Give me a "J" Give me a "O" Give me a "Y" ~ What's that spell ......JOY!!

I have had so much JOY in my life and it just continues ~

I am filled with JOY because it is my BFF Angel who shares this meme with us each week and she loves to see the JOY in all things! Having Joy-filled friends is such a gift from the LORD!

I am filled with JOY because all the work that we put into the last couple of weeks celebrating birthdays and working on Homecoming finally caught up with me and I fell asleep Monday evening before 10pm and didn't wake up until 10am Tues. morning!! (Nor did I blog) I am so thankful and filled with JOY that my husband was sooo sweet to let me rest!!

I am filled with JOY because I found a recipe on a new blog that I was dying to try out but my DH beat me to it and OH MY GOODNESS you guys.....these are to die for!!! They are called "Muffins that taste like donuts"

I am filled with JOY when Rylee walks up and grabs my leg, squeezes it sooo tight and says "Awww Noni" Such sweet sweet JOY

I am filled with JOY because now that school has started my sweet boy loves to read and asks me to go read with him just before bed time!

Psalms 66:1-3
Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth!
Sing about the glory of his name!
Tell the world how glorious he is.
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
Your enemies cringe before your mighty power

I love you Angel Thank you for sharing JOY with us each and every week!

Do you bow down to the god of "Happiness??" I believe in you ~ Part 2

How many times have you either Heard someone say or maybe have even said yourself......

"You DESERVE to be HAPPY"

I am guilty of saying it and even thinking it for myself. Remember last week Pastor Craig Groeschel discussed how this generation of kids have a sense of Entitlement? He also shared about how our parents were willing to do 'WHATEVER' it took to make us "Happy"

This week He shared how our culture says "Success" is raising ~ well rounded, educated, and "happy kids"

I don't know about you but in my life sometimes it is the trials of life that have led me into a true happiness! Going through the fire is the hardest thing to do but on the other side of the mountain is victory and Joy! Why would we raise our kids keeping them from facing trials and only experiencing "Happiness". This is so unrealistic and they will not be prepared for real life nor have any idea how to handle the tough situations that are bound to come!

We need to Impart Spiritual Life into our children and to do this we must first understand we cannot do this on our own! We need others to come along side of us and our kids and speak Life into them as well! Sometimes our kids can hear from us one thing and then someone else comes along saying the same exact thing and it's as if a lightbulb goes on in their head!

We are called to Unleash Single-minded, Christ-centered, Biblically anchored WORLD CHANGERS!

There are many forces that attempt to come against us raising our kids in this manner! We must raise our expectations of what our kids are capable of! Just think about our past generations..... they were married and raising families @ a very YOUNG age and yet they did it! As I grew up my generation was quick to leave home and even though we weren't married @ 12 or 14 we still were a generation that at least left home close to 18 - 21 and got degrees and Jobs that supported us. We never considered staying @ home to live past that age. This generation however still lives with their parents even in their mid to late 20's!
Somewhere we have lowered our expectations of our children! We can't rob them of being adults the live & contribute to the Kingdom and life!

Finally if we want your kids to do something....we must encourage them, support them and most importantly we can't say one thing and then act completely opposite! If we want our kids to be in the Word, they need to see us in the Word, we want them to pray and seek the Lord, they need to see us doing the same! Being bold and professing Christ comes more with our actions and heart than any words we might speak! One thing for sure ~ this generation despises hypocrisy!

God has provided every single one of us who have children All we need to do HIS will in their lives! All we have to do is seek Him, listen and follow through with all we hear HIM saying!! It is a Privelege HE has given us when HE places those sweet babies in our care from the moment we see their precious faces until they move out of our homes ready to face this world. For me, I know It is only through HIM that I can accomplish this!!

So Very Proud ~ Homecoming Queen pics

This week has been so full of Fun, Decorating, Riding in the Parade, Pep Rally and finally .... the Coronation!

Back in 8th grade Jenna had a Coach suggest & recommend her to be a "Trainer" Here we are 4 years later and Coach Holleman has encouraged her every step of the way! He is such a special man and Coach. He has a Son that is also a Senior this year and Loves these kids like his own. He also leads by example! Thank you Coach Holleman for believing in and supporting Jenna all those years ago!


Thursday was the Homecoming Parade. My moms boss has QUITE the Collection of cars! Porsches, Corvettes, Mercedes, and even a Smart Car! My Mom jokingly told him that she signed Him up to drive Jenna in the parade and He said"Well, I would do that!" WHAT?!?!!? Really?? and so he did! In His 1964 Silver Blue Corvette!!


He also let my son ride in the passenger seat and toss out candy as well!! :)


The next day was the Pep Rally ~ Here are the 3 Senior nominees and the junior and sophomore attendants
The 2 on the ends are the Senior attendants and to the left of Jen is the junior attendant and the right is the sophomore attendant.




