Keep the Old

Make new friends, but keep the old,
One is silver and the other, gold.
I love my friends. I have a lot of new friends that I love, but the friends I especially treasure are my “old” friends.  Those are the friends that I’ve had for years and are what Anne of Green Gables would call “kindred spirits.”  We all need many kinds of friends in our lives. We have our shopping buddies, our coffee girlfriends, our mentors, our friends who cheer us up, but nothing takes the place of a kindred spirit or two.
This week I was blessed to have one of my few kindred spirits come to stay with me for three days. Her name is Lindsey, and although we are 10 years apart in age, Nathan swears we are twins separated at birth.  We laugh at the same things, have the same personality, grab the same shoes and clothes in the stores and have the same silly sense of humor.  I will say this though, Lindsey is far, far braver than I am. Three and half years ago, she left Duluth (boo, hoo) and joined the Navy. Now I would never join an Armed Service, mainly because of that little thing called boot camp.  But, Lindsey did and this girly girl of all girly girls, rolled in mud and ran miles and eventually became an F-18 mechanic on the USS Harry Truman. See what I mean by brave!?  It was fun this week-end to hear her and my former Navy father-in-law talk. I asked Nathan, “What language are they speaking?” Navy speak, I guess.  She’s being deployed later this year and that takes more bravery than anything I know! We had a blast this week-end.  We giggled and talked and had adventures of all sorts.  And Lindsey knows, going around with me, always means adventures. I think the last time she was here, an umbrella table flipped over in the wind and pinned me to our table at a restaurant at lunch.  This time our adventures included making a fruit tree:

As you can see, she’s pretty handy in the kitchen as well as on a flight deck!
We also went cross country skiing. Although she grew up in Minnesota, she has never snow shoed or downhill skied or cross country skied.  So, we went cross country skiing, but I didn’t let the Navy map expert read the trail maps, and I got us off on a wrong trail; yeah, a black diamond trail.  After many falls and Lindsey actually crawling up one hill while we both laughed hysterically while rude, more experienced skiers whizzed past us, we did finally enjoy the view of Duluth:

Lindsey is waaaay more fit than I am, because she says she’s doing fine, but I can still barely walk two days later. Of course, falling in a 25-year old body, is quite different than taking numerous spills on icy trails as a 36 year-old, a fact she will find out only too soon. ☺
We also enjoyed a trip down to Bentleyville, our city’s grand lighting display, which she had never been to either.  This was much tamer and lots of fun too.  Free cookies, hot chocolate, and marshmallows! And lots and lots of lights right on Lake Superior!

I’m kinda choked up as I write this.  All my kindred spirits live far away.  My sister in Denver, my best friend in North Carolina, my friend Sarah in Michigan, and Lindsey in Virginia, but it sure does make the short times I spend with them, all the more precious.  I’m finding, as Anne says, “that maybe kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.”  I’m finding new ones every now and then.  New friends, new kindred spirits surprise me every now and again. But, nothing takes the place of a true, pure gold, friend, a sister of your heart.

Why I Love Christmas

Christmas is my favorite holiday and there are so many reasons why.

- I love the tree all decorated with white lights and my favorite ornaments.  Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has bought me a new ornament, usually something related to a happening in the past year. I have all those ornaments on my tree now. I do the same thing for my kids too.  This year, I bought ornaments for Nate and Daniel that are little boys on snowboards, because they are learning to snowboard.  Laura got a skier ornament, since she is on ski team.  I love my tree all lit up, heaped with presents on Christmas Eve.

- I have a set of Christmas china that I only get out once a year.  There’s something about a beautifully set table.  I love to decorate my Christmas table with my Christmas china and make a pretty centerpiece.  This year we all laughed as I was setting my table.  I was arranging the candles and kept sending Laura upstairs for, “Another candle, please Laura. Oh, and some greenery.  And see if you can find a few poinsettias!”  Nate chimed in, “And a partridge in a pear tree.”

- I LOVE pumpkin pie.  I didn’t get any at Thanksgiving this year because we were at my in-laws house this year and pumpkin pie has eggs in it. But, I made the Christmas dinner, so I made pumpkin pie with egg replacer.  You can’t tell difference.  And everyone wanted apple pie today, so hey, this is GREAT! I have an entire pumpkin pie to myself! Sweet!

- OK, I admit. I’m a kid when it come to presents. I love them.  My love language is gifts. And I love that Nathan pays attention and shows his love for me by giving me gifts that I really, really want.  Like this cool, new purse.

- As long as we’re on the subject of presents. I really love seeing my kids get all excited about their gifts. Poor Daniel, he must have asked me 20 time yesterday, when we got to open our gifts. After the service, after dinner, then we get to, Daniel. He was practically quivering with delight when he got his Star Wars Captain Rex mask that he asked for.

- I love the low key day after eating dinner, sitting around playing games.  We got a few new ones this year.  Everyone always thinks we’re bizarre because we don’t have a TV and often ask, “So what do you DO, if you don’t watch TV.” Well, we read and we love to play games. Today we played a really funny game called “You’ve Been Sentenced” that is not only a lot of fun, but helps the kids learn grammar!

- More than anything, whether the weather is perfect, or whether it snows (or sleets!) I love being snuggled up in my warm house with my family for Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Two Sisters

Our family, on both sides, is wrestling with the ugly enemy called cancer this Christmas.  Both families are trying to make sense of the pain and suffering cancer brings.
My Dad’s sister has been struggling with colon cancer.  This has been especially difficult, because just a few years ago, her daughter, my cousin Beckie, passed away from cancer at only 26 years of age.  We are all left wondering why cancer strikes again in the same family. Thankfully, the chemo and a surgery this week have given this sister a wonderful outcome. It appears that with a few more chemo treatments, she will be cancer free.
Nathan’s Dad’s sister is close to the end of her struggle with cancer.  In fact, she will be in heaven most likely before the New Year.  Her family waits by her bedside, making the most of her last, precious moments on earth.
Two women: sisters, mothers, daughters, wives.  Both fighting a common enemy.  Both going home.  Both facing healing.  One sister going to her earthly home, one to her heavenly home.  One benefitting from the healing that modern science and medicine brings, another receiving the ultimate healing that our bodies receive when we, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, enter heaven.
When faced with any kind of tragedy or sickness like this, I have to admit, it’s hard to understand.  Why does my Dad get to continue his relationship with his sister, while Nathan’s Dad has to say good-bye for now?  Why is one person cured from cancer and another dies?  All persons involved love God, all the families are praying desperately for a miracle.  All have children and grandchildren and husbands that need their loved one to stay here with them just a little bit longer.  Why?
There are a lot of questions I can’t answer. But, there are a few things I know for sure.
“One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.” Psalm 62:11
“This I recall to mind, Therefore I have hope.  The Lord’s lovingkindnesses never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” Lamentations 3:21-23,25
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways’ declares the Lord.  ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:8
“and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
“Home free, eventually, at the ultimate healing, we will be home free,
Home free, oh it’s more than a feeling, at the ultimate healing, we will be home free.”
-Wayne Watson, “Home Free”

Imponderables

There’s a lot of random thoughts that wander through my brain and make me wonder, why?

