simply grateful

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy had his team fitted for their Super Bowl rings on February 5th… the day BEFORE the Super Bowl. It was a bold move he made to motivate his team that seemed to work! The 45th Super Bowl was a great one that we will remember for probably… two or three years. Not to be negative, but how many of us even remember who played three years ago in the Super Bowl? Before an impending battle in The Gladiator, the main character Maximus says, “Brothers, what we do in this life echoes in eternity.” Another great motivational ploy, but simply not true. Only things of eternal value echo in eternity. Bragging rights about Super Bowl victories vanish with a new season. The new car smell is only temporary. The promotion and raise at work only satisfies for so long. None of those things have eternal value. I have heard someone say, “Evaluate your day by thinking what you have done that had eternal significance.” Let me encourage you to take it one step further. In...

18...that is a good amount of anything...18 kids, 18 cupcakes, 18 percent increase, $18 would get us to the movies :)... Today marks 18 years since I really surrendered to God...this is why I am so grateful.  All that I have is because of Him.  Anything good in me is because of Him.  My life has never been the same since this day 18 years ago... My story, like so many others, is a story of one who was transferred from a life of darkness and confusion to a life of light and hope. I grew up knowing about the Lord. I remember going to Sunday School and Vacation Bible Schools. As an adolescent, I participated regularly in a great youth group at church. All throughout my growing up years, I can look back and see ways that God wove His truth into my life through people and experiences. I knew about God and Jesus.  I knew stories. I sang songs.  I even prayed "the prayer", but I didn't know them personally. It was all action and no heart... In high school an...

Not really. :)  I am ok that this snow happened about two weeks ago.  I mean, it is definitely beautiful but I am not really a fan of being cold.  With so many friends around the country getting snowed in, I wanted to share in the fun of snow pictures... The kids were so excited!  They loved trying to catch the snowflakes on their tongues.  Going for rides with Daddy in our laundry basket...er.."sled"  Eating the snow...  Cutest snow angels ever... being spun in circles!   David had fun too... and around...and around...   by my Prince Charming...  Makayla trying to pull Elijah...not so effective!  This is how Karissa rolls... She bends over like a duck to the step...  to get a bite of snow...  apparently she was tired of her hands being cold...but she still looks cold.  Don't worry...we went in shortly after!  This is Mama Petro's favorite way to play in the snow. :)   Karissa was still busy eat...

Here are some of the things I have in the workboxes for the week.  Again, most of my ideas are modified from http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/ and http://www.starfall.com/ . I've also recently added "Teach Preschool" on facebook and there are tons of great ideas every day.       

We have had many comments and questions about the books shown in the blog entry below.  Here are links to the two books we use with the kids: The Bible: http://www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/product_detail.asp?sku=1400308313&dept_id=11375&TopLevel_id=120000&title=The_Illustrated_Bible-ICB The Book on Missions: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932805915/ref=oss_product

This is one of my favorite sights... It started as a happenstance really. Makayla is our early  bird...she would come out about 6:30 in the morning and "catch"  David and I reading our Bibles and praying...independently but together.  At first, it started out as great accountability.  I didn't want her to get up and me not be there spending time with God...David felt the same way.  (For the record, Karissa is not usually up at this time.) It wasn't long before she started saying, "I need to have a Bible study too."  We had been reading a preschool devotion and Bible story later during the day, but she really wanted to add this in. So David, being the wonderful father that he is, seized the moment. :)  Our pastor had given an illustrated Bible for the kids for Christmas...and we also have Operation World for children (this tells about people groups around the world that have not heard about Jesus).  Our church is reading through the New T...

I wrote this in mid-December and realized I never put it up.  Sorry for the delay.   You may have read recently about the 11 million dollar Christmas tree in an Abu Dhabi hotel.  The 40 foot tree is adorned with diamonds, pearls, emeralds and sapphires (181 pieces in total) provided by one of the hotel’s gemstone boutiques.  Only days after announcing the tree, the hotel expressed embarrassment over its “attempts to overload the tradition” in a way that does not “fall in line with the professional standards” of the hotel.  A posh hotel apologized for its extravagance! Perhaps my recent trip to Zambia has made me a little more sensitive to our extravagance as Americans both physically and spiritually during this Christmas season.  We fill our closets full of clothes that we will deem unfashionable in a few years.  We joke about wearing our pants with the “elastic waste band” so we can overstuff ourselves at Christmas dinner.  We buy our kids toys...