O Glorious Day!

We just celebrated the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ this past Sunday. It was a wonderful day that we celebrated by having a Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. then having breakfast, and then our Easter "Cantata" conducted by none other Daddy. We were able to stay in the church service for about 2 1/2 songs one of which, "Feels Like Redemption" was wonderful!!! The choir has been working very hard on it, and it was great. We did manage to get one family picture. This is my beautiful family. We had a great day. Later that day we went to Casscoe since we didn't have church at Bethel that night we got to go to New Salem. I love be able to go back home. I grew up in that church, and it will always hold a very special place in my heart. I was in the womb in that church! I enjoy so much getting to spend time with family and friends of the family. Somedays I would love to live right in the middle of them again. However, I don't know if the Lord will ever allow us to move back to Casscoe.

My kiddos enjoyed so much dyeing easter eggs this year. We don't "do" the Easter Bunny or anything, but we do like to dye eggs and hunt for them. It's a "hide 'n' seek" game for them with a twist. Elijah was so cute hunting them at Nanny's house. There's a few pictures, but I couldn't possibly post them all! Elijah was like a little scientist dyeing his eggs, it was so cute. He took his job VERY seriously! Ellie Kate was just so precious. Her dress was so beautiful on her, and she knew it too! She liked hunting the easter eggs, but wasn't really into dyeing them this year, now next year might be a very different story! Noah didn't care too much for hunting them either just because he wanted to play with Trey. They could play together all day long!

Cody had his cantata, I've had the kids' Easter Musical so we're done until camp! Yeah!!!

It's Bedtime, so I have to run! May the Lord bless you as we are in the middle of this tornado season!!! Praying especially for all those in Vilonia and those who have family hurt and killed there.

Jamie

Monster Jam & Monster Fever?

Cody and Noah at Monster Jam with Big Foot the Monster Truck! Noah was WAY excited, if you can't tell!

This past week has been very busy at the Simpsons' house. The kids have been battling a fever, cough, and runny nose on the side. Cody's dad had bought tickets to the Monster Jam at the Convocation center in Jonesboro about 2 or 3 weeks ago, and even though the boys had been to the doctor on Monday by Friday they were still not completely better! Elijah was especially sick. He has asthma and colds always hit him worse than the other two. He ran a fever for 3 or 4 days. We knew Friday night that Elijah wouldn't be able to go to Monster Jam, but Noah shouldn't have to miss out, so we went to Jonesboro which is a good 3 hour drive from our house in Morrilton and we were armed with kleenex, and lots of medicine ( I looked as though I had a small pharmacy in my bag!). Noah, Cody and I headed to the Convo and left Elijah in Mimi's arms and Ellie Kate (reluctantly) with Papaw. Noah had so much fun. He got a glow in the dark necklace, checkered flag, and some of the driver's autographs. After Monster Jam was over we had to head to Casscoe so that Cody could make it to the VBS Seminar at Olive Branch in Pine Bluff. Needless to say since it was 9:00-11:00 it was a quiet ride there. Elijah slept with Nanny and Noah slept with Pop. Elijah's fever was very high friday night and into Saturday morning.

By Saturday morning Elijah was feeling just a teeny bit better, but still had fever. Between Antibiotics, cough medicine, and tylenol the poor kid was getting fed up with medicine, and I was too! Sunday I stayed home with Elijah and Ellie Kate and Cody came in with Great news from Men's Meeting. I'll post more about that Later this week if It goes well!

Jamie

"The Author Shows Up"

Last Friday night Cody and I got a treat. We were able to go on a date without any kids (even Ellie) to a Gideons' Appreciation Banquet. The food was wonderful, and it was a very uplifting service. We were all reminded of how that just sharing the Word of God with one person can make a big difference.
Bob Jones was the speaker for the evening, and he told a story of how he met a girl named Marlem in Chile on a mission trip. Marlem was a translator for the Gideon's who went on the trip, and most of the translators were not "christians" they just volunteered to translate. So, Marlem was translating for one of the evangelists and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a person on the streets of Chile, and as she was reading through the Roman Road she realized she needed Salvation and she accepted Christ as the Lord of her life. Bob Jones stated that when someone reads the Word of God that the author always shows up. I loved that statement! It's so beautifully true. God always shows up to show us our needs. What a beautiful ministry to be involved with.
There was also a story of how that the Bishop would not allow the Gideons to take Bibles into the private schools of Chile but they could in the Public Schools. So as they were taking them around and even to the University they saw a bus of high school seniors getting out and then were told that every highschool senior would be at the University for college orientation! God made a way for EVERY senior not just the public school seniors to have a Bible in their hand! God is so good.
This Sunday night, my husband was preaching and he did an invitation at the beginning of the service. A little girl who rides the bus came forward and she accepted Jesus as Lord of her life and repented of her sins. She was so happy to be a child of God.
When God allows his word to be handed out and preached the "Author does indeed, Show up"!
Praise the Lord.
How can they know without a preacher? Will you be that lifeline for someone to get to God?

