Simple Things!

Simple things make me happy!

My bathroom had those ugly kinda metal blinds in them. I don't mean any offense if you have them and like them, I just can't stand them! ;O)

I have always liked some of the old windows I have seen that people painted. I like simple designs and usually ones more naturish in look. I went to an antique show with my friend yesterday and this was what I got...



Now, instead of leaving me feeling blah, my bathroom window makes me happy!

Point of View!

(The view of the sun coming up from my back porch!)

I love this time of year when the leaves start to change and the temperatures get crisp! One of my favourite things to do is to sit on my back porch while I drink my coffee, enjoying the feel of the coolness around me.

The other day I had fixed a big breakfast, we had all eaten and Rachel and Benji had left for school. The little ones were momentarily occupied tidying up their rooms and I seized the opportunity to retreat. I took my coffee out to my favourite chair and sat down to watch the sun come up. The evidence of my breath mingled with the steam from my coffee and I sighed a most contented sigh...until I made the mistake of glancing in the kitchen window.

Crumbs scattered across the table among the dishes and utensils which were strewn about. Jars of homemade jam and apple butter dripping their contents down the side. Pots and pans with their remnants hardening before my eyes. My morning respite had been intruded upon by the realities of my life! I had a brief moment of disdain for what my immediate future held before the clouds of self-absorption parted and were replaced by a litany of holy thoughts.

I get to share life with 6 messy people who mean the world to me. The sight before my eyes was suddenly transformed from a big, huge mess shouting for my attention to a celebration of the rhythms of the life He has gifted me with!

We are all healthy. We have a beautiful house with a table big enough for all of us to sit around it. We have bellies full of yummy food. We have love and laughter and a lifetime of memories! This scene was one to rejoice in...mess and all!

I felt my pulse slow and my breathing again deepen. I inhaled the aroma of the fresh brewed coffee and gently closed my eyes to the rising sun!

Thank You, Papa, for allowing my point of view to be witnessed through holy eyes instead of those of a tired Mama! Thank You for a husband who is such evidence of answered prayer and 5 children who fill my heart to overflowing. Thank You for entrusting me with their care and for allowing the most basic routines of life to be an offering of praise to You! I love You!

Led By a Child!

1 Tim. 4:12 (MsgB)
And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.

Seems like we could learn a lot from little Hannah!

What Kind of Girl Am I?

Well, upon seeing this title, you may have some answers that instantly pop into your head...loving wife, devoted mom, Jesus-follower, good cook, gardener and you could even throw a stunningly beautiful in there if you felt so inclined! (Quit snickering...I'm just kidding. :insertrollingeyes: )

I love to write on my blog. It helps me make sense of the thoughts that are always careening around in my head, vying for some of my mental energy. Once I write these thoughts down, it frees me up to move onto another thought and down a different mental trail. I have loved the outlet my blog has provided.

I am part of an online community and I take my ministry there very seriously. I head up the prayer ministry on a homeschool board and it has been an amazing way to encourage women to seek Him in all they do! I am also on FB and have a number of blogs that I follow, so the computer really has become an invaluable friend to me. I type out a lot of messages on it, personal and public, and I appreciate having it at my disposal.

I have begun to do a good bit more speaking and I am currently working on a number of messages. This is what I am getting at, though (in case you're trying to figure out what the heck my title and the body of this message have to do with each other). When it comes right down to it and I need to prepare and truly capture my thoughts...

I am a paper and pen kinda girl!

Really...I love them! In fact, office supplies stores are my favourite stores (outside of a really good antique store, of course). I love the smell of paper and almost every pen you'll see me writing with is purple. I am not sure when the purple pen obsession hit, but I once had a woman with whom I had had a number of written correspondences meet me and say, "Ah, the lady with the purple pen!" Pretty pathetic, huh? I guess if you have to be known for something, it could be a lot worse than a purple pen, though.

I really do love everything about the process of actually writing. In our day and age of computerized everything, writing truly is a dying art. Tim just had a bunch of young guys fill out a questionaire and he said he was shocked by their handwriting. It used to be that even men had a lovely, flowing handwriting because a pen and paper was all they had to work with. Nowadays, there is rarely a reason to hand-write something unless you are a homeschool child whose Mama insists you become proficient at it! :insertslightlyevillaugh:

Maybe you think I'm weird and you are thankful beyond words for this age of computers and phones with texting capabilities. While I make ample use of them, I just don't think they come close to comparing to words inscribed on paper.

Well, you'll have to excuse me now because I have a message brewing in my mind and a pretty purple notebook and pen waiting for me!

That's just the kind of girl I am! :O)

Weather and Other Such Craziness!

The weather in Georgia has been bizarre the last couple of months. After a few years of drought, we have more rain than we know what to do with. While I am thankful for the rain we so desperately needed at one time, I am sad for so many people who have lost everything in unprecedented flooding. Many did not have flood insurance because they don't live in flood plains! So sad.

