Blessings

Here is a wonderful article written by my friend Ashley. It's a great reminder for all of us to keep things in perspective as we end one year and begin another. The Lord gives and He takes away...

Blessings

Over the months of 2011, I have come to realize the many blessings that occurred, in a year full of heartache. On my father’s side of the family we lost his sister and brother to cancer. Although there was much sorrow that occurred, I did see many blessings in the births of two very special baby boys. Two of my closest friends were given the gift of a baby boy and they have helped changed their lives in a special way. Here are their stories.


Jen and I grew up on the same street in Galion. In fact, our parents still live there today. In January of 2011, Jen was seven months pregnant with her second child and was preparing to say goodbye to her mother, who was in the last stages of cancer. Hospice was called in around Christmas and she knew it wouldn’t be long. Jen called me one day and said, “I just don’t think I can do this.” By “this” she was meaning that she didn’t think she was strong enough to deal with all that was going on. A co-worker of Jen’s had gotten up in a meeting that day and had thanked everyone for their support because the co-worker’s father had passed away. Jen knew she was next. She was picturing herself having to get up and do the same thing. She just couldn’t face that she was losing her mother. Jen said to me, “I can’t do this.” I knew Jen would be just fine, and God would give her strength. The truth is, I had never seen anyone in my life have more strength than Jen. Only a year before I watched her stand strong when her first child, Sam, was born with Down Syndrome. She had to stand strong when Sam was only 3 months old and had to have open heart surgery to correct the two holes in his tiny heart. Jen was such an encouragement to me. I would think I had problems and then I would think about what Jen was enduring.


Jen’s mother passed away on January 15, and God gave Jen the strength to make it through. Jen’s mother, Mary Ann, was a fantastic sewer, and at the funeral home, over every chair hung one of her quilts. It was such a joy to see all of her works on display. Jen and Mary Ann had a special bond, and I can see a lot of Mary Ann in Jen. Jen is a wonderful mother and the birth of her second son, Daniel, was a great blessing for her in 2011. Daniel was a blessing because he brought Jen’s light for life back. Daniel was born in March and he helped Jen to regain her spirit back after losing her mother. Although Jen and her husband, Francisco, were mourning, Daniel came at God’s perfect time when they needed the hope.


In January of 2011, my best friend since the 5th grade, Andrea, decided she and her husband, Tom, were going to adopt. After many years of tests, infertility treatments, and pain they were ready to be parents. They knew that God had called them to be parents so they began the process of adoption. They knew they wanted to adopt a baby from the United States and said they would start first by word of mouth. Telling everyone they knew that they were interested in adoption. They hired a lawyer and began making a portfolio about themselves to share with birth mothers.


Just three months into the process they got a call from a friend. The friend said a coworker of hers had a young daughter who was pregnant and interested in adoption. Andrea didn’t waste a minute and drove to her friend’s house and dropped off their portfolio. Andrea had worked hard on the portfolio and in it were pictures, stories, and why Tom and she wanted a baby. Andrea’s friend shared the portfolio with the family and a meeting was arranged with Tom and Andrea on April 9th. At the meeting was the family of the young girl, as well as, the young boy’s family. Tom and Andrea answered lots of questions about themselves and felt good about the meeting. Andrea shared her pain in not being able to conceive her own child, and I know it was a hard day for her.


The next day, Tom and Andrea went out and bought a crib. Andrea had her eye on one special crib. They knew that they would need a crib eventually, but that day they didn’t know just how soon they would be using it. On April 13, they got the call from the family they had met, and they wanted Andrea and Tom to be the baby’s parents. The mother of the young girl stated after their meeting, “We liked Andrea and Tom after seeing their portfolio, but we fell in love with them after we met them.” Family and friends rejoiced with Tom and Andrea and were pleased to learn the baby would be here in August. Tom and Andrea were invited, by the young girl, to come to all the doctor’s appointments with her. Tom and Andrea were able to hear the baby’s heartbeat. They were there when the first ultra sound took place and learned they were having a boy. Then on August 15, at 3:28 in the morning, Andrea and Tom became the proud parents to Kaiden Thomas. Andrea was in the delivery room when he arrived and in a matter of minutes she and Tom were in their own hospital room. Andrea and Tom were moved to their own room to bond with their baby. What a blessing from God!


As this Christmas approaches I can’t help but thank God over and over for the lives of these two precious baby boys. The births of these babies have brought such joy to two people I love very much. Even though I dealt with a lot of death in 2011, I am reminded of the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Did you experience an event this year that you just know God was right there? If so, give thanks for the blessing. I just love seeing God’s miracles at work.

Merry Christmas!

