Glory Itches

Beautiful Hands

2012-01-20T17:57:00.000-06:00

This morning I watched as you discovered your hands. Your fat little fingers reached out and grasped hold of mine. And as you brought my hand toward your mouth your eyes widened with wonder.

I began to dream of what those hands may someday do.

You may have the hands of a craftsman. A mechanic or woodworker. Rough, calloused hands. Useful hands.
Beautiful hands.

Perhaps your hands will be soft. Hands used to press keys on the computer. Hands used to write. Hands forming words of impact and influence.
Beautiful hands.

Your hands may be dirty from working the soil. They may stroke the fur of a beloved pet or firmly grip the chalk as you mold young minds. They could grasp the ragged rocks as you climb a mountain or gently pick fruit from a tree to share with a friend. Hands that delight in the world around you.
Beautiful hands.

Someday I pray your hands will be wrinkled from soaking in the dish water. Crusted with paint from a child's art project. Recovering from a paper cut after folding yet another paper airplane. Hands used to brush silky hair, change stinky diapers, dress little bodies. Hands that will cause the laughter of ticklish children. Hands that steady your bride on your wedding day. Family hands.
Beautiful hands.

Your hands can be used to bring comfort to the aged. Food to the hungry. Peace to the harassed. Help to the helpless. Hands of compassion.
Beautiful hands.

Of all these things, my greatest desire is for you to have hands of worship. Hands that are raised in adoration of the King. Hands that hold a worn Bible. Hands that frequently fold in prayer.

Because if your hands hold firm to these tasks, your hands will reflect the greatest hands. Hands that are scarred. Hands that stretched out on a cross. Hands strong enough to hold all your dreams, pains, fears, and joys. Christ's hands.
Beautiful hands.

Awake

2012-01-13T17:57:00.000-06:00

I heard about Five Minute Fridays from Nancy last week. And man, I wish I had known about it before Friday was over because the word of the week was awesome. Sometime I'll have to do a post about the word "Roar" because I have some great thoughts on it.

Here's the description of what Five Minute Fridays are about:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Most important: comment and encourage the person who linked up before you.

This week the word is "Awake". And I figure I've got a few thoughts on that too. So here we go ...

Awake. Remind me of what that means again? Awake is hard to come by when you have five children. But even harder to come by when one of those is an infant. Some mornings I wake feeling that I've only just closed my eyes to sleep. Being physically tired can cause you to walk though life in a haze.

But there are those days when I've had a great night's sleep and I'm fully awake. Physically, that is. But nomatter my physical state, sometimes I notice that I've been walking in a spiritual haze. Asleep. Unaware. Missing out.

At the end of the day, have I noticed the things that really matter? Has my soul found peace through communion with it's Maker? Did I recognize the great calling I have in being a mother and wife? Did I find joy in the simple things?

Things like the privilege of teaching a child to read, sloppy baby kisses, a brother and sister happily dancing together in the living room. Moments of warm sunshine streaming in through the window, the smell of a delicious dinner cooking all day in the crockpot, the sound of my mother's voice on the phone, the touch of a small hand in mine. Wonder at the tiny toes of a little one, the creative imagination of a pre-teen, the incredible fact that I lack nothing I need.

Yes, it's easy to be physically awake even when tired. It's harder to be awake to the world around us, the marvels that greet us each and every moment of the day.

Wake up, O my soul! Stir from your slumber and partake in the beauty that surrounds.

Stop.

Sturdy

2012-01-12T16:25:00.001-06:00

Our little one is quickly growing. He's not only huge in regards to his weight and height, but he's growing up in regards to what he can do. He's only four months old, but I'm sure he can say "Hi". He often says it first thing when he sees us in the morning and even said it to our doctor at his recent check up. (Which tells me I'm not just projecting genius onto him!) He is desperately trying to sit up and loves stretching his legs by standing and jumping on our laps.

It's that last one that made us think perhaps he might like the Johnny Jump Up that's been in storage since our second child was itty bitty. The only child of ours that loved the jumper was Zack. He would spend HOURS jumping. In fact, since he was an early riser, we would get up, put baby Zack in the jumper and head back to bed. A couple of hours later, he'd still be happily jumping away or sound asleep in the jumper occasionally bouncing in his sleep.

We've tried the jumper with each of our other children, but no one else would spend more than 2 minutes in it before ear-splitting screaming ensued. However, with Jesse we just had an inkling that he might enjoy it.

Unlike our wonderfully old house in CT, our current home has no wide doorways. We don't have moulding, so there's nothing to really attach the jumper to except door frames. So two nights ago I came home from Abby's gymnastics practice and found Josh sequestered away in the garage building something "sturdy".

When it comes to woodworking, my husband doesn't do anything wimpy. And with five children in the house, that's a really good thing! He has built bookcases, a coffee table, shelving ... and check out this chicken coop he recently finished. We call it the chicken palace.

So I knew that whatever he was building for the jumper would be sturdy enough to hold our little one. I had no idea it would be sturdy enough for a grown man to do pull ups on! Here's the ingenious structure that now sits in our house:

Notice the little guy super happy to be jumping. He's just like his big brother and is happy to jump, jump, jump all day long. Hooray for saving Mommy's back and arms from lugging around a 19 pound four month old!

If you're like me, you're wondering how in the world I can allow something so ... sturdy (read: large) into my house. I did say that this invention was ingenious, did I not? The whole structure comes apart in three sections so that it can be moved into any room of the house or stored easily in the garage at a moment's notice. Hallelujah!! My husband's got skills!

I love that he makes sturdy furniture. I love that when the kids are climbing on said furniture, I don't have to worry about it collapsing or breaking. I know that the things he builds will stand up to the abuse my children can dish out.

But you know what I like more than my husband's sturdy furniture? I like that he is sturdy. He's reliable, he's strong. I know that I can lean on him when times are tough and he'll be able to hold me up. I know that I can depend upon him to keep me grounded and to keep our family deeply rooted in God's Word.

How do I know this? Because Christ is sturdy. And my man is fully commited to following Christ. And since his love for Jesus is greater than his love for me or our children, I can count on him to be a strong, sturdy oak.

Not only can I claim to have a man who builds sturdy furniture, but more importantly I can say that he truly is an "oak of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." (Psalm 61:3)

10 on 10: January 2012

2012-01-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

Linking up with Rebekah at A Bit of Sunshine for a little 10 on 10 fun. Thankfully the weather today was GORGEOUS and we were able to spend lots of time outside. Perfect, considering we're supposed to have snow in two days.

Here goes ..

Related by Blood

2011-12-30T11:32:00.000-06:00

Awhile back I heard from an acquaintance who asked to come and spend the afternoon with me. My initial reaction was to say no.

This woman seemed so different from me. Our likes, attitudes, and goals are so very different. And it would have been quite simple for me to use any one of my ready excuses: it's a school day, we have several things going on that evening, Jesse will need my attention ... I don't have time. All are true on any given day, but I was feeling guilty at the thought of offering lame excuses simply because I didn't want to get to know someone new.

As I wrestled with myself, I prayed aloud and asked God if I really needed to have her over. The gentle reply came to my heart. "Perhaps you don't need it, but she does." Oh.

"But, but ... I have lots going on! I don't have time to hang out with good friends let alone someone who I barely know!"

And that voice spoke again. "She is my daughter. She is your sister in the faith. She is family."

That one struck me like a two by four. Josh and I have always had an open door for family. Whether it's a week long visit from far away at an inconvenient time or a quick dash to the house for some sugar, we don't turn family away. We consider those relationships to be paramount and we've always told our family members that any time they want to see us, we'll make room. Room in our schedule, in our home, in our lives.

So here was God plainly telling me that I was trying to shut out a family member. Not a biological family member, but one related by blood just the same. The blood of Christ. And if I truly view her as such, then I must keep my door, my schedule and my life open to her.

Talk about conviction. So, I opened the door wide. I invited her in. We shared life. And we began a relationship. We may be quite different from each other, but then I shouldn't be surprised. I have several immediate family members that are practically opposite of me! And yet I choose to love them.

And there's the crux. Love. A choice. The moment I opened my door I chose to love this new sister. And I can honestly say I'm richer for it.

Ten on Ten: December 2011

2011-12-10T21:40:00.001-06:00

I recently found out about Ten on Ten. Here's the description:

... a fun and interactive way for blogger's from all around the globe to document a snap shot of their lives too, once a month on the tenth taking a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding much life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day! To participate simply visit the blog on the tenth of the month and add your blog to the linky party so that all can check out your day!

Today was a rather unusual day filled with cookies, an unsightly kitchen, books and even a nap!

So here's my first go at Ten on Ten:

A Cup of Patience and a Dash of Grace

2011-12-07T21:03:00.000-06:00

I began homeschooling three years ago with grandiose visions of teaching my children all they would need to know about practical things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and repairs. And of course they would also be advanced in all subjects, speaking several languages, and reading a book a week.

Okay, okay. Maybe my dreams weren't really quite that big, but I definitely expected to fit more in than real life normally allows.

One of those dreams was to teach my children how to cook. I figured that since my kids would be home all day, I'd just give each one a week of the month and they would cook for that whole week with me.

But I forgot something.

I don't like to cook with kids. Ever.

I'm not one of those moms that overlooks sticky floors, messy counters, licked spoons dropped back into the batter, and inedible results after hours in the kitchen. I typically find cooking with my children to be exhausting, frustrating, and an overall headache-producing endeavor.

This year, however, I am braving the kitchen with ONE of my children. I have decided that 5th grade will include a unit on cooking. Whichever season does not include a sport for the 5th grader will be the time they tackle this intensive unit. For David, my current 5th grader, that means now.

We started two days ago. And amazingly, it's going really well! There's something to say for a child who can use a knife without supervision, listen to instruction and actually do what they're told, read a recipe, keep the mess to a minimum, and have the good sense not to burn themself on the stove.

So far we've made stir fry and potato soup. On the menu for later this week are beef stew, chicken and rice casserole, spaghetti and other yummy meals.

I love that I am enjoying cooking with my son. It reminds me of when Josh and I first married and would cook a meal together - except that David doesn't use every single pot in the kitchen.

My goal is to have David cook an entire week of meals on his own by the end of this unit. Meaning that he'll have to plan the menu, make the shopping list, shop with me and pay at the register, and then cook all the meals.

He swears he'll never get married, so I have convinced him of the importance of this by appealing to his stomach. I mean, really, what man wants to eat microwave meals every night when he finally leaves the nest?

So, here I go! Wish me luck. And pray that I have patience in the kitchen for the next three months. Because after this kid, I have four more to go.

Floored by the Lord!

2011-12-04T10:56:00.000-06:00

I love the title of this particular post. I was talking with Josh about some great things God has done for us lately and I said, "Man, I'm just floored by the Lord and His goodness to us!"

I find it rather surprising that I'd be floored by the Lord this week. We've had a ridiculously difficult week. I'm sure we've been under spiritual attack. Josh and I have not been communicating AT ALL. Meaning, he could ask how I am doing and I hear that the weather is strange today. Wierd stuff. Beyond that, it seems that everything possible is going wrong on any given day.

For instance, let's take a look at Friday. My 5 year old son was scheduled to have his tonsils and adenoids out on Friday morning. Of course my daughter woke that morning feeling queasy - which meant that we couldn't in good conscience leave her with our friend for the day. So we packed our daughter, our surgery-ready son and the baby into the van and took off. Oh, and because my husband still had to work at least part of the day, we drove separately.

The day had already been rough. I had missed breakfast - which makes for a very cranky mommy. I was emotionally on edge, just knowing that my little guy was going to have parts cut out of his throat. We were running very late (we had to get the older two boys to the babysitter by 6:50am), and I had to wake a really sleepy baby. After several miscommunications with my husband, we were on the road and heading toward the hospital. And then, it happened. Abby threw up. I had no bucket in the car, no time to stop, no extra clothes for her. And because the smell was unbearable for the next 20 minutes of our drive, we drove with frigid air billowing in through our windows.

Thankfully, the hospital staff was understanding and gave Abby a hospital gown to wear for the day. Gabe made it through his surgery wonderfully and after seeing that he was well, Josh took off for home with Abby and Jesse. Poor Josh had also missed breakfast and was so hungry that he stopped at Taco John's for a takeout lunch. Why he ordered a taco salad for the car, I'll never know. But before he could even get a bite, he dropped the entire salad all over the passenger side floor. Lunch disaster. Mess galore. Did I mention that we're saving up for a new van? Partly because we need more space and partly because this one STINKS!

All this to share that it has been. a. week.

Really, imagine one of your worst days and multiply it by 7.

However, even amidst our frustration, God has been working. One thing that Josh and I recently decided was to buy a chest freezer. Life is just too hectic, so in an attempt to knock something regular out of schedule, we've decided to try monthly grocery shopping and store the meat and bread in the freezer. Of course, we'll still have to run out for fresh items, but hopefully this will help a lot. The problem is that our freezer is tiny and even our little dorm sized freezer in the garage is too small to hold enough food for the month as well as the garden produce we froze this summer. And because we just payed out a large sum of money to refinance our mortgage this week, it was one of those "hurry up and wait until we can save money for a chest freezer" situations.

TWO DAYS after we made this decision, Josh was talking with a friend and shared our desire to cut back a bit on our scheduled activities and used our hope to monthly grocery shop as an example. This friend then shared that he and his wife had just defrosted their chest freezer in the hopes to downsize a bit. They wanted to get a small freezer instead. The wheels began turning and Josh suggested that we trade freezers. The next day, our friend came to our house with a wonderfully spacious chest freezer and hauled away our little one. Wow! We hadn't even gotten around to praying about our need for a freezer and God just delivered one to our door.

That makes the week look a bit better in hindsight.

And then the next day, amidst opening Christmas cards, I opened a card that contained a nice sized check. A friend had written a note saying that she unexpectedly came into extra money and wanted to share some with us. She knows nothing about the refinancing or the desire for a freezer. She just wanted to share. She's not a believer, but God was so obviously using her to encourage and strengthen us. WOW!

Okay, Lord, you've floored me! While I sit complaining about my week, God is working out details to encourage me. He was putting things in place before my week even began.

Tell me again, why do I doubt His goodness? Again and again, I am floored by His care, His provision and His love. So instead of looking at this week as an exercise in frustration, I can now look back and say it was the week that God surpassed my wildest dreams ... again.

Still learning

2011-11-18T16:29:00.001-06:00

Do you ever have those moments when you suddenly realize that you've missed out on something for YEARS that would have made life so much easier? One of those, "Oh, duh!" moments when your palm makes contact with your forehead?

I just had (another) one of those.

Even after four children, I have never thought of a way to keep the mess from the booster seat off the chair. We came pretty close to ruining some of our nice dining room chairs during the toddler years and have designated one wooden kitchen chair as "THE booster seat chair". In fact, the booster seat just stays on there so we don't have to risk sitting on something gross. Even though Gabe has been out of the booster for at least two years.

But just a few moments ago, I saw a picture of a booster seat with a towel between the bottom of the booster and the seat of the chair. Really??? It can be that simple? Good grief!

So now, in a few months, when Jesse begins eating solids, you better believe that we'll be putting a towel under our booster. And clean up will be a cinch!

Ahhh ... life with kids just got a little better.

Camping out? Then you're missing out!

2011-11-14T08:50:00.000-06:00

Psalm 84:10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

My heart has been dwelling on the second half of this verse for several weeks. I find the comparison between "the house of God" and the "tents of the wicked" to be very thought-provoking.

Here's what Webster's has to say about a tent:
tent: a collapsible shelter of fabric (as nylon or canvas) stretched and sustained by poles and used for camping outdoors or as a temporary building

A few of those words stand out: collapsible, temporary.

I'm not one of those people who love to camp. Perhaps that's why this verse is so striking to me. Have you ever camped during a storm? Collapsible is not a desireable attribute during a storm. Neither is temporary.

But a house? Now that's different. Two nights ago we had strong winds blowing through our little town. After putting my son to bed, he came running into our bedroom frightened of the "thunder" outside. I explained that there was no thunder, it was only the wind blustering loudly outside his window. That didn't comfort him. But what did help was when we discussed our home. We live in a strong house. A house that will not blow away or be torn apart. It will not cave in because of the rain or heavy snow. Our house provides safety from the dangers without. Once he understood that, he was able to rest in peace.

Which leads me back to Psalm 84. Doesn't it sound so much more enticing to dwell in the house of God than in the tents of the wicked? All the world has to offer is temporary, collapsible, fleeting enjoyment. But, oh, to spend even one day as a servant in the HOUSE of the Lord! A place of protection, joy, provision. A place where the owner of the house lavishes his guests with the finest of everything. A place where we need not fear the storm's raging winds or the predators lurking in the darkness. His house has strength beyond what you can imagine when dwelling in a flimsy tent. And it is only in the house of the Lord that you will find true rest.

Pregnancy Health tips

2011-10-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

In part 2 of Jesse's birth story I mentioned that I had a very healthy pregnancy this time around. I've had a few people ask me to share what I learned about eating and taking care of myself during pregnancy. Since I think these tips are really helpful, I'm happy to share. Every pregnancy is different, but for me these four things were instrumental in promoting good health.

1. I had always had what I called "sugar crashes" in my pregnancies. It felt as though my sugar level was super low (this usually happened rather suddenly) and I would start shakng and feel sick. I never was diabetic during pregnancy, but couldn't figure out why I had these issues. Usually I would run to the cupboard for a quick sugar rush. Juice, candy, etc. In fact, I always kept a pack of skittles in my purse for such moments!

I learned that these episodes were not actually the result of my body needing sugar, but rather protein. When it happened with this pregnancy, I just ate a big spoonful of peanut butter, a handful of nuts or an egg. It actually curbed the symptoms much quicker than the sugar and it lasted longer. (A few times I even brought our peanut butter jar along with me to long events so that I'd have something for a quick fix.)

Basically, I found out that protein is really, really important. For instance, when you go for your glucose test, if you eat a couple of eggs and a piece of wheat or whole grain toast, you'll do well on the test (most likely). If you eat cereal or fruit, you're more likely to fail the test. Eggs in the morning are one of the best things you can do. Try to get some protein at every meal and really stock up on the green veggies too.

2. I switched vitamins. I had been taking just normal prenatal vitamins - like the one a days that you can buy in the grocery store. My midwife had me switch to an organic vitamin by New Chapter Organics . These are better absorbed by the body because they are made from all natural ingredients. The ones I took required me to take 3 vitamins a day - which seems like a lot, but was actually really good. I have never felt so healthy - pregnant or not! I've actually started Josh taking their men's vitamins as well. These vitamins are quite expensive, but so very worth the cost!

3. The third thing that made a big difference - especially in labor and postpartum was drinking Raspberry Leaf Tea. It's not "raspberry tea" and actually tastes a bit like grass. I liked to put just one spoonful of sugar in to help the taste. You want to make sure you let the bag steep for about 10-15 minutes before you drink it though. Just one cup of this each day will help your contractions be really effective during labor. It also is very useful in protecting against urinary tract infections. After labor it also helps to reduce the amount of bleeding. I saw a HUGE difference in the amount of bleeding after labor. I really think that was mainly because of the tea. You can find this tea and the vitamins at an organic or whole foods store. (One aside about the tea: some women drink it a LOT and find that their labors go very quickly - like so quickly that they don't feel ready for it. I'd suggest just one to two cups a day.)

4. I started taking a probiotic each day. This is one thing I'm continuing postpartum. I love it! The probiotic will just even out your digestive system (which can really get kind of wonky during pregnancy). It's like eating something like 10 cups of yogurt daily, so it's really good for your regularity, digestion, etc. Some doctors think it can cause labor to delay and will have patients stop taking it in the last couple weeks of pregnancy (although this theory is not proven). I had tested group B strep positive, so I continued to take mine since it would help to eliminate any chance of infection for me or baby. And given that Jesse was right on time, I can't say that it stalled my labor!

And here's a freebie for those who read this whole thing and aren't pregnant:

If you are beginning to feel sick, when you shower take just a couple of seconds at the end of your shower and switch to cold water. It can actually help keep you from getting sick! It causes your blood cells to rush to the surface (just under your skin) where they can fight off infection. Oh, and it's also been proven to promote healthy hair. A win-win!

A Serious Math Problem!

2011-10-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

In our small group we are working our way through the Laugh Your Way To A Better Marriage videos.

Last week was our first session addressing sex in marriage. I won't go into all the details (although I'd highly suggest you check out the videos). At one point the speaker talks of how men generally need much less time to climax than women. His statement went something like this:

"If men need only two minutes, and women need 7 or more ... you have a serious math problem on your hands!"

Now these videos are hilarious, but I wasn't expecting to get a good laugh out of it several days later from none other than my child!

On our first school day after small group, I found out that one of our children had been listening in during that particular part of the video.

As we sat working on math, he said, "You know, I heard what you guys were talking about in small group."

"Oh?" I asked, as I began to sweat, wondering what detailed sex question I'd have to answer next.

"Yeah. He said that women aren't as good at math."

I thought about that for a moment, and after coming up blank, asked what exactly he had heard.

"Well, he said that if men take 2 minutes to do a math problem and women take 7 minutes to do the same problem, then women really have a problem with math."

"Ah ... yes. That would be true."

Praise God that all he heard was talk of a math problem!! Maybe next week we'll turn the volume down a bit!

Singing through life

2011-10-07T16:16:00.001-05:00

Ugh. Once again, my best intentions of writing frequently have fallen by the wayside.

Daily, I find things I'd like to write about, but never seem to get to the computer with enough time or enough hands free to actually write. Lately, I've only had computer time when the baby is in my arms - which means I've been pecking everything I write. Not very conducive to writing whole paragraphs - or even whole sentences!

