He is Good!

TV Time

2012-01-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

We are trying, trying, trying to get back into a normal routine after the holidays. I had hoped we could continue with school everyday since we were home, but that just did not happen. I think we all enjoyed the break, though. My biggest concern now is the back stepping I see happening in Grace's math skills since the break. I'm hoping we can work through those and continue moving forward.

Today I wanted to post something we've been working on for about two months now. It's our TV access guide. There really is no reason why the children should be watching television after they've played in (and not picked up) every room in the house (and yes, this includes the bathroom!). TV time is an earned privilege, and I'm hoping they will eventually develop a practice of independently completing their responsibilities before pursuing entertaining venues. There's no hard, fast rule here, but this works for us! It really helps the kids stay motivated to work through the daily school schedule as well. The children basically have a list of tasks they should complete before they can ask to have TV time. Sometimes they can access two 30 minute TV times a day, and sometimes they will get none at all, depending on our schedule for the day and on their own desire to complete the tasks. So far, it's gone very well (when enforced).

We posted a simple sign in front of the television:

Want to watch the television (T.V.)?
1. Did you finish your breakfast?
2. Are your dishes in the sink?
3. Is your bedroom clean?
4. Are you dressed?
5. Are your teeth brushed?
6. Did you read your Bible this morning?
7. Did you empty the dishwasher?
8. Did you finish one subject of school work? (Grace and Ben)

If you answered “NO” to any of these questions, complete the task and try again. If you can answer yes to every question, then you may ask your mother for permission to watch 30 minutes of television.

Want to watch the television (T.V) again?
1. Is it after 5pm?
2. Are you in your pajamas?
3. Did you brush your teeth?
4. Did you empty the dishwasher?
5. Have you completed all of your school work?
6. Is the kitchen floor swept and mopped?
7. Are all the bathrooms clean?
8. Is your bedroom and play room clean?

If you answered “NO” to any of these questions, complete the task and try again. If you can answer “YES” to every question, then you may ask your mother for permission to watch 30 minutes of television.

What works for your family?

What Noah Did NOT Say

2011-12-12T22:42:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I were lying in bed last night laughing at the way Noah tries to sneak in bad words throughout the day by talking about not saying them. I knew I needed to write these memories down before I lost them. He is such a funny kid.

We have each of the following conversations about three times a day.

Hey Mommy?
Yes Noah.
I not gonna say shuddup.
No, you're not going to say that.
No, I not. Shuddup is NOT nice. We don't say shuddup.
....

Mommy, can I say what da heck?
No Noah. We can't say that. That's not nice.
Okay. I not say what da heck...

But K* says what da heck.
Yes he does, and that is not nice either.
Okay. I not say what da heck.
...

Mommy! I didn't tell him to GET oudda here!
That's so good Noah. Thank you for being sweet!
It's not nice to say HEY YOU GET OUDDA HERE.
That's right. That's not nice. Have you been in trouble for doing that before?
(annoyed groan) yessss
I am so glad you didn't say that to that nice man. You were sweet to him.
...

Mommy?
Yes Noah.
I not say I'm the boss.
Good, Noah because you're not the boss.
Daddy's the boss.
Mommy and Daddy are both the boss of you.
Yyyyep.
...

Mommy? I'm not gonna to say shuddup.
That's a good idea son.
I not gonna to say what da heck eiver. And I'm not gonna say HEY YOU! GET OUDDA HERE! That's not nice.
No, Noah, that is not nice at all.
Mommy, Can I say shakalaka?
Baby (giggling on the inside), you probably shouldn't say "shakalaka" anymore because your daddy and I keep thinking you're saying a bad word.
(annoyed sigh) okay. And I'm not the boss.
No you're not honey. (trying my darnedest not to show my tickled side.)

What I Learned While Gardening in 2011

2011-11-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write down some things we've learned this year while gardening. Also, you'll see a few pictures sprinkled along the road.

1. The numbers on the back of the seed packet that say you should have produce around 33 days, 90 days, etc. They're never accurate. Today I finally picked our"30 day" radishes after 120 days. They're marble sized.

2. Dirt makes all the difference. I use the cheap dirt usually because, well, it's cheap. But I ran out of the cheap dirt on one part of the garden and used the miracle grow expensive stuff. Well, what do you know? The side of the garden with the better dirt is growing faster, healthier, and even showing less yellowing due to over watering (yes, my bad. Water before it rains much?). I'm also seeing fewer bug attacks on the plants with the better dirt, but I'm not sure if that's related.

Can you see the difference? Just one plant over is healthier and larger than the other.

3. Broccoli really does like soil that drains well. You'd think I'd know that because I read it in a book somewhere, but then I just had to plant the broccoli in soil that did not drain well to prove something. The book was correct. I am gingerly watering my broccoli now this season. Oh, also, did you know broccoli doesn't like its leaves to be wet? Only water around the stalks, and never on the leaves. You learn so much when you read!

4. Peas are awesome! Yes they are. They are easy to maintain, they put nitrogen into the soil as they grow (thus nourishing the soil for next year's crop), and they taste great. Every spring and every fall from here on out, peas will be planted in my garden.

5. Don't get distracted by your children while planting peas and forget the seed packet out in the yard. It will inevitably get rained on, and, two weeks later, you may find the dilapidated packet full of sprouting peas and have more peas than you know what to do with! This did not happen to me. I'm just saying that it could happen. To someone. Not me.

6. Peas need something to hold onto before they will produce their peas. The trellised peas in our garden are producing. The non trellised peas? They have not yet produced and have been sentenced to creative trellising through the end of their growing season. Today I dug some holes next to our frostbitten tomato plant and its trellis and put a few more large seedlings alongside the dying plant, hoping it will vine.

We're also using a plant stand as a trellis and some gone to seed lettuce stalks, hoping they will vine up them.

This is what you call desperation, people. Clearly, I need to invest in some more items for the peas to climb.

7. Lettuce really won't do well for very long in a pot outside. I need to plant it in the ground if I want to get any decent use out of it. We probably should mulch over it next year as well, for the same reason.

The warm fall days caused our lettuce to shoot up and grow bitter quicker than I had hoped!

8. Cilantro doesn't like hot heat! Our cilantro went to seed at the beginning of the summer. I was so disappointed because I was hoping to use it all summer long. I managed to salvage some of the seeds, and I refrigerated them for a few weeks (to imitate a winter chill), then I stuck them in some dirt and watered them occasionally. Nothing happened all summer long! Just now, in the first week of November, I am finally seeing some cilantro shoot up from that dirt.

Lesson learned: cilantro does not like heat. I'll likely grow cilantro inside during the summer from now on.

9. Grow more parsley. It can go in anything.

10. Grow more basil. It goes in every Italian dish and we use it a ton (because I love Italian)!

11. Grow more sage and learn to read. Our "basil" was actually sage this year. Still tasty but in an ignorant sort of way.

11. Grow more tomatoes. We never had enough!

12. Ants will eat your vegetables too! Get rid of them!

13. Prune those plants! If you get in there and clean the dead leaves off your plants, you will be thanked every time with heaps of new buds less than a week later, which means more produce! Early mornings, pulling out dry, dead limbs always brought sweet spiritual truths to mind about the work our Father is doing in us, pruning out useless limbs so we can generously produce fruit.

14. Do this again next year. It was a ton of fun! Well, it still is fun. We're not done until the whole thing freezes over!

Eight Years

2011-10-18T05:38:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago today, two youngsters got themselves hitched. They didn't know what love was.

They thought they did.

They had no idea that nine months after this kiss, their world would change again with a new baby on the way.

They were on the five year plan.

Five years later. The five year plan lasted all of eight months!

Eight years and he is still my best friend, my prayer warrior, my helper and strong leader. By the Lord's grace, my husband is a better man than the great man I knew eight years ago. He is so good to me.

And he still makes me laugh.

A lot.

Thank you Nathan, for choosing me and for not quitting when the waves toss us to and fro. Thank you for clinging to Jesus for me and with me through this walk. You still are the man of my dreams.

-Andrea

The three

2011-10-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a LONG time since the kids' beautiful faces have shown up on this page. Here they are on a lazy Saturday morning fort-making session. Ben is fine. He is being firmly loved by his big sis.

Noah is wearing his spiderman pajamas. I cannot get these pj's through the wash quick enough before he's dying to wear them again! He's the same way with his spiderman underwear. Can you take a wild guess at what this little man will be for Halloween? You guessed it.

Funny faces and lots of love. We are so very, very blessed!

Digging Deep

2011-10-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Father is digging deep.

Drawing His people to Him.
Unveiling the dark, ugly portions of our hearts and saying, "Come sweet child" with tight embrace.

My febrile, snotty nosed, sick child can expect to be taken up in my arms and nursed to health. We can equally expect our Father to have compassion in our sickness - thanks to Christ!

Because He is a loving Father, He will not leave us undone in our broken, sick state.

He reveals our filth as He cleanses every crevice and corner, and He loves us deeply, all the way through it. We have a good, good Father.

Boundaries

2011-10-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

We're in a trial and error stage of life right now, trying to figure out how to be children of action, children of prayer, and children who submit to Godly wisdom. With homeschooling, couponing, never ending laundry and dishes, and frequent grocery runs (oftentimes the children join me), we already know how the hours can simply run away from us. Add to that the priceless opportunities that God presents for us to pour the gospel into another individual's life, (and, if you're like me, you want to take as many opportunities for that as you can get) then you've got a bit of a conflict.

Our days are numbered. Our hours are numbered. The sun rises and sets, and we are only allowed so many daylight hours to work and to work hard. Our bodies are limited. Working hard leads to the need for us to also rest our bodies well.

Consider as well the primary responsibilities we've been given charge over: for me the top two are my marriage and my children. This doesn't include the secondary relationships in which all believers all called to invest: the church, discipleship relationships both for myself and myself towards another, extended family, my neighbors, the needy, the widow and orphan. Where do you find time to pour yourself into each of these types of relationships that fall into your life? Where does that all fit in?

Where do you draw the line as you consider the primary responsibilities versus the secondaries? How much energy and intentional time do you set aside for your marriage and for your family? How much time do you set aside for pouring into the secondaries? Do you ever say, "no," to the secondaries?
In this season, we're finding that if we participate in more than three or four secondary activities a week, we literally lose a day to recovery. That is one whole day a week that I can't pour into my primary responsibilities. This means that we've sometimes said "no" to birthday parties, having adult friends over, even after the kids go down, and declining to help when we really, really wanted to. We're making mistakes sometimes, but we're trying to humbly submit, recognizing our own limitations as well as taking seriously our responsibilities.

What works for your families?

*Edited to add:
I really, really do want to hear what works for your families! We're still trying to figure it out.
Also it's funny/strange that I wrote on boundaries two years ago here, but I had a different take on it back then. hmmm. Learning still, I guess.

2011-09-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a year or so since I could use the words "toilsome" or "suffering" and applied it to my everyday experiences. Life was hard a year ago, we didn't sleep much, and we didn't know how we would make ends meet. But the Lord provided plainly, clearly, miraculously for every need then. This most recent season is a slow period of recovery, growth, and gratitude. We see God using us to pour into our children and into the community around us. We feel inescapably blessed to have a job, even a job that is not in a field of interest, to have a means to survive, to have the chance to be among God's people, to have the chance to watch our children grow. We even experience gratitude at the fact that we are not homeowners. Although my strong desire is to own a home, the Lord does not desire that for us today, and so we thank Him that He is teaching us that even the roof over our head is not our own, but His provision for us.

When I think about what our Father is doing, I imagine that he is looking over us as a blacksmith would look over his smoking, searing, pounded iron just after carefully pulling it from the fire. He inspects it for blemishes, impurities, and weaknesses. When the metal has cooled, he can examine it to see more blemishes.
"Child, do you need to be put back in the flame and pounded even more?" I imagine Him asking with tears in His eyes.
Until our dying breath, His answer will be, "Yes, again beloved."

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Introverts Unite!

2011-09-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

She had no need to play rough and tumble with the other girls and chase the boys across the jungle gym. The little girl in double thick glasses preferred plucking petals from the honeysuckle flowers just off the play yard and enough quiet to feel the breeze on her cheeks. She was undoubtedly an introvert, but she didn't know it!

That was me. But I was clueless that I was an introvert until adulthood; I finally realized that I was exhausted following group gatherings and holidays and was anxious even before attending them. I kept thinking, "Why does this wear me out so much? I really like these people? What is my problem?" and then it all made sense. An introvert is energized by time alone, time to reflect, while an extrovert is energized by being with people.

There's something that happens in an introvert, though, when he becomes confronted with the truth of the gospel; He simply cannot contain it within himself. The introvert who reflects on the deep, deep love the Father has for him can grow to love the people around him so deeply that he cannot help but step out of his internal heaven and put himself into their world. The introvert who knows that their life is but a breath also realizes the same truth about his neighbors and is afforded the same commission as extroverts: to go, make disciples of all nations. To step out of oneself might be embarrassing or awkward, but what is the alternative? Would it be better if I contained everything I knew within, enjoyed it for myself and shared none of it? No!

Would you ever encounter a woman across a pile of sweet potatoes and begin a conversation about her multiple spouses and unplanned pregnancies? It's possible. Jesus had a similar conversation with a woman across a well. Does that frighten you? It does me, a little, but thank heavens we are given wisdom and power by the Holy Spirit to help us and embolden us for the work!

Would you ever invite someone you met at the gym or at the grocery store to your home for dinner with your family? If you believe that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ, then you would consider it invaluable to pursue opportunities to be able to speak the word of Christ with these people. You would plan your weeks in such a way so that you could do this.

"What if I'm just meant to preach the gospel to my closest friends?" Yes, reach out to your closest friends, but you cannot stop there! The gentleman in the car next to you who just flipped you a generous sign desperately needs to know of a God who loves him, a God who wants to give him freedom and joy through the gospel, and goodness, after such an incident, wouldn't you want him to know that freedom and joy?

Obviously you may find it difficult to communicate with a stranger on the highway, but I'm trying to explain that noone should be exempt from our efforts when it comes to our knowing, loving, and serving the same people the Christ came to save. Introverts are members of the body of Christ! Even if our personalities aren't wired for it, Christ compels us, and the Spirit empowers us to be able to do this, maybe on different levels than our extrovert friends who are geared that way. We are uniquely gifted with the ability to listen thoughtfully to the hearts of the hurting, and we should go there and not shirk away because it is uncomfortable or too close.

