soccer saturday

yesterday was a full day of soccer!
we left at 9:00 and drove about 2 hours up maine (ha) to aj's tournament.
we also took one of his teammates and his brother with us!
i was slightly outnumbered...but i didn't mind at all.

the boys tied their first game

while the younger boys played some lacrosse

then we went to a park for some lunch, until the second game that started later in the day

it was a gorgeous day, and we were really enjoying the sunshine!
the next game ended in a loss, but the boys played great, and they are a lot of fun to watch!

they played hard, and they were super tired at the end of the day... you'll see what i mean in a minute!

we stopped for supper, then stopped a little later for ice cream.
um. ya.
here's what that turned into!

we all slept good last night!
can't wait for many more fun soccer tournaments!

a plethora of pictures

i finally finished going through all the pictures from our visit with my brother and all of my side of the family.
there was a lot!

here is my older sister erika, her husband matt and their 7 kids
brianna, cameron, alissa, caleb, andrew, leah and micah

then my younger brother ron and his wife bobbi and their daughter, lilla

and my younger sister melanie, her husband chad and their son, callen.

the rest of these could've been in better order, but it was just taking me so much time that i decided to just throw all of them on!

and this is becoming the longest post of all time...

and there they all are.
my family in all its glory.

Intentional Living: Week Three. "Being an Intentional Mom"

this week's lesson was probably one of the most difficult to prepare for, because i am so passionate about this topic! i could teach a six-week class on this topic alone! it was hard to condense everything i wanted to say into one, one-hour class!


i can not tell you how many times i have heard moms say that they just have no idea what to do with their kids.
that they wish they was an instruction manual
and on and on..
i love the fact that i have THE instruction manual that gives us everything we need to know to raise kids!
i am a very black and white kind of person.
i think there are a lot fewer "gray areas" than most people think!


i started out telling my class that they had to erase anything you've ever heard about raising kids, including...but not limited to:
terrible 2's, phases, stages and rebellious teenagers.
these are not biblical!
when we start buying these lies, we give up before we even start, and just settle into the belief that we are going to have to wait out this phase, just like every. other. parent.


wrong.


not this parent!


*if you are not an intentional woman, you can not be an intentional mom!


my main 2 passages were out of Deuteronomy. 
i love and adore the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 says:


"Gather the people together...that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, who have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live."


i first gave three points of the responsibility of the mom to herself:
1. hear
in order to be in a position to obey God, we need to put ourselves in the right places.
-reading our Bibles
-attending church
-listening to godly music
-surrounding ourselves with godly, positive influences


2. learn to fear
this does not come naturally! 
*if you do not trust God completely with your life, you can not expect your kids to trust God completely with theirs!
i shared Psalms 16:5-6
it says this.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.


i drew this awesome sketch. ha.

this was my point. this is our lot. the lines in this square. God says that HE is maintaining my lot, and that the lines are in pleasant places. 
this means a few things...
God is saying that my lot and my boundaries are in pleasant places. 
HE knows.
this also means that everything that comes inside my particular lot can only get in if God allows them there!
again...HE knows!
by complaining about what is in our lot, and changing the way we live because of our past, we are ultimately saying that we don't trust God. period.
this will affect our children's trust of God as well!


3.Observe to do
matthew 7:24 is the passage i used for this point.
we need to do more than just hear God's words. we need to obey God's words as well.
matthew 7 talks about the wise man and the foolish man. interesting read, or re-read!


next is the responsibility of the mom to her child
Deuteronomy 6:7-8


1.Teach
i love these verses that i found on this point.
I John 5:3 says that this is the love of God: to keep his commands. And his commands...
listen to this...
are not burdensome!
Jeremiah 32 tells us that in obeying God's word, his blessing will be that it will go well with us and our children!
Deuteronomy 6:24 says that if we obey God's word, we will ALWAYS prosper!
is that how we show our kids (and our friends) what God is all about?
or do they end up thinking that this is just a religion.
a set of rules
regulations
demands.
NO! NO! NO!
God's commands are NOT burdensome!! they are always always for our good!
do our kids see us getting up on sunday morning grumbling and yelling at them because we have to go to church? or do they see us getting up with a smile, so excited that we get to go and worship God with other people who have the same desire as us? 
how about our Bible reading?
do they see us grudgingly reading because we have to?
how about respecting our husbands?
is it with eye rolls, and mouthing off?
or is it with joy, because we know that if we obey WE are the ones who will be blessed?


we are showing our kids from an early age what God's commands are all about with our words, but mostly with our actions.
i never missed a church service growing up, but i was never "dragged" to church. 
my parents loved going to church, and it was just what our family did! 
not optional.
not complaining,
just a given.
that has definitely affected how i feel about church today!


