Paige Barnes

I have been reading Praying Circles Around Your Children by Mark Batterson . It is a phenomenal book, and a must read for all parents. Mark gives creative ways to pray for your child's heart. As parents, we MUST pray for our children. Mark says, "make sure the Father hears about your children daily". One of the ideas he suggests in the book is to pray certain words over your children. Today, my husband and I sat down and prayerfully listed 10 words for each of our children. We are going to print them up, frame them, and begin to pray them daily. I am so excited about these words. Many I have already been praying for our  children since they were born. And some that we purposefully felt we want God to shape in the heart of our children. I cannot wait to begin this journey of praying specific words for our children!

Tamene - Our Compassion Child in Ethiopia Thursdays are link up days over at The Mob Society . I so love being the mother of a boy. My boy is amazing. He has always had such a tender heart of compassion for others. For six years now we have sponsored a child through Compassion who is the same age as our Red. Tamene is from Ethiopia. For six years the boys have written letters and sent pictures back and forth. It has been such a blessing to us! Matthew has always wanted to adopt Tamene. I tell him Tamene has parents who love him and he does not need to be adopted! Still, Matthew has always wanted to bring a child into our home and make him a part of our family. For several years, we have prayed about this. I am not sure we have really submitted in prayer over this the way God would have us, because we have not heard specifically from God in this area. In fact, my husband doesn't feel the same way we feel. And yet, the desire still weighs heavy in the heart of myself and our son...

 After much prayer and examination of my life, I realize that I live a life of wanton excess. I have filled many parts of my life with things other than Jesus. Food for example. I live to eat instead of eating to live, and my choices are not pleasing to God or healthy for my body. I have allowed my heart to be more focused on my material possessions many times than on Jesus who had none. I have spent much time trying to make my house look beautiful while forgetting the many people around the world who are homeless. I have wasted money on stupid things when I should have given it away. I want it to stop. I do not want to live like that anymore. I want to live a life that simply says, "Jesus is my enough". If I lost everything else, then Jesus would always be enough. No matter what. Like Job, when it is given and taken away - Jesus is still enough. When did Jesus become not enough for us? To start this MAJOR life change, I am reading this book and using it as a guide to...

Packing Diabetes Supplies Lots of donations! When deadly tornadoes swept across our state in 2011, we felt helpless at first. Most of the upper part of the state was without power for days. Grocery stores were closed and so were pharmacies. Since my son has Type 1 diabetes , we immediately thought of other diabetics who were suddenly without their life-saving supplies. We just started calling everyone we could think of and the donations started pouring in. Our family was humbled as we took supplies to several very hard hit areas. I am very proud of my son for stepping up, seeing a need, and doing what needed to be done. Our little family was blessed that day that God would use us in some small way!

My hero, my son. He is strong and beautiful. He is smart and inquisitive. He is funny and I love to hear him laugh. He has his daddy's eyes and my cheeks. He has a tender heart and a deep soul. He loves his sister fiercely. He is smart and imaginative. He is worth more than I could ever imagine. He is why I fight for a cure for diabetes. Please consider donating to our team walk to cure diabetes!  JDRF Red was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes four years ago at the age of 6. Diabetes is a deadly disease if not treated and taken care of properly. He takes insulin everyday to keep him alive. And he does not let anything slow him down. .

First Day of Fifth Grade   Age 10 - Fifth Grade Favorites Color: Blue Food: Pizza Sport: Football Team: Auburn Song: Never Say Never by Justin Bieber What I Want to be When I Grow Up: NFL Quarterback The drop off went well. Lots of smiles and high fives as friends welcomed each other back to another school year. Teachers greeting students. Lunches packed and supplies gathered. And just one last hug. The mom whispered to her son, "I will miss you today. You will have a great day, and I will be praying for you". The mom felt her eyes get misty and swallowed hard so as not to embarrass her young man in front of his fifth grade friends. He grabbed her around the neck and grinned that shy grin he grins when he is really touched by something and whispered back, "I love you mom". And mom drives home with that aching in her heart that can only be explained as inexplicable pride of what a fine young man he is and bittersweet sadness as she lets another...

This summer has been a precious time of working through the Bible with my son (age ten). I have always prayed that my children would come to know the Lord at an early age. Thankfully, my son did. He and I have been working through a wonderful book called The Purple Book . It has been a wonderful experience for us to study the word and pray together. It works through the basics of faith and then expounds upon that. Henry Ward Beecher said, "The mother's heart is a child's classroom". I pray that my children will know my heart on this, and that is that they will desire Jesus above all else. So I have spent this summer taking my spiritual leadership of my children up a notch. I see them growing and learning in the Lord and it blesses my heart so much. I pray that my heart will always be a classroom in which for them to learn. Lessons of love and peace and joy. Lessons of reaching out and serving others. Lessons that teach them that sitting at Jesus' feet and soakin...