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The
Welcome Home
blog
...my
autoblography and other stuff |
Views and slices of life;
and thoughts of a happy
keeper at home
between sips of coffee
in June 2005 |
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We've reached the half year
point...
How does it feel to know that
for all those things
you planned on December 31, 2004 for the 2005 year...
you now only have a half a year
left to do them.
If you haven't gotten started
yet: Welcome to 2005.5!
It'll be gone in a blink, so
today's the first day of the
rest of your...
Life.
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June 30, 2005 We had a busy day
yesterday... doctor appointments and tests
and returned home safely to find that the
cherry order had arrived
and many boxes of Bing and Rainier cherries
were waiting for us on the porch. Many
families had been here to pick up their
cases and some remained to be picked up.
So, yes... today, life is a bowl of
cherries! And tomorrow will be... and the
next day... So, it looks like the
work's cut out for the next several days...
and the raspberries are coming on nicely,
and so it's time to begin making raspberry
preserves and freezer jam! Every year
we seem to run out of raspberry jam well
before the season arrives again! I
think the favourite snack in the world for
our boys is fresh potato rolls with
raspberry freezer jam eaten while standing
at the sink! (I finally got some pics
downloaded to my computer so now have
pics---Joey's and my mom's birthday
party!-------scroll)
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Last night was the dinner &
Bible study night we have each
week here in our home. Our
daughter in law was going to
join us and so we knew that 'melia
would have her nephews and niece
here and then our son ended up
being able to join us as well...
so what seemed like was going to
be a small gathering ended up
being a pretty full living room
for the evening. It
was nice to have more family
join us for Bible study since we
don't get that opportunity very
much any more.
Amelia was so pleased with the
cards she'd received in the
mail, carried them around all
afternoon and was also thrilled
with her new dress books.
Being a "chocolate addict," she
loved her cake & ice cream and
the little cream puffs with
chocolate sauce! Our
grandson called out, "Look,
paintballs with cream inside!"
We all sang to her and I think
the girls in our Bible study
thought our rendition of "Happy
Birthday" (we sure missed
Timothy's bass voice!) was very
funny and it was a fun evening
for everyone. To keep the
celebration going, I
think for tonight I'll make
cupcakes for the little children
in our weekly fellowship /Bible
study. |
A breakfast date with
Daddy... no, she didn't
eat all the breakfast---
but loved the bacon! |
vanilla cake
and chocolate
fudge frosting!
|
a beautiful
new dress
from Tara...
|
and a box of books
from daddy
and mama
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Concerning the "good old days,"
Kathryn just now came to me
and asked me to look up a verse,
[Ecclesiastes 7.10]:
"Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than
these?
for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning
this."
une
29, 2005 I poured over pictures
late last night... hundreds and hundreds of
images of the last four years---and I
marvel, knowing that in many of those days,
the pictures don't adequately reflect the
reality of the day; and then I considered
that my perceptions of those experiences
were often as limited as one frame of film
could capture. Sometimes, all I could
see was the small square right in front of
me---totally missing the enormous scope all
around me and behind that frame.
As I brushed through to the ends of her
hair, I thought: four years' growth.
All the while, I was seeing images of days
gone by. All dressed up in the
polka-dotty dress and bloomers, little pink
shoes and jacket... skipping out the door to
go on the
birthday-breakfast-date-with-daddy.
It's... tradition(!) for each child to go on
a birthday-breakfast-date-with-daddy.
So they drove off (after pictures, of
course).
Today we celebrate our
'baby' Amelia's fourth birthday... I
don't think I
had any idea that day, four years ago,
that she'd likely be our last baby. I
suppose along the way, I've known, Wes has
known, and the family has known that she's
quite unique---being the "last baby" and all.
So this
little child's the only one to have
stayed in our bed as long as she did, she's
the only one to have had thousands of
pictures snapped (okay, so they're digital
pics), and she's the only one that's gotten
the abundance of attention since the first
few babies. I didn't keep the first
babies as babies any longer than
their abilities indicated or independence
demanded. The first few babies held
positions much like the last baby---lofty
positions and huge amounts of love and
attention, praise and admiration. But
I think, even they, did not garner the benefit of
the unique arrangement of her life. I
loved them---adored them, but I think I didn't value
things I highly value now. I
couldn't---I had little experience, no frame
of reference and didn't understand the
consequence or finality of decisions and
days and actions. I thought I
understood when people would say *these* are
the good old days. Now I know...
*these* *are* the good old days and those
were the good old days. Every day is a
gift...
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I imagine, in a way, I thought there'd
always be babies. Early on, we had two
sons and then a seeming long gap as the LORD
was taking us through a valley in order to
get our attention and purify our hearts
toward Him. Then, mercifully, our
daughter was born and then through a ten
year period, the LORD blessed us with seven
more children, and then a few years later,
little 'melia came along. So, in these
later years, as the gaps have grown, I guess
I see the Hand of the LORD and His plans and
His provision. He has been utterly
gracious, merciful and generous toward us.
My eyes are filled with tears of
thanksgiving and awe as I consider the
tender mercy of the LORD and His dealings.
From the day of her birth, in particular, I've surely seen the gracious Hand of the
LORD and am grateful for the marvelous gift
of Amelia; four today. |
Several
things written on the calendar for this
day---just checked mail and wanted to finish
this blog entry. A friend's email was
really timely to read before I leave for
some appointments. I know, I am
abundantly blessed when I read mail such as
that and then when I mull over the scripture
verse she sent, I am encouraged more and
more.
For which cause we faint not; but
though our outward man perish, yet
the inward man is renewed day
by day. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. While we
look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are
not seen: for the things which are
seen are temporal; but the
things which are not seen are
eternal.
(II Corinthians 4:16-18)
June
28, 2005 We've been working about; the
dailies seem to consume a great deal of time
no matter how many great systems we set up
or how many time saving appliances we buy.
Sometimes I think that all the marvelous,
time saving appliances are doubling the work
load! Even still... before I go to bed
at night I tell my girls in the kitchen:
thank you... now go to work, I am going to
bed! And they do... my girl, the
washer; my girl, the dishwasher; my
girl, the dryer. Now, I can't get some
workers to do what they're employed to do.
Take the cats, for example. In the
middle of the night I heard this creepy
munching sound. Immediately, so as to
share the experience, I woke Wes and calmly
told him a
mouse (!) was eating things in the bathroom.
So, we got up and as he went to check the
cabinet, I ran back and jumped in bed so I
wouldn't get in his way. As I woke to
the scratching sound in the morning, I
realized that the mouse had to be under the
floor or whatever and we were not going to
actually be able to catch it----we, I always
mean Wes.
Well... the mouse was never found and the
cats brought no treasures to the porch, so I
now think those cats are more useless than
ever. I contemplate nature and the
food chain and wonder who the next
participants will be... especially knowing
that there are lots of animals out there at
night. That's my mantra to them... eat
or be eaten by passersby and don't let mice
chomp around under this old house!
We have a bunch of sets of
these cats... and I'm thinking they'd be
very nice for someone else's home.
For some reason, I keep having problems with
this page... some strange corruption and
can't figure it out. Sometimes, I
think it's the enemy trying to toss me off
track or thwart efforts to post something
about the persecution ---which I am planning
to do today. I find that the more I
see and read about the atrocities around the
world, the more I wonder if all who are
signing on to the "One Campaign" or the
"Make poverty history" campaign ever read
about the sickening conduct and acts of
violence around the world. It may be
said to be occurring in the United States as
well---but only on a much more tame,
seemingly civilized level. Here,
organizations are ousted or people are fired
for Christian beliefs---but in other parts
of the world, torture and death is common.
I wouldn't know much about this were I to
rely solely upon American media for news and
information, but fortunately, or
unfortunately (as my self-centered sorry
soul takes cover), mission organizations,
and VOM, the
persecuted church, tell the stories that
need to be heard and make known the harsh
realities of evil tyrants and dictatorial
governments and their practices. I
guess this is why, more and more, I find the
work of those who seek to free those who are
oppressed by their government to be an
arduous and perhaps impossible
task---especially when the government
supporting the effort is dismantling its own
platform brick by brick. Our country
will very soon end up in the same place...
unless the LORD intervenes. But, when
a nation turns its back on God, the
consequences are dire, and our nation surely
steps day by day further from the Truth.
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God." Hebrews 10.31
It's
commendable for the
President to beseech the nation's patience,
especially given the number of successes and
the great price of freedom in Iraq, but it's
increasingly difficult to unwaveringly
support the campaign against terror. I
keep wondering what the real solution is or
what "the end" of this war will be or
how will it be measured. Is there a
point where US forces leave or when enough
is enough? And considering the
atrocities in other nations, how long will
Iraq remain top priority? I can't see
it. But---this is from an outsider--a
bystander who daily reads mixed views and
journals of current events.
I shall
not be surprised at anything after this past
week's decisions by the US Supreme Court.
I'm baffled by the double-speak of the Ten
Commandments decision(s). And then the
decision regarding private property(!) in
the States... wow. We already see that
money talks when it comes to development of
land, but now, the taking of land for
money's sake gives property ownership a
whole new definition. I guess it's
only a matter of time before a total revolt
occurs in this nation. Taxpayers will
only take so much or be taken for so much,
rather, before they snap. I
don't know how serious
this piece is, but regardless, it won't
be long before more people build buildings
like this just to make a point... and all it
takes is money. Lots of money.
