I Am a Disciple of Jesus Christ

"I"m a Disciple"
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I've stepped over the line.
The love of God controls me. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or back away.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure.
I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth and ease, colorless dreams, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed roles.
I no longer need prosperity, position, promotion, preeminence, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk in patience, live by prayer, and labor with power.
My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is the Kingdom of God. My road is narrow. My way is rough. My companions few. My guide reliable. My mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversaries, negotiate at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up until I've stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, spoken up, for the cause of Christ.
I must go until He comes, give until I drop, teach until all know, run until He stops me.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ
I'm not sure of the name of the author.
I love this! Our preacher read this at church last Sunday. He said it was written by a man who went to Africa to be a missionary. He died while in Africa, and this was found in his hut. I had heard it before and love the way the writer is so sold out for Jesus. I was thinking today that if Christians acted more like Jesus, there would probably be more of us.

Some of our favorite family movies

I found the first season of The Walton's at Sam's for a great price. I haven't seen The Walton's in a really long time! We watched the first episode last night. It was really good! We don't watch very much regular tv except for The Duggars every Tuesday night, the news, and my husband's sports (Nascar, football, baseball). So I am always on the lookout for clean family-friendly movies on DVD. Here are some of our favorites:

The Adventures of Ocee Nash

Come What May (this is a new movie, made by a group of homeschooled students)

Little House on the Prairie

The Waltons

Saving Sarah Cain

Because of Winn Dixie

Sign of the Beaver

Where the Red Fern Grows (the Disney version is great)

The Sound of Music (one of the best movies ever!)

Fly Wheel

Facing the Giants

Fireproof (some parts aren't ok for kids)

Cheaper By the Dozen (the old version)

Faith Like Potatoes (a great Christian true story, but some parts are not ok for kids)

Pollyanna

Anne of Green Gables

The Brady Bunch

Old Yeller (a must for boys)

Felicity

Samantha

Kit

Molly

Andy Griffith

Love Comes Softly (there are several in the series)

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (this is so sweet and the book is great too)

None of these movies are cartoons. We have our share of those too, but I certainly don't want to watch them all the time!

Good night, John Boy!!!!

An eventful visit to Aunt Marcy's house

We were headed to my sister Marcy's house on Friday. Carrington was so excited to see her cousins that she woke up at 6:30. This would have been fine if she had gone to bed on time, but she got upset about something the night before and couldn't go to sleep. On the way to Marcy's she tried to sleep in the car, but she couldn't. It's a 3 hour drive. She didn't want to eat when we stopped for lunch, but this is not unusual. My kids don't always have hearty appetites. As soon as she got out of the car at Marcy's she ran over and hugged Madeline and then proceeded to throw up. Carrington started crying, Madeline was crying, and I felt like crying at the thought of getting back in the car and driving for 3 more hours home. Marcy has a newborn plus 5 other kids and I knew she didn't need her kids getting sick after all they've been through lately. Carrington ended up feeling fine right away and I felt pretty sure that she was just really tired and probably also car sick. To be safe, we ended up all hanging out outside and let the kids play for several hours. We just told them not to get too close to each other. Carrington has been fine ever since and nobody else seems to have anything, thank goodness! And I got to see my new nephew, who is adorable! We spent the night at my Mom and Dad's house and then headed home today. My kids are like their Mama, they have to have their sleep!!!!

Cade's Cove

A few more pictures from our trip to Pigeon Forge. We drove out to Cade's Cove one day. It's a little bit of a drive, but the time went fast since we were listening to "Jonathan Park" CD's. ( These are awesome adventure stories that teach about Creation Science. My kids love them and we have all learned a ton!) Cade's Cove is a beautiful area where about 200 people used to live on farms back in the 1800's and early 1900's. It's so pretty and a lot of the old houses, barns, and churches are still there. You can get a little booklet at the beginning of the drive that tells you all about the people that used to live there. There is also an area with a small store and several other buildings you can look in. The grist mill was neat to see. There was a man in the mill doing a demonstration and talking about milling corn and wheat. He said that a small mill stone weighs about 1000 lbs! I told my kids about Matthew 18:6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea." Those are heavy words! (no pun intended).

We got to see 2 animals on our trip that we don't see on a regular basis. We had a huge raccoon climb up on the porch of our cabin to get in the garbage one night. It was so neat to see! Of course it wasn't neat to have garbage all over the porch the next morning, but I have to say it was worth it! We also saw a big black snake at Cade's Cove. Clayton was fascinated with it. He wanted to get a little too close for my comfort, about a foot away. I literally had to drag him away from it so he wouldn't get bitten. I wasn't taking any chances!

There are also 2 pictures above from a show we went to see. The Black Bear Jamboree. We have already been to the Dixie Stampede so we tried this one. It was pretty good and the kids really enjoyed it. :o)

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg

We went to Gatlinburg one day during our vacation in Pigeon Forge last week. The weather was perfect, except for the day that we drove there. It rained quite a bit and there was water on some of the lower streets. I couldn't believe how full this river was (last picture) or how powerful the water looked.

We always enjoy driving the go-carts. Clayton was disappointed that he couldn't drive one by himself, but he had fun anyway. One day we went to Gatlinburg and rode on the sky lift. I still can't believe I let my babies get on that thing! They loved it though. The coolest thing we saw was that giant ball spinning on top of a tiny amount of water. It was amazing that we could stop it from spinning and then spin it in another direction. We took a hike on a trail outside of Gatlinburg. I was very happy not to see any snakes on our hike.

We stayed in a cabin with a great view of the mountains.