Shadow Puppets

For the kids...

See here.

Patience

Hung above my kitchen sink as my daily prayer and reminder:

Give Me Patience

Give me patience

When little hands

tug at me with

ceaseless small demands.

Give me gentle words

and smiling eyes

and keep my lips from

hasty sharp replies

That when in years to come

my house is still,

beautiful memories

it's rooms will fill.

-Anonymous

Much Thankfulness

A few years ago, I went to a MOPS meeting and made this Thanksgiving Journal to bring home for our family library. It was such a good idea. Each year we write the things we are thankful for that happened that year. It's been great to look back and read our story of bountiful blessings. Here are some highlighted things written in the journal for this year:

1. Judah James has been added to our family

2. We have been a part of a new church plant for several months now. We love the families involved. Through the many bumps and turns we've had already, we look forward to what God will do this coming year.

3. For our family and friends who are even more dear to us.

4. For our favorite fruit of the season: pomegranates!

Not of this World

I still am thinking about this...

I've been wrestling with materalism lately.

Do I live in a way that others see that my hope is not in this world or the things in it, but in the world to come?

It is sooo easy to be a lover of money. Especially here in American and even this time of year.

Where is my hope? Do I continually fail to remember that all that I possess isn't mine anyway? That I am only managing it for the Creator Himself?

I don't know exactly how that looks or what exactly I should do. But, it sure makes me think twice what my Christmas list should look like...

Morning Funnies

A typical Tuesday morning...

Helping themselves get their breakfast. Feet jammies are my favorite...so cute. You can see this is the third time these jammies have been worn...I don't think they'll make it to Judah...

This is the boy's morning ritual. They line up the cereal boxes to read while they eat.

Don't forget the cleanup...

Oops! Occasionally, there are some hold-ups (o.k., almost daily).

No problem...we clean it up, tighten the lid on better and try again. Now it's brush your teeth, get dressed, make your bed and get ready for school...

Visit with Nana

We visited Nana today- the kid's great grandma. She has Alzheimer's and does not know that I'm related to her in anyway, but she thinks I'm a friend~ so I'm honored. She held the baby the entire time and was as happy as a lark.

As with all with this condition, questions are repeated over and over so you try to graciously respond as if it's the first time asked, each time. However, even so, her repeated questions meant they were important to her and in them I could learn from her. Her questions of the day were:

How is your church going ?

How many children do you have now?

and Do you go out with your husband for dates enough?

Titus 2:3-5.

Older women ... are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Oh Help

The kids and I have been trying to zero in on some bad habits and replace them with good ones. One of my lifelong struggles is orderliness.

So we're ALL learning what orderliness means:

Keeping things in their place instead of letting things get all messed up

Then there always is self control to work on:
Stopping myself before I do wrong, Instead of letting myself go.

Then if they work more on taking the initiative:
Doing what I can to help instead of leaving the help to others

Along with meekness:
Letting others be special too, instead of thinking I'm the most special of all.


Then home would be a much better place.



I can never get victory over any sin,
except a forgiven sin.
If I say, 'I've got to get over this sin,
so I can be forgiven',
I don't know the gospel.

~John Piper from this sermon

Crisp, Fall Days

Dear Husband has been home for the last couple of days trying to catch up on yard work before the winter settles in. Since the storm, he's cut down 11 trees so the yard is looking somewhat different.

Micah has been getting up early to finish school work so he can be outside with his daddy and Josh is just thrilled to have daddy to follow around everywhere he goes.

The days are gorgeous. Heavenly. I had to smile to find this when I was walking down the hill to check how things were going at the burn pit.

Daddy was preparing for Bible Study. So, of course, the boys had their Bibles in their laps too.

Words cannot express how grateful I am for this man.

American President

We've been reading this week about our first American President, George Washington:

... But the delegates who had signed the Constitution begged George Washington to become the first President. Many Americans were nervous about this new office. They were afraid that the President would soon become a king...

But the fears didn't come true. George Washington didn't try to become king. Congress suggested that he be called "His Exalted High Mightiness" or perhaps "His Highness the President," but Washington simply went by "Mr. President." He only wanted to be president for four years, because the job was so hard. His hands developed rheumatism. His hair turned white. He wanted to go back to his farm. At the end of his four-year term, the people of America re-elected him- even though he didn't run.

Washington agreed to serve one more four-year period, or term. But then he refused to be President again. He knew that America didn't need a President holding power for life! He wanted the Constitution to be the ruler of the land, not the President. Washington walked away from the power of the presidency- something no European king would ever do. When he heard the news, George III of England marveled, "[He is] the greatest character of the age!"

Excerpt from The Story of the World Volume 3, by Susan Wise Bauer

Redeem the Time

I've been pressed lately with the thought of getting busy. Life is passing by too quickly. It was mentioned yesterday how my Sophie is 8 1/2.... the 1/2 part made me stop. She's getting so big and before I know it she'll be 16 1/2. I'm thankful for my little girl and I hope that I will redeem this time and raise her up to be a beautiful, godly woman.