But, you know what? That's okay. Beacuse I'm doing something better. I'm investing my time in my children. I'm putting schoolwork ahead of other priorities each day, I'm enjoying my sweet baby while he's still so tiny, and I'm doing my best to see to the needs of my household.

And on a week like this one, I'm basking in the glorious weather God has given us!

Today, I found my favorite lullaby CD. It's a CD of Celtic Lullabies by Eden's Bridge that I was given before our oldest was born. I have such fond memories of gently rocking in the baby's room, caressing my swollen belly, dreaming of the day I'd hold my firstborn. The sunlight would stream in through the windows and brighten my heart as it bounced off the cheery yellow walls.

This afternoon, as I sat in our living room and rocked our tired little one to sleep, I was transported back 11 years to those happy days. As the sun poured into the living room and Jesse grew sleepy in my arms, I laid my head back and remembered the joy of doing the same thing with each of my sweet children.

There's one song on this particular CD that I have sung to each of my children. It is a blessing that I pray over them. It's taken from Numbers 6:24-26 and says,

"The LORD bless you, and keep you; the LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."'

What a beautiful thing to pray and sing over my children!

So please forgive me if I am somewhat lax in my writing ... I've got a baby to sing over.

The Harvest

2011-09-19T08:47:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing from our missionaries to Papua New Guinea. It's always good to hear of what God is doing in other parts of the world.

As our friend was speaking, he shared a statement that really struck me. He said,

"It's not fair that so many people get to hear the gospel twice when there are many who haven't even heard it once."

Wow. How true. Of course, it often takes more than one time of hearing the gospel for it to sink in and have an impact. Some people hear the gospel when they are not yet ready to receive it and therefore need to hear it again.

But he's right in that there are many who have not yet heard! In Papua New Guinea there are hunderds of tribes that are unreached. Most are in remote areas accessible only by helicopter. And these people, when finally reached and told about Jesus, are CHANGED! It doesn't take them two, six or fifty times of hearing the gospel before it touches their hearts. It only takes one time. Oh, that our hearts would be so tender!

ESV Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

I know that our mission field is here in Evansville. But where is yours? Are you telling others of the good news? Whether they hear it for the first time or the hundred and first, it is never a work in vain!

What's In A Name?

2011-09-13T09:38:00.000-05:00

Josh and I choose baby names based on meaning. We like to pray for our children using their names as a basis for those prayers. And we are happy to give our children strong names with meanings they can strive to live up to.

Our firstborn is David Elijah.

David was chosen because it was Josh's Dad's name. We had known since college what our first son would be named. However, the meaning of David and Elijah together is excellent. David means "Beloved" and Elijah means "The Lord is God".

When we pray for David, we pray that he would know that he is the Lord's Beloved and that as such he would teach others (the Church is called God's Beloved Bride) that the Lord is God. We pray that David would embrace that truth and know it for himself as well.

Our second son is Zachary Isaac.

Zachary means "Whom God remembers" and Isaac means "Laughter". This fits Zack so well since he takes such joy in life. We like to put this phrase together: "Whom God remembers in laughter".

But when we pray for Zack, we pray that God would use Zack's loving and fun nature to bring others to Christ. We pray that Zack would indeed know that God remembers him, loves him and saves him.

Our daughter is Abigail Natalia.

Abigail means "Father's Joy" and Natalia means "Child of Christmas". We do know that Abby is her earthly father's joy, but also her Heavenly Father's joy.

When we pray, we ask that she would always bring joy to her Father's heart through her purity and love of Him. We pray that she would remember the One who was born on Christmas and the reason why He came.

Our third son is Gabriel Joseph.

Gabriel means "Man of God" and Joseph means "God multiplies". This one is pretty awesome! A man of God whom God multiplies!

Our prayers for Gabe are pretty obvious. We pray that he would indeed be a man of God. And that God would multiply. Not just through Gabe's children, but also that those who come in contact with Gabe would be so struck by seeing God shine through Gabe that they would also be drawn to Christ. We pray for the church to be multiplied through Gabe.

And our newest arrival is Jesse Hosea.

Jesse means "Gift" and Hosea means "Salvation".

First of all, we do see Jesse as a gift. You can read about how God clearly ordained for him to be in our family by reading here. But beyond that, we pray that Jesse would personally know the gift of salvation. And that he would be willing and able to bring the good news of that gift to others.

A name is important. In the Bible, people were given names that had specific meaning and that correlated to who God had created those people to be. When we pray for our children using their names, we are trusting that God will raise them up to be living examples of the meaning of their names.

What do our kids think? They love knowing that we put careful thought into naming them and they love hearing us pray for them using their names. It's special to know that you were named with a purpose and have something valiant to strive for.

Jesse's Birth Part III

2011-09-10T07:24:00.000-05:00

I have been asked to write Jesse's birth story. I'm glad to do so in the hopes that it encourages other women out there to think outside the box a bit when it comes to pregnancy and labor and children.

Jesse's Birth Part 1
Jesse's Birth Part II

{Warning: this blog entry shares candidly about the birth process. Don't read it if that makes you nervous.}

My water broke at 12:30am on Jesse's due date. (I've delivered three of my five babies on their due dates! Isn't that odd?!) I tried to get some sleep knowing that I had a marathon ahead of me. But really, who can sleep well when they know their baby is on the way? An hour later my contractions started. I had been having contractions for WEEKS. Sometimes they were really intense. I can't say these were any worse than what I'd already experienced in pre-labor, but at least I knew they were for real. Around 8am the contractions had gotten to about 8 minutes apart and were lasting close to a minute. I called our midwife, Leah, knowing she had a 45 minute drive and that the tub would arrive with her. We then sent the kids over to my parents house so they wouldn't be traumatized by the experience. After all, we want to have grandchildren some day!

At 9am Leah and her two assistants arrived at our doorstep. They set up the tub and made sure everything was ready for the birth. At which time, my contractions completely stopped. Josh and I tried so many things to get them going again, but we just couldn't seem to get regular, hard contractions to surface. We walked around the block (several times), I trudged my heavy body up and down flights of stairs again and again. I tried resting. I tried rocking. I tried the birthing ball. I ate lunch. Nothing was working.

Around 2pm, we were frustrated and also somewhat concerned since my water had broken 14 hours before. I really had no desire to go to the hospital, but knew that if this continued for a full 24 hours, a hospital birth was likely going to be our only option. While walking the block, Leah had given me some herbs to try. First, she gave me blue cohosh. It was just 3 tiny pills that I dissolved under my tongue. We tried a couple rounds of that, but it didn't advance labor. But THEN, she suggested we try two other things. First, she gave me some black cohosh pills and she instructed Josh to try some nipple stimulation. I don't know if it was one or the other or both, but something sure worked. Within just a few minutes (literally about 10 minutes!) I was in transition. I went from zero contractions to "this baby is coming NOW" contractions. (Which I am so thankful for, because there was talk of me drinking some castor oil. Blech!)

Since the tub was already set up and ready in our room, Josh headed downstairs to get Leah and we promplty got me into the tub. The warm water felt heavenly - for about a minute before my contractions began again. It seemed I could barely catch my breath between them, but then again, that's how it's supposed to be. I tried several positions: sitting, squatting, hands and knees. I was most comfortable squatting near the edge of the tub holding onto Leah's arms as she steadied me so I could lean back. But with each contraction the most important thing was for Josh's hand to be pressing on my back. I've had back labor twice before and got to experience it once again with Jesse.

I can say that although I pushed for longer than I typically do, everything felt more natural. I wasn't flat on my back with people holding up my legs, yelling at me to push. Instead, I had the midwives gently encouraging me, telling me that I was doing things just right. When the pain was overwhelming, they assured me that the end was in sight and that I would be able to get through it. Josh was lovingly providing counterpressure for my back and no one fussed when I wanted to move about. Thankfully, Josh thought to close the bedroom windows so our neighbors wouldn't freak out when they heard my loud moans and groans. (I've heard of people having silent births, but I just don't know how you do that when you're going without meds!)

At the very end, I got onto my hands and knees in the tub. My legs were cramping from squatting and I needed a new position. I could tell that Jesse was ready to arrive, so I pushed continuously - even after the contraction ended. There really wasn't any time between pushing out his head and the rest of him. He just came all at once! Josh was able to help catch him and I was able to hold him immediately. He didn't cry immediately, but there was no fear. His color was good and he was not tangled in the cord. I think the water birth was actually easier on him. He came out very relaxed! Once I had held Jesse for a couple of minutes, the midwives and Josh helped me (while I was still holding slippery little Jesse) out of the tub and onto the bed. I was able to nurse him immediately as they helped Josh cut the cord and I delivered the placenta. I had no tearing and much less bleeding than normal.

Josh then took Jesse and washed him off. The midwives checked him over thoroughly. They cleaned the room, gave us care instructions and helped get some food and drink into me. And then they were gone. The kids came over with Nana and Grandpa just 3 hours after Jesse was born. You couldn't tell that I had just given birth in that room!

And once everyone left, Josh and I were able to care for our sweet little one on our own. No nurses coming and going throughout the night, no loud beeping machines, no bright lights. Just a quiet household where two parents were getting to know their newest child.

I have to say that without a husband willing to really be there for his wife, a homebirth wouldn't be a wonderful thing. Josh was incredible during that first week. (He's incredible all the time, but I was amazed with his patience and care after Jesse's birth.) He set up a cot in our room so that he was right there if I needed him and so that Jesse and I could share the bed. For the first 24 hours, he was required to be at my side any time I needed to get out of bed. He changed the icky meconium diapers and brought me food and drink any time I was hungry or thirsty. He did the laundry, washed the dishes, kept the house clean, fielded phone calls and visitors and never once complained. Without him at my side, I wouldn't have considered this birth a success.

Our sweet boy was born at 4:14pm. He was healthy, alert and quiet. Would I say that 16 hours of labor was worth it? You bet! How about laboring with no meds? Absolutely. It was difficult, but in retrospect, I can most definitely say that this has been the most positive birth experience for me. I've had an epidural, I've labored for more than 24 hours, I've had back labor, labor with no meds, an emergency C-section, a VBAC and now a home birth. Out of all of those, this was hands down the best.

And look at the sweet little man I now have to show for it!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Jesse's Birth Part II

2011-09-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

I have been asked to write Jesse's birth story. I'm glad to do so in the hopes that it encourages other women out there to think outside the box a bit when it comes to pregnancy and labor and children.

In part 1 of Jesse's story I told you how we had come to the place where we were even willing to consider expanding our family and how God had blessed us with little Jesse on the way.

So, what happened next? Well, we decided to try something new.

Our cousin recently had a homebirth and raved about the experience. I was intrigued by her enthusiasm about birthing at home. I had already delivered four children in the hospital and had never once considered a home birth. I knew that some women chose to give birth at home, but in my mind it was something archaic and mainly still practiced by the Amish. But as I read about Amy's experience (which you can read about here), I felt a real desire for something better than what I had experienced in the past.

Josh and I talked a lot and did a lot of research on home births. We found that it's not archaic, can be a wonderful experience, is in some ways safer than a hospital birth, and can be tailored to your preferences. Hmm. Sounded good. Beyond that, we found out that for a couple with no maternity insurance (like us) it's a whole lot cheaper than a hospital birth. Like a quarter of the cost!

We did some online checking and some asking around and found a midwife to interview. Although her office was 45 minutes away, we left our initial meeting impressed with her calm nature and her desire for us to be as well informed as possible.

I'm sure all midwives are different, but let me tell you one thing we loved about Leah. Instead of seeing a doctor who really only spends 5-10 minutes with you at each vist, Leah spent 1 to 1 1/2 HOURS with us at each visit! We talked about everything. I learned things that would have been so helpful in my previous pregnancies. I learned how to eat well. Specifically why to eat certain foods and not others. My visits with her, while much more personal, were much less invasive. I didn't have any internal exams (which could have been done if necessary, but since they weren't we didn't bother), but I still had all the tests done that I wanted. I was still able to get my rhogam shot done, I had the glucose test, had my iron levels checked frequently, had urine tests (which I learned how to read on my own), group B strep test, etc.

All in all, I ended up with the healthiest pregnancy I've ever had. I credit that to the education I received from Leah. She took the time to tell me why things were good or bad and what I could do to feel my best. I chose to follow her advice and was thrilled with the results. I gained just over 20 pounds total. I've had a faster and easier recovery than with any other birth. And I had many less aches and pains throughout my pregnancy.

Enough about the pregnancy, I know most of you are wondering about the birth. How was it to give birth at home? In a word ... natural.

Jesse's Birth Story Part 1

2011-09-08T16:48:00.000-05:00

I have been asked to write Jesse's birth story. I'm glad to do so in the hopes that it encourages other women out there to think outside the box a bit when it comes to pregnancy and labor and children.

Jesse's birth story really begins over a year before his conception. God had already blessed us with four healthy, intelligent, lively children. And we felt that God had blessed us enough. I don't say that to be flippant, but I know many of you feel the same way. Josh and I were not willing to take drastic measures (surgery) to maintain our family size, but we were certainly taking measures not to have more children!

And then, God began working on our hearts. At first, I began to feel a little restless. I had a longing that I couldn't explain to have another child. I say I couldn't explain it because in many ways I felt ovewhelmed with the four we already had. We had recently begun homeschooling and I had an overflowing plate of "to-do" items each day. I didn't think it was physically possible for me to add in another thing as time consuming and energy expending as having another child.

We dismissed my longings as something that all women must feel at times and figured it would go away eventually.

Then Josh went to Kenya.

He came home full of wonder at the things he had seen and experienced. One day as we were discussing his trip, he told me that while visiting the slums in Nairobi he had come to realize just how very rich we are. We live in a country filled with opportunity. Josh has a steady job that pays him well and that he enjoys. We have a house that doesn't leak and is warm in winter and cool in summer. We never lack for food or clothing. Our kids have toys and are clean.

As we discussed these things he came to the conclusion that if God has blessed us with so much, why should we limit the number of children we have? We have much to offer another child. And we have the great privilege of raising our children to know their Creator. Is that to be seen as a burden or a blessing?

So now Josh was on board. But I was not. I had worked hard at surpressing my longings and had very strongly convinced myself that another child was not the way to go! Again, we were at a stand still.

We let the matter rest for awhile. Occasionally it came up as we talked, but for the most part we both continued to flip flop on our feelings about the subject. When I flipped, he flopped and vice versa. It seemed we'd never be on the same page.

Until last fall.

I went away for a few days to the True Woman conference. While there, I felt God tugging once again at my heart, telling me that he had more for our family. I asked my sister-in-law to pray about it with me - and specifically to pray that God would individually bring me and Josh to the same decision so that we would know it was God's will.

Funny thing about prayer: it works.

I really didn't expect that Josh and I would agree any time soon. But when I came home from that conference I learned that God had already been at work in Josh's heart. Before I even had a chance to tell about the things I had learned at the conference, Josh sat me down and told me that he really felt that God wanted us to expand our family.

Honestly, you might think that I would have jumped up and down at this revelation, but in reality I was quite nervous. I had spent several months preaching to myself about how inconvenient another child would be.

With trepidation and prayer, we agreed to let God do as he wanted with our family. If he chose to give us another child, we would count ourselves blessed. And if he chose to maintain our family size at six, we would count ourselves blessed.

Wouldn't you know that in just the first month of opening ourselves up to God's will (read: not using birth control), Jesse was conceived! Now, we're not a couple that typically has trouble getting pregnant, but we're not as young as we used to be and this was quite a bit quicker than usual. It was as if God was immediately confirming his will to us. And now I can say on the flipside of all of this that I believe he was rewarding us for following in his will - even if we were slow to respond.

Strong Enough for Today

2011-09-06T15:38:00.000-05:00

I heard this song this morning and it was hugely encouraging to me.

Today we started school. And I'm teaching four out five kids this year. With an infant. Yikes!

Beyond that most fall activities are starting this week. And the combination of soccer, gymnastics, homeschooling, newborn care, sleep deprivation and doctor appointments has me slightly overwhelmed.

Thankfully, just as this song states, I don't have to be strong enough. My strength comes a bottomless source.

II Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

A promise perfect for this day!

Blessings to Knock Your Socks Off!

2011-09-05T10:26:00.000-05:00

Did you know that God ALWAYS provides?

I have a tendency to forget this truth. I've seen Him provide for our family time and again, yet somehow I'm often surprised when He comes through and gives us what we need or want.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

In fact, that's where the name of this blog comes from. Our 4 year old son memorized this verse, but instead of "glorious riches" said "glory itches". You'd think that with my blog named after a verse that talks about God's provision, I might expect it and rely upon it a bit more.

Just yesterday though, something happened that has amazed me once again. Our neighbors brought over some baby socks.

This may seem rather ordinary. The neighbor's daughters were cleaning out their rooms and had used baby socks (baby BOY socks) for their dolls. They no longer needed the socks but instead of tossing them they delivered 36 pairs of baby socks to our door.

Big deal, right? Well, yeah, kinda!

You see, when Jesse was born, I dressed him for the first time and realized that I had never remembered to purchase little baby socks for him. But since we were still experiencing summer weather, I figured we'd just get around to it sometime in the future.

Yesterday the weather turned cool. And Jesse had no socks. Until our neighbors knocked on the door. God met a need that I had barely recognized and definitely hadn't had time to think or pray about. But because He cares for my little guy, He provided socks just in the nick of time. That's how great my God is.

Need more examples? I've got 'em!

We gave away all of our baby stuff (except our crib, pack 'n' play, and cradle) because we thought we were done having kids. Obviously, God challenged us on that and along came Jesse.

Incredibly, God has provided ALL that we need for this baby. I can only think of three things that we purchased: our changing table pad/cover, burp cloths and a nursing cover-up. Although the nursing cover was a 2 for 1 deal, so I got one of them free! Sure, I bought one or two outfits, but those weren't necessary. Here's all the stuff that was provided for us through other's generosity (and I'm sure I won't get everything listed!).

- a baby swing
- a car seat
- two bouncy seats
- clothes through the first year at least
- 1290 diapers through size 4!!
- over 1000 wipes
- a diaper bag
- monitors
- a high chair
- hats, socks, booties, baby mitts
- lotion, shampoos, towels, etc.
- winter outerwear
- bedding
- a baby bathtub
- an electric breast pump
- a glider rocker and foot stool
- toys
- 2 weeks of meals
- a Baby Bjorn carrier
- extra birth and after birth supplies
- maternity clothes
- an exersaucer
And all other accoutrements that go along with a new baby.

So, I ask myself. Why do I doubt? Why do I worry?

I have never gone without. My children have never lacked for food or clothing or shelter. We have more than we need. And so often God even provides for our wants.

Indeed, God's riches are beyond measure! And He takes great delight in raining down - no, sometimes pouring out - His blessings.

I will choose to see those blessings and give the credit where it is due. I will praise the Lord.

She's Baaack!

2011-09-04T18:09:00.000-05:00

I'm finally back from my long hiatus! It wasn't a hiatus taken by choice. My computer died. I mean, really died. It wouldn't even turn on. We tried going to the Geek Squad and the price they wanted to charge for fixing it was over $500! Instead, we sent it to Dell and although we did have a minimal charge, much was covered under warranty.

The other day, my computer finally arrived back in the mail. Glory be! It's amazing how quickly you come to rely on technology. It's also amazing how much you store on your computer. I had backed up my memory about 6 months ago, but didn't even think to back up my emails. All of my contacts and emails were gone for two months. Thankfully I now have those back since they didn't have to erase my hard drive. Lesson learned, though. I'll be backing up EVERYTHING in the future.

The other reason I've been remiss in blogging is because ...

I HAD A BABY!

If ever a good reason existed, this is it!

On August 20th our fifth child entered the world and captured our hearts. Jesse Hosea is a mello, cuddly little guy who looks just like our other three boys.

Here's David:

And Zack:

And Gabe:

And here's a few of Jesse:

Suffice it to say, I think he's perfect.

I look forward to sharing Jesse's birth story with you. Along with the meaning of his name. But I'll save that for another time.

To You Be The Glory

2011-06-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

Really loving this song recently. It's gonna have to go on my play list for during labor. :) Enjoy!

Pack Rats, Hoarders ... and Joy?

2011-05-30T15:47:00.006-05:00

The other day I needed some time to veg out. It had been a long day and my brain needed some time away from the reality of kids, housecleaning, pregnancy and to-do lists.

I checked out Netflix and decided to watch an episode of Hoarders. I admit it, I wanted something that was going to make me feel good. I've been working to declutter and organize my home lately and although I wouldn't have admitted it at the time, deep down I was hoping to gather some "Ha! My house doesn't look like that!" kind of good feelings from the show.

All began well. Until I heard people say over and over again that they were called "pack rats" as children and that many hoarders grow up in homes with organized parents. I started to freak out a little bit as I thought back to the day before when I had spent two hours cleaning out my boys' room. And then I freaked out a little more as I realized just how often we call a couple of our children "pack rats". What if my children grow up to become hoarders??!!! What can I possibly do to prevent such a difficult road for them?

I ended the show second guessing my parenting skills. Certainly not the feel good fuzzies I'd been hoping for.

And now I've spent two days contemplating the show, my life and the lives of my children.

But I'm more encouraged now. Because I have realized several very important things. First, I am not a hoarder. Although my house is often a mess and we certainly have more than we need, in reflection I can see that I've made a deliberate decision to spend time with my children rather than focus on a perfect house.

Second, although hoarding is definitely often tied to psychological issues, there was something that stood out in each hoarder's comments. Their joy is in their stuff.

