My Man!

This is My Man, Chilly!
Today is his Birthday!

There's so much I could say about him...
I love him so much and he's forever devoted
to Jesus,
to me,
to our children
and to the people we're called to.

In honor of him I decided to post a few quotes
that I jotted down in my journal during his sermon
this weekend from the series "Lessons from the John"
.... yup... these are JUST from ONE message!
(and you can hear it on podcast for yourself, too!)
------------------------------
"The enemy temps us in our weakness to bring
out our failures.
But God tests us in our strengths to bring out our best!"
------------------------------
"It's always tempting to think that we're stronger
than we really are."
-------------------------------
"The Father may hurt you, but He'll NEVER harm you."

I love you, Chilly Chilton!

Sweet 16 Party!

If you read my blog from Tuesday you know that our
beautiful, oldest daughter is the Birthday Girl this week!
Today!
Sixteen Years ago TODAY our pink little baby girl
entered the world. I'm so proud to be her Mom!



We celebrated on Tuesday.... ROCK THE PARK!

It was simple, fun and reflective of her taste!




She painted old vinyl records and we hung
them all over the trees!



Melted records made great picture frames for
childhood & current pics!

(Place record over a metal bowl or baking
pan for 2 min. in a 250 degree oven,
then carefully mold.
It cools quickly! If you mess up,
simply put back into the oven)



We also melted records into serving bowls
and trays, which we lined with a piece of
wax paper. (forgot to take pics)
Some of them were old, scratched
up Motown records... pretty cool!
(since that's where we live)

And her cake!
Wow, it looked so sweet!
It was our first try at using fondant... and it was
blast to make. Mariah did all the little details on it.

iPOD CAKE!



(fondant tastes a little weird, but looks SO cool!)



I love you, sweet girl! Happy Birthday! xoxox

Sixteen Years Ago??

It's Tuesday... my computer is... um unconscious...
(we're hoping it's not a fatal situation...sigh).

I'm using Riley's computer... she's turning 16 this week!
eeeeekkkkk! SIXTEEN!!!!
(What in the world?)

Preparing for her celebration ...so FUN! We're doing tons
of stuff ourselves... ok... everything ourselves. (The cake
may be our all-time best yet!... pics will follow in another
blog later this week!)

As we've been hanging out, working, planning, creating,
crafting, melting, molding, etc... I've had so much fun with
her. I've thought about how she...

- toddled across the lawn from our Canton house to the
church saying, "Ever-body audda go to Sunday cool."

-told everyone we "ate our doggy for Sanks-giving"
(that's another blog for another day)

-thought every teenager in Youngstown was "her Repo kid"

-started school and led a little friend to Jesus in KINDERGARTEN!

-endured a rough year as the "new kids" in Royersford

-was a lead role in every kids' musical in West Chester

-started cooking dinner nightly while I was on bed rest in Ferndale

-ministered in nursery and kids' ministry in Hamtramck

-started taking bass guitar lessons & soon began playing on Sundays

-became good friends with Real Church mascot, Buddy! wink, wink

What I don't remember is exactly how she changed & grew....so FAST!
it's happened too quickly!

She's beautiful, sweet, considerate, helpful, smart, funny, friendly, doesn't
argue and is just a wonderful living example of Jesus - who happens to
have red hair at the moment!

She's lived in lotsa places, lotsa addresses... lots of experiences!
And her life is still only beginning. I'm so proud of her!!!

SIXTEEN years ago I was lying around, miserably saying,
"Please, come on baby... come out! Get movin!"

Now, I look across the room at my beautiful daughter and
say, "Wait, slow down. I adore you! "

I love you, Riley!

Another Reason to Love Fridays

I've discovered a whole new online subculture
(it probably has a cool name, but give me a break!)

Sites where I get FREE stuff... mailed right to my house!
and GREAT ideas, COOL connections, etc.
But the FREE stuff is great!
Besides getting lots & lots of shampoo & conditioner,
body wash, lotion & cleanser,
cleaners, paper towels, dryer sheets and toothpastes...

I now have magazine subscriptions ... FOUR of them... FREE!
Oh, wait. last week I just signed up for FAMILY FUN... so make
that FIVE free-year-long-subscriptions! SWEET!

For a while now I've been telling my friends that
I'd post a few of the sites ... and so... I am!
(there's tons more if you click on their links)

Momadvice

Freebies 4 Mom

Tipnut.com

homemadesimple.com

Quickandsimple.com

Justfreestuff.com

Download.com

Morethanenough.com

Becentsable.com

Momsminivan.com

Hopefully some of these will be helpful to you..
and maybe FREE stuff, too!

