So...my life is crazy ... as usual.
Sunday am - teach Sunday School, Soar Heartland report
Sunday pm - 20th birthday party for Kathrin, here
Monday am - ship some kids off in order to prepare for birthday party
Monday pm - birthday party for Abby with her friends
Tuesday am - Sasha at preschool, clean up party mess
Wednesday am - madly going through stuff to take to the rummage sale, get a call from the school, there's been an accident on the playground, Sam wants me, get all the rummage packed up and head to town, pick up Sam from school and head over to the clinic to see if he's okay
Wednesday pm - Sam is not okay, his leg is broken just above the knee, need to take him to Saskatoon to get casted, don't get home until midnight
Thursday - supposed to go to Bible study, I skip it 'cause I'm brain dead - need to take care of my son
Thursday evening - son #2 has a major blowout - I go for a walk in the cold in my slippers cause Im so stressed
Friday noon - niece, boyfriend and nephew arrive to spend the weekend.
Friday evening - all other adults leave the building for the youth group progressive supper, I stay home and referee fights end up playing computer games and watching a movie with niece and nephew late into the night
Saturday - try to do some laundry, get ready for baby shower in the evening, hang out with my niece and make cards
Saturday evening - host baby shower here
Sunday morning - passover with sunday school, Mexico mission trip report, potluck lunch at church
Sunday evening - host family birthday supper for Abby and Kathrin at our house
Monday - Kelly takes kids to dentist appointments in the city - I start working on the farm books - dad comes over to help, we realize there is a problem
Tuesday - continue to work on books with dad, there is still a problem
Tuesday evening - volunteer interview at church, quit doing farm books and play Ticket to Ride (much more enjoyable)
Wednesday - Kelly takes Sam to the city for follow up appointments, I will try to sort out the problem in the farm books
Thursday - I will go to school with sam so he can participate in the Kids Convention
Friday - I LEAVE FOR REDBERRY FOR AN ALL WEEKEND CRAFT RETREAT WITH MY FRIENDS AND NO KIDS, NO FARM BOOKS AND NO HOUSE TO TAKE CARE OF AND NO MINISTRY EXPECTATIONS (I'm a little excited about that and it's almost here)
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
The Painting of the House
The painting is finished and here are all the pics. We all love the change and finally feel like this house is really ours. Above is the computer station. All those shelves have finally organized an extremely 'hot' spot in our house, we're really enjoying this space. The counter top was a little God thing. I had 5 minutes to find that counter top at the ReStore, pay for it and get it loaded into my van - and we did it!
The Kitchen
Picture 1At first I was a little concerned our kitchen would look like McDonalds but obviously it doesn't. It looks great! This is what you see when you walk in our front door. We were considering painting the cupboards since they were so dark but after the yellow was on it really drew out the golden tones in the cupboards, so they'll stay the way they are!
Picture 2
We painted and recovered our ugly chairs and they look soooooooooooo fabulous, this pic doesn't do them justice. We also recovered the benches in the breakfast nook. I used over 1000 staples doing those chairs and benches - it was so worth it. The fabric was a God-thing. I walked into Fabricland, saw one of my friends who works there, stopped to talk to her and told her why I was there, we looked down, saw this roll of fabric and I knew it was the one. It was also 70% off! I was in and out in about 15 minutes - probably my quickest fabric shop trip ever!!
Picture 3
You probably can't see the details on this wall because it's pretty subtle, but the word 'life' is painted on in 10 different languages. The cart was another gift from God. We wanted to take out one cupboard that blocked the kitchen and took up too much counter space so we needed to get something to hold those dishes. We decided on a cart but figured we were going to have to fork out quite a chunk of change for it but God showed me this one in Wal-Mart for only $150. That was a nice gift.
Picture 4
(It was baking day when I took these pics - hence all the baking stuff on the counters.)
The Bathroom
Top Picture
A friend of mine helped me antique the cabinet doors and then I stenciled the words and pictures on.
Middle Picture
More stencils and some Dollarama decorating pieces. The angels were a gift from Kathrin, they're so pretty.
Bottom Picture
The first little quilt I ever made!
Hallway and Porch
The hallway started out a much darker yellow but we didn't like it so we repainted it in this soft "Kelly Yellow". 
The porch was rather painstaking to do the stripes free-hand. It took Kathrin several hours to do the first round. It's done in Almond and Olive Brown.
The porch was rather painstaking to do the stripes free-hand. It took Kathrin several hours to do the first round. It's done in Almond and Olive Brown.
The Living Room
I love our living room! It's so peaceful and comfy. The colors in here are Olive Brown, Almond and Kelly Yellow. The inserts in the window frames are olive brown with tea-dyed cheese cloth wrapped around. I made the signs with stickers that my friend Sue gave me. I love the shelves, you can really see what is on them now.
The verse on the back wall is "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." The cool thing about this room is that I've been in a bible study regarding the tabernacle and in the HOly place olives and almonds were very significant, I thought it was kind of interesting that those are the colors that we chose for this room.
We still have to figure out lighting and eventually we'll get new carpet and some chocolate brown leather furniture (that's the dream anyway!) Thanks for coming on my house tour!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
and the paint goes on
Shocking, it isn't even a month since my last post!!
So....this week we're doing the porch, the living room and the trim in the hallway. The red velvet drapes are down, the holes are filled, the shelves are primed and tomorrow morning Almond Wisp and Olive Brown will be filling my walls with color. The porch is also Almond Wisp and will have Olive Brown accents. We painted the paneling and will do the skinny stripe in the Olive Brown. The end of the paint is near. Then maybe we can actually clean up this house. My bedroom has been the dropping point for pretty much everything that I couldn't shove somewhere else!
I finished the decorative painting in the bathroom. I'll have to post pictures cause it looks really, really good!!! I just have to get Kelly to hang a corner shelf and that room is totally done.
Saturday will be a scrapbooking day. I've come to the realization that I will never be a true 'scrapbooker' - I just don't have time. But I'm going to enjoy doing what I can, when I can cause I love all the papers and textures and stickers and doo dads that I get to play with when I do it. It's also great fun to look at all the pictures again and put them in beautiful settings and visit with people I enjoy.
Oh yeah. I got to play on the worship team again cause their pianist cancelled on Saturday afternoon. I didn't pray for that I promise. However, there were some talk about making room for me on their team, how fun is that.
My big boy went to his very first junior high retreat this last weekend. That was bizarre. He can't really be that old yet. And he actually did things to impress some girls - that's a little scary to this mamma - he's always had good girl friends but I think this was a little different than that.
So....this week we're doing the porch, the living room and the trim in the hallway. The red velvet drapes are down, the holes are filled, the shelves are primed and tomorrow morning Almond Wisp and Olive Brown will be filling my walls with color. The porch is also Almond Wisp and will have Olive Brown accents. We painted the paneling and will do the skinny stripe in the Olive Brown. The end of the paint is near. Then maybe we can actually clean up this house. My bedroom has been the dropping point for pretty much everything that I couldn't shove somewhere else!
