Christmas Day 2007

We had such a blast!  Happy birthday Jesus!!!  Check out the video and post comments. . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT

South Louisiana fun

Sorry that we've been out of pocket lately.  Once again we took a whirlwind tour of the South the week before Christmas.  We left the morning of December 19th (Michelle's bday) and made it to Lafayette that evening.  We ate gumbo and boudin :) opened presents, and hung out with my family and then left for New Orleans early Friday morning.  That night we hit Chuck E. Cheese with Paw-Paw Duke and Avuela.  Saturday night was the famous Gogreve Christmas party.  The best crawfish etoufee and crab dip the world has ever scene along with the most fun and crazy family in the South sums it up.  We played dirty Santa, ate way too much, and enjoyed catching up with family we don't see enough.  Early the next morning we headed back to Lafayette to see my brother and his girlfriend who drove in from Austin.  He cooked an incredible soup with crab and potatoes and made this incredible sauce for the shredded chicken sandwiches (ca c'est bon!!!!)

Anyway, we left that night for Memphis, got in bed by 12:30am.  I was at work at 8:30 on Christmas Eve (ok more like 8:45) and helped to lead the family Christmas eve candlelight service that night.  We listened to children's choirs (this time we kept Ethan with us in the congregation), sang carols, watched a children's pageant, and lit candles as we sang Silent Night and Joy to the World.  It was such an exciting thing to see about 700 children and 500 adults gather to anticipate Christ's birth!  We got home and put the kids to bed only to stay up late wrapping presents and playing St. Nick.

Needless to say, we're exhausted and at least I have gained 5 pounds!!!!  But it's all worth it.  Check out the video on the next post for what all of this family, food, and fun has been anticipating and building up to. . .

(sorry for lack of photos, I can't find my card reader after the trip)

pre-Christmas fun

This night Daddy was with the kids and tried to take a group Christmas photo to send to you all. After 63 attempts I gave up (2 of my favorites pictured here)

Another night we went to the "Alpine Village" at a local church. It was so much fun! There was a ton of artificial snow (which helped get into the winter mood with our 70+ temperatures) and plenty of fun - but the Ethan-angel can be misleading. . .

And finally was the Children's choir presentation tonight. Ethan was worried about stage fright, which didn't end up being a problem. . .but he didn't foresee the inability to stay still. . . Check out the video, it's classic:

He was trying to pull his shirt over his neighbor's head at the end (on case you missed it)

Christmas Deco

Merry Crooked Christmas

We had lots of fun decorating our tree this year.  It has taken Michelle a couple of years to figure out and accept that it is going to be pure chaos.  Everyone wants to put ornaments on at the same time,  Everyone wants to put on the SAME ornament and there will be at least 5 broken ornaments.  So, knowing this Michelle took a big breath and had a good time.  Jamey has a similar issue, except it is about getting the silly tree to stand up straight.  About 15 minutes into Jamey trying to do everything to get this tree up, Ethan put it all in perspective.  He said, " Dad it doesn't have to be perfect... none of us are perfect and the tree doesn't have to be either."  Jamey agreed and the decorating of the crooked tree continued.  Merry Crooked Christmas.  

We got elfed

Be prepared to laugh out loud

click here - WE GOT ELFED!!!!!!!

Thanks to Dave and Lauren for the link!

The Tree of Thanks!
Sorry it took a little longer than expected to get this picture up. It seems that Michelle goes on vacation when we have family in town! Thank you for sending us your leaves. It was so great to hear about all the things you have to be thankful for. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you did too.

holla if you hear us

If you're a true family fun fan - show your love in the comment section. Click "comments" then write a few words to let us know you're out there. The fun thing about blogs is the interaction!

LEAF JUMPING

Definitely in the top 10 free things to do for on a Fall day:

Walking and Blowing Bubbles

New things are exciting--whether it's walking across the room or learning to blow bubbles in your juice. . .


BTW, pray for John Markie--he's sick, 100.7 last night. We are getting so excited as we look forward to Turkey Day. Grannie, John-John, Omie, and Aunt Andrea are coming over the river and through the woods to join us in giving Thanks! Stay tuned for the adventure. . .

Ruined For Good

Thursday nights, have been for the last year, our Grace Group night. This is a time when Jamey and Michelle go to share life with a wonderful group of people. We have a meal and a time of Bible Study and fellowship. It really is the highlight of our week! When we are gone all the kids stay at our house. All 7 of them! The poor babysitter tries to maintain order, but spends most of her time running behind 6 boys. Well, last night was quite the exception, it seems as the boys prevailed.

Michelle's business has really taken off and has allowed her to do some speaking engagements. She teaches about the importance of family traditions, values and having a strong family life. Last night she went to speak to a group of women that God has rescued from the sex industry. It was a true privilege to see these amazing women and quite humbling to share with them. Jamey went to Grace Group as normal. But, the scene when we returned was far from normal.

