Band Nerd...grrr

We were riding in the car coming home from a wonderful meal out. If you have not eaten at Pei Wei- you must ABSOLUTELY google one close to you. It's run by the same company as P.F.Changs, but cheaper. Thanks Pei Wei (pay-way)... or as Dave says, Pee-Wee. Giggles from the backseat.

Radio playing. Kelly Clarkson bustin' a song.

me: "Oh, Aiden! This song is in 6/8 time! 1,2,3,4,5,6,....1,2,3,4,5,6.."

Now, I am trying to have an impromptu learning moment since I am Aiden's piano teacher, after all. No such luck.

Aiden: "BAND NERD!!!!!"

Flat out belly-laughing ensues. I give Dave the evil eye.

Thanks Dave. My kids now think it is HIGH-larious to make fun of their momma, even to my protests that I was a 'cool' kid in band.

Don't laugh.... there are such kids.

And I was one of them. :)

We're having words... sorta

Just a quick one as I'm waiting for Dave to hurry home to a dinner of leftovers...some how I don't think he'll be too excited. That's why I haven't told him! hahaha. Anywho....

I threw Dax into the bath quickly, dried him and carried the ALMOST 30 lb. 8 month old to his room. You read that correctly. He's 29.5 pounds. Sheesh.

As I'm changing his diaper and whispering sweet nothings to this angel, I start hearing him verbalize. Now, you have to realize that he doesn't just babble all the time. He's very content to just sit and chill.

I just think the babbling is so cute until I really listen.

Dadadadadada...Dadadadada

No he did not just babble that when Dave has barely just changed 5 dirty diapers. (And wet diapers do not constitute as DIRTY. Amen?!?!?!)

I looked at this sweet child and leaned over... "Mamamama..."

He honestly laughed, SHOOK HIS HEAD and continued, "Dadadadada."

He did this TWICE.

Totally not fair.

New life

It's been one of those days where you have prayed for the Lord to work in your child's life. I was trying desperately to catch up on 2 weeks worth of Bible study in just 3 days. WOW. But the study was great and I have had a solid time meditating on the Word today. And prayer... for God to work in our lives and the lives of our children.

It's been a prayer since they were born; one of salvation but more importantly, a prayer that God would use each boy for His glory and that many people come to know Christ through their lives.

So I was driving home with the 3 young ones after having a quicky meal with Dave (elder meeting tonight... wouldn't be home until late). Drew pips up with a question.

"Mom, what's murder?"

Whoah. Where did you get that one, kid?

Glancing in the rear view mirror, I see that he is reading his children's Bible. Sweet. He was apparently reading the Ten Commandments.

The conversation moves from the definition of murder to the consequences of murder, then to the consequences of sin. I had one of those 'God moments' where I knew that the kids were really taking in this whole spiritual conversation.

We've talked plenty about God and Christ's work on the cross to our kids. But up until this time, they would always answer, "I already did that mom. Long time ago... like when I was 3."

But this was a time where I knew Aiden was thinking. So as we were talking, I asked him if he was ready to pray to Jesus to forgive him of his sins.

He said yes. :)

We decided to wait until dad got home so that he could pray with us.

And that's what we did... right after watching Wipeout.

We told Dave about our conversation in the car and asked Aiden again to share with us about his decision. Kneeling down beside the couch, Aiden prayed.

New life in Him. Coming as a child. A moment anticipated for years.

Family and angels rejoicing. :)

A pic from the birthday party: Aiden praying in front of approx. 100 people. Now we're looking forward to God fulfilling the second part of our prayers for him: that many will come to know HIM through this little boy.

Orlando and back and back again....

Dave's first week of vacation has come and went. :( boo.... back to work he goes. We've enjoyed our "staycation"- I hate the sound of that word. But in reality, we decided to dump vacation money into his 1997 Honda Civic. That piece of junk really does run quite well but I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love the fact that it is paid for and runs well, but HATE the fact that it has no AC (and has not had AC for the last 2 years) and is very, very... ahem... dirty.

So vacation money went to air conditioning. And a new headliner. And soon to be window tint. Apparently Dave thinks that his beat-up car is now worth $4,000.

Doubt it.

But we have visited the parents in Orlando. Twice now. And what do you do in the car ride there and back?

Glad you ask.

We take silly pictures. :)

I'm hot. I know you're asking, "Wow. No wonder Dave fell for her."

Aiden has a glimpse of what he'll look like in his late 20's: Bald and beautiful like his dad. :)

Somehow this is the most disturbing to me.

Hello Grandpa Lowery.

Drew's graduation

It's really summer and I am such a slacker! Really, we've been running from one thing to another and just loving the break.

BUT: I need to show pics that Drew DID pass kindergarten with straight E's (excellent). WAHOO!!! I never thought this day would come. This year has been crazy.

