Oooh, I'm so excited

I've been questioning and searching the Bible regarding two specific questions I had, and wow, did the Lord answer me tonight! He answered both questions! I am so thankful and feel such a peace over this now. I have scripture that clearly shows me the answers, and it feels so good to KNOW. God is gracious. He not only gave me the answers, but I think I see how those answers fit into the big picture. Wow. What a wonderful plan God has, and He allowed me to get a glimpse tonight why He did things the way He did.

WAHOO! I'm joyful! God is indeed marvellous and am I SO thankful that His ways are not our ways. This is much more beautiful His way!

Pass the barf bowl

The sickness has run through Sweetheart, me, and now Sunshine. (Those who watch my "What's happening here" category on the side bar know that we have been sick.) And I think perhaps Shortcake got just the diarrhea end of it because she has had some n-a-s-t-y diapers lately. She also has been clingy and crying more, so I think she didn't feel good, either. So thankful she never threw up! It is so hard for the wee ones when they throw up; I hate the panicked look on their faces. So sad to watch.

Anyway, so I guess my plans for school today will be altered a bit. We'll go by how Sunshine feels. Or perhaps we'll just do school while snuggled on the couch. Those kinds of days are always sweet, even if she is sick.

The good news is, this bug doesn't last long. Two days is about it. And thankfully, we've all taken turns having it. It's so hard when everyone is sick at once, including Mommy.

Proud and funny moment

Today, Sunshine colored a picture for a friend who still lives back in our former neighborhood. And for the first time ever, she sounded out her own words to put on the picture. All I've ever asked her to do is sign her name, nothing more. But she put on the picture:

"Fum Sunshine"

LOL, I'm soooo proud. She is still in preschool, but sounding out words and writing them herself!

I didn't dare tell her how to correctly spell "from." I think it is precious the way it is.

One-on-One with Mom

I've been asking God to show me some things to teach my children to be like Him, to help their spiritual lives mature as they grow up. And over the past few days, He gave me an idea - to spend 1:1 time with them individually. Not to just run to the grocery store so they each get time with me by themselves. Oh, that idea is great and fine, and we do that when I can (Daddy being gone makes that hard), but no, I'm speaking of a more purposeful time alone together.

The goal of this time together would be to really get at their heart. To ask them, how is your heart doing? Are you struggling with any areas lately? What can I pray for? Are you afraid of anything? What is God telling you in your Bible time? (This last question will be when they are old enough to have their personal devotions. Mine aren't old enough yet.) This time will be to pray together, to talk of their dreams and hopes for their life in the future, to talk about anything bothering them, and so on. Also, this would be a good time for me to be open with them about my own failures and struggles, and to ask their forgiveness when I've made mistakes.

My hope for this is to let them see that I care personally how they are doing on the inside and out. I want this to deepen their trust of Mommy. I also hope this will open doors for me to intimately "disciple" my children as they know Christ as their Savior.

Churches disciple their new Christians - or they certainly should; many churches have discipleship programs. Do we as parents have a purposeful discipleship with our children? Do we have a time to address their individual needs?

But I hope this time won't be all seriousness. I don't want it to be stiff. I hope it's filled with lots of laughter and giggling, too. I don't want it to be like a report-card interview. I want it to be a sweet time. And so I need to start it now, while my daughter is five. She'll have no expectations of Mom coming into her room and sitting down to talk. We can start off these memories with lots of giggles over her made-up jokes and stories. I can tell her my own made-up stories (she loves these at bedtime) just for her. And we can talk about her fear of the dark, and Mommy's fears (not too much detail here for her little mind) letting her know I get afraid, too, and how I take my fears to God and so can she. We can pray together, read the Bible together, and just have fun being Mommy and Daughter.

I have high hopes for this idea God gave me. May He bless it richly!

Using our experiences as testimony to Him

Job 22: 23 - 27, 29 (I left out some phrases to show the parts that blessed me)
"If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up... Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee... When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person."

I love the comfort, the reassuring truth here!

Eliphaz (Job's friend) is telling Job that if he just will return to God (he mistakenly thinks that Job is being punished for straying from God), then this will be his testimony. While he is wrong about Job, he is right about what happens when you whole heartedly and humbly repent and turn to God.