And
finally....
Every now and then, a story comes out and I
find myself wondering: how would I handle
that?!? I want to tell my children
about it and then another part of me wants
to keep it quiet so they aren't alarmed *or
instructed* about something they never knew
about. I think fear paralyzes us
parents lots of times---especially if we've
had a prodigal or a child who's caused great
grief. So, needless to say, I talked
to the children and decided to tell them the
whole deal so that they'd be aware of the
consequences of trying something that they
might be told is totally cool and totally
harmless. Now, at this point in our
life, our children aren't in any "youth
groups" and don't hang out with people who
stupidly attempt to lead them astray.
We talk and talk and talk and talk. We
hang out together and we work together.
We plan together and then we talk some more.
But I'm not naive and I don't live in a
fantasy world with a belief that bad things
can't/won't happen. They've happened
before. I pray they don't happen
again. They happened before *in
church* and so I am not deluded that
isolation or insulation prevents sin.
Anyway... so instead of canned whipped
cream, model glue, aerosol pan spray, or
some other parent's prescription drugs, now
teens might be getting into canned air---and
calling it "dusting." I
wonder... are we guilty of showing them
things when we do things like inhale the
helium from helium balloons or squirt
whipped cream into their mouths.
Dust-Off, used to save dear computers just
might be the source for death in dear lives.
And just like the argument that virtualsex
is not real, or that there are degrees of
sin or whatever. Doing a little more
reading about "dusting," I discovered that apparently, teens who know that
"huffing" is dangerous are saying that
"dusting is not huffing."
As I read, I immediately grieved for the
parents of teens who get trapped this way.
I immediately thought of our sons and how I
would handle such a tragedy and then I went
to talk to them...
June
27, 2005 Last night, before and after
I wrote the following a couple of
paragraphs, I was so troubled by the
wellspring of activity and emotion being
poured into the perceived plight of Africa.
I wrote the following, knowing that the
world is being deceived---but also knowing
that there are *many* who know the truth and
the true condition in and of Africa.
So then, when I came to read mails this
morning, I was comforted by a sister in
Christ---who sees what's going and has
firsthand knowledge... (I will post
her note at the end of what I wrote last
night.
As I continue to mull over
(and over and over!) the implications of
financial and nutrition intervention in
Africa... I don't have to look far to see
why such intervention will not work or will
not result in relief. It takes very
little examination of current events to see
the evils and atrocities being committed
in various countries. Just consider
Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe.
A long history of atrocities at his hand.
"It is estimated that in less than one
month, Mugabe has destroyed 25 percent of
the Zimbabwe economy. " This, from
Worldnet Daily.
It is thought that the G8
leaders have it in their (so called) power
to "alter
history" and to end poverty. I
wonder about this over and over.
Christian leaders are involved.. grassroots
campaigns are springing up all over.
So the debts are cancelled... so the aid is
doubled. What of the tyrannical
leaders? What of the political
corruption? Will one percent more aid
to these poor nations cause the corrupt
leaders to cease their evil regimes?
Unless these nations turn to the LORD, they
will in no wise change----perhaps they will
receive *some* benefit--- but the
proposition for eradicating poverty will not
have lasting results if the powers that be
remain as they are today. The "One
Campaign" makes incorrect assumptions...
or infuses false hopes. And this, from
someone who ardently supports world missions
and economic and nutritional relief---in the
name of Jesus and for His glory. Media
has tremendous power... power to sway, power
to shape. Repeated often enough and
with proper proportions of emotion and
"fact," the media's resulting impact is
staggering. Consider
the stated reasons for poverty and the
solutions offered. Those who seek to
help are missing what the African people
need the most... and they can't give
anything of value until they have it
themselves... they need Jesus. The
African people need Jesus.
Dear
Pamela
I share your thoughts on the Campaign to make Poverty History. I lived in
South Africa from 1973 to 1986. My
husband is South African, born in
Durban, Kwa Zulu Natal. In those early
years, many people, black and white,
feared God. In every single town, no
matter how big or small, there was at
least one church ~ usually more. Over
the years, we've watched Africa's people
turn from God. A country rich in natural
resources. So much so, that when the
"world" instigated sanctions against
South Africa, they feared not; they were
self sufficient! Independent! In this
very independence, they became
independent of their Creator. We believe
that this fact has now taken it's
toll..... Many country's are following
likewise. It's just time..... We don't
believe that the world's help will reach
the needy people directly (Robert Mugabe,
PM of Zimbabwe is testament to the fact
that real, practical help never reaches
the people. Farmers of Zimbabwe ~ some
who have owned land for generations and
are now homeless are proof of greedy
dictators, who care not for their own
people. Africans have been driven from
their homes, told that their shanty
towns in Zimbabwe look too unsightly for
"image-sake"). I still have two brothers
in major cities in Africa. Recently, one
had his family held up at gunpoint. The
other brother trains people in the "art"
of handling a gun for their own
protection. Africa doesn't need glamour.
Africa needs Jesus. Blessings! Helen
June
26, 2005 In less than a week the
world will experience a media extravaganza
of epic proportions... the heroic effort to
make public the plight of Africa---to
educate, influence and persuade world
leaders to do what it takes to end poverty.
Impoverished people in a country very rich
in natural resources.
Every time I hear of the One
Campaign, Or make poverty history I have this nagging thought
and I can't articulate it... but it's a
thought of anguish---anguish for the lost
and anguish for the guides. All the
efforts sound sincere... so
marvelous... so great, so charitable, so
right. But... I don't know.
It's a magnanimous effort, a marvelous
gesture, really---but it's not the right
one, I believe. Ending
poverty---for how long? When the
lights go out and the next big break comes
for any of the musicians or 'stars' or
'religious leaders' or political leaders...
will they remember? Is the poverty a
result of disaster and will this enormous
bandaid allow for the healing and
restoration of the country's poorest?
No... it will only look good, feel good for
the dynamic force gathered, the impressive
line-up of mega stars and mega-church
leaders and will catapult the world into a
frenzy of judgment against who they will be
led to believe are the mean, prosperous
countries who have been stingy with all
their excess and have the power and money to
end the problem that's causing the
depravation, hunger and oppression of the
poor. Forgiving the debt is
quite a high moral proposition. Ending
world hunger, a magnificent endeavor.
But will those two efforts actually help the
very people suffering the most?
Is God using this whole drama to bring
attention to the deeper needs of the world?
Is God allowing this massive problem and the
enormous exposure it is receiving for His
glory? Will He be glorified in all of
this? Will people begin to once again
call on the Name of the LORD?
I'm
grateful to all the missions organizations
and missionaries
around the world who are and have been
making a real difference for
decades---saving a life at a time. Bringing
life giving bread and living water...
setting people free from the bond of sin and
death. While an enormous outpouring
has and will generate huge sympathy and a
deluge of financial support,
there is more to "world hunger" than
lack of food
and money---those are symptoms of a horrific
problem of sin and corruption. The
pitiful dear souls who need help the most
will likely not get it---or the genuine help
they need will be temporary. Not really...
I think just like the so called war on
terror, the enemy is not understood.
The corruption and disease of government
powers has been shrouded or
undetermined----the power of the enemy has
been misjudged and the consequence of sin
and ignoring God has been underestimated.
The world hated Jesus...
and yet,
He is the only One who can save it.
An
amazing line up for the campaign to make
poverty history. I'm sure I would be
emotionally involved and stirred to a
different action were I to be steeped in the
Live 8 concert or the
One Campaign or the
Make Poverty History.... I pray God will
hear the prayers of His people, I pray for
repentance and obedience to the LORD... only
then will there be genuine peace.
June
25, 2005 Today's Naomi's half birthday.
So, Halfy Birthday to you, Halfy birthday to
you, Halfy Birthday, dear Naomi, Halfy
Birthday to Youuuu. Six months from today
will be Christmas. Naomi was thinking about
the things she’d like to have for lunch
tomorrow… said she was “considering teriyaki
chicken and rice and that salad with the
cheese and croutons… not the spinach type,
but the other type of salad. That, or ---I
know it’s too expensive, but… steak. I’d
really like steak...” So… well, we’re not
having steak.
Had an
IM chat with Timothy this morning. ‘Said he
was doing fine. It was a blessing to be
able to chat with him---I’m grateful for
tech. that allows this---but I am realizing
deep down that this may not always be the
case as there will likely be places where
such contact might not be possible. Where
he currently is in Mexico, the communication
is good, however, nearby it might not be
so.
Timothy
was happy to receive email from a friend of
our family who is overseas. We
so admire him and so I know, for Timothy to
hear from him, it was a great boost---I
marvel at the great blessing of
communication---the great privilege it is to
be able to instantly communicate with people
regardless of location in the world. It’s a
marvelous time to be living---not so much
for some of the extremely negative
consequences of technology, but for the
benefits of such.
All the
planes taking off and landing here at the
little airport alert me to the fact that
it’s a lovely day and not much flying gets
done in the hangar, so I need to get bizzy
buzzing around here before I miss what could
be done!
June
24, 2005 Some of my most favourite books
are old classics and many out of print
books. We were blessed to receive many
hundreds of books from Wes's parents---as a
pastor and missionary, his dad's library was
extensive. My mother-in-law, also, has
supplied me with numerous valuable books and
study tools over the years. One of the
great blessings of the "electronic age" is
the availability of great classic that can
be downloaded to individual computers.
