• friends with perpetual headaches that bring them to tears from the pain.
• friends struggling with lukemia.
• friends who struggle with long term health issues.
• friends who are watching their fathers struggle with cancer.
• friends who have recently buried parents.
• friends struggling with betrayals from their closest friend or spouse.
• friends with several little children who are very ill.
• friends with broken hearts over children who have rejected God’s way.
• friends who are struggling with fatigue and trying to serve those who are ill.
• friends who are uncertain what to do in the future.

And my perspective shifts…  and I cry out to the Lord to come to their aid and strenghten them, sustain them, and give His mercy to them today and in the days to come. That they will learn to depend on Him, to fall at His feet, and glorify God whose strength is made perfect in their/our weakness. And that most of all Lord, that your name would be glorified throughout all the earth through these, our very small lives.

Everyone in unison exclaimed, “awwww….” We checked the local grocery store bulletin boards and thought it strange to find one other “found” chihuahua notice on the boards.  If someone comes knocking on door looking for it we’ll all be one sad family – especially Emma. The poor thing has been obviously neglected for some time because it was infested with fleas horribly. On the double positive side of the coin…it is completely house broken.

 Grease a GLASS plate with spray oil. Scramble one egg with a little bit of milk. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. (don’t forget all microwaves very in strength) The egg will puff up real high but go down once the microwave has finished.

The microwaved egg. 

Apply cheese and ham. The options however are endless! Microwave for 30 seconds more.

 Loosen carefully with small spatula and fold. Tada! One egg omelet in 2 minutes! The best part – 50 cents!

Fear of pain & fear of death are two of the most potent forces in our lives. -R.C. Sproul

There are not many people that can argue with this statement. When the body is in pain it is definite that we will seek a way to make ourselves feel better. The more intense the pain the more drastic measures we are willing to take to become pain free again. Perhaps, in one way, this is because we recognize that pain can many times possibly be a strong signal that death is near at hand. 

We fear death. There is no doubt about it. The general population goes out of their way to avoid it. Many pay heavy insurance premiums to ensure that they will have the best of the best of doctors should the time come when they need it. Most people will do their best to even avoid talking about it.

The problem is this however…unless the Lord returns, 100% of us will die. We face the uncertain circumstances of our death with much fear. I know I’ve struggled with it any time I have faced pain I couldn’t get under control. The fear was much worse than the pain. Once I managed to get the fear under control the pain usually diminished.

Those who have faith in Jesus Christ as Lord should not face these things with fear. In Hebrews 2:14-15 it is written:

Since all of these sons and daughters have flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood to be like them. He did this so that by dying he would destroy the one who had power over death (that is, the devil). In this way he would free those who were slaves all their lives because they were afraid of dying.

Labor pains have been a blessing to me in more ways than having the blessing of a new child welcomed into our home. It has given me a chance to face pain and learn to get past the fear that “something will go wrong.” It has given me opportunity to face the fear of dying and learn that when I truly trust Christ I am free person and no longer a slave to the fear of pain and dying.

When I think of dying now it makes me think of someone who is placed on a high dive and told to jump into the water below. Let’s pretend they’ve never experienced water in any form. They have no idea what to expect. Is it a trick? What will happen? Their friend has explained to them over and over that this water is their salvation and that the jump is mandatory. They can not “go back down the ladder.” They stand there with some heavy panic and butterflies in their stomach but jump they must on the word of their friend that they will be okay. They may wrestle with themselves at the top of that board for a while but someone is coming to push them in against their will. What will they do? Maybe they will struggle against the person or maybe they will begin to trust in the word of their friend and just go peacefully.

