R o d a ' s H o u s e

The Long Goodbye

2010-04-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

Life changes.

For the past eighteen months, Jason has been praying for God to lead him to pastor a church. Sunday will mark our first service at the church where God has led our family to serve Him.

It's been an amazing journey.

It's been a long goodbye.

We have been so completely overwhelmed by the flood of emotions and the outpouring of love that has covered us these last few weeks. People have been generous beyond our wildest expectations with their time and prayers and help and resources. If we stop for a moment and think about it, it about brings us to tears.

Our dear home church was truly filled with Christian brothers and sisters-real family. Our new church already has stunned us with their love in action. Example: on top of all the work they are putting in at the parsonage, men were waiting to help unload the truck, there was dinner ready at the church, and the people have had a food shower for us-there is enough food there to last us quite awhile.

Our friends from home arrive today to help, and we can't wait to see them. They have been like our right arms, and I have no idea, save for God's amazing provision, how we'll manage without them.

So much to do, so much to be thankful for, it's a wonderful life!

The disappearance of Childhood and the culture of Youth

2009-09-30T14:21:00.002-05:00

I was reading a blog I enjoy today, and the author said a profound thing:

"You can fast forward childhood, but you can't rewind it."

(Jonathan Christopher, www.StuffChristiansLike.blogspot.com)

That sentence set my wheels a-turnin': Why is our culture jumping up and down on the Fast Forward through Childhood button, and then when our seven-year-olds arrive breathlessly at a media-induced-early adolescence, the culture slams on the brakes? Why is it that we want our Teenage Years to last from about age 6 1/2 until, oh, age 30?

I have some ideas, and I'd love to hear yours as well...

Youth today means "I can make my own decisions and I don't have to shoulder any responsibility for said decisions." Loosely translated, that means we crave rejecting the authority God has placed in our lives, and instead we replace it with our own set of personal standards. Let's all sing the Malcolm in the Middle Song together to demonstrate: "You're not the boss o'me n-o-o-o-o-w!!"

There should be a reasonable period of time in life for children to practice making their own decisions in an environment that is safe for them to mess up in. A kid should be able (once!) to say stuff like, "I'm eating chocolate chip cookie dough for every meal today," and suffer the consequences at home. But to ellongate this period of life so that such thoughts turn into, "I'm gonna live in dad's basement and play video games for seventeen hours a day even though I am twenty-three years old," and suffer no consequence greater than the exasperated shoulder -shrugging of mom and dad is horrible.

For some reason, our culture has fed us the lie that we deserve to be entertained, and that being entertained is the highest purpose in life. We are raising a generation of spoiled kids who have no purpose, no drive, no ambition, and no standards-except that whatever they do needs to be entertaining, and worthy of posting on You-Tube. In our quest to be sure our kids are happy, we have stolen from them the things that produce true happiness: responsibility, and hard work.

The Lord spoke about this mentality in the gospels: John 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. That concept is completely weird by today's standards, and, truth be told, pretty freaky to those who actually heard the Lord say it so many years ago. We are seeing this verse lived out in today's culture, though. People are competely self-absorbed, entertained every minute of every day, coddled, cuddled, coifed, fawned over, manicured, styled, twittered...and miserable.

I believe we need to go the other way: lengthen childhood. Stretch that period of innocence and trust in adults out as long as possible. In order to do this, we as the parents of children must be people who are trustworthy and worthy of respect. We can not rail against children without turning the microscope on our own responsibility toward them. We must train our children, not entertain them. We must get back to spending time with them, talking to them, encouraging them, instructing them, and disciplining them. We must return to interacting with our children. So often in the early fall I hear parents say with actual glee in their voices, "School's starting soon! I can't wait to get these kids out of the house!" We need to reel that attitude in. If we can't stand being around the kids for very long either we have little patience, or we have raised little people no one wants to be around.

Secondly, we need to shorten adolescence. It needs to start later, and end sooner. In the colonial period, a young man of fifteen could earn a living for himself and his family. A young girl of the same age could run a household effectively and well. While I am not advocating a return to Little House on the Prairie, I would hypothesise that the teens of that era were happier and more fulfilled than today's thirty-year olds.

Why? Because they knew they were needed.

The youth of today don't know this. We as a society often pay lip service to our youth by saying pithy things like "the youth are the future", but we have entrusted them with nothing, with one glaring exception: the military. Oddly enough, the military has absolutely no intention of entertaining anyone who joins up, it requires hard work, it demands absolute respect for authority, and the military gives both purpose and responsibility to young people.

People need to face difficult challenges in order to see how strong they are. It is our job as parents to let our children see their strength. So, let's make them do some heavy lifting.

Stop whining, I'm back!

2009-09-29T13:15:00.002-05:00

Hello friends. I have missed you too. Summer was full and eventful and there are so many things I should have documented here but didn't. *Sigh*

We are now knee-deep in the school year, an autumn chill is in the air, and summer is becoming a distant memory. The kids are doing well, and continue to grow up in spite of all of our attempts to keep them from doing so. I wish we could slow down childhood. People should get to be four or eight for at least two years.

We are getting plans ready for the annual Harvest Carnival-it's gonna be fun! This year we are gonna go with a western theme...yee-haw!

I'll be back soon...with pictures!

How to Have a Perfect Day

2009-05-27T20:21:00.007-05:00

Invite over a cute kid.
Give your own cute kid a water gun.

Invite the cute kid's parents over, too.

Insert another cute kid.

Aforementioned cute kid's parents.

Get Jason to grill a huge hunk of ribs. Or, anything, really.

Insert another cute kid.

Appreciate beauty.

Cute kid. Again. Sorry, it can't be helped.

Go outside and enjoy the smell.

Like this.

Have fun!

Relax in the sunshine.

Or, in the house. Whatever.

Play with friends.

And eat!

We had a great Memorial Day with Adam, Suzanne and Lillian, and their amazing dog Jake. Jason grilled what I can only imagine were the greatest ribs ever to be grilled in the history of the world. We ate almost two entire slabs!

Birthdays and other assorted photo ops

2009-04-20T12:59:00.004-05:00

This, dear blog readers, is what a typical 13-year-old looks like:

Yup-Allyson is now 13. The phone is indeed stuck to her ear, although she does not seem to be at all bothered by it. We had a great time together on her b-day. I took her to the Clinique counter, where she got a suh-weet makeover, and some new make-up and skin care stuff. Then we had lunch at Olga's, and went shopping! It was a perfect "girl-day"! We ended the day watching a few episodes of season 3 of "24"-Ally's favorite show. We will be overrun with teen girls this Friday, when Allyson host's a birthday sleepover. The fun has only just begun!

Here are the kids on Easter Sunday. They are really growing up good!

Check out Eric's sweet tie!

Kenton's birthday was on the 5th-he's eight now! We had a wonderful day with him, as well! Dad earned major points by getting him a new x-box controller and a new video game! We also got him a bible story book written comic book style, which he totally loves!

Here is Kenton opening the Picture Bible.

Judging by this reaction, Jason and I think he likes the video game.

What a handsome little man!

Things have been pretty busy around here: we finished up this season of "Behold the Lamb", the annual Easter play our church does. Allyson and Jason had major roles this year, and they both did an amazing job. Should you be interested in ordering a DVD, let me know!

Now, we have a brief amount of time that will be relatively normal, and then it will be camp season!

The Creation Museum

2009-03-17T13:24:00.009-05:00

Allyson and I were blessed to be able to accompany our church's senior group on an overnight trip to the Creation Museum in Kentucky this weekend. We had an amazing time and wanted to share some of the pictures with all of you.

Allyson and her friend Mariah wait to go into the museum...

Inside, there are many dinosaur models-this one is a velociraptor.

The whole premise of the museum is stated in this statement: God's Word is true.

And, if we believe the amazing claims of the New Testament and take them literally, we need to believe the amazing claims of the Old Testament as well.

The museum shows the doubt people have about the Word of God, and the effects of that doubt in a very clear way.

There are several exhibits of live animals, including this huge praying mantis...

An exhibit of "Darwin's" Finch's shows that God created each living thing with individuality and diversity, and these differences point to an amazing Creator, not evolution.

As you walk through the history of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, there are gorgeous exhibits of dinosaurs, and the beautiful stories of the Bible.

Allyson and a dino.

Here, Allyson sees the serpent who will ask Eve the pivotal question, "Hath God said...?"

After the fall of man, enter the predators.

And, the requirement of a blood sacrifice for sin.

Soon, mankind's evil reaches a point where God instructs the one righteous man left, Noah, to build an ark. You can not fully appreciate this exhibit without standing inside this to scale replica of the ark. Amazing!

Noah and his sons build the great "lifeboat".

A beautiful (breathtaking, really) model of the ark being loaded.

The doomed try to survive the flood.

The full image of the ark during the flood.

Inside the ark, Noah and his family are safe.

More views inside the ark.

Mrs. Noah goes to feed some of the animals.

The ark rest on Mt. Ararat.

Noah and his family build an altar, and sacrifice to the Lord.

After the flood, civilization is restored, and soon, brilliant and prideful mankind is at it again.
The museum takes the patron through the tower of Babel. After these exhibits, the story of Jesus is told-"The Last Adam", and people are given a clear presentation of the Gospel.

Upstairs, there is a great dinosaur exhibit!

Check out that T-Rex!

If you and your family are looking for a great place to spend a few days-I would encourage you to check out the Creation Museum. In addition to all of the wonderful exhibits, there were movies, multimedia special effects presentations, a petting zoo, botanical gardens, restaurants, a bookstore, and a wonderful planetarium.

We had a blast, and you will, too!

Yeah, I know, it's been awhile...