'Course, there is *nothing* like holding an
old book in your hands... or the musty smell
of hundred year old books... but when you're
looking for great encouragement and Bible
applications,
Esword
offers tremendous volumes of works by great
men of the faith. All you need is...
space! :-)
There
have been two fires nearby our home in this
past week----until the smoke cleared, we
couldn't tell the extent of the damage of
the fire across from us. As it turned out,
it was the shop, and not the home, that
burned. Then a couple of nights ago, we
again heard the sirens whirring through town
and looked west and saw there was another
fire. This time, the flames were
significantly greater and higher. So, Wes
asked who wanted to go see --- you don't
have to ask me twice if I want to go check
out a fire --- so Wes, Kathryn and I hopped
into the van and took off toward the fire.
We thought it was much closer than it turned
out to be. As we drove across the flats
(the farmland here in the valley), we could
see that it was one of the old houses on
Lowell-Larimer Road. We knew (as we always
know) that we weren't going to be able to
see much, but that's part of the great
thrill only people who jump at the chance to
chase fires know. I don't even know why I
always want to go check out the fires---I
always cry when I see the devastation and I
always have that foreboding sense that the
next fire could be our own. Nonetheless,
when I hear sirens, my first impulse is to
grab my keys and head for the van. Our
children know that I will do this... and
I'm always profoundly aware that I need to
find a roundabout way or an out of the way
place to view the fire so as to stay
completely clear of the routes used by Fire
or Police or EMT's dealing with the fire.
In this town, there are some interesting
buildings of historical value and I suppose
that that's part of the apprehension I feel
when trying to pinpoint the location before
leaving home. I never chase sirens,
though... only fires. I guess what sirens
indicate hits too close to home and I never
want to see the end of that line... I know
too much about what might be there, I
suppose.
I sort of
watch for "Christian headlines" and who's
making the news. I think it's going to be
interesting to watch in the days ahead
what's going to happen to "Christian
Leaders" and their activities in light of
what other Christian leavers are doing.
When mega "churches" do something that
"works" then the trend is followed by others
who want to have a piece of the mega-pie.
When one writes a mega-book then other mega
books come along to unseat the first. So it
will be with trends... not much is falling
out now, but pretty soon the feed the world
mantra will dominate and the fight for
literacy will will the space that personal
purpose once filled. All the while, many in
the world will be searching for someone to
look up to... someone to thank and many,
someone to blame. A few names come to
mind... we'll see how it pans.
I was
perusing the news.... More apologies are
being demanded from senators who couldn't
bring themselves to apologize for their own
similar actions and sends up red flags for
what smokescreens must surely be present.
Then, there's the unending defense of
Michael Jackson and relentless commentary
regarding treatment of prisoners at
Guantanamo. As days go by, it seems that
more and more, we're being inundated with
such a glut of "media waste." For
example, (and I now can't believe that I
took the time to read it) a line caught my
eye and I read a transcript of the dialogue
between
Matt Lauer and Tom Cruise---what
amazed me was the amount of time spent
saying nothing. I guess we all do that,
though... spend a lot of time telling people
we're passionate about something and yet
tell them little or nothing specific about
that thing we're so passionate about. Sad
truth is, lots of times when we do share
what we're passionate about, many couldn't
care less about what we think or say because
they're more concerned about defending their
own passion. So, in the end, we find
ourselves rather alone in a state I've often
quoted: "I have no mouth, and yet I must
scream."
June
23, 2005 So that happened... For over a
month, the calendar seems to have been
filled with doctor's appointments for
various members of our family. Today Hannah
and I went to the eye doc. When asked
about the last eye exam, I replied that I
couldn't really remember but that it was not
too long ago... maybe 10 years or so.
Okay... so maybe it was 15. A little more
time has passed than I thought. Well...
so, both Hannah and I both went through the
routine... better? how about now? One... and
two, and one and two. I was sitting
there... thinking no, wait: I think one was
better----or was it two? So she consoled me
by saying that at my age (!) this is to be
expected and then the decline in vision
would level off... My decline will level
off at some point, for certain. I hope I
live long enough to see it. So we need to
get glasses... Hannah and I attempted to
make a selection while at the optometrist,
but I couldn't really see the frames all
that well and then when told the price of
the
progressive lenses,
I thought: Omy, I'd better go home, make a
mocha and think it over. The eye doctor
said one of the neat (!) features of
progressive lenses is that the
tell-tale-age-related bifocal line in the
glasses is hidden(!). Well, suchadeal. I
sort of nodded---my eyes already glazed
over. And then I considered my
tell-tale-age-related hair colour just might
be a dead give away that I'm not going to be
celebrating number 29 on my next birthday,
either. I had yet another temptation to go
out and make friends with Miss Clairol.
Hannah
was gracious to walk with me out to the van
while I was wearing the attractive cardboard
and dark plastic sunglasses and very lightly
blurred vision from having my eyes
dilated---I really could see pretty well to
drive but this sunny day was extremely
bright! Returning home, I couldn't wait to
run upstairs to Wes's office to show him my
new glasses... he was working intently on
his computer and turned around to see me in
my cool new shades.... he smiles and says,
nice; very nice. He took my picture. My
normally brown eyes are a deep black today.
Wes said he'd take us tomorrow to make our
choices... you know, for those youthful
progressive lenses.
I've been tagged... book-tagged, that is!
So... here goes:
Tagged by
Carla
Joys in the Journey-
http://www.joysinthejourney.blogspot.com
Homespun Homemaking-
http://www.praiseherinthegates.blogspot.com
1)What
is the amount of the most books you've
ever owned?
Well... I'm not so sure but I guess
hundreds of the thousand+ books we have
are mine... then we have hundreds for
schooling and several dozen for
cooking. We have bookshelves all over
our home. You just can't have too many
books or Gaither Homecoming Videos ;-)
---O, sorry---that was for Wes
2) What was the last book you
purchased? Created
to Be His Help Meet - Debi Pearl
3) What was the last book you read?
Just finished ...Help Meet; ~reading~
The Mommy Manual - Barbara Curtis
4) What are the five books that meant
the most to you?
Well, above all, of course The Bible is
the most meaningful and most important
book I own, have ever read or will ever
read. While I have *many* favourites
and *many* books that have carried me
through different seasons of my life,
the ones that have shaped or clarified
my thinking the most are:
Besides The Bible
(in no specific order):
1. In His Steps - Sheldon
2. Don't Waste Your Life - Piper
3. The Pilgrim's Progress - Bunyan
4. The
Christian's Secret of a Happy Life -
Hannah Whitall Smith
5. Streams in the Desert - Cowman
In addition to Fun with Dick and Jane
and Our New Friends, my first
readers, many other books have been
incredibly meaningful to me as a
believer, a wife, a mother and
homemaker: The Betty Crocker Cookbook -
1950; Intimate Issues - Linda Dillow;
The Hope Chest - A
Legacy of Love
by Rebecca Wilson; The Way... and All
The Way Home - Mary Pride; Many Sermons
and Bible Commentaries (John Baillie,
Matthew Henry, JFB, Spurgeon, Calvin,
Clarke); many other books and Bible
studies (John Piper, John Eldredge,
Barbara Curtis, Emilie Barnes, Norm
Wright, John Rice, Kay Arthur, Cynthia
Heald, Martha Peace, Anne Ortlund,
Stormie Omartian, and others have
influenced my life tremendously). Then,
perhaps the most influential in all my
life are the letters and articles I have
received or read on the net... these
have done as much or more to sharpen, or
to define and shape my thinking than any
listed above ---aside from the Bible.
5) What is the current book that you
are reading together as a family?
We
daily read through the Bible as a family
and are now in 2Chron 17---sad to see
progression of sin in David's line.
Wes reads to our family: We just
finished 10 P's in a Pod by
Arnold Pent and are currently reading:
Always Enough by Rolland and
Heidi Baker
(can't endorse the theology)
Thank you, Carla... hope that didn't
bore you!
June
22, 2005 I think I know where I'd like to
be this morning. I'd like to be curled up
in the chair beside Barbara's desk... taking
in her tremendous view or looking on as she
types away and maybe taking up
that (June 22 '05) conversation with Sophia.
I guess I'd take up that conversation with
anyone willing to have it---and I suppose
most people who read this blog would be
echoing the refrain that children are a gift
of the LORD... and the people who reject
that probably won't be reading this either.
We have
the conversation many times in our home.
Not so much about gender selection, or even
abortion but about determining family size
or setting limits on God. It seems to come
up each time the next child comes to an age
of reasoning and understanding that *they*
were born into the family *after* many were
already here---and that had we not allowed
God His authority and sovereignty over the
womb---and that does not mean we set out to
have "as many "kids" as we could have,"
either, because in our minds, that would
also be attempting birth control.
Invariably, over the years, our children
have also commented that they're glad we had
them, etc., etc. O, I've been
jumbled humbled many times over the
years as I have considered what life would
be like had given into fear, or had we
listened to the critics or had we believed
the media and the anti-family rhetoric and
the diatribes of those who live only for
themselves and can't or, rather, won't trust
the LORD for His ways. This probably sounds
gruff---base, maybe, about such a delicate
topic---but is God's sovereignty such a
delicate topic? Is His Lordship over the
womb a sensitive topic? Or is is maybe a
topic that strikes a nerve and that's what's
sensitive about it. Whatever the case, the
Bible's clear on what God thinks of children
and regarding His opening or closing of the
womb.