- After watching The Princess Bride probably more than 200 times in the last 20 years, I just recently realized it was never explained where Prince Humperdinck met Buttercup. He chose her as his bride, but he was a prince and she was a farm girl. Where the heck did they meet to begin with????

- I recently read a book where the heroine had some stressful circumstances and when she got to her home she fell into an exhausted sleep and when she awoke she was confused about what time it was. Her sister told her she had slept around the clock for 20 hours without waking. I was like, 20 hours!!!! Who sleeps 20 hours without peeing? I was totally distracted by this thought. I mean, I’ve never gone 20 hours, even in sleep, without having to use the bathroom. Bizarre.

- After having three kids I’m still confused as to how a woman’s stomach (namely, mine) can go from the size of a submarine back to (relatively) flat. At least I fit back into my old jeans. Why is skin so stretchy? And how does it stretch out like that and then where does it go when it gets all flat again? And how does it do that over and over? Oh yeah, that must be where those stretch marks came from! And although I was there, I still don’t know how in the world that baby got out of there!

- Why is ice fishing considered fun?

- Why do people in Minnesota pay good money to go to things like Lutefisk Dinners and Fish Boils? What is a Fish Boil, by the way? It sounds like a disease.

- Why do I like quilting since it involves so much math and so much ironing?

- Why don’t skinny jeans make you look skinny?

- Why do accompaniment CD’s with one song cost as much as a regular CD?

- Who goes first at a 5-way stop?

- Why in heaven’s name did SuperOne move their Super Pretzels to the the frozen section with fish sticks? Why not with the snack foods or the frozen dough? Does anyone else see the connection between frozen pretzels and fish?

- Why does Heinz call their ketchup “Tomato Ketchup?” Have you ever eaten any other kind of ketchup? Like, Green Bean Ketchup or Zucchini Ketchup or Carrot Ketchup.

- Why do some people call crayons “coloring crayons.” Duh, what else do you do with them? They’re either crayons or colors, aren’t they?

- What exactly does “uff-dah” and “ish-dah” mean?

- Why in the world does my mother think “Hunca Munca” is a great exclamation!?

I’m sure I could go on and on. My brain seems to be filled with fluff. But, the one that I really don’t understand is this:

- Why did God become a man? How can Jesus be both God and man? Why would He choose to love me, come to Earth as a baby and suffer and die in my place when I deserved the punishment He took on Himself?

I really don’t understand that one, but I am forever grateful that He did.

Peanuts

Homeschooling has provided us with quite a few interesting days this fall. Laura has entertained us with quite a few fascinating science experiments. But, this week the spotlight was on Daniel and his math. For some reason, I guess to keep the first graders engaged in their math, Saxon math uses a lot of manipulatives and real world food to keep them interacting with numbers.

This week it was peanuts.  This was fun because recently Daniel was asking me about peanuts.  He had seen a big barrel of unshelled peanuts at the grocery store and wondered what they tasted like and how to eat them. Then I read his lesson for the week and noticed we needed peanuts. How bizarre. As Nathan was out, I called him and asked him to bring us home a large bag of unshelled peanuts. He too, thought this was a strange request, but has learned that in homeschooling I often ask for strange things.

He did a good job and brought home a big bag of peanuts:

The first day our lesson consisted of using the peanuts to count by tens. We sorted the peanuts into 10 cups with 10 peanuts per cup.  Then we counted by 10’s to 100.  Then we cracked open each nut and put the two nuts on a sheet of paper that had 10 peanuts drawn on it and drew the two peanuts. If Daniel found a peanut with 1 or 3 nuts, he got to eat those.  Then we counted by 2’s to 10:

The next day’s lesson was about following a recipe. We were going to make peanut butter! We had to shell and measure one cup of peanuts. This took awhile.

Then we mixed the peanuts with oil in the blender and made peanut butter:

We then learned about halves and fourths and spread our peanut butter on fourths of bread and shared with everyone at home.  It was a little salty, but tasted very peanutty! We decided maybe next time, to use unsalted peanuts and a little sugar. All in all a nutty adventure for sure!

Cookin’ Cookies

Today I had one of those, wow-I-can’t-be-this-old moments. I was decorating Christmas cookies with my boys.  I remember being the kid with the bowls of colored frosting and sprinkles that my mom gave me.  Only now I’m the mom and my kids are decorating cookies. My, how time flies.  It hardly seems possible that I am carrying on the tradition of making cutout cookies and decorating them with my own children. But, I am and it’s so much fun.
First of all, the most important thing for good cookies is a good recipe.  Many people, when they eat my sugar cookies at my Open House rave over them.  For some reason this recipe, from my mom, never gets crunchy or nasty.  They are always sweet and soft. I think part of the yumminess is the hint of lemon flavoring in them. Here’s our recipe for Sugar Cookies which we always double:
1/2 C. softened butter
1/4 C. shortening
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon extract (you can substitute 1 tsp. vanilla if you hate lemon, but it’s the lemon that makes these cookies special)
2 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and flavoring. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and chill overnight. The next day you heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough to 1/4” thick on floured surface (part of having chewy cookies is not making them too thin). Cut into desired shapes. Put on ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 6-8 min. Don’t overbake!
Of course the enjoyable part of all of this is letting your kids help you cut out all the fun shapes:


Yes, it’s true, flour goes everywhere, but deal with it. You can sweep later. Have a blast and let them cut out whatever they want. It’s the tradition and memories that count here!
The next day is frosting day! And this is where it gets lively, crazy and messy. Anal people need not apply!
Frosting:
2 C. powdered sugar
3 T. melted butter
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
2 T. milk
Mix until right consistency (I doubled this to make enough for a double batch of cookies and several kids) Divide between several bowls and dye whatever colors, OK our blue was a little too blue, but who cares. Get out lots of sprinkles and go to town!

Realize that there will be some, ok more than some, really ugly cookies, but those are the ones you save for your family to eat!

One funny memory I have is that my dad used to take a tree or an angel and decorate it with every color of frosting and every single type of sprinkle. I think he did this #1 to drive my mom nuts and #2 just so he could eat that cookie! :)
Realize also that this will make a big mess! But, as my friend Sara used to say, “If it entertains the kids longer than it takes you to clean it up, it’s worth it!”