I'm all about coupons and discounts these days, so when shutterfly.com offered me $10 credit to post our card to my blog...I jumped all over that. I'm so behind in printing pictures, so this will come in handy :o).  So...from our home to yours...Merry Christmas!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Our "Christmas Countdown" Verses

I contributed to another post for Mommy and Me Fitness...this time sharing our idea for an Advent Calendar. We call it our Christmas Countdown. If you've been reading this blog for a while, it probably seems like this countdown gets posted about every year...and I think maybe it has been. Recently, I've had a few people ask for the list of verses that we use, and Julie created a google page of them for her post so people could have a printable version, but I'm not sure everyone will be able to open it. So...I thought I'd just post them here for easy access. I've interwined the accounts from Matthew and Luke, so we could include as many details of the story as possible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16


In the sixth month, God sent an angel to Nazareth . . .The angel went to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  Luke 1:26,28


The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus . . .”  Luke 1:30,31


“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign forever; his kingdom will never end.”  Luke 1:32,33


The angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”  Luke 1:35


“For nothing is impossible with God,” said the angel. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.”May it be as you have said.”  Luke 1:37.38


An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife . . .She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”  Matthew 1:20,21


All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Mary will give birth to a son, and they will call him 'Immanuel', which means, 'God with us'.”Matthew 1:22,23


When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  Matthew 1:24


In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken . . . So Joseph also went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem the town of David.  Luke 2:4


Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  Luke 2:5


While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
Luke 2:6,7


And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.     Luke 2:8,9


But the angel said to them, ”Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.”  Luke 2:10


“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. . . You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” said the angel.  Luke 2:11,12


Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  Luke 2:13,14


When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  Luke 2:15


So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.         Luke 2:17


When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  Luke 2:17,18


Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God . . .  Luke 2:19,20


After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1,2


. . .They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  Matthew 2:9


When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. . .and presented him with gifts of gold, incense, and of myrrh.  Matthew 2:10,11


For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.  Isaiah 9:6,7 
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

I only put the Revelation 1 verse on our #24 card, because the Isaiah verse is obviously way too long...but I love reading both of them on Christmas Eve.

Homemade Christmas Gifts

I contributed to a blog post on homemade Christmas gifts for Mommy and Me Fitness (a company owned and run by several friends of mine). If you're looking for some fun, creative, homemade gifts check it out. We've done the cinnamon ornaments in years past and LOVE them. In fact, I realized the other night that we need some new ones...so it might be a project for this weekend!

Any ideas for homemade gifts you'd like to share??

A Mom Who Acknowledges Answered Prayer

{continuted from previous post}

Because God will answer your prayers, I challenge us to be moms who acknowledge the results of prayer. I think this helps us pray expectantly and it reminds us that we are not doing this on our own. When we watch for God to answer our prayers, and acknowledge the answers when they happen, we see that He is faithful. When we experience His faithfulness we will expect Him to continue being attentive to our prayers. Even if we cannot see anything happening, God is working. Answers might come days, months, or years from now, and in a way we’re not expecting, but God will answer according to His plan. Acknowledging God’s answers to our prayers keeps us humble, too. Did you pray that prayer before you took the kids to the grocery store…and did things go amazingly well? Remind yourself and your kids it wasn’t because you’re supermom…it’s because the Lord answered your prayer, so thank him out loud on the van ride home. Have you prayed diligently for protection for your "wild child" two year old? And did he only rip his fingernail out of the nailbed instead busting out his front teeth and giving himself a concussion when he tipped the jogging stroller? Acknowledge the results of your prayers even when you would have expected something different...like no injury at all. When we look for the answers and results, we become fully aware that it is not our work that is accomplishing things in our families…it is our reliance on God that gets things done and ensures their protection.

{I left the following three paragraphs out of my talk for time's sake, but figured time isn't an issue here :o). This story actually comes from a post I wrote a while back.}

I want to share a quick story about something that happened in our home about a year and a half ago. I don’t share it to make you think that things always play out this nicely for me…believe me, there are many times I’ve offered sarcastic prayers in moments of frustration and dealt with a mess of a situation as a result. There have been times that I’ve been too self reliant to remember to pray and paid the price. This experience, though, turned out to be great example of how things can go when we pray continuously, specifically, and expectantly…and then acknowledge the results. I share it as a call to myself to face this challenge to be a praying mom with renewed fervor.

Just to give a little background, we had a 2 year old in the house for the fourth time in our lives...and it really wasn’t any easier than the previous three experiences…in fact it might have harder. Levi had recently formed a strong opinion about wearing clothing with balls on it...like if it didn't have a ball on it, he's wasn’t wearing it and, once he got it on, he wasn’t taking it off. He had fallen asleep the previous night on the way home from church and, therefore, slept in his clothes, so I felt it somewhat important to change him that morning since he had sat in a puddle of bubbles, hiked the nature center, dribbled milk, and done who knows what else in those clothes the day before. He, of course, did not think taking off the ball sweatshirt was a good idea and proceeded to throw a fit, fighting me tooth and nail about getting dressed. In an effort to reach a compromise, I had taken him up to his room (where Natalie was still sleeping) to see if we could find something he was willing to put on. He continued to fight and, sure enough, he disturbed Natalie, who, of course, flipped out because I couldn't stay up there while she fully woke up because while all of this was going on I was still trying to get Ethan and Karis ready for school and out the door for the bus.

