fresh flowers for Aug 31

It's All About Him
copyright 2006, lani wiens
a fresh flowers original

Having six children gives me a great opportunity to observe and learn about different personalities and their individual needs. I have in my menagerie:

- one intense child with a low frustration tolerance who can be very oppositional and defiant, this same child is very hospitable, generous and compassionate
- one mostly quiet child who keeps himself busy with little outside involvement but tends to give others control over his life, he is extremely inquisitive and when he wants your attention it is hard to ignore him - his voice can resemble a foghorn at times
- one child who is helpful and cheerful most of the time but when crossed can be mean and viscious, greatly concerned for the welfare of younger siblings so long as they don't take what she wants
- one clown who is stubborn as the day is long, this one is very difficult to peg down to a pattern and keeps us guessing and laughing and panicking over what he might do next
- one very helpful child who can be extremely responsible one minute and extremely irresponsible the next, easily distracted on some things and hard to break his focus on others, doesn't really care what people think of somethings and very concerned on others, a child of the pendulum swing
- We've yet to discover the personality intricacies of the baby.

Much of my time is spent just trying to keep one step ahead of this crew. I fail quite often. It seems like too much a lot of the time. Realizing how difficult it is to predict and/or meet the needs of these six individuals, how does God manage the world, not to mention the vast multitudes of the unseen host of heaven and hell? While I can sometimes guess right as to what my children need at any given moment I'm right a very small percent of the time. Our God is never wrong! He gets it right the first time every time. That is mind boggling. He quiets my anxious heart, he comforts me, he puts something funny in my path to cheer me up, he challenges me when I get lazy. And he doesn't get tired of it. All he asks is that we seek him first.

I'm afraid I'm too often like my little clown. One night I was singing to him with a vain hope that he might actually go to sleep. He had no intention of going to sleep and kept up a litany of things he'd rather be doing. I sang anyway. I was part way through, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" when I hear him mutter, "That's a stupid song." I wasn't shocked quiet, I kept singing and then started laughing. It struck my funny bone so hard I couldn't stop. The chorus goes like this, "It's all about you, Jesus. And all this is for you..." Know wonder he thought it was stupid, he wanted it to be about him and he was mad that it wasn't. I want it to be all about me a lot of the time, too. I get uptight trying to figure everyone out every day and get them what they need and then get to feeling like know one's takin' care of me. Where does this thinking get me? No where but down in the dumps. My focus has gone from seeking him first to seeking how to get myself first. But God in heaven has already seen my frustration and his answer is on the way before I have even prayed.

All of this really is for him. All the wiping of noses, cooking of meals, planning of days and moments is for him. It really isn't about me, it's about teaching my kids to see his glory and his fame. So I'll get back on my knees and ask for a little help in figuring out these six creatures and leave the rest up to him.

on the brink of a new school year

If I was a parent like the majority of other parents I would be sending my three oldest children off to a public school tomorrow for a whole day. My fourth would be registered in a pre-school program. I could anticipate that I would have large sections of my day with only two kids to look after...if I was like the majority of folks.

But I'm not.

God has called us to home-school our two oldest boys (that's homeschool NOT school at home). He's also encouraged us to make sure our daughter is bi-lingual (French and English). Seeing how neither of us is, we are sending her to a French-immersion school. After we found a homeschool resource for immersion they encouraged us to leave her in the immersion school for several years so that she gets a good grasp of the language.

Our younger boys' education is still a mystery to us that has not been revealed...but they won't be going to pre-school.

Today, I would have gladly sent them all off just to have a little time to myself. If any of you reading this have ever experienced harvest-time on the farm you'll know that time to yourself does not exist, there is always something to do. When you have six children who invite their friends over, there is always something to do. When you have a toddler and a nursing baby there is always something to do. Needless to say I'm a little under the game. Not excited about school starting on any front - that girlie of mine would be sooooooooo easy to teach at home, she does math for fun, pages and pages of it. She's figuring out how to read and write on her own because she wants to. I'm here with the tough cookies. One who is motivated in some things and dragging his heels on others. One who is co-operative very seldom and motivated to learn things I'd rather he didn't know.

Am I a little tired and discouraged? Is this flower a tad droopy? Yup. And my friend, lover and confidante is on a combine hours away, so I can't talk to him. Guess that leaves me with the Lord to talk to, which is a pretty good thing to be left with.. maybe I'll learn something.......

Home from the range

My little sweetie is 5 months old! She started doing the watered-down apple juice this week, holding her own bottle and even went on to her first bit of rice cereal. She is so sweet and adorable...just look at those cheeks!
We arrived home today! Have absolutely loved being out at the farm. Happy to be at home now. I was catching up on a few blogs and my friends are talking about their homes. I love my house. It is a joy to be here. Good things:
My children.
The big griddle I got for my birthday!!
Plentiful tomatoes from my garden.
Seeing my mom and dad again after a long hiatus.
High speed internet - even light is better than dial-up....how quickly we forget.
Did I mention those chubby cheeks.
Getting asked to write articles for people who will actually pay you to write them!! 

down on the farm

Hey friends,

I haven't died or anything we're just down on the farm, enjoying life out in the country. There's a good chance I may never want to go back to city living. Actually I've never much liked it come to think of it...

Quiet
Clear Skies
Happy Kids
Happy husband
canning
sweet winds
good friends
Happy dogs

Yup, cooking, cleaning and chasing kids, that's about all I have time for right now. Harvest is in full swing, perfect weather for it, too. Breakdowns (in equipment and relationships) are difficult to deal with but everything gets repaired eventually.

Got some lovely #1 duhram, everyone's happy about that. Mustard is coming off a little sparse this evening. Yup, enjoying being a farm wife.

later

another flower!

Could only fit 4 pictures on at a time!  

The flowers in my garden........

Quilt comes courtesy of my mom. Cute kids come courtesy of God!


 

hmmm........little quiet here.........too busy out on the farm to post much. Maybe some kid pics