Several times I heard the hoarders or their spouses confess that they derived great joy from shopping for these items. Others found joy in the actual stuff - sometimes because of the memories attached to the items and sometimes because it gave them a sense of worth or self-confidence.

Why do I find these things to be so encouraging? Because it means that there is hope for my pack rat children. It means that I have the opportunity to teach them to find their joy in a source that will not destroy them. What source is that? The one true Source of joy: Jesus Christ!

As I was looking up verses in the Bible about joy, I found this one:
"For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting." Ecclesiastes 2:26
Hmmm. Interesting.

There are many verses that talk about joy. There are a few that I really like.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Speaking of the righteous: Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. Isaiah 61:7 (I found this one particularly appropriate given that with hoarding also comes a deep sense of shame because of the messy and sometimes unsanitary conditions. And so many hoarders have 2, 3, or 10 of the same item simply so that they can have whatever they need on hand at any given time. They collect to provide for themselves, but God will provide a double portion for the righteous - a portion we don't have to buy!)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4

That last one is the kicker. I want my children to walk in God's ways - which the Bible says again and again is the source of our joy.

If I'm to understand Scripture correctly, I can protect my children from hoarding and so many other destructive behaviors by teaching them the truth found in God's Word. If I consistently model trust in God's provision - and draw their attention to the many ways He provides - they will be much more likely to place their trust in Jehovah Jireh once they leave the nest.

I have no desire to come down hard on those who are hoarding. I'm not trying to point my finger and say, "Shame on you!" But for the grace of God, that would be me! Instead, I'm thankful for the opportunity to reevaluate what I'm teaching my children. Stuff is simply that ... stuff. You can't take it with you when you die. But joy in the Lord? That can last eternity!

Where do you place your joy?

Surprise from the Packrats!

2011-05-26T20:26:00.004-05:00

To be honest I didn't expect to do any housework today. I had to head out shopping this afternoon and now that I'm entering the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy I'm finding that I really have much less stamina for lots of walking and shopping. Or anything afterwards.

Since I didn't want to clean, I figured I'd have the kids do a little work. (What else do I have little minions for, right?) Thinking I'd get about 15 minutes of productvitiy out of them, I asked all four to head upstairs and begin cleaning their rooms.

Meanwhile, I headed to my own room to fold laundry.

But as I did, I overheard my oldest and youngest working together. The oldest would ask, "Is this to keep or throw away?" And the youngest answered time and again, "I don't want that. Let's throw it away."

Shocking!! My kids are packrats and NEVER. THROW. ANYTHING. AWAY. Never.

I stood in stunned silence listening to the rustle of papers and the sound of said papers hitting the inside of the trashcan. Oh, what bliss!

Now although I had no intention of doing any major cleaning, I couldn't let this moment pass. This sweet and unexpected moment of time when my children were working together to actually declutter our home. Maybe all my work really is rubbing off on them in some way!

So, I did what any sane mother would do. I walked into their room, asked if I could help and began the arduous task of COMPLETELY decluttering their room.

We checked behind and under dressers, we went through bins, we pulled everything out from under the beds, we filled an entire garbage bag with trash - mostly papers and McDonalds type toys - and we sorted, sorted, sorted.

And right now, their room looks awesome. So awesome that I really would like to say they can't play there anymore. But that would be mean.

And what of my sweet daughter? As I worked with the boys for two hours, she worked on her own room. I haven't yet gotten in there with the vacuum, but I know she did her best. I'm guessing we'll work a bit more on it tomorrow, but I'm so proud of her for trying to tackle it on her own. Thankfully, her room isn't nearly as bad as the room where three boys collect everything from buttons and corks to rocks and every card ever given to them.

So although unplanned, it was a hugely productive day. And just in time too. Grandma's coming on Sunday!

Newspapers to Riches

2011-05-25T19:43:00.005-05:00

Surely several of you out there in bloggy land have desks that are unused. Unused not because of their placement or impractical nature, but because they look like this:

Yeah, me too.

By now, you probably think I'm the messiest person alive. But honestly, most of the areas I'm showing you are either closed off (like the inside of my desk) or not as noticeable - which would be why they don't get cleaned as frequently. Well, except for the big project that I'm gathering strength for. That's very visible and is one of the areas I hate most in our house. But that's another day.

Today my big project was to declutter my desk. Actually my project started out with just trying to clean off the TOP of the desk since it looked so hideous.

But really it went so quickly that I felt invigorated and decided to shoot for bigger goals. And now my desk looks like this:

BIG difference! And it's not just the visible parts. I organized all the drawers too. I know ... I'm such an overachiever. (Yeah, right.)

You may wonder what all that clutter was about and what in the world I did with it all. Well aside from a slew of pictures, I have actually sorted through everything and put it away. Imagine that!

Mostly I had a bunch of papers that were ready to be recycled. Things like catalogs I had set there hoping to keep gift ideas close at hand, newspapers that housed articles by Josh or pictures of my kids to cut out, and of course a bunch of random papers that really didn't need to be clogging up my desk.

Oh and $70 in cash! That was nice to find! And it certainly made my hubby pretty excited about my desk cleaning adventure. I guess you never know what you'll find hiding amidst the chaos.

So what are you waiting for ... go clean something! You might get rich doing it.

Cocktail of a Different Kind

2011-05-23T20:49:00.006-05:00

Well, I didn't make any progress today on my decluttering ambitions. (Although I did at least get a bunch of dishes done and bought the groceries for the week.)

But today was monumental nonetheless. Today my oldest had to purchase shoes from the ...

MEN'S SHOE SECTION.

Sigh. When did my little baby boy get so big? Everyone tells you when your kids are little not to blink. But I confess, I blinked. I didn't think blinking would really make a difference, but it did!

He's supposed to be this little:

Not this big:

Another sigh.

And did you know that although it's just one size up, men's shoes are a whole lot more expensive than boy's shoes? Great.

You know what else isn't cheap? Groceries. And guess who's eating me out of house and home? Yup. This guy:

(Yeah, the one who feels a need to eat massive amounts of food in order to be strong enough to move mountains.)

I know, I know. Buck up, Ali and get used to it! The next 18 years are going to be full of hungry, smelly, gangly boys. I figure with this one almost 11, I have about 7 years left with him at home. And about 9 left with his brother. And 13 left with the next one and then 18 with the one who's still cooking. Add in some girl hormones for my daughter and we're in for a crazy cocktail of teenage bliss.

But ... yesterday we weren't there yet. So I just need a moment to breathe deeply, remember the little kid years and gather my strength for what's to come. I do look forward to the new stages in my kids' lives, but I sure am nostalgic about the completed stages. They're good kids. Which is what makes it hard for this mom to let them grow and fly.

Operation Declutter: Fridge Top

2011-05-22T18:54:00.009-05:00

I'm sure many of you already think I'm nuts. But despite my normal craziness and the chaos of everyday life, I'm just not able to control my organizational and nesting urges!

There's a blog I follow and the author is doing a 31 day challenge to re-decorate her house. I've been reading for awhile now and I can't help but be inspired by the seemingly easy changes she's making. Now, I don't really want to go to the trouble of buying and selling furniture on Craigs List, or redecorating my house. But I WOULD like to declutter my house before the baby arrives.

I'm not delusional enough to think that I can accomplish a decluttering task each day for a month. However given that I have 13 weeks or so before this little guy arrives, I should be able to get several things done. Besides that, my mom has happily stated that she would like to host a garage sale this summer which would give me a great outlet for ridding our house of unwanted junk!

So after much thought and some list making, I decided to tackle my first project yesterday (and part of today).

I knew we had several things going on, so I had hoped to find a short and easy task to boost my confidence in this new venture. I decided to attack the top of our fridge and the cabinet that housed our many, many vases.

Now, you may think that task unworthy. But ... I am ashamed to admit our fridge top looked like this:

And because the front of our fridge looks like this, just about everyone who comes to our house stops at the fridge for several minutes.

And if those guests are any taller than me, they can see the horrid dust and grime that sits atop our fridge.

Now the top of the fridge was pretty simple to clean. Soft scrub, gloves and paper towels make any cleaning job easy.

But remember, I wasn't just tackling the top of the fridge. I also wanted to declutter the cabinet above the fridge. Yup, the one that was filled to the brim with vases to the point that they overflowed onto my countertops.

Simple enough, right? Riiight. As I pulled out vases, I realized that several had the crud inside that comes from icky flower water leaving a film all over the inside of the vase. I'd heard that you should wash that with bleach, so I figured I'd clean the inside of ALL the vases. Smart, Ali.

I bleached every single vase - which by the way does work very, very well. Then, I sorted the vases and decided which ones to keep. I mean, really, how many flowers do I typically have in my house at one time?? So, I kept one of each size of vase (to accommodate different sizes and types of flowers, of course) and boxed up the rest for that garage sale I mentioned.

Oh, and since I'm at the task of decluttering, I just had to stop at a garage sale yesterday that had tons of tupperware and other containers. Makes sense right? Yeah. While I did get a few items to help with some of my decluttering tasks, I also got a few larger tupperware items for the kitchen. Things that I don't have space for, but that I've been wanting for a long time. Like a salad spinner, a cupcake holder and a cake carrier. Seriously, I cringe every time I'm making a salad and have to bruise the leaves to get the water off of them. Really, I do.

So, with this newly cleared space only half filled with vases, I was able to fit my new tupperware items. Yay me! And my fridge is no longer an embarrassment! Well, unless you open it. But that's a project for another day.

Here's a pic of the clean and organized finished product.

I know it's not the biggest accomplishment in the world, but it's a start. And starting is half the battle.

Pastors Need to Hear This!

2011-05-18T21:27:00.004-05:00

For the past week our family has been living in this beautiful house in southern Colorado.

We've taken day trips to hike, visit historical sites, shop in quirky stores and spend time as a family. We have stayed up late and slept in. We've fished, lazed around and goofed off. All that a vacation should be!

You may be thinking, "Gee. It must be nice to have the money to just up and take an extravagant vacation like that! Those lucky Brumbaughs." And you'd be completely right if we had forked out the money for this vacation.

But God is good and we didn't have to. Yes, we paid for gas to drive out here, hotels on the way and for food and souveniers. But we did not have to pay for a week in a house bigger than ours with more bathrooms than I could count!

We went through a pastoral retreat program called Rocky Mountain Renewal. They offer week long retreats to full time pastors and their families free of charge! And amazingly they aren't the only ones who do so. Check out the Pastor's Retreat Network.

You can find these types of retreats all over the country. Wonderful people who desire to serve those who are serving the church. People who are willing to sacrifice their time, resources and talents so that those who are on the front lines can get a much needed break. I praise God for these people!

Josh and I have now attended three pastor's retreats. The first was through Broomtree. We stayed on Lake Michigan and had a wonderful time fellowshiping with other church leaders and ministry wives while also getting lots of alone time with God and time for our marriage.

Our second retreat was at Cedarly. I'm not sure you could find a more beautiful setting! We stayed in an old, giant house situated on beautifully kept grounds nestled against a lake. We enjoyed things like bike riding, canoeing, strolling in the woods and incredible meals.

Both of these retreats were only for pastors and spouses. No kids allowed. And with both of these there was a required group meal each day when we would gather and talk about ministry together. The hosts of both weeks were incredibly gracious and loving, ready to listen and challenge as needed.

This week's retreat was different in that we were allowed to bring the kids with us. There was also no schedule to keep. In fact, we never once saw the face of a person affiliated with the program. We were mailed directions on how to get onto the property, where to find the house key and specifics on what was allowed or not allowed (such as using the grill if there was a high risk of forest fire). It truly felt as though we were on our own vacation - which was a tremendous blessing with four kids in tow. We shopped for our food, made our own meals, set our own schedule and thoroughly enjoyed spreading out in a huge house.

As we talk with other pastors, Josh and I are learning that so few actually seek out opportunities like these for rest. So can I ask you to do something? Tell your pastor about these things. Most are free of charge, some come with a small fee. Some are only for pastors and spouses and some accept whole families. But nomatter the format, we've found that the refreshment offered through these programs is a tremendous way to encourage those in ministry. At our first retreat we were told that frequently pastors will sleep for an entire day and a half - not even bothering to eat - because they are so worn from constant ministry. Pastors are on call at all times - which often means their spouses and families are as well.

Josh and I decided after our first retreat that we needed to do one every other year or so. It helps us to stay fresh, to take time for our marriage, to spend time with God and to appreciate our church family. And it is wonderfully encouraging to be poured into for a whole week without having to pour out.

So go, tell your pastor about these retreats! And if you have extra resources that you aren't sure what to do with, consider contributing to one of these ministries. What they do for those who serve in God's name is invaluable.

Fit to be Tied

2011-05-14T16:30:00.005-05:00

Parent to parent, here's a tip for the next time you travel.

Give your children rope.

Yes, rope.

We've been on the road traveling this week and I happened upon this little tidbit after our stop at the Little House site in DeSmet, South Dakota. Each of children had the opportunity to make a rope.

Of course, you can't make rope and not keep it, so we stuffed the four ropes into our already ridiculously crammed van. But can I just say, I've never seen the kids play so well with something so simple?! (In the van, that is. A cardboard box can provide hours of playtime at home!)

That rope was used by my 5-10 year olds to lasso horses (headrests), hogtie stuffed animals, trap and hang imaginary bad guys, and even tie up the rope holder! Notice Pooh Bear in this picture:

I really do believe that without these ropes we would have heard soooo much more whining and crabbiness in the car over the next three days of driving.

So, next time you get ready for a long trip with your youngsters ... be sure to give them some rope! They'll thank you for it and you'll pat yourself on the back for giving them hours of simple fun.

I can identify!

2011-05-05T08:26:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms in the 'hood!

Great Things

2011-04-17T19:11:00.002-05:00

Sadly, I haven't blogged for a full month now. Life has just been too busy!

This time of year is always the craziest for me. Each April we have our annual women's retreat for church. And since I organize it, the month before the retreat is pedal-to-the-metal, all out, craziness! This year was no different.

I hope to share what I learned while preparing a talk on purity in a few posts this week, but for now I just want to reflect on God's goodness.

I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm always amazed at how God works through these retreats. This year's retreat was no exception! Here are a few of the things God did in the lives of 77 women. Stories are still pouring in, but I've been so encouraged by hearing these in the past week:

- One woman came to know Jesus as her Savior and Lord! (that alone makes all the work worthwhile!)

- One woman has been able to conquer her paralyzing fear of almost all things. This week she has rested in Christ's strength and is stepping forth in faith for the first time.

- One woman had been considering leaving the faith and has decided to continue following the Lord - despite the hardships.

- A prayer request for a desperately needed job was quickly answered by another woman's confession that her husband's company is looking for someone with that exact skill set.

- One woman decided to stop heading out for drinks each weekend.

- One woman shared her testimony and found that many could relate to the hardships. Her reliance on Christ was a tremendous encouragement to those going through tough times.

- One woman was encouraged to remain sexually pure until God brings her a husband.

- Several women began to connect with other believers and started to overcome their feelings of isolation.

- Several women stepped into leadership roles for the first time.

- One woman was encouraged not to give up after a severe bought with depression.

- Several women took this opportunity to bring friends and family members who heard the gospel presented clearly.

- One woman who had felt "lost and empty" found peace and contentment in Christ.

And the stories go on and on ...

To God alone be the glory, great things He has done!

Wrestling with God

2011-03-17T20:19:00.000-05:00

Recently I was really struggling with something that God asked me to do. I had to confront someone - which I hate doing - and was quite concerned about how to do it with grace and love. Especially since it was a really hard thing to say.

As I lay in bed and argued with God, I used the term "wrestling" in my head. I told God that I was tired of wrestling with him.

But then he brought to mind an image of my children wrestling. When they wrestle, they work to pin each other down. They are merciless in dragging their opponent to the floor and then literally laying on top of each other to shout in the weaker child's face, "I pinned you!".

As I thought about wrestling with God, I realized that this image was not at all how I feel. Obviously, God is sooo very much more powerful than me and could easily pin me down and laugh in my face. "Haha! You lose. Now do what I've asked you to do!"

Instead, it's a bit more like fencing. After God gently lays on my heart what I am to do, he stands back and blocks all of my defensive thrusts. I complain, I rant, I whine ... and he just patiently waits until I run out of strength and finally surrender to his will. It's never a battle of strength.

It's more like I throw excuses at God and he blocks my advances by showing me how silly I am.

I have to say that it really makes me feel good to know that I have a God who could easily overpower me, but who is gentle and kind and chooses to let me discover that his way is always best. He truly is a loving father. Not one who yells at his child and says, "Do this because I said so", but gently shares the best way with us and then patiently responds to our questions, fears and objections. Eventually we must come to the conclusion that he knows what he's talking about and loves us despite our own hesitancy to trust him. Praise God!

New Spin on 10 Rules

2011-03-09T18:54:00.003-06:00

We've been reading from Exodus as a family for our morning devotions. Today, we got to the 10 commandments.

You'd think after growing up in the church and having heard these all my life, I wouldn't get a whole lot out of a simple discussion with the kids. But, I had neglected to factor in my husband's knowledge of Scripture!

Josh read the beginning of the text: And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Exodus 20:1-2

Then he asked a question. What does this tell us about the Lord? Hmmm. We got the typical answers of, "God is the Lord", "God brought the Israelites out of Egypt", "He helped them not be slaves anymore". Yup. That's what it says.

But Josh went on to explain that this simple sentence has a lot more meaning for us than that. God doesn't ask us to obey these 10 commandments in order to get into heaven. Check, got that.

But FIRST He saves us from the slavery of our sin and THEN we obey these commands because we are so thankful for his saving grace.

Now, I know all that too, but I'd never gotten it from the simple sentence, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

I had thought of this sentence in terms of God introducing himself. This is the first time he speaks audibly to the Israelites as a whole and he tells them who he is. So, I had just left it at that. But it's so much more. It goes beyond just an introduction and moves to a reason for the 10 commandments. And it's not just something he said to the Israelites way back when, it's something he's saying to me now. "I saved you out of the bond of slavery. I rescued you from the penalty of your sin. I am the Lord. Now, put me first and have no other gods before me."

Sure does give a whole lot more meaning to the 10 commandments for a girl who's heard them all her life.

Out of the mouths of babes ...

2011-03-03T21:24:00.003-06:00

Sometimes my kids just blow me away with their maturity.

The other day, we made a sudden decision to travel several hours to see Josh's stepdad who had just come home after being in the hospital for several weeks. We wanted to see him and to encourage Josh's mom. Although we live several hours away, we are still the nearest family members and felt a need to be there with them.

We decided suddenly to go, but realized that in doing so, our daughter would miss her beloved gymnastics class for the second week in a row. We decided to ask her permission and give her the right to make the final decision.

So we simply explained to her that we wanted to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa, but that doing so would mean missing gymnastics. And since that is her special thing, she could choose what was more important and we would abide by her decision.

She took us seriously. And then she did the unexpected. I had fully expected her to say that we could go, but with a fair amount of pouting and complaining thrown in. Instead, she looked me full in the face and solemnly said, "Mom, gymnastics is important. But there are more important things. And Grandma and Grandpa are more important."

Just like that! No whining, no frustration, no upset. Just a gentle admission that she knew what was most important for us to do and that we needed to do it.

Did you know my sweet girl is only 7? I'm so proud of her! She warmed my heart. But even more so, she touched Grandma and Grandpa with such love when they heard of her decision. Ah, the sweetness of children!

Flutterings

2011-02-27T21:58:00.003-06:00

For a few days now I've been feeling the babe within me move. I have to be very still to feel it, but it is definitely noticeable.

Baby movements during pregnancy are so encouraging. They reassure me that the baby is growing and alive. Tiny movements remind me that I need to care for myself and the child within me. And most importantly, they cause me to focus on the miracle of a LIFE growing INSIDE of me!

Psalm 139:13-16 says, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." - ESV

I read that and I marvel at God's care for every little detail in forming the body, mind and soul of a human being. He does not make mistakes! Scripture says that He knits together each babe. Are not His hands up for the task? He, who created the entire universe, also created the life that is forming inside of me. What a miracle!

So tonight as I hope to feel those sweet flutterings once again, I will marvel at the wonder of God's creation - specifically the little one resting beneath my heart.

Worship in Pain

2011-02-23T16:47:00.004-06:00

My sweet husband has been working to compile a set of gentle worship songs that will encourage and bless me during labor in a few months. I know we're ahead of the game, but he's quite excited about the project and I've really enjoyed listening to his selections.

But as I listen, I can't help but wonder if I'll have the same type of worship experience as I am in pain. Bringing a child into the world is not exactly comfortable and worship-inducing.

But perhaps it should be. I'm just beginning to reflect on the idea of worshiping through labor. Delivering a child - created and grown by God - should in itself be a way of bringing glory to the Creator.

I know I still have a lot of thinking to do on this, but I'm beginning now to pray that when the time comes for this child to be born I will be able to focus not on the pain, but on the One who has created life and who will sustain me even through the pain and hours of labor. It must be possible, because we were created to glorify God in all things. All things includes even child birth!

Persistence

2011-02-22T20:00:00.002-06:00

About a year ago, Haiti and Chile both endured horrific earthquakes. The effects were devastating to both countries and many people were rendered homeless.

Now, we don't typically let our kids watch the news because of some of the really scary stuff about murders, thefts, fires, rape, etc. However, when there are major world events happening, we often talk with the kids about it and ask them to be praying in specific ways.