Friday Morning we were up early and began decorating the Stage for the girls! Brian had taken the day off as well as my Mom and we met all the other mothers and some Dads too to begin decorating! Everything was donated! I had a friend @ one of our Flower shops give us these white trees and we put red & white lights on them. I also had a friend who had some white rod iron furniture we were able to borrow for the evening. We also had lots of balloons too :) None of the pictures do the stage justice but believe me ....it looked AWESOME!

Here are the girls just as they got dressed for Coronation! Don't they look Beautiful! We are missing Rachel, one of the Sr. nominees.





Here they are with the Little Ones who were in the Homecoming Court as well. Aren't they darling :)



Now, it was finally time to announce who would wear the crown and be Homecoming Queen 2010. The crowd was HUGE as we were playing one of our largest Rivals! We also had a media frenzy on our hands as 7 of our starters were suspended for disobeying school policy. It was proving to be a Homecoming to remember for sure! We waited with Great Anticipation silently praying for nothing but Gods will to be done! Truly, words cannot describe how proud her Daddy and I were when we heard her name announced! The tears fell and could not be stopped and my heart was beaming for my daughter! We were all there! My Mom & Stepdad, My Brother & his girls, of course Krista, Rylee & Jantzen too ! Even Angel and her family came to cheer her on & support her! It was wonderful to be surrounded with Family and Friends!


Here she is with her escort Nathan


2010 Homecoming Queen


Jenna couldn't get to her Rylee quick enough!



Sisters ♥



We are sooo very proud of you Jenna Marie!


We LOVE you with all of our ♥'s XOXOXO
Mom & Daddy

Thank you ALL for your kind words and congratulations!!! God has done amazing things as only HE can do during this week! He has shown HIMSELF Strong and HE has taught all of us so very much. We felt HIM in all we did and I am so proud of how Jenna has handled all of this. She has given honor to the Lord and is and has been very humble every step of the way. Thank you Lord for ALL YOU have done !!

Why NOT Me??

What an INCREDIBLE Week this has been !! Most of you know My daughter was voted as a Homecoming Queen candidate and it has been a whirlwind of activities and fun! We began most of the festivities last weekend and as time went on there was one thing I began to notice....Most of the questions and responsibilities were being pointed towards my daughter and myself. Hmmm, there are 3 Senior candidiates so why Lord would 1 girl be directed as leader? As it became more and more obvious in good and well, not so good ways, there came a point that my daughter was feeling somewhat overwhelmed & a little under attack. Let me explain a bit and show you how God works in ways we can't even imagine! :)

The day after the nominees were announced all the girls attended a meeting to basically lay down alot (not all by any means LOL) of the ground rules and just general information that they would need to know for the week to come ie: posters needed to be made, interviews for the paper and radio, decorating the royal stage, parade, etc. All the girls including the Junior & Sophomore attendants were there EXCEPT for One Senior nominee and she was @ Volleyball. So Jenna gathered all the information and forms and later that evening she came by our house to pick it all up. We all agreed to work on the posters together so that they would all look the same since this was one of the regulations.

One of the girls could not make it and for some reason (still unknown) decided to blame my daughter saying things that were not nice at all and brought Jenna to tears. We happened to be out to lunch just the two of us and this is when she received the Not So Nice text message. She looked @ me with tears in her eyes and said "Mom, Why Me?" Why is she mad @ me? She was @ that meeting and knew about this plus I am not the only one who could have texted or told her, why is she acting like this is my fault???" I grabbed my girls sweet hand and asked her to look me in the eyes. I said "Honey, instead of asking ~ Why ME I want you to ask Why NOT ME? Because God has given you this opportunity, HE has placed you in a position to shine for HIM! To Glorify HIM! To offer grace and kindness even when others might not show the same. I shared that at this very moment she could either choose to join in with the hatefulness and fuel the ugly flames ~OR~ she could be like Christ and turn the situation completely around. I asked her to ponder that when this was all over would this girl be able to say "WOW, Jenna was so kind to me and smoothed out this situation" or "That Jenna isn't at all what she professes to be, she is just hateful as can be!"

We all have situations that arise like this don't we!? The spirit of MisUnderstanding loves to rear his UGLY head and cause Strife and ruin relationships, friendships, and maybe even a reputation!. When we are in a position to either fuel the flame or simply stomp it out with love, grace, and kindness what do we do? What would Christ ask us to do? The Lord allows us opportunities ~ Do we choose to glorify HIM or do we allow our flesh to feel justified and entitled and choose to act in ways completely contrary to Gods Ways?


1Peter 2:11-12 NLT
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world

P.S. My Daughter was chosen and crowned Homecoming Queen this evening! We are so very proud of her! I will post picks next week!