1 Person with many Names

I teach the teens at our church on Wednesday Nights. I am very blessed to have a wonderful group of teens that really do want to serve Christ. Last night our Discovery Lesson was about God and how he is everything. He is the Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and Rock. He is something different to everyone at certain points in their life. I had 3 people give me who God is to them right now. One said judge, another said Creator, and the last teen said he is his defender. So today, I want to ask you, what is Christ to you at this very point in your life? If you have been ill, he is your healer, if you have been blinded by the principals of this world then he is your eyesight (spiritual), and so on.
I have found out through past experiences that my teens want their teacher to answer the question that they are asking the kids. This makes for great relationship building. So, I volunteered my answer. I said that right now in my life my kids are all very young, and I am building their "foundations" for learning, physical growth, and spiritual growth and that means quite a bit of temper tantrums, fit throwing, and crocodile tears to experience each day. Most of the time more than once in a day. I told my teens that right now, God is my Peace. He is the Peace in the middle of the chaos at my home! To some that may not sound very spiritual, but there are times throughout my day I need God's peace to come over me and help me control my beautiful children. Peace is defined as being, "a period maked by the cessation of open and hostile aggression between people and nations." Another definition of the Hebrew word for peace, is "well-being, and wholeness". Both of these describe what I need at my home during the course of a day. I need God to give me the physical strength (well being) to make it and the spiritual strength to teach my children God's word. Then, I need God's peace to make me "whole", and fill me up with him so that I don't get disappointed at my kids when they don't fill a needed spot in my life. He is the ONLY one or thing that can make us whole.
I encourage you to think about who God is to you and thank him for that. Then, I encourage you to figure out the opposite of your word for him (mine is chaos or anxiousness) and then look up a verse in the Bible that corresponds with how God gives you what you need. For example, My verse is "Be anxious for nothing, but anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made to God; and the Peace of God , which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts, and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7.
May you experience the Peace, comfort, Healing, I AM, Word, Creator, and Fortress today in your life.

In His Love,
Jamie

Eager to Follow

The past few days I have been so eager and ready to read my Bible. I have just really had a desire to be close to God. However, in having this "desire" I was questioned by the Holy Spirit, "where was that desire last week or the week before when you didn't grab your Bible for 3 days in a row? Did you not have the desire to serve me then?" The answers to these questions cut me deep. Have you ever noticed that when you say something out loud or write it down the thing you confess always sounds worse? I can remember when I was in college at ASU and I was involved with MBSF (missionary baptist student fellowship) that Bro Chad(the college minister) encouraged all of us to find a prayer partner. Me being one of the older students had the responsibility of spending time discipling some of the younger girls. I can remember having prayer with them, talking about what God was doing in their lives, and rejoicing at answered prayers.

One of the "girls" I was discipling back then became one of my very best friends, Ashley Loftis. Her husband, Heath is a MBSF director at the University of Central Arkansas. Ashley and I shared many times of crying, mourning, and sorrowing of our sins, and we noticed a trend. The accountability is so important because when you confess your sins as James says then it truly helps you to understand why it hurts God so much when we sin. So why don't we do that? If sin is the barrier between us and God why do we often take so long and try to "hide" our sins from an "all knowing" God? Many times it is pride, denial, or lack of time. Whatever the reason we must be reminded of 1 John 1;8-9 that "If we confess our sins that he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Then that opens the gate WIDE open for us to a right relationship with God again.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that you can lose your salvation. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as the son of God and believe he is who his word proclaims then you are free, indeed. However, we still have to wrestle with our sin nature. This means ups and downs in our relationship with Christ just like in a marriage or even a close friendship. So, back to my desire. It is a direct link to my unconfessed sin. Unconfessed sin=no desire to serve Christ. Do you want to desire him? Then confess your sins before him and before a prayer partner whether that is your husband/wife or even a friend. When you truly are repentant Christ loves to give you more "meat to chew on". Until you confess, you cannot have an open line of communication as stated in the Psalms, David said, " you did not hear me because I had unconfessed sin in my life".

An example of someone who had a thirst for God is Peter from the New Testament. Peter was a spontaneous kind of guy. He usually said things before thinking about them, but he also invested ALL of himself into whatever he was doing at that point in his life. We know that Peter was a disciple of Christ and in John 13 Jesus demonstrated his servanthood to his disciples by washing their feet. In verse 6 Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, are you washi"ng my feet? The he told Jesus that he did not want him to wash his feet, and we see that Jesus told Peter if he didn't wash his feet that he wouldn't be a part with him. Peter says in verse 9, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." We see that Peter was very eager to follow Christ which simply means obedience. Peter was joyful about letting Jesus wash his feet because he wanted so badly to be with Jesus. He knew that without that acceptance he couldn't be with him.