One of our children's hearts was captured by the stories of these two earthquakes. Would you believe that he has diligently prayed DAILY for the people of Haiti and Chile?!! And not just them in general, but he also specifically prays for the orphans to find homes.

I was surprised after a month or two of his ongoing prayers. But even tonight as he prayed at bedtime, his heart was crying out to God for the Hatians and Chileans. Talk about persistence!

It makes me wonder what I'm persistent about it prayer. Is there anything that grabs me so completely that I pray daily for a YEAR about it? Hmmm.

Aside from praying for my children and husband daily, I really can't think of anything. Sure, there are things that I've prayed for for several years - salvation of loved ones, sanctification, healing, etc. But I can't claim that I've taken each of these requests so seriously that I have brought them to the Lord day in and day out.

Why not? The Bible tells us to be persistent in our prayers. To pray without ceasing. That God hears our prayers and answers them.

But if I'm honest, I would have to say that I am so very self-centered that I just don't think of what I should. My heart doesn't break for the things that break God's heart. My foremost desire is not often to cry out to God for the desires of my heart. To be sure, too often I try in my own strength to fix what I can. And once I've done all I can, then I'll cry out to God.

How backward I am! My first response should be to cry out to God. The One who holds all power in His hand. The One who created everything and everyone. And only after kneeling before His throne and begging for His grace and mercy should I then seek what He would have me do.

My son has it right. And I hope to learn from him.

Politics Schmolitics

2011-02-17T21:27:00.003-06:00

Some days I find it really hard to keep my mouth shut.

Josh and I made a decision before entering the ministry that we would keep our political beliefs to ourselves. Oh sure, we vote and have our convictions, but we don't want to muddy the waters of our church by entering into political debates.

Sometimes that's hard though. Like when we invite people for dinner and they rant and rave about their personal convictions. Or in times such as this when there are so many people angry about a bill that will affect all government employees in our fair state.

I have friends that are strongly pushing for both sides of the issue. And although I can see the reasoning on both sides, I definitely lean heavier in one direction.

But I'm keeping my mouth shut.

The Bible says in Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."

I believe the Bible has the most accurate advice that we can get.

This is exactly why Josh and I refuse to get involved in political debate. We trust that as people grow deeper and stronger in the Word, they will be moved by the Spirit to make sound decisions. Our job as leaders in the church is not to guide people to follow us politically, but rather to guide them to Christ. If we can teach people to search and understand the Scriptures, then they will make wise choices.

So, that's where I fall politically. Not republican or democrat. But a Bible advice-seeker approaching the issues through prayer. As God's people, we need to cut through all the mud-slinging and anger and decide what would really be the most God-honoring response. Because when it's all said and done, shouldn't we be glorifying God even through our politics?

Be Still

2011-02-12T19:45:00.003-06:00

ESV Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

ESV Isaiah 41:8-10 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off"; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Today I was anxious. I was fearful.

I was in tears.

One of my sweet children went to a birthday party with a friend today. I can only claim to know the family a little. Actually, I only know the mom and kids, but I've always enjoyed their company and had no reason to fear when sending my son with them to an afternoon of fun.

Until he was over 2 hours late coming home.

I realized in those moments that I really knew very little about these people who had my most precious cargo in their care. Although I tried calling their cell phone, there was no answer and no response to my message.

As fear began to creep in and worry began to choke me, I prayed. But I was so overcome with the "what ifs" that I was unable to experience the peace that Philippians promises.

Josh and I began calling the place where our beloved son was supposed to be partying - with a plan to call the police next and check on any accidents.

But thankfully, as we were beginning these terrifying phone calls, their van crept into our driveway. And I sobbed. Thankful that my son was unscathed and home safe and sound. Shamed that I had not put more trust in the only One who can truly be with my children every moment of the day and night.

Matthew 6 begs the question: Who by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

If anything, I think I took a few hours off my lifespan tonight! And as I sit trying to calm down, my body is reacting to the stress. The babe within feels unsettled, my nerves are shot and I just want to have a good cry. Frankly, I don't know how those who worry much are able to live a productive life!

As I work to calm down, I am listening to one of my well-loved CDs. Kari Jobe has a beautiful song called "Be Still". It is ministering to me in a way that nothing else has in the midst of this turmoil.

He is here for the broken and life to the one who is undone.
He is peace to the wounded and hope for the helpless one.
He is here.
Be still, my soul, be still.
When the waves rise against me and the wind tries to draw me away
I will stand on the mountain and safe in Your arms, I will sing ...
Be still, my soul, be still.

Be still, my soul. And rest on the God who sees and hears all, who can carry even the heaviest burden. Be still.

Open Hands

2011-01-23T09:20:00.003-06:00

God cannot fill hands that are closed. -Augustine

I recently heard this quote from a friend and I've been pondering it daily.

God cannot fill hands that are closed.

Hmm. What does that mean in my life? In what areas are my hands closed off to God's blessings? Looking back over this past year, I can see one very clear example.

We have four beautiful children. Four healthy, intelligent, vibrant youngsters who fill our days with joy. We are pouring our lives into them. And we enjoy it. We see the tremendous blessings that come with parenthood. We've noticed that as we change to be more Christ centered in our parenting, our own lives are so much better.

So, what would be so bad about God giving us a fifth child? Funny you should ask!

Our youngest will be five next month. After he was born, we agreed that four blessings was definitely enough. Society begins to look at you strangely if you have more than four, and five really didn't fit into the plan we had made when we first married. Back then we'd said three or four. So, at four it was definitely time to be done!

Except that God kept tugging at our hearts. He kept pushing at our assumptions that a smaller family was happier. That we couldn't possibly handle more than four children. That it would be too big of a financial strain to have more children. Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Closed hands.

Then, last February, Josh went to Kenya. He saw the incredible poverty there. He saw firsthand how incredibly rich and priviledged we are here in the States. He also recognized how very blessed our children are to be growing up in a household where the top priority is for them to know the Lord. To love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

So began a very long discussion between husband and wife. A discussion that included looking carefully at the lives of friends with various family sizes. A discussion that included research, insecurity, prayer, tears, disagreements and finally ...

Surrender. Open hands.

We finally realized that every reason we put forth for not wanting more children was based purely on our own selfish motives. If we have more kids, how OLD will we be when they finally leave the nest? If we have more kids, we'll feel so cramped in our house. If we have more kids, we'll afford less stuff. If we have more kids, it'll be more work. If we have more kids, we'll be back to the sleepless nights, diaper changes, potty training and spit up.

Looking at it that way, I'm surprised we ever had any kids!

But what about the flip side? If we have more kids, we'll have more wonderful lives to pour ourselves into. If we have more kids, just think of the impact our children could have for the Kingdom of God! (The Bible says that children of believers are like arrows in the hands of a warrior!) If we have more kids, we'd have more joyous experiences - more laughs, more fun, more teachable moments, more of the good kind of chaos. If we have more kids, our legacy will grow exponentially - a legacy that we pray will bring great glory to God!

Finally, we agreed to open our hands. We agreed to let God bless us with another child should he so desire. And desire he did! In our very first month with hands open, the Lord filled our outstreched palms. He has provided us with another child on the way.

And we are thrilled! Oh, yes, we're enduring a few comments of, "Another one!! Why would you want to do that?" Well, here's why:

When you open your hands to the Lord, he doesn't pour down sulfur. He doesn't fill your hands with burning coals. He rains down blessings on your life. Sometimes in the forms of trials. But always in the form of his provision and grace.

I will open my hands to the Lord. The giver of all good things. The creator, sustainer and filler of life.

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Remember, "God cannot fill hands that are closed." Why are your hands closed? Open them! And receive fullness of life.

Complete Abandon

2011-01-11T14:08:00.003-06:00

Although we live in Wisconsin, we've lately had a lack of snow. A few days after Christmas we had some wonderfully warm weather that melted all but the large piles of snow leftover from shoveling.

Today, finally, we are getting some new snow. No more brown ground to look out. No more the cries of bored children desperate to play in the snow only to be met with hard mud. And no more going outdoors without boots!

After a late lunch, we asked the two older boys to head outside and clear off the driveway. Of course, the younger two couldn't bear to stay indoors either, so all four bundled up and headed out into the glorious white powder.

I watched from the front window for a few moments to make sure both boys were doing equal amounts of work and then I headed toward the back to check on the younger two. To my surprise, I saw only my youngest lying face down in the snow! I was sure something was wrong and I carefully watched his body from the window to see if he was crying. But, just as I was ready to trudge outside and check on him, I noticed a little pink tongue moving underneath his red cheeks.

There he was, sprawled out on his belly in the fresh snow, lingering over each lick of the wet, cold delicacy. Every once in a while he'd lift his head and I'd see his smile stretch from ear to ear as he enjoyed the return of winter's treat. It was as if his whole body just couldn't contain his joy!

As I sat and marveled at his complete abandon in enjoying this winter weather, I was struck with my own reserved nature. I can't remember ever once getting on my belly and licking the snow. And as I watched my son, I couldn't help but feel that I've missed out on something great all these years.

The Bible tells us of another type of abandon that is to be celebrated and desired. And that is abandon in the praise and worship of God. In 2 Samuel 6:14 it says that "David danced before the Lord with all his might." And in verse 15 it continues saying, "David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn."

When I think of worshiping with abandon, King David immediately comes to mind. He was not reserved in his praise of the Lord. He had seen God do incredible things and he didn't fail to give God incredible praise.

Sometimes I just want to stand up and shout about what the Lord has done. To let the world know that I serve an awesome God! But too often, I get embarrassed. I fear the response of others and I hold my praises in.

So today, I'm learning a lesson from my young son. Certain aspects of life should be enjoyed with complete abandon. Things like eating snow, showing love for others, singing and shouting praises to the King. How will you live with abandon today?

Memory Lane on Beth's Birthday

2010-12-29T09:19:00.010-06:00

Yesterday was my sister Beth's birthday. She and I have a rather large age gap between us, so as I was growing up she was mostly out of the house. However, because of that I remember the times we had together so much more clearly. They were special and have been burned into my memory.

So here goes. Memories for Beth ...

- "hundreds" of bottles of nail polish lined up on your bedroom shelf in the basement.
- The "puddle" I found when I went to wake you one morning. Our basement had flooded. :)
- Hours and hours of swimming together in Hawaii.
- Hearing the news that you were engaged to Steve. It was just after a violin concert of mine.
- Coloring with you. You were always the best colorer!
- You teaching me to drive at the UCONN campus. I think I was only 13! (And scared to death!)
- You and Tim coming back all sweaty from long runs together.
- You suntanning on the top of the roof.
- Playing tennis.
- The dinner cruise in Hawaii.

- Your short military haircut.
- Bragging to my friends that I had a sister in the ARMY!!
- The rainbow balloon you got for your graduation. And how badly I wanted to keep that balloon!

- The night you taught me how to shuffle by making a rainbow with the cards.
- Your orange room - complete with orange record player.
- Visiting you in NY and hiking with you, Mom and Shawn.

- Your latest visit to our house and the sweet hours of conversation.
- Feeling so grown up at your wedding in my pink gown.
- The little white Gund bear that you gave me from Korea. Mercer was my favorite bear all the way through high school.
- Getting letters from you when you were away.
- Christmas mornings.
- Meeting Shawn for the first time. I remember wearing a mask because I had been sick. But I also remember being amazed that you had a child!
- Snuggling with you.

- Your rock hard muscles once you joined the army!
- Going with Christy and David to visit you in MO. And what a great hostess you were!
- Eating fresh pineapple at your house on our first morning in Hawaii.
- Great fear that you and Steve could possibly be deployed to Desert Storm in Iraq.
- And great thankfulness that you weren't!
- Abby holding your hand at Sea World.

- Hearing you laugh in the back seat of the van as you took silly pictures with the kids. :)
- And many, many more ....

Beth, you are a tremendous blessing in my life! I'm thankful for you every single day. I love you and look forward to many more years of precious memories.

Christmas Craziness!

2010-12-15T19:57:00.004-06:00

It's been quite awhile since I last blogged. After blogging every day during the month of November, December hit and I found I was suffering from blogger burnout. I'm finally beginning to feel a desire to return though.

As difficult as it was to blog daily, I can say that it really helped me to see the delightful and teachable moments in each day. That's what I've been missing lately. Those moments are still happening, but I'm not taking the time to notice them.

So, what have I been up to? You guessed it ... Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! Cards, shopping, wrapping, sending packages, parties, cleaning, baking, planning.

I think I'm about done though. Hooray for me! Shopping is definitely done. I may yet pick up a pack of silly bandz for one child's stocking because I recently learned that he LOVES them and actually wears them all day ... EVERY DAY. However, aside from that, I'm done shopping.

I've started the baking, so I'm not very concerned about that. I have a bit more to do and a few plates of cookies to hand out to neighbors and the garbage and mail men. And in terms of food, I've ordered our Christmas roast.

My cards are all done and now I can just sit back and revel in the joy of receiving cards in the mail each day. Did I mention that getting cards is one of my favorite things about the Christmas season?

We've been working on Christmas carols with the kids and I'm really enjoying playing the violin on Sundays. In fact, this Sunday is our special Christmas service and we have some really awesome music planned. I can't wait!

What else ... cleaning will never end. But that doesn't change with the Christmas season. And we've had our last Christmas party.

All that remains is to revel in the joy and peace of Christmas. This year I'm determined to really center my thoughts and studies on the cross. Typically we think of Christmas and focus on baby Jesus. Rightly so, but as in this picture I recently found, the manger was shadowed by the cross.

The cross was his focus, his goal. I cannot consider the Christmas season complete without also bending my own knee at the cross. Stopping for a long, honest look at what Jesus did for me. Starting with coming as a baby, journeying to the cross, and ending triumphantly by conquering the grave. Hallelujah!

Amidst your own Christmas chaos, don't forget to take time to really reflect on the true reason we celebrate. It's worth so much more than all the other trappings.

A Birthday Tribute

2010-12-01T11:50:00.003-06:00

It's my brother's birthday today. Which means that I'm thinking of him a lot and enjoying some reminiscing too. We've had some good times. :) So, here's to you, big brother. Happy Birthday!

I remember ...
- sledding. I always felt safe on our big hill with you nearby.
- wearing your old tshirts to bed. I used to dance around my bedroom as I listened to the record player, clad in one of your old shirts that went at least to my knees.
- watching you put on all your hockey gear.
- Boris the snake. Lots of memories of him. Like the time you brought him in for show and tell, the guests who never failed to look scared when Boris was brought out after dinner, watching with fascination as he ate little white mice.
- laughing as kids at Lakeside tried to guess your age. :)
- meeting your sweet wife, Sarah, and being filled with joy as I saw how happy you were on your wedding day.
- visiting you in Tempe, Arizona.
- going to the Peter Pan show with you in Tempe.
- the Grand Canyon
- you heading off to Nana and Papa's for "second dinner".
- You and Beth coming back from long runs.
- Watching you eat cold pizza. Yuck. And cold Ravioli out of the can.
- Measuring your forearm and my thigh and finding they were about the same size!
- asking for advice on how to witness to my friends
- thinking how cool it was to have the waterfront director as my brother.
- thinking how UNcool it was that said brother made me do much more than others for my swim test each year.
- Clam digging in PEI.
- tremendous thankfulness for your renewed health.
- playing Pitch. Somehow you always seem to win. Even going so far as to get a 4 bagger with 10 high!
- You teaching me how to play 52 card pick up just after I turned 5.
- Me crying until you had to pick up those 52 cards.
- Playing pool with you in the basement of the M's house.
- seeing you with your head all wrapped up after your bike accident.
- you taking me to McDonalds for milkshakes just after my blood drawing for Lyme Disease.
- watching you play with our young relatives in Sweden.
- your motorcycles.
- your visit to my concert on our band trip to Philly.
- the way you used to trick misbehaving boaters by saying you couldn't see well when in fact you had perfect vision.
- picking rocks.
- seeing you play with my children.
- youth group and playing "eat that food".
- your sense of humor and how frequently you have tricked your gullible sisters.
- and of course, indian sunburns!

I love you, Tim! Here's to many more years of memories.

Blog Survival!!

2010-11-30T13:47:00.003-06:00

I did it!!!

I set out on November 1st to blog every day for an entire month. To help motivate me, I registered with NaBloPoMo. It's really not about the prizes for me, but rather was a genuine test to see if I could even possibly do something like this.

And today I can say that I have officially blogged each day! Not always exciting or wonderful posts, but something each day.

Will I do it again? Perhaps. Do I plan to blog every day for the rest of the year? No. But I have learned something from this experience.

It has helped me to look at the noteworthy happenings in each day. To view circumstances and events in a new light. And, it's taught me that I can persevere and even have the self control to do something daily.

So, what's next? Well, I'll continue to blog as I have things to say. But I'm thinking that next up is the goal of exercising daily for a month. Tomorrow is December 1st. I can surely exercise each day for one month. Although I will give myself a bye on December 25th since it's not only Christmas but also my birthday. A double reason to take that day off. So here I go. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

You say potato...

2010-11-29T20:17:00.003-06:00

After driving for hours and hours in the pouring rain and the dark, my brain is pretty much mush tonight. However, we're home safe and sound and I must say I am so very thankful that the temperature stayed above freezing so we drove only through rain and not ice.

However, because of said brain mushiness, I'm doing a simpler blog post tonight. NaBloPoMo ends tomorrow and I'm not about to blow it on one night of exhaustion!

When we travel we love to have good recommendations for hotels. We've done much traveling over the years - almost all of it with kids - and have had some great experiences. And some really terrible ones.

I'm pleased to say that this weekend was one of those great hotel experiences. We stayed at the Drury Inn and found their service to be excellent. The rooms were clean and comfortable. The bed was nice to sleep in. But more importantly, the food was great! They provide a complimentary hot breakfast just like many other hotels. But what sets the Drury apart is that they offer a complimentary "dinner" buffet and free adult beverages. Plus they have soda, coffee/tea, and popcorn available at all times. The dinner was a buffet of mac and cheese, hot dogs, chicken strips (which were delicious!), minestrone soup, salad and a plethera of chips. I haven't yet been in another hotel that offers this service and for a tired family that is trying to live on a budget, this was a huge bonus for us.

Two other hotel chains we've always been happy with are the Courtyard Marriott and the Hampton Inn. Either of those is a good choice for traveling families and both have nice suites like the Drury that allow enough space for six people.

I do have to give two big thumbs down to the Hyatt. I stayed in one this fall and was so disappointed. They have a beautiful facility and very comfortable rooms, but you pay out the nose for it and don't even get breakfast! The amount of money spent on a room at a Hyatt is too daunting for most families and with no family friendly amenities (except a pool) it's really not worth it. Oh, and the valet service for your car is downright terrible. Park on your own for sure!

Just my two cents worth. Hope it helps you on your next trip. Feel free to leave your comments on favorite hotels. We're always looking for good places to stay on our travels.

St. Louis

2010-11-28T20:38:00.003-06:00

We're out of town this weekend, so I'll keep this short.

We have come to the fair city of St. Louis because Josh was asked to preach at our former church. It is the church we attended for three years while in seminary. It's where all four of our children were dedicated, where Josh interned, where we made friends, did ministry and were ministered to.

Today, we were greeted by many old friends. Several we have kept in touch with through Christmas cards, emails and even visits. It was such a blessing to be back at our old stomping grounds and for Josh to preach a powerful sermon to people we love and care about.

We've also had the opportunity to hit a few of our favorite restaurants for meals. Last night we went to a great little place called Fitz's. It's right in the college area of town and has it's own soda brewery. They make excellent root beer and have great hamburgers too. Today, we headed to another favorite - Stir Crazy. It's a stir fry restaurant and we have always loved eating there. Of course, the best part of our meals was the fellowship with good friends.

Last week a study came out saying that St. Louis has the highest crime rate in the U.S. Don't be fooled into missing this gem of a city though! St. Louis also has lots of free family activities, many beautiful parks and lots of culture. It's definitely worth the trip.

Standing Rib Roast with Yorkshire Pudding

2010-11-27T09:14:00.000-06:00

As promised, here is our traditional Christmas meal:
Standing Rib Roast with Yorkshire Pudding.

I grew up eating this meal every year on Christmas day and I now carry on the tradition with my own family. Oh my, it's wonderful!! Just thinking about it is setting my mouth to watering. I will warn you that a rib roast is expensive, but for once a year, it's sooooo worth it!

You'll need:
a 1-4 lb standing beef rib roast (with bones)
4 eggs
2 cups of milk
1/2 t salt
2 cups flour

(You may want to purchase this beef cut from an actual butcher. However, if you request it ahead of time, your grocery store can get it for you too. It's always best to request it in advance and then pick it up a day or two before you plan to cook it. These roasts sell quickly around the holidays.)

Place meat, fat side up, in a roasting pan.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Bake roast uncovered in oven at 325 for 3 hours.
Remove meat from pan; cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour 2T of pan drippings from roast into each of two 8X2 inch baking pans. Set aside.
Set oven to 400 degrees.
Beat eggs on low speed for 1/2 minute. Add milk; beat 15 seconds.
Add flour and salt; beat 2 minutes or until smooth.
Pour batter over drippings in pans.
Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve. Serve immediately with roast.

Makes 8 servings of pudding.

This is such a very rich meal, but goes so well with mashed potatoes, veggies, cranberry sauce, applesauce and all the other holiday favorites. Enjoy!

Christmas is Coming, The Goose is Getting Fat ...

2010-11-26T09:42:00.005-06:00

Today begins Christmas season at our house. We'll head out soon to chop down our Christmas tree and then will spend the day listening to Christmas music as we decorate the tree and house. I love this day. And even though we'll be out of town for the rest of the weekend, we just had to fit in our annual tree day today.