To join in on Spiritual Sundays please go here

TGIF

Soooo glad It's Friday!!! WAHOO :) I pray your day is filled with JOY and Laughter!! Join KIM for more funnies ♥

Keep your eye on the score when this is over LOLOLOLOL
OK ~ sorry guys, it wouldn't embed sooo go here to watch
...It's only 1 min.11sec.

Have a blessed weekend my dear friends!

Simple Pleasure ~ after school talks

This week has been probably one of the most Fun, most Exciting, and STRESS filled weeks we have had in a VERY LONG TIME! Suffice it to say it has also been a week that has kept us on our knees and close to the LORD.

We began by having the Big Birthday Celebration over the weekend and then have jumped into all of the Homecoming preparations! Jen has had meetings, decorations to do, radio interviews, newspaper pictures, walk thru practices, homecoming parade, pep rally, and then of course the coronation to attend on Friday, all of this and her regular schedule of school and training each day for football! I might add in here that this is HIGH SCHOOL and if your memories can go back to those days you might remember how crazy High School can be and the drama that plays out day after day.

I have felt the Lord prompting me to make sure and sit down each day with both kids and JUST LISTEN. To let them share their hearts, their thoughts, concerns or just whatever they wanted to share. To really HEAR them and then to lead them to either lay those concerns down at the foot of the cross or to remind them of who they are and how loved they are by the LORD and by us, their parents! That no matter what happens during the course of the day or in the days ahead they belong to Christ and HE loves and adores them! To slow down and think about Heavenly things & not allow the things or situations of this world to get us off track but to Praise God for the positions HE places us in and pray that we Shine for HIM in all things!

For me, my Simple Pleasure this week has been very simply sitting, listening and praying with my Children. I am soo very blessed to be a Stay At Home MOM... ordained by God to have days like these!


Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people Eph 6:7



Today I am linking up with Dayle

I got the Joy Joy Joy Down in my Heart! :)

I got that Joy Joy Joy Joy down in my heart......WHERE?? down in my heart ...... WHERE? down in my heart to STAY!!

Now that I have you all singing with me ;) I will share my JOY with you!!

On Monday it was an Insane day running EVERYWHERE and I got home REALLY late, obviously Having not cooked dinner for my family BUT my SWEET and OH SO WONDERFUL Husband had dinner waiting on ME!!!! Grilled Halibut, baked potatoes, garlic-cheese biscuits...YUM

It was such a JOY to be making these Homecoming posters that will be on the sides of the car while Jenna is being driven down Main Street in the Homecoming Parade. Brian, Jenna & I all worked together making them while Rylee sat in her highchair and colored! JOY JOY JOY


It was such a JOYFUL occasion to find a package @ our front door! My friend Bernie@ OnMyOwn is from Canada and I have shared how VERY MUCH my Son LOVES Canada!! Welllllll ~ Bernie sent Jantz a Canadian Calendar!! Isn't she AWESOME!! Thanks again Bernie for bringing both of us SUCH JOY!!


Today was absolutely Gorgeous outside! It didn't appear as though it would be. It started out raining and dreary but this afternoon it all cleared off and OH MY! It was heavenly. So Rylee and Brian AKA "Papa" went out back and jumped on the trampoline together!!! It just brings me such JOY to see them play & laugh together!!!


Ok get this .....I know I am almost 44! I know I am getting older but seriously when I got an AARP notice to sign up for in the mail I was a little taken back! I mean seriously ???? We got a big kick out of it and nothing says JOY like having a good belly laugh with your Honey! Because believe me ....HE gave me a REALLY HARD TIME ABOUT IT!! ;)


He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy JOB 8:21

Hope you all have a JOY-filled week!! I am linking up with Angel today

I Believe in YOU

I have really been looking forward to this new series titled "I Believe in You." that we began @ Church this past weekend. It's already awesome!

Pastor Craig Groeschel began this week speaking specifically to the "Emerging Generation" Those whom are 30yrs. old or so and younger. This generation, in Pastor Craigs opinion is so "UNBELIEVABLY Driven," more so than any generation before them.
They have such Mission Minded hearts that they literally crave to make a difference...a longing to serve a purpose. Never before have we seen soooo many children doing the work that was placed upon their hearts (by God) to help others in need. You see it in the news, magazines, ministries that serve here and abroad!

