Note

I edited the previous post as I did not like the copy that posted. Originally I wrote it and set it to post at a later date with the intention of editing it first. Then my day got busy, and then the power went out (a transformer blew or something), so I edited it (for good or ill) this morning - a small reminder that God is in control and not me!

And a few more reminders...

For a few weeks Mark has been teaching on the Book of Job and the weirdest string of things have been happening to us starting with both of our cars having mechanical problems (one is unfixable), and then Mark's brother being diagnosed with cancer, and then Bethany blowing something up in the microwave so it is almost unusable, and our phone/internet connection going down for two days (a cut cable or something), and yesterday the power going out (it wasn't raining or anything), and the list goes on. As my mother would say, "If I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying!" Oh, and this morning I walked into the children's bathroom (upstairs) and found dead flying ants all over the place. Ah well, at least they were dead and in the bathroom and not in the children's bedrooms or worse their beds!

Lately I've found myself thanking God that only "little" (with the exception of Mark's brother's situation) aggravating things have happened and begging Him to keep it that way! Thoughts of Job make me thankful for little problems...although, of course, none at all would be better still.

Yet in the midst of the craziness God is constant and He does give His gifts - little reminders of His love - because yesterday as I was leaving the house to go somewhere I saw a full rainbow and I saw it several times as I drove away.

It's the simple things.

God's blessings in the midst.

Thankful for...

13. Rainbows
14. Children
15. Routines
16. Cool weather
17. Pumpkins
18. God, Mark and the children putting up with my attitudes.
19. Grace
20. Ben saying, "uh-huh"
21. My husband not allowing me to be foolish.
22. Green Tea
23. Friday coming home
24. Caleb praying
25. Women who come to church alone on Sunday morning with children in tow. (You are my heroes!)

Of Words and Tomatoes

1. So this morning I’m driving to church (Mark and I drove separately) and I am listening to the A Collision CD by David Crowder Band and I have the volume turned up rather high to override all the noise coming from the back of the van. I’m driving along and there is this pause of sorts after one of the songs (it is an odd CD in that there are quiet intervals between some of the songs) and during the pause a little three year old voice pipes up from the back of the van, “Turn it up! Turn it up!”

Grin.

So I did. Here are the words to Our Happy Home

Hallelujah, we are on our way. Hallelujah, we are on our way to God. From Egypt lately come, where death and darkness reign to seek our new, our better home where we our rest shall gain. There sin and sorrow cease and every conflicts o’er. There we shall dwell in endless peace and never hunger more. Jerusalem, our happy home. Would God I were in Thee. Would God my woes were at an end, Thy joy that I might see.

…There love in every bosom reigns for God Himself is King. – Our Happy Home/ David Crowder Band (remake of an anonymous folk hymn, from 1616)

(Can’t you see them…Moses leading the Israelites into the desert...stone tablets crashing to the ground…and there is Joshua leading the way…over the Jordan yet again…there is Jericho, time to march and blow their horns, walls are tumbling down…this tribe take this land, that tribe take that land, we will settle here. Our happy home...filled with bloodshed…and forgetfulness.

And we are still there waiting…waiting for the New Jerusalem “our happy home”. Would God we were in Thee.)

Sorry to digress.

2. Since I’ve been home from church Bess has not stopped talking to me. I’m really starting to feel sorry for her husband to be...

And I’m really starting to feel sorry for myself. Every other word is followed by, “Mom, talk.” This after I’ve already responded 5 million times to the same question. My brain is in shut down mode.

I really have to work on this or I will soon be crazy.

3. Recently the children and I planted a few tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, zucchini, and strawberries. Our annual attempt at container gardening. All the plants had been thriving until recently. Now they are all drooping. One of the tomato plants looks like it is wilting. Very sad.

4. We’ve been adopted by a cat or at least I thought we had. He’d been around for the last few weeks, but disappeared while we were at church. He is a very sweet guy. If he comes back and sticks around, we will probably name him Friday. Like Friday in Robinson Crusoe and because he showed up on a Friday.

5. Ben is walking.

6. I am really behind in my reading. Someday soon I may list all the books I have to read…back when I only had three kids I could zip through a book in a day or two, now I’m lucky if I get through a page in a week. Very sad.

7. When the cat showed up he was being chased by a mocking bird.

8. We will be going to the Delirious concert on Friday. Yea! (I haven’t been to a concert in years…)



9. I'm pretty sure that Ben has an ear infection. My never grumpy guy is grumpy. All is not right with the world.

10. The end.

*Maybe Crusoe is a better name.