A pic of the proud parents. :) You can't tell but we were practically sharing one seat. Apparently, every parent wants to see their proud graduate. Who knew?!?!?!

Drew's class. Confession time: I don't know half these kids. This class was crazy and it grated on my anal self. So I spent more time in Aiden's class. Better luck next year....

I did miss Jupiter Christian especially on this day. JCS has such a wonderful graduation ceremony with full cap and gown. (Yes, it costs about $70 some compared to this measly $3 cheap-o cap.) Renaissance has 10 full kindergarten classes which rotate graduation times in a small cafeteria. ***Sigh***

But the deed is done and it is SUMMER!!!! YAY!

Randomness and Haiti

A little ramblings:

But first-some pics!

Drew is growing bigger and bigger. No longer a squeaky little voice. Almost done with Kindergarten! WAHOO!!!

But he's still our fun-loving middle child. He's his mother's child, what can I say.

Drew with Dax. Dax is now 6 months old and weighs close to 26 lbs. WOW. People ask me how I hold him. Well, I don't. Not for any length of time without sitting down. :) But we get plenty of cuddle time on the floor or in the rocking chair. What a sweet baby.

Dax just started baby food this week and is still getting a hang of it. He definitely prefers 'real' food over the canned baby stuff. (Who wouldn't?!?!)

I was digging through the bib drawer which houses about 50 bibs (no lie) and came across this one. I can't remember which baby this was originally given to, but I believe Heather gifted it to either Jackson, Aiden , or Drew. Love it.

Other news: Dave is heading to Haiti this Sunday night and won't be back until Thursday. He's traveling with 3 other guys from the church to scope out a couple ministries down there. One in which is an orphanage. I think Dave's a little apprehensive since he's never been out of the country. (I laughed just for my family's sake....hahaha!) I expect God to do some great things in the hearts of the men who are going. How can you not be impacted by the sights and sounds (and smells) of a third world nation?

Anyways, prayers are obviously appreciated. :) I look forward to spending some time listening to Dave talk on Thursday night/Friday morning as he digests the trip.

Tomorrow is also another day full of prayer as teams are hitting Port St. Lucie to participate in servant evangelism. I'm expecting God to do some great things tomorrow through the people of the church.

Talk about God doing great things, a friend of mine had one of her friends accept Christ this past Sunday. So neat. This girl has been coming to Financial Peace University and finally attended a service this last weekend. She prayed to receive Christ and has commented that this week has been a week of great peace. AWESOME.

This is the reason why we do what we do: to see people impacted by Christ. LOVE IT!!!

Time to party

It's over and it was fun!!! I can't believe how many people we had at the house. Had to over 100 crazy Floridians in this heat. One of my friends took pics and I'll try to get them up soon. I need a new version of iphoto or something. So we'll see.

We rented 2 bounce houses, had one HUGE slip 'n slide with tons of soap, and a little slip 'n slide for the little guests. Add some water balloons and shaving cream.... ahhhhh, the life. Plus one youth pastor veteran: Dave Carroll. He is crazy, did ya know?!?!? He even had some of the other men join him on the slip 'n slide.

Just from talking to Dave and my dad, it seemed like the objective was reached: to gather a mess of unchurched and churched together and let God work. Dad had the opportunity to talk to another father about raising children in love. Dave had the chance to talk to several about the Lord too. So neat.

But the coolest thing to me was Aiden's prayer right before we cut the cake. Dave leaned down and asked him in his ear if he would like to pray, and Aiden said yes.

What a prayer from my 7 year old. In the back of my mind, I was hoping he wouldn't say something about how he wished he would get tons of money or something! But he didn't.

He said something to the effect of thanking the Lord for all the people that came and for the opportunity to worship God. So awesome. It was truly a time where everyone was focused as he prayed loudly and unashamedly. Afterwards, the crowd murmured a quiet 'wow' and then broke into applause.

If people left and just had a taste of what God is like through my little boy.... then AWESOME.

On a lighter note, we had plenty of food and goodie bags. I asked God ahead of time to multiply and divide. He did! We had just enough of everything.

Thanks for those who were praying with us. We're looking forward to the next time we can do something like this. :)

Birthday Party

Just a quick post for people to pray this weekend. We're throwing a HUGE birthday party for Aiden and Drew on Saturday. In the midst of the partying, we're hoping to get to talk with some people about Christ. We've invited both boys' classmates, t-ball team, and also friends from church. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.... about 100 people have rsvp'd already!!!

I'm really excited about the cd's we're giving away. Dave helped each boy write a song. Drew has a little birthday jam and Aiden's takes on more of a country feel. Aiden's song really shares the gospel. Then Dave has a song he's been working on too. He kindly put me in the credits.... um, yeah. I just played keys and had nothing to do with the writing.

So if you think of us from 2-5 tomorrow, lift up a prayer that those who don't know Christ will experience the love we have for Jesus.

