Hey there,

Well, my Picasso loving daughter has struck again. Not only has my new table and lovely floors been blessed by her creative side, but also my chairs. Generally this would not be a problem, but since I can’t get the dried paint off without chipping and taking off the finish of the table and floor, this mommy is at a loss.

The newest Picasso problem became evident to me late last night.  You know, when everyone is finally asleep and all you want to do it sit down?  You know that time.  Well my husband was coming home and I wanted to tidy up a bit, and to my surprise I found the paint in question.  My response was to panic and scrub.  Then I chose to walk away.  As I scrubbed I realized the finish was coming off and instead of dealing with it I decided for my mental heath to walk away and ignore it for a little while.  Well my plan was thwarted when my husband arrived home.  Now picture this.  The house is fairly dark so he flicks on the light over the table (the switch we very rarely use) and then he notices the paint.  Ya, stuff has been stuck, glued on, and colored and it never fazes him, but last night he notices.  Well the scrubbing began, only for him to discover the same result I had.  So the homecoming didn’t quite commence the way I had planned.

Do you find it hard to deal with an issue head on, in the moment?  I don’t consider myself a procrastinator, but I have been known to just let something be! Now the paint is kind of an insignificant issue, but in life it can be difficult to make a decision sometimes, isn’t it?

I was thinking about Jesus and how He responded to issues.  He did deal with them head on.  His first response was prayer.  In the garden He prayed.  In the desert He prayed.  I know many times I head down the road of decision making without going to the Decision Maker first.

So friends, how have you learned to discipline yourself to ask God first and then decide?

“God alone knows the way to Wisdom, he knows the exact place to find it. He knows where everything is on earth, he sees everything under heaven. After he commanded the winds to blow and measured out the waters, Arranged for the rain and set off explosions of thunder and lightning, He focused onWisdom, made sure it was all set and tested and ready. Then he addressed the human race: ‘Here it is! Fear-of-the-Lord—that’s Wisdom, and Insight means shunning evil.’” Job 28:23 (The Message)

Well we have officially celebrated Boo’s “American b-day” and I am wiped out.  It is amazing the energy level that 14 kidlets have.  I guess pumping them full of jujubes, cupcakes, juice and freezies doesn’t help the energy level!

As I sit on the couch my oldest two are painting after opening all the boxes and trying to decide what craft project to tackle first.  And me, I’m sitting, too tired to move right now.

After everyone had left and the clean up was complete, I asked Boo if she had enjoyed herself.  She answered in an unconvincing “yes”.  I asked her why the “cranky” response. I went on to “inform” her that a lot of time, energy and money were put into her party so she needed to be thankful, and answer in a more enthusiastic way.  Ya, I did.  It’s my Boo’s day and I decide to lecture!  No excuse here, except it was the first time I experienced hosting a party solo as my honey was working.  As I sat in dismay after my lecture, I hoped she wouldn’t remember that conversation as part of her birthday memories.  Why was I looking for gratitude?  She’s 5, she’s my daughter, and it’s her birthday!  Well I have no idea why I said what I said.  I decided to ask God (go figure) where my unbecoming response came from.

Job 12:13
[ From God We Learn How to Live ] “True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for. If he tears something down, it’s down for good; if he locks people up, they’re locked up for good. If he holds back the rain, there’s a drought; if he lets it loose, there’s a flood. Strength and success belong to God; 

I’ll let you know what I discover as God lets me know!  Right now I’m off to clean up paint, which is now all over the kitchen floor!!!

Hey Everyone!

It’s been a day of running around, doing laundry (one of my least favorite things to do), bible study group, and pre- party prep work.

I thought I would give myself some mental health time and ask my children to have “quiet time” in their rooms today.  I had my “to do list” and was hoping to be able to check off some tasks during “quiet time”.  Well, as I began to bake cupcakes for my daughter’s b-day party I heard this thumping, and the noise kept getting louder and louder.  I went upstairs to discover that my daughter decided to “decorate” her bedroom door with stickers, and then when she realized that they were on quite snuggly she decided that a crayon would help lift the stickers off the door.  Now to her four year old brain she had a good plan and as she sheepishly told me why she decided to include water into the mix I was fully aware that her attempts to get herself out of her “Picasso” mess were to avoid any type of consequence she knew would be coming down from the mommy pipe.

Sound familiar?  It sounds way too familiar to me too.   How many times have I tried to explain away, intellectualize, and blame my way out of a situation, and to God no less!  So this mommy tried to explain that no matter what she did, my love would never change towards her, and that disliking ones actions is different then disliking the person.  During all this I completely felt the grace of God again “buzz” me like so many other days.  Today had been in fact a day where I was defending my thoughts and actions towards another when in fact I was in the wrong and should have admitted it.  I saw the face of my God looking at me and reminding me that His love for me never changes and that forgiveness is something He lovingly doles out at any moment of the day when we admit to out poor choices.

