Changing Sites ~

I have a new website. I am no longer going to be blogging here. If you would like to keep up with me my new website is:

http://www.laramarriott.com


I am still planning to keep up with all of you. I have loved reading your blogs and seeing all of your awesome pictures. God bless friends ~

Life Change ~

Being a pastor's kid and now a pastor's wife I have come to realize my life is not my own. It is lead by the Lord's work. It has come to be time for us to leave our home, our church, our city for a new place. We have loved our time here in Salem and at our church Court Street Christian. I will always feel a deep connection here with the people we have met. It will be very difficult saying goodbye. Brian and I feel we have been called to go to Pleasanton, CA to be worship pastors for Centerpointe Pres. Church. It has been a long journey taking almost a year, but we believe full heartedly that this is what God wants us to do. Our last Sunday will be this coming Sunday. It will be a celebration of the years we have spent together, but also a sad goodbye to everyone we've loved. In some ways I am looking forward to the celebration of being all together, but at the same time I know I am going to be full of tears. We will move Feb 9th and start at Centerpointe Feb 15th. I think I am still in shock to be honest with you. These next couple of weeks will be crazy, but when I find another moment I will blog in more detail about all that God has done and about our new home. God bless dear friends. I hope to write again soon.

By The Streams Of Grace-Chords and Lyrics

When I received my first bible I must have been 6 years old. It was a KJV and had beautifully painted pictures in it. One of the first pages I turned to had a picture of Jesus with a little lamb on His lap. I loved that picture. Psalm 23 was on the opposite page. It became my favorite passage in the Bible. I memorized it and all through growing up it was the first scripture that would come to mind. "By The Streams Of Grace" is a song that has been dear to me for over a year. It reflects my heart's longing to be near the Lord. Through the ups and downs these couple of years have taken me I have found comfort singing this version of Psalm 23. There have been many rewrites to this song, but the life line in the title has always been there.

By The Streams Of Grace
c2007 words and music by Lara Marriott


Verse
A
By the streams of grace I find You
A2
Down the paths of righteousness
A
In the in stillness of Your mercy
Em/A
Is where I long to rest
A
By the streams of grace I find You
A2
You supply what I need
G/A
A place where Your abundance flows

You renew me (repeat)

Chorus:
A
By the streams of grace
Esus E
You restore my soul
G
By the streams of grace
Dsus D
is where Your love is shown
Bm
You're my Shepherd, my Father
D
I serve and adore You
G Esus
I long for nothing, but to be
E A
by Your streams of grace

Verse 2:
A
Your rod and staff protect me
A/D
through the valley of dark despair
G
You are walking right beside me
Dsus D
taking me away from all my fears
A
Your rod and staff they guide me
A/D
Your blessings are awaiting me
G
It is solely in You I trust for
Esus E
You are saving me Oh______

Chorus

Tag:
A/D
By Your streams of grace

I will forever rest
A
By Your streams of grace

By the streams of grace I find You

Fun Kid Sayings ~

I have to write these down. So cute.

Hannah ran to the bathroom and said, "I am full of pee." (with something else at the end of the sentence I can't repeat). It was so funny because I never had that picture in my mind before. Plus, she is very dramatic like her mother.

Josh loves to drum. Every time we are at the church he wants to see if he can go play the big drums in the sanctuary. So last night he got to. I wanted to play them too because I had the experience of playing them on RockBand and loved it!! Plus, I am learning how to play them on my MO6 Keyboard. So Josh asked if he could sit on my lap while I played. It was fun. Well, when we got home I was brushing his teeth and he looked at me and said "Mom, you are a very good drummer." My heart melted!! That was such a complement coming from him.

Last night we had a Christmas Sunday rehearsal and our friends watched the kids in the nursery. As we were getting to the room Josh turns to me and with a serious look says, "Oh, oh, Mom I have a booger in my nose. I guess we need to go back home now."

I know Hannah woke up this morning and said something really funny, but I can't think of it right now. Oh well.

Today is a another snow day. I haven't had to work at all this week due to the snow and it has been SOOOOOOOOOOO nice. = ) Take care everyone.