At the time, I had been trying to get myself in the habit each morning of asking Jesus to just wash over our home and help us fight the battle against Satan as we went through our day. Although I had had my quiet time that morning, I hadn't prayed that prayer and, in that moment, knew I needed to because I was ready to lose it. I left both babies screaming in their room and prayed that prayer as I walked out of the room and down the stairs to help Ethan and Karis…waiting to see how the Lord would make this work. As I got breakfast, juice, lunches, etc. ready, Ethan went up the stairs in an effort to calm Natalie down. Levi had made his way down the stairs, half dressed and still crying, and Karis purposefully caught his attention with a few small toys. I hadn't asked them to do this (as I had on some occasions), but it was almost like they knew it would take that big brother/big sister love to change a situation that could have unfolded much differently. Peace settled quickly into the house. I hadn’t expected that God would use Ethan and Karis to answer my prayer, but I know He did. And maybe the most amazing part of it was that when I realized what He had done, I thanked Ethan and Karis for their help and told them that God had used them to answer my prayer. If you could have seen the smiles that crossed their faces...it still gives me chills when I think about it.

I want to leave you with one last verse...perhaps my most favorite on the topic of prayer. In Matthew 18:18 Jesus tells this about prayer: “Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” He’s given you authority, moms, to impact those eternal souls of your children. I pray that you will do just that.

A Mom Who Prays Specifically and Expectantly

{continued from previous post}

Praying through our house brings me to my second challenge…that we be moms who pray specifically and expectantly. I have used the Power of a Praying Parent book when it comes to this aspect of my prayer life as a mom. She goes through 29 specific things that we can pray for our children and I’ve used it as a tool to make lists of things to pray for and to find Scripture to claim as I pray. Scripture is your weapon. In Isaiah 55:11, God says “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” God’s word is living and it always has an impact when we speak it.

For me, getting specific has been the easy part. I could easily go on for pages with examples on this one. Here are just a couple ideas: When I pack a lunch, I don’t just pray that they’ll have a good day at school, I pray that God will find them a seat next to the right friend at lunch, that they will make wise choices in the words that they say and the things they laugh at, that they will remember to put their name on their paper {we've had an issue with this this school year}, that their hearts and minds would be protected from bullying or false teaching. A verse that I love for these “off to school” prayers is Psalm 91:11 “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!”

For those of you with babies, especially girls, I encourage you to, at each feeding, pray against eating disorders and food addictions. Pray it now before they’ve developed the insecurities or habits that will lead to these things. Include Romans 12:1 in your prayer…put your baby’s name in the verse. “Lord, I pray that Karis will honor you with her body because of all You have done for her. That she will be a living and holy sacrifice-one that You find acceptable.”

When you see your baby boy play with his tool set, pray that he will grow into a man that values hard work and is willing to work to provide for his family. Pray Colossians 3:23… “God, I pray that Ethan will work willingly at whatever he does, as though he is working for You, rather than people.”

When you wake each morning, pray that your children will come to know Christ as their savior. When you tuck them in at night, pray that God will reveal to you the gifts he’s given each of them and that, as their mother, you will seize opportunities to grow those gifts in them. When you wake in the night with a fussy baby or toddler, pray that they will live a life free of fear.

When you pray these specific prayers, be sure that you are praying with the expectation that God will answer them. This expecting part is important. Praying expectantly is about having faith that God is listening and trusting that He is working. All too often, I have underestimated the power of God to really answer all the little prayers I send up as I go through my day...either I have felt like He's got better things to do than pass me some extra patience for the 800th time or He’s too busy to give my 2 year old more self control in the throes of a tantrum.

I can’t give you a formula for expecting God. The thing that has made a difference to me, is reminding myself who I’m praying to. I am praying to the God who designs each snowflake, hand paints each sunrise, raises up kings and takes them out. He is the God that selected every personality trait our children have, every strength and every weakness, and He is the God that placed them into our care for a reason. He is the God that sent His son to die for me and my children. Would this God really not be attentive to the details that I pray over? I think not. He is about details and He is about the hearts of His children. He will answer these prayers.

A Mom Who Prays Continuously

{Continued from previous post}


My first challenge is that we be moms who pray continually…or without ceasing…as some versions of I Thessalonians 5:17 read. I’m sure this sounds like an overwhelming…maybe even impossible task…especially with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers running rampant around your house at all hours of the day and night. But I want to encourage you that it is not. For a while I believed the lie that Satan fed me…that I didn’t have time to pray. I was too tired to wake up before my munchkins, too busy dealing with the results of the day after I put them to bed, and too distracted in the hours in between. It was true that I didn’t have time to spend an hour on my knees praying every morning, but I learned that I did have time and opportunity to pray continually throughout the day. I had two minutes here and four minutes there…I just needed to train myself to use them for prayer. Here are some of the ways I’ve kept myself praying throughout the day: I have done things like set my watch to beep on the hour every hour. At least 10 out of the 18 times a day I heard that watch beep, I’d be doing something where I could mentally say a 1 minute prayer for one of the kids, my husband, or even myself. I have taken bath crayons and written the Scripture that I want to pray for one or more of our kids on the wall of the shower so I could wake up praying that for them. I pray for the next day as I lay clothes out on bedroom floors the night before. I pray at school desks at the beginning of a new school year. I pray as I fold laundry. I pray as I pack lunches. I paint Scripture on the walls of our house and pray those verses for our family.

