A Time For Every Season....

(Archives) Grace Begets Grace

2012-02-05T08:52:00.000-06:00

From 1/31/2011 - a great reminder for me today!

"A thankful heart is constantly extending grace

because it has received grace.

Love and Grace are uneven."

"Grace Begets Grace."

Paul Miller, A Praying Life Page 152

Grace ~ a word I thought I knew much about. From a young age I learned in church that grace was "unmerited favor." Now, ask me to define that in my own words and I would have said something like, "I am unworthy of anything and God has shown fit to bless me with a relationship with Him."

Over the last few months the Lord has been speaking to my heart about living a grace- filled life. It began last August with a Kay Arthur bible study on Spiritual gifts. I studied the word "Charis" (5485), it is Greek for grace and in the context I was reading meant "grace gifts or gifts of grace." I was slightly intrigued by this concept of spiritual gifts being gifts of grace. I never thought of spiritual gifts as an act of God's grace - only that Jesus' sacrifice for my sin personified grace. According to Strongs (G5485) grace has four definitions, it is defined as:

a) that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech

2) good will, loving-kindness, favour

a) of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues

3) what is due to grace

a) the spiritual condition of one governed by the power of divine grace

b) the token or proof of grace, benefit

1) a gift of grace

2) benefit, bounty

4) thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense, reward

My next encounter with the vast concept of grace showed up when I began reading A Praying Life by Paul Miller. I began to see that my lack of extending grace was masked by my sin of cynicism; An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others. This mask of cynicism was blocking the work the Lord wanted to do in and through my life. As I began to renew my mind, sometimes hourly, to transform my mind through the lens of grace I began to see life more through the eyes of my Father. This grace filled life forced me to look inward before looking outward. Often times, when I look inward I have no desire to look outward because my own sin humbles me. Instead of seeing faults in others, I see those same sins in my own life, repent, pray for more grace and then walk forward with a renewed sense of joy. It allows me to stop those thoughts of what I percieve people are thinking about me. That freedom allows me to walk with the Lord regardless of what I "think" others will think about it. It also changes the way I see people, it allows me to love just where people are without "spot or blemish." It opens doors to truly love people.

Finally, I picked up Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts; its primary focus' is to show how the giving of thanks within each and every situation transforms my mind and allows for Joy to be released within my life. Note that the final definition of Grace (#4) results in "Thanksgiving," Hidden within the word of grace is - Thanksgiving which is a bi-product of Joy.

So here are a few examples of how Grace was practiced and utilized in my daily life last week:

As I rise early this morning I thank the Lord for the grace to get out of bed, my flesh desperately wants to go back to sleep. I know that without the Lord -rising early to work out and get into God's word would be next to impossible. I'm NOT a morning person. "Grace Begets Grace."
As I'm driving to the gym I meditate on the various "gifts" I've been given that morning - making a mental note to put them in my notebook when I get to Starbucks later that morning. "Grace Begets Grace."
My child wakes up and the first thing he asks is, "Can I watch a show." My mind immediately thinks about how he is focusing his mind on an "idol" in his life, then instead of getting upset, I tell him he needs to wait. I think about the idols that are in my own life - the idol of pride or self -wanting things my way, my plans, my schedule, etc. I confess this idol for what it is, ask the Lord to give me grace to be more generous and giving of my time. Then pray for my son, I write down Daniel 3:18 " But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”I then ask the Lord to shape my son with courage and self control like Daniel. I pray my son would not serve other gods and that he would only worship the Lord. I'm becoming more aware of my child through the art of prayer, I'm seeing the natural bents towards the things of the world and praying that it be replaced with godly attributes. In the process, prayer softens me. I begin to realize that it is only through prayer that my son will confirm to the image of Christ. "Grace Begets Grace."
I see a mother who is giving her 3 month old baby apple juice, immediately in my mind I confess that I think I'm a better mother than she because I know that isn't a good thing for my child. The Lord graciously reminds me that I don't know anything about the situation, I replace those thoughts with truth - "she is a great mom," " She loves her child and I see that through how much she cuddles and cares for him." Later it comes out that her son has the flu and can only keep down juice. I thank the Lord for bringing to light my cynicism and allowing me to change the thoughts in my mind. I pray for her son's healing. "Grace Begets Grace."
I am weary and want to go to sleep, my husband gets into bed and I know that his neck has been hurting all day. I pray for grace to serve my husband, grab some bio-freeze and gently massage his neck.He is so grateful and feels appreciated - extending grace - a necessity to receiving grace. "Grace Begets Grace."
I'm in line at the grocery store, the woman in front is trying to pay with a check and is taking forever. My flesh urges me to get impatient, so I pray for grace and begin listing off areas of Thankfulness like, "I have money to buy these groceries, the 4 free can's of soup in my basket, the fact that I'm shopping alone and my husband is putting the kids to bed, I am a blessed woman to have a husband who puts our kids to bed every night, He is such a wonderful man for doing devotions with the kids every night, etc." Then I smile at the woman and she apologizes for taking so long. I comment to her that "I'm in no rush, don't feel bad, these things happen - especially to me!" She smiles back, relieved that I'm in no rush. She is blessed and feels lighter because of a few grace filled words and a kind smile. Grace received - Grace bestowed. "Grace Begets Grace."

The Lord is reconditioning my mind and heart through the lens of Grace

which produces:

Thanksgiving

Joy

Delight

Prayer

Bounty

Gifts

Strength

Transformation Into The Image of Jesus Christ

Surrounded & Imperfect

2012-02-03T23:22:00.002-06:00

I was reading through Genesis this week and just felt such frustration towards these men of great faith - like Abraham and Noah and Isaac & Jacob. I see their stories unfold and all the trouble and sin they get themselves into. I then go to Hebrews and read about their great faith and how they are beloved by God.

I stop, look around at my children's hearts, their sin nature -- my own sin nature. I look at some bad choices they have made this last week and Satan subtly sneaks in and says "...they are broken, you are broken, God will never use you, your just a mess up sinner that will always make mistakes...."

Somehow I read these crazy bad choices of God fearing men and women and am encouraged. I am encouraged because God dealt directly with their sin and then moved on. He never brought up their failings and bad choices again. God dealt with the sin, he didn't overlook it, then pushed them on towards a mission. These crazy characters of old inspired me this morning, they refuted the lies of Satan.

The wisdom and truth in the Bible feed me manna from heaven this morning and challenge me to deal with my own sin, then the sins of my children and move on. My sins do not define me - but refine me. In my sin I see the messed up person I truly am. A one who deserves to die in Hell, then I see my Father's love daily redeeming me from the pit with His ultimate sacrifice - His perfect and Holy son Jesus Christ. I am broken - that is no lie. I am a messed up sinner who will always struggle against my sinful flesh - that is no lie. But God will use me because I am redeemed, I am forgiven, I am in Christ, I posses the most precious and necessary tool - the Holy Spirit and He has dealt with my sin today and is sending me onward to do great and mighty deeds in His Name.

Today Lord, I see Your greatness, I see your love, your chastising and your prodding. Your words whisper in my heart, nudging me to "... leave your sin behind and move ahead to the plans I have for you. I can and will use you, I have redeemed you from the hands of Satan and I remember your sins no more. Your sins were nailed to that cross with my Son, my most precious possession. Jesus' blood dealt with your sin, now go, walk in obedience and watch me do great things in My name."

Amen Lord, Amen

Thank Heaven For Big Brothers!

2012-02-02T13:28:00.000-06:00

Our little girly is in love with her big brothers. She looks up to them and copies them and adores them. This week Drew had the best time dressing up his sister, he was making her "beautiful" by doing her hair and dressing her up. He ingeniously used the ladder from his castle to make a beautiful crown for her head, then took every bow he could find and decorated her hair, Drew topped the hair off with two tutu's and her favorite pair of ladybug boots. Isn't she cute!

Oh yes, and Drew lost his first tooth (other than the two we had to pull that is). I just love my kids!

January: Birthday's, Family, Fun Times

2012-01-31T13:31:00.025-06:00

Abby on her 2nd Birthday having pancakes on the "special plate!"

January flew by with two birthdays, our 9th anniversary and a lot of family visiting from out of state. It was crazy around here - but oh so fun! Here is our January in pictures, since they tell the tales much better than I can in words. Sorry for the blur, my camera settings were of and I was a little busy enjoying my life to spend much time photographing it. When I did download the pictures I noticed a setting on my camera was wrong.... oops!

Grandma Patti came to visit! Oh the fun! She watched the kids over our Anniversary so we could escape for a weekend away. Delightful! Thank you Patti!

Nana was over a lot with Great Nana. Oh how we miss Great Nana!

Uncle Howard and Papa from Seattle spent time with the kiddo's!

The boys loved using Papa as a jungle-gym!

Lots of time was spent outside getting rid of all that energy! Even Abby keeps up on her bike now!

Abby & Uncle Howard were especially close.

Drew decorated Abby's Birthday wrapping.

Abby on her special day and her Tutu from Aunt Sherri!

Cupcake Time!

Drew's Birthday - he turned 7!

Drew loved to make play-dough creatures.

Grandma Carol made Abby and the boys beautiful crocheted hats!

Pajama Day - kind of.....

Abby loves this hat!

Drew on his Birthday with her new hat from Grandma Carol!

Abby with one of her new hats, broken out in a rash from something she ate. Poor baby!


The boys received dog houses to paint from Mrs. Kelly - entertained them for hours!!!		The puppies that go inside are so cute!

Gabers and his favorite airplane from Christmas.

Sweet boy!

Abby giving Grandma Carol snails from the garden - her favorite past time.

Time to play at the park with Grandma Patti!

Cabella's with Papa Tractor.

It was a busy January. We're looking forward to getting back into a routine of sorts.

Inscriptions for Drew: You Are 7!

2012-01-28T21:43:00.000-06:00

My darling Drew,

I can't believe you have turned 7 years old. What an inquisitive boy you have turned into this year. You are always asking the question "Why" with genuine interest. You love to learn new things and are always bounding around the house with fresh energy. It is hard for all of us to keep up with your fast pace most days. I am sure God has great plans for all that energy - I call it your "change the world" energy because that energy will be used to accomplish great things for the Lord someday.

You are in 1st grade, you love Science and experiments. You loved Math the first part of the year, but are now not too thrilled with it since the routine doesn't vary too much from day to day. You are learning to read! I'm so proud of all the hard work you are putting in. You tell me all the time how much you dislike reading because it is "just so hard." Don't worry my son, the very art of reading is teaching you perseverance and self control. I know it is hard to work each day on something you aren't too crazy about, but one day reading will come easy and it will take you on wonderful adventures! Keep up all the hard work my son - you are learning so much and I'm so proud of you.

Drew, you are a special little boy. You do not fit any mold - you are unique and very outside the box. You are a joy to talk and share ideas with. Your favorite past time is sitting on the couch and sharing life with your momma. You love to talk about your dreams and plans and your next experiment. You adore Lego's and can sit for hours putting sets of them together. Your favorite books are the Magic Tree House adventures. You loved listening to the Little House books this year, your favorite character is their bulldog Jack! Your favorite past time is climbing trees - whenever I can't find you, I just look up! You scare me all the time with how high you climb.

This 7th year of life is going to bring great changes in your life - you are growing into a boy and we are training you to be more responsible and helpful around the house. I know that servant heart will be matured this year, you are working on learning to clean the bathrooms, empty the dish washer and load the washing machine. You already know how to vacuum downstairs which has been a huge help. While you are 7, you will finally begin to earn an allowance and have specific chores associated with those responsibilities. Drew, you are such a huge example to your brother and sister. They look up to you and do everything that you do.