Lara~

Snow Days ~

Okay so I wanted to write about a few things me and the kids have been doing to keep us from going insane being at home for the past few days. = )

We had snow and ice on our driveway yesterday and the day before so we took Josh's old crib mattress and slid down it a whole bunch of times. It was great. We even got Dad (Brian) to give it a try. So funny.

The kids wanted to have fishies (Gold Fish) for snack, but I couldn't get to the store this morning so we made our own version of them.

3 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
finely grated cheese (put these three ing. in a bowl)
1/2 oil
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. of water (in another bowl)

mix the two bowls together to make a dough (add flour if needed to make it not too sticky)

split the dough in two balls. One for each child. Roll out dough use cookie cutters (whatever on hand) put the cookies on greesed baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 20 mins. Salt them. Pretty good = )

I've also been trying to keep the tv off. I HAVE BEEN VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THE COMMERCIALS THAT COME WITH THE GREAT CHRISTMAS SHOWS ON TV. I CAN'T LEAVE THE KIDS TO WATCH THEM ON THEIR OWN. So anyway I found a great radio station just for kids. They have the Wiggles, Veggietales, stories, christmas songs. It is : http://www.live365.com/stations/christmasmusic247b?play

Oh and if you want to have your children send Santa an email and get one back from him go to: http://www.emailsanta.com/email_santa.asp

Okay that's all for now I guess. Hope you are all doing well. Have a wonderful Christmas if I don't talk to you by then.

Lara~

Taking The Time To Be Thankful ~

I am thankful that the God of the Angel Armies, the Majesty of heaven and earth watches over me and my family everyday. He takes a loving interest in me and give me a wonderful, meaningful opportunity to spend time with Him throughout the day. I love my Heavenly Father.

My husband who is our rock, an awesome father, my best-friend, a God chaser, an amazing musician, very attractive especially when he was riding his Harley or 65 Mustang! lol. I am so in love with him.

Hannah and Josh give me so much joy everyday. They are gifts from God that I never want to take for granted. They are so loving and so forgiving. I wish I had more patience to have another one.

The blessings of the basics. With the economy the way it is right now I am just praising the Lord for our jobs, our home, food and water, clothing.

Our neighborhood. I love so many of our neighbors.

Our parents. They have been so supportive of us and so loving to our children. There is just nothing like family

We live in a place where we aren't close to our parents, but we have met some wonderful members of our church who have loved our kids as if they were their own. I am truly grate-full to have friends like them who we trust with our children.

My favorite book that I cherish more than any other is my Bible. I want to know it inside and out. I want to know God so well that scripture will just flow out of me. If everything else is taken away, I know I will have Him right beside me. So I am thankful God has blessed us with His word.

We just had Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and it was wonderful. My son's birthday is also today and we will be celebrating it soon as well. When I stop to think about all the things I am thankful for I realize that I am abundantly blessed. I hope you will have the time and stop to cherish the wonderful blessings in your life.

Happy Thanksgiving~

Aren't They The Cutest Ever!!

My kids. So special.

Bein' A Mom ~

This is a song I wrote about my experience of being a mom. I dedicate these lyrics to all the wonderful moms out there that give so much of themselves for their children. We feel happiness, joy, sadness, anger, worry, anxiety, fear, exhaustion, depression, excitement, adventure and more each and every day with our kids. You are not alone in this. Let's stick together Moms!

Bein' A Mom
c2008 word and music by Lara Marriott
(bluezy feel)

Bein' a mom
takes a way my confidence
just like my kids I know
I struggle with some tantrums
Each day presents a new set
of frustrations
cuz' when I look around I see
that my chores are neverending
am I cut out to be.......

Bein' a mom
I'm constantly on night alert
If anyone needs me I'm there
to meet all they want
my sleep has become replaced
by a cup of caffeine
and when they finally get to sleep
there is nothing more for me to give
am I cut out to be a mom?

Chorus
I get angry!
I get scared!
I get this overwhelming feelin'
in my head!
God give me the strength
to love them
These days will pass by quickly
You have placed these kids right with me
I know I need You, I need Your help!!

