Everyone Loves The Christmas Spirit

Lysa TerKeurst is doing a cool thing this December. Click HERE to check out what she's doing and get involved!!!

Read This Blog and You Could Save Hundreds of Dollars!!!

Zeke has battled a runny nose since he was born, almost 17 months ago. I'm embarrassed when I drop him off at the nursery sometimes because they look at me like I'm crazy for bringing such a "sick child" around the other kids. I always have to make sure that I tell them, "He's not contagious, I PROMISE!!". You can check out this FUNNY VIDEO from Josh's blog. I mean, Zeke has been on so many anti-biotics they just have to take one look at his THICK FILE of monthly anti-biotic prescriptions at the Pediatricians office that they don't even make me come in for an appointment anymore. They really are baffled as to what it could be, but we think it's probably an allergy of some sort. Anyway, we have been to the ENT several times for severe double ear infections, had pink eye a half dozen times, bronchitis, and several other side effects, not to mention the terrible snoring we can hear down the hall over the music playing in their room and the fan on high! So, after this last round of anti-biotics my mom suggested taking him off of ALL dairy products. That didn't work either so we kind of gave up on that idea...and then Thanksgiving came. We went to my sisters and she had just gotten a humidifier hooked up because her youngest little boy needed it. By the third day Zeke was SNOT FREE!! We couldn't believe it. But as soon as we got home, the runny nose came back within 24 hr. So, we went out and spent $20 (less than a copay) on a humidifier and wouldn't you know, NO MORE RUNNY NOSE! Yeah. Who would have thought that a $20 humidifier could have saved us hundreds of dollars this past year on doctors visits and prescriptions.

3 Meals A Day = PATIENCE

I hate meal time. I hate having to get it all ready (cut up, spread out, filled up, and cooled off) for the kids so much that I even dread the thought of it. Especially when, as soon as I sit down, Areyna needs more juice and Zeke already needs a second helping. I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed just thinking about it. Therefore, I have become a hard core believer in snacking=) I guess that was easier to keep up with, calorie wise, when I played soccer EVERYDAY! I have always known that I need to eat all three meals of the day, but sometimes I get sidetracked by the kids and getting them fed, or helping Josh in the office, that I "forget" or simply don't put any effort into making breakfast or lunch for myself. I have started noticing a trend in my attitude when I don't get enough calories, though. I tend to get very irritable, light-headed, snappy, and sometimes downright irrational. My patience goes out the window by Zeke's first nap (and that's at 10:30am). Needless to say, I have to really make a conscience effort to eat all my meals. The past 2 days have been catch-up days after being gone and so my meals have been sporadic, but today I have already eaten breakfast AND lunch!! Woohoo!! My energy level is up and my patience level is sky high, even though we've had numerous temper tantrums, fights, bad attitudes AND I've cleaned up Areyna's pee all over the house today=( Have I mentioned I hate potty training! Anyway, today is a day I'm turning over a new leaf. I AM NOT going (well, I'll try not to) fore go another meal EVER AGAIN...at least this week.

Baanah, Recah and Who?

I have been reading through II Samuel lately. Today I read chapter 4. The Lord really pulled something out of this passage for me today. See, David has already been anointed King, but he is kind of in the transition stages after King Saul's death. He knows God's calling on his life and he trusts the Lord to fulfill his Word, but he is being patient and waiting on the Lord's timing. In the mean time there is a battle going on between the house of Saul and the house of David. If you remember, Saul spent the last several years of his life trying to kill David and Saul's whole house kind of adopted this mentality. It carried on even after Saul died. Slowly David's enemies are turning around and trying to prove to David that they are on his side by "getting rid" of David's enemies. This whole 4th chapter was about these two guys named Baanah and Recah who have quite an agenda. They were leaders of raiding bands who's boss was Saul's son Ish-Bosheth. One day they decided to go kill Ish-Bosheth because he was showing signs of weakness in comparison to David. They wanted a STRONGER leader because I suppose they thought they could get more out of him. So, they go to Ish-Bosheth's house and stab and kill him while he's sleeping. I love David's response when they bring Ish-Bosheth's head to David as a prized possession, "As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of all trouble, when a man told me, 'Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! How much more-when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed-should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!" See, David knew that the Lord would take care of him and protect him. He didn't need others to go out and dominate the land for him. Even when King Saul was on his heels and about to kill him, he PRAYED for Saul and for his own safety. I pray that God would give me faith like that!

