She Asks Such Tough Questions

My littlest princess.

Man, that girl can ask some deep, tough questions.

During our drive to swimming lessons this morning, she asked me, "Mom, did God LET our babies die?"

I was taken back. I didn't realize my girls were still thinking through all of that stuff. And I wasn't sure how to answer. In my book, I took ten chapters to answer those hard questions on an adult level, I wasn't sure how to answer that on six-year-old, short attention span level.

"Yes, He did let them die," I answered her.

"Why?"

I tried to explain that it was never God's plan for anyone to die, but because sin is in the world, it has affected everything. There was something that went wrong in Mommy's body. Then I said, "I know it is a hard thing to understand. That is something I want to ask God about myself when we get to Heaven. But I know He is good. He did not let them die to hurt us."

"Yeah," she said. "Plus He gave us another baby. He just made mistakes."

"No, honey, God doesn't make mistakes. There was a reason that our babies couldn't stay with us. And He took care of Mommy when I was so sad."

"Yeah, Mommy how old are our babies in Heaven." I told you she asks tough questions.

"I don't think they have an age in Heaven. I think they are ageless because they will live forever."

"Oh. Well, then how old would they be if they were here with us?"

I named friends, cousins, and neighbors she knows that would be the same age as David, Micah, James, and Sarah.

Then her attention span led her off into something else, able to accept with childlike faith the answers I'd given her. She accepts so easily that she is not going to understand everything, but she asks the questions anyway. She wants to learn. She wants to understand, but when she can't, she trusts me and she trusts God for the things that are beyond her.

I need to learn that lesson. Seek God. Know Him more everyday. Ask the questions. Search the Bible for answers. And then trust Him for the things I can't figure out.

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And the Winner is...

This giveaway has been a lot of fun. Even if you didn't win this time, I have more giveaways coming from Zonderkidz over the next few weeks, so check back often or become a follower so you don't miss it.

Before I used the random number generator, I prayed that the winner would be someone who would be blessed by the prize.

Here was the result:

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 38 Result: 35

And the winner is:



Crystal from Life at the Circus !! : )

Congratulations, Crystal. I know you have had a rough week, I hope this makes it a little brighter.

Crystal's blog is a lot of fun. Make sure you check it out and leave her a comment. Every weekend she hosts this blog meme:



You'll have to check it out or add one of your blog posts from the week.

I hope you all have a wonderful Father's Day. Thanks for making this such a fun giveaway.

Love,

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Keep Your Meathooks Off My Corn!!!

So, Prince Charming really enjoyed his corn the other day at a picnic.

No one will get hurt as long as you BACK AWAY FROM MY CORN!!!!!!

(The funny thing is that Dan the Dog actually ended up getting it in the end)

Don't miss your chance to enter my Father's Day Giveaway

(Blog Followers get to enter twice)

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Dance Me Daddy

Don't miss my giveaway here. You have until Wednesday to enter.


Here are my girls listening to the CD that came with their new book, waiting for their daddy to wake up so they could dance with him.

That CD is getting a lot of play time around here.

They didn't give daddy more than 5 minutes of being out of bed before they pounced, insisting on a dance.

It's not easy dancing two girls at once! : )

Remember to enter the giveaway on my last blog post.

Each person has the chance to enter 4 times, increasing your odds of winning.

Here's to daddies, daughters, and living room dances!

Love,

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I Want to Give You One of These!

"Dance me, Daddy. Dance me around. Don't let my feet ever touch down. There's nothing better than being your girl, If I am your princess, then you are king of the world."















In this home of princesses and one King Charming, there could not be a more appropriate book for us to own than Dance Me Daddy, by Cindy Morgan. My girls love this book! In fact, that can't wait to read it with Daddy again tonight.

Based on the Point of Grace song, King of the World, it is a book about daddies and daughters.

It begins with a little girl dancing on her daddy's toes and ends with her dancing in his arms on her wedding day.

As I read the book, I thought about how fast we will be there. Before I know it, I'll be watching my little princesses dancing with King Charming at their own weddings. I'm so thankful that my girls are growing up with a loving daddy. He has no idea how much I treasure the way he loves our kids.

With Father's Day on the horizon, if you are anything like me you are desperate for good ideas. Wouldn't it be sweet to have your daughter read this to her daddy? Followed by their own dancing session in the living room?

