Happy Friday!

As this afternoon begins the weekend for most of you guys, it begins the ending of our very blessed vacation. I have the best mother and father in laws… our time here on Hatteras Island with them has been something to be cherished… as it is every year!

I’m very excited about getting back to home sweet home! Can’t wait to see my family and all my beautiful friends at Destiny Family Center… and bring them some of the victory I received these past two weeks.

Last night, we stopped into the arcade at the old Buxton Drive In and played the stacker machine a few more times… trying to win a Spider Man digital camera Coree wanted! His enthusiasm for this prize, at the age of 18… it was HILLARIOUS! Thanks to Elizabeth and her arcade mastery, Coree walked out of that place with a STRUT!

They were even singing songs about the spider man digital camera on the suburban ride back to the cottage… PASSIONATE SONGS! If last night had been karaoke night at the Froggy Dog, they would have taken their song to the masses!

The ENERGY from those few hours was something to LEARN FROM!

This is one of the mysteries of my son… his ability to turn a $19 digital camera into a mega TREASURE that EVERYONE ELSE DESIRES!

I’m telling you guys… we we’re swept into Coree’s EXCITEMENT… laughing hysterically… our creative forces were DANGEROUS! I was SO IN LOVE WITH HIS PRIZE that I almost decided to trade my IPHONE for his SPIDEY CAMERA!

Coree has a UNIQUE gift for turning every day moments into ONCE IN A LIFETIME memories! I’ve never seen anything like it! Every day is a vacation in Coree’s world!

COREE-IZING YOUR LIFE:

One of my goals for the next few months is to COREE-IZE my life! I’m going to try my hardest to see my world through his eyes. The goal is to take what’s COMMON and make it RARE! I want to make significant adjustments with my life, ministry, and schedule… adjustments that will give me the kind of life I don’t need to escape from.

Somehow I believe there is a way for all of us up the preciousness of our everyday lives! Then we wont be so DESPERATE for our vacations… and so depressed when they are almost over!

So, what do you say? Ready to COREE-IZE your life too? Hey, if you need some help… I’m sure Coree is willing to help for the right price! Maybe Coree should become a consultant! He could become a CREATIVITY GURU! Now, that’s an IDEA!

Ok… I better log off and pray over some of this before my family wakes up. Last vacation day… lots to do! Please leave your comments EVERYONE…

Let me leave you with a video of Coree and his friend Cole Moore on their suped up shopping carts! See what I mean!! 

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Happy Tuesday!

What a yesterday that was… a rainy day in Ocracoke turned into our best day at the beach so far. We just wouldn’t quit… we were out for memories, refusing to get back on that ferry without them!

We ate lunch at some nifty neato pavilion style café… delicious! Found a map of the island… and explored the roads we have never been on. We went to shops we had never heard of… EVEN ATE CRICKETS! Yes, real crickets… all five of us! (photo)

I was the last to go, whining like a little girl as the golden brown insect landed onto the surface of my petrified tongue. In half a second, the little fellow was expeditiously transported over to my right chompers section… and CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH… swallow!

The worse part of the experience for me were those few lingering legs that failed to go down on the first few swallows… and the EYE BALL I pulled up with the tip of my tongue… they were lodged in between my cheek and jaw. But hey, we’re the coolest parents EVER according to our kids! lol

We went to a very fun candy store called Candyland… it was a kids paradise… a chucky paradise too! (photo)

After all the shopping, we headed for the beach IN THE RAIN… got to the beach, and the rain had stopped! Coree, Heaven, and I surfed for a few hours while Elizabeth and Emily shell shopped along the shore.

All three of us caught MANY NICE WAVES… and didn’t stop till way past shark feeding time. A couple beside us claimed they saw a fin… said it was like 4 feet wide and 3 feet high! (yeah right!) So we kept surfing, even though shivers went down our spines ever time a piece of seaweed drifted into our legs!

After surfing, we joined the shell-shopping excursion… and together we found TEN SAND DOLLARS… Emily was the winner with SIX… I found TWO… Heaven and Elizabeth found ONE each… Coree found ZERO but he was HAPPY for the rest of us!

My inspiration message:

Your best vacation day EVER can come on a RAINY DAY! So when the storm clouds gather, and you’re not able to do stay on ROUTINE… look for map a MAP! Journey out beyond the well-beaten path, to the PLACES YOU’VE NEVER BEEN BEFORE!

Maybe there’s a life lesson here. Maybe, so many of life’s real TREASURES are found on the DETOURS. Maybe the storms come to force us OFF routine… to prod us onto a NEW ADVENTURE!

So instead of complaining about detours, we should LOOK FOR THE ADVENTURE… refusing to experience anything less than the TIME OF OUR LIVES!

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes EVERYTHING to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them!

I hope today’s blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives! Please leave your comments and have a super day! Ohh… and don’t forget to follow our vacation on twitter and facebook! God bless you all!

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Happy Friday!

Had a super day at the beach yesterday. Was ahead 14 to 2 in a horseshoes game… ended up losing. Since our opponents were Emily’s brothers Jeff and Wayne (two of the MOUTHIEST boys of the South)… losing that game was the biggest stress of my vacation day!

