My Birthday Pictures!

I want to thank all of my wonderful blogging friends for the great Birthday blessings I received. I lived through the day without any mishaps. My family, as always was very, very good to me.

My husband made me a wonderful burger on the grill with Swiss cheese, grilled mushroom and onions (my favorite) We also had a fruit tray, veggie tray with chips and dip. I asked for a carrot muffin from Whole foods. I am the only one around our house now that eats carrot cake so I asked my husband for a single portion. If he made me a big cake, I would eat the whole thing!

Here are the gifts I received from my wonderful family. My children gave me some hair products that I asked for too! I did receive a card and a call from my Rebecca! The card was very funny, I'll save that for another day.

One thing I couldn't figure out for the longest time when I was downloading these pictures today was where my granddaughter Jenna was. She was on my hip while I was taking the pictures. Hee, Hee No new pictures of Jenna!

My Carrot muffin (Yummy)
Flowers from my husband! Red carnations are my favorite flower! He is so good to me!
Yeaaaahhhh!!! I received the new Chris Tomlin CD from Bret & Jessica and my 3 adorable grand babies.
New P.J.'s from Bret & Jess and my babies!
This is also from Bret & Jessica. I really needed a new curling iron.

A purse and facial products from my Dad, Mom and little sisters.
This is a picture of my new little corner of the world. I had a bare spot in my living room and wanted to place something in the corner that I could sit on. This is my new bench (It goes with the curtains in my living room) and my new book shelf. If you look above the bench you will see a picture. (See below)
I received this picture from my Daughter-in-laws mom. I love the Bible verse and the colors go perfect with my living room.
I received this Humming bird feeder from my Dad and Mom on Mother's Day. I placed in a tree right in front of my front porch swing so I could watch for the humming birds. I was sitting reading my book on Friday evening and sure enough I saw a humming bird eating from this feeder. Thanks Dad & Mom and my two little cute sisters.

The Twins Birthday Pictures!

We had a great time at the twins Birthday party! Here are the pictures from our fun evening.


Here is my husband trying to light all the candles.
This is of course the twins, Jimmy and John with their cakes.
Fun gifts for Jimmy and John, with all the boy's in the back ground. I love those smiles Ethan, Bo and Josh.
My Mother-in-Law hates to get her picture taken but I grabbed this picture of her when she wasn't looking.
Here is Jimmy and John with my two adopted sisters Shi Shi and Mali.
This is my son Bret and his beautiful wife Jessica.
This is my Step-dad and my mom.

Interesting Pictures!

I was downloading the birthday pictures and came across some very interest prints. Boaz and Joshua are way to smart for their own good.

Such a little head on such a big body!
Three cute boy's: Bo, Ethan and Josh. You'd better clean up that mess when your done.
a very scary masked man!
What in the world are you doing with the plunger Josh?

A little hop, skip and a jump, Ethan.

God's Purpose: Part 2

Living for the simple things in life: God's Purpose Part 1

To conform us to Christ:

The secret is this, simply this: Christ in you! Yes, Christ in you bringing with him the hope of all the glorious things to come.Colossians 1:27

God sent His Son to show us His glory and to purchase our redemption. God's heart, as our Father, is for us to come to Him through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as His Son and His death on the cross as purification of our sins. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we become new creations and Christ begins to live within us. Only as we are in Christ, can we hope to be what God intends. His purpose becomes real and transforming as we yield to the process He chooses for us to duplicate His character. God purchased our salvation and He continues His sanctifying work in us so that we will betransformed into His image and thereby glorify Him.

God desires for us to come to Him and to know Him. He loves us and has fully provided for our union with Him. The following Scriptures reveal how God has made it possible for us to be in relationship with Him.

John 5:24 His word tells us if we hear His word and believe in God we will have eternal Life. We will not come into judgement but pass from death into life.

Colossians 2: 9-10 In Christ (The supreme being) dwells all the fullness of the Deity. Because of this we posses the knowledge to live Godly lives. We have the knowledge and wisdom because of Christ we and live a life worthy of the lord Christ posses the fullness ofthedevine nature and attributes of the God-head, the supreme being. We can posses this through Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ was eternally rich, glorious and exalted; but "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor."...Poverty must be enriched by Him in whom are infinite treasures before it can venture to commune; and guilt must lose itself in imputed and imparted righteousness ere the soul can walk in fellowship with purity. Jesus must clothe His people in His own garments, or He cannot admit them into His palace or glory; and He must wash them in His own blood, or else they will be too defiled for the embrace of His fellowship. O believer, herein is love! For your sake the Lord Jesus "became poor" that He might lift you up into communion with Himself.
Charles H. Spurgeon

Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, God's Spirit immediately begins to live within us. He also begins to work in our lives, for He has a plan for us.

This is what I got out of each of the following scripture.

Romans 8:29

For whom He fore knew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Predetermined to set His love on us and establish an intimate relationship with Him. He chose us to be conformed to the Image of Christ to be like Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-24

We are to put off the old-self and put on a new attitude a new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

God called us to live a holy life. We should control our body in a holy and honorable way. We should not live as those who do not have Christ. We should not be controlled by lust we should not take advantage of our brother we also should not live as the heathen do We are to be conformed to the image of Christ.

To be conformed to somethings means: To be or become of the same form, to comply with, to act in accordance with.

I want to be conformed to be like Christ. I don't have the power to posses this but God tells us He gives us the power through the blood shed of His Son that we can conform to the image of Christ.

The one marvellous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is "Christ in you." It is His wonderful life that is imparted by faith as a sovereign gift of God's grace.
Oswald Chambers

God takes responsibility for our growth and sanctification.

Ephesians 2:10 We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do.

Philippians 1:3-6 We have a partnership in the gospel. He tells us we can be confident that He sho began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of christ return.

The word "Work" refers to God sactivity in saving us.

"Day of Christ Jesus" Refers to His return, when our salvation Will be brought to completion.

I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour in my late teens. I remember our pastor asking me at a revival "Do you believe that Jesus Chrsit is the Son of God and that He died for your sins?' I have sensed the Lord's presence in my life sense that very night.

