You've Been Tagged....

Happy Thursday!! I am so off my normal schedule due to traveling this spring break, but it has been really fun. I hope you all have a had a great week so far. I was in the bathroom at some rest area the other day. We have stopped at every rest area between Jax, FL and Tickfaw, LA due to Maddie's juice addiction. Pray for her. I had her diaper bag hung up on the little hook thingamajig and just happened to glance up at it and saw her tag that she got from our sweet church. It says Jesus loves you and so do your friends at Fort Caroline Baptist Church. I looked at Maddie and said “you've been tagged sweets”. It was a profound moment for me. Do you even know how thankful I am that I have the greatest Savior in the world that would give me the privilege of passing on my faith to my precious little girl.

As wonderful as it is, it is really scary that I may mess her up. What if I'm not good enough? But God says “I am good enough”. What if I hurt her really bad? God says “I will restore you both”. What if she sees me fail like crazy? God says “I am the only perfect one, you are not expected to be.” The mission is ginormous. My responsibility is great. On my own it is impossible, but thankfully I'm not on my own. Although it is our responsibility to raise our kids in a way that is pleasing to Him, He will give us the strength to do it. Let us just stay close to our Father and He will make us the parents we need to be. Peace out, peeps.

Spring Breakin' It

Holla all of my sweet bloggy friends!!  I am having a really fun time with my family this week.  I got to meet my little nephew, Reece, for the first time this past weekend.  He is so adorable!!  We went to this park in Pontchasomewhere (I can't remember the name of the actual place), LA yesterday to let the kids play and it had a lot of ball fields.  I was reading some of the signs and it said "No Soft Throws". I read it as "No Soft Tacos" (I am laughing while I am sitting here typing this sentence).  I thought that it was strange that there were no soft tacos allowed on the baseball field, but when I read it correctly it made every bit of sense.  I am so crazy. Anyway, I'll catch up with all of you later.

Stinky Feet....

What's going on fine folks?  Just kickin' back with a cup of coffee out of a Savannah, GA mug.  We have several mugs with different places or teams on them, so I ask myself as I go to select my mug for the morning "Laney, where would you like to go today?".  I know I am a little crazy.  OK, maybe you are saying, "the girl's a lot crazy."  That's alright.  I know it is the truth. 

Moving on, our family headed out to Chick-fil-a last night to eat. We are big fans of the great chicken establishment!  Craig "liked" this particular Chick-fil-a (Pablo Creek at Beach and Hodges) on Facebook and they sent the brother a free meal for his birthday.  Well, I'm gonna be likin' them too.  We get our food and eat and, of course, Noah and Maddie want to go play in the play area thingy (Gracie was at dance, just in case you are wondering). So Craig goes in there with them while I finish up eating.  I see this other little boy go in and all of a sudden Craig comes out saying that the "new boy" stunk it up with his feet.  Craig is using the door as a fanning mechanism and is telling me that he is about to vomit.  I am dying laughing and trying not to spray Coke Zero all over the table.  I told the man (Craig) that he had to go back in there and get his two youngest offspring so we could head out to get his oldest offspring.  That is when Craig sucks in a huge breath and proceeds to quickly gather our sweet children.  It was hilarious!!  When I get tickled about something (it doesn't take much), I have a hard time getting it back under control.  I some how managed to get the table cleaned off and then went in to help Craig.  That is when I discovered that Maddie was at the top of the play thingy and wasn't interested in coming down.  All she wanted to do was say "hi" to some of the other kids that were in there with her. We kept trying to get Noah to put her on the slide and nicely (I said nicely) push her down, but I think he was distracted with sliding down himself.  Finally, after about ten slides of his own, Noah was successful in his attempt to get Maddie!!!  Can I get a "Praise the Lord", because I seriously thought I was going to have to go up after her.  Let me just say, we have some fun times in the Marsh fam.  I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!!!

