do are birthday posts for some of the kids.  I started posting for a couple of the boys this way earlier this year as their birthdays rolled around, and I really wanted to tell a little about each of the others, too, as their birthdays came up.  So, today, almost 2 months after her 4th birthday, I am finally telling you about our sweet Elly girl.  (Twins and Jake next on the list!)

(click to enlarge picture)

Well, I have to say after 4 boys in a row, we started to think maybe we just have boys in this family!  Truthfully, I cannot put into words how much I love my boys, so the thought of that was honestly not a bad thing to us at all.  Kenny felt quite sure this Dallas #5 was going to be a girl, but I really thought the opposite.  My heart was just overjoyed , though, when they told us, "It's a Girl!"  Our boys had begged and begged (no lie) to name the baby Eleazar if it was a boy (If you don't know the story of Eleazar, one of David's mighty men, I'll leave that one hanging for you to research on your own.  Let's just say, he was an absolute warrior!)  Now, if there are any Eleazars out there reading this, I have no desire to offend you, but this name was not happening in our family!  No matter how much of a mighty man he was, there are just some names that don't make the cut.  Well, as soon as we found out Baby #5 was a girl the boys quickly decided, "Ok, then she will be Elly!!"  At first it was a passing joke...the female version of their mighty man, but after a few days of calling her that, the boys were absolutely set on that name!  They loved it.  They seriously thought it was the prettiest thing they had ever heard.  Now, don't get me wrong, I did like the name Elly a lot, but my thought was, "oh, that's cute", and that was the extent of it.  Well, week after week passed, and not a day went by that at least half a dozen times one of our guys would pat my belly and talk to "Baby Elly".  I kept saying over and over, "No, that's a sweet name, guys, but that's just not it."  Just about a month before her arrival I was reading through the baby name book for the 500th time that pregnancy in bed one night, and Kenny was reading something else.  Out of nowhere he just said, "I think her name needs to have something to do with 'light'.  I'm not sure, just every time I think of her, I think of 'light'."  I immediately said, "You're kidding me, right?  Do you know what one of the meanings of Elly is?  LIGHT!"  Unbelievable!  Needless to say, it was a done deal right then and there.  There was never another doubt that this little one's name was meant to be "Elly".

Our little Elly was loved more than I can tell you from the moment she was born by those big brothers.  I had a friend tell me once after Elly was about 8 months old that she had never seen older siblings (especially that many of them) all continue to be that enthralled with a baby sister still that long after the newness had worn off.  They couldn't pass her without hugging and kissing on her several times even just walking through a room and even if they had seen her a hundred times that day already.  They just couldn't get enough of that sweet baby girl.  Still to this day they are so in love with this little red head, and it makes me smile to watch the way they adore her.  I love the way the Lord is using their baby sister to bring out a part of them that wasn't there before in continuing to prepare them to be the men He's called them to be, and I love seeing how a house full of these wonderful boys is building her into the woman God desires for her to be. Her daddy...well, let's just say this little one loves her daddy, and he is crazy about her!  A friend of ours with grown children, one of them a girl, told us when I was pregnant with Elly that this little girl would be the sunshine in our house.  I think we would all agree.  She's a sweet ray of sunshine, and having only the one girl with those four big brothers and one little brother now adds a dynamic to our house that just wouldn't be there if it weren't for her.  Now, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean the dynamic is always perfect!  Just having the mix of a bunch of boys and this little red headed girly girl is hysterical at times!  I always tell people that between her daddy and all those brothers she will be more protected than she may ever want to be as she grows up, but she most likely won't need it, because she'll be able to hold her own quite well after growing up in this house full of boys!  She's completely girly-girl, but she loves a good sword fight, (usually wearing a princess gown and a crown) and she loves fishing and digging in the dirt until she's covered from head to toe!

Elly:  She's our first girl, our first red-head.  She sings constantly...half of the time she goes about life as if she's in the middle of a musical, singing what most would just be saying with plain ol' words!  She has a wonderful imagination and she loves to help and serve.  She loves taking care of "the boys", especially being Mama #2 to Zech (not really, but she would sure take it over if I let her!)  She is incredibly bright and loves learning, and she asks so many deep questions it keeps me on my toes, but thrills my heart all at the same time.  She is a teacher at heart.  It's hard to explain unless you are around her a lot, but it's just built in to who she is.  She doesn't meet a stranger, and isn't shy a bit to talk to bigger kids or grown ups.  (At the drive through window recently she rolled down her window and told the girl working at the restaurant, "I like your fingernails!  They're so pretty!") She loves dates with Daddy, playing outside, laughing with her brothers, helping her Mama, playing with her baby dolls, playing dress up and having tea parties, singing, dancing, "reading" her piles of books on her bed, and coloring and creating things.  I suppose I could go on and on, but that's a pretty good summary. 