1) You will be built up. v. 23
2) You will prosper. v. 24,25
3) God will be your defense. v. 25
4) You will have your delight in God. v. 26
5) He will hear your prayers. v. 27
6) You will be a testimony to His saving grace!! v. 29

My favorite part is #6, v. 29: "When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, 'There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.' " Isn't it so true? No matter what we go through, we may be an encouragement to others who will travel down the same path, whether that path be one of repentance or one of trials. We are able to not only feel their pain and know how to better pray for them, but we can also be a testimony to His grace, His forgiveness, His patience, His love, His provision, His leading, and His answers!!

Father, thank You so much for how you turn every single thing in our lives to Your ultimate glory!

Whooohooo! Shopping trip!

Oh yes, and I had FUN. My youngest sis and I went with the kids to a mall an hour away. (That's how far we have to go out here in the sticks.) We had a blast. We hit soooo many stores and the kids were so good and patient. I was very proud of my little chicks today.

I got some wonderful clothes for myself! I never buy for myself because I always feel guilty (what is up with that?), but today I did. And because of all the weight I've been losing, I'm now out of "woman" sizes and back into the normal size range. Yippee! So today instead of shopping at CJ Banks (my fave store), I got to shop at their normal store, Christopher and Banks. I just lo-o-o-ve their clothes. Very "me." And these fabulous clothes not only fit great and flattered my figure (gasp!), but I stepped out of my normal color choices and style, and I love what I chose! It feels good to do something different than what I typically do.

Stopped at Old Navy, and ladies with daughters: pay attention! I found winter tights for my girls for 47 CENTS! Yes! I went "tight crazy." I walked out with a very large bag of assorted socks and tights.

But perhaps the purchase I'm most thrilled with is the wonderful printer I got. An HP Photosmart C5100 All-in-One! God was sooo good. I've been praying for weeks (months?) that God would provide a good quality printer for our family that was under a certain price. I had checked online, and what we were needing for our family was a bit outta my price range when you considered the cartridges, the needed cables, etc., to get you started. Well, praise God! I walked outta there with every thing I wanted with wa-a-a-y less than the prices on the website! This baby is wonderful. I had not intended to get a printer with photo printing capability, but God included that, too, in my price range. The photo thing was on my wish list. Isn't He gracious?

All-in-all, a great Monday with lots of sales and a great sister-bonding day!

We will spend our lives on You.

While on Three, God and Me this morning, I read this post. There was one particular line there that really grabbed me.

"As for me and my house,we will spend our lives on you"

That line caught my attention. I don't believe I've seen it said that way before, and it really is a great way to put it. Like I said in my reply to her post, our family prays together, reads the Bible together, goes to church together, and I'm starting to teach them to reach out to others, but am I really teaching them to spend their lives on Him?

So how does one do that?

It is not merely enough to be dependent on the Lord yourself. Meaning, you may pray all day in your heart to Him, fully relying on His strength to give you patience and wisdom while being a mother or in a career, but your children will not see that. They may see you always being patient and wise, but that won't be enough. Taking them to church isn't enough. We have to actively teach them. How?

We started something a few months ago that is a start, I suppose. The goal is to have one person each week that we bless as a family. With small children, that looks like a phone call from the kids or me, drawing pictures/writing letters to mail, sending ecards, and even taking them some flowers or a meal while visiting. Then at home, we pray for them. As I said, the goal is to have a different person each week, but I've not been faithful enough with it.

This is going to take some prayer and some thinking. I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on purposefully teaching our children to spend their lives on Christ.

Hide!

Sweetheart is just a doll these days. Well, I suppose he is most of the time, but lately he is just even sweeter. Today he took my hand, dragged me into the living room, and while holding his favorite fleece blanket, he said, "Hide! Hide!" So we sat on the floor together, covered by the blanket, breathing stale air. He kept grinning and giggling, pulling his little head into his shoulders - do you know the silly gesture I'm describing?

Oh, he is soooo cute. And I'm not biased.

My heart is so full!

This morning is a rainy, yucky morning. Very very dark out there, even at 10 am. But on this type of day, I always want to stay in our jammies, bake cookies, read lots of books and have a generally cozy, homey day.

