Date Night

YAY! Sean and I had a date night! One to celebrate our anniversary. 13 years! I still can't believe it's been that long! It is so important for couples to celebrate these milestones in their marriage. I hear too often people say, "Oh, he/she knows I love her" or "It's just another day when you get this old"! NOT! NOT! NOT! In today's society people enter marriage with the thought...if it's too hard I will just get a divorce. Never taking the covenant of marriage seriously! We have a couple in our church that just celebrated 50 years of marriage and another couple that is about to do the same thing in Feb. 50 years of marriage! Can you imagine your 50th? I hope and pray that Sean and I live long enough to celebrate our 50th!!! He will be 86 and I 76. I truly hope we get to celebrate that awesome amount of time! But even so no one should look at another year of marriage as "just another day/year" It should be celebrated. Even if you are only able make peanutbutter sandwiches and go sit at a park. Celebrate your marriage!!
We did and had a fantastic time! We went out to see a movie, "Blindside"

and then to dinner at Applebee's. We haven't gone on an official "date" in a long time. We had such a great time. The movie, "Blindside" was AWESOME! I highly recommend everyone going to see it! I don't normally make the statement..."I want to buy it when it comes out on dvd" very often but that was one of the first statements I made when the movie ended.
Then it was off to dinner. We had to wait 40 minutes to be seated but it was well worth it. I can't tell you how nice it was to just sit and talk without the diaperheads interrupting us. We needed this night so much! More than anyone could ever know. We talked about the past 13 year and more importantly talked about our future. We made some important decision that I am not at liberty to discuss here but when I finally am free to talk about it you know I will. Some of you may already know becuase we are BFs but publicly I can not discuss some of it.
We are excited about what our future holds for us and for our family. It's amazing...this year Sean will turn 50, I will turn 40 ~ yes I said it, 40 wow I can't believe its that number. But what is even more scary is our oldest is going to turn 10 this year! : ( Where does the time go??
I cherish these days so much. I know one day our house will be quiet all the time but for now I cherish the quietness of my house while the kids are at school. We are expecting a big snow storm later tonight. Which means the kids will more than likely be home for the next few days due to the roads being bad. It has been SO COLD! We have not reached 32 degrees in over a week. I am a FLORIDA girl and I am so longing to be back in that warm area! Even if they have been having some cold snaps too!
The kids are so excited about the snow! Honestly so am I! I love the first snow fall but after that it can go away. I love snow flakes. They are so beautiful. I hope we get BIG FAT ones so I can take some pictures of them as they fall and the intricate way they are formed. We shall see. If I succeed I will most definitely post them.

Best Gift for Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Moms out there! Especially to my mom! Mom, I love you! Thank you for all you have done for me throughout my life. I am truly blessed to have you as my Mom!

Today our family not only has celebrated Mother's Day but I received the best gift a Mom could get! My oldest son Jaron and two other children were baptized today. What a wonderful day in the house of the Lord today! Everything went smoothly and beautifully this morning during our worship service! Sara, Eli and Kristofer were so excited to see Jaron get baptized this morning. Kris wanted to be baptized too but he doesn't completely understand it so he will wait till he does. Eli was so funny, he said very loudly, "WOW, Daddy pushed Jaron under water!" Which got a few snickers around us. We are so proud of Jaron as well as Sabrina and Hannah who also were baptized. As Sean began to share how excited and what an honor it is to baptize his son, his voice cracked and I believe he shed a tear. What a fantastic day!


Next week we have a few more children who will be baptized. As the children's pastor and for Sean being the Senior Pastor it is our greatest honor to be a part of this wonderful experience with the children in our church. Watching them grow spiritually and step out in faith proclaiming their love and stand for Jesus is a wonderful thing to watch. All in all today has been a blessed and wonderful day!

My Man!