I'll just close with this.  My pregnancy with Elly started off as a twin pregnancy.  We knew from early on that the other baby's sac was sunken, so it did not seem likely that it would make it.  However, we had to wait about 6 weeks before we went back to the doctor to find out. (which put me at about 14 weeks before we knew) Obviously, the other baby and sac were not there by that next ultrasound, and after weeks of praying we were very saddened about this, but also so thankful that we had not lost this baby in the process.  A sweet and Godly friend and mentor of mine with six children (including 2 sets of twins), all much older than my children, said something so profound to me the day she found out we had lost one twin.  She told me that even though that little one did not make it, she believed that God would instead pour upon Elly a double portion of blessing and gifting in every way for His kingdom. No, there were not two babies, but her prayer was powerful to me, and I will never forget it. That baby, our sweet Elly girl, is beginning to grow into a beautiful little lady.  I don't know what all the Lord has for her, but I love just getting little glimpses into what He's up to in her little heart and life.  I'm so thankful I get to be her mommy, and I pray we honor the Lord in every way as we train and teach her to become the woman of God she was created to be.  In Matthew 5:16 it says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  That is our prayer for Elly's life. 

I'll close with the same words I pray at the end of my prayer with her every single night as I tuck her in.  I think it sums it all up quite well... "and may she always be a shining light for Your kingdom."

Guyana Mission Trip-Part 2

Ahhh!!!  Do you ever just feel incredibly behind on life?!!  That's about where I am right now!  I have so many posts in my brain that I'm so eager to work on, but I just haven't been able to justify spending the time to get them done.  Slowly but surely, I suppose!

Well, I promised I would share a bit more about the boys' and Kenny's Guyana trip.  Jake and Caleb wrote their own "Top Ten List" from their trip, and I thought it would be perfect to include it here (in their words).  I think it sums it all up quite well.  Here we go:



THE GUYANA TOP TEN LIST! by Jake and Caleb [not in actual order]

10. Learning to play the number 1 Guyanese sport Cricket, which all the children there love. We played it for hours with the kids

9. VBS! We had a great time playing games and sharing Christ with the boys and girls at Save R Kids with a Vacation Bible School. We taught them songs, told them stories, and the overall favorite moment…. SNACK TIME!! One of us writing this letter (eh, Jake), Decided to show off some disco moves, some of the kids joined in and before we knew what was happening, there was a dance party going on!

8. Getting to go on a jungle cruise for part of the last day and swim in pitch black water (Don’t worry, it’s black because of minerals.)

7. played a huge game of soccer err… football in the torrential rain! It was the kind of rain you see very rarely here, it was a blast, even though we kept losing the ball in a puddle…

6. Working on a new work shed for the orphanage was fun. We learned how to mix concrete, Guyana Style, (they don’t have Quick Crete there)

5. Getting to slaughter chickens! Every six weeks they have chicken killing day where they kill forty or so chickens. We all tried our hand at it and learned quickly how to kill, boil, pluck (with a machine), and gut a chicken. The best part of all is, while we were doing the whole thing, Caleb had a shirt on that said “Eat More Chicken!”

4. Getting to meet Brother Mike, and Mrs. Michelle, the people that run the orphanage. We got to talk to them mostly on the jungle cruise, where Brother Mike gave Caleb, being the youngest in the group, the nickname “Anaconda bait”

3. Just plain hanging out with the kids was fun, and many funny things happened. Actually on the first day when we were getting to know the kids, our Dad was standing at the foot of a coconut tree, he looked up and said, “I sure wish I could get one of those fresh coconuts.” One of the kids there, Bryan, (who by the way is getting adopted by our friends the Joiners) Said “I can get it for you.” My dad said that there was no way he could climb the twenty five foot tall tree with no branches until the very top. And Bryan said “Watch.” He began scrambling up the tree. Five seconds later, when Bryan was over half way up, my dad asked if he was allowed, he grinned and said “I am never allowed.” My dad told him to come down quickly! And all of us broke down laughing. We did end up getting a coconut too, when and older boy named Dan Rahge (who was allowed!) climbed up and got us one.

