Clean Slate

We have just experienced one of the most phenomenal weekends at our church. We were involved in a Women's Ministry missions opportunity we call Clean Slate.

This was our very first one. And it was absolutely amazing! It was totally awesome to help Dee. But probably equally phenomenal was to literally see the Body of Christ operate in complete oneness. I was absolutely blown away. Really words can not describe it!

Dee is a single mom with triplet 9 year old girls. WOW! The girls are with their dad this summer and were not able to be there. We did an Extreme Home Make-Over/Clean Sweep/What Not to Wear all wrapped into one this weekend for Dee.

She lives in a 2 bedroom duplex. She and her daughters had been sleeping in the same room in a bunk bed--she and one of the triplets slept on the bottom that was a full bed and then the other two slept in the twin bed on top--for the past two years! She has shared a room with her girls for 2 years. Well you can guess what we chose to do--give her her own space--a little retreat. Dee is a giver. She works full time and also majorly volunteers at her girl's school and is very involved in their PTA.

We had an incredible team that has been working with her for the past month and then this weekend the Clean Slate took place! We had over 50 volunteers go in and transform her home. We really only completely redid the bedrooms and the garage but cleaned and organized the rest of the house.

Over the course of the weekend we discovered that Dee was behind on a few utility bills and did not have this months rent. We were able to go in and take care of those things for her as well and really give her a Clean Slate--even financially! The Lord provided for this in an unusual way. We also had a garage sale on Saturday morning in the rain and raised over $200 to help with the cost of her bills.

We began on Thursday night. Dee had already started cleaning out a few things so we were not able to get on camera the FULL starting point. Then we worked all day Friday along with Dee until 5 pm. We then sent her to the Renaissance for the night and gave her a gift card to Carabba's for dinner--which was so generously provided by the managers--who just happen to be members at BattleCreek! My sweet friend and co-worker Cindy put a hotel goodie basket together for her. Cindy also was the Project Manager for the entire weekend. Again there are no words to describe this incredible woman--who I am so blessed to have in my life!

The next day our "Family Friend" Liz Pray and myself took Dee to lunch at Panera after she had her hair done (highlights and all!!!) and then we took her shopping with her $200 gift card to Cato's. She had not been shopping in 10 years! We had so much fun as she tried on outfit after outfit. I really did feel like Stacy London! She went to a friend's house to change into one of her new outfits before the big reveal at her house at 4:30.

She pulled into the driveway with BattleCreek on either side clapping her on and with smiles from ear to ear. An amazing moment. This lady deserved to be applauded. Oh my goodness I am nearly overwhelmed right now thinking about that. I just have to stop and say what a wonderful picture I think that was of Hebrews 12:1 "Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...cheering us on" The Word of God being lived out!

So much more I could say but a picture is worth a thousand words. My sweet friend Ashley Campbell shared her incredible gift of photography with us for the weekend and captured it all for us. Take a look for yourself right here.

Once Again, You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

I know I know. It has been a while...please forgive. We have had basketball camp, cheer camp, youth camp and children's camp. And I truly have so much I could blog about--neat things God did at all of those, but for now I will just post on the last 36 hours of life at the Lopez home.



Crazy stuff happens to us...so we have just chosen to roll with the punches and say Hallelujah anyhow.



Thursday around noon, my sweet husband came to church to help me do something. My sister and brother in law drove in from KC to pick up 400 beverage tubs (another story for another day) and to bring my 17 year old nephew Ridge to spend the week with us. (YEA--Ridge Camp) In the process Carl MESSED his back up--to the point of when he went back to work around 1:30 all he could do was gather his things and get home. Fast forward to 4:00 when the kids and I get home. I walk in the door to see my husband CRAWLING across the floor from our guest bath to the living room in boxers with his pants in the other hand. I said, "Sweetie, what are you doing!" He said, "Can you get me some shorts." I said, "Carl Lopez, what is the matter!!!" He said, "Denise I can not walk, will you get me some shorts." So I run to get him some shorts. In the meantime while he is in route to the living room floor, he turns his head and says, "Hi guys." to our kids.



He is now lying in the living room floor flat on his back complete with shorts on. Which is where he stayed until 4:15 in the morning. Bless his heart---major pain---awful---made me sad.



Thursday evening--guitar lessons, gymnastics, and Clean Slate--all of which took place with Carl lying in the floor on his back. Needless to say I was at the grocery store (WAL-MART SUPERCENTER---love it!) checking out at midnight. You gotta shop when you can--know what I mean. So I ended the night---or started the morning--which ever way you prefer to look at it, by putting away groceries and packing our 8 year old for camp.