Family Togetherness

I'm a little giddy. Josh and I were the first of ALL the family to get to the VIA'S here in VA last night. Then Rick, who has been at a revival 1 1/2 hours away, found out so many of his kids were going to be here and he just couldn't stay away, even though he had responsibilities at 8am back at the church. Then Joy got here after sitting in the traffic we just got out of. Then Jared and Danielle changed their plans from going to her parents house to spending the night here because they wanted to see us before we leave today. Then Jacob and Keesha arrived to "hang out" before going to Keesha's parents house to spend the night. Finally, Jonathan, Kelly, Cana and Kayil showed up. By this time it was around 11pm or so. I just love when the WHOLE family gets together. We stayed up playing Nintendo WII and reminiscing about old inside jokes. We made it to bed a little before 2am. Too bad my kids went to bed on time and got up ON TIME. But it's just the beginning. After lunch we'll pack up the kids, the car and the "Thanksmas" presents and head to my sisters to have a few Needed days of Family Togetherness with my family. I love this time of year, even when this time last year brings back memories of heartache and pain. Our God is SO Good!!

What a GREAT day!

I had such a good day today! Mondays are our days off, our FAMILY day!! We all slept in until around 9:30 and we took our time getting up and at 'em because we had no agenda for the day. Then the kids had a successful room time together with no screaming and fighting. It was so pretty outside that we had lunch outside and then played out there the rest of the day. We did have some last min. stuff to get done around the house because we are leaving for "Thanksmas" at my sister's in MD tomorrow (we are combining Thanksgiving and Christmas because my sister's 3rd baby is due the first week in Jan. and that is usually the time MY family gets together to do Christmas)!! Can you believe Thanksgiving is THIS week? Anway, while the kids played outside Josh finished staining our new deck he built a couple of months ago and I got caught up on phone calls that I've been meaning to make. This is HUGE for those of you who know how much I just LOVE talking on the phone... not really. I love these kind of days.
We had a good day of worship yesterday at South Pointe Fellowship in the morning and then at Ridge Church last night. I'm also so Thankful to be a part of Southbrook Church which had an AWESOME day yesterday too, even though we didn't get to be there. You can check out what happened there on Rob Singleton's blog, and you can read more about our day of ministry on Josh's blog.

Is This Normal?

Areyna is 2 1/2 years old and is in the process of being potty trained. I really want to be the best mom that I can be and naturally I research things to death to figure out what approach we will take and the ones that don't really go along with the way we want to raise our children. I have looked up potty training in dozens of different places and can't really find a good resource. Here is the background. Areyna started on her own in July when she was 29 months. She gave us the signs that led us to believe that she was interested. She knew she couldn't poop and peepee in the pool outside so we brought her little potty outside and she went in that for a long time. Then on our way out the door one day she went poop in the potty and she was so excited. The problem was, we were heading out the door and wouldn't be returning back home for over a week. That has been the problem all along. We travel so much that by the time she gets back into the swing of things we have to leave again and it's terribly hard to be consistent on the road or in an unfamiliar place. So, we thought she finally had it by the time October rolled around. She was in her "big girl undies", (we don't like the "p" word around here=) ), for about 3 weeks, going EVERY time but then all of a sudden, she quits on us. Then, Josh leaves the country for a couple of weeks and it's down hill from there. Josh came back and she is back to going about 1 time a day. Yesterday, Josh put her in room time and said, "Now Rainy, if you have to go potty tell me and you can get a piece of candy." and wouldn't you know a few minutes into room time she has to go. We used to give her candy after every time she would go for a reward but then she was so consistent with it I weaned her down to just a single sticker. It doesn't seem to be doing it for her though. How do you wean a child from the rewards and how long does this back and forth stage go on in potty training? Is this even normal? If you have ANY advice please pass it on. I know it's all in her timing, but when do you have to pull out the big guns because you KNOW she can do it and she's being lazy?

