GIVEaway!

Hey all - just wanted you to know about FREE giveaway from Wild Olive Tees - if you haven't heard of them - it's worth your time. Great t-shirts with awesome scripture on the front and sometimes back. I was introduced to them from my sister, who purchased these for the boys for their birthdays... the LOVE THEM!





Anyway, they are giving away a new hoodie - click on the link to the right to enter! Would be fun!!!

Hope all of you are doing well!

Love,
Mel and the boys

Merry Christmas from the UHLS family :-)

howdyDO!

well, let's see - once again it has been quite awhile since posting... :-)

what's going on with the uhls family? well, a lot of this and a lot of that! riley is loving 1st grade and has now acquired a love of basketball (aunt dd, know you will LOVE that!). his teacher is mrs. mcclure and riley found out a few weeks in that they share the same birthday. made his YEAR! :-) reed is doing well in his first year of nursery school. his teacher is mrs. kimberly and she says, "so far, so good!" he is quite the trooper and on MOST days, he is excited about going!

jason is doing well too - hasn't been traveling as much - for which the boys and i are so thankful. we have been so SPOILED to have him here with us... we like it A.LOT! :-) his job in arizona is on hold until about january, but in the meantime he has been working on some bids for "things" in chattanooga. we would love that!

i have started a new bible study - BSF - and we are studying Isaiah and it has been soooo good. jason is studying jeremiah, so it's fun to be studying "similiar" books. I also have started volunteering in riley's classroom on tuesdays while reed is at school. last week was my first week and I will be going back tomorrow. it is sooo fun to be in there and mrs. mcclure is so nice to have something specific for me to do! i also have been praying about giggles and company - whether to continue that - or phase it out. i haven't had a clear answer yet to that - so in the meantime, jason had the great idea that i could use it for a *kingdom* purpose. so, we (and i use that term loosely b/c it was mostly his great idea) came up with this:



it is a set of notecards - just simple thank you's or thinking of you, or whatever you could use them for - and the proceeds - all of it - will go to renovating the old richmond road mall to be southland christian church's next campus. this campus is going to be the hands and feet of jesus in an area of lexington that rarely gets any positive attention. so... if you want a way to be involved, here is a small way in which you can :-)

so, on another note... i was thinking it was time for the QUESTIONS to return!!! so... post back with your answers and i will do the same!

1. what is your favorite part about fall?
2. if you could go on a mission trip, where would it be and why?
3. what are your favorite jeans?
4. so you leave your toilet LID (not seat) up or down when not in use?
5. do you give your kids chocolate milk?
6. regular ruled or college ruled paper?
7. facebook, twitter, or neither?
8. do you like the kleenex with lotion?

let me hear from you!!!!

and just a sweet picture from a stroll down memory lane...

what.a.week.

I'm just saying.

Watching your oldest walk in to 1st grade and then the very next day delivering a dear dear dear friend to the airport. Not just for a vacation, but for a move some 900 miles away.

Reality sometimes hurts.

So, here I am. On the verge of tears at ANY minute. Wishing with all that is in me that I can take back that moment of seeing Jamie walk away. Erase the HORRIBLE heaving cries that occurred afterwards (Shannon, you know the kind!) and just go back to life like it was...

Then you hear that still, quiet voice...

"I am in control. I have this. I truly do. YOU can't do for her what I can."

Then this scripture comes to mind...

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Rom 8:28

So, this is for real. We stand on this edge - about to make a choice - do we BELIEVE that - or don't we?

That's the thing. I KNOW it, it is just sometimes so hard to make your mind think what your heart knows. YOU KNOW?

I know you know :-).

So to Jamie - I thank you and will continue to thank you...

... for asking the hard questions
... for praying WITH me, FOR me and BESIDE me
... for allowing me in to your innermost thoughts
... for being the friend i wish all girls had
... for loving on my kids so very very very much
... for trusting me with yours
... for making me rely on God instead of people
... for loving me unconditionally
... for allowing Jesus to shine through you
... for not being petty
... for always being hopeful
... for making me a better me



I'm so thankful Texas is not Japan. So thankful for phones. So thankful for texting (thank goodness you all finally did that). So thankful for airplanes. So thankful for skype. So thankful for email.

I still miss you here though.

.first.grade.

Well, today was the day.

Today was the day our oldest walked in to first grade. And he did great.



