I Must Apologize.....SORRY!

Well obviously as you all can see I have not posted again on my Beauty by the Book. I really,really,really wanted to post on this daily.....okay twice a week......well at least once a week. Not really working for me right now. I thought I'd let you all know that it's just not going to happen right now. There is a lot of craziness (as I am sure I am NOT alone) going on in the Perkins house these days and I just can't get my stuff together. I don't want it to be rushed and just thrown out there, I want to make sure that what I choose to share is good and most importantly from God and not me. So, I am going to wait and finish that series up once I get things back to "normal" around here. Thanks for understanding! Much love and lots of prayers to you all!

Tracie

A Letter to Santa

I got this in an email from a friend and thought it was so cute and so true. p.s. if you let any of your little ones that still believe don't let them read this....

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my own doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out -- over several Christmases.

Since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles; and who knows when I'll find any more free time in the next 18 years, so now - -

*** Here are my Christmas wishes ***

* I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (-in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

* I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

* If you're hauling big-ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

* On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

* I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, 'Don't eat in the l iving room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

* If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

*If you don't mind, I could also use a few miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

*It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing, and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his red crayon back. Have a safe trip Santa, and remember to leave your wet boots by the door, and come in and dry off, so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours always with love and appreciation,
A Mom

P.S. One more thing . . You can cancel all my requests, if you can keep my children 'young' enough to believe in Santa.

C.O.D.

I took this idea from my BF...hope she does not mind. This song makes my heart sing. ENJOY!!!!

Beauty by The Book

Okay, so as promised I am beginning a little blog series on a Bible study that I had the pleasure of going through this past "semester". I will start off by saying that I do not pretend or even think that I am a teacher nor do I pretend to know it all. I just wanted to take the opportunity to share with those of you that read regularly and anyone else who may stumble upon my blog what I have learned through this study. When I heard the name of this study I was not sure what it was all about but after the first day I was hooked. I want you to know that I was convicted about something EVERY week of this study. God is so amazing and he spoke to me through this very clearly, probably the most clear I've ever heard Him. I hope you enjoy and if you ever get the chance to do the actual study....DO IT!!!!

Introduction:

Have you ever thought about beauty from a biblical standpoint? Most of think of beauty in the physical sense and that tends to lead to vanity. I never really had read all of Proverbs but through this study Proverbs spoke to me. I've never been very good at understanding what most of the scriptures in the Bible mean. I don't like to admit it but that is one thing that keeps me from reading my Bible daily and often is the reason I don't "complete" a whole Bible study. Well, these scriptures in Proverbs leave little room for misunderstanding and I give praise to God that these words were so clear to me.

Please bare with me and my "wordiness" I will do my best not to ramble but this intro is a little long....

The author of this study is Laurie Cole. She's as "Texan" as they come. She is a very wise teacher and one that speaks boldly and speaks the truth no matter what. In the introductory paragraphs she talks a little about how if you would have asked her if she ever thought she'd do a study on beauty...."How shallow", "Wrong"! However God changed her mind and showed her that God wants ALL of his daughters to be beautiful-biblically beautiful, that is.

She gives a warning that this Bible study contains material that may be deemed offensive by women (even you), but she's writing it anyway....Study at your own risk!

She also warns that God's Word is powerful. It has the power to reprove and correct, to judge and offend, and to pierce us to the very quick of our hearts (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12). Also, In today's world God's Word seems ("seems" not "is") old-fashioned and out-dated. So, adopting God's definition on beauty will require us to swim against some very strong cultural currents....Now we begin

Physical Beauty vs. Biblical Beauty

Physical Beauty...

1. Is God- Given. Ezekiel 16:4-13
2. Is attention - getting. Ezekiel 16:14
3. Is pride - inducing. Ezekiel 16:15
4. Is spiritually corrupting Ezekiel 16:15-18

Biblical Beauty:

1. Is God - Given. 1 Peter 3: 3-4
2. Is gentle and quiet. 1 Peter 3: 3-4
3. Is precious in God's sight. 1 Peter 3: 3-4
4. Is unfading and eternal. 1 Peter 3: 3-4

Question: How do you become a biblically beautiful woman of God?

Answer: By beholding God and upholding the standard of HIS Word.

Things to think about as you read over these scriptures and start your journey to become a biblically beautiful woman...

When God looks at us He thinks we are beautiful!

Physical beauty is not a bad thing but it can be DANGEROUS!!!!

This study takes you through 5 days of studying and then we'd have a video lesson during our group time. I will do my best to blog each day as if you were doing the actual lessons and then on day 6 I will blog about the video session. Please forgive me in advance if I don't always get these things out on time....So on "day one" we'll discuss the 5 Beauty Dos and Don'ts.

As with each day before you being studying in this Laurie always reminds us to begin with prayer and ask for wisdom....we'll learn about "her" tomorrow as well.