2009-02-27T18:23:00.003-05:00

This time of year is non-stop for us, and so I have been terribly neglecting this blog...apologies to all of you readers (how many of you are there? Four now? Woo-hoo!!)

We are knee-deep in Easter play practice at church, in addition to our already-full schedule. The play means being at church every day but Friday for me, and every day, period, for Jason-no day off for four months!! Pray for endurance!

We had a wonderful Christmas, and then we had an awesome time at winter camp. There are tons of pictures on Facebook, you should check them out! The Lord truly blessed us.

Here is a pic of Eric's 4th (yes, I said 4th! I can't believe it either!) birthday! He's such a wonderful boy, and every day he does something that makes us all smile. He's been sick the past few days-he's a real trooper of a patient.

Jason cooked me dinner on Valentine's day: porterhouse steak and baked potatoes-mmm. He and I watched "Fireproof" and we loved it! If you haven't seen it yet, go rent it! As I was thinking about the movie, and Jason and I were talking about it together, I thought about the best marital advice I ever heard (from Dr. Curtis Hutson-great preacher of the past): "Do for your husband and train your husband-never the other way around." That statement is so profound! If we start training our kids to be good husbands and wives, then we will see our children have good marriages. And, if we start doing things for our husbands, instead of trying to re-train them, then we will be happier.

So, what's the best marital advise you ever received?

I have been tagged...

2008-12-23T09:59:00.006-05:00

I have been tagged...

The Fabulous Marianne tagged me and instructed me to do the following:

1. Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
2. Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same!

As scary as that sounds, here I go...tip-toeing to the picture files, I find this is the picture:

This picture was taken at co-op last spring. I am the de-facto photographer for our homeschool co-op, and this picture was taken on Pajama Day. The kids did a service project during chapel that day which involved putting together a large amount of sack lunches for one of the Detroit area homeless shelters. Here, the some of the kids and one of the teacher/moms prays for the people who will receive the lunches. It was a wonderful day, and the kids did a great job putting together all of the lunches. I believe we will be doing the same service project this year.

But wait, there's more! Marianne tagged me to answer some interesting questions, too(hopefully I can make my life sound interesting, anyway):

8 TV shows I watch:

1. 24-can not wait for it to start-but the jerks at FOX have it premiering on a Sunday! Aaaugh! I told Jason I was planning on catching a quick cold that day.
2. ER-we've watched it from episode one. Like, for almost our entire 17 year marraige!
3. What Not to Wear-Ally and I love watching this together
4. Mythbusters-Jason and the kids love it, I think it's a homeschool requirement.
5. House-great show. Quotable even: "You are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day."
6. Fringe-we watched it after House once, and now we are being sucked in against our will.
7. Dirty Jobs-that Mike guy is a riot
8. Iron Chef-every now and then. Battle Cranberry was very intriguing.

8 Favorite Restaurants

(Disclaimer: The downriver metro Detroit area is pretty much devoid of restaurants. I'm just sayin'...)

1. Cracker Barrel-hashbrown cassarole. 'Nuff said.
2. Red Lobster-those stinking biscuits should have a warning label: warning-one can not stop oneself from consuming these things until they fear public vomitting will ensue.
3. Famous Dave's BBQ-awesome briscuit.
4. Kate's Kitchen-local little gem. serious pie. oh my.
5. Pappadeaux-yeah, it's in Houston. There is no need to rub it in. sigh...
6. Pappasitos-almost worth booking the flight and dealing with security to have their fajitas.
7. Olgas-just yummy.
8. LaPita-very nice Middle Eastern food, and the smoothies are amazing!

8 Things that Happened to Me Today:

1. My kids woke me up-there is seriously nothing better than a warm bed full of laughing children on a cold morning.
2. I had a great omelette at IHOP with the fam...Eric shamelessly flirted with the waitresses...hilarious.
3. It snowed for the better part of the day. Yes I know this is just supposed to be stuff that happened to me, but I am taking the snow personally, dang it!
4. I took the boys to shop for a present from them to Allyson while Jason took Allyson to shop for her brothers. Have you ever seen a three year old shop? I wish I would have video-taped it.
5. I got to see the end of "Home Alone". I admit it-I love that movie!
6. I found a jug of dishwasher detergent in the back of the van. It made me laugh.
7. I wrapped the presents the kids got for eachother with Jason tonight.
8. Jason realized he has to go into the office early in the morning...sigh...

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Watching my children grow up
2. Seeing how the Lord directs Jason's ministry.
3. Winter Camp!
4. Seeing how God works in the kids under our ministry
5. This year's Easter play...it will be different this year!
6. Tomorrow night-watching the kids open their gifts.
7. Being together with our extended family...I hope it happens soon!
8. SPRING!

8 Things I Wish For:

(Wish, as used in the Bible, means to "wait with expectation" like, I wish Spring will come. I know it will happen, and I am waiting with expectation for that event to occur!)

1. Heaven
2. Leading Eric to the Lord
3. My children to go into the ministry
4. To be a better wife
5. Finishing the school year ahead of schedule
6. Teaching Eric to read
7. Jason and I to be in the center of God's will
8. SPRING!

OK-now I get to tag some people!

(Disclaimer...I don't even know eight people who blog...lol...)

1. Jeanene
2. Robin

uh...yeah...that's all I am tagging...lol...maybe I need to wish for more blogging friends...lol

Christmas is coming!

Christmas Letters

2008-12-18T16:14:00.002-05:00

I am going to go ahead and admit it: Christmas letters sort of bug me.

That is actually way too politically correct: I can't stand them. Another mom on a homeschool forum was lamenting about the same thing, and her hilarious take on the dreaded Christmas Letter inspired this post. Allow me to share a typical Christmas letter, just so we are all on the same page:

Dear Adoring Fans,

Welcome to our family's Christmas letter, which is the best ever. It was published (on a MacBook, of course) with the latest software, in the coolest font, on the most expensive paper available today. Our marvelous family once again has exceeded your expectations and grown more, done more, earned more, been more cute, and exhibited more Absolute Awesomeness than anyone else you know.

Examples: Our gorgeous daughter, Princess Summer, won the Miss America pageant (again) and will continue her studies at Harvard in January where she will be heading up a research project on the flight patterns of African Swallows and their effect on Global Climate Change. President Elect Obama has requested her to head up the EPA, but being a good conservative, she of course, refused. Her latest album is available for download on Itunes and had debuted at number four on Billboards Top 1oo.

Our son Timmy turned seven and is now taking applications for bus drivers for his upcoming Comedy Tour. Jay Leno has helped him get this tour started, and most shows are sold out already. That gentleman with the funny puppets will be opening for him. We just love that jalepeno pepper!

Once again, the dog won the Westminster Kennel Club's highest prize. He's such a wonderful animal. His Highness Marvelous Marvin Alfred Lord Puppykins always comes when we call him. Oh, we are so blessed!

Jesse has continued to thrive in his position at the New York Stock Exchange, where he runs, well everything. In spite of the economic downturn, he earned fourteen raises this year, and was given eight national commendations, appeared on 32 talk shows as an "expert in his field" and still found time to coach Timmy's Little League team to their fourth straight national title, write the sequel to his best-selling novel, cook dinner three times a week, and rub my feet every night. Sorry girls, the last great man is taken!

I have kept myself busy as well. I finally was able to propagate that blue rose, and the accolades continue to roll in. My part time landscaping business in taking off, and I will begin work on the White House Rose Garden this spring. My night classes for my doctorate in art history are going wonderfully, and the Detroit Art Institute predicts the new wing they are building to house my artwork will be completed on schedule! Mark you calendars for the Summer '09 opening!

Homeschooling is going great-all three kids are reading the complete works of Tolstoy and each one has decided to translate them into a foreign language: the oldest into ancient Sanskrit, the middle child wants to work with Chinese, and the youngest will translate this great literature into Greek. The children all now play at least three instruments each, and are building a lifesize android in the basement.

We smile all day long, we eat every meal together, after which we have a daily devotion which dad has published for each of you. We got to do a bit of traveling this year as well: we started off by heading to Tahoe, then it was off to Disney, a quick trip to the Cape, and this summer, that safari in Africa. In our spare time, we added a new wing onto the house to include that indoor pool we've been wanting, and the putting green for dad. It has been an amazing year!

Assorted mushy gag-inducing closings,

The Perfects

Can I just say "AAAAAAUUUUGH!!!" What I wouldn't give for an honest Christmas letter:

Hey people,

I realize that we haven't written or called or even really thought about you all year, but someone said we gotta write these silly little letters, so here's ours.

We still live here. Drop in any time, but be ready to see laundry to be folded in the living room, dishes in my sink, and every school book the kids own, along with some spilled Kool-aid, half a bowl of cereal, and a week's worth of mail on the dining room table.

We did not go anywhere interesting this year, except for that unfortunate zoo field trip, which I can't discuss, since the lawsuit is still pending.

Dad is still employed.

We still have the dog. He still hates you all. And no, he's not house trained yet. Get over it.

The kids did not attempt to kill one another today. We are marking today in the "success" column.

I don't have time to write anymore, and you don't care what I am saying anyway.

Yeah, well, good bye until next year. Sorry about the spaghetti sauce stains on the envelope.

Love,

The Normals

Typical Homeschooling Morning

2008-12-18T15:33:00.004-05:00

The whole thing is alarmingly normal:

How to do the Grocery Shopping

2008-11-17T15:14:00.003-05:00

(My husband has been encouraging me to write a book for Allyson, and other young people, describing how to do lots of important things in the home. Today, I'll share how I tackle the huge task of grocery shopping.)

Step 1: Determine your needs: How many people are you buying for? What special needs do they have? The Bible teaches us to "look every man on the things of others..." and this is especially true as a mother and as a parent. Be honest and reasonable as you determine both how often you should do the shopping and how much to budget. If your family has $3000 in monthly obligations and $3500 in income, budgeting $500 a month for groceries is not only foolish but unrealistic. Work within your means.