Stubborn Little Boy

I do believe that we have one of the most stubborn little 16 month olds in the world. He is so hard headed sometimes. Here is just one example of what we are dealing with. Around 6 months of age we started teaching sign language to both of our kids. Areyna was a pro at signing "please", "thank you", "more", "thirsty" and "all done" by the time she was 9 months old. Zeke on the other hand has taken his time learning these signs and tends to only sign on his own terms. Now, I understand that each child will learn things on their own time table and that each child is different, but on the other hand, I do believe that our little guy is just plain stubborn. I have seen him sign ALL of these words at one time or another with my own eyes so I KNOW that he is capable of doing them, but he pretends that he doesn't know what sign language is sometimes. Okay, back to the example. Last night at dinner he had eaten a pretty good dinner and was finishing up with some grapes. Usually we let him get away with certain sounds that inflect a yes or no meaning behind them, but last night I was determined to make him sign or SAY what he wanted. I guess I'm a little stubborn too=) He clearly wanted more grapes but refused to sign "more". He started crying and screaming for more but insisted on standing his ground. He would say "please" and "thank you" but still no "more". Needless to say he didn't get any more grapes and he wasn't gonna give in so he let us know that he was all done and wanted down, so I said "Zeke, say please"...only to get a jerk back and a loud grunt in return. What??? Not even a "please" now? You've got to be kidding me! So, Zeke sat in his seat until we were well done eating and cleaning the kitchen. Finally, Josh gave in and forced his hands in the "please" sign and let him out. But wouldn't you know, as soon as he was down, he was a completely different child. He played and laughed and even signed "please" to get his ball that he dropped on the floor. Unbelievable. This is Zeke sitting in his chair while we waited for a simple gesture to let us know that he would comply with our demands.

Back In The Swing Of Things

I've got a fresh motivation today. Josh is back home and his jet-lag is SLOWLY fading away. It seemed to have affected us all. It's amazing how the Lord helps us cope with whatever we are going through at the time. God showered me with more patience and endurance than I thought was ever possible. That's how we know it's God. He does something in us that we know WE cannot attain on our own. Anyway, as soon as Josh got in the car at the airport, I felt like I'd been running a marathon myself and just wanted to crash. My body was letting down because I knew that backup had arrived!! Praise The Lord. The past couple of days have been catch-up days in the office, on sleep, and on family time for all of us. The kids have been extra clingy to their daddy and don't want him out of their sight, and Josh is loving every minute of it. During these times when Josh travels is when I really realize how Blessed I am to have married my WONDERFUL husband. What a godly husband, father and example he is! I love you Baby.

We need your help!!!!

Sara and Kati Scott are part of Return Worship with Josh and I. They won the battle of the bands here in Charlotte and they are going to be interviewed on 91.9FM on Tuesday morning, November 13 at 7am and 7:30am. Along with part, if not all, of "Your Love Does No Wrong" from the Return CD. AFTER it has been aired we need your help. We NEED YOU to call and/or e-mail 91.9 requesting them to play "Your Love Does No Wrong" with Sara and Kati Scott. Here's the info. 704-841-4646 or 704-821-9293 and e-mail: info@newlife919.com. Thanks for ALL your help. If you want to purchase the CD it's on sale now at Southbrook church or on line at the Return Worship website.

Interstate Traffic and Ginger Plowman

Yesterday I took the kids over to go see a good friend of mine from seminary who now lives near Gastonia. She had told me a couple of months ago about a conference at her church and through further discussion realized that both our husbands were going to be out of town so we decided to go to the conference together. The speaker was Ginger Plowman from Preparing The Way Ministries. She had such good insight and experience. As much as I'd like to think that I've got it all together sometimes as a mother and wife, today I realized that I've got a LONG way to go. I've read a ton of books, Christian books, and heard even more advice, but I wasn't digging deep enough into the Word and realizing that God really wants me to train the heart. I've heard a lot of it before, but I think I finally GOT IT today. Thank you Ginger. Well, just as I got all pumped up to be a godly example to my kids and packed full of new ideas we get in the car to head back home and wouldn't you know we run into construction traffic. Not just any traffic, but MAJOR traffic. It is where 77/85 and 485 all meet and there are 6 lanes at one point. Well, we all had to be merged into 1 lane. We went .9 miles in about an hour, Zeke screaming most of the time. It was 1pm and they hadn't slept or eaten since 7:30 that morning so he was a little cranky. On any other given day I would have gone mad because of the horrendous traffic and my screaming child, but I just kept thanking God for the privilege of being a parent and smiled at the way that He grows us. So, in spite of Zeke's screaming I drove the rest of the way home listening to "I want to hear my daddy sing Father Olights" 20 times as requested by Areyna. Have I mentioned that we're ALL ready to have Josh back home!

