A Lifetime of Love

Do you see this? It's a tent my kids made in the back half of our playroom. You are probably thinking, "Oh,that's fun. I remember doing that when I was a kid" or "My kids [used to] do that!" And for them, it is fun. It's a critical part of their development- they learn about creativity, teamwork, and some of the laws of physics. But for me, it induces feelings of anxiety to see it. My heart beats a little faster and I can feel my blood pressure rising. I hate every second it's up, and it takes every ounce of self-control I can muster to not make them tear it down and clean it up. Why do I feel so overwhelmed and out-of-control whenever the kids build forts or even get all of their toys out at one time? It's not because I'm a "Neat Nick" or anything like that, because I'm not; I have my fair share of clutter. I just cannot stand messes, and at the risk of sounding all "psychological," I think it goes back to my...

I will admit I don't spend as much time in my bible as I should. However, I make it a point to pray as soon as I am alone with the Lord in the morning, which is usually while getting ready for the day. I try to pray through scripture because it helps me to meditate on verses I already know and is more than just "asking" for things to be done. One of the verses I pray through each day is Ephesians 4:1-3. It says, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." As I was praying that the Lord would help me to walk worthy of my calling, I began to think about what exactly my calling was. The verse is speaking to brothers and sisters in Christ, that we walk (act) in a way that pleases Jesus and honors His sacrifice on the cross. But it goes dee...

This Thanksgiving we broke tradition and hosted friends at our house instead of spending the day with family. The idea came about when our original plan of traveling to Ohio was scrapped and we heard that a family new to the area was going to be spending the day alone. It immediately brought back memories of our Air Force days, when holidays were spent gathered with close friends who felt like family. TJ and I knew breaking tradition might cause some riffs, but the Lord worked it all out for the best! I planned and prepared in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, and when I bought the turkey, I chose the largest one I could find. We were feeding 13 people so I chose one that was 15 pounds. It would be enough for the day, but I wasn't expecting leftovers. Our guests were bringing side dishes and desserts, and I was making additional sides and desserts, so I knew we would have plenty of food for the 13 of us. A few days before Thanksgiving, I ran into a long-time friend of m...

Yesterday during our history time, the Lord allowed me to have a glimpse into my son's heart. We were learning about the prophet Amos. Although he was from Judah, God called him to go preach in the land of Israel because the Israelites had stopped relying on the Lord.  As we were discussing the reasons why (wealth, peace with neighboring countries, surplus of food and supplies), he casually mentioned that he didn't rely on the Lord, either. When I questioned him further, I learned that my son (who will remain anonymous) responded that he didn't have any reason to- he didn't fight in battles (against other countries), he wasn't wandering in the wilderness, waiting to enter the Promised Land, he wasn't being ruled by a harsh king who was a direct enemy of the Lord, etc. How did I interpret his response? Like this: he didn't know how to rely on God. I put the brakes on our history lesson and had a wonderful opportunity to explain to him what relying on God l...

We go through between 9-10 loaves of bread (just bread, not buns) in a month and I pay about $.97/loaf. That's a great deal but I am always looking for something better. About a month ago or so, a friend of mine shared with me an article about buying "feed trays" from bread outlets. I inquired a couple of weeks ago at my local store and to my delight, they took my information and said they would contact me when they had extras. Today they called and said they had 10 extra trays, and I agreed to purchase one tray. I loaded up the kids and we went to the store. I went in and paid for my purchase, not really sure of how much bread I was buying. The cashier told another employee in the back of the store that I was there to pick up my tray. She told me to drive around to the first bay door and I could load it up from there. I was beginning to get nervous, still quite unsure of what I had bought. I couldn't open both doors on the truck or the bread would have dumped a...

The title of this post is the name of a CD put out by one of my favorite evangelist groups, The Pettit Team. It is also the name of a song on that CD. (You can listen here ). The song reminds Christians to keep a heavenly focus, that one day our troubles will be gone as we sit in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought the meaning of the song was a wonderful parallel to my present "season" of life. A few years ago, in the midst of one of my children throwing a temper tantrum, someone told me that my life as a mother was eventually going to get easier. My children would grow, and the older ones would be a help to the younger ones. I wasn't going to be in this "season" of having young children forever. I remember taking the encouragement at face value; the stress of my present situation was so emotionally draining that it was difficult to imagine my life any different. As the years have passed, I have obviously added more children to my family, but that...

Ruthie, or Baby Ruth (like the chocolate bar) as I affectionately call her, turned 2 months old on September 22. She had her check up yesterday.  Here are her stats: Weight: 11.14 lbs (60th percentile) Length: 22.5 in (60th percentile)  She has slowed down on her weight gain but it's because she is going longer between feedings. She goes about 3 hours between her daytime feedings. At night, she usually eats about 10 or 10:30p and then sleeps until about 4a or so (however, the past couple of nights she hasn't gone as long so hopefully she'll get back on track!).  Baby Ruth continues to be an easy-going, low-demand, pleasant baby. However, she seems to be very serious, and her smiles are few and far between. I happened to catch one with the camera. Enjoy!