We have also had quite cool temps part of the time with warm days scattered throughout. I realized just how unpredictable the weather has been when I got in the car the other day and looked over at my forsythia bush that is by the driveway. It is so confused that it's leaves are changing colour and falling off AND it is blooming!

BLOOMING!

Craziest thing I have ever seen! It has never bloomed any time but during the spring and it is at about 50-60% capacity bloom-wise right now! I considered having a talk with it and letting it know its timing was a little off, but I decided to appreciate its effort and just enjoy the yellow blossoms.

I must admit I keep checking the Eastern sky to see if there any imminent signs because the weather indicates something is up! Between the current state of affairs in our government coupled with the weather, surely it can't be too long off!

Celebrating Her!

Yesterday we got to celebrate our girl, Rachel! She turned 17!

Rachel is an amazingingly beautiful, sweet, fun, smart and loving girl! She has brought us much joy and she was the one Papa used to fulfill my dream of being a Mama so many years ago. \O/

I can't believe she is a senior! Doesn't seem possible that enough time has passed for us to already be reaching this milestone. I look forward to seeing what Papa is going to allow Rach to accomplish in the days to come! Whatever it is, I pray she always desires to walk with the Lord and keep her ways pleasing to Him.

Happy Birthday, baby girl! We love you more than you'll ever comprehend...at least until you have babies of your own! XOXO

Blah!

A few of us are under the weather. Nothing terrible, just slight fevers, sore throats and...blah! Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to not be really sick, but sometimes the in-between sick is tough, too...especially when you're the Mama!! You're not really sick enough to lay around all day and get away with it, but you don't feel like doing much of anything either.

I compromised today...I did a little school, fixed a big pot of chicken soup, worked on some birthday stuff for Rachel and then laid down and watched a movie this afternoon. We had breakfast for dinner because it was easy...and comforting...and I am picturing an early bedtime in my future!

I did order some black elderberry yesterday and it should be here tomorrow. My friend had posted about it and I did some reading last night. It is supposed to be a powerful immune builder and I figured I would add it to our arsenal of natural ways to fight bugs of the infectious kind! I'll let you know if we deem it a winner!

Here's hoping you all have a healthy rest of the week! At least we can have the doors and windows open and so I am hopeful we are blowing the germs right on out! One can hope, right?! ;O)

She's Seven!

Hannah Joy rocked our world 7 years ago today! We had planned to have a homebirth with our dear midwife Gay, but Hannah decided she was tired of waiting and made an early appearance with only Tim to catch her and help me welcome her arrival. We should have known then that Papa was letting us know we needed to buckle our seatbelts and get ready for a ride! ;O)

Hannah is a joy to our hearts and brings so much fun to our days! She is sweet, bossy, fun, demanding, cute, girlie, decisive and...my constant sidekick! She likes to cook, clean, do school and wants 5 babies (only she wants 3 girls and 2 boys because she wants the girls to win in her house)! She wants her first car to be a mini-van and was relieved to find out you don't have to go to college because she just wants to be a Mama! Aaahhhh, a girl after my own heart!

Happy Birthday, sweet Hannah-girl! Your Mama and Daddy, Rachel, Benji, Jesse and Caleb love you so much...but Jesus loves you most of all!! XOXO

HOPE!

Our daughter has been struggling with some things lately and she has become very discouraged. She has shed many uncharacteristic tears and we have seen her retreating within herself. As a Mama, it has pierced my heart to witness her pain and my tears have mixed with hers.

The one thing I have prayed fervently for her the last few weeks is that Papa would give her tangible evidence that her HOPE has not died. I have encouraged her to not give up HOPE, but to cling to it. I bought her a bracelet that says HOPE all over it and she found a keychain someone had given her last year that says HOPE! It has become a theme for this current season in her life as our whispered prayers have gone forth!

I was conversing via email with a new friend (I can sense a kindredness ;O) ) and she mentioned that HOPE is an anchor for our soul. I knew that was found in scripture and so I looked it up tonight. I read the passage and then I looked it up in The Message. I loved how Eugene Peterson worded it and it ministered to my heart so deeply ~

Hebrews 6:18-20 (MsgB)
God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised HOPE with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us.

Isn't that just exactly what HOPE is? It's our spiritual lifeline to the One Who has God's ear...the One Who intercedes for us and is our greatest cheerleader and soul comforter!

So thank you, Dee, for pointing me once again to the the Anchor of my soul and allowing me to use the encouragement I have received to encourage my precious girl!

And you know what? Today I saw the clouds part in my daughter's heart and the Son began to shine in her again and...I have HOPE that tommorrow is a new day!

Thank you Papa for always knowing just what we need and who we need to hear it from. Please continue to encourage my girl and remind her that...

tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, HOPE; and HOPE does not disappoint.