In Christ Alone.....

Well..here is the latest song that is currently at the top of my list. If you haven't ever heard this song, you need to. I would put it on here, but can't figure out how to do it. If I figure out how to do that, I'll share it with you. But this is a powerful, life changing song. Avalon did a version of it that is just unbelievable. So for now, here are the lyrics. I can't add anything to this. May it encourage and speak to your heart, as it is mine.


In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease!
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This Gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till he returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

Tender Heart.........

Hey friends....glad you stopped by here. This post is more for me to remember than anything, but feel free to add your thoughts here.

Tonight, Asher stayed home from church because he wasn't feeling too good. His stomach has been bothering him for a day or so now. Todd stayed home with him. Also today, we received two boxes in the mail from grandma....she just totally loves us! She sent the new sensation, Cinderella III; (how many more will there be?) Anyway...Asher wanted to watch it tonight, so Todd put it on for him. I think he caught the end of it earlier when he came home from school because Sienna was watching it. So when we got home from church tonight he was watching it and it was almost over. I was trying to get things picked up from the day and I came walking by in the living room where he was visibly upset:

Me: "Asher what is the matter?"
A: (no answer)
Me: Asher what is wrong with you?
A: (he turned around to face me with a tear on his cheek) "I like this part"
Me: (very shocked to see him balling) "Hey Todd, look"
Todd: (smiling) It's ok buddy.
(the part in the movie is where the prince's dad is giving one of Cinderella's step sisters something special....no clue what it is...just caught that much)
I reach over the couch to pat and rub his back because he was so moved by that. We told him we loved him. And he was ok.

This isn't the first time he has displayed such sensivity. Here's a little background to this story in a nutshell. One summer we went to Mexico and took asher and sienna with us....to a children's home. It was awesome. Sienna was about 18 months old I think. She would not lye down to take a nap and was running all over the place. I was getting pretty frustrated with her and was trying to catch her. She went to jump on this couch that had hard wood armrests and as she did, I spanked her. When I spanked her she kinda jolted forward a bit and hit her head on the armrest. She was crying then and I picked her up to comfort her. When I pulled her back from me and saw her face, her cheek had split open a bit. I lost it. I freaked. I couldn't believe that had happened...totally an accident. We ended up patching her up ourselves with a butterfly stitch and got home to have the Dr. say we did a pretty good job. Anyway...that is the background to that. I have a picture of Sienna on my fridge from that trip and in it, she is wearing the stitch. Not too long ago, Asher had just returned home from school. I was standing in the kitchen starting supper. He was looking at the fridge and just out of nowhere started balling. I said, "what in the world asher, what is wrong son?" He said, "momma, I know you didn't mean to do that to Sienna." I grabbed him, of course, and hugged him and told him he was right. After a minute or two, he was ok and went on his way. Very random.

There have been other times. If someone is hurt, or sick, or having surgery, he has said to me, "momma, i wish that was me and not them."

Someone recently told me that Todd and I are going to have to help him learn how to protect that part of himself from people...where they can't use it against him. I hate that thought. You know, that people could be cruel to him for the way God made him. He is such a sweet boy and I hate to think of anyone hurting him in any way. But more than that, I hate the thought that maybe somehow, I could hurt him or squash his little spirit. I have not done the best job thus far. I have at times, punished him for this sensivity, and didn't really know I was doing it. This same friend that I mentioned earlier gave me some great advice. She said to pray for God to give me wisdom to appropriately discipline in the moment. Well Duh?? I never thought about doing that before, but I sure have since. I'm seeing a difference. Praise God!!

I'm very excited to see what God does in Asher's life. I'm very thankful that he made him so tenderhearted and compassionate. It is the most heartbreaking and exhilirating ride I have ever been on....this parenting roller coaster....and I wouldn't trade my lot for nothing!

I'm going to do a post on Sienna and Sydney, respectively, soon.

TULSA ROCKED!

Hey people...wow....Tulsa came and went. Too fast, in my opinion. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a quick update. At the Tulsa Workshop this past week, many ex-AIMers got together for a sort of reunion. AIM (Adventures in Missions) is a missionary apprentice program that I was privelaged to be a part of. I lived in Kosice, Slovakia for 18 months with a group of missionaries and a team of young people (6 of us). I was blessed with a life changing experience there. So many ex-AIMers and current ones too were together for a few hours on Friday night. We sang and sang and sang some more. It was for me, in a word, overwhelming. My heart was so full, I thought it would burst. I'm thankful for the time I got to catch up with so many. There were so many more that I didn't get to talk to as much as I had intended to. Heather Winter, another time girl! I was really looking forward to seeing you and catching up, but another time. It was good to see your face and hug your neck! Amy G, you are fresh on my mind and I prayed lots of prayers for you and your family on my way home. Please keep me posted on your life!! I love you! Wow...there were so many...I'm thinking of Claire right now. Claire..it would have been so great to see you there! Angie and Selandra..you have no idea how blessed I felt to be able to see you both and to talk and catch up...and to SING! Thank you, again, Angie, for pushing me to come and for taking care of me! Doug...I really enjoyed catching up and am praying for you brother. I could keep going, but I'll stop dropping names. If I got to see you face to face, I loved every minute of it!

