unglued .....

Beginning Oct 4th we will be meeting on the first and third Thursday of the month from 6:30-8pm. We will be reading and discussing this book, Unglued. As well as bringing you a favorite.... pinterest project ;) Awanas meets that night as well so were hoping you can drop your kids off at the church then head up to the barn for some coffee, dessert and fun.

word to the wise

From the Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

"When it comes to motherhood, I like the idea of being a mom who inspires my children to great accomplishments in medicine (developing the cure for cancer) or statesmanship (a future president of the United States) or the arts (a Christian movie producer). The everyday realities of running a household just don't have the same appeal.
But such humdrum activities, of course, comprise the majority of a mother's experience. Before I had children, I never realized this. I really had no clue that admiring a Beanie Baby's pen, taking a picture, finding a T-shirt, and helping to unlock a gas cap would be the kinds of sacrificial acts required of me most often while I attempted to fulfill the mission of motherhood.
As I have grown through the past eighteen years of motherhood, however, I've come to appreciate the importance of the many thousands of routine moments in a mother's life, for it is in these moments that real greatness tends to be taught and caught. It is certainly important to grasp the great calling of motherhood and respond to a vision for what a family can be.
But it's the way I respond to my children in everyday moments that gives me the best chance of winning their hearts… and if I approach them with a servant's heart, then I have a far better chance of influencing them in the larger and more critical issues of life." 

The Mission of Motherhood, pg. 62-63

Join us at the park!

We will be at Sankey Park today from 11am-1230ish :) hope to see you there!

summer fun

I took the kids to Waterloo Park today and we played in the sand and the river, so much fun. I love that they are still young enough to enjoy building rivers, dams, and catching bugs. We came home had some 'quiet time' then made dinner and Cherry Crisp for dessert. It was amazing! You can find the recipe here cherry crisp.

Hope you all are enjoying the sunshine, long days, bbq's and the opportunity to make memories with your kiddos.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

Charles (Chuck) Swindoll

Hike is rescheduled

Hey mommas, no McDowell creek today, besides rain I was up with Marshall all night. Poor kid is running a fever and has a tummy bug. Let's reschedule for next week. I will let you know the date and time, sorry!

rules for marriage

11 Rules You Won’t Learn in School About Marriage

Rule 1: Marriage isn’t about your happiness.  It’s not about you getting all your needs met through another person.  Practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice, patience, understanding, and forgiveness are the fundamentals of a great marriage.  If you want to be the center of the universe, then there’s a much better chance of that happening if you stay single.

Rule 2: Getting married gives a man a chance to step up and finish growing up.  The best preparation for marriage for a single man is to man up now and keep on becoming the man God created him to be.

Rule 3: It’s okay to have one rookie season, but it’s not okay to repeat your rookie season.  You will make rookie mistakes in your first year of marriage; the key is that you don’t continue making those same mistakes in year five, year 10, or year 20 of your marriage.

Rule 4: It takes a real man to be satisfied with and love one woman for a lifetime.  And it takes a real woman to be content with and respect one man for a lifetime.

Rule 5: Love isn’t a feeling.  Love is commitment.  It’s time to replace the “D word”—divorce—with the “C word”—commitment.  Divorce may feel like a happy solution, but it results in long-term toxic baggage.  You can’t begin a marriage without commitment.  You can’t sustain one without it either.  A marriage that goes the distance is really hard work.  If you want something that is easy and has immediate gratification, then go shopping or play a video game.

Rule 6: Online relationships with old high school or college flames, emotional affairs, sexual affairs, and cohabiting are shallow and illegitimate substitutes for the real thing.  Emotional and sexual fidelity in marriage is the real thing.

Rule 7: Women spell romance R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P.  Men spell romance S-E-X.  If you want to speak romance to your spouse, become a student of your spouse, enroll in a lifelong “Romantic Language School,” and become fluent in your spouse’s language.

Rule 8: During courtship, opposites attract.  After marriage, opposites can repel each another.  You married your spouse because he/she is different.  Differences are God’s gift to you to create new capacities in your life.  Different isn’t wrong, it’s just different.

Rule 9: Pornography robs men of a real relationship with a real person and poisons real masculinity, replacing it with the toxic killers of shame, deceit, and isolation.  Pornography siphons off a man’s drive for intimacy with his wife.  Marriage is not for wimps.  Accept no substitutes.

Rule 10: As a home is built, it will reflect the builder.  Most couples fail to consult the Master Architect and His blueprints for building a home.  Instead a man and woman marry with two sets of blueprints (his and hers).  As they begin building, they discover that a home can’t be built from two very different sets of blueprints.

Rule 11: How you will be remembered has less to do with how much money you make or how much you accomplish and more with how you have loved and lived
By Dennis Rainey

Found this on Family Life and wanted to encourage you all to hang in there! Marriage is stinking hard sometimes but so worth sticking it out. Hugs my friends!

Hiking at McDowell Creek

Instead of meeting at the park this coming Tuesday we will be hiking up at McDowell Creek Park. The plan is to meet at my place at 10:30 and carpool up to the park, do some "hiking," eat lunch together and return at about 12:30 in time for naps :). When I say hike I am using the term very loosely, I am a parent of a 2year old and realize it will probably be more like a very slow walking/exploring trip. So I hope you can make it bring your kiddos and lunch. If you need my address email me at jbdarwood@mail.com.

My Place 

June 12th 

10:30-12:30