Here are two other big things that have made a difference as to how often I’m praying during the day…and I fear I may step on some toes with them, but just know that the Lord has laid this on my heart: One thing we do is keep Christian radio on in the van and many of the hours we are at home {sometimes it's even on when we're not even there} and I pray the songs over our home and the lives of my children and husband. Take a minute to think about what the background noise is in your vehicle or at home. What’s on your TV…Dr. Phil, Days of our Lives, Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Office, Bones {I don’t know…maybe some of these shows aren’t even on air anymore? Tells you how much TV I watch}. What’s on your radio or in your CD player? Y105, Taylor Swift, U2 …I don’t even know who’s popular in this realm either, but I am certain these things….these things that we believe our children are too little to understand, that they’re not even really paying attention to or that really aren’t that big of a deal…play into the attitude and behavior of our kids {and us} so much more than we are aware. I’m not saying get rid of your TV or CD’s, but imagine the impact you could have if you exchange even just half of those minutes or hours of background noise with life-giving prayer and praise through music.

The other thing is one that I’m still working on...it required me to take inventory of ways I’m investing or wasting time. It’s the computer or phone… or whichever gadget you access the internet on… Facebook, blogs, and I’m sure there are some of us onto this new thing I’m hearing about called Pinterest. I fall victim to these time wasters so easily since I teach online classes….I’m waiting for a student to Skype or need a quick distraction from grading papers and before I know it I’ve lost 30 minutes of my life reading about who’s making homemade spaghetti sauce from their homegrown tomatoes or the life story of some mom across the country who’s struggling with whether to stay home or go back to work, or even updating my own status and vigilantly waiting for comments to affirm whatever I’ve posted. You know how it goes. I’m determined to redeem those minutes and give them to the Lord on behalf of my family. When I need a distraction during my work time, I have a list of things to pray for the kids that I leave next to the computer, and instead of heading to Facebook, I pray for one of those things. I’m laying my Bible out on the table opened to the Psalms or Proverbs and praying a few of the verses for myself when I have just a minute or two between phone calls. I’m quite sure we’ve all got opportunities to exchange some of our activity for time in prayer….redeeming some of our time to better carry out this mission God has laid before us.

If we really want to be praying continually it’s also so important to incorporate our family and pray with them. Let your children hear you pray frequently over day to day things. No detail is too small. God is always bringing things to our attention through circumstances and interactions. These are perfect opportunities for us to teach our kids how to pray. As you’re driving down the road and your three year old notices a beautiful sunset, take the chance to let him hear you say a prayer of thanks to the Lord for this amazing world He created for us. How about if before you make that dreaded trip to the grocery store with kids in tow, you let them hear you pray for their behavior, for your patience, for wisdom as you make choices about what things to spend money on, and give thanks that the Lord has provided the means for you to even make this trip to the store. Pray out loud during colicky crying fits and temper tantrums. Pray as part of your discipline process. Pray at mealtime and bedtime. Something that we tried out recently, and will definitely do again, is praying through the rooms of our house as a family. I know that Jesus was walking with us as we moved from room to room praying for all different sorts of things….like discretion in our choice of television viewing, gratefulness for a full pantry, kindness as we play together, protection for our home as we burn fires in the fireplace this winter…our 4 year old {who I truly believe the Lord has revealed that He has given the gift of prayer to} even prayed that mommy and daddy would have fun in their bedroom….which, of course, gave us a good laugh. If she only knew, right?!

A Mom Who Prays

This past week at MOPS I partnered with two amazing {inspiring, challenging, beautiful, humble, Jesus-lovin'} mommy friends to share on what we see as the mission of motherhood. It was probably one of my top 3 or 4 favorite meetings in the 8 years I've been doing MOPS. The Lord just "brought it" on Tuesday morning! It was so awesome to see the moms going away from the meeting with a fresh challenge to be the moms that God created them to be! I thought I'd share my notes as a few blog posts. I talked about prayer {Andrea talked about intentional mothering and legacies. Brooke talked about discipleship and evangalism}. Now, mind you, praying is something I'm passionate about...but I'm definitely not perfect at it. There are days that only one or two prayers will cross my lips. Other days, my conversations with the Lord are frequent. My challenges were as much for myself as the rest of the moms.

Motherhood provides us with an opportunity to lay down the things you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field. 

