Family - Focused Fridays!

I promised a while ago that I would share some of my favorite family ideas on the blog. Some of those things that have been in our lives for a while and now we can't image family life without them. Today I want to share the first of many!

BUT, let's start off with one quick thought...these are simply things that God has led our family to do. These posts are never to discourage...but to encourage. They show that Jay and I are such frail and needy parents that God has, in His mercy and grace, brought us into contact with resources and ideas (from other parents) to exhort, challenge, and encourage us along the way!

So, no comparison shopping! No looking at our lives and comparing by each other. Our standard it Christ! I pray that these posts encourage you to look into God's Word and to those who have gone before you in family life and find the grace you need for shepherding the flock God has given you...are we clear? Good!

Every morning we have our family worship time together. We have tried so many variations of family worship...and FINALLY we have one that has stuck with us without fail since January! Nights are just too tough for us and we just LOVE the idea of starting our day together and in God's Word.

We are in the book of Luke and Jay leads that time of reading and thought questions. The girls love it! Then, I lead the time of missions. We have subscribed to the FREE monthly Prayer Points from the International Mission Board (IMB). You can find more info at the following link:

http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/fa/store.prod/ProdID/243.cfm

It gives us small, quick prayer requests from countries all over the world. That's where that pretty globe on our sunroom breakfast table comes in. At Target I found this small, beautiful globe and purchased it so that the girls would find all the countries that we pray over.

They always begin with Georgia and then head around the globe to find the country where the people group we are praying for lives. Over the past 6 months the girls now know exactly where places like Indonesia, Burundi, Morocco, China, Venezuela, Brazil, Poland, and many more countries are on the globe! I am learning too!

One child finds the international country for the morning and the other child goes right over the North American map we have hanging next to the table...

This was given to us just recently in our Families on Mission packet. It has a wonderful monthly calendar that is good for every month since it only has the numbers. Each day there are 2-3 states, provinces, or territories to pray over in North America!

As you can see, we also added all the capitals for every state so that the girls will not only pray over the states, but can learn what the population is, how many missionaries are there...and the capital! Home schooling sure makes you a multi-tasker:)

Many days there are only 2 states, territories, or provinces to pray over...and well...there are 4 of us. So, we were sent this map by Voices of the Martyrs several months ago and we added this one too! On the days we only have 2 states to pray over...they girls get to choose any country in red that is an area that Christians are persecuted in.

I will share more about the Voices of the Martyrs information that we have been involved in...because you will want to be a part of this with your kids!

ALL of these resources are free! The globe was not...but all the resources were free. It only takes us 20 minutes each morning to do ALL of this. So, don't picture an hour of silence around the table. There is lots of running to maps, stumbling over reading VERY large numbers (population), searching for countries around a tiny globe...and lots of awesome "I get it" moments!

Trust me...Satan does NOT want you to spend time in God's Word as a family. He does NOT want you praying for the nations. He does NOT want your family to worship together. But, it is the biggest blessing we have ever experienced. That is why I shared it first!

Pray and ask God to help you find a creative way to have a family worship time. Maybe, it's at 10pm on the floor in your bedroom with your teens. Maybe, it's at the dinner table instead of rushing...taking a few extra moments to pray together and read God's Word...and talk about it.

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works"

Hebrews 10:24

I love this verse! Let's take a little while to consider ways we can stir up our families to love and good works today! It is a mighty big blessing and an eternal reward!

Camp Ceremonies

We were so glad to go pick Anli up from camp because we really missed her! We were able to go to the closing ceremony where the girls came in and sang, cheered, and we got to watch a video of the camp recap!
She had such a great time...

We can't wait until next year...

Thanks for the great memories and fun Camp Pinnacle!

Anli's Camp Pinnacle Photos!

Anli had a WONDERFUL time at Camp Pinnacle last week! It was so fun to get her back on Wednesday and hear all about it! She took lots of pictures while she was there (just like her momma!) and I wanted to share them! Her bunkmate Danielle!
This is her group doing the low ropes course activities. Lots of team building games! Anli is the one about to cross after the girl in front!

Anli crosses the plank! Great job sweetie!

Anli taking her own picture!

Anli met lots of new friends at camp! She took some photos of them. Here I can tell this was at breakfast since she has such a sleepy smile!

Cabin friends!

Goofy girls!

More friends...

