8 out of 10....

That's the statistic from Back to the Bible of how many kids will turn away from their faith after leaving home. Mind boggling! That's a frightening statistic.
Parents, we can't bend. We can't expect the church or school to teach our children about a close relationship with the Lord. It has to begin in the home. Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Kids are looking to their parents to set the example. They not only need to hear it, but more importantly they need to see it lived out in us. I can't begin to tell you the times that my kids have not seen it lived out in me. They've seen impatience, anger, negativism, discouragement, a sorry attitude...just to name a few. But what I have learned is to quickly apologize, asking them for forgiveness. They, more than anyone, know that they have an imperfect mom. But they've also seen a mom and dad love each other, pray together, and strive, with mistakes made along the way, to serve the Lord and please Him.
We have taught our kids from as early as they can remember, that God is ever-present, hearing everything they say, seeing everything they do, standing right beside them and loving them unconditionally.
We need to change this statistic. Our kids need to see it lived out in us, striving to please the Lord with everything we say and do. It begins with us on our knees.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Wasted time...

I made a commitment a long time ago to start each day in God's Word and in prayer. I prefer the mornings, although I know the time of the day doesn't matter to Him as long as I set aside time for Him each day. Lately, I've allowed things to come before my quiet time. Today was no different. As I awoke this morning, I headed straight to the computer to finish up something for our Sunday School class. That should have taken only a minute, but then I decided to check out facebook and different blogs. Before long, it was time to get ready for work. Fortunately, Scott and I have our quiet time together after the kids leave for school so I was able to spend some time in His Word and in prayer with Scott before we left for work.
For me personally though, God had taken a backseat. I felt so discouraged and convicted all day. Until now, I've finished up my Bible study and spending some time in prayer with the Lord...out on the front porch. A beautiful day. As I opened up His Word and my Bible study, I began reading...reading about a woman who planned each day, marked off her list, remembered every detail of everything she needed to do...every detail except the most important: the Lord. "In my busyness, I had forgotten the most important part of my day...spending time with Him". To be single-minded in our search for God, our hearts cannot be caught up in details that steal attention from Him. Maybe we don't find Him and hear His voice clearly because our attention is divided.

Such conviction as I read through this particular day of my study. I asked the Lord to forgive me. I also thanked Him once again, for His gentle reminders.

Las Vegas....

We vacationed in Las Vegas last week. What a great time we had! I have never had a desire to visit there and years ago, my reasons would seem obvious! We've heard from many that Vegas is one of their favorite vacation spots. I didn't quite understand but now I do. It has become extremely family friendly and nothing like I expected. They have really cleaned up their act.
We were blessed with a time-share unit given to us for the week. We walked, we walked, and we walked. Went in just about every hotel, which was amazing in itself. The kids rode on a roller coaster that shot out of a resort...Scott and I chose to watch :-)
Our favorite sight was the "fountains of Bellagio"...that was amazing. It was choreographed to the music from Lee Greenwood "God Bless the USA". That was a beautiful sight.We are back to reality and looking forward to the summer break. Another school year will end in less than 5 weeks and we now prepare for child #2 to graduate.

Pumpkin facials...

Blend: 4 tsp. canned pumpkin, 1 tsp. milk, 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp. brown sugar. Now pamper yourself...Step 1: Place a warm washcloth over a clean face. Relax for 5-10 minutes, then remove washcloth. Step 2: Apply pumpkin treatment and relax for 5-10 minutes. Step 3: Splash off with cool water and pat dry. The rich folks will spend $110.00 for this type of spa treatment.
Well, the girls and I decided to have a "spa" night at home tonight. We were laughing too hard to keep it on the entire 10 minutes, not to mention the fact that the smell was making Heather heave. We'll see if we are "glowing" in the morning...like the article says. Right now, our faces look like we ate an entire bag of carrots.
The price we women pay to look beautiful!

He is Risen....

Sin, where are your shackles?
Death, where is your sting?
Hell; has been defeated. The grave will not hold, the King.
Arise my love, Arise my love,
the grave no longer has a hold on You.
No more death sting, no more suffering,
Arise....Arise....

I'm so thankful that we serve a King who not only died for us, but also rose and LIVES!!!!

We celebrated Easter as we always do in the Vail household. Saturday evening we colored eggs...well, Heather colored eggs, while we watched - age 19 and she never likes to see a tradition end. Then we went to church today and then home for the traditional family picture and Easter baskets...yes, they still like to get their baskets.

I hope you and your family had a great Easter celebrating Christ's resurrection!