PumpkinPatchParable

The farmer grew many different things in his fields. He grew tall green corn and big red tomatoes...long yellow squash and little green peas. People eat that stuff for dinner.

"I am the true vine, my Father is the gardener." John 15:1

The farmer especially loved to grow pumkins. In June, the farmer planted him pumkin seeds, just like he did every summer. The seeds disappeared into the ground in nead rows and grew there in the dark, all through the Forth of July.

"This is what the story means: The seed is God's teaching." Luke 8:11

From each seed, a tiny green shoot slowly poked its way out of the soil. Soon, long green vines stretched across the ground. Their leaves opened wide to catch the August sun. From those vines, tiny buds sprouted into little pumpkins. The pumkins began to grow. How different they looked! Some were tall and lean. Some were short and round. Some had lumps and bumps. They were all pumpkins.

"My hand made all things. All things are here becuase I made them," says the Lord." Isaiah 66:2

October came at last. Every night grew dark earlier than the night before, and the farmer knew it was harvest time. His workers brought in the ripe pumpkins. Which one would the farmer choose?

"Open your eyes. Look at the fields that are ready for harvesting now." John 4:35The farmer picked up one large pumkin, taking great care. Pumkins are tough on the outside but break into smitherines if dropped. He washed off all the dirt, holding on tight.

"Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away." Acts 22:16

Next came the messy part. The pumpkin was filled with seeds and slimy pulp. The farmer had a special plan for his chosen pumpkin, so the seeds adn slime would have to go.

"Create in me a pure heart, God." Psalm 51:10

He slowly slid in his knife and cut all the way around the top of the pumpkin. Gently, he pulled the stem, and it came off like a lid.
"God's word is alive and working. It is sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. It cuts all the way into us...And God's word judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts." Hebrews 4:12

The farmer looked inside. Squishy, stringy pulp waited for him...yuck!

"I am the Lord, and I can look into a person's heart." Jeremiah 17:10

The farmer carved a triangle for each eye. Pumpkins have eyes that don'e blink or turn away. They see everything!

"The eye is a light for the body. If your eyes are good, then your whole body will be full of light." Matthew 6:22

He neatly made a little square for the nose, and then he carved a big, w-i-d-e smile.

"Happiness makes a person smile." Proverbs 15:13

The farmer put a small candle inside his pumpkin and touched the wick with a flame. How that pumkin glowed!

"God once said, "Let the light shine out of the darkness!" And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts." 2 Corinthians 4:6

The pumkin on the porch shone brightly for everyone to see. When people saw the smiling pumpkin, they all smiled back!

"In the same way, you should be the light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do. Live so that they will praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

All the neighbors knew that, once again, the farmer had turned a simple pumpkin into a simply glorious sight. In the same way, God the Father offers His children the chance to be made new, full of joy an full of light, shining like the stars in a dark world.

"If anyone belongs to Christ, then he is made new. The old things have gone; everything is made new!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

"The Pumpkin Patch Parable"

by Liz Curtis Higgs

ATripToTheER!!!

Here we are...waiting for the DR to come back in. Does she really look like she needs to be at the ER?!?!

Well, the answer to that question would be "yes"......about 2 minutes prior to this picture.

Let me start at the begining.....
Breck, Taylor, and I decided to walk over to the school and have lunch with Kaicee. On the way home, we were all racing each other and being silly. Breck was winning, so I decided to pick Taylor up....by her hands....and swing her around in an attempt to catch up. That's were the problem was! In an innocent attempt to have fun with my girls, I dislocated her arm!!!!

This is not the first time this has happened. The morning of her 1st birthday party was also spent in the ER for the same reason....only that time we weren't sure exactly how it had happened. The Dr told us that "nurse maid elbow" is very common in little kids. It usually happens when they are picked up by their wrist instead of under their arms. However, sometimes at a young age, they can dislocate the arm by simply rolling over wrong in their crib. The first time we went, Taylor had actually put it back into place on her own by the time we got to the ER...also very common.

Well, this time....mommy was the bad guy! Since she has had this happen once already, her chances of it happening again are greater. I decided to lay her down for her nap and see how she felt when she woke up, thinking that maybe she was just overly tired and I had just pulled a bit too hard. When she woke up from her nap still crying and refusing to move her arm, I decided to call our family doctor. They advised us to go to the ER in case we had to have xrays. So, we loaded up and headed to the ER. On the way, she seemed to cheer up a bit and even started to move it a little once we were there. The Dr came in, held onto her elbow and gently twisted her wrist....viola! We had a new, happy little girl!

After popping it back into place, we had to stay for a few minutes to make sure she was using it ok. She was instantly walking around and trying to get in to everything! Good thing we packed some books!