Restoration :)

Dave just jetted off to a church planting conference in Orlando yesterday. Exponential. There were so many 'God' details that went into this conference that it just gives me goose bumps to think how cool our God is. :)

After being encouraged to go to this conference, Dave asked for just Wednesday off from work even though Exponential runs about 4 days. He called the conference to ask about a single day ticket- but they were already sold out.

Hold on. I just got one. You'll have to find me to get it. And it's free....

Awesome.

Both Dave and I were praying for God to speak through the conference, plus looking forward to reconnecting with some other pastor friends. Dave said he thoroughly enjoyed the speakers, was encouraged through the teaching, and had opportunities to love on some college and seminary friends.

As he was sneaking out of the last session 15 minutes early, Dave prayed. God, if there is one more person you need me to see today.... it has to happen now.

Rounding the corner.....

There he was.

The church planting director from Cleveland.

We have not spoken with him since we left. Hurt feelings, confusion, dissolution. Dave had long time since felt forgiveness and release from all that went on, but obviously no restoration. And as he walked up to the director, the man turned and was shocked to see Dave.

The two stood there for 45 minutes, talking and sharing. Much of what we assumed to be true, was in fact true. This man had to act on directives in which he had little to no control. And as they were ironing out the past, this man encouraged Dave in leadership.

How awesome God is. HE is not a God of coincidences. HE is a God who controls and governs the timing of the universe. WOW. We're blown away after 2 1/2 years that this opportunity has come up to make a relationship right.

One thing that he said to encourage Dave was that he talked about humility in leading. The fact that we can lead with a limp (sometimes the whole Cleveland experience felt like a mortal blow to the head.... but I digress....) allows room for the Holy Spirit to work. We know that we have to rely on the Lord to provide, guide, and direct. Negative experiences can turn to positive ones if we step back and let God burn away the chaff.

Which HE did. Mega-burn.

He made us trust Him. Financially. Relationally. Spiritually. Psalm 34 will always resonate strongly as that scripture especially was given to me in New Orleans. God is not a God of coincidence.

Love it that He loves us. Dave. Me.

I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me;

let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

A righteous man may have many troubles,

but the LORD delivers him from them all;

he protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked;

the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

The LORD redeems his servants;

no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

pastors' kids and fun

Every other Wednesday is a great day of fellowship with the other pastors' wives. We just had lunch and were looking at the babies when I commented about how Dax looks just like Dave and how Bode looks just like Billy. Looking over at Taj, I laughed because he looks like his daddy Dale.

So here's the original shot. Ignore the fact that Dax is still in his pajamas. I am clearly lazy. (In my defense, have you tried to keep a 2 piece outfit on a kid with a big belly? The shirt always rides up.....)

Taj Dax Bode

And now the one of the dads, thanks to Billy's magic touch. Enjoy. And try not to pee on yourself.

Dale Dave Billy

birthday and easter and spring break

A quick post:

Had a FABULOUS time this morning at Treasure Coast High School where we had around 400-500 people at our launch. WONDERFUL. I was so amazed (although I'm not sure why since I meditated on scripture this week that talked about the power of the Lord-the same power that God demonstrated in raising Christ is the power that He has available to us) to see the turn out. Anyways, Dave said that we had something around 40 people accept Christ between the 2 campuses. Just totally awesome.

I'm not quite sure if the ladies I invited from Publix made it. I didn't have the opportunity to mingle in the crowd as much as I would like. I tried to scan the crowd in between songs without looking like a complete fool, but to no avail.

My birthday (32nd) was Friday and had an absolute perfect day with my men. We ate lunch with friends at the Food Shack-LOVE IT!!!!- and then off to the Jupiter Aquatic Center. Night was spent with some other friends, just fellowshiping and enjoying ourselves. If you ever are in Jupiter, Florida for a vacation or visit, you need to eat at the Food Shack. I'm just saying....

Spring Break: ahhhhh. Time to chill, love on my boys, and frolick in the sun. I love Florida.

Comment on your spring break-ery. What's in store? I'd love to hear. :)

Many blessings to everyone on Easter! Praise the Lord for those whose lives were changed for all eternity.

Launch

With Easter around the corner, the launch of our second campus is finally here! We had several preview services with the basic intent to get the wrinkles ironed out. And iron we did... :) All in all, I'm excited to see what God is going to do this Sunday.

I was reading this morning in Ephesians about the incomparable power of God. Do we (I) really take advantage of that power so available to me? In light of that, here are a couple of prayer requests:

1. We are doing a community outreach this Saturday as we "CHARGE PSL." Volunteers are blitzing the areas with 9 volt batteries and invite cards. The idea is to bless people with a battery, a free gift from the church, and then invite them to Easter Sunday. We did something similar in Cleveland. Anyways, pray that people will be receptive as we go door to door.