I pray that this next year you will grow more in maturity and stature. I pray you will come to know and comprehend the grace of God and His sacrifice on the cross for your sins. I pray that this year you will come into the family of Christ - that the verse from Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord..." will become true and realized in your life. I pray that this year you will grow in self control and dependability. I see you struggling between growing into a boy and staying a child - turn to the Lord and ask Him for guidance and wisdom.

Drew - God made you so unique - you are sensitive and kind, gentle and honest. I love the boy that you are becoming. Just remember that the Lord is waiting to send the Holy Spirit to live in your heart and from that moment on you will never walk in your own strength again, but you will walk in the strength of the Lord who will give you great power to overcome sin.

Love,
Momma

Eden

2012-01-19T20:42:00.001-06:00

Only in Eden will I truly be satisfied. However, I'm not in Eden and I'm called to be "content in all circumstances," so today I spent a lot of time counting my blessings. I have so very many and the more I thanked God the more content I became. Unfortunately, I decided to have the boys clean out the van for me which turned into a 2 hour ordeal of the boys being distracted, not listening, not cleaning, and Abby falling out of the van and hitting her noggin. Poor baby will have a large goose egg in the morning. Daddy came home to the rescue and miraculously the boys got to work without grumbling or complaining. I headed off for a stress relieving workout, a vegi taco and some quiet time to think and pray and finish a chapter in my book on the subject of praying over relinquishing.

I love how God draws me close and renews my spirit when I call on Him. I had a wonderful evening, reflecting on the messages He has been sending me about contentment, allowing and actually encouraging my kiddo's to be average students. I need to bring more encouragement and less guilt. The purpose of schooling at home is to model and show my kids a Big God who has Big plans for their lives. I pray they would fall madly in love with Him and follow His plans and purposes for their futures. I'm building character & love for Jesus - all the rest is icing on the cake.

1022. Wonderful reunion with my M2M mentors and friends who share their lives and struggles.

1023. Blessed to be married and have a partner to do life with. A sweet friend that I know through M2M (not terrible well), lost her husband over Thanksgiving. She is my age with 3 children 7 months to 5 years old. She is one busy woman and is handling the loss of her husband with such grace. I am sure she isn't feeling graceful, but she encouraged me today by coming back to M2M and just letting us love on her.

1024. Praying over the boys and having them ask me to keep praying for them.

1025. Prayers for my littles that penetrate my heart throughout the day.

1026. Resting with Gabe and having him sing me tons of silly songs while I stroked his back.

1027. Watching my husband read with his sons each night before bed. They are going through the goo and gore of the Old Testament via the Brick Bible (comic style with Lego's as the characters).

1028. Abby running over to me at the park when a stranger looked at her and asked if her mommy was around.

1029. Drew climbing trees - his favorite past time. At the park he settled for the monkey bars!

1030. Drew praying for me this morning " that I would be slow to Anger and quick to listen."

1031. Time alone at my favorite little coffee shop with my "Phil Wickham" radio station on Pandora and a good book.

1032. Burning calories while memorizing my Fighter Verse for the week.

1033. Prayers of surrender - surrender for my plans and my desires and an invitation for God to write on my heart the desires of His heart.

“I want to see beauty. In the ugly, in the sink, in the suffering, in the daily, in all the days before I die, the moments before I sleep.”
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Organic Grocery Budget

2012-01-15T16:02:00.008-06:00

In an effort to be healthier and know what we're putting in our bodies, we've been going green. Yes, the crazy coupon queen who always got a thrill with spending less and buying more is singing a different tune. We're going green and spending more money on groceries yet I would like to argue that we are still spending the same, if not less, and have more money set aside for future medical care and are much healthier. How is that possible - you ask?

Well, we went from a 375.00 per month grocery budget (2010) for a family of 5, to a 500.00 per month grocery budget (7/2011-present). That is an increase of 125.00 which allows us to eat primarily organic! We were spending 200.00 per month on co-pays and medication for the family. We are now down to no medications. Sing Hallelujah! I then took the 75.00 savings between grocery increases & medication/co-pays and are putting that, plus an additional 25.00 that I found in the budget due to the pre- tax savings, into our HSA. Before our HSA, we were missing out on the pre-tax benefits for all our medical care - ouch!. Our HSA (Health Care Savings Account) will rolls over each month and follow us into retirement! We have an added incentive to being healthy! Please note an HSA is different than a FSA (Flexible Spending Account), which you must use in full each year. An HSA uses pre-tax funds and you never lose what you don't use!

We also have some additional health savings which aren't calculated into this equation - I increased our family deductibles to 1,000 & 1,200 which we haven't tapped into because we're quite healthy, and I am saving 100.00 per month, we are also saving 120.00 per month on dental insurance and paying out of pocket for our teeth cleanings which don't cost us more than 400.00 per year for routine dental cleanings 2x per year. That is a savings of 240.00 per month. That extra 240.00 goes into our long term savings account in the event we need to use our high deductible AND we already used the HSA in full. I love that!

So some have asked - how is it that you only spend 500.00 a month on Organic groceries for 5 people. This includes all paper products, diapers, pull ups, hygiene products, and anything else you would buy at a grocery store. I think 500.00 is a lot compared to what I use to spend but still find it fun to make sure I stay within the budget. Here is my monthly breakdown on food based on where I shop:

100.00 Azure Standard Order Monthly
30.00 Zaycon Foods Order Bi-Annually all our Ground Beef & Chicken
60.00 Costco
50.00 Amazon
18.00 Farm Fresh Eggs
60.00 Texas Daily Harvest (2 gal Milk per week)
75.00 Sprouts (Fruit/Vegi's/org Creamer)
75.00 Kroger/Tom Thumb (various organic discounted items, milk for yogurt, almond milk for smoothies)
25.00 Colleyville Farmers Market (Local, in season produce)
8.00 Bread Store (Mrs Bayrd's for sandwhich bread 1.25 Ora-wheat bread day old 14 loaves every 2 Months)

Total: 501.00 Monthly
For the Azure Standard, Costco and Amazon purchases I allocate monthly for larger items, many I only order 1 to 2x per year. Here is a list of what I frequent each month at Azure Standard, their catalog is so large it is hard to know where to start!

Azure Monthly
Org Walla Walla Sweet Onions 3 lbs	3.45

Fresh Org Fruit - apples/pears/peaches	15.00
Org Canned Pumpkin	1.85
1 LB Sweet Cream Butter	3.85
Org Sour Cream	2.90
10 LBS Bulk Blackberries	20.35
Acai Frozen (4 PK)	3.70
Org Yukon Potatoes 5 LBS	6.00
Sappo Hill Soap Bar Soap, Oatmeal	1.65
Biokleen	3.60
Fresh Org Leeks 16 oz	1.55
Biokleen Dish Liquid	4.50
Sprouted Wheat Tortillas 13.2 oz	2.45
Org Rapadura Cane Sugar 24 oz	4.80
Amount Allocated for Bi-Annual Items	21.09
	96.74

Azure Standard Bi - Annually

25 lbs Hard White Wheat Berries	12.90
2 oz ORG Peppermint Extract	3.95
20 LBS Fuji Apples	17.00
ORG Relish (10 OZ)	2.80
Oranges 10 lbs	5.80
Whole Groats 5 lbs	3.80
Organic Vanilla 4oz	11.15
Org Diaper Cream	6.00
Northern Beans Organic 5 lbs	6.30
Azure Org Popcorn 5 lbs	5.00
Org Chocolate Syrup	5.70
RAW Bulk cheddar 5 LB Block	26.00
White Wildflower Honey 2.2 lbs	20.15

	126.55 21.09 monthly

Costco Bulk Items
Fine Granulated Organic Sugar 10 lb.	8.69
Honey for Cooking	8.50
Strawberry's Frozen 5 LBS	6.99
Kirkland Signature Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Filippo Berio) 1.5ltr	9.99
McCormick Organic Basil 2.85oz.	2.79
Golden Organic Ground Flax 40oz. $8.89	8.89
McCormick Organic Oregano 2.5oz. $3.49	3.49
Peanut Butter Organic 2-28oz.	8.59
Butter Organic 2lb. $6.99	6.99
Strawberry Jam Organic 42oz. $6.99	6.99
Texmati Brown Rice Organic 6lb	9.39
Quinoa Organic 4lb.	9.59
Frozen Wawona Organic Freestone Peaches 4lb $7.79	7.79
Sugar in the Raw 6lb	7.69
Vinegar (white) 1.3gal	3.29
Baking Soda 13.5lb.	5.39
Sabra Hummus 32oz	5.99
Earthbound Organic Carrots, 10 lbs for	6.29
Earthbound Organic spinach, 1 lb for	3.99
Minced Garlic	3.29
Frigo Cheese sticks 60 count	9.59

Averages to 57.27 Monthly based on the amount of each item I buy annually.

Amazon Buys
Charmin Ultra Strong, Mega Rolls, 4 Count Pack (Pack of 6) 24 Total Rolls	21.80
Kids Krill Oil	17.08
Seventh Generation Baby Diaper Stage 4 Super Jumbo Pack, 64-Count	15.99

Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 54-Ounce Containers (Pack of 2)	37.35
Coombs Organic Maple Syrup 32 oz	20.00
Seventh Generation Baby Wipes	9.51
Bob's Red Mill Organic Oat Bran Hot Cereal, 18-Ounce Bags (Pack of 4)	9.59
Mason Vitamins Healthy Kids Cod Liver Oil and Vitamin D, Tasty Chewable Orange Flavor, 100-Count, (Pack of 3)	7.65
Seventh Generation Training Pants, 3T-4T, 22 Count (Pack of 4)	28.3

		Averages to 47.37 Monthly

Here is a list of the items I've learned how to make myself:

* Vanilla extract is my next item to learn to make myself

Laundry Soap
Yogurt
Salad Dressing
Snack foods: muffins, granola bars,
Non sandwich breads
Cleaners
Milled Wheat
Powdered Sugar Happy Shopping!

Inscriptions for Abby: My Baby Turns 2

2012-01-14T14:39:00.066-06:00

Dear Abby,
Today you are 2 years old -- our little fire cracker. You are more adventurous and determined that any baby I have been blessed to care for. You ride this little red hovercraft thing all over the house and yard, flying around corners and moving those little feet as fast as they will kick. You are the most adorable little 24 pounder in the world and I'm a blessed Momma to call you mine. I can't believe you were only 4 lbs 6oz at birth - you have grown so much! This year 2011 was your year. It was the year you learned to talk and walk and run and keep up with your brothers. You spent this year healthy and flourished physically and emotionally. You learned to play and talk to us in your own little words - you love the words "shoes" and "Milk" and "Oh No!" A few other favorites are "Thank you" and "Max & Kitty" and of course the dreadful "no" which seems to be your answer to everything! You have mastered the fits in the pantry like all our other kids and I'm so blessed that your little tantrums are so very short lived! You are too content smiling and being happy - the only time you get upset is when we tell you "no" to more eating or won't let you sit at the table anymore.

One year ago you were mostly bald and whined all the time. You were crawling all over and slept a ton of your life away. You were sick much of the first year of your life and it just hurt mommy's heart to see you in pain. You had intestinal issues, ear infections, vomiting all the time, asthma, RSV and a pale face with sunken eyes - though you loved eating and smiling despite being sick! Now you are a flourishing little girl, always happy and not too sick! What a blessing this last year has been for us.I delight seeing you healthy and not being confined to the house all the time. You are allergic to Eggs and Homogenized milk - but that doesn't seem to stop you much!

Abby @ 14 Months

Abby @ 15 Months - just getting ready to walk!

