Awakening Fest 2008

Last weekend my friend, Jeanette, and I took a group of teens plus our two 9 year-olds to an outdoor Christian music festival. We had a blast! We met up with others we knew and hung out. It was a beautiful day (we prayed the thunderstorms away and they skirted around us)the music was great(Newsboys, Skillet, Matthew West plus others), the speaker(Justin Lookadoo) was awesome and we got to meet one of our favorite bands, Skillet. Check out the slide show I put together.

A Cure for Juvenile Diabetes

I have been so blessed. I have 5 children and they are all healthy children. We haven't been to see a doctor in 2 years. Not everybody is this lucky.

My sister, Kendra, has two boys who both at the age of 10 were diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. They were plunged into a world of checking their blood for sugar and shots of insulin everyday. They are capable of managing it, but there are still high risks involved if something gets miscalculated, someone is sick, even the natural process of going through puberty effects this delicate balance. It is not a life I would wish on anyone, especially a child and that who is typically diagnosed with this disease.

Please take the time to watch Jared and Jake's video and if you can at all help go to this website and help raise money for a cure.

PaperBackSwap

I know I haven't posted in a long while. I am sorry but I just haven't had much to say. I am very sporadic at this type of thing.

I have to tell you the exciting find I found today. I LOVE to read. I encourage my kids to read and find the excitement of a good story. I go to the library a lot, but sometimes they don't always carry what I want to read. So I buy books. I buy them from yard sales, goodwill, Wal-mart, Amazon, ect... Well this site is a book swap. There is NO membership fee as of yet. The only cost is when someone requests the books that you have posted you pay to ship them. But when you request a book they will pay the postage to send it to you. You get credits for every book that you actually ship to someone and they receive it. Then you use the credits to get books. So that way you don't have people getting books without reciprocating. I am so excited about it. I have started cleaning off my shelves. I put a link on my sidebar. Go check it out! If you sign up be sure to let them know I sent you. My user id is tavnkate5.

Parents and Children

Wow! It has been awhile since I have posted something. I wrote and said my parents were here. They have now gone to visit my great grandma and extended family in Maine, but they are returning here before heading back West. We had a great time. We didn't DO much, but just having them here and visiting is so awesome. I also realized just how much I use the computer to fill up the emptiness I have being away from my family. I hardly got on here when they were here, I actually had no desire to. But now that they have left here I am again. I am having to work on my attitude. I have been a little depressed since they left. I have been snappy with my kids and especially Tav, poor guy. I have to work hard on being content with where God has me. I want to be closer to my family so I can visit more often. This week or two out of the year stinks!The good news is that they are returning in 3 weeks and will be here for another week before they head home. YAY!

As for children, my mommy's heart is hurting. My 16 yo is away. He is visiting cousins out West. He'll be gone for another 2 weeks. I am amazed at the comments I am receiving about living it up and having all kinds of fun with him gone. Just to let you all know, I LIKE my son. He is fun, funny and a light in my life. Yes I miss him and I will be GLAD when he gets home. Then my oldest baby is sick. She is house sitting and has called me and sounds absolutely miserable, so I am going to go over and take care of her today. I'm not sure I like this growing up thing. I want to gather up all of my chicks and put them back in the nest.~Sigh~

Perhaps I'll take all of my chicks and go and jump back in my parents nest. HA! That is an image!

"I'm busy, busy dreadfully busy"

Just a quick fly by the seat post. I have been very busy visiting my parents. I have 3 weeks to squeeze in an entire year. It is a very good busy. I have been trying to catch up on my regular blog reading but it has been more of a scan. I'll catch up later. Love you all.

Thankfulness

This weekend I was having a conversation with some good friends. Life has been difficult for all of us lately and one of the things that came up was the question why some people seemed to be so blessed and we are struggling. Now honestly we were looking at the monetarily side of this. I don't want a whole lot, but I do want to provide for my family's needs and I believe that is what the others were expressing too.

This morning as I was reading through my Bible I read about thinking on the positive things and then I read in Lamentations 3 that in all of our struggles we have hope in God. Then I started thinking about my friend Julie. She has been struggling with where God has placed her and someone suggested she do a list of things she is thankful for. So I decided to do one. I'm not going to do 25 like she did, but I will do 10. I may also try to do this once a week. Please feel free to join me I would love to see your lists too. So leave me a comment.

1. God's mercy and grace
2. The dawn of a new day
3. The breathe of life
4. A faithful, supporting husband
5. 5 beautiful healthy children
6. A warm (cool) home
7. Enough food to feed my family for at least a month
8. A running a vehicle to get me around.
9. Good friends to laugh with me when I'm laughing and cry with me when I'm crying. ( I love you guys)
10. The doe and her small baby who ate breakfast in my backyard this morning as I was drinking my coffee.

A Little Nugget of Truth

I just love reading the Bible. I can read something a thousand times and then I'll read it and WHAM! God gives me a little nugget of truth that is so appropriate for what I need at that moment. Today that happened, it actually brought tears to my eyes.

I don't read Job much. It is rather depressing. But you know Job was an incredible man of faith. He got a little long winded and God corrected him, but aside from that his faith was amazing. He endured things that I cannot imagine and have no desire to endure, yet his faith in God remained. As my one of my favorite authors, Beth Moore, pointed out he didn't even have the Word of God to hold onto and to read over and over again the promises God makes to us.

Well in my little struggles that I'm having this quote from Job touched something deep inside me. I especially love verse 10. It is so wonderful to know when God seems so far away he knows exactly where I am and he is working on me. I hope it encourages someone else too.

Job 23:8-10 (New International Version)

8 "But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.

9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.