Step 2: Get the Sunday paper: Every weekend, the major paper in your area contains advertisements and coupon bundles that will soon become very valuable to you as you learn how to use these together to save quite a lot of money on the things you need.

Step 3: Make your list: I write my list in sections titled: Produce, Dairy/Frozen Foods, Grocery, Meat, Non-foods, and HBA (Health/Beauty Aids). I make one list for each store I plan on going to that week. Some weeks, I go to one store, some weeks, three. I decide how many stores to go to by determining if the cost to me in gas and extra time merits an additional store added to the trip.

When making the list, consult the advertisements. Look at the sales taking place for the current week at each grocery in your area. I make my main list based on the sale that week that benefits my family's needs the most. Pork chops might be dirt cheap at Kroger, but if that is the only good deal there, I won't be doing my big shopping trip at Kroger that week. I have found I use grocery store/superstore for my main shopping, and a drug store for almost all of my HBA needs.

Many moms plan the menu they will use for the month, and then go shopping for those items they will need. Instead, try making the menu based on what is on sale that week. As you begin shopping by utilizing what is on sale, you will build up a surplus of items and your menu choices will grow.

Example List:

This week, my grocery store has the following on sale:

Philly cream cheese: 4 for $5
Campbell's Cream Soups : 4 for $3
Sarah Lee pies: 1/2 price
10 lbs russet potatoes: 2.88
Land o'Lakes Butter: 2 for $4
Hilshire Farm smoked sausage: 2 for $4
Suave Body wash: $1.77
Loreal Bare Naturale makup: b1g1free

(Not an exhaustive list, but you get the picture)

My drug store also has:

Maxwell House coffee: b1g1free
Revlon lip color or nail color: b1g1free
colgate: b1g1 free

Step Four: Clip Coupons: One my list is complete, I pull out my coupon booklets. I keep them in their original booklets form, not cutting them until I use a particular coupon. I store them in a drawer, oldest on bottom. Going through each booklet, I search for coupons that I can use this week. I can generally find coupons for almost every national brand item I have on my list.

Check the coupon policy for your grocery store. Many stores will double coupons up to $.50, some even to $1. Most drug stores only give face value for coupons used.

I will use the Revlon deal as an example of how one can save:

This coupon gives $1 off any Revlon product.

The sale at my drug store is "Buy one get one free" I will bring two coupons-I will get two items. Lets say I choose two nail polishes. They are generally about $4.50 regular price, but I am getting one free, so that is $2.25 each. When my coupons are credited, I will save another two dollars, making each $4.50 nail polish a steal at $1.25 each, a savings of $3.25 each! Nail polishes and lip glosses are great stocking stuffers, and I also like to donate some to our churches mission store.

Step Five: Shop! Once I have all of my coupons for that trip, and then add any items our family needs that are not on sale that week, I head to the store. I like to go in the evenings, and I like to go alone. Going in the evenings (during the week) means less crowds in my area, and going alone means I can keep to my list without having sweet little hands wanting to add more cocoa puffs into the basket.

I start in the produce section, because produce is essential, and there are never coupons for produce. I determine a set amount for produce each week, and shop according to the sale-if broccoli is on sale, this week, we are eating broccoli!

Next, I go through each aisle of the main grocery section, sticking firmly to my list. Never stray from your list! As I shop, I remove the coupons from the envelope I carry them in, and place them in the back of the envelope. After I have finsished the grocery section, I move on to HBA and non-foods, saving refrigerated items, frozen foods, and meat for last (this keeps the perishables as cold as possible until I get them home.)

When I check out, I try and keep things organixed on the belt-cold stuff together, non-foods and cleaners together, etc. This helps the checker if she has to go back through the receipt to find a price to credit me for on a coupon. It also helps her if a coupons says "buy 2 of..." and she needs to verify that I bought two. Have your coupons ready for the checker-in a neat stack, not a wad of crumpled up papers. I remember being checker. It is not easy to stand on your feet for hours on end. If you give a coupon that is expired or can not be redeemed for some other valid reason, be polite and civil. I have seen people wig out over a $.30 coupon.

I carry my coupons in an envelope, using index cards as dividers labelled the same way my grocery list is catagorized. Read each coupon carefully, and buy the correct number of items the coupon dictates. One is generally allowed to use two coupons for b1g1free sales, and some stores will allow you to use two b1g1free coupons to purchase items essentially for free. Choose the smallest size allowed by the coupon and the sale for the most savings. You will find as you continue to shop in this way, a surplus of items will develop.

In my basement, I have several shelves of groceries, along with extra laundry items, and cleaners. The top shelf of my linen closet has enough hair care products to last our family at least a year, plus extra personal care items of every sort and lots of new make-up that I haven't opened yet!

Shopping this way has taken more effort in planning menus and making lists, but in the end, I save between 25-50% a week on groceries and household items and our family has never been in the position of having to run out for toothpaste or Cascade. I am able to donate items to the church's mission store without increasing my budget at all, and I can use some of the savings on more costly fresh fruits and vegetables for our family. I have actually reduced the amount I spend while increasing the amount of things I purchase.

Give it a try for a month and see how much you can save! Any family size, any place in the country can benefit from using coupons and consulting the ads from your local stores!

There are several websites that do the comparing of ads and coupons for you-check the web! Some sites require a fee, others are free.

Happy Shopping!

Cross-stitching

2008-11-03T14:12:00.003-05:00

One of my hobbies is cross-stitching. I just love it. I can create anything I want with a needle and thread. It is painting-but without the mess and the clean-up, and it's portable. What could be better for an artsy nerd like myself??

Cross stitch is done on fabrics like aida and linen, where the stitches form neat columns and rows of stitches that can easily be stitched over. The size of the stitches is based on the size of the stitches in the fabric. The smaller the fabric stitches, the more intricate and detailed the picture will be.

Cross stitching is a wonderful thing to teach young girls. It teaches patience ("Will I ever finish this thing?), persistance ("It's taken me 45 minutes to get this stupid knot out!"), following directions carefully ("Aw, man, it said three stitches there, and I did four! I have to take all of that out!"), attention to detail, and the joy of being entertained by creating something beautiful, rather than watching some screen or listening to some insipid radio station.

Cross-stitch certainly isn't for everyone. My daughter, for instance, can only stand it for about a half-hour once ever six months or so. She prefers crochet, which is another wonderful fiber art.

If you want to learn cross-stitch, start with a small project, a low-count fabric (the lower the count, the larger the stitches will be), and one that uses bright colors (muted, similar colors are tougher to distinguish when counting). Follow the directions-it's prety straight forward, and enjoy!

Here are a few of the projects I have done...enjoy! Try cross-stitch-it is a blast (and a great way to keep your hands busy when you watch TV).

This teapot was completed on 28 count belfast linen,

and is probably my favorite project that I have completed.

I enjoyed this project, which I completed a few years ago.

This one I did for Jason's office at church.

It is 12"x14", and it took about a year to finish.

This is my most recent project, and it is a wedding gift.
(The wedding is this Saturday! Whew!)
The picture is a painting by Paula Vaughan,
who's work is absolutely stunning.
This piece is smaller than the soldiers,
and took about five months to finish.

My Budding "Ar-Teest"

2008-10-09T16:16:00.003-05:00

Warning: I am about to shamelessly brag on my kid. Continue reading at your own peril...

Kenton is seven. He likes anything remotely related to Marvel superheroes. His enthusiasm for anything wearing a cape is boundless, and his expertise is pretty impressive on the subject.
Kenton likes to spend his free time drawing his favorites, and his drawings are just amazing, so I thought I would share a couple of the recent ones with you:

Note the web-slinging action in this one-way cool!
I love the detail in the costume and the arm-crossing is pretty impressive! I know I could not have done this at his age! Just to clarify-and it's even written on this one-this picture is mine! All Mine! =)
Wow! Check out that detail!

OK, I'm through bragging now. Go back to your previous surfing, but check back here soon!

Comfort food

2008-10-06T15:42:00.002-05:00

Fall's here...

Don't you love how it smells?

I start breaking out the cassarole recipes in the fall: confort food goes real good with crisp fall air, presidential debates, and fleece hoodies. Here are a couple great cassaroles for the fall...enjoy!

King Ranch Cassarole

(Named for the famed King Ranch in south Texas)

1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked, and cut into one-inch pieces
1 vidalia onion, diced
12 corn tortillas, sliced into one-inch strips (cut the long strips in half)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2-1 cup chicken broth
1 can Ro'Tel tomatoes (as spicy as you can stand!)
2 cups Mexican blen shredded cheese (more or less to taste)

Pre-heat oven to 325. Mix the soups, tomatoes and broth together, set aside. In a cassarole dish, layer the tortillas, chicken, onions, cheese, and liquid mixture in that order at least twice, or until all used up. Finish with liquid mixture, and bake for one hour. So yummy!

Cheesy Potatoes

(For some reason, everyone in Michigan loves this stuff...)

1 pkg. (30 oz.) Ore-Ida frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pound diced Velveeta

Mix all this stuff in a 9x13 pan, bake at 350 for 45 minutes, add 1 cup bread crumbs or Durkees Onions and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

Broccoli Ham AuGratin

(I made this up...it's "homemade"-made in my kitchen...lol)

2 boxes Betty Crocker AuGratin potatoes
1 pre-cooked ham slice (those big ones at the grocery), diced
1 pkg. frozen broccoli florets

Mix all ingredients, and bake according to directions for potatos (be sure to follow instructions for preparing two boxes of the potatoes). These boxed potato things lend themselves to all sorts of yummy additions. Make up your own!

