Christmas

In the morning our boys will get up and we will have Christmas here at our house. We got special permission by sending a letter to Santa and explaining that we will be traveling on Christmas morning. So, Chad and the elves are setting up the new trampoline as we speak. My boys will love it! It was either a trampoline or a dog! I made the right choice right?

You may not know but it's soccer season at the Swanzy home. Yes, Cameron has started playing soccer. During the first game Cameron never even ran towards the ball.
The 2nd game he ran around the people who were kicking the ball, but never actually touched it. Chad and I did a lot of coaching, encouraging, and practice this week. All the way to the soccer field we talked about being aggressive, and going for the ball. So, tonight was the 3rd game and he was awesome in the first half. He played his position well. He went after the ball and yes he even kicked it a few times. Then came the 2nd half and the other team put in an 8yr. old on steroids. Emidately I noticed Cameron pretending to play by running close to the people who were acctually kicking the ball. So I decided to call him out on it. His response was "mom, did you see the size of that kid? I don't want to get hurt!" Well, at least he's honest. I think we as adults do the same thing. We work up our courage to put ourselves out there but we also remember what it feels like to get hurt, knocked down, or intimidated. So,when we see something coming it's easier to pretend and run along side of others than to get in the game and risk getting run over by the big guy.

Still missing a friend

Every Sat. night on the way home from church I let my boys use my cell phone to call family back home in Texas. This past Sat. night I ask Cooper if he wanted to call his PaPa. His shocking reply was "no, I want to call Pete". I said "remember, Cooper, Pete's in heaven with Jesus".
We all just sat there for a minute to see what he would say next. Then he said "mommy, Pete obeyed God." Chad said "that's right Cooper." Then Cooper said that he wanted to call Holly and he wanted to hold her. I wonder if that was a God thing. I can't imagine a 2 yr. old being able to remember. I think it's such a testimony that the one thing that he remebered about him was that he obey God. We were amazed!

patience

Last night we had our high school campus team over and Josh (18) led the group in a study about patience. God really used him to speak truth to me. He said true faith in God begins when you stop worrying. That is so true. When you try to control a situation or handle the problem yourself you are saying to God I don't trust you enough to take care of me. God uses every life situation to build character in us. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, so it only makes since to me that the closer you walk with God the more you get to know him, trust him, and become like Him. God is so patience with us!

Tonight was a great night for FRC student ministry. The enemy was hard at work all week trying to distract and discourage anyone and everyone who played a part in 20 or more kids accepting Christ tonight. Can I just tell you that God has proven Himself time and time again that He will complete the work He started and He is always faithful to show up! Props to Rachel and her 1st impressions team, Duce and the AWESOME student band. Javin you have a tremendous amount of courage and God is soooo using you. Carson the set looked amazing. Liz and the drama team ...... where do I start? If you could have only seen the tears pouring down the faces of your friends and peers as you moved their hearts and showed them what God did for them. Finally to my Chadwick, I never grow tired of hearing you tell teenagers how much God loves them and wants them even when nobody else does. You are a man after God's heart.
Go students! Go team! Go God!

Happy Birthday

Today was a sad day for me. Oct 15th was my Mammaw's birthday. She would have been 88 yrs. old today. My grandmother was such an awesome person. I wish you all could have known her. She was the most unselfish person I have ever met. What I remember most about her is the way she loved and served every person in her life. She worked at a hospital on the children's floor. She had such a way with kids. I remember at Christmas time how many cards she received from parents of patients from years gone by. The impact she had on so many people is still amazing to me. She was the life long care giver to her younger sister with down syndrom who was also an intrical part of my life growing up. When my grandfather was diagnosed with alzhimers she retired to stay home and take care of him. I have so many wonderful memories of being with her. I grew up in Lubbock, Tx. and Mammaw lived right accross town. Every Friday night I spent the night at her house. She taught me how to cross stitch. lol. Oh yeh , and how to peel an orange. We picked grapes from a vine in her back yard and she canned jelly. She wanted to have every story or poem I ever wrote. She loved hearing me sing and play the piano. She was at every important event of my life. She was beautiful and spectacular and witty. I loved her dry sense of humor and her strength! She passed away from cancer 1 month before Cameron was born. I know she would have loved my boys. I'm counting on Pete to tell her all about them. She had 8 grandchildren altogether and we each thought we were her favorite, because she was a favorite to all of us! I am blessed for having her in my life. I am a better person for having known her. I love you mammaw! Cathy ann

The T.V.

