A Review

Last week:

Celebrated Aunt Sarah’s 19th Birthday with the fam.
Big Guy, Rachael and I took the cats to the yearly vet appointment on Monday and got their shots updated in time to give the record to our caseworker on Wednesday.
Started only blogging when the kids are in bed/asleep.
Little Man started rolling from belly to back. (YAY!!!)
We focused on sleep training for Little Man and reintroduced sleeping in his bassinet after he had to sleep the past two weeks in a bouncer due to sickness drainage.
Almost broke Abi’s new bad habit of getting out of her bed when told to go to sleep. (We’re pretty well there.)
Moved Hannah out of Matt and my room (we’re no longer dueling bassinets on either side of the bed. YAY!) into “the girls’ room” where she did AWESOME in the transition and continued her middle-of-the-night feeding (around 4am) without disturbing her sisters.
Matt and I had our first date night in weeks (months?) – thanks Grandpa for staying with the masses. =D
Hannah had her follow-up Dr. appt for her double ear infection, thus ending antibiotics.
Big Guy had his physical done for preschool with shots (boo).
Hannah started solid food. (Yay peas!!!)
Big Guy toured the preschool that he started today. (YAY!!!!! He likes!!!!)
Our foster care caseworker visited and met our new kids. =)
The boys’ GAL (court attorney voice) visited and gave me much more info about the case.
We had a second outbreak of lice (BOO!!!!!!) and this time my 2 yr old got it. (SO not cool).
Began planning for and hunting for tickets for our trip to CA in April. (WOOT!!!)
Upward basketball practice for Daddy and a movie night for us.
Nit combing, nit combing, nit combing…. hair treating (non-toxic, but still annoying).
Matt went to his brother’s Bachelor’s party.
Matt’s brother William married his lovely fiance (and now bride), Koutrney, Saturday so we hauled the masses out there to attend and celebrate.
I tried to do homeschooling prep so we could start homeschooling this week (goodbye 3.5 week break!!)
I cleaned like a beast, rearranged our room a bit (since Hannah moved out), caught up on my Bible Study, got those “twins” back on a feasible post-sickness schedule, treated our cloth diapers and got “the twins” into cloth, got my laundry routine rolling.
And we OVERCAME LICE!!!!!!!!!

And I survived to tell it all.

(Deep breath) Feels good to be almost on track! =D

February 19, 2013 3

Music Monday: Step Intentionally

This is a humorous song written by Sara Groves that actually holds a really good point. This song talks all about the church running from the conflict of the world – fleeing to the moon in a moment of “I don’t want to deal with this”.

I have always enjoyed this song (even though Matt laughs at me sometimes due to it’s silliness) because it speaks to a reality of the foolishness of avoiding the world’s sin. There are many times I just wanted to run and hide – be it a frustrating conversation challenging my faith or a discouragement in watching a fellow believer take Scripture way out of context and represent a characteristic of God that in inaccurate. I’m sure I’ve caused many others to smack their own heads as well as God is continually modeling and shaping me to be more like Him and less like my sinful self.

Just as this song touches on the irony of running from the world, it’s been a helpful tool in remembering to look at the large picture of Christianity and the faithfulness of God to work amongst us broken and sinful people. What a great God that He uses us losers as tools to reach the lost!

So in those moments that I want to rein it in, pack it up and run away from conflict, frustration and “the log in another’s eye”, I am thankful that God uses people like Sara Groves to point out the silliness in that philosophy.

Afterall, how will they hear or see if no one shares Christ?

You have to get into the muck to help another out of the muck.

– Step intentionally.

February 18, 2013 2

Good Kindling

If you want a good read, ask a homeschooling Mom for her book list.

What I’ve found to be true, in most cases, is that homeschooling Moms have good book lists.

And what I’ve found to be true in all cases is that it matters what you read.

So I wanted to share a few beauties I have found amidst our public library system as well as online.

We strive to read with a purpose around these parts. Certainly we have some lovely classics like the “Anne of Green Gables” series, The Chronicles of Narnia series and The Little House on the Prairie series (though am I the only one to find those difficult to read aloud?), but we also have more mission-focused readings to add to our worldview around these parts.

I have found the enjoyment of the happy balance of reading to my girls before their nap time. Most days they fall asleep to my reading of a Missions Adventure novel, which I have mentioned before. We stumbled on a series, after stealing the recommendation from a homeschooling Mom of 10 who reads to her children for 2 hours per day from the smallest to the oldest. Janet and Geoff Benge, a husband and wife team, have taken and continue to take us on a journey through “big name” missionary’s lives with their beautiful mix of autobiography and narrative. With 35 chapter books in their Christian Heroes: Then and Now Series, we have enjoyed their 8-9 page per chapter adventure, witnessing the gospel spread in sometimes the bleakest of situations around the world. Some missionary stories come for the 1800’s and others from the 1900’s. There are varying denominations represented and varying countries supplying the missionaries. And I have found it quite a blessing that at least half of the entire series is found in our local library system.