Summer Recap

2008-08-27T13:12:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been awhile since I have updated everyone, which is a sure sign that there is a lot to update you on! We have been very busy this summer, and we have some wonderful memories and great pictures to share with all of you:

We went to the Detroit Zoo with GeeGaw and Grandma, who got to come for a visit a few weeks ago.
We had several of our Bible college girls over for ice cream before they all left for school. Pictured left to right are Nancy, Jessica, Ashley and Dana. Also there, but not pictured were Marsha and Caitlin
VBS! Oh man-what a riot! Jason broke every known fashion rule and had all the kids laughing until stuff came out of their noses with his Professor Little routine. His hilarious assistant, Nate, tried in vane to bring some sanity to the festivities. We had a great week-sixty-six children saved, orange kool-aid and sandwich cookies everywhere, and the Great Pie in the Face Offering Extravaganza every night...VBS is a great week. Kenton won a new Bible for memorizing the most verses in his age-group! Way to go, son!

In his spare time, (yeah, right) Jason and Eric kept up with the household maintenance.
We grew one pepper plant, and one grape tomato plant, and one beefsteak tomato plant. (Gardening scares me.) Those peppers were awesome, and the tomatoes we could catch before Eric ate them were delicious!
Summer Camp season this year was amazing. Above is the camp picture for Junior Camp. Aren't those little soldiers precious?? We had thirteen kids saved, and many wonderful decisions made for the Lord. This years theme was "In the Lord's Army". Jason actually had access to a howitzer, which they fired several times. I have never seen him smile so big! Next year, Jason wants the theme to be "Prison Camp". Oh, my....
Kenton, a.k.a. Cassanova, here flirts with Savannah Godsey, the Camp Evangelist's daughter. That boy is all charm.
Here are the three coolest kids alive at the zoo art exhibit. Kenton is on the right, Eric the Great is in the middle, and Allyson is on the right.

Summer has been jam packed, and we are excited for what fall has in store! Check back soon for more updates and cute kid pics!

How to Help Kids Get the Most Out of Big Church

2008-07-24T14:57:00.005-05:00

Eric enjoying the Big Church service

Parents nationwide are experiencing a crisis that no one really talks about these days:

The church's children's workers are on Summer Break. Aaauuugh!!

What's a parent to do? Do we send all the younguns to the nursery (offering to compensate the workers monetarily if need be), even though the oldest is twelve? Do we just stay home on Sunday and Wednesday nights until the workers come back to man their posts? Do we brave the auditorium, knowing that we'll be in and out for at least seventeen potty emergencies, our mouths will be bone dry from "power-shushing" for forty-five minutes straight, we will have to listen to little Johnny sing the all of the songs real real loud, a measure behind everyone else, and we will be peppered with icy stares from people who are thinking (sometimes out loud), "My kids would never do that!" (Note: people who say things like that have not had any children.) The turmoil is real, my friends. Oh, yes, it is real.

I think children's church, choirs, and other kid's programs are wonderful tools that benefit the spiritual growth of children, but there is real value in having the young children in the main auditorium listening to their pastor. In many churches today, the vast majority of children couldn't pick their pastor out of a line-up, and they have never heard the man speak, much less actually met and talked with him. This is a tragedy, and summertime is a great time to rectify the situation.

Toward that end, and in an effort to ease the minds of parents and other church attendees everywhere, here are some things I have found that help kids adjust to "Big church".

1. Have High Expectations.

You get what you expect from children. If you expect chaos, you'll get it. On the other hand, i you expect good behavior, you will get that, too. The thing is, you must tell the children specifically (key word!) what you expect from them:

When someone prays aloud, you pray, too, but silently. You bow your head and close your eyes, and listen carefully to what he says.
When you are asked to stand, you stand.
When you are asked to sit, you sit. You sit like a lady or a gentleman, and not like a bum watching a baseball game on the couch.
When you are told to sing, you sing as best as you can.
When special music is going on, you listen politely and quietly.
When preaching is going on, you pay attention, learn all you can, and let the LOrd work in your heart.
You do not make unnecessary noises or movements unless you are on fire. You do not ask to leave the auditorium unless you are about to throw-up or spontaneously combust.

If you keep your standards high, and the kids slip, they won't slip as low as they would were the standards lower.

2. Help kids meet your expectations.

Kids need help developing the skills it takes to maintain self-control and attention during a worship service. Provide them with tools to help them. Here are some things that have helped us:

The List: Once the preacher names his text, quickly glance over it, and make a list of five to ten words for the child to listen for. Have them keep a tally of how often they hear the preacher say those words. You can add words to the list as the sermon goes on, as you hear recurring themes. This gives the child something to physically do (especially important for boys) while also concentrating on the message.

The Race: Once your kids can read, and they have a good grasp of where the books of the Bible are, have a race to the text once the preacher names it. First one to the text is rewarded after the service, as long as good behavior is maintained. Sometimes the rewards can be little, but change things up from time to time, and make the reward something bigger, like a new basketball, or letting them pick the lunch destination, and order dessert.

The Follow-Along With Me: If you are blessed enough to go to a church that uses the hymnal, let the child hold the book with you, and follow along with your finger. I can't remember when I actually figured it out, but constant years of doing this as a child helped me understand how to read music-what a blessing!

Praise!: When the children do well in the service, praise them at home-tell them how proud you are of them. When in the service, praise them to others, when they think you don't know they are listening. (side note: when they mess up, remember they are learnng, and that even though they are young, we as parents must respect them: correct them, and punish if need be, in private.)

Meet the Preacher: Introduce the kids to the pastor. Let them talk with him and ask him questions. If they get to know him, they will probably like him, especially if they find out about his secret candy drawer in his desk, and his ability to do the Rubik's cube in twenty-two seconds, or his ridiculous knowledge of all of the Laffy Taffy jokes ever written.

Be an example: Whatever you do a little, they'll do a lot. If you dig in your purse looking for that elusive piece of gum, and take a sec to check your lipstick, text a friend, and add something to your grocery list, little Suzie will spend thirty minutes irritating the entire congregation rifling (loudly) through her Strawberry Shortcake Pretty Pink Purse.

Timing Matters: Make a habit of taking everyone to the Tinkletorium right before the service, and firmly establish that "You ain't leavin' unless you're on fire" rule. If the kids will starve to death if they don't have a snack before the service is over, give them a snack before the service, not during. There is nothing more irritating than the mom who brings a stinking picnic basket with her and her seven brats to the third pew. They won't die. Leave the snacks outside of the auditorium.

As your children grow, they will mature, and get more and more out of the "Big Church" service. In fact, they will come to treasure that time. Remember, the Bible commands us to train our children in the way they should go, and training them to be still in church is so important, because when we are still, we can learn that He is God.

How to Destroy Your Faith

2008-07-14T13:02:00.002-05:00

My homeschool geek forum is buzzing...one of the mainstays-a super-geek, as it were, has come out and announced (literally-he posted a new thread announcing this) that he is an atheist.

The geekroom has lost its footing.

See, the SuperGeek was once a staunch advocate of the whole Christian thing: he claimed to be born-again, he knows his bible, he used to go church, the whole nine yards. But now, the unthinkable has happened, and he actually denies the existance of the One he spent much of his life supposedly devoted to. For him, apparantly there is not enough credible evidence.

Now, for some of us in the geek room, this announcement was not a surprise. There were obvious signs. I'd like to share them with you all, in an effort keep someone else from falling off the turnip truck.

1. SuperGeek quit going to church. The bible clearly tells us that church and collective worship with other believers is vital to our Christian growth.

2. SuperGeek was not a bible student, but a bible scholar. Big diff: the student is humble, the scholar is seeking to correct the textbook and question the teacher. He was indeed "ever seeking, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth". The bible says "faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God." If you convince yourself the word of God is full of mistakes, your faith will shatter on such a shaky foundation.

3. SuperGeek was consumed with himself. Every thought and action of this man seems to be self-serving. He over analyzed his own faith. Always looking inward, questioning his faith and his actions that stemmed from that faith, he neglected sharing his faith with others, and his faith just shrank.

4. To try to stop his crisis of faith, SuperGeek looked to different denominations and religions. Instead of turning to God's Word, he turned to whatever scholarly type he could find in the Christian bookstore, various different faiths, and science. Sure enough, by neglecting turning to God's word and prayer, in repentance and with humility, he continued his downward spiral.

And so now, he is a one-man wrecking ball on my geek forum. Since he was obviously the smartest "Christian" there, and he's denied it, so many other geeks are questioning their faith. It is the most depressing thing I've seen in a long time, and I have watched more than one Todd Bentley video.

The Bible says "an heretick after the first and second admonition reject". However, so many in the Geekroom are still conversing with SuperGeek on this topic. In their arrogance, they think if they say just one more stunningly brilliant thing, he'll get back on the Happy Train. And, instead, the more they try, the more their own faith rattles. God knows what he's talking about. Part of Christianity is trust-we must trust the Lord in these areas as well as trusting Him to save our souls.

Please pray for the SuperGeek. He's a husband and a father, and his influence is, well...large.

In Defense of the Hymn

2008-06-14T18:23:00.002-05:00

I responded to another blog post about hymns, and I thought I would post that thought here for y'all:

In Defense of the Hymn
(To the tune of "There is a Fountain")

There are songs so sweet and special
They outlast the new stuff by a hundred years,
And if you pay attention while you sing
You'll stain the page with tears.

You will stain the page with tears,
You'll stain the page with tears.
If you pay attention while you sing,
You will stain the page with tears.

They speak of Jesus and say His name.
There is no confusion there.
You know you sing of the Lord's dear love,
"Him" or "You" could not compare!
"Him" or "You" could not compare!
You'll know you sing of the Lord's dear love,
"Him" or "You" could not compare.