I got in bed at 1:15. At 4:15 Carl makes it into the bed---bless his heart. Ouch! He begins snoring, which to be honest normally annoys me (and I must say few things about Carl Lopez annoy me). HoweverI was thrilled because at least he was asleep and not in pain. Then I can not sleep because I kept thinking if I dare moved I might wake him up and sleep was not in my future--snore snore goes the husband. So I go into the living room and try to go back to sleep--lay there....tick...tock....tick...tock.



At 5:45 I awake to our dog barking. The dog run is alongside our house outside our bedroom window so I run to the backyard, so Jake would not wake Carl up. Abby is out of the pen. "Abby, what are you doing out." Had she answered me, I would be making part of this story up. I go to the pen. Gate still locked a piece of the fence at top knocked off. The crazy thing JUMPED the fence--what!!! And now Jake the brown not so puppy chocolate lab is going crazy because he is left home alone while Abby is living it up roaming the yard. Thus the barking!! No water. I am sure Abby was in survival mode to get something to drink. So I let them both out to get them water. I forgot that when I went outside I left the back door open soooo, Jake runs in the house BARKING like crazy. I finally get him back out only to find a 5 year old and an 8 year old walking out of their bedroom--and making their way to the couch (hey what a minute guys--that is where I was sleeping er laying awake for the past hour and a half.) Thankfully we have a sectional--all is well.



Finally get the dogs happy and lay back down. Managed to fall back asleep and wake up at 8:30 in time to head out to Clean Slate. Get back home by 9:45 to get Avery ready for camp. I called at 10:15 to get Carl an appointment with Dr. Pray (great name huh?--wonderful man). They said "Can you be here at 10:45?" As much pain as Carl was in we had to make it. Did I mention that there was a downpour going on outside? Ridge is going to get Avery to church and I am going to take Carl to the Dr. Pray.



Let me say, the Lord sent Ridge to be cab driver, manny (male nanny) cousin, babysitter etc. What would we have done without him.


I leave Carl at the Dr., get to church just in time to have my daughter's head implanted into my side because she didn't think I was going to make it before they left. Send Ridge back to get Carl. Kiss and love on Avery. Write her a your an amazing kiddo we love you we are proud of you etc etc note for her to read at camp. And send her on her way.



So meanwhile, my friend Meredith and I stand in the parking lot and talk for the next 30 minutes--we did take a 4 year old, 5 year old and a 6 year old to the bathroom in the church during this time. So we decide that Ridge (man of the hour) is going to take all the remaining cousins and remaining Himayas to see Wally. Austin rides with Meredith. I walk to my car--the battery is dead--or so I thought.



I go running across the parking lot to catch Meredith before she pulls out. She comes over to give me a jump--only to find that my battery is smoking and there is blueish purple white crazy looking corrosion on the battery. WHAT! So we could do nothing but call Carl. So Carl pulls up about 20 minutes later with his chauffeur Ridge and hobbles over to the car. The battery cable has been eaten away for some reason.

Ridge takes the kids to the movie--Meredith goes home--and Carl and I proceed to fix the car. We went to Advance Auto Parts and got the parts we needed--I parked in handicap just so you know. We went back to the car and as Carl was putting the cable on he dropped the bolt in the engine. For whatever reason it did not fall all the way through. I am jumping on the car shaking it, hoping the bolt would fall out---nope. So Carl said, "It would be faster for you to go back and get another one." So I did. I go back to the parking lot and Carl starts to put the cable on and it snaps!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT.!!! On the way, I say, "I wonder what in the world the Lord is trying to teach us?" Carl said, "Not to shop at Advance Auto Parts." We go back to Advance Auto Parts and Carl goes in and gets another cable. We go back to the car and wa-la he fixes it and he heads home and I head to Clean Slate.

So there you have it.

I have just returned home from Clean Slate and will blog about that later....phenomenal day in the life of our church.

Father Knows Best!

Happy Father's Day! I am blessed to have wonderful fathers in my life! My daddy (as my sisters and I call him) is the very best! The most humble--giving--man perhaps on earth for sure in America! I do not take it for granted that I have a daddy that loves my mom, loves his girls, and loves his Lord! Thankful thankful.

Then there is my precious little grandpa. I had the incredible privilege to grow up next door to my paternal grandparents and spent ALOT of time with them growing up. Realistically this will probably be my last Father's Day with my sweet grandpa. He is 88, on dialysis, and in poor health. I have great memories of this sweet godly man who was soooo much fun--so funny.

Then there is the love of my life--father extraordinaire--Carl Lopez!!!

He is not normal (in a good way!) and I tell him that all of the time. He is the greatest daddy to our children. Can't even begin to describe in words--the time--the sacrifices--the affection--the tenderness--the love he shows our children. Carl had a great example also to follow--Bill Lopez. His dad went to be with the Lord 6 years ago this past March. He was an incredible man that everyone loved! So it makes Father's Day a little sad for Carl but what joy to know that one day we will be together again!