Beyond the chapter experience, I stumbled upon “The Good Garden” by Katie Smith Milway recently. This was a lovely story with beautiful illustrations taking the readers through a 30 page journey (15 pages of text) of one family in Honduras’ movement from a poverty-stricken farm to a “food secure” farm. This story highlights the contribution of Don Elias Sanchez’s agricultural teaching and the impact on the local community. It also has a 2-page spread at the end of the book of world missions opportunities and ideas of how you can become involved in helping others become food secure. Neat book with poetic-like reading through a little girl’s, Maria Luz’s, perspective.

I also found recently these little, and I do mean little, books addressing specific sins through a kid’s view. They’re the “God I need to talk to you about…” series. They are written by Susan K. Leigh and Dan Carr and address: sharing, stealing, bad words, hurting others, bad temper, whining, greed, disrespect, bullying, laziness, paying attention, lying, bad manners, video games, vandalism, bedtime, school, homework, cheating, talking back, healthy eating, feeling sad, my parents, and being a bad sport. Each is a short read (about 2-3 minutes) in the form of a child’s explanation and admitting of the sin with the last page being a personal prayer of the child asking God to help them and admitting they were wrong. Each book takes you through a certain situation or scene depicting the problems through a kid’s eyes and even includes scripture on almost all of the pages regarding the sin. The book itself could fit in your palm, but the pictures are bright and fun enough to hold a child’s attention. I like that it addresses the sin quickly and simply while allowing for a bridge to open conversation about avoiding the temptation and asking Jesus for help. Plus they’re about $1.19 a piece on amazon. SCORE! Recommended age 4-8, but my 2 yr old enjoys these too.

We also recently purchased this book for our daughter’s 4th birthday that we stumbled upon in Family Christian bookstores. This is one of a small princess series written to target the fluff-age of fairytale with a little more backbone in the parable world. Princess Faith’s Mysterious Garden takes you through a kitten-seeking rendition of the parable of the lost sheep, with a two-page spread at the end paralleling the two stories. As you can quickly tell in the opening of the 5 daughters of the king, this series could be open to two additional books, since each sister appears to have their own story. But there are currently only 3 on the market. There’s Princess Faith, Princess Joy and Princess Charity’s stories out there thus far. But they’re cute, less-fluff, (primarily because of the attached 2 pages relating the story to the parable through the princess’ narration) storybooks satisfying the intense fairytale need in the eyes of any 3+ yr old little girl.

And then there’s my personal favorite in opening my own eyes, let alone the eyes of my sweet little ones, to the realities of “other than us” family living out there. Material World: A global Family Portrait by Peter Menszel is a wonderful project book composed of a pictorial look into the lives of families all around the world through the contents of their homes. Through this study, Peter Menzel had various families empty the contents of their home onto the nearby property to broaden our understanding of their lives. Each family has about 4 pages devoted to their lifestyle among the obvious conversation-fueling photograph of their “entire livelihood”. From the dirt-poor to the wealthy, this book is an awesome tool for broadening your understanding of “need”, “want” and culture. Plus, it’s found in our library system. While this is not really a “read to your child” type book, especially if you have preschoolers, it is jam-packed with facts and information about the countries, cultures and individual lives of these families.

I have also come across the “Little Lights” series by Catherine MacKenzie which allows us to put a few short stories about missionaries on our bookshelves. There are 8 books in this series that focus through 24 pages (each 2 page spread containing a new part of the story) on one missionary’s life in highlights starting from their childhood. The author does a nice job of keeping things pretty simple, but adding in the gospel and evangelistic drive of each missionary. I also like how there is a one-sentence summary available on each 2-page spread for your “quick flipping” crowd. And while the age recommendation is for 4+, my girls have enjoyed our growing stash of these books from age 2 and up. It’s just nice to read something with a little more historical meat in it without compromising the gospel message and the nice illustrations.

What are some of your favorites?

Well, that’s all from us for now.

– Enjoy!

January 24, 2013 2

Music Monday: When the Saints

“When the Saints” by Sara Groves:

I don’t think it could be said better.

This world is so full of sin and injustice.

The only hope is Jesus.

But how will they hear if no one tells them?

…

January 21, 2013 1

Home

It’s more than a location. It’s more than a storage unit.

