Jesus' Paw Print

Alysiah, my very creative daughter, says the funniest, craziest, cutest things ever. You never know what your gonna get with her. If you have never heard my stories, here are just a few.
1) A few months ago after turning 3 years old Alysiah began to realize that her skin color was darker than others around her. She said to me one day (completely out of the blue). "Mommy, I look like chocolate. That's yummy." A few days later we were in the car and she says to me "Mommy. Josiah, Elijah, daddy and I all look like chocolate, but you are vanilla pudding."
2) On a different night a few months ago Alysiah came into my room and there was water all down the front of her pajamas. I asked her what happened to her pajamas. Alysiah responds "My pajamas asked for a drink and I said ok."

Well as you can see that kid is as creative as they come. She is only 3 but talented in her thought process. The other night I was laying in her room with her and there was a reflection on her ceiling that looked just like a paw print (caused by some mirrors hanging on her wall) She looked up at it and before I could even mention what it looked like, she says" Mommy, look it's Jesus' paw print." My heart melted that very instant as I smiled and continued the conversation. "Where does Jesus live, Alysiah?" She lifts up her nightgown and patting her belly she says right here" I said "In your belly? How about your heart? Doesn't Jesus live in your heart?" She says, "No. He taste better in my belly!"

The cuteness about the whole thing is that she is so pure in her rationalizations of her views. She is not contaminated by the realities of the world and to her, her thoughts are pure genius.
I think they are pure genius too. I think a child who can realize that she is different than the kid next door, but call herself chocolate and yummy....is a kid who is learning young to live in her own skin with a positive attitude. I didn't teach her that, it is a gift that came from her maker. In the innocence of every child is the power to know who they are in Christ. The older we get and the less innocent we become, the more the world robs us of knowing who we are in Him. That's why Jesus loves the little children. He says in Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
I wish I could shelter all children from the realities of this world, but we know realities come for some sooner than others. My prayer is that she can hold that positive attitude for years to come. That at the earliest age possible she will learn that Jesus' paw print is not on her ceiling but it is everlasting in her heart. And that Jesus' love for her is yummy. Ya know, we can all learn from Alysiah...we don't have to allow the contamination of this world to rob us of the knowledge of who we are in Christ. Alysiah knows who she is......she is chocolate and she is yummy. I tell her often that she is beautiful and she accepts my words by simply saying "Thank you. " I know one day it won't be that easy but that's why He says be like the little children. Jesus simply says YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL......accept it by simply saying "thank you". I truly hope His "paw print" is everlasting upon your heart.

Briarwood Ranch

Josiah's class went on a field trip Friday to the Briarwood Safari Ranch in Morristown, TN. It was a very wild adventure with plenty of animals from around the world. Basically we rode in a huge wagon pulled by a tractor and they handed us each a bowl of feed. We rode through the woods and had the opportunity to feed wild animals. It was wild crazy fun! I even tried to feed some animal (not sure what it was) and it took my feed bucket after attempting to drag me out of the wagon. I'm just glad it was me and not one of the kids. Alysiah loved the entire ride and loved all of the animals. Josiah not so much. But he had a great attitude and even touched a few animals at the end. He was a little freaked out at first but he hung in there and did great. Elijah had adventures of his own. He got to spend the day with Kim and Kevin Whitman and had so much fun he was sad to come home. Check out the video and pics.

