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.