*Magdalena on the front porch while I pulled weeds.*

This morning I had the pleasure of waking up unusually early (for me) and meeting with four other women for breakfast and to share with them a little about what is on my heart.

I started by sharing a bit about lifting up our eyes which I blogged about here back in January.

Our conversation then turned to adoption and children which was so exciting and encouraging to hear these young women's thoughts on some of my favorite topics.

Since I had some thoughts already floating around about lifting up our eyes, I thought I'd go ahead and share them now.

I asked the women why do you look up, what would cause you to look up? Some of the answers were a plane, a sunset, etc. Something has to get your attention in order to make you look up. When we think of someone who is not confident or with low self-esteem we often picture them looking down. Looking up takes effort.

There is a familiar hymn that says this, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

What strikes me in this chorus is that common theme, when our eyes are fixed upon Jesus, worldly "things" do not matter to us anymore, or as the hymn says, the "things will grow strangely dim".

Hebrews 12:1-2 says this, "Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and protector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

*Annie in typical attire. Cowboy boots and a dress.*

I am a problem-solution type of girl. I see that this is frequently my problem: My eyes are too often fixed on the things of this world, instead of on Jesus. So, what is the solution? What can we do in our lives to continually be looking to Jesus?

Well, one thing I thought of is memorizing scripture. Annie and Abbey are so good at this. Just today we were going over some verses that we had memorized and I said something wrong and Annie thought it was just hilarious that I said the wrong thing!

Okay, so we memorize Scripture to have the Word of God continually on our brain. Definitely reading the Bible everyday is helpful because you are spending that time in God's word. Of course, in dept Bible studies are awesome. TALKING about God and "spiritual" things on a regular basis, with your kids, with your spouse with your neighbors, with everyone!! One thing that I love about living in the USA is that we have access to Christian radio. I try to have either WDAC or WJTL playing on the kitchen stereo during the day. The girls even sing the theme song to "Walk in the Word" and know that when Dr. Tony Evans comes on we should be eating lunch. =)

*Abbey enjoying a bubble bath in her swim suit*

Something else that I really like is having some "rules" to use as guardrails to keep us straight everyday. I got this idea from a woman who came to speak at my mom's group last year. Click to see her "List of Rules to Live By". I made one of these lists of rules using the same scripture Bonni uses from Romans 12. Our "Hess Rules" say: love must be sincere, Hate what is evil, Be devoted to one another, Honor one another above yourselves, Never be lacking in zeal, Be joyful in hope, Be patient in affliction, Be faithful in prayer, Share with God's people, Practice hospitality, Live in harmony.

I keep this hanging in our dining room and I glance at it several times during the day. As I read over this list I am reminded of things that I need to model for my children. Specifically "Practice Hospitality". When we first remodeled our kitchen we did so well with having people over on a regular basis, but that stopped after we had Magdalena. I know that I need to get back in to the habit of having someone different over each month.

So thanks to the Airport Diner ladies who invited me to come and share with them. I probably learned more than you. :)

*Seriously, can this girl get any cuter??*