Here's the final set of pictures. We went to MGM Studios and my husband had fun pretending he was in Star Wars. My middle son was definitely the thrill ride junkie. He rode everything he was tall enough to ride. Our (me and my son) favorite ride was the Hollywood Tower of Terror. It's a Twilight Zone themed ride which takes you up in an elevator and goes up and down without warning. I couldn't believe my son liked it. All of us rode the Kali River rapids ride at Animal Kingdom. We got really wet. The third picture is of my oldest with his uncle. And the last picture is of us on everyone's favorite ride of all, Splash Mountain. We rode this twice and it was a blast both times. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Tell me your Disney memories if you've been.


 

We went to one water park while we were there. They have two but there's so much else to do that we had to prioritize. Here I am with the kids at Blizzard Beach. The next picture was taken at Animal Kingdom during the safari. You ride in a big truck through the "African" savanna and observe all the wildlife. That was neat. Later that night we had another character meal at Epcot. In the world showcase there you can have a meal with the princesses. Sarah got to meet all the rest of the princesses she hadn't seen at the Magic Kingdom. Her favorite by far is Sleeping Beauty. A couple days into our vacation, my husband's brother and his wife joined us. Sarah is riding Dumbo with her aunt.


 

Here's a couple more pictures. One of the highlights of the trip, of course, was meeting the characters. The first characters Sarah met were the princesses! She was very excited to see Cinderella, Jasmine and Snow White at the Magic Kingdom and get their pictures and autographs. Meanwhile, the boys headed over to see Mickey and get a picture with him. Later that day we had dinner at the Crystal Palace which featured all the Pooh characters. If you want to meet the characters without having to wait in the line, these character meals are the best bet. You have to make reservations well in advance but you get a lot more time with the characters, plus it's air conditioned! Later that night the boys hit the sack in the hotel room.


 

Here's the first few pictures from the trip. The kids are standing in the hotel lobby. We stayed in a Disney resort on the property. The second picture is of my oldest holding Pal Mickey. Pal Mickey is a little interactive friend you carry around the park and he will tell you interesting things. The third picture is of my other two children in the best investment you can make when you go to Disney - the double stroller. Very helpful. And lastly there's my daughter's favorite ride, the carousel in the Magic Kingdom.


 

Here's the first picture from the Disney trip. This is at a rest stop south of Atlanta. It was obviously far enough away to make my two youngest fall asleep. All the kids are suffering from the sudden brightness of the sun after being in the car for awhile. If you're wondering what those stuffed animals are doing on the hood of the car...well...we love our stuffed animals and we each chose a companion for the trip - even adults. The brown bear is mine. His name is F.P. , he's 26 years old and don't give me any grief! *grin* 

SOME OVERDUE PICTURES
Starting with Mother's Day 2006. Here are my lovely children and mischievous puppy! We went out to Longhorn Steakhouse after church and then posed for this picture at home. 

LISTEN TO THIS

Sorry I've been so busy. I want to write a post about my trip to Greensboro, NC, to assist in the SBC Pastor's Conference. Our pastor was the president of this conference this year and so it was our church's responsibility to provide the worship and organize the event. It was very interesting hearing different leading pastors in the SBC preach and kind of getting an "inside track" on what's going on in the denomination. There was definitely a lot of wrangling going on about Calvinism/Arminianism. But before I write about that I had to post this link to a message given by Voddie Baucham (I hope I spelled that right.) Kudos to Amy at Humble Musings for directing me there. Listen to this link. It's amazing and something I wish all the pastors at the conference could have heard.

NOT THE POST I WAS GOING TO DO

I was going to post about Disney and include some fun pics...but life happens and the inspiration to write about it comes over me this morning. The temptation to indulge in self-pity is strong in this melancholy soul of mine. I come to the end of myself and think there's nothing else to give. Well, the compassion and patience that had been flowing through me didn't come from myself anyway. So why would I go back to the broken cistern of my flesh after allowing His life to flow through me? His fountain of grace is inexhaustible. His mercies are new every morning. No matter what I'm facing or tempted to worry myself about, His strength and power are always a prayer away.

This morning a song by Michael Card greatly encouraged me and reminded me of the power of self-denial. Twelve years ago he released a recording called poiema. The second song is an incredibly insightful testimony to the "impoverished power" of humility.

The Basin and the Towel

And the call is to community
The impoverished power that sets the soul free
In humility to take the vow
That day after day we must take up
The basin and the towel

And the space between ourselves sometimes
Is more than the distance between the stars
By the fragile bridge of the servant's bow
We take up the basin and the towel.

There is an unusual power that comes when we deny ourselves. When I reject the invitation to my own personal pity party that comes from my flesh and the enemy where do I go? The opposite invitation is to hide myself in Him, to live the truth of Galatians 2:20 and Romans 6 - have died with Him, been buried with Him and raised to new life. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. His power and grace is without end. There is power in humility. Self-pity is weak and ends only in futility and depression. Oh, that I would turn my eyes away from that dark pit and fix my eyes on my Lord who is my rock and my source of strength, grace and Life.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

It's been almost a month since my last post. Wow. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about. I actually have four posts in the works at this moment. I wish I had more time right now to ponder and write about all sorts of things...but...life happens you know. And we had some big time life stuff happen...drum roll please...we went to DisneyWorld! Yes, we took the three kids and even let my husband's brother and his wife tag along. We had a lot of fun - even with all the walking, waiting and screaming kids. One of my husband's coworkers who goes to DW often nicknamed it "Tragic Kingdom". It does seem like that when you've been walking hour after hour and waiting in line for Dumbo, Splash Mountain and Rockin' Roller Coaster. But we survived. I'll have to post more later - including pictures.

One of my children lost a couple things on the trip. We have a son who is more prone to accidents than others and his face hit the pavement in the Magic Kingdom one day when he fell off a railing. Argh! Picture a screaming six year old with a bloody mouth right in front of the Winnie the Pooh ride. Enter two EMTs with a gurney and a couple Disney personnel who make sure everything is OK. Our little boy was fine in due time less one front tooth. He even got a complimentary stuffed Tigger and popsicle out of the deal. Can you believe we proceeded to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride after that? He even rode Space Mountain two times after that!! What's even more funny about that incident is that the tooth he lost had suffered trauma several years before that. When he was around two years old, our same little son took a spill in the kitchen and shoved that same little tooth up into his gum. It took almost a year for that tooth to move back down into place. When he knocked it out last week it wasn't even loose so I guess he was never meant to have it in the first place. He wasn't done losing teeth either. The next night after we ate dinner I checked his mouth and noticed that one of his two very loose teeth on the bottom was gone. We never found it. I guess it fell into his food and he ate it or it just fell on the floor in the restaurant and was gone. I hope he remembers the excitement. It will certainly be one of the funniest family memories we'll look back on.