Time after time we see examples of God using people in spite of their weaknesses and inhibitions. The power of the gospel given by the Spirit is enough. Let me pound my fists to the table and proclaim, "You can do it!"

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds is Christ Jesus.

His grace to you my precious friends,

Andrea

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead

2011-07-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today we are planting tomatoes, parsley, spearmint, and radishes. A strange concoction of vegetables, to be sure, but we hope they will help us to be on our way to good health. Last Thursday Nathan and I sat down and watched a strange documentary called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Neither of us expected to be shocked by the documentary, but we both completely were! It's on Netflix now, and I strongly encourage anyone considering reversing their health woes to look into it. We've been learning more and more over the last year about nutrition (mostly through library books!), and I am realizing that we are seriously lacking in nutrients that our bodies need to promote self healing. We should be doubling or tripling our fruit and vegetable consumption simply to maintain our health, and, at this point, we need to take steps to make up for lost nutrients over the years and encourage our bodies to cleanse and self heal. We have determined that we are embarking on a juicing fast in a few days. We're still learning what exactly this is, how long we'd like to do it, and the best ways to go about this, but we're motivated to see a change in our health. We'd appreciate your encouragement and any help you might have to offer us!

Benjamin asked for seconds

2011-06-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is my pickiest eater. He nibbles at most meals. If he had the choice to either fill up on liquid or eat food, he would choose to drink until his tummy were full. Benjamin is funny about textures and food touching or covered with sauces or food that is mixed. I have yet to actually get him to eat a casserole without a fight, and he is not too crazy about soups either. I've seen him down a few chowders though. My mentality on this is that, if he is hungry enough, he will eat it. The boy's growth charts at his annual checkups are still going well, so he is getting some nutrition in there some way or another. Osmosis maybe.

Tonight though, I tried something new. As I was considering this experiment, I was also thinking, "The kids might hate this. Nathan might hate this. But I really want to try it anyway." I'm so glad we did! Everyone loved it! Benjamin asked for seconds and then thirds. Grace ate thirds as well.

The fun part about this recipe (that I made up and may be changing around) is that it can be served hot or cold.

Here's the base of the soup:

sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

butternut squash, peeled and chopped

carrots, peeled and chopped

peaches. peeled and chopped (I only added 1 peach for this experiment but may add more next time!)

cottage cheese, not peeled nor chopped

milk to desired consistency

I just put equal amounts on the sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots. I cooked everything (except for the cottage cheese and milk) in the crock pot with a few cups of water for about 3 hours on high. Once everything was very soft, I pureed it all in the blender. For a moment, I was reminiscing over my baby food making days and was just convinced that they would hate this, but I kept at it, blending the cottage cheese and then adding some milk as well for a less baby foodish consistency. The most fun part about this soup was the topping. I added two toppings: a good covering of wheat germ and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

I have yet to come up with a name for this delicious soup. It may already exist and thus already has its own name. If so, I'll just offer the excuse that I don't get out much! If you know the name or any other/better variations on this recipe, please do share!

I was just tickled pink that my kids were asking for seconds and thirds on butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. If we all turn orange in the next few months, you'll at least know that my babies are eating well.

When you're at the end of your rope

2011-06-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

When you cannot escape the torments of daily living, when the toils of this place so envelop every aspect of your heart and you cannot see past them to the glorious graces that God gives us for today, even in a fallen world - just stop.
It's not your battle to win.
It was never your battle to win.
There is so much more for you here to learn and know about our Father and His riches (no, not the money kind. It's stuff that lasts). Give up on trying to fix yourself and give up on punishing yourself for not being able to fix yourself. You need Jesus. He's all you'll ever need, and, believe me, He is so good.
So if you find yourself at the end of your rope, run to Jesus. Tell Him. He said that whatever we ask for (according to His Father's good will), it will be given. Jesus wants you to run to Him.
Does this sound cryptic? "My world is crumbling beneath me, and you say I need Jesus?"
Yes. Jesus knew you would never be able to get life right, and so He lived the right life for you, and He died so that you could not only have a right life but an eternal life with His Father.
And once you get Jesus, you get the Holy Spirit too, the Great Comforter who will walk with you when hardship comes, who will speak truth to you and counsel you reasons for joy and hope as you toil under the sun.
A short word tonight. Jesus is your only hope for true joy in hardship. It doesn't come any other way. Chase after Jesus.

Give Them Grace, The real Chapter 1

2011-05-31T04:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently I wrote about the introduction and not "Chapter 1" in the last blog post. My apologies.

Will the real Chapter 1 please stand up?

Oh, hello.

In Chapter One Fitzpatrick identifies the distinct types of obedience we teach our children:

Initial Obedience: Simply responding to a parent's immediate command.
Social Obedience: Respecting cultural norms and practicing good manners.
Civic Obedience: Following the laws of government.
Religious Obedience: What we teach our children to do as part of a life of faith before they come to faith. (ie. tithing, conduct in worship gatherings and prayer time.)

She esteems that it is good and right for a parent to teach these types of obedience, but she also warns sternly on how we teach these things. "None of these levels of obedience... can earn approval from God. In fact, each of these different forms of obedience may actually blind a compliant child to his need for a Savior. But that's where the law of God comes in."

"Even though our children cannot and will not obey God's law, we need to teach it to them again and again. And when they tell us that they can't love God or others in this way, we are not to argue with them. We are to agree with them and tell them of their need for a Savior."

As a parent, what she says next rang so true for me. From a generation that spouted, "If it is to be, it's up to me!" I struggle with admitting that there is anything that I cannot do if I simply apply myself. We claim the verse, "I can do all things" and forget about the last part. She goes on to say,

"The law of God also hinders our advance toward righteousness because, in our pride, we think that if we just try hard enough or repent deeply enough, we'll be able to obey it. We read the promises of life for obedience and think that means we can do it. The promises of life for obedience are not meant to build our self-confidence. They're meant to make us long for obedience and then, when we fail again , they're meant to crush us and drive us to Christ."

She continues to discuss how the law is meant to crush our children, so they will see their need for a savior. I agree with this and teach the children this way. These years with young ones, we are strong advocators of the law. The law is huge for us in the years of the "littles" because we hope that soon they will understand that no one can obey the law and that they need a Savior. We hope for the day they lose hope in themselves and find hope in Jesus. But the entire process of this, I will admit, is painful and harrowing, but absolutely necessary for our children to experience true joy in their God, for them to have any sense of identity, for them to have any lasting hope in this life on earth.

No parent wants to hear the diagnoses that their child has a terminal disease. The message trembles in my bones, the message that my children are enslaved to death. No parent wants to hear that their child is in a hopeless state. But there IS HOPE!

Just as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Very excited about the next chapter!

Give Them Grace, Introduction

2011-05-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

...The primary reason that the majority of kids from Christian homes stray from the faith is that they never really heard it or had it to begin with. They were taught that God wants them to be good, that poor Jesus is sad when they disobey, and that asking Jesus into their hearts is the breadth and depth of the gospel message. Scratch the surface of the faith of the young people around you and you'll find a disturbing deficiency of understanding of even the most basic tenets of Christianity.
-Elyse Fitzpatrick, Give Them Grace

Does this message sound familiar in your home? What are your children hearing when you go together through times of teaching and discipline? I think sometimes this is as far as we get in my home. I was hugely convicted by this sentence. I think I've even said many times how sad Jesus is to see them unloving towards their sibling. I just had to sit in awe and ask, "Is this really what I am teaching my children?" Do I really teach them that their behavior is what matters more than anything? Even in talking about the condition of their hearts, an expectation is set before them, a standard that they must meet. In the hairiness that is parenting, I realized I need to be even more intentional to make time for deeper gospel conversations and be more diligent in my own preparation for them, so that they will flow easily from my mouth in times of frustration and discipline. I recognize that this will be a grace from God.

The reason that sentence is so startling is because it brings light to a way of Christian parenting that has been going on for generations. In the words of Elyse (I may use her a lot!), "...Instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality." Are we giving them more than simply lessons on morality? Yes, we read scripture, and yes we tell the story about Jesus and what he did. But even then, we teach that doing something (asking Jesus into their hearts) saves them. Abraham was saved without moving a muscle but by the saving grace of His Father (and his heir!) We place a huge emphasis for our children on their behavior and obedience (which is not bad, by the way, but it is not the most important aspect of our parenting) Elyse puts it this way, and it is startling, "Instead of the gospel of grace, we've given them daily baths in a "sea of narcissistic moralism" and they respond to law the same way we do; they run for the closest exit as soon as they can."

Another kicker, when we begin to think about what we're really teaching our children, we need to ask ourselves, "Does simply a moralistic teaching really look any different from the teachings of a Mormon parent or that of a moral atheist parent?" What makes the Christian message distinct in how it permeates the hearts of men (and our children!)?

Thinking much on this today...

A new book!

2011-05-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Nathan and I are beginning a new book together. Our last read was a marriage book, which - I don't know why God graced us in this way - was, by far the best book on marriage I've ever read. It was all about the gospel. Every square inch of it breathed gospel. It was incredibly refreshing, realistic, helpful, and encouraging. I LOVED it!
Oh! What was the book? "What Did You Expect?" by Paul Tripp

But on to the new book we're reading. It's written by a Christian counselor (Paul Tripp is also a Christian counselor - I don't know why we tend to love what is coming from this field of labor right now, but we DO). I'm not familiar with Elyse Fitzpatrick, but as we've been waiting for the book to arrive, I've read snippets here and there of her work and have seen a few interviews of hers as she explains what her book is about. I'll put a link to one of the interviews. It's a long one, so I'll tell you that the portion more relevant to parenting is at the 31 minute mark, and then, after that, you won't be able to turn the interview off. She has such a different mentality for parenting, and I LOVE it! I love the language she uses, and gospel, gospel, gospel rolls off her tongue so easily.
Elyse Fitzpatrick on the Gospel and Parenting

Also, I wanted to add one of the first paragraphs that I read in the book. It really causes us to question as parents what we want to see most in our children. Do we want to see them as obedient little ones or as little ones driven by the gospel?
Just in the forward (written, not by Elyse), we see the message take shape.

What would things look like if Satan really took control of a city? Over half a century ago, Presbyterian minister Donal Grey Barnhouse offered his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast nationwide on CBS radio. Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over Philedelphia (the city where Barnhosue pastored), all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, "Yes, sir" and "No ma'am," and the churches would be full every Sunday...where Christ is not preached.
- Christless Christianity, Michael Horton

Looking forward to the book, especially in the face of parenting woes I'm experiencing these last few weeks. I am seeing how my expectation for right behavior, even Biblical behavior is not enough for these children. They need more. I want to give them grace. Oh! And the name of this book? Give Them Grace, Dazzling Your Kids with the love of Jesus. Very excited!

Summer Saturday

2011-05-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

The children are outside having the time of their lives in a cute little swimming pool I scored brand new from Goodwill. $7.50. Am I thrilled? Yes. Are the kids loving it? Yes.
Every time I get the whale's blow hole going really good and strong, I find Ben all the way in the neighbors' yard. I think he doesn't like that part so much.
We have a huge grocery trip planned today. I hope I survive. I hope THEY survive. Grocery shopping with the children always leaves me a lot fried.
After a few other loosely planned ideas for the rest of the day (including an essential NAP), we're going to the CityFest, which is always a high point of our summer. The fourth Saturday of every summer month, the community puts on this shindig with bounce houses, live bands, catered food, games, and lots of other creative fun stuff, and it's all free. Once it begins to get dark, they show a movie on a huge screen in the middle of the field. We have been at least 5 times, and we LOVE it! This month, Great Clips is offering free haircuts for kiddos 12 and under. Wow! That is so neat!
Anyway, busy Saturday. Lot's of fun planned for these children who are now naked, out of the pool, and needing some guidance in getting dressed for the day.
Grace to you!

Curriculum for next year

2011-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

I need to wrap my head around this, and so I'll try to write it here. What will I do when I have 3 in homeschooling? Will I be able to remember it all? For Grace and Ben, this Summer we'll be going over the Doorposts charts that we just ordered. We'll be reading over the books, writing memory verses and trying to work through the following charts:
"Go to the Ant"
"Brother Offended"
"Blessings Chart"
"If/Then Chart"

I'm also in the process of ordering curriculum for this fall
Right now I'm looking at the following:
Math: Christian Light, Grade 1
Language Arts: Rod and Staff Nurture, Grade 2
History: The Story of the World
Science: Complete Book of Science (which I've learned is no longer being published, so we may have to rethink this!)

The Lord Hates

2011-05-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today, not much to write. Not much for a long time, I know. I wanted to write this out in-between nap times as I'm working through planning how we disciple our little ones. I am so burdened for their hearts. We recently found a wonderful chart that I hope will help them to see how their behavior relates to the condition of their hearts. One of the verses on the chart is about having their eyes plucked out by an eagle. It's a verse on violence. I'm hesitant to dismiss or sweep any scripture under the rug for my little ones, but I thought, maybe I could find one that was more PG but still met the need of denouncing violent behavior (ie. hitting, kicking, biting, throwing). The closest verse I've found was this, (and I've shortened it so it will fit on a one lined handwriting sheet, another reason I was looking for a different verse) - it was, "Those who love violence, The Lord hates."
The Lord hates.
Oh my poor ones. what pain their heart must feel when facing this verse. They haven't even read it yet, but we will read it, and we will weep, and we will talk about how sweet, sweet Jesus is, in light of every thing their hand has done. It is a painful, awkward task, showing a child how ugly their sin is, how the Lord hates them in their sinfulness (and yet wants to love them if they will let Him). I am so looking forward to the day they fully embrace the gospel, and walk totally affected by it.
Back to working toward that goal!
His Grace to you... (if you still read this occasionally!)