Today you are 24 pounds, you have long blond curly hair which you love to have up in pig tales. You love bows in your hair and insist on wearing hats too. What 2 year old keeps on hats? You do! You love to play outside and your favorite activity is sliding at the park or riding down the street on your red little scooter.You love to be girly, but play Nerf and Swords with your brothers. You love dropping little counting bears inside cups and then dumping them out and doing it all over again. Your attention span is getting longer, you can finally sit for 2-3 minutes and listen to a book! You still love to sleep and are so tired by 6:30 pm. You like to wake up between 8-9 am and take a 2- 3 hour nap in the middle of the day. You still love your "wubbies" at night and can't sleep without them. We are going to have to break that habit this year --- sorry! You have already started to tell me when your going in your diaper - I'm not ready for you to be out of diapers!!

Abby 4th of July 2011 - She finally has hair!

My precious Abby, please know that your momma loves you so much. You bring such delight and smiles and giggles int our home. God has given you such a gift - joy - always remember to smile despite the circumstances of life. Don't let the small stuff get you down. You are one determined little girl - I know that God will use that will to brings about true greatness. Always put the Lord first in your life and you will never be led astray. This year I've been praying 2 Peter 3:18 over you, I pray that Abby will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

Sweet Abby - You are dearly loved and prayed for. I'm so excited to see the many adventures God brings your way in 2012!

Love,
Momma

What is in a title?

2012-01-12T21:18:00.000-06:00

So I haven't had the urge to blog and haven't had the urge to come up with a snappy title either. Who needs titles!

So far in 2012 we've celebrated a New year and 9 wonderful years of pure bliss ... wink. Yes, a pure marriage is one that goes through a lot of junk, enjoys the blissful moments of married life and just keeps reafirming the commitment. Joy is experienced along the way. I am so glad that marriage changes me, changes my selfishness into love and respect and kindness. I am glad that 9 years of marriage finds me to be a more soft person - though evidently still strong willed. John and I escaped for a weekend away, thank you Grandma!, and enjoyed hours upon uninterupted hours of talking and sharing and dreaming. It was just what our marriage needed - a little Red Bull! One thing that came out of our time was the fact that I am a strong willed wife. I was made that way by God and it provides us a lot of benefits, but it also produces some negative draws that I need to work on. I do find some rest in realizing for the first time in my life that I am very determined and typically get what I want - that sounds so bad! Getting what I want isn't all bad - I wanted my dashing husband and I finally landed him, I wanted kids and look at my 3 beautiful sweeties! I also wanted a horse who taught me money management skills and tons of responsibility. Anyhow, the new year is off to a great start - 9 years of marriage sure goes by fast! Now I just need to reign in the not so glorious attributes of being strong willed.

On to the rest of life - we're still here, enjoying tons of company, still schooling and still working. Wow, life needs to settle down. I've been enjoying some creative organic cooking, baking homemade bread with my own milled wheat, growing my own herbs, and making Abby's eczema cream which doubles as a great moisturizer. I tried a No Poo rinse on my hair the other day - can't say I loved it but I can say I tried it! Our worms are still composting, dogs still shedding, kids still learning and John is back to school working.

My kids have been receiving some reality checks since Christmas. I actually made Drew sit for 15 minutes without moving last night because he was unable to sit still at dinner. He also had to vacuum the hwole house today because as we were exiting the farmers market his "wiggles" caused him to elbow 3 apples off their stand and onto the hard floor. Drew paid for the apples with my money and then earned the 2.00 back by vacuuming - I wonder if he will calm down next time?

Gabe has been awful lately, so I took him out on a date while Drew was in school. I must confess I deeply wanted to go home and work since I'm way behind, but when the Holy Spirit speaks, I obey. So we went out on a Mommy date and just spent the morning together. We played play dough, went out for "coffee" and he helped me pick out our fresh food at Sprouts. We went on a walk and enjoyed playing airplanes that loved to eat the "worms" I made out of play dough. . Then he had Grandma all to himself for 2 hours which he loved! Gabe is my quality time kid - he also struggles with anger and often feels jealous of others who can perform better than he can. He deeply wants to do school just like Drew but he is also just 4 and his attention span is still quite short. John and I are both spending extra time filling up his love tank with special responsibilities and dates. Gabe is the sweetest little boy and I pray that his recent outburst of anger will only draw him to a relationship with Jesus.

Here are some fun picture of what we were up to while off from school in December.

We celebrated Jesus, though Next year I vow to do Christmas differently.

Gingerbread Houses with Lots of candy eaten!

Yes, see the frosting, Drew ate it by the knife full.... yuck!

Yummy Houses and Candy!

We ... No the Boys, built a fort in the front yard on Christmas Eve,

Yes, we are the odd ducks in the neighborhood and yes I'm sure the HOA will be sending us a letter, despite John calling it a "bird house."

Kitty finally got a pink house and is so excited to see girl things in the house,

Abby finally has some girly things and tons of dolls!

The infamous helicopter...see the next picture to find out why it is called "infamous."

3 men, 1 kids toy, 1 almost ambulance call, thank you Howard for saving John's life!

Some candy did make it onto the house - though it all went on after the kids were sick!

Papa came to visit!

We went to the park and burned off all the kids candy energy.

Uncle Howard and Abby kit it off!

Grace Gifts

2012-01-09T23:26:00.002-06:00

"Thanksgiving for God’s love always seeks to become thanks-living – a living and giving of His love." A. Voskamp

1001. A weekend away with the man I've been married to for 9 years. He is the love of my life and I'm a blessed woman to have been given such a precious gift of a man.

1002. The excitement of hearing how my husband witnessed to his hygienist. We've been ministering to her for 5+ years and God has opened the doors using her disabled son and my "disabled" husband. God gives good gifts like disabilities to be shared.

1003. Listening to my son master a word we've been working on reading.

1004. Completed phonics lessons, disciplined child who is eager to learn and be taught "his way."

1005. My cup of coffee in the morning and vitamix smoothie that starts my day out right.

1006. Fresh farm eggs that taste divine!

1007. Science experiment - testing the various types of eggs sold at the store: Omega 3, Large white, Cage free, grain fed, brown verses blue. The unanimous winner based on taste and color of the yolk - the eggs straight from the farm where the hens probably ate bugs and manure! I guess they are worth the 3.00 a dozen! Now I feel like I'm catching on to this homeschool thing!

1008. Hugs and kisses from my kids (the next morning) when we arrive home from a weekend away.

1009. Sweet drops of rain outsite my window.

1010. Mother In Law who comes just to watch the kids for a weekend so we can grow our marriage.

1011. Hours of chatting and sipping coffee and reading at the book store - the perfect date!

1012. Greek restaurant with the best tabbouleh ever! It was a wonderful Anniversary dinner.

1013. Winning at cards.

1014. Chatting with far off friend.

1015. Two new shirts at a great price.

1016. My husbands arms wrapped around my emotional neck. I love that man!

1017. Intimate prayers with my Father over my children and husband.

1018. A praying family that bursts out in laughter and keeps on talking to our Father. Gos is in the Joy business.

1019. Best Christmas Gift ever given and a husband who delights in it.

1020. Cell group time that draws me back from the holidays and reminds me of all my great friends.

1021. My children growing up, growing in favor and stature with God. The time is running away and I must stop the desire to keep them little and enjoy today.

Time

2012-01-01T16:49:00.000-06:00

I'm re-reading Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts, this morning I was struck by this quote (below) as I relax on the couch, trying to quiet life more so we can hear more easily from God. So, on January 1st, I'm not throwing away time, but resting and enjoying my family. The laundry is half done and kitchen a mess, yet I'm focusing on the most important thing today - resting in God, worshiping as I bake my husband a cake and helping my son draw a helicopter model.

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.... Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”
― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-29T22:53:00.000-06:00

Each Christmas we get out the Adorenaments (I guess they don't sell them anymore because I certainly didn't pay 92.00 for them!) and the two week leading up to Christmas we learn about the names for Jesus. Then we put the special ornament on the special Jesse tree. The kids had fun reciting them this year!First Gabe:Then Drew:

A Fresh Beginning

2011-12-29T16:33:00.003-06:00

“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Matthew 11:28-29

It is almost 2012, a new start to a fresh new year. As Anne Shirley would say, " A new (year) without any mistakes." The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over. I must admit, I am looking forward to a new schedule and a routine to our daily life again. I love the season of food and fun and chaos, but I can only stay there for so long. I miss routine and (forced) early morning rising with a quite morning spent with the Lord. The Christmas season is so much fun yet so exhausting. There are always things to do and I feel that all those things take away from the season instead of add to them. I must admit - I feel that this Christmas was not what I had envisioned for my family. I deeply desire traditions rooted in Christ and instead I just felt so tired that all the traditions were hard to accomplish on my own. My kids loved the stories and devotions and gingerbread house decorating. They loved Christmas morning and all the presents. I just felt that Christ and his meager manger were somehow missed.

So as I look ahead to a new year I am excited. I am excited that our quest to better health is still exciting and fun. I'm looking ahead and want to make more of my own household things, save more money, give more passionately, look more seriously into adoption and dream big dreams for our family. I'm excited to move past the discipline of fasting - which was a very hard thing for me to do. I can sit back and say that I no longer fear the idea of fasting. I can discern the situations when the Lord is asking me to fast about a decision and plan out a 24 or 48 hour period to fast and pray and be silent before the Lord. The second discipline of prayer is one I will continue to work through . I'm currently reading Richard Fosters book on prayer which has helped me to see my entire life as a prayer or conversation with the Lord.

My goal for 2012 is to put more of God's word into my heart through a more disciplined scripture memory program and to continue developing a more passionate prayer life. I loved slowing down in 2011 and plan to continue that practice. I am still working on contentment and being satisfied with where the Lord has me at this exact moment, the process of counting blessings has helped me immensely with my discontented spirit. The act of obeying the Lord, walking in humility, and pushing myself to know Him deeper and more intimately is what the Lord requires from me every year - I pray I don't waste the year away and instead rest in the moment of now - knowing God knows and orchestrated the plans He has for me - not for harming but to bring me a future full of hope.

“In quietness and rest shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Merry Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-23T20:47:00.001-06:00

Blessings from the Williams! Last year’s letter left you with apicture of our sick children and our oldest, Drew, flying around his room onthe rope swing. This year was spent healthy – thank you Lord! Our kids haven’tchanged too much this year; they still manage to make giant messes, won’t sitstill for pictures and make me giggle all day long. Our year was spent countingour blessings, thanking the Lord for His provisions and praying for grace as welearn to do life together. Not much has changed as I quote last year’sChristmas letter, “Life with littles is adelight; nothing goes as planned, comic relief just happens and life shovesonward as we try and measure the moments, memories, and minutes ….”

John – John spent the year of 2011 continuing to use his skills as aSpecial Education teacher with Fort Worth ISD, in a low-income, intercity school. He enjoys teaching his childrennon-traditionally through the medium of shop tools and physical workouts and dramatizedliterature like – My Side of the Mountain & The Hunger Games. John has alsoenjoyed the challenge to teach his children sign language, since many of hischildren are hearing impaired and have never been taught ASL. John loves hisjob and is thrilled with the opportunity God has provided for him to pour intothe lives of his students. God also usedthis year to show John that his Cerebral Palsy is a story that was written tobe shared; John went this summer to Hanoi Vietnam with our church and helpedtrain parents and educators of special needs children. John’s eyes were openedto the many ways he could use his Cerebral Palsy as an avenue to inspire otherparents, bringing hope and vision for their children’s future. John’s story ofhaving a disability also opened doors to share how God uses hard things in ourlives to draw us to Himself. He isexcited to start preparing for the 2012 summer trip – so be looking for hisletter sometime in March or April.