Until then I hope I've gotten you intrigued enough to want to "tune" in daily. Pass the word on to your other blogging friends, who knows what God will do with all of this. I can't wait to see!!!!

Prayers and Blessings,
Tracie

Do You Know Her????

Do you know the Proverbs 31 Woman? I have heard about her for the last few years from my BF and knew that she desired to be her but I did not share the same sentiment. Well, has that all changed! You know God is sneaky! Since moving here to Magnolia I have had the opportunity to attend more bible studies than ever before. The church we attend here offers many bible studies throughout the year and I've had the privilege to attend a few of them. Last spring I did a bible study from the book Intimate Issues and let me tell you the Proverbs 31 woman is ALL over that one! I was convicted more than once but honestly I did not read the actual book. I can only imagine what convictions I'll receive when I get through the actual pages and not just from the speaker. However I did not really put forth any effort to change those convictions...Then this semester our nursery staff bible study was called Beauty by the Book by Laurie Cole. I had never heard of this speaker but she's from Houston. (in all honesty I'd really only heard of Beth Moore) This bible study was AWESOME!!!!! I recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to do it. Not only was this study about the Proverbs 31 woman but about 5 different types of women....Beauty Do's and Beauty Don't s according to Proverbs. It was the most eye opening, heart grabbing, and gut wrenching study I've ever done. I have done much better at applying the things I've learned the past 6 weeks than I did with the Intimate Issues study...but apparently not enough! Yesterday our church held its annual Holiday Market. It's a one day event with a lot of different vendors that we get to go around and shop at their booths, a luncheon and a special guest speaker. It's just for ladies and it was so much fun. The speaker was Michelle McKinney Hammond, a lady I'd never heard of but guess what she spoke on.....PROVERBS 31! She had some things to say that made once again realize that there is a reason the Lord keeps putting this in front of me. See I told you God was sneaky! LOL!!! I have talked about the Beauty by the Book study with my BF and told her I how much I loved it and that I was going to start blogging about it but I never started. After yesterday I feel even more lead to share the wonderful things I've learned from that study with all of you in hopes that the Lord will use it to bless you and open your eyes to things you may not even be aware of. That is what it did for me!!! So starting after Thanksgiving I will share from the bible study and pray that it will reach those in need and bless many other ladies just as I have been blessed.

I do want to share this one thing that Michelle McKinney Hammond said yesterday that I think is very important about this Proverbs 31 woman....she was not made into that woman in ONE day, it took many seasons of her life!

May you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy the time you spend with your loved ones! Thanks for reading but most of all thanks for being my friends!

I love you!!!!

Pizza... Pizza

I thought it would be fun to share what we had for dinner last night. Pizza, but it was pizza that the kids made themselves. A friend of mine had a fund raiser for one of her children and they sold the Little Caesar's Pizza kits along with their crazy bread and cinna stix. I used to love Little Caesar's Pizza but they are not around much anymore. Since my DH is out of town I thought it would be fun if I let the kids do thier own pizza and then we made the cinna stix for dessert....It was a lot of fun and YUMMY!!!! If you ever get a chance to buy from this fund raiser I suggest you buy some pizza kits!


YUMMY YUMMY TO MY TUMMY!!!!!

Our Weekends

Just thought you might be curious about our weekends here in the BIG city of Magnolia, Texas. For us it pretty much consists of a Saturday and Sunday filled with baseball games. To some it may not sound like a lot of fun but for me it is what I dreamed of when I would dream of becoming a mom. I remember my childhood so vividly and most of it was spent on the soccer field or the basketball court. I also remember my parents being at just about every game I ever had and that was a lot! Between my brother and I it was non-stop. I now have a much greater appreciation for what my parents did for me. Now, I used to think that I'd have little mini me's on the soccer field but that has not happened ( I am still holing out for DD) so we've settled in the world of baseball. Who knew 5 and 6 year old baseball could be so exciting? Well we've found out that it can be VERY exciting. Not so much with DS#2(yet!) but with DS#1 it's CRAZINESS!!! We've been blessed with some very gifted and great coaches. Once DS#2 gets to the same level it will be almost too much to handle. These boys are having so much fun and that is the main reason it gets so exciting. Our coaches make sure that they are being taught the proper fundamentals of the game but also make sure they have a lot of fun. My dear hubby takes all he learns from DS#1's team and teaches it to DS#2's team. That description alone is worth another blog (ah haaa moment! yeah) Be looking for that one.... Anyway, DS#1's team is doing quite well as this is the first season for these particular boys to play together. I thought I'd share some pics of both DS#1 and#2 so you all could see them in their element!

Gig Em' Aggies...

GO STANGS!!!!

There you have it. The exciting life of a "Baseball Mom"!