Quiet

2010-11-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

It's been quiet for some time now, at least here on the blog. At home we are full of stomping feet, squealing giggles, and mostly happy children. But we're still sitting quietly these days, amazed at God's goodness, amazed when we look at what we deserve and compare it to what we get. We get God! We get an amazing, holy, mighty, glorious God. How thrilling! Just in considering what He has given us, tears well up within me. These children are amazing, and they are growing up so well, by the grace of God! Nathan is experiencing grace in his work and in the way he is growing as a man, husband, and father. I am beyond blessed to be able to be home with my children, and over the last year have developed some precious friendships that I will always be thankful for. Our church body is growing, and not simply in breadth but greatly in depth. We see a people wanting more than self gratification, but these people genuinely want GOD! They want to seek and savor the Christ, honor and obey His Father, and plead to and know The Spirit. And it shows. Sometimes I just have to stand back and take a look at everything God is doing and what He has done, and it takes my breath away. I just am amazed (and I shouldn't be!) that He is giving us His precious self for our good! He is, even as slight a thing as we are.
So, no matter what logistical issue we're dealing with this week, be it potty training or car repairs or money struggles, we can stand joyful and in awestruck silence. We can choose to let momentary struggles receive momentary status in our hearts and be overwhelmed and overjoyed by eternal truths. So today, we can be found sitting, watching, learning in this joyful quiet.

It's been a while

2010-03-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

The children are all sleeping, and I am thankful! Thankful that the Lord is giving us opportunities to grow and learn. Thankful that the children are all growing and learning and mostly happy! Thankful that we have food on our plates and a roof over our heads. Thankful that the Lord is using us in the community in lots of unconventional ways. Thankful that we are connected with other believers. Thankful that I have a moment to think and pray every day (sometimes this moment is 15 minutes, but I am thankful!). Thankful that the children in our home are learning about the Lord. Thankful that I don't have to be perfect. Thankful that the Lord is our fortress and that we can run to him in trouble or just because. Thankful my father returned safely from a dangerous place. Thankful for so much more, but I think I heard a peep from upstairs.
Grace,
Andrea

Tip O' the Day!

2009-11-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

So, I have this tip for you, and since I have the time (yeah right!) and I never post anyway (sorry!)... I thought I'd at least do SOMETHING with this blog.
Before now, I had never had wood floors. I didn't know how to clean them. I didn't know how to care for them. I didn't know a stinking thing! So when the wonderful ladies from our church came to help me clean the eve of our move in, I watched carefully and asked lots of questions.
Today, I have my own way of cleaning the wood floors. It usually involves naptime for all toddler feet. I've seen some purchase the spray on or the squirt on wood soap. I've also seen some pour the concentrated solution in a bucket, mix with water, and mop, but what happens to all that soapy water when all is said and done? I purchase the orginal concentrated Murphy Oil formula, mix it with water according to the directions, and store it in a spray bottle. The Murphy Oil will last me over a year, I'm sure. I think the spray bottle usually lasts me about 4 or 5 cleaning sessions. After I do a deep sweeping of the room, I spray the cleaner onto the floor and wipe it off. Simple (except for the toddler feet part!)
Now, I'm guessing there are a lot of ladies out here who do that, and to those of you who do, sorry! For a new-to-wood-floors lady like me, this has been a work in progress. So I'm glad to have found something that works!

Grace!

The kids and family

2009-10-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Family is coming in to town this week, and we are all on pins and needles in anticipation of their arrival! It will be one sweet visit before another long absence. It just never feels normal to be distanced from family, especially when grand kids are involved, but we make the best of it

Grace, Ben, and Noah have been busy, busy growing into huge kids and playing heartily with their toys and each other. Noah is a fierce walker now at 11 months. I still am breathless each time I think it.
He is walking.
What? He is walking?
Yes.
But he's just a baby...
Stop thinking about the fact that he is walking, and go get him. The kid is climbing up the stairs again!

But he is... and there's really no stopping this TANK of a little man. He is truly hard core! When he has a board book in his hand, his teeth grind on it like he's going in for the kill on an ear of corn. That boy knows how to chew.

And Benjamin is potty training. It's funny how the Lord works. I've been saying "no" to some different opportunities that were coming up. We just had a lot going on AND a few too many little ones in diapers for me to feel comfortable taking more on. Well, about a week after saying "no", Benjamin sat on the potty before bath time and went, by himself. No prodding. No pushing. Nothing. And at the exact same moment, I was locating my very first gray hair in the mirror. Let's just say that Benjamin's achievements were praised much higher than my own. So since that fateful day, not a diaper has laid against his soft little tushy, and mom and dad are none the prouder. Although, we are still experiencing all of the joyful things that come with a potty training toddler. Need I get into details??? He is doing great though, and his personality is really starting to poke through as he sees the fruit of his own independence. I am so proud of him.

Grace is being a very big helper. Such a mommy to her little brothers. She's learning how to be responsible. I'm realizing now that I should have had higher expectations for her these last few months. As we're teaching responsibility skills, she seems to be picking it up quickly. She's like, "oh, I know how to do that." And then she does it! And I think to myself, "why on earth did I let her get away with not doing that for so long!??" She's such a smart, creative little cookie. I cannot wait to see how the Lord will use her!

Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we seek to reach out to the city of Spring Hill. Pray that we would be willing to pour ourselves out as a drink offering for the salvation of these people. Pray that we remain encouraged and trusting and not forgetful and fearful in the fluctuating circumstances that seem to surround us at times. Pray that people pour into our home and that the Lord meets their needs and woos them to himself. I hope we can just participate in that beautiful act.

Grace to you and yours,

2009-10-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

And while I am stricken with guilt for not updating more frequently, I won't let that stop me from posting when I have the opportunity and the desire. All is well in our home. The Lord is working in us to will and to work according to his pleasure. What do I mean when I say that? He is literally working in us, teaching us, chiseling away at sinful desires and sloth, showing us our own selfishness and giving us the will and strength to work out our salvation, to grow more like Christ. It's one of the beautiful things about being children of God, he gives us what we need so that we can look more like His son. He delights in watching us grow more like His son, and He helps us to do it.
Today, I have been thinking about what it looks like to "be more like Christ". When we look at a picture of Christ, we may see someone who was very kind and giving, someone who followed God's law and was never disobedient. We see someone who loved without boundaries.
When trying to grow more like Christ, sometimes, I think, we forget to pursue the things that are the most difficult. For example, Jesus was giving. He gave of his time, every day to disciple and teach those in his company. He gave of his status, becoming a servant, washing feet. He gave of his life, and not just in part, but fully. He took on our sin and died so that we could live under His righteous name. When you think about becoming more like Christ, do you ever wonder if you would be asked to die? Or what about if you were asked to give up all that you had? What if you knew someone in need, and helping them would mean that you would have to go without? When will we begin to believe that "God is able to make ALL grace abound toward (us), that (we), always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work." When we see someone in need

This week we've rejoiced over many things...

Like the fact that Benjamin will shortly be FULLY, yes fully potty trained.

As soon as he stops having "accidents"! By the grace of God, he has not worn a diaper in 10 days.

That also means, I've had a lot of cleaning to do!

Save your Paper Towels!

2009-09-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I'm a couponer. I can say that now loud and clear. I'm not "kinda" a couponer. I'm the woman that you really don't like to get behind in the store aisles. Even though I am very organized with paperclips and lists before I go, any good natured human being's eyes would bulge when they see stacks of coupons being handed to a cashier. I know mine would've 6 months ago. But I'm not writing today to talk about couponing. Today I just wanted to share a useful tip.

As a couponer, I'm finding that I'm collecting A LOT of newspaper! A LOT! And my recycling box is overflowing regularly with it! In addition to recycling our newspaper, I LOVE to use newspaper on my glass windows and mirrors. I spray my usual glass cleaner on the surface and wipe it up and buff, just like I would with a paper towel. For some reason, with newspaper, I never have streaks on my glass. I have a particular mirror that streaks up every time with paper towels, but when I use newspaper to clean and buff it, there is ne'er a streak to be found. Try it, see if it works for you!

Weary but worshipping

2009-08-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

So while I am repentant for not blogging in quite some time, I am also hesitant to post an update in fear that another dynamic in our household would change again, forcing me to update with further corrections. Praise the Lord, our family is in Spring Hill. We've been able to bring families under our roof and share meals together. We've experienced the grace of having wonderful friends care for our children so we can have a few moments of rest. And we've met some great neighbors and watched scores of children roll down the hill of our home. We've said it so many times, and it rings true again and again; "we have been completely covered in grace during our recent more to Spring Hill."

We've been in this home for four weeks now, and we love the community, the drive, learning our neighbors, and are even getting to know the check out people at the grocery stores. Nathan still leaves between 8 and 10am and returns home after 11pm every night. We are looking for where we will live permanently, and we have yet to locate that place! Another little one (Noah's age) has blessed us with her sweet smile Mondays- Fridays so that her mom can work full time. So I am busy every day with four children, four and under, three of which are still in diapers. We will be working on that soon, though!

We are a weary people. Some nights you can catch me falling asleep on the laundry room floor, surrounded by piles waiting to be folded. We're working hard, learning much, trying to seek accountability and friendship, and trying to offer friendship and hope to those in our newly formed circles. It's a sweet time. The Lord is working something that we are still unclear on but excited about.

And one baby is awake from naptime. Soon another will follow. This is the extent of your update from us! Thank you for continued prayers.

Another story of His mercy, or maybe two!

2009-07-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

Let's just proclaim His glory. Another story for today.

Things have been difficult in our home. Jesus is sending out a rescue, but he's also giving us the gift of trusting him through the suffering. He is coming through in every way.

An example.

Today, I began working on our medical bills, trying to plan out how we would pay them off. It was much more than we could pay at one time, today. There were about 4 providers in all that we owed quite a bit to. Along with the paperwork was a tax statement from a bank I had never heard of, stating that an old Health Savings Account from an old job that we were sure (absolutely sure!) we emptied out was worth "x" amount of money. I thought this was strange and called the bank. Sure enough, there was enough money in there to cover all 4 accounts except for 26.89. I think we can handle that!

So, no payment plan. No fretting over each month when the bills come up. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!" We are experiencing this in tangible ways today and we are thankful.

**Edited.
As I was writing this post, my husband came home from work and was telling me about the estimate for a car repair that is needed. It will cost "X" (a good amount) to repair, and that didn't even include the air conditioning (why we took it in the first place), which is 1,100 for a new compressor. What?! He jokingly said in his silly voice, "Better go ahead and delete that post!" (you know, this post, on how God provided for our medical bills??) I giggled and posted it anyway. A few minutes later, our mechanic called. He was tinkering with the compressor, and it suddenly started working again! More surprises every day. Thank you Jesus! He is so good to us.

Life with Children

2009-06-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Benjamin jumped out of the bathtub this evening with gusto and walked with me into my bedroom.
Just one second before getting that diaper on you, mister.
And.
You guessed it.
All over the carpet.
And.
Back into the tub for you.
While Noah frantically crawls after me and towards "IT" because he's in "don't leave my sight for a milisecond mode".
Pick up Noah.
Put Ben on Potty.
Grab some towels to throw on "IT".
Grab a stool.
Set Ben on the potty.
"You wanna read a book while you go potty?".
"YEAH".
Get a book, sit down next to Ben, now on the potty.
Noah cries because I set him down next to me.
Open book.
(still naked from bath) Ben gets off potty and sits on his stool to hear the story.
Noah is in my lap now.
Put Ben back on potty.
Open book.
Ben returns to his stool to hear the story.
Try to talk through the process of what we're doing.
Back on the potty.
Open book.
Back on the stool.
Back on potty.
A little more explanation.
Open Book.
Back on the stool.
Back on the potty.
Phone rings.
I think we're done here.
And Grace stayed in the tub the whole time. Thank you Grace.

A few things

2009-06-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Target is selling batteries for $1, all sizes. We got three 4packs of AA Batteries for $3 yesterday. With many small children with many electronic toys (and don't you know when the battery is low, they're even MORE lovely to listen to!), you can't have enough batteries on hand!

When I bought diapers at Target for $6.50 for a pack (used 2 coupons), I got a target coupon with my receipt for $3 off Enfamil. I must remember to try this again!

And on another subject, God is doing miraculous things with our immediate family and among our church body. We shouldn't be amazed, but we are... This is so cool!

So not cool

2009-06-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

My parents never let me watch the Simpsons when I was in middle school, and by the time I got to high school, I didn't really care too much. In high school, you spend so much time and energy outside of the house with your friends, jobs, and extracurriculars, you don't care as much about what you can and can not watch. Well, at least I didn't. I cared more about where I was and was not allowed to go! So today, when I was telling a gentleman at AT&T where our new residence would be, he said, "Spring Hill? You mean, like the Simpsons?" And I fumbled around and tried to imagine that I knew what on earth he was talking about. "Excuse me?" "uh, you know. The Simpsons. Bart. Homer..."And then I just had to admit that, "You know, I know this is weird, but I never really watched the Simpsons growing up." I felt like the uncool kid. I was the uncool kid way back! I had the glasses, the hair, the sweater that had a puffy animal head on the front and the puffy tail on the back, the polka dotted top to match a different polka dotted bottom. "Hey, polka dots are polka dots, right?" I was that girl. But I studied hard and was loyal to my friends and loved Jesus, and I made some sweet memories. It's good to be a kid. And it's good to grow up.

Today, I was thinking about how God uses the strangest things to grow our love for Him. He describes trials as a purification process, like the gilding of metal. Who would have known that fire causes metal to be purer and stronger? Fire tears things down and causes destruction to almost everything, but to metals, we see them strengthen and molded to the craftman's desired shape. I love that!

And it's okay to be so not cool today. We can love richly even when we receive little praise or recognition because Jesus proclaims our worth. We can give freely, even when we don't have pennies to our name, because, as Grace now says, "Everything we have belongs to God". And we can breathe without the weight of the world on our chest, even in dire circumstances, because God made a way for us to be free from the ultimate weight of death that we are all due and very much deserve. So, rejoicing in trial might not seem like the "cool" thing to do. But I actually think it's kinda fun, and I think the Lord rejoices with us!

Well, as is typical for me, a crying baby will shorten the length of this post. But I'll leave you with this, because His word is so sweet.

Romans 20: 2-5
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

*Edited. I just realized there is no Romans 20. It's actually from chapter 5, same verses.

That's totally embarassing

and

So not cool...

