boys

Let's catch up, shall we?

by Karmen |

May was intense until June and heck! Now it’s July.

Hello dear, precious, blog friends and family,

How are you? How are your people? I wish we were sitting on the porch chatting over lemonade but until then let’s catch up, shall we?

We started last month celebrating our baby boy’s birthday

and how shameful it is that I don’t remember if I celebrated him enough except that I’m sure we did but this baby and these bubbles ..I.just.can.not.

He went from 6 to 7 like BOOM! and since we all know seven is grown it’s fine that it’s been a month and I’m still sorting through my emotions. Be still my heart.

No time to whine. After we celebrated our baby it was time to report to the hayfield.

The hot, so very hot hayfield (speaking of hotness I might add the cowboy in this picture not too shabby)

hay3

Speaking of the hayfield, Hey! that’s actually where I spent my birthday.

Because who wouldn’t want to spend their birthday in the hayfield?!

Except that I didn’t! So I cried and that’s fine because It’s My Birthday and I’ll cry if I want to! Just in case you missed how not grown up I am and my adult temper tantrum you can catch up here.

From there we went to Ponderosa Bible Camp where the boys were treated like kings and I spoke for six days to teens and college-age young people who are so inspiring and focused.

So many of them inspired me with their eagerness to serve and bless their ever-lovin’ hearts for doing their very best to keep me youthful and spry. We chatted about God’s love and forgiveness (and yes, I asked him to forgive me for pitching a fit on my birthday and He did because He’s God and He’s good) and we challenged each other to live our love for God out loud. We had a SOLE HOPE shoe cutting party and they blew me away with their service towards others.

It was truly a delightfully, hilarious, exhausting week. And I should totally mention that they have the BEST COUNSELORS on the planet! They were so gracious when I gave them a five-second warning before they were to go on stage and role-play this skit of the Good Samaritan. I know Jesus will give them a bonus in glory because they were that good.

My boys want to leave home and move to Ponderosa. I say that every year because it’s true.

Ponderosa and the staff are amazing and are making an eternal difference in the lives of all who visit. If you have not been YOU SHOULD GO! and SEND YOUR KIDS and TAKE YOUR CHURCH and grab some UNCHURCHED FRIENDS and BOOK a retreat! Because it’s that’s great. Seriously.

Dropped by home for a couple of days and then off for some rest and girl time except who am I kidding?! We took the herd to the beach minus the baby daddies so there was no downtime.

I feel certain all the mommas are actually more exhausted after going on vacation than before if that’s even possible. And alll the tired moms said, “AMEN!”

But it’s worth it, right?

The sisters, our sweet momma and I did our best to be intentional with our time together. We savored quality conversation and shared some much-needed hard belly laughs. The kids can’t get enough of each other. All seven of them. First cousins between the ages of 11 and 4. They love each other and hate each other all at the same time. It’s complicated and hilarious. Like an episode of Friends. Which brings to mind ..do you remember the episode where someone got stung by a jellyfish and the others encouraged them to let someone use the restroom on them to relieve the pain? That may have almost happened to one of us except that it didn’t but with seven tired kids on the beach often desperate means call for desperate measures.

Then it was the 4th of July and we celebrated our freedom with a renewed appreciation.

These little jewels are my sisters and my littles. Look at them lettin’ their little lights shine. #sopresh

This wild bunch is free indeed.

Lastly, before we wrap this session of togetherness, I covet your prayers. In just a few days, three other women who are sold-out for Jesus and I will be traveling to Honduras.

Our mission: to love orphans. Pray for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less as we share the relentless love of Christ. I am preparing myself to be wrecked emotionally. I ask that you join us as we ask God to give us eyes to see as He sees, ears to hear what He hears and hearts so full of His goodness that it spills out onto all of those He places in our path. May He be glorified in thought, word, and deed.

OH! and one more thing….If you are not already signed up via email to receive Blessings Beyond the Barnyard – PLEASE DO! We are so close to having a goodie ready that I want to share with you and EMAIL PEEPS will have first dibs! Zip to the top and look to the –>right and SIGN UP! It’s free and I obviously won’t hound you with lots of emails because glory-be! I’ve only been blogging a few times a month!

Lots of love, lemonade and summer goodness to you dear ones,

Let’s catch up, shall we?

by Karmen |

May was intense until June and heck! Now it’s July.

Hello dear, precious, blog friends and family,

How are you? How are your people? I wish we were sitting on the porch chatting over lemonade but until then let’s catch up, shall we?

We started last month celebrating our baby boy’s birthday

and how shameful it is that I don’t remember if I celebrated him enough except that I’m sure we did but this baby and these bubbles ..I.just.can.not.

He went from 6 to 7 like BOOM! and since we all know seven is grown it’s fine that it’s been a month and I’m still sorting through my emotions. Be still my heart.

No time to whine. After we celebrated our baby it was time to report to the hayfield.

The hot, so very hot hayfield (speaking of hotness I might add the cowboy in this picture not too shabby)

hay3

Speaking of the hayfield, Hey! that’s actually where I spent my birthday.

Because who wouldn’t want to spend their birthday in the hayfield?!

From there we went to Ponderosa Bible Camp where the boys were treated like kings and I spoke for six days to teens and college-age young people who are so inspiring and focused.

My boys want to leave home and move to Ponderosa. I say that every year because it’s true.

Dropped by home for a couple of days and then off for some rest and girl time except who am I kidding?! We took the herd to the beach minus the baby daddies so there was no downtime.