At this point, I would like to say that I would go peacefully trusting in the words of Christ. The biggest issue, the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of coming in contact with something I’m very unfamiliar with, “the water.” The thought of going somewhere “new” even here on earth gives me a sense of uncertainty and excitement. Heaven gives me that same feeling. I’ve never come in contact with Christ face to face. I’m nervous. I read The Word and I believe it, thanks be to God. And I’m thankful that I don’t have to be a slave to the fear of death any longer. When the day comes for me I want my family and friends to see the peace of Christ on my face as I say, “It is well with my soul!” There should be rejoicing and shouts as I cross the Jordan into the promised land. This is what I long for – to face death with rejoicing and say:

 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?”

~ 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

Christian's clothesline buddy

While Christian was hanging out the shirts he noticed a pair of pants had fallen off the line and when he picked them up to shake the dirt off the pants something fell at his feet. Upon looking down he saw the largest snake that he has ever had a close encounter with. He quickly called Petra and I out to “come and see!”

He wasn’t really sure what kind of snake it was and was rather relieved when I told him it was “only” a black snake. It crawled to the other side of the clothes line and proceeded to make its way up the tree which has to be the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen a snake do besides kill another snake.

I must say, however, I will never look at the top of any tree in the same way again. No longer birds, bugs, and leaves but possibly even a snake or two at the top of that tree! The Tireman couldn’t understand why I did not kill it. My only response was, “but they eat mice!” He pointed out that they also eat baby chicks. Opps… 

Not a whole lot! After I married the Tireman it was apparent that he wasn’t very fond of the local river either and that was more than fine with me as I still have not become fond of encountering snakes in the water. All this being said, the major point is that here we live in an area with a beautiful river and my children have yet to see it more than four or five times in their life from ground level (crossing over the bridge doesn’t count).

Yesterday, I decided I would delight my children by taking them on a pic-a-nic to the local “beach front” area of the river. You know the one…easy access to the water, wide open places to run and play, picnic tables, and trees for shade. Unfortunately, this wonderful picnic spot must have been wrecked by all the flood waters during early springs and we were very disappointed to find a road closed sign at the entrance to the park. *sigh*

We followed the instructions on the sign and proceeded to Deer Leap to see if we could find a decent spot to have a picnic.

The spot was amazingly beautiful but you can imagine by the name Deer “Leap” that it wasn’t exactly a child friendly spot to play and the ball that we brought stayed in the basket for fear of loosing it or a child over the thirty foot drop down to the river. Despite all of this, the children were enchanted with the view and with the guy who was fishing from the bank.Emma was the first to cry “fish” when he hoisted a perch into the air on a hook. It wasn’t long before someone showed up with a boat on a trailer and we got to see someone “put into the water.” We watched people float by on innertubes and other boats go up and down the river. That delighted them as well.

THE biggest perk upon arrival to this alternate spot was the appearance of a clean indoor bathroom which I managed to visit twice within the hour that we were there. (These things are IMPORTANT when you’re pregnant and going somewhere with small children.)  Our stay was short. Long enough to eat our lunch, have a few minor food-related disasters, and run after Emma who apparently has no fear of heights. *ugh* Then home we went, where trying to lay down with Emma so she would take her nap, I promptly fell asleep for two hours while Emma went to play with bubbas and sissy.

Filed under: Children, General Sillyness, Outdoors Tagged: picnic, river

It was in a quiet moment while thinking about all of this that suddenly I realized even more what Christ meant when he said to store up your treasures in heaven. Immediately one think of good deeds done to others, loving your neighbor as yourself, and turning the other cheek to be the treasure that He spoke of. Yes,and of course! But also…as I watch my children playing in the floor and busy working around the house  I realized that most of all, the treasures I want to see stored in heaven beyond any other, are  the souls of my children.  What treasure that would be!  May the Lord grant that each one of my children not only be a treasure to me here on earth but that they also may be  treasures in heaven as well!

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Filed under: Everyday Life

Isn’t funny how we can quickly become afraid that we’re doing things wrong. That maybe we won’t measure up to the standards. Standards….whose standards? The public schools? The neighbors? Church family? The entire point to our homeschooling was to recreate a more efficient and free method of learning. One where the student gets involved and is eager to learn instead of groaning at the next lesson or crying out of intimidation of the thousand problems in his math book today. Is the goal to learn or to keep them busy? Is the goal to teach something or have it look good on paper?