When Kathryn was born (we had two sons
already) ---people, well-meaning people, I
suppose, would say: O, now you have your
girl---now you can be all done. I can
hardly breathe when I think of what we would
have done---who we would have missed---what
lives would've been cut off had we not
yielded to the LORD and had we given into
fear or the overconfidence of the flesh.
Had we listened, we would have missed
Timothy... and the next one, and the next
one, and the next one, and the next one, and
the next one, and the next one, and the last
one... and more than that, we would've
missed the Way and Will of the LORD. Do you
ever think about the things or ways you've
chosen and considered or asked how the LORD
would have used you had your whole life been
yielded to Him? I think about this and it
is sobering, to say the least. Where would
He have taken me had I totally yielded my
life to Him from the start? I stagger.
I know
He's exaggerated our family size for His
purposes---I often do not know why He's done
what He's done---and I surely do not see
how. But I trust Him to keep writing the
story and lighting the way. And this I
know: God *is* truly and utterly faithful
and all His ways are good. We do not have
these children through any merit of our own
or through any unique plan---it's all
because of His mercy and His doing. All
that He has done compels me to love Him more
and more and to serve Him more and more.
There is no place I could be where His love
could not keep me and nothing could happen
to me that His grace would be insufficient
to cover. I think of the news piece about
a little child just born with three legs
and the hardships that child and that family
will necessarily endure---was that a
mistake? Did God shift His gaze? Of course
not and surely not---I pray that the mother
will see the Righteous Right Hand of the
LORD in her life and trust Him for His work
and walk with Him through the valley. What
blessings does the LORD have in store for
that family? Countless times we've seen the
LORD work in marvelous ways on our
behalf---you've seen this too in your life
if you've walked with Him awhile. "There is
no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel
against the LORD." Proverbs 21.30
On a
totally different note --- or line, as the
case may be, here at our house movie lines
make up 50% of some conversations. There
was a time, many years ago, that Wes had to
practically "ban" movie lines from
dinnertime conversations---'bout drove him
crazy, poor guy! Anyway, considerable
restraint was exercised after that... at
least at the dinner table. Over time, I've
come to see that movie lines served a very
useful purpose and if I was going to
*dialogue* with the children, I was going to
have to come up to speed *or* bring *them*
up to speed regarding what they were saying
or what I was saying to them. Different
one-liners sort of form a cohesion around
here and sometimes, the levity is needful.
I know... this has nothing or little to do
with anything---but everything has something
to do with something, I suppose, and so, in
our home movie lines are bandied around or
set up and lobbed back and forth like a
volleyball game. Each child having a
particular line or series of lines from a
particular movie and each delivers the lines
with practiced perfection. Where'd I come
up with this line of thinking today?? O, it
was in the news:
Top 100 Quotes From US Films.
Sometimes our children will read a quote
in the paper and wonder what movie or book
it came from---sort
of an innate sense that the line wasn't an
original---not with them, anyway. When it's
time to get busy or have the boys do
something... "Carpe diem. Seize the day,
boys. Make your lives extraordinary!"
Some lines that stick with us are used to
finish sentences when we don't know what
else to say... or to signal understanding:
"I got da chipper paht" ("I got the cheaper
part"- a line from father of the bride) or
sometimes: a nod and "grasshopper." Or, if
we want someone to stop immediately: "Don't
eat it miss Stacy!" (Anne of green gables).
When asked where the treats are: "I'd tell
you but then I'd have to..." Many lines
come from movies never personally viewed...
they're often from our older boys who
probably misquoted or restyled the quote to
fit the situation and that's the quote that
stuck. Whatever the case...
June
21, 2005 The first day of summer and it's
...........
stormy
and earlier, all over the Puget Sound, we
saw flashes of lightening and heard the
rumble of thunder. The rain and stormy
weather sort of matched the mood as we drove
away from Sea-Tac airport where we left
Timothy at the C gates entrance.
Because
of the long lines, we were glad to have
arrived early at the airport so that there'd
be plenty of time to get Timothy checked
through in time head over to his gate. I
was so glad he didn't have any troubles with
ID, passport or tickets. And so his bag was
easily checked through. Our family was sort
of huddled together as we watched him wind
his way through the corded lines heading to
the baggage scan and metal detectors. We
were watching with tear welling up in our
eyes---still trying to smile and look
encouraged for him as he moved through the
line.
We
noticed a woman in line several rows behind
him had slipped out of line and we realized
that she was heading over to talk to us.
Smiling, she inquired if we were part of the
church....... and we smiled and said
yes---we are believers in Jesus and we
follow Him. We told her that we met with
other Christians in homes and that it had
been about a year since we had been part of
a Baptist church. She then shared that she
immediately noticed our girls' dresses and
could tell by the way we looked and "how
sweet the children were all standing---so
well behaved" together that we just had to
be believers... and she didn't want to miss
the opportunity to say hello. Turns out,
she was visiting her parents here and was
heading back to Texas where she works with
Homestead Heritage.
She asked if I was familiar with
An Encouraging Word
and Skeet Savage... and I replied, yes, of
course, as I had just received
The HomeSchool Digest
last week. Well, turns out that they are
friends and so that was an encouraging
word. It was a pleasant interruption to
the moment... and after exchanging names,
she returned to the ever lengthening lines.
I've often commented, you never know who
you're going to meet and what divine
appointments you're going to experience. I
guess I consider that part the living out
and of the meaning of the verse: 1Peter 3.15
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:
and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the
hope that is in you with meekness and
fear:" Meetings like that make me all the
surer that Heaven is going to be filled with
beautiful music... for the lingering music
of meetings the LORD's orchestrated has
surely been sweet.
So we
traveled a little bit and Wes answered the
sniffles in the van with a question: Who'd
like fish 'n chips?!?! Since the ever
practical Timothy was on an airplane and not
in the van, there were no dissenters and the
unanimous I dooooooo's convinced him to
carry out his plan to stop by Alki Beach for
their famous fish 'n chips. Though the rain
was now beating against the glass of the
restaurant, by the time we split five
'specials' and were very full, the tears for
Timothy had subsided a bit! When we got to
the van, 'melia said we ought to go back to
the airport to pick up Timothy. We told her
we couldn't do that and she said okay and
carefully enunciating every syllable: could
we go to Guad--ah--la--harrrra, then?
Awwww.
Timothy
has a seven hour layover in LA and then
flies on to Jalisco to Guadalajara and will
arrive in the morning at 6:30 and then will
head to Tonala where he will have more
language study and a soccer camp. He was
happy to be going again and was thrilled for
the way the LORD is working on his behalf...
showing Himself Strong and Mighty.
June
20, 2005 The days are moving so swiftly or
I am moving so slowly that I cannot keep up
with what I need to do---let alone finish
the unfinished business of yesterday. I'm
beginning to see that once yesterday's
gone... just be done with it. There's no
such thing as getting back to something
anymore. I used to go back and finish
things or be able to walk out of a room and
come back in to finish a conversation or
whatever. I'm not so adept at doing that
anymore and ohmygoodness, I am beginning to
understand why women my age slow down or
stop having babies... not only would we set
them down and forget where we put them, but
when the youngest child starts saying mommy-gramma...
Yes, we
had our grandchildren here Monday evening
and it was nice to be able to spend a little
bit of time with them and to have friends
visiting, too, who had children about the
same age. I marveled as we stood in the
kitchen... our family and theirs and between
the two families, we have 23 children and 7
grandchildren. Timothy will leave for
Mexico tomorrow and so... we had today. My
husband prayed for our meal and evening
together and as we stood there, I was
staggered by a thought---O, LORD God, It's a
marvel to me how the LORD has been gracious
and so merciful to this pitiful vessel. I
don't share that to elicit sympathy or
compliments---I say it bcz I am and was so
humbled at the love of God... I consider my
favourite hymn: The Love of God... I
consider the words I've loved so much
they've become my own refrain.
The
Love
of
God
The
love
of
God
is
greater
far
Than
tongue
or
pen
can
ever
tell;
It
goes
beyond
the
highest
star,
And
reaches
to
the
lowest
hell;
The
guilty
pair,
bowed
down
with
care,
God
gave
His
Son
to
win;
His
erring
child
He
reconciled,
And
pardoned
from
his
sin. |
|
Refrain
O
love
of
God,
how
rich
and
pure!
How
measureless
and
strong!
It
shall
forevermore
endure
The
saints’
and
angels’
song. |
When
years
of
time
shall
pass
away,
And
earthly
thrones
and
kingdoms
fall,
When
men,
who
here
refuse
to
pray,
On
rocks
and
hills
and
mountains
call,
God’s
love
so
sure,
shall
still
endure,
All
measureless
and
strong;
Redeeming
grace
to
Adam’s
race—
The
saints’
and
angels’
song.
|
Refrain |
Could
we
with
ink
the
ocean
fill,
And
were
the
skies
of
parchment
made,
Were
every
stalk
on
earth
a
quill,
And
every
man
a
scribe
by
trade,
To
write
the
love
of
God
above,
Would
drain
the
ocean
dry.