Today is my man's birthday! Yes it's Sean's birthday and do I dare share his age...yes! He is 48 today. About 18 years ago, I was part of a youth group at Venice A/G. Denis and Christy Cain were the youth leaders then. I remember one night they separated the group and Christy shared that we should write down what we wanted in a spouse. I did that and as the years passed my list changed and grew and changed some more. Basically this is what I wanted:

What I want in a husband

He has to be 10 years older than me

Tall

Dark Hair and brown eyes

Must put God first above all else

Must serve in the church

Be honest and faithful

Be able to sing or play an instrument

I want someone that is strong in his faith and knows where to go when in need

Someone that wants a family and his family is important to him

Can make me laugh

Has a job and isn't afraid to do work at any job presented to him to provide for

his family

Puts God first, me second, kids then job

Be good looking

someone who is affectionate

These were just a few of what I wanted...to be honest I got them all except the brown eyes! See when you place your future in God's hands He is faithful to complete! He is also concerned with what you need and want and He will give you much more than what you ask for and that is also what I got!

Today is Sean's birthday. I am so thankful that God brought him into this world! I am so blessed to have him as my husband! He is everything and more than anything I could have ever fathomed of having as a husband. He makes me proud to be called his wife.

Today, Sean I pray God will bless you abundantly, anoint you with Holy Ghost fire and that He will increase your territory. I pray that He will pour into you as you pour into others. May you be used as a match to light the fire of God in others. May God reach deep inside of you to the uttermost and breathe new and fresh life into your soul. May He open the gates of Heaven and pour blessings of health, provision and wisdom into your life. Let it be so much that it spills over into others lives.

Happy Birthday Sean!

I love you baby!

Ferret Fanatics

We have two wonderful little guys~even if they are theives!

Ferrets...

These two are so much fun!

Woody and Uno.

Woody is 2 years old and is the dark one and Uno is 1 yrs

old and is the white. They have completely different

personalities. Woody is a rambunctious adventurer who

isn't afraid of anything or anyone. He loves to play hide and

seek with anything he can steal as well as play chase

with the kids. Many times the kids will chase him

and as soon as they stop he turns and attacks chasing

them right back down the hall.

Uno, is the more loving and quiet type. He loves to be held

and loved on. He also loves to play and hide under covers

or in my cabinets or under anything he can squeeze

his fat little body under. He too likes to play chase

with the kids but would much rather lay in your arms.

The other night we let them run free in the house and we

had so much fun watching and laughing at them. I am a

animal lover. If I could I would have two of everything; cats,

dogs, turtles, ferrets, birds, rabbits, ect... But I have to say

besides my love for dogs & cats, ferrets are my absolute favorite!

I would love to have another one to add to our family if I

only had a cage big enough to keep them from getting hurt.

Man's Best Friend

Today is dedicated to the best dog in the world.

Katie Joy

Nov 1997 – Nov 2006

Katie was and will always be my dog! I do not believe in cloning of any thing but this is one friend I would love to have back. Just mentioning her name brings a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. She was my friend. She always knew if I wasn’t feeling well. She also seemed to know when I was pregnant with the kids. She would lay on or near my stomach as much as she could as if she protect the babies. I remember the day we brought her home from the pound. She was so small that she could sit in my palm. We had no idea who big or small she would be but we fell in love with her instantly. Katie became my baby and stayed my baby till she died. She filled a place that was left empty when our first son was stillborn.
In the years that followed she became the protector of our children and playmate as well. When we brought Jaron home for the first time she jumped into my lap and smelled him, licked his nose and would laid down next to him on our bed. She never left his side. She loved him as much as we did. She loves all the kids. When we brought Kristofer home she was the same way and when the twins came home for the first time she would go from one to the other smelling them. I think it confused her as much as it confused the boys as to why we had two babies instead of just one. Katie was a true friend, protector and companion. If I could have her here with us today it would make everything perfect. Instead she is, I believe, in heaven keeping SeanPatrick company like she kept us company.

"Mom"