This is why I appreciate what a friend of mine had to say in her recent post on homeschooling…

There is no perfect curriculum, and thinking that your homeschool can look exactly like some other family’s homeschool is just absurd.
We’ve spent the first few years of our homeschooling journey paving our own homeschool road. It looks like no other family’s we know. But it’s us. It works. Everyone is thriving. ~Kathi (A Heart Like Water)

I read it before I started this school week which has flailed and sputtered like an airplane running out of gas. And somewhere during one of those days I sat down to link to it on my other blog and I read it again.

Will my children ever be able to take a standardized test? Honestly, I don’t know because I’ve never given them one.  But I DO KNOW they have what it takes to live, to work, to love.  They can read, write, make intelligent observations, work hard, and aren’t afraid to talk to any one of any age level despite their age. My children find it just as natural to talk to adults as to talk to other children. And I realize…these ARE our goals and that others may look at them as strange and different but we aren’t living their life and God didn’t intend for us to be just like them. He gave our family its own unique character and I LOVE it.

Next week will be different. I’m refueling the plane and cherishing the fact that we are different, we don’t look like any other family that we know. It works and everyone is thriving! Thanks Kathi! I needed some perspective!

Filed under: Children, Homeschooling, Traditions

Here is what we would have missed…

Click to view slideshow.

Filed under: Everyday Life

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. – Ecclesiastes 1:14-15

Life can seem mundane and dull, hard to get motivated. Nothing sounds fun or it sounds like too much work. What good will this do I wonder? What benefit? Will it be productive? What should I do today? Well…a little bit of reminder from the Westminster Catechism as to what my daily goal should be:

….What is the chief end of man?  Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever….

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? – Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

We’re not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be”~C.S. Lewis

Passionate Homemaking has an excellent article this morning on Embracing the Pain & Letting Go of Fear During Childbirth. It was such a great article that I was going to leave a comment until I realized that I had so much to agree with about what she wrote that writing a blog for a comment might be kind of inappropriate.

In this day and age, childbearing is often considered a thing to be feared. There is this overarching anxiety that we won’t be able to manage the pain of it all. We fear the baby being too large, or too small. We fear losing control. My desire here is to stop this train of thought that birthing is a thing to fear, encourage us to step back, and reflect on the beauty of the birthing process. ~Lindsay

For me this statement hits home but not because  I anticipated being fearful but because I had some extremely emotional and difficult births that fueled fears in future pregnancies. By my third baby, I had everything planned out and I knew “I” was in control. I was confident, cocky, condemning of others who chose differently, and relying on my new knowledge and self-education about birthing. THIS was going to be an awesome experience. BUT GOD, He had different plans and our baby was stillborn.

And the horrible cycle of fear began ~ hating and fearing the birth process, anger, doubt, distrust of God…which all came from losing the control I thought I had. The next two birth cycles- longer and longer- more painful. All the “what ifs” I feared coming to pass. The nightmare birth stories I had heard so much about, they were coming true more so with every birth.

By the start of our sixth pregnancy I knew this cycle need to be broken and so I turned to the word of God. I made some different decisions. I went back to the hospital to a better doctor than I had before. I embraced the idea of pain medication if I needed it. I embraced the idea of induced labor  for on time smaller babies that would make things easier. I lost my self-righteous attitude about others birth choices and choose to only focus on what God’s will for my birth was. I looked dark fear in the face and found God there, strength in sorrow and suffering by His grace.

And I learned that fear of labor and childbirth is more than fear of pain. It is a fear of  God’s will  and the lack of  control we actually have. As women we discover our fallen humanity as the curse comes face to face through childbirth (Genesis 3:16) and because of it we learn that God’s word is true. We learn to lay down our want to rule and choose submission to His will. We need to learn to embrace that God has multiplied our pain through childbearing but we also need to remember the mystery of the promise found in 1 Timothy 2:15, that we will be “saved through childbearing.”