She had a blast! Tomorrow I will post her last day ceremonies! She can't wait for next year to go ALL week. I've got to get ready for that one...and Virginia wants to go to the mini camp! They are growing up too fast. But, I'm so grateful for this camp that offers my girls a place to learn and grow in their relationship with Christ and learn about missions too!

Fabulous 4th of July!

We headed to my parents' house for the 4th of July and we had a wonderful time! We spent Friday and Saturday enjoying family and LOTS of fun!! First, we walked in and found out that my dad had gotten 3 boxes FULL of nuts, pretzels, and trail mix. So, we helped him to seal them to freeze. We were able to help and in turn we have TONS of nuts for our family. Anli loved helping Pal with all the sealing. We even were given a seal machine from my parents so that we can freeze all our own foods too.

We had so many different types of nuts that we had to label them all after we froze them. There were smoked, salted, raw, mixed, and more! Anli did a great job working with Pal.

That night, we had a wonderful meal in honor of Jay's birthday. He picked the menu and he wanted steak, baked potatoes, and for dessert...roulage! Jay had never had roulage until he became a part of our family! So, this is his favorite Elliott family dessert.

Happy Birthday Jay!

The dinner was also in honor of Jay and I's 12th anniversary! What a blessing to be married to the love of my life and best friend for 12 years. We have actually been together for almost 15 years!

We also celebrated Pal's birthday too! We gave him a kettle so that they can boil their hot tea!

AFter dinner and a yummy dessert, we headed outside to watch Daddy set off fireworks! We had bought a bag of fireworks last year and never set them off. Since my family lives on 11 acre farm...we had lots of room to do fireworks!

The best part of us was sitting in the wonderful screened porch where we had fans, comfy seats, and NO mosquitoes! What a way to watch fireworks!

Jay did them out on the pool deck right in front of the porch! They were GREAT! We all ooooohed and aaaaaaahed over every one.

Then, it was time to do all the sparklers that we had. The girls ran all over the yard and had a wonderful time!

The next day we spent the WHOLE day in the pool together! We had so much fun swimming, racing, diving, and enjoying family time.

Dad did some tricks throwing the girls in the air! I love these action shots!

Go Virginia!

We also enjoyed some good old fashioned relaxing together! Jay found The Hobbit at their house and enjoyed reading an old favorite. My parents have this amazingly beautiful home with awesome land, pool, and screened in porch with fans and comfy furniture. We love it because it overlooks the pool, so the adults can talk and relax while watching and talking with the kids in the pool.

The girls decorated a tablecloth for the 4th of July! My mom is very crafty and loved for the girls to do art projects while they are at her house!

And then...there was the AMAZING food! My parents are the best cooks! Jay LOVES to go to my family's home because they feed him so well. Look at this feast...

Then, we headed out to play with the animals. The girls love to take carrots out and feed the miniature horse and donkey. They love to "train" them!

Nothing says country like capri pants and boots!

Virginia and Gabby...so sweet!

The horse whisperer!

Sadly...we had to head home all to quickly. It was a wonderful 4th of July and a great time for our whole family. We are so blessed that we have such a great place to visit with family. My girls love that they have a farm that is only about 2 hours away.

Thanks for such a great weekend Sassy and Pal!!

One Nation Under God!

Last Wednesday night we had a outreach picnic at our church for the 4th of July celebration! We grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs...and lots of wonderful desserts!
After the picnic we headed inside the church for our choir special. They did an amazing job and I so enjoyed seeing all the men and women who served our country throughout their lives. It was such a blessing!

We are so blessed to call America our home...

And a special thanks to those who have fought to keep our country free!

Thank you Jesus for the freedom from sin that you bought with your death on the cross!!

Happy 35th Birthday Jay!

June 27th was Jay's 35th birthday! We had a wonderfully fun day together starting with the girls and I making pancakes! Daddy usually makes our pancakes, so we got up a little earlier and made these "cupcake" pancakes with sprinkles. The girls thought he would really love them!
Then, we just hung out for a while at the house. Jay enjoys just hanging out together instead of always going places (like me!). So, we rested around the house. We had a lunch and opened presents!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Virginia gave him some of his favorite candies. They used their own money to find him just the presents they wanted to give him!

Anli got him a little book light. He always needs these when we travel and he wants to keep reading. It was the perfect gift!

Then, we headed out to see a movie together and then we had a HUGE dinner at the dining room table together. Jay loves a good meal!

Happy Birthday Jay! We love you so very much and are so thankful that you are in our lives. You are an amazing daddy and husband! We know this year will be full of God's rich blessing on your life. We are so glad we get to share it with you!