Aren't They Cute?

Yes, people refer to us as "The Daycare Center" at games...you decide. :)

Tiger News

In Tiger news (since it's Friday) we have a HUGE home game tonight against Rogers. We already beat them once (which was amazing since they're always so good and our team is so young!) and need to do it again tonight.

We've already clenched a play-off seed, but if we win tonight, we get a higher seed and better chances of advancing to the quarter-finals!

But regardless, we're IN IT and BHS has only made the tourney 2 other times in the last 21 years (could be longer - that's just how far back we have records!).

Last Saturday, we beat the #1 team in the state (huge surprise since we're clearly the underdogs).

My tendency is to laugh when I think we could actually go to state finals, but then I catch myself, b/c 3 years ago, I also laughed at the thought with the Siloam team - who were also the underdogs - and we freaking won the whole thing. So stranger things have happened...we've seen this before!

Let's go TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Upcoming games to come watch:

TONIGHT at home against Rogers: Girls 6:00/Boys 7:30 - homecoming, too

TOMORROW (sat) at home vs. Heritage: same as above

WEDNESDAY: starts play-offs at Heritage; we will either play at 5:30 or at 8:30 depending on if we win tonight!!!! Come support!!!!!

And I'll leave you with the words of Lincoln: "BENON..BIIILLLLE TIIIGERS!!!!!! Bo, Luke, Nick, Jon, Rogan (name is really Logan), Corbin, Duke, Au-in (Austin)!!!!"
He's too funny. Can't tell you the number of times all the Benonbille Tigers have made it in his prayers. :)

Learning

My new favorite toy of Lincoln's:

We have a similar "shapes" wooden puzzle that he got a while back and was able to QUICKLY learn the 8 major shapes. So when I saw the "ABC" puzzle at Target 3 weeks ago, I got it in hopes that it would help him learn his alphabet in the same manner.
Happy to report he LOVES this puzzle and since he has gotten it, has forgone all other puzzles. He does this one at least three times/day.
He can now do it in no time flat, so this week we have been working on the song. Maybe he would have learned this all without the puzzle (who knows) but I really think this little gadget has helped him learn this! He now knows almost every letter and can sing the first part and the last part of the song.
The other cool thing about the puzzle is that under each letter is a picture of an object that begins with the corresponding sound. Anyway - if your kid's at this age for learning, this puzzle gets an A+ from me!

They have a number's one, too that will be my next purchase. They only had it in pink last time I was there...so it might be a pink one. :)

And Noah? Well, he has mastered 2 signings: More and All Done. We're working on where his body parts are - just started this. Poor thing. I think I had already worked with Lincoln on these things. I need to get it out of my brain that Noah is an infant because he is NOT! Ha.

Have a good day. We're expecting thunderstorms - my most favorite weather of all time, so I'm excited. :)

Thoughts on Love

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
 I Peter 4:8

I wanted to share something that so powerfully pierced my heart yesterday in hopes that maybe you, too, can benefit from the amazing words a friend spoke.

Read the verse above.

Pretty familiar...right? I thought so at least.

Now read it again with the emphasis on the highlighted words:

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

My friend brought this rich word from God yesterday regarding how love covers sin. We are all called to love...above all things, love..right?

Through her words, she reminded me of how in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, he did not let them go exposed to the world in their shame and guilt...

He covered them...He loved them...love covers.

And in contrast, when Christ showed His ultimate love for me...for you...by dying on a cross to save our sins, he was un-covered...fully exposed to the sin and darkness of the world, so that we may be covered...

Love covers.

For me this was so simplistic, yet amazingly powerful. Through meditating on this simple semantic in God's Word the past few days, I feel I have grown to a deeper understanding of Christ's love for me.

And Christ calls us to love this way...to love in a manner so powerful that it can actually cover sin.

I know in my own life, I am inclined to do just the opposite.

Like when Jason does something I don't like or a friend or family (not to mention the people I don't like!) - my first inclination is to expose the wrongdoings...to point them out...to dramatically demonstrate how it has affected me (i.e. pouting, passive aggression, gossiping...); sometimes it's to judge; to stand back and wait for that person's sin to eat them alive so I can think "I told you so...".