And because of all these thoughts I began to search the scriptures for verses to quote to myself during labor. Verses that would comfort me and speak truth about God to me and help me not to fear what His best will turn out to be. With child number 6, verses like, “Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered”  was what I  needed to hear because I want to be obedient no matter what happened in my labor or my life.  With child number 7 I had learned so much about suffering and obedience that I wanted to remember that God cared for me and that the only fear I should have is of God and not circumstances or  pain. Psalm 103:13 became my labor verse… “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.”

With this things in mind I would encourage you to embrace the pain but FEAR GOD and trust Him in all things not only childbirth that no matter the outcome His will is made perfect in our weakness.

“To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?”~C.S. Lewis

• I see the lady at the thrift store buying up all the designer clothes she can find to resell them in her flea market and I get mad but God sees this lady has a real need and is making ends meet for her household by doing this very thing. And I think to myself, what right have I to be mad? (thanks for that perspective Ashley – it has really helped)
• You see expensive Mary Kay facial stuff, sandals, and etc.  that I own  but I see great deals I got at a garage sale.
• Years ago “you” saw Jerry and I go out to eat every weekend with his parents and when Jerry shared with “you” our inability to make ends meet for our bills “you” promptly told him he should stop going out to eat every weekend. What “you” didn’t know and that he refused to tell “you” was that the only reason we were there every weekend was because Jerry’s parents knew we didn’t have anything and this was why they “fixed” dinner for us on Saturdays. They paid for everything.
• The UPS driver arrives and says wow! Ya’ll really cleaned house buying stuff from Amazon as he unloads the entire back of his truck into our house. We knew what he was thinking…. so we made it clear that  what he saw was prizes we had won in the baby contest and not a set of extremely yuppified and extragavant people.
• You see my baby girl dressed in some of the finest clothes but I see gifts from a friend of mine whose little girl is older.
• Nice furniture in my house? With the exception of a few minor items all of it has been given to us..

I could go on…I’ll bet we all could. But anytime I am tempted to be green with envy over someone’s apparent circumstances and how they appear to me I like to remind myself that appearances are not always what they seem. It’s a great lesson in being humble towards others and not covet what they have because when we grumble and complain about what others have it is because we haven’t received with pleasure the things that God has given us!

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
- Colossians 3:15-17

When we came to a patch of beautiful wildflowers Malachi hurried around picking all he could find and bringing them to me. “Mommy, I got these flowers for YOU. I LOVE picking flowers for you.” It was all tender sweetness, he was so proud. And it was amusing as well because you would have thought HE had caused all those flowers to grow in his own power. He even said, “ALL the yellow flowers are for you, Mom.” So, BTW, if there are yellow flowers in your yard Malachi says they are mine. LOL

What struck me next was a thought direct from our heavenly Father about all this flower picking business. Aren’t we just like that with God? We go around doing good works (picking flowers) for others and offering them up and yet we didn’t  even “grow them.”

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

God created AND grew all our “flowers” and all we do is pick them and offer them. Isn’t God gracious that He has made it so easy for us! May He give me EYES to see when there is a flower that needs to be picked and given!

Filed under: Everyday Life

As life went by certain “sinners” that were in my life met God and were exceled into his kingdom with exactly that which I coveted ~ spiritual influence and an understanding that I knew I lacked. (because they understood they were sinners and I knew I wasn’t “one of them.)  I stood there like the prodigal son’s brother. “HELLOOOO?! ~ Haven’t I been here all along and been faithful????”  There was this nagging feeling that maybe I didn’t really know God at all…(and I didn’t because I had never seen my need for repentance.)

