Unanswered Prayers

One of my all-time favorite songs is by Garth Brooks, "Unanswered Prayers" (click on below to listen). I love Garth as an artist and this particular song really hit home for me; it still continues to do so. In the past, I have questioned as some of us do at times "why isn't God answering my prayers or why isn't He listening?"

In BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this week, the answer to this question was so gracefully revealed to me. This year, we are studying the Gospel of John and this week we studied the Epistle 1 John. The lesson notes stated: "true faith results in assurance of salvation and CONFIDENCE in answered prayers. Prayer is not a convenient device for imposing OUR will on God or bending His will to ours.....It is in prayer that we see God's will, align with it, and rest in it. If we pray according to HIS will, the certainty of answers is IMMEDIATE although the actuality may be in the future.....not every prayer gets a positive answer although they are ALL answered."

How incredibly true!! I am SO guilty of praying for things according to my will, the results I want, rather than trust in the Lord completely and know that He is listening and will answer in His own brilliant way according to His plan for us.

This concept really came crashing down on me many years ago when I prayed continuously for God to bless me with a child. My prayers were lifted daily, sometimes numerous times throughout the day but to no avail. I was devastated that He wasn't answering my prayers (or so I thought). As in Garth's song, "just because He doesn't answer, doesn't mean He don't care....some of Gods greatest gifts are unanswered prayers". They may not be answered according to our will, our timeline, our expectations....but they are all answered.

Indeed God was listening and my prayers were answered......in His time, according to His plan; thank goodness for that! Not only has he blessed me with a loving and faithful husband whom I adore, but He has entrusted Dave and me together to love and raise THREE beautiful angels on loan from Heaven. As LTD say alot, "God is good!" Actually, He is the "Best"! :)

It's "Unofficial"

The good news is........we received a fair offer on our home after only 2-1/2 weeks on the market!!! The not-so-good news is that Dave and I have decided to decline the offer and take our house off the market.

WHAT??? Yep, we are totally insane. Seriously, it's the right thing to do at this juncture. I will spare the details but bottom line, we are not ready to just go out a buy a "house". We are looking for our next "HOME" for the next 13-15 years of our lives and right now we are not finding it, at least not in our current price range. The timing is just not right and something is telling us, "not now". We believe that inner voice would be God leading us where He wants us to be. I really don't think He wants us out on the streets without a home, wandering like nomads, renting and having to move more than once. It's not in the best interest of our children and that's why we are moving in the first place.

SO, we plan to hunker down, sell SlimGym (it will be done!!), rekindle our careers (or at least one of us), and buy a sugar shack on Lake Minnetonka :) One more year in this home is not all that bad to get things in the best financial order possible. But come next February, you can be sure to see another FOR SALE sign in the yard.

Camp Clark Conversations

It's time for another round of Camp Clark Conversations :) Never a dull moment and always loads of laugher. These conversations are just a fraction of their endless, hysterical chatter. Enjoy!

Lindsey is "Star of the Day" - Pajama Day at School

"Tayloooor! You had us worried sick you little stinker!" (after we lost T in JCP while shopping; she was MIA for about 5 minutes)

"Dylan, you better tell the doctor you can skip, whistle and snap!" (at the doctor's office)

"Taylor & Dylan (pause) I love you! You're special to me. Do you know that?"

"Oh honey. You need to look both ways before you cross (the aisle). You might get run over by a cart." (to Taylor while shopping inside Target)

"Well Dylan, that's just how God made your hand.....he made everything on your body you know." (as Dylan is showing us how long his fingers are and how well he can snap)

Dad asks if she had any baby accidents today (dribble in underwear). She gives him a dirty look and says "Taylor's over there!" (as in, wrong girl Dad!)

"Dylan and Daddy are nocturnal.........they like to sleep during the day." (they sure do like sleeping in)

Princess Taylor - always dressing up

"Mommy, can I buy some boobies today?" (in Target, as she walks up to me holding a girls size bra)

"We gotta get that fart outa here!" (at bedtime after Dad cuts one loose, quietly walks out and leaves their bedroom smelling so fresh)

Dad tells LTD we are going to Chili's for dinner. Taylor asks, "are we gonna get cold in there?"