So friends, from this Picasso cleaning mommy, I want to ask you why do you think we are so quick to explain away, justify, ignore the moments when we are being asked to come clean?

If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that’s why you’re worshiped.
Psalm 130:2-4 (The Message)

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Mine was extraordinary. The She Speaks conference was so encouraging and as I was there watching God really work by leading and verifying for so many woman what it was He was asking them to do…in spite of themselves I was in awe. Our God is so good.

You know when you look in the Bible no one that God asked to lead, make decisions or help change the course of history were really anyone who was “qualified” for the job. What stood them apart from being ordinary was their obedient spirit. In the face of danger, ridicule, persucation and death in some cases. Being obedient is something I have really been challenged with this past year..how about you? Do you know that God is asking you to do something that seems completely out of your realm of comfort, expertise? Are you scared to fail? Well friends that was me, and is still me to a point. I hate to fail, but as I was encouraged to recognize this weekend, God wants us to be obedient…period. He will take care of the rest. 

God is the God of a million chances. He gives us opportunities everyday to chose obedience. Our past decisions do not deter our God from believing that we can make the right choice, even after our failures in the past.  

Friends will you be brave enough today to say “okay Lord” and do, say, act on what God is asking you to. It may not be easy but don’t you think that the God who created the Heavens and Earth, who ensures the sun and moon arrive on schedule, who names and knows all the stars will leave you to your own devises when you chose obedience…….

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”  Joshua 1:9

As I tell my kid-lets, if you never felt fear, you would never have the opportunity to be brave. And as adults, is it not the same for us. To be courageous is to be brave in spite of what we fear, knowing our Heavenly Father has our back!

Have a great day, I’m off to get ready for our daughters “American birthday”:)

Hey ya,

I’ve been thinking about the people I have met in NC.  If the Lord had not orchestrated our move to the US I’m sure our paths would have never crossed.  I consider the people we have met and are yet to become acquainted with as “divine appointments”.

If I truly believe that the Lord’s providence oversees all my comings and goings as the Bible says, should that not change my attitude towards the people who seem to come in and out of my life?  What about the stranger in mall, the person standing ahead of me in the grocery store, or my neighbor?  If a smile or a kind word can effect my day, doesn’t it seem reasonable that my actions and words are equally as important to others?  Taking it one step further, if I am a daughter of the King of Kings shouldn’t I behave and speak in a way that would honor my Royal family?  Writing it seems obvious, but how difficult to do when I “don’t fee like” being kind, speaking in a lovingly way, showing patience, or allowing someone else’s need to take precedent over mine.  What a fine line to walk.  God definitely does not ask us to be walked on, but in humbleness I am learning that bowing to the needs of others is one way that I can demonstrate my Heavenly Father’s love.  If I’m truly seeing the person the way God sees them, then they have something to teach me or enrich my life in some way. 

Just thinking out loud.  What do you think?

Hey ya,

Happy Tuesday! It’s been one of those days. Too many things to do, yet nothing is falling into place and to top it all off we have now been invaded my ants and flies. I don’t understand….we had the exterminator here on Friday. AHHH, so frustrating!

As I was walking around our kitchen table trying to kill all the little bug-lets that seem to think my kitchen is their new home, my daughter who is very sensitive to animals (and now apparently bugs) asks me if we are really going to kill “God’s creatures”. Hmm, as I stopped to think before I answered her, my oldest says, “well ants are not suppose to be here..so they have got to go and since we can’t ask them to leave we have to take care of it ourselves”!  Surprisingly she seemed okay with this response. So in the words of my seven year old, I’m off “to take care of” our new squatters. Just call us Hotel Croft!

I think this verse pertains to my home right now! Smiles..Tatum

Genesis 8:17

Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the  creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it.”

Hey Friends,

I hope your weekend was wonderful.  Did you relax and enjoy time with family and friends?  Well, our weekend turned out to be the battle of the bugs!

“Gross!”  I must have said it a million times.  Now my kids have picked up that word!  Anyways, apparently here in NC, Japanese Beetles arrive in June. They park themselves into any living bush or tree that flowers, and then they are determined to eat through the foliage until everything is gone.   So learning about these nasty little flying balls of destruction, my husband decided to go in full force.  We have spent way too much money trying to rid our yard of these pesky creatures when I should’ve just called a lawn company to take care of our newly arrived squatters.  After spraying, dusting, watering, spraying, watering, fertilizing and spraying again (oh ya, did I mention the bug bag?), I think the beetle problem is now under control.