I finished the decorative painting in the bathroom. I'll have to post pictures cause it looks really, really good!!! I just have to get Kelly to hang a corner shelf and that room is totally done.
Saturday will be a scrapbooking day. I've come to the realization that I will never be a true 'scrapbooker' - I just don't have time. But I'm going to enjoy doing what I can, when I can cause I love all the papers and textures and stickers and doo dads that I get to play with when I do it. It's also great fun to look at all the pictures again and put them in beautiful settings and visit with people I enjoy.
Oh yeah. I got to play on the worship team again cause their pianist cancelled on Saturday afternoon. I didn't pray for that I promise. However, there were some talk about making room for me on their team, how fun is that.
My big boy went to his very first junior high retreat this last weekend. That was bizarre. He can't really be that old yet. And he actually did things to impress some girls - that's a little scary to this mamma - he's always had good girl friends but I think this was a little different than that.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
all the excitement in our house
THE LAST MONTH
Well, well, time certainly flies when you're not home! We've been down to Mexico and back. We built two houses for two wonderful families, stopped in Disneyland on the way home, lost my glasses somewhere in L.A., made it back to Saskatchewn just in time to head to Cypress Hills for a pastor's conference, back home again to go to Bible Study, Quilting, youth group and a fabulous training session called "Spiritual Protection for your Children".
THE LAST WEEK
Then we started painting our main floor! Woo-hoo my kitchen is now a stunning yellow and red concoction, my hallways are a rich buttery cream. The bathroom is blue and brown. My living room and porch are next - olive brown and almond wisp here we come. We'll have to restrain ourselves on flooring and furniture but we'll survive to pay in cash when the time comes.
Tomorrow I head to the city to get new glasses, a hunk of countertop (hopefully), some shelves, blinds and a few odds and ends to finish the kitchen off. We painted the word 'life' in 9 different languages on my wall (English, French, German, Spanish/Portugese, Hebrew, Chinese, Africaans, Russian) You could actually count 10 cause one of the characters in the Chinese script is the same as Japanese.
SKIRT STORY
So my mom made this skirt at the Lord's leading for a pregnant mom down in Mexico. She sent it along with the little girl skirts and I was supposed to watch out for someone to give it to. Well, asking someone in your own language if they're pregnant is one thing, asking in Spanish is quite another, so I waited and watched. As the houses were finished we decided to give skirts to the families since between the two families there were 7 girls. When I got to the mom of the house I was building on we had a lovely time picking out skirts for her girls, during the course of our 'conversation' I discovered she was expecting!! I whipped out my mom's special skirt and gave it to her. I cried buckets. Then she went and got pictures of her dear little girls and showed them to me and told me their names - Lolita, Flor, ?? (couldn't understand or pronounce that one) and Esperanza (which means Hope). So cool! They should have their little girls back by now we hope in a comfy new house with pretty skirts.
We were able to give the rest of the skirts to the orphanage because the lady who runs it just 'happened' to come to the base the last night we were there. That was cool. Can't wait to do it again!
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS
IN a few weeks we head to Winnipeg with our youth group for another missions trip, very different from what we just did. Inner-city North America. The very cool thing is that we get to take our oldest son with us - and he actually wants to go! I have to admit I was looking with a longing heart at all the families that were together on our Mexico trip, hoping that one day we'd get to do that - and here we are, just a month later, introducing our son to something we love so much to do.
YEAH GOD NOTE
After the Spiritual Protection session we sat down with our kids to ask them fairly directly if they knew if they were a child of God or not. They ALL responded very positively including our dear sweet Kathrin, who was not a believer when she landed in our country. We are so excited to have another family member in the Lord!! She's coming on the Winnipeg trip, too. Yippee!
Well, well, time certainly flies when you're not home! We've been down to Mexico and back. We built two houses for two wonderful families, stopped in Disneyland on the way home, lost my glasses somewhere in L.A., made it back to Saskatchewn just in time to head to Cypress Hills for a pastor's conference, back home again to go to Bible Study, Quilting, youth group and a fabulous training session called "Spiritual Protection for your Children".
THE LAST WEEK
Sunday morning I got to pinch hit on the piano for the worship team. Wow! That would never have happened before here. It was so fun and I felt God's annointing on me and I played songs I've never even played before with drums and a bass guitar even. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN I want to do it again. I might have to do something to the pianist on a regular basis - hee hee.
That wasn't very Christian was it?
Then we started painting our main floor! Woo-hoo my kitchen is now a stunning yellow and red concoction, my hallways are a rich buttery cream. The bathroom is blue and brown. My living room and porch are next - olive brown and almond wisp here we come. We'll have to restrain ourselves on flooring and furniture but we'll survive to pay in cash when the time comes.
Tomorrow I head to the city to get new glasses, a hunk of countertop (hopefully), some shelves, blinds and a few odds and ends to finish the kitchen off. We painted the word 'life' in 9 different languages on my wall (English, French, German, Spanish/Portugese, Hebrew, Chinese, Africaans, Russian) You could actually count 10 cause one of the characters in the Chinese script is the same as Japanese.
SKIRT STORY
So my mom made this skirt at the Lord's leading for a pregnant mom down in Mexico. She sent it along with the little girl skirts and I was supposed to watch out for someone to give it to. Well, asking someone in your own language if they're pregnant is one thing, asking in Spanish is quite another, so I waited and watched. As the houses were finished we decided to give skirts to the families since between the two families there were 7 girls. When I got to the mom of the house I was building on we had a lovely time picking out skirts for her girls, during the course of our 'conversation' I discovered she was expecting!! I whipped out my mom's special skirt and gave it to her. I cried buckets. Then she went and got pictures of her dear little girls and showed them to me and told me their names - Lolita, Flor, ?? (couldn't understand or pronounce that one) and Esperanza (which means Hope). So cool! They should have their little girls back by now we hope in a comfy new house with pretty skirts.
We were able to give the rest of the skirts to the orphanage because the lady who runs it just 'happened' to come to the base the last night we were there. That was cool. Can't wait to do it again!
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS
IN a few weeks we head to Winnipeg with our youth group for another missions trip, very different from what we just did. Inner-city North America. The very cool thing is that we get to take our oldest son with us - and he actually wants to go! I have to admit I was looking with a longing heart at all the families that were together on our Mexico trip, hoping that one day we'd get to do that - and here we are, just a month later, introducing our son to something we love so much to do.
YEAH GOD NOTE
After the Spiritual Protection session we sat down with our kids to ask them fairly directly if they knew if they were a child of God or not. They ALL responded very positively including our dear sweet Kathrin, who was not a believer when she landed in our country. We are so excited to have another family member in the Lord!! She's coming on the Winnipeg trip, too. Yippee!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Life in the past few weeks
My how time flies when you're way busy!! Updates, updates...
The skirt sewing went really well, we have about 40 skirts to take to Mexico. Kathryn, our house guest from Germany, is fitting in beautifully. We all love her to pieces. She loves to play games so she fits in very well! We were playing Dutch Blitz one evening and she'd beaten Kelly and I soundly. She turns to Kelly and says, "Want to lose again?" I like that girl. She also love cheese in any form, sundried tomatoes, seafood and olives. She loves to read and craft, too. Definately a good fit!