In honor of the day, I've answered several questions about the holidays. Happy Christmas season!!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both! Egg Nog on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. Hot Chocolate every day. And coffee is the favorite. Not just any coffee: Caribou Decaf. Ahh, my body relaxes just thinking about it!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa doesn't come to our house. It's not that we've ever really told the kids he's not real, we just don't talk about him. So, they know that all gifts come from us or other family members. And, all are wrapped! We sort of pretend stockings come from Santa, but the kids know that although Santa is fun to pretend about, he's not real. We really just don't mention him and they are none the worse for it.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I have a dream of putting up beautiful white lights outside, but it rarely happens. We often string up one tree, but this year we are even lazier and don't want to go out in the cold to do it. In the house we use color. You just can't get any better than sitting in a dark room with soft Christmas music in the background, and gazing at the beautiful colored lights.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Umm, yeah. Any reason to kiss my man is a good reason. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up? ALWAYS the day after Thanksgiving. Gotta get the benefit of the whole season!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Besides cookies? I'd have to say our traditional meal of standing rib roast and yorkshire pudding. See tomorrow's post for the recipe.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Seriously doubt it's possible to pick one. Could be the Big Wheel when I was four, or my first Cabbage Patch Kid, or having family around, or seeing my kids' excitement, or taking communion at the stroke of midnight on Christmas morning. Choose one ... any of those will do.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? When I saw a price sticker left on a toy in my stocking. Santa has elves. He doesn't need to shop.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a kid I did. And my kids do now. But as an adult I like to save all my gifts for the big day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With lights, sometimes ribbon, lots of old, cherished ornaments, new ornaments for each child each year, and of course a tree skirt.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Mostly love it. Just hate shovelling it. I'll forever be indebted to the person who can convince my husband to buy a snowblower. I think we're the only family in Wisconsin without one.

12. Can you ice skate? You'd think so. But after years of lessons, I'm still about as good as my husband was on his first try.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I'm not sure that I could choose a favorite.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Celebrating and worshiping Jesus Christ.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Ha! I'd have to say birthday cake since that's the only dessert I've ever had on Christmas. Christmas is my birthday.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Every single one of them. We have them as traditions because we love them. If I had to pick one ... reading the Christmas story from Luke before opening gifts.

17. What tops your tree? A crown of thorns. To remind us that Christmas is about Jesus - who came as a baby, but didn't stay a baby. He came to die on the cross for our sins. Remembering that needs to be a central part of celebrating Christmas.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Absolutely giving. That's why I love having my birthday on Christmas. I get to give gifts, not just receive.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I could never, ever choose. I love just about every single one of them!

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Definitely yum. Especially as an after meal mint.

21 Favorite Christmas Show? Cartoon: The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Oldie: Miracle on 34th Street. Fun: A Christmas Story. Newer: Elf or the Santa Clause.

22. Saddest Christmas Song? Lyrics: Mary Did You Know? Melody: Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming (although I love this song).

These questions were all borrowed from Missy at It's Almost Naptime (http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com ) Check it out. The answers are mine, but feel free to copy the questions and make up your own answers. :)

A Day of Thanks

2010-11-25T22:51:00.002-06:00

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good ...

Giving thanks today for:
- Salvation by grace through faith
- A warm house
- Turkey sandwiches
- Four beautiful, healthy and amazing children
- A husband who encourages me to flourish
- A supportive and loving church family
- Remembrances of God's grace in my life
- Family members sought out by God this year
- Restored relationships
- A healthy marriage
- Joy in the hard times
- The Bible
- Laughter
- Seasons
- The mix of chocolate and peanut butter
- Friends far and near
- Light at the switch of a button
- Sweatshirts
- The ability to homeschool
- Knowledge
- Wisdom
- Discernment
- Rocking chairs
- Children who cuddle
- Indoor Plumbing
- Telephones and computers for keeping in touch
- And again, I come back to grace.

God's abundant blessing has yet again been poured out in my life this year. I don't deserve a bit of it, but through his unmerited favor I am blessed beyond measure. What a gracious and loving God I serve!!

Happy Thanksgiving. Remember to give thanks to the One who made you.

Teachable Moments

2010-11-24T09:27:00.004-06:00

I love teachable moments with the kids. And I love that I learn so much during those teachable moments. We've had two in the last 12 hours that have especially struck me.

Last night I read the Princess and the Kiss to my kids for the first time. You can find a link to it in this post. Honestly, this book is so contrary to what I grew up thinking and doing, and yet it's so very much what I want for my own kids.

We had a great discussion after reading the book. As we all huddled together on the couch, we talked about how special it is that God has given us the gift of a first kiss and how important it is for us to be choosy about saving it for our mate.

The boys picked up on the part where the young farmer comes and asks permission to talk with the princess. I hope that I planted good seeds in them as we talked about the need to respect not only the princess, but also her parents by asking first before talking with the princess. And especially before asking her to marry.

Abby wondered where her kiss was. In the book it's depicted as a beautiful treasure. As I pointed to her lips, she shyly smiled and said, "Oh. I know about that kiss." And so we talked about her saving that kiss for just one man.

We talked about how easy it is to give your heart away and how important it is to guard it. And we thought about how special it is to give a really treasured gift to someone. But how that gift loses value for the recipeint if it's also been given to many others. I'm excited to continue using this teaching tool with the kids.

This morning, Josh started devotions by telling the kids our newest roof news. We've been saving for quite some time and had enough to get it done and then found out that the quote we were given didn't include labor. So, back to saving.

Josh posed the question to the kids, "Should we be worried that we can't get the roof done before winter?" In unison, the kids answered, "No. God will take care of us!"

Oh, how that warmed my heart! But, such a pat answer was not enough for Josh. He wanted to find out how they knew that God would provide. He asked the kids for evidence from the Bible.

They cited stories such as when Jesus fed the 5,000, Jesus calming the sea during the big storm, Jesus healing the leper. We talked of how God clothes the lillies and provides for the birds and yet loves us even more than these. We discussed Jesus' words about the wise man who builds his house on the rock, and the difference between the wise man and foolish man's houses.

And we talked about how important it is to be faithful with what God gives. How the Bible says we should not be indebted to any man and so instead of borrowing money for the roof, it would be better for us to wait until God provides the funds for us to fix it.

And God has provided. He has provided loving friends from the church who know how to do roofs and are willing to help us out. We have enough saved for the materials, so first thing in the spring, we'll get the roof done. God cares. God provides.

And as my son said, God's big enough that if he wants to, he could even keep the rain and snow from hitting our roof. :) True, very true.

So as for me and my family, we will trust the Lord.

Evening Pick-Me-Up

2010-11-23T20:19:00.003-06:00

Tonight I'm reliving some of the funny things my kids have said. These particular quotes never fail to bring smiles to my face and warm fuzzies to my heart. :)

"Hey Mom! It's Mickey Mouse on the Disease Channel!"

After a hamburger was dropped on the floor just before serving dinner, my two year old looked around, decided that Mom was the only family member missing from the room and said, "That's Mom's piece". Shocking!

While learning a verse about bearing with one another in love, we asked my daughter how she could bear with her brothers in love. She answered this way: "Well, I guess I'd go out in the backyard ... and dig a hole ..." She heard "bury" her brothers, not "bear with" her brothers!

After asking my son to try using the potty for what seemed the hundredth time on our first day of training, he looked at me with big, sad eyes and said, "No, Mommy. You break heart!" The poor child was just so tired of the potty that I was breaking his heart. Oh, how that pierced mine!

"Look out below!!!" One of the many things our youngest has shouted while using the potty. It's always an experience for the family when he heads to the toilet!

"The Lord is my Shepherd. He makes me lie down in Green Bay pastures."

"The Lord is my Sheperd. He makes me lie down in green pastures. Hey, Grandpa lives in green pastures!" (Grandpa lives in Green Bay, he's not yet out to pasture!)

One day we mentioned having a vague memory. My son asked what vague meant and I said "fuzzy". He thought about that and then declared, "Oh! I have vague arms!" He does have very hairy (fuzzy) arms. :)

"Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies. Asses, asses, they all fall down!"

As one child played with his favorite bear, I heard him say, "Bear, let's go ask that old man over there." They left the couch and walked to the table where "Old Man" Dad was sitting. That was a blow to Dad's ego!

Ah, yes. Kid speak has got to be one of my favorite things in the world.

The Best Chicken Noodle Soup. Ever.

2010-11-22T07:15:00.002-06:00

I love this Chicken Noodle Soup recipe. I'm going to give unmeasured directions because I think it's so much better when you make it how you want it. And it's the kind of soup where you can dump in whatever you want. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Shredded Chicken (turkey works well too)
A pot full of chicken broth (some water is okay, but the less water the better)
Chopped Carrots
Chopped Celery
Frozen Peas
Egg or Rotini Noodles
(Anything else you want to dump. Frozen corn works really well.)
Italian Spices. If you want to be more precise, use a bay leaf and fish it out at the end.

In the pot combine the noodles, chicken, spices, broth and all but the frozen veggies. Heat to boiling and cook until the noodles are soft. Add in the frozen veggies for the last few minutes of cooking. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!

One tip: If you cook a chicken and shred it, save the drippings from the chicken and use those as your broth. The yumminess factor goes up dramatically! :)

Surpassing Greatness

2010-11-21T19:01:00.003-06:00

Have you ever been blown away by your kids? Yeah, me too.

In fact, it happens on a fairly regular basis. Frequently my kids do or say something that just amazes me with their maturity.

Today I had one of those moments. After our small group, my oldest (age 10) pulled me aside and asked me to pray for him. I said I'd be happy to and then asked what specifically I could be praying for.

Here was his response: "I just feel like as I get older I'm doing more unrighteous things. I don't think I always use my time wisely and I don't like that I really only worship God on Sundays. I should do that all week long."

WOWZERS!! Where did this kid come from??? I fought back a huge grin of pride as I seriously told him that I would be praying for him and offered to do so right then and there. I gave my own heart a stern talking to as I listened to him pray, realizing that I have much to learn from this intelligent, spiritually sensitive boy.

Josh and I have always prayed that our children would surpass us. Not just in what they accomplish, but in who they are in Christ. But our faith is so small that we never imagined it happening by 10 years of age! God is indeed good.

Square Two - Almost starting over

2010-11-20T16:11:00.000-06:00

I had been waiting for this day for a full year - at least. And it didn't turn out to be at all what I had hoped for.

Last fall Josh and I began seriously thinking of and planning for our 3 month long sabbatical that will take place this coming summer. We spent countless hours praying, talking, researching and making plans.

We found out about a program that offers grants for pastors going on sabbatical. We eagerly and painstakingly filled out the application. That application forced us to map out our three months TO THE DAY - and included us settling our route of travel, our expenses and the church's needs and expenses caused by our absence.

It was a whole lot of work. But we submitted the application back in late May confident that we had done the best we could and had a fair chance of being awarded a grant.

This week we received word. We did not get the grant.

{sigh}

So now we are back to square two. I can't say square one, because we've decided on what Josh will study during our sabbatical and we have some ideas. But our dream of traveling the west in an RV for three months, visiting churches and seminaries and seeing many national parks with the kids has come to an end.

Am I disappointed? You betcha. Frustrated at the thought of starting over? Definitely. Angry with God? No. I want to be. My heart cries out at my lack of understanding in this.

And then I'm reminded. I'm reminded of the fact that God has never failed our family. That even when things look extremely difficult, He provides with abundant blessing. So much blessing, in fact, that we look back fondly on our times of hardship.

I'm reminded of our job search a few years ago. How when we felt at our lowest and our dreams were shattered, He was just gearing up to give out the greatest surprise!

So right now, even though I hurt, a large part of me says, "Okay God. Show me what you're gonna do. Because I bet it's something even better than what I can imagine."

I'll keep you posted on what happens. Without a doubt it'll be worth writing about.

Savoring the music

2010-11-19T16:10:00.000-06:00

I began teaching music to our homeschool group this fall. And surprisingly, I like it!

I'm not surprised by enjoying the music aspect. Rather the teaching 50 kids for two hours aspect.

I think I had forgotten my love of teaching music. It's what I trained to do. And when I decided to study to be a music teacher it was because I wanted to instill a love of and appreciation for music in kids.

Wednesday I taught this group for the second time. And it was so fun to see kids get excited about what they were learning. It was enriching to encourage children in their musical pursuits and to start dreams in others. Several parents are now telling me that their kids want to start instruments. Yay!

Unfortunately, music is one of the first things cut in public schools when the budget shrinks. In homeschools, music can be non-existent if the parents don't pursue it with their children.

So, although I began the fall dreading my task, I've come to embrace it. Nothing feels better than instilling a love that you have into a young life and watching it grow. Bring on the next class!

A Step Back

2010-11-18T16:16:00.001-06:00

I'm letting go. And it's a really good thing.

I've been involved with our church nursery since Josh and I arrived here four and a half years ago. It has been a great privilege and joy serving alongside so many other men and women to bless the children and young families in our church.

And it's been quite a ride! In the summer of 2007, we set out to completely redo the nursery. We knocked down a wall to enlarge it. We had a custom changing table made. We spent hours painting and desiging. The church family purchased new toys off of a baby registry. We created a policy manual and began training volunteers. We put stringent safety measures in place. We added a few new roles.

And now, the nursery runs well. It's a fun place for little ones. It's a bright, inviting and playful area. And it's well stocked with delightful volunteers.

Except for me. I was not delighting in the nursery anymore. It had become a drudgery to me. Which was a very important warning. Whenever ministry becomes a "have to" instead of a "get to" you need to take a step back and evaluate. As I did so, I realized that I had served in the way God had called me to and that I now needed to let someone else step forward. Someone who had the vision to take it to the next level and to lead it through the next few years.

We've searched for quite some time and we finally found our new leader. I have officially served in the nursery for the last time, I have done my last nursery schedule and I've trained my last batch of volunteers.

Now it's time for me to focus on other areas. All of my children now sit in worship with me. I need to focus on teaching them to worship especially since Josh can't sit with us. As our church continues to grow rapidly, it's necessary for me to be in the sanctuary meeting visitors and helping Josh's ministry.

Will I ever serve in a nursery again? Very likely. I love children. I enjoyed the nursery. And when my children are old enough, I'll be happy to serve other young families by watching their children as others have done for me. But for this season, I'm done. It's with a sigh of contentment that I move forward, knowing it's the right thing to do.

Atheist Song

2010-11-17T20:30:00.000-06:00

I'm no atheist, but this is pretty funny. Enjoy.

The Atheist Song - First hymnal for Atheists

You're Not Ready!

2010-11-16T21:22:00.003-06:00

I heard Gabe say the cutest thing today. He and two of the other munchkins were playing hide and "sink". As I helped him count while the others hid, he showed off his counting skills. I was duly impressed until my pride melted into laughter. As he finished counting he yelled out, "You're not ready! Here I come!" Instead of the normal, "Ready or not, here I come."

I love little kid language.

Although I laughed earlier, tonight as I sit writing this, I feel like life has said that to me today. "You're not ready, but I'm coming anyway!" Today was a tough day for several reasons. I wasn't ready for today. I thought I was, but I wasn't. And yet the seconds keep on ticking: one, two, three, four .... where can I hide from this day?

As Anne of Green Gables would say though, "Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it yet." Thank the Lord for that! Perhaps I'll be ready for life tomorrow.

Raven

2010-11-15T09:52:00.004-06:00

God often shows me who to pray for in my dreams. I'll dream of someone again and again until I realize that God is pushing me to pray for them. Once I do, the dreaming stops.

Last night I dreamed of someone from my past. I only knew her for six days, but she touched my life and taught me some important lessons.

Her name was Raven. Actually, Raven was not her real name, but that's what everyone called her. Her real name was something much more girly-sounding like Maysie or Margaret.

Raven stalked into my life one August during my late teen years. She had jet black hair cut extremely short and spiked on the top. She wore all black - a black tank top, black leather pants and loud, clunky, black boots. She had piercings in several places, wore chains on her clothing and a spiked dog collar around her neck. Raven's appearance screamed, "I don't care about you or anything else. I'm tough!"

It was a Sunday afternoon when I met Raven. We were both at a camp. She was a camper and I was her terrified counselor. How in the world would I survive a week with a girl who looked like she was going to murder me as I slept at night? And what about the safety of the other girls in my cabin? A girl like Raven didn't belong at the sweet little Christian camp that I called home. Or did she?

That week was hands down the hardest week in my 5 years on staff at camp. Raven wasn't the only girl in my cabin that had me stumped. That week, my cabin of 8 high school girls had lots of issues to work through. One was being pressured by her boyfriend to have sex. One thought she was pregnant. One had an eating disorder and was encouraged in it by her mother. One was lonely. One was under pressure to use drugs. All had the regular social issues and hurts that go along with the teen years.

How does a young and fairly innocent girl tackle issues like that? I was in over my head. And thankfully I recognized that. The only thing that I could give these girls was the hope and restoration that comes through Christ. My heart broke as their stories unfolded over the week. One would talk to me during free time as we sat on our beds in the cabin. One would open up on the front porch steps after lights out. One during chapel time. And some during our evening devotions - which were always my favorite part of the day.

Raven shared some of her story one night during devotions. She came to the camp directly from 2 months of drug rehab. I got the impression that her parents weren't ready to have her home yet and so they sent her to camp. Unfortunately, that 2 month stint was not Raven's first time in rehab. Raven wore her hair so short because she had shaved her head to support her boyfriend who had cancer. He had died. And her pain was obvious.

Raven had been pregnant twice. Both times she had miscarried. The second time she miscarried she was 6 months along and had the baby beaten out of her. Her brother stood and watched. When I met Raven, she was 16 years old.

My heart broke for this girl. There was so much more to her than her tough exterior. Several of the camp leaders held her at arms length, expecting that she would cause problems. For the first couple of days, she tried to live up to their expectations. I can vividly remember sitting with the other counselors at our morning meeting mid way through the week and passionately begging them to give her a chance. To see beyond the exterior. To look at her as Christ did. To notice the changes I was beginning to see.

Raven changed a whole lot that week. She began to smile. She had fun! She made some friends at camp. And most importantly, she recognized how desperate her life was without the Lord. In the day and a half before camp ended, she repeatedly shared with me her fear of going home. Her parents were good to her. But her friends were not. She knew just how difficult it would be to avoid the temptations to slip back into her old ways. She knew that it would be impossible to retreat from the relationships that dragged her down.

I wish I could say that I knew the rest of Raven's story. I wrote to her for several years, but never received a single word in reply. She didn't come back to camp. It's like she just disappeared.

Every once in awhile, God brings her to mind. And I stop and I pray for Raven.

I'm not the good one in this story. It took a week with someone who's appearance and demeanor scared me senseless to understand the truth. To see and finally really KNOW that God does not look at the outside. To Him, Raven was beautiful. He was showing her His love in a way she couldn't ignore. He knew of her pain, her vices, her struggles, but He also knew of her beautiful smile, her laughter, her desire to change. And I'm sad to say it took me so long to see it.

Sometimes I see people in the mall, or on the street or even at church and I look at the outside. It's then that God gently reminds me of Raven. He reminds me that every person is created by God, in His image and has beauty. He reminds me that my response can make a huge difference for good or for evil. What will my response be?

Book for Parents

2010-11-14T17:40:00.000-06:00

Here's a great little book for teaching purity to your children. Josh and I are still discussing what the dating years will look like for our children, but teaching purity really can't start too young.

Here is the author's web page. Check it out!

Toyorama

2010-11-13T13:12:00.001-06:00

This week I helped my daughter clean out her room.

Not just clean, but sort through all her stuff, toss the extra papers and broken toys, find places to put everything, insert a hook into the wall for her purses, vaccuum and fill a trash bag!

When did we accumulate this much junk?? Her room was so stuffed with toys that we couldn't even walk! I'm thankful that she was very willing to get rid of a good portion of the excess and now everything has a place. The room is tidy, I have a great feeling of accomplishment and all is well.

But Christmas is just around the corner. And after that we have three children with birthdays in January, February and March. Much more "stuff" will be coming into our house. Ugh.

I feel that I am not doing a good job of parenting in this area. We do have way too much stuff. I admit that. In the area of toys, we've failed at the "less is more" idea. We're reading the Little House series and I don't think my kids have yet realized the implications of Laura and Mary only having one doll and a string of paper dolls or beads to play with. My kids just can't fathom that! I'm glad we have more than that, but do we really need ALL of this? Must we keep the dolls, tinkertoys, blocks, legos, puzzles, cars, costumes, coloring books, ponies, stuffed animals, games, books, star wars stuff and K'nex?

On the flip side, there are some things on which we haven't compromised. Our kids don't play video games. We don't have a Wii or an XBox. They spend very little time on the computer and lots of time in imaginary play and reading books.

But that brings me back to my point. If they play so well with their imagination and we can continuously get books and videos from the library, is it even necessary to have most of these toys? Probably not. Definitely not.

Herein lies the rub ... how in the world do you get your kids to let go of their toys so that you can encourage their "imaginations"? Offering to send those toys to kids who have few or no toys doesn't always work. Snatching the toys when the kids are out of the house doesn't work. (Well it works, but you end up with tantrums and angry children who no longer trust you.) And how do you convince yourself that certain toys are good to get rid of? Some toys are great for the imagination and for learning.

I guess the only thing to do is to teach our children - beginning today - that stuff isn't what it's all about. We need to be on guard against continuously buying them what they desire.

And I suppose it would be good to review that lesson for myself while I'm at it. As I begin to clean my own room, I'm realizing that my children have likely just copied my own behavior. Ouch, that truth stings!