Of course, during all this time I had married and had two children that I was more than willing to neglect for the cause of Christ. (Not exactly His will at all)  And I would pour out my heart in anger at the Lord and say “Why?! Aren’t you going to use me for something magnificent?! Haven’t I felt like this was so from the beginning of my life? What is going on? What do you want me to do?!” And it was as clear as anything the day he told me to do the dishes. (I was a VERY bad housekeeper.) Why would that glorfiy YOU I answered with disgust. (I’m so glad HE is merciful with us.) And my mind filled with the verse, “he who is faithful in the little things will be faithful with much.” (Luke 16:10)

He told me lots of other things to do too. Like…

• play with your children.
• CLEAN the house.
• get off the phone if it isn’t important.
• read aloud to your children instead of sticking them in front of the television so you can do something else (remember that I wasn’t cleaning the house so I was wasting my time).
• stop wearing sweats all the time and look nice for your husband when he comes home.
• learn to love your children and your husband. Yes, our selfish nature needs to learn to love.  (see Titus 2:4)

But most of all he taught me some things I never knew before. For instance,  I , even me, was a sinner and only HIS grace could save me. Second, He taught me that my family is my mission field, that being a wife and mother is  my highest calling and my greatest joy. If I can’t be a faithful teacher of the things of God to my children than how could I possibly carry a light somewhere else? So, I may not have been given the five talents or even two but I can take this one talent he gave me and with gladness and joy “invest it in the bank.” (Matthew 25:14-30)

Filed under: Biblical Womanhood, Children, Traditions Tagged: Biblical Womanhood, Mother's Day, Titus 2

You alone cause the storm clouds to rise at the end of the earth, O Lord. You cover your hands with the lightning and command it to strike the mark. You spoke to Job from the whirlwind and declared Your Glory to him and set him in his place. When Jesus walked among us He proved His Sovereign Deity by commanding the wind and the waves to be still.

We’re tempted to improperly give the glory to Satan when the floods come Lord. We don’t understand these “bad” things and why they are happening. Forgive us for not seeing events as You would have us too. Where we see flooding and tragedy You have a different plan.

Let us remember that tragedy and sorrow are but opportunities to bring glory to your Name. Lord, Glorify your Name.

As Christians when we see:

• Our neighbor without shelter….let us take them in.
• Do not let us be like all those who passed the Samaritan by saying, there are others (government programs) to help them so I don’t need to bother.
• Let it be an opportunity for us to be moved with Christ like compassion.
• Let us remember that beside Your infinite power we are but like the grass. We are helpless before you and only Your grace and mercy can carry us through life.
• Let us remember that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.
• Let us pitch in together to repair homes and lives of others and not just ourselves.
• Thank you for giving us the opportunity to lay aside our normal everyday goals and business to see others and their needs and be a part of their lives.
• Most of all dear God, in the words of Christ, “Let Your Name Be Hallowed.”
• Let those who were lost in darkness see a great light.
• Let us remember that You promised that when we pass through the waters, YOU will be with us; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm us. Let us also remember that you did not promise that these things would not happen BUT that YOU would be WITH us.

This morning dear heavenly Father let us be thankful. Thankful for the opportunity to serve. Thankful that we are able to. But most of all that YOU are WITH us and we will not be overwhelmed!

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Amen

I like this but it looks tougher and harder to fit. Still do-able!

…likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works.
- 1 Timothy 2:9-10

More often than not, when I write this blog, I’m not aiming these words at any particular person. Most often and always I’m either reaffirming a commitment I have made or writing to remember something important that I have learned, and sometimes you are peeking into the diary of everyday life here in Podunk.

So when it seems like maybe I’m telling you that what you should be doing is adorning yourself with good works, remember that I’m writing and lecturing myself first and if there are any side benefits that will be to the Glory of God.

