17th Birthday Yesterday...

I got these shots yesterday.  For Tim's birthday we upgraded his cell phone.  He is so happy with his new phone.

Mother's Day...

Mother's Day is always extra special for me because that is the day when our son was born.  17 years ago on this date Tim was born at a little after 6am weighing 7lbs 13oz & 20 1/2" long.  I love that he and I will always have that bond from when he was born.  

He is growing into an amazing young man and I'm so thankful that I get to celebrate his birthday and Mother's Day together with him this year.  It doesn't always fall that way but when it does it's an extra special day.  In honor of Mother's Day I wanted to share a pic of me pregnant, Tim when he was first born & Tim now.

Being a mom of a boy with tons of energy has been challenging to say the least.  I love my life as a mom.  Being a boy mom is like being on a roller coaster ride that never stops.  They are all over the place bouncing around like an out of control ball.  It's certainly never boring.  He's kept me on my toes and I wouldn't have it any other way.  It's been the best life raising Tim.  It's hard to believe that next year he will graduate High School.  It seems like time has gone by so fast but we sure have cherished every moment with our boy.  We have taken the time to enjoy the entire journey as parents making memories that will last a lifetime.  God has been so good to us and we are eternally grateful.  

I want to shift gears now and take a moment to recognize these 3 incredible women in my life and wish them a very Happy Mother's Day!!!

These 3 women are so incredibly special to me.  One gave me life, one pointed me to Christ and showed me His unconditional love & one gave me my husband.  The top pic in the pic above is of me with my mom, Mary.  She married my dad at 17 before ever finishing HS.  A month into their marriage she became pregnant with me, or so they tell me..hehehe.  Even though she was still very young herself having babies she did the best she knew how to do being such a young mother.  She went back and got her diploma when my youngest sister was in the head start program many years later.  I'm so proud of her for doing that because most women back then didn't.   The blonde lady in the pic above is Anne.  She is my spiritual mom and has left such a huge imprint on my heart and life for God.  I learned so much about the kind of woman of God that I wanted to be from her example.  My faith is what it is today because she has always shown me the love of Christ and treated me like I was one of her own children.  We have an amazing bond to this day.  The oldest lady in the pic above is my mother-in-law(love), Doris.  She loves her family immensely.  It has been such a blessing to know such a spit fire of a woman all these years since marrying Scot.  I'm so thankful for her because without her there would've never been a Scot or Tim.  Because of her I have two of the most wonderful gifts ever who mean everything to me! 

God Bless All Mom's! May your Mother's Day be filled with blessings overflowing!!!

Happy 17th Tim!

17 years ago today Tim entered this world on Mother's Day around a little after 6 in the morning.  He was a c-section birth because I never got past 8cm dilation.  He was wedged on my pelvic bone (which was why I was in so much pain the last month of pregnancy).  He weighed 7lbs. 13oz.  He was 20 1/2" long.  This year we celebrate his 17th birthday & Mother's Day together.  He now weighs around 64.5kg (Do the math for the pounds).  He is around 5'6" tall.  He is the best Mother's Day gift ever!!!  

He has always had enough energy for 5 kids which is why we put him in TaeKwonDo when he was only 4 1/2 years old.  He needed an outlet for his energy.  Now, all these years later, he's doing USA Olympic Weightlifting as his sport of choice & is loving it even more than he ever did TaeKwonDo (and he really loved TKD).  

He has always had Olympic dreams as far back as his dad and I can remember.  He thought TKD would get him there but now it seems USA Olympic Weightlifting is his chosen path for hopefully getting there one day.  His dreams have never changed just the sport in which he's doing to make those dreams a reality.

At 17 he continues to press hard towards his goals.  When he's not doing school or weightlifting training he is working our family business with his dad and I.  He is such a go getter and we love that about him.  He knows what he wants and he goes after it with all of his heart.    He is an amazing young man.  He's strong in mind, body and spirit!  

We love how much he loves God and his family.  We love watching him enjoy life to the fullest.  He will never be a follower (except of Jesus) and he will always be a leader!  He marches to the beat of his own drum.  He is a critical thinker.  He will never be brainwashed by any of the cultural/political trends.  He has a strong sense of right and wrong.  His World View is a Biblical World View.  He will never be a problem on society but will always be one of those that seeks solutions to whatever he's facing in this life.  

His dad and I are so thankful that God has allowed us to be his parents all these years.  It has been a joy, a challenge at times, and an adventure like none other.  We are so incredibly proud of the man that he is becoming and as our time raising him is running short we are fully ready to give him back into God's hands as he lives his own life.  It's our prayer & our hope that his life will always be guided by God.  That instead of taking the steering wheel of his life himself that he gives it to God to fully lead, guide & direct him on the paths that he should take.  