It’s amazing how the little irritations of life can end up consuming so much of our time.  I’m sure that we’ve spent close to seven hours plus the shopping time to rid ourselves of these creepy crawlers.  And yet, the effort that was made to rid our lawn of these pesky unwanted visitors far surpasses the attention I give to the unwanted bugs in my life.  As followers of Jesus are we not called to rid ourselves of anything that consumes our time and eats away our attention that should be focused on the Lord?

1 John 1:8-10 (The Message)

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

Just as this verse says, ignoring the sin in our lives doesn’t make it disappear.   And we have the promise that God will forgive us - of everything.   All we need to do is acknowledge our weaknesses, ask for forgiveness for our poor choices, and admit that we cannot live life the way we are instructed to do without the help of our Lord and Saviour.  Do you need to ask God for help in some area of your life?   Are there “bugs” in your life that need to be taken care of?

In honor of donut Friday and Father’s Day, I would like to dedicate this post to my dad, ( a donut lover) my husband and my brother who has recently become a daddy! These three men are inspiring to me.

My dad, the first man in my life has always demonstrated by his life that loving the Lord, being transformed by God’s love and serving God are important. My father’s faithfulness to my mom demonstrated to me how a man is suppose to love his wife, treat a woman and chose to work as a team while navigating life together. My dad was truly the first love of my life and set the bar high.

Little did I know that the guy I would absolutely never date would become the love of my life. My husband, is an amazing father to our three children. His humor, understanding and complete dedication to our family is felt by each of our children as they know without a shadow of a doubt that their dad loves them and will always be their hero. Rob has become a man after the Lord’s heart, and I am so proud to be his wife.

To my brother, a father for only a short period of time has demonstrated his fierce and protective pride he has for his son. A man who has faced challenges in his life head on, has been and will continue to be my nephews greatest alia. 

So friends if you have a man in your life who has demonstrated “fatherly qualities” tell him how you feel. We all love to be recognized and Sunday you will have the perfect opportunity to do so. If you have been let down by the men in your life, hurt or disappointed, you have  Heavenly Father who fiercely loves you, wants to be your hero and will never fail you. What an amazing gift!

Romans 8:38-39 (New International Version) 

Have a great weekend!

Hey Everyone!

My brain is feeling a little bit scattered today. I’m chalking it up to lack of sleep. With my honey out of town, it really is amazing how late the day ends when there is so much to do just to keep up with family life. I woke up this morning counting the hours until I could lie back down and go to sleep.  Can anyone relate? 

I’ve been thinking about encouragement. I received a card today from a very special person. Can I tell you it literally made my day. The note was short but so uplifting. The note card was pretty and it was written for me. The words were thoughful, meaningful and personal. I felt a “zap” of encouragement, it gave me the needed juice to get through the day.

My grandma Flo taught me this lesson when I was very young. I loved going through all the beautiful stationary she would collect. And as she carefully chose just the right paper for the special peson she was about to encourage, I excidely watched her as a child. Now as an adult whenever a name comes to mind, I pray for them, just as my grandma did. What an excellent example she set for me. Encouraging others was something she did on a regular basis. I have been lovingly challenged today to be mindful that I am called to encourage others.

1 Thessalonians 5:10-12 says this:

So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

What are some ways you have been encouraged?

What are some things you have done to encourage others?

Have a great day friends!

Hey ya!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day. We are still enduring a heat wave here in the south….and frankly I’m kind of over it! I enjoy warm but when warm turns into hot…and my kidlets are too hot to play outside this northerner has a problem with the heat!  Sorry to be complaining but really, it’s not even officially summer! Okay I’m done my rant.

Since we have been inside for most of the past two day my youngest decided that he wanted to paint himself with blue permanent marker. He proudly displayed his blue toenails, blue cheeks, blue hands including very careful coverage of all ten digits! Oh ya, it was a moment when his older brother came done holding the blue marker that caused all the scrubbing grief that Coop was about to endure. Permanent marker, did I mention that part!

Well after Coop was scrubbed as clean as he was going to get he decided he wanted to color, with markers!! Wow, you would think the tears of the discomfort he felt would have kept him from markers for at least 30 minutes, but no. Needless to say I was frustrated, but in my frustration I totally understood why he wanted to go back to the thing that caused him trouble in the first place.  I do it, we all do it. There are things in our lives that we know we should not do and yet we chose to continue down the path which will only result in grief. Sin is so tricky is it not. Lets get real about this, we would not do it if it were not fun. We wouldn’t do it if there was not some pay off. Thankfully we do not have to fight the temptation of sin alone. We have the God of the Universe on our side. He has given us armour the Bible says to help us combat our desire to do that which we know we shouldn’t.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (The Message)

Well I’m off to throw out all the markers in my house:) What things in your life do you need to throw out? 

Thank you Lord for your promise to come to our side when we are in need of your help. Thank you for your endless forgiveness for the times when we make the wrong choice. And thank you for equipping us with Holy Armor. You are such a good God!