This entertained Nate and Daniel for at least 2 hours, and took me 15 minutes to clean up. Well worth it, I’d say. Plus, we listened to Martina McBride’s Christmas CD and laughed and talked while we made cookies. A treasured memory for sure. 
And when you are finished, you will have cookies for the family and cookies for guests and you’ll be surprised that most of them look pretty A-OK and taste pretty awesome too!


Happy Baking! And thanks, Mom, for starting such a wonderful tradition with my sister and me, so I could carry it on with my kiddoes!

They Just Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

 

I decided to make spritz cookies the other day. I made my yummy butter cookie dough and got out my trusty spritz cookie maker. Or as it turned out, my not-so-trusty spritz cookie maker. I bought this cookie maker a few years ago at Kmart. It’s just your average 21st Century spritz cookie maker. It’s plastic, and that’s the problem. I got four tree cookies pressed out when I felt resistance. I squeezed the trigger and SNAP! The trigger just completely broke off in my hand. What in the world!?  There was nothing I could do at that point, it was completely broken.  I just had to toss the dumb thing in the trash. However, I had an entire mixing bowl of cookie dough. So, I called my friend, Wendy, to see if she had a spritz cookie maker.  She said she did, but she said it was kinda different.  Kinda different, how, I asked? She said it had been her mom’s. Wow!  Your mom’s, I asked? That means it must be at least 40 years old, because I knew her mom had passed away awhile ago.  I told her I could handle different, I just needed to get my cookies done.  I went to get the cookie press and this is what I got:

Amazing! That is one heavy duty cookie press!  No wonder this thing had been around for 40 or 50 years.  It is made of metal, tin I think.  The barrel holds twice as much as mine and you crank the cookies out.  I had fun using this one.  Trust me, there is NO way this thing would ever break.  The Christmas trees were also a little prettier than mine. 

I was also amused by a camel cookie shape:

I almost wanted to make another batch of dough just to see what the camels would look like.  I was kinda hoping for a wiseman cookie to go with it. But, the only other “living” creature cookie available was a dog. A dog?  Very odd:

Maybe I’m missing something. Is this Rudolph? Or is it a Christmas dog? Or were dogs just popular in the 60’s?  Don’t know, but it kinda cracked me up.

Anyhow, I am now searching on eBay for an antique cookie press. No more plastic junk for me.  They just don’t make stuff like they used to!

It’s the Little Things

So much of Christmas seems to be about the big, in-your-face stuff. Like extravagant gifts that result in massive Visa bills in January, huge, dazzling displays of lights like Bentleyville, the Rockefeller Center Christmas trees.  But, lately I’ve been discovering that Christmas is all about the little things.

Things like seeing Christmas through the eyes of my child.  Daniel is so excited for Christmas. Everyday he can hardly stand the sight of the presents under the tree. Oh how he wishes today were Christmas Day and he could open his gifts NOW! I remember that kind of anticipation when I was a kid. Nathan has a word he made up for when you are waiting anxiously for a parcel to arrive in the mail and I think it applies to the kids longing for their Christmas gifts: “anticiparcelation.”

I also love it when I come out into the living room without my contacts and the tree’s white lights are all misty and sparkly. Nathan thinks it’s funny that I squint at every set of Christmas lights I see, but I love to see the lights all “fuzzy.” One of those “little things” at Christmas that brings me joy.

On Saturday we had a Christmas Breakfast at church.  These breakfasts always consist of an egg dish in some form. I am allergic to eggs, but no big deal.  I always just have something to eat at home. But, this week I got there and after I finished helping the ladies serve, Gwen Ornell said, “I have a special breakfast just for you, Molly.”  Then she handed me a plate with fruit and something wrapped in foil. She said it was a surprise.  It was a little breakfast sandwich she had made that morning and baked just for me with ham and cheese all warm and melty with no eggs! Wow! I felt so special. Talk about a little thing that just embodied the spirit of giving that Christmas is all about!

And there’s one more small thing that never fails to make me smile at Christmas and that’s when a store clerk chooses to go against the flow and wishes me a “Merry Christmas” instead of the stupid and “politically correct” “Happy Holidays.”

After all, the reason Christmas exists is because of something so very little that turned out to be big.

Isaiah 9:6,7

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.”

“Hallelujah, we’ve been found, a child is born to save us now. Jesus.

Hallelujah light has come a Savior who will set us free.

A Promise for those who believe.”

(Hallelujah, Light has Come, Written and performed by BarlowGirl)

Hallelujah, we’ve been found.  Some of us didn’t even know we were lost when God sent his Son, this child to save us.  But when we recognize just how lost we are in sin and in darkness, what an amazing thing to be found.  Have you ever been lost or ever lost a child?  Being found is an incredible thing!  When Laura was about 18 months old we were at the Kansas City Airport together.  The automatic doors to the outside were just behind us and we were sitting down waiting to check in. I was going through our luggage trying to get my things together.  I bent over for about 3 seconds to get something out of a bag and in that instant Laura disappeared. When I sat up, my baby was gone!  I was instantly in panic mode.  I jumped up and started yelling into the crowded airport frantically asking strangers, “Have you seen a little blond baby? My baby is gone!” After what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few seconds, a kind gentleman took my arm and led me around the corner. He said, “Is this your baby?” There was Laura, stepping on the pad that opened the automatic doors and watching in fascination as they opened, then stepping off and watching them close. Over and over. Hallelujah, she was found! What an amazing feeling to be found!

Hallelujah, light has come, a Savior who will set us free. Jesus. There seems to be this popular notion these days that we’re all kinda ok in ourselves. You know, unless you’re like Sadaam Hussein or something, you’re basically good. Which is an unfortunate error, because if we’re not really dark people, we don’t need a Light or a Savior.

John 1:3-5

“All things came into being by Him (Jesus) and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life and the life was the light of men.  And the light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

A Promise for those who believe. Jesus, the baby that God sent into the world at Christmas, His Son, is a promise to those who believe. A promise of life and hope and joy.

John 1:12

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

A baby, born in a stable.  The only witnesses a teenage girl, a carpenter, some poor shepherds.  It seems like a small, insignificant thing.  But, it’s the little things that matter.  That baby grew up to die on a cross for our sins, rise from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father today. When you experience the little joys of Christmas let it remind you of the reason we have all those little joys and graces.  Because God sent a little baby to save us all from the darkness.

Stuffed-

The Ethics of Black Friday

I got caught up in an interesting discussion at my dance class last week regarding Black Friday. Just the name alone gives me pause. Black Friday: such a meaningful, true-meaning-of-Christmas-type day. NOT!  As the girls at dance discussed the day, we quickly realized we were divided into two camps. Those who dove into Black Friday with gusto and those who avoided it at all costs. 