Withered Trees and Drowned Mountains

2010-11-12T08:11:00.003-06:00

This weekend will be my first real test with NaBloPoMo. We're headed out of town and I'm not sure if I'll have access to the internet. I've written my blog posts already, so I can just log on and post, but we'll see how it goes.

This morning during our devotions, Josh read from Matthew 21:18-22. It's the story of when Jesus causes the fig tree to wither and then explains to his disciples that if you just have faith and do not doubt, you can even move mountains.

As we talked over the passage with the kids, Josh had us each take a turn sharing what we would like to see God do and what we will seek to pray for in faith without doubt. Here are the requests. I think they are wonderful!

Z: That Haiti and Chile would recover from the earthquakes this past year. And that all orphans in the world would be adopted and find homes. (Incidentally, he prays this EVERY single day and has such a heart for the hurting and helpless!)

A: That her best friend Stevie (Stephanie) would come to church and learn about Jesus.

G: That Haiti would "cover" from the earthquake (of course he meant recover) and that Grandma and Grandpa Ron would be safe at their house.

D: That Charlie's family (a kid who bullied D for two years while in school) would know Jesus and that Christianity would be legal in China.

Josh: That God would convict young adults to marry instead of living in sin.

Me: That God would force Satan to loosen the grip he has on the teens in our town and that we as a family and church would know how to reach into their lives.

Boy, imagine what could happen if all believers were praying in faith without doubt, believing that in Christ, these things can happen! What are you praying for?

Surprisingly Good!

2010-11-11T20:47:00.003-06:00

As part of our vacation week we took the kids to see a movie in the theater today. We're quite picky about what we are willing to actually go see on the big screen with them, so of course we did our research first.

Have you checked out Plugged In? It's put out by Focus on the Family and reviews movies with family friendliness in mind. I have a link to their website on my sidebar. Be sure to click over and see what they've got!

Anyway, Josh and I knew we wanted to do this with the kids, but we had no clue if any of the movies out were any good. After reading the reviews at Plugged In, we chose to see Megamind.

What a great movie! We were so pleasantly surprised to find that it was not a movie in the vein of Shrek, but rather a fun, topsy turvy take on the old villain versus hero story. I don't want to give away the plot, but I can tell you that our kids loved it, Josh and I loved it and it's one we'll definitely rent later on or perhaps even buy.

So, here's a shameless plug ... go see Megamind. It's much better than you'd expect and you'll enjoy the laugh.

Son-filled diet

2010-11-10T13:59:00.004-06:00

As we drove towards Chicago on Monday morning, my kids were thrilled with the thought of watching the sun rise. Of course, around here we have plenty of buildings, trees and traffic to compete with our sight of the horizion. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful sight to watch the sky slowly lighten and to see the clouds go from red and orange to pink and purple.

Because it was so very early, we had given the kids bags of dry cereal to eat in the car. So, as we kept our eyes trained on the sky, the kids happily munched their breakfast.

Now, my oldest son is slightly competitive. I believe he thought it would be cool to be the very first one in the car to actually say, "Hey! There's the sun!" He decided that he'd better quit eating to maximize his chances of being first. He said, "I'm going on a diet unitl I see the sun."

We laughed and thought that was a pretty silly thing. I mean, really, do you even need to look to grab a handful of cheerios out of a bag? But as I sat and gazed at the horizon, his words took on a new meaning for me.

Shouldn't we all be on a "diet" until we see the Son? A diet that consists of time in God's Word, prayer, the fruit of the Spirit. A diet that leaves out habitual sin, gossip, slander, anger, a love of the world. How much better off we would be if we considered embarking on a spiritual diet! I think today is a good day to begin praying for some self control to begin a new diet in earnest. Not a food diet, but a diet that will prepare me to see the Son.

A Day in the City

2010-11-09T18:07:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we spent the first day of our vacation week in Chicago. Gabe has always begged to ride on a train and so we decided to take the train into the city and enjoy some time at the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum.

We were in the car by 5:45 am - yes, I said AM!! - and had the joy of watching the sun rise over the horizon.

The kids were thrilled ot spend time on the train and actually did very well for the hour and a half ride. Much better than expected.

Once in the city, we walked about 2 1/2 miles to the aquarium. In hindsight, if you have a long trek and small legs along for the walk, opt to walk on the way back instead of on the way there. By the time we arrived at the aquarium we had some rather cranky children!

We tried to make the walk more interesting by stopping at Macy's (Marshall Fields). We saw all of their Christmas decorations, looked at their famous window displays and drooled over the toy section. We also stopped at Millenium Park where we had our picture taken at Cloud Gate and watched an artist work on a painting.

We finally made it to the aquarium (and did I mention that we had gorgeous weather? Almost 70 degrees in November!) and received our free admission. The hi-lights were watching the fish get fed by someone actually swimming in the tank - with sharks and giant turtles and eels! - and a very busy octopus.

Now this octopus was remarkable! Apparently, he very rarely puts on a show. But we got lucky. He came right up against the glass and spread out all of his legs. We were able to see his mouth and watch as he swam around.

After the aquarium, we went on to the Field Museum and again gained free admission. We looked at a fair amount of the museum and enjoyed seeing the diversity of God's creation.

Once we finished it was finally time to start home. Because we all had exhausted legs, we opted to ride the bus to the train station. We had our snacks and sat in a comotose manner for the ride back to the van. Around 8pm we decided that we really needed to get some dinner, so we stopped at the first place we could find - which happened to be a Super WalMart. We gathered bread, meat bites, cheese and cough medicine and headed towards the lines. Suddenly a teenaged girl raced past us at full speed. We thought perhaps she was playing a joke on some friends, hoping to sneak up on them. But then two WalMart employees came running after her and caught her just by the door. She had met up with two friends there and all three were taken into a separate room. Our guess is that she was trying to shoplift. It was an adventurous end to our day in the city!

Worth a Look

2010-11-08T05:01:00.001-06:00

I only rarely post links to videos on my blog. But this one is most definitely worth a look.

It's a series of videos about Dick Proenneke. He set out in his 50s to live a life of solitude in the Alaskan wilderness. The first disk set of videos (a 6 part series on youtube) is a documentary that follows Dick as he builds his very own cabin - of course by first making his tools! This man lived in the wilderness for over 30 years. It is child-friendly viewing and despite the slower pace of the videos, my kids were glued to the screen.

Take a look and enjoy some of God's incredible creation!

A Response to "Motherhood Madness" by Erica Jong

2010-11-07T04:14:00.002-06:00

I read an article recently that has me quite upset. It's written by Erica Jong and was published in the Wall Street Journal. The article talks about how motherhood today has become overly burdensome due to expectations put forth by society.

I take issue with several points in this article. What I find most disheartening is that it never once mentions the joy of motherhood. To Jong, motherhood is simply a drudgery, a chore, an obligation. I pity her child! Children brought up under that view of parenting will have major psychological issues later in life.

But to be more specific, here are some of my objections to Ms. Jong's thoughts.

"You wear your baby, sleep with her and attune yourself totally to her needs... homemade baby food, cloth diapers, a cocoon of clockless, unscheduled time... Anything less is bad for baby. Parents be damned."

Such is her view of what society demands from parents. I know of parents who make their own baby food, only use cloth diapers (that they themselves wash), wear their babies everywhere and so on. But those who do so are doing it by choice, not because society has demanded it. I am raising four children. I don't make my own baby food, I don't use cloth diapers, I do wear my babies out of convenience ... such preferences have not made society view me as a failure in mothering. In fact, no one has ever belittled my decision to use plastic diapers! Plastic vs. cloth diapers, canned vs. homemade baby food, which device used to carry a baby ... such decisions are not the crux of parenting. These are preferences, not crucial parenting matters.

Jong writes of how parents experience guilt for not being perfect because of the demands society puts forth. I think perhaps Ms. Jong has done too much reading. If you take everything that everyone writes about parenting and try to implement it, you will feel a keen inability to measure up. However, parents doing the best they can to enjoy their children and give them what they need (which includes boundaries and consequences) rarely feel guilt. Parents should always be striving to improve, but should also take what they hear from others with a grain of salt. Not all advice is for all families. Not all families are the same. Not all families can have a stay-at-home mom. Not all children need the same type of education. Not all mothers feel hen-pecked by the "demands" of society.

Jong continues, "We also assume that "mother" and "father" are exclusive terms, though in other cultures, these terms are applied to a variety of aunts, uncles and other adults. Kinship is not exclusively biological, after all, and you need a brood to raise a brood."

I'm not sure about you, but I prefer that I am the only "mom" to my children. I'm thrilled that they have other adults in their lives who love them and who are well loved in return, but I would be offended if any of those adults tried to fill my role as Mother. Yes, children are enriched by having multiple relationships, but nothing can replace the role of parents in a child's life. A child will not fare better by having someone substitute as mom or dad at times. (Please hear me correctly, I do not advocate keeping children with parents who abuse or neglect, but in a healthy family, no one is better to fill the parent roll than the parents themselves.)

Dr. James Dobson writes in his book "Bringing up Girls" about two researchers named Dr. John Bowlby and Dr. Mary Ainsworth. These two were "the first to recognize that infants are highly vulnerable and easily wounded by anxiety, fear and confusion." One thing I have observed in my children is that their anxiety levels dramatically increase when they are passed from one adult to another without the comforting touch of Mom or Dad. Those with children know the incredible excitement of children upon seeing Mom and Dad after being absent from them. It's a small demonstration of children exclaiming through their actions, "These are my favorite people! No one can take their place."

Dobson continues, "It has been demonstrated further that the failure of mothers and babies to attach is linked directly to physical and mental illness of all types. The reason is apparent. If a child is regularly overwhelmed by negative feelings and stressful circumstances, her inability to cope in infancy becomes a life-long pattern. The link between maternal attachment and poor health is not merely theoretical. It is a reality."

Contrast this with Jong's declaration that such attachment with children is a "prison for mothers". She calls this a "'noble savage' view of parenting, with its ideals of attachment and naturalness."

Frankly, I find Ms. Jong's jaded view of parenthood selfish and disturbing. Whatever happened to delighting in your children? To investing in another life because it is an immense privilege with tremendous rewards, not because you HAVE to? I fear that if her view of parenting catches on we'll be left with a generation of children who feel unwanted and unloved. Children who are handed off to every other available adult just to avoid inconveniencing the parents who decided to have a child in the first place. Children who are taught from infancy that nothing matters more than keeping Number One happy and carefree. Children who grow up to view everything as more important than training the next generation.

Oh, what will our schools and homes look like then? I pray we never see that day.

Resting Place

2010-11-06T10:54:00.003-05:00

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee, as thy beauty fills my soul,
For by thy transforming power, thou hast made me whole.

O how great thy lovingkindness, vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous thy goodness lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved, know what wealth of grace is thine,
Know thy certainty of promise and have made it mine.

Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus, I behold thee as thou art,
And thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its ev'ry need,
Compasseth me round with blessings: thine is love indeed.

Ever lift thy face upon me as I work and wait for thee;
Resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with thy grace.
- Jean Sophia Pigott

Today, as I reflect on the uncertainties in my life, my mind and body tell me to worry and be anxious. But the Holy Spirit keeps whispering these words into my heart and I find all of my fears and questions quieted in the resting place of God's immeasurable grace.

Dinner humor

2010-11-05T12:29:00.001-05:00

Last night's imagination-bending, silly dinner story:

There once was a horse named Crazy Legs. Crazy Legs got his name because every time he ran, he threw his legs about causing a very funny sight. People loved Crazy Legs because he was so silly.

Crazy Legs lived in a barn on top of a dugout. His owner, Mr. Sigfreid Gagenduffel lived in the dugout with his wife. But, Mr. Gagenduffel was not happy with Crazy Legs. Every morning at 5am, Crazy Legs would awaken and begin running around his barn in circles, effectively disturbing the sleep of Mr. and Mrs. Gagenduffel.

One day Mr. Gagenduffel had had enough! He marched up to the barn and placed a yoke on Crazy Legs' neck. He tied Crazy Legs to the barn and told him to "giddap". But Crazy Legs only laid down in the grass. Mr. Gagenduffel was angry and yelled at Crazy Legs to get up. Crazy Legs, who had never once spoken a word, turned to Mr. Gagenduffel and said, "I'm going to take a nap," and he promptly fell asleep.

Well, that didn't make Mr. Gagenduffel very happy. He had to wake that horse! So, he went down into the dugout and grabbed a hammer. He took that hammer to where Crazy Legs was sleeping and hammered on the pillow by Crazy Legs' head. Of course, that didn't wake Crazy Legs. So Mr. Gagenduffel went into his dugout again and this time came out with cotton balls (otherwise known as boofer balls). Mr. Gagenduffel stuffed the cotton balls into Crazy Legs' ears and hammered away again. Once again, Crazy Legs did not wake up.

Mr. Gagenduffel was so upset at this point, that he went one last time into his dugout and grabbed a pair of cymbals. He marched back to Crazy Legs and crashed those cymbals just over Crazy Legs' head. Crazy Legs was so startled that he jumped up and ran! And when he ran, it caused the barn to move. But instead of moving forward, the barn collapsed with a great crash and landed heavily on the roof of the dugout causing the dugout roof to collapse.

Poor Mrs. Gagenduffel (Gertrude to her friends) was trapped under a beam halfway in and halfway out of the dugout. She yelled and yelled, begging her dear Sigfreid to save her. Sigfreid Gagendfuffel forgot all about Crazy Legs and ran to rescue his wife. He counted, "One ... Two ... Three!" and gave a great pull. Gertrude tumbled out from under the rubble and banged her head onto the hard ground. She received a terrible bruise, but was otherwise alright.

Well, Mr. and Mrs. Gagenduffel now had no house. Instead they had to live in the rubble of the dugout and barn with Crazy Legs. And each night, Crazy Legs would thrash in his sleep with his legs kicking every which way. It always woke the Gagenduffels and they were miserable.

The moral of this story depends on who you talk to:
- Don't wake a sleeping horse.
- Don't build a barn on top of a dugout.
- Always remember that boofer balls won't wake a horse!

Success!!

2010-11-04T13:40:00.002-05:00

I have discovered a new ability of mine through homeschooling.

When we began, I was terrified about teaching my daughter how to read. Our two oldest boys had spent their early school years in the public school system and I was afraid that I might somehow hold my sweet girl back by beginning to homeschool her in kindergarten. What if I didn't pick the right program? What if I didn't notice that she had missed something important? Would I even know if I had done it right before it was too late?

My oldest basically taught himself to read. We never had to work with him and he was reading before kindergarten. My second really struggled. He slipped through first grade still somehow only reading at a kindergarten level. His teacher said he was doing fine. I shudder at the memory of trying to begin with the basics in second grade and his frustration over poor grades and his inability to read well. Would my daughter also have that same experience?

So many worries.

Today, however, I sat with a big grin on my face as she read to me. That's been happening daily. She's now in first grade and is reading well. When she doesn't know a word, she stops and sounds it out. She has the tools to figure out most words. She loves reading and I often find her with a book in hand, cuddled up on the couch, reading to herself.

It's a side of homeschooling that I'm proud to say I now know I can handle. I'm not afraid of teaching my youngest now that I've succeeded with his sister. I have successfully passed on a love of books and a delight in discovering new stories.

Yes, I can do this!

Flexibility

2010-11-03T12:27:00.004-05:00

I've been working my way through James Dobson's book "Bringing Up Girls". Yesterday the part I was reading talked about the importance of both parents being available and committed to the raising of their children and how from infancy, our presence has a significant developmental impact on children.

One statement in particular really struck me. Dobson says,

"Before the Industrial Revolution, fathers and mothers worked side by side on farms or in family-owned businesses ... only in the last one hundred years have fathers left home all day to make a living."

Why does this strike me? Because it makes me realized just how "abnormal" our family is! My husband doesn't work from home, but he can when he needs to. And he has an extremely flexible schedule.

Take today, for instance. I ended up needing to get to the doctor this morning. Instead of dragging the kids along or Josh having to take time off to come and relieve me of the children, he simply came home, brought some work with him and had lunch on the table when I got home. Wow!

Now, I know that I'm blessed to have such a flexible, caring and capable husband. Many men, even if they could take the time at home, wouldn't be as helpful as he is. But what strikes me even more is the notion that this has a profound impact on my kids. They have Daddy around a lot. Yes, he works a full work week, but he's flexible enough to come and spend time with them as needed. He can come home if we're having major discipline issues in school. He can surprise us with celebratory McDonalds for a great day of learning. He can care for the kids when I can't.

In fact, my children are the only ones I know of that have both parents home for all three meals a day! Which is so vital to our family life. At breakfast, we set the tone for the day. We read the Bible together and talk about the day. At lunch we read a fun book - currently the Little House series. And at dinner, we review our Awana verses and when we have time we sing songs together or make up funny stories. I can't imagine what our family life would be like without these precious moments together each day. And yet, that's exactly what most families are like. Psychologists now tell you to try and have three to five meals together per week. Per week!!! When we miss two meals in one week as a whole family, we suffer.

Today, I'm thankful for the flexibility and tender care of my husband. He lets us know in millions of ways that he is always available to help and to love. I don't write this to make other women jealous, but rather to reflect on how society seems to have it backwards. Instead of spending our children's growing years endlessly working to get ahead and to have a great salary, my sweet man is spending hours with his kids, investing in their lives and trusting that God will provide what we need. He's a good man!

NaBloPoMo

2010-11-02T21:46:00.006-05:00

I heard today about national blog month - which just happens to be this month! So, I've decided to give NaBloPoMo a shot. It's a challenge/contest to blog each day for an entire month. If you blog every day in November you are eligible to win a prize at the end of the month.

I can't say that I've been overly diligent in my blogging efforts so far. Perhaps this will be the nudge I need to really get going.

Little Things

2010-11-01T16:00:00.003-05:00

You know how sometimes it's the little things that make your day great? Today has been full of those wonderful little things.

Like sleeping in. But not just sleeping in by myself. Josh stayed in bed too and read a book as I slept. It's nice to wake up with him still there. He's such a morning person that it doesn't happen often!

And things like having lunch with a dear friend. A two hour lunch! Time to just talk and catch up and pray together. Wonderful moments.

Things like finding a spot of sunshine and sitting in it. Letting your whole body feel warm on a cool day. Yea, that's my moment right now.

And to enjoy it a bit more, I'm going to stop blogging and start dozing. What better use is there for a little patch of sunlight?

What little things have boosted your joy level today?

100 Things

2010-10-30T22:12:00.001-05:00

1. My dream job as a child was to be a wife and mother. I am living the dream.
2. In early spring I will find patches of sunlight and sit in them. Doesn't matter where they are, I just need the sun!
3. I cannot make good sound effects for guns, bombs, cars, airplanes or anything else boys love.
4. I'm always barefoot indoors, but hate to be barefoot outdoors.
5. Cleaning bathtubs is the bane of my existence.
6. I'm a chronic list-maker.
7. My two front teeth on the bottom were knocked out by my sister as she did a kartwheel.
8. I don't have a favorite color, but will claim blue just to give a short answer.
9. My first time using a lawn mower was at age 31.
10. I craved the smell of Comet with one pregnancy.
11. When sledding at night I used to be terrified that wolves would get me.
12. I had "notes" written out for all of our bridesmaids and groomsmen at our wedding rehearsal. Yes, I'm like that.
13. I'm terrified of spiders.
14. I can't listen to classical music unless I can sit and REALLY listen with complete focus.
15. I think leaf rubbings should be a part of every fall season.
16. My parents gave me coffee in my bottle because I didn't like milk. That may explain a lot.
17. My favorite place in the world is a little camp in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
18. I didn't really learn to ride a bike until I was 10 or 11.
19. I didn't appreciate the simplicity of life with only one or two young children until I had three or four.
20. My braces came off the day AFTER school pictures were taken.
21. I eat whole tomatoes, raw potatoes and love most other veggies.
22. My best friend in the whole world is my husband.
23. I found the love of my life at age 17. I'm sure I'll be freaked out by that when my kids are 17!
24. Clean baby is my favorite smell.
25. I collect china and Kim Anderson figurines.
26. I have a very good memory. Especially about childhood events.
27. As a child I took ice skating, swimming,gymnastics, tennis, violin and piano lessons.
28. All that and I'm still not very athletic.
29. I have no cousins. Although I married into a family with tons of cousins!
30. I always try to have my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving. And my cards go out the first week of December.
31. I religiously make the bed before getting into it at night.
32. A&E's Pride and Prejudice is my all time favorite movie.
33. I have a very high pain tolerance - unless it involves throat pain.
34. I love to plan and organize events.
35. Japanese food is heavenly - not sushi {yuck!}, but hibachi.
36. Loved the college years.
37. Hated the high school years.
38. Reading silly kids books with my children is a delightful way to pass the time.
39. The Smurfs was my favorite cartoon growing up.
40. The only feet I like are baby feet.
41. I once played a violin solo for thousands of people in a huge arena.
42. I believe that everyone is beautiful and if you look deep enough you'll find beauty even in those you don't like.
43. I hope to teach at least one child how to speak German.
44. We have redneck curtains in our living room.
45. I bake for fun but cook out of necessity.
46. I'm not really a morning or night person. I love sleep!
47. Packages in the mail make the whole day better.
48. My personality is the exact opposite of my husband's.
49. I love hymns.
50. I miss hearing my Nana hum as she cooked.
51. I threw up on my first grade teacher.
52. My first time at Toys R Us and Chuck E Cheese was as an adult.
53. Every year I have standing rib roast and yorkshire pudding on my birthday.
54. I want to learn how to improvise more while playing the violin.
55. I believe that punctuality equals respect.
56. I once dyed my hair orange.
57. I was E.T. for several Halloweens.
58. I love to mud dive but haven't since college.
59. I hope to someday take my family to see the Swiss Alps and Salzburg, Austria.
60. I'm a stubborn mix of Swedish and German.
61. My favorite verses are from Isaiah 43:1-3.
62. Time with my husband is essential! It rejuvenates me.
63. I love to paint my toenails, but never paint my fingernails.
64. I have never pieced my ears or any other part of my body.
65. Soccer is my favorite sport to watch.
66. My hairstyle in 8th grade was hideous. But then, who's wasn't?
67. I have paid to go in a hot air balloon, but have yet to get on the flight.
68. I deliberately work to interest my kids in shows I loved as a child - partly so that I can watch them again.
69. I had 8 Cabbage Patch Kids as a child.
70. I really don't like moving. Although unpacking is fun.
71. I have learned about all things Star Wars since having children.
72. I sent my first "love note" to a boy in first grade. My big sister helped me with the bubble letters.
73. I am amazingly calm when my children are hurt or in danger. But if the milk spills, you'd better watch out!
74. I love Pepsi. Never diet.
75. I'm not artistic. I'm crafty.
76. As a child, the only allergy I tested positive for was sawdust. Ironically, I love the smell and will put up with the sneezing for as long as possible.
77. I feel guilty whenever I pass a child's lemonade stand and don't stop.
78. I started cross stitching baby blankets for my kids. They will now be for my grandchildren.
79. After visiting concentration camps I can no longer read or watch anything about World War II.
80. Sitting in the dark with a lit Christmas tree and gentle music is my favorite part of the Christmas season.
81. Alarm clocks have the ability to stress me out faster than anything else.
82. I often dream of people that God wants me to pray for. If I don't pray for them, I'll dream of them night after night. Sometimes it's people I haven't seen in decades.
83. I've endured inducement, back labor, an epidural, no pain meds, an emergency C-section, a VBAC and a homebirth.
84. I know how to polka.
85. I miss the joy of getting snail mail instead of emails.
86. I have read every Beverly Lewis book.
87. I can't rollerskate. And I'm pretty bad at iceskating too.
88. I can remember childhood friends' phone numbers and birthdates.
89. I have a tendency to break watches. I've given up wearing them.
90. I deeply miss the ocean each summer.
91. My dream vacation is to take my kids to the camp I attended as a child.
92. Tradition is very important to me.
93. The summer before college was a defining time in my life.
94. Hearing about someone's life journey is my favorite moment in making a new friend.
95. Dvorak is my favorite composer.
96. When making a list, I will write things that I've already accomplished simply to cross them off.
97. I have large gaps in my memory for the 9 months of each pregnancy.
98. I prefer silver to gold.
99. Music can absolutely affect my mood.
100. I'm continually thankful that God teaches me through everyday moments.