If you remember my post a year ago - man, it was t.o.u.g.h. And this year, well, pretty much the same. I revisited my journal entry that first day of Kindergarten and of course the tears just came a rolling. Not because I was upset really, but because the emotion of it all was still so fresh that I could feel it again.

But what I came away with was this - we sure did have a lot of answered prayers during Riley's last year of school. Right down to having "some kind" (as I put it in my journal) of a connection with Riley's teacher that we met for the first time at open house (we continually to be blessed with her friendship). And I am confident that it has a something to do with the fact that I gave Riley to HIM afresh after that first day of kindergarten, and after talking with my dear friend Jamie tonight, I am going to do that again shortly after closing this posting. As parents, we sometimes get preoccupied with our schedules, our busy lives and just those silly to-do lists that I always make.

And we forget.

Forget that we need to be intentional.

Especially when sending our kids out from under our direct protection. (Thank you DD, for that reminder today, as well.)

So, Jason and I sat down and thought of ways to specifically pray for Riley during this first grade school year. It was fun to get our ideas together and it opened up a great conversation for what we feel is important for him. It's so fun to think that we will be on the same page each and every day as we are praying for our son.

We may not get them all covered each and every day... but it will surely get us started.

building your house on the rock...

the boys and i were walking along the creek yesterday surveying the damage from the storm the night before. we had left some "valuables" out - not knowing that there was a storm coming through - one of those kind that make the creek swell so big and sweep with it all that has been left unsecured...

we lost:
our 6 person tent
4 lanterns
our play pool
our slide

but some good things that were NOT swept away:
pup tent
6 lanterns
riley's favorite tool (hatchet kind of thing)
rake
hammock
edger
glass table
(and really the list could go on...)

our loses were much LESS in comparison to what was saved. isn't that like life sometimes? but we don't realize it until later on - after the storm has passed?

from that thought my mind went to the parable of building your house on the rock - meaning, have a firm foundation (be secured down) so that when storms come, your home will not be destroyed. isn't that one of the reasons we study the bible and pray without ceasing. so that we will KNOW the LORD much better - so that we can recognize his voice - so that WHEN (not if) the storms come that we will not be swept away... what better way to show the world that we mean what we say we believe - to not crumble when trials come. To be able to STAND knowing that having the LORD on our side is enough - that HE truly has our back...

so for those girls of mine that are going through such tough times right now, you know who you are...

i see the LORD in you
keep on KEEPING on...
for what other reason have you dug in to get to know the maker of the world than for times as these...

HE is relying on you to come to HIM
you are doing such a magnificent job...
and you are showing me the true meaning of FAITH and TRUST.

HE takes great delight in YOU,
you are so VALUABLE to HIM... and to me.

thank*ful

I'm sitting in Bowling Green, visiting with my sister and her family and our mom and dad this week. It is always so fun to have a house FULL of fun, laughter and memories. I sure wouldn't trade it for anything...

So tonight, I get a sweet little treasure. When getting ready for bed, Riley comes up to me and says that his belly isn't feeling so well and that he wanted to sleep in the room with me and Reed. As he gets older, this is NOT a common occurance b/c he wants to be with the girls, 24/7. So, Riley and I are cuddling in the bed that I grew up in - so funny to think about that! - and just chatting and talking about Toy Story 3. Sweetness. Leigha then brings Reed up to the room (they had all been telling stories and cuddling on Nanny and Papa's bed) for him to go to bed as well. He wanted to sleep in my old bed too. So, reluctantly, I put them to bed in the same bed, in the same room. Some 30 minutes later, this is what I found...



Sweet as can be.

Out cold.

And mine... well, ours, but you know what I'm getting at...



I just stopped and marveled at them for a bit. I wasn't thinking of the "issues" we had had during the day - the bullying, the crying for dark blue blankey, the insisting that we had already had dinner so they could eat the cupcakes... no, I was just 100% completely enamored with them. It wasn't because of anything they had done, or hadn't done. I was just happy looking at them. And I got to thinking, I wonder if God feels that way about us. Sometimes, I hope it is refreshing for Him to look at us and just be PROUD that we've made some tough decision and are trusting Him through it. That we don't hide the fact that sometimes life is hard - but that doesn't mean that God isn't good. That hopefully, somehow, Jesus shines through - and that makes Him happy.

I think sometimes I forget to remember that God is head over heals about us, like I was just a few minutes ago seeing my sons conked out together :-).

Rest well, friends. Knowing that He's keeping an eye out for you - even as you sleep.