We are getting a little confused in the language department as we teach Kathryn English, she teaches us German, I teach Abby French and try to learn Spanish songs for our trip to Mexico. Aye caramba, je ne fershtay pas!
We just got through a run with the flu. That wasn't so fun. I discovered during the many loads 0f laundry that the washing machine is a very effective tool for disintegrating Bibles. All that was left was the duct tape that had been holding it together.
Our new van is great, but we have to find some new seats for it! We don't have quite enough seating capacity in there, though it is very roomy. We could rent it out as a small theatre.
Life in ministry is busy and interesting. Next week we head to Mexico to build a couple of houses. On our way home they'll drop us off for the rural pastor's conference. A month after that we're taking a team of youth to Winnipeg with Soar Heartland to do inner-city missions exposure. Then the first weekend of May we'll go with the grads on a trip to Edmonton. PHew!!
In the meantime we're developing a servant leadership team among our youth and are thrilled with what we've seen so far. Breakthrough is very encouraging. We both teach sunday school so that helps round out our weeks.
OH don't forget we're farmers, so in there somewhere we have to ship grain, plan for seeding, get the machinery ready and seed. Yeah....so....
The kids go power-skating every week and have learned to love skating...can't say the same for myself. I still hate ice. They're all doing really well in their studies.
Since there's a blizzard going on...again...we've cancelled youth group and are staying home to eat junk food and watch movies. Such a hard life we lead.
Toodles!
The skirt sewing went really well, we have about 40 skirts to take to Mexico. Kathryn, our house guest from Germany, is fitting in beautifully. We all love her to pieces. She loves to play games so she fits in very well! We were playing Dutch Blitz one evening and she'd beaten Kelly and I soundly. She turns to Kelly and says, "Want to lose again?" I like that girl. She also love cheese in any form, sundried tomatoes, seafood and olives. She loves to read and craft, too. Definately a good fit!
We are getting a little confused in the language department as we teach Kathryn English, she teaches us German, I teach Abby French and try to learn Spanish songs for our trip to Mexico. Aye caramba, je ne fershtay pas!
We just got through a run with the flu. That wasn't so fun. I discovered during the many loads 0f laundry that the washing machine is a very effective tool for disintegrating Bibles. All that was left was the duct tape that had been holding it together.
Our new van is great, but we have to find some new seats for it! We don't have quite enough seating capacity in there, though it is very roomy. We could rent it out as a small theatre.
Life in ministry is busy and interesting. Next week we head to Mexico to build a couple of houses. On our way home they'll drop us off for the rural pastor's conference. A month after that we're taking a team of youth to Winnipeg with Soar Heartland to do inner-city missions exposure. Then the first weekend of May we'll go with the grads on a trip to Edmonton. PHew!!
In the meantime we're developing a servant leadership team among our youth and are thrilled with what we've seen so far. Breakthrough is very encouraging. We both teach sunday school so that helps round out our weeks.
OH don't forget we're farmers, so in there somewhere we have to ship grain, plan for seeding, get the machinery ready and seed. Yeah....so....
The kids go power-skating every week and have learned to love skating...can't say the same for myself. I still hate ice. They're all doing really well in their studies.
Since there's a blizzard going on...again...we've cancelled youth group and are staying home to eat junk food and watch movies. Such a hard life we lead.
Toodles!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Skirt sewing day
Tomorrow is sewing skirts day! I'm so excited. WE're sewing skirts to take down to Mexico when we go on our missions trip in February. I got the idea from Randi at I Have to Say. Got the instructions from Kuky Ideas (www.kukyideas.com) and have been drawing patterns, writing instructions, washing fabric and pressing it all week. Finally the day is here and we're going to sew up a bunch of skirts for some kids who could use it down in Mexico. Yeah. To make it better...my mama is coming, too. She's already got a dozen made (what a surprise!)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Bible adventures
Our wonderful German house guest has arrived and been with us for a week now. We absolutely love her, she is as sweet as they come! Her English is excellent, she is observant, thoughtful and flexible. I hope she can stand us for the next 5 months!!
Now that the press of the holiday season is over I am back to teaching Sunday School and have joined a Bible Study. Both have been requiring much study from me and I must confess...I love it. We're going back over the Angela Thomas material in Sunday School, working through parts of the sermon on the mount.
On Sunday as I was teaching I had a revelation that I couldn't quite wrap my head around at the time, but now as I think and ponder and study I have noticed that the heart conditions mentioned in the beatitudes are a progression of maturity. It's really quite fascinating. Take a look. At some point we realize that we're broken (poor in spirit), life has nailed us to the wall and we're falling in pieces, we need a Saviour. When we break we end up mourning the loss of what was, whether it was a person, an idea, ideal or dream. In the midst of our mourning we become humbled and look to the Saviour. As our souls are healed we begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness, we are satisfied and we realize how much we needed a saviour. We can be merciful, because we've been shown mercy. Because we have shown mercy, God will contiue to show mercy and we become pure in heart. Our hearts are made pure, they are at peace and we can bring that peace into the midst of others - we are peacemakers. However, in the midst of giving away the peace that Christ offers we will most likely get persecuted. After much persecution we are poor in spirit and once again the cycle begins, another step up towards Christlikeness. Another interesting tidbit is that the blessings are bookended by receiving the Kingdom of Heaven - with getting everything else inbetween. I am fascinated by this and am going to continue studying it.
IN our Bible Study we are studying the Tabernacle with Beth Moore in a study called, A Woman's HEart - God's Dwelling Place. This, too, is a fascinating study, bridging the whole of scripture, showing the incredible brilliance of God and His design. One little tidbit from that study. The curse that was given after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden was that the land would produce thorns and thistles for them. What did Jesus wear on his head as he hung on the cross? A crown of thorns. He literally took the curse on his head - isn't that amazing! God is so good.
Now that the press of the holiday season is over I am back to teaching Sunday School and have joined a Bible Study. Both have been requiring much study from me and I must confess...I love it. We're going back over the Angela Thomas material in Sunday School, working through parts of the sermon on the mount.
On Sunday as I was teaching I had a revelation that I couldn't quite wrap my head around at the time, but now as I think and ponder and study I have noticed that the heart conditions mentioned in the beatitudes are a progression of maturity. It's really quite fascinating. Take a look. At some point we realize that we're broken (poor in spirit), life has nailed us to the wall and we're falling in pieces, we need a Saviour. When we break we end up mourning the loss of what was, whether it was a person, an idea, ideal or dream. In the midst of our mourning we become humbled and look to the Saviour. As our souls are healed we begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness, we are satisfied and we realize how much we needed a saviour. We can be merciful, because we've been shown mercy. Because we have shown mercy, God will contiue to show mercy and we become pure in heart. Our hearts are made pure, they are at peace and we can bring that peace into the midst of others - we are peacemakers. However, in the midst of giving away the peace that Christ offers we will most likely get persecuted. After much persecution we are poor in spirit and once again the cycle begins, another step up towards Christlikeness. Another interesting tidbit is that the blessings are bookended by receiving the Kingdom of Heaven - with getting everything else inbetween. I am fascinated by this and am going to continue studying it.