Melissa – 2011was a wonderful year of resting in God’s purposes – home seemed to be a centraltheme for the year: homeschooling, working from home, canning, learning to bakebread, gardening, and keeping up with the house. It was a great year of simplicity- resting in the simple pleasure of family life and trying not to feeloverwhelmed and instead “giving thanks in all circumstances.” Speaking offamily life, one high of our year was a two-week road trip to BreckenridgeColorado. It was our first time traveling as a family of 5; the trip waswonderful, the mountains made us homesick for Oregon! The family enjoyed snowfights, sledding and riding in Uncle David’s monster truck up the big mountainwhile it hailed! Our trip to Colorado also required some new wheels, so we soldour beloved cramped Jeep and bought a gently used minivan. We have officiallymoved into the Mini-van phase of life!

Imaginative Drew - is almost 7 years old! I cannot believe how mature and responsibleDrew has become this year. Drew is in first grade, he is learning to read andwrite. His favorite subject is science – he loves to create exploding volcanoesor messy experiments with vinegar and baking soda and dirt! Drew is alsoobsessed with animals and often is found flying around the house as a baldeagle or barking around on all fours. He also loves to build beaver dams in ourliving room with pillows and blankets and toys. Yesterday, I found him perchedin the downstairs 1/2 bath, sitting in the pedestal sink pretending he wasnesting. Drew competes with Gabe for “talk time” and a constant phrase in ourhouse is “...don’t interrupt me!”

Drew’sbig accomplishment was finishing his 1^st grade phonics curriculum,which we celebrated with a family trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. Drew is motivatedby rewards, so the Great Wolf Lodge was a huge goal he had been working for allyear.

Peacemaker Gabe –Gabe just turned 4 years old, He loves to follow on the heels of his bigbrother and asks constantly if he can “do real school” like his brother. Gabe is a sponge~ absorbing andasking questions all day long! Gabe loves to build Lego creations, play hideand go seek, have tea parties with his sister and build giant train tracksunder his bunk bed. Gabe may be a timid Nerf sword fighter, but is great atplanning surprise attacks on Daddy when he walks in the door from work. Gabegoes to preschool 2 days per week and loves his teachers & friends – thoughhe is quite worried that we will have too much fun at home without him. Gabe isthe ideal middle child – always making us smile and laugh, yet in the samebreath comforting his little sister with hugs and kisses. Gabe is just a joy tobe around, always happy and singing and dancing, he loves to make up songs andmay be the one child who shows interested in mommy’s ¼ Violin in the closet!She is so excited to give one of them lessons.

Joyful Abby -is going to be 2 years old! She looks so small that most people believe she isturning 1. She is a joy and her constant jabbering fills our home. Abby spentthe year learning how to walk and talk and keep up with her brothers. Wediscovered Abby is allergic to some dairy and eggs, which once removed left herhealthy and able to go months without being sick! The doctor doesn’t have us on speed dial anymore!Abby is all girl, she loves to wear hats and bows and changes shoes many timeseach day. She loves her little purses and baby dolls. She is determined though,to keep up with her brothers and loves to be in the middle of all their Nerfwars. Abby’s smiles will light up a room and are so contagious, especially whenbeing tickled by her older brother Drew or being chased by her older brotherGabe.

This year brought many struggles, but resting in Jesus and clinging toHis promises left us realizing that God only gives us good gifts. One book thatGod used to change us this year was Ann Voskamp’s book One Thousand Gifts.This book changed our family’s perspective on trials and challenged us(mainly mommy) to write down our own journey to One Thousand gifts. It was afun family activity counting gifts as we drove down the road, or while we atedinner at night. You can read our One Thousand blessings at our blog listedabove. It is a journey we will continueto walk - Eucharasteo - forced ourfamily to take delight in all the missed moments, bad attitudes, hard questionsof each day and stop ~ to give thanks.

"Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—alwaysprecedes the miracle."

~ A. Voskamp ~

Blessings,

John, Melissa. Drew, Gabe &Abby

Williams

My Love Hate Relationship with Christmas

2011-12-20T21:01:00.003-06:00

Don't get me wrong here - I love Christmas in all its purity and wholeness. I love the Bible and the telling of Jesus sacrifice to come to earth and save us from our sins. I love the pure baby in the manger and the virgin birth. What I despise about Christmas is how to actually keep the joy of Christmas in our home. We celebrate the coming of Christ - Advent - with daily bible readings and fun little skits. We bake cooking and play special Christmas music. But, somewhere in there the stress of extra work, making great memories, entitled children and a never ending to do list makes me dread this season.

I love Christmas morning and the sweet fellowship with friends. I love the break from routine, having the Daddy home for two weeks and sharing warm cocoa and singing Christmas carols. But, the truth behind the pictures is that my kids, I'm sure no one elses, grow to expect presents and relaxation and fun every minute. My kids will turn a wonderful Christmas tradition of Christmas book reading before bed into the dreaded nightly activity. They argue and it seems the closer to Christmas we get the worse their behavior gets. We have fun things planned, like Christmas shopping together or a visit to Santa -- ruined by behavior they haven't exhibited in years!

I struggle with Christmas - the battle of training and working with my kids, verses the spontaneous fun that seems lately to produce whiny children who forget to say "please" and have random strangers at stores asking them what they want Santa to bring them. Ugh! Please stop asking my kids what they want. Seriously, they want whatever they see at that moment. I don't have my kids make wish lists, or ask them what they want for Christmas - ssh - I recycle all toy catalogs before my kids see them. If I don't there will sure be a case of the "gimmes" in our house.

I am struggling - how to I keep Christ in Christmas? How do I teach my children to be like Jesus and be a servant to all? If my kids behavior over the last few days is any indication, then they won't have much under our tree. What has happened to my sweet children - they aren't like this all the time, in fact they haven't ever been this naughty. I feel like instead of having fun, I'm using all these teachable moments to train and re-train hearts that are determined to receive instead of give. Even a simple act of cleaning the bathroom to earn a little extra money so we can give a gift to our Compassion child Samara, turns into a 2 hour battle. A simple request of "please go clean your room" turns into a massive fit of rage when caught goofing off for the 10th time.

So, it is a mere 5 days before Christmas, the presents were wrapped - then Abby unwrapped them. The candy is made - but I can't eat any. The shopping day was planned - then mommy caught a child lying about something they had stolen and instead, the day was spent at home, writing a letter of apology (3 hours long - it shouldn't have taken that long!) and then taking the stolen object back to church and confessing "said child's" sins to the Children's pastor.

So as you think of us - please pray for us! We have company coming for almost the next month and my kids are at their worst. God, please send this mommy some brilliant ideas that will reach the hearts of my children --- fast!

PS - on a more positive note, I found John the best Christmas gift ever. This is one he will forever remember and absolutely love!

How we manage through RSV and colds...

2011-12-18T22:39:00.000-06:00

Our sweet little Abby came down with a cold last week, it has lingered and gotten worse in the last three days which makes me thinks is the dreaded RSV. Last night she was coughing and coughing, finally around 11 am I went in and picked up her sleepy body and took her into a steam bath. It was wonderful, for 30 minutes she lay asleep on my shoulder while the water and steam soother her lungs. Then, I had John get her car seat out and I put her to sleep upright so she could breath. That did the trick, no more coughing! I also have her humidifier with a few drops of Eucalyptus inhalant going in her room. The eucalyptus inhalant is used medicinally to break up mucus and aids as a fever reducer and fights against bacterial and fungus.

Today was Sunday, John took the boys to church and I stayed home to play nurse. Abby slept until 10 am. then we had a girls morning of hair straightening, bow changing and finger nail painting. Abby loved the pampering - so much that she let me put salt water down her nose and suction out all her snot. Poor baby! She never fussed, so I think she was just thrilled to be able to breath from her nose. So far her O2 stats are holding strong and she is breathing well. I've not succumbed to any steroids and I am so thankful she is doing so well. I'll run and grab her some raw goat milk tomorrow to help boost her immune system with some extra vitamins.

Tonight Abby is once again asleep in her car seat and hasn't coughed once! Here is hoping and praying for a great nights sleep

Blanket Time

2011-12-15T21:09:00.013-06:00

School Break is upon us, but I thought I'd post this picture of Abby on Blanket Time. I love blanket time, all three of my kids have learned this wonderful skill. I love the fact that I can put my toddler in one place and (after they are trained) not have anything destroyed or ruined when I get back. I use this wonderful little trick during the afternoon when I am trying to work with Drew on his math or spelling. It gives me about 30 minutes of breathing time before I move us on the the next activity.

One added benefit to this wonderful little lesson is that children, who aren't prone to slowing down (all 3 of mine) will have to creatively figure out how to play. Abby doesn't like to play alone - she has two brothers why should she need that skill? I've noticed as the months have gone on that her play has become more directed at a specific purpose - like stacking blocks or lining up animals. It is quite fun to watch her play! Normally, she is following her brothers around, eating at the table or getting into mischief trying to do what brothers do - like color or play Lego's. It is nice to see her using her own imagination to create play!

Christmas Cookie Time

2011-12-14T22:50:00.000-06:00

Today we baked 3 dozen Christmas cookies from scratch, for John to take to his class and decorate. We made icing and brought out the sprinkles, cookie cutters and food coloring. The kids had a blast, I'm exhausted and looking forward to some quiet from the Christmas music and the children who were wired up on sugar all evening! We had a glorious time talking about the kids who would be blessed by our gifts. Each of my kids were given one cookie and the rest are off to bless Daddy's school. The kids were so excited to send them along to kids who probably don't have a home life where they can enjoy cooking and singing and decorating. It was a great afternoon of serving and baking and praying for the children and staff at John school who will enjoy our laborious cookie baking afternoon.

I think the kids faces tell the whole story! I just love these kids!

Brilliant Mind

2011-12-14T22:28:00.000-06:00

Photo Courtesy of the wonderful Mrs. Kelly who took the kids to the Science Museum.

Coupon Queen Drop Out

2011-12-12T21:05:00.007-06:00

So, many places I go I'm known as the coupon queen. I've saved our family a ton of money using coupons and shopping sales. I always thought cheaper is better - at least when it pertained to groceries. I loved getting great deals and shopping for my family with only a 350.00 grocery allowance each month. It was a challenge for me and I loved it.

These days, I guess you could say I'm singing a different tune. After looking over our crazy medical budget last January, my son breaking out in hives from an allergic reaction to his Asthma medication, my daughter's incessant vomiting, ear infections and runny nose, I began to question why my kids were so darn sick all the time. The final push that caused the pendulum to shift was when they talked about my daughter getting tubes for her constant ear infections. Two pediatrician blamed all their problems on the fact that I had 3 kids, they just passed germs all around, they also said it was their premature births and their immune system just being more "sensitive." Their Asthma was caused by their genes and allergies and giving them steroids each Fall and Winter was my only solution. I was spending upwards of 200 per month on out of pocket medications and Dr. visits.

So, back in January 2011, I went to a new chiropractor for my ever irritating neck pain and he mentioned being able to help Abby through her colds and allergies. I was thrilled for another way - chiropractic care & Acupuncture. As she would become sick we'd try natural methods of getting her healthy, I bought some herbs that helped with virus' and digestion issues. Last January Abby was a total mess - ear infections, digestion issues, vomiting 2-3 times per week for no apparent reason, runny nose, pale skin, and RSV most of the Fall/Winter months.

So, as the year progress I began doing tons of research on natural remedies. We did seem to spend a lot of time at the Dr. though after her 1 year old checkup where she received more shots. I'd been telling the Dr. that the shots seemed to set off a pattern of constant sickness and vomiting and runny noses, but I was told it wasn't related. I knew better! It wasn't until that July that I discovered that she was allergic to eggs - we eat a ton of hard boiled eggs so this was huge. Once the eggs were removed from her diet she stopped vomiting! Many of the vaccines she received had eggs in them, which is why she would get so sick after shots.