Plugged In

2010-10-30T20:18:00.005-05:00

My youngest did this today:

Yup. And I saw this as I sat across the room from where he was unlocking the outlet:

Well, not exactly. But close. There were definitely crazy sparks flying in the room!

Sadly, this is the second time I've had a child try to electrocute themselves. My second son placed a penny on the prongs of his plugged-in baby monitor during naptime several years ago and just about set our apartment on fire. A large section of the wall was black. And he later told me about the "blue lights" that scared him (sparks).

So today, I am doubly thankful that God watches my children even when I think I am keeping a close eye on them. They may be in the same room as me, yet I don't always know what those little hands are up to. But God does! I'm so glad that He cares and sees. Because His eyes never grow tired and His care is more than I can fathom.

That's a very reliable and necessary fact for a tired and sometimes unattentive mom.

Crippled by Fear

2010-10-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

I have a child who is terrified of spiders. And today, that fear climaxed in his unwillingness to touch a book that had a spider on the cover. It took a half hour of work to get him to finally touch it and put it away, and that half hour was pure torture.

So naturally, I've been reflecting on fear. Someone recently made a comment about a Bible story that really made a profound difference for me.

This person was talking about the story of when Jesus calmed the storm. He had gone in a boat with his disciples and had fallen alseep in the boat despite a loud and turbulent storm. His disciples were terrified for their lives and finally woke Jesus out of desperation. Jesus got up, calmed the wind and the waves and then turned to his disciples and said, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Now, typically when people look at this passage, they focus on the display of Jesus' power and come away with the realization that he is Lord of all creation. Rightly so. But there's another thing to notice here.

Why is it that Jesus is able to sleep through a storm that has his disciples paralyzed with fear? Perhaps he was tired. Well, likely he was. He had just been preaching to large crowd for quite some time and was likely exhausted. But even a storm can wake you from a deep sleep.

No, there's a different reason why Jesus slept. He wasn't afraid.

Well, why not? Because Jesus had complete trust in his Father! There was no need for him to fear. He knew that his days were measured out and that no storm or evil intention or angry crowd could cause him harm without his Father's consent. I can't think of a single time in Jesus' life where the Bible says he was afraid. He had no need to be.

Imagine the implications of this! I mean, really, how many times does the Bible say, "So do not fear"!! The fears that I have ultimately come down to a lack of trust in my heavenly Father. Likewise the fears my children have are a lack of trust in God.

So, my challenge today is to teach my son that trusting God encompasses all aspects of life. Even dealing with ugly spiders, or being in the dark or feeling alone. God is with us, he sees us and he's a whole lot bigger than whatever we may fear.

Oh, Be Careful Little Eyes ....

2010-10-17T18:12:00.003-05:00

Ya know, you do all you can to protect your children's eyes and keep them innocent. We do our very best to keep our children from seeing images of scantily clad women and men, violence and other scary things. We moniter our kids' use of the internet and the television, we watch what magazines and books enter our home and we do what we can to distract them from seeing less-than-wholesome bilboards and advertisements.

But, there are some things you just can't plan for. Like the boy who decides to show your young daughter his privates. Yeah, thanks for doing that, little boy. My girl has been scarred and will always have that image in her mind.

To her credit, she's a smart cookie and told her brothers about it, who in turn told Mom and Dad. And as much as I am upset by this (we'll be talking with the boy's parents), just moments later I was able to marvel over her sweet innocence.

Apparently my sweet daughter has taught herself how to tie laces. We've never worked with her on it, but just from watching her brothers, she has figured it out. One smart cookie! When we found out about this new talent, Josh took her on his lap and hugged her, telling her how beautiful AND smart she is. We joked about needing to lock her up until she's 33 since she's such a sweet, smart, beautiful girl.

And my darling girl turned to her Dad and said, "Well, if you lock me up, you'd better lock up Mom too. Because she's beautiful and knows how to tie too!" Awww, that's sweet!

But, unfortunately, her ability to tie is not the reason we'd like to lock her up. It's so difficult to protect girls in this day and age. I recently read that 40% of girls aged 9-10 years old have tried to lose weight!** 40%!!! I have a 10 year old. And I can't imagine him being concerned about something like weight. And yet, many girls his age are. I find it just incredible that girls are getting the message from adults, TV, ads, magazines, etc. that they must look a certain way and act a certain way to be noticed. Yes, in this culture, I'd love to keep my daughter sheltered. Wouldn't you?

As much as I try though, things will seep through my barriers and my innocent girl will see them. So, my biggest weapon is prayer. Prayer that I can be a vigilant mother and prayer that my children will not be affected by the unwholesome things they do occasionally see or experience. Prayer that the things I am teaching them from God's word will have more of an impact than the things that they encounter when accosted by a friend or a ronchy bilboard. Yup, this should drive me to my knees.

** Taken from Dr. James Dobson's book Bringing Up Girls

The Clock is Ticking

2010-10-12T14:14:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking about the statement that I heard most often as we began homeschooling a year ago. "Ali, you are giving up your life!"

Oh how I agreed with that statement. I felt that all my dreams and desires were being cast aside for the greater good. Or at least what I hoped would be the greater good. My dream of sending the kids off to school and then sitting in a sunny spot with a cup of coffee and my Bible in a quiet room was no longer something that would happen. I would never have a wonderfully clean house and time for friends to come over for a visit during the day.

Instead, my priorities and dreams have had to shift. But I don't consider this a bad thing.

Voddie Baucham's book, Family Driven Faith, has this wonderful quote: "Time is precious, and you only get one chance to raise your children. They are only young once, and they are only in your home for a short while. Once they are born the clock starts ticking, and there is nothing you can do to stop it or slow it down. Your only hope is to make the most of the time you have." I have to agree with Voddie. I can already see how quickly my children are growing up and how ridiculously fast the hours, days, months and years rush by.

So, as a parent, what is to be our priority? Here's what the Bible says in Deutoronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

This comes just after the 10 commandments are given. So, we are to be teaching our children about the Lord and how to love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. That sounds like a full time job to me!

Now, I'm not trying to advocate for homeschooling. I think each family has to decide what is best for their children and for their family. However, this should have serious application for our family life in general and our home life specifically. What are you doing to teach these things to your children? Beyond sending them to church or AWANA? Did you know that the majority of kids brought up in the church will leave it by the time they are teens?! That means that the Church itself is not the answer. You, parent, are the one who must teach and train your children!

So, as I consider my life and look at my priorities, I must continually be asking myself if what I am doing lines up with this mandate from Deuteronomy 6. And if it doesn't, perhaps my priorities and dreams are not the best they could be. We'll all have time once our kids leave the nest. Right now, we have a short time to mold and train our children. And so I ask myself, "How can I best do this?" For me, the asnwer comes in homeschooling, family devotions, relinquishing activities that are just schedule fillers, realizing my potential as a mother by teaching my children what is most important. These are all really hard decisions to make. But will they pay off? You betcha! For there is truly no greater privilege than raising children who love the Lord. What changes do you need to make?

Marching in the Infurry

2010-10-08T10:58:00.003-05:00

For posterity's sake, I wanted to record my son's favorite song and how he sings it. Normally when we sing this song, he belts it out at the top of his lungs and brings smiles to all around:

The Lord's Army:

I may never march in the infurry
Ride in the calorie
Shoot the atillilly
I may never zoom o the enemy
But I'm in the Lord's army (Yes sir!)

Oh how I love kid speak! I just don't have the heart to correct it. :)

Humble Pie

2010-10-05T14:00:00.003-05:00

We have a good friend who works at our local Christian radio station. We love to hear her cheerful voice on the radio and always listen in when Ann is speaking.

So today, as we piled in the car and drove from guitar lesson to the grocery store, we turned up the radio and let Ann's voice fill our car.

I was particularly interested in what she was saying. She was relating to listeners a story about how her oldest child had once showed his anger by sitting outside and refusing to come in for dinner or bedtime. Of couse, as we all know, toddlers rarely stay angry for long and are often ruled by their stomachs. So the errant child quickly came in and resolved his differences with mom.

But then Ann began to share about a friend who's son showed some of the same tendencies and decided to nonverbally declare his opinion. I know several of Ann's friends and figured I might know who she was talking about. But even if I didn't, I still was anxious to hear about this stubborn child and to feel a little less lonely in my own struggle with stubborn children.

As Ann told the story, I listened carefully, waiting to have a good chuckle. She described a little boy who was angry with his mom. A little boy who chose to show his anger by ... PEEING on his mother! {Gasp!!!}

Imagine my shock!

It wasn't shock over what you think. Yes, it's horrible that a child would willfully pee on their parent to vent some anger. But my shock was that it was MY child that Ann was referring to!!!

You see, a year or so ago, just after potty training our youngest, he went through a (thankfully) very short phase of peeing on me when he was angry. You could actually see his body tense up as he forced himself to empty his bladder. Yes, you could see it coming, but never be quick enough to escape it. And I was the only lucky beneficiary of said behavior. Yuck.

I had a hearty laugh as I remembered that particular streak of subbornness in my child. And I had a bit of humility forced upon me as well. Here I was, all ready to laugh at someone else's expense, and instead the tables are turned. At least I'm glad people are enjoying the struggles I've gone through in raising this particularly ornery child! Oh my, how he enriches my life!

So thanks Ann, for the reminder of something that I really shouldn't forget (I'll make sure he knows that he deserves every ornery act that his children someday dish out!), and for the laugh from days gone by.

If you make a mom a bookcase ...

2010-10-05T06:14:00.005-05:00

If you make a mom a bookcase ...
She'll need to clear a space for it.

And if she needs to clear a space for it ...
She'll realize the carpet looks dingy.

If she realizes the carpet looks dingy ...
She will have to clean the carpet.

And if she's cleaning one carpet ...
She might as well clean them all!

If the carpets are going to get cleaned ...
The walls should be washed.

If the walls are getting washed ...
The dusting should be done.

To accomplish the dusting ...
The clutter must be decluttered.

For the clutter to vanish ...
Mom will need a new bookcase.

Happy fall cleaning week to us! (And thanks, honey, for the bookcase.)

Pumpkin Goodness!

2010-10-02T21:24:00.006-05:00

It's pumpkin season and I've decided to try cooking and freezing my own pumpkins this year. It adds such richness to any pumpkin recipe to have it fresh instead of using the canned stuff.

To cook a pumpkin:
1. Buy pie or cooking pumpkins. These are generally smaller and can be found at veggie stands and in some grocery stores.
2. Slice the pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds.

3. Place the pumpkin halves peel-side up in a baking dish and add about a 1/2 inch of water.
4. Cook the pumpkin in the oven at 450 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Once out of the oven, scoop the meat out of the pumpkin and place in a blender or food processor.
6. Blend until smooth.
7. Pumpkin freezes well or can be kept in the fridge for about 5 days. {I had planned to can pumpkin, but read that it's not recommended since pumpkin has a lower acidity level and bacteria can grow even after canning. However, I'm not 100% certain on that, so do your own research!}

I've had several people request the recipe I use for pumpkin cookies, so here it is. This is a recipe from Josh's Grandma and is a favorite amongst all Brumbaugh men!

Pumpkin Cookies:
1C shortening
1C pumpkin
1C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream these first five ingredients together until smooth.

Add:
2C flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. These should come out soft!

Once the cookies are cooled, make the frosting.
Frosting:
3 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp milk
1/2C brown sugar

Boil these three for two minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Then add 1C powdered sugar.

This should be slightly runny - not like normal frosting. Frost cookies and enjoy!

Of course, no pumpkin blog would be complete without a great pumpkin soup recipe. This soup really gets it's greatness from using fresh pumpkin, so if you have it on hand, I highly recommend it!

Creamy Pumpkin Soup: (Serves 8) prep: 10 min Cook: 20 min.
Ingredients:
1 ½ Medium Onion Chopped 3 Cans Chicken Broth
3 Tablespoons Butter 2 ½ Cups Sliced Peeled Potatoes
2 ½ Cups Canned Cooked Pumpkin 2 ½ Cups Milk
¾ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg ¾ Teaspoon Salt
¼ Teaspoon Pepper 1 ½ Cups Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Parsley 4 Bacon Strips, cooked & crumbled

In a large saucepan, sauté onion in butter until tender.
Add the broth, potatoes and pumpkin; cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat; cool.
Puree half of the mixture at a time in a blender or food processor until smooth; return all to the pan.
Add the milk nutmeg, salt and pepper; heat through.
Meanwhile, combine the sour cream and parsley.
Spoon soup into bowls; top each with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with bacon.

Happy Pumpkin Eating!!!

Versatile Blogger Award!

2010-09-27T19:54:00.006-05:00

A dear friend of mine, Kristi, recently awarded me and some other ladies with the "Versatile Blog" award. It was a shocker and I'm pleased to accept the award and pass it on to a few other deserving bloggers. It's nice to be noticed, and I hope you'll take the time to look up these other great blogs. There are a few rules about accepting the award.

#1 If you had to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

I would have learned how to cook before getting married. I'm sure my mom tried to show me how, but I really had no interest and am not sure I ever made a whole meal before getting married. Thankfully, my husband is patient and has taught me much in the kitchen!

#2 Choose four people for this award and then inform them of the nomination.

Amy: I love that Amy shares honestly about her life as a mom and wife. She is also faithful to share the things God has been teaching her and I love to learn through her experiences.

Nancy: a beautifully written, insightful blog about life and lessons learned along the way.

Melissa: recognizes the beauty in people of all types. Melissa is a high school special education teacher and always has a way to be thankful for whatever comes her way.

Missy: I don't know this blogger in real life, but her blog is hilarious and makes me laugh almost daily! Missy writes incredibly well and you'll enjoy her humor and candor.

#3 Say thank you to the person who awarded you.

Thanks Kristi! I have missed spending time with you since we moved, but love to keep up with you through your blog. You have such creative ideas and you inspire me to enjoy motherhood to the fullest!

#4 Share seven things about yourself.

1. I make the bed every single night before getting in. Even if it is just before I crawl into bed - and even if I have to kick my husband out of it to straighten the covers before I crawl in.

2. Since my birthday is on Christmas day, I always end up cooking a huge meal for everyone. To be precise, I always cook a standing rib roast with yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, corn, applesauce, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top! A good birthday dinner, but a lot of work!

3. My dream job as a child was to be a wife and mother. I am living the dream.

4. Can honestly say that my husband is my absolute favorite person in the world, my best friend and my pastor.

5. I NEVER wanted to be a homeschooler, but now think it's one of the best decisions we've ever made. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

6. I really don't mind most housework, but I loathe cleaning the bathrooms. That's the first chore I trained my children to do!

7. My husband and I paid for a hot air balloon ride 18 months ago and have yet to get in the air. I'm beginning to wonder if we ever will.

A special day!!

2010-09-13T14:27:00.003-05:00

My sweet girl was baptized yesterday. Can I just say that I am one proud Mama?!!

This is not new territory to me. Both of my older boys have confessed Jesus as Lord and were baptized. In fact, our oldest was my husband's very first baptism in our church.

But each time there is something different and special. This time there were several hi-lights for me. I loved walking into church with Abby's hand in mine. I asked if she was excited and she replied, "I'm even more excited than you are!" Which is as it should be. My heart thrilled as I got her into the baptism robe and watched her dance around with the other two children getting baptized. It was a blessing to see a man that we love take both of the girls on his lap and let them muss his hair, play with his face and generally get their giggles out as they waited for the appointed time.

But, without a shadow of a doubt, the most special moment is this:

Seeing my amazing husband accept the privilege of baptizing our only daughter. To see the fruit of his diligence in training and teaching our children. And to see our daughter understand her need of a Savior and to trust Jesus with her life. Yes, this Mama is pretty ecstatic. I couldn't ask for better validation in this mothering career!

Freckled Feet

2010-08-21T19:37:00.004-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that my husband has a zany imagination? I mean off the wall, nutty stuff comes out of his head sometimes! During our dating years, we always spent the summers apart while I worked at a camp in Massachusetts and he went home to Ohio for various jobs. While separated the letters and phone calls would fly back and forth. But I loved the letters! So often they were silly drawings or tapes of him reading books to me or completely random letters filled with ridiculous things.

Occasionally I still get letters from him that bring out his silly side. But more often than not we are more serious now that we're parents and have the weight of responsibility on our shoulders.

But just recently, he has started to pass on his quirky imagination to our children. Every week or so, as we sit around the dinner table, he will begin a sentence. Perhaps something as simple as, "Billy went with his mom to the barber shop on Saturday. When they entered the shop, Billy was astonished to see ..." and then he'll look at the child to his right and let them fill in the blank. He plays the part of the narrator while we all take turns filling in the blanks with silly and often ridiculous phrases.

We laugh and giggle and snort and snicker as the story gets wilder and wilder. And before we are ready the story is done. But what I love is that my man has used his own funny imagination to teach our kids to use theirs all while having a fun family time.

Our latest story was about a Buckeye nut and a lonely letter in a mailbox. The letter had large freckled feet! Of all things. But, that's what my sweet girl came up with. She is her Daddy's girl. And now, whenever we need a laugh, we mention the freckled feet and the whole family bursts out laughing.

A good imagination is a sad thing to waste! If you've been blessed with one, use it!

A late night with a hot date!

2010-08-18T21:31:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's almost been a month since my last post. I keep thinking about blogging, but there is just too much to write! I can't seem to get my mind to settle on any one thing.

So, I'll start out with a fun time I recently had with my beloved. After VBS finished (see future posts), I got really sick. Apparently I was run down - which really shouldn't surprise those of you who have seen how I tend to throw myself into projects. Anyway, I got sick just as my two older boys left for a week at Grandma's. That was Friday night. Finally on Wednesday, I had my first day without a fever. Little did I know that my sweet husband had planned a surprise date for us!

Our little ones were headed over to the other grandparents for a sleepover - which left Josh and I with actual date time on our hands! So, on Wednesday morning, I naturally posed the question, "What are we going to do tonight?" To which he replied, "Oh. You and the kids need to be ready at 2:15. We're dropping them off and going someplace special. Wear sneakers." Hmm. Cryptic message! I tried asking a zillion more questions to no avail. He was not budging and I was completely in the dark about our "special date".

So, at 2:15, we dropped off the kids and headed out of town. Except we didn't go the direction I expected. I thought perhaps we were going to play golf or disc golf. Or perhaps hiking. I was slightly concerned because after being sick for so long I had very little stamina and very little nourishment inside of me. Wearing sneakers made me fear that he had ambitious plans! But, as we drove east and south, I realized we were not going to any place I had imagined. And as we crossed the state line, I really began to wonder what was up.