Sunday Monday

Hello all!  I hope your day is going good so far.  My blog post for today is entitled "Sunday Monday".  What I want to do is take a portion from a song that we sang in church yesterday and talk about how it really spoke to me.  I got this idea from another blog that I read, but that girl is the pastor's wife and she does a little commentary on her husband's sermon.  It is always upbeat and positive.  No preacher bashing or anything like that.  I thought I put a twist (are you singing "Come on Baby, Let's Do the Twist"?-I am) on her cute bloggy idea to fit my family dynamic and do something with the music.  I just want to start out by saying that I personally have the most awesomest Worship Pastor in the United States of America.  The boy can flat sing!!  I never get tired of hearing him.  The Lord has really blessed Craig in the area of music and I believe that he is using his gifts to bring honor and glory to our great God!!!  I will be honest in saying that all the music spoke to me yesterday, but the one that stuck out was the choir song that we did called "Giants", originally recorded by Prestonwood Church's worship choir.  The song is talking about how we have some really big "giants" (problems, obstacles, hurts, ect...) in our life, but when we worship and praise God, the song says that "they gotta come down". When I first heard the song, I was like, this is great and all but sometimes we have to live with these "giants" for a long long time. You know what I mean.  The problem or circumstance is just not going away as soon as we wanted.  But what I finally grasped is if we take time to praise God and tell Him how wonderful He is and how amazing and faithful He is (I could keep going for a while), the stinkin' problem(s) may very well still be there, but we now have all this crazy confidence in our God and the problem doesn't have the hold on us that it once did.  Maybe we take away a fresh positive attitude about our circumstance, or maybe God just comes on with His bad Self and does a work in the area we are struggling in. When our focus is on God and what He can do, Satan's chances of keeping us in that wretched place of defeat comes to an end.  I want to challenge you (and me) to worship even when your "giants" are killing you. Keep on telling God how much you love Him and how grateful you are for Him and you will see how He can make something wonderful out of something that is pretty rotten (is that an oxymoron??). "Let God arise. Giants, die!" See you next time.

The Padawan

Happy Friday everyone. Alright, this is pretty funny to me.  On Wednesday afternoon I was trying with all of my might to help Noah learn his verse for Awana that evening.  We had gone over it several times and I was sure that he had it nailed down.  A few hours had passed and I wanted to just double, well, triple check that he had his verse learned (my children are going to need therapy later in life; I tend to go overboard at times).  So I said "Noah, one more time before we go, what is your verse for Awana tonight?"  Noah looked at me and I could tell he was really thinking about it. He finally replied, "I think it is 'May the force be with you.'" Who knew my son would turn out to be a Jedi master? I'm so proud. Well, I hope you all have a great weekend. And until next time, remember, "The Force will be with you, always."

You Know Who...

I want to first give a shout out to my main man Craig on his birthday!!!!  Baby, I hope you enjoy your special day!!!!

Gracie left little notes on our pillows last night.  She is a really thoughtful young lady like that.  My note said "Thank you for reading with me" and Craig's said "Thanks for being a great dad."  The notes were so very sweet and her daddy and I loved them very much, but it was how she signed the notes that really hit me (not literally-that's just a figure of speech).  She signed them from "you know who".  Sure, we knew who they were from.  For one thing, Noah's writing skills are not quite up to leaving sweet notes on our pillows and Maddie, well, she would've eaten the paper long before attempting any kind of note.  We were confident that Gracie left the notes.  It was her handwriting and we have gotten notes like this before.  It was in her character to share her love for us in this way.

This got me thinking about the many things that our Great Father does for us.  The blessings that He alone gives us each day.


"You know who".....when that car comes so close to hitting you and you come away without a scratch or bruise, or,  also "you know who" gives you comfort when the car does hit you and maybe you or someone you love is really hurt.

You know who..... when that wonderful man that you love with all your heart proposes to you and promises you forever, and you also know who is there to sustain you when maybe that same man doesn't keep his commitment to you and it hurts so bad.

"You know who".... when you get the call that you or your husband got the job that you had been praying for (for what feels like forever and a day), and also "you  know who" provides the ability to keep on persevering  when the phone is just not ringing (been here on both sides).

He encompasses every single facet of our lives.  He's the One we can throw down with with a little "Celebrate Good Times", and He is also the one who holds us while we are in our bed crying our eyes out.  Don't you just love Him?  Let's give praise and glory to the One who loves us like crazy.  You know what He says to us in 2 Thess. 3:5? Well, let me tell you.  It says that He wants our hearts to be directed to His love.  If we can get a hold of the monstrous love He has for us, it will change our thought patterns. More than that it will change our lives.

Stay in the Present......