-Rachel Jankovic

So, if your children are your mission field, then prayer must be a part of the work you do for and with them each and every day. I liken parenting, without expectant and intentional prayer, to running on a treadmill….you might be working hard and racking up the miles, but you’re not really getting anywhere. Prayer is a key to making good things happen in our children’s lives today and in the future…it’s a key to growing them into adults that chase after God’s will for their lives. We live in a day and age when we cannot afford to leave the destiny of the eternal souls of our children to chance.
As a mom, you should be covering as much of your children’s lives in prayer as you can. I love how Stormie Omartian describes prayer in her book The Power of a Praying Parent, which I highly recommend. She says “Prayer is much more than just giving a list of desires to God, as if He were the great Sugar Daddy/Santa Claus in the sky. Prayer is acknowledging and experiencing the presence of God and inviting His presence into our lives and circumstances. It’s seeking the presence of God and releasing the power of God which gives us the means to overcome any problem”.
When we pray, we are recognizing our need for God’s power and His presence…that we can’t do this mothering thing on our own. This means that each of us have the privilege of being used by the God who created the universe and knit each one of our children together, to focus His power on the people or circumstance we are praying for. How amazing is that?

Each day, especially now that my two older children are attending public school, I’m becoming more and more aware of the unseen battle that is going on for the lives of our children. Praying is my chance to get into that battle alongside of them…to hold a shield in front of their tender souls. It’s my way of foiling Satan’s plan for my children and helping God carry out His plan for them. Don’t think, though, that just because you’re a mom who only has a newborn, and that baby isn’t even mobile yet and is rarely out of your site, that this battle hasn’t begun for you...that you’re exempt from this part of the mission for a couple more years. Satan seeks to destroy those precious souls from the very first day that the Lord entrusts them to us. If you haven’t already started praying for and with your children it’s never too early and it’s never too late to embark on this part of your mission.

Lamentations 2:19 says “Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children.”

So here’s my challenge for all of us...

{Come back tomorrow to read more :o)}

Write them on the doorframes....

So, after my post about the Doorposts contest, I was glad that I was actually able to find the "talk" that I gave to MOPS back in 2008. It was so good to go back and read it {especially as we prepare for having people into our home and discuss the idea of moving out of this house more and more often}, so I'm just going to paste some paragraphs from it amongst the pictures. The theme for that year had to do with home, and it will help you make sense of some it to know that the topic at the first meeting I spoke at was interior decorating.

"...if you were ever to come to my house, you could take one look around and know that I have very little expertise in the area of decorating.  In our family room, for example, we have a brown plaid loveseat with a slip cover that doesn’t really fit, along with an overstuffed gray chair, and a blue plaid arm chair…my decorating philosophy on that one was: they were free. 

 

Just to give you a little background my husband and I met in college and got married in 2001, right after he graduated (I still had a semester of student teaching left).  Well, not only did he get a beautiful wife (haha), but he also got $30,000 worth of college loans!  Our plan was for me to teach for a few years to pay them off.  Six months into our marriage we realized God’s plan was for us to have a few babies and find a way to live off his teaching salary! Our son Ethan came along in September 2002, our daughter Karis in September 2003, my husband went through some crippling back problems that ended up requiring surgery in 2005, Natalie came along in December 2006, and our son is expected to arrive in April. 

Needless to say, I think I can count the things that we have actually bought to furnish and decorate our home on one hand.  The rest has been given to us by friends and family, and although pieces rarely coordinate, we have been so blessed by their generosity.  The Lord is teaching me to be satisfied with what we do have to make our home a comfortable one.  We have so much more than some, and so much less than many others, but it is just right for us because we know it has all been provided by God for the here and now.  He is also teaching me, as I slowly read through a book called Heaven, by Randy Alcorn (which I highly recommend), that my focus should be on decorating the home I’ll receive at Christ’s return.  This is no easy task in our immediate gratification/materialistic society that pressures us to believe that if our children, our homes, and our own selves don’t look like they came off the pages of American Baby, Martha Stewart Living, and Self magazine we must be doing something wrong.  I’ve been convicted to think about how I spend my time.  Am I working for things that look good to the world, or am I working to store up things that will fill my eternal home?  Are the things people see decorating my home things that are beautiful and expensive, or are framed fingerpaintings displaying the priceless treasures God has entrusted with me with?  I don’t mean to say I’m going to neglect my home here on earth…I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with and I want our home to be one that builds relationships, creates memories and legacies, and glorifies the One that has given it to my husband and me, but I know I need to work hard to not get caught up accumulating things that will only fade away....         

...A few years ago our pastor at Berean, gave a sermon where he highlighted the following verses in Deuteronomy 6… “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
At the time these verses were written, the Jews literally did these things.  They had God’s commands written on paper that they strapped to their foreheads and wrists and boxes mounted to their doorframes with God’s words in them.  As they prayed they would recite these things.  I’m not so sure how literally God expects us to take these verses today, but I was convicted by the fact that these people felt it necessary to keep God’s words so accessible and visible as they went about their day.  I was also reminded of the fact that, just as Christ is the gatekeeper for us, allowing us into his sheep pen (as it says in John 10) so that we may find salvation and shelter, my husband and I are called to be the gatekeepers of our home.  We must provide shelter and protection for our children and be the filters, when possible, of the knowledge and information they take in.