But love doesn't expose sin....

Love covers sin.

Oh how I have failed at this.

Rainy Day

Since it is raining outside, I'll give ya some bath pictures (of the kids). :)

Taking a bath ranks up there with going to church and the park in our house. If you mention the word, little Noah with start giggling and immediately take off toward our bathroom, chuckling the whole way. So here's how we do baths. :)

Note: I did not put things all over their heads. That would be Lincoln's handiwork.

****Also - why do the pictures show up grainy on posts when you upload them?? Anyone else experience this? They look a lot different on here than they do on my desktop. Hmmm....

Blah Blah Blah

Because of the snow days, there are lots of basketball games to be made up - all this week. So translated - LOTS of Tiger basketball for us this week (I'm actually looking forward to it!).

I took my camera to the game this past Friday, but really only got 2 pictures - surprising, I know. I had been playing at the park all day with the kids and was still in my beautiful yoga pants/workout shirt with a lovely nasty ponytail and minimal make-up at best. So there was no way I was getting in any shots. :)

So here's the funny part of the story:

At the game that night with about 3 minutes to start, Jason came and asked me if I'd sing the National Anthem b/c they didn't have anyone to do it. Now - I never pass up this opportunity because it's my absolute favorite song to sing and I haven't gotten to since college, BUT I really looked like trash people. I tried to stand behind the announcer and do it so no one could really see me but the guy made me get on the court. Fabulous. Then I got a link to an event photographer who was there and happened to get about 15 pictures of me in my beauty and put them on his NWA website. Ha. I just laughed at that point.

I'm singing it again for Senior Night next Saturday (with warning this time!) so I'll get a shower 2nd time around. :)

I figured out a trick (don't know why it took me so long): both my children fit in the single stroller. Find of the night.

 Somewhere around the third quarter, Bethany and I turned around to this handsome mess who had unknowingly made his way to in the animal cracker bag. Sweet thing. This kept him entertained for an entire quarter.

 Yesterday was GORGEOUS. Lincoln and Noah were at home taking naps and I loaded Lincoln up to go to the park. I forgot what it was like to take only one child - I loved this one-on-one time with him! And might I add (if you're NWA people) this park is the best park EVER. I was totally in awe of it. Absolutely gorgeous. It's the new one behind Krispy Cream by the Toyota dealership - amazing.

 
 
 
I know this is a random post...sorry. :)

Ouch

2 Tim. 3:1-5

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be:
lovers of themselves,
lovers of money,
boastful,
proud,
abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful,
unholy,
without love,
unforgiving,
slanderous,
without self-control,
brutal,
not lovers of the good,
treacherous,
 rash,
conceited,
 lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—
 having a form of godliness but denying its power.
Have nothing to do with such people."

When I was in Africa a few years back, I stumbled on this verse one day and camped on it pretty much the whole trip. The highlighted red part pierced me then, and it's still just as powerful to me today. I have written in my Bible from that day in Ndola "Humbling..." out to the side.

"having a form of godliness, but denying its POWER..."

That means the nice little heart-warming list that precedes it there...you know, the "selfish, treacherous, conceited, rash, lover of money, etc..." can be MASKED by having a form of godliness?? My conviction over this verse coincides with what I've been studying this past month...that the word "Power" can in turn be the Holy Spirit.

That we can have our form of godliness (i.e. going to church, praying, tithing, etc.) but if we do not daily surrender ourselves to the POWER of the Holy Spirit, we are powerless against the sinful list listed at the beginning of the verse.
We just somehow think our "form of godliness" will cancel it all out in the end.
Hmmm.
The last part of the verse warns to have NOTHING to do with such people.

How often have I been that "such person?"
(I'll answer it  - a LOT).

I go through that list and feel like I can "check..check...check..."
And then I realize again just how often I deny the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I have Christ living within me, but GET WITH IT MELISSA - the God of the universe DESIRES to talk, guide, and defend you on an hourly basis and so often you say "No - I'm fine, thanks."

So I'm there...again. Humbled by the Word of God...it's a sweet place to be in.


Here's another version of the verse I like:

"You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!"