Now, adorning myself with good works has become increasingly difficult within the last month because with pregnancy comes being tired, cranky, and sick, and smells…it is like someone has turned the volume up on my nose! I’ve contemplated sticking cotton balls in my nostrils except that I tell my younger children not to do stuff like that. On top of all this, Emma (1) has sensed that something is going on with Mommy and has suddenly taken to much more lap sitting than is typical of here. Matter of fact, I told Emma I was expecting a baby and she actually giggled. I’m sure she knew what I was talking about.  Nevertheless, I’m grateful for the lap sitting. It gives me an excuse besides pregnancy to sit in the rocker and do nothing.

But I digress…

Maybe I’m trying not to think about what I actually am trying to write about ~ good works. Ah, good works… Why?  To earn salvation? NO, Christ paid that cost. Why then? Because woman who believe God want to please Him.

Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes. ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Obedience and good works. What is the connection here? Wow – I’m so not going this direction. I’ll let the Holy Spirit do that for you.  Hope I didn’t deflate your bubble but I will remind you that I have a pregnant mind and I’m praying that what I’m writing makes sense to myself let alone to you.

And I’m rambling…again.The point I’m trying to actually get at here is this adorning yourself with good works. What does that look like everyday? So the goals I’ve set for myself are:

1. Doing something out of the ordinary for my husband so he won’t forget why he married me.
2. Making a pot of tea and sharing it with my children.
3. Sending an email to a friend to say, “I’m thinking about you today.”
4. Remembering to pray sincerely for my friends and family because this is the best thing I can do for them.
5. Wiping noses and rears, reading books, washing hands before reading the books…etc.
6. I’m trying to find more ways to adorn my our lives with good works apart from my daily chores. The little extras that say “I love that God gave you to me.”
7. Any suggestions?

In today’s society most people look at children as a financial and physical burden to be born, a status symbol, or that they should be given everything they want in life or we are bad parents.

Even in Christian circles I get comments like “How do you do it?”, “How can you afford it?” , “You must be a strong women or superwoman!” The reason I make a comment about the Christian circles is because I assume these people read the Bible.  Psalm 127 clearly explains who is building our house.

…Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
- Psalms 127:1-5

These people forget that it is God; not man, or job, or money that is our Provider. They forget that God said “my strength is made perfect in your weakness.” I’m not superwoman at all.

“May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.”

Do you as a Christian really believe the promises of God? Do you believe He will supply your needs? Do you believe that Children are a reward and not a burden or an “accident?” Do you realize that years from your death  no one will remember the job you were at  or the vocation that you had but the children you left behind are the legacy/heritage that God gave you to invest into the future? The arrows that God gave you to loose from your bow. Will those children bless your or curse you? Or will you have a legacy at all?

What effect will it have on your children when they hear that you were nothing more than a burden to them. You may not be saying it but do your actions betray you. Does your speech about children betray you? Do you think children wreck everything?  Are you like the woman who failed to invite me to go along on a trip because I had too much “package.” (I only had three at the time.) Do you give dirty looks to the mother in church sitting behind you with a fussy baby? (showing that you definitely believe they are not a blessing). Do you offer them the nursery over and over or do you step up to help because you love children. Or maybe “your time is done and you are glad you don’t have to deal with that anymore..” Wow, we really need to watch our words because they can be SO revealing of what we really believe and they way it contradicts the very words of the God we say we believe.

It makes me think of an older lady whose Mother was glad they passed the abortion laws in 1973. She told her daughter she wished they would have had that when she was young. Her daughter sat there in shocked silence for a few minutes before asking tearfully which one of her children would she have aborted.   Her mother sat there tight lipped and angry and refused to answer the question. That daughter went away scarred for a lifetime in realization that her mother had never wanted her. Her mother’s behavior toward her throughout her life horribly summed up in that one tragic statement.

Children wreck things… I guess they might if that is how you train them. Train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and you are promised different results. Failing to believe God when He says that children are a reward is your loss.

And so as long as I am able and God is willing  I fully intend to reload this quiver.