At a time in my life when I consider it an accomplishment to even open my Bible at some point during the day, I began thinking to myself, how neat would it be to have the words of God covering the walls of our home?  It would provide a perfect chance to memorize scripture, the daily opportunity for my family to read the words of our God, and a constant reminder of the life we can have in Him.  The idea milled around in my head for a while as our family transitioned from one house to another.  I looked at the beautiful paintings at the Bookery, but knew there was no way we could afford one of them, let alone one for every room of the house.  I knew I had some artistic abilities, so I just began collecting verses in a prayer journal.  Verses that spoke to me about what Christ’s hopes for me and my family might be.  Verses I wanted my children to see every day as they grow up.  Verses that I need to remind me of how my life needs to reflect Christ.  

...my husband and I chose a verse for [Ethan and Karis'] bedroom that has been one of our prayers for our children.   1 Timothy 4:12 says “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”  I thought it an interesting coincidence, after I had spent a couple days thinking about what I would say the for this testimony the first time I gave it, that one evening while we were saying goodnight,  Karis looked at the verse on the wall and asked “What does d-o-n-t spell?”  I read the whole verse to her and Ethan and asked them if they knew what the words meant.  What an opportunity to share with them what God expects from us as His followers, no matter how old or young we are.  We talked about how one of the best ways to teach others about Jesus is by doing things that are good and right.

I would like to be able to say that there are verses in every room of our house by now.  In actuality, I have only completed one more as a border above the cupboards in our kitchen.  Matthew 6:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”  Our reminder that if our family plans to withstand the storms that might come our way, and we are sure the storms will come, we must find our strength in Christ."

I started the Song of Solomon verse above as a "headboard" for mine and Mark's room while I was pregnant with Levi. I got too pregnant to position myself on the bed to finish it...and almost 4 years later it remains the same. Sad, I know, but such is our life. I was finally able to really get a lot accomplished on Natalie and Karis' this past week {the I Peter 3:3-4 one} and, I LOVE how it is turning out. 

Basically, my method is to use a laser level to chalk some straight lines. Then I chalk in all of my wording and paint over it. Sometimes I will type the verse up in Word in a font that I like, and then I copy that freehand. I just use an acrylic craft paint, but I'm thinking for my next one I may try those paint marker/pens they make. I want to get Ephesians 6...armor of God...up over our front door so we look at it each morning before heading to the bus stop.    

A Doorposts Contest

I subscribe to a blog called "Write Them on the Doorposts of your House". It's {obviously} a blog centered around the verses in Deuteronomy 6 that talk of teaching the Lord's commands to your children at all times...and writing them on the doorframes of your home. These are verses that I decided to take literally a few years ago and I was excited to see this blog running a contest related to this very thing. I spoke to my MOPS group and another local group about my method for writing scripture on the walls of our house a couple of years ago. In the next day or so, I'll post some pictures and talk about how I do mine. Wondering if any of you have creative ideas about displaying Scripture. If you do...enter the contest here! And post to my blog, too, so we can all get some ideas!!

In Eight More...

....she'll be asking for the car keys! I'm almost a week late getting this posted, so for all of you {grammies} that were anxiously awaiting, here it is.

Last year sometime, Karis wrote us a note and, with tears in her eyes, made us promise not to laugh when we read it. The note told us that she was the only girl in her class that didn't have her ears pierced. We told her we weren't going to run out and get her them pierced just so she could be like all the other girls in her class, so she patiently waited...and waited. We decided to let her get it done for her 8th birthday if she wanted. As the day approached, she showed a mix of excitement and nerves {I have to admit I was super excited myself}. We went right to Claire's after school on Tuesday, and she played brave as she climbed up in the chair, but didn't make it through without quite a few tears. A week later, she's taking care of all the cleanings and can't wait until she gets to change them for the first time. I think they've added the perfect sweet little shimmer to her beautiful face.

I'm pretty sure that in another eight years, we're gonna be pretty glad her daddy knows how to use a gun :o)! {Of course, I'm kidding...maybe. a little.}

For EVERY Parent

I came across this blog post the other day, and even though it is geared toward {Christian} Homeschooling parents, I am confident that, no matter how you educate your children, most of the points of this article pertain to you. I'm storing a copy to come back to, as a reminder for myself in the coming years.

Even There....