So, I made a bigger breakfast for the kids than I typically do: oatmeal, scrambled eggs, biscuits (don't be too impressed - they were the refridgerated type), fruit, milk and OJ. Now, I do fix these things frequently as it is, but not all at once; usually they only have two items at breakfast.

What a reaction I got from the children, though! I got extra special hugs, many I-love-yous, and plenty of contented smiles. Who knew they'd be so happy? And they really stuffed themselves. Most mornings they don't eat half of what they did today.

I've cuddled with the wee bairn this morning. I felt her little fingers stroke my face while she nursed today. I've seen their sleepy-smile faces straight from their beds. I've heard their little giggles and goofy antics around the kitchen table.

They bring me so much joy. On the phone last night, my husband reminded me that one day, there will be no more tiny clothes in the dryer, no more tiny bottoms to wipe, no more waking in the middle of the night. And it is so true. I will greatly miss these days.

But before I can get too sad about losing those chubby baby fingers and the belly laughs when someone plays peekaboo, I know that I will get to see them transform into wonderful young adults. I will get to laugh with them over jokes, watch them grow in maturity, and, prayerfully, watch their faith grow.

And homeschooling my children allows me to be with them even more. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be with them all day. I love homeschooling. I love the excitement Sunshine has over learning. I love that she asks every day for phonics and math. I love that she is disappointed when we don't do school on the weekends. What a blessed thing it is to see your children grow and learn!

A new twist

Sunshine woke up this morning without any undies on under her pjs. I asked her why they were missing.

She said, "I don't know. I had them on last night." She truly looked puzzled. Then her face brightened and she said, "Maybe Satan took 'em!"

Well, that's a new one for me.

Peter and his mama

The other morning we were acting out the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. (I do this occasionally to mix up our family devotional time.)

I asked, "Who wants to be Peter?"

Sunshine: I do!

Sugar-n-Spice: I want to be Mama Peter!!

...LOL

Which font size do you prefer?

I did these last two posts in larger font. Which font do you prefer - the larger font I tried out or the smaller font I typically use?

Please, enlighten me

Why do children insist on telling you their bowel habits?

I regularly receive an update on their happenings. When Sunshine was little, she went through a phase of describing the color and shape of her bowel movements. Occasionally now she'll tell me its degree of firmness. (I'm sooo sorry. I'm trying to keep this from grossing you out as you eat a sandwich at the keyboard. Or brownies. Oops. Sorry.)

But these days, mostly they run up to me, holding themselves and declaring their needs loudly. "I"ve gotta go p*tty!" And even less exciting to hear, "I've gotta go p**p!"

Great... so go already. Don't come tell me. If you're holding the pertinent body part, then you probably don't have time to gamble with, you know?

Kids. Gotta love 'em.

Surrendering each day

As a mom, of course I have plans for each day. Vacuuming, a trip to the store, or what-have-you. But as they often do... plans get delayed or cancelled altogether. Children misbehave, traffic is horrible, or well, the day is just B-A-D.

Last night I was doing my personal devotions before bed, when God struck me with something in Job chapter one.

(I'm paraphrasing this in my own words...) In this chapter, Satan appears before God, and like a proud papa, God says, "Hey, have you noticed my Job?" It's like He takes out the pictures in His wallet. (Oh, to have God brag on me! I've seen this over and over in my devotions where God says that so-and-so is obeying and has a good testimony. I so VERY much want God to be pleased with me!) Anyway, He brags about Job to Satan, but Satan just sneers and says, "Well sure. You've got this hedge of protection around him. Anyone would be able to be faithful then. But make life hard to handle... heh, then we'll see." So in verse 12, God says,

"And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord."

God gave Satan permission; everything that happened to Job, God allowed. The same is true for ME and MY life. It's easy for me to see the big trials and such are allowed by God. (And those are truly hard to be faithful in, like Satan insinuated.) But I forget that even the little things in my life are allowed by Him. What about a bad day? I should not be angry at my horrible day. This, too, passed God's fingers. Okay, so the day didn't go as *I* planned. Will I allow it to go as *He* planned? He allowed this trial, this annoyance, this day. In those times I should humble myself and ask God what He has for me today. Surrender my plans, take a deep breath, and follow. No, even more than that. I should praise Him for intervening to show me He had something more than my own plans included. I look at Job as a great example. When he heard how all his children were dead and all his livestock were dead (his wealth in those times), he bowed down on the ground (verse 20) "and worshipped." Wow. Complete surrender.