IN our Bible Study we are studying the Tabernacle with Beth Moore in a study called, A Woman's HEart - God's Dwelling Place. This, too, is a fascinating study, bridging the whole of scripture, showing the incredible brilliance of God and His design. One little tidbit from that study. The curse that was given after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden was that the land would produce thorns and thistles for them. What did Jesus wear on his head as he hung on the cross? A crown of thorns. He literally took the curse on his head - isn't that amazing! God is so good.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Highlights of the week
The year started out in an adventersome way with adding an extra 5 kids and my husband flying off to the States. Tomorrow we go pick up a young lady from Germany who will be living with us for the next five months. She's here to learn the language, see the country and help me with my home. Should be an adventure!!!
So bet you're curious about the single parenting of 11 children, eh? Well, honestly, it went pretty well. It really is true that the more you have the easier it gets. Since the 5 that came have known my kids all their lives and all five pairs are best buddies, things were pretty sweet. The weather was perfect so they were out sledding and playing hockey or just cruising around the yard for a good chunk of the day.
I don't think I actually saw the girls for the first two days except when they poked their noses out to eat. Polly World took over my daughter's room and they were havin' fun.
There weren't too many mishaps, broken things or fights. There definately were some, just not an excessive amount.
There are some things you should know if you decide to have 11 kids. (BTW, except for one kid, it would have been physically possible for me to have given birth to all 11 of these kids).
- buy peanut butter in VERY large jars
- with 8 boys in the house it is imparitive that you check the toilet seat each and every time you think you might want to sit on that thing
- also check the floor and the walls, never assume that a wet spot in the bathroom came from water
- if you're making sandwiches for lunch, open three bags
- buy a lot of milk - I think we drank at least 2 4-litre jugs per day
- invest in hot chocolate powder
- more than one computer would have been handy unless you're willing to let them use your laptop (I wasn't)
- more than one TV/VCR/DVD thing is also handy
- very large washing machine is a gift from God himself
- make sure you have a sledding hill and a skating rink in close proximity
- don't plan on getting anything of major importance done when they're all home
Some highlights:
- everyone playing hide-n-seek on Is' birthday
- making a farmyard cake for Is' birthday with little cows, pigs and chickens sprinkles- too fun
- listening to the whole bunch of them play 'spies' - even the big boys got into it
- there was a point when all 11 children were outside and I was inside by myself - who would have thought that could happen!!
- didn't hear any food complaints (that may have been because I couldn't hear them!)
- playing Tickey to Ride and/or The Farming Game every evening with my big boys (and they are getting pretty big)
REally, God is gracious and allowed me to enjoy this week. My honey came home to an overflowing toilet because my own two little boys decided to stuff a diaper down it. I was so thankful that it happened then and not the day before that I couldn't really be that mad.
ps - I haven't actually seen the new van yet because it had to get inspected, etc. Kelly says it is very nice.
So bet you're curious about the single parenting of 11 children, eh? Well, honestly, it went pretty well. It really is true that the more you have the easier it gets. Since the 5 that came have known my kids all their lives and all five pairs are best buddies, things were pretty sweet. The weather was perfect so they were out sledding and playing hockey or just cruising around the yard for a good chunk of the day.
I don't think I actually saw the girls for the first two days except when they poked their noses out to eat. Polly World took over my daughter's room and they were havin' fun.
There weren't too many mishaps, broken things or fights. There definately were some, just not an excessive amount.
There are some things you should know if you decide to have 11 kids. (BTW, except for one kid, it would have been physically possible for me to have given birth to all 11 of these kids).
- buy peanut butter in VERY large jars
- with 8 boys in the house it is imparitive that you check the toilet seat each and every time you think you might want to sit on that thing
- also check the floor and the walls, never assume that a wet spot in the bathroom came from water
- if you're making sandwiches for lunch, open three bags
- buy a lot of milk - I think we drank at least 2 4-litre jugs per day
- invest in hot chocolate powder
- more than one computer would have been handy unless you're willing to let them use your laptop (I wasn't)
- more than one TV/VCR/DVD thing is also handy
- very large washing machine is a gift from God himself
- make sure you have a sledding hill and a skating rink in close proximity
- don't plan on getting anything of major importance done when they're all home
Some highlights:
- everyone playing hide-n-seek on Is' birthday
- making a farmyard cake for Is' birthday with little cows, pigs and chickens sprinkles- too fun
- listening to the whole bunch of them play 'spies' - even the big boys got into it
- there was a point when all 11 children were outside and I was inside by myself - who would have thought that could happen!!
- didn't hear any food complaints (that may have been because I couldn't hear them!)
- playing Tickey to Ride and/or The Farming Game every evening with my big boys (and they are getting pretty big)
REally, God is gracious and allowed me to enjoy this week. My honey came home to an overflowing toilet because my own two little boys decided to stuff a diaper down it. I was so thankful that it happened then and not the day before that I couldn't really be that mad.
ps - I haven't actually seen the new van yet because it had to get inspected, etc. Kelly says it is very nice.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
fresh flowers for Jan 2
In the Mood?
Copyright 2007, lani wiens
A fresh flowers original
This Christmas was going to be different, or so I thought. It was going to be full of peace and joy and family togetherness. This year I was prepared. I had the majority of my presents either purchased or ordered by the middle of November, or so I thought. Through the nagging, um encouragement of my daughter the house was decorated by the first of December. We were going to do something a little different since we threw out our old tree when we moved, we put up a “Jesse tree”. The Jesse tree advent celebration comes from the verse that states that out of the stump of Jesse a Messiah will come. So we got a dead branch out of the bush and set it up. We were going to follow the daily devotions as a family and this would point us to a great spiritual revelation of God’s love for us. We would all be filled with peace and joy this Christmas season, or so I thought.
I was so far ahead of the game that I even purchased ingredients to do baking. While I enjoy baking bread, I do NOT enjoy most other forms of baking. I find it rather pointless in my household. I can bake 32 dozen cookies and Tuesday and all that’s left by Thursday is the misshapen, broken bits at the bottom of the cookie jar.
I went on a little retreat at the beginning of December in order to do all my homemade gifts. It was a delightful weekend and I got tons done. I came home ready to face the busyness of banquets, programs and gift wrapping. I had purchased an alfalfa tonic to help with my fatigue (tasted terrible but it sure works). I had just finished teaching a wonderful Sunday school course that had me filled up and focused on the Lord. I was REALLY ready for these few weeks, or so I thought.
I even decided that this would be the year of the family picture card and newsletter sent out in hard copy rather than the electronic version I’ve been doing. Surely I would get an extra star in my crown for that. But I was so well prepared I knew it would be no problem.
Now here’s what really happened.
