Meet our adopted Kids!!!

ALL The Paths of the Lord Are Lovingkindness and Truth

Eight years ago, God abruptly relocated our family to Hampton VA. We went from living in Swaziland Africa, on a beautiful mountain side to living in a drug infested neighborhood in Hampton,VA. We went from watching brilliant, soothing, starlit nights to watching a mad police chase right in our own front yard. We went from a huge yard to almost no yard. We went from great friends to no friends. We went from fulfilled dreams to confusion and shock.
We were scratching our heads!
What happened?
Strange trial? It was to us. But, isn’t God good? He leads in such unexpected, but wise ways.
Looking back, my life makes no sense. Not one bit. However, I often think of Corey Tin Boom’s thoughts: Our lives are like a tapestry. If you look on the back side, it’s a jumbled mess. If you look on the flip side, it’s a beautiful picture. One day, we will see the beautiful picture, the finished picture. Won’t we marvel at the wondrous work of God? No doubt, we will bow down at the feet of an awesome, wise heavenly Father, and rejoice in His goodness. One day, we will fully grasp that “all things (truly do) work together for good” One day we will join with the Psalmist and say truly “ALL the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth.” What a day of rejoicing that will be!

Romans 8:28; Ps 25:10

The Righteous Sing

We recently refinished our wood floors. They are beautiful to behold! In fact, I’m so excited I can hardly sleep at night. I feel revived! Excited about life! Encouraged in the journey! It’s a gift, a gift from God. I prayed for the money and God answered. Does God always answer “yes”? Not always, but He did this time! Desire realized is sweet to the soul! It’s a time to rejoice in God’s provision, God’s gracious concern for our temporal desires. Amazing.

Last night, my husband, pointed out how there is an amazing differenc e in my countenance. He said that usually I’m grumpy and upset, but now I’m skipping around happy. He says it’s the hardwood floors!
He’s right. This bothers me.
Sadly, I don’t seem to skip around the house singing because I’m excited about my salvation. Nor have I ever lost sleep because I’m forgiven and free.
Why not?
Why does the temporal thrill me and the the gift of salvation does not?
Proverbs 29:6 (Ps 119:14)
…..the righteous sing and rejoice. For some reason I don’t think this means the righteous sing and rejoice only when his floors are renovated. No. I think it has something to do with the constant, continuous condition of his heart. A heart that is right with God. Forgiven, cleansed, guilt-free. Therefore, the righteous sing. They rejoice.
How do I change? It will certainly require discipline on my part. Reflecting daily on the Gospel. Meditating on the grace of God and what it means to me. Listening to cross centered music. Listening and feeding on Gospel centered preaching.
Lord, I’m living on a “high” right now regarding my house, but Lord help me to live on a “high” regarding my redemption. Thoughts of finished work of Christ should be my constant consolation.

Life's a Beach!

My Beloveds!

I recently saw this quote on a plaque. I thought nothing of it.
However, fresh from the beach, I’ve decided they’re right! Life is a beach! (for me anyway) Let me explain. We were blessed and fortunate enough to go at just the perfect time. The weather was ideal. Not too hot, not too cold. The breeze was not too strong, not too weak. It was a divine opportunity to rest and relax. However, as ideal as the circumstances were, I was not relaxed. As usual, I was the worried sick mother. Constantly counting heads, screaming for everyone to remain knee deep, looking out for sharks, trying to convince my husband to be a good example by staying close to shore.
However, one day, by God’s grace, I had a divine moment. Surprisingly, it happened while sitting in my beach chair. Something I don’t normally do! While sitting and gazing over the vast ocean with a cool breeze on my face, a supernatural peace and calm suddently washed over my soul. For a few moments, I sat quietly, closely communing with the Lord and praying for my children. Did I mention a few moments?!!! While enjoying this brief euphoric moment, abruptly my daughter walked up crying. The little girls she was playing with had rejected her. She was “starving”. The sun had wearied her. Her skin was beginning to burn. I knew she needed to go home. So, off we go, trudging through the thick, deep sand with my “out of shape” legs. We finally arrive home. Sand, salt, and grime from head to toe. After hosing off with cold water, we go in, take a bath, only to find even more sand caked up on the sides of the tub. Exhausted from the day, we cleaned the tub.



That’s life. Trials, hard work, disappointments are inevitable. The moments of euphoria are usually brief. The trials long.



However, for every single trial, there is grace. For every trial! Troubles are as varied as the colors of paint chips in a paint store. But, the grace to endure them all remains the same. It comes from an endless fountain, the fountain of God’s grace. It’s sufficient. It never runs out.
II Cor 12:9-10
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness: Most gladly, therefore, I will boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Take me out to the Ball-Game!

We're not very enthusiastic when the Nats are losing.


The open gate of Nationals park,
which has a pretty good view of the field.

'Take Me out to the Ball-Game!


Take me out to the crowd!


Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks,


I don't care if I EVER get back!.....'



We sung that memorable song on August 12th, when we saw the Nationals v.s. Mets game. Although the Nats (our home team) lost, we enjoyed ourselves to the max!! We were seated on the third base line, so we got a few good shots of our favorite players:


Mets' shortstop, Jose Reyes, our favorite player
on the Mets team, striking out!


Our favorite on the Nationals, third baseman,
Ryan Zimmerman!

Matthew's birthday

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

A few days ago, on August 7th, Matthew turned 14. He was surprised and excited when he saw his new set of golf clubs. You can tell with his cheesy grin! :) He was also treated to Lasanga. After that he enjoyed his favorite dessert, Angel Cake with ice cream and strawberries. He also recieved another present: to a baseball game of the Nationals v.s. Mets!! Although they lost, I'm sure Matthew enjoyed his Birthday.

OOPS!!