Good day to you fine folks.  I hope the weekend was good to you.  I have a fever-filled boy at home with me today.  Every time Craig or I talk about his fever or give him his medicine we break with a robust version of "You Give Me Fever".  I am hoping that Noah's fever ("You Give Me Fever") will break soon.  My sweet husband and I were watching some kind of Criminal Minds show the other night.  It's the new one, something about Criminal Minds: Let's Get Into the Heads of Creepy People.  Craig loves these shows. I, on the other hand, watch them with him.  Hey, I owe him. He watches every new Hallmark movie that comes out with me.  I know your thinking "Laney, that just ain't right to do to that man", but we love each other. I watch creepy people shows with him and watches every sappy, ends the same way every time, Hallmark movie with me.  I don't want to paint a picture that it's all roses and berries (what's that expression??- I don't think it's berries for some reason) at the Marsh house, but by God's wonderful grace we are trying to do the marriage thing in a way that pleases Him. We have arguments folks.  I like to call them "growth opportunities", but we are trying.  Enough said about that stuff- back to the reason that I mentioned the Criminal Minds show in the first place. Hold on, I sorta forgot where I was going with this. OK, I got it now.  One of the dudes on the show was challenging one of the other dudes to "stay in the present".  That particular dude was letting something from his past keep him from allowing his focus to be on the case they were working on.  Don't we do this with Satan?  Don't we allow him to get into our minds and keep us from focusing on God?  My first thought when I heard "stay in the present" was how we can really mess up and that particular mess up can keep us living in the past for days, months, even years?  All we can think of is how we really did it this time, and surely God cannot even possibly get over this one.  So we just keep beating ourselves up about it.  If we are bound and consumed with the past, there is no way we can keep our focus and "stay in the present".  Now, I'm not talking about remembering what God has done for you.  One of my favorite things to do is to remind God about back in 1995 when He gave me the privilege of meeting Craig, and how in 2002 He gave us a position in North Carolina where my dream of being a stay-at-home mom was full-filled, and how in 2008 He made us say no to a church in Louisiana so we could soon after say yes to Fort Caroline Baptist Church.  These are just a few in the ten-trillion things that the Lord has done for me. Oh man, isn't He so good.  Nothing wrong with remembering the past like that, but when all of our focus is on our failures and how we can never ever have all of what God has for again, that is just a lie from the depths.  I can speak from experience. I have been here before.  I have spent way too much time wallowing in my sin.  I thought God couldn't ever love me again "the same" because of my past sin.  That's nothing but a lie.  God is perfectly capable of forgiving us and restoring us.  He's talented like that.  He's got mad skills. We have to come to a place where we ask God to forgive us and ask Him to give us the ability to forgive ourselves.  This is a verse that came to mind as I was mulling this blog post over in my head:

Lamentations 3:22-23 (The Message)
 ^22-24God's loyal love couldn't have run out,
   his merciful love couldn't have dried up.
They're created new every morning.
   How great your faithfulness!
I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over).
   He's all I've got left.


I am sticking with You God,  You are all I've got left.  Satan wants to kill me, steal everything from me, and destroy me, but You've come that I may have life and have it to the full.  I think, You Father, are awesome.  Thank You for loving me like You do.  Totally and completely.

The Noble Guy......

I want to first start off by saying thank you to all you kind souls out there who took time to read my blog post.   You definitely honored me with your encouraging words!  Well, back to the bloggy thing.  Craig was scheduled to be out-of-town last night with the great staff of Fort Caroline Baptist Church.  As we all know from first hand experience that plans change and schedules get rearranged (I am now rapping plans change and schedules get rearranged in my head-try it see what rhythms you can come up), so it ended up that some of the staff met but didn't do the sleepover thing.  The rule in our house is when the daddy goes somewhere for the night Gracie sleeps with me.  Are you following me with this one? I knew Gracie was going to be really disappointed when she found out that her daddy was going to be home instead of away, so do you know who slept on the couch last night so his girl could sleep with her momma?  That's right Craig A. Marsh.  Isn't he a noble guy?
Speaking of the noble guy.  Let me tell you what he did the other day that cracked me up.  He was going to make himself some orange Crystal Light stuff.  Hold on, the proper name of it is Sunrise Classic Orange.  He went to pour the orange refreshment into his Alabama Tervis Tumbler when he paused and said "Wait, I can't put this orange stuff into an Alabama cup" and then proceeded to choose another cup to put the Sunrise Classic Orange in to.  You see, Craig is a super-huge Alabama fan.  The rival for Alabama is Auburn whose colors are orange and blue.  Maybe you can feel what Craig felt when he had to make the decision regarding the orange drink, but for the rest of us who can't really relate it is so funny (to me anyway)!!!  I hope all you have a totally awesome weekend!!!

Showing Honor....