There is doctrine in those dear old songs
That makes some preachers scared.
There is the blood, the cross, and the Risen King
Real conviction's waiting there.

Real conviction's waiting there,
Real conviction's waiting there.
There's the blood, the cross, and the Risen King,
And conviction's waiting there.

For, you see, the hymn is not about
"What can Jesus do for me?"
Instead, these songs cry,
"Here am I. I'll Go! Dear Lord, send Me!"

"I'll go, dear Lord, send me!"
"I'll go, dear Lord, send me!"
Instead these songs cry,
"Here am I, I'll go, dear Lord send me."
---------------------------------
Hymnwriters had no secondary motive, however noble. They were not trying to feed families, get airplay, be famous, raise money, get a Dove, crossover into the mainstream, nothing. The hymn is pure, undiluted worship. I think it is a tragedy that we have substituted a fair amount of Christian bubblegum for some really valuable meat that takes a bit more effort to chew.
Look up the history of "It is Well With My Soul" and "He Keeps Me Singing". The stories of these priceless hymns will be a blessing to each of you.

Keeping it Real

2008-06-08T13:07:00.002-05:00

Yo, holmes (homes? homies?).
Good grief, I can't even pull that off in a blog, much less in "real life".

Every time I turn around these days, people are trying to "Keep it real", man. Especially Christians, who are actually just pretending to be Randy Jackson, hosting their own personal American Idol telethon. They'll confess openly to all manner of heinous sins just to "keep it real". They will dress however they want at church, because they are "keeping it real, dawg". Folks talk like they spend more time at hip-hop concerts than in God's Word, just to keep it real.

It's sounding real fake, if you ask me.

Apparantly, people think the most important thing is "authenticity". And, when you listen to some Christians today, being authentic sounds quite alot like the world sounds. There is a very tangible arrogance involved when folks give a testimony and it is a play by play, complete with soundtrack and laugh-track, of all of their sin. It is almost as if they are saying, "See, I'm still cool-look at all this fun stuff I used to do!" Kinda like they miss it...

I love the line in "The African Queen", when Kate Hepburn tells Bogey that human nature is "something we were placed on this earth to overcome." Ding-ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Kate is right-we ought not glory in our past sinfulness. Instead, we should bring attention to what the Lord has done for us.

He saved us with His blood, He wants to changed our hearts, He is molding us into His own image.

If we want to be "authentic" Christians, we need to be humble. Humility does not draw attention to oneself, it draws attention to Christ. Humliity is not going to give you a detailed rap sheet, but humility will say, "The Lord has been good to me. He brought me up out of the miry clay, stablished my goings, and placed my feet upon a rock." When the Prodigal came back, (an "authentic" Christian if ever there was one), his father did not want the details. He did not care about the past.

We shouldn't either. Let it go.

How to Keep it Really Real

1. Pray. For real. Involve some confession of sin. Be specific. If you can't think of anything, guess.

2. Read the Bible. The real one-the KJV. I have a feeling that Christians will discover they have been reading a "reasonalble facsimile thereof" if they actually dared to read the Real Thing.

3. Go to church like you mean it. Wear a dress. It doesn't hurt, trust me. Oh, and real men wear ties.

4. Sing a hymn. From the hymnal, not the stinkin' overhead. Hold that book. Smell it. Sing every verse, including the third one. True authentic Christianity is found in two places: the KJB, and the hymnal.

5. Listen to the preaching. Not the "sharing" (gag), or the "talking" (puke), the preaching. If all you get is sharing and talking, find yourself some preaching. Take notes. Read them later. Go on, get crazy and sit in the front.

6. Participate in the invitation. If your church no longer does an invitation, ask the pastor to bring it back. There is no time folks are more "real" than at the altar. Make a decision for the Lord. Seal it at the altar like you really mean it. Follow through. Really.

I believe most places that are obsessed with "keeping it real" wouldn't know Real if it came and sat in their lap. Real Christians, and real churches aren't concerned with their "authenticity" or their image, or whatever else occupies the thoughts of the "Keeping it real" crowd. Real Christians are just out there serving the Lord, loving their families, and meekly inheriting the earth.

Va-Ca!

2008-05-16T17:41:00.023-05:00

YEA!! We had an awesome vacation.

Come along and see all we did:

We drove to Tennessee to spend the day with GeeGaw.

We picked honeysuckles, ate pancakes and had a wonderful visit.

Jason and GeeGaw even had time for a chat out back in the evening.
On our way out the next morning, we stopped at MeeMaw's gravesite.
We travelled all day. It was really obvious when we reached Texas:
When we got to Houston, the first thing everyone wanted to do is hug Grandma!
And then, of course, we all had to hug Jazzy!
The cousins-looking cute!
And Uncle Jake-the Baby Guru!
I am afraid we wore Charlie out:

Auntie Jenn brought presents which the kids loved:
We took a drive downtown-it's just amazing!
And we went to the Houston Zoo with Grandma
We saw some wonderful animals

And we had a great time together
Isn't he cute? We couldn't fit him in the van, so he had to stay
Eric loved the meercats:
Aunt Laurie was so much fun!

And the cousins had a blast together, especially boxing with the Spidey Aunt Jenn brought

On Friday, we met our dear friends, the Greens-missionaries to the deaf in Merida, Mexico. These are their kids: Caitlin and Dallas
We met at the Transco Tower (which someone had the audacity to rename the Williams Tower) and Water Wall. The Water Wall is on one end of the field, and the Tower is on the other.
Here is a view of the tower looking straight up. It's a monster:
We then went to the Galleria and had cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory!

Say "amen" right there!

Dallas and Kenton
Goofy kids...
Bill and Jennifer Green
Eric

This is my dear friend Chelly, who I have known since the 10th grade
Grandma and Jazzy
Jason and Jazzy
Chelly and Allyson

Eric and Jazzy
At Uncle Jeremy's house, an arm-wrestling contest broke out...

between the ladies! Here, Aunt Laurie shows off her "mommy guns"!

The cousins: (l-r: Eric, Adriana, Allyson, Kaitlynn, and Kenton)

One of my favorite pictures of the trip:

The Bruces

We went to Laurie's for bbq. Dude, the girl can cook!
The kids swam in the pool
Aunt Chelly was able to get us two tickets to the Astro's game...

in the second row!! Jason and I had a blast!
Can you believe these seats?!?

Auntie Jenn and Eric
Our last night-the three Little Kids, all grown up

Jeremy, Jennifer, and Jason

I haven't even scratched the surface of all the fun we had, and all the friends and family we saw. One of the best parts of the trip was having everyone together to hear Jason preach at Bruce and Marti's church, Christchurch Baptist Fellowship. What a wonderful church! The people were so sweet and friendly. The pastor, Dr. Johnny Pope, is a wonderful man, a great preacher, and he was so kind to us. Jason and I got to have a great meal with Dr. Pope and his wife before the service on Wednesday. The Popes were great fun to hang out with, and they are Godly examples for anyone to look up to.

We left early Thursday morning, sooner than any of us wanted to, and drove to Tenessee. We spent the night again with GeeGaw, woke up at 4 a.m. and drove back to Michigan, where everything is in bloom.

We had such a wonderful time, but man, now we are pooped!
Thanks so much to all of you who prayed for us as we traveled, loved on us while we were in Houston, and missed us while we were gone. We love you all!

I Got Tagged...

2008-04-21T15:03:00.002-05:00

It didn't hurt, really!

(BTW...the kid's b-day blogs are below this, and they are way more interesting!)

Marianne, my wonderful sis-in-law, tagged me from her blog, and now I am duty bound to respond (do the Internet Police enforce this stuff?), so here goes:

I must tell all of you seven weird things about myself. Shrinking the list to seven will be tough, but not as tough as listing seven normal things about myself...

Weird Thing #1. When I was a kid, I thought the absolute yummiest thing in the wide world was a piece of white bread slathered in French's Classic Yellow Mustard. Delish!

Weird Thing #2. I have almost non-existant little-toe toenails. There ain't enough toenail there to even try to paint. I have gone from believeing I was completely deformed to now just being plain weird. Sigh...

Weird Thing #3. If I love a book, I will read it roughly ten times. Certain books I have read so often, I can quote entire portions of them off the top of my head, like "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother, Jem, got his arm badly broken at the elbow...." oops..sorry...like I said, weird. (Two extra credit points if any of you know what book that is!)

Weird thing #4. I can't stand Nickolodeon cartoons. I have serious issues with them. I could actually rant and rave about how completely awful they are. Seriously, do not get me started!

Weird Thing #5. I secretly long to be an Interior Designer. I actually have a binder full of pictures and clippings from old magazines of tons of beautiful homes and yards and rooms. Not only do I own this ridiculous thing, but I look at it frequently, and add to it from time to time.

Weird Thing #6. I would love to write a book. I sit down and start books all the time, but I can never get past the first few paragraphs-the planning and structure of the plot gets me every time. I just want to sit down and write the Great American Novel with no research, planning, or forethought whatsoever. Weird.

Weird Thing #7. When I was young, I always knew I would marry a preacher. I love being a preacher's wife. How weird is that??

And now, I am supposed to Tag some other folks...lol...I don't actually know seven other bloggers, so I will tag just a couple...

Jeanene, a wonderful friend and new mommy
Jeremy, Marianne's very witty husband, and my bro. in law.

I'd also like to tag the candidates in this year's presidential election, but they never answer the question that was actually asked anyway, so I won't waste my time...lol...sigh...

Birthday Girl

2008-04-21T14:45:00.003-05:00

Well, guess who had a birthday...I know, I can't believe it either: our little Allyson is twelve! Twelve! She is really growing up good-I am so proud of her.

We opened presents on Friday afternoon...
Allyson loves scrapbooking!
Mom and Dad thought it would be hilarious to give her a bag full of hangers.