The women who shopped on Black Friday were an interesting group.  They all were up early and at the stores the minute they opened, even if that was some ungodly hour like 3 or 4 a.m.  Apparently it was just so very important that they got those all important deals that were there at the stores in the middle of the night.  Most of these women had a game plan too. They shopped in groups, like a pack of lions hunting a wildebeast.  One would get in line, one would go one direction, one would head in another direction and all were coordinated like the Secret Service by a sophisticated system of either cell phones or walkie talkies.  There was even a discussion of ethics in this Black Friday talk. All agreed that stampeding and killing someone, as per the WalMart incident last year was over the top.  Whew, that made me feel a little better.  However, fighting someone for an item was ok. One girl told a story about fighting 4 people for the last 3 $20 shopvacs.  She was so please with herself. I was like, "A Shopvac!?" I have never gotten that excited over a shopvac in my life! Now maybe if it was a pair of Manolo's for $20, but a SHOPVAC!? Whatever.  Then they also decided that if someone had the last remaining item in their shopping cart and they walked away from their cart to look at something, that item was fair game.  Apparently in the ethics of Black Friday, possession is 9/10's of the law.  If you let go of your cart, it is no longer yours. I wondered if this also applied to the person's purse?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting a good deal. I love a great bargain and I think we should use our money wisely.  Nathan jokes frequently with me about the store "Savers" calling it "Spenders" because I go there so often. However, I truely wonder about the motivation behind Black Friday.  Why are we giving gifts at Christmas?  Personally, I give gifts at Christmas because I love the people I am giving them to and so when I select gifts I do so mindfully.  I like to take my time, find the best deal of course, but truely thing about the person I am buying for.  What would THEY like, what would mean the most to them, how can I bless them with this gift?  I find that a little hard to do in the midst of the frenzy of grabbing and screaming and trampling others feelings and needs that is Black Friday.

Philippians 2:3-7 says this: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied iImself, taking the form of a bond-servant. . ."

I find this attitude very hard to have on Black Friday. If you can do it, great, go for it. But, the whole concept of Black Friday is the antithesis of self-LESSness.  It's all about me and what I can get for me.  It has very little to do with others.

This Christmas season may I suggest we slow down a little? Maybe you may have to spend $5 more on a present.  Who cares?  Consider others more highly than yourself. Think about the person you are choosing your presents for.  Don't think of buying gifts as something to just "get through", but a wonderful opportunity to bless them and show your love.  And consider thinking of your shopping trips as opportunities to bring the love of Christ and the true Christmas message to a frazzled and messed up world.

Merry Christmas!

Rah-Rah: Go Team Go!

It's recently come to my attention again, that high school sports are, indeed, important.  With recent school budget cuts in many school districts both the arts and school sports are being cut as "not as important" as academics. Lately this decision is one that is being made at Central High School. I believe it is still up in the air as to whether or not Central will have sports available for their students next year.

Last night I realized again that sports really are important for high school kids for many, many reasons.  I took Laura to her first training for alpine ski team. As we walked through Denfeld High School, the gym area was absolutely bustling with sports activites.  There was a Girls Basketball Jamboree going on that involved six schools. Then we headed downstairs to the weight room where the ski team was lifting weights and running on treadmills. Next door in a dance studio the dance team was high kicking with big smiles on their faces.  There we probably several hundred kids there at Denfeld that night involved in some sort of sport. 

Just this year a study came out that heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity have hit an all time high in America. In fact, a whopping 66% of American adults are overweight.  Other studies have shown that organized sports are important for girls because they develop a sense of competence and confidence in them that girls who don't place sports don't have.  And being the mom of two very crazy, normal boys, I would have to say that teenage boys with all their testosterone NEED to be invovled in something athletic in their teenage years just to channel all that energy!

If there were no sports available at Denfeld High School where would all those kids have been last night and what would they have been doing?  I suppose there are worse things in this world, but the fact that all these kids had a place to get together with their friends, have fun and exercise is huge, in my mind.  A lot of children are sitting around, eating junk food staring at their TVs these days.  Childhood obesity and diabetes is at an all time high and for a lot of kids their idea of exercise is an hour of Guitar Hero.

So, I say Rah, Rah for High School sports and sports of all kinds for kids.  Encourage your kids to get involved in a sport.  Not overinvolved mind you, but that's a blog for another day.  So get moving, get off the couch and go cheer on your favorite team!

Away We Go!!-Laura

Every Thanksgiving we usally go to my grandparents house and hve a feast fit for a king. (I think we need 2 plates) Well anyways the few hours before leaving are always the toughest. Especially when there is Algebra, packing, lunch to make, a little boy named Daniel who never seems to put his back-pack down he is sooo excited, the list could go on and on. And by the time we are all situated in the car we have to think about the drive ahead of us. Well this time us kids will not have to be cramped in the back of our really small car. Thank Goodness! So by the time we get to grandmas we are all sooo tired of packing, driving, and well just sitting that we are super tired and ready to go to bed. Ahhhh! I think every time we go on a trip we should tryour very hardest to be RELAXED!!! Which this time I think is going pretty well. So have a happy and relxed Thanksgiving.

Three Deer!

This year my dad and I have been deer hunting again. We have been going on sombody elses land. Well we set up our stand and I was all ready to shoot myself a deer since my dad got to shoot a bear first and then my bear quit coming in to my bait station. So my dad has gotten all the luck. So I was ready to go out and shoot myself a nice ole'buck.(I wanted a 12 pointer) Well we got out there opener morning and we saw nothing but, we did hear 82 shots the first morning!!! Well we went out lots more and did not see a thing. Then my dad saw a deer thinking it was a big one only to find that it was a small little fawn.(sure tastes good)
We went out the next day and it was raining pretty hard all morning, but I was determined to get a deer because we were told that there were lots of deer by our stand. I told my dad the reason they will not come to me is because they know I will shoot them. Well anyways this morning I was very tired and I told my dad I would go out with him in the afternoon and that he could go out in the morning by himself. So he went out and of course shot three deer. That is the end of our deer season so after many hours of waiting this year maybe those stupid deer will forget about me and I will be able to shoot my 12 point buck plus a couple more doe for my mother.(She only likes the tender doe meat.) So next year Lord willing I will have the biggest bear and deer!!!(So I can show my dad that I can shoot the big animals too)

De-cluttering

I hate clutter.  I can live with a dirty house for awhile, but I can't live in a cluttered house for much more than about 24 hours.  Especially the clutter you can see.  I pretty much have to have all surfaces clear before I go to bed.  Toys, stray socks and library books picked up off the floor.  The kitchen counter cleared off and wiped clean.  There's just something about waking up in the morning to a clean house. 