He also explained that while this generation is sooo mission minded they also have some VERY strong temptations that cause some of these kids to remain somewhat "STUCK" or not able to move forward to accomplish the purpose they desire to fulfill.
These temptations are:
1) This generation feels ENTITLED! Why? Because we as parents have made certain that they have everything they need or rather maybe what they want! Cell phones at a young age (some kids are upset because they have a Iphone 3G but their best friend may have the Iphone4) The best of everything not just the necessities. We have been there @ every single event and put their needs above everything some even above their spouses! Some have gone into debt JUST so the child can have what they didn't have as children. This leads them to think"They DESERVE to have it all" As they grow up they feel they have to have the same type of house as their parents did at the age of 27-30 but the truth is the parents didn't have that kind of house until their 40's or 50's!
2) THis generation doesn't believe in absolute truth....they can know God but they can live as they want.
3) This generation also tends to postpone adulthood. They want the benefits of adulthood but not the sacrifices of adulthood. They believe Real Life starts later ~ say when they become parents! Yes....that is what a recent poll said! Not when they graduate or turn 18 or 21. NOt when they get their first job or graduate college but they become adults once they become PARENTS.
Gulp! But here is the thing! I know I have said this very thing to my kids and to those whom I know that are newly married....
"Go and do all you want to do before you have kids ~ because that is when everything changes!" Have you said this?

We all need to understand that Ministry and walking in our Purpose starts TODAY ~ wherever you are! We are Gods hands and feet and HIS vessel in which others will see HIM or not. Our kids are ministers no matter where they go! They are the pastor of the class they are in each day or the FCA they belong to. They may be the Pastor of a team they participate in. But in order for them to fulfill this they need to be walking with the Lord and we as parents must build and lead them. Believing in them with every step they take! It all began with God BELIEVING in Jesus. HE KNEW that Jesus would fulfill the purpose of the Cross. Jesus heard the first words of support and belief from HIS heavenly Father when HE was baptized!

Mark 1:11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

I pray that we can all be like Paul ~ Walking with a Power of Influence. Coming alongside others allowing them to follow our example as we follow after Christ! Jesus is the target we pursue. Changing the world as HE does! That Belief that God had in Jesus didn't just affect HIM, it affected all of us....for when HE fulfilled HIS purpose here on Earth ...it was for You & ME!

What a weekend this has been!

You know those weekends where you literally cram sooo many things into it and you can't believe it was all possible!?!?!

THIS was one of THOSE weekends!! We had a wonderful birthday celebration for Jenna, Homecoming decorating to do, Church, A surprise Party for Jenna with her friends, finding a car for her to ride in in the Homecoming Parade on Thursday, Oh ya! cooking and cleaning for 20 people to be here ~ phew!! It has been sooooo much fun, so joyful! We have laughed, cried and sang til we can't do anymore at all! I love it when my family is all together and even though I can't believe I have 2 adults daughters now *sigh, sniff sniff* It was all just soo WONDERFUL!


The tradition in the McGhee household is usually cinnamon toast with candles but This year Daddy made Homemade donuts with cinnamon sugar on them! they were heavenly!!



I usually make the kids a cake or do brownies but this year Jenna asked for a Barbie cake ~ Just like she had when she was around 3 or 4!! LOL we didn't even have any Barbies so we had to go buy one! It was so funny watching her pick one out! They even had Taylor Swift Barbies!! She chose Belle and had the bakery change her dress from Yellow to Blue


No worries though! Jenna made sure the Barbie dress & shoes made it in the decorations! I LOVED it!!


Jenna and her Ry!


Daddy making delicious chicken wings and also smoking some awesome Ribs!


Rylee REALLY enjoyed the cake!! She is soo funny!


Me, Angel and MOM ♥





Jenna wanted a Bonfire in the back yard....Isn't it so pretty! It was the perfect ending to the day! SOooo Relaxing and just sitting and talking with everyone was so special....The Smores were delicious too!


Such Goofiness!


Angel "trying" to take a picture but Dan gave her a hint to make it work....TAKE OFF THE LENS CAP!! HAHAHA & YES she will kill me for sharing this ;) but she loves me anyways :0)~



Rylee and Ty....She has to be thinking.... Hey! That marshmallow wasn't like this a few minutes ago! LOVE their faces!


Jenna's friends! She had a surprise party on Sunday night @ her favorite restaraunt! It was a JOY filled weekend for sure!



Thank you all for your birthday wishes to Jenna! You are all so amazing & I cherish you...each and everyone! I pray you have a Happy and Blessed week!

18 ALREADY???

Our Precious Little Love
You fill our hearts with JOY
and Our Home with Laughter
You were Sent straight From Heaven Above

The years have gone far too fast
We've cherished every stage
your first smile, words, and first steps too
Those memories are in our hearts & will always last

Now we see the Beautiful woman you've become
Your heart, Your Loyalty and Your Love for others is oh so true!
You are more than we ever hoped you be
You shine for Jesus in all you do

Yes on the day so many years ago
The Lord blessed us beyond our dreams
when He placed you in our arms
and said "Take care of her, but never forget ~ She belongs to ME"



Happy 18th Birthday my Sweet Jenna Marie!


































She"s Her Daddy's girl and Her Momma's World
We Love you Jenna with all that we are!!
xoxoxoxoxo