Apparently I’m getting a little forgetful in my old age. I managed to forget not just one but two gift lists. To keep it even, one on each side of the family. I wasn’t aware of the traditions in our small town so found out that all my boys would be involved in gift exchanges in their classrooms. I wasn’t aware that it was tradition that the kids in the Sunday school give their teachers gifts, dropped that ball, too.
Our spiritual revelation hasn’t come yet. The devotional set we chose was, unfortunately, a lot over our kids heads, it wasn’t the simple, homespun thing I thought it was. The up side of the family devotions, as chaotic and stressful as it was was that our son who has struggled with reading willingly took his turn reading scripture – most of the time.
Every time we saw a green Christmas tree or decorations, my youngest son didn’t waste time telling me that we ought to decorate our house that way. It was a constant reminder that my decorating was woefully inadequate in his estimation. I told him that when he and the other children were bigger and there were a lot less flying objects in our house, maybe our house would be decorated like that, too.
Those baking ingredients haven’t been used. The only extra baking I managed to get in besides the super easy whipped shortbread I made for the youth group was from purchased cookie dough that I managed to burn. Apparently without the investment of mixing ingredients my psyche can’t deal with the pressure of watching cookies.
I realized too late that it isn’t the big gifts that will do you in, it’s the little odds and ends; the school pictures, the Christmas cards, the little gift exchanges, the endless list of people who do things for you that you take for granted the rest of the year that you suddenly decide you want to recognize, the wrapping and all the other myriad things that need to get done. No anti-fatigue tonic can help you when you stay up late every night and run yourself ragged all day.
The Christmas cards, while a great idea, proved to be a much larger task than we thought with our desire to send a card to all our friends in our old church, giving them to the new church friends as well as long distance friends and of course all the relatives. Searching out addresses and figuring out how to save on postage by hand-delivery proved to be a monumental task. Worth it? Certainly, but I’m guessing it may not happen again soon.
Yes, this mama was not happy and you know how the saying goes, when mama ain;t happy, ain’t nobody happy. My homeschooling schedule went right out the window causing me more stress. The house became a little more than chaotic and I seemed to just be stressed and yelling at everyone. Joy and peace were not resident and it largely had to do with me. This was not what I had envisioned. I was definitely NOT in the mood for Christmas, I was ready to give up on the whole idea.
But God hadn’t given up on me, even though I was pretty sure that I wasn’t bringing Him any blessing at this point. One evening after I had run around helping one child with his wrapping, another with a sewing project, listening to the baby cry and flung myself down on the lower bunk to sing Jesus songs so my little boys would go to sleep so I could go back to my sewing machine, wrapping and cleaning. I was part way through Jesus Loves Me when the Holy Spirit began to convict me of my heart’s attitude. I flung around in my memory for a song that I could sing and mean. Jesus, Be the Centre is what came to mind...”be the fire in my heart, be the wind in my sails, be the reason that I live, Jesus” Then the Spirit led me to...”you are my strength when I am weak, you are treasure that I seek, you are my all in all. When I am down you pick me up, when I am dry you fill my cup, you are my all in all. Jesus, lamb of God, Holy is Your Name.” By this time, my heart was streaming with tears even though my eyes weren’t, I no longer cared if my boys were sleeping I was finally where I belonged, at the feet of the One who came, lying in the manger, wrapped in His arms of love. “It’s all about you Jesus, and all this is for You.”
I emerged from the Holy of Holies with a new attitude and a new heart. My three youngest babies were sleeping, one sibling was helping another. My husband and oldest son came home to a new atmosphere that was almost tangible. My husband was greatly relieved, he had become concerned with my frantic pace and snippy countenance. While the list of things to do hadn’t changed, my heart had completely transformed. Joy and peace on earth were possible again. Christmas came back in a manger, in the dark of my boys’ messy bedroom. Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness to us, even when we completely forget why we’re doing all this running around. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Copyright 2007, lani wiens
A fresh flowers original
This Christmas was going to be different, or so I thought. It was going to be full of peace and joy and family togetherness. This year I was prepared. I had the majority of my presents either purchased or ordered by the middle of November, or so I thought. Through the nagging, um encouragement of my daughter the house was decorated by the first of December. We were going to do something a little different since we threw out our old tree when we moved, we put up a “Jesse tree”. The Jesse tree advent celebration comes from the verse that states that out of the stump of Jesse a Messiah will come. So we got a dead branch out of the bush and set it up. We were going to follow the daily devotions as a family and this would point us to a great spiritual revelation of God’s love for us. We would all be filled with peace and joy this Christmas season, or so I thought.
I was so far ahead of the game that I even purchased ingredients to do baking. While I enjoy baking bread, I do NOT enjoy most other forms of baking. I find it rather pointless in my household. I can bake 32 dozen cookies and Tuesday and all that’s left by Thursday is the misshapen, broken bits at the bottom of the cookie jar.
I went on a little retreat at the beginning of December in order to do all my homemade gifts. It was a delightful weekend and I got tons done. I came home ready to face the busyness of banquets, programs and gift wrapping. I had purchased an alfalfa tonic to help with my fatigue (tasted terrible but it sure works). I had just finished teaching a wonderful Sunday school course that had me filled up and focused on the Lord. I was REALLY ready for these few weeks, or so I thought.
I even decided that this would be the year of the family picture card and newsletter sent out in hard copy rather than the electronic version I’ve been doing. Surely I would get an extra star in my crown for that. But I was so well prepared I knew it would be no problem.
Now here’s what really happened.
Apparently I’m getting a little forgetful in my old age. I managed to forget not just one but two gift lists. To keep it even, one on each side of the family. I wasn’t aware of the traditions in our small town so found out that all my boys would be involved in gift exchanges in their classrooms. I wasn’t aware that it was tradition that the kids in the Sunday school give their teachers gifts, dropped that ball, too.
Our spiritual revelation hasn’t come yet. The devotional set we chose was, unfortunately, a lot over our kids heads, it wasn’t the simple, homespun thing I thought it was. The up side of the family devotions, as chaotic and stressful as it was was that our son who has struggled with reading willingly took his turn reading scripture – most of the time.
Every time we saw a green Christmas tree or decorations, my youngest son didn’t waste time telling me that we ought to decorate our house that way. It was a constant reminder that my decorating was woefully inadequate in his estimation. I told him that when he and the other children were bigger and there were a lot less flying objects in our house, maybe our house would be decorated like that, too.
Those baking ingredients haven’t been used. The only extra baking I managed to get in besides the super easy whipped shortbread I made for the youth group was from purchased cookie dough that I managed to burn. Apparently without the investment of mixing ingredients my psyche can’t deal with the pressure of watching cookies.
I realized too late that it isn’t the big gifts that will do you in, it’s the little odds and ends; the school pictures, the Christmas cards, the little gift exchanges, the endless list of people who do things for you that you take for granted the rest of the year that you suddenly decide you want to recognize, the wrapping and all the other myriad things that need to get done. No anti-fatigue tonic can help you when you stay up late every night and run yourself ragged all day.