When Chad and I were married 12 yrs. ago our first purchase was a t.v. We have carried this t.v. all over the country. We have moved it to Texas, Missouri, Colorado, and now Florida! In the first move all the buttons got scrapped off the front, so we can only turn it on with the original remote. This past year when Cooper was teething he chewed off the channel up and down buttons. Now you have to enter the channel number in that you want to watch. During our move this summer one of the teenagers sat on the t.v. and it cracked all the way down the back. I thought for sure that would be it, but guess what? I plugged it in and it still worked! A few weeks ago I pushed the red button to turn it off but instead it only turns off the sound. Then yesterday I pushed the volume button and it started turning the channels. I'm sorry to say that I think the Swanzy's ghetto t.v. days are numbered!

Got character?

1st wed. was A-mazing! God really spoke to me tonight through Pastor Troy. I am and have always been the type of person who thinks it's my job to right all the wrongs in this world. I was the kid who made sure everything was fair at recess! I see this behavior in Cameron already. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just a more challenging lot in life. I struggle with boundaries on personal conviction and a desire to stand up for those who can't or won't stand up for themselves. Today I pulled the car into the drive way and I as soon as I parked Cameron jumped out and ran two houses over to pick up a piece of dirty trash out of the neighbors yard. As soon as he came back I started to scold him. I said "Cameron, don't pick up other people's dirty trash that's nasty. You will get your hands dirty" He looked up at me and said very matter of fact, "how else are we going to save the earth?" He is his mother's child. Tonight Troy said there is only one vision and there is only one leader, but the people who hold up the vision and the leader must have strong loyalty, strong character, and strong integrity. We have to protect the integrity of the church and the vision. I prayed for Cameron and I on our way to school today and I said,"God help us to have good character today, Amen". Cameron said "carrot juice? why do we have to have good carrot juice?" lol So I explained that good character is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. I know that my God is a just, Holy, and righteous God. He sees us all completely naked!

God's perpetual presence

All day today I have been surrounded by people. At work, at the store, at home, and at small group, from 8am until 11:30 pm. All day today I have felt completely alone. In such a busy world it is difficult to connect with people on a meaningful level. Have you ever felt that way? So many thoughts going through your head, but you're unable to piece them all together to effectively communicate your feelings. Thank God He knows what I need before I even ask. He knows all my frustrations even when I can't put them into words. He feels all my emotion even when I can only express tears. He comforts me even when I don't know how to ask for help. My Father knows ME!
Psalm 139
Lord you have searched me and you know me. You understand my thoughts. You are aware of all my ways. Before I speak a word You know all about it. You have encircled me and placed your hand upon me. (vrs 23) search me God and know my heart test me and know my concerns.

I hope you feel God's presence today and rest in the one who knows you best.

sorry...

I have recently been scorned by my good friend Natalia and a few others about not being faithful to my blog. I admit that I have been blazy "blog-lazy." I have had a lot of things going on. The big one has been work but other things have been the small group. Okay it starts at 8 and ends at 12 midnight. I've been focusing my personal study on leadership. I am amzed at the style of leadership Jesus showed here on earth. I love how Jesus always led by example and out of servanthood. Chad has a cool post on his blog here.

Ask yourself these questions about your leadership skills;

Do people enjoy your leadership or endure it?
Do you lead with the verbal stick of intimidation and threats?
Does your organization have unwritten rules and levels of needless affirmation and approval that bring division, competition, and isolation?
What is the first thing that comes to mind when your name is spoken?

cheapskate

Yesterday after we got home from school I started frantically cleaning my house for my small group to come over. I was really running behind so I called Chad to stop at the store to pick up dinner. He offered to come get Cooper out of the way so I took him up on it. When He got to the house Cameron wanted to go too. Well, it just so happens that Cameron happens to be the neat freak in our house and I really needed his help . ( he's 6) Isn't that sad! So I tried to bribe him to stay home and help me. I said,"Cameron if you stay home and help me I'll pay you a dollar" (he's only 6 ok) He said, "sure ! If that dollar has a 20 on it!" Oh, my gosh! I couldn't believe he said that. Chad had to leave the room because he was laughing so hard. Chad's always accusing me of being a cheapskate. Anyway... I had a great time with my group. The last 2 people didn't leave until 1am. God really has a way of bringing people together. I'm so excited about the relationships that I'm going to building in the next 5 weeks!