And there we were…in church. Yes, we argued about whether or not we were going to go. In frustration we were there with our two very tiny children….a toddler and a newborn. The sermon…I don’t remember it. The music…I don’t remember it either. It was what came after that I will never forget. That I will praise God for forever….the prayers of a righteous man…the man Olaf Brown. We called him Ole. His eyes always had an inner fire that I envied, oh how they sparkled and danced.  I can never remember seeing a frown on his face.

The Tireman and I had gone up to the altar. We struggled together before the LORD. We knelt in silence. We knew we didn’t have what it takes to make our marriage beautiful but we didn’t even know what to ask for, BUT GOD sent a man to pray and in those words the salvation of a marriage . I remember his large hands on our shouders as he embraced us while he spoke to God. He thanked God for us. He spoke blessing on us, on our marriage. His words poured forth until Jerry and I were in tears again with the peace of God’s grace surrounding us.

And the power was from on high, the words of God’s holy will falling from only a man. A man of God…a righteous man… the man Ole Brown. We will NEVER forget you blessed saint of God.

And we’ve been married for almost 18 years now…an adventure in what it means to pursue a Godly marriage and life. In the quiet moments when we sit and reflect on the blessings of our beautiful marriage we always thank God for Ole Brown…

Grabbing the nearest empty spray bottle in the house filling it with vinegar and a drop of lavender essential oil I sprayed the tub from top to bottom, then the toilet, and then the sinks. To my delight everything wiped off readily after letting it soak in for about ten minutes – even the tub! I’m not really crazy about the smell of vinegar but that lavender smell takes over after the vinegar has evaporated. It was so much better than windex on my mirrors.

Treating counter tops with a vinegar wipe down is an excellent way to repel AND  prevent ants from invading your house.  This worked for me when we lived in a house that had an ant issue when we moved in.

What makes me the happiest is once again the elimination of harsh and detrimental chemicals to me and my family as we clean.

However, I have found an excellent recipe for cooking brown rice that makes it more appealing to our family. (i.e. – tastes more like white rice)  The benefits of brown rice are of course significantly better than eating white rice, not to mention it fills us up faster.

Oven Brown Rice

• 3 cups of brown rice
• 5 cups of water/broth
• salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rice in a 13×9 pan and add water. Cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes cover the pan with foil and bake for another 30 minutes. It comes out perfectly every time! Needless to say the options for this particular brown rice recipe are open to anything you would like to add to it in the way of precooked meat or fresh vegetables.

Why do I do these things? Why should I bother? I CAN’T do this. Can’t make my children grow up to be model citizens, can’t make my own hormones obey me, can’t solve a stomach ache, or heal the aching hearts of those around me and I feel defeated before I begin. How? Why? For what end?

All the problems of the day, wrestling with little ones, trying to teach, trying to write, trying to be pleasant and loving… The big problems are solved so easily when I lay them at my Father’s feet. Why then can I not remember that the little things can’t be done alone either. The problems that are large but look so tiny when faced a little everyday.

The problem…is that I don’t believe God. HE told me to ask for wisdom and that he would give it. I don’t recall there being a limit on how big or small that our situation may be. HE said ask…

And I forget and I remember, over and over again that He says this to me. A wife and mother at home. HE sees me. HE knows me. HE formed me while I was in my mother’s womb. HE gave me the gift of the Tireman, the children, my home… Why do I think HE won’t give me the wisdom to do the things HE requires of me?

Like Naaman I struggle with the simplicity of the solution to my lack. I have only to ask and HE will give. But my pride, my frustration stands in the way. It couldn’t possibly be this easy…

But it is…

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  - James 1:5-6

 Petra, however, has shown me that one can actually fall up stairs. Before now this was something I never considered could happen. She does it quite frequently, which I blame on her “larger than my feet” feet. Canoes we call them – her shoes that is. Cuz they are long and slender…like a canoe. She’d kill me if she knew I was writing all this stuff about her but I’m blogging and apparently that is what is on my mind.