We hope you have the happiest of birthdays today Tim!  May you have many more.  We love you to the moon & beyond!!!  

We upgraded his cell phone as an early birthday gift. 

Quote of the Day...

 

Verses of the Day...

 

1 More Day...

 

Tomorrow Tim will be 17 years old.  We will be celebrating by going to Kanki for lunch and will be celebrating not only his birthday but Mother's Day as well.  We will be bringing my mom along too.  One day to celebrate so much.  Looking forward to it.  I'm sure it will be lots of fun.

2 More Days...

Tim will be 17 in just 2 days.  He was born on Mother's Day the year he was born so this year it's an extra special birthday because we get to celebrate it on Mother's Day😊.

Tim's Coach, Coach Jarrod Got Married...

Tim's coach got married on April 26th.  His wife is a weightlifter.  Tim laughed and joked about him getting married but he really is happy for them both.  They are great folks.  So glad that Tim has him as his coach and his wife as a teammate.  Congrats to them both on their marriage!  May they have a long married life filled with blessings that cannot be contained!  

(I just totally missed making this post sooner.)

Life....

I was just thinking this morning about how messed up our world is.  Everywhere you look folks are living lives in ways they were never meant to live them ever.  All you have to do is look at our animals to see how things are supposed to be.  You don't see the males/females trying to "identify" as something they are not!  They are not having relations in a way that wasn't intended for them.  The circle of life, the way God intends it, works and watching animals shows us just how well it works & why it should never be messed with. 

I'll give you an example.  We have tons of goats next door to us and each year their number grows even larger.  You don't see billy goats trying to have sex with one another.  They go after the females and then more baby goats are born.  There's order and sense to the way God intends for our lives to be lived.  

Satan just wants to distort all of that and we as a human race are allowing that to happen instead of leading and guiding our kids in the right way of living their lives.  Instead of helping them deal with unnatural emotions they are having as they navigate through puberty into womanhood or manhood.  Having feelings is one thing but acting on them is quite another.  We should be leading and guiding them.  Helping them to see the women or men that they are becoming and helping them become great women and men.  It's our job as parents/teachers/coaches or whatever influencer you are in a kids life to lead guide and direct them in a positive way that leads to a life that is lived the way God intended for them to live.  We are enabling Satan to tear this world to shreds with the distortions that are going on with our kids today.  They don't know if they are coming or going.  They don't know what sex they are supposed to be because our world has confused everything so much.  It's just sad really.

Our animals know though.  They aren't confused or trying to be or do things that are out of the order that God intended for life.  We should take a page from them.  The bulls aren't trying to be a momma cow.  A rooster isn't tryin to be a hen.  A billy goat isn't trying to be a female goat.  A boy dog isn't trying to be a girl dog.  A boy cat isn't trying to be a girl cat.  And non of them are trying to be something they aren't like a dog being a cat.  It's simple logics.  

We need to take our kids back and in turn take our world back and lead, guide & direct our kids in the way they should go so that when they are old they won't depart from it.   They won't seek to be something that God never intended for them to be like boys trying to be girls and vice versa if we are guiding them in a positive God intended way.  If we let the hierarchy of nature be our guide into how we are to be sexually with one another a whole lot of issues in our world today could be turned around for the betterment of our entire society.  Just saying.

Here's some pictures of our pets for you to enjoy as you take time to really let this sink in.

Quote of the Day...

 

Verse of the Day....

 

In His time, in His time

He makes all things beautiful

In His time

Lord, please show me everyday

As You're teaching me Your way

That You do just what You say

In Your time

In Your time, in Your time

You make all things beautiful

In Your time

Lord, my life to You I bring

May each song I have to sing

Be to You a lovely thing

In Your time

Lord, please show me everyday

As You're teaching me Your way

That You do just what You say

In Your time

In Your time (in Your time)

In Your time (in Your time, Lord)

You make all things beautiful

In Your time

Lord, my life to You I bring

May each song I have to sing

Be to You a lovely thing

In Your time

Be to You a lovely thing

In Your time

(Song by The Maranatha! Singers ‧ 1999)

Quote of the Day...

Truth!!!  

I know this to be absolutely true because I have lived through some major storms in my life and God has brought me through to the other side.  I shouldn't even be here today but I am and it's all because of God!  God saved my life and gave me a purpose. He is no respecter of persons.  What He does for one He WILL do for another!  