But, then there's that clutter that's hiding.  The clutter that kinda nags at you in the back of your mind for weeks and months on end.  For me that was my not-so-neat stacks of sweaters in my closet that were now more messy looking piles.  My attic where I couldn't even walk to find my wrapping paper without tripping and falling. And the back of my double deep closet.  Did it even have a floor?

Today I just said "No more!" and went to town. It all started because I wanted to wrap some Christmas presents and hide them in the attic. Only I couldn't get to the wrapping paper or find a spot for the wrapped presents without first majorly cleaning and de-cluttering the attic.  This involved going through quite a bit of my kids old clothes.  Out of sight, out of mind, seemed to be Laura's maxim as she willy nilly had been tossing clothes that she either didn't like or didn't fit her into the maw of the attic's jaws.  Ugh, the pile of clothes was ugly, but we waded through it and stuffed three garbage bags full for donating and lo and behold found several pairs of jeans and pants that currently fit her!  Then on down to my closet where I was able to get rid of several sweaters I no longer wear and while I was at it fold them and stack them neatly.  And then into the depths of the back of my closet. I did discover the floor of my closet along with several nightgowns I had been missing for months!  And we stuffed two more garbage bags full.  Where does this clutter come from?

We seem to live such cluttered lives.  Our homes are stuffed with, well, stuff.  And our lives are stuffed with activities until our brains no longer have time to stop and rest, our families are too busy to eat a meal together and our marriages are running on empty.  We throw another piece of clutter into the attic of our busy, busy life and it's out of sight, out of mind.  "Oh, I'll think about spending time with my husband later." "I'll let my kids just be kids later, but right now we've got to run to basketball, hockey, ballet, etc, etc."  Or even worse, "I know I should have time to sit down and spend time with God, but I'm late for work, late for soccer practice, even late for church!"

Maybe it's time to de-clutter those attics and closets of our lives.  Maybe it's time to take an honest look, just like I did in my attic and my closets. Hmmmm, nope that activity just doesn't fit so well anymore, I think it's time to toss it.  We can't "Be still and know that I am God" if we never stop and just be still.

When was the last time you had the time and margin in your life to be still?  To be quiet and spend time with Jesus?  When were you able to answer his call in Mark 6:31? "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest awhile."

Clutter stresses me out.  And clutter in our personal lives is stressful too. We need to de-clutter so we have the time to talk with our kids, to build our marriage and grow in our relationship with God.  Life is so much more than work and activities.  We were created to be relational people and we need to have the space in our lives to build those relationships.  Dive into those dark, dusty, scary attics in your life and throw away some junk! Sometimes the process hurts a little. Sometimes you have to make some difficult decisions. Sometimes I have to give away clothes I even like, but I just haven't worn in awhile! But, it's worth it all to have a little breathing room.

Seriously?

The last few days have not been my most stellar days. OK, the last few weeks have not been the best.  But, the past 3 or 4 days really take the cake. Is it the weather?  Karma? Friday the 13th?  What?  Obviously not, because I don't believe in any of those things, except weather, but it really feels like someone or something is out to get me.  As the song goes, "It's all going just so perfectly wrong. Hey, hey, hey what can I say, it's just been one of those, one of those days."

Several days ago our computer, our not really so old computer, crashed. I mean, bit the dust. It started doing weird things, making strange designs on the screen and sending me bizarre messages in DOS. But, it was NOT booting up and doing it's thing.  A computer expert came over while I was gone and re-formatted, read: erased, deleated, good-bye, no more, the entire harddrive.  However they did this without backing up what was currently on it which I found out later could have been done first!  We had recently bought a new computer and given our old-old computer to someone else. 

I've been writing a novel for the past nearly two years. I'm in the middle of my last chapter, 50,000 words in.  Somehow in all of the shuffle, we had backed up the book, which was on the old-old computer on the semi-old computer, but not on the new one or an external harddrive.  It was one those things that we were getting to, but hadn't done yet.  Big, huge mistake. Please don't lecture me, I know. It was on two computers! However, in the hustle and bustle of getting the new one, we deleted the hard drive on the old-old one and gave it to a friend and in the ensuing week or two had yet to back up my computer. And Thursday night I was informed my book, my baby, my hard work, my dream. . .was gone.

I know a little bit now how people feel when they lose possessions in a fire.  Something precious that I poured my heart and soul into was gone.  I was stunned into disbelief and then I just started to cry.  I cried until I had a headache and my eyes were almost swollen shut.  There was no way I could recreate two years of hard work and no way I even wanted to try.  My dream of trying to get a novel published was simply dead and gone.

In the morning, Nathan told me that he had talked to a computer guy and had a way of maybe recovering some files.  I was like, "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it."  I left to do some shopping, but on my way to the car, Laura came running out after me. "Daddy says come quick!"  Nathan found a several files containing parts of my book, safe and sound and completely perfectly formatted.  So far, we've recovered about 3/4 of the book.  Not perfect, but oh man, I'll take it. I started crying again.  OK, maybe my dream was alive again!  My best chapter is still missing, but I can work with what I've got.  About 200 pages have been restored to me.  Oh yeah, and they are backed up on and external hard drive. And I'm thinking maybe a hard copy in a fireproof safe is not overkill at all here.

At this point, I'm thinking, "I am seriously tired of this emotional drama."  This is on top of our foster baby dying and some difficult personal issues at church lately.  I'm thinking, "God really, seriously?  Can I catch a break here?"

Last night Nathan and I went on an amazing date.  We shopped (which is my idea of fun, ok?).  We ate at Blackwoods.  We laughed.  We had fun.  Nathan bought me some new white dishes that were on sale.  We got home and I had them all stacked on the counter. I opened the cupboard and the sugarbowl was perched precariously on the edge of the shelf and came crashing out and landed on the top of the stack of dinner plates and broke the top one to smithereens.  I just stood there in shock. I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or start laughing like an insane maniac.  Seriously!?

Nathan came rushing out of the bedroom. "Are you ok, what happened!?  I explained as calmly as I could.  He said, "What are the odds?"

Oh, I'd say pretty good right about now.

Hi My Name is Laura Jane Sahlberg. I can not write my blog today because my Daddy is tickling me. Sorry I’ll try again later.

It The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!-Laura

Well like every year Christmas seems to come way too fast every year! We go to the stores at the end of October and the stores have a whole section for their Christmas stuff!

Then let me ask you why? Well since we live in America we think we need stuff. Then as we get closer to Christmas we see something better so we get more. And as they add more we buy more. As we see more things we ask for more things. Lets face it we all do it. We see something, we like, and want it!

So lets try this year to make this year the most wonderful time of the year by honoring others, being selfless more than selfish! And enjoy what gifts you do get! 