She thinks we are a little weird.
So, we had to give her the clothes, too.
Isn't she beautiful?
She's as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
Oh, yeah-we had to give her some black olives-they are her favorite!

Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Birthday Boy

2008-04-07T20:16:00.002-05:00

Kenton is seven. I can't believe it either. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday by having a few friends over for a Backwards Party. We had a wonderful time, although we were unsuccessful in reversing the age process in the children.

This is Kenton and his good friend Jonah, sporting the very finest in Backward attire for the party. Yes, their jeans are on backwards, too.
The syrup bottle is on the table because we obviously had to serve breakfast for our dinner guests!
Kenton is now the proud owner of a Spidey skateboard. Watch out!
I love seeing them grow. Kenton has such a sweet spirit, and a loving heart (unless he and dad are wrestling, then he's fearless, and he has no mercy!). Sigh...

Rose Street Wrestling

2008-03-29T18:42:00.004-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :

Coming soon to a living room near you:

Rose Street Wrestling

Starring Big Bad Dad, and Little Skinny Stud

Special Guest Star: Eric the Menace

See amazing feats of strength and agility

Thrilling throws!

Awesome holds!

This, my friends, is more entertaining that Ninja Warior,

more exciting M.M.A.,

and baby, this is for real!

The calm after the...play

2008-03-25T00:06:00.003-05:00

The play is over for another year. 73 souls walked the aisles and professed Christ-what an amazing sight. I will never get over sitting on the platform watching them come forward, scared, excited, joyful, apprehensive, but all coming. God is so good.

Jason's birthday was crazy with the play this year-he's not had a moment's rest yet. Tomorrow, he has the morning off, then it's off to the college to take his place at Cross America. This year, he's the Goofy Game Guy.

The kids are growing like weeds. Their personalities are becoming so distinct. Kenton had a pretty big role in the play this year, and people kept telling him what a great job he was doing (he was, too-the kid can act, wait till you see the dvd!). The last night, after the performance ended, some of the folks onthe front row motioned him over to compliment him. He goes right up there (mind you-he doesn't know these people from Adam), shakes their hands and introduces himself like he's Something Special in the acting world. It was hilarious.

Eric, on the other hand, is completely fascinated with the back-stage goings-on. Our set director is always running back and forth hammering something, sawing something, working the dry-ice machine, setting stuff up, taking stuff apart, messing around with fake blood, and Eric is his little shadow. He was totally thrilled to get to help scrub blood stains out of the carpet after the performance. He said to anyone who cared to listen, "When I get big, I'm gonna do Mr. Acie's job!"

Allyson is going to be twelve any minute now. (Actually, not until the 18th, but you know how time flies.) She has been on the special music schedule for the last two months. She has an amazing voice. No formal training, no nothing, but she's got power and maturity and musical ability that I couldn't even fake at that age.

Now, we enter the calm before the storm...we have a couple months before summer camps begin. We'll need every minute to recover from the play, but our anticipation and excitement about camp grows every day: military theme! Dude, we are gonna get to blow stuff up! We are gonna make PVC guns and have a giant marshmallow war! It's gonna be awesome!

I gotta get to bed...

It is still snowing. Still.

2008-03-05T15:36:00.002-05:00

I'm cranky.

Here it is March, and last night, six (6!) inches of snow landed in our laps. Like Dr. Hamblin says, that's enough to make a stone weep. March in Michigan is not for the weak.

Or the patient.

Or the native southerner.

Sigh.

Oddly enough, the native-born Michiganders in the house, aside from Jason, are not at all upset that it's still snowing out. The boys played outside like it was the best thing ever. My bad attitude never looked so bad.

But, the snow brings out the chivalrous side of the neighbors: When my neighbor with his massive snow blower sees me and Ally out with our little shovel, it's like the man can not wait to rush over to help. If only we could invent a huge gas-powered laundry machine or vaccuum cleaner. "Pardon me ma'am-I've got the Craftsman Laundry-Folder 7000, lemme take care of those sheets and towels for you!"

Busy Days...

2008-02-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I need to first apologize for being such a terrible blogger-camp has been over for more than a month, and this is the first minute I have had to update. We have been busy. The kids are very busy with their school work. Allyson is writing a book (!) for her co-op writing class, and she's taken up sculpting in art-she loves it-must be Gramma's genes.
Kenton has been very busy too. He is learning to count money, reading all about maps and ships and the Assyrians. We finished "Red Sails to Capri" and now Kenton knows the beautiful secret of that great book-go get it and read it to your kids-it's wonderful. Talk with an Italian accent while you read it-it is so much fun.
We have been working on a great puzzle that is helping us with our geography skills, oh, and our patience as well. We finshed the puzzle map yesterday, and are now free to use the dining room table for actual mealtime...lol.

But, the biggest news is in the next pictures: Kenton was baptised today. He was saved when he was almost five, and we have been waiting to have him baptised-Kenton does not like water. In fact, he hates the water. It is a big deal for Kenton to venture into a swimming hole of any size. We tried to teach him to swim at camp the past two years, and while he's doing much better, he is still pretty leary of the water.
But, Kenton wants to be baptised. He asked Dad to help him practice, and they did in the tub for a long time. Finally, this past week, Kenton said he was ready, and today, he was baptised. What a blessing! When the pastor asked him if he knew Jesus as his personal Savior, Kenton answered, loud and proud, "Oh, yes, sir!" What a beautiful brave testimony Kenton gave today.
Eric has been busy too-he's learning to be a "big boy" now, and he's doing really well. He's not still long enough to get his picture taken. I'll have to take an action shot of him for next time!

Winter Charge 2007

2008-01-01T15:51:00.001-05:00

We spent a few days in between Christmas and New Years at camp with the teens, and did we ever have a great time!

We did some Octopus Bowling-way fun, although there were some technical difficulties: the slimy octopus kept sticking to the icy pond.
We built some awesome snow forts, and had the Be All and End All of Snowball Wars.

Camp really wore out Eric...
And it had some weird effects on the girls.
But, the Lord was with us, and His Spirit moved amoung us.
Jason did a wonderful job of planning, organizing and leading us.

Here is the beautiful porch in front of the dining hall. There are no nails in the porch-it is completely constructed of wood, including the pegs used to connect the beams together.

We had a super time, and we are looking forward to Summer Camp now. Our theme this summer is "The Lord's Army". We can't wait!

Box Day!

2007-12-17T21:28:00.000-05:00

Some of you may be unaware of this, but home-schoolers celebrate a unique holiday: Box Day. This is the day when the New School Books arrive, and it is a thrilling, wonderful, busy day.

Today was Box Day at our house.

Dad brings in the treasures...

Allyson can hardly wait to dive in...

Now, government school kids tragically miss out on this experience, which is terrible. I overheard Allyson say,"This is better than Christmas morning!" The boys are not quite as enthusiastic about Box Day as Allyson, but they are getting close.

Kenton checks out one of his new books, Five True Dog Stories

As with all Major Holidays, a big mess is usually imminent. After we pulled out all of our new books, dvds, cds, computer programs, and workbooks, each of us found something we just couldn't put down, and ignored the mess for a while.

What mess? Ooh-check this out, dad!

We had another Important Milestone today: Kenton, age six, lost his first tooth! It popped right out while we were doing math this morning. Kenton is very excited, especially since the pastor told him the Tooth Fairy always leaves at least $100 for the first tooth.
Kenton, showing off his fabulous new smile, and his tooth

Allyson has almost finished a book about Sheherazade, and took another book upstairs with her tonight. For a kid who has really been looking forward to the Christmas break, she's certainly diving into the new school stuff...of course, she hasn't had to write any reports on these new books...yet.

Happy December

2007-12-05T14:15:00.000-05:00

The Christmas season is upon us! We have gotten all of the leaves raked, and we are ready for the snow to start falling. The kids are getting excited about Christmas, and about camp soon afterward. Today, it is snowing, and they spent a good part of the day out in it.

We put up our Christmas tree last night-Eric was amazed by it. He loves the ornaments-he'll take them off of the tree, snuggle them, and then try to put them back on again. It's adorable.

During school today, it was snowing pretty good, so we took a break after math and played outside (gotta love home-schooling). Eric filled up his dump truck with snow, and dumped it on Allyson.

When they came in, we had hot cocoa and spelling tests, and then cut out snowflakes for the windows. I love days like this. It has been full of those small special every-day memories that hopefully will be cherished as the kids get older.

The Lord has been good to us today, and He will continue to be good to us. Everywhere I look during this time of year, I see His blessings to me.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T11:15:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! We travelled a couple hours north to Uncle Jamie and Aunt Phyliss' home and spent the day with their family. The kids played in the first snow (!) of the season and we upheld the tradition of sitting around watching the Detroit Lions lose, this time to Green Bay. (Is Brett Favre on Social Security yet?? That dude is OLD!)

A bummer-Jason was sporting a nice 102 degree fever when we got home, and is sacked out on the couch with Ally, who is also feeling a little rough. They are watching a Ninja Warrior marathon, and drinking hot tea.

Our sugar maples are totally baren now, and the cold weather is upon us. There are homes laden with Christmas decorations and lights already, and I am itching to have some hot cocoa. The kids are practicing and preparing for their Christmas Showcase at co-op next month, and also a Sunday School program.

It's Black Friday, and I have come to the wonderful conclusion that whatever participation in this day I can muster can be done from the comfort of my own home via the internet! Who needs the hastle of going out when I can fill my cart with a click and no line!

In all of the hustle and bustle of December, I am trying not to forget about yesterday-Thanksgiving. We have so much to thank the Lord for, and I know there is so much more He will bless us with.

Playing Catch...up

2007-11-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

So, with all of this Harvest Carnival hoopla, home-school, piano lessons, Bible Institute, and something else...isn't there always something else?...I am a bit behind doing the laundry.