By August my husband and I sat down and totally revamped what we were feeding out kids. I was totally clueless to a lot of food issues like - genetically modified foods, high fructose corn syrup in yogurt, whole grain cereal having 50% sugar when broken down and having the health equivalent of a twinky. I thought I was feeding my kids healthy - compared to most standards I was, however when I started to look at everything I discovered how wrong I was - yogurt with tons of high fructose corn syrup, oatmeal with tons of sugar and refined oats, I found a ton of things in my fridge that shocked me when I looked at their labels.

So the last 6 months have not been about seeing how cheap I could get groceries at the store. In fact, 50% of our medical budget moved over to the grocery budget. I still use my savvy deals to buy good foods, but my focus isn't on how little I can pay but instead how healthy I can shop. I'm ordering food more from farms instead of grocery stores, which actually saves us some money. In this whole process we also discovered two of our kids are lactose intolerant, which means that the homogenized store milk makes them sick. I found a great farm that delivers low temp, non homogenized milk to a drop off near my house and I pick up the milk each Thursday. The cost is just a little more than organic milk (7.00 per gallon). I've discovered that giving my kids raw goat milk when the change in season occur, or when cold and flu season is starting, helps build up their immune systems so they don't get sick as often.

This Fall is almost over and we have yet to visit the pediatrician! Gabe was on steroids for 1 week when we went to Austin at the beginning of September. but other than that he has been off all prescribed Asthma medications. His late night, early morning coughing spells have even dissapeared. Abby most certainly has proven that a natural approach works for her - she hasn't had an ear infection since June which we treated at home without antibiotics, she no longer vomits, has a runny nose and is also off all asthma medications. She hasn't had steroids since our trip to Breckenridge Colorado in June which appeared to be due to high elevation and elevation sickness.

Today I'm singing a new tune, I'm embracing making a lot of my own foods and eliminating much of the middle part of the grocery store. We still love a good Hansen's soda once in a while, and I love my coffee in the mornings, but overall we're trying to learn how to live a more natural lifestyle that builds up the health of our kids through whole and raw foods.

Here are some places we love to order from:

Azure Standard Blog

Azure Standard Ordering
* like a co-op but you aren't committed to buying monthly and you get exactly what you want! Plus they are from my home state of Oregon so I feel a little at home chomping on an organic Fuji apple from their farm (1.00 per pound)!

Meat from: Zaycon Foods

Milk from: Texas Daily Harvest

Eggs from: C&B Fleece Fur Feathers

Awesome Chiropractor: Ken Parker, DC

Much of my research and information originated at this site: http://www.mercola.com/, I still get a lot of valuable information, though I can't quite live without my microwave and serve raw dairy milk to my kids ( the drive to Lavon Farms for raw milk is 2 hours round trip, just a lot for this momma to do)!

We purchased a Vitamix a while back and use it daily! It changes the way we eat to more raw whole foods - like soups and smoothies. My time in the kitchen is a lot less as far as preparing daily meals. I've replaced that with time baking, milling wheat and growing yogurt cultures! The kids eventually caught on to our new way of eating and now love my homemade bread and applesauce and cinnamon rolls.

Funny store, we attended a birthday on Saturday at McDonald's and talk about shocking - my kids were horrible the rest of the afternoon after all the sugar highs from cake and Ice cream and processed foods. Drew even managed to swindle a Coke which he never gets because it makes him a crazy child. We hadn't gone to the golden arches in months, not specifically because I banished them from our lives, but just because it was so much simpler to eat at home. I also lost the cravings to eat fast food - wonder why, so it just hasn't been appealing to us to drop in for a quick bite to eat. I am trying to be more moderate in how we eat, so if you see us at ChichFilA or McDonalds, don't think I'm a fake, we just tend not to eat their often, but I know that in today's busy world we will eat from fast food places once in a while. I truly believe a healthy balanced life is about moderation not jumping to and from extremes! Those people I've watched who jump to extremes give up often after a short period of time. I would hope that I am establishing healthy lifestyle habits that my children will inherit through knowledge and modeling - not extremes like "we never eat out,"or "we never eat sugar." We're searching for balance that still affords us a lot of fun!

I am officially a coupon queen drop out, but still use the organic coupons I clip from the paper when its for a product I use often. But, my budget isn't 350.00 any more! I Overall we're so much healthier and instead of giving our budget to the Doctors and pharmacy, we're investing it into whole, raw foods which are reaping wonderful rewards - like well behaved kids who have crazy big imaginations and love to play outside in mud and dirt without getting sick while its 50 degrees outside and their wearing shorts and no socks!

Pajama Day

2011-12-09T15:09:00.001-06:00

Thanks to the encouragement of some ladies at last nights soup exchange, we're staying in our PJ's! I have a ton of laundry to do, one math test to administer, an entire hours to clean, and three kids to "help" me accomplish this. It is going to be a great day of PJ's, cleaning and playing around the house. Then tonight I have some salmon I'm going to grill for dinner with an avocado sauce from my Vita-mix recipe book. Yummy! Today is going to be a great day! I love cold, tea sipping, music dancing, cleaning days!

Distractions

2011-12-07T15:17:00.000-06:00

Drew is suppose to be downstairs reading, instead I see him out the window bashing a small pumpkin into the water trough filled with frozen ice. He has this look of pure glee - thrilled to be destroying something and seeing how water freezes and can take on multiple shapes. He also appears to enjoy eating the frozen ice chunks. I should direct him back to reading, but I too an distracted by watching all the crazy things he is coming up with. Like throwing the chipped ice in the air and trying to catch it in his teeth, or collecting the ice chips and conducting an experiment, like how long it will take to grow in the freezer. Drew thinks it will take 1-2 hours to expand. I'm thinking he will be sad that his experiment didn't work.

We're distracted today!

Dallas Arboretum

2011-12-02T21:43:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving Day At Our House - In Pictures

2011-12-01T22:54:00.000-06:00

Window into My Life

2011-11-30T19:20:00.001-06:00

I arrived home around 10:15 pm - visiting with a fellow mama over coffee, sharing life and lack of sleep moments. It felt so good to get out of the house for just a few hours and talk to an adult and drink Chai Tea without having to share or take anyone to the bathroom!

I look around the living room, lights are all on, shoes shrewd about, then I trip over a toy and notice the nicely cleaned kitchen - my husband is so sweet. I glance to the right and see light under the bathroom door - then I remember I've had to go for 3 hours! I open the door, sit down on the toilet and smile. At my feet I spy two swords - dropped in haste during a war scene earlier that day that abruptly ended when one of my little's was caught jumping up and down frantically. I see a hardened bread crumb left from Abby's "bread" incident from that afternoon. My sweet girl went into the pantry and opened an entire loaf of bread on the tile floor. She then carried it all into the dog bed and proceeded to eat little bites out of each piece. I caught her looking so guilty! All I could do was grab my camera and laugh hysterically.

As I turned the light out in my quiet peaceful house, I went upstairs to check on my sleeping children. I tripped over a mummy corpse which turned out to be Drew wrapped tightly up in his comforter. How did he breath in there, his head wasn't visible or even obtainable and he didn't even have a pillow? His legs were completely fixed into his sisters emptied pink laundry basket which covered half of his body.

So I kissed my sleeping children and pulled the covers back over their peaceful bodies, checked to make sure Drew had breathing room and turned off the boys closet light. I smiled and prayed deep prayers of thankfulness, my heart overflowing with joy for my beautifully designed family. I delight in their messes and bloopers and silly stories filled with deep imagination. I am truly a blessed momma - messes and swords and tripped over shoes! These sweet blessings are growing too fast and I intend to rest and delight in all of their joy and smiles and fun.

Williams Thanksgiving List 2011

2011-11-23T22:35:00.117-06:00

I will open my mouth in a parable: I willutter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers havetold us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generationto come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works thathe hath done.
—Psalm 78:2-4

The year of 2011 will go down as the year of rest and peace. We spent the year basking in the uneventful. Here are the blessings we celebrated before the Lord this year, as we gather to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving, I will rest and bring praises to the Lord for all that He has done and provided for us over the past year.

Health & Wellness:: The past few years we spent a lot of time at the doctors office, on medication, recovering from colds, RSV, allergies, and ear infections. We worked through intestinal issues, constant vomiting, neck pain and many other issues. The year of 2011 will go down as the year we as a family started a holistic journey to becoming more healthy and aware of the foods that we consume. We discovered that most of Abby's health issues were related to an egg allergy, she is also allergic to homogenized milk. Most vaccines are made out of eggs so each time we had a new round of shots she would be sick for months. It took a long time to figure this out, now that we're aware of her allergies, she has flourished and grown in personality and vocabulary - because she is no longer perpetually sick. We also are singing praises for Abby & Gabe's asthma which has been prevented through diet and more natural methods of care. We're so excited to not have them inhaling steroid medication 3x per day! There are no words to express the joy in seeing the personality of my daughter take shape. Her constant sickness left her unable and unwilling to interact much with her environment, she rarely talked and learned to walk much later than I expected. Each time she was healthy, her personality and physical desires became evident, but quickly she would become sick again and retreat to her silent and sleepy self. We are now 7 months into a clean bill of health - she has learned to walk and talk! Abby's personality is flourishing and wildly happy. Her giggles and high pitched voice always makes me smile!

Family Time:: I'm so blessed to have the best family, my children and husband are the most blessed things to be around. Their presence brings me such joy! I find myself laughing or singing or smiling just being in their presence. My husband is a "glass is half full" type man who always challenges me to look at the world with thankfulness. He is a person who fills the cup of our family and invests a lot of time training and investing into our lives. My husband diligently reads God's Word and then imparts the Word of God into our children's hearts each night before bed. I teach them too around the breakfast table many mornings a week - that is a huge blessing that many women's aren't home to be able to impart. I look at our family and feel so blessed to be living out the Word of God each and every day - the great, the murky, and downright humiliating. It is all being messily lived out each day, which gives us a huge avenue for deep and meaningful discussions. I just love my family so much and am thankful for the Lord for crafting these lives together. I'm thankful for my sweet boys Drew and Gabe who make being a mother so enriching. Their minds are active and excited about live and about learning about God. I just love these two sons of mine who I know will grow into fine men with great ideas and perseverance for God and His wild plans!

Home Learning:: The precious job of teaching my children is an enormous task and I don't know how anyone does it without the Lord's faithful hand to direct their path. I am a blessed woman to work from home and be able to teach my children. I never sought out on this path, in fact I never thought of a world outside of my business life before I was married. I loved my career and didn't think it needed to change. The lord then blessed me with a marriage and three blue eyed blessings. Along the way the goals of career and more money became so insignificant to me. I am so blessed because if I had lived out the life centered on a career I know it would have turned up empty. Instead the Lord radically changed my heart, gave me a deep and often torturous love for children and a vision to teach these fragile blessings at home. It is a challenge most days - I'm learning far more than my pupils. The constant chattering and questions and messes are sometimes more than I can bare - but the Lord is so faithful to be using the tool of home learning to change me and mold me into His image. The process of home learning is one that brings me to the feet of the Lord daily - the perfectionist in me always turns up flawed - the amount of work we complete is never enough to satisfy. I often picture my son falling farther and farther behind, but then the Lord gently leads me to His Word and reminds that I am being faithful in what I am called to do for this moment. My burden is light. I am not to grow weary in doing good. I then remember that the Lord is in all of this mess and is using me as a tool to shape and mold the very character of my children and the hearts that will exist for eternity. It is then that books and math and reading take a backseat to the overarching reward of being with my children in heaven. My goal in home schooling is to lead them to a relationship with the Lord. I am thankful for the opportunity and responsibility and take it seriously.