The Cliff Notes of the Cliff Notes

2009-06-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how easily life takes over. I get so distracted by all that is going on in the home that I've neglected updating the blog. Well I'll be! A bit of sarcasm there. I am SO okay with neglecting this blog in order to live life! God has given us three precious children who, Nathan reminded me the other day, regardless of how well I parent them, are destined for a life of sin and desolation without the Grace of our Lord! It is a great reminder that, if I do one thing as a parent, I need to pray for the Lord's mercy over my children and that He will give them Himself. I cannot save them from their sins.

I've only got a few moments before the children take over this room again, and there are some exciting things to share, so let's get started, shall we?

God is bringing a rescue to our family in a big way.

He is showing us how some of the puzzle fits together, and it is a beautiful sight.

He is doing things that would otherwise be impossible if done by our own hands.

We are learning what it means to walk in grace, and that our works cannot bring sanctification. Only the Lord can sanctify us.

The story is not finished yet.

I'll add that we've found a place to live in Spring Hill. That is part of the miracle. We're also working our tails off getting ready for this exciting move. Nathan is still working day and night at both jobs, and I am working hard too, packing and cleaning, and taking a faithful and frugal class to help the family. Sleep is not really something we're seeing much of, but I think we're both just so thrilled, we're not noticing it too much.

Short entry, but as you can see, (and you may just hear me shout this!) "WE'RE PREPARING FOR A MOVE!!!!"

So be patient. And stay tuned to some day hear the entire story, in more detail. You're getting the cliff notes of the cliff notes today.

Andrea

Not Me Monday

2009-06-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

A Blogger I know does something called Not Me Mondays. It's something I've come to enjoy every week, but I haven't been brave enough to write my own, until today. Here we go. If you'd like to contribute, go to her blog. She's awesome. She can get you started better than I can.

This past week Nathan started a second job. He's gone from early in the morning until about 11pm. It's been very busy at the homestead, and I've been trying to keep them - the children - entertained and have some teachable moments too. In the middle of "keeping up", I did NOT set my children in front of the TV so that I could take a shower. I would never do such a thing! And I did not put a bunch of toys and a baby (not a baby!) in a laundry basket so that said baby wouldn't get into anything crazy while I took said shower. That's just a crazy idea!

And I'm learning new things lately. Like yesterday, I did NOT get out my haircut kit and proceed to butcher my son's head. No, a nice mom wouldn't do that. And I did not do the same thing to my daughter's beautiful, long hair. Hey, she asked for it! My thoughts are, I'd better learn how to do it now while they're young and don't get embarrassed easily! The kids really look, okay. The cuts aren't great, but they're not awful either! Well, I'll get some pics up here and you can decide for yourself!

I also did not take all three to the playground by myself multiple times during the week, sometimes right smack dab in the middle of mealtimes. I did NOT pull some, maybe strawberry, waffles out of the toaster, grab some fruit, and let them eat their "dinner" at the playground. And I also did NOT keep them at the playground past their bedtime. That's just not me. I'm a schedule momma, and I am always on time, even for lunch time! However, with Daddy gone, I'm learning to flex and I'm just trying to enjoy time with these kids. It's much easier to let the little things frustrate me, so we're trying new things and some will stick, and some will NOT.

That was fun. Thanks for reading my Not Me Monday report. Stay tuned in for next week. I have a feeling this will be a regular thing. It's a nice release from some difficult seasons.

Baby Food at Publix!

2009-06-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

Just last week I said that I was having a hard time finding baby food on sale! Well this week I found some great deals at Publix!

One of the great things about Publix is that they will match competitor coupons! I found out today that they do not consider pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS to be competitors, so they don't match their prices, but most stores like Food Lion or even Target can have their coupons honored at Publix. This works out really well when you have a Publix sale on top of a Food Lion coupon! It's great!

Another great thing about Publix is that all coupons .50 and under are automatically doubled (unless the coupons specifies that it doesn't double). So even more savings! Don't throw away that .25 coupon thinking that it won't add up. It will!

Here are just two of the deals that I found at Publix. Maybe one day I'll be so fast that I can post pictures and list the whole thing, but right now this is the best I can do!

6 Kid Cuisines at 1.99/2, 3 Blinkie coupons for .55/2, total cost: 0.72 per item
16 Earth's Best Baby Food. 2 for .99 and Buy One Get One Free and These coupons and these too! Total cost: 0.29 per jar

There are more to list, but time is of the essence my dear!

We Will Wait for Him!

2009-06-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Today is a good day. Today we wait in hope for what God will do, how He will claim his fame, how He will continue to prove His outstanding, unending, gracious love and power to a people who do not know Him. Today we experience hardship and anguish. Today our heart pangs for resolution to a deep conflict in which there seems no hope. Someday, I'll write more. Someday, I'll lay out every detail on the line in joyful thanks. But the chapter to this story isn't over yet, and I want more than anything to be able to tell this story with the resolution because our struggles are not in vain. God is doing something in our family, and, even as I don't know what, and, even as I stand tear-stained with no answers, I know that these struggles are fleeting and that they are light and momentary. I know that God is doing things greater than our small family. It is so exciting to hope for what He has in store for us. I'll admit that I'm writing this knowing that I'll have to go back and re-read this for some of my "weaker moments", when I may give in to fear and lose hope, but I have no good reason to do that! We know that there will be a day that He will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. And we wait with hope. I will tell you the story soon, and you will be amazed. I will be amazed because I know this:
the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

So I don't know what His resolution is. But if it has anything to do with being closer to Him, I'm in. I know that He will feed and clothe our family. I know that He will give us our daily bread. That doesn't mean that it will be easy or luxurious. Jesus said that His bread was to do the will of His father. Not merely for the sake of righteousness, but because He loved His father, and His father loved Him, and His father's will was the best thing for Him. Our pastor said in his sermon the other day, "Whenever scripture says, "Don't", see it as God saying, "Don't hurt yourself." I love that! We have a protective father who pleads with His children to pursue what is best for them: Himself!

So no matter what, we're here, waiting on the Lord. It makes me even more excited to be at home with the Lord, without the struggle. But it makes the struggle worth it because I know there is much gained through hardship.

Come soon, Lord Jesus, and show your power once again!

Here is our song:
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.

My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Again, a baby waking interrupts this post. So I'll end here. Please excuse the unedited version. That's all I can offer right now!

Food and Water that does not satisfy

2009-06-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not very good at updating this blog frequently, and a part of me thinks that's probably a really good thing. It's good that my kids get my attention. They need it, especially as they're all so young and have very basic needs that can really only be met by mommy. Food. Clothing. Diapers. The essentials. It's also good that my home gets some attention. It needs it also! But we'll save homemaking tips for another day. I still have much to learn there.

Lately, I've been really trying to work with our food budget, and we've found some successes there. I'm still working out some kinks, but I start to get excited when I find out a store is tripling coupons or if I see some great BOGO sales. This couponing thing is really starting to work for us, and that part is exciting, but it's also exhausting. Last week, I was so happy to go triple couponing, and I did great. Spent $5, saved $45. That's awesome for a beginner, but truth be told, by the end of it, I wasn't really that satisfied. And the other day, I went to Krogers, spent $25 to save $45. That's good too, but it didn't feel like enough. I know that in a few days, I'll be looking at the store ads that come in with the paper again, checking online for the latest coupons, clipping and organizing away so that our family will have what it needs. Food is one of our basic physical needs. We use it every day for nourishment, and every day, we seek out ways to get it. Every day, we exhaust our bodies' intake of food and water. It perishes. We need more. It does not really satisfy.

Jesus spoke to a woman one day about this. He was sitting at a well, full of water, saying, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again." and we know this to be true. We see evidence of it in our monthly bank statements, and not just in food but the other things we pursue for some sort of satisfaction; entertainment, books, sports, whatever.
And Jesus said even more "but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. " Have you experienced this? Do you know what he is talking about? This isn't water at all that Jesus was talking about. He is talking about how He has given himself for the forgiveness of your and my sins, about how there is no more condemnation and there is complete sanctification and satisfaction in Jesus alone. This is eternal and not momentary or fleeting. This is beautiful and completely free. "Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

And I must stop here. Noah is calling to me from his crib. A 15 minute nap!?! Well, the words don't need my help anyway. I'll let them be as they are. It's better that way!
"Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Saving at the Supermarket

2009-06-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've been trying my hand at couponing for about 2 months now, and it has been an increaingly timely blessing to our family. In the future I may choose to use this blog as a way to share with other ladies who are all seeking to bless their families in how they spend their dollars. Today, I didn't use coupons, but I found some great sales at Kroger that I wanted to share on.

We got:
5lbs chicken leg quarters at .79/lb
8lbs of Whole Boneless Sirloin Tip at 1.99/lb
7lbs of Whole Boston Buttat 1.29/lb
2 Cartons of Strawberries, 2 for $3.00
2 Cartons of Blueberries, $1.50 for 5oz carton
2 cartons of Blackberries, $1.50 for 5oz carton
4 ears white corn, .28/ear (I've found better at Publix, but this was still good)

The rest weren't really great sales, just typical prices.

I've had a hard time finding good sales on fresh fruit and vegetables and meats, so this was quite a treasure for me as our refrigerator was starting to ask me what I was making for dinner every night.

If anyone reads this, I'm still looking for ways to save on the diaper stash and the baby food items. Those are the most expensive on our list. Right now, I'm making baby food with our food processor and hoping that he's on to the next stage soon, but we do need to keep some jarred food on the shelf for when we go out of the house or for days when my water's turned off (like today) because the complex is working on it!

She will not fall

2009-05-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

Weary but joyful
Empty but full

I think that's the best way to describe things right now. There is a battle against a dark sense of hopelessness in our home right now, mostly surrounding very substantial, visible difficulties for us. It's been a struggle for months on top of months, and my heart is heavy and tired from the battle. I've asked God so many questions during this time, and I'll admit that even the darkest questions were asked because everything tangible was crumbling beneath us and I didn't understand how a God who loved us and promised to care for His children would let us live in such a desolate, fear filled situation.

And I asked Him where He was.

And I asked Him if He was here.

Was He really here?

And then he showed me everything He had made. It is so true that even the rocks cry out that God is alive! The ocean and the mountains and the skies reveal His glory. It becomes clear to me again and again that all of this came from God and so we have renewed hope.

And we still wait, trembling at times, but confident that He who began a good work in us will complete it, confident that He is not finished with us yet. Even as I describe that everything was crumbling beneath us and how dire and huge it seems to us, I am comforted by my God who tells me that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

That is all I can say today. We are here today:

the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

And we wait for His rescue!

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.

"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

And we wait for Him! Are you thrilled for His rescue? I know I am!

A long trip.Part 2

2009-05-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's a rainy Monday morning. Happy Memorial Day, and I'm listening to the cartoons running in the background. Grace and Ben are playing a ladybug board game (obviously not Ben's initial idea, but he rolls with the punches), and Noah is crawling, YES CRAWLING around the living room floor. A week ago yesterday, we returned home from basically a four week vacation for me and the kids. Dad was not so lucky! He did meet up with us on the tail end in Myrtle Beach, though. In the last four weeks, we've stayed in several different places across the map:
Bristol, VA
Silver Springs, MD
Richmond, VA
Wilmington, SC
Myrtle Beach, NC
Gainesville, GA
and finally home!
We experienced a very scary apartment fire while in Silver Springs, MD that caused us to be outside in our jammies from 7:30am until about 1pm. Some people were never able to return to their homes because they were utterly destroyed.
In Richmond, we visited with old friends and family and celebrated a marriage. Grace now wants to marry her brother. I told her it's really not okay to marry family. So she decided she'll marry her cousin instead. We're working on this.
Wilmington met us with a hospital visit on Mother's Day and a very tired and heavily medicated Nathan. He is doing well now, thankfully!
Myrtle Beach was too short! We spent a week in the glorious fresh ocean breeze and enjoyed the sand and shores every day with every sibling I have. It was the best week of 2009 so far!
We cut our trip home into two parts and visited more family along the way. It was a great closing to our trip and so sweet to be able to visit some that we don't often get to see because of the great distance.

It's been a week now since our long excursion, and it's taken an entire week to catch up and find our normal. I think we're almost there now.

I'll post some pictures from our trip soon.

2009-04-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

It is a gorgeous, clear day in Silver Springs Maryland, much more beautiful than I expected. With the wildly ranging temperatures occuring in Nashville at the time we were packing to leave (sometimes in the 30's, sometimes in the 80's and tornadoes to boot) I was a little bit clueless about how to pack for everyone and still maintain some room for the kids to squeeze into the car. I decided that Noah would officially transition from his 3-6 month clothes into his 6-9 month clothes in Maryland. So I kept him in his smaller clothes and just packed the bigger ones. Bigger ones that fit for less than two weeks. We have a problem here! Thankfully, Maryland has STORES! Imagine that! They have pacifiers for the many we've lost. They have toy cars to replace the ones that have been left at parks, churches, gas stations, etc. We are finding our way around this beautiful city and enjoying the great weather.

This past weekend, Nathan flew in to Baltimore's airport, and we packed up for a trip to Richmond, Virginia. We visitied two parks, attended a wedding, a church service, visited with family, and still found time for a date night! Then we drove back to Baltimore and sent Nathan back home again. It was incredibly busy, and I think my body has not caught up yet, but we had a great time.

This week I imagine we'll be going to see some Botanical gardens and taking many pictures. I'll be updating soon with some pictures if I can figure out how to from someone else's computer.

Thank you for your continued prayers. I am finding a lot of rest and feeling incredibly spoiled right now. This is quite a treat. The kids are just blossoming from the extra one on one attention that they have right now. More later on that. It's nap time for the kids, and I think I will sneak in a little one as well. Today we've had Noah take a 10am nap, and then we went to the post office, dollar tree, the bank, Ross, and then to McDonalds, all before 1:30. I think you can imagine how easy it was to get the kids to bed once we got back!

More later, hopefully with pictures!

A long trip.

2009-04-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

We'll be going out of town for a bit. I'm hoping to return with many pictures and much enthusiasm and clarity on how God is directing our path.

I will say that I'm heavy hearted lately and there is a deep longing to be home with the Lord. And I'd think second best would be to be in community with His people, and we don't see that light at the end of the tunnel. A date, but no direction or tools to get there. I'm hoping to have time away to refresh my tired spirit (always type spit it?) and gain vision and understanding for the next steps our family take into a new season we're being brought into.