Nor
could
the
scroll
contain
the
whole,
Though
stretched
from
sky
to
sky.
Refrain
|
|
|
That
beautiful hymn resonates and echoes in my
mind as I consider the wonders of the LORD,
His matchless grace, His unbounding love and
mercy in our lives. We cannot begin to
fathom what He's done for us. I marvel as I
have been considering Job. The book of Job
is an incredible book---in gaining a right
view of the Righteous and Holy God---above
which there is no other. Imagine Job---it's
thought to be the oldest of the Bible
books---and consider the honour and the
humility and the right perception of the
LORD. I do long for a long walk with the
Saviour... I long to know Him in that way...
"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in
Him..." I long to know Him and will praise
Him more and more. He is the potter. I am
the clay.
Earlier
that day...
When I was writing last night about the day
we'd spent, I guess it might read strange.
It was just a very surreal day. A day I am
treasuring and "pondering in my heart."
Since many of the families we ordinarily
meet with on Sunday's had different plans,
we had decided to meet on Saturday
instead---and we did. So, that left
yesterday to unfold as it did. As I share
about the oddities or the 'first's' or
whatever, I share because it helps me get a
better handle on what it is to be the body
of Christ and what it is to be the church
and what it is to be a believer traveling
the journey in this way---that, and
invariably, I will write about something
that's the very thing someone else is going
through. It's not the way I grew up... (not
in church) and it's not the way Wes grew up
(always in church), and it's not the way we
spent the first 25 years of our marriage
(very involved with the churches we
'attended') and yet, now I see how God was
preparing us for "such a time as this."
Trusting Him fully in all that we do,
resting in His promises and waiting on Him
as we walk with other believers.
Yesterday was an important day as we
reflected on what God is doing, how He's
leading and seeking how we might be an
encouragement to others. I think the thing
we've been praying about the most is
unity---unity in the body of Christ and the
need for believers to be candid with one
another and before the LORD. It can be real
easy to live a life void of transparency and
yet still be 'going to church' and doing all
the stuff. I came to
realize that it's pointless to attempt to
explain what we're doing and why and why we
are "out" of the church (denominations,
etc.) and it serves no good purpose to
attempt to validate churches meeting from
house to house----------------for the one
will always attempt to justify and the other
will always have to defend. And that, to
me, falls right in line with the enemy's
strategy to "keep 'em busy" so they have no
time to serve the LORD. If we are so busy
defending what we do... then, what we do
will be compromised.
June
19, 2005 We have a new phrase here... this
blog's now my autoblography. So... here's
today's writing of my autoblography.
If you
don't read much else today, take a moment to
read
Amy's
blog...
It's great... I'm referring to her Father's
Day blog. Her writings never disappoint ---
and this one is no exception. I miss those
"guess what, honey" days and the sweetness
of anticipation of what the LORD was
doing. I miss the early years... I surely
did not have what Amy has today---and
perhaps never will have the tremendous
advantages she enjoys: walking with the LORD
with great encouragement, insight, training
and inspiration that is so evident. But...
one thing we share is sweetness of the
"guess what, honey" days... hers now...
mine, then.
We did
have a sweet Father's Day... another "first"
in our life. This was the first Father's
Day that we didn't spend at a church. Wes
played tennis with Kathryn as I prepared a
surprise breakfast for when they returned.
It was a blessing to be quiet together.
Quiet. Home. It was a blessing to just be
home. We spent the day together and it was
a precious time. Precious, for many
reasons... it was Father's Day and all that
means, it was Sunday and all that means, it
was a beautiful day here and it was peaceful
through and through. I don't know if I have
ever been to a hardware store on a Sunday
morning---but this morning we went... I
wondered if the LORD would go to a hardware
store on Sunday. Would He buy wood? Would
He repair and build a deck? On Father's
Day? Would He? Well... as the family was
swimming and playing, daddy built a deck.
As the family sunned and played, daddy built
a deck. As the family weeded and played,
daddy built a deck. As the family loved the
daddy, the daddy smiled. As the family
commented many times how nice the day was...
and how fun it was to have daddy home...
daddy built a deck. After reading to the
family tonight, and after everyone went off
to bed, daddy smiled. Happy Father's Day,
Daddy. You're the best.
btw, more later.
Happy
Father's Day
Every day is The Father's Day
for every day is a day that He has made!
and this weekend, we celebrate and
honour our earthly fathers
and we pray that God will indeed bless
and equip them for the tremendous
responsibility that rests on them as
heads of homes.
For those who have abdicated their role
we pray that God will work in their
hearts, that they will turn from their
foolish ways and selfish ambitions and
give their hearts to the care and tender
training of their children and to being
the attentive, loving heads of their
homes that God designed them to be---may
He be their strength and guide.
May God bless fathers this father's day.
My
life is but a weaving between my Lord
and me,
I cannot choose the colors He worketh
steadily.
Oftimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in
foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper and I, the
underside....
The dark threads are as needful in the
Weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver in the
pattern He has planned.
(Author unknown)
(Thank you, Bessie Joy for sharing this
poem)
It's coming up to Father's Day...
Most all the plans I ever had seem to
have been unraveled by the LORD and then
have been rewoven by Him in a perfect way.
When in faith I began to weave with no
visible thread, it was my Heavenly Father
who provided all that was needed and only
now can I look back and now have a beautiful
tapestry that for years I could not see.
Even those parts that I don't particularly
care for have been used to form the
background---the dark parts that make the
light parts even more significant. So, this
Father's Day, I celebrate what He's done.
I trust Him for who His is, what He's done
and for His merciful, steadfast kindness to
me. No matter what earthy fathers have
done, my heavenly father has picked up all
the threads and has woven them into place so
that they all are used to form the fabric of
my life. The coarse threads give me
strength today; the broken ones have been
blended with His cords of three strands and
now are the strongest of them all and the
black ones define the areas He's worked to
conform my character into His image and all
the glittery and glossy threads are for His
glory---for He alone is Worthy. I praise
the LORD today... as I look to celebrate
Father's Day, I celebrate the great gift of
my Heavenly Father who sent His Son to be my
salvation, my High King of Heaven, my LORD,
my Jesus: my all in all.
I'm not all I ever hoped to be, but
praise the LORD He didn't leave me where I
was or with the plans I had. I don't have
what I prayed for (praise His Name!) but I
have more than I ever dreamed... and
amazingly, I never knew I wanted what I have
today --- I have the LORD and in Him I lack
no thing.
Nothing I have today could ever be replaced
by anything I'd love more.
Happy Father's Day, all.
Happy Birthday to Thumbkin and Pinky
Pictures of Joey's and my mother's
birthday!
June
16, 2005 Happy Anniversary today to my
sweet mother-in-law. Now married for four
years after the passing of Wes's father.
It's a tremendous blessing to witness how
God has worked and has faithfully and
mercifully prodded such a loving companion
for her. We're thankful for that. And then
we're getting ready for the thumbkin and
pinky (Joey and my mother) birthday party
tomorrow night, our family celebration of
Father's Day and whatever else we can fit in
tomorrow night! It's sure to be a fun
evening together... so, I'd better get
cookin' ---literally!
'Received this piece this morning from
Vision Forum and want to share with you...
it's a blessing for Father's Day --- how
much more so when the father of the
home/family hears God's call. And obeys.
The Patriarch
More noble than the valiant
deeds of shining knights of
yore,
More powerful than earthly
plights that make the rich
man poor,
More kingly than a royal
throne or a lion with his
pride,
Is he whose babes sleep well
at night sure Daddy will
provide.
There is a spirit in this
land and Jezebel’s her name.
She’s calling you to leave
your home for power, fun,
and fame.
She wants your wife, your
children too — she’ll never
compromise,
Until your house is torn in
two by listening to her
lies.
But though a hundred
thousand million men may
fall prey to her lures,
And wives en masse leave
home in search of “more
fulfilling” chores,
Though preachers praise, and
friends embrace, her pagan
plan of death,
Stand strong and quit you
like a man with every
blessed breath.
Stand strong and rise, O man
of God, to meet this noble
call,
The battle is not new you
see, it’s been here since
the Fall.
Your wife is your helpmeet,
my friend, and not another
man’s,
So care for her and keep her
far from Mistress Jezi’s
plans.
Protect, provide, and give
to her your undivided life,
This is the dear one of your
youth, your precious bride,
your wife.
And rally to those tiny ones
who trust you for their care
—
A lifetime spent discipling
them’s a lifetime pure and
rare.
For when they put their hand
in yours and know a Daddy’s
love,
You’re showing them a
picture of the Father from
above.
Look not toward worldly goal
or gain, or for your
liberty,
Look only into their sweet
eyes to find your ministry.
Devote your heart and
sacrifice and make your
manly mark —
There is none so great as he
who finds his call as
patriarch.
—Douglas W. Phillips
The above
poem was selected from
Poems for Patriarchs: The Verse
and Prose of Christian Manhood.
|
June
15, 2005 It seems as though something
ought to be happening today---that, or
something did happen on this day---I must be
forgetting something... I must be practicing
'senior moments' or something. Did I
graduate on this day? Should I be sending a
greeting card to the IRS or something? O, I
don't know what it is.
