And the Angels Rejoice!

And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”  Luke 15:9-10

 On Sunday night, my sweet daughter, Dasia, asked Jesus into her heart.  I was surprised when she said, "I don't know how to do it."  At first, I didn't know what she was talking about.  We were reading a Bible story from one of our children's Bibles and talking about heaven and hell.  After a couple questions, I discovered that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart.  After putting Dylan to bed (he was exhausted and fell asleep before we finished our nightly routine), Dasia, Dale and I talked about believing that Jesus was God's Son, asking forgiveness for your sins and asking Him to come into your heart.  We prayed together and Dasia asked Jesus into her heart.  After we finished, the smile on her face was glowing!  I praise God for tugging on her little heart to become His child!

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

Keeping Our Eyes Wide Open

 I took advantage of our long drive to Orlando to read a book I mentioned in an earlier post called “Unmask the Predators: The Battle to Protect Your Child” by Lisa Cherry and Kalyn Waller.  I read (devoured) most of this book while we were driving.  My husband and I used to attend the church that Lisa and her husband pastor. 

While I knew some of Kalyn’s story, there was a lot that I did not know.  This book not only explains what Kalyn and her family went through when she became involved with a sexual predator, but provides insight into how Satan attacks families and how God can set your family free. 

Even if you do not have children, this is a powerful book to help you see how Satan works to deceive every one of us.  Following are a few excerpts from the book that I felt were very powerful.

“As Christian parents we tell our kids that God has a plan for their lives.  Perhaps it is time to tell them that the devil has a plan for their lives also!”

“The alarming thing about deception is that it is deceiving!   Think about it.  You cannot self- recognize when you are deceived – for you cannot see what you cannot see.  Or, in other words, you do not know what you do not know.”

“Just as light always dispels darkness, truth always dominates over lies.  To protect our children in these difficult days, we must have the tenacity of faith to ask the Lord to reveal any pockets of deception operating in our home.  Then we must intentionally step out of all deception and walk into the power of truth.”

You can find out more about Lisa and her family on her blog. 

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home!  We had a wonderful but busy vacation.  We went to Orlando, Fl to visit Disney World and Sea World.  It feels like we have been gone forever!

This was our first family trip to Disney World and our first vacation where we had a lot of activities planned.  Normally, we just do a couple activities and spend the rest of the time relaxing and shopping.  When we planned our trip, it didn’t cost much more to add extra days to Disney so we thought we would make the most of our time and money. 

The first Disney Park that we went to was Magic Kingdom.  We were so overwhelmed!  We didn’t know that you had to take a boat to get into Magic Kingdom.  Dale and I were both thinking, “What have we done?!  And we have two more days and two more parks to do after this!”  I found that this trip was a great opportunity to practice controlling my emotions!  Dylan kept saying that he wanted to go home.  I was thinking, “I’m a terrible mom to bring my kids to Disney World.”  (I mean this to be funny.  We did have fun!  But, I really did think that thought while at Magic Kingdom!)

We spent one day at Hollywood Studios, which we loved!  We went to Sea World, Animal Kingdom and spent a few hours at Typhoon Lagoon.  I was so thankful that Dale was able to push the stroller the whole time.  My kids are getting so big that I can barely push the stroller without having to navigate through so many people.

Anyway, we had a good time, but are thankful to be home.  We had a few funny things happen, so I’ll probably share a couple of those in another post. 

Might Be Missing for a While

Image Credit

This might be my last post for a little over a week.  We are going to Disney World!  I'm very excited.  We've been taking family vacations every year, but I think this will be our most exciting trip.  Dale isn't excited about the drive, but I'm kind of looking forward to it.  I have a book that I'm excited to finish reading.  Dasia will probably be fine on the drive, but I'm not so sure about Dylan.  He has been known to say "Get me out of here!" on past trips when were in the van for quite a while. 

We hadn't planned to go to Disney this year, but when we started looking at our options, everything seemed to just fall into place.  You can read about our trip planning at Family Vacations on a Budget.

I just reread my first paragraph and it's obvious that I'm excited to take this trip!