It is a long trip from Nashville to Baltimore with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old. We will survive and maybe have some fun along the way!

Wish us well.

Big Boy!

2009-04-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

Noah turned 5 months old yesterday.
Here is a testament to why humans do not gestate for 14 months.

My internal organs would no longer be internal! This kid is busy!

On a sad note, Noah also had an allergic reaction to something last night. I don't think you can even tell from the pictures. He had red spots all over him last night. I'm still not sure what caused it, but my guess would be that peanuts were involved because he hasn't shown reactions to anything else yet.

And today Noah is doing just great!

I posted this because I am simply amazed at how Grace is growing into such a beautiful, graceful little girl.

... oops. Wrong picture

Here is my sweet princess girl!

Next to Godliness???

2009-04-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

Why are we so concerned about keeping this baby clean during his breakfast???
And not so concerned about the status on this one???

Ben again.

2009-03-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

If you're happy and you know it...

... make a silly monster face...

...or say a prayer over your soup.

No, seriously. He prays this way!!

And DONE!!

News for Noah!

2009-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Don't touch my teether. I need it for my one tooth!

Sweet Slumber

2009-03-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Sweet Benjamin.

I tried to wake him up by making loud noises and calling for him to look at the doggies (there were really no doggies. I think he knew.) There's no sound to this, but it really needs none.

Enjoy.

Waiting...

2009-03-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

So many seasons we spend life waiting...

... waiting for school to start
... waiting for summer
... waiting for junior high
... waiting for high school
... waiting until I was old enough to get that first job
... waiting until I was old enough to date
... waiting by the phone for that boy to call
... waiting to get behind that wheel and drive!
... waiting for college
... waiting to meet "the one"
... waiting for your first child to come into this world

And now I have experienced all of those wonderful moments in life, and yet I am still waiting for, longing for more.

... for the home that fits our family for a long time
... for a "connected" life with our church family
... for peace of mind regarding finances
... for my children to be generationally missional because they know and love a God who knows and loves them

And I'm finding myself disappointed when I feel like I've waited for so long, disappointed also that I've wasted so much time waiting and spent so little time relishing the good and perfect things that we have in this season.

James 1 says "consider it pure joy... whenever you face trials". And he goes on to say that these trials are good for us. I can agree with this because I've seen how they bring me exactly where I need to be, at the feet of my Lord. James also explains that every gift we have has comes from God, and it is good and perfect. So the timing is perfect, the size or quality or quantity is perfect. Each time we step into a difficult season, I struggle with considering it joy, and each time we step outside of the season, we saw where we could've benefited from experiencing the hardship with joy and enthusiasm about what God is doing. We would've learned so much more. We wouldn't have wasted so much time complaining and whining and waiting! And so many more woulda coulda's. So this is another season of waiting. Waiting to see what God will do when He changes our living situation in a few months. Waiting to see what God will do with our family. Waiting to see what God will do with our church and our community. Waiting for other insignificant in the scheme of things but important to His child (me) things. In the meantime, pray that we consider it all joy and that we treasure each moment and take advantage of missional opportunities that come our way.

I'd love to write more, but Noah is keeping me quite occupied at the moment. And his "talking" may wake the other children if I continue down this path!

Spring is almost here and we're loving it!

2009-03-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the weather was amazing, so we took the whole family out to the park to play. It seemed like all of Nashville had the same idea. I guestimated that there were at least 300 people at the park along with us, running, swinging, sliding, and getting dirty. Even with so many people, somehow there wasn't a line for the baby swings or slides. The kids had a blast and lived to tell about it. Check out that smile on Benjamin's face. He loved the swings! They also missed their naps for this experience, which you'll see proof of in a moment. The day ended with Nathan cooking hamburgers on the grill and settling in for a long overdue daylight savings sleep!
Here are some pictures to share the day with you (and a few extras just because!)

This is obviously not of the park, but Benjamin is really working on his bball skills and preparing for the next season! He is all game!

Ben fell asleep on the couch while we were making dinner.
Grace pretended to be asleep so we would take her princess, er, picture. Slip of the tounge there!

More pictures to come. We've been having too much fun.

Updated Layout!

2009-03-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

We have a new layout! Let's be honest. I have been waaaaay out of the technology world for about a year now, and I don't have the time to figure out how I want things to look on this blog. There used to be a title that said, "An attempt to reflect God's great significance." which, at the time, I thought... Well... I don't know what I was thinking. It's a hokey title, in my opinion, and "God's significance?!?!" what was I thinking?! That word just doesn't work for describing God, not that word alone. Okay, really not any word. And yes, since you asked, I am sleep deprived as I'm writing this, and now realizing that updating the blog again while sleep deprived a second time was probably a poor choice, but moving on. And about the runon sentences and other sentences with no verbs, just know that correct grammar left me when they started the pitocin IV drip. I'll get it all back some day. Back to what I was saying, though! If the title "An attempt...." still shows up on any of my readers' blog, please let me know because I definitely don't want it there!

I think that's it. Let me know what you think? If I have any readers, that is....

Link Love!

2009-03-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a new blog that I'm hoping will be a great resource as the author brings an experienced and Christian emphasis on family life.
http://yourchurchhome.net/blog/Ferguson/
(Tsk. Tsk. Don't tell anyone, but this is my MOM also!~~ I'm so proud that she started a blog! Partly because she's just phenomenal and partly because of the overflowing mountain of encouragement she's offered me through the years related to my walk with Christ and my family life.)

Here is our pastor's blog that I absolutely LOVE! It's just another way to stay connected with the church when we live a distance away.
http://bridgesh.wordpress.com/

And another resource that I've really relished is http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/
The writers are a Christian mother and her grown daughters. They have a wealth of encouragement, Biblical, and practical advice for mothers "in the thick of it". I LOVE it! Also!

Kids Quiet Times

2009-03-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

We've started something new in the Wandell home, and we're on week 2 now. Each morning, after the kids have eaten, bathed, and dressed, we sit at the table and do a Bible study together. We have prayer time and then we write in our journals about what we learned. My three year old and two year old are stoked about quiet time. They love it so much and ask to do it several times a day now. We read from about three or four different books about the same story so they can see multiple pictures of the same event, and they usually draw about the story since they can't really write yet. I know they are not able to have the same sort of journaling action that I get every morning, but this is an excellent way for me to instill the importance of a quiet time in them and to encourage them to read the word and to try to understand it through writing what we get out of it and praying over the word implanted and the day to come. I also have a chance to sit down and do my own bible study while they color their stories. If I didn't get enough time in the word, I'll continue to do more study after they take their naps.

I decided to start doing this after a friend of mine read Deut 6 in front of the church. It's one of my favorite words on parenting and homemaking. It's just another way to train them morning and night that our God is the only God and to make Him a priority in our family life.

2009-02-19T10:14:00.001-08:00

Grace wrote her name today. I am amazed!

War

2009-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

It's difficult to post when you're in the middle of certain seasons of life. When you settle to the end of one, it is easier to gain perspective, to see the lessons learned, and to walk with more wisdom. Today, though, I find my judgment clouded and work very difficult. I have no doubt that Spiritual Warfare is occurring and that Satan hates the family, so this causes me to pray more fervently. Please pray with us, that we would continue to seek Christ instead of our selfish desires, that we would continue to pursue the implantation of the Gospel in our children, and that we would build a home where Satan and his helpers are never welcome.

Just pictures!

2009-02-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Most of these pictures need little explanation. Hope you enjoy them!

This last one is cuz Cameron and Noah. We hang out every Thursday!

What's on hold right now.

2009-02-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

I'm not able to do justice to a real update right yet. Every moment I sit down at the computer seems to be interrupted with kid things. This is not a bad thing, but it does mean that I can't sit here and process a long series of thoughts into a paragraph that makes sense. Or complete sentences for that matter.
As I sit here, Noah is next to me talking and cooing. Not really talking because he's 3 months old, but telling me his opinion that he prefers my arms to the bed he is laying on.
My gmail account also is currently filled with unread emails. I only read the ones that are from people I know. Other than that, I let them sit until I have time to take a look. And my facebook has about 99 "other" requests. I just don't have time for those things, but I love how it gives me a chance to peek my head in on friends to say "hello" without having to pack up the kids and travel the long distance. Speaking of which, our van is currently grounded to the Bellevue area. I must update more later because there is just too much going on this morning.
I meant to post pictures, but that will have to wait as well

What would you do?

2009-02-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

So if you have IVF treatments, are you prepared to give all of those embryos life? Or will you allow them to be destroyed? This woman chose life, against all the odds. Her circumstances are dire. She may break the bank. She may "lose it all" in terms of worldly wealth, but her children are alive, and they never have to wonder whether their mother would seek her own betterment over theirs. What would you do if you were in her situation? What if you didn't have unlimited resources? What if noone offered you a helping hand?

Silly babies

2009-01-18T18:23:00.001-08:00

So... I think we missed a very critical step in the bath taking routine today... clothes off FIRST! Ben was definitely ready for bath time before mommy was ready to place him in the tub!

And another picture of my two lovies:Benjamin Caleb (2) and Noah Asher (2 months!)

These silly, happy children are precious gifts from the Lord. We are so thankful for them!

Hey Baby Noah

2009-01-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

One picture of my sweet fuzzy little Noah. These are the type of looks I imagine he will give all of the girls when he is postadolescent. I am concerned that he will be what they call a "chick magnet". As you can see from the picture, that face is simply irresistible.

Day 3

2009-01-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Day 3 of Love Dare is going not as great as I'd like. Day One: Don't say anything negative. Okay. I got that one in the bag. All you have to do is follow the creed "if you don't have anything nice to say..." But day two: Do something special and unexpected. Well, does cleaning the house count as unexpected? Does writing him a note and forgetting to give it to him count? I'm failing a little here. Day three: Purchase something today to let him know you're thinking of him. Well, does the fact that I haven't left the house all day give you any clue as to how this is going... Thankfully each day is a new dare, and it's *almost* as good as starting fresh.

I'll leave you here with a few fun pictures of the kiddos

You'd think, "Oh, there's Noah, enjoying his tummy time

Apparently Noah loves tummy time so much, he falls asleep to it!
Noah and his fun cuz Cameron
Cameron eating his cousin
Ben with his favorite person in the world
And we can't forget Grace!

Doing the Love Dare

2009-01-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, before I get started on this, I want to just announce that our little 9 weeker Noah is currently 14lbs, 8oz! He just had his 2 month checkup (that I took all 3 to, which was the craziest thing I've done as of yet), and is the first child I've ever had that weighed in at the 98th percentile! My other two ranged between 30 and 50th percentile throughout infancy, so this is truly a sweet deal!

On to the reason for this post. In my email yesterday, I received a random forward from an old friend from college. If you're a frequent forwarder to me, please don't be offended, but I just don't read everything that's been sent to me in my email. I'll read the things directed specifically for me and then a little bit here and there, so it was no small thing for me to even open the email. It was a challenge from family life.
If you're familiar with Family Life, you'll know that they are a fantastic organization that have blessed thousands (or more) of marriages across the country with their conferences, websites, books, and programs. I have found myself frequenting familylife.org whenever an issue or concern arises, and I'm often very encouraged and better equipped spiritually and emotionally to handle whatever situation it is. Family Life is not just built for counseling families with issues, but it has a Biblical framework. They try to have a wholistic view of typical issues, and for that, I am very thankful.
So, I opened this challenge from Family Life, and it's called a "Love Dare"

Starting this month, FamilyLife® is challenging couples to "love like you mean it" by joining our 40-day Love Dare challenge. Based on the Love Dare book from the movie Fireproof, the challenge is a practical way for you to practice unconditional love and transform your marriage by applying simple, biblical principles to your everyday life.

Every day from January 5th to February 13th, we’ll give you a Love Dare for the day for you to put into practice and show love to your spouse. Then, at the end of the challenge, we encourage you to celebrate your spouse with a special Valentine’s Day date.

So, I decided I need to do this, and I signed up. Today, I received an email that told me my first dare:

Love Dare - Day 1
Resolve to say nothing negative about your spouse today.

So here's to Love Dare, Day One. I will report back tomorrow how it went, and I'm leaving you with a picture of my sweet man.Today he is working hard, trying to take care of his family. I am so thankful for him! And that gotee of his, he shaved it because it was hurting his wife. How thoughtful of him!

Noah smiles

2009-01-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

What precious smiles come from fresh life. Enjoy. Noah Asher. 7 weeks old.

Brief and Disjointed

2009-01-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

2008 closed with a bang for the Wandell family. Since Christmas day we've traveled from Nashville to Atlanta to Talladega, Alabama, spending time with family, eating very delicious food, and exchanging gifts here and there. We left for a 4 hour long trip to Nashville on New Year's Eve with just enough time to pick up the van from the mechanic, throw a load in the wash at home, pick up some McDonalds, and head over to bring in the new year with more family in Nashville. Then, after bringing in the new year, we still had to return the rental car (yes, this involved changing 3 child filled car seats). The children handled it as well as could be expected.

As far as resolutions go, I usually don't make them unless there is clearly something I need to pursue. This year, it was very clear that we needed to all work on our health. Our bodies are not our own. They belong to the Lord and should be healthy and able to do whatever work the Lord requires. My body is not ready and willing to do very much these days, so we're working on that! Nathan and I are already on week 2 of a competition to get fit. I'll just toot my horn (because I know he's reading this) and say that I've won both weeks and am waiting for hubby (yes, you) to bring it on. In the midst of this competition so far, we were out of town for one week (although he was able to make it to the gym, I was unable to due to the children), and another week, the van broke down twice, so he was able to make it to the gym much more than I, and I still beat him both of those weeks. At the end of the competition, one of us will earn a BIG prize. And mine will be a new couch for us! I should add pictures and show you our current less than appealing couch that is being held up by pots and pans. It is a lovely thing to behold. I must admit that I might be just as excited about having a new couch as I am about getting healthier and stronger. This old couch represents a very difficult season in our lives, and I would be so thrilled if it were out of our home!

I realize this entry today is rather disjointed and probably has many gramatical errors in it, but that just feels right for some reason, like it is an appropriate reflection of life right now.