Well... so, as if we haven't been
celebrating enough, we're working on the
plans for a big family birthday party here
on Friday night. With Joey's birthday on
the thirteenth and my mom's on seventeenth,
it's a great party time. As if that's not
enough, we're also going to celebrate
Father's Day (since number one son won't be
home on Father's Day) that night. I need
to get busy on my Father's Day plans. I
wrote about blessing husbands and fathers in
last week's letters.
Blessing Husbands and Fathers Everyday
and
The
Welcome Home
Good Things and Recipes
special annual
Father's Day message.
I'll be sharing more on this later.
So, we're zipping right to the halfway point
of the year. It's sometimes as depressing
to me to come to this point in the year as
it is thrilling to me to get to the
twenty-first of December. At this point of
the year, I recognize that the daylight
hours will once again grow shorter and the
inevitable longer hours of darkness will
soon be upon us. I don't know which is
more difficult---rain or low light. Hmmm...
must be low-light rain. Or, low
light-rain. I know, I know... what a sorry
soul I can be sometimes. This is an annual
realization, mind you, and one would think
after 21 or 22 years in a swimming pool biz
in the Northwest, that somewhere along the
way a personal resolution would have come to
pass: a resolution that this is the way life
is for us and that's that. I know... it's a
kwitchergripin' sort of deal... get over
it. But, ~sigh~ it seems that soon it'll be
time to bring in wood and keep the stove
going nonstop till April-mid. It'll once
again be time to be alert for the floods and
all that. But... would I want to move from
here? No-way.
June
14, 2005 As we pulled into the parking
space, his eyes lit up --- he'd never been
to Penney's in town before. Our children
are not all that familiar with much of the
retail industry and so it's fun to
occasionally treat them to something new.
So, something new was yesterday. As I
walked through the door being held open by
our little Joey... I couldn't help but
admire the young man he's becoming. Not only
had Joey not been to the Penney's in town, I
can't recall the last *new* pair of shoes he
had. I found myself wondering: had he
*ever* had a new pair of shoes?? He was
wearing a pair of shoes that had seen way
too much fun and when the salesperson asked
his size, he slipped off (and I held in my
gasp---wondering if his socks were clean!)
his shoe and suggested maybe he wears "an
eight or a nine or whatever." She
graciously took out the instrument to
measure his foot to determine his proper
size and she came up with a 5.5 or 6. You
know... eight or nine --- five or six or
whatever. It's all good.
I'd
asked the LORD to help me find a pair of
cool shoes for this boy that wouldn't
require me working there for a day and a
half----and the LORD did indeed answer my
prayer. As we looked to the display on the
wall, I spied a pair of Nike's that looked
so similar to a pair I'd gotten for Daniel
many years ago and suddenly memories of shoe
fittings and showing off how fast they were
and all of that flooded my mind. As we
approached the wall, I saw that that pair
was, ta-da! on sale---Joey was delighted!
The sweet sales person said she believed she
had his size---and she did. Oh, the delight
of the new pair of shoes made me smile at
the now not such a little boy anymore. I
asked him if he'd like to wear them home,
his beaming face answered me before the
"yes" came out! As I paid for the shoes,
the salesperson commented how handsome he
looked and I told her it was his tenth
birthday and we were out celebrating. I
told her that since our boys all share
shoes, I could not remember if Joey had
actually had a new pair... so that
explained much of the appreciation he was
expressing---that, and we were out on an
adventure ---alone! He knew that following
that stop we would be going to a neat little
store in town... everyone's favourite:
Weed's Variety. Weed's is a store (a very
small store) that sells old fashioned
things---toys, paper dolls, simple games,
all sorts of Usborne books and kits, kites,
models and "old time" crafts and gifts. The
little store did not disappoint and he was
delighted with the little plane he bought.
I try
to take one child with me alone from time to
time just so they can have my undivided
attention and I can have theirs! Shopping's
rather a perfunctory thing, however. Our
younger children know very little of stores
outside of Costco, Cash'nCarry restaurant
supply, Walmart and Lowes... and beyond
that, clothes come to them from the older's
drawers, or in big bags from other people or
from the thrift store. They rarely choose
their own clothes as I attempt to avoid
taking them with me when looking for
specific items to fill gaps in their
wardrobe. I pray before I go that the LORD
will lead me to just the perfect things that
will fill those gaps. I don't want to feed
the greed and I don't want to have them
think that just because things are available
they need them, too. I think that's why
they are pretty content with "such things as
they have." Life is much simpler if we just
stay out of the stores... there's much more
there than too much to look at --- sometimes
what's there is too much to be looking
at. Then, I think it's pretty important
to not get sucked into the
bigger-better-more of this life. Sometimes
the bigger-better-more squeezes out the best
thing.
Now
shopping with one of my older's is a whole
different story. When we go out shopping...
we see every single thing the store
offers... she's a real shopper... extremely
sensible, careful and lots of fun. That's a
story for another day.
June
13, 2005 I've especially loved this
day... this day, the thirteenth day of
June, for ten years now! This is
Joseph's tenth birthday. He was born at
home in 1995, which was, incidentally, a
great year for the Mariners (Who?!) and
Joseph often sports a Mariner's
shirt---well, so they have a fan. Ten
years in a twinkle---but they've been
sweet year! Joseph's was my most
difficult birth---more so that the seven
previous to his. He was a good sized
boy---early on, I knew he'd be a big boy
or she'd be a big girl. I didn't
realize at the time of his birth that my
midwife would not live long enough to
see the birth of the next child to
follow Joey. But, I did realize that
she had a very unique gifting of the
LORD and that it was her perception and
her skill that brought the baby
through. He was the heaviest and
longest of the children, both prior to
and after him and ten days past the "due
date." But, then, aren't due dates
sometime just annoying markers?
So,
this boy with the softest smile and
eyes, a spring for a spine and a skip to
his steps, is ten today and I'm
wondering where the time's gone and yet,
thankful for the gift of all the
years---even if I can't account for much
of what must've gone on. I'm sort of
shaking my head... how'd we get here if
I can't remember much of the journey?
And how'd we get so much done and why
does it seem like we haven't had enough
time? Well... we've gotten a lot of
things done---tons of pictures to show
for it and a lot of happy memories and a
whole lotta love for that boy. That boy
who's dearer with each passing day.
Your Comments
[moderated]
What others have said
Well,
I have the comment box at the end of
posts now. Not so much so that there's
a sense of obligation foisted upon
readers but simply bcz there are readers
who write wonderful notes and share cool
things! It's moderated so that
offensive letters are not automatically
posted. I try to be careful regarding
what's posted here and sometimes I've
received comments that wouldn't really
be edifying. At all. However, I've
received some really great notes... I
don't mean the incredibly encouraging
notes (although they are wonderful to
receive, believe me!), I mean the
tremendously helpful info and links and
ideas that come from readers of this
blog and others. So, those are the
wonderful things I'd be happy to share.
I do get bunches of mail concerning a
bunch of things that have absolutely no
relevance or are of no interest to me...
and then there's all the dumb spam---boy
I'm glad I'm not verbal communicating
this blog today---dumb spam almost came
out a tongue twister.
June
11, 2005 I'm reading stuff each day
written by people whose lives are vastly
different than my own and learning about
things I probably wouldn't have
considered in the last decade. One of
the things I recommend is to read blogs
and then to read what bloggers are
reading and who they're reading. 'Tells
you a lot about the people when you
catch a glimpse of what they're
reading. Read their old posts if they
archive them --- I didn't used to
archive posts. After a month, I'd erase
the month and start over with a clean
page. I also haven't used a tracking
system or a comment gallery. This is
purely due to my own ignorance regarding
set up. I am going to attempt to
utilize some things that are contained
in the package I have with 1&1
webhosting. We've been using this host
for years and yet I haven't taken the
time to search the features. I'm told
there are all sort of things I can
do---do and can do are two different
things! I have some techno savvy guys
that keep track of those things and pay
the bills. I just swish toilets, read
stories, pull weeds, think every
preacher ought to have a garden,
consider days gone by, watch home movies
in the theater of my mind, write books
that will never be published and think
of funny things I wish I could post on
the blog.
So,
If you're just lounging around popping
bon bons... then there really are some
very good reads out there... and
sometimes the side bars are even
better. I've added some blogs I like a
lot and find worth recommending.
Here's what I mean about a feature I
might implement... or not. I think the
guest book is up and running, too.
But... I don't like the format so much.
But then, there are a lot of formats I
don't like in life and can recall a few
laundromat I didn't really like, either.
Your Comments
[moderated]
What others have said
I so do not like the cumbersome Aimoo
board and yet still can't get the
message board feature to seamlessly
incorporate into this site. More
attempts... another day.
so
many blogs... so little time. |
As
this website belongs to the LORD, we seek to
use it to serve Him in many ways. It's
always a privilege to make other's requests
known and to provide links to websites,
ministries, and articles. Check out the
prayer request regarding missn'ys in
Ethiopia---the request just came from
parentingwithpurpose
Please also remember the Liberian orphans (WACSN)
http://www.wacsn.org More
on this ministry and an opportunity to
serve... later. (sorry for the botch job on
this as it was posted earlier)
blog
blah blog blah blog ...
If
you receive a mail regarding PDL heads or
puddleheads... it's a spoof. While it's
easy to believe and actually seems
probable... it's nonetheless a spoof sent to
you by someone who got tagged. It's in
larknews.com/may_2005.