I can view each bad day or upset plans as either a time to strengthen my dependence on Him (what joy! an opportunity to be closer to Him!) or as an opportunity to be a light for Him. Are my children being horrible today? Great! It accomplishes both of those things - I need Him for patience and kindness when they're being horrible, and they need me to show Him to them and to lovingly bring them to Him so they may see their sin.

I recently saw this little blurb I'm about to share on a board I frequent, so I cannot take credit for it. In fact the gal said she got it out of a book, but she couldn't remember which book, so sadly, I cannot give credit. But here it is:

"I am here:
~by God's appointment
~in His keeping
~under His training
~for His time
First He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place, in that I will rest."

*If anyone knows which book that came out of, please tell me so I can give proper credit.

I'm not a "schedule" kind of gal

I tried over the first four years or so of childrearing to get myself into a schedule. You know, sit down, draw out the blocks of time, and then put assign tasks to each block? Well, I can tell you, I just can't do schedules. To me, a schedule creates an expectation. And then every single day, that expectation isn't met. Because a house full of little ones just doesn't fit neatly into boxes. At least not here in my house.

I've spent a lot of time feeling like that we should be running on a schedule, and since we weren't, it must have meant I just didn't have it together enough to do a schedule. Until the day it dawned upon my mind... I could still have an organized and smoothly running home with a routine.

Now, that routine has morphed over and over again, because we've added a couple babies, moved, started homeschooling... and each time things completely change. While I'm pregnant, life is in survival mode the entire 9 months. But we have a routine, even if it is bare bones. I know if I tried to keep up with a schedule then, I'd be having major expectations of myself that I just can't meet.

Right now our routine looks like this:

• Mommy up (6 am) - dressed/eat, put in a load of laundry, tidy one room somewhere in the house, computer time
• Kids up - eat/dress, make beds
• Bible time (family devotions)
• School for Sunshine and anyone else who feels like joining in.
• Exercise (they play while I exercise, sometimes they join in)
• Lunch, prep for dinner
• Chores (like sweeping the kitchen floor, taking out trash, emtpying dishwasher, reloading it, tidying the kitchen or bedroom, etc)
• Take a walk or do something outside if the weather permits
• Rest time
• Get dinner started (I try to have dinner ready to eat at 5:00, but sometimes I'm late)
• Kids tidy up living room and we all fold laundry (yes, the two older girls really do fold laundry, and they do a great job, too!)
• Half hour of tv while Mommy finishes up dinner
• Eat
• Start getting ready for the next day: laying out clothes, clean up the kitchen one last time, get the kids into pjs, brush teeth and braid Sunshine's hair (lessens tangles)
• Play and read together until bedtime for kids
• Once kids are down, I take the baby to my room and I do my own personal devotions. I try to be in bed by 9:30 these days. Baby still wakes in the middle of the night.

If you noticed, the baby isn't listed for where in the routine she nurses. I just work around her, so the kids get free time while we nurse. Sometimes we all pile on the couch, and I read to them while I nurse her. It all just depends on what I feel like that day. And bath days are a few nights a week, so we do that after dinner on those evenings.

Yummy and Healthy: Oatmeal Cake

If this recipe looks familiar, it's because I got it off the side of the Quaker oats canister. Except they called it "low fat chewy fruit and oatmeal bars." That title is very misleading. It made me think of granola type bars. It doesn't bake up like that at all. It comes out as a moist, heavy cake. Very good, very filling.

One more note: this recipe calls for low-fat or fat free ingredients. If you don't have all of that on hand (I don't), the recipe is still very delicious when you are done!