1st wed.

Last night was 1st Wednesday at FRC. I was just remembering my very first experience at 1st Wednesday. I was so guarded when I first moved to Florida. I was extremely shy as a kid, and no matter how hard I try it just takes me a while to warm up to people. Moving here from Texas where I had been building relationships for the past 5 yrs was difficult to say the least. So on first Wed. I was so intimidated to walk into the student building by myself and sit with strangers to eat. That seems so ridiculous now, but at the time it felt like a big deal. So I went in with my 2 kids (cooper wasn't even walking) and I sat at a table in the corner with the least amount of people. People were very friendly. I remember Garland coming over to say hi, and Brian Vasil, and then Matt and Jen. Jen took Cooper so I could eat. But in reality God was setting me up. I was then free to start a conversation with girl next to me Betty. Through the conversation she shared that she was going through a very painful divorce. A beach baptism video was playing on the screen, and God prompted me to ask her if she was going. She ended up telling me that she wanted to get baptised but she felt so inadequate. She was struggling with shame and guilt over a failed marriage and thought she couldn't make a commitment to God until she cleaned herself up. I got to share with her how much God loved her, and how He takes us all just as we are and He does the cleaning up. As we got ready to leave she said that she was amazed that God brought a stranger to sit by her, encourage her and cry with her over a greasy slice of pizza. To this day I still feel blessed for getting to sit by Betty that night at my first 1st Wednesday!

As the mom of a kindergartner I'm learning the hard way that there are a few items that you must have in house at all times. A few months ago Cameron lost his first tooth. It was 10pm when he came out of the bathroom ,toothbrush in one hand and a tooth in the other, declaring his excitement about loosing his tooth. He promptly went to bed with his tooth tucked safely under his pillow. I kissed him good night assuring him that the tooth fairy would come. "Good night mommy", he said looking up at me with his big brown eyes. " I can't wait to see what tooth fairy dust looks like in the morning". Hmmmm...............? It's already late. I don't want to go to the store. Why didn't somebody tell me I should keep a supply of tooth fairy dust for such an occasion as this? So there I am 11:00 pm in the garage scraping glitter off Christmas ornaments to come up with some tooth fairy dust. The things you do for love!

God's timing

Last week we had an awesome camp. On Wednesday night 30 something kids excepted Christ. That was about 9:00 at night. At 2:30 the next morning I was awakened by my friend Marge. She told me that she had just received the phone call from Holly that our friend Pete had passed on. I got up, grabbed my phone and headed to the leader cabin to let Chad and Matt know. On the way I called the male counselors who were with us at camp. When I got back to my cabin I let Melissa and Patti know as well. So there we were me, Marge, Melissa, Patti, Brian, and Nester, at 3:00 in the morning, exhausted from camp with tear filled eyes over the loss of our friend. We all came together remembering good stories, and comforting each other. We held hands and prayed together, laughing and crying at the things we thought Pete would be saying at that moment. As we rejoiced over the 32 salvations Pete rejoiced with the angels. At no other time would the 6 of us had been together at 3:00 in the morning when we needed each other the most. God's timing was perfect.

camp

Wow! I can't believe it's only 11 days until camp. What's your best memory about camp? Chad says his best memory is going down a big slide on a potato sack. Another friend said he remembers playing a "pick up trash game" hmmmm..... must of been a baptist church. lol

My favorite games were cops and robbers, capture the flag, and counselor hide ans seek.

The thing about camp is getting away from everything that makes you lose focus from God. It's a high energy God focused week. It is amazing! Go!

the princess of puke!

Today I was all excited to go snorkeling with my six year old son along with my visiting sister her husband and my two nieces. It didn't even occur to me that this idea might be the end of me because to be honest with you I couldn't have imagined that the ocean I love so much would put me in such saucy straights.