Let’s Make a Deal

The idea of bargaining is one I would generally say is not a good idea in relationships.  I always encourage people to give 100% in any relationship.  No tit for tat, no if you do this I’ll do that.  That said, however, the art of bargaining for goods and services seems to have been lost through the years.

 

My mom is the consummate bargainer.  I remember once when I was young there was this set of tea dishes she wanted.  They were the kind where you put your little tea dainties on one side and there was a place for the matching tea cup on the other side of the dish. They were at some department store; Macy’s or Dillard’s or something.  The dishes were way too expensive for her and never seemed to go on sale.  My mom just watched those dishes.  Every so often she’d go up to the store and see if they were on sale or if they had sold yet.  Well, after about 6 months she went to the manager. She said to him, “You’ve had these dishes here for 6 months and they’ve never sold, how about you discount them for me and I’ll buy them.”  I can’t remember how much she asked for off the price, but she was well armed with facts and figures and the manager agreed!  That kind of bargaining never seems to happen anymore.  I don’t know if it’s because prices are already so low, or if I just lack the chutzpah to ask.

 

Recently though, I did strike a pretty good bargain with my sister-in-law, Maja.  Last Christmas she was knitting a really pretty scarf and I was admiring it. Now you have to understand in addition to being a shoe fanatic I also love scarves.  I also can not knit.  I tried it once and was all thumbs, and I thought it was the most boring thing in the entire world.  But, it just so happens I AM a very good quilter. Now Maja has made a few simple quilts, but I knew that my quilting ability was farther along than hers.  So, I asked her if we could maybe make a trade.  Could I make her something and then maybe she would give me that scarf she was making.  She thought for awhile and decided she wanted a tree skirt.  We decided that a tree skirt was a little more complex and one tree skirt equaled two scarves and shook hands on it.  I went home that Christmas with my pretty new scarf:

I told Maja that I would make her a tree skirt before the following Christmas and she promised me another scarf.  I asked for a blue and brown one.  I’m still waiting for my scarf, but I think she’s working on it. :) 

 

Maja was up here a few weeks ago and we went to the quilt store together and picked out fabric for her tree skirt.  I had found a pattern I thought was pretty and she approved it.  She told me that she was collecting those red and cream Swedish Christmas tree ornaments. So, we went with those colors in her tree skirt.  I finished her tree skirt yesterday and am taking it to her at Thanksgiving:

I’m sure you have some skill, something you are good at. Maybe it’s cooking, sewing, house cleaning or childcare. The sky’s the limit as to what you can barter with.  So get out there and make a deal!  You just might end up with something you’ve always wanted. And who knows, you might end up with a new friend or two.

Honor – What a Concept!

 

Honor and respect: two words that have fallen out of fashion in our modern world. And yet, this is a concept that is commanded by God in order for our families to function as God intended.

 

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

Ephesians 6:2, 3 “Honor your Father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.”

Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.”

Honor and respect to our parents and as wives toward our husbands.  I rarely hear this happening.  Most of the time I hear kids being sassy and rude and disobedient to their kids and wives complaining about what a jerk their husband is.

 

One thing I’ve noticed is that, as the mom and the wife, I set the tone in our house.  If I start to get less than respectful in my attitude and tone of voice with Nathan, the kids pick up on that instantly start to get a little disrespectful toward him too.  I strive to be respectful and honoring toward the wonderful man God has given me and to encourage my children to honor this fantastic dad God placed in their lives.

 

Yesterday was Nathan’s birthday and on his birthday he flew early in the morning to Indianapolis to pick up our new mini-van and spent the entire day driving it home.  This may seem like a strange thing to do, but he desires to manage our finances wisely and one of the things we don’t do is go in debt for a car.  We were able to find a van within our means and it just happened to be in Indiana. So, Nathan sacrificed his time and his birthday to go get it and bring it home.

 

When I left for dance last night the kids were all working mysteriously in the basement.  When I came home, this is what I found:

 

Wow, I was blown away!  I asked them what this was all for!?  Well, they answered, Dad would be getting home after they were in bed and they wanted him to know they loved him and wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday.  I especially love the birthday sign that says at the bottom “Dad Rocks.” Talk about honoring your father.  OK, maybe that’s in more 21st Century lingo, but I can tell you when Nathan walked in at 9:30 after having been awake since 3 a.m., he felt loved and honored.

 

Honoring your father and mother is the first commandment with a promise, the Bible says.  A promise!  What’s that promise?  That it will be well with you and that you may live long on this earth.  Try honor, try respect.  Sure beats bitterness, wrath and anger!  What a concept!

Trying to Make Sense of it All

The past week has been one of the most emotional and trying weeks this year.  My head is still spinning, my emotions are in turmoil and I admit I am confused as to the direction God is taking my life.

 

We have been doing foster care for two years and recently we took care of a 1 year old boy.  This particular assignment was especially difficult and took extra grace and patience, as this little one was extremely unhappy.  In fact, pretty much the entire time he was in our home, he cried, yelled, screamed, threw a fit, you name it.  Nothing I could do would soothe him.  It got on all of our nerves.  We tried to do school over his screams.  Eventually, I’d have to give him toys, put him in his playpen and shut the door just so my kids could concentrate.  In the evening, I’d feed him, diaper him, play with him and then put in earplugs to do my work just so I wouldn’t have to listen to his screams as he just walked around crying for no apparent reason.  We all gave him as much love and affection as he would allow us to, but basically he was just a very unhappy little guy.  The exception to this was on the week-ends when his grandma would come to pick him up.  His whole countenance would change, he would light up and lunge into her arms.  It was evident to all that he belonged in her home.  Thankfully, the system worked quickly and he went home to live with her two weeks ago.

 

Last Sunday we received the devastating news that he died unexpectedly in his sleep.  There was no explanation for his death, no wrongdoing, no one was to blame, it just happened.

 

I admit, I have had a terrible week.  I can’t even imagine how awful the week has been for his grandma and mom.  But for me, I was assailed with unproductive guilt.  Did I miss something obvious?  Did I do something I didn’t realize?  Was I somehow, even in some small way to blame?  All of this, I knew, was from the Enemy, but I struggled to fight against these thoughts.  At the same time I had an overwhelming fear for my own children.  That somehow I would be blamed and my children would be taken away.  I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep.  I prayed desperately, confessing my irrational, sinful thoughts, my anxiety and turning it over to God every night.

 

His funeral was on Saturday and it was an amazing picture of God’s grace and mercy.  It was the closure that our whole family needed. Daniel, especially, has been having a difficult time dealing with his death.  The Men’s Choir from Teen Challenge, a faith-based rehab program, was there to sing and to share their hope and faith in Jesus Christ and how faith in Christ set them free from addiction and bondage and guilt.  The pastor, too, shared an amazing message of freedom and grace.  We learned that the baby’s mother, just the day before the funeral, accepted that message and put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.  We were able to speak with her and encourage her and the baby’s grandma.