Psalm 139:10...Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I'm having one of those weeks where I need to remind myself of what the Lord has shown me in the past year and half....what He's assured me of about who I am, and why I'm doing what I do. Because it's one of those weeks where I'm feeling like we are the Hunter Family Cyclone. One of those weeks where I'm sure you'd judge me on the condition of my house {No, really....you would}. One of those weeks where I wash loads of laundry twice because they sit in the washer too long and four other loads of laundry sit in the baskets waiting to be folded for two days and yet another load waits at the top of the steps since the weekend to be put away. One of those weeks where the battle cry for Mark and me is "Divide and Conquer". One of those weeks where I can't keep up with any of my email accounts. One of those weeks where I look back on last week and look ahead at the one to come, and realize they aren't any better. One of those weeks where the piles of papers multiply and divide and then multiply again. One of those weeks where I ask the Lord {again} if we're really not supposed to homeschool and why our kids can't stay pre-schoolers forever.

In May, I shared a testimony about how the Lord is right where I'm at. So I'm reminding myself, He's in the questions and the hurry and the shortcomings. He's in the group hugs and family cheers. He's in the school morning prayers. He's in the bleacher conversations at the soccer game. He's in the scheduling of gymnastics classes during the same hour. He's in library books on the swing in the backyard while dishes are put on hold. He's in poems that Karis reads to me each night before bed. He's in MOPS steering team meetings where huge prayers are answered. He's in the in the van on the way home from school. He's in the trading off of keys to get from one activity to the next. He's in leftover pots of potato soup and sauce and meatballs that are shared with friends. He's in Story Time connections. He's in the kiss good-bye in the morning and the kiss good night, too.

He didn't bring us to this week by accident and we didn't get here because we ignored Him. We've walked hand in hand to this place...and I know He's got plans to use it.       

Halfway to 18!?!?

We celebrated Ethan's 9th birthday yesterday. It was a sweet day. I love that kid. There was nothing extraordinarily amazing about the day. Surprisingly, Karis, Natalie, and Levi played together around the house, while Mark and I played a game of LIFE with Ethan, which he handedly won {he's just lucky I had to give up my career as a doctor to become a hairdresser so I could spend more time with my four kids}. We had the dinner of his choice {breakfast, of course}. He had already gotten on of his presents last week {an MP3 player that we wanted to give to Karis and him at the same time since they were both getting one and we wanted them to be able to load them before school started}, so the only thing left to open was a card {which he read each word of with a smile and assured us it was going on his dresser so he could save it...I love that he "gets" the message in it} and a game for the DS, which he was thrilled to see under that wrapping paper. And, of course, we all enjoyed huge slices of ice cream cake.

As low key as the day was, at bedtime, we put to bed a 9 year old boy who was absolutely satisfied with his day. He said good night to us with a huge hug and kiss and an "I love you, Mommy and Daddy...thank you so much." I pray we still hear those words nine years from now, when we put an 18 year old to bed on September 4th.

Mark and I played around with creating this video for a while yesterday. We still can't figure out why it cuts off the "e" on the end of cause on the last slide when it publishes {it's not cut off when you preview it in the creator software}. Oh well...still makes me tear up after watching it 25 times yesterday.

In the Blink of an Eye...

...this...

...grows into this.

I thought for sure I'd be able to hold it together, seeing as this is the third time we've sent a kid to pre-k. Then I turned around and walked out that door, and it was hopeless.

Summer's Over...Already?

Being that I'm  teacher's wife, I always think that summer passes by too quickly. This one has been a record breaker in my book, though! We jam packed the past three months with a flurry of activities, which made the weeks fly by even faster than we expected.

We started the summer off by giving the house a face lift since our front porch was cracked and the brick facade was falling off. Hopefully next summer we'll be able to reside the rest of the house. We had two out of town weddings for friends that we've known since childhood. Baseball stretched throughout the summer, with Ethan being asked to play in a couple of tournaments. Mark and I got to celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a trip to New Hampshire, Maine, and New York City...thanks to the three free hotel nights I won from Sevenstar! We took the kids to Niagra Falls and rode the Maid of the Mist. Mark headed to Cross-Country camp for 5 days...we joined him in a tent one of the nights. I headed to Tennessee for 4 days to enjoy MOPS International Convention. It was great time with 8 wonderful ladies...we got to hear from Max Lucado, Sara Groves, Mandisa, and Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman.  Two hours after returning from that trip I headed to Hocking Hills with the kids to spend a couple days with my mom's side of the family for our annual Barbaro Family Reunion. This past week we squeezed in a Backyard Bible Club and now we're jumping in to inservices, welcome calls, orientations, and cross-country meets.

Here are a few picture highlights some of the things we've done:



 

He Truly Does

Really, he's simply amazing. Not sure what we did to deserve Mark, but we thank God He loved us enough to put him in our lives!

Should I start charging?

"Hi, we're Mark and Valerie. We're your neighbors. The ones with four small kids already. Yes, we'd love a couple more, but, no, we do not want yours." 

We've struggled with this issue at different times over the past year or two {sort of natural when there are almost ten kids the same ages as ours within 300 yards of where we live}, but nothing like it's been the past few days.We're not quite sure how to handle it. We're both introverts and despise conflict, but it's getting slightly out of control. We feel like maybe we should say something, but when you live across the street from the people and see them 400 times a day, it's awkward. And on the other side of this, these kids...this family...are a big mission field.