2. We had an incredible time sharing Christ with kids from the whole community through the sports camp. We had many Hindu boys accept tracts and talk with us about Jesus, and others also who didn’t tell us what religion they were. It was an awesome experience to say the least.

1. We had a prayer walk through the community where we passed out vitamins and asked people if we could pray for them. We didn’t have a single person to refuse. We had several people invite us in their houses to pray. We had one woman who asked us to pray for her child with autism, and begged us to come back next year and pray in her house. It was an incredible time to talk with God.


I'm a details kind of person, so I wish I could share tons more about each of these that the boys told us, but I suppose this summary will have to do!  Here are a few more pictures from their time in Guyana.  Again, thanks to Eye4Media and other friends for the pictures!

This makes me smile!

This is during the downpour the boys wrote about

Caleb's blonde head in the middle!! 

They are precious in His sight!

Jungle Cruise on the last day to explore the region in South America

You see what they are holding?! Again, notice the shirt Caleb wore! 

Guyana Mission Trip-Part 1

I'm still playing catch up from summer, but I'm determined it will happen! 

Kenny and our oldest two boys got to go on the boys' first mission trip out of the country in July.  They went with our church to Guyana (in South America) to an orphanage where the church has sent teams for the past several years.  The boys did a great job raising their money to go.  Many were so kind to donate toward their trip, and they also had huge success with a yard sale where friends donated items and the boys sold them to raise money. They also did yard work, car washing and interior cleaning, etc. to earn the rest of it.  It was exciting to see them get to plan and prepare for this incredible trip.

They were the youngest two on the trip (12 and 13 years old), but that didn't slow them down a bit from what I hear!  Kenny was responsible for heading up a sports camp for the kids in the orphanage, as well as in the community on various days.  The team also did VBS at the orphanage, some construction there, as well as handing out vitamins in the community and doing a prayer walk. Kenny and the boys were a part of a lot of this, too. The experience was just amazing, and I wish I had room here to share all their stories!  We do believe that one of the greatest things we can do for our children is to teach them a lifestyle of serving others from a very young age.  There are a number of things we have done and continue to do locally, and a trip like this just adds to that..."It's not about me."  Our kids are NOT hearing that from the culture around them.  It's quite the opposite.  They need to be reminded continually through real life experiences that they were created by God and for God and He has great purpose for their lives.  The more they learn to get outside themselves and love others like they love themselves, the more fulfilling and rich their lives will be....real life.  This is one small chapter in their young lives, but our prayer is that it has molded them a little more into the young men the Lord created them to be and has blessed others for the kingdom of God as they have served.

I will have at least one more post about Guyana with some more pictures and a few stories from the boys in the days ahead.  Here are some pictures from the trip...there are SO many great ones it's hard to choose! Btw, thanks to Eye4Media and another friend that went on the trip for the pictures!  My husband and boys aren't camera people like I am, so I was very thankful to have these pictures from them! Beautiful faces!!





Daddy with Jake and Caleb...What great memories they will always have
of this trip together!







Caleb became friends with this group of Hindu boys in the community
during the week and was able to share the gospel with them on their last day together.



Jake helping out holding this little sweetie...from what I heard, she really liked being held!!

Kenny just being Daddy like he always is!

The kids down there were able to teach our guys a few things about their favorite game...cricket!

In my next post I'll share some more pictures and some stories from the boys' perspectives, including chicken butchering day at the orphanage! 

I'm Not a Lizard!!