 

We often pray for the moms’ of the babies we care for, but hardly ever see any results.  We very rarely are privileged to follow up with them. So, to be able to know that some good came out of this tragedy as a result of the prayers of many, was so comforting. 

 

Romans 8:28 promises “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

It’s pretty amazing to know that this baby’s mom was one of those that God has called according to His purpose and that He can use even the death of a little baby for good.   His name was glorified on Saturday.

 

In spite of all of this, I have to admit, I’m still trying to make sense of it all.  No, I don’t have to know why.  I don’t doubt that God is good.  It’s just, I’m wondering what is my part in all of this now.  We had another close call with a foster baby this summer.  A little preemie we were caring for stopped breathing, we rushed her to the hospital and by God’s grace, she was cared for by the ER staff and lived.  But, she still spent a week in the hospital and has so many challenges in front of her.  I don’t want to live according to my feelings and I want to do the will of God. But, I’m also wondering if it’s time for the drama to end.  I’m just trying to figure out, what in the world is God doing in my life here.  I don’t want to get it wrong.  I’m tired.  I’m emotional.  But, I’m also scared to disobey God.

 

Today I heard Chip Ingram remind us that God always fulfills His promises.  And he reminded us of one in James.  With an open heart, but with some fear and trembling too, I’m asking,

 

James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

I need wisdom right now and if I ask, God’s Word promises to give generously.

 

“Give me a revelation, I don’t what to do. Cuz I’ve been trying to find my way, I haven’t got a clue.  Tell me should I stay here, or do I need to move?  Give me a revelation, I got nothing without You, I got nothing without You.” – Third Day, Revelation

Ski Swap Rocks!!!!-Laura

Well all summer I have been working for a guy that lives really close by our house. I let out his dogs everyday when he is at work. I have been saving that money for a long time so I could by my ski things! So My mom and I went to the ski swap and I got a really nice deal on my race skis. i got them for $125. That is really good since they are $400 skis!! Then I need a ski suit for racing and I got a ski suit for $75. That is also a good deal since most suits are $300. I also got zip off pants. So when I am about to race I can zip off the snow pants and voila I do not even have to

take off my skis. They are super nice snow pants!! Now i am just waiting for the snow!!

My Rock’n New Bike-Daniel

I love the springs on my bike. I can do jumps easier with the springs. I also like how I can brake with the pedals and the handle brakes. My bike is blue and silver. And it goes way faster than Nate’s bike. I am so glad I turned 7 and got a new bike. I am happy that my bike has new fancy wheel. That is all for now.

Suppertime!!

At our house there has always been a strong rule that unless you are sick or have a good reason to be gone you have to be at the table for supper. So at the end of a day no matter how tired we are or how long dad had to work we always sit down as a family and enjoy time together. Well as I started to grow up I started going to peoples’ houses for sleepovers and things like that. And all of a sudden I realized that supper was more than just a time to eat, but a time to savor. When I went to one friend’s house when I was about ten years old the mom had to go get something from her sister’s house. So the dad threw a pizza in the oven and then went to the “family room” to watch some news or football game. When the pizza was ready my friend’s brothers went and ate on the floor in the family room and my friend and I sat at the table to eat with her youngest brother that was about 4 or 5 and still needed help. Well right after supper the little boys wanted to watch a movie so we went and watched a movie with them. When the movie was over I watched this friend go pick up her sleeping brother and tuck him into bed. It broke my heart to see the sister who baby sat the brothers quite often, have to tuck her brother into bed instead of her parents.  

So I just wanted to thank my parents so much for spending a lot of time with us. And I am thankful for my brothers.I love my family very much!

How to Get a Snuggle

Everyone knows boys and girls are different.  I am blessed to watch these differences up close as I am the mom of both a daughter and two sons.  As my youngest son, Daniel, begins to grow bigger I’ve noticed a change in him.  He’s no long such a Mommy’s boy.  I say this with a little sniffle.  It’s harder to stop him for a hug, a snuggle and a kiss.  I asked him for a kiss on my cheek the other day which he gladly gave me, then I asked for a kiss on my lips and he promptly responded, “Ewww, gross Mom, not on your lips!”  Daniel is usually moving about 100 miles an hour all day long. 

 

BUT!  I’ve discovered something.  If I sit down quietly on the couch with a book; one of mine or one to read to him and I act like I don’t care if I get a hug or not, something extraordinary happens!  Daniel snuggles up next to me.  He rubs his face against my shoulder and wraps his arms around me and gets closer and closer until he’s completely invading my personal space. . .And I love it!

Faith or Fear

Lately I’ve been wrestling with something I think a lot of moms wrestle with.  Through some really difficult circumstances that our family is facing I am realizing that I don’t necessarily trust God as readily as I should with my children and my childrens’ lives and futures.  Theoretically, in my head, I know that God loves my children even more than I do and that I’m supposed to hold them with an open hand, but when the rubber meets the road I find myself getting anxious to the point of not eating and not sleeping.  I’ve found through different circumstances of life that I can handle just about anything that’s thrown my way, but I have refused to think about anything happening to my children.  Lately through some stuff that’s been happening around here, I’m being forced to think about my faith, or lack of it.

I’m always amazed by the faith of Christians in other countries whose stand for Christ puts not only themselves in harms way, but their kids as well.  I’m not really afraid for myself, I’m willing to put it all on the line as far as my own life goes, but when it comes to sacrificing my kids well-being, health and safety, that’s it. Nope, sorry God, I’m gonna hang on tightly to these guys, you can’t have ‘em.  Now that I realize I have this attitude, it’s not a very encouraging thought to me.  I mean, where is the balance in taking care of your kids and letting go of them?  Where does faith replace fear? 

I know I’m nowhere near where I need to be yet.  I know in my head that God loves them more than I do, but I need to transfer that knowledge to my heart and truly, truly trust my children to His care.  Then I need to step out in obedience to whatever He asks me to do without question.

If this is how I feel about my kids, how much more the God of the Universe who created them and longs to gather them under His wings.  Sigh.  I’m still growing, still learning.

SuperMom to the Rescue!

Today my wonderful super mom went to the store even though it is super rainy and cold and wet. She is so amazing to be able to go to the store and buy us food to eat and a big pumkin that we have been begging for.
She even got us some poptarts! Now you can not tell me that is not a supermom!

Proverbs 31:15 "She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.

Then this morning she sat down and taught Daniel school. Well it was kind of hard for her to teach him today because the princple (dad) was being very distracting to Daniel. And she just told him to quit it or she would have to teach him acouple lessons. Now for a teacher to put up through I know she is a supermom.
So I am so thankful God has given me a wonderful supermom!