And then last but absolute first in my life is my heavenly Father. Oh that He calls me His child--can't believe it--can't get over it--but am sooo thankful. Love--love--love this verse--"Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are..." 1 John 3:1 (Contemporary English Version)

So whatever your father situation here on earth--know that there is a Father in heaven who loves you just the way you are--His child!!

Back from the Beach

Ahh the Beach. We love the beach. My mother grew up in South Texas. So my growing up years were spent vacationing on Port Aransas Island. And now we vacation there as a family. Not to be ugly to Texans, it is not Florida--but it is the beach and my kids love it!! We have to ride a ferry to get to the island--dolphins swim along side. We eat seafood EVERY night--Snoopy's is our favorite. A family beach picture is a MUST. It was soooo windy we didn't get THE picture--you know what I mean (the one where I look good!).

A day on the beach would not be complete for our family if we did not build a drizzle sand castle!

What a Bummer!!!

Ugh! Guess what. Someone helped themselves to my purse and GPS from inside my car at AJ's baseball game Friday night. What a bummer!
I will have to tell you that I left the car unlocked. What a bummer! BUT, I thought I locked it. We have a new car and I am still getting use to it. For instance, I have locked my keys in the car 3 times and Carl has had to come to my rescue--he is sweet and didn't yell at me once--or twice--or even the third time. Sooo, I didn't realize that I didn't push the little button hard enough to lock it. What a bummer! Isn't that how it is...the crazy thing locks when I don't want it to and then doesn't when I do want it to.
I didn't discover the missing purse until the game was over and we were getting out to eat at Pei Wei and I went to grab my purse and it wasn't there. So I rushed back to the field hoping that they (whoever they are) had taken what they wanted and dropped it somewhere--but my purse was no where to be found. What a bummer!! Arvest (our bank) called Carl before we could call them to report it, to tell him that they (whoever they are!!) had made 6 purchases in 30 minutes all at gas stations! What a bummer! Who does that may I ask!? Who walks around parking lots trying to find an unlocked car with a purse and a GPS in it--who???!!! What a stinkin' hassle! We had to cancel our checking, credit card, get a new driver's licenses---blah blah blah! What a bummer!
In June we are beginning our Summer Spa for the Soul at church. If you are in the Tulsa area I would LOVE for you to join us on Wednesday nights at 6:30 beginning June 18th. We are calling it JOY: a Women's Worship Event. I am so excited. Melissa Hunter will be leading our worship time and I will be teaching through the book of Philippians over JOY. So I guess the Lord is just allowing me to learn firsthand to have JOY regardless of my circumstances.
I will have to say as a little blessing from the Lord that as they (again whoever they are!) were lifting my purse from the passenger floorboard to the driver side they dumped my lipstick case out into the floorboard on my side. What a blessing! So now my only purse type possessions that I have are my blackberry, my lipstick and my car keys--what more could a girl want??

As I was on the Internet searching for Shell stations to call and ask if they could check their trash cans for my purse, I ran across this on You Tube! Hilarious and made me laugh. So I had to pass it along to you...




Okay do you not think that is hilarious!! Tim Hawkins is a Christian comedian and soooooo funny! The Lord knew I needed a good laugh. I know you are wondering how did I get from Shell stations to Cletus? Although I have never been formally diagnosed--I am sure that I am ADD. I prefer to think of it as my mind can multi task. Whatever!
So that was a little bright spot to my what a bummer evening.

Because I Said So...

I have been thinking alot lately about parenting. Good thing since I have four children to my credit! I was 29 before I had our first--so it would be true to say that I have never been a "young mom"--I was old when I started! So in those twenty something years, while longing to be married to the one and only Carl Lopez, I had plenty of opportunity to observe the parenting skills of others. And I have got to say that I had GREAT parents--they were not perfect for sure (in fact the older I get the more I think we really were dysFUNctional) again, not perfect, but they were really really good.
How do you know what you are suppose to do? I mean there is not a vo-tech or community college you go to that has Parenting 101 or anything. I didn't have a fat clue what I was doing when we brought that little chubby cheeked dark haired blue eyed cutie home--none!! And almost 14 years and three more kiddos later--pretty much I still don't--perhaps a skinny clue but for sure not a fat clue. So here is Parenting 101 according to Denise Lopez (whoopie!) for whatever it is worth. Most (if not all) wisdom is not original with me--just so you know.