The Christmas cards, while a great idea, proved to be a much larger task than we thought with our desire to send a card to all our friends in our old church, giving them to the new church friends as well as long distance friends and of course all the relatives. Searching out addresses and figuring out how to save on postage by hand-delivery proved to be a monumental task. Worth it? Certainly, but I’m guessing it may not happen again soon.
Yes, this mama was not happy and you know how the saying goes, when mama ain;t happy, ain’t nobody happy. My homeschooling schedule went right out the window causing me more stress. The house became a little more than chaotic and I seemed to just be stressed and yelling at everyone. Joy and peace were not resident and it largely had to do with me. This was not what I had envisioned. I was definitely NOT in the mood for Christmas, I was ready to give up on the whole idea.
But God hadn’t given up on me, even though I was pretty sure that I wasn’t bringing Him any blessing at this point. One evening after I had run around helping one child with his wrapping, another with a sewing project, listening to the baby cry and flung myself down on the lower bunk to sing Jesus songs so my little boys would go to sleep so I could go back to my sewing machine, wrapping and cleaning. I was part way through Jesus Loves Me when the Holy Spirit began to convict me of my heart’s attitude. I flung around in my memory for a song that I could sing and mean. Jesus, Be the Centre is what came to mind...”be the fire in my heart, be the wind in my sails, be the reason that I live, Jesus” Then the Spirit led me to...”you are my strength when I am weak, you are treasure that I seek, you are my all in all. When I am down you pick me up, when I am dry you fill my cup, you are my all in all. Jesus, lamb of God, Holy is Your Name.” By this time, my heart was streaming with tears even though my eyes weren’t, I no longer cared if my boys were sleeping I was finally where I belonged, at the feet of the One who came, lying in the manger, wrapped in His arms of love. “It’s all about you Jesus, and all this is for You.”
I emerged from the Holy of Holies with a new attitude and a new heart. My three youngest babies were sleeping, one sibling was helping another. My husband and oldest son came home to a new atmosphere that was almost tangible. My husband was greatly relieved, he had become concerned with my frantic pace and snippy countenance. While the list of things to do hadn’t changed, my heart had completely transformed. Joy and peace on earth were possible again. Christmas came back in a manger, in the dark of my boys’ messy bedroom. Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness to us, even when we completely forget why we’re doing all this running around. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
the adventure begins
The adventures of the new year have officially begun! We started off with adopting 5 kids for a few days. Our dear friends just had a baby (Dec 18) and the poor little fellow is back in the hospital, he isn't thriving the way they'd like so the doctors are conducting a multitude of tests to determine what is causing the problems. In the meantime, his older brothers and sister are here with us. Our kids are delighted as these are their best friends, more like extra brothers and sister really. So here we are one mommy and 11 kids, so far it's been very good.
Where is the daddy? Winging his way to Philadelphia to get our new van. We purchased a van on e-bay so DH and his dad are heading down there to drive it home. While I don't envy the 33+ hours of driving they're going to do to get it home, I am jealous of the route he plans to take home - right through Lancaster County. I told him if he came anywhere near a quilt shop he at least had to go in and get me a little bit of cloth. He promised he would.
Happy New Year everyone!
Where is the daddy? Winging his way to Philadelphia to get our new van. We purchased a van on e-bay so DH and his dad are heading down there to drive it home. While I don't envy the 33+ hours of driving they're going to do to get it home, I am jealous of the route he plans to take home - right through Lancaster County. I told him if he came anywhere near a quilt shop he at least had to go in and get me a little bit of cloth. He promised he would.
Happy New Year everyone!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Exciting news
Yesterday was a pretty exciting day around here. We waited on pins and needles all day waiting for news from our friends on the birth of their baby. Well, he's here!! Ethan Isaac was born at 4:10 in the afternoon, 8.15 lbs, 21". It wasn't an easy birth but we're glad it's over!!
Then a little later in the evening we got the news that we won the e-bay auction we were in. We are now the owners of a new van - okay not new new - a 1998 Savanna. It has capacity for 10, 4 bucket seats, a converted top with a TV and VCR in it. We'll post pictures once it's here. Only drawback is that Kelly has to fly to Pennsylvania to pick it up. The good news, we paid for the whole thing, so no new payments or anything - we are so excited about that!
Gotta get the herd fed...
Then a little later in the evening we got the news that we won the e-bay auction we were in. We are now the owners of a new van - okay not new new - a 1998 Savanna. It has capacity for 10, 4 bucket seats, a converted top with a TV and VCR in it. We'll post pictures once it's here. Only drawback is that Kelly has to fly to Pennsylvania to pick it up. The good news, we paid for the whole thing, so no new payments or anything - we are so excited about that!
Gotta get the herd fed...
Thursday, December 13, 2007
fresh flowers for December 13
Can't think of a title
copyright 2007, lani wiens
a fresh flowers original
I didn't know when I became a mother what exactly would be required of me. If someone had told me there is a possibility that I may not have signed up. At this very moment my two oldest sons are sending lego to every corner of my basement with the catapults they just built. Then they come up giggling, thinking I have not heard their war cries and the lego hitting the walls. I say, "Are you planning to clean up the lego that you just sent to the far reaches of the basement?"
"You could hear that?" they ask incredulously, "How did you do that?"
"I'm a mother," I reply, "we're wired for that."
Apparently I am also wired to be a GPS unit for every single toy, piece of clothing, book and paper that we own. If someone can't find something, rather than look for it themselves, they simply ask me. The scary part is that nine times out of ten I actually know where the item is. For example: Boy #2 comes racing into the kitchen while I am preparing supper. "Mom, mom, where's Jack?" I race through the Rolodex in my head trying to think of who Jack might be, currently I don't know any Jacks and wouldn't know where they were if I did know one. I innocently ask, "Jack who?"
"Jack Sparrow, of course."
Of course Jack Sparrow, how could I be so silly, "He's under the table."
"Thanks mom."
There are new decorating themes that you should get used to as a mom. My most recent, cheese on soft green wall. How the cheese got there, I'm not even going to guess. Let's see what else have we discovered? Toothpaste texture on the bathroom counter. Shaving cream studded sinks. That was just today. Let's not forget the ever popular permanent marker primitive drawings and did you know that dry erase markers are not erasable on most walls? Glue stick makes for nice wall texture as well! My computer moniter has a distinctive border in grafite, a little brown marker and what's that in the corner...fly poop.
There are things that come out of your mouth that you may never would have imagined would become part of your daily speech. Questions like, "Who peed in the ___________?" We have personally filled in that blank with; the garbage can, the toy box, the tub, various pails and a can of nails.
I am a professional lie detector. I can spot a fib at 50 paces. I could get a job with the police department. Put that together with my super sonic hearing and my ability to remember who does what when and I should be worth my weight in gold.
I love being a mom most days, really I do. I'm awfully glad God is so much better at this than I am. I only have to keep up with 6 not 6 billion. As you wait on His coming this season may you pause in amazement at the incredible gift that God has given us. He personally, hears us, knows where we are at all times, answers every crazy question we have, spots us in our lies and lovingly corrects, directs and comforts us every single minute of the day.
