From the Heart (Bird Feeder Pumpkin Project) AND Turning 60

Good Tuesday morn!

I want to share some Fall Devotions with you the next few posts. They are tried and true... AND FUN! Gather your young kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc. and spend some VERY INTENTIONAL TIME sharing God's Word with them this Fall Season!

From the Heart

Bird Feeder Pumpkin Project

You will need the following items:

Medium-Sized Pumpkin
Bag of Bird Seed
Wire or Cord Strong Enough to Hang Half Pumpkin
Picture of Sparrow
Picture of Colorful Parrot
Picture of Painted Bunting
Unsharpened Pencil

Devotion – His Eye is on the Sparrow

Falling Sparrows Game – Have your family fly around the room like sparrows until Dad or Mom shouts out, “FALLING SPARROWS!” Children will all fall down on the floor until Dad or Mom shouts out “FLYING SPARROWS!” Continue as time allows. Gather the children in a circle when you are finished playing the game.

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA – This is a great game to play before your devotion when the kids appear to be a little antsy. It gets rid of some of the excess energy.

DEVOTION - I have a picture to show you. This bird is a sparrow. A sparrow is a very small bird. He weighs about the same as this pencil. (Pass around an unsharpened pencil and let everyone fell how light.)

Sparrows do not fly south for the winter. They live here all year long… even when it is extremely cold.

Sparrows are everywhere. They are common, everyday birds. Lots of birds are more beautiful than sparrows. (Show picture of parrot.) Lots of birds sound much more lovely when they sing than sparrows. (Show picture of painted bunting.) Sparrows are considered by people to be ordinary.

All of that is true, but Jesus had something special to say about sparrows:

“When sparrows are sold, two small sparrows cost only one penny. But not even one of them can die without God’s knowing it. God even knows how many hairs are on your head. So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many birds.” Matthew 10:29.

God loves the sparrows, and He pays attention to their lives.

God loves you much more, and He pays close attention to your life. God knows how many hairs are on your head. And God knows what is going on in your life. God knows when you are sad about something, and when you are happy. God knows when you are afraid, and He understands.

We can care for sparrows, too, just like God does. When it is very, very cold outside, birds need to eat more food for their little bodies to stay warm.

We’re going to clean out this half of a pumpkin AND fill it with birdseed. Then we are going into the backyard to find a place to hang it.

We will watch from our window for a few days, and see the birds eat from their new birdfeeder!

End with a prayer thanking God for knowing and loving you so well.

RANDOMNESS - TURNING 60 - You read correctly. I am 60.

To be honest, I am not fully comprehending anything that happened a couple of weeks ago...

On that fateful day...

When I turned 60.

WHEW! I literally cannot wrap my head around it!

I still feel VERY 59.

But 60 or not, we still had a BIG to-do in the front yard!

This one enjoyed her Baby Pool Kitchen BESIDE the BIG to-do.

This one...

And this one...

NEVER STOPPED SLIDING.

NEVER!

This one worked on her tan, and wandered around.

Pop played hard.

The next day we decided he might have played a little TOO hard.

I had a lovely little Krispy Kreme Doughnut Tree (which fit my mood, I tell you)...

And I blew out six birthday candles (which also fit my mood).

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - I want you to know I went down the Water Slide a few times, too.

Unlike Pop, who somehow had fluffy hair AFTER playing in the water all afternoon, I had to come inside, quickly dry my hair and get back to the party.

That is why the lady in the picture blowing out candles isn't wearing any make-up OR sporting nicely coiffed hair.

After doughnuts and the obligatory ten-minute sugar high, the kids crashed and watched a movie while the grown-ups visited.

All in all, it was a very fun 59th Birthday Celebration.

UGHH! I mean 60th Birthday Celebration!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the next day or so.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

P.S. Five of us went on RT's "G" Adventure this past weekend.

RT spent some time with GIRLS and GOATS...

And experienced other "G" things along the way.

I'll share more next post!

From the Heart AND Water Balloon Ambush ON POP

Good Monday morning!

Super short...

And hopefully sweet!

From the Heart - On August 1, our Pastor (Kevin Hamm) began a two-part sermon entitled, "Ten Foundations Under Attack in America." Both sermons were excellent, eye-opening and definitely worth sharing with others. As always, Pastor Kevin based the sermons on what the Bible had to say about each of the Ten Foundations, so not only were they "excellent, eye-opening and worth sharing with others," they were also (most importantly) true.