*sigh*

(By the way, I will gratefully accept all offers of help...just throwing that out there...lol)

The Harvest Carnival was a big success-we had lots of help, and lots of really cute kids: Kenton dressed up as Noah-complete with beard, hardhat, and tool belt. A little toddler girl named Allison came in dressed as the cutest chicken you ever saw, with a sign around her neck that read, "Have you seen Noah?" We all cracked up over that one.

Now that that big project is behind us, we will begin to gear up for the next one: Winter Camp! Winter Camp is such a shot in the arm for the teens-we really look forward to it each year. Man-I need a nap...pray for us!

I can't begin to describe the beauty of the fall this year-the trees are simply stunning-there is no other word. Sometimes, as we are driving around, I find myself just catching my breath-there is so much beauty in the fall. This October was glorious, weatherwise-today, it's in the 60's!

Well, the kids are waking up, and dinner won't cook itself, so I will leave you all for now...

Cool, crisp, and crazy

2007-10-23T18:03:00.000-05:00

Fall.

Fall!

I just love autumn...I love the way the air feels more alive, the colors are just stunning and there's just nowhere you'd rather be than outdoors. The kids are wanting to be outside more than they want to play the new Star Wars xbox game dad got them. Ahhhhh....bliss.....

We are knee deep in preparations for the Harvest Carnival. This year we are going to do a trip around the world-a missions focus. The kids don't get to participate in the Mission's Conference and learn about the missionaries like the adults do, so it will be informative and fun for them. One week to go! Whoa! Pray!

Cold Case

2007-10-08T18:14:00.000-05:00

I'm wondering when courtesy died.

Actually, I think Courtesy was killed. By Self-Absorbsion. Figures she's have a hyphenated name. I think when the mantra, "I just want to do what makes me happy" replaced "In God We Trust" as the national motto, Courtesy was pretty much sunk.

I wonder if Courtesy was killed in a fit of rage, or of she was the victim of a pre-meditated murder.

I think it happened sometime after WWII, although perhaps it was a bit more recent. Evidence of a WWII dating is the fact that all subsequent U.S. military missions have been met with an unbelievable amount of whining on behalf of the "we just want everyone to be happy" crowd. To hear them tell it, performing a sworn duty with honor can not possibly result in anything good.

The murder could have happened when prayer and the Bible was removed from schools, thereby effectively getting rid of seemingly outdated notions like, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Phillipians 2:4).

It's possible that Courtesy was killed in one of the major battles in the War for Convenience, when the decision was handed down from the Supreme Court in the Roe v. Wade case.

In all of these instances, Courtesy's enemies, Selfish Motives, Selfish Pride, and Self-Absorbed Attitudes, grew ever more powerful. We are now seeing what happens when we live in a world without Courtesy:

People no longer listen to each other.
Respect for authority is out the window.
God needs to conform to man's image, instead of the other way around.
Children are spoiled, disrespectful, and rude, and grow up to be more so.
Manners are seen as weakness.
Hateful language, cursing, and yelling are commonplace in many homes, not to mention on television, the radio, the internet and the movie screen.
People tune out whatever is not entertaining them at the moment.

Courtesy is survived by Diligence, Faithfulness, Loyalty, Dependability, and Self-Control, who are all living in hiding, and are only seen out in public on very rare occasions, as they are fearful for their lives.

There is a small underground resistance that is seeking to protect the surviving family members of Courtesy. You can find them if you are searching for them, but they are often off of the Social Grid, so to speak-they don't often congregate at movie theatres, concert halls, internet cafes, around radios playing anything on the FM dial and most things on the AM dial, or even on government school property. They are quite conspicuous, however, because they say thing like, "No, you first, " and "Yes, sir," and "I'm finished, can I do anything else to help", and "No, you take the last piece of pie". They have an odd habit of looking people in the eye, and working on a project until it is completed, and completed well.

My family and I are a part of the Resistance. Shhh...don't tell anyone. You can join our little club. We hold our meetings on Sundays in churchs all over. Here's the secret password: "Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32.

Cheer up, church...

2007-10-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

Pastor Hitts went home to be with the Lord last night, just as Jason was about to take the pulpit and preach. For those of you who don't know him, Pastor Hitts was a living miracle, and a valient soldier for our Lord.

Pastor Hitts suffered terribly from diabetes, and the disease stole his legs. He went through the torture of dialysis weekly and had a zillion complications, pains, and demoralizing consequences that come with being in poor health, but the thing that I remember about him is how much he treasured church.

We whine and moan about getting up, having to iron stuff, and all of the other petty stupid things we complain about when it comes to getting ourselves to church, but Pastor Hitts, even in great physical agony, with the help of his amazing faithful wife, would come whenever he could, in a suit, with a smile, and sit in the front pew, in rapt attention to the service, from the opening hymn through the closing prayer, treasuring it all.

I remember hearing him pray, "Dear God, thank you for allowing us to be here today..." and try to hold back his tears. We pray that all the time, and don't really mean a word of it. He treasured church.

Pastor Hitts preached a couple of times before he died. The last time, he did it only by the strength and grace of God. It was a miracle to see. He was not able to physically do it-to stand there, to preach his guts out, but the Holy Spirit held him up, and truly empowered him to deliver the message God had given him to us, those privileged enough to hear it.

I will miss him. I will miss his example.

A song keeps ringing in my ears, and I'll post the lyrics here:

Cheer Up Church-written by Charlie Peacock

His was a voice fueled by truth
That spoke to us of god's grace
In a way we could understand
And take hold of.

His was a life defined by grace
For a time, and for a reason,
And so we pause, and give thanks to God
For the life of our brother.

It's just like God to make
A hero from a sinner.
It's just like God to choose
The loser, not the winner.
It's just like God to tell
His story through the weak,
To let the Gospel speak
Through the life of a man
Who would be the first to say,

"Cheer up church.
You're worse off than you think.
Cheer up, church
You're standing at the brink.
Don't despair, do not fear,
Grace is near."

We certainly are worse off than we think. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Couple's Retreat

2007-09-24T13:58:00.001-05:00

We had such a nice time at the camp this weekend. We went for our church's couple's retreat. Of course, we brought our kids along, so, for us, it was a sort-of family/couple's retreat.

The weather was magical, the food was great (steak on Friday night!), the Gilliams were super-as usual, and the preaching was just what I needed. Dr. David Carr from Midwestern was our speaker.

We actually did get to spend a lot of time together as a couple, due to the fact that our kids and the Gilliam's kids are pretty much inseperable when they are together. They played, and we hung out-it was ideal!

One of our "assignments" was to see how many different types of leaves we could collect, so we went for a little walk in the woods. Leave it to Jason to be the only one who can go for a walk on a 100+ acre campsite, and end up on someone elses' land! He was never lost, mind you, and we were only 15 minutes late for lunch! After all of that walking, we lost the leaf project: Pastor and Mrs. Debbie had all of their leaves labelled. Pretty impressive. And-Jim and Glenda had stuff like lettuce and decorator plastic fall leaves from off of the tables in their collection.

After lunch, we rode in the Geo. Jason drove-blindfolded. I told him where to go. For some reason, I kept pointing. "Go THIS way!!" Ha! I'm an idiot! We drove through an obstacle course-it was so funny. Jason couldn't even tell if he was moving or not-weird, huh?

On the way home, we went to Rockford. Every fall, Rockford has their outdoor farm market. We got blackberries the size of cherries-oh. my. word. Yummy is all I can say. We ate at Arnie's-the converted old mill, and it was delicious. After that we got an icecream, which Eric promptly decided to wear. Rockford is such a charming town-if you ever get the chance, go spend a weekend there.

We are back home, back to school, back to regular old real life: Meatloaf for dinner, and long division. Regular old real life is really not so bad. Even my meatloaf is pretty good!

Quotes...

2007-09-17T12:16:00.000-05:00

One of the things I love doing as a youth pastor's wife is the classroom bulletin board. For this month, Jason asked me to do something "back-to-school-ish", so I did a board that looks like a classroom, with a bulletin board. I pinned some thought-provoking quotes I found on the "pretend" board that I thought some of you might enjoy:

From Hudson Taylor, English missionary to China:
"It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home."
That statement was so convicting to me...I think we look at being called of God all wrong. The Lord called us all-we just need to ascertain where we are to be fullfilling His Great Commission.

Here's another, from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon:
"We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives."
Well, duh. Sometimes the most powerful statements are the obvious ones.

From my favorite old preacher, Billy Sunday:
"The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you."
I love this one, but old Billy rips too hard even from the grave to be posted on the teen class bulletin board. Man, we need more preachers compassionate enough to tell us what we desperately need to hear.

"The only way to learn strong faith is to endure great trials."-George Mueller, the English and evangelist.
It is said that Mueller prayed in over $7,000,000.00 for his orphanages and ministries over the sixty years of his ministry. Often, he'd sit the children in front of a bare table, pray and thank God for the food they would recieve, and sure enough, God would provide.

From D. L. Moody:
"I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' I had closed my Bible, and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since."
Moody is a giant of the faith, and this simple truth will cause actual revival in our churches if folks actually applied it to their lives. Faith comes directly from the Word of God.

Then, I found this anonymous quote:
"Sin would not be so attractive if its wages were paid immediately."
'Nuff said there.

By just looking for something witty or interesting to put up on the board, I found myself convicted and encouraged. I think we can all benefit from these men of God from the past. The names Taylor, Moody, Sunday, and Mueller should be household names. Even now, we can benefit from their close walk with the Lord.

And we're back...

2007-09-10T12:22:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed our time up at the camp so much. There is something so relaxing about being someplace where you can see stars, I mean really see them. That phrase in the creation account, "and He made the stars also", is astonishing when you can see millions upon millions of stunning lights in the night sky.