2.Talk
Deuteronomy 31:13 - always, always, always be talking about what God has done! 
why?
so your kids won't forget (and so YOU won't forget!) remind them of God's love, protection, and power!
(you can start this when your kids are super little. teach them bible verses early! "children obey" "be ye kind" are easy starters!)


3.Write
have God's word readily available all over your house! 
have your kids find verses that pertain to whatever they are going through and write them down and hang them on their wall!


i finished the class with three do nots, and three do's.
here are the do nots:
1.do not ever talk bad about your husband to your kids. ever. (praise him to them!)
2. do not ever talk bad about your kids to anyone!
3. do not ever be too prideful to say i'm sorry
(i ask the boys as i'm tucking them in at night..did i do anything that made you sad today, or anything that hurt your feelings? be ready for an honest answer, and be ready to say sorry!)


the do's:
1. do get into the habit of praising your kids
2. do pray for your kids daily
(find a verse that you can pray over them for that week, for this time in their life, for their future spouse, etc.)
3. do use the Bible in a practical way
always be reminding them of how God's word is for today! it is practical, and it is all they need!


sorry this one was so long. i told you i had a lot to say!


i am so thankful for the instruction manual God gave us for raising our kids.
i am always available to give advice if anyone needs it...i would love to, to be honest!
i have an article i wrote on child-discipline that i am happy to give to anyone who would like it.
please feel free to email me, ajnrileysmommy @ hotmail (dot com) or facebook me here



let's be intentional moms together!!

Healer

i love the song healer
here are the lyrics:


You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

Chorus:

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

Bridge:

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands



remember when i told you about my friend bryce and his car accident?
you can read about that here

and then i showed you pictures of his car, after i got back from visiting him in florida?
you can see those here

well...
he is  HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL!!
i can hardly even believe the words that i am about to type, 
but he is flying here in 2 weeks to stay with us while he continues therapy!!


is God amazing or what?
that's my God. 
the healing God.
the compassionate God
the Great Physician!
the God that i entrust my entire life to.


he certainly is more than enough for me...
Jesus you're all I need!

when you laugh till you cry

that's what we do

i love watching my mom laugh so hard that she starts crying.

i think she passed that down to us

pretty much any time after 10pm, i may be doing the same thing!!

i loved looking at all these family pictures, because i so recognized my mom's laugh with tears!

adam was our photographer...and he always does a great job of getting the true emotion out of people!

and notice how my dad doesn't change expression the entire time!

i love these.

to death.

so maybe i'm getting a little old...

i know, i know...i'm not as old as YOU!
but i am just really starting to feel older.
it's a weird feeling!

we took the boys to the lake today, and it was super super hot.
to be honest..
i felt like just laying in the sun, and splashing water on my face every once in a while to stay cool

the boys felt like doing this...

they are so much fun to watch.
but they wanted me to do a canon ball contest with them.

hmmm...are you sure you don't just want me to be the judge??

but then i saw this

and this

and i remembered a line from the song i wrote my babies...

you never know when your last day will be!

and i thought. hmmm.
what if this was my last day?

how would i want my boys to remember me?

so i got up and did the canon ball contest.

i lost.

badly.

but it was worth it, and it was a great day!
oh how i love these silly, crazy little boys of mine!

the fam

things aren't always smooth and easy.
that's for sure.
right now?
i am a little stressed.
not gonna lie.

i am one of those people who really has a hard time saying no to people.
i mean, i like to help people out!
unfortunately, it sometimes comes back to bite me.

so tonight. i am feeling frustrated.
and annoyed.

and i don't like that feeling.
i said yes to one too many things, and to something that i swore i would never say yes to again.
and here i am.

not to be totally depressing and complainy (which i don't think is a word, but i know that there is a verse that says i need to do EVERYTHING without complaining...)

so i will just say instead, that looking at this picture.

this picture that has everybody in it that i love the most in the world.

and everyone that loves me the most.

these people who love me no matter what i look like

no matter what i act like

and no matter what i do.

i feel a little bit better.

i really am thankful. and i really am blessed.

and i know it.

so i will stop feeling sorry for myself for something that i got myself into.

and i will remember that next week at this time, all these stresses will be gone.

life is too short to be stressed out anyways!