Mom tells LTD that President's Day is tomorrow and asks "what do you know about our President?" Dylan shouts "he's a loser!" Lindsey says "he's a liberal". Taylor smiles and says, "God is more powerful!" (AMEN)

"I just HAVE to perform my dance for ALL my children. I just HAVE to!" (as I ask her to clean up the 100+ stuffed animals lined up against the wall)

Talking to Dylan about a potential upcoming tonsil surgery for him "Don't worry, Dylan. You can be just like me. It doesn't hurt....you just have to be patient. AND you get lots of popsicles and a ride in a wagon. You'll love it, you really will."

Mini Me - Guitar Heroes

"Dad, feel how hard I am (making a double biceps pose).........I'm rock solid!"

Mom was reading the story of Job and explained "Satan dislikes everybody including God, Job, all of us........he's our enemy." Dylan has a puzzled look on his face and asks "like the government?"

Dylan comes downstairs for breakfast, whistling with a big smile on his face and says "Good morning mom! I have the joy of the Lord in my heart today!"

"Mom, LOOK............CHILDREN!" (as we round the corner on our street........oh my goodness, they DO exist!)

"Get on the gas, woman!!" (to the woman in front of us at a light that just turned green - gee, wonder where he gets that from, Dave?)

As LTD are playing together and running around, Dylan shouts out "Stand up for the Lord, don't run away!" (good advice!)

We are at Target and Dylan shouts out to 3 different shoppers (3 seperate times), "Hi, I'm Dylan. I can snap, whistle and skip at the same time. Wanna see? (of course, he shows them and they all laugh)

We are out and about and Dylan tells a man we don't know, "Hi, I'm Dylan. I play basketball. I'm REALLY good!" (the man smiled at us and said "great attitude little fella")

Kindergarten Bound

Oh the stress of sending our children to Kindergarten. As parents, many of us struggle with the best option for our children as they embark on their education journey. Do we have them partake in full day, half day, private Christian school, charter school, public school, which school district, do we have them take the bus, walk to school, or carpool, etc? It's all so overwhelming!! Bottom line, we all do what's best for each of our families.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out this week that LTD won the lottery for being accepted into a small charter school in Prior Lake known as Aspen Academy. Since a private Christian education is out of our budget, Aspen was our second choice since it focuses on the CORE cirriculum and features small class sizes and your choice of AM, PM or full day. We chose PM half day which is perfect for us since we still have the mornings to do things together or just sleep in and enjoy some quality morning time together. Dave and I figure they have the next 12 years to go to school full time; we want to keep them with us as much as possible for just one more year. Aspen appears to be a good transition from what they have learned at St. Michael's Preschool this year as well as what they have learned at Camp Clark Academy the last year and a half. Big bonus, the school requires school uniforms - yeah!!! The less we have to deal with any fashion drama, the better.

Sob sob sob..........the 3 amigos are growing up before our eyes. Kindergarten in the fall already; it seems like just yesterday they were toddling around tearing up the house, squelching loudly and dancing to blaring polka music with the biggest smiles on their faces. I recently ran across this photo of the day they graduated from Camp Clark Academy and proudly wore their graduation hats :)

The 3 Amigos - Graduation Day from Camp Clark Academy

Look out Aspen Academy...............here we come!!!!!

It's Official!

The walls are freshly painted and fingerprints removed, the artwork proudly displayed on the refrigerator has been taken down, the family photos have been taken off the walls and shelves, the toys have been moved to the lower level play area, and the house is sparkling clean. Yes, it's official........our house is on the market as of Wednesday this week! Whew!!!!

Now the trick is to keep the house presentable and ready to vacate at a moment's notice with 3 varmints in tow. I am told anything is possible.

We are still working out the "quirks" of getting our house presented properly online. In order to save some cash, we listed it with a flat-fee broker for just under $500 versus paying a realtor 2.5 - 3% of the selling price. Dave has agreed to host our open houses and deal with all the legalities and paperwork - not my cup of tea. Feel free to check out our destination website at:

www.buyself.com/8836

We had our first showing yesterday so we grabbed the kiddos and went sledding and out for dinner afterwards. Taylor's new food of choice is crab (ever since our trip to Florida) so we treated them to dinner at Red Lobster. I have typically boycotted Red Lobster since they buy much of their seafood from Canada, home of the "seal slaughter". But I gave in for Taylor and must admit it was a real treat. Crab legs were flying! Our waitress was so sweet and she even took a live lobster out of the tank and let LTD touch it. They LOVED it!!