Bein' a mom
there is a privilege
that's only saved for me
at six in the morning
I get to cuddle closely to them
and it fills me up
I am the first they ask for
when they are scared or they are hurt
a million times they will
forgive me and forget, yet, het, het ____

Bein' a mom, Yeah, yeah
Bein' a mom, A nah, nah
Bein' a mom, Ohohoh
Bein' a mom, Hmmm
Hmmm__________I'm thankful

Hot Topics

I know I should be blogging about the Vice Presidential Debate, World Peace, the Economic Crisis, what God is doing in my life, and I will, BUT I am telling you this is MUCH more important for a mother to blog about at this time.

The best playdough recipe!!!!!! For all you moms and for my memory's sake here is the recipe I just made with my kids. It makes a lot and with food coloring they LOVE IT!


Cooked Playdough (flour and salt)
3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water
Dissolve salt in the water.
Pour all ingredients into a large pot.
Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides.
Knead the dough mixture until the texture matches playdough (1-2 minutes).
Store in plastic container. Should last for at least 3 months.

NOTE: This recipe is made from edible ingredients and not toxic in small amounts for children. However, a dog got sick after eating a batch of playdough. It is not intended as a food item. Please be sure to put it away after your children have finished playing.

Notes from Visitors:

After my cousins and I made playdough, we played with it and didn't put away. In the morning it was dried. I added a little bit of water to it and it turned soft again.
I decided to just let my playdough creation dry naturally in a window in the sunshine. It is almost dry now. A few cracks developed, but I just filled them in with playdough and smoothed them over. I kept turning the totem pole to let the sun hit it from all sides.

(from: http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_8.html )

Enjoy!

Lara~

Motherhood Gems~

"It is so NICE for me, mom!" Joshua

"Hey Josh, I saw on Nihow Kylan that the uncle said that it always helped make cleaning his room faster when he sang. So come on Josh let's SING!" Hannah

"MMMMM...this is yummy mommy. MM..mm..MM..mm..mm..MMMM!" Joshua

"Mommy? Can you make a big breakfast tomorrow with sausage and potatoes and eggs and pancakes and fruit and cereal?" Hannah (almost every night before I leave her room)

"LOOK HANNAH! I am going potty on the BIG potty NOW and I won't fall IN!" Joshua (nothing comes out yet, but their is progress in the right direction)

Those kids. I have been reading a lot in the bible and other christian books lately and over and over again I hear, "Be thankful for every moment in the day. Carpei Diem!" So I have been trying to be "present" each day and embrace my time with the kids. They are SO fun. Josh LOVES tickles. They can take him out of the worst mood. Hannah LOVES snuggle time and one on one time. We have been playing a little game, Hannah and I, that she started playing with my dad. Where I would say "I love you more than the world." and she would respond, "Well, I love you as high as the moon." She loves that game. I remember playing it with my dad when I was little. I want Hannah and Josh to KNOW that they are loved everyday. I took them out for milkshakes for thanking them and myself for cleaning the house. We went to Baskin Robins. They were oh so yummy. I can see the effects of mine in my tummy. lol. Then we went to the park, watched a movie, had baths, painted, cut hair, got into pjs, read stories and put them to bed.

This has been a pleasant day. = )

I Love It! ~

I have SO much to blog about these days. Last week was full of fun things to do, what God has revealed to me through the bible, and cute things my kids have been doing. I will probably be posting quite a bit in the next couple of days, at least that is my hope.

The first one is about my little guy Joshua.

(this picture is a little out of date) Anyway, we knew that it was probably time to take down the crib and put him in his own bed. He will be three is a few months and has been climbing in and out of it. Plus his leg has gotten stuck in the spaces more than once. So my husband took down the crib. We took Hannah's trundle bed and put it in his room. Added one of those bed rails to it and viola, a bed for Josh.

We didn't know how he would react to it. So we brought him up to show him his new room layout and he LOVED it! I almost thought he was going to cry he was so happy. He said, "AH! MY OWN BED! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT MOM! HUG!" He was super excited and couldn't settle down to go to sleep. When he finally did go to sleep he slept really well and in the morning at around 6:30am he knocked on his door to come out and said, "Mom? I am out of my bed now!" So cute.