In my life I go through these times where I am not willing to be a part with Jesus in everything he wants to do in my life, but Christ wants us to be consistent. He desires for us to desire HIM, and to do it with all we have like Peter did. What are you going to do today? Are you going to continue to live your life in dullness, and ocassional Bible Reading when you get "on fire" for Jesus, or are you going to confess your sins to Jesus and be eager to follow him?

Lord, give me the strength and the courage to follow you with Joy and Gladness because you have made me Glad!

To discipline is to disciple

Today's entry really has very little to do with my children, so if you only read to see what they're doing today, you might be disappointed. This morning, as soon as my feet hit the floor I was reminded of one of my husband's favorite singers, Randy Travis. He has a beautiful song on his praise cd called "that's jesus" it's not a new cd and certainly not my favorite style of music. In this particular song he says, "when I wake up in the morning and put my feet on the floor, I thank him for the day, that he gave me one more." That's all I could think of when I woke up this morning. I am very blessed to have another day to live, and he just wants me to live for him today. Doesn't seem so hard, right? ha! I wish it were easy, but then there wouldn't be anything to strive for.
The other day, I was reading something on the topic of "discipline" and in the article it reminded the readers that the word is not a bad word or something that one should grieve. Instead, the latin meaning of the word means "pupil", and the definition in a secular dictionary means 'training or something to produce an expected pattern of behavior', or "punishment intended to correct or train". Let's take this for example, say that you had a little girl who liked gymnastics and she was getting really good at it, and was even ready to compete locally. The training involved at that point gets to be pretty rigourous. They have to come in before school, and right after school to get their bodies in submission to be able to perform for the length of time needed, and for the different rotations (vault, beam, floor, and uneven bars). Now, back to your little gymnast, let's say she is doing very well, she even wakes up early the first couple of months to be able to get to a.m. practice on time. She's feeling great, and doing even better than expected by your or her coaches. Then, one morning she doesn't want to go to practice and then, she forgets her leotard and doesn't make it to the p.m. practice. Do you think missing even one day of practice and training would make a difference? Let's even say that she doesn't want to go back after she misses a few times, what would you do as a parent? Would you tell her to just quit? Would you push her to do better?
Let me clarify right now, I am not saying that you must let your child never quit anything, but I do believe that is a big problem for my generation down. We have been taught by the world that if something gets too hard or is too much for us to handle we quit. This goes completely against the Bible or the Biblical model of discipleship and our previous definition of discipline. To discipline is to disciple. If you don't ever push (which means pain whether physical or emotional), then you don't ever see the other side of the discipline by giving up before you get to it.
Some of my favorite verses are in James 1. Look at James 1: 2-4. "Dear brothers and sisters, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." NLT This is a beautiful descrption of what I am describing about discipline. May you look at discipline or correction from God or others as your opportunity to grow and become more like Jesus today.
Jamie

Fun at 4

Yesterday we celebrated a little of Noah's birthday with my parents, my sister and her family. I told Beth (my sister) that they would not have had to get Noah a birthday present as long as they brought Trey to play with Noah. They had a lot of fun spending time together. I hate that we don't live closer so our kids could play more, but that's just part of the "ministry" so to speak. Although now that I'm not working outside our home anymore we do get to visit more often.

My mom came up Thursday afternoon so I could go with Cody to the AYC supper at East End MBC in Hensley. Ellie Kate and I went as Cody's "dates" and we had a really good time. That was the first time I had ever been to the supper and it was great to see some "old" college friends, like Stephanie and Isaac Woodard, Josh and Angela Edwards, and Joey and Syndal Cook. It's so amazing watching our children play together and realize how much our kids have changed our lives since we were together last. Having children often puts your priorities in place.

Back to my Noah, when Cody and I found out we were having a child only 5 weeks after we were married it was a shock! We didn't know what we were in for by any means, but God worked on us, and is continuing to work and make us more like him so that we can shape our children into who HE wants them to be. I have all kinds of plans for my kids, but I just want what God wants for them, and I've considered what if that means Noah or Elijah going into the Army? Would I still say that then? Or if God called them to a mission field, would I be okay then? I pray I would be.

This week I pray God will flood my mind with memories of Noah when we first brought him home from the hospital, and bring back to memory all the times Cody, Noah and I went to the lake when we lived in Mountain Home. It has not all been fun and games, like the set of tubes he had put in at 14 months old or the ear infections prior to his tubes being put in. God has been with us through it all every tear, every laugh, every sigh, he's seen it all through his eyes. What will the next year hold for my Noah? T-ball, soccer, size 4t pants, 4 year old sunday school class, the Helpers Discovery class. We have church camp, zoo trip, jumpzone, and lots of other trips this year. I cannot wait to watch him explore at 4!