Brotherly Love:: This year I'm so thankful for my husband's relationship with his family. Especially his father and brothers. The very essence of who I married is woven deep into the brotherly love John experiences as a child. These brothers were the ones who protected and loved him for who he was. They kept the bullies from kicking his crippled legs in school and blessed him with passionate ideas about manly things like guns and hand crafted skills. My husband is a hard worker and loves to get his hands dirty fixing or creating things. I love it that we sit at the table at night and I see the sweat and tears he poured into it - the memories of working on the benches with his dad the week our first son was born. I smell the workbench in the garage and still smell cigar smoke from his fathers pipe. These men in John's life taught him skills that are being used by God to bless widows and improve communities.

Aunt Kessa & Uncle David from Oregon:: We are blessed with an aunt and uncle who flew all the way from Oregon over Thanksgiving to spend and invest time in our home. Our kids had a blast and many great memories were made - from riveting games of 5 Crowns to cold walks and a day long trip to the Dallas Arboretum. They even endured my children's poor bathroom etiquette with grace!

Nana's: I am blessed to live close to my mother. I get many perks like her watching the kids so John and I can go out on a date. My mother is a woman of love who is a giver of time and smiles. She adores all her grand-kids and invest all her free time in their lives. She loves to have them over for sleepovers and reads them books at night. I am blessed to watch her care for my Nana with joy and honor. The process of caring for the parent who cared for you is a hard change that is unfamiliar. There are few books on how to care for aging parents with grace and dignity and she models to my sister and I how to truly love even when it hurts. I respect my mother and am so blessed to have a heritage of women (my mother and Nana) who are nurturers and creative and willing to live with little so they can invest much.

Vietnam:: I am so thankful for a church that impresses on the hearts of its congregation to serve and bless others. I am thankful that my husband was provided the opportunity by friends and family to spend 10 days in Vietnam, learning the culture, sharing with educators, and most importantly, living out his God given gift. I was humbled by my husbands willingness to commit to a presentation that he felt totally inadequate to share. In was in John's weakness that God's love for special needs children was revealed. My husband has a gift - this gift brings daily pain and agony, yet he still calls it a gift. Amazing - only the Lord could do that in John's life. Most people don't know the amount of pain John lives with because of his Cerebral Palsy because he so rarely talks about it. Instead he chooses to accept the pain as a reminder that he has been intrusted with a message to save souls. It was while in Vietnam that John grew a love for the lost. I've never seen my husband so passionate about inviting strangers and neighbors to church. I am thankful for Vietnam because this trip not only changed the hundreds of teachers and parents who attended but it changed my husband's heart towards servant hood and impressed a deep boldness to win the lost to Jesus.

As we close out the 2011 year, I am in awe at how the Lord has shaped me and shaped my family. We have grown so much closer and more committed to service for the Kingdom. The year of 2011 will be remembered as a year of learning contentment, rest and peace. We began to look at stuff as distractions and giving as an investment for all eternity more so than ever before. We saw the Lord bless us beyond our wildest imaginations and discovered that the gift of giving is far more meaningful than hoarding time and possessions for ourselves. This year the Lord also imposed on me a deep sense of needing to rest - rest in the Lord's provision, rest from activities and investment into our family. This was the year where we were enriched by just being together and not running from activity to activity. Thank you Lord for being active and penetrating in our lives - we are truly blessed to have a God who unites us all together and then draws us to Himself.

Inscriptions for Gabe ~ Your 4 Years Old!

2011-11-19T23:07:00.066-06:00

Dear Gabe,

Today you are 4 years old, what a quick and fun 4 years it has been! I still look back on your birth with such sentimental longing. You were my "almost" Thanksgiving baby. I delivered two days before my favorite holiday and begged the doctor to let me go home. We were home on Thanksgiving eve - a mere 24 hours after you were born. I was able to rest and be pampered by all the family who was in town - like Grandma Patti and Nana. I look back with a huge grin when I think about taking you shopping in my little sling at a mere 3 days old. We went to Costco and Bed Bath and Beyond and Kohl's. Then when we got home I found you all bundled up in Nana's van fast asleep - alone! Both grandparents had gone into the house and left you in the car. You were only out there about 20 minutes but it was a moment of laughter that I'll remember forever. The Grandma's were so guilty!

Gabe I just love your smile and bright personality. You are always singing and making up silly songs. You love to compete with your big brother and keep up with all he is doing. I walked in on you playing with Drew the other day and was so proud of how you were sharing and playing with your older brother. You are often the peacemaker in the family, you hate it when anyone isn't happy. You are also the most protective, if we're walking into pre-school or out at church and Drew or Abby lag behind you always stop and wait for them, often you scream "wait" in your concerned voice.

Gabe - you have such a great sense of humor, I love it that you always want to get messy -- I was especially impressed with your latest sticker episode! Your imagination runs wild as you bark around the house as a puppy or fly around like an eagle. Your my little jokester who loves to smile and laugh and involve everyone in your skits of fun. I love all the giggles and laughter around our house!

My little man, you are growing into such a great man of God. You are a quick learner, quiet and thoughtful, contemplating deep things. You are a natural learner who catches on so quickly to concepts. You love to be just like your big brother and begged to "do school" with us this year. You were so dedicated to finishing the Kindergarten phonics, learning all the letter names and sounds with ease. I couldn't believe how often you asked to work on phonics - finishing in just 4 months! You love to work on math too, you begged to have your own math time like Drew, learning all your numbers and writing them in order (we're still working on fine motor skills). Gabe you are 1/3 of the way complete with Kindergarten Math. I'm so thrilled that you are devoted to learning, everything you do, you do with a smile on your face. Your mind is always focused on some task which makes you so easy to teach.I wish I were as eager and energetic as you - your "glass is always full" mentality is a breath of fresh air in our home!

Gabe, your favorite book is Bunny Bungalow, you have the book memorized and ask me to read it over and over again. After we read the book, you always ask for "Sleepy Head" tea, just like the bunnies in the book. You also want to squish cherries between your toes because you think it looks so fun and messy. I find it ironic because you are my messy child, always covering your face in whatever you have recently eaten. You also can destroy a room in less that 5 minutes and can take hours to get it all put back together. Your bed making skills are quite funny and we are constantly working on your clothes making it into the laundry.

My precious son, you are madly in love with your sister, always protecting and comforting her. She sits next to you all the time and you indulge her in tea parties and race-car playing. You call your sister "little pip squeak" and "Abb's" all the time. Recently you called her Abb's and she replied back to you saying "Abby," That was the first time I'd heard her say her name. I just love the bond you have with your siblings, being squished in the middle - seems to me the perfect fit for your personality - your a patient follower and a natural leader.

My son, you are a treasure! I am so blessed to call you my son. I delight in your personality which is so different than my own. You bring joy and smiles and song into our family. Your always working through some adventure or quietly sitting alone reading a book. I just love hugs and kisses from you!

This past month you received a big boy bike, you love to ride it all over the neighborhood. You obey the boundaries so well and have mastered turning around and weaving between Abby, Drew and the dogs without incident.

My son, you are 4 years old. You were sent from God for a great purpose, I feel very inadequate in shepherding you towards a unadulterated love for God. As you grow and mature over the next 365 days, the verse which God has put on my heart for you us Proverbs 16:9 which says "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." As you grown a little more towards manhood I pray that you will grow in knowledge and love for our Father in heaven and that the Lord's quiet voice will begin to shape your will towards Jesus and holiness. I pray as you grow in knowledge you would develop a deep love for God's Word. Just this past week you memorized John 1:1 about how Jesus is the Word, may you never forget to invest time in prayer and study - pleading with the Lord to reveal Himself to you. God loves it when we seek after Him and His Son - never leave behind the Word of God and know that it has great power! The word of God is living and active and needs to be written all over your heart!

I love you my son, you are a blessing and a treasure. I thank the Lord for my beautiful son who lights up our home with songs of joy and laughter. May the next year bring you closer to the Lord!

Love,
Mommy

Catechizing Through John 1-5

2011-11-09T19:54:00.002-06:00

When my kids grew old enough to have a conversation, I began teaching them some basic catechism's of our Christian faith. We're not Catholic, but I found that asking my children the same questions and having them give me a memorized answer, produced hidden truths into my children's hearts. These hidden truths would come out later on in random conversations we would have. I would see their memorized answers ramble out of their mouth in response. A few times I've seen a little "light bulb" come on as they discovered revealed truth in their lives. Now, at ages (almost) 4 & 7, they are able to articulate and logically put together their own responses to my questions - which is a a great way of teaching. So, a few months back I began teaching them through the book of John over breakfast. Abby sits and listens and tries to chime in with the few words she knows - like pray and Jesus!

Why did I pick John? I chose the book of John because it is written in story form, just like the epistles of Matthew, Mark and Luke. This form of writing is easy to read aloud and the adventures of Jesus are very exciting to little adventurous boys! The book of John is all about Jesus and His 3 years of ministry. I also picked the book of John because we've had lots of questions lately about Jesus and who He is and why he came to die for our sins. One of our catechism questions is "How many God's are there" and the answer is "There is only 1 true God." This truth is very hard to comprehend once you introduce them to Jesus - even though they know the answer to "How many person's in the One True God" they still grapple, just as do, with the whole understanding of 1 God in 3 persons. So John was a great book to introduce so they can see human attributes to this big God we pray to and talk to each day. When children are small they equate Jesus as the answer to all Sunday questions. As my boys were "growing in wisdom and stature" I realized it was time to reveal Jesus and his role in the trinity. I wanted them to see that God the Father and Jesus are one God but perform different roles. It is a complex subject, one that I don't fully comprehend, but I will say it makes more sense with a child like faith! I'm anticipating our next book to be Acts so they can fall in love with the Holy Spirit.

When I was little we had a man come to our church who had memorized the entire book of John. For many years he would come and perform a 1 person skit using the entire book of John. I fell in love right then and there with the book of John and many years later also fell in love with a human, God created man named John. We then named our first born son John. Just a side note, my best childhood friend Bethany also married a John and named her first son John!I guess we're all just in love with the attributes of John which means "God is gracious."

So our breakfast look a little like this - picture oatmeal or smoothies on the table with lots of moving and shuffling and silliness. Then add three kids all talking at the same time. Then you might get a close representation what our morning Bible time looks like most mornings. Normally we review for about 5 minutes and then I read the next paragraph in my bible and then ask the boys about what I just read. In total we spend between 10 & 15 minutes working on Bible in the mornings. It has become the boys favorite part of the day, mostly because they get to race to see who can answer the question first. Our ever quick Gabe is catching on very quickly despite his 3 year age difference . Here are some of the questions I ask for the first few chapters of John.

Question: Who wrote the book of John?
Answer: The Apostle John

Question: How does the book of John begin? (Hint: it begins like in Genesis 1:1)
Answer: "In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. "

Question: What does John 1:1 mean?
Answer: Jesus was in the beginning with God!

Question: Who is John The Baptist?
Answer: He is Jesus' cousin and the trumpet telling the people about Jesus. He also baptized Jesus and heaven broke free and the Holy Spirit descended onto Jesus.

Question: How many men did Jesus pick to be His disciples?
Answer: (1:35-51) Jesus picked 12 disciples.

Question: Why did God send his Son Jesus?
Answer: (3:17) God sent Jesus to save the world, not to judge the world, Jesus will come back at the second coming and bring judgement.

Question: What does the term Messiah mean?
Answer: (1:41) Messiah means Jesus.