If you call ahead, Gardendale First Baptist has a bookstore (Encouraging Word Bookstore), and you can purchase CDs or DVDs of these messages there for a minimal cost.

Just go to https://www.gfbc.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Bookstore" for the contact information.

RANDOMNESS - Water Balloon Ambush ON POP - To say Judith and RT like throwing water balloons would be an understatement.

They kinda love it.

For our Beginning of Summer Water Balloon Fight, we made 500 of those attach-to-the-hose-and-fill-a-bunch-in-less-than-a-minute water balloons.

For the Water Ballon Ambush ON POP, they wanted 500 more, but we took turns filling 300 (or so) and we did just fine.

Judith and RT were in charge of four bunches each.

We put one baby pool full of balloons in the back of the old blue pickup truck...

And the other baby pool beside the house on the ground.

Both kids crouched in the back of the pickup waiting for Pop to come home from work.

Hmmm...

Pop may or may not have found out about the plan because he's wearing tennis shoes instead of his work shoes.

Again, hmmm.

RT is really into squirting the water balloons like squirt guns...

And he likes the double-barrel-underhand-toss, too.

Judith was very big into using the boat and other vehicles as a shield as she tried to sneak up on Pop.

Also, Pop was never supposed to take over the baby pool by the garage doors.

That was never in the plan...

And we really resent him for not sticking to the plan!

Someone may have been a little over-dramatic...

And it wasn't one of the two Grandtots.

Next year, same plan except we're adding Eden!

Have a great Monday. I have some BIG news to share in a couple of days (I'm already working on it)...

And when I say BIG, I mean BIG to me and not the world at large.

So I will talk to you very soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

P.S. Can you guess?

And this is only A SMALL PART of the BIG NEWS TO ME!

Stay tuned!

4th of July AND Judith's W Adventure

Good Saturday evening!

In an attempt to be succinct, I am catching up on pics from July, and I'm not adding anything else to this post...

Which leaves me wide open in August for anything and everything else!

And more pics.

Always more pics!

RANDOMNESS #1 - 4th of July - As you can tell, we rented an inflatable again this year.

This particular inflatable did not have it's picture taken when the palm trees were standing tall...

So you'll have to take my word for it.

It was awesome!

RT and Saw-Man!

After Eden's initial trip down the slide with her Mom, she decided to stay in the pool the rest of the day...

And she cheered for and hugged all the crazies who risked life and limb in the name of "4th of July FUN."

Toppy, Sawyer and Carly.

Beebo and Baby Lawson. He is a beautiful addition to the family, isn't he?

There was a nice semi-shady spot BEHIND the inflatable, and the 20-somethings headed there for some cornhole time.

Brad and Zac Martin.

I haven't told anyone yet, but next year I think there will be an official Cornhole Tournament with an epic First Place Prize!

Maggie (Zac Martin's sweet fiance), Katie, Roxie and Courtney.

Hanging out in the baby pool with a cousin is a fine way to spend the 4th!

Blog Linkage - Okay. I thought I could just do pics alone with no content, but I was wrong. Oh, so wrong!

If you ever plan on getting in a car with kids for a roadtrip, go to www.kellehampton.com and read her post entitled, "Road Trip Hacks for Family."

Lots and lots of good ideas and resources for getting from "here to there" and surviving the question, "Are we there yet?"

RANDOMNESS #2 - Judith's W Adventure - That's right.

I said W.

Here are just a couple of WAYS WE celebrated that WONDERFUL letter!

First WE headed to WAR Eagle country to spend a WEEKEND WITH Roxie.

WE WENT on a WINDING WALK to a nearby...

WATERFALL!

WE WERE WANDERING WOMEN!

WE stopped at WHOLE Foods on the WAY home the next day...

And WE bought some WATERMELON!

And, yes.

It WAS WAY too pricey...

But WONDERFULLY sweet to eat!

Here's hoping you have a great Sunday!

July went by in a big, busy blur...

And I'm thinking August will probably do the same.

Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

P.S. Judith and RT planned a Surprise Water Balloon Fight for Pop, and I'll have more of those pics next post!

They hid in the back of Pop's old pickup and ambushed him!