Blessings to you and yours this glorious Christmas season.
copyright 2007, lani wiens
a fresh flowers original
I didn't know when I became a mother what exactly would be required of me. If someone had told me there is a possibility that I may not have signed up. At this very moment my two oldest sons are sending lego to every corner of my basement with the catapults they just built. Then they come up giggling, thinking I have not heard their war cries and the lego hitting the walls. I say, "Are you planning to clean up the lego that you just sent to the far reaches of the basement?"
"You could hear that?" they ask incredulously, "How did you do that?"
"I'm a mother," I reply, "we're wired for that."
Apparently I am also wired to be a GPS unit for every single toy, piece of clothing, book and paper that we own. If someone can't find something, rather than look for it themselves, they simply ask me. The scary part is that nine times out of ten I actually know where the item is. For example: Boy #2 comes racing into the kitchen while I am preparing supper. "Mom, mom, where's Jack?" I race through the Rolodex in my head trying to think of who Jack might be, currently I don't know any Jacks and wouldn't know where they were if I did know one. I innocently ask, "Jack who?"
"Jack Sparrow, of course."
Of course Jack Sparrow, how could I be so silly, "He's under the table."
"Thanks mom."
There are new decorating themes that you should get used to as a mom. My most recent, cheese on soft green wall. How the cheese got there, I'm not even going to guess. Let's see what else have we discovered? Toothpaste texture on the bathroom counter. Shaving cream studded sinks. That was just today. Let's not forget the ever popular permanent marker primitive drawings and did you know that dry erase markers are not erasable on most walls? Glue stick makes for nice wall texture as well! My computer moniter has a distinctive border in grafite, a little brown marker and what's that in the corner...fly poop.
There are things that come out of your mouth that you may never would have imagined would become part of your daily speech. Questions like, "Who peed in the ___________?" We have personally filled in that blank with; the garbage can, the toy box, the tub, various pails and a can of nails.
I am a professional lie detector. I can spot a fib at 50 paces. I could get a job with the police department. Put that together with my super sonic hearing and my ability to remember who does what when and I should be worth my weight in gold.
I love being a mom most days, really I do. I'm awfully glad God is so much better at this than I am. I only have to keep up with 6 not 6 billion. As you wait on His coming this season may you pause in amazement at the incredible gift that God has given us. He personally, hears us, knows where we are at all times, answers every crazy question we have, spots us in our lies and lovingly corrects, directs and comforts us every single minute of the day.
Blessings to you and yours this glorious Christmas season.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The more I use Facebook the less I like it. It's impersonal and time-consuming. The only really good bit is Scrabulous. That, and the fact that I connected with a few old friends I haven't seen this decade. Anyways, enough sour notes.
Getting ready for Christmas this year has actually been fun. We have been able to purchase some very fun gifts for our kids and others, that has been a blessing. The simple fact that I'm not stressing out about every penny goes a long way to keeping this mommy happy.
Right now I'm enjoying a cuddle with my baby girl. I love that she still wants to sit on my lap for long periods of time, is mostly not demanding and loves to give hugs. IT is, however, difficult to type, so I guess I'm done.
Getting ready for Christmas this year has actually been fun. We have been able to purchase some very fun gifts for our kids and others, that has been a blessing. The simple fact that I'm not stressing out about every penny goes a long way to keeping this mommy happy.
Right now I'm enjoying a cuddle with my baby girl. I love that she still wants to sit on my lap for long periods of time, is mostly not demanding and loves to give hugs. IT is, however, difficult to type, so I guess I'm done.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
fresh flowers for December 6
The Promised Land
copyright, lani wiens, 2007
a fresh flowers original
Over here in the promised land the flowers seem to be blooming less than normal. Perhaps winter has been a little harsh on the posies lately. I've been ruminating on the promised land life and wondering what it might have been like for the Israelites way back then. You would hope that once you get to the promised land you'd have it made in the shade, milk and honey everywhere, new houses that might be a little more permanent, out of the hostile desert and into some treed areas. Now that I'm in our promised land I've been making a few observations.
1. The promised land requires some elbow grease.
So here we are, fresh over the Jordan and what do we run into...Jericho. A big, walled city that we are now required to inhabit. Apparently God does not see this as a problem, but an opportunity to remind his followers that He is still in the picture and life will still require faith to live. Yes, we feel like we are currently living in the promises that God made us a long time ago. Sometimes the amount of work required to live here is staggering. But is it worth it? I'm guessing when the Israelites got to plunder Jericho they weren't complaining! We're not complaining either.
2. The promised land can be intimidating.
The giants over here in the promised land are mighty big. The good thing is that the God of David is still on the throne and a small smooth stone of obedience can bring down the biggest giant we face. We just watched Facing The Giants (an excellent movie, we highly recommend it) and were moved to tears as we watched the actors face many of the same giants we've faced in our lifetime. It brought us to the realization that we have overcome much through the hand of God. The giants will keep coming, but if we're willing to give it our all, to lay ourselves on the altar of obedience, God will fight for us. We will continue to honor Him, whether we win or lose.
3. The promised land can be lonely.
It's all new people in the promised land. In order to get here we had to cross the Jordan, while our friends came to see us off, they stayed on the other side, they have their own promised land to get to. As we put down roots and build new relationships we miss the proximity and closeness of what we had. However, God is on this side of the river as well, He will never leave us or forsake us, He will help us move in and move on.
4. The promised land can be expensive.
Back in the desert things didn't wear out. Stuff showed up just when we needed it, sometimes right outside our door. However, God is saying that particular brand of provision isn't necessary anymore. We need to begin to replace the things we came with for new things that are approriate for this land. Our eyes are being opened to how worn out and ragged some of our things are. We are so thankful for the provision that God has made in the past and for the new kind of provision He is making now. There are times where I long for the old kind of provision but I'm learning to enjoy the new kind as well, it still requires faith to believe. It's a new land and a new lesson to learn.
5. The promised land requires adjustments.
Things were pretty comfortable in the desert, or at least familiar. There's a whole new way of doing things over here. New ways of being. Things are NOT the same. You are only allowed to say, "When I lived in the desert we did..." so many times before it isn't allowed anymore. It's time to adjust to the new land, the new ways, adapt to the customs, learn the language and become part of this new country. We have applied for citizenship in this new land of promise.
So many of the things we have dreamed of are happening right before our eyes. We lived for such a long time feeling like we were just on the edge of something and suddenly we're there. The tags are still a little scratchy and we don't feel like we've quite worn things in yet, there are days we wish we were back in the land of familiar, but being in the promised land is good. Very good.
copyright, lani wiens, 2007
a fresh flowers original
Over here in the promised land the flowers seem to be blooming less than normal. Perhaps winter has been a little harsh on the posies lately. I've been ruminating on the promised land life and wondering what it might have been like for the Israelites way back then. You would hope that once you get to the promised land you'd have it made in the shade, milk and honey everywhere, new houses that might be a little more permanent, out of the hostile desert and into some treed areas. Now that I'm in our promised land I've been making a few observations.
