Category Archives: Sarah

Running the Race

Tianne Moon – EnJOY: A Thirst-Quenching Look at Philippians

We watched Session Four from this (DVD study) tonight at Bible study.

Running the Race

rachel's shoes

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

Four Things That Can Take Our Eyes off the Goal of Knowing Christ Intimately

1) Basking in the glory of past accomplishments –

When I was in college, I had amazing times with the Lord. It was so powerful!

But have you met with Him TODAY?

Two years ago I was a part of this new ministry at church. It was life changing for so many people.

But how are you serving the Lord TODAY?

If we spend so much time reflecting on the past, we will miss what the Lord wants to do in our present.

elise and sarah hit the grass in their rollerblades
Sarah (age 5) sets out to teach Elise (also age 5) how to rollerblade. Oh my!

2) Bowing under the weight of past failures –

God can’t forgive me because I ____________. My sins are too big even for Him.
I can’t seem to stop struggling in this area (fill in blank), so why bother trying?

Isaiah 43:18-19 says: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

The Lord promises to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). We don’t need to be so burdened by our past struggles that we can’t move forward.

3) Biding our time waiting –

The Christian walk is an upward climb. If we choose to put our walk in neutral, we will not remain in one place. We either persevere and push onward and upward, or we slide back down.

sarah and elise strollering
Elise and Sarah abandon the rollerblades in favor of some other wheels.

4) Being distracted by earthly goals and interests –

Even things that appear outwardly good and positive can distract us from following God and His calling for our life.

Challenging thoughts on running the race. The question was asked:

What does your journey look like right now?
A meandering stroll? A light jog? A nap on the sidelines? An intense race?

And …

What changes can you make TODAY that will help you keep your eyes focused on the heavenly prize?

Thought provoking indeed.

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 112

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Advent Sugar Daddy

Some families celebrate Advent as they look forward to Christmas, but our family has always been a little, well, different. Today I took my two girls out for an ice cream cone, in honor of Advent.

It is true that Easter came pretty early this year, but I think we still have a little time before the Christmas season is upon us. I’d hate to miss the summer, for starters.

Down to the cone
We were so busy eating, that I didn’t remember to use the camera until the ice cream was almost gone.

No, we were celebrating last Advent, in our inimitable style and tendency to procrastinate. As Kathy mentioned in her Advent Calendar post, each year we offer daily prizes to the kids in daily Advent calendars. One of the prizes they particularly appreciated was a small slip of paper, inscribed with these fateful words:

A Special McDonald’s Outing with Daddy

I found it amusing that the scraps of paper bore Kathy’s handwriting, and that she hadn’t bothered to check with me before she volunteered my services as a prize. Sometimes she panics when she doesn’t have quite enough little prizes for all five of the children, times 25 days.

Truth be told, I absolutely love Christmas, and I greatly enjoy foraging for ice cream with my kids, so it wasn’t much of an imposition. :)

Rachel enjoys a Sugar Day
Rachel has been very faithful on her 5 for $5 goals, avoiding sugar six days a week. But this was the seventh day, and she rested.

The boys redeemed their coupons pretty early-on, but Rachel and Sarah hoarded theirs. Thus the Advent celebration while April showers and flowers abound. I bought the ice cream and we sat companionably, licking the sides of the generous cones to prevent unsightly drippage.

Girl time over cones
Sarah positively adores her older sister, and with good reason — Rachel is very good to her.

After we finished our cones, Sarah wanted to explore the Playland structure, while Rachel and I looked on, swapping memories. “I remember,” Rachel sighed in reminiscence, “when Sarah was too scared to climb above the second level … and now look at her!”

Indeed, time flies. I remember when Rachel was too small to climb above the first level, and it seems like only yesterday. I am greatly privileged to be the Daddy of such delightful young ladies, and I’m intent on savoring as many moments as I can, before I look around and they’re off “on whatever adventure Aslan brings them”, as C.S. Lewis would say.

Sarah behind bars
Sarah, a true child of the blog, is always willing to pose for the camera.

On the way home, we stopped off at Wal-Mart to buy another one of those cool Jiffy Seedling mini-greenhouses that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. This time, in honor of my girls, we bought flower seeds.

Tim
Project 366, Day 97

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Baby Chicks

One of the families brought baby chicks to co-op this week. What a treat!

baby chickssarah is tentativegoing for itjump for it!little fuzzy fellas

I remember years ago friends brought their horse to Vacation Bible School. Strange, no one seems to have a cow. Anybody own a cow? We had friends with goats and another with llamas. No cows. Is there a deep, meaningful lesson in the lack of pet cows? What would Gary Larson have to say about that?

Kathy

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Sarah’s Struggle

At the park yesterday, Sarah surprised me with her skill on the monkey bars. She was determined to cross them successfully.

here we go

come onthat's rightstop and think about itturn around and sit down

It’s hard work, sometimes, being five. Life is sweet though.

Happy Good Friday!

Kathy

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Shall We Play?

Rachel has been taking piano lessons for several years. Recently David began to beg and plead for lessons himself.

I can play!

“Maybe Rachel could teach you,” I suggested, trying to test his sincerity and keep the price down. Rachel, of course, looked at me rather incredulously, shaking her head firmly. Becoming a piano teacher is obviously not high on her list of career choices.

“Well, we’ll see. You’ll have to talk to Miss Nancy.” Miss Nancy is our beloved piano teacher and dear friend of Tim’s parents. She’s also An Adult and therefore Scary. I was sure that would put David off a bit.

Nope. He was determined.

It’s official, we now have two piano students in our home.

Or maybe it’s three.

teach me, DavidI think I can do this, too

“Don’t worry, Mom, I can SO play this song. David’s teaching me.”

Kathy
Project 366 – Day 23

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