I just want you guys to know that I felt so blessed, we all did, I'm sure. I can't understand why God has blessd me so much. It is too much for my mind sometimes to ponder. So...I won't. I receive it, and thank him for it, and allow it to empower me to paying it forward.

Also...some of you may not know this, but I only was able to come because of a very dear friend of mine. My friend, Donna, offered to keep my kids on Friday. She did it because she loves me and she knew how badly I wanted to be there with you all. If you don't know her, someday you will, and you will be blessed for knowing her too.

So...next year, same time, same place. We have to do it again...and make it bigger in number! Thanks Jason and Heather for spearheading that. You guys are awesome and your kids are precious and I love you both!

flee

Branson...

Hey everybody...we had a great time in Branson. Here are a few pics from our trip. We had a full couple of days...from miniature golf, go karts, swimming, walking around a new shopping area (way cool outdoor mall), to a day and a half at Silver Doller City. This place was perfect for kids because they could ride most all of the rides...even the big coasters! Asher and Todd rode a pretty fast coaster, which was impressive, since Asher tends to be very cautious. We are all still pretty worn out, but still talking about the memories we made. We also got to spend a little time with our friends, Andrew and Amy Baker and their kids, Julianne, Maryella and Baby Isaac. We really enjoyed hanging with the Bake's!

Todd....

Heather...here is a picture of Todd. I don't have one of him by himself and he wouldn't let me take one anyway! He had blonde hair as a kid so that is probably where Asher gets it. I was a honey blonde. So...everyone, this is Todd. Todd, everyone. Although those of you that read this thing already know him, most of you anyway.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. We are going to Branson for part of Spring Break this next week. Much love to you all....flee

Asher Thomas Patten...

I just wanted to post some recent pictures of Asher.

The top one is of him with his teacher, Mrs. Barden. He was giving her the Christmas present he made for her: a coffee mug that he painted and decorated himself. I know, I know, you're not supposed to give teachers coffee mugs, but this is our first year. We're all learning. I wanted to say something about Mrs. Barden on here too. It really has been a huge blessing for him to be with her. She really loves him alot. The cool thing about her is she feels that way about all of her kids. She is a great teacher and has been so great with him this year. He enjoys school and works hard. He is reading chapter books now and does so without much hesitation. His confidence has grown alot this year. Thank you Mrs. Barden for all that you do for Asher! We all love you!

The middle one is of him at the Kindergarten box car derby. He won his heat. And of course, he wanted it to be Lightening McQueen! That was a fun day.

The bottom one is just cute. His hair is growing per his request. I don't know how much longer I can hold out though. He is such a good boy. He has his moments like any other boy, but he makes us very proud. I wish I had a picture of him with his dad from this weekend. They ran/walked a 5K race in Little Rock. At first, Asher was not happy about it. It was cold and early in the morning and he was tired. But Todd said that after the first mile, he warmed up and saw how so many people out there were having fun. It was like a party. He really got into it then and would sprint to get ahead of different groups. In the end, he got a medal for finishing which was a BIG deal to him. I'm so proud of him for doing it. They are going to make that a tradition the two of them do. Maybe we'll all join them next year.

I love you Asher buddy!

Rested and Recharged..........

I just returned from being away for a night and a couple of days, without my family......I have to say that all mothers should be allowed and forced to do this at least once every few months or once a year. I LOVE my crew..anybody that knows me and has been around me knows this. But I needed to get away for a bit, just to relax. All I did was read my book, my bible, watch a couple of movies, eat when I wanted, had some good chats. It was one of the biggest blessings I've received. This place was breathtaking. The house was called the "Serendipity House" and I don't know that I've ever known what that word actually meant.....until yesterday. The owners have a book with different bits of info and on the front was the definition of serendipity......."unexpected pleasure"............and it truly was. My heart was so full I thought it would burst with gratitude. And I came back with some new resolve, some rest behind me, more gratitude for what God has given me.

Thank you God for giving me some time to be still. Thank you for loving me. I love you so much! amen.

I hope you people out there in blogland are experiencing overwhelming blessing in your life. I know that God has his hands in each one of your lives.....I know this because I read what you write about on your blogs and can see clearly the hand of the Father at work in your lives. Thank you guys for remaining faithful all these years.........you are a part of my life that I love to reflect on........Tim and Kim, Amy and Jeff, Angie, Heather and Jason, Heather W., Jason and Michelle, Carolyn, Claire, Sarah, Lisa, Doug, and the list could go on and on and on! Sorry if you're reading this and I didn't mention you by name. I only know these for sure because they have a commented before. If you are lurking....come on out and join the party. Actually, the party is usually over at Angie's blog or Sarah's at present. Anyway...much love to you all. It's good to be home.

flee