Now that we are home from the holidays, I am working on getting Noah on a normal sleeping/eating/ playing schedule. This will be VERY helpful for me actually getting things done around here and allowing me to give Grace and Ben more of my energy.

If anyone who reads has any need for stuffed animals, please let me know. I am getting rid of an extremely large cedar chest full of stuffed animals in order to make room for all of the new toys Ben and Grace acquired over the holidays.

I will add more about Christmas and the New Year soon in an entry. For now, this is all my poor brain can muster!

Busy, Busy!

2008-12-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a week! We've been on the run since Tuesday, and I feel like we haven't stopped. Sadly, I chose Sunday to put my feet down... and I'm with the kids at home. Feeding Noah has become more and more difficult since we've begun moving around, and every night, he is becoming more frustrated about it, which leads to later nights and more exhaustion and even more difficult feedings. I need to slow down so that I can take care of him and get some rest for myself. Otherwise, everything is is going well and is in full swing.

Benjamin turned two on Friday, and we celebrated Saturday with a big trip to Chuck E Cheese. He was beside himself and running in every direction all day long. He did a great job opening his presents, and his sister did a wonderful job blowing out his candles! Ben is still learning new words every day, and he is communicating much better. He softens so much when he realizes that you understand him. It makes such a difference!

We're revving up for the holidays. I did most of my shopping for the kids online since I knew I wasn't getting out in the chill too much with a newborn. I'm still working on taking care of family members' gifts. That's another 30 people (and that's not all of them!), and I must admit that I'm overwhelmed. . . but I'm working on some homemade things for them right now. I have such a difficult time during the holidays because I get completely overwhelmed at the thought of spending so much money on so many people who do not really need a thing... but you also just want to celebrate those special people too. And right now, with the kids taking so much time and energy, making things is also quite a sacrifice. BUT, I'd rather give them my time and energy than the money that I need to keep my children fed and clothed. So that's that. It's just difficult for me, though.

An update with pictures is due. We'll see what we can do about that!

Noah is Here!

2008-11-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

Noah is here!
Born 11.03.08
9lbs. 1.5oz
21.5in

Noah has been home for 3 weeks now. We are all loving on him, watching him grow (already, I know!), and learning how to be a family of 5. We are BUSY! Noah is doing well, but I haven't had much time to update the blog. More updates to come!

Favorite Commercial

2008-10-20T05:54:00.001-07:00

Shaking things up a bit by sharing my all time favorite commercial and my all time favorite beverage. Grace now knows that when we pull into the drive through of any restaurant, "and a Large Dr. Pepper" will be heard somewhere in the conversation. And then at that point, she reminds me to use both hands. Anyway, here is my absolute favorite commercial (as of yet!)

I'd love to see some other people's favorites (that is, if I have any readers!)

October 18th! 5 years!

2008-10-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

Saturday, October 18, 2003 a tall, dark haired young man stood at the front of a church and waited for me to walk down the aisle to be his bride. He was full of vision, structured, thought-provoking, and trying with all his might to grow to understand and walk in his calling with his Savior. He wrote me a note on our wedding day that I will hold on to forever. He spoke of our life together, our future children and ministries, our love for one another and for Christ. It has been 5 years since that day, and every day - even the rough ones - I am so glad that he waited for me at the front of that church. I am often amazed at how God allowed us to grow little by little more unified before we were able to see the depths of each other's depravity. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Our marriage speaks loudly of the truth of this scripture. Nathan has sharpened me, encouraged me, prayed for me, walked patiently beside me, endured my hormonal, chaotic seasons with grace, and has held me and loved me more than I deserved or could imagine. When my anger or selfish desires cause me to sin against my husband, he repeatedly does just as Christ did for the church, presenting me, as utterly undeserving as I am, as a pure and spotless bride. Even in my depravity, I am proud to be fully known by him because he continues to seek to love me like Christ loved his church.

I saw him cry tears of joy when we brought children into the world. I saw him weep over the destruction of his parents' marriage and the loss of several loved ones in the last few years. I saw him dance and giggle with his little girl and jostle and wrestle with his little boy. He loves to read the scriptures and teach them to those he loves. He sacrifices much so that his family can flourish.

Today, I look at a man that is living out his calling as a husband and father through his relationship with his heavenly father, a man who savors the Scriptures and longs for His Savior, Jesus Christ, a man who prays for and encourages his neighbors.

I'm thankful today that God gave Nathan to me. I'm also thankful that He didn't just leave us in the depth of our depravity, but God gave us reconciliation through His Son, and what a joy it is to be able to daily live and practice the ministry of reconciliation in my marriage! Thank you Father for such a sweet, sweet gift!

36 weeks

2008-10-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated only 4 weeks left of holding little Noah in my womb by taking a trip to the doctor (and splurging on a Big Mac at McDonalds!). I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that I'm not going into labor this week for certain. But Noah is strong and healthy and growing so well. We'll have an ultrasound in 2 weeks to make sure that I won't be delivering a giant child. We'd like to keep from having a c-section, if at all possible, so if we need to deliver early because Noah wants to be 10 and a half pounds, we may consider that. At this point, I'd like to steer clear of an induction as well though, if we can!

As for how things are going:
Although I have my bad days where I can pull a muscle in my back by trying to put my shoes on while standing up (silly idea, now I know!), for the most part, this pregnancy has been easier (and more fun!) than I ever expected! I keep thinking how ludicrous it is that this far along in pregnancy, I still even have days where I feel fantastic. Did days like that exist with my other pregnancies? By the 36 week mark, I believe they were a distant memory! The fact that I am still eating potato chips with little concern for my legs swelling up (because they haven't yet!), I think, says it all. With all my previous babies, I wanted an epidural at 28 weeks; I was in terrible pain all of the time, concerned about blood pressure and swelling, emotionally weak and distraught, and just DONE! I don't know why, but God really gave me a sweet gift this season to enjoy, and I hope that I will continue to savor it! Granted, I have my moments of hormonal driven outbursts accompanied by the "I don't know why I'm crying" syndrome that many women may be familiar with, but these are exceptions and not the rule. And I must admit that every time my husband had been out of town, it has been exponentially more difficult to manage two busy toddlers and maintain my sanity, but God invented tylenol for a reason. Let's just hope that we can ride this train as long as possible!

One thing that I'm realizing is that I do not need to have the perfect home during this season. I do not need to stand at the stove for hours making masterpieces for my three year old. I do not need to make sure that every piece of clean laundry is folded daily. My job is to give myself to my children, play with them, teach them, pray with them, rest my own body for the growing child inside of me, and provide for the physical needs of the family. The details can wait until pregnancy subsides and we find our new normal. I will try to remember this for our next difficult season. It is giving me so much freedom to be thankful to God for what He has blessed us with, and I am not so distracted by every task that needs completing. And believe me, there are plenty of tasks worth completing, but my energy in this season really must be saved for the things that are most important: my husband and my children.

Thanks to friends and family for their prayers and encouragement. I will keep you posted on how things continue! Please keep praying!

Shower Power

2008-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was wonderful! I get giddy just thinking about it! Nathan watched the kiddos (that's enough to send me into giddiness!) while I attended a double shower for our Noah and another sweet lady from our church. It was SO good to get out of the house and spend (kidfree!!) time with these women who I hardly get to connect with outside of church. We laughed a lot, ate fantastic food, and celebrated life together! What a joy. I would do it again every weekend if I could!
Here's thanks to Becky and her beautiful family for hosting a beautiful shower! And thanks to all the ladies that helped and participated. What fun!

35 weeks and slowing down

2008-10-05T12:21:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we welcomed 35 weeks of pregnancy. 5 more weeks to go and so much to do. It is amazing now that I am home, I am seeing so many more needs popping up in the community around me. The sad part is that with each passing week, my body moves slower and slower... Each time we go out, our poor Benjamin is now strapped to a stroller, indefinitely, likely until I can again run as quickly as he can! This may be a while.

I spend most days trying to keep up with the children and the home and resting in order to do this. The last three weeks, Nathan has been in and out of town and still doing school full time, so I've been a little over my head without rescue, but he only has one more out of town trip this week, and then my backup will be home for good. This will be a huge help to me. The laundry has not recovered from our recent craziness. It's all clean and lives inside a pack n play that we have set up for the new baby. Ideally, this problem will be addressed before he arrives!

We were having people at our home regularly for about 6 weeks or so, and now it's been about a week since we've had anyone over. I'd like to continue to have families and friends over until the baby is born, but I must be realistic with this. Nathan is still out of town for a bit, and then, after that, it is definitely crunch time. Time is flying by with this pregnancy. I can't get it to slow down! The baby is doing exceptionally well. We are all thrilled to meet him and bring him into our family! Grace is constantly talking about baby "Noah" now. And Benjamin loves looking at pictures of babies and hugging real ones (a little breathing room, please!). We'll have some teachable moments soon... but as far as neighbors go and having people to our home, we are still building relationships, trying to be "available" and open. I'm praying for opportunities to share the gospel, natural flows in the conversation, ways that we can see a need and see God fill it. It is good to see how He is growing our relationships with a few of our neighbors. We used to pass by them in such a hurry before while I was working, and now it is just sweet conversation and lots of giving. I look forward to learning and sharing more.

There is most definitely more that I'd like to add, but for now this is all I can fit in on a busy Sunday afternoon. Blessings to all of you. We are truly blessed by God when we find Him drawing His people to Himself. How sweet it is to be in His presence!

Lazarus and the Rich Man

2008-09-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

This Sunday our pastor discussed the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. He explained how Lazarus had God's favor because in his state of constant need, he was always seeking God, as opposed to how the rich man hardly noticed his need for God because he was satiated by his own physical wealth. How often do we run desperately to God when our stomachs are full, when our bodies are well clothed. Maybe that's why Jesus said that the poor were blessed because they knew more about the Kingdom of Heaven than the wealthy. Maybe that's why Jesus prayed for a daily portion of bread instead of a month's supply, so that He would be drawn daily to seek and savor His King. I think we're finally coming to a place in our home of thankfulness for an income that requires us to depend on His daily provision to make things work. We have testimony after testimony to remind us of His lovingkindness, and, although we don't want to always be in physical need - who does! -, we ALWAYS want to yearn for Him more and more daily.

Taking another twist on this parable, I wonder if I truly have considered the plight of the poor man. No, not the physically impoverished man, but the poor man who does not know my Savior. I have done the same as the rich man, watching my unbelieving neighbors lie at the gates, allowing dogs to lick their sores, and doing nothing. I am that rich man who was satisfied in his ignorance. I watch my neighbors walk by every day and do not concern myself with the state of their souls, leaving them to starve right outside of my table of feasts that I share with the Savior. What a disgrace! What a shame!

Today, I will commit to seeking out my neighbor's heart, to training up my children in doing the same, and to pray daily for God's saving grace to come to the hearts of those in our community. Today we baked cookies and took them to a new neighbor who moved in to our community in an attempt to build a relationship, to inquire of their heart, to give them the greatest gift there is. The neighbors weren't there, but we left cookies and a note. I don't want to be confused about my role here. I can't force them the choose Christ, but if I love God's people, then I must sow the seeds of the gospel for them.

Josh said this well in a previous sermon, and I think it's relevant here: that we should

"never measure success by the number of people in seats [at church]. You will measure success by the number of times you scatter the gospel."

A great word yesterday. Thank you Lord for the Word of Truth.

Baby Update

2008-09-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

We are blessed beyond measure! Currently I am in my 31st week of pregnancy. This technically means that I have 9 weeks left until we find ourselves deep in the trenches of hard labor and - following that - sweet, sweet moments of learning all that we can about this new gift that is joining our family. We are ELATED! We are looking forward to the wiggly, wrinkled feet and the newborn cries, the adrenaline induced rush the first two days after delivery that holds you through until you finally get an ounce of sleep, the precious moments of watching him breathe and knowing that every single breath of his belongs to God. What amazing times that God gives us, showing us new life and how He - only He - has ordained every aspect of it! Like I said, we are blessed beyond measure, undoubtedly!

My health has maintained so much better than it ever has in previous pregnancies. Blood pressure, swelling, weight gain, preterm contractions, back pain, heartburn - every aspect has been right on target and exponentially easier this time around. Just within the last few days, I have been overcome by a voracious appetite! It's been kinda fun and something strange to laugh at!!! A family at church is hosting a baby shower for us, and we could not be more thankful. This is yet another example of God providing for the needs of his children. He has been so faithful. We should be getting an ultrasound at 37 weeks to see how big the baby is. The doctor is concerned that the baby might be bigger than Ben (9 1/2 lbs at 39 weeks) was and wants to avoid any dangers that may come with birthing a bigger baby. I feel like this child is not as large as Benjamin was, but we will find out in about 6 weeks after an ultrasound.

I want to express sincere thanks for those who have lifted our family up in prayer these last few months. I would love to get into details about all the sweet ways God has answered our prayers, but for now, know that I am home, caring for my children and home and learning how to give my life and heart and energy to knowing God and making Him known in our home. This is humbling and simply wonderful.

I think that is it for now. Thanks for reading!

Withholding wealth from my neighbor?

2008-09-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

America is a frontier for the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Would you believe this if it were whispered into your ear? Neither would I. Living in the "Bible Belt" and seeing large churches crowd the corners at each intersection, I seriously doubted that the name of Jesus hadn't reached at least the farthest corners of the US of A. Maybe Jesus' name has been spread across the country, but some still live in ignorance. But when I look into my own heart, I can see the reason for the reality that America is a frontier for the Gospel. Even believers that have claimed faith for decades have refused to share the wealth of the gospel with the impoverished hearts within our communities. I am one of them. Why do I neglect to feed my starving neighbor the bread of Christ? Why do I slothfully disdain the idea of walking 10 steps to their door and seeking to welcome them into my home, my heart, introduce them to the richest joys I have ever known. These people are created in His image, and God loves His people. Why do I not love His people enough to give them pause as they walk in a path towards death! It just takes a moment to commit, but then again, I must be willing to commit more than just a moment. I need to be willing to be vulnerable and real. It takes a lot of energy to be vulnerable to someone, because then you begin to really love them... like we should love them, like Christ loves them, and he gave up so much more than his "image" to love His people. He gave His life, his privacy, his energy. I am certain he felt embarrassed as his disrobed body was struck time and again in front of the people He loved. And he continued to be vulnerable to them. "This is my body, given for you." He longs for us to know Him. He longs for it so much that He gave up everything for it. What am I withholding from my neighbor. How am I refusing to give the truth to my friends? How can I truly love them this week, withholding nothing from them? I will be praying about that this week.