2. Pray for our pastor as he shares the gospel. Pastor Mike has such a way with words and we're blessed to be apart of Calvary. Let's pray for a covering against Satan and that the Lord will have His way.

3. Pray as Dave and Dale lead worship at both campuses. We're loving how God has brought more people to fill two worship teams. YAY!!! We're also enjoying getting to know some of these new people.

4. Our friends, the Garcia family, are having their Easter reach out party. We'll be heading over there on Saturday to help them out. We're praying for doors to open as we "party" with the intention to talk to people about Christ. Bringing me to my next point....

5. Dave and I have been so encouraged by the Garcias that we want to jump in on the action too. :) We've decided to throw a HUGE birthday party for Aiden and Drew with the intention to invite our unbelieving friends. That will happen some time in May. Pray as plans are in the works.

That's it for now! Have a great Easter week and thank the Lord for the blessing of His Son.

Cincinnasti, i mean, Cincinnati

I FINALLY made it up to Cincinnati after 2 years. I think the last time I was there was when Micah was born, and now I made the return trip for her birthday. :) Too bad it was spent with the throwing up bug, making a very memorable trip. Heather and Craig have a nice bathroom.

My maternal grandmother, June, with my three boys. She came down to Florida just days after I returned from Ohio. You'll have to excuse Drew. He's going through some weird phase of making silly, cross-eyed pictures. :)

Anyways, in Ohio I had the chance to go see some of my dad's side of the family too. This is Micah with Krista's kids: Cecilia and Grady. I enjoyed spending some time talking with Kris and her husband about their recent salvation and baptism. It's so exciting to see family members accept Christ and see them grow spiritually.

The rest of these pictures are from Micah's party. This one is actually after many guests left and she finally wanted to blow out her candles...and again..and again... :) Poor girl didn't feel the best all evening but had more steam in her around bed time.

Grandma Lowery again with Dax. (I had to keep reminding folks that he was barely 4 months old and didn't quite have the neck strength....He just looks SO much bigger than 4 months!)

U. Jeff giving Selah a ride wearing Micah's Dora backpack.

Selah with Craig's dad and brother.

Craig's brother, Neal, and his wife Erin.

Grandma Richards with Dax.

A. Vicki and U. Jeff. Don't ask what he's doing, but apparently she's trying to escape.

Grandpa and Grandma Richards :)

Cousins: Selah and Dax. She's 6 months and he's 4 months. And he is drooling.

Sweet Micah. Happy birthday little girl.

just a quick note...

I'm running off to school to help watch Aiden's class during lunch. BUT... got great news yesterday. Dax's blood work came back and everything looks great. He's a BIG, HEALTHY boy. :) We're thankful! PTL. I just need to start lifting weights.

testing

And so I have a big baby. :) 4 months old and officially 22.85 pounds. You can take a look at the picture below and check it out for yourself. I just HAD to have evidence... and I even think this pic is about 2 or 3 weeks old.

Uh, I'm trying hard not to totally grab him wrong, but it just looks awkward anyways!

We went to Dax's 4 month check up and the doctor was a little worried. (REALLY?!?!? NOW? You weren't worried when he was 17 lbs at 2 months but now you're worried.... sheesh...) My mom has been encouraging me to have some blood work drawn up on Dax. So we did. And boy did he scream.

I actually had to take him to Quest Diagnostics the next day because the nurses couldn't get his blood. So we're waiting until tomorrow or Tuesday to get the results. We're looking at his thyroid, growth hormone, some type of syndrome dealing with his kidney or liver... I forget which.

But it's all in the Lord's hands. I'm just a little disappointed because I wanted to start feeding him baby food and to see this next fun stage or development. Not wanting a 50 lb one year old.... um, we're holding off on that for awhile.

So Dax continues on. Sweet baby as he is. What a blessing he is to our family! Everyone should have a baby like him. Too bad they can't! He's mine. :)

spring training: bulldog style

Aiden and Drew have started t-ball... the first of many seasons, I'm sure. I was a bit apprehensive (an understatement.....) about the boys' involvement because of time constraints of ministry. BUT- it really has been an awesome time for the boys and the Lord has surprised me along the way. I have had opportunities to get to know other parents in the community who are unchurched. Please pray as we have opportunities to with these families in Port St. Lucie.

Drew: can I just say how I love his ears sticking out like this? Reminds me of my maternal grandfather. Plus, Drew tells us occasionally how he's an elf and helps Santa during Christmas.... HA!
Brothers. :)

dax

so i'm not so good at keeping up with this..... but i do have a newborn baby. :)

dax mattingly carroll was born on november 5th, 2009. he was 18 days early and weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. he is such a sweet, sweet baby!!! we are very blessed. the rest of this is going to be pictures to catch everyone up on this little guy.