Keys and Chaos

There's been issues with keys the last few days in our house. Saturday we locked both sets of keys in the van at the same time while we were at the park. We had to call a locksmith (The first time I've ever had to use one) And it cost big $$ for a job that took him 30 seconds. (Don't you just love that?) Then the rest of the weekend it seemed like we were playing lost and found with both set of keys. Chris would find his and mine were missing. I would find mine and Chris' were missing. It should have been a warning sign for things to come....This morning was a school morning and Chris snuck out of the house with out me hearing him leave. And of course the kids would choose a school day to sleep in. So when Alysiah walked in my room and I saw that it was 7:30 am. I went into freak out mode. (I'm extremely obsessed with getting the kids to school on time) I was running around yelling at the kids telling them to finish there breakfast and hurry and get dressed and running around like a maniac trying to get lunches fixed and Elijah dressed. Then everyones hair brushed and hooray we are out the door. Whew! Only a few minutes late when all of a sudden I realize......No keys! I could not find my keys anywhere. The kids are strapped in their car seats ready to go to school and I am running around crazier than a maniac trying to find my keys. I am sweating, my heart is racing and I have looked everywhere but no keys. The house has been ransacked and still no keys. I call my lovely husband twice to make sure he doesn't have my keys and finally I give up. The kids are way late for school and there is nothing I can do. I feel like a complete failure and wonder why in the world it has to be so hard. Why can't we just wake up get dressed and get them in the car and off to school with out the madness or the chaos. (Perfect world, right?) I go back to the car and get them out and send them to there room while I clean up the mess and try to gain my composure. Chris calls and tells me he'll look in his car and asks me to please calm down. Oh sure easy for him to say." I think to myself. "He doesn't have to deal with getting 3 kids dressed and out the door for school." Just then Josiah opens the door to his room and I loose it. Completely irrationally I scold him for opening the door and it all goes down hill from there.......Immediately I realize that it is not his fault I can not find my keys and I hit the floor on my knees. Humbled before the Father who has given me such a beautiful gift in such a special child, I cry out for His mercy to help me. That very moment I grabbed Josiah in my arms and just cried and asked for his forgiveness and apologized for yelling at him. Josiah wipes the tears from his face and says with a smile on his face "It's ok. I want to go watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse now." and off he goes. Happy as can be and oblivious to the torment I am going through at that very moment. But that's the beauty of Josiah.....he's forgiving and innocent. And that's the beauty of God and His mercy. God doesn't keep record of our wrongdoings when we humbly fall on our face before Him. He recognizes our shortcomings and then just like that forgives us for what we've done. My morning was bad.....really bad. But it could have been worse. The whole day could've been bad. Do you know the minute I fell on my knees and asked God to forgive me everything changed. He stepped in and all the chaos seemed to seize. I went back to the living room to clean and right there where I had looked over and over again......were my KEYS. On the couch that I had ransacked several times and still could not see them.
That is life......sin sets us apart from God and although we cry for His help he can not help us when we are apart from Him. Then we fall on our knees and cry out for His mercy and Voila! The blind folds are removed and what we could not see before, we can suddenly see.
The kids made it to school this morning.....they were late but they made it. I sent my husband a text to let him know I found the keys and he called me right back. I don't want to talk about it right now I told him and He kindly said ok and hung up. Minutes later he sent me a text that read: "Sorry you had a rough morning" Psalm 118:24. And he is right. "This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be Glad in it." He makes the good days and the bad days. Bad days don't have to stay bad. The KEY to having a good day is humbleness before Him. Admit our shortcomings, cry out for His mercy and watch Him make a bad day...good again. :-)

Welcome to our family.

I should've started this blog a long time ago. My days are filled with too many action packed moments not to write about it. And each day comes with new adventures, new experiences, new moments to scream "AHHHHHHHHH!" and most importantly new opporunities for growth! The little ones grow bigger and we grow stronger. Our life revolves around growth. This is "Life with the Lockette's". Never a dull moment, always a story to share :-) Enjoy!

Bears

So 2 weeks ago Josiah had a Social Studies lesson on Pioneers. As a last minute decision I thought we should head out to Cades Cove and visit some of the cabins and do a "hands on" lesson on Pioneers. I had just finished reading the novel "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers and I was in Pioneer mode myself. I was also hoping to finally see a bear. In the 2 years we've been here and all our visits to the Smoky's I have been hoping for an encounter with a bear. (from a distance of course). Well we started the loop and I kept praying "Lord I really want to see a bear please let us see a bear." (as if He didn't have more important request to fulfill) But all we saw were the usual wild turkey here and the usual deer there. We stopped and ate a picnic dinner and showed Josiah the cabins and mill and barns and then decided it was time to head home. It was a great evening. (I love the Smoky's) but deep down I was disappointed that once again I didn't see a bear. Well we headed on our way out and as we approached the exit to the loop we came to a sudden stop and a traffic jam. I saw people looking up in a tree and I told Chris I was jumping out. I jumped out of the van and ran to the crowd and Guess what? Bears! Up at the top of a tree was Mama Bear and her two cubs. It was so exciting! And I smiled the whole way home. Isn't it great how God cares about the little things in our lives? He cares so much about the desires of our hearts that He shows up just in time and allows us to enjoy even the most minute experiences just to fill us with joy.