What's up bloggy folks?  I am sitting here sharing my breakfast with Maddie.  Although she has already had her own breakfast (she didn't share at all--I'm not bitter, I'm just sayin), she feels entitled to partake with me too.  The kid is hilarious!  I think she also needs some kind of support group for toddlers who drink too much juice.  If she doesn't have a juice in her hand and I tell her no more juice for right now, she goes into hysterics and proceeds to cry.  It's not pretty or cool.  I love Maddie with all of my heart!!  She is awesome, but I really do think she needs some kinda of intervention with the juice thing.  I titled my blog post as "Showing Honor".  I have listened to two sermons about honor and my Lifegroup study this week speaks about honor.  Do you think the Lord is trying to teach me something?  Don't you just love when all that God stuff comes at you from different directions. It makes my relationship with the Lord even more real.  Maybe that sounds crazy and immature, but I love when He takes time to teach me and in turn my faith in Him grows deeper.  The Bible says in Romans 12:10(b) Honor one another above yourselves.  Wow!!!  I will be honest in saying that a lot of the time I put myself above others.  I concern myself with questions like "How is that going to effect me?" and "If I do this thing (whatever it is), how much is it going to put me out?".  I don't know about you, but I really want to honor others above myself. I believe it is a mindset that you have to ask the Lord to give you. We don't naturally want to honor others above ourselves.  While I was listening to a sermon on honor, the pastor made a statement that I hope will be with me forever.  He said three little words.  No, it wasn't pass the peas.  I know that is what you were thinking, but not the right answer this time (don't worry 95.7% of my jokes are not that funny, ok 95.8%).  He actually said...."and then some". What if I took the time to go out of my way to show honor to someone?  When you show honor to someone you are giving them value and worth.  Could it be possible to cook your spouse his favorite dinner this week?  Or maybe your spouse asks you to unload the dishes and you just go ahead with your sweet self and wipe off all the counter tops too!  Not for any other reason than to honor that person. I know I mentioned some ways we could honor each other in our marriage relationships, but there is a whole world out there that we could show value and worth (honor) to.  Honor when it is hard--when it takes away from your wants and desires.  Remember...."and then some".

Blue-haired boy....

This week at Noah's school the students and staff have been celebrating Dr. Seuss week.  Today was dress up like a Dr. Seuss character and then the kids paraded around the school while playing musical instruments.  I did not know that my man, Craig, was the leader of the parade until I arrived this morning (I don't think he knew it either).  The skills that Craig showed while he was leading those preschoolers around the building was phenomenal.  Noah was Thing 1 and we put some major blue hairspray stuff in his hair.  He looked great, and the parade was awesome!!!  I am really grateful for the staff at Fort Caroline Academy for going out of their way to make preschool such a great experience. 

I also read something so funny from some kind of parenting magazine.  It was talking about ways to prepare for a baby (no, I am not preparing for a baby- 3 children are just what the Lord intended for this family).  Here goes:
1.  Start doing eight loads of laundry everyday (I can so relate).
2.  Pretend to listen to a stranger's advice.
3.  Take all of your belongings and throw them all over the family room (I wish our mess was just in the family room). That is what your house will look like for the next 18 years (this one was my favorite).

I am really having fun with this blog thing.  I know it is only day 2, but hopefully I will be able to keep it up.  Happy Wednesday ya'll!!!

My first blog post.......

I can't believe I have actually started a blog. I have wanted to for a long time, but just never stepped out of my little comfort zone to do it.  Here goes nothing.  Although you may not know this about me, I laugh about everything.  My major source of laughter comes from my awesome and very funny husband, Craig.  We have been married for 12 years and I have not regretted even one day of it.  I have really great kids.  They are really funny too!!  Gracie is 9 and very grown-up.  She is such a great kid and I am one blessed momma to have her as my daughter. She wakes up each morning to an alarm clock. Gracie makes me want to be a better person. Noah is 5 (I can't believe he is five-why did I write the number 5 first and then type the entire word out??) and is a total joy to my life.  He has an imaginary friend named Jack whose brother is Bill of which he told me the other day as we were talking "Momma, you know Bill".  I just play along like I know all about Bill.  Noah is really creative.  Last but certainly not least is Maddie.  Ohh Maddie.  She is rocking my world.  We almost got kicked out of the library yesterday because of her temper.  The nice librarian lady came over to check and make sure Maddie was ok, but you and I know what she was actually doing.  All I can say is we left.  Maddie is such a fun little tutie (that's what I call her-you may think it's dumb but it is what it is).  My favorite thing is when I pick her up and she hugs me and rubs my back while saying "Ohh Momma".  I love that baby.    Do you ever think to yourself "God, why are You so good to me?"  I don't deserve it,  but for some reason He thinks I am worth it. Well, "Happy Blogging" from here on out.