I feel certain all the mommas are actually more exhausted after going on vacation than before if that’s even possible. And alll the tired moms said, “AMEN!”

But it’s worth it, right?

Then it was the 4th of July and we celebrated our freedom with a renewed appreciation.

These little jewels are my sisters and my littles. Look at them lettin’ their little lights shine. #sopresh

This wild bunch is free indeed.

Lastly, before we wrap this session of togetherness, I covet your prayers. In just a few days, three other women who are sold-out for Jesus and I will be traveling to Honduras.

Lots of love, lemonade and summer goodness to you dear ones,

4 tools to teach LOUD BOYS the importance of a QUIET TIME

by Karmen |

You know those people with soft voices and matchy, clean clothes?

Yea, we don’t make those people here.

Ours look more like this

and this

Which is cool, because the less clothing they wear, the less laundry there is to do, right?

And though we may differ in our children’s’ clothing style, cleanliness or definitions of cool, most of us would agree we want things to be well with their soul.

Another concept we would most likely agree upon is sharing. Because sharing is nice. And I’m sharing because I believe modeling appropriate behaviors for our children, is critical.

But mostly I’m sharing today because…. my boys have been at camp (WOOHOO) this week and I’ve been able to use this time to remember my name, clean our skanky house, buy food for our pantry, balance store accounts and WRITE!

I thought I would share:

4 suggested TOOLS to use when teaching LOUD BOYS the importance of a QUIET TIME:

#1 One Year Book of FUN & ACTIVE Devotions for Kids by Betsy Elliot

Did you catch the key word in that title? ACTIVE. Particularly, if you have boys-activity is essential. We joke about adopting the Dog Whisperer, Ceasar Millan’s philosophy:

EXERCISE, DISCIPLE, AFFECTION

It works. Truly. Boys MUST be able to MOVE! Then you can discipline, next love, and finally teach them what it is you hope to teach them.

No lie, when we are doing school work or even at night just before devotion we have been known to have the boys go outside and run a lap or two around the house or better yet, the pond!

Each day there is a thought-provoking question, scripture reference, short, easy-to-read devotional and activity.

This has been our family fav for quite sometime. Our loud boys, love this book.

#2 In This House We Will Giggle by Courtney DeFeo

This is simply a MUST HAVE if you are a parent and/or childcare worker of any fashion.

It is JAM-PACKED with “inventive ways to help turn your kids’ hearts toward God.”

My friend Courtney, (who by-the-way inspired this place. I would not have started this blog had she not pushed me to do so.) reminds us of the importance of laughter and the countless, Godly truths learned through good-ol’-fashion-fun!

She takes twelve virtues (one each month): joy, love, forgiveness, faith, patience, perseverance, respect, responsibility, service, humility, gratitude and generosity and provides fun activities to reinforce the virtue. She also includes questions to encourage discussion, Scripture memory verses and challenges you to dig in and find what works for your family!

It’s a great book, easy to use, a phenomenal resource.

GET ONE HERE!

#3 Our Daily Bread for Kids Meaningful Moments with God by Crystal Bowman & Teri McKinley

This is our newest family resource but we already LOVE it! Like many of you, I have read Our Daily Bread devotionals off and on my whole life. God had used it many times to speak truth into my life. This is the kid version and it does not disappoint. We received the 60-day sample edition FREE in the mail.

The illustrations are captivating and my boys love the FUN FACT included on each page. The devotional are very easy to understand as well as the one-liner taglines provided for each day.

and finally,

#4 The MacArthur Study Bible by John MacArthur

Save always the best for last. This study Bible is hands-down our family favorite. The footnotes, summaries, chapter introductions are the icing on the cake to God’s Holy Word. It is written in the New King James Version.

The Bible as a part of our evening routine is essential because it ultimately trumps any outside resource. It is our hand book for how we are to live this life.

Several months ago I wrote an article about Jake and the rain. The central theme of the story is fear. Truth is Satan wears Jake out with fear. It’s the thing he uses most often to tempt his young soul. God has reminded me through Jake’s fear of our desperate need for Christ alone. I saw early on that fear was something bigger than me. Fear is something in and of ourselves that we cannot beat. Fear is something we have to surrender to the Holy God of heaven and realize that he is the only one who can speak fears and make them flee. In that article, I wrote,

“My children need Jesus, more than my children need me.”

That was true then and it is true now.

As parents, we are not superheroes. We may play that role in our houses and online but the truth is we cannot sustain them.

With all of my heart, I believe the absolute very best thing we can do for our children is to teach them to fix their eyes on Jesus.

Jesus the only one that will never leave nor for sake them.

Jesus is the only one with the power to save, to heal, to deliver.

I hope you’ll find this post helpful but even more than helpful I hope you’ll try using these tools as a family. I pray you will make having a quiet time a priority: personally and together with your tribe.

Be consistent.

Start small, grow BIG.

One final note, as we close out our nightly session we also do a quick prayer or praise. Just a real quick round Robin-go around allowing each person to share a prayer & praise about something good that happened that day.

It’s a nice way to finish up focused on the good things instead of:

How you wished your brother hadn’t pushed you off the bed or how you wished your mother wouldn’t pinch you while you’re trying to pray as a family while the mother is wishing you would pay attention while the daddy is just wanting everybody to GO TO SLEEEP.

Yea, I get it. The hassle.

But do it anyways.

You are loved dear ones. I’m cheering you on from the other side of the screen as you lead your people to grow in the love of our Savior.

much love,