Wednesday, November 26, 2008

thankful list

Sunshine. It's cold out, but sunny!

The radio and Focus' radio theater. Squanto!

Sleeping babies... so cute!

Obedient children. A tremendous blessing.

Timers... however did anyone avoid burning the bread before timers????

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

from the mouths of boys...

Just to share... and perhaps to record for posterity?

"Hey, Mom, even I change my sheets sometimes."

"Oh really? When?"

"Well, when there is sand or dirt or crumbs or whatever..."

-practical 15 year old

Monday, November 24, 2008


Big sister sewed little sister pajamas. Aren't they cute?

the thankfulness continues

Friends... need I say more? It was sooo nice to hang out in Chicago.

An honest orthodontist!!!!!!!!

Lower gas prices!!!! woo hoo!!!!

A warm house... winter is here...

Paper towels, running water and a shop vac... going to clean up an... ummm... accident. In carpet. Again.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

teeth

I wish that God had chosen to make us like sharks... new teeth continually.

OK, I am bordering on the ungrateful.

Today I am grateful for Novocain, dental insurance, and dentists.

Really, I am. Grateful, that is. Really.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

There are so many things to be grateful for. I really don't know how I'm supposed to list all of them. But I am going to try to list a few.

I am grateful for:

My mom and dad
Our pets, the dog, our four birds,and the fish
My baby sister (even though she does mess with things she's not supposed to)
My 11 year old sister who won't let me kiss her
All those boys who are going crazy over the over due library book
Peppermints, spearmints, anything that tastes like mint
BOOKS!!!!!!
A two acre backyard
Friends back in Illinois
A van who's engine should last at least a few more years

And thousands of other things!

I hope to continue the list soon. For now, this is all I have time for.

Lucy

another day of gratefulness

Hebrews 13 makes it clear that gratefulness is an obedient expression of faith. In preparation for Thanksgiving, we are going to list blessings for the next few days...

Today I am grateful for the faithful examples of those who have gone before me:

Hebrews 11

11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, [1] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.


Read any good missionary stories lately? They tend to inspire awe and gratefulness.

Monday, November 17, 2008

5 1/2 years

While cruising through craft blogdom this weekend, I happened upon a military wife's blog. It provided some good 5 am thinking for me. (Do moms of little people think at any other hour?)

She mentioned (and yes I was already aware of it...) that John McCain was a POW for 5 1/2 years. Yep. We know.

But then I started thinking of my own life, in terms of 5 year blocks. Which ones would I be willing to give up?

The first 5 "adult years" of my life? Graduated from school. College. Fell in love. Married. Had baby. Nope, not those 5.

Next 5? Had another baby. Moved to Illinois. Purchased our dream home. Had another baby. And another (busy years!) Wait... squeeze one more babe into that 5. Definitely can't give those up.

Ok, next 5 maybe? Survive y2K. Job layoff. (We could pass that one up!) Move to Wheaton for dream job. Fantastic neighbors. 6th baby. Make wonderful friends. Blow van engine (momentous for me, anyways, as it was the first of three...) Get laid off again, move to Berkeley... no, good and bad, we just can't give those up.

Perhaps instead I should work backwards from the present? 5 years ago was a tough year. Blew another van engine, moved, my grandmother passed away, we miscarried. But then we had baby 7. And some of the greatest people in the world grew into our lives... and baby 8... nope.

Truth is, 5 years has a whole lot of living in it.

The prospect of myself or my husband being gone for that time period, with no communication... well, it is inconceivable. To consider that time given up to imprisonment, torture, and isolation... Well. It must be life changing, to say the very least.

I don't see eye to eye with John McCain. But I do appreciate him, and his service to his country. I don't think that those of us who are "outside" of the military can truly appreciate the sacrifice military families make. I do think we should try to, though. We live in a great country, which is slowly losing its greatness. We've lost perspective as to what made us great.

America was founded for many reasons, and I am not silly enough to think that in a simple blog I can possibly begin to sum it all up. However, I do contend that PART of the greatness of our nation is our reflection of Christ. Men like John McCain suffer and die to grant freedom to others, as a type, if you will, of Christ, who died to give the ultimate freedom to us. Freedom from the bondage of sin. This is very poetically stated in the Battle Hymn of the Republic:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

May we all pause and appreciate the sacrifices of our soldiers. . The freedom I have to sit snuggling a sleepy baby at 5 am while I read blogs published freely on the internet is not without price. Yes, it is cliche to say so, but freedom isn't free.

Thank you, Jesus, for others who were willing to sacrifice.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...



Ok, 3 posts is enough for one day, right? This is dedicated to my brother who blessed me tremendously by introducing his namesake nephew to Star Wars... Thanks, David!

Can We Add Video?


This video is for Grandma! Joshua and Erin have been working hard to master this.....they plan on a rousing performance on Christmas morning at the crack of dawn... the video is dark, but will do for my experiment.

OK, just an experiment here... we are trying to add pictures,,, Will it work? Let's see! Oh, It did! This is a picture of our house... bad angle with tree in the middle of the shot... but you can see our house anyways!

Alright, let's show you the yard...





hmmmm it added the pictures to the top? huh? lemme see if I can move them around? Ah, success!!!!So, that's neat, isn't it? We are learning. However, I still have not mastered this program, as is evidenced by the underlining of these words... hmmmmm... Nothing will get rid of it . Any ideas? I guess I will post this and see of the same thing happens to my next post?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A poem to share:

The earth is a circle,
A circle's a sphere,
This sphere is a planet,
And the planet is here.

Beginnings...

In the Beginning God...

well, you know .

We are beginning something less significant, but hopefully fun! Our family needs a place to display our thoughts, our creations, and our opinions! So, here we are. Hopefully the start of something good.