Josh Hamilton: Beyond Belief

Seriously, folks this is a MUST read book!!! One of the most amazing stories I have ever read or heard about in my life. I started on it Tuesday not really getting too far into because with our crazy weather Byron has been home. Last night after the kids went down I got totally wrapped up in the book. I finally made myself stop at 1:00 this morning. I just finished it up!

A little background on Josh Hamilton. He grew up playing baseball. It was the love of his life. He was drafted first round first pick in 1999 for the Major Leagues. He was a senior in high school. Things were looking great for this young man. But bad choices took him down an extremely hard road that led to becoming a drug addict. With the help of loved ones and the help from his Heavenly Father he has found his way back into baseball and living his live to glorify his Heavenly Father.

If you have wondered what the life of an addict is like, read the book. I have a whole new outlook on this type of life. Also, to see the work of God in his life restoring him and the dependence that it took for Josh to have faith in his Creator. WOW!!! More and more God is showing me how the hardships in our life are so worth going through if we trust in Him and Him alone. Because, when we get that the rewards are breath taking!!! Not because those rewards bring pleasure to ourselves, but it brings joy to our souls! The only thing you will be able to do is know that its totally a God thing in your life and all you can do is give Him all praise glory and honor!!!

I highly recommend this book. There is baseball in this book, but it goes so much further then baseball. Fabulous, fabulous story!!!

Lohrer world!

I know I am getting really bad at this whole blog thing. I have started several posts but I get side tracked and then I don't finish them. Sorry!!!

We are doing well! The kids are growing and keep us constantly busy. Jaycee, I believe is now out of the season of terrible 2s and 3s. Not that she was bad, but its nice moving into a new season where she can actually reason and start making the right choices. You can give her options and she can choose. We recently started a plan to get her to stay in her bed all night. She has stayed in her bed 3 out 4 nights so far. That is pretty good!!! When she awakes in the morning she gets a treat. Which once again the reward chosen has been marshmallows. We are keeping track on the calendar as well. When she sleeps for an entire week in her bed then we will be able to shop for a new toy!!! Its so fun to see her in the morning running out of her room saying I slept all night in my bed, I'm a big girl!!!

Jackson is starting to move into the terrible 2s! He does well for the most part, but is starting to become a little stubborn in some areas. He thinks he has an opinion and should be able to carry out that opinion. Which his opinion isn't really that grand and would cause major problems so therefore he is learning that he isn't quite there to have his own opinion yet.

Jaycee is really getting into puzzles and she is quite good at them. She loves cutting with scissors and I am constantly finding tiny pieces of paper throughout the house. She is a great story teller as well. One of her favorites to tell is Jonah and the Whale. She will only tell it if she has her bible with her. She loves to sing and its the most precious thing in the world when she goes around the house singing songs to her Savior!!! I know how it blesses my heart, I can only imagine how God feels to hear His precious little Jaycee singing praises to Him. Then it helps me to do the same for my Heavenly Father!!!

Jackson is really into the movie Cars. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he is asking for it. His favorite part of the movie is when Lightning McQueen and Mater go tractor tipping. Is this a sign of what is to come from him? I sure hope not!!! He still loves tractors and backhoes and he would love to be on them all day if he could. He loves playing with any type of ball. Beware if you are around because at some point he will probably punt one at you! I am so thankful that I don't have a lot of valuable and breakable items around the house, because I seriously don't think they would survive the years to come. He is very attached to his blankets. Yes, he now has to have both of them to sleep. We still can get away with taking only one when we leave the house, but at the house we must have both. His white one is his favorite for sleeping because it has the best corners to rub in his ears!!! Its truly amazing to see how much they can process and pick up at an early age. He is a big music fan too!!!