FamilyPics

Here is a sneak peek at our family pictures we had taken a couple weeks ago. I don't have the cd yet, so this is all I've got at this point :) Enjoy!

PumpkinPatch

Our trip to Kercher's started out like this:

Our three little cuties, sitting for a perfect fall picture.

Then we headed over to the "measuring stick" prop...sorry, I don't have any better name for it than that :( Every year that we go to Kercher's for pumpkins, we take the girls' pictures beside this prop.

Our little Taytor-bug!

Little Miss Brecky-ton!

...and I nearly cried as Little Miss Kaicee walked up and stood beside her....can my baby really be getting this big?!? I still remember the first time we took Kaicee to pick pumpkins...I think I have about 100 pictures from the event :) It feels like yesterday I was bribing her to stand still so I could get her picture. Just look at her now!

Then there's mommy. Kaicee insisted that she take my picture too...and I'm sure she would have insisted on taking daddy's too, only he was holding our place in line for the hay ride.

After our little photo shoot, we climbed on the hay wagon and headed back to the pumpkin patch...which was extrememly picked over! I don't think we've ever waited this long to get our pumpkins!

And here are the winners! We let them each choose their favorite. We may have tried to pursuade them a bit, but in the end....they each got what THEY wanted :)

Daddy and his little girls!

Our family!

IsThatAMullet?!?

Well, not quite! But it looks just about as scary!

I guess I'll start with this picture. I have finally made it to my goal to donate my hair to Locks of Love. I've done this before, although I've always stopped at 8" because I just couldn't stand it anymore. Well, this time I made it to the full 10"....but for some reason I've had a hard time taking the step to get it cut.

I'm not sure exactly why...but I have.

Yesterday, on the way home from MOTT's, I decided it was time to take the plunge! I tex'd my friend, Mindi, who normally cuts my hair...the ONLY person I trust to do this! She didn't have any openings...boo!!! I knew if I didn't follow through with it NOW, I'd chicken out again by next week. So, I called upon another friend who cuts hair...someone who has never cut my hair before...eek! Angie had a cancelation, but I had to be there in an hour....with my hair washed and ready!

I packed lunches for my girls (well, two of MY girls and my extra little cutie I babysit for) so I wouldn't be late...and so they had something to do while I got it cut :)

Time for the "chop-chop"!!!...

Do you see the lady in the background?...no one in the beauty shop could bellieve I was doing this. My friend, Heather (her sister did the chopping) came up to witnees the experience :) All she could say was "OH!....OH MY!" I love her!!!

Everyone was so surprised because after she cut off the 10" ponytail......

.....she cut off another 4-6" everywhere......

.....leaving me with only about 2" on hair on my head.....

....and here, my friends, is the style I've been dreaming about for the past three months!

BibleQuizzing

Kaicee had her first quiz meet of the season today and did a good job! After the meet, we went with some great friends out to Hacienda for lunch and then to the dollar theater to watch "Up". It was Taylor's first time at a theater and she did great...she actually fell asleep about half way through! What a fun day!

GoodNight,SleepTight

Every night when I tuck the girls in bed, before leaving the room, I always tell them, "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" It was something my mom always told me and I've just kept the tradition going:) If I happen to walk out of their room without saying it, one of them will almost always say it to me.

A couple of nights ago, I said this to Breck and Taylor as I was walking out of their room. Breck simply replied, "They won't. I'll keep an eye on them!" I love her!

EpicChurch

For those of you who don't know already, my family is on the lauch team for a new church in South Mishawaka. Brooks is playing guitar in the worship band and I am the children's coordinator. It has been a fun journey so far and we are soo exctied to see what God has planned for us in the months to come!

We have spent several Sunday's visiting other churches to get a feel for what it's like to be a vistor...what are things we need to make sure we don't foget about when we launch? It's amazing some of the things you forget about when you get comfortable at your church and get used to the "Sunday morning routine". Our eyes have been opened to many things that we would have overlooked had we not taken the time to become "the vistor" again. We have also used this as a chance to get ideas from other churches on things we want to see happen at our church...and some things we don't.

Our team has decided to do a 2 stage launch. This means we will have a "soft launch" that will mostly be for our team and any friends who want to know more about Epic. We will meet in an existing church for this stage and be able to utilize their facility and supplies. This past Sunday, October 11th was that day!!! We officially launched our church and everything went well! We have an amazing team who works well together and genuinely cares for the community we are trying to reach! Here is a link to our blog... Epic Church ...where you can see pictures of our first service and stay up to date with our progress!

Please pray for us as we continue on this exciting journey God has called us to!