Repair and Rebuild

2008-08-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ezra and Nehemiah set things right. Ezra, upon learning that Israelite men were marrying foreign women, responded with haste before many children became involved. Israel repented and again remembered that the God of Abraham is like no other. Nehemiah responded with deep emotion and haste to the condition of Judah, the wall that was demolished and burned. He was broken by its condition and immediately sought aid to bring it into full repair.

What walls are in disrepair in my household? What have I married myself to in my life that has encouraged me to create false idols? Do I heed to the conviction of the Holy Spirit despite the consequences? Nehemiah faced death for rebuilding the wall. He and his builders were attacked regularly and carried a weapon in one hand and a trowel in the other as they worked. What am I doing to protect my relationship with God? What weapons am I armed with?

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:11-18

Calm before the Storm and Benjamin

2008-08-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well, let's just start out by saying that my last post was definitely not a reflection of what followed in the week! It was clearly the calm before the storm in many, many ways. Following the sweet, slow, quiet moments were storms of really hard physical and emotional work! The heat has taken its toll on me in so many ways this summer, and it is taking far more than a day to recover from one day of work. This is causing my children and husband and home to suffer because, like I said, I am still working on bringing that last priority into its place. So, although my children, husband and home deserve the energy, it doesn't seem logical to me to call someone on their day off to fill my shift because "I don't feel good." I'm praying about this. I don't know what else to do. I DO know that I will not be hasty to pick up extra shifts when I do get time off. It will be something I begin to protect.

Today Benjamin taught me about how we deal with God when we're in need. This morning, after bath time - yes, baths in the morning. When I work so late at night, they get straight into bed! - Benjamin began whining, and I got him a glass of milk, but not just regular milk, chocolate milk, because I wanted him to really enjoy it today. Benjamin -clearly thirsty- lifted this milk to his mouth and drank it, every last drop. When he finished, he threw the cup to the floor and out of his mouth came a loud, "Ehhhhhhhhhh". Music to a mother's ears. He is still learning to talk, so I've been working with him. "More milk please?" I say to him. "EHHHHHHHH!" He says louder and acts annoyed that I'm not running to his request for "ehh". At this point, I see that my son has had all that he needs. He is still unsatisfied and needs to rest. I put my whiny boy in his crib, and he still whines, a bit, but within mere minutes he lulls off into sleep, satisfied and sweet.

When Ben threw his cup to the floor and whined after finishing his milk, I thought "How often do I forget God's provision when I am in need again?" "How often do I whine when trouble comes my way without looking back to His sweet kindness to me?" I also think about times when He graciously gives us things that we don't really want, like naps, but that we clearly are in need of. Lord help us to remember you in times of plenty and in times of few. Help us to lift you up in praise when we are tired and weary, and when we are strong and energized. Give us a great memory of your lovingkindness. And teach us not to throw our cups to the floor and whine when things get rough!

Priorities and Provision

2008-07-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am certain that time will just escape me now that I am sitting down to write, but I am just shocked at how God has structured this day today. I have had many things to do, and, once I completed those tasks, I actually have time to sit and write! It is amazing to me! The children are napping! The floors are mopped and vacuumed! The carpet floor has been scrubbed for spots. The dishes are done and laundry is in the drier. The walls are wiped down and ready for painters to come in an paint an accent wall (courtesy of the apartment complex for renewing our lease. It also helps that there are crayon markings ALL OVER that particular wall from sweet children who took advantage of an ill parent one day last week!) Let me just run down a list of what God has blessed us with:

Time. I am finding more time in my days to do a daily quiet time and to spend time each evening in meditation, prayer, and reading. Nothing has changed as far as our work load. Nathan still is working two jobs and I have recently been promoted as a supervisor at my work. Nathan is also still taking classes, so this fresh sweet time we've been given to know Him better is a gift, and I do not know where it came from. Although I will add that the television has been disconnected from the antenna for over a month now, and we could not be happier about it!

The van is still a blessing to us. Because of the size of the vehicle, we have been able to fill it with other things that we'll need for the new baby. Just last week we were able to take home the following things that God provided:
A toddler bed for Benjamin so that the crib will be available for the new baby
A high chair for the new baby

It has been truly amazing how our needs have been met during this season. I could be searching for hours and hours on craigslist, and instead I have the honor and privilege of blogging about how God is faithful!

He is also showing me different ways that I need to rearrange my priorities at work and at home. On my refrigerator is a list (because I need constant reminders) of the things that are the most important responsibilities I have here on earth:

1. Daily Quiet Times (morning and evening). I can't be legalistic about having a quiet time two times a day, but there is nothing better than delighting in God's word and knowing Him and trusting Him. The most important thing we can do here on earth is to Know God, to accept His righteousness that has been given to us through Christ, to honor and enjoy Him all of our days in all of our circumstances. This has incredibly impacted my thought life, my awareness of spiritual warfare, my faith, and more. This scripture speaks plainly on the man who meditates on God's word day and night and cherishes His laws.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3

2. Development of my Family. Being intentional as a wife and a mother to encourage and support my husband and to train my children in faith and in life. In going through the Old Testament, you can find time and time again references of bad kings whose mothers did not love God wholeheartedly. Mothers have an incredible responsibility and influence on the direction of the lives of their children. We must be intentional to teach them about God while they are young. I am trying to understand what this looks like fleshed out and to determine what steps to take and how to organize our days so that this is number 2 in our lives. My husband also needs me to be a diligent helper, to be quick to encourage and slow to complain. He needs me to pray for him and with him and to submit to his requests without complaint.

3. Care of my Home. I have a responsibility to be a caretaker of the home I've been given. This will allow for ministry to continue to flow within our family without distractions from as much illness or clutter. This will give us the freedom to open our home to the community and give of ourselves in other ways. This is a work in progress right now, but Carolyn Mahaney is helping me to understand how to take great joy in working in the home, how to seek opportunities for teaching at every moment, and the freedom that exists when a home is well maintained.

4. Responsibilities at Work. Right now its my role to be an encourager to moms who work with me and to keep them organized and on task. This is something that I could spend all day every day working on. There is a black hole of progress that could be made in this area to lead these women and this child care center toward excellence, but because this is not my number one priority, I have been trying to put first things first. I still find myself doing more than I should and thanking God for showing me where I err (usually through the words of my mother!). I trust that He will grow the center and instill excellence in it as I devote myself to Him and His excellence.

Nathan begins his new job next week, and he is VERY excited about it. The kids are going to enjoy Him so much once he's home! I believe that is it for today! Off to work for the night!

We stand in awe of Him!

2008-07-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

What an adventure it's been lately! This family is just bustling, moving everywhere and in every way. So much has happened in the last few months, and my priorities for blogging have been low on the totem pole. Still even today, I want to limit my time here. There is always so much to do and so little time in the day. Not only that, but it's so important to be intentional in our relationships as well and to nurture into our children instead of just coexisting (or surviving!) with them. This is a daily struggle, as our life is paced at such a quick speed. I have stories to share about how God is bringing us a greater understanding, how He is slowing us down, how He is showing us more of Himself and making His name bigger. Let me start by explaining why I have been so absent.

1. My mother and father have both been in town for the birth of my little nephew (Cameron King). My sister was ill for several weeks, in and out of the hospital due to infections and high blood pressure, all of which created an unsafe environment for little Cameron.

Praise be to God that a healthy infant was born and is growing in our family now. Grace loves to visit with her Cameron and kiss him. It is quite sweet!

2. I have been working quite a bit and have had little reserve for anything but the home and the children. Within the last month, I have come to a fork in the road and have had several conversations with God about what He wants for us, why He is doing life the way He is and how we can be His through this experience and still maintain some balance, some sanity. I gave up control of my involvement in getting us a van. I told God that we needed a van because our family is growing, but that I physically could not do it anymore and still be devoted to the other responsibilities He's given me: a husband, a home, two children to grow and teach, a pregnancy, a job nurturing others' children. It was more than I could handle. It would have to be His miracle if He wanted us to have a larger car for this family that's starting to get a little on the big side (and hey, I'm not getting any smaller these days either!). God answered our prayer in a big way and brought us a van. We paid nothing for it. He did it. It was a gift. It was all His to do. He will help us with the repairs it needs to have done. I am in total awe at how He works, but more shocked in my lack of faith that He would do it. He knows the needs of His children. He hears their prayers, and He works in His timing. I pray that our family will not be forgetful like the Israelites in Egypt of the many miracles and blessings of provision that God continues to bring to us. He daily gives us food to eat and water to drink, clothing to protect from the elements, and so much more that we fail to recognize as His gifts to His people. Please take this as encouragement that ALL things are possible through Christ. This verse, I read just this morning, is encouragement that God hears His people:
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

In addition to the van, God has brought another career opportunity for Nathan. This is something that, we pray, will enable me to be able to invest more in the development of our children and family. This was another gift from God that we did not expect. Nathan had personally begun praying for God to allow Him to provide for us in a way that would bring me home and relieve some of my burden. This came through a phone call (Can you believe the van did too!), and it was an invitation to a field that Nathan has, in the past, performed very well in. I pray that we take each step, staying focused on who God is, what His desire is for His people, and who He wants for us to be. I pray that we do not become distracted by any ease on finances that may or may not come, but that we are solely focused on Kingdom building, in our family, in our church, and in our community and that we live our lives by faith.

3. Nathan continues his work at the church. We are so blessed to have joined this group of gracious people. They love and nurture us and our children in ways that we have never deserved. It is truly humbling. My busy work schedule and much exhaustion has taken me away from attending every Sunday, but God is faithful, and His people are, to bring sweet reunion every Sunday I return. Nathan adores investing in the youth there and teaching them how to dig into Scripture to know who God is and to be convicted by His Spirit into a full, sweet relationship with Him. He's seeing youth come to know Christ and is thrilled by the ways God is working in them and growing them.

4. My pregnancy is going well. I am now 24 weeks pregnant and have only one more once-a-month appointment left. From there, it's every two weeks or less until our little man comes home to us. The baby is growing so well and moving so wildly. He is having a blast in my womb. I believe he has created some sort of trampoline or something in there. I have been blessed to be free of many of the normal aches and pains of pregnancy that occurred early on with my previous two babies. Only recently have joints begun misplacing themselves. Only recently have I needed to take a break or slow down and rest from a task. I'm sad to say that this is now reflecting in our home! Grace is growing more and more excited about her growing little brother. We are all eager to meet this little squeaker!

I have so much more to update on, and I am so eager to continue to share what God is doing with our home and family, but this will have to wait for another time, as the children are napping, and I definitely need to rest before going into work tonight. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement to our family. We are in awe!

A Father's Day Update

2008-06-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Let me begin with an apology for not keeping this blog updated. As you can imagine, along with Summer began a whirlwind of life for our family. Nathan is still hard at school and his two jobs. He sacrifices so much and literally burns the midnight oil to care for his family. We are hit and miss on the home front right now. We are hoping within a few months to begin living a new normal. Nathan should be finished with school in August, and we will begin settling in and preparing for the reality of our growing family. (Forgive me if the update is brief, as today is father's day, and I'd like to get back to the festivities!) I'm still working also. I'm working a lot. We're praying that at the close of my pregnancy, God will allow me to focus on just being a mommy. And we're working very hard to try to make this happen. We're also planning a very monumental move to another part of the country to share the gospel with a group of people who are missing out on it. More on that later...

The pregnancy is going VERY well, unbelievably well. I don't remember it being this easy to carry a child. The last two, I worried with every twinge, but early on with this one, I told God that I needed Him to carry the burden of this pregnancy, and He really has. The baby is growing and has weight that I can feel. The baby is moving and rolling. It is becoming more and more exciting as each day closes. We'll learn more about our baby on June 24th at an ultrasound.

As all of the events and craziness of our home has continued to escalate, God has been teaching me about compassion. Since April, several people that have been close to my heart have lost loved ones (I can think of four families the very moment) and I have been beside myself with grief for them. I feel deeply convicted to "carry one another's burdens" and to make sacrifices in order to do this. This is where I fight the sin of selfishness and sloth, because, with so many other things occurring in the household, I could easily make an excuse for my unavailability. I do believe that God is showing me an area that he desires for me to grow and deny myself. And I hope that he continues to give me creative opportunities to deny myself for the gospel. I can tell you that it is so sweet when He teaches us about Himself.

That is all for now. Father's Day must resume. Let's remember to celebrate all of our hard working Dad's and take note of the many ways they sacrifice to give to the families God is giving them. Tell them "Thank you!" and mean it!

Prayers for Stephen Curtis Chapman

2008-05-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Stephen Curtis Chapman lost his youngest daughter in a tragic accident. His teenage son accidentally ran over his 5 year old sister tonight. She didn't make it. Please keep this family in your prayers.
Stephen Curtis Chapman is an incredible man who has adopted many children. This was one of their adopted children. I can't imagine the pain he and his family are experiencing tonight. I know even I am grieving heavily for them.

Breaking News

No Plan B's

2008-04-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

I want to share a family that has been dear to my heart. The Smith family was in our community group at our church before we moved to minister somewhere else. They have left lasting memories of laughter, joy, and faithfulness. They are good people, good friends, they love God and His church. Recently, they have responded to great pain and trials with grace and faith, and their story can be found here.

Smith Family Story from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo.

This is a long video, but it is worth watching. Please hear their story. Angie's blog is here: Bring the Rain

Because we all need a little fun in our lives.

2008-03-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Melissa tagged me, and I thought this would be fun. Even though I probably should be spending my time cleaning my home, I thought it would be a good idea to share things about our family

10 years ago: I was 15 and started my career as a car-hop at the Sonic Drive In. Sonic was the "best kept secret" in our town as far as employment for high schoolers went (at least I thought so!) I was a sophomore in high school and dated boys to bring the gospel to them. Each time, I realized this might not be the most effective way for this boy to find Jesus. I began getting involved in school politics and joined the student council and became a class officer and kinda stayed in both of those realms though high school. At 16 I was the president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (even though I was NO sort of athlete. Can we say MARCHING BAND?!?!) and went to like 5 different summer camps, one for FCA leadership camp, World Changers, A Volunteer Girls State leadership camp, Centrifuge, and Band Camp. Being in a family of 4 children (three teenagers at the time), it was a busy time for our parents, I'm sure.