I truly believed it---though it seemed a bit
far fetched. It seems that there is an
equal number of those who are PDL'ers and
those who disparage the whole PDL
extravaganza and all the staging,
covenanting, seeker sensitization and
repackaging and rewriting the Bible.
A
subject very near but not at all dear to my
heart is the matter of sexualabuse of
children and teenagers. There was a time
when I thought sexualabusers of children
should be shot. It came to my attention
that there is a book being sold on Amazon
--- a book that not only endorses adult
male/male child relationships but seems
(from description and review of the book)
to legitimize and normalize the heinous
atrocity---the most repugnant aspect of
homosexuality.
David Foster sought to implore Amazon
to stop selling the book. Now, this
reciprocal letter writing apparently took
place some time ago---but Amazon is still
selling the book. David Foster encourages
letter writing to Amazon---and not doing
business with them. In one of the
replies to Mr. Foster, Amazon replies: "Dear
David, Hello again from Amazon.com. First,
I would like to thank you for your
heart-felt e-mails. I understand that you
feel very strongly about this issue. Let me
assure you that Amazon.com does not support
or promote perverse or criminal acts; we do
support the right of every individual to
choose his or her own reading material."
I thought it interesting that Amazon would
agree that they would not support a book
that endorses or promotes criminal acts, or
at a stretch, instructs how to blow up
Amazon... but they're selling a book that
legitimizes the destroying the purity and
innocence of a child or teenager by a
depraved individual. Despite the
consequences, their stand to "not
engage in censorship, regardless of our own
individual tastes and beliefs" is shameful.
Shame on Amazon for its shortsightedness.
Speaking of Michael Jackson... yesterday,
in my email, i received a letter regarding
his "suicide attempt..." I did *not*
click to read more as the letter
instructed. And now, I'm glad I didn't for
it was a message containing a virus.
Read more.
June
10, 2005 I'm cleaning the house... as
always there're things to tidy
everywhere---everywhere throughout our home
there is evidence of living... notice I
didn't say life. Sometime ago I managed to
instill this truth into our children that
*people* live in homes and every other
living thing lives outside. Though you know
I have not managed to convince them that
cats are simply bigger mice or rats and no
one should buy food from Costco to feed
rodents. I'm not so sure they will ever buy
this mantra---they never have.
So..
I'm cleaning along and it strikes me that I
am making decisions that seem rather
ridiculous when held next to decisions,
say, Liberian women are making or conditions
they face everyday.
These days I am wondering about a lot of
things I've never considered before.
These
(from just this morning alone) are some
comments I've made---verbally. Should I get
rid of all the bowls that don't stack neatly
in our cabinet? Should I get some more
*divided* plates to make mealtime serving a
little easier? Isn't it much nicer to have
two refrigerators and one
large freezer than to have one
refrigerator and two large
freezers?! Maybe it's time to replace this
sweater with one that's not so faded... I
sure liked the deeper colour better. I wish
the laundry hamper was a bit taller so that
all the day's laundry could fit into
it---thus the trips downstairs could be
minimized. I sure think it would be neat to
have a better espresso maker...
When
the family farm loses, America loses. This,
from the "Save
the Family Dairy Farm"
site: "Recently the
USDA issued a proposed ruling that puts
milk producer-handlers at risk. A
producer-handler is a dairy farm that
processes and distributes its own milk. This
rule would change regulations that have
existed for over 70 years. Large national
and regional dairy cooperatives and milk
processors are the driving force behind this
proposal. Their purpose is to drive
family-owned producer-handlers out of
business or to restrict their ability to
operate efficiently. " We know that local
dairies are closing because they cannot keep
up with the "big boys' in the dairy business
as it is. Oppressive regulations in our
area are choking out the small
enterprises... some of which have been
multi-generational farms/businesses.
June
9, 2005 So then at the Above Rubies retreat
last Saturday, I bought some copies of Debi
Pearl's book,
Created to Be His Help Meet
and I've been contemplating just what the
LORD would have me do with them. I knew I
needed to hand back to my friend, the well
read copy she loaned me. So, now I have one
of my own to mark up and some to give out.
Now, at this point I am going to resist
interjecting a popular disclaimer statement.
You know how it goes in circles... something
like: I like so-n-so, I don't agree with
everything he/she teaches, but for the most
part, they're very good... blah, blah,
blah. I say this with first hand knowledge
and from personal experience. So, I'm not
going to do it. I do it more than is
appropriate and determine to not do so. I'm
going to just toss out the suggestion that
the book be obtained, read, digested and...
let the LORD make application. I only hope
it doesn't remain a stand alone book ---
meaning, there's a whole lotta 'splainin to
do regarding the trash and Mr. Command Man,
and perhaps a whole lot more. I'm just
glad there's an undemanding commanding
steady visionary in steady command here in
our home. If that's going to make any
sense at all, you're gonna hafta read the
book. This book's making rounds. It sort
of reminds me of the Prayer of Jabez when it
first came out and people were flocking to
grab a copy to read. Conversations sort of
went something like: "Have you read the
book?" "Yes! It's incredible! Have you read
it?" At first, I had to say, no... I hadn't
read it. I *had* read 1 Chronicles
4.9-10---but not the sensational version.
Anyway... eventually, I read the book. And
that was that.
The
culture. Even in the remote parts of the
country, culture has its affect on people.
Just try to shop at Wal*Mart or Macy's for a
modest blouse, dress or undergarments. Try
to find jeans that *look* new---or that fit
properly *over* the undergarments. I know
I'm stretching a bit, here, but you get the
point. The degradation of society and the
influence of those who have power is
astounding. Try to walk through a shopping
area without being visually distracted. Try
going through the public library or
bookstore and see if you can do it without
seeing huge cultural influences---the kind
of influences that reveal they've turned
their backs on God. The daily news...
grocery store tabloids strategically placed
at eye level---no matter your height (or
your child's height). Cultural dregs
everywhere. I know I'm not the only mother
to wring hands over this.
Like an elephant in the living room. We
could continue to try to walk around it, to
step over it, attempt to think it's not so
big or intrusive and we could act as if it's
droppings don't produce for us a mess or a
stench wafting through our other rooms in
our homes. But, fact is, the elephant of
culture permeates everything---much as we
try to live counter to the trends and
influence of our culture... there *is* an
elephant stomping about and we're to one
degree or another affected by its presence
and by its droppings. I watch with guarded
interest from afar the trail and now trial
of Michael Jackson. I found rather
intriguing a
Stanley Crouch article
in the NY Daily News today. Here's a
sampling and an interesting point: "We
saw revolutionary social changes that made
for a much better society, but nothing ever
arrives alone, especially in America. Our
enormous latitude for invention, lunacy and
profit always allow the worst to come along
almost immediately following a set of
innovations." The 60's. I quote that
portion of the piece bcz it's illustrative
of the life and times of Michael Jackson.
While I disagree with the author's
assessment that the advances of the sixties
heralded the betterment of society, I sure
agree that America is abounding in
invention, lunacy and profit.
This is where the elephant
comes in... much of the time, things we
think we can tolerate today were absolutely
repulsive to us at one time or, things that
are repulsive to us today, we once
embraced. Much of our societal trends are
being orchestrated by celebrities --
celebrities, who make a living acting like
someone else, are shaping the scope and the
scope is amazingly not broad as they'd
purport it to be---because there's no script
for it (for them)! The scope is on
self---the corrupt, egocentric, voracious
demanding self. There *is* a script, but
they reject it. One day they will not. One
day even the staunchest egocentric liberal
will see. They will see---I pray they will
see before it's too late. More than history
shapes the future---in That Day, all will
see His-story shapes the future.
June
8, 2005 Today's been such a dreary looking
day. I've had to fight hard the tendency to
allow the dreariness to determine or direct
my thoughts and sap motivation. It's so
chilly, I needed a sweater---in June! I
guess even after living in the Northwest for
twenty-seven years, I'm still surprised at
the cold weather----my California upbringing
never leaves me, I suppose. I guess the
adage is true: you can take the girl out of
California, but you can't take California
out of the girl. There's something very
peculiar about being from California... it's
like another country, really---another
country with its own rules, its own outlook,
its own agenda---there's an ambiance that
can't really be defined or quantified. It's
sort of bizarre, I always wonder how
anything really ever gets done in
California... I remember everyday sort of
seemed like it ought to be a vacation
day---I don't mean it was necessarily always
fun, but it never seemed like it was time to
work. Work had to be done, but it felt like
it was time to play. Productivity was
necessary to allow for "playtime," I
suppose, and in a way, that general feeling
of recreation sort of permeated work. Work
was sort of incidental---sort of like
cleaning toilets and sweeping
floors---necessary, but not all that
important. That's how things seemed... but
then, I wasn't paying a mortgage or buying
groceries. I was just along for the ride...
or on vacation.
June
7, 2005 Well, that all happened. Today's
been sort of a catch up day---I think all
days are becoming catch-up days lately. The
two steps forward, one step back is starting
to show evidence of my being about a decade
behind. Now, were that only true! I sort
of missed that decade. The
Above Rubies
Retreat was such a wonderful time---really,
it was a sweet day. Wonderful times to
visit old friends, to personally meet women
who've read things here and to hear Nancy
Campbell again. She's such a skilled
orator and so effectively conveys each
important point so perfectly. What an
encouragement and marvelous advocate for the
home, motherhood and marriage. I'm left
with one of her comments floating around my
thoughts: "Make every meal into a love
affair." I think back on her words and my
instant mental picture of some of the recent
meals practically served on Frisbee's and
flung to the table here in our home. So...
a love affair.