It seems as though while the babysitter was putting John Mark to sleep, the kids thought it would be fun to make a "potion". This potion consisted of water, birdseed, and .... food coloring! Somehow the food coloring ended up all over the carpet of the playroom and most all of the children's extremities. When something like this happens you just sort of become speechless. But not for long! After a good lecture Ethan looked up at us and said, "It was a good plan, but it just didn't work out the way I planned in my mind." REALLY? So, Jamey spent some considerable time last night trying to get food coloring out of my tan carpet. Needless to say, most of it didn't come out.

We were left thinking about what we should do. Then God answered through a devotion sent out by Proverbs 31 ministry. The devotion TODAY was about a little girl who took a permanent marker to her mother freshly painted walls. PERFECT! It was based on the scripture Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Easier said than done. The devotion went on to remind us that these blemishes that our home suffer in the raising of children are reminders of the blessings they are to us. If the size of the blemish is equal to the blessing, we are very blessed! So, maybe my carpet is Ruined for Good. The good of practicing to speak gently.

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Amazing what a trip to Target and the home decorating gifts of Michelle Lee can do to a mess!

Bangalore, India

About a month ago I went on my first mission to Bangelore, India. I went primarily to teach at a pastors' conference for Dalit ministers from two southern states centered in Bangalore, a huge IT center with about 8 million in population. I was impacted in an incredible way, primarily by the faith and perseverance of these pastors amidst beatings and harassment by Hindu radicals.



I was impacted just as much by the faith of some children in Tammy's home. Please check out their blog: http://lifeatkhomes.blogspot.com/ The first night I visited "Grace Home" led by a fellow alumni of Asbury, Tammy. All of the 49 children are orphans. I was caught off guard when Tammy told me that I could leave my bag with laptop and camera in her unlocked office. Could orphans be trusted? But these are not ordinary orphans. We played volleyball together and they were incredible sports--congratulating the winning team and sending encouragement to each other--even across the net.

But then I truly experienced who these kids have become. Every Sun night the kids voluntarily attend "Fasting and Prayer" where they forego their evening meal and pray and worship for an hour and a half. In the first moment of the first song I felt God's presence stronger than I have for a long time. We sang a song about how God is moving all over the earth called "He Reigns" : http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/newsboys/he-reigns.html

As all of these kids, mainly ages 4-14 were raising their hands adn singing to their God who saved them, I couldn't help but weep. I don't know exactly what it is, but I keep crynig as I write this and think back on it. After singing for a while, the kids all prayed out loud together for various things - revival in India, those in the 10-40 window - pastors suffering persecution - those in Burma and Myanmar who are being oppressed, etc. The children's prayers were so passionate! They even had a time to pray for us Americans. They gathered around, laid hands on us, and prayed. After this was over, another worship son began and the children scattered. . .except one. A little boy about 5 continued to pray for me for another 4 minutes. . .wow.

After the time of worship and prayer, the children were invited to share. Many told of visions they received and words from the Lord that they heard that night while worshiping - amazing. One child about 10 shared that he had a vision of God beginning to open the 10-40 window. . .BEFORE we prayed about it! All of this simply blew me away. I would love to open our house to neighborhood kids for a time of worship and prayer like this.

See the CUMC mission trip blog for more and hear Tammy when she spoke at Asbury Seminary on 10/30/07. She made me cry--check it out:
http://media.asburyseminary.edu/audio/chapels/kentucky/2007fall/10302007-hi.mp3

John Mark's first steps

Ethan invited Jesus into his heart!

Ethan asked to invite Jesus into his heart out of the blue a couple of nights ago and we asked him to think about it some more (he had a really bad day and we wanted to make sure it wasn't an emotional response). He brought it up again tonight and asked how to do it. I explained that his heart has to be clean for God to live there because God is holy. We talked about what it means to be holy and how if and when Ethan invites Jesus in, he would be different. He decided he would wait and think about it some more. After a few minutes he decided he was ready and wanted to be different for God. He asked God to show him his sins while I brought Michelle upstairs. He came up with four: Hitting his sister, lying, spanking his sister, and disobeying his parents (we helped him remember that one). Ethan then prayed for God to take away those sins and then invited Jesus to live in his heart and to be his Lord. Michelle and I layed hands on him and prayed over him.

He said, "I don't feel different, but I probably will tomorrow. . .probably." We are so excited!

Trunk or Treat!

Ethan was a baseball "bat," Julianne, a flower, and John Mark a giraffe (just like his brother and sister were at age 1). Great story about the bat teeth. We went to 4 stores looking for these silly teeth with no luck so we finally decided to pray. We walked into Target and looked up and down every Halloween aisle. I completely gave up and told Ethan so. But we decided to go around the corner and look one other place. And there were the teeth! Ethan says, "I think we ought to thank God before we leave the store." So we prayed right then and there in front of 2 ladies. Ethan then shared the miracle with the check-out guy and hundreds of others since.

Check out the video to see the vicious baseball "bat" in action with all of his neighborhood friends. Our local coffee shop, the Caritas Village, hosted us with hot dogs, candy, and lots of bump & grind music . . . we had a blast!