As I have mentioned before, it wasn't until I was an adult that I began to understand that God wanted to conform me to the image of His Son. He used the birth of our twins to instill the fruits of the Spirit in me! What better way for me to learn patience, self-control, gentleness, kindness, love, joy, faithfulness, and goodness. It took a
while for me to receive peace. After Boaz was born I realized my great need to fully surrender my life to God and allow Him to begin to transform my life according to His plan.

I think that is what God is after-as our Father; He wants us to have a strong family resemblance to Him. He uses all sorts of ways to mold us and to bring us to dependence up Him. For some, this sanctifying process may involve not having children, not being married. For others its marriage, children, parents, jobs that God will use to conform us to the image of Christ.

God has purchased us by the blood of His Son and as a faithful Father, He desires us to grow in Christlikeness, which is the very best and the highest good for any of us.

Rules

I have been tagged by many blogger's but have never fulfilled this taste before. OK so I've been tagged by Choc Mint Girl and thought I'd give this a try.

The Rules: "Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples' sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do."

1. I love Christ and try to follow and obey His word!

2. I have been married to the same man for the last 21 years.

3. I have given birth to 7 children, and I have 3 grandchildren. I love them all very much!

4. I love to read! I read up to 3 books a month.

5. This one will be hard to believe, coming from a Worship leader. In my younger day's, I was so shy, I had a hard time meeting and talking to people.

6. My favorite movie is "A Walk to Remember". A Walk to Remember

7. I love listening to music. I love Chris Tomlin's songs.

8. I will be 44 in two days. Yikes! I don't do well with old age.

All my blogging friends have been tagged many times so I'm not going to fulfill this part of the tag.

Having a submissive Heart and a Christ like Attitude!

As my husband and I talked last night before we went to bed, I told him about a caller that called into a radio talk show I was listening to on my Motor route yesterday. This woman said that her and her husband had been married for 25 years, they fought all the time. Two years ago her husband handed her a book and asked her to read it. 10 months ago her husband passed away from a Brain Aneurysm, he died on the spot. She just found the book he handed her and read it! (It was a book on how they could save their marriage) The lady was crying, she was so remorseful. Two years ago she was to prideful to read the book her husband gave her to read. She said, "I read the book praying that God may someday give her another chance at love".

As I laid next to my husband last night, I told him how my life is changing. He said he has seen it, I PLT for that. I tell my story praying that it will change one persons life. God didn't give up on me, He is still growing and molding me into the "Image of Christ". I have a long way to go, it is not happening over night. It is a very long process, I am just now getting to the point were I will let God lead me and let other people into my life. I am still learning how to be a Godly wife, mom, and friend to others. Through reading His "WORD" and learning from Godly examples, I will continue to grow and be more Christ like. Giving Him all the glory, the glory only He deserves.

More of my life story:

After the death of our son Joshua, my husband and I seemed to be fighting all the time. I was a very insecure person! My husband and I were very young in the Lord, (By God's grace), it was enough to keep us together, but not enough to keep us from fighting all the time. I don't know how many times my husband left me, (we only had one car, so he went off walking home to his parents many times. Sometimes I let him get pretty far before I went and picked him up. I just can't believe how awful I was, it is very hard to write all of this down) I didn't want to be with him, yet I didn't want to be without him. Looking back on my life, I see now, that most of our fights were caused by me, my jealousy, my controlling attitude, my pride, my selfishness, my bitterness. I tried to control him and mold him into the little toy, the puppet I wanted him to be. My husband has a very strong personality and would never go for something like that. PTL!!!!

Rebecca was born 10 months (to the day) from Joshua's birthday. I had a miscarriage a year later, Aaron was born two years after that.

When Rebecca was 8 months old, I landed a job working in an Accounts Payable department. I loved working with numbers, this job was wonderful. I had taken many accounting classes in school and was the accounting teacher's helper my senior year of High School. All of this prepared me for my accounting job. I worked my way up in my department until I was head over it; as I look back, this wasn't the best thing in the world. I wasn't happy with my marriage and I wouldn't allow myself to get to close to my husband or my children. I loved all of them but was always afraid that I would lose them. I couldn't handle thinking about losing another person in my life so I turned all my attention to my work. At one point I was working from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. at night. This left my mom and my husband to care for our children. At that point in my life, I couldn't see that I was putting my family at the bottom of the list, but I was. I thought I was helping out, instead I was once again, controlling every situation that came up in our lives.

As I look back over those years, I just can not believe I thought I was being a good wife and mother. After the death of our son, I held everyone at arms length, including my husband and my children. I had a wall built so high no one could get to me unless I let them. I would never let anyone or anything hurt me again, (I wouldn't allow it) not by a man,(Bret's father left me when I was seven months pregnant) not by a lose, not by anything or anyone. I wouldn't let anyone get to close to me. As my husband has told me many times, my son Bret, was the only thing that I cherished.

When our son Aaron was five, my husband told me he would like for me to have another child. I couldn't even believe that he would ask me to go through that again. I fought him with all of my might. I loved my job and thought that another child would just get in the way. I finally told him (instead of submitting) that I would have another child (everything had to be on my terms) but I wanted it to be before I turned 30. I got pregnant when I was 29, and had the twins 3 days before I turned 30.

I never wanted, or even thought about, having twins. Like I said, I loved my job and thought I'd go right back to work after I had this baby. I remember my first office visit to the doctor's. "Let me back track for a minute". The day before going to my first office visit, one of my employee's asked me if I would be coming back to work after the baby was born. I jokingly said, "Yes, unless I have twins". I went to my first office visit trying to explain to the doctor why at three months pregnant I was so big. I told him, "I must have the dates wrong" and "I must be eating to much". He said "let's take a look to see what's going on and how big the baby is". He said "Oh, I see the problem, you are carrying twins". I didn't even want to have one baby,let alone twins. Some people cry, I started laughing. It ended up being an out of control laugh. I couldn't believe that God could have such a sense of humor, that He would do this to me. Instead of looking on it as the blessing that it was, I could only see it as a big joke. The doctor make me call my husband before I left that office so I could get myself under control.

I remember calling my husband and telling him I was pregnant with twins. He said, "God has answered my prayers". I had no idea he was praying that I would have
twins. May God bless him for being such a wonderful husband and father.

Looking back, I can see now that it was all in God's perfect plan for our lives. God had to stop me dead in my tracks and humbled me. I wasn't suppose to be that working woman. After the twins were born, it was a turning point in my husband's and my life. I still had a lot of growing in the Lord to do, (I still have a lot of growing in the Lord to do) so I could be the wife and mother God called me to be, but it started me on the right track.

Tomorrow is the Twins 13th Birthday! I can't imagine our lives without these two very funny boy's. As soon as I can, I'll try to write about my husband and the twins. My husband just didn't stop at praying for us to have twins, he helped me every step of the way and still does. I had to stop working when I was 5 months pregnant due to the fact twins normally (not in my case) are born early. My husband worked two jobs so I could stay home (and not worry)while I waited to have our twins.

WorshipFest, 2007

I've been a bit busy this week planning for our next WorshipFest. I've been working with our worship Leader to come up with an awesome night of praise and worship to our GREAT King.

This is what I have been up to this morning! I want to get this hand out to as many people as I can the next two Sunday's. Maybe, it will inspire some of you to have one of these praise nights at your church.

WorshipFest Fall ’07

Hi All,


Can you hear it? It’s the sweet sound of praise to our King, At WorshipFest Fall ’07!! We’re planning another WorshipFest for this fall, October 28th to be precise. This one will be a little different in that the focus will be on congregational participation. What that means in the rubber-meets-the-road sense is there will be no “special music.” The worship will be led by the worship teams, Josh Whited’s band, Nick Slayton’s band, the adult choir and the men’s choir.


We would love your help preparing for this awesome night! I have put all the songs that the worship bands have lead in the past few years, on the reverse side. All you have to do is let us know the songs that have ministered to your heart, so we can include them into our WorshipFest.


Just circle the songs that you would like to have included or write it in the space below. Place it in the box on the information desk marked WorshipFest 2007, or you can place it in Lori Householder’s hand or box # 62. Forms must be turned in by August 12, 2007.



In Christ,

Jake Losee and Lori Householder

Above all
Ah, Lord God
All hail King Jesus
All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name
Amazing Grace
And can it be
Are you washed in the blood
As the deer
At calvary
Away in the manger
Awesome God
Be unto Your Name
Because of Your Love
Blessed be Your Name
Breathe
Breathe
Calvary covers it all
Christ arose
Cleanse me
Come into His presence
Come into the king's chambers
Come on and celebrate
Come, now is the time to worship
Come, thou fount of every blessing
Create in me a clean heart
Crown him with many crowns
Day after day
Days of Elijah
Emmanuel
Emmanuel
Enough
Everything That Has Breath
Face to face
For All You've Done
Give thanks
Glorify thy name
Glory to the King
God is good all the time
God is my refuge
God is so good
Grace greater than our sin
Great and mighty
Great are you Lord
Great is the Lord
Hallelujah
Hallelujah! Our God reigns
Hallowed be thy name
Hark! The herold angels sing
He is exalted
He is Jehovah
He is the King
He knows my name
He leadeth me
He lives
Heaven came down
Heavenly Father, I appreciate you
Here I Am To Worship
His name is wonderful
His name is wonderful
Holy ground #1
Holy ground #2
Holy Is the Lord
Holy, holy, holy
Hosanna
Hosanna (Baloche)
How great our joy
How great Thou art
How majestic is your name
I Adore
I have decided to follow Jesus
I love to praise Him
I love to tell the story
I love you Lord
I need the every hour
I sing praises
I stand in awe
I surrender all
I will call upon the Lord
I will celebrate
I will enter His gates
I will praise Him
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord
I will worship you Lord
I worship you, almighty God
I'd rather have Jesus
I'll fly away
I'm forever grateful
In all things give Him thanks
In His presence
In my life, Lord be glorified
Indescribable
Isn't He
It came upon a midnight clear
Jehovah Jireh
Jesus saves!
Jesus the Same
Jesus what a friend for sinners
Jesus, name above all names
Jesus, we just want to thank you
Joy to the World!
Lift up your heads
Lord I'm gonna love you
Lord Most High
Lord, I lift your name on high
Lord, I'm coming home
Lord, Reign in Me
Love You So Much
Majesty
Mighty is our God
More precious than silver
My faith has found a resting place
My Jesus I love thee
My Redeemer Lives
My soul follows hard after thee
Near the cross
No other name
Nothing but the blood
Now I belong to Jesus
O come, all ye faithful
O come, let us adore Him
O little town of Bethlehem
O Lord, you're beautiful
Oh, how he loves you and me
Open our eyes, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
Praise Adonai
Praise Him
Praise the name of Jesus
Precious Lord, take my hand
Psalm 5
Refiner's fire
Rock of ages (fast)
Salvation belongs to our God
Seek ye first
Shine, Jesus shine
Shout to the Lord
Silent night
Since Jesus came into my heart
Since Jesus came into my heart
Sing unto the Lord
Softly and tenderly
Solid Rock
Son of God
Soon and very soon
Spirit of the living God
Step by step
Tell me the story of Jesus
The beauty of holiness
The church's one foundation
The first noel
The longer I serve Him
The old rugged cross
The wonder of it all
There is a redeemer
There is no other name/Wonderfull
There is none like you
There is power in the blood
Think about His love
This is the day
Through It All
Title
To God be the glory
To You
Victory Chant
We are an offering
We bow down
We bring the sacrifice of praise
We fall down
We magnify your name
We Sing
We three kings
We will glorify
What a day that will be
What a mighty God we serve
What a wonderful savior
What child is this?
When I survey the wondrous cross
Whiter than snow
With all my heart
Wonderful grace of Jesus
Worthy is the Lamb
You are crowned with many crowns
You Are Holy
You are my all in all
You are my hiding place
You are my king
You Have Been So Good
You oh Lord, are my refuge
Your Love O Lord
Your Name

God's Purpose

What is God's purpose for us?

To have a people who will reflect His Glory.

"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Revelation 4:11 NIV

The proper understand of everthing in life begins with God. No one will ever understand the necessity of conversion who does not know why God created us. He created us "in His image" so that we would image forth His glory in the world. We were made to be prisms refracting the light of God's glory into all of life. Why God should want to give us a share in shining with His gloryis a great mystery. Call it grace or mercy or love I tis an unspeakable wonder. Once we were not.

These verses all speak of God's glory.

Psalm 19:1-1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

It's not what we do , but what God does through us and for us that should bring all the Glory. Because of his love and faithfulness to us.

Psalm 116:1
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy.

God's mercy is so great I can't comprehend all of what He has done for me.

Isaiah 6:3
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."


All the earth is full of God's glory. How can I not rejoice at this?

1 Corinthiams 10:31-
Whatever we do, it should be done to Glorify God.

In my actions, words, and deeds, I should always find things to glorify God.

John Piper says; Once we were not. Then we existed for the glory of God!

God's ultimate objective, as the Bible declares it, is threefold-To vindicate His rule and righteousness by showing His soverignty in judgement upon sin, to ransom and redeem His chosen people, and to be loved and praised by them for His glorious acts of love and self-vindication. God seeks what we should seek-His glory, in and through men and it is for the securing of this end, ultimately, that He is jealous.
J. I. Packer

Everything we do should be done to bring glory to God. When I seriously consider this, it has a profound effect on my choices and my way of life! If I read this book, will God be pleased? If I do this activity, will it cause others to want to praise God? If I listen to this music, will it enable me to worship God? If I say these words, will it bring glory to God? If my purpose is to reflect the majesty of God, then all decisions should be based on "Will God receive Glory".

My heart's desire is to be so overwhelmed with our incomparable, awesome God that my life cannot help but bring Him glory.

Something to make you Think!

Always lots to do around here!

The twins are leaving for camp tomorrow, they will return on Monday. I have a list of things I need to pack for them! One thing about having twins, everything needs to be doubled.

My grandson is spending a little time with us right now! He and Boaz are best friends.

We will be off to my Nephews on Sunday after church for my Great Nieces birthday party. She turns Five on Sunday!

A blessed weekend to all of my great blogging friends!

How my Husband and I Meant and more reasons why I love him so Much!

I have no idea why it took me so many years to see what a fantastic man I am married to. Three months ago my eyes were openned, I could finally see all the sacrifices and the love this man has for me. Tears spring to my eyes just thinking about how I could have lost this man years ago. God spared his life and I am so thankful to Him for that. May I never take my husband for grated again. He is a strong leader, a very hard worker and provider, the best husband a woman could ask for, a dad that loves and gives up doing anything for himself to take care of and give to his children, last but not least and most importantly a very Godly example for me and our children to follow. I never hear him complain about how hard he has to work to provide for us. The more I write about him the more my heart bursts with love for this man.

My husband and I meant while we were both working at McDonalds's. I was the opening manager and he was an employee. I don't remember the first time we meant but I love to hear him tell his side of the story.

I was down in our break room at McDonalds's sitting with my boyfriend at the time. My husband (Jim) was on his orientation. The manager that was taking him around introduced us. (I don't remember this) My husband said he thought WOW! when he first saw me. (He is such a funny guy) He said, "I saw this beautiful lady through smoke filled eyes." (I smoked very heavy back then, I quit smoking 17 years ago,May). I love when he tells this story, I always get a chuckle from it.

My husband worked the night shift, I only worked with him a few times before he went on his senior trip to Spain. After he return home, I needed to cross train a closer on the opening shirt. (It was for a raise, all the manager's had to cross train an employee). My husband (just friend's at the time) and I, along with a group of our friends started hanging out together after work. Jim (My husband) and I became really good friends over a period of time. We played on the Mcdonald's coed softball team together, plus we did many other things as a group.

Manager's and crew were not allowed to date. A friend of my husband's dared us to go out on a date together. I had a little boy and really needed my job but I went anyway. We were already friends but it was a bit different being alone with him. Oh my, did I think he was good looking. The only problem was that he was younger than I was. I was looking for a father for my son and I didn't see how this could work out.

I kept seeing him anyway regardless of his age. (He is three years younger than I am) Like I said, we had went out on several dates, one night in McDonalds's parking lot he came up to my car window and asked me if I like him? I said yes! He said, "NO, I mean do you really like me?" At that point I knew I wanted to marry this man. (He was just so cute) After we dated for over a year he asked me to marry him. We were married not long after that.

My husband not only married me but took on my son (Bret was seven at the time) he treated Bret like his own from the very start. Even when we were just friends he would go to Bret's Baseball games. No other man I dated took such interest in Bret. Bret started calling him dad right after we got married. At 19 he was more responsible than a lot of the older men that I dated. It was o.k. that they dated me but they really didn't want anything to do with my son. My husband gave up a Three year scholarship to the U of M to marry me? I wonder why such a smart guy would give up so much and have to work so hard his whole life, to marry me and take on my son? I don't know if I will ever figure that out. How could I every replace such a man? Even back then, he sacrificed his life for me. I didn't mention this in yesterday's post but this happens to be, one more reason, I fell in love with this man.

My husband is a great dad, he loves all of his children very much!

I already wrote about us losing our son Joshua. I'll put the link on here for any new reader's. I don't know how my poor husband got through that time. I have thanked the Lord so many times for not allowing me to find our son dead in his crib. My husband knew CPR and was able to do all he could for Joshua. My husband did save a man's life once when he had a heart attack on a golf course my husband was playing on. My husband knew what he was doing, it was just Joshua's time to be with the Lord.

Living for the simple things in life: Joshua's Story

Living for the simple things in life: A little about Me

I will write about # 2 as soon as I get the time to.

2. Raising twins. (My husband slept in our easy chair all night holding one of our twins).

Happy Independance day to everyone!

We will be going to see a movie in the a.m. and we'll be off to my Son and my Daughter-in-laws for a bonfire/winnie roast tomorrow afternoon/evening. I'm sure looking forward to being with my dear family tomorrow.

Challenges my husband has had to face in his adult life.

I think it is now time to introduce you all to my husband! This week I will post the many Challenges my husband has had to face in his adult life. I am blessed and honored to be married to such a God fearing wonderful, awesome, handsome, Godly man.

1. The death of our son. (Our first born)

2. Raising twins. (My husband slept in our easy chair all night holding one of our twins).

3. The death of his father. (His father was only 49 when he died)

4. A brain tumor at age 29. (My husband was sick for many years with what we thought was migraines headaches, he lost his right eye to the brain tumor before they found it)

5. Weight gain from the medication he was on to shrink the tumor(At one point he weighed 450lbs, I will post pictures of him before during and after the weighloss)

6. Brain Surgery (A very frightening time in our lives)

7. Vomiting at least 4 times a week all night for years (He still worked and supported us through all of this)

8. Returning of the brain tumor (He almost lost his eyesight in his left eye also to this tumor)

9. A new Medication (This keeps the tumor shrunk)

10. 250lbs weightloss (He did this only with the help of the Bible and his own desire to stay alive for his family)

I can't believe that one person could go through all of this and still be the Godly husband and father that he is today. I want to be his helpmate, his lover and his best friend. I want to learn how to please him and be the Godly wife that he deserves. May God be with me on my pursuit to be "The excellent wife"

As I wrote in my post on Friday, I am working on being a better wife to my husband. These are the question that I have asked myself the last three months.

What is an excellent wife?

How can she be recognized?

What is she like?

What does she do?

How can she put her husbands wants and needs before her own?

My husband has supported me and all my ministries for the last 21 years. He sacrifices all his time to take care of our children so I can be on the worship team, work in Awana, teach Sunday School, Lead the Jr. Choir program, make meals for people, organize our singspirations and the list goes on. I couldn't do all of this having six children to feed, run around to all there sporting events, help with school work, if it wasn't for my wonderful husband. He never complains about having to run the kids and stay home with the kids. I want to now give back to him.

How can she make her husband want to come home to her at night? My husband always come home to us but I want him not be able to wait to be with me.

These questions might seem silly to some people but they are questions I have asked myself many times lately.

Many of these questions are answered in Proverbs 31:10-31. My home life has radically changed by me applying these and other Scriptures. God gave me a heart to obey His Word and will for my life, I am becoming the godly wife that He wants me to be.

I am reading and going through the following books:


This truth is so important to God that He has clearly and completely revealed it in His Word, the Bible. Indeed, the Scriptures alone are sufficient to provide the wisdom wives need for living the Christian life. One of the most important Scripture passages concerning God's will for the Christian wife is Proverbs 31. Iin this chapter of Proverbs are the words of King Lemuel "which his mother taught him" Proverbs 31:1 (emphasis added). In verse 10, King Lemuel asks the question:

"An excellent wife, who can find her" For her worth is far above jewels."


"The Excellent Wife" here


"God's will for every Christian wife is that her most important ministry be to her husband" (Genesis 2:18). After a wife's own personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing else should have a greater priority. Her husband should be the primary benefactor of his wife's time and energy, not the recipient of what may be left over at the end of the day. Whether her husband is a faithful Christian man, or an unbeliever, God wants every Christian woman to be a godly wife-an excellent wife.
from the author of the book "The Excellent Wife"

I wanted to know what men were saying they want from their wives. I do understand being a Godly wife is of utmost importance! I wanted to read a book that showed what men were saying they look for in their wife. This next book was not written by a christian author. This author has taken what she has learned from men and wrote this book. Like I said she is not a christian so read at your own discretion. I just wanted to get a feel of what husbands were saying they need from a wife.
The proper care and feeding of husbands

I just popped over to view a few blogs and found this at Sex life: 20 ways to please your husband at chrysalis place Thanks E-mom! Great minds must think a like, Hee, Hee.

I want to mention one more sweet gal that I think you all would love The Most Exciting Thing We've Ever Done She nominated me for a special "Reflections award" she said this about me on her blog.

Kristy said,
"When I'm a grandma - I wanna look as good as this girl !!
Lori's wisdom, her faith, everything about her radiates Jesus Christ.
Going through huge changes in her life right now, she keeps perspective.
Always giving God credit. You amaze me Lori, and thank you for being the example that you are"!! "Thank you dear friend"!

Husband's feelings and the male Ego

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I am always trying to grow in one area of my life or another. Right now, I am working on becoming a better wife to my husband. My marriage isn't in any trouble, but does it have to be in trouble for me to want to be a better wife? I am reading a book right now that has me feeling guilty for not being the Godly wife, I really should be to my husband. I have told my husband at least a half dozen times this week how sorry I am for not treating him better these last 21 years. I want to understand how men think, feel, and what they want from their wives. Here are a few things I've learned about men so far.

A man needs to feel strong and needed as a protector for women-basically, to conquer the beast and rescue the fair maiden.

What every man wants is for his woman to make him feel that he is strong and the head of the household. I am not talking caveman-style, dragging the woman around by her hair, but just as the leader of the family.

A man wants respect, kndness, and love from his woman.

A man wants to be put on a pedestal, not so that he can look down on everyone, but to show him that he is the most important thing to his woman.

A man needs his woman to show him that she needs his strength to help her through life.

The man should be the major breadwinner in the family. Every man needs a battle or war to win to prove to himself that he is strong and capable of conquering any and all dragons that life throws his way. Taking care of his family by working and provding are his battles.

A man needs his wife to show some interest in his interests, especially when it's an activity she may not "get" or like. Just being there is important.

A man needs his wife to greet him after work with love and enthusiasm.

A man needs his wife to care about the day he's had.

A man needs his wife's encouragement in order to be a man.

A man needs enthusiastic approval, appreciation, and respect from his wife for being a competent man, husband, and father.

Genesis 2:18 "It is not good that man be alone,I will make him a helper...Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they shall become one flesh"



Instead of waiting for him to earn your respect, behave respectfully and watch him grow into the man God designed him to be.

Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband”

God can take care of Anything!

I have been going through a few problems, hopefully nothing alarming. I told my mom about it this week, she is a dear and has been praying for me. She sent me this encouraging email.

If you think of me just say a prayer! Maybe someday I'll be able to share it with all of my blogging friends.

Hi my Precious Daughter

I have to share with you my weekend because to me it was yet another Miracle from an Awesome God.

WE were fishing and I had been Praying for you all weekend. Concerned yet I know God is able to do Miracles in our lives.

Well I had this awful feeling that I was going to loose my fishing pole. The same as when I Prayed and you know how many things role through your mind while trying to focus.

Anyway a few hours later, it happened I cast out and it was like someone ripped my pole out of my hand and I saw it sinking into the water, the bobber was still afloat (Dad bought me the pole and reel last year for my birthday and I really like it). So when I turned to get the net and turned back it was GONE!

We were at the edge of a sand bar so I thought the water might not be deep. Not so it was very deep, Shiyona said Mommy I will try and get it. She jumped into the water and I put our long pole down to show her I thought it was very deep. It was far
to deep for her to go under water.

Well I decided to put weights and only a hook on a pole and try to retrieve it off the bottom. Of course Dad looked at me like I was crazy. At that moment I kinda felt crazy. Nevertheless I continued to let the line out and Pray as I would pull a few weeds back and actually I hooked a tiny shell. Dad said lets move there are no fish here anymore. I said WAIT a little while, that look I got was okay she really is crazy and she thinks she is going to find that pole HA HA.

I decided (actually something/someone told me go move the line on the anchor) wonder who that was (SMILE). Yes, I know it was Our Lord I moved the anchor rope knowing I was now moving the pontoon and I would loose the area where the pole feel in, yet I did it anyway.

Guess what GOD did, I cast out two more times and I felt something hard to pull up, I kept reeling and I saw my Bobber, line, my Pole, it looked like someone had hooked everything together neatly and there it was. I told Dad look LOOK my Pole. He thought I was kidding, the kids were in Awe, and I then shared ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD! SCRIPTURE KEPT ROLLING THROUGH MY BRAIN.

Dad said "What are the possibilities of you ever getting that pole back?
Maybe one in a hundred". He really thought I was kidding when I told
him to look. ONLY A MIRACLE!

At that moment I realized what God was trying to tell me. Yes daughter it was to know He is in charge and He can do all things. Remember my Prayer for you. Well it was for that Prayer that all of this happened because I REALIZE He knows, He answers
and He will take care of all things.

That was the reason for my speech today, and I know He will take care of ALL THINGS!

I LOVE YOU!

Love
Mom

The Nature of God

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered
What this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver
And get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to Watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for Her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the Fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one Needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames Were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she Thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and Purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that He had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver Was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the Silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, It would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith,
"How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my Image in it"

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has
His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image In you.

This very moment, someone needs to know that God is watching over them. And, whatever they're going through, They'll be a better person in the end.

Remember: "Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you Can only spend it once."

I pray you all have a blessed weekend!

Thoughts from Mom

I've been swamped again this week, it has left me with no time to post. Things really should slow down next week. I only have one appointment on Tuesday and work on Friday morning. With the kids being off of school for the summer, I should be able to sleep in a bit next week. I love it when school is out, I really do feel like I have more time. I guess not having to get them up and around, plus run them to school, has given me some free time to my mornings. This week was full of appointments and grocery shopping but next week will be slower.

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend!

My post today is from my Mom. Mom sent me these thought provoking questions,(Hee, Hee) a few days ago but I've been so busy I haven't had time to read them. My silly Mama!

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?
If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you,
but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

A loving Thought

The boy's and I are off grocery shopping in Ohio this morning. They all wanted to go with me so my husband took my truck so I could have room in the van for my four boy's. I will be off to work after we return, and I will be off to Worship team practice this evening.

I feel as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulder's now that I feel as if I am living for other's again and not just for myself. I have had seven people this week alone, tell me how worried they have been about me. That is the reason I tried to examine myself and see if something was wrong with me. Instead of thinking about other's and how they would feel if something happened to me, I've been wondering why it matters if I work myself to death or not take care of myself.

I asked for Josh and Ethan to come over on Friday evening. They will be gone away for a week, I wanted to see them before they left. (This started my deep thinking) Ethan asked me when he would see me again. I told him in about seven days. (I do not go longer than four days without seeing my grandchildren, if I do not have to) He is only four but he started counting the day's on his little finger's. He counted seven and shook his head, he then counted four and looked at me with sad eyes and said, "No Nan, I cannot wait that long to see you" It brought tears to my eyes. This little boy loves me that much that he would be upset if he did not see me.

I then started wondering what would happen to my family, my boy's, my husband if something did happen to me. I had a long talk with my daughter-in-law Tuesday. She was in the Mall of America but we talked for what seemed like hours. After that talk I have come to the conclusion that I would be missed if I die or something happened to me. I promised that after getting life insurance (which I will be getting a physical on July 3rd for term Insurance) I would go to the doctor's and start taking better care of myself.

Now you all know the whole story as to why I felt as if everything I did was all about me.

I know there is a verse about taking care of God's temple but I'll have to find it later.

Dinner with some dear Friend's

For starter's, I am having a really hard time sitting down and blogging about myself. I feel like it is all about me, me, me. I know this is my blog but I just have not been able to sit down and share what I have been up to. I just could not stand reading my own blog anymore. When I have the time to sit down, I want to read other blogs instead of posting myself. I want my life to be a reflection of what God is doing through me and not what I am doing to bring attention to myself. The reason I started blogging in the first place, was to write down special things about the people I love. My God, my family and friends. When I do pass on to heaven someday I want others to know how special they were to me. Like the post about my mom, I love her dearly and I want her to always be able to know what a special lady she is and why I think so. I pray you all bear with me as I change my focus from myself to other's. This l includes posting about my blogging friends. I will still post what I am up to but not in an everyday post.

Here is a little bit of what I have been up to this month:

I've been busy this month! With all the graduation party's, my daughter being home, my husband and kid's going to camp, I took on more work, I feel like I have been going non-stop for the passed few weeks. Today, I crashed! I never sleep until 10:00 a.m. but I have to confess, I did today. I was supposed to go Aldis grocery shopping but I asked my husband if he thought it would be ok if waited and went on Wednesday. As I am typing this in I just remembered that Aaron is supposed to get his Wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I guess shopping will have to wait until Thursday.

After my long weekend's I like to rest on Monday's. I invited a couple over that use to go to our church years ago. They were at my friend's daughter graduation party so we set up having dinner together last night. (I thought if I did not do it right away, I will never have them over) My house was a mess after the weekend and I had to shop for food but it all came together last night. Our friend's have a adopted four girls and they have the two foster children at the moment. The six girls are just adorable! My husband put our pool up this weekend (He put up two different pools three times, Hee, Hee. This will be a story for another day) so the girls and my sons all played in the pool, while we fellowship and got caught up on things. Tom (the husband) and I worked together for year's in Jr. Choir. Tom did all my speaking for me. He has a heart of gold, when he gave an invitation to accept Christ after the plays he would speak from the heart and I think I cried every time. Life goes on and we meet new friend's but this family will always be dear to me. No picture's due to the fact Boaz lost my camera.

Friend's come and friend's go but true friendship's last forever.

The story line is simple, yet revealing.

May God touch your heart through this story as He has touched mine.

"Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I'll open up your heart..."


"You'll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.


the surgeon looked up, annoyed "I'll cut your heart open,"
he continued,to see how much damage has been done..."

"but when you open up my heart, you'll find Jesus in there," said the boy.


The surgeon looked to the parents, who Sat quietly.
"When I see how much damage has been done,
I'll sew your heart and chest back up,
and I'll plan what to do next."

"But you'll find Jesus in my heart.
The Bible says He lives there.
The hymns all say He lives there.
You'll find Him in my heart."

The surgeon had had enough.
"I'll tell you what I'll find in your heart.
I'll find damaged muscle, low blood
supply, and weakened vessels.
And I'll find out if I can make you well."

"You'll find Jesus there too. He lives there."

The surgeon left.

The surgeon sat in his office,
recording his notes from the surgery,
"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein,
widespread muscle degeneration.
No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy:
painkillers and bed rest.
Prognosis: here he paused, "death within one year."


He stopped the recorder, but there was
more to be said. "Why?" he asked aloud.
"Why did You do this? You've put him here;
You've put him in this pain;
and You've cursed him to an early death.

Why?"

The Lord answered and said,
"The boy, my lamb, was not meant for your
flock for long, for he is a part of My flock,
and will forever be.Here, in My flock, he will feel no pain,
and will be comforted as you cannot imagine.

His parents will one day join him here,
and they will know peace, and
My flock will continue to grow."

The surgeon's tears were hot, but his
anger was hotter. "You created that
boy, and You created that heart. He'll
be dead in months. Why?"

The Lord answered, "The boy, My lamb,
shall return to My flock, for He has
done his duty: I did not put My lamb
with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve
another lost lamb. The surgeon wept...

The surgeon sat beside the boy's bed;
the boy's parents sat across from him.
The boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?"

"Yes," said the surgeon.
"What did you find?" asked the boy.

; "I found Jesus there," said the surgeon.

Author Unknown - Celebrate Jesus in 2007


Jesus said, "If you are ashamed of me,
I will be ashamed of you before my Father."*

"Yes, I do Love God. He is my source of existence and Savior. He keeps me functioning each and everyday. Without Him, I will be nothing. Without him, I am nothing, but with Him I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me."
(Phil 4:13)

Have a blessed weekend!

I think I'll be like my grand baby Ethan (This is a picture I took a few weeks ago at Mcdonald land) and have lots of fun this weekend, I hope you all do the same.

I'll be busy helping with another graduation party this weekend. I helped my brother and his wife last Friday and Saturday at my nieces party. Tomorrow is my friends daughter's party. My friend helped me and I am going to help her, it works out great. I really love helping others and I get to greet all the people that come to the party as well.

I'll be back blogging again soon, I hope! I took on two more cleaning jobS this summer. One of them I should have done next week. My boss and his wife are selling their condo; they ask me to go and clean it up for them. The other one is for a young man, I think is in his Thirties. He travels alot with his job and goes to school as well. I think he just doesn't have a lot of time for cleaning. He also has a brown lab that sheds pretty badly. I think I will be manly cleaning up hair each week.

Happy Birthday Mom

I want to introduce you to my mom, her name is Diane.

Happy Birthday Mom! You don't look a day over 29.
I sure have enjoyed all of those graduation parties. I have gotten to see you lots lately. I'll be over tonight around 7:00 p.m.






Dearest Mom,

I wanted to take a minute and thank you for all the wonderful things that you have done for me in my life. I won't be able to write them all down so I am going to mention a few that come to my mind many times a year.

I want to thank you for helping me raise Bre. Without you I would not have finished school and been able to take all of those accounting classes. It helped me get the job that I loved.

I want to thank you for loving me enough to get me away from the bad crowd I found myself hanging around as a senior in High School. Using "Tough Love" and making me break free of that crowd, Grounding me and having me quit my job helped me become the person I am today.

I want to thank you for taking me to church at age 17 so I could be introduced to our awesome Lord and Savior.

I want to thank you for being there for me when Josh died. You helped me and Bret get through a very difficult time in our lives.

I want to thank you for watching Becca and Aaron so I could work and help out my family at a time in our lives that we needed it the most. (also for potty training Becca and Aaron, oh how I hated that job, Hee, Hee0

I want to thank you for keeping all of us together as Grandma tried to do. Having over at least 50 people (all of which are your Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchilden)in your home each Christmas, it just amazes me. I love every minute of it and always will.

I also want to thank you for just being you; A loving, kind, beautiful Godly woman.

I love you lots and I want the world to know what a wonderful mom that I have.

Love your daughter,

Lori

My computer is Ill!

Posting is at it's lowest right now; I have a lot going on and much to blog about but one of the blowers in my computer is not working and the darn thing keeps shutting down right in the middle of a post. I'm just afraid I'll damage something with it shutting down like that. I thought I'd better just check my mail and comments and not stay on to long.

As soon as we move the computer down in my sons room I'll be back up and running again.

Goodness, I am so silly! I guess I should explain that my computer is upstairs in an area that has no air conditioner. We are remodeling half of our upstairs and the computer is in one of the soon to be walk-in closets. It has been real hot here and the computer over heats and shuts off. After reading Gwen and greeneyes comments, (which I found very funny BTW, LOL) I would explain why my computer is acting up. My sons room is downstairs in the central air. I think we might be moving it tonight.

Graduation Party/Graduation Pictures!

Oh boy, last week seemed like a very long week! It is a lot of work getting ready for a graduation party but Aaron worked hard and deserved to be honored for his accomplishments. Yea, I only have two parties to go ! (Boy am I glad I have twins, I get to do theirs together) Everyday last week I found myself doing at least one task to prepare for the party.

Monday my husband and I planted our garden. (That really did have anything to do with the graduation but it need to be done).

