Obedience

Obey-- to follow the commands or guidance of. Obedience-- a: an act or instance of obeying b : the quality or state of being obedient. The lesson at church today was on obedience and the hows and whys. Let me start by saying, obedience and obey are well known words at our house. One of the first things we taught our children was Ephesians 6:1-3--Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on this earth. The preacher also reminded us that obedience starts with us. We as parents have to be walking with God daily and reading His word. We have to set the example for our children. One way to do that is memorize the greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. That is what God wants from us in every aspect of our life. In John 14:15 it says, If you love Me, keep My commandments. So if we truly love God we will obey and keep His commandments.



With this said, I know we aren't perfect people, but God knows that and He wants us to do the best we can and repent from our sins that we do commit. Deuteronomy 6:2 wants us to keep passing these commandments down from generation to generation. Just because our children grow up and leave doesn't mean we stop teaching them. We are still called to guide and pray for them and then when we have grandchildren we instill in them our values as well. This message obviously hit home for me because I can't quit thinking about it and felt the need to blog about it. Another couple of ideas to lay the path for our children was to have a special devotion time with them as a family, teach them to pray and pray for them and with them. God wants us to, as Proverbs 6:22 says, Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. This message preached today was a collection of all the thoughts in my head. This is basically what Tim and I had made for our resolution for this year. We want our children to grow up and honor God and do something that only God has called them to do. Even though we started homeschooling for another reason, God has laid on my heart to instill in my children every morning what an awesome God He is and that He is the real reason we home school. Will you please pray for us to be the godly examples our children need us to be?

Changes for the New Year!

Every year, like most people, I make a few resolutions. Well, this year I am getting my whole family involved. For instance, Kambree made a drastic change and cut 7 inches off her hair. I have to admit once I arrived at the salon and the stylist took out the scissors, I hesitated and almost said never mind. Kami has always had long hair. She is known by most people for her long, thick hair. But you know, I am glad we did it! We needed some relief from all the washing, drying and tangles. It had became a chore to brush and fix her mane everyday. Daddy had even started calling her hair-ball. LOL We will save a ton of money on hair care products and to top it all off, Kami loves her hair now. No more drama! And, she looks a little older and more mature.


I asked Kaleb to think of one "promise" this year he would like to make to himself and to God. He had a hard time deciding, but finally he came up with the idea to be kind to every person he came in contact with. He wants to show them Jesus through his actions. That makes me really proud of him. He is finally getting what it's all about!

As for Tim and I, we are going to try to eat healthier and exercise more of course. We are also going to try and read through the whole Bible this year and serve more faithfully. We want to be better examples and lead our children in the most godly way we can. We are going to try and have another child this year too if God allows. We have high expectations this year and I know with God's help we can be successful as well as a blessing to someone in the process.

Please remember to pray for our family in 2010 just as we want to pray and lift up your family for a great and blessed 2010!

Adams' Family Christmas

We had Christmas as a family on Christmas eve's eve this year. We started some new traditions this year we hope to continue. We had a big breakfast for dinner. (Which is our favorite!) We made hot chocolate and read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. We prayed and thanked God for sending Jesus to earth to be born a human and die as our saviour. Next, we opened our gifts. We had a wonderful Christmas! We were so blessed to be able to get the kids some of the things they asked for. Tim got me the kitchen-aid mixer I have wanted for years. He got a awesome new leather jacket. Even our dog, Kole, got what he wanted! (candy cane bones) Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Louis had mailed their gifts to us this year since we couldn't be together. They sent some fun games for the kids and I got some Watkins baking stuff. (Which I totally love!!) Tim got some comfy new house shoes. Even though Christmas is not about the gifts, it's so nice to know people put lots of love and thought into their gifts for you.

Christmas back home

We left town on Christmas eve after Tim got off work. We were sooo excited to get to go back home for the holidays, until we got a few miles outside of Odessa and had to go 30 miles an hour. A typical 4 hour trip ended up taking 6 1/2 hours. It was so hard on the kids. They just wanted to be there and really so did I. Tim was so patient and careful and he finally got us safely there. We went straight to my mom's house and had Christmas with them. It was great and the kids got lots of awesome clothes, which they don't much care for, but it's a big help for my clothing budget! My parents got them some toys they really wanted too!


Kaleb did tell my dad, Terry, less clothes and more toys next year PawPaw! We stayed the night there and help make a big yummy lunch. We opened more presents from my sister, cousin and great grandma after that. Then, we took lots of family pictures.

We loaded up and went to Dad's and Grammie's house next. We helped make a big dinner and then opened more presents. It's so great to have a big family and it's even better when we can all get together. So, we took more family pictures there too.

We sadly had to leave early the next morning to get Tim back to work. Thankfully the roads were much better and we made it safely home in 5 hours! But I have to say being around family for Christmas was the best gift of all!

Kids say the funniest things....

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three french hens, two turtle "ducks" and a "portrait in the pantry". This is Kaleb's version and I actually like it better. He makes me laugh every time it comes on and he sings his version. He also wants to know why Aunt Chelsea's name is in Angels We Have Heard on High!



We are doing our Christmas with the kids tonight since we are going home to Amarillo for Christmas. Kaleb wrote Santa a note letting him know we would be gone on Christmas morning, just to leave the presents under the tree and not worry about trying to find us. How cute is that? He is such a thoughtful child. Needless to say, there will be lots of pictures and updates on our many Christmas get together in the next few days. So, stay tuned.....

Decorating Fun!

The apartment complex where we live had a patio decorating contest this last Wednesday. The kids and I had fun coming up with ideas and decorating the patio. Even though we didn't win anything, we enjoyed hanging the lights and stuffing the snowman. The kids loved the snowman idea so much they made him an official member of the family and named him Edward Adams. We have gotten lots of compliments for our design and it helped us get into the Christmas spirit even more.

Christmas Smiles

Tim has been practicing hard for the Permian Basin Christmas Program this year. Before we left for the Saturday performance we decided to take a few pictures in front of the tree. I am so proud of how they turned out. I really wish we were able to get a complete family picture though. The program was awesome and we really enjoyed it. Tim did amazing playing the cello. I really loved watching him perform.