I wanted to share a response I wrote in an email last week to a fellow mom who was asking for prayer and encouragement with the craziness of life.  I think I was able to relate in so many ways to how she was feeling, because I've been there too many times myself.  Maybe you're in the same boat as a busy parent, or maybe it's an entirely different season for you right now.  Regardless, I hope the Lord can use this to help you today wherever He's placed you doing whatever He's called you to do.  Here's a copy of what I wrote:


"A couple of thoughts I had (not because I have it figured out, but because I completely understand where you are coming from!)...When I find myself in what I call "weary mode"(which happens more often than I wish it did) I can usually retrace my steps and see I have been attempting to do everything out of my own strength. This is never intentionally, but it's just like I slip right into "Shannon strength" and before I know it I feel chaos all around me in every direction. I don't know if you can relate to that or not, but that's where I find myself sometimes. We hear it said so often it starts to lose it's meaning sometimes, but God's Word is absolutely true, and He tells us, "The joy of the Lord is my strength!" I can NOT do it in and of myself. I will fail and be continually weary and feel like I just stay in maintenance mode if I don't allow Him to be my strength. It feels just awful. Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord." One of my mentors once told me when I was in the midst of a weary time that when you break down that verse into the original language there is a very vivid picture when it talks about the "not by might...power" part. The word picture is one of a scampering lizard frantically running around. I don' t know what image that puts in your mind, but for me, it nailed me. That's exactly what I look like when I am living out of my own strength. MY might and power accomplish nothing more than me scampering around like a lizard in a hundred directions...nothing very strong and powerful about that. No strength and meaning. I want to be a strong woman of God who makes great impact for the kingdom. I want to be an honorable woman of God who lives on purpose and with purpose every day, able to live with the bigger picture always in mind. I can not do it in my own strength. He is my life. He is my joy. He is my hope. He is my strength. Only in Him can I find real power to live out all He has called me to do and be.



Last, I wanted to mention, one of my favorite things I love from the writings of Elisabeth Elliot is when she talks about the great strength she found over the years by one simple method. Just "Do the next thing." As simple as this sounds, this has carried me through more than one day when I've felt weary to the bone or overwhelmed with the tasks of the day. Shannon, just do the next thing. Don't be overwhelmed. Just one thing at a time. The Lord is our strength minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Yes, we must begin with the end in mind. We must focus on the big picture. But we can only do that one decision at a time. One task at a time. Just do the next thing."




I would love to hear from any of you guys reading the blog.  What practical ways do you use to really allow the joy of the Lord to be your strength?  We know we should, but knowing and doing are, truthfully, two separate things.  I'd love to learn from some of you ways the Lord has shown you to allow Him to be your strength when life feels overwhelming.  

No scampering lizards today!!!  By His Spirit!

Cousin Camp 2011 (Summer Highlights Part 2)

Well, yes, I'm still trying to play catch up from the past month!  Every summer for the past 6 or 7 years (I really need to look back at old pictures and figure it out) we have had something we call "Cousin Camp".  The boy cousins all come to stay for a 4-5 days from Tennessee and hang out.  Now that we're adding some more girls to the family and some younger boys we're going to have to start adapting cousin camp pretty soon, but for now it's at our house in Georgia.  Always lots of Nerf Gun Wars, Cousin Olympics, Watermelon eating contest, and one of the CC favorites....Raptor! (basically hide and seek in the dark inside where Uncle Kenny dresses in all black...the raptor...and tries to scare the boys to death when he sneaks up on them in the dark and finds them!) So fun watching these guys grow up together and develop such special relationships with each other over the years.  Here are some pics from Cousin Camp 2011!





















Blog Issues

Just wanted to mention that I've been having issues with my pictures on the blog.  Some aren't showing up at all and some are distorted.  Hopefully I can get that straightened out soon, but in the meantime just thought I'd mention why the page looks kinda' odd or unfinished! 

More soon! (:

Summer Highlights: Part 1 (Memphis)

So, I'm way behind on the blog anyway...tons of thoughts rambling through my head over recent weeks that I'm so compelled to write about, but time simply hasn't allowed.  Not to mention, I have a few things from the second half of summer that I've had pictures ready to post for a couple of weeks now, but I've been having issues with my computer and posting pics to the blog...SO over the next week I hope to post a few pictures of some of the summer happenings of the Dallas family!  We shall see.

It's always great to get to go home to Tennessee to see family.  There's never enough time, it seems, to see everyone long enough, but it's still always so good to have some time to just be with family and hang out together.  The first of July we headed through Franklin first to visit some friends there, drove through Jackson and got to see some of our sweet family there, and then on to Memphis for a few days to see everyone back home. I love seeing our kids with their cousins.  It's one of my absolute favorite parts of going home.  They all love each other so much, and the great thing about a big family is that there are always new cousins added to the bunch, which adds to the excitement, because there's often a new, sweet little one to meet!  Good times, great memories!! 

(click pics to enlarge)

Love our family!!! (: