Be Still...and go fishin' for your kids' hearts, souls, and minds!

My family recently enjoyed a trip out to our favorite vacation spot....Colorado! We absolutely love it out there....the temps were awesome and the view is unbeatable. Our girls love exploring anything and everything. We all had a great time and didn't want to come back!

Vacations mean a lot of things....a break from your normal everyday routine, some relaxation and rest, to get away from the t.v., computer, cell phone, etc., and just spend some uninterrupted time with your own family. Vacations DON'T mean, however, to take a break from God. For our week in Colorado, Matt and I chose to assign each of us (obviously minus Brecken) to one devotion on whichever day we wanted and wherever we wanted to talk about it. We told Macayla and Rachel about our idea a few weeks before we left, and they immediately started working on their devo. They were so excited about it! We each could choose whatever we wanted to teach about, so the devos I will tell you about was all their idea.

I wanted to do my devo at Garden of the gods in Colorado Springs. That was our 1st stop before heading to the lake, so I went first. I wrote everyone in my family a letter...even Brecken...which I will save for her to read someday. We had a little time to explore all the rock formations and take in all of God's beauty before we all picked a spot to sit down for a few minutes. Before I handed them their letter to read silently, I asked everyone their favorite part of Garden of the gods. We talked about God's creations, even bringing up one of the most recent...their baby sister. They were able to see the sonogram pictures and go to a doctor's visit when we found out what we were having. God's creations are beautiful, not just how He miraculously creates life, but in so many things around us! In my letter to each one in my family, I told them what I uniquely loved about them in how God created them. I want them to know (and always remember) that God created each of my girls exactly how He wanted them to be! Each of my 3 are different in many ways, and that's completely ok. There are many things I love about them, but I also included one big reason at the end of their letter...something that really stands out to me. As they read their letter, the lightening and thunder were rollin' in so I had to cut it a little short. I bought each of the girls a stone that has a word enscribed on it that best describes them in the last thing I wrote to them about, and the reason why...but I'll keep that between me and the girls. I wanted to give them something to always remember.

Readin' their letters...

"I can't read anyway...I might as well sleep!" :)

"Courage"

"Love"

"Joy"

Rachel wanted to do hers first when we got to Rainbow Lake. So the day after we arrived, she chose to do her devo in the big meeting room at the lake...the reason she chose that spot is because it overlooks the lake and is very quiet and peaceful up there. The view was awesome! Rachel is our "shyer" kid, so wasn't sure if she'd even want to do one on her own. I was wrong...she loved preparing for her devo! She had her notebook all ready, even with some visual aids. She talked and showed us pictures she had drawn of a little girl that is always talking, never quiet. And how if we are always talking, that we won't be able to "be still" and hear God. Rach asked us what keeps us from spending more time with God? We had several answers.....t.v., ipod, facebook, sleep, phone, Brecken (we all laughed at this answer.....not sayin' this is a bad reason, just an honest answer and it's the stage that's she in :). We can all think of a reason to be distracted from spending time with God. Rachel read us the verse, "Be still, and know that I am God." She even had bookmarks with that verse on it to give to us as a reminder. Her challenge to us is to spend 10 minutes everyday alone with God. When's the last time your 9 year old challenged you to do that? Convicting for sure. She did a great job, and Matt and I are so proud of her.

Rach had her notebook all ready!

Visual aid! :)

Brecken was her 'lil helper and passed out our bookmarks.

Our beautiful view!!

Next up...Macayla. She spent a lot of time in preparing her devo before we even left. She loves to write and draw, so she used her artistic talent to write and draw out a story about a girl goin' fishin'. She wanted to teach us by the lake. She talked of the girl prayin' and tryin' to be patient as she waited on that fish to hook on. It's hard bein' patient, and if you've ever prayed for that...well, then you know God will put you in situations that will teach you patience! The girl in her story had to have a lot of faith in God that He would come through, that she could do it. Who do you trust in? What person do you put all of your faith in? When she was done with her story, she asked us what our favorite part of fishin' was. We all had different answers. We also talked about fishin' for "men"...the most important kind of fishin'. Macayla's devotion was centered around Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." You all know it...but just a good reminder. She had her dad cut out blocks of wood for her before we left so she could print this verse on it for each of us. Now everytime I look at that, I'm reminded of the things Macayla was tryin' to teach us. We are also very proud of her and the excitement she showed in what she had for us that day.

Macayla readin' us her story...

She made these for everyone as a reminder. :)

Matt got the tail end of our vacation in his turn. We drove up to Cottonwood Pass, just a few miles away from Rainbow Lake. We waited until close to evening time. If you've never been, you've got to go...it's beautiful! The snow capped mountains (even in July) and the cooler temps up on the mountain always amaze me. We snapped a few pics, then all hiked down a bit to find a spot to sit...and to listen. Matt read us the verses out of Psalms 19:1-2..."The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." Perfect to reflect on exactly where we were sitting. It's easy to get distracted out there takin' in all of God's wonderfully, beautifully, perfectly detailed work of His hands. Matt asked each of us what it makes us think of when we look around at the scenery. I mentioned God's detail in it all. It amazes me! Rachel looked further down the mountain and noticed the ice on the lake...so she mentioned ice skating. Macayla said "winter", because of all the snow. Matt mentioned feeling "small" compared to how big everything else was, but also knows just how much God cares about him.

Our family at Cottonwood Pass

Hikin' down to find a good spot

I have no idea what she was laughin' at, but this pic cracks me up! :)

Our favorite preacher...

I will always remember this week with lots of special memories. But one of my all-time favorite parts of the week were our family devotion times. I think the girls will always remember it too.

If you don't already take part in some quiet times with God as a family, then start now. Today. Make that investment in your kids' lives. Be still, take that time, and go fishin' after your kids' hearts, souls, and minds. I promise it will be worth it.