Question: What was Jesus first miracle?
Answer: Turning the water into wine at the wedding

Question: What other miracles did Jesus perform?
Answer: He healed the officials son and healed the sick man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus told the sick man to pick up his pallet and walk.

Question: What day of the week did Jesus heal the sick man?
Answer: He healed on the Sabbath.

Question: What happened when Jesus healed on the Sabbath?
Answer: The pharisees were angry and try to put him in prison.

Question: What happened when Jesus went to the temple?
Answer: He got angry because the people were making His house a place of business.

Question: What did Jesus say he would do to the temple?
Answer: He said he would tear if down and raise it back up in 3 days.

Question: Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God (1:29)? (normally the boys enjoy telling the passover story again and how Jesus saved the first born sons from the angel of death by killing a spotless lamb and putting the blood over the doorpost.
Answer: Jesus is the lamb that was slain for our sins symbolizing the New covenant.

Question: Who did Jesus meet at Jacob's well in Samaria and tell me what happened? (ch4)
Answer: Jesus met a woman at the well and he offered her living water. She accepted the water and brought the whole town to hear from Jesus.

Abby @ 21 Months

2011-10-31T16:19:00.000-05:00

Sweet Abby is 21 months already! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. I still think of her as a little baby, but then I look over these pictures and see a little girly blossoming into her own unique person. Over the last few month Abby has earned all but her canine teeth, that really made her look older! Then she started to talk and say things - incessantly. She has also grown to have an opinion and doesn't quite understand that just because she signs or says "please" she still doesn't always get what she wants.

Abby can say phrases now - her favorites are "I did it!" and "I get it." She also loves to jump with both feet! She is growing taller! Her pants are now 12-18 months, her weight is 23 pounds and her tops, thanks to a great sized tummy is 24 months. She is moving out of size 4 shoes!

Her words are: Max, Kitty, Momma, Daddy (Daaa,daaa) usually said incessantly with a scream and a run, Bro (brother), wa wa (water), Mlk (milk), Bye bye, Night night, Sleep, Baby, hair, shoe, mine (I don't like this one!), Wubby (her passy) no and ya. She also loves to shake her head yes or no to voice her opinion.

Abby's favorite past time is eating, she loves to eat and eat. She is picky about what she eats so that makes it very interesting. She is also allergic to eggs which makes her sad at breakfast because her brothers are egg fanatics and eat one hard-boiled egg every morning.

Abby loves to sleep still! She takes a 3 hour nap during the day and then sleeps from 7 pm to 8 am. When she is sick or has the slightest cold, she sleeps even more. Her favorite toys are her tea set, baby doll and her brothers lego's.

Sweet girl or mine, I just love dressing you up and carrying you around. You love to go out in public and enjoy nursery at church each week. You rarely cry because you miss me, only when your sick, You do love to cry and throw tantrums when you don't get your way, but we're working on that. I've seen a lot of progress the last few weeks and I think it is safe to say your not a "strong willed" child which I feared from birth.

Abby, you love to smile and light up a room. God has blessed you with a beautiful smile and a sweet disposition that welcomes everyone you meet to great you with hugs and kisses.

I love you sweet girl!

Resting in Friendship

2011-10-26T23:21:00.002-05:00

My Hippie Child!

This week has been wonderful, my best friend from childhood flew all the way from Oregon to spend 5 days with me. She left her 3 children and husband and drug her pregnant body all the way to see me! I am so very blessed (and a little sad since I just left her at the airport to return home). We relished the time together with matching fall pedicures and lunch at my favorite tea house. We endulged in desert first over tea and pretzel bread. We went shopping one afternoon and Bethany finally convinced me to make a special memory and get my ears pierced. Sweet John can no longer call me Amish!

Bethany was able to interact with my life - meeting our cell group at church, Bible study family. and the normal day to day routine of chaotic homeschooling. I enjoyed baking for her and chatting about life. I'm now inspired to read the book "Don't Make Me Count To Three" since she was able to actually start and finish this book on her trip. Sweet Bethany - I miss you already and you've only been gone a few hours.

I pray my children find that special God ordained friend (or two!) to share life with - despite baggage and babies and marriages and miles. I pray they can say Psalms 119:63 about themselves one day, "I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts" May they be blessed with godly friends who fear the Lord and follow in God's ways -- like my Bethany who challenged, convicted, shared, and inspired me this week.

3 Sweet Friends hanging out on the playground.

For now, I am blessed that my children are best friends with each other. They live life together, they have the same sinful parents who struggle to lead them and discipline them. Yet, the blessing is, they love at all times, even when their parents mess up or they are cruel to one another. The words "Will you forgive me?" is a constant occurrence in our home - daily. Just tonight as I was putting Abby to bed, after a particularity rough day. the boys ran to Abby and said in their high pitched, sweet acting voices, "Good night Pip Squeak!" Then they blessed her with hugs and kisses and more hugs! I am truly blessed because my children love one another and are deep friends. Thank you Lord for this unexpected blessing that I believe transpired because of our obedience to homeschool these past two years.

Boys and sticks - Gotta love that!

I am tearfully blessed tonight as I remember my moments with my friend and the States that separate our families.

Dress Up

2011-10-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

It was dress up as your favorite book character week! Drew got to spend great daddy time making his outfit, so the rest of the kids did not want to be left out. They had a great week dressing up and making costumes! I had a great time dressing Abby up in cute girly clothes - especially on Daddy's birthday where she was able to down a whole piece of chocolate cake!

Inscriptions for Gabe

2011-10-18T22:17:00.001-05:00

To my compassionate son Gabe,

I just wanted you to know that you made my heart sing today. You were at the dentist and had been so good, it was your first appointment and you sat so still and listed to everything the dentist and hygienist said to do. How grown up you looked in that big chair! When it was time to pick your prize, you decided to pick up a doll for your Abby to take back to her. It didn't matter that she had little pieces all I saw was a sweet, protective, compassionate brother who was more concerned for his little sister than his own wants. I just want you to know that your growing up into an amazing little boy and I'm so blessed to call you my son.

Gabe you are a delight and a joy -

"May the LORD bless you
   and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
   and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you
   and give you peace.”’

Numbers 6:24-26

Love,
Mommy

For The Record ...

2011-10-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

I interviewed the boys today and found their answers just hilarious! You might too!

Favorite's in no special order:

Color:
Drew: Pink
Gabe: Green

Toy:
Gabe: Transformer
Drew: Dragon

Food:
G: Mac N Cheese
D: Mac N Cheese

Desert:
Gabe: Cookies
Drew: Brownies

Tree
Drew: Peach Tree
Gabe: Plum Tree

Number:
Gabe: 1
Drew: 6

Letter:
Gabe: A
Drew: D

Least Favorite Food:
Drew: Spaghetti
Gabe: Pickles

Teacher:
Drew:Mrs. Ness
Gabe: Mrs Shurley, Mrs. Mindy, Mrs. Debbie

* I want to mention that they didn't say me - I'm a little put out by that one!

Season:
Gabe: Winter
Drew: Fall

Holiday:
Drew: Halloween
Gabe: Birthday

Place to Go:
Drew: Fish Park
Gabe: Library Park

Babysitter
Unanimously Mrs Kelly!

State:
Gabe: China
Drew: Texas

Body Part:
Gabe: Stomach
Drew: Legs for climbing trees

Sister:
Abby!! AKA Little Pip Squeak!

Bible Character:
Gabe: Jesus
Drew: Peter

Bible Story:
Shadrach Meshack, and Abednego

Book:

Gabe: Bible
Drew: God's Word

Children's Book:
Drew: My Fathers Dragon
Gabe: Magic Tree House Books

Blissful Day

2011-10-12T19:58:00.001-05:00

I'm listing to the beauty of old hymns playing in my little girls bedroom as she drifts off to dreamland.

I hear pillow fights downstairs and daddy making Drew's knight constume for his "Book Character" day at Venture tomorrow.

I see a mess of an office!

I touch dry and weary hands that have been serving all day. I am tired.

I'm praying for a family we know who just met their new daughter in China, her name is Hannah and she is adorable and a perfect fit for this God breathed family. Hannah is grieving the loss of her orphan life while trying to embrace this new gift of being a daughter: grieving is a process that takes time.

I'm upstairs blogging and trying to get rid of my massive headache that has plagued me for three days now. I'm thankful for the rain and wind, but my body is rebelling!

As I sit, pray, listen, I just have this all encompassing joy within my heart. I think of sweet Hannah and how that orphan life she longs to go back to is all she knows. As her mommy wrote recently, her days of being called an orphan are numbered, this is her last night to be called an orphan. Tomorrow will be her first day to be a daughter and sister. Hannah is now a beloved daughter who has a family and an identity. Yet, grieving is a process that takes time.

I have joy, not because I have a perfect life, the opposite actually. Jesus said that those who follow Him will have trial and be persecuted. I sit and pray with great joy because I have an identity and a family and a purpose for the numbered days I'm on this earth. The past few weeks it has seem like a trial, it has seemed like a shift in the direction God is taking me. I'm grappling with the worn path of what I know verses the new path I'm being guided towards. I am growing up, I'll be 32 in a few days. The trials and lessons from youth have produced their intended result in my life and now I'm called to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. I see Jesus in a new light, I am the privilaged daughter of the King and with that title comes great trials and responsability. I'm grateful for the growth and life changes that have prepared me for this place. What the future hold - I'm uncertain where it will lead me. But I have confidence that this phase of silent trials in my life will too produce their intended result. I grieve the innocent days of my youth, but embrace today with great joy.

So tomorrow I will again press on, I will not grow weary of doing good and with continue to invest into the hearts of my children. I will again remind them that they are children of the King and with that comes responsibility. I will continue on this path and not be discouraged, for the Lord is with me!

Psalm 16:11
Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fulness of joy; In Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Sunday Best

2011-10-05T16:12:00.003-05:00

You have to love girl things like pig tails, bows, purses, 'bling" , there is something about a little girl that just makes me smile when I see their personality come out in what they wear. Our sweet and ever vivacious Abby just loves to dress up in necklaces and carry her dolly's or purse around. She also loves to take those same items and bury them in the dirt mound near the flower bed. Abby is all girl with a touch of brothers! She loves to get messy and do just what her energetic brothers are doing. There is no stopping her most days!

While we were in Austin for a few days she taught herself how to jump! Then she discovered how to take on and off water bottle lids. She is a growing girly of energy! Abby comes complete with attitude and drama too. She hates the word "no" and has no problem throwing herself on the floor. I just walk over the top of her and leave the room. She spends a lot of time in our pantry throwing fits and balling her little eyes out - each "no, you can't have a newton," or "no, we're not going to eat now" or "no, I'm not staying outside" brings a fresh bucket of tears with the world's worst mommy guilt face ever.

We're almost 2 and giving mommy a run for her money! I'm blessed to have a girl after two boys, but she sure seems to be a lot more drama!!

September In Review

2011-10-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

Life has been so peaceful yet so very busy the past month. When the heat of summer finally blows away, all our relatives come and visit. We've been delighting in our company this past month, we still have a lot booked through the month of January! My best friend Bethany will be coming for 5 day in October and I'm so excited!!!!

A brief summary of what's been growing in the Williams home - we've been growing brain cells with our school work, roots in our gardens, growing health and spiritual roots too!

The past month I've been trying to focus on schooling the boys, getting a more established routine in place and trying to bring in as much fun as possible. We finished up Cheetah's and moved onto Johnnie Appleseed this past week. The boys are loving their phonics program and are just a few days away from being done with Kindergarten and 1st grade phonics. Drew wants to move on to 2nd grade work (we'll see) and Gabe will review Kindergarten again since he hasn't quite mastered all the letter sounds yet. Our Math is going well - as long as I remember to set a timer for 20 minutes which forces Drew to concentrate - we're 25% of the way done! We've also been working through spelling words, handwriting, and our Bible lessons.