These are the moments I will totally treasure when they grow up and become independent. I am thankful for this blog. It will give me lots of time to reminisce about their childhood. = ) Till next time ~

God Is Impressive! ~

Okay, I just had to blog about this one. God has been teaching me lately about obedience. If you have any interesting stories about being obedient to God's voice, I would love to hear them. = )

Today I didn't want to go to church. WHAT!?! A pastor's wife not wanting to go to church? How could that be?! Hey, I'm human, very human and I was tired, didn't get a lot of sleep. I was imagining how great it would be to wake up, stay in my pj's, watch tv with the kids, eventually make breakfast, and then sit and play with my children til Dad got home from church. But my little girl (I truly believe God uses our kids to get our attention) asked what day it was going to be after night, night. I told her it was going to be Sunday. She said, "Sunday, really! YEA! I get to go to class!" Oh brother. Okay so I knew it was important to go.

We got ready to go to the early service. I dropped the kids off and headed for service. I remembered that God wanted my sacrifice of praise today so I focused on the words we were singing and started praying them to God. It was very healing. The message was on Parenting, which I REALLY needed to hear. But when it was time to take offering I felt I needed to put in $2.00. But we tithe as a family. But I only have $8.00 left to get me through til Weds (payday). But I need to use that money for gas. But, but, but. Then I submitted and honestly with a peaceful spirit I gave those $2.00 into the offering basket. I felt good. I knew I was obeying God. I believed that God would multiply it and help us somehow get through til Weds. Well I found $10.00 extra dollars in my purse. Cool. I think we can make it on that.

Then, this is where it got good. I was going to take my kids back home and not stay for the second service. My kids usually have to stay for both services because I am usually on worship team with their dad. So I thought it would be nice for them to get out early. I went to get my daughter and she asked if she could stay for one more service. Well, okay. Then I went down to check on her brother and he was doing fine. So alrighty then. A little bit more of a break for me. he he. I started mosinging around talking with people and getting ready for the next service. As I was walking around, one of my voice student's dad pulled me aside and said, "I am glad I caught you, I barely see my daughter anymore (she's a teenager. Ya know.) so here is your check for this month's lessons." WOW! Money! Just kidding. Money isn't everything, but the COOL thing was that God provided and Multiplied those $2.00to be more than enough to get through.

Remember Chris Tomlin's song "Enough?" He showed me that today! Isn't He impressive! Test God and be obedient to His voice and He will show you too how amazing He is.

Have a great Sunday!

Computer Idol ~

Hey there, I've been reading a lot lately in The Heart Of Worship Files and my bible so I get them confused sometimes, but somewhere in one of them I read about idol worship. I don't worship idols. I worship God. I write worship and praise songs about God. I don't have a problem. Denial! I was convicted about how much time I spend on the computer. But it is not the time that is the problem. It is the compultion to go back to it again and again. When I am stressed I want to go on the computer. When I am bored, I go on the computer. When I what to connect with people, I go on the computer. I didn't realize it was taking up so much of my time. I finally decided to leave it in the other room last night and read instead.

Do you know how much peace I felt? There is peace when we slow our minds down and relax, reflect, renew our minds. I learned that God wants to be the one to run to when I am stressed. He wants me to sing to Him, talk to Him, read about Him. God wants to be the one to go to when I am bored. To learn about Him, to write and sing about Him. God wants me to go to Him when I want to connect with someone. He wants to talk to me, to listen to me, to embrace me.

This is such a hard lesson to learn because it takes discipline. I might be really good at going to Him one day, but the next day might be completely different. I am so thankful to be covered by God's grace everyday. I sure do need it.

This has been on my heart and I wanted to share it with you. I don't believe God is asking me to give up the computer. The computer is such an awesome tool and resource. But when it is the default button and God isn't then I need to reevaluate how much time I am giving to it and if it becoming an idol in my life.

So I better get off the computer now!!!!!! lol.

