It’s my second week at Leading and Loving It and I decided to jump right in and tackle a topic that’s not fun… misery!

Let’s be honest, sometimes misery visits ministry.  I remember hearing Beth Moore speak last year and she said…

It’s Tuesday so I’m visiting HERE today.  Click over to finish reading.

It was a year ago this week we extended our family to include Sammie.  Sambasiva, a little boy from India whose birthday is extremely close to Jett’s.  A little boy who we pray for daily and also receives our letters and drawings.  A little boy who doesn’t realize how much he is loved by this American family.

Here is Sammie’s original sponsor photo.

And here is the photo we received from his this week.

I’m sorry the photos aren’t a better quality but our scanner is down.  Pete and I were shocked when we saw how much Sammie had grown.

This just isn’t a catch-up session on Sammie, I wanted to encourage you to follow the Compassion Bloggers heading to El Salvador today.  My friend, Heather, will be heading on her second Compassion trip and I can’t wait to follow her journey.

So remember to pray for these bloggers and pray for the children of El Salvador.  And, of course, please consider sponsoring a child with Compassion.

Let us know if you already sponsor a child… I’d love to hear about them.

I’ve got a BIG announcement this morning. We’ve decided to broadcast our annual Volunteer Gala which happens tonight LIVE. Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss watching how we celebrate our volunteers here at Cross Point. It’s one of the most unique celebrations I’ve ever been a part of.

Just between you and me it’s one of my favorite events of the year.

We’ll be going LIVE around 7:15 cst, so grab some popcorn and get ready as we pull out all the stops to honor the thousands of volunteers that make Cross Point so special.

HOP OVER TO PETE’S BLOG FOR THE CHANNEL LINK. I’d embed it here… except I don’t know how!

We try to be a pretty organized family.  One of the things we do each evening is lay out the kids clothes for the following day.  I asked Gage to help me out recently by laying out his school clothes…

I think he matched quite well.

I’m excited to tell you all that starting this week I’ll be the regular Tuesday contributor over at Leading and Loving It.  We’ve got some big plans churning over there and we’d love for you to stop by and visit.

Today I officially join Leading and Loving It as a contributor… and I couldn’t be more excited.  Let me fill you in a little about my journey, I’ve spend most of the last 12 years or so “wandering” in the role of pastor’s wife.  To take it to another level, in a lot of ways I’ve been lost.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last 12 years of ministry… but I’ve spent quite a bit of time wondering where and how I fit.

To continue reading click HERE.

We had an awesome weekend, got some great time in with friends and also got some much needed downtime as a family.  Halloween was a lot of fun and you know I have to throw in some photos for the grandparents, great aunts, uncles and cousins!

Gage chose to be Frankenstein.  I’m one of those crazy people who tear apart their magazines and organize random ideas I think are cute.  Well, I found this Frankenstein costume in Parents magazine about 6 years ago and have been waiting for one of my kids to beg me to make it, this was the year.  Originally Gage wanted to be a “shining night” (rather than a knight in shining armor) but on Wednesday he changed his mind and I couldn’t say no to Frankie!

Jett was a Jester and for some reason called this his “stinky leg” pose. I’m so glad he still enjoys dressing up… he’s growing up way too fast if you ask me!

And Brew was a skeleton… a “scccccaaaaarrrrryyyy skeleton” in fact.  He really believed he was quite scary.  He got to wear his costumeto preschool on Thursday and I had to correct him when he walked in and started chasing other kids around the room trying to scare them.

Every time I see a photo of our entire family together, “Team Wilson” as I like to say, I’m just reminded how incredibly blessed I am.

Finally I had to share the ambiance my husband created on our front porch.  I loved that he moved our firepit to the porch to keep us warm and toasty during the festivities.  He’s a keeper!

How was your Halloween and how did your kids dress up?

One reason we take Dads with us camping…

Yes, there’s a child in that blue tarp… two children actually!

Last weekend we took some time to head to East Tennessee to really take in and enjoy fall.  We busted out the new tent and spent a few days camping with friends.  While we were there we wanted to take the kids on a hike, but our favorite hike in Cades Coves is 5 miles roundtrip…and we had 10 kids with us.

I knew going into it the hike would include a lot of this…

And even quite a bit of this…

But, Brewer’s 3… so it was to be expected.  In fact he smiled the whole trip and even napped on my back for a few minutes.  Yes, a nap.  I felt a little like a momma monkey.

What surprise me the most was the 5 year-old who walked ever single step of the 5 miles.  Every single step… he never asked to be carried.  In fact Pete offered to carry him once and Gage refused the help.  He was determined to finish on his own.

Gage was a trooper… At one point he walked to the front of the pack and was overheard telling someone that his mom and dad said “He was one of the best hikers they knew.”  I decided quickly after that this photo of him at the trail head will hang in his room as a reminder of his accomplishment.  Pete and I were both so proud of him.

Here’s one of the best trip photos.  It’s all 10 of the kids right after the hike… and they’re still smiling!!

I have no doubt it will be a day they all remember… and remember with fondness.  But heck, who knows, they could all refuse to ever hike again!

My husband said something yesterday at Cross Point that I can’t get out of my mind.

Control is the greatest of all illusions that you’ll face in your life.

I’m not a control freak, in fact I think most people who know me would describe me as a little Type A, but not a control freak (I hide my controlling tendency well).  However, I find so much security in control.  Comfort in knowing “what’s next.”  Always functioning from “my plan.”

I know obedience is the key… I believe miracles always happen on the other side of obedience.  Even with that knowledge control still allures me.  Control is still a temptation.

Thoughts???

One of my favorite aspects of parenting is watching the quirky phases each child moves through.  For instance, Brewer is currently obsessed with wearing gloves.  He went through this same phase last winter and wore gloves pretty consistently for a couple of weeks.  Imagine my surprise when he picked up this quirk again last week.  And when I say he wears gloves pretty consistently I mean, even when he’s sleeping…

Or was sleeping before the camera flashed in his face.  Poor guy, but I was determined to document his obsession.

Luckily he rolled over and went right back to sleep, he didn’t miss a beat.

Here he is the next morning at church enjoying his favorite chocolate milk still sportin’ gloves.

I’m not even going to guess how many germs those gloves might have contained.  He only removed the gloves to wash his hands after going to the bathroom… yeah, gross! Sometimes it’s easier to just not fight with Brewer.

Any quirky phases your kids have gone through recently?