The New Addition

Michelle's Mom called in the middle of the night last Sunday to tell us that our new niece and cousin was soon to arrive. Hannah Elizabeth Widener was born only a few hours after that phone call. Michelle and the three kids headed for New Orleans the very next morning. After seven very, very, very long hours in the van driving in the pouring down rain they arrived to see the new baby. Julianne couldn't wait to hold her new baby cousin and Ethan was so excited to see her "baby toes." She is so sweet.
While Michelle spent the next few days in New Orleans, Ethan and Julianne went to Lafayette to spend time with Jamey's folks. They had so much fun! The theme for this visit was "pumpkins." They colored pumpkin pictures, made pumpkin cookies, did pumpkin crafts and of course took a trip to the pumpkin patch. They also went to a garage sale and bought many toys. Grannie said that it was just pure joy letting the kids buy anything they wanted. They came home with a garbage bag full!
On Sunday we packed and got ready for the long trip home. This time the sky was clear and we were all ready to see Daddy! On the ride home we sang worship songs, watched movies and John Mark well.... ate his toes. If there are toes in your mouth it is hard to cry so mommy was happy.

Camping Trip

Last week was crazy at work! My assistant Cheryl was on vacation, I had a really important Evangelism Team meeting on Tues night where we evaluated a few key ministries that we're about to change then the long-awaited Evangelism Breakfast on Thursday morning where we trained our most active evangelists. Then on Sunday was New Beginnings Lunch which takes a lot of time to prep for. On top of all that, Monday afternoon I found out that I had to preach on Sunday! I cleared out my schedule as much as I could but still ended up working over 50 hours. So when I had put the finishing touches on my sermon and got off Friday afternoon I was ready to relax with my family and get as far away from work as possible. It was a gorgeous day--the temperature had dropped and we had one of those electric blue autumn skies. I had a spontaneous idea. . .a family campout. But would the wife go for it?

I pitched the idea and she reminded me that three of the family members had a stomach virus and that a tent was no place for throw up. I don't want to brag, but I somehow talked her into going anyway--on the condition that we would get dinner and breakfast at the general store right outside of the campsite.

So we went to Meeman-Shelby State Park for a weekend of fun. It was a little tough with the stomach aches, but no one threw up and I think it was worth the risk and the hardship.


But if we didn't take risks and push through tough times I guess we would just stay locked up in our safe comfortable homes. HOW BORING!!!! I would rather be camping.

The Pumpkin Party!

This past weekend while Michelle was taking her Sabbath Rest Jamey, Julianne and Ethan along with some neighborhood kids carved this lovely pumpkin. It turned out quite interesting since everyone had a turn with the carving knife. After the carving Jamey read them The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. This book illustrates how a loving Farmer can turn a simple pumpkin into a simply glorious sight. In the same way, God's transforming love can fill each of our hearts with joy and light. The kids had a GREAT time.

Stuck Forever?

There are two things you need to know about Julianne. First is that she is in the official stage of "I can do it myself." She is the middle child so this particular stage has seemed to be somewhat exaggerated. The second thing is that she is very dramatic! She is definitely a girl. But, today her independence and drama was used by God to remind me that He is a God that sees the big picture, and knows how to bring me comfort even when I overreact to a stressing time. So, Julianne found a highlighter and colored a beautiful picture on her PANTS. Yes, her brand New pants. I proceeded to take the pants and try to get even a little of the neon green out when she snuck off and to my surprise went and put on some new clothes. She came downstairs parading that she had got these bloomers on all by herself and that she was sorry for having colored on her other pants. WE both had a great moment of happiness. I was moving on to cleaning up another mess when I heard A horrible scream coming from the living room followed by the words.. "I'm stuck and I will never get out!" Out of shear fear I ran in the living room to find her in a panic trying to take off the very bloomers she had just so proudly put on. Seems as though the bloomers were ones Grannie(Jamey's mom) had made last year and they were a little too small. Giggling I helped her remove the bloomers and comforted my poor child. But, I realized so many times I project that I will be "stuck forever" over something that God is so able to help me with. Sometimes when I am so proud of something I have done "all by myself" goes wrong God is there to gently remind me that all I needed to do was ask for help.

The Day and the Life

Here we go.... Michelle has finally given in! Ok, maybe blogging isn't so bad. Jamey was blogging before blogging was cool, but Michelle- not so much. First things first! You will always know which one of us is posting because Jamey knows how to spell every word know to man, Michelle-not so much. (By the way, if anyone knows how to do spell check on this thing let me know.) Jamey can take any thought and write it in a moving, passionate and grammatically correct manner. Michelle-not so much! So please save all the post about grammer and spelling and just enjoy a mother's view of the world! We hope that this blog will help all of you to enter into the days and the lives of the Lees. Try to say that 3 times real fast. This however, can't replace you people calling us. Michelle likes to hear your voice, Jamey-not so much. Let the adventure begin!