I want to share a little bit about my grandmother “Mom” ~ Virginia Mills
Of all the people in this world that I admire she is one of the top!
Her birthday just past last week and she would have been 86 years old.
Mom impacted my life in a way that no one else has.
Her philosophy for life seemed to be, “Let the past stay in the past.”
I remember talking to her once about something that had happened to her as well as me and she said to me, “Melissa sometimes you just have to let it stay in the past. Not think about it and get over it. You can’t change what happened but you can change who you are.” At the time I surely did not want to hear that kind of advice. But you know it has some truth to it. There are so many people in this world that want to blame their parents, teachers, bosses, or anyone that has hurt them; for how they live their life or how it has turned out. Mom is right, get over it! You can’t change the past, but you can learn from your mistakes or the mistakes of others.
In her life she lived through many wars. In the last few months of her life she watch as the events of 9/11 emerged. Thankfully she thought it was a terrible movie. She lived through the deaths of her twin boys. I remember once talking to her about it right after we lost our first son. She told me, that the pain dulls but the date will always be one that would bring tears to her eyes. At the time I couldn’t image the pain dulling. It does though in time. It will be 10 years ago in Nov that we lost our first son. The fall season is my favorite time, the leaves changing the air gets crisper there is just something about fall. But I agree with Mom, when the day comes the pain is very real and it has brought tears to my eyes each time.
She wore many hats; foster mom, career woman- at a jelly jar factory, and government typist during the war, cashier, hair stylist- mom, grandma and great grandma. She never wanted to be called grandma. I started calling her Mom probably from birth and that is what stayed! I remember telling her that I was pregnant with Kristofer; which I found out the same week of 9/11. She was happy and hoped it would either be a girl or twins. She talked a lot about wanting one of her grand kids to have twins. She died that Nov. Never knowing what I was having. Amazingly just a few years later she got her wish…twins! She would have been so excited about having twin great grand kids!
My grandma, Mom, may not have been perfect –no one is- but she made the best grand ma out there to her grand kids and to her great grand kids. She leaves a legacy behind her of a daughter, Delight Mills Peyton, grand kids, Melissa (me), Ronnie, Chris, Jeanette and Bryan, great grand kids Kurtis, Anna, Kaelyn, Brock, SeanPatrick(our 1st son who died), Madison, Jaron, Kristofer, Timmy, Eli, Sara, Lexi, Aiden and Kamya.

Mom, if you are watching from heaven know we love and miss you!

A Great Man!

Today I just want to take time to tell you about a

great man! That man is loving, strong, faithful,

honest, caring, he's a good provider, a gifted writer,

a fantastic father & husband, my best friend.

If you truly get to know this man, you will know

his love for history-specifically WW2history,

his wacky sense of humor and his love for God.

You'll learn more in 30 minutes about the Bible

than spending time reading the Bible on your own.

He is called, "the Bible scholar" by some,

Pastor by others, Seany by his family,

Daddy by his children and Honey by me.

Let me introduce you to my husband..Sean.

You see I am very proud of him. He is such a

strong man of faith. When I have doubts he is

there to listen and encourage me the

best he can. He does his best as a father too.

He plays with the kids and tries to

spend time with each one.

Which with his crazy schedule is very hard

to do. He has two primary jobs, one and

the most important is his position as Pastor

of our church. The 2nd is a secular job.

But he also is a substitute teacher and also

subs for the janitorial and grounds keeping

dept. of the local schools. He has gone

above and beyond to provide for our family.

No one can accuse him of

being lazy or not trying!

Sean has two different honors. The first is a

Masters degree in Communications and has

over 25 years of experience as a reporter for

newspapers and a magazine. The other honor

he has is being a licensed Pastor through

the Assemblies of God.

You might ask - well why not get a job at a newspaper?!

Let me tell you he has tried!

It has been difficult because when we moved here

3 major factories closed with the first 2 months.

Jobs here are extremely hard to find unless you are

willing to be a truck driver.

There are high demands for that type of job here.

Sean does a fantastic job as a pastor! With all

pastoring positions you sometimes meet opposition

against change but we are seeing many

strides in that area. Sean is a gifted writer.

He has his own blog...

http://www.matthew16-3.blogspot.com/

called The Observer's Desk. He writes his own

newsletter called The Observer as well.

He has a wealth of info. stored in his head.

If he reads it he retains it. I only pray my

children get that gift! He is so smart you want him

on your team when playing Trivial Pursuit!

Now don't get me wrong no one is perfect! I am far

from perfection and so is he. But you know what

even if I could go back 10 1/2 years ago knowing all

that I know today I would stand at that alter

in Venice Assembly of God and confess my

undying love for him and repeat the same

vows I did 10 1/2 years ago!

Would I hope that things would be different

this timearound? Maybe, but if they were then

our marriage may not be as strong as it is now.

So many things might be different if I changed

anything, so I'm not sure I would change anything.

Well maybe two things, one being that

our first son would be with us and then there's

being a better steward of everything!

Don't we all need to be better stewards!

My husband, may not be the perfect man for

you but he is the perfect man for me

and the perfect father for our children!