Of Rain and Other Things

The rain and cold moved in today. We’ve been suffering from a drought here in Houston so the rain is welcome. In fact, the weatherman just called the rain, “Manna from heaven.” I’m laughing a bit at that.

I’m in Numbers now (in my chronological read through the Bible) and loving every minute of it.

Here is my recipe for a “peaceful” Thursday – a day that for me has been anything but peaceful in the past due to school and Scouts: The key is start early (as in 7:00 a.m.), get everyone dressed for Scouts from the get go, do my chores, let the children work independently while I get myself ready, teach a little school and then let the Crockpot make dinner. Simple. Sometimes I’m amazed at how blind I am to the simple solutions in life. It only took me five months to figure this out!

Here is another simple solution: If you put aluminum foil on your cookie (and brownie) pans, they are much easier to clean up.

Curious as to what is cooking in my Crockpot?

Crockpot Chicken and Veggies: carrots, potatoes, onion, 4 boneless chicken breasts, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 11/2 cans of water, about 2 tsp oregano, ½ tsp paprika. Yum!

Mark just got home and has been sharing with me from John chapter 10. (He taught the parable of the Lost Sheep last Sunday.) I missed last Sunday so he has been filling me in. Every day he has asked if I have read Ezekiel 34: 1-16. I sheepishly have had to tell him I have not. Tonight he pulled out his Bible and read it to me. All I can say is, "Wow!" Go read it. After that he read John 10:7-10 to me. Wonderful good stuff - pull out your Bible and read all of John chapter 10 you will be blessed!

Have a wonderful evening.

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All whoever came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” -John 10:7-10

Right Here; Right Now

I’m sitting here feeling the adrenaline that has kept me moving all morning fade and weariness hit. We’ve been schooling most of the morning and I’m tired.

The minute I sit down my energy fades. At night I’m asleep almost as soon as I settle on the couch to watch TV with Mark – usually around 8:30 p.m..

I was up several times with Ben last night. He is finally over a cold that he fought most of the Christmas holiday. Now something else weird is going on with him. Teething, I think. As I mentioned, he has been waking several times each night for several nights now and it is catching up with me...strike that...running me over .

I’m mindlessly eating from a bag of Texas Style Jalapeno Chips. (Can you tell I’m tired?) The bag says that they are “Intensely Different”. I like them. I also like Salt and Vinegar chips so I guess I like intense flavors…at least in chips.

Outside a boy and two little girls fly past the kitchen window. The boy holds a small sword in his hand; the girls are wearing brightly colored capes that are fluttering in the wind. It’s cold out for Houston, but these three, like their Mom, like the cold.

I’m reminded of my youth…I used to run around my yard with a cape on and a sword in hand…or actually my weapon of choice was a bow. The difference between my children and myself is that I had to make my own cape and bow and my children wear and wield store bought versions. Bess is also wearing a pink Tu-tu. I have to grin. She looks so cute. Caleb’s sword is pretty cool. I would have loved to have had it as a child.

I recently joined Facebook. Well, actually I joined a long time ago and never did anything with my page; now I feel like I’ve jumped into a rapidly moving river – kind of like the Lazy River at the local Splash Park turned up on high – and along the way I’m running into all the friends I’ve ever known.

I’m still not convinced that there is any real good purpose to Facebook. The connections are nice, but I can’t help but wonder if it isn’t just another way for me to waste time that I don’t have to begin with.

Well, Ben is awake now and the day isn’t over…I still have reading to do with Aaron and Bess to nap (Yes, at 3:00 p.m. – we are running a little behind today) and bills to pay later (a task that ranks right up there with cleaning the bathroom).

So let me leave you with this little exerpt from a book I recently finished. It has nothing to do with anything or maybe it does - I'm not sure, but even if it doesn't, maybe it will inspire you a little.

To live with a sense of wonder is to be aware, every day, that life is a drama and your Maker is the main character. You are His beloved that He came to rescue and whisk away to a happily-ever-after. As we carry out the mundane routines of our everyday lives and we lose our focus on what truly matters, it’s easy to feel drained by the pressures and forget that life is a beautiful love story between yourself and your Maker, an awesome adventure in which you live against the odds that try to destroy you, a comedy at times in which the strangest and funniest situations take place, and a meaningful drama in which there are life lessons and spiritual parallels everywhere we turn. –from When You’re Running on Empty by Cindi McMenamin

Introduction

It isn’t easy to switch from one blog to another – at least for me.

I guess I could tell you about myself, my faith, my family, or about homeschooling…but I’m not going to. (You will find out everything you could possibly want to know and more soon enough…just check back and read.)

If you are curious, you can find out more about me here.

Welcome.