COUSINS!!

This is Josh's mom and all her grandbabies! Us moms had to help keep them from getting in the water=)

Only 4 more days!!!!!!!!

When Josh leaves on a trip, the first couple of days are usually pretty nice and relaxing. I enjoy having our whole bed to myself, waking up late, watching whatever I want on TV, not cooking, etc. A lot of times I travel around. The key to being alone with the kids ALL day by myself is staying busy so we scheduled some time with friends and family. We got back from Wake Forest yesterday afternoon and the kids were exhausted from being in the car, from eating fast food for 5 days and from playing like crazy with their cousins they haven't seen in forever. Needless to say we all needed a day at home to relax. I did go to church last night and got invited to play with Kati and Sara Scott at the big Youth Pastors Conference in Concord. My awesome friend, Raina Newman is the director at the children's ministry during the week at our church and she pulled some strings so I could drop the kids off at the preschool and I could go play. Areyna never cries and is usually the one in the class that eats all the other kids snacks because she's the only one NOT crying. Well, not today. Remember, we all needed a day at home to cuddle on the couch and do nothing. Raina said she cried almost THE WHOLE TIME! Then I asked about Zeke and he wasn't much better. I felt like a terrible mom!! To make things worse, when we were walking out the car, Areyna's balloon elephant popped that she had made and become best friends with. We all just stopped and you'll never guess who started crying...ME! I started balling. Well, now the kids are down for a nap and I'm getting caught up on a weeks worth of office stuff, and I'm ready for Josh to come home!!

No-good Shopper

You won't hear many girls say this, but, I HATE SHOPPING, for many reasons. First of all, I always want more than I could ever afford, second, I can't ever make up my mind. I'll pick something up and put it down a dozen times and end up walking out of the store without purchasing a single thing. Third, if I'm looking for clothes they never fit right, AHHH. The conclusion is, I'm a no-good shopper. See, my sister-in-law, Keesha Via, just started a home buisiness with AT HOME AMERICA and she had her first party here in Wake Forest tonight. I drove up here to support her, and she did a GREAT job. *By the way, if you are interested in hosting a party or even a catalog party let me know and I'll pass on her information to you. Anyway, I found out tonight that I can't even catalog shop without getting overwhelmed. I sat there looking at the catalog for a good 2 hours during and after the party and changed my mind so many times that I just gave up. I know my husband thinks that I'm just a good wife that doesn't give in to the impulse of shopping, but the truth is, I'm just no good at it. Lucky him, huh.

The North/South Game

Apparently this is the biggest game of the year! You may have seen the advertisements running on ESPN the past few weeks. And the game traffic, ah... Just kidding, but it is a huge deal at CIU. I'm here, in Columbia, SC with the kids and my mother-in-law. We are spending a little quality time together while our guys are in S.Korea preaching and singing the Word. We still don't understand why they have time to get a quick workout but can't write a quick reply to tell us what they are up to, (j/k babe, I know you're busy!). Anyway, back to CIU. Josh's youngest sibling, Joy is at school here and kept telling us that she couldn't come visit because she had football practice. You see, the school forms 2 girl teams and they practice religiously every week for 2 months for this big game and friends and family come from all over to see the Big Event! We had front row seats, well, I actually ran the track with Zeke as he chased after every ball and dog and Meme followed Areyna around while she got quite a collection of "cool" rocks. Ok, no more suspense, Joy's team won, 12-6. The South dominated, and Joy is stoked b/c she said that they usually lose. So, props for Joy.

I'm Giving In

Well, my husband, Josh Via, has been telling me for months that I should start my own blog. I said that I'd never know what to write about, but I guess it's worth a try. My husband and I work together. We travel around the world, well...mostly up and down the East Coast, playing music together for the Lord. We have a 2 1/2 year old girl named Areyna and a 16 month old little boy named Ezekiel (Zeke). We play in many different churches but the church we call home, here in Charlotte, NC is Southbrook Church. We are part of an AWESOME music team there called Return Worship lead by Dan Rutty. We love to travel together leading worship, but it can get stressful here at home preparing and on the road with two little kids. I'll let you know how it all goes...