Soul Surfer--Bethany Hamilton

We had the privilege to get to see Bethany Hamilton LIVE at one of the local MEGA churches in our area. My friend, Beth (whom I call Beth-All-Knowing) let me know that she was going to be in the area speaking. Beth always knows the great events going on in our area! So, we put it on our calendar and made a plan to attend. My girls have read the book, and shared with me, and a-hem... didn't quite get that one read, but enjoyed what I DID read. We did; however, see the movie...it was really good. We enjoyed getting to see a good movie with a great message and testimony of the Lord's grace in someone's life. Well, I was super impressed with Bethany in real life. She was interviewed in front of thousands of people...the church was packed and I think they had another thousand people in overflow rooms watching the video feed. She is very well grounded in God's word. The pastor that was interviewing her stuck more to her story and the shark attack and her surfing skills...she is the one that turned the talk to scriptures. When asked "what's your favorite verse?" Bethany had a great answer she said something along the lines of "well, it depends what day it is and where I am in my reading of God's word. I try to be in the Word everyday and the Lord speaks and using different verses at different points" She then pulled out her Bible app on her I-phone and shared what she had been reading recently and told what it had meant to her. I think the pastor was hoping for a token verse like "Philippians 4:13" so he could give that as "Bethany's verse" or have a t-shirt made or something. It was great to hear this young woman who has be thrown into the limelight stand strong in her faith, and encourage all of us as believers, but especially the young children that were there, telling us that God using bad things in our lives for His good and purposes. It was fun experiencing this with my children. You must first understand that we attend a very conservative Bible Church. We have traditional music and good strong teaching. My children love their classes and their teachers, but they are taught in a lecture style format and are required to sit quietly and listen to the teachers. My older three sit in the church service with us on Sunday and participate in taking notes. We don't have bubbles falling from the ceiling in the children's building, or tickets earned to be redeemed for prizes after class, and they sure don't get to make a music video while participating in their singing time. This was all very foreign for our children! We also have very conservative worshipful music often with full orchestra and an organ! The music at this event was led by a band. The drums and bass were so loud that they made my chest vibrate. It was so loud you couldn't understand what they were saying. One of my kids pulled me down to their level and said "this doesn't seem like a church". When I picked up my younger children from class they said "this was just like chuck e. cheese". I laughed. There were also remote controlled shark blimps flying around the sanctuary which were quite fascinating. Even my old brain seemed a bit over stimulated! It was a fun family night out ended with dinner at IHOP...you know "where kids eat FREE"...they probably lost some money on our order that night!

Jerral and Dilia's House

On our way home from vacation, we came through McKinney and got to stop by and see my brother and sister-in-law, Jerral and Dilia. They had two surprises for us: (1) a new-to-us flat screen tv....they had upgraded and wanted to share with us...YEAH! (2) a new Chow-Chow dog named "Chicken Wing". The kids were thrilled with their new fur ball of a dog! She has an amazing coat! We enjoyed dinner together and just hanging out before we hit the road for the last 1 hour leg of the trip.

Branson July 2011

After our time in HSV, AR for The Adams Family Reunion, we headed off to Branson, MO (just our little family of seven) for a vacation. We enjoyed Silver Dollar City for a couple of days, a tour of College of the Ozarks, a visit to Incredible Pizza and my parents treated us to a dinner cruise on the Dixie Belle on Tablerock Lake. I so enjoy purposeful get-a-ways with my family. We truly enjoy eachother's company and that interrupted time together that vacations bring! As the kids are getting older, I am realizing that these days will too quickly be gone. There are so many things that we want to do together as a family; places we want to go, trips we want the kids to experience and so on, but it was brought to my attention recently that in just a few years Savannah will be leaving our nest and branching out into college life and adulthood...sniff...how did that happen? So, we are prioritizing the trips and plans that we have on the agenda and we are trying to "make" them happen! Here are some pictures from our time in Branson:

4th of July 2011

This is our 3rd summer in a row to get to be at Hot Springs Village for the 4th of July. It is a wonder spot to be to watch spectacular fireworks, enjoy fun swimming, allow John to continue his tradition of the BIGGEST splash at the pool contest, and to enjoy time with extended family making great memories. This year was especially fun because 4th of July followed our family reunion so we had LOTS of family to hang out with. Not everyone came to the lake for the fireworks, and they missed out because one again, it was a beautiful show! We got to dance with a huge group of people and see John's Uncle Jim and Aunt MaryLynn truly "cut a rug" together on the dance floor! The kids enjoyed doing the "YMCA" and "The Cupid Shuffle". The kids were excited about eating a funnel cake too. Last year some random kid took a bite of their funnel cake....they still talk about that! Fun times!