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. We pray our home sells at a fair price, that we find a new home in a family-friendly neighborhood, within a reasonable amount of time. It would be a miracle if the timing works out just perfect for selling ours, buying a new one and closing by June 30 to take advantage of the tax credit (thanks taxpayers - don't even get me started). But then again, anything is possible, right? With God, we know it is!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey everybody. It's Taylor, Lindsey & Dylan here. We hope you had a sweet Valentine's Day!! We really liked giving and getting Valentines this week and we had a super fun party at school too! We even got to watch our favorite dog Zoe for a few days. She always licks us and likes to play outside with us.

Today, mom and dad made us our favorite breakfast before Sunday School - waffles. YUM!! We laughed when mom gave dad a card and laid a kiss on him. He was smiling from ear to ear so we think that made him pretty happy. We got to see mom cry when Dad surprised her with pretty red roses he was hiding in the basement, a BIG box of chocolates (mom's favorite), a card that made her smile and a super duper kiss. There was lots of kissing going on at Camp Clark today! We got to spend the afternoon at our friends, the Littles, since mom and dad are getting ready to sell our house. They took us outside on the lake. We had SO much fun - it was the best!!

Special thanks to our grandmas and papas for sending us such nice Valentines all the way from North Dakota and Texas. You brought HUGE smiles to our faces. We miss you and love you lots.

By the way, check out our school pictures. Hope you like them!

XXXOOO

Taylor - Pre-K (age 5)

Lindsey - Pre-K (age 5)

Dylan - Pre-K (age 5)

A Magical Adventure

Dreams really do come true at DisneyWorld; especially for three wide-eyed 5-year olds!!! We just returned this week after 4 days in Orlando and 3 days in Siesta Key, FL (a small island on the Gulf Coast just west of Sarasota). We had an absolute BLAST and SO lucked out on having decent weather; high 60's to low 70's and sunny while in Orlando; mostly cloudy at Siesta Key but it was perfect for beach play and the pool. We arrived in Orlando by noon on Tuesday and were sitting in the sun and eating crab legs by early afternoon - Taylor ate the most! Our condo was absolutely gorgeous and we went swimming after lunch and just relaxed to gear up for 3 bigs days at the parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and SeaWorld.

We only had 3 "setbacks" on our trip (lucky number 3), all which happened in the first two days: Dylan got a bug the night before we left and puked all night, on the way to the airport and on the airplane (he recovered pretty much the minute we landed); Taylor got left behind at the Royal Castle (MY bad!!) for about 10 LONG minutes (we got the police involved and thankfully found her in the castle); AND, Taylor got her neck caught in the back car window when Dad rolled up the electric windows before going into Animal Kingdom (the ambulance was called by security - thank goodness she was fine and no trip to ER was necessary). Whooo! Like mother, like daughter (it's always something).

Other than that, our adventure was truly magical!! Our highlights included:

Lots of swimming at the pools

Breakfast with Cinderella at the Royal Table

Treated like royalty for our 5-yr BDay celebration at the Castle

Met and hugged all the Disney Princesses and Fairies

Cuddled Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Daisy, Thumper, Pinochio...

and many other furry creatures

Rode LOTS of rides - Taylor passed for 42" (just barely)

Enjoyed many spectacular shows

Watched fireworks and sat curb-side at parades

Savored ice cream in the sun

Got to touch dolphins & sea rays and feed the seals

Saw Manatees, orca whales and penguins up-close

Enjoyed abundant fresh air and sunshine

Dipped our feet in the ocean

Dug our toes into the sugary white sand

Danced and sang on the beach

Created a massive sand city

Collected seashells and found a crab

Mom spotted a shark (Dave still in doubt)

Toured the Gulf Coast by Sarasota

Ate lots of fresh seafood

Entertained by live music and dancing

It was a perfect family trip we will remember with many fond memories for years to come. LTD are still talking about it and asking when we can go back. Ha! It's either college or Disney; which do you prefer? Seriously, cost aside, it was worth every penny!

Here are just a few photos. We have MANY more which you can feel free to access through our KodakGallery link in the right-hand column of our blog. May your life be touched by magic and your dreams come true!!