• 3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1 c (80z) vanilla or plain low-fat yogurt
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 T fat-free milk
• 2 t vanilla (I double it and use more than 1 T)
• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 3 c uncooked quick or old fashioned oats
• 1 c diced dried mixed fruit, raisins or cranberries

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla; mix well. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add to yogurt mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and fruit.
2. Spread dough onto bottom of ungreased 9x13 inch baking pan
3. Bake 28-32 minutes or until light golden brown. (Since this recipe is brown when uncooked, "light golden brown" is hard to tell. I take it out when the top has a caramel color. In our oven, that means 28 minutes of baking.) Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

I serve this for breakfast, but since I am not "with it" enough to bake first thing in the morning, I make this the day before. We love this served with fruit on the side (I personally leave the fruit out of the recipe) and a tall glass of milk. If there is any left over, we have this as an afternoon snack.

Enjoy!

Finding what makes a home "homey" to me

I've been married 7 years, and in that time I decorated a wee bit for the first couple years, but after that, I didn't. I couldn't put up curtains or pictures in one place we lived, and that seriously hampered things. Then the few knick-knacks I had were just not "me" anymore, though I didn't know what was "me."

Since I've been in my parents home for almost a year now, (wow, I canNOT believe it's been that long, nor would I have ever thought I'd be with my parents as an adult with children, but hey - life has been been way different than I'd ever imagined, anyway) I have really contemplated what I want my home to be like when I get back to my own place.

A big thing for me is: what would I put on my walls? Well, I've solved that one. I love pictures of family, of my children. I've decided I want to do a lot of our candid photos in black and white, close ups on their little faces, blown-up shots. I also love paintings of outdoor scenes -not animals, just scenery. And cross-stitch - wonderful quotes, lots of scripture. And all of these can be done by me. (I cannot paint yet, but have asked a close family friend to teach me. And when I move, I hope to continue by taking classes.) That's the best part: that I can surround our family with stuff that is so personal.

Another thing that says "home" to me is pillows and quilts. I hope to get a sewing machine sometime to work on that, as well.

Scented candles are also a big one for me.

And one more: I want to collect those family figurines from Willow Tree like this, this, this, and this.

So, what is home to you, in the realm of decor?

Thanks for the Unlovely

On Christmas break from my freshman year at college, I was in another family's home for one night. (Their daughter had taken me most of the way home.) Above the sink hung a wonderful plaque, and sadly I cannot remember the actual words, but I remember the basic premise of the plaque.

It gave thanks for the dirty dishes, for it meant she had food to prepare for her family. It gave thanks for so many dirty dishes because it meant she was surrounded by many family members. And it gave thanks for the dishes because well, it meant she had dishes.

I've often wished I could find that plaque. I have never seen another one, but I would love to have just such a thing to hang in my kitchen.

However, in the spirit of that plaque, I will give thanks for the "unlovely" things in my life that at first would not spring to mind to be thankful for.

1. For disobedience and defiance of children - their sin of rebellion is not hidden from me, and I can pray for wisdom in how to deal with it. You cannot pray for sins you do not know your children have.
2. For the hurt of my marriage troubles - it gave God an open door to so many other things in my life!
3. For not getting that curriculum last year when we should have had the money- because then God laid it on the heart of a good friend to just give me hers, as she wasn't going to use that curriculum after all. He answered my desires in a much more wonderful way than I could have ever thought.
4. For losing the quality of my devotional time this week - I've been trying to rearrange my schedule, which meant doing my devotions while the kids were up. That did *not* work. It just showed me even more how much I love my quiet time with Him, and confirmed some things I was turning over in my mind.
5. For the lack of my husband being with us right now - less laundry! (LOL I couldn't resist. But truly, I miss him horribly. I love him so very much!)

That reminds me

My previous post gave a link to another blog's post. It reminded me to post the following poem, which I came across in a church bulletin. This really is a powerful thing if you fully contemplate the meaning.

Judgment Seat

When I stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ,
And He shows me His plan for me;
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way and I see...

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there;
And I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes,
Grief, though He loves me still?

He would have me rich, and I stand there poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.

Then my desolate heart will well nigh break,
With tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands,
I shall there bow my uncrowned head.

Lord, of the years that are left to me,
I give them to Thy hand;
Take me and break me, mold me to
The pattern Thou has planned.

--By Martha Snell Nicholson

Lord, please keep my heart tender before You. Please don't let my desire for comfort and ease keep me from serving You with my whole heart. Please always let me seek You for the sake of You alone, and not for selfish wants. In Jesus' name, Amen.