The household is made up of a set of grandparents, their daughter, her five kids, and her {18 year old} daughter's three year old son and her boyfriend {not the little boy's dad}.  The "adults" are in and out of their driveway several {or 50} times a day. There are also 4ish dogs and at least 10 birds living in the house/garage. The youngest of the five kids is the same age as Ethan and Karis. She and the three year old have taken to coming down to our house at every opportunity possible. If we step out of the house, they're in our yard in a matter of minutes. I think she rang our doorbell three or four times yesterday...one of them was after 8:30pm. Another time the little boy was playing in our yard for a while...it was dinner time for us, so I wanted to send him home, but no one was out at their house...no vehicles in the driveway. I had no idea if anyone was even home.  As I was walking him home {and my family's dinner was getting cold} a couple of rough looking guys pulled up at another neighbor's house to do some landscaping. No one came out to meet the little boy, but he said his mom was inside...I asked him to go inside to make sure she knew he was back, but he didn't go in. I couldn't in my right mind just leave him there, with these guys I didn't know right next door watching the situation. I waited a couple of minutes and thankfully Grandma came driving up the road.   

I don't mind them stopping by to play for an hour or two a couple days a week, even if the "favor" isn't really returned {I wouldn't really be comfortable even if it was}. But several hours everyday. Inviting themselves to eat lunch here and go on outings with us to the Nature Center. Seems a bit much to me. Natalie {our extrovert} enjoys playing with them and so do Levi and Karis sometimes. But this other little girl can be very bossy and rough, and that makes me uncomfortable...especially since Natalie just does whatever she says. 

I'm tired of making up excuses for them to go home or hesitating to go play in our front yard. Last night I dreamt that they were standing on our front porch looking in our windows, waiting for someone to let them in.

My memories of how often we played with our neighborhood friends as kids have faded. But I definitely remember that things were reciprocated...some days we played at our house, some days we played at someone else's {and I'm pretty sure my parents were comfortable with that}. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to live in the "burbs" for this season of our life. Mark grew up in the country, miles from anyone else his age. He's a huge fan of privacy. If he gets his way, we'll be on 20 acres sometime in the next five to ten years.

All that said, the opportunity we have here is not lost to us, but where do we draw the line? What is the boundary between being a good neighbor/ministering and being taken advantage of? Can we charge a boarding fee { :o) }? 

Reading for a Purpose

One of the many things we've been working on these past few days is a little service project/fundraiser to help raise support of my sister, who will be heading to the Philippines next year (Lord willing) as a missionary.
Last Friday we started our local library’s summer reading program like we do every year now. As part of the program the kids get a reading log to track every 15 minutes of reading. They get five logs…one for each week of the program. Well, by day two of week one, and Ethan had already filled two and a half logs and Karis was half way through her second one. Needless to say, they’ll probably be able to turn in most, if not all, of their logs by the end of their first week in the program. We were trying to think of a reward they could earn here at home (even though they don't really need the extra incentive) once they’d collected their prizes for the logs they turn in at the library. We threw out ideas about earning 25¢ for each log or maybe 10¢ per book. It got us thinking that maybe this would be a way they could do some fundraising.

Our plan combines two lessons that we’d love for our kids to remember: First, reading is fun and rewarding. Second, if we are unable (or not called) to go to the foreign mission field, then God calls us to support those who are.

We'd love it if you would pray about sponsoring Ethan and Karis on their reading adventures this summer. This will be a combined effort, because the Lord knows there is already enough competition between the two of them. You can pledge per book (they will mostly be either chapter books or longer non-fiction books) or per reading log (each one equals 105 minutes of reading). We’ll keep track of both through the end of July and your donations can be made in August so that they will be matched by One Mission Society.

You can make a pledge by filling out this form. You can read more about Lauren's ministry plans here.

They are my Sunshine

(Cookie puzzle treat from the neighbor lady!)

Our Little Athletes, Part II

Ethan's first baseball game...here is one of his three doubles.

Karis' gymnastics recital.

Our Little Athletes

Here are some highlights of the older two in their recent athletic endeavors...

Karis perfecting her back handspring.  She has landed it, without help, a couple times at home.

Ethan kicking the game winning goal in the last 3 seconds of the game against his teams big "rival". 

Last week we ran in our church's Hustle for Haiti 5k.  We had every intent of getting some training in beforehand, but that didn't pan out with our crazy schedule and rainy weather.  We ran once the week before...at which point Karis decided she no longer wanted to do the full 5k.  The morning of the race, though, she changed her mind, so I pushed Natalie and Levi in the double jogger and ran with her. I was proud of her for running more than she walked and we came in in right around 37 minutes. Over 200 people participated and we were in the top 90!  Ethan took off after the first half mile and we cheered him on when we saw him around the half way point.  He finished in just over 28 minutes, for third place in the 12 and under age group!  

I have two more videos I want to upload, but I think I'm overloading this post.  If you care...look for Part II in the near future.