Byron and I are doing well too. We are now leaders of a young adult small group at church. We had our first meeting last night. It went so well. The young adults of our church are amazing!!! I have never laughed so hard in my life. They are all uniquely designed and its so awesome to see them being themselves. We are so honored to be able to be apart of their lives and help them grow and develop their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Byron and I have both become book readers now. Which, is hard to believe! I was not a big reader at all in my early ages. It definitely took me a while to complete a book regardless of how good it was. My favorite author is Max Lucado. I am in pursuit of reading every book he has ever written. His writing is incredible and God speaks so clearly and directly to me through Lucado's writing!!! One, that I know Byron will highly recommend is Josh Hamilton:Beyond Belief. I haven't started it, but its suppose to be one amazing book. Josh Hamilton is a baseball player for the Texas Rangers. Believe me you don't have to be a baseball lover to read this book. The journey that this young man has gone through will blow you away. Byron has shared many things from the book and I can't wait to start on it.

Hopefully, I will get some pictures up soon of the kids! Have a great week and I will try to do better at the blog but I am not making any promises!!!

Thought I should blog...

I really do need to start a journal and record everything that my kids do throughout the day that make me laugh, make me think how can they already be doing that or saying that! I honestly think I will remember and by the time Byron gets home I can't even remember the story or word or whatever to tell him.

On Tuesday we had some friends over for a play date. Paisley is about 3 weeks younger then Jackson. We had a wonderful time with them. Of course, with any little kids you are going to have some accidents. This is the way the day went in Jaycee's eyes at least. This was the story she shared with my grandparents. She said, Paisley came over to play yesterday. Paisley smashed Bubby's finger in the toy box. Paisley bit Bubby on the face. I (Jaycee) threw a cup at Paisley's head and they left and went home. I was laughing so hard at that. Yes, all of those things took place but Allison and Paisley were here over 4 hours.

Also, the other night Jaycee was playing with wash cloths. Yes, amazing that a stack of wash cloths can keep her entertained for hours. She loves to unfold them and place them on the floor. The bonus is she has become a very good wash cloth folder and has now taken on that chore when we do laundry!!! Anyways, Jackson decided to "steal" a wash cloth. Of course, that didn't go over too well with his sis. The chase was on. So in the chaos of the chase and screaming, Byron got Jaycee to stop. He was calling her over to his chair. Well, she didn't want to listen all she wanted to do was plead her case. She wasn't in trouble, he was just going to let her know that if she would do her best to ignore Jackson that he would stop bothering her. She continued on until Byron started the countdown to when she needed to arrive at his chair. After the countdown there was one last warning, the reply from Jaycee, "But Dad, my legs are too tired to walk over there to your chair." Really!!! Byron and I both immediately covered our faces so our giggles and smiles weren't seen. Yes, Jaycee did get in trouble for not obeying her Dad, but it amazes me at 3 1/2 yrs old she can come up with things like that!!!

Jackson isn't even 2 yet and has already begun asking Why? I called his name the other day, his reply was "What?" He is not old enough to have these types of replies! A favorite of Jackson's is to crawl up in Byron's lap with all of his cars and motorcycles. Byron will hold up one of the items and ask what color is this car? You can so see the wheels turning in Jackson's head. His response, "PINK!" Its hilarious!!! He knows that he will definitely get a response from his daddy! Jackson loves for you to laugh at him.

Jaycee has been eating like crazy lately. I haven't tried any new things for her, but she has been eating everything I have put in front of her. Which for a while, she was throwing a fit about even eating her favorite things. If she tries to get down from the table all we say is well you won't get anything later and she finishes her plate! Her new favorite thing is apples dipped in peanut butter!

I think that is all I have for you tonight! Have a good one!!!