Building a plane and boat - by Nate

Me and my dad are building a plane and a boat. I am building the boat,and my dad is building the plane.
The plane is almost done. But the boat is not.  The plane is made out of balsa wood and my boat is made from another kind of wood, but not balsa wood!  I am making a Sharp Schooner.  It will be about a foot long, but will not float, it's just a model.  It will have sails.  Dad's plane is MUCH bigger. It's a Piper Cub J-3.  It's 3 feet and wingspan is about 5 feet long. Dad got a different plane today to practice flying so he doesn't crash his Piper Cub.  I like working on wood projects with my Dad.  I want to do it again and again and again!







                                                                                                        BY NATE.

Humbling Myself

Like last year we are being homeschooled once again. And also like last year I struggle with doing school with my brothers. I love being homeschooled but, there are just some days when I just feel like putting duct tape over there mouths. But then I think what am I doing to irritate them that is causing them to drive me insane. When I think about it that way I realize that I am not treating them in a way I would like to be treated. In doing that they just copy me.

Well then I started thinking about it a little more and thought what would happen if I treated them how I would treat one of my friends or a relative. Then maybe they would follow after my lead. And if they did follow after my lead than we would argue less and would treat each other more kindly. I know we are not perfect so even when we fight we should be able to forgive and forget.
Laura

What I'm Missing

This week-end is the big, annual show for my belly dance troupe and once again I'm not in it.  I'm sure this confuses and probably annoys my teacher, Eman.  All the girls I dance with get very excited and work very hard in the month leading up to the show. They learn and perfect the 3 or 4 dances they are in and it's a little awkward for me, since I'm one of the few girls not in the show.  The other few girls not participating are usually doing so because it's too expensive.  I've explained my stance a few times, but most just say, "Oh, it must be because she's a Pastor's wife, too bad." 

Belly dancing is a beautiful, ancient art, but also a beautiful, very seductive form of dance.  As my dad once said, "I don't think the Shulamite woman was doing the Hokey Pokey for Solomon!"  The only place I practice my "art" is in the studio with the other women I dance with. I have fun, get some exercise and that's it.  This begs the question, why?  Is it because I'm a "pastor's wife?"  Or is there something more?

Ephesians 5:3 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

Wow, not even a hint of immorality or impurity, not just for pastor's or their wives, but any of God's people.

Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

As a Christian and a married woman my allegiance belongs first to Christ and then to my husband.  My body is a temple of the living God.  I am not free to flaunt it seductively before other men.  I am commanded to dress modestly and treat other men as brothers.  I honor my marriage by being sexually pure and that doesn't mean just by being physically faithful to my husband.  That also means keeping my body only for him.  No other man is given the opportunity to look lustfully at my body dancing!  Even if I were not married, I would still be obligated by God to honor him by keeping my body pure and helping my brothers to not sin by looking lustfully at a woman.

So, I continue to enjoy my dancing behind the closed doors of my home and with the comraderie of the other girls in the dance studio.  I'm "missing" the big show, but I'm really not missing much of anything.  I've gained God's approval which is worth more to me than the approval of man, and the love and respect of my husband.

Grateful

Today was one of the most exhausting days I've had lately.  I've been in the process of redoing my bathroom.  Unfortunately all that's been in my head are lovely visions of new towels and shower curtains. And some new paint on the walls. But in the last two days I've had to get down to the nitty, gritty of scraping wallpaper off of the bathroom walls.  It's not a big bathroom, but, oh man, what a job. As I've scraped, I've discovered interesting things.  Like, another layer of wallpaper, lime green paint, sheetrock mud over the first layer of wallpaper. It's been a HUGE job.  My mother-in-love has been here this week-end and she has helped me scrape.  I don't know too many people who would be willing to do what she has done this week-end. She's inhaled the nasty fumes of wallpaper remover, which finally gave me a horrible migraine. She has killed her body and neck scraping wallpaper and glue from high on the ceiling and down low behind the toilet. Ugh.  I am immensely grateful to her for helping with with an insurmountable project.  I know it's going to look great eventually. Right now I think I'll go to bed, maybe have a good cry. :) But, the wallpaper is pretty much gone and now I have to figure out what comes next.  Thank you sooooo much Mom! You're the greatest!

What I (Daniel) am Learning

I am very glad my mom is my teacher. I am leaning to add. And I can count to 100 all be myself. Mom is teaching me how to tell left from right. I am learning all about shapes and patterns in my math. I am also learning how to write the date on my special calender. That is what I am learning about in math.

In phonics I am learning how to read. And I can read two books. I can write my name all by myself.I can write really good too. I color pictures of my stories.And I cut out lots of pictures. I like to cut out pictures from magazines. My favorite thing to do in phonics is writing.Well that is what I am learning in school.

Atmospheric Pressure Science Lesson.

Well all this week and last week I have been learning about the atmosphere around us. It is all a bit confusing at times. Well almost all the time until I study it more. But I would like to tell you about atmospheric pressure.

Last week I did an experiment with two emty pop cans. I filled the pop cans with a little bit of water. (Until the bottom of the can was coverd) Next I put the can on a little frying pan and let the water boil. Once the water was boiling I let it boil for acouple of minutes. When I let it boil for a little bit it got most of the air out. Then I had two bowls full of ice water. Using a pair of tongs I put one of the cans in upright and one of the cans in upside down. The first one just floated around and the second one popped! (It scared my mom and I) The reason the firt can floated was because,when it got put in upright it filled with air pushing against all the atmospheric pressure around the outside of it. The second can on the other hand was crumpled because, it got put in upside down in the ice water which made it did not fill with air. So the atmospheris pressure pushed on the can from the outside which made that can crumple because there was no air inside the can to push against the pressure outside the can.

That is all for now. Maybe next time I can tell you all about the atmosphere. (or maybe you would like to know about some algeabre!)

Girls and Hormones

Eph. 4:32 "And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."

Today's been one of those days, one of those, girls and hormone days. And there's two girls living here, so it's been a not-so-fun day. A day to practice patience, tender-heartedness and forgiveness. I admit I've made faces and strangling motions behind my daughter's back today. My boys have steered clear, probably of both of us! Laura's even been frustrated because the computer is just too darn slow for her today! We had to re-start the computer because she was so impatient with it, she got it all locked up.

A family gives us many opportunities to practice patience and forgiveness. We are often on our worst behavior with our families. But, I believe that we are to be our most loving selves with our families, the ones we truly love best in the world.

So, today I'm gonna choose to love the little darlin', hormones and all. After all, they're often very patient with me in my, not-so-nice times, too. And God is ALWAYS patient and slow to anger, abounding in love to me when I least deserve it.