I've been journaling a lot more and spending a lot of time on the Precept class at my church. I'm trying to be more disciplined about working out 3 mornings a week. I messed up my tailbone back in June falling down a flight of stairs and ever since have been having a lot of pain. I gave up my spinning class last month in the hopes of my bottom healing. That forced me to look into other machines at the gym which overall has been a great blessing. I'm now loving the elliptical and have a great weight and ab routine. In general we're trying to eat more fruits and vegi's and natural foods. I've upped our grocery budget and accepted the fact that paying now for better food will result in less medical expenses down the road. So far the kids aren't complaining. My kids love fruit, yesterday Drew ate 1 apple, 2 nectarines, 1 banana, & 2 plumbs. Then we made homemade applesauce and he had a bowl before bed. I had to go back to Sprouts today to restock all the fruits and vegi's. I've been learning to cook and enjoy new food like spaghetti squash and hummus!

Daddy's wood-shop time with the boys.

My mother in law just spent 3 days working on the whole outside of our house, all my bushes and trees look so nice! Thank you Patti! I spent the weekend laying mulch and fertilizing the lawn. My flowers are so happy the heat is gone!

The Lord has been speaking to me the last few months on the subjects of contentment, controlling my anger around the beginning of each month when stress mounts, and then saving and preparing for the future. We're praying about adoption and when the timing would be most practical in our family. John loves his job and the students in his class. He is such an outside the box thinking, I just love listening to all the unique ways he challenges his students to excel still more despite their disabilities.

Abby spent much of September sick, she is getting molars and a few other teeth she should have had a long time ago. We took her to the allergist and they confirmed that she is allergic to eggs, so she is on a rather strict diet. We also are trying to move to more organic and raw foods in the hopes that her Asthma will get under control without steroids. We have nebs and used them a lot in September, I just hate feeding her that medication 4-5 times a day. Gabe moved to an inhailer with a spacer, but broke out in hives the first 2 times we used it, so we're in a quandary as far as what to do. He really only needs a little boost in the mornings on cold days at this point.

My nephew turns 1 in a few days! I can't believe it. That must mean RSV will arrive at our house any day! I took him out for a little photo shoot and captured the most precious images of him! I had a terrible time picking the one I liked, he had the most precious smiles and delights in every picture!

I can't believe we're into October, I so enjoyed September and am delighting in the cooler temperatures and all the play-dates at the park!

Apples

2011-10-03T16:05:00.000-05:00

Now, don't you want to learn about Johnnie Appleseed too!

She is turning into a little girl....

2011-09-26T23:27:00.001-05:00

Celebrating Honor & Heroism

2011-09-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

Honor & Heroism - that is what we talked about on September 11th around our house. I wrestled a lot with what to tell the boys about 9/11. John and I didn't talk too much about the events from a decade past with the boys, they are still so little its very hard to explain all that went on that frightful day. We didn't watch any of the 9/11 tributes until that evening after the boys went to bed - hatred and death are subjects that I know will be talked about, but I just didn't feel that they were ready to hear about it yet. Their hearts are still innocent and I didn't like the idea of all the "why" and "how" questions I knew I'd get from our big 6 year old Drew. So.....

Instead we focused on the heroism and honoring the firemen and women who sacrificed their lives for people they did not know. We talked about how Christ sacrificed his life for ours so we could be saved from our sins. The firemen on 9/11 scrificed their lives to help strangers get out of a burning building alive. A hero is defined as: A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. We discussed how God wants us to be courageous and always stand up for what is right - like for orphans and widows or for our family. Joshua 1:9 says to. "Be strong and courageous..." so we practiced that verse a lot last week. Today at the park Gabe was being picked on by a little boy, Drew proudly stood up and protected his little brother. It was so encouraging as a mother to see that even when I don't know if they are comprehending what I'm saying, those same repeated message do come out eventually in their lives.

To honor the firemen and women we went to the firehouse and delivered cookies and Drew made them a beautiful card of thanks. We saw how hard the firemen work and watched them get in their gear and then were able to touch them with all their protection on. Then we saw where they sleep and were able to tour the ambulance. It was such a great field trip! I planned it thinking a few friends would want to join, but ended up having 35+ people in attendance.

Nature Journal Study: Sticker the Lizard

2011-09-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

(No squamate reptiles were harmed while studying about lizards!)

Revelation of Jesus

2011-09-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

I am in awe - I've been reading through the first 3 chapters of Revelation over the past month, diving head first into my next Precept course. I have been humbled by the sheer amount of perfection written in just the first chapter. Seriously - I have 10 pages of notes on just chapter 1. There is so much in Revelation 1 - so many thematic elements, analogies, simile's, metaphors and descriptive words bringing to light the magnificence to Jesus and His divine marriage to the Father. I sit in awe trying to grapple with my God/Jesus box and trying to allow my thoughts to encompass the whole divinity of Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

I've been meditating this week on who Jesus is. In all the old testament books Jesus was foreshadowed, He is made known through dreams, visions, revelations. It is written that Jesus was present with God at Creation and followed the Israelites through the desert, Jesus protected Shadrack, Meshack and Abendago from being burned in the fiery furnace. Jesus was present, yet he was still veiled.

The Jesus of the New Testament epistles is the baby born in human flesh, He took on human likeness to reveal to mankind the Father and to sacrifice Himself for our sin so we can see the greatness of the Father. Jesus was fully man and fully God. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time." Jesus gave himself as ransom to unveil the gap between God and His people. Only through Jesus is that gap made possible - what a sacrifice and an act of obedience on behalf of Jesus.

In Hebrews it is said, " But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."(2:9) That tasting of death is for everyone, but is only made available through Jesus - Jesus is the only way to the Father as expressed throughout the book of John - that very same John who was beloved of Jesus and who wrote the book of Revelation. John is our best descriptor of Jesus because he was the closest person on earth to truly know Jesus. What a sad day it will be to stand before God and confess that you never believed Jesus was God. Jesus is equal in value to God.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?"⁸

Then in Revelation Jesus is revealed in power. We finally see the Jesus clothed in glory and Majesty - He is fully God - ruling and reigning on earth. The kingdom has finally come and justice is brought upon the entire world.

I will never fully understand the sacrifice that Jesus gave on my behalf. I have been grappling all week with just what Jesus gave up for me. There truly are not words to express this, maybe that is why Jesus gave John visions. These visions were so great that even John couldn't express the magnificence and holiness of God.

If you struggle with comprehending the complex relationship between Jesus and God I urge you to read the New Testament book of Revelation - www.blueletterbible.org has a great option to view Strongs definitions as you go to make it easier to understand context.

I wouldn't necessarily read Revelation for prophetic understanding, like I always had. But instead, read the book looking for the relationship of God the Father and His Son Jesus. I have always read Revelation to understand what "is to come" but as I'm diving into this very long expository study I'm beginning to realize that there is far more to this book than prophecy. This whole book is written by the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit vs 4), which God gave to to show church, what will soon take place, so that we the church will read it and obey - just as Jesus obeyed the Father to bridge the Gap which was veiled by our sin.

Consider that the purpose of Revelation is to

Exalts Jesus Christ
Reveal the power and wisdom of God
Manifest the plan and purpose of God

.11 Cent Lesson on Mercy (From The Archives)

2011-09-13T21:13:00.000-05:00

A Cricket, A Lesson, & 11 cents - Originally Posted 9/25/2010 - I was re-reading last years post and remembered how much I loved this lesson! To this day when we talk about grace, Drew always reminds me of our .11 cent cricket!

Today as a family we cleaned out our frog tank, we do that every time we buy a new round of crickets for the frogs to devour. For those who haven't visited, we have three frogs; their names are: Riley, Wilbur, and Rosco. They are Fire Belly Toads and they love to eat crickets. We usually buy them 15-20 crickets every few weeks - they are very inexpensive, just .11 cents a cricket. Our frogs can go up to two weeks without eating, so its fun to add a new batch of crickets because we sit and watch them hunt down their prey for endless hours of fun. What wonderful lessons we're teaching on the life cycle ... right? Toads are quite fun to have around, they sing, interact with each other and eat tons of crickets for our viewing pleasure! At night the crickets all get together and sing so the frogs won't know where the crickets are at. It sounds like we live in a camp ground some evenings!

So as we were watching the frogs to eat the new crickets this afternoon, Drew noticed a cricket that was missing a leg. John made some funny remarks about calling PETA and having them come pick it up. Drew asked if we could save the little cricket since he was weak and couldn't hop like the others.

I looked at Drew and said, "You know Drew, that is a very compassionate idea. You want to show that cricket mercy. Do you know what Mercy is?"

Drew asked if it was like grace (unmerited favor) - yep, bingo!
So daddy, taking advantage of this teachable moment, scooped the small, .11 cent crippled cricket and the boys went outside and let him go free in our garden.

When they returned I asked Drew,
"What did that cricket do to deserve your grace?"
Drew replied, "Well, nothing?"
I asked, "Why did you pick that one cricket over the others?"
Drew said, "I felt sorry for the cricket because he was broken."
I asked, "Drew who do you think showed us mercy because we are broken? Who shows us undeserved favor and was compelled to save us from death?"

Drew looked over at me and said, "God?"

"Yes Drew, just like you showed that cricket mercy; so God offers to everyone mercy, through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. We only must choose to jump into His hand and live with our Savior the rest of our life."

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to Hisgreat mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through theresurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

~ I Peter 1:3~

10 Years Ago

2011-09-11T20:45:00.001-05:00

My how things have changed over the last decade of my life. I remember waking up, 21 years young and alone, in my Wilsonville Oregon apartment on that September 11th morning. I awoke to a call from my boyfriend John telling me that something was going on and I needed to turn on the news. I walked into my living room, snuggled my Siamese cat, turned on the big screen TV and could not believe my eyes. I sat and watched the twin towers fall - then I decided I wasn't going to work, classes were soon cancelled for that evening. I spent the rest of the day in a state of depressed shock, I think I met John sometime that afternoon. I just remember thinking - I wonder what my life will look like in a decade? At this point in my life I was a Christian, but was going through a rebellious time - if you would call it that. I was questioning why I believed what I believed, I was asking tough questions and dealing with anger and bitterness that had haunted me for the last 2-3 years. Looking back, it was a low point in my life, but a necessary trial that later produced great fruit and healing.

I was struggling with grown up things like:
Growing up is hard.
Emotions are hard.
Deciding what to do with my life was hard.
Dealing with the question - "Why do bad things happen to innocent people" was a hard question I didn't know the answer to.
What is my purpose here?
Does God really hear me when I pray?
Does God love me less when I'm not perfect?
Why does God seem so distant?
Is God real?

But - Life went on and slowly over the last decade God has dealt with all those questions and doubts through the pages of life. I dove into getting to know the Lord - not who I believed Him to be, but what the Bible said He was. I searched and prayed and studied and waited. Over the last decade life matured me and my relationship with God matured too. I married sweet John, moved 1500 miles away to another country called Texas, birthed 3 children, and somehow grew up. The questions and fog from decade past shaped who I am today. The very fact that I asked those questions, delt with sin and pain and trials and questioning was not intimidating to God - it was a blessing He allowed into my life. I believe every person in this world struggled with growing up - I just didn't know that because no one told me!

I would not be the woman I am today without the last decade of hardships. That Tuesday morning of September 11th will always stand out in my mind. That day represents the pain and depression I was walking around with, trying to deal with the big questions of life. When I saw our country unite, it gave me hope to keