a spooktacular event

we decided to have a Halloween party this year. It just made sense....we love dressing up, we love being creative with food and decorations, and we love hanging out with friends. So....the first annual Hollis Spooktacular Halloween party was born. It was loads of fun.

Rayden and I dressed up as the Flinstones. Nathan was Luigi and Aubri was a cheerleader. Kaleb started the evening in a spectacular....er....should I say Spooktacular....homemade robot costume, but it was a bit cumbersome so he switched to a pumpkin costume my grandma gave us. oh yeah....and he wasn't crazy about having his picture taken.

The Bass family came in Star Wars garb.
Ted and Shana were Salt and Pepper. Scarlett was a butterfly, Soren was a duck, and Jocelyn was a sweet little bear.
Bob Ross came and painted a lovely "happy little tree."
Alan and Mary were there too....Jarrett and Heather had the most creative (and hysterical) costume of the night! And there little man Gavin was a knight in shining armor.
The Jenkins family.....and even Dallas wore a costume. I guess my threat of making him stay out on the porch if he didn't dress up worked.
Kevin and Danielle came as Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Super cute!
We had so much fun and decided that we need to do more theme parties all throughout the year. The next one on the list will be a murder mystery party set in the 1950's. We can't wait. After that I intend to search www.oneprettything.com for more theme ideas (thanks Katie, you have me completely addicted to that website). Family fun at it's finest!

my "job"

Being a stay at home mom is simply fabulous! I am so blessed that we are able to sustain our family on just Rayden's income. All the sacrifices we have made financially are SO very worth it. Last week was proof to me that I have the best job in the world.....simply being "mom." And not just "mom" but I have upped the anty and changed my status to "very involved mom of elementary school kids." I chaperoned my very first field trip last week. Nathan and I went with the entire kindergarten to the Fieth Family Pumpkin patch. There was LOTS to do...

we went to a corn maze.....actually we got lost in a corn maze....then stumbled upon the exit
we had a picnic lunch
we played in a box of corn kernels
we took pictures
we took a barrel train ride
we swung on a giant tree swing
we took even more pictures
we picked pumpkins
We had an absolute blast!

honest prayers

I love to listen to my kids pray. Aubri thanks God for everything that is currently in her line of sight. Kaleb rarely offers to pray, but when he does it is sweet and raw and wonderful. Nathan is the one in our family who prays with the most vigor....the most passion....the most like a charismatic evangelist. I can just visualize him standing on a stage with his arms raised, eyes closed, pacing back and forth..."and LAWD... we praise ya today LAWD Jesus." Here are some sweet....and brutally honest....prayers my kids have prayed recently.

Kaleb (on the night he became a Christian) "Dear Jesus. Please forgive me for my sins. Please don't let my mommy and daddy yell at me ever again. And please come live in my heart. Amen."

Nathan (tonight before bed) "Dear God. I love you Lord. Please help Kaleb and I have fun at PE. I love PE. And I love my mommy and all the people in the world except the strangers. I love you Lord. Amen."

Faith like a child. Isn't it grand?

A convicting message

Have you heard of this guy Francis Chan? He's written this book called "Crazy Love" and he has also been a speaker at the Passion conferences in years past. Well...I don't know who this guy thinks he is (wink wink) but I, for one, don't like him. He had the nerve....no....the audacity to preach a horribly convicting message about knowing God's will. (in case you can't tell I am bathing that entire last sentence in sarcasm....I am actually amazingly grateful for his message).

He started talking about how he had spent time alone with God to study the book of Colossians. He read that Paul was an apostle because of God's "will". He talked about how God's "will" is His "desire." Paul was an apostle because God wanted him to be. Francis (I like to pretend that he and I are on a first name basis) then reads the 9th verse of the first book of Colossians.

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding"

That you would have a knowledge of His desire for you. Paul had been asking God to give this church the understanding of what God wanted them to do....and to be. He never stopped praying that this church would be able to know what God wants.

Francis (you know....my good buddy) then poses a question. A slap-you-in-the-face kinda question. An ouch-that kinda hurt question. He says this...

Do you really even want to know God's will?

I mean, duh, of course you would answer yes, right? But he goes on to ask things like: Would you really want to know what God in heaven would do with your body if he had complete control over it....to send it wherever he wanted it to, to make it say whatever he wanted it to say? Would you really want to know his desire regarding what time he wants you to wake up in the morning? Or is there a side of you that doesn't want to know....that just wants to "do this thing" and sprinkle in a little bit of God and do some good stuff for Him and love people when it's convenient?

I had to admit to myself as I listened to this message that there was a small part of me that related to what he was saying. I've got a pretty good system worked out in my family....it's not perfect, but we're making it. We've got routine, we've got organization, we've got patterns. But, as I listened to my sweet, dear, friend shoot daggers my way from the book of Truth, and as I thought about the stories of believers in the New Testament, I began to wonder if routine....structure....and pattern is perhaps a safe...and even ungodly......way to live. Now I am not knocking routine in it's entirety....I am just beginning to think that God must hold the authority in my life to throw ANY routine, ANY pattern, ANY habit, ANY meting, ANYTHING out the window (even run it over with a car and smash it to smithereenes if he wants).

I have come to the conclusion that my life if too safe. I mean, really, what great and challenging thing am I engaged in for the Kingdom's sake. Am I completely engaged in training my kids in how to recognize God's voice? Am I willing to open up my home even when it's not all the way clean? Am I too embarrassed or nervous to approach that stranger in Walmart to ask them if they know my Jesus? If I were to be brutally honest with myself (and you....since I am blogging about this) I would have to say no....not always.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and say, "well.....I made it." I want to get to the pearly gates huffing and puffing.....hair all wind whipped......teary eyed.....hands on my knees cause I can't catch my breath saying "whoa....what a ride!"

Unfortunately I am nowhere close to that life today. But, the good news for me (and for you if you are finding yourself in the same boat) is that His mercies are new every morning. No more facebook statuses that read: "in a funk today" or "back to the daily grind." I wanna write: "you will never guess the encounter I had with the Lord today!" or "Guess what God did?" Or better still, I want to be so engaged that I don't have time to update a status at all.

Friends, it is time for me to begin living. And I hope it isn't too presumptuous of me to say that I think it's time for you to do the same. Let's find out what the desire of our God is....and then lets strap in for the adventure of a lifetime!

on a total side note....you should find this message (I think it's on Itunes) and give it a listen. Mr. Chan is much better at this than I am. It was from the Passion '07 conference. You will NOT be sorry you tuned in.

we're still here

It's officially been over 2 months since I last blogged. Were you worried about us? Probably not. I didn't think so. Most of you know that we've just been crazy busy...and if I must admit it, I have been a bit lazy in my free time. I'll give you a quick run down of what's been going on and then I'll take more time later to give more details on each occurrence (including pictures....that's what we all really like best, right?!?)

---I sent both my boys to school this year. (hard swallow). They have done great. Nathan teared up the first two days (and if truth be told, so did I). No surprise, Nathan is the start student....earning the most "lassos" (rewards for good behavior) in his class so far. And Kaleb has done extremely well....his behavior and ability to focus is greatly improved. And they are both turning into fabulous readers.

---I turned 30. I don't really want to talk about it. Well....maybe I will...just later.

---Aubri turned 3. Everyone says that time flies faster with each passing year. I just want to state for the record that I think that royally stinks. I personally love the time we are in right now and I hate how quickly the moments are flying away. If you don't mind I think I will just live in a fantasy land where I can pretend that my kids will forever remain little and cuddly. Please don't burst my bubble...it's a fantastic bubble, if I do say so myself.

---We went to Six Flags with the Whaley family in early September. There is just no way to describe to you how much I miss these people. I tell you what....Bolivar is one of my favorite places I've ever lived (second to Wentzville) but if the Whaleys, Hayes, Hollands, and Lees would just move their little hineys here Bolivar would jump into the lead for sure. I guess I'll just need to increase the prayer power a bit.

---Church has been.....well.....interesting. I don't want to say much more than that because I know some things need to remain private and there will be many who read this (that may be an exaggeration since I am pretty sure there are all of 5 of you out there in cyberland who read this) who would know too much if I wrote it all. Let's just boil it down to this....Rayden has begun to talk about what the Bible says about Church government. And saying that it has caused an uproar would be an understatement. The good news is that there are people all over the country praying for God to spiritually, emotionally, and physically protect us....and God has done just that. And we stand strong knowing that the Truth always wins! (on a side note....we are now running about 250 in services....that's up 100 since we got here!)

---My mom got pregnant. HA! Did I get your attention? Just kidding.....sort of. My mom has become delusional again. She now thinks she is pregnant. Which, fyi, is a medically impossibility due to a little thing we call a hysterectomy. (sorry if I seem flippant about it....I most certainly am not....it's just the sort of thing where if you don't laugh about it you're sure to cry). We're increasing her medication and crossing our fingers until February (when her medicare finally kicks in)

---I have started running. Hey....stop laughing....that's not very nice. I was kidding about my mom, but this is for real. After you pick your jaw up off the floor (don't be embarrassed, mine still drops each night when I finish) I will tell you the shocking story. My friend Rhianna (a sweet messenger from the Lord to me) came over one day a while back. She said that the Lord was prompting her to stop by and let me know she was praying for me. It was right when I needed some encouragement. Rhianna.....if you are one of the 5 people reading this =) I want you to know how immensely grateful I am that you came over that day. It was a game-changer for me....it helped me to LOVE it here and it was a reminder to me from the Lord that He had already paved our way here and that He would give us wonderfully godly people to journey with us. Thank you for being obedient to the Lord....it made a difference in my life. Anyway....tangent over. While she was here she told me about this thing called "couch to 5K" I worked hard at forgetting I had ever heard about it for about 5 weeks. But, after receiving a second report of borderline cholesterol I decided that it was time to work harder at honoring God with my body. I went out the first time and it requires you to jog for 60 seconds and then walk for 90. You do that cycle 9 times. To be honest...I wasn't sure I was gonna make it (I have NEVER run a mile without stopping in my ENTIRE life). But, I have surprised myself. I have stuck with it. I have not quit. I have not cheated. I am done with the first 2 weeks. I WILL finish this.

---Rayden has started refereeing football. Each Monday night he refs a JV football game in the Springfield/Bolivar area. We are looking forward to paying off our van early and/or funding Christmas with some of that extra money.

---I have started volunteering at the Alpha House (a crisis pregnancy center here in town). It's so amazing. I am mentoring 3 women and I am loving every second of it. And I oddly feel more connected to my mom when I am there. She was so passionate about life/pregnancy/centers against abortion and she spent countless hours volunteering her time at places similar to this. I know that she would be proud.

---Kaleb asked Jesus into his heart! This is clearly the most exciting news of all. I will write the whole story later, but let's just say that it was one of the greatest joys of my life to hear his sweet words to his Savior and see the smile on his face when he heard me tell him that now he was a Christian. It was A-stinkin-MAZING!

well...consider yourself updated. I am sure I forgot things. I'll keep catching up. And I promise to do better and never get this behind again (you can't see it, but I am raising my right hand and looking very serious). I hope you all are well too (all 5 of you!!) Please let me know who you are...I would love to know who I am connected to. Love all of you!