Here's your chance! Zonderkidz (The Children's Book division of Zondervan Publishing) sent me this book to review and to giveaway to one lucky reader. : ) Just in time for the big day.
Don't you love giveaways? : )

Entering is easy! Just leave me a comment telling me about your plans for Father's Day- big plans? Little plans? No plans? I need some inspiration! : )

On Wednesday, June 10, I'll use Random.org to choose a winner to receive a copy of Dance Me, Daddy that includes a CD with the author reading the story aloud, as well as the song "King of the World" by Point of Grace. I'm sorry, I won't be able to mail outside of the Continental U.S. unless you want to pay for the shipping to wherever else in the world you are. : )

Want more chances to win? You can leave me an additional comment, giving you one extra entry, if you do any of these things before Wednesday:
(4 entries max. per person)

1. If you are a Follower of my blog or become one before the drawing on Wednesday. (See sidebar)
2. Write a post inviting your blog readers to enter this drawing.
3. Browse the Zonderkidz website and let me know what looks interesting to you. (Sorry the link wasn't working earlier. It should now) : )

Even if you don't have daughters, it could be special coming from you to your own daddy

ZonderKidz has been very generous and sent me quite a few titles of children's books to share with you over the next few weeks. Keep watching my blog for your chance to win more great books for your kids.

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Decisions, Decisions

I'm still a little in awe of the fact that I'm going to the She Speaks Conference in North Carolina at the end of July. Winning that scholarship was such an amazing gift. It is impossible to explain how much it means to me.

Now, I'm trying to prepare for the conference and that involves many decisions. My family will confirm that I am NOT known for my decisiveness. : )

I want all of this to be an exercise of me trusting God and not being stressed out. Insecurity and nerves creep in, but I just keep remembering how much all of this has been out of my control from the beginning. When I re-read my book, I remember how God gave me every word of it and healed me in such a miraculous way. When I think about the mere fact that I'm even going to this conference, I'm reminded that worrying is silly. I wouldn't be going at all if He hadn't made a way for me to be there.

So, I'm waiting on Him for direction about these things:

First, I need to decide which editors I want to meet with while I'm there. It feels so good to have the book finished, but I have no idea how to go about the publishing process. And even less of an idea of how to narrow down the long list of editors and agents to know which ones God has planned. The conference is so full, it is possible that I will only be able to meet with one while I'm there. I keep asking Him, "Who do you have me flying across the country to meet with?"

I am trusting that I can't get it wrong, but I still need to make that phone call. What do I do? Cast lots? Draw names? Go with a gut feeling?

I'm supposed to choose two and then provide an alternate. I do feel drawn to two names on the list and am beginning to believe I need to just follow that instinct, but I'm torn between two names for my alternate choice.

There are other decisions to make. I was hoping you all might be able to help me with these. I will be participating in a speaker evaluation group while I'm there. On Friday night, I'll share a three-minute testimony in front of peers and then later in the weekend, I'll be doing a five-minute presentation for evaluators who will give me feedback. I need to decide which topic and Scripture I will be speaking about. I've got some fuzzy ideas, but thought I might use one of my devotions as a spring board. If you have time, would you look back over these and see if you have any favorites? I really want this to be a God-led thing and not a performance. He has been teaching me a lot lately, now I need to narrow it down to what He wants me to speak about in July.

Decisions, decisions. Oh joy! I'm so thankful I don't have to rely on my own wisdom for all of this.

As much as this rambling post probably makes you believe the opposite, I really am feeling peaceful about this. The fact that I have to make these decisions at all are reflective of great blessing. Thank you, Lord!

And thank you for your help and prayers!

Love,

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My Shining Star

Oldest Princess was in her school's talent show this morning. It was so sweet. It brought tears to my eyes to see my tiny little sweetheart up on that big stage. She was much braver than her mama.

I've been so anxious about this talent show because I didn't know what to expect. Three weeks ago, she brought home a paper to sign allowing her to audition. I tried to be tactful, but basically I said, "But you don't have a talent."

She insisted that she wanted to sing, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" for the show.

"Oh, great!" I thought, "She doesn't have any performing experience, she's never sung in front of anyone before, and now she wants to stand up in front the whole school and sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?" It sounded like a great opportunity for getting teased to me. But she was so insistent and persistent, I finally emailed her music teacher and asked for advice.

The music teacher was excited that she wanted to sing and started working with her to get ready. It was so hard to just trust her and let her to do this:

She did great! I was so proud of her and so thankful I failed in talking her out of it. I need to learn to let my kids stretch their wings and take risks, but that is such a hard thing for a mom to do. It's scary to have my heart walking around outside of my body, but my kids keep amazing me and going beyond my expectations.

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