Happy FRIDAY!




(Zoe's watching this with me!)

Currently Watching Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 2 By Little House on the Prairie see related

Save One

Yesterday I was honored to spend a little time with
Sheila Harper from Tennessee, who is traveling
around the Michigan area this week.

Years ago she founded SaveOne, ministry for those who
have suffered from abortion. From her own painful
past God has transformed her life and the lives of
countless others.

Her mission is simple. She offers a book and training
DVD to any church and/or ministry that desires to
offer this 12 week class to their church/community.

My heart was encouraged to sit with her.
My heart is also excited that this could possibly be
another avenue to reach our city for Jesus.

I'm impressed and excited at the many possible ways
God will continue to lead us as we follow His calling
here in "Hamtown."

What is the door God has opened for you, today?
Think about it... ACT on it!

Netta's NICHE- Wholewheat & Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

My number one focus/ministry/calling is my family.
Taking care of my husband and children tops all!

There's a whole subculture of interesting blogs,
sites, magazines, TV shows, etc that tell us how
to live better, more efficiently and within a budget.

SO... I've decided that from time to time I'll post
a segment entitled "Netta's Niche" which will
be my take on something that's either
- timesaving
-money-saving
-healthy
-creative
-fun! etc...etc...etc....

My first NICHE is a recipe I've experimented with
for several months... and finally "perfected" a few
weeks ago! It's my attempt to make my favorite
breakfast food healthier!


WHOLEWHEAT & OATMEAL BANANA PANCAKES
1 C wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 T Splenda (optional)
1 1/2 C quick oatmeal
2 eggs , beaten
1 3/4 C skim milk
1/4 C mashed banana

Mix well.
Cook on hot griddle (use cooking spray).

We like to top these with natural peanutbutter.
(Aldi's sells it now! yum)
And then we do put syrup on it (hey, it's MY niche!)
and you CAN buy LITE syrup.

Other TIPS:
1. Bananas can be put in the freezer when they get
spotted. Then defrost them when you're ready to cook with them.
They'll be all mushy and weird-looking, but they're perfect for cooking!

2. Skim Milk can be made from powdered skim milk.
It saves money and it always handy.
1/3 C powdered milk + 1 C water = 1 C milk

3. Wholewheat flour is pricey! You can mix 1/2 white
and 1/2 wheat for just about any recipe.

Happy Monday!

He lives with Jesus now

Many of you have heard me talk about my
dear friend, Jodi. Because we grew up together
I adore her entire family.

Her sister, Paula & husband, Jerry, are missionaries
to Zambia, but have been in the states for a few weeks
awaiting the delivery of their first & long-awaited
baby.

The baby was born this morning.
His Mommy held his little body, but he wasn't there.
His life went to be with Jesus before his body entered the world.

Please... Please pray for my friends!
As much as my heart aches for them,
there pain is beyond my comprehension.

Please stop now and pray for them.

What's going on?

"What's going on
isn't always about
what's really going on."
(quote from my friend Ilene)

We know there's always more to the story, more underneath,
more that's unspoken or misunderstood. There's reasons that
aren't obvious and emotions that run deep from situations
about which we have no clue.

I'm praying for wisdom:

Wisdom to listen more & talk less.
Wisdom to understand with the heart of Christ.
Wisdom to watch, pay attention and pray... BEFORE I talk!
(see the Book of JAMES! from the BIBLE!)

This doesn't just apply to those I "minister" to, but to
those who are my highest calling... my family!

My husband deserves more attention.
My children deserve more listening time and eye contact.
My dog deserves... uh... well, it's gunna stop there!

There's more to what's going on than meets the eye...
have you noticed?

Currently Reading Large Print Thompson Chain Reference Bible-NIV see related

Rescue them all?

When we're passionate for Jesus we wanna
rescue everyone! We wanna save them all
from their sinfulness, depression, heartache, etc...

but we CAN'T.

Yeah, I said it. WE CAN'T!!!

It may start out as passion, but can quickly turn
into an insecurity or a need-to-be-needed;
and it pushes us into thinking that we can
"rock someone's world for Jesus."

We're not called to "rock people's world",
that's what JESUS does!
We're called to lead them to Jesus,
tell them about what He's done and
then encourage & teach them.

Jesus does the "rock'n"!
Jesus does the saving.

