Ten Candles

It's birthday season again around here, and we're

kicking it off with a ten candle celebration!

It's so hard to believe my baby girl has already reached this milestone

and as I was planning her party I realized that the way we celebrated

nine candles

last summer should have been the party this year!

My dilemma? 

How to have the same amount of FUN

with fewer frills and less money?

THEN... 

when I found this mini doll place setting,

I knew exactly what to do!

First we invited the girls

(and their dolls)...

    

      

served mini snacks...

carrots and cucumbers w/ ranch

apples and grapes w/ yogurt

corndogs and pizza rolls

decorated doll t-shirts...

 



made matching flip flops

from cardboard... 

 

frosted and decorated

mini cupcakes...

(for the dolls, of course)

and watched my little girl

enjoy the love and support

of her friends and family

It's birthday season!

Up next... 

"Mud Mania"

A Lesson from Peter... In Just Six Verses

While reading Matthew 16:13-27,

I received an unexpected

"Lesson From Peter"

and Jesus' response to Peter in 

verses 17 and 23 that stood out in particular

                                                                

17. And Jesus Answered "Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven".          

23. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me for thou savors not the things that be of God, but those that be of men  

And I couldn't help but notice that...

Peter went from being praised

to being reprimanded...

from being called blessed

to being called an offence...

from being enlightened by God

to being used by Satan...

in just six verses!

And it is clear that Peter had other problems

ups and downs

good encounters

bad ones

At times he was attacked

other times he was the attacker

He denied

He lied

He drew the sword

because

Peter had issues...

Peter was human...

Peter was imperfect...

and yet he was chosen

--------------------

Standing on the Rock

 by Tondra Denise

 

The tide rolled out every afternoon

and I watched it from the shore 

 

 The tide rolled in every afternoon

each day the same as before

 

God showed me by rolling back the tide

that daily He's ever near

 

So standing on the Rock is where I'll be

and I'll never have need to fear

----------------------

 and as we watch Peter

grow in God

mature

receive the keys to the Kingdom

(and the precious gift of the Holy Ghost)

we begin to see less of his inconsistencies

as he begins to use all of that misdirected passion

to bless others and lead them to salvation

(And here is the lesson...)

Because if we too, are to be successful in this journey

we must also battle our inconsistencies

We must all battle

our own inconsistencies

misdirected passions

ideologies

selfish ambitions

and shift the focus from...

what others do,

and how it affects me

to

what I do,

and how it affects others

We must not only talk grace,

we must walk it

daily

If we truly want to replace our

public failures with private victories

We must learn from Peter

so that when the six verses are finally up

it ends with "Well done"