We
traveled to the camp a day early so that
we'd not have to do the traveling so early
in the morning on the day of the retreat. I
think it was also so that we'd have a good
night's sleep to be rested for the long day
ahead. We'd brought our little coffeemaker
for hot tea/coffee and visited in the
sitting area of our delightful cabin until
it was a tad bit late. Kathryn and Lisa and
I collapsed into our beds and instantly
drifted into a coma after our enjoyable day
of travel, "shopping" and dinner at Ikea and
our endless chatter! The sleep was good and
the LORD surely multiplied the benefit of
the hours we slept. I know He's always done
this and so I'm a firm believer that He will
equip and will provide what's needed---this
was especially true in the early infancy
days for each of our children. Things were
a challenge until I began to grab hold of
that provision of the LORD---that He never
gave me what He didn't also help me care for
or complete. His provision has always been
perfect.
Nancy's
talks were once again very inspiring and I
was heartened to press on and to embrace the
next thing the LORD has for me to do. I
think so much of the time we push for a
short haul instead of tracking for the long
haul. I wish I'd known, in the beginning,
to pace for a long haul and to keep training
and striving for excellence --- some of the
things that seem a bit lacking now.
See, I
needed then what I have in my hand right
now!
The Mommy Manual by Barbara Curtis.
Now, all I need is a day to saturate my mind
with what Barbara's written. The book came
in the mail today---much to my delight
(along with another package: my birdhouse
gardening jumper, an ebay purchase)!
Anyway, I need to grab the book and stash
away alone for a few hours. Different lines
are grabbing my attention: "see it their
way" and "get the big picture" and "sowing
seeds of order" and a few more that have
captured my interest. It's a beautiful
book and I sure look forward to being
inspired by chapter titles such as, The Keys
to Joyful Motherhood and The Keys to Joyful
Childhood. So, many thanks and blessings to
Barbara for being used of the LORD be a
continued inspiration and blessing once
again. I must also mention, I love the
Elisabeth Elliot piece
that Barbara put on her blog.
Well, Nancy Campbell dedicated her final
talk of the retreat to the orphans of
Liberia. With first hand knowledge and
empathy, she described the war torn nation
and the little children who have nothing.
What a sobering matter it is to consider the
abject poverty and desolation of that
country and the tens of thousands of orphans
and ravaged families and the horrific
conditions most of
the people and orphan children of Liberia
endure until their death. It was timely to
hear of the Campbell's and one of their
daughter's (and her family) decision to
adopt children, as our friends are
finalizing preparations for the adoption of
two little boys from Liberia. I decided to
post
a page dedicated to adoption
and will add links and resources ASAP as
time allows. I feel like I am learning a
whole new language---a situation I never
understood existed has been suddenly in the
last few months brought to light from a few
different angles. It's remarkable. And I
fret over shelves and socks and stacks of
stuff.
I came
home with a stack of pictures of the little
children, magazines, booklets, and Debi
Pearl books. And sweet memories of the
retreat and conversations I so enjoyed
linger in my mind as I have been going about
my work here in our home. So, in my best
Nancy Campbell, I greeted my husband:
hehlllloo, dahling, I've bēēn waiting for
yeuoo! Ah yes... and that love affair.
June
3-4, 2005 The
Above Rubies
Retreat... and my first trip to Ikea on the
way down through Seattle today. The only
thing better would be a trip to
Harrison Hot Springs---but
Wes is digging around in a pool, so... that
trip will have to wait! O, what a blessing
it would be to have time... lots of time
together and then I'd even like to have a
few hours to catch up on a good deal of
reading that's in the stack and then net
time... the
Mommy Life
blog and other links that've stacked up and
then: correspondence--I'm sorely lacking in
this area. But for today, I have a few
minutes to spend with the children, to cut
some roses to bring inside and grab a few
things before heading out. It's a beautiful
day in the neighborhood...
June
2, 2005 Many doctor's appointments and
house keeping needs prevents blogging. I
was just remarking to my mother... what a
remarkable time to be alive. The advances
in technology are astounding. As Naomi sat
with the audiologist, the wires inserted in
her ears were transmitting different sorts
of sounds and her hearing was measured and
recorded on the computer and a printout
revealed the results. As I have each time,
I swallowed hard at the results and
recognized that God in His wisdom has
created her wonderfully, marvelously and
perfectly just as He planned for her life.
He gave her two beautiful ears... one is
silent and one that must listen very
carefully. I loved seeing her exuberant
expressions as she sought to indicate
hearing. There were long pauses with no
indication... I covered my ears for the
sound was piercing... but it wasn't to her.
naomi and her starfish...
I've been mulling over all the messages we
heard throughout the conference in Oregon.
Sometimes there are so many good messages,
the information/inspiration overload begins
feel sort of like a spiritual or blessing
avalanche. Is that possible? A blessing
avalanche. I guess "flood" sings better
than avalanche---but the blessings were more
than a flood---and I sure needed them---or
perhaps I need them more now. There's
always a bit of a risk involved in journey's
like that. The risk is worth taking even
though there's always the inevitable low
following such a time. Not negative,
draining sort of low, but a longing for more
of whatever it was that was experienced.
One thing I am coming to recognize about
retreats and vacations and conferences is
that what's learned or shared or decided
there is infinitely worth more than whatever
difficulty or obstruction that may have
thwarted the occasion. So it was, again
this past weekend, during the good messages
and wonderful music. What a blessing it is
to take time away.
As if last weekend and the previous
retreats weren't enough... I'm sure looking
forward to attending the
Above Rubies - Nancy Campbell
ladies retreat this weekend. I'm looking
forward to time with Kathryn and time with
friends. I'm humbled at God's mercy and His
graciousness toward me in the gifts He's
given. One, in particular, this precious
daughter and friend---truly, my dear
friend. Her middle name is Grace---and I'm
increasingly aware of the gift she is and
how her life and influence on mine becomes
more meaningful with the passing of years.
So, we'll attend the retreat... and it'll
likely be a very important time of
instruction and encouragement---not only for
us, but for all who attend. I know many
women are so looking forward to spending
time there as they seek to better know the
LORD's will for them and for their role in
the home. There are controversies or
conflicts that might make women wonder if
they ought to attend retreats or
conferences... and as I've considered some
of the comments I've encountered, I guess
I've just come to believe that there are
many valuable lessons in the messages that
are shared at women's retreats. Often,
significant decisions or resolutions are
made in hearts---sometimes women hear things
for the first time. I mean they've perhaps
"heard" the words before, but never have
their hearts been receptive to the Truths of
God's Word and suddenly it's as if scales
are removed from eyes and faith becomes
sight. We all need good strong teaching as
we seek to serve the LORD as we serve our
families and keep our homes. One thing I do
know is that the world is sure not going to
inspire us to do what we ought and our
nature is not necessarily going to compel us
toward excellence---at least not with, or
because of, a meek and humble
spirit----pride maybe, but not humility.
June
1, 2005 Well, so, all that happened.
After a wonderful weekend away, we're back
home getting settled into the "normal"
routine. Normal brings changes all the
time... and that's what normal is for us.
Normal changes. It's normal for children to
have many clothes changes every day. It is
normal to have many changes in the
appearance of the home from hour to hour.
It's also normal to have many schedule
changes during each day----so it's been a
very normal day. We loved our time in
Oregon and the wonderful visits with
friends, but it's also such a great thing to
be home and to embrace and tackle those
things we were glad to leave for a few
days---for we know: no matter where we roam,
there's no place like home. In addition to
the buckets of sand in the van and in the
clothes, we brought home many memories and
great stories, and the washer has been going
non-stop, thanks to Hannah.
It was
terrific time traveling to the Oregon Coast
for the
Shield of Faith
conference at
Twin Rocks
which is a Friends Camp and Conference
Center---though Shield of Faith is not
directly affiliated with Friends---it's
where the conference is held each year.
We packed and left our home in near record
time as the sun was coming up
and we enjoyed
a virtually "traffic free" ride down the
coast! Be fore we actually
got to the
beach, we made a stop in Astoria where we
climbed the 164 steps
to the top of the
Astoria Column.
Some of our boys were 'holding up' the
canoe... then up the tower steps we
skipped...
The view was spectacular!
When I got to the top of the Column, I
looked down and was so glad
Wes called the
aid car! ;-)
At about the 120th step,
I thought I'd never
make it to the top!
Then it was time to make our way down the
coast (in our van, not in the aid car!) and
to make a stop for lunch and playtime at the
beach! No one minded that the water was
cold...
After windy, fun beach play, we loaded up
the cooler, the baskets, and a couple of
bucketfuls of sand (for the floor of the
van) and we headed for the campground (and
showers!)
Hundreds of pics were taken... and many
would be fun to share, but there are too
many for me to choose just a few... so I've
decided to only include these few.
On the last day of camp, we all enjoyed a
barbecue picnic lunch. Wes talks with an
especially dear missionary friend...
and we
all enjoyed the visit and lunch on the lawn.
'melia and nathanael (our grandson)
a time for Kathryn to see some special
girlfriends...
everyone had a wonderful time... poor little
'melia hardly
made it through the meal before dropping off
to sleep!
back home again.