My life should be an arrow that points to
His LOVE and HIS ability to change their lives!
When we think it's our job to change them it brings
out the bossy, impatient, inconsiderate side of us.

Let's do more pointing to Him & loving them.
Jesus will do the changing.

That's a relief.

It's 8.8.08

It's the 3rd month of summer... we've done lotsa
fun things, gone to some fun places and seen
some fun stuff & fun people.
(and YES, I used FUN over and over on purpose!)

We've HAD a FUN summer so far.

But, my ideas and budget are starting to be depleted.
Now what?
We still have several weeks of summer left.
So I'm looking for inspiration.

But wait...

Notice the cool date.
eighth month, eighth day, eighth year!

But um... whatdoya do with that?

So, I went to my favorite silly holiday site
where my creative juices are sparked into action,
but alas... not really today.

It's only ideas where Nat'l Kool-Aid Day today...
so, yeah, we'll drink it, do some art with the dry mix
and maybe make some icy-pops. But, I'm still bored with that.

BUT the cool date... let's get back to that!
The 8...8...8 thing!

Here's the plan: CELEBRATE 8!
(sounds like Sesame Street... not all bad!)

-Serve my family bowls of 8 tiny scoops of ice cream
-Play 8 silly games
-Sing 8 silly songs in the car while running errands
-Serve everyone 8 mini meatballs
(+2 jars of sauce cooked in crock-pot with frozen meatballs,
served over pasta noodles)
-Give everyone 8 good-nights hugs and kisses
-Call the grandparents and wish them "Happy 8 Day!"

Silly.. yes.
Fun... yes.
Giving some fun to ordinary stuff... yeah.

(even if the kids don't appreciate it all, at least their
Mom appreciates the break from the norm!)

HAPPY 8 Day!

Joy...NOW!

Remember the phrases used over & over
in the 1990's....
"It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'!"
and
"It's dark outside,
but JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!"

I know those lines are intended to encourage,
and I'm all about cheering others on (see Monday's blog),
but it can mess up the NOW part of life.

I can't serve God just cuz He's gunna make things
better in the future...

Simply SERVING Him NOW must bring me the
joy and satisfaction I crave.

Letting go of "what may come" or "later down the road"
and serve Him with all my
passions,
thoughts,
attitudes & energy...
right NOW!
(Luke 10:27, my paraphrase)

I'm not in this because of what Jesus "can do for me!"
I am in this because of what He's already done for me!"

While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me!
Romans 5:8

That's enough. MORE than enough.
JESUS, You're MORE than enough!

"We must get to the place where we get our
JOY from obedience."
R.T. Kendall

Currently Reading By Love Transformed By R. T. Kendall see related

Once a Cheerleader...

I'm not a teenager anymore...
there's a news flash, huh?

There's not a chance you're gunna see me
in a short, pleated skirt ...
(hey, mine were never too short)

My jumps are only slightly off the floor now
and my stamina... um...
(can you hear me chuckling right now?)

However, a few things are alive & well
from my Jr. High and Sr. High cheerleading days:

1. My voice can still silence a R-o-w-d-y room!
2. I can still kick over my head (no kidding... even
when I was pregnant I could do it... all 5 times!)
3. and, I still find great joy in cheering others on to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

As much as you'd love to see some link to You Tube proving that
I can really kick my leg over my head, this blog is about CHEERING!

Cheering others on toward love & good deeds!
(Heb. 10:24)

Being the star, or the coach doesn't really appeal to me.
Sometimes I think I want more...
and when I try to make it happen, or wish for it,
or even feel bummed out cuz I don't have it...
it messes me up... and then I mess things up.

I'm created to CHEER!
I'm a cheerleader!
There's no shame in my game...

In 7th, 8th and 9th grades I tried sports...
I was... well, let's just say that I'm super grateful
that events weren't video tapes then...
Yes... I'm that old! Knock it off.

Anyway, cheering was... and IS my thing!
I'm created to find the good in others,
point it out,
affirm it,
encourage it's development
and be a loud, cheerful voice of love!

Once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader!


NOTE: And to Mrs. Judy Young, my Jr. & Sr. High Cheering Coach,
who is again in my life, who left a "forever-mark" on my
heart and who reads my blog... I love you! THANK YOU
for believing in me and helping me develop so many areas
of my life! You taught me how to cheer in more ways than one!

(hmm, maybe later today I'll dig out an old cheerleading pic
and post it, just for fun.
um... then again, maybe NOT!)