Intentional Living: Week Three

we are already at week three of six!
this week we talked about being an intentional wife.
as i started teaching the class, i realized that in my class were: 
some people who had never been married, 
some who had been divorced, 
and some who had been widowed. 
we have such a diverse group of women...
and i love it!
i love how we are all so different - yet so alike.
we are just girls that want to grow in our relationship with God.


and that's what i love about God.
he takes us exactly where we are at.
we don't have to get all cleaned up and perfect before he accepts us.
he accepts us just the way we are.


so with that, i reminded everyone that even if someone is not a wife... we are all counselors!
and this is where i wanted to focus. 
i wanted to challenge everyone to
*Be known for giving godly counsel!


i often find myself in the position of giving advice to someone who is in a situation that i have never been in before! i am sure that you have found yourself there as well.


so if you are reading this, and you are not married. maybe you can take something from this lesson that will help give counsel to someone who is!
and where do we get all of our wisdom?
i think you know by now!!


although the world is trying to convince us to do what our heart is telling us, God has something a little different to say about that!
i found a few words in God's Word that were used to describe our heart...
foolish
wicked
deceitful
stubborn


that sounds pretty much like my heart!
we certainly should not be trusting our hearts, and our feelings when giving advice to someone!
in Psalms 81, asaph is writing about the israelites and the way that they did not listen to God. it says
that God finally "gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels"
judges talks about how people did "what was right in their own eyes"


not where WE want to be!


in regards to our husbands:
i have a no tolerance policy for husband-bashing.
seriously.
the proverbs 31 woman was said to have the heart of her husband safely trusting in her.
people should just know that they are barking up the wrong tree if they think they're gonna get away with talking bad about their husband to me! 
and that should be the same with you!
just don't stand for it!


i had 2 points this week, and then focused on a passage in 1 Peter chapter 3.


I. The woman was created for the man
i found the wording of the verse in 1 corinthians 11:9 to be very interesting.
"For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man."


i expanded on this a little bit, but just take some time to think about it yourself.
are you helping your husband?
or are you making things harder for him?


II. Marriage is our only permanent relationship


i remember learning about this concept while i was taking classes to become a nouthetic counselor.


temporary - permanent - temporary


here's what it means.
our lives are made this way...
we are born into a family involving a relationship with our parents.
that relationship is meant to be temporary
we live with our parents, and then leave our parents.


we then get married
that relationship is meant to be permanent
this is the only relationship that lasts forever, and is not meant to be changed.


we then have children.
that relationship is meant to be temporary
we raise our children to have them leave us.


(obviously, you know that this does not mean we don't have any kind of relationship with the others in our lives, just not the kind that our marriage is.)


maybe you're thinking...duh!!
but think about it!
how much time do we spend focusing on relationships that are temporary?
do you still run to your mom FIRST whenever there is a problem that you can't figure out on your own?
what about when you are looking for affection?
do you seek that from your kids?
do you jump whenever your kids call?
do you jump whenever your husband requests something of you?
why? why do we naturally give more in the relationships that are temporary?
certainly something to think about!


the next part that i talked about, was actually from a previous post of mine.
it's funny, because i printed it out to use it in class, and i felt like i was cheating!
but i wrote it in the first place!
ha!
so this may be the second time you are reading this part!
1 peter 3:1-6 is a great passage that talks about the wife's responsibility to her husband.
i enjoyed reading it in the amplified version


...let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [^[a]that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and ^[b]that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly]. [I Pet. 3:2.]


*notice him
    -when he walks by you, even if you are doing something else, reach out and grab his hand for a second. to show you are noticing him


*prefer him
    -when you have the chance to go out with the girls, or to stay up by yourself watching tv, choose him! show him he's your first choice of someone to hang out with


*venerate him
    respect. respect. respect. this is a command, which means that it is an action, not a feeling. this means that it is a choice, and we are capable of doing it, even if we feel he hasn't earned it

*esteem him
     -talk about him behind his back. in a good way.
brag about the kind of husband you have, start esteeming him in your mind, and that is what will come out of your mouth!


*admire him exceedingly
     -one of the definitions of admire says "to look at with pleasure"
did you hear that? to LOOK at him with pleasure! your face can say a lot!
let him catch you staring at him. and when he asks you what you're thinking, tell him you were just thinking about what a great husband he is.


this one isn't in there, but 
*pray for him!i have been praying for adam to have joy, to hunger and thirst after righteousness. that he will be strengthened with the Holy Spirit's power, and many other verses that i come across.
when i am starting out my day praying for him, i am in a much better position to respect and honor him.


i hope that this has given you some food for thought on being an intentional wife.
while my primary goal is not to have a good marriage...it is to please God.
and when i am achieving my goal to please God, my marriage will be better as a result!

seems like just yesterday...

i was taking pictures of my beautiful new baby niece lilla

here she is at 6 months...

now this sweet baby girl is one year old!

i love doing cake smashes, but have never done one outside!

but - the weather was just right...

the lighting was perfect...

and the subject was scrumptious! 

truly scrumptious!

happy birthday beautiful girl! 

i pray that you will grow to be a godly young woman who loves God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

i love you lilla!