Eventually I figured out that we were headed to Chicago. Wow! A really big date!!! But still, my sweet man would not tell me what the plans were. We arrived after about three hours in the car and rushed to Millenium Park. Once there, I found that we were just in time for the concert in the park. Now, my man knows that I grew up going to classical concerts and really miss them. I feel like I listen to lots of church music and lots of kid music, but rarely get to enjoy the classical music that is near and dear to my heart. So, this man who knows every little thing about me planned and schemed to bring me to a classical concert all the way in Chicago!

After sitting and enjoying the concert - did I mention that we unkowingly sat in donor seats and consequently had an EXCELLENT view - we decided to walk around the city a bit. Most shops were closing by that time, so we didn't do any shopping, but just walked around the city and talked. What a wonderful, unfettered few hours! Finally around 10pm we stopped to eat dinner. The food was okay, but the company was great.

Eventually we hopped back in the car and headed for home. Our drive took much longer than expected because of construction and we didn't get home until quarter to three in the morning! Good gracious! When was the last time I went on a date and didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning?!! I can't even remember.

So here's to my brilliant husband - who after 11 years of marriage can still surprise me and knock my socks off! Thanks, love!!

Swollen lips and bellies

2010-07-29T15:53:00.002-05:00

Today my heart breaks for my children. Its been a tough week already. I'm very busy with VBS preparations and have had meetings each night this week. Beyond that, we're back to a full week of school and are pushing to get everything done. But today was the kicker.

After getting some school done, I sent the kids outside to play for a bit. They began playing with a neighbor boy who constantly practices his baseball skills. Needless to say, he's got quite a swing. We know this because we find balls way on the other side of our yard pretty frequently after he's been practicing. Today he had a stick and used it to swing at a bee as if swinging at a baseball. Unfortunately, he missed the bee and got Zack instead. I'm so thankful that Zack saw it coming and turned slightly, because he has a huge welt across his middle, but the hit missed his ribs by about a 1/2 inch! Knowing our neighbor's swing, he could have easily broken a few of those precious ribs! We've been monitoring Zack carefully and I think he's fine with no internal damage. Praise the Lord!

But then, while I was out today, Abby got stung on the lip by a bee. Of course, the pain was horrendous and has made her sick to her stomach now three times. Her lip is GIGANTIC!

I feel so bad for her. We called the doctor, but they said that unless she has trouble breathing, just to keep ice on it and give her benadryl if she needs it. Hmph. That doesn't seem enough in my opinion.

So, I think we're staying in for the rest of the day. It doesn't seem to be a safe day to go outside.

Remember who you are

2010-07-24T20:54:00.003-05:00

Parents seem to always have little gems of wisdom to impart to their children at just the right moment. My husband's mother always says, "Don't forget!" as her children depart from her presence. It means, "Don't forget I love you", but was shortened to "Don't forget" so that her teens would know what she was saying without being embarrassed in front of their friends.

As we are entering into the world of preteen, I've been contemplating what I can say to our children that will have a lasting impact even when they are out of my presence. I want to impart some important words. If it's the last thing I say to them, what should it be?

My Dad always said the same words to me throughout junior high and high school. Every time he dropped me off at a dance, a friend's house, a music or sport practice or even for youth group, he'd say, "Remember who you are". At the time, I thought I knew what he meant. "Remember who you are". You are a member of our family. What you do and say and the choices you make reflect directly on our family. At least that's what my teen mind heard.

As I have matured in wisdom over the years (ha!), I've come to realize that I completely misunderstood what my Dad was trying to tell me. He wasn't admonishing me to keep the family name squeaky clean. He was reminding me to remember who I am in Christ. He was reminding me to keep my focus on what, or rather WHO, I stand for. To keep my eyes pinned on the One who made me and saved me and not to get caught up in what my friends were doing. Pretty good wisdom to impart to your child as they leave your protection.

So, here I sit, wondering what I should be saying to my kids each time they leave my reach. I don't have the words yet, but I'm sure they'll come. Until then, let me admonish you ... Remember who you are and Don't forget!

A Tribute to my Sister

2010-07-10T06:58:00.007-05:00

I'm writing this entry simply for the purpose of providing a laugh for my sister. It was her birthday yesterday and while I'd love to share the backstories behind all of these one-liners, there simply isn't space or time. So happy birthday, Sis, and I hope you enjoy this walk through memory lane! These are in no particular order. And I apologize for the large amounts of space after some pictures. That's just how they scanned in.

~ bumpy, striped pink wallpaper with giant flowers!

~ you arriving home from college with Jim's class ring on a chain around your neck and a dreamy look in your eyes at ALL times.
~ Red, Red Wine and I Just Called to Say I Love You - the first "rock" songs I knew courtesy of you.
~ the way your rug in junior high and high school always had coins stuck in it. It was a shag rug and I always knew where to go to find some extra cash! (I don't think I've ever told you that!!!)
~ the day you got special horse riding clothes - complete with the hat!
~ you and Holly playing dress up with me as the doll. Lets not go into details - I'm still scarred by the memory.
~ getting letters from you while you were in college. You've always been the one who's good at that!
~ you and your friends jumping off the top bunk onto a beanbag.
~ Jaws the mouse and Jasper the parakeet
~ you helping me write my very first love note/card complete with bubble writing and a fancy sticker!
~ playing in the playhouse that Grampy made for us.
~ watching you sneak into the house in summertime to watch a soap opera and almost daring to tattle so that mom would put on something we could both watch. Although, somehow I knew that idea wouldn't quite work out in favor of either of us!
~ the kartwheel that knocked out my bottom two teeth!
~ the cruise in Hawaii when everyone asked for pictures with the fair skinned, blue eyed girls. We felt like celebrities!

~ the license plate of your first car - I still remember it!
~ the fear I felt when I heard you'd crashed that car.
~ you playing with baby David on the floor when I was sick with the stomach flu and Josh was away.
~ hearing your laughter as you tell funny stories about your boys
~ going to the Dairy Bar at UConn as kids
~ sleepovers in your room on Christmas eve and your strict rule that I could not wake you up until 7am. I broke that rule every year!
~ giggling together until late at night during those sleepovers.
~ the youth group New Years Eve overnight at 49.
~ one of your birthday parties (I think you were 10) when everyone got a punch balloon! I had just had a shot in the butt that day and couldn't even sit down for your party.
~ your beautiful voice raised in song with three others at PCC.
~ napkin fights between you, me and Dad
~ matching sweaters for Christmas from Gail. Gorgeous sweaters!

~ many matching clothes made for us by mom.
~ you explaining to me about the birds and the bees at Grampy's house. And I didn't believe you!!
~ special luncheons at the Manchester house
~ how beautiful you looked on your wedding day!

~ getting baptized together
~ how much you remind me of Nana with your passion for cooking
~ going over to Nana and Papa's to play cards, eat sandwiches with the crust cut off or ravioli and drink iced tea with about a pound of sugar in it, and snagging candy out of the soup bowl! Oh, and I particularly remember that Nana kept a jar of double stuffed oreos just for you!
~ our time in Vienna with the Grissen kids and no parents for several days. What fun that was!
~ going to a craft fair together just after I got married. The woman at the gate sold us one adult and one child ticket. Guess who was mistaken for the child?!!!
~ Fluffenutter and PeanutButter the lop-eared bunnies
~ the beach ... searching for shells, swimming, building castles and throwing mud.
~ your love of all things nature

These are just a few. If I think longer, the list will never end! We've had some great times together and I look forward to many more over the years. Happy birthday, Christy! I love you! And may this year be full of wonderful memories with your own sweet family!

To my sweet children ...

2010-07-08T15:05:00.003-05:00

Kiddos,

I'm sorry if I scared you today. It's not often that you see me cry. Although, I don't mind if you do. But today, you couldn't see me and you just heard my heartache. I know you were worried and I'm so thankful that you care so much for me!

Not to worry, Mom's gonna be fine. I've just been dealing with this fever for days and finally hit my breaking point. I want so much to be up and caring for you all and for Dad. I want to play with you. I want to watch the older boys play soccer before camp is over. I want to do fun things with the younger two while the older two are out. I want to enjoy this last week of no school before we start back in next week. But, I'm sick and can't do those things. And you've been so sweet and so forgiving.

But my loves, I hope you are learning a lesson while I am sick. I hope you are watching your Daddy closely and seeing what a great man he is! Boys, take note of how tenderly he cares for me. Watch how he patiently waits for me to communicate my needs and how selflessly he gives of his time and energy to serve me. Learn now so that when you have a wife you can care for her in such a way. Such a woman will be truly blessed!

My sweet girl, long for a man who will treat you like Daddy treats me. You'll never find a perfect man, but don't settle for someone who won't allow you to flourish and grow. Find someone who appreciates your strengths and doesn't belittle you for your weaknesses. A man who will stick with you during your ugly moments - both on the inside and out! A man who will pray for you and with you.

My children, I can't stand to be sick and unable to care for you. But if I must, I hope that you learn what a man can be by watching Dad. You can know that he loves you because he cares so well for me.

Duking it out ... one blow at a time!

2010-07-03T22:17:00.004-05:00

Best moment of the day:

Yup. That's my husband and oldest son duking it out in the jousting bounce house at the park today. Hilarious!

Surface clean or deep clean?

2010-07-02T21:55:00.002-05:00

Ever feel like you've been cleaning house forever?? Like you've been working your tushy off and the house should be spotless?

I spent much of the week working on switching furniture around, reorganizing, and ridding ourselves of some unnecessary junk. Which made me feel like my house should be pretty clean by now!

All it takes is one visitor for you to realize that your house really isn't all that great though. My sister flew into town today, and although we had scurried around trying to clean things up before she came, I realized afresh after she arrived how much dirt was beneath the surface. I knew we had a few piles here and there, but was actually embarrassed when she picked up a picture frame to look a little closer and had to wipe away the dust. Whoops. Forgot to dust.

As I looked closely at my house, I realized I hadn't mopped the floor. There are pencil marks on the walls and I missed wiping the counter behind the toaster where the crumbs tend to fall.

I know myself well. I'll never have a perfect house. And that's fine with me. But as I sit here tonight and take stock of the state of my house, I can't help but realize that I should be taking stock of my life too.

It's easy for me to surface clean my life. It's easy to act nicely in public, to say the appropriate things and even to do good works. But what dirt is lurking under the surface? Greed, anger, self-love? If I truly want to "clean house" in my life, I can't just look at the surface level. Because I have a permanent guest in my home - the Lord Jesus Christ. And He sees the dirt. All of it. I can't hide it from him and neither does He allow me to really forget that it's there. I'm thankful that He forgives me for the dirt (sin) in my house (life), but knowing that I am forgiven should not be an excuse to leave the dirt. It should spur me on to clean up.

So tonight as I look at my house and at my life, I ask myself, where should I start? What is the dirtiest place? And I pray that I'll have eyes to see what needs to be cleaned.

Mr. Sandman ... please visit me!

2010-07-01T21:22:00.002-05:00

There's just nothing that beats the comfort of your own bed at night. Even the thrill of sleeping under the stars can't compare.

We thought our kids would love a night of camping out in the backyard during our vacation week. So, today we dragged out the tent, set it up and let the kids played in it all afternoon. Tonight we cleaned it out, set up the sleeping bags and prepared for a fun night outside. Except that mom and dad were not sleeping outdoors with them. Josh went out to sit in the tent until they fell asleep, but after only 1 hour in traipsed all four children declaring that they "just wanted to sleep in bed tonight".

I guess we all love our comforts, don't we. I certainly have no desire to trade my bed for a sleeping bag on the cold ground! And I've got some smart kids who feel the same way.

Contented Longing

2010-06-29T16:31:00.021-05:00

I titled this entry "contented longing" because this was the week we were to have gone to family camp. This was a week that I had been waiting and longing for for over 10 years. However, we are not at camp this week. As I mentioned before, we canceled our vacation in order to save for a new roof. And, while I am missing out on a great week at family camp, I am fully enjoying a stay-cation at home. I have chosen to rejoice in the fun times with the kids here in Wisconsin and to enjoy every moment. I'm working hard and accomplishing things that have been on my to-do list for far too long. I'm enjoying my children and my husband and relishing experiences that we wouldn't normally have time to try.

But, since this was supposed to be our time at Lakeside, I have found myself often thinking of fond memories from my years there. So, I am dedicating this blog to the many, many (really too many to count) wonderful memories from my summers at LCC. And since I don't want to go through the effort of dredging up pictures from my early childhood years, I'll just include some here from the years I worked on staff.

Here's a smattering of my favorites:
Mud Diving

The two friends who grew up at camp with me and who I had hoped to spend time with this week:

Counselor Hunt!

Staff Bonding through Funk Bowling, hiking, camping, Ben and Jerry's, lakings and other such nonsense! :)

The July 4th Parade that we snuck into year after year:

Weekly, outrageous skits

Craft Shack Craziness

Getting to know a cabin full of girls each week through their silliness and questions. And especially leading devotions with them and witnessing the birth of new life.

And of course, this wouldn't be complete without a picture that captures the peace of Lakeside. It is still a place I consider home.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2010-06-28T22:32:00.007-05:00

Tonight marks the first night of our second week of vacation. We spent our first week traveling to see family and celebrating my brother's wedding. More on that to come later.

But tonight we began our second week which is a week at home to save money for our new roof. To make it more than just a "stay at home and get as much work done as you can" week, we've planned several fun activities. Our first was to go to a minor league baseball game.

This evening we headed out to watch the Beloit Snappers take on a team from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Now, here's the awesome part: We found a great deal that allowed us to pay $11 per ticket and with each ticket we received a hot dog, large drink, box of popcorn and a great quality baseball cap.

Not only that, but because we arrived early, we were signed up for our three oldest to participate in some of the games out on the field between innings. Between them, they not only had tons of fun, but also won 4 free tickets to another game!

Plus we also won a free car wash. Since Gabe wasn't able to go out on the field, we made sure that he got a little alone time with Snappy the Turtle.

Part of the fun of this night was that the game was pretty sparsely attended - which allowed our kids to romp and play as needed. And as I watched my kids enjoying the game, I realized that the trip to this game of a sport I really don't care for was well worth my time and money. Oh, and did I mention that I got to sit next to Josh the whole time? Sappy, I know, but it's the little things in life, right?

After we left the game, we decided to stop for a dessert of candy bars at the local gas station. Once each child had chosen their preferred treat, we bounded over to the counter to pay. The gas station attendant looked at me and said, "Are you really going to give your kids candy just before bed? You must be crazy!" And I thought to myself, "Yes, I may be crazy. But the squeals of joy and the shouts of delight are well worth my moments of insanity."

And so begins our vacation!

Eyes to See

2010-06-18T21:15:00.005-05:00

Tonight I am thankful for my eyes. Because I got to see some pretty cool stuff.

We decided that since tonight marked the beginning of a two week vacation from school, we should go out for a special dinner. Well, that and it was raining, so the planned grilling wasn't going to work. After several minutes of waffling back and forth, we finally decided on the Quaker Steak and Lube. Let me tell ya ... if you have one of these restaurants near you and haven't yet been, you are MISSING OUT!! Josh and I began going to the Lube when we were dating in Pennsylvania and were so excited to find one nearby here in Wisconsin.

The Lube is a special place because it not only has awesome wings and ribs, but it also has cars and motorcycles hanging from the ceiling and the kids meals come in little cardboard cars that they can then take home. It is the perfect place for a fun family dinner.

Tonight at the Lube, my heart swelled with pride as we ate. For the very first time, Josh ordered a bucket of wings to share with his son. It's the first time one of the kids has wanted an adult meal at a restaurant - and something that Dad would like to eat as well! So, here's the scene that I watched as we all enjoyed our food:

On the way home from that wonderful dining experience, we witnessed some of God's incredible handiwork. As we drove through the pouring rain, we witnessed this beautiful sight.

If you look closely, you can see that it's actually a double rainbow! And this was no ordinary rainbow. Not only was it a double, but it also stretched completely across the sky so that we could see both sides and the top arch. Incredible!

As we looked behind us to see the sunset, we were astounded to see this gorgeous view!

This picture really doesn't do it justice, but the sky was a bright gold (in the midst of the rain, don't forget) with flecks of orange. One of the most breath-taking sunsets I've seen in recent years. (And we see them every day from our back deck.)

So tonight, I'm thanking God for the gift of sight. Because without these eyes - and especially without my trusty glasses - I wouldn't have seen these views. If you haven't been noticing the splendor around you, open your eyes! It would be a shame to miss sights such as these.

{Sorry for the quality of the pictures. These were taken with our phones.}

An interesting to-do

2010-06-17T16:24:00.003-05:00

I had an odd thing happen today. I was driving to a neighboring town to do some shopping and to stop at the library. As I got off the main highway and headed toward the library, I realized that a cop was following me. At least I thought it was a cop. The car was unmarked, but to be safe, I drove very carefully and with the speed limit.

Just as I pulled into the downtown area the police man put on his lights and pulled me over! I couldn't imagine what I had been doing wrong, but I slowly pulled to the curb and began getting out my license as I waited for him to approach my car. It seemed to take FOREVER for him to finally get to my window and during that excruciating wait I catalogued every reason I could think of for why he might have pulled me over.

When he got to my window, he said, "Ma'am, have you been driving from Evansville?" Why yes, I had been! What does that have to do with anything?! Then he said the most ridiculous thing. He told me that someone had phoned in about a light brown car that was driving erratically. I couldn't imagine why someone would call in about my driving, but I just listened as he continued. "The driver of the car passed another car and then went into the ditch. Was that you?"

Well, goodness. First of all, if I had driven into a ditch, I wouldn't be all the way into the other town. I'd either be still sitting in the ditch waiting for Josh to come and get me, or if I had gotten out on my own, I would have driven home, shaking all the way! But of course, I didn't launch into this explanation to the policeman. All I said was, "I didn't pass anyone on the way here."

That seemed good enough for him. He said that he'd been watching my driving for some time and didn't feel that anything was wrong with me (thanks for the vote of confidence) and that my license plate didn't actually match the one that was called in anyway (so why pull me over in the first place?). So, after wishing me a good day, he strode back to his car and I took off.

I couldn't remember if you are supposed to let the cop pull out first or if you can go ahead and leave. Either way, I left first and was then left kicking myself because it caused him to once again be following me. Needless to say I rid myself of him as soon as I could!

The Ants Come Marching ...

2010-06-15T06:56:00.002-05:00

Yuck. It has happened again. The ants have found our kitchen.

This time I think they were driven in by all the rain we've been getting. But who am I kidding? They find us every summer. And it's always the same. They begin on the kitchen floor, then spread to the counters, then move to other parts of the house despite our spraying in and around the house. It's the itty bitty, teeny weeny ants that you can hardly see and that leave you feeling like they are all over you. Blech!

I really hate this particular part of summer. And to tell you the truth, I've been dreading it for several weeks now. Knowing it was coming, but not knowing when.

But, I'm trying to find a bright side, and I think I finally have. The bright side is that I'm in the house all the time. The ants may be here for a bit. And yes, they are ridiculously annoying. But, I only have to deal with the bugs for a short time each year. Otherwise, aside from an occasional spider, I have a relatively bug-free home. What a wonderful thing!

I really, really don't like bugs, so this is something that I need to take a moment and give thanks for. I don't live outside, I don't have dirt floors or dirt walls. I don't have critters vying for my bed each night.

We've been reading the Little House on the Prarie books and I love how Laura describes her life in such detail. But she leaves out something that my imagination cannot let go of ... the bugs. I'm sure that in their little house or when they slept in the wagon there were bugs everywhere! I actually think about that as I read the book! And here I am complaining about a few little ants that will eventually be gone - hopefully soon.

So, I'm choosing to thank God for our wonderful house, our shelter from the rain, the wind and the bugs. And even when I have to kill the 197th ant, I will again remind myself to be thankful.

Unexpected Growth

2010-06-14T18:18:00.004-05:00

We've been working on our garden for quite some time now. And because we are now homeschooling, we're also using it to go along with our current science unit. To provide even more variety for study, we pulled the kernels off of some Indian Corn that we had from the fall and decided to plant a row of it in the garden.

Only, we ran into a little bit of a problem when the kids knocked over the frisbee we were carrying the corn in on our way to the garden. After picking up what we could, we figured the rest would just be eaten by the birds and forgot all about it.

Until the corn began to sprout in the middle of our yard! Here's what we now have to mow over every week. It's amazing how unexpectedly and quickly that corn shot up!

When I look at that corn, so out of place, it makes me think of my own place in this world. The Bible says that we are to be in the world but not of it. Much like how that corn was growing amongst the grass, but was not actually grass.

Sometimes as believers we feel like we have to be telling people about our faith all the time. And while that is definitely something we should do when the opportunity arises, we also need to remember that just living our lives differently from those around us is an incredible witness.

I'm always amazed when acquaintances and friends who have such different beliefs come and want to talk when the chips are down. I'm shocked when someone says they envy the security I have in Christ. Sometimes it is so easy to forget that just living the faith can make a huge impression on those around you.

Think of the corn. It's green just like the grass. It's growing in the same place as the grass. It's a plant just like the grass. And yet, it's different. It grows a little differently, reaches higher, and produces edible food. In the same way, believers typically look just the same as those around them. They live in the same areas as everyone else and often their lives parallel the lives of unbelievers in many ways. And yet, there is a difference. They have the light of Christ beaming out of them. They place their hope in someone different - someone who won't let them down - and they are hopefully producing fruit.

This corn has been a good reminder for me. A reminder that although I spend the majority of my days at home teaching my children and rarely have time to just hang out with others, my life speaks for itself. My priorities and responses and purpose are different than those of many in this town. God can use me and grow me ... even in a field filled with a different crop.