Jaycee Ann

Yes this is another post about Jaycee's eating! Hopefully, we are getting somewhere. Monday for lunch I made Chicken Pot Pie. Well, of course she made up her mind that she wasn't going to eat it. We once again set out on the battle of the will's game! After 33 hours of not eating anything and only allowed to drink water, she ate my chicken pot pie and thought it was pretty yummy!!! I just hope we don't have to keep battling through this, but if we do we will press onward. Byron helped feed her to somewhat hide the veggies in it. One time her facial expression was quite funny when she tasted the carrot. I am not sure if it was the taste or the texture of it. I am going with texture at this point! After she finished that she got many high fives, hugs, and kisses. She also ate a bowl chips. After that she asked if she could have cereal since she missed breakfast that morning! She consumed a lot of food in a short amount of time. We won this battle and we will continue on to win the war!!!

I thought I would share these pics! The other night the kids got in my closet and they were wearing my boots and shoes around. Enjoy!!!

A heart of thankfulness!!!

With this being a new year I guess I can say this is a New Year's resolution, but actually this is a life changing resolution. For several months now, I have not been so thankful. I have been totally caught up in myself and my situations to where I couldn't see anything but that. I had let it over take me to the point that I was totally making things much bigger then they really are. Though these things are in my life they don't have to consume my every moment. God is so patient, loving and kind. He is opening my eyes to see more of the big picture of my life.

Through seeking Him in his word and through reading several books God is teaching me things. First and foremost, I am understanding that this life He has given me is not about me. This life He has given me is about Him. Yes, I have heard this a thousand times and I am in agreement with it, but I wasn't walking it out in my life. The best way I can sum this up is from Max Lucado's book, Its Not About Me. In it He says the human job description comes down to this: "Reflect God's Glory". That spoke to the depths of my soul! That is why I am here to reflect God's Glory. I can pretty much say that hasn't been something I have been doing. Also another quote from Max Lucado's book, "When our deepest desire is not the things of God, or a favor from God, but God himself, we cross a threshold." That is my desire to know God himself. To walk with Him intimately. To see the glory of the Lord and to reflect His glory.

The other book that is helping me along is Victoria Osteen's book, Loving Your Life. God has been encouraging me through this book. Allowing it to show me things about myself. That God has placed seeds of greatness on the inside of me. That He has given me gifts and talents. In my months of living in my self pity this has been my question, do I really have any gifts or talents? I kept comparing myself to others around me and I wasn't measuring up. I know God has given me gifts and talents. He doesn't make mistakes. He didn't skip over me and forget to place gifts or talents on the inside of me. He has created me for His purpose and design. I know that He has placed desires in me that will come forth in their due season. He will reveal them in His timing and for His glory!!!

As I was reading last night, God spoke to me about being thankful for where I am. That He sees the big picture. That I need to trust in Him and enjoy the moment. As I thought about that last night and then waking up at 6:20 this morning with the kids I realized that I really needed a change of heart. I need a change of attitude. I need my life to become more God-centered and less self-centered. Here are a few quotes from the book Loving Your life. "I will not be consumed by my challenges. I will stay in faith, focus on the good, and keep the right perspective." "I choose to live this day happy, content, and grateful for what God has given me." I will focus on what I have and not what I don't have. I will dwell on what's right in my life and magnify the good." When things are difficult and I'm tempted to get discouraged, I will remember all the great things God has done in my past." "I recognized I was not created to constantly struggle and endure life. I am making a decision to celebrate each day, to live it to the full, and to enjoy the people in my life.""Everything doesn't have to be perfect before I can enjoy life." With that last quote I would never enjoy life!!! Because things are never going to be perfect on this earth and I won't ever have it all together!

Today I choose to see the good in my life. The blessings God has given me. Not for a moment to take those blessings for granted anymore! I choose to be thankful today. I choose to have an attitude that soars above my circumstances. To trust in my God that He will be faithful and good. He will never leave me or forsake me. To know that He will continue his work in my life until Jesus returns. That each thing brought into my life is to grow my faith in Him and in return He will use me to reflect His glory!!!

In all of that, I thank God for each one of you who read this blog. Thank you for accepting me for who I am. Thank you for being a friend. I am very thankful and grateful that God has blessed us with so many wonderful friends and family!!! God is good and faithful! His blessings are countless! His love endures forever!