So we climbed aboard the S.S. Sickness and headed out to a reef in Pompano to go snorkeling. Cameron was excited to see sharks and I was as happy as a mom should be. That's until the waves began to pitch the boat back and forth like a porch swing gone postal. At first I didn't notice but after a few minutes I began to get totally nauseous. I jumped off the boat into the water and felt better for a while. Then we had to get back on the boat to go to a new spot and I thought I was going to throw up in front of a bunch of strangers. As soon as the boat stopped I tried jumping back in the water, but it was to late and I puked in the ocean. I was so glad when that boat ride was over.

I learned a valuable lesson today. I am not the little mermaid.

Why God?

Last year when I first came to frc I was quickly befriended by Pete and Holly Guyon. My boys call them uncle Pete and aunt Holla! They have taken the Swanzy family in and treated us like their own family. We have celebrated holidays together. Exchanged Christmas gifts. Sang many happy birthday tunes. We have enjoyed double dates , and Texas hold'em poker nights. They even attended Cam's school program to be his cheering section. We have prayed together, cried together, laughed a lot together, and even been frustrated with each other! It comes with the territory when you do ministry together. oh yeah, and they have picked us up on the side of the road when our car breaks down. ( which is often) lol
My mind is flooded with so many memories. I have cried so many tears over Pete being sick. I have begged God to heal him. I have asked God so many hard questions that I may never understand. I know that God can handle all of our frustration, tears, and questions. He's such a big God. He wants us to be transparent.
Today in the midst of all the emotion He blessed me. Some how the conversation at the dinner table turned to Pete. Cameron my almost 6yr. old son asked" Is Pete going to die?" WOW , I paused to try to think of something positive to say, but I couldn't so I answered with what I perceived to be the brutal truth. " yes, Cameron, I think he is" Cameron was so sad he said that he would never see Pete again. So I explained that Pete's sick body would die, but that Pete would live forever in heaven because he had Jesus in his heart. ( Cameron has been asking questions about salvation for almost a yr.) So after about a 30min conversation and questioning him he prayed this prayer by himself with chad and I listening as we all sat on the kitchen floor.
"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, but I have done so many wrong things. I don't deserve to go to heaven, but I want to. I want to ask you to come into my heart and forgive me. Thank you for this day Jesus. In Jesus name amen.

call me crazy

This year I have been in the season of my life called motherhood. I have 2 boys and 23 7th grade girls. Yes, I said twenty-three 7th grade girls. I have been with my girls at frc for 1yr . It's been a great year. We have been to the movies, out to eat, pool parties, tie-die t-shirt making, costume parties, and on and on.........I talk to my girls once a week on the phone and some of them e-mail me, but my favorite time with them is our table time on Sunday morning. The girls have grown so much in just one yr. Every week I get to share and talk about God with them. I love to hear them talk. They say the first thing that comes into their mind and it's beautiful! I love seeing and hearing about God working in their lives. I'm so excited about taking them all to camp. They say spending one week at camp with your kids is the same as an entire year of contact work. I know the week will be filled with lots of drama and high pitched screams, but what it's really about is kids taking the next step in their spiritual lives to reach their God potential. This is my heart and my passion!

Out of the mouths of babes

We finally found a house. It was a long and grueling process. This is a good parenting story. I found a house that I thought I wanted. It wasn't perfect. It needed some work, but it was big . We made an offer on the house and we didn't get it. The landlord chose a family without kids (less wear and tear). So when I found out that we didn't get the house I threw a major fit. I was crying and saying that we weren't going to have a place to live and so on and so forth. So today 2 weeks latter we found and got a new house and it is much better than the first one. It's in great condition and needs no work. So we are walking tonight and Cameron says" mom do you like the new house or are you still upset about not getting the other house? and why did you think we weren't going to have a place to live? " So Chad's laughing at me while I'm having to explain to my 5 yr. old about my fit and my lack of faith in God. I said" You know cam sometimes we think we know what the best thing is for us , but we can only see what's right in front of us. But God knows and can see the future. Sometimes He says no to us because He has better plans down the road. We have to learn to trust Him that He always has good plans for us". Lesson learned!