I Asked, He Answered ~

Before I get to what I wanted to write about, I have been thinking a lot about our little blogging world we're in. It sure is strange, don't you think? I read other blogs and start to feel like I really know these people. But then reality kicks in and I only "know" them through the computer. So I am sorry to anyone whom I might have been a little too friendly to. I have come to realize that it still is so important to develop friendships outside of my computer, in person, so that is going to be my focus from now on. I had thought about stopping, but this has been such a wonderful way of communicating that I have decided to continue on. I still love reading so many of your blogs. Your lives are truly wonderful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing pieces of your life with us all. (okay I am back to the topic at hand)

I asked and He answered. YES! God is truly AMAZING! I need to document this because it is beginning to fade. A while back I had a very difficult time I was going through. I found myself on the floor in my room weeping uncontrollably. I like to be in control of everything so this was uncharacteristic of me. I asked God to please speak to me through His word because I needed to KNOW He was listening. I heard a voice say Revelations 2:5 (but I then read verse 4 which was what spoke to me) "4But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love]. You see for the passed few days I had been listening to Michael Olson's song "First Love," over and over and over again. It was the song I was clinging to and weeping with. In the verse you can see it said "Your First Love." Now that is not a coincidence. I knew God was listening. Isn't that cool!

God hears. God is with us all. He is amazing. I know He loves You and me intimately.

Lara~

What Am I Waiting For?

Good question. I am waiting for God. I am in a waiting room. I have told you a little about my singing/songwriting journey and that is part of it. There are things that are being worked out right now, but God hasn't opened any specific doors yet, so I wait.

I find myself walking through each day without dwelling on the future too much because I can't see the answers. It has been good.

Yesterday I felt God telling me to take a break from the computer all day and spend time with Him. So I did. That was so hard to do. But I had some wonderful times of prayer and hearing God speak to me through His word. It was a good break. I know He hears my prayers. I know, He knows what I am listening to in my worship times, what the kids and I are doing, how I am feeling. I asked Him to reveal Himself to me two days ago and He did. (I'll write more about that soon). So since I am confident He knows, I wait.

Let's just say I am growing in character. = )

Lara~

God Can Hear Me ~

Hey there, okay so my last post was about how hard waiting can be. I have felt like God hasn't been listening (even though deep down I know He has). My feelings

I just wanted to say that waiting and being patient is very, very , very hard.

That's it. = )

Funny Things To Say As A Toddler ~

Hannah in the swimming pool with a spray bottle in her hand. "Josh? Would you like some wetness?"

I told Hannah she could take two toys to church tomorrow because she had to be there for two sunday school classes. She said "Mom, I won't mind if I loose them. What I will do is just go in a corner, cry for 10 mins. and take a deep breath and then.....go play!"

Josh throughout the day.
"I am VERY up"
"I am VERY done"
"I am VERY hungry"
"I am VERY thirsty"
"I am VERY tired"
"I am VERY there"
"I am VERY Joshie"
"I am VERY hurting"
"I am VERY playing"
"I am VERY poopy"
"I am VERY stinky"

I love these kids (and need breaks lol) Being a mom is such an amazing experience. Thank you God for allowing me to be a mom.

Today ~

Today I am scared
Today I am weak
Today I am relaxed
Today I am happy
Today I feel loved
Today I feel anger
Today I feel sadness
Today I feel tired
Today I am an emotional basket case. JUST KIDDING

Have you ever had those days when you have felt just about every kind of emotion that's available? That is what today was for me. My heart has been craving something all day today. Ya know what it was? God's presence. Whenever I sit quietly and read the bible or think about Him, things start to take order. I start to become content and at peace. So before today is over I plan to sit with my Father for awhile and let Him fill me up.

Praying For You ~

The pastors wives of our church have created a blog just for the women at our church. We will be posting personal devotionals every couple of days. There will be a section for anyone who would like to share a prayer request. We will be commited to praying for them when we get together as pastors wives each month. The first posting will be done by Sharon on Friday. We hope to see you there. We have a special place in our hearts for the women of the church. We want to be here for you.

http://pastorswivesofcourtstreet.blogspot.com/

Many blessings ~