1. The promised land requires some elbow grease.
So here we are, fresh over the Jordan and what do we run into...Jericho. A big, walled city that we are now required to inhabit. Apparently God does not see this as a problem, but an opportunity to remind his followers that He is still in the picture and life will still require faith to live. Yes, we feel like we are currently living in the promises that God made us a long time ago. Sometimes the amount of work required to live here is staggering. But is it worth it? I'm guessing when the Israelites got to plunder Jericho they weren't complaining! We're not complaining either.
2. The promised land can be intimidating.
The giants over here in the promised land are mighty big. The good thing is that the God of David is still on the throne and a small smooth stone of obedience can bring down the biggest giant we face. We just watched Facing The Giants (an excellent movie, we highly recommend it) and were moved to tears as we watched the actors face many of the same giants we've faced in our lifetime. It brought us to the realization that we have overcome much through the hand of God. The giants will keep coming, but if we're willing to give it our all, to lay ourselves on the altar of obedience, God will fight for us. We will continue to honor Him, whether we win or lose.
3. The promised land can be lonely.
It's all new people in the promised land. In order to get here we had to cross the Jordan, while our friends came to see us off, they stayed on the other side, they have their own promised land to get to. As we put down roots and build new relationships we miss the proximity and closeness of what we had. However, God is on this side of the river as well, He will never leave us or forsake us, He will help us move in and move on.
4. The promised land can be expensive.
Back in the desert things didn't wear out. Stuff showed up just when we needed it, sometimes right outside our door. However, God is saying that particular brand of provision isn't necessary anymore. We need to begin to replace the things we came with for new things that are approriate for this land. Our eyes are being opened to how worn out and ragged some of our things are. We are so thankful for the provision that God has made in the past and for the new kind of provision He is making now. There are times where I long for the old kind of provision but I'm learning to enjoy the new kind as well, it still requires faith to believe. It's a new land and a new lesson to learn.
5. The promised land requires adjustments.
Things were pretty comfortable in the desert, or at least familiar. There's a whole new way of doing things over here. New ways of being. Things are NOT the same. You are only allowed to say, "When I lived in the desert we did..." so many times before it isn't allowed anymore. It's time to adjust to the new land, the new ways, adapt to the customs, learn the language and become part of this new country. We have applied for citizenship in this new land of promise.
So many of the things we have dreamed of are happening right before our eyes. We lived for such a long time feeling like we were just on the edge of something and suddenly we're there. The tags are still a little scratchy and we don't feel like we've quite worn things in yet, there are days we wish we were back in the land of familiar, but being in the promised land is good. Very good.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
hurdles
There's nothing like doing things with a running start. We just got back from holidays. Before we left we were running like crazy to get ready, hosting meetings, youth events, packing and farm work. We took the flying leap up and over the hurdle and hung in mid air for a wonderful week of relaxing and playing with our kids and extended family, we had a fabulous time. Then the pause button got pushed again and we had to come back to earth. We drove into our garage at 5:30 PM, unloaded the kids and some of the stuff, waited for the babysitter, changed our clothes and put some make-up on and headed out again at 6:00 PM to go to the fundraiser banquet for the missions trip we're going on in February. This morning we were back in the saddle teaching Sunday School. This is a crazy life. We have two huge events coming this week with the youth group and then there's all the Christmas preparations to attend to. So....if you happen to read this, would you mind breathing for me, cause I'm not sure I'll get the chance.
NOTE TO SELF: It is worth every penny to have a cleaning person come in and tend to your home while you are away. Walking into a clean house after vacation is a little bit of heaven!
NOTE TO SELF: It is worth every penny to have a cleaning person come in and tend to your home while you are away. Walking into a clean house after vacation is a little bit of heaven!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
fresh flowers for November 7
Daddy
a fresh flowers original
copyright 2007
Our youngest son has had a life long love affair with his daddy. He can't stand it when daddy leaves. He can't wait until daddy comes home. When he hears his daddy at the door he drops everything and runs to meet him with smiles, hugs and kisses. When daddy is leaving there are many hugs and kisses and often tears. Recently I mentioned to him that I had heard daddy drive into the lower part of our yard to load grain. I don't think that I finished the sentence before his active little brain put 'daddy' and 'yard' together and he took off running. He didn't stop for a jacket or shoes, he was single-minded in his purpose, he needed to see his daddy, feel his strong arms around him and be in his presence. This little boy's desire for his dad extends to his sleeping routines. If he knows that his daddy is in the house he makes his way to our bedroom at about 5:00 AM, crawls in beside his daddy and goes back to sleep, that, according to him is his spot.
I have to admit that my passion and excitement for my saviour is not as zealous as my son's is for his daddy, but oh I long for it to be that. My son's love is pure, unfettered, abandoned. He is secure in his position in his daddy's heart. He never questions his daddy's love for him. Even when he has been disciplined and daddy turns into "the meanest daddy ever", it is only for a moment, his mad disapates and he must be near daddy once again. It never stops him from seeking his daddy in the dark of night when his soul is lonely and needing warmth.
This is the warm, pulsing breath of first love. The driving need to be near, the leave-your-jacket-and-shoes behind kind of love that does not require the warmth of something external. I am praying for that awakening in my spirit. I want my soul to reverbrate with the realization that my daddy is near and I must get to him, now! Passion. Abandon. Security. Warmth. This is what I crave in my relationship with my God. How about you?
a fresh flowers original
copyright 2007
Our youngest son has had a life long love affair with his daddy. He can't stand it when daddy leaves. He can't wait until daddy comes home. When he hears his daddy at the door he drops everything and runs to meet him with smiles, hugs and kisses. When daddy is leaving there are many hugs and kisses and often tears. Recently I mentioned to him that I had heard daddy drive into the lower part of our yard to load grain. I don't think that I finished the sentence before his active little brain put 'daddy' and 'yard' together and he took off running. He didn't stop for a jacket or shoes, he was single-minded in his purpose, he needed to see his daddy, feel his strong arms around him and be in his presence. This little boy's desire for his dad extends to his sleeping routines. If he knows that his daddy is in the house he makes his way to our bedroom at about 5:00 AM, crawls in beside his daddy and goes back to sleep, that, according to him is his spot.
I have to admit that my passion and excitement for my saviour is not as zealous as my son's is for his daddy, but oh I long for it to be that. My son's love is pure, unfettered, abandoned. He is secure in his position in his daddy's heart. He never questions his daddy's love for him. Even when he has been disciplined and daddy turns into "the meanest daddy ever", it is only for a moment, his mad disapates and he must be near daddy once again. It never stops him from seeking his daddy in the dark of night when his soul is lonely and needing warmth.
This is the warm, pulsing breath of first love. The driving need to be near, the leave-your-jacket-and-shoes behind kind of love that does not require the warmth of something external. I am praying for that awakening in my spirit. I want my soul to reverbrate with the realization that my daddy is near and I must get to him, now! Passion. Abandon. Security. Warmth. This is what I crave in my relationship with my God. How about you?
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