Jeremiah 29:11 (New Living Translation) says, "For I know the plans I have for you, 'says the Lord.' They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  The Amplified Version says it this way, "For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you, 'says the Lord,' plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  

God has plans for you and I and He Will Use Those Plans to Make Us!!!

Verse of the Day...

 

Tim's "New" Ranking in His "New" Weight Division....

 

At this last Meet Tim went up a weight division in 16-17 Youth from -61kg to -67kg and earned himself the #3 spot Nationally and #1 spot in the Carolinas WSO.  So proud of this kids accomplishments in this sport.  

More importantly, we love how much he loves what he's doing + we also loved watching him have so much fun with his team and coach.  Such an uplifting sport.  This sport fits him like a glove😊.  

Quote for Today...

 

Verse of The Day...

The Countdown is On - 4 Days to Go!

 

At this time 17 years ago I was just like every expectant mom & I was ready to give birth.  Just four more days and Tim would enter our world on Mother's Day.  The best Mother's Day gift ever!!!  That year he wasn't only my Mother's Day gift but my mom's and Scot's mom as well.  We were so thrilled.  He has been so incredibly loved every single day of his life and he knows it.  He is an amazing young man and there's nothing we wouldn't do for him and he knows that too.  We are looking forward to all that God has in store for him as he continues to make steps into manhood.  We love this kid to the moon and beyond & can't wait to celebrate on Sunday!!!  

Barbells N Sprinkles Spring Open Meet 2025 (5/3/2025)...

Tim had a fantastic time at the Meet Saturday.  He got to hang out and compete with several of his teammates and they were all having a blast together.  I love how well they all get along.  

Tim did a 90kg Snatch PR + 117kg Clean & Jerk PR + 207 Total PR.  I was a great day for him being able to increase his numbers by 16kg from his last Meet.  

Tim is learning so much and growing so much.  He loves his team and coach and is so proud to have made some really good friends that he gets to work out with on a daily basis.  

Here are some pictures that I got of his lifts at the Meet:

90kg Snatch PR

Fun with some of the guys.

117kg Clean & Jerk PR

Gold Medalist!

We shared his best videos on our social media pages.  We couldn't share them here because we kept getting told the file size was too large.  So you'll have to go to our social media pages if you are friends with us to see his videos.

Barbell's N Sprinkles Spring Open Weightlifting Meet 2025....

Today Tim lifts at the Barbell's N Sprinkles Spring Open Weightlifting Meet.

Tim is looking forward to increasing his official PR numbers today.  We are looking forward to watching him at this warm up to USA Youth Nationals Meet today.  He's only doing this as a warmup to see where his numbers are.  They aren't giving awards for Youth competitors as far as we know.  Today is all about the numbers!  

Quote of the Day...

 

It's true that laziness kills ambition, anger kills wisdom, fear kills dreams, ego kills growth, jealousy kills peace & doubt kills confidence BUT IT'S ALSO TRUE that Ambition Kills Laziness, Wisdom Kills Anger, Dreams Kills Fear, Growth Kills Ego, Peace Kills Jealousy & Confidence Kills Doubt!!!  

Without Ambition you can't go anywhere.  You will just be spinning your wheels.  How do I know?  Because I've been there.

Without Wisdom that comes from God you will be angry ALL the time.  How do I know?  Because I've been there.

Without dreams to fuel you in this journey of life you will be too fearful to even try to do anything worth while.  How do I know?  Because I've been there.

If you want growth in your life you have to drop your ego at the door of growth and never pick it back up again!  How do I know? Because I've been there and I've also had to deal with people whose egos got in the way of growth.  Our egos can keep us from God's best in our lives.  Our egos can stunt our growth and if we are in leadership then our egos will stunt the growth of those under our umbrella of authority.  It's not fair to them when our ego gets in the way.  Progress and Growth can only happen when we say goodbye to allowing our ego be in the driver seat of our lives.  

Without peace in your life you will always be jealous of what you see in everyone else's lives.  That jealousy will lead to anger and hate.  It will also lead to unhappiness ALL the time in your life. How do I know? Because I've been there.

Without confidence you will always doubt.  Confidence builds.  Doubt destroys.  How do I know?  Because I've been there.  

Be an Ambitious & Wise person who Dreams & Grows who has Peace & Confidence in their life!!!

None of that can happen unless you are allowing God to be in control of your life!!!  He's the only way that you can have true ambition, wisdom, dreams, growth, peace & confidence in your life.  Without Him Nothing Is Possible BUT With Him All Things Are Possible!!!  

(If you want to know how you can be saved so that God can take the wheel of your life & help lead, guide & direct you then go to my side panel and look for my featured post on How To Be Saved)