Things on my to do list today: prepare a somewhat healthy meal for my family, straighten the living room and start a load of laundry, discuss the April schedule with Nathan, Deep clean the bathroom in our room.

What would I do if I was suddenly became a Billionaire? Cry. Tithe. Cry again. Thank God and then pray a lot. Then pay off all debt. Get better cars (not new!), purchase a home in a location that God chooses, and pay for the kids' college funds, retirement, and then give to those God places in our path.

Three of my bad habits: I am a loud cleaner, apparently. I watch too much television. I don't trust God enough.

Five jobs I have had:
Car-Hop at the Sonic Drive In
Resident Advisor at Union University
Secretary at church
Managing Family Teacher at a Children's Home
Families First Case Worker in Nashville

Five things people don't know about me:
I am pregnant. Most people don't know this yet.
I make stupid jokes when I'm exhausted.
I am VERY competitive and not a good sport when it comes to most card games. Sorry.
I sing a lullaby from the movie "Dumbo" to my children.
I don't know what normal is anymore.

I'm tagging Melody Kopps.

News

2008-03-28T20:39:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when life hits you like a ton of bricks, it helps to sit quietly and take it all in. That is what we have been doing for the past four weeks. God has carried us through a number of difficulties over the past 3 years or so. Lately, I was looking forward to breathing for a moment, recovering and trying to look forward to enjoying a season of sweet rest. Our youngest child has been sick most of his life, and it seemed like things were coming to a close. The doctors' bills might finally have a chance of being caught up on. We've been working like mad dogs, with Nathan working 2 jobs (one third shift) and going to school full time, and me working a part time job with the kids, it's been too crazy. He would graduate this Summer though, and it would slow down for a bit. We could finally stop running, stop working so hard, stop pushing until we had nothing in us. God had something else in mind. We have been blessed with another life to care for. We will be bringing another sweet child into this world sometime around October. I truly cannot describe what tremendous fear and trembling took place in the Wandell home as we saw the providence of God one up any plans I had in mind. His plans are way better, and clearly much more exciting!

Nathan and I have decided that it's "Game On" as far as Ben and Grace are concerned. There can be no more practice parenting in our home! Nathan and I will now be outnumbered, and that basically means that your children could possibly eat you alive. So we have our work cut out for us. I am halfway joking in this, of course. They won't literally eat us!

I will not post too much more tonight as I have another early morning tomorrow at work. I believe that God is sovereign, that He knows all things, that He knows what is best for His children, and the He is the creator and provider of all things. Therefore whatever need I present to Him, he cares about it and can fulfill it.

I have a doctor's appointment Monday, which I plan to be sharing on soon.

Union University

2008-02-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

You can give to their disaster relief fund here:
https://www.uu.edu/Union2010/giving/creditcard.cfm

Two second t shirt

2008-02-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

Have you EVER tried the two second t shirt fold?

It is totally rocking my laundry day! LOL! It REALLY WORKS! The video makes it seem more difficult than it really is.

Though the Earth Give Way

2008-02-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

God is good, all of the time. He firmly displays the power of His strong hand. He covers our bodies with protection through the storm. He moves the winds and the rain to save his people. He builds a fortress around his children.
Tonight is the eve following a catastrophic storm at Union University in Jackson, TN. This was my alma mater. I met my husband at this school and we courted, fell in love, and planned our lives together all while at Union. I was a resident advisor at Union and remember enduring 3 tornados in Jackson, TN in one year. Two of the tornadoes were powerful enough to cause extensive damage and terrorize frightened young girls who were just learning how to live without the protection of their parents. The great damage caused during those storms (millions of dollars worth) is easily shadowed by last night's devastating storm. Many students were trapped by the buildings caving in all around them. Cars were strewn on top of cars (many, not just here and there). 20% of the dorms are liveable now. Buildings were destroyed. The power of the storm is unimaginable. But all students survived. God had His strong hand on His people. God kept the bathroom walls surrounding his frightened children intact while everything around them crumbled. It is illogical when you look at the pictures and see walls stripped completely from buildings, roofs gone, and the bathroom walls are still strong and stable.

Yes, we know that God could surely have taken people home last night. He could've done whatever He wanted to do. All He does is to draw His people to Himself. Last night He protected the people of Union University. They faced a storm and ran to God, their "refuge and strength"

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Psalm 46: 1, 2

Their Bibles were opened as the fierce winds attacked and their voices raised in prayer and petition for their lives, for protection, for God's glory in the midst of suffering. Their prayers were answered.

And today, my earth gave way in a manner of speaking. God brought to my attention that it is not my job to fix everything and that God is perfectly capable (that doesn't do Him justice!) to take care of things on His own time and in His own way. He showed me this by allowing a circumstance that I can do nothing about. Benjamin is sick and will need outpatient surgery. It breaks my heart that he is so sick. It also hurts to know that I cannot fix it for him or take it from him. God has given him such stamina. I want my son to be well, but I also want to know God, to know what he is doing with these circumstances to show Himself to us. I know that God wants me to see Him, to grow with Him, to trust myself less and Him more. I weep as my empty hands have nothing to offer my suffering son. But God's hands are strong and His supply is endless. He is the protector and provider, creator of all things, and He will provide in this circumstance as well. He promises to never leave or forsake His children. He has plans for Benjamin's life that will bring glory to His name. If that includes deafness, then God will do it. If that includes a full recovery and miraculous healing, then God WILL do it. And I will pray that God's name be honored in the midst of this, that God increase our faith in HIS all sufficient power.

These everyday, physical needs, pains, desires encompass so much of our life, but Christ has SO much more to offer. He offers water that, once we drink of it, we will never thirst again. He has salve for our spiritual eyes and spiritual food that is fulfilling and rich. He offers life, eternal with His Holy father. True rest and a heart that is at peace. Lord, I want all you have to offer and more! Saturate our family with spiritual blessings. Continue to give us opportunities to run to you, whatever it takes.

Forgive us our sins

2008-02-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

All thanks to God our Father who has forgiven every debt I owed and placed His sweet hand of peace over my heart. Help me show the same mercy, to reflect Christ in offering both cheeks, giving my cloak and tunic, going the extra mile or more and being willing to lay down my life for another man, regardless of what I (a mere human) believes they might deserve. Father, You are giver of ALL things, and things are not YOU. YOU are the real deal, and You are all that we want, all that we need!

Here is scripture for today that is quite significant.

Matthew 18: 15-35
A Brother Who Sins Against You
15"If your brother sins against you,^[b] go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'^[c] 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be^[d]bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.
19"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[f]
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents^[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.^[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

To Young Believers

2008-01-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market! John 2:14-16

Righteous anger. I saw it this week in a young man. Banging his fist, pleading with his brother to flee from the snare of Sin. I remember when I was young, it was so easy to question whether I made the right choice or not, wondering whether I should have clung so strongly to those convictions. I am so pleased to see how God is working and the Holy Spirit is convicting even the youngest of His children. The strength in conviction, the sorrow in seeing sin cover another's heart, and the passion and resolution to take ownership, to care enough for a spiritual sibling to do something about it.

My encouragement to young believers: Do not lose heart! Your words and your enthusiasm for the Gospel is an encouragement to your young friends but also to older believers. We relish moments to catch young brothers and sisters fighting the fight with us. We are thrilled to work alongside you, young sister, young brother.

A word from 1 Timothy for young believers.

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come...Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. Excepts from 1 Timothy 4

To my younger siblings, I am thankful for you and what God is doing in you, drawing you and the people in your circle closer to Him! God's grace be with you.

As Rich as Dirt

2008-01-17T09:22:00.001-08:00

Today, stewardship is on the mind. John Piper was a catalyst for this in a sermon on marriage. These two topics of marriage and money in relation to stewardship may not make much sense as I pound it out here. I am still chewing on this.
God's ultimate provision.

Today John Piper preached profoundly on the purpose of marriage. He stated that the purpose of marriage was Children. Some may agree or disagree, but scripture is clear on this. Piper stated that marriage's goal is not just the procreation of children in general, but the procreation of believers, whether it be biological children or not. The purpose of marriage is a united people using their gifts and abilities to grow followers of Jesus Christ. This is profound in that we rarely consider the neighbor kids across the street to be called our "children" or even in my Sunday School class, I rarely consider the children that I teach the gospel to weekly, to be children of my lineage. But they are, when I covenant with God to grow and bring them to the truth of the Gospel, they grow under my spiritual lineage, which is Christ's, David's, Abraham's.

Another fantastic point that Piper made was that if we are single or not, we should still show hospitality to fellow believers. Regardless of our resources (an apartment that is "too small" or a "limited personality") we should steward the gifts and resources that God has given us to practice hospitality with fellow believers. I wonder what other resources we are not using or stewarding to God and his people. Our money is so often a point of contention for so many believers. We work hard so that we can earn money and provide for our family to be "obedient" believers. Scripture has never encouraged believers to obtain money. Scripture has only encouraged us to work because we are required to labor, to steward God's resources.

Being a mother of two very young children, it is very difficult to get to the movie theatres. There is one movie, however, that I was able to see about 15 minutes of which speaks to the issue of money and stewardship. Water World. I believe that all I know about the film is that the currency in this world of water is dirt or land because there is just so little of it. The characters fought over land and just a small amount of dirt was a great amount of wealth for a man. I just wonder, "Who decided Gold was the standard currency today?" Who determined that gold would be what people desired and traded and stole and killed for? If we used dust as currency, our family would be doing quite well. It just points out to me how easy and foolish idolatry is. Nothing is greater than God.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Try to imagine what God thinks when he watches us toil and worry over money, over being able to make ends meet and thrive. I imagine he feels like he is watching Water World. It's such a twisted thing for God's people to still worry about providing money "a mortal concept" to care for their family, while these same people believe and worship The God who is creator of all things, giver of all things, provider of all things. God provided bread falling from the sky to care for his children. Before this, manna had never been seen or heard of. God, in his ultimate creativity, will find ways to provide for His children who love Him. Money is something this world has created to worship and we should avoid the worship of, the worry over, money. I am deeply convicted by this and pray that God will provide more depth of insight and practice on how to love God more than worldly things.

Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Sunday School Lesson

2007-12-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

Listening to my husband preach to me about pasta and emptying the cupboard is an exhilarating experience, but let's talk about Jesus!
Yesterday we had a Sunday School Lesson about the shepherds who searched for Jesus. I teach the two and three year olds at our church. We made sheep with construction paper and cotton balls. We heard the story about the angels telling the shepherds how to find Jesus. We became shepherds, taking our sheep along and following stars in search of Jesus. At each star (4), there was an activity to reinforce the lesson. At the final star was a nativity scene. We sang songs of praise and a prayer at the nativity scene.

Christ's Humble Birth

2007-12-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

About this time last year, I was heavy with child. I had become (as I call it) "weary in doing good". My body ached and spirit grieved the thought of another day of ferocious heartburn, practically living in the bathroom, and sleepless nights. I'll admit that I was plain miserable this time around. Benjamin came just seven days later and he was a joy to behold. The miracle of a newborn babe is indescribable. There is nothing simple about it except for the peaceful sleeping child who seems without care. So when I think of the Christ child this season, coming as a helpless, soft tender child, I am reminded of my own children. I am reminded of the pains of labor and the sweet victory of hearing their first cries and smelling their new fresh skin. I remember that Christ endured the same birth (without the modern medicine, of course!) that my own endured. I'm sure it was difficult for all involved!

It is amazing to fathom that my Christ came down in flesh, in the most helpless, raw circumstance a human experiences. That Christ's humble birth was in a feeding trough with mummy clothes, while most of our children lay in a posh hospital room with clean blankets and round the clock nurses.

Mary was traveling as she was counting down the days, trying to follow the law and record her and Joseph's names for the census. I don't know how she did it. I really don't.

Today, I'd like to say:
Thank you God for epidurals and comfortable electric beds. Thank you for ultrasounds and nurses and doctors. Thank you God for Mary who endured the demise of unwed pregnancy, a humble delivery, and hardship throughout and afterwards to bring the Son of God into the world who would pay the Greatest price for the most helpless of all - me and you, who can do nothing to better the condition of our hearts. Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! for

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The Beautiful Bride of Christ

2007-12-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

The church. I've been to so many churches in my lifetime. As a daughter of a minister, I saw so much within the church. Some of my siblings never recovered from some of the damaging pains hurt people in the church inflicted on them. God's people are still sinning and sometimes get so comfortable in "church life" that they forget to "put to death the deeds of the body" so they may live. I call these people the "walking wounded" and have been one it seems for quite some time. God has allowed us to endure trial after trial within the last few years of our marriage, and we have clung tightly to try to "consider it pure joy". I will say for now that this is difficult and stop here. That is for another post. And, actually, discussing sick people in the church is also for another post!

Today, I just wanted to write about the church that Christ is continually renewing to reflect his image.

"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

This is really happening! Christ's cleansing is creating a beautiful body of believers who entertain a sweet community with one another and who seek and find God. It happens! People who love God are really loving each other, giving of themselves to provide for each other in great need, and denying themselves daily. I can say that it is thrilling to experience it, to have a burden relieved because of the beautiful church, to be convicted of sin and admonished due to a faithful brother or sister in faith, to laugh and enjoy community together and teach our children what the true church is, to really begin to know God and seek God through his word. These are the most significant years of my life thus far and have become that because of Christ's radiant bride working in our family and my life.

I am thankful for the church, thankful that we will reunite with these believers after our time on earth, and thankful that the church's main work is to lead us to Christ. Oh, how I need him daily!

Why blog?

2007-12-04T07:23:00.001-08:00

I set up this blog so I could collect my thoughts from time to time regarding the different trials and "learning sessions" we come across in life. From parenting two young children, to cooking the greatest banana bread, to digging deep into the word of God and savoring it, I want to log what God has blessed our family with and remember teachable moments. Here are my accounts.