1. Dottie Myatt--now there's a mom for you! What a great mom. She and Mr. Sam I am raised three INCREDIBLE kids! Who I feel so fortunate that I got to be a part of their lives. Bill and Lily were in my youth group and little Janie just liked to hang around alot. I asked Dottie once, "Ok what's your secret?" This was way before I had kids and I tucked it away for safe keeping. She told me three things:
A) Pray (duh--sorry Dottie)
B) Be consistent Hard to do--but worth it. Funny things at 3 are NOT funny at 12!
C) Never take the road of least resistance (wow--pretty good advice--which I have tried to put into practice in the Lopez home).

2. My friend Lana (who is my true blue should have been a sister friend) told me to:
Pray they get caught. "Denise," she would say in her Mary Jo from Designing Women voice. "They are going to mess up, they are, they are! So you just need to pray that every time they do they get caught." My kids hate that I pray that!!


3. Another thing I pray scripture for my kids. Here are a few passages that I pray for the A's:
A) Genesis 6:9,22 They would be righteous, walk with God, and do everything that God tells them to do.
B) Numbers 14:24 They would be a servant, have a different spirit about them, and that they would follow God wholeheartedly.
C) Luke 1:13-16 That they would be a joy to Carl and I, they would be great in the eyes of God, never drink wine or beer, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that many will be saved because of their lives.
D) John 1:5 They would be a shining light to their schools, friends, and generation. That they would never be overcome with darkness.
E) Ephesians 4:32 (This is actually the first verse we had our children memorize) That they would be kind to others, forgive others, and know the forgiveness of God.


4. No matter how inconvenient it is:
A) Always address deliberate disobedience (preferably in private--when we could we would pull --and a time or two yank them over to the side to discipline them).
B) Keep your word. When you say, "if you do that one more time you are going to get XYZ punishment."; be sure that you XY and Z.


5) I read a book How to be a Hero to Your Kids by Josh McDowell years ago when I was a youth minister and put it in to practice with teenagers and now make it a "policy" with my own. The whole book was written around the premise of Rules without Relationship equals Rebellion. We have major perimeters, boundaries, RULES whatever you want to call them--at our house. But I can also tell you we spend alot of time pouring into our kids and developing a strong relationship with each of them. I am counting on Josh's equation to be true.


6) Let the little things be little things. We have really good friends that shared a great story with us about their son Kevin, who is like a member of our family. Kev was leaving his shoes in the living room, on the stairs, etc etc. Finally Wanda had it and really got on to him and wouldn't let it go. Les said to Wanda, "When the shoes are gone the boy will be gone." I am sure there will come a day that I would love for tennis shoes or flip flops to be left lying around.

7) Eat together as a family! This is a non-negotiable at our house. We eat together almost every night. There are very few nights that we do not eat together. Sometimes it is at Taco Bueno at 8:30 at night. I can hear some of you already, we don't have time. I dare say I would put my calendar up against yours any day of the week. We are BUSY, but we will always make time to be together as a family for dinner. I really believe this has made a HUGE difference for our children. TV off at the table all together. My mother made this a priority in our home growing up and it is one thing for sure that I have made it one in mine.

8) I read recently on Beth Moore's blog that one thing she would change about raising her kids, is that she would have let them take a friend on vacation with them less and make them depend on each other to have fun with. Aside from the fact that we have 4 and could not afford to take 4 extras, and preferring not to drive a people mover around, we could not transport them!!--I thought this was great advice. I hear all the time people saying, we let each of our kids take a friend--ok once in a while but not every family vacation. Good advice Beth--I agree! I love when I hear my kids in the car on a trip laughing with one another or catch them really enjoying being together on the beach or boat or wherever. I pray for my children to be friends.

Well this turned out to be a whole lot longer than I thought. I really could go on and on--I love being a mom. I would love to hear your bits and pieces of parenting advice. Again sorry so long--I am just wordy! But come on what do you expect when I only blog once a week.


For an added surprise guess what...I have learned to add pictures!!!!!! Look out! EveryDay with Denise will never be the same! Here is a pick of my four A's on Beaver Lake this past weekend. Nothing like having to hang on to your little sister going 3.5 miles per hour on the water!

Pray for the Stephen Curtis Chapman Family

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The 5-year-old daughter of contemporary Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.The girl, Maria, was hit in a driveway on the family residence Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.McPherson said no charges are expected."It looks like a tragic accident," she said.She said several members of the Chapman family witnessed the accident, which happened in Williamson County just south of Nashville.The brother apparently did not see the little girl, McPherson said. She did not have the name or exact age of the brother, only that he is an older teenager.The girl died later at Vanderbilt Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.

Chapman, originally from Paducah, Ky., and his wife have promoted international adoption and have three daughters from China, including Maria.Chapman has won five Grammy awards and 51 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association.The singer's Web site said that Chapman and his wife, Mary Beth, were persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.

The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the Web site."After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing — our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site. "We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world."'Chapman also has released a book about being a father entitled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess."

So sad--please pray for this family. Such a tragedy and so hard to understand.