Tuesday morning my mother-in-law and daughter-in-law came over to wrap silverware and prepare the menu for the party. After writing everything down we had to come up with the amounts I would need in order to feed everyone coming. Tuesday evening, my husband and I went shopping for all the non-perishable item we could buy to save time at the end of the week.

Wednesday I pulled out the rest of the pictures and memorable items to put on the card table.

Thursday I cooked 15 pounds of Hamburger for the taco salad and I boiled 76 eggs for the seven layer salad.

Friday I decorated the church, rolled all the meat and put the cheese trays together, with the help of my Mother-in-law.

Saturday morning we put together all the salad's and then it was off to church for the party.

Sunday was graduation day; after the ceremony I had all the people that came to the graduation over to my house for left overs. After we were all done, we prepared plates up for our guest to take home.

It is now all over and I am on to getting my husband and boy's things together for a Father and son wrestling camp they will be attending Thursday thru Monday of this week.

Here are some of the pictures from the party and graduation ceremony. I have so many of them it was hard to decide which picture to download. I tried to pick out some that would show a little bit of what we did to prepare for the party.

Food table
The graduation cake
Card table/ Memorable items
Dessert table
Drink table
Coffee table
Aaron getting ready for the graduation ceremony
My babies!

My gang!

Aaron and me
Aaron receiving his Diploma
My sweet baby Jenna! (Everyone says she looks just like her Nan, (ME) Hee, Hee wishful thinking, right?)
My niece (Kendra) turned 16 on Monday so we made her a cake and sang to her after the graduation ceremony on Sunday.
This is Aaron with his Grandma (My husband's mom) This is again at my house after the graduation ceremony. (My boy loves to goof around, that silly smile just kills me)
I didn't have this picture when I posted this blog. My son was supposed to take pictures of all the family at the graduation party, instead he took pictures of our church friends. This is a picture of my Step-dad, my Mom, my two adopted sisters, Aaron and my son Bret.

Our graduation party made the front page News

Lon Horwedel / The Ann Arbor News

For graduates' families, it's party-time Throwing a graduation party for family and friends is now as much of a tradition as listening to graduation ceremony speeches. Read the story

A journalist from the Ann Arbor News Paper contacted my husband on Friday and asked if he could interview him regarding our son's graduation party. He fold David Jesse (The reporter)that his wife (Me) put the party together, he told him he could contact me with any question he had. He called me Friday while I was at my house cleaning job and interviewed me. He then asked if he could send a photographer from the Newspaper out to take pictures of the Graduation party. This is the picture and the article they wrote. It was on the front page of the newspaper today. I'll post pictures the graduation party and graduation as soon as I get new batteries for my camera.

Caps, gowns and cold cuts Parents prep for graduation parties
Monday, June 04, 2007
BY DAVID JESSE
News Staff Reporter

Every day last week, Lori Householder found herself doing some task related to her son's graduation open house.

There were pictures to be pulled out, meat trays to be filled and cookies to be baked.

But that's over now for Householder. The 400 guests have gone, and it's her turn to head out to parties.

Householder, a Milan resident, is among thousands of parents and students across the area spending the next three weeks in a blaze of party-going and party-hosting.

Throwing a graduation party for family and friends is now as much a tradition as listening to speech after speech in graduation ceremonies.

While the parties can range from the simple - some cold cuts and cake - to the elaborate - a catered affair with a band, pool rental and a bonfire - they're all about celebrating a milestone.

"It's a lot of work to get here,'' said Ted Mosley, whose son is graduating from Pioneer High School. "This is a chance to celebrate his accomplishment.''

It can also be a jumble of emotions, said Julaine Leduc, whose son, Zachary, graduates this year from Pioneer High School.

"Everyone's excited about ending high school, but sad about having to leave some of their friends. Even for parents, it can be hard to let your kids go,'' Leduc said.

"We just have to remember it's a celebration of the kids and their next steps.''

No matter how big the party is, parents are going to end up shelling out some big dollars. Prices can range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on how many people are invited and what gets served.

About 400 people were invited to Householder's party at Calvary Bible Church, where her family are members, to celebrate her son Aaron's graduation from Milan High School. She served cold cuts, cheeses, salads, cookies and barbecue pork sandwiches in the church's chapel, which is free for church members to use. The Householder family expected to spend around $1,000.

Judy Burt hasn't figured out how much the party she's throwing for daughter Kristin, a Pioneer graduate, will cost, but she's guessing around $500 for the outdoor, casual get-together Kristin wants.

"I don't think people talk about (price),'' Burt said. "They do what they can and enjoy in the celebration.''

Other parents use combined parties to save money and to cut down on the number of parties their friends have to go to on one day.

Huron High School graduates and stepsisters Melissa Heatlie and Christine Migda are sharing a party. The roughly $300 cost for the event is being split by the girls' three families.

Mary English's son and two of his friends are working together to hold a bigger party. They are using English's backyard for a mid-afternoon party that will stretch into the nighttime with a bonfire.

"We figured we could get more bang for our buck if we combined forces,'' English said. "Plus, the kids all have pretty much the same group of friends. Why should everyone drive all over town when they could just come to the same place and see everybody and be much more relaxed?

"And that's what (the kids) wanted.''

Going with what the graduates want is the way to go, Burt said.

"Let your child plan it and help them with it as asked.''

Planning for the big day can involve everything from the menu to when it's held.

Householder's party on Saturday was early in the season, one day before Aaron's graduation from Milan High School.

Mosley's son's party is set for this Saturday - prime party time in Ann Arbor because Community High's graduation is Tuesday, Pioneer High's is Wednesday and Huron's is Thursday.

"We're just planning to have some people just drop in and have to leave for the next one,'' Mosley said. "That's OK. Our family will be here the whole time.''

Leduc, an event planner for the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, said planning an open house is much different from planning an event for work.

"I'm not sure how many people are going to show up (at the open house),'' she said. "The kids put it out on Facebook. We could have 150, or we could have 50.''

She's trying something unique for serving whomever shows up - she's hiring a hot dog cart to come to her backyard.

She called the tent rental place in March to make sure she got one for her party. "They said they had already started to get calls back then about them,'' she said. "That's my advice for parents - book the tent early.''

David Jesse can be reached

at djesse@annarbornews.com

or at 734-994-6937.