I want this to be the place that he longs to return to.

The place where he can enjoy the delights of fairy tales with his little girls, dress-up play and wild hair after wrestling tickle-fights.

The place that he thinks about when he’s gone to work.

The place he desires to be the spiritual leader and can’t wait for the next mid-van ride theology lesson or late-night conversation.

I want this to be the place they long to return to.

The place where giggling, squealing and frolicking live.

The place they think about when they’re cleaning up at a friend’s house.

The place they find that “one spot” on the couch to curl up for adventure readings, and that “special place” where the nursing ticks are acceptable while they fall asleep.

The place where they desire to be the ballet dancers, concert soloists and award-winning princesses.

I want that for them.

And even more I want this to be a place of growing and walking together in the Lord, feeling out the hard trials and facing the struggles of being Light in darkness together. The place where humility finds us on our knees at the altar and passion pushes us out in boldness to the lost and dying world. The place, the hub where compassion is flooding through our missions readings, world vision sponsorship letters and prayer board. The very place where Kingdom work take higher presidency than self-fulfillment.

I want this space to be home.

Not just any home, but God’s home.

So you’ll find me here on my knees, begging the Lord of Life to be more and help me be less.

please come join me…

– love them so.

January 8, 2013 1

Surviving Materialism

My eyes have been opened to materialism and silent materialism all around me lately. And with the Christmas season, materialism seems to be amped up almost as loudly as the selfishness bug. You know what I’m talking about, it’s that “buy this for yourself for Christmas because you’re only going to get lame gifts” message that seems to be attached to every “higher priced” item on the commercials these days.

Actually, to be honest with you, I block out the commercials. We rarely watch any “live” TV these days, and no we don’t have some cool dish network stuff to record things on live TV. Quite honestly, we just don’t find the need to pay for that in our list of priorities. I have also discovered with exposure that my kids become more whiney, demanding, and selfish with television added to their daily repetior. It’s like a cancer, they only want to watch more and have major meltdowns about who gets to have control over the TV. So we skip the coma-like experience and find our joy in playing together instead.

That being said, there seems to be a greater and greater need to choose to focus on Jesus and family during the holidays over the constant materialistic message coming from all directions.

It starts out subtly, relating happiness to an object and later flourishes into happiness only being tied in objects. Fisher Price ran an add line this year that models it so clearly. Their focus is on a parent’s interaction with a child, capturing that cute moment of discovery and squealing and delight. And while I find it sweet how they have highlighted on the innocence of a child, I find it a bit distracting that the honkin’ obnoxious toy is in the way. 😉 The funniest one I saw was the toy kitchen that tells the child when it’s time to clean up. Good… now take the parent’s authority right out of the equation – one less time to have to listen to Mom’s direction.

Am I being overly critical? Maybe. But maybe it just makes me yearn for a parent’s interaction and teaching of their child not to be linked to some $40 learning toy, but instead to be fueled by their desire to just absorb the moment with their delightful child. Who cares what the kid’s doing… unabated joy can come from a pile of rocks… or sticks… or a box. Do we really need a toy to teach us how to interact with our children?

Beyond the commercials is the constant breathing of dissatisfaction with what you have. Sure this fuels the economy. Basic economics: If I can convince you that your life is terrible without my product, then you buy my product… and a shelving unit for all my other products.

This is part of the reason that we usually skip the previews before watching a movie. No need to encourage “I need that” to fall from our sinful lips. No need to hunger for more, more, more, losing track of all that we have.

We’ve been simplifying around here. I find that less toys = more creative play. I find that less options forces sharing situations. I find that a few community-oriented toys and open space fosters more giggles than “think for me” toys and “good for only one” toys. Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly a time and a place for alone, individual play. But too often I find the toys on the market pushing distance between kids and “only for me” interactions.

I guess it’s just when you start looking at the messages that are all around you it gets you thinking, “is that something I want to teach?”

Each of us in this home will always need to make a conscious effort to be thankful for what we have – otherwise we will find themselves always unsatisfied and creating an unnecessary state of inferiority. It’s a crippling spiral of selfishness.
It’s so easy to get lost in the “but we need that” mentality to the detriment of true relationship interaction.

All this to say, materialism is just one more challenge to rise above in repeating, no matter what we hold or don’t hold in our hands, that we are a blessed and grateful child of God for one reason alone: we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Is He really more than enough? Or are we storing up treasures that will be scattered to the wind?

It’s when I stop seeking more material gain that I realize You really are more than enough, Lord.

*This image is shocking, but let it remind us that many times we forget the definition of true need in our comforts of blessing.

– please help us stay focused, Lord.

December 27, 2012 2