That’s ok… today is rematch day and I’m gonna make those Wall boys wish they had finished vacation a day early! Yes, I’m talkin trash… just a bunch of wind… not very confident in my ability to even things up… PLEASE pray for me… you JUST DON’T KNOW what it’s like to LOSE anything to these guys! lol

On a more spiritual note… I got to spend a really good hour with Coree yesterday evening! It was a QUALITY father son conversation… started out discussing a book I’m reading… and the conversation drifted to the subject of reaching people for Christ and growing a youth ministry. I was shocked at the brilliance of Coree’s ideas! It was obvious to me that he had been thinking this through for much longer than anyone could have known.

I’ve been so BLESSED this vacation to see how BEAUTIFUL all these family kids are turning out. Elizabeth, Timothy, Kelsey, Sarah, Jamie, Victoria, Christopher… and the others who are not here. They each have such an amazing personality… they love and they care… they smile and they laugh… they adore their parents and their grandparents and their aunts and uncles.

Raising kids can be so stressful at times. We parents get all flustered about how our kids are turning out. Every few years, they go crazy, leaving us to wonder if they are going to stray down some dark path to never return.

Since I now have an 18-year-old son and an ALMOST 17-year-old daughter, I know these fears all too well. Yet, I know the faithfulness of God…

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Psalm 145:13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES; he is gracious in all he does.

A PARENTS INFLUENCE is a MIGHTY FORCE! Our kids look up to us more then we know… they value our opinions… they want to see life through the fundamental paradigm we give them. This is what it means to TRAIN a child in the WAY he should go.

Through modeling, and intentional training, we show our children the WAY they SHOULD go… and by FAITH, we leave the rest up to God. Because I’m far from being a perfect parent, I rely on God’s grace to make up the difference… and believe me, it REALLY does!

Today, I want to thank God for helping us raise good children. As mine walk over the threshold into adulthood… I can SEE THAT GOD HAS KEPT HIS PROMISE! We are all so far from being perfect… but there is certain EVIDENCE of God’s HELP.

Maybe your kid is in a crazy phase… just hold on and keep praying… things WILL TURN AROUND FOR YOU! If you’re a young parent… be INTENTIONAL about modeling and training your young ones… for they are your LEGACY! Invest in them! Give them everything you have to give… and RELY ON GOD TO DO THE REST!

I hope today’s blog adds tremendous value to your amazing lives!

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Happy Saturday!

God is so GOOD to us! I thank him so much for everything! He has lavished us with LOVE… love FOR HIM and love FOR EACH OTHER. Last night was Coree’s high school graduation… and it was even more than I ever thought it would be! 

Since Coree and Heaven go to a private school, the graduation ceremony is designed differently than an ordinary High School graduation. All students are honored for their various accomplishments, not only the seniors.

Heaven and Coree were not the cookie cutter kids… as we are not a cookie cutter family. Our kids have caused a LITTLE grief for Principle Spencer and the school administration at times. Nothing anything super bad… they just had a little bit too much SOCIAL FUN at times when they were supposed to be LEARNING. Therefore, until this year, NOBODY would ever imagine Coree or Heaven receiving any kind of academic recognition.

Out of the entire High School, Heaven was recognized for two awards, as being the student with the HIGHEST GPA and for being the student who completed the MOST WORK for the year! If one only knew what Heaven had to overcome to receive such an honor… GOD DOES MIRACLES!

Then Coree shocked us as his Principle got teary eyed, introducing Coree as the MOST IMPROVED STUDENT of the year for the entire High School!

The whole thing was so surreal to me… so many emotions running through my body… my baby boy graduating… where did the last 18 years go? I was so proud to watch him up on that platform in front of all those people smiling so big… he looked so confident and accomplished! I captured a photo at the exact moment one of his FRENZIED FANS blew the fog horn… Coree was LAUGHING PRETTY HARD! Oh… and notice the SHOES!

For me, the highlight happened AFTER the graduation ceremony. When my kids didn’t ask to go out with friends or to some graduation party… but they WANTED to be with US for the rest of the night! Just thinking about this now brings new tears to my eyes.

Coree wanted to eat at Chili’s with Mom and Dad and Heaven, and Nanny and Poppa, and Drew and Liz (they came to the graduation-so nice of them). Then to top it all off… Temple Huffer (graduate of RHS last night) and her boyfriend joined us at the end of the meal… and we laughed together for a long time before heading home.  

In this time of national and global hardship, we should hold on to what is most important in life… the things that money cannot buy! Things like, fulfilling our divine purpose, and the beauty of loving relationships with family and friends… enjoying REAL LIFE as we walk with God and he blesses us with HIS AMAZING LOVE!

I love my family… EVERY SINGLE MOMENT WITH THEM IS THE BLESSING OF THE LORD! Today, I thank God… I HONOR HIM AND PRAISE HIM… in front of you all… for he has been good to us! When life is challenging and cruel… and nothing seems to turn out like I dreamed it would… in times like these, I go home, shut the doors, look around, and realize that I already have the blessing of LOVE and FAMILY… and this is the greatest human blessing besides the great gift of salvation.

This morning, I feel compelled to pray for you guys… that God will BLESS your families even more… that he would BLESS your key relationships… and LAVISH YOU WITH HIS LOVE… so that you too can always say with me that GOD IS GOOD… no matter what the future may bring!

Hug someone close today… let them know you CARE, and APPRECIATE the care they have for you! Don’t forget church at Destiny Family Center tomorrow morning 10am! Then Coree’s graduation party at our house 1pm! Love you all…

John 13:24-35 So now I am giving you a new commandment: LOVE EACH OTHER. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

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