Have y'all (still Suthun, cain't hep it) seen that shirt that says, "Eat. Sleep. Fish."? Well, that was our va-ca schedule. It was fabulous to have no place to go, no one to call, and nothing to do but relax and hang out with the kids. Jason got to spend time with the kids individually-a rare treat for him. He took the two older ones out on the boat-Kenton caught himself a nice 10" bass!-and they had a wonderful time. We cooked fish, grilled steaks, hung out with Jimmy and Marie and their kids, and Chris-who is doing very well.

On the way home, Jason took us through the area he used to live in, and we ate at the Pixie in Mt. Pleasant-yum!! We had a wonderful time. Jason said he needed about "10 more days just like this".

Va-ca Update

2007-09-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

Well, plans get made, and then they get broken. Such is life. Our van, which was truly a Gift From God (no lie) needs four new tires in order for us to make the cross-country trek to H-Town. That pretty much put the ki-bosh (if any of y'all reading this are spelling geniuses, feel free to correct that word!) on our trip. You should have seen it when we told the kids. Jason hated to have to tell them at all-they have been looking forward to this trip for awhile. He tells them, and they were very cool about it-no fits, no "whhhhyyyyyyyy????" Instead, they said stuff like, "Well, maybe we can go another time?" Sometimes (no, all the time) our kids are such a blessing. And, yes, we did take them out for ice cream that night.

We will instead go up to Fort Faith Camp on Thursday. We'll do some fishing, hiking, and outdoorsy type stuff. We'll try and get lost in the woods, set stuff on fire, get dirty, hunt for snakes, drink camp coffee, and it will be wonderful. God is good, and He knows what sort of break we need. I wonder if maybe He had Jason notice that tire situation so He could give him a quiet vaca in the woods, instead of an every-minute-we-must-be-running-to-visit-someone-we-have-not-seen-in-ten-forevers vacation that would be great, but not very restful.

It will be hard (real hard!) to wait until God provides the time and resources for us to visit our family and friends down South, but we will. I am getting to where these types of obstacles are almost fun, I find myself thinking, "Well, Lord, it's gonna be fun watching You work out this one!" And so, we will pray, work, and watch the Lord provide for our every need, as He has always, always done.

Further Proof

2007-09-03T19:30:00.000-05:00

...that Jesus loves me:

I rode around in one of these today! Can you even believe it? It's a '68 Chevy Malibu, praise God, owned by a wonderful lady at our church, who, quite fearlessly, let my husband drive it. Man, he was like a little kid! It was wonderful. He said, "I am smiling like when we got married!"

We were at the church Labor Day picnic today, and it was a wonderful time. The spirit of the people was so warm, the food was unbelievable, and the weather was perfect. I think God left the bugs just so we'd know we weren't in heaven just yet.

That God would a) give people the ability to build such a marvelous machine, and b) place me in the general vicinity of someone who owns one, and c) have said vehicle be owned by someone who is so gracious and willing to share the joy of it, is just amazing. It's the little blessings that really get me sometimes, you know.

I sat in the back seat with Kenton and his friend Jonah for one of our little spins. Their absolute glee was so great to be around. Boys and their toys...lol!

Look for little blessings this week. They are all around you.

School is in Session!

2007-08-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

Well, school has started. We had an "ease-in" day yesterday, and today we jumped in with both feet. The kids are doing well, and really, they have great attitudes. I am so proud of them.

Ally and Kenton being silly...

Vacation

2007-08-29T21:21:00.000-05:00

Jason and I were trying to remember when we last had a vacation. Apart from the funerals of dear family members out of state, it has been four years since we have taken any sort of break. During that vacation, we spent Christmas in Houston with Jason's parents, saw my sisters and their children and many dear friends down south. It was a wonderful time, and full of great memories.

We are so blessed to be busy in the work of the Lord. If you are busy serving Him, that means He has an opportunity to use you, and we pray the Lord has been able to use us where we are in our dear church. It is sort of odd for Jason to view the ministry as work, though as his wife, trust me, he's working harder and longer than he ever has at anything else, but because it is what he loves to do, and he is serving with a man he loves and respects, the bad connotations of the word "work" don't apply. There are tough days, and heavy loads to bear, but he loves it all, as does the Pastor, and they make a very good team.

So, he's never really thought about taking time off-he would hate to miss church! But, he is in need of a rest, and the Pastor has been so gracious in allowing him to take this break. We will once again spend the time with our family in Houston, and we are so thrilled to be going.

Pray for us as we travel-we will drive, and Jason will want to get there as quickly as the law allows. Pray for our pastor, his wife, our teens and the church as we are away.

We will post some fun va-ca pics asap! God is so good!

Reason #738

2007-08-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes folks will ask why I homeschool my children. This is reason #738.

I read a...gracious, I don't know quite how to characterize it...a sad/alarming/hilarious/tragically believable article on WorldNetDaily today about a teen beauty queen. Here's a link, for your perusal: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/staticarticles/article57350.html .

By her own admission, she carries a 3.5 gpa, is a "student leader", whatever that means, and a varsity athlete. Her train of thought, however, was apparently still boarding at the station, because this chic had trouble finding two brain cells to rub together to answer a (really, really sad) question about the state of the American public education system.

Her bizarre answer is all the commentary we need to read to prove that our schools are bottomless pits of mediocrity and a vast waste of time for most of the poor kids who wander through the dangerous hallways and loud classrooms of today's schools.

This girl is one of the "smart ones"! Oh, she has her excuses for why her response was both unintelligible and totally off topic. We are real good at excuses today, but not so good at original thought. Student leader-oh my. Leading where, I wonder?

Now, I know that there are gifted, brilliant even, educators out there on the front lines of the public education battlefield (and make no mistake, it's a battlefield, people), and they invest not only in their students, but in their communities, their churches, and their own homes. But, anymore, they are becoming a rarity.

The Bible says, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren..." and then it instructs us, and teaches us. I don't know what is going on at most schools today, but instruction on things like writing well, effectively communicating, comprehending a great book, being able to do a geometric proof, understanding the human nervous system, and learning about great people from history like Sacegewea or Winston Churchill or Stonewall Jackson or Alexander the Great, and being able to find Oman on a map are not amoung the educational priorities in government schools today.

For me, I will teach my children as Jesus taught his disciples: by being a one-on-one tutor, available at any moment for them. I will endeavor to learn as I teach, and teach them to love to learn. And I will pray fervently for those who strive to teach things of value in the public education system.

Revival!

2007-08-27T11:41:00.001-05:00

This week is our church's annual tabernacle revival. It is one of my favorite times of the year because it is almost like a time warp. Back in the day, believers met outdoors in tents and tabernacles. The outdoor meeting feels much more like a family gathering, and I love that.

There are folks who take hours setting up for the meetings, and then these very same people are the ones who clean everything up. Some of the most beautiful service to the Lord and His church is done by folks like this, who could care less if they ever get any recognition on earth, but are truly seeking to be a blessing to the people, and a servant of the Lord.

The preaching is powerful. There is something about hearing the word of God outside in the midst of His creation that makes it so vivid. Dr. Hamblin is always in tune with the needs of our church, and always brings us what the Lord would have for us to hear.

If you are ever privileged to attend a tabernacle meeting, go. Sit in the front, and take it all in. There are so many blessings for us, if we would only take the time to appreciate them.

The B-I-B-L-E

2007-08-24T15:52:00.001-05:00

Oh mercy, we have a cute kid video to share. Grab your popcorn and prepare to be dazzled by the singing stylings of Eric Little...

Home Alone with the Boys

2007-08-23T18:55:00.001-05:00

Well, the boys and I have been home alone all day while dad and Ally go to Cedar Point with the teens. Boys, let me say, are a riot.

At breakfast, Kenton only spilled half a gallon of milk "trying to help" Eric. He very thoughtfully wiped it up with one of my nice towels, although he said "It still needs to dry."

At the grocery, they pretended to be the Hulk together. While this is rather funny and endearing to me, apparently the rest of the Meijer shoppers were not amused.

They made guns out of everything. Everything! Their building toys, their lunch, their gaming controllers, everything.

They ate. All day. As soon as the plate was cleared, I heard, "I am still hungry!" I went to the store this morning, and I'll need to go again tomorrow! I am getting a bit nervous about the teen years.

They played video games (I gotta tell you, watching a 2 and 6 year old play X-Box is a riot), played in the pool, got messy, dug some holes, were unbelievably loud, and messy, all day.

What a blast!

There is nothing more wonderful than a couple of little boys, unencumbered by girls, and left to their own devices.

By the way-Allyson rode the Maverick today! People, this is a big deal!

And We're Back...

2007-05-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

You ever been too busy to talk to yourself?

That is pretty much what blogging is for me...talking to myself. I haven't been here in so long, but a friend just started a blog, and I said, "Hey, I think I have one of those...yeah, I do!"

And here I am.

The school year is almost finished and camp season is upon us. The prepartions will keep Jason and I on our toes and we'll stay there like hyper ballerinas until August, where we'll get a short reprieve, and dive right into VBS. Life flies by...

The kids are great. Big. Loud. Funny. Growing. Don't let the ties and combed hair fool you-they are all kid all the time. And fun! You know, the kids really are a lot of fun.

Well, time to check on Ally's report. And fold yet more laundry.

Hi!

2004-06-29T11:46:00.000-05:00

Well,

Watching an eight year old and a three year old do the dishes is really entertaining. I do believe this was the inspiration for the word "Chaos". There are puddles of varying sizes all over my kitchen, and the dishes are actually more or less clean. My daughter is somewhat frazzled-her little brother is turning out to be more of a hindrance than a help. What good intentions they have...