I'm sorry. There's been a slight error. A few posts ago, I said I was going to put it on the website. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the blog cannot take it. So now, if you want to see a few, just contact me (through email or something) and send me your address. From there, I will send you a disc of the movies. No charge or cost!!!

You get three short movies at a time, and this first disc, you get the bonus "First Lego Movie", which, as the title says, is our first, two second Lego movie! Again, No Charge and No Cost!! Just contact me and send me your address, and soon you will be enjoying some Lego fun!!



Also, if this doesn't work, then I'm not sure how to get the movies to you. So if this doesn't work, please give me a suggestion.

You Plant Corn, You Reap Corn

After last year's farming fiasco of trying to grow watermelons, our family decided to tackle something different, corn.

It required uprooting weeds, planting seeds, watering and fertilizing almost everyday. Now by the grace of God, this is how it looks today. Ta-da!! By the way, those tall plants are not WEEDS! They're CORN! What's the message? You plant corn, you reap corn.

Before After

This wonder of God reminded us of some verses in Galatians 6:7-8.
'Do not be deceived. .......whatever one sows, that he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. '

This means that if we sin, doing what our flesh wants, then we will reap bad fruit. But if we sow to the Spirit, reading and obeying the Bible, we will reap good fruit.
Here's a quick little corn joke to make you smile:
How does corn smile?
From ear to ear!!! : )

Returning from Texas

Finally, after two weeks at Texas, I've come home. Texas was pretty fun this year. My Grandfather is the owner of an oil company and showed me his oil rig (that's what pumps oil out of the ground). I also swam just about every day at a different pool each time. We arrived at the airport, ate, and drove away just in time for Youth Group! :)

Anyways, now that I've arrived I can show my 1st Lego Movie! I have two finished and another that I'm still working on but i'll post those another time. It's kinda short but you can play it over again and again. :) Have fun!
(p.s. I'll also be posting these on Youtube)

4th of July in Texas

Hello from Texas!!! Mom, Laurie, Sam, Matthew, and Andrew have been relaxing in Western Texas the past week and are planning to stay for the next 10 days or so. They've been enjoying the Texas Cowboy Reunion, where cowboys and cowgirls from all over Texas enjoy competing in Calf Roping, Bull Riding, and even Double Mugging. They also have been visiting their relatives, swimming in pools, and watching fireworks.

I've almost made two LEGO MOVIES so far, but unfortunately, haven't been able to post them onto the blog. But as soon as I get home, I'll try to add them to the site. In the Bible, we've been studying Matthew, two chapters at a time. Lately, I've been learning of how Jesus will take care of us no matter what. Thanks to Him, we can trust Jesus with everything. Praise Him!!

Lego Animations

FULTZ BOYZ PRESENTS....
LEGO ANIMATION INC.

Currently Matthew and Andrew are (or at least attempting) to create Lego movies. They are editing and changing the horrible parts (most of the movies). Their first movie began of a bad guy tripping, then to flip backwards. Then it was a giant monkey attack. The latest one includes their friend Dustin, where a ninja, trained by Bruce Lee (Jackie Chan), is arrested but escapes. More videos are being made for later.

Monthly Verses

Over the next few months, we are planning to memorize verses from the Bible.
By God's Grace, we will recite daily and apply it to our lives.

Lately, we have chosen Galatians 2:20.
'We have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faithin the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.'

Hopefully, over the remaining time of June, these Scriptures will transform us into more God-glorifying servants of Christ. You can try this plan. I will attempt to post the new verse (if we continue with our plan) every month.

Dad's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!
That's what our family said to our father today (June 12, 2008).
Last night we had the birthday party as a family, giving him his cards and presents (a clip-on phone and our love). Today, we did the affirmations over my slightly undercooked eggs (my present for Dad). Here we mention what we love about him:
Matthew: I love my Dad because he helps me with baseball and makes God central in our lives.

Andrew (me): I love my Dad because his main focuses are on God and his family. I admire him in every way. I LOVE YOU DAD!!!

Laurie: I love my Dad because he goes on long bike rides with me and he takes me on dates where we will listen and talk with me.

Sam: I love my Dad because he teaches me the Gospel and baseball.

Mom: I love you, Rod, because you are a wise, stable man whom we can all depend upon. Mostly, however, because of your passion for the Lord and the Gospel.

WE LOVE YOU DAD!!!!!!!:):):):):)

1st Post

Hello Everyone!
Today, the first post, is about how we were created and our faith.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was unshaped, empty, and void. Then God, as he hovered over the waters, said, 'Let there be light.' It was so. God saw it was good. That ended day one. Over six days, God created everything. Day 2: the sky was formed. Day 3: he made land. Day 4: vegetation and greenery were born. Day 5: Sea and Air creatures became. Finally, on Day 6, God made animals. Everything he spoke into being. Everything was good, perfect, and holy. Then, the first miracle occured. God made humans out of dust. He made them in his own image. God associated with them, calling them Adam and Eve. He talked and enjoyed them. Everything was perfect. Nothing was wrong. No wars, killing, pain, death, tears, nothing.
The only rule was that they coudn't eat The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But then, Satan, a fallen and sinful angel, tempted and lied them into eating the fruit. God, knowing everything, kicked the humans out of the garden, cursing them. Life would be harder. Their only promise was that someday, God's son, Jesus Christ, would come and save them, and that he would free them from their sin. For thousands of years, the people of God, the promised ones, the Isrealites waited for a Savior. Then, about 2,000 years ago Jesus was born. He lived a perfect life. He taught, healed, and preformed miracles and fulfilled prophecies. Then, He acomplished his mission. He died on the cross for OUR wrong in our place. We were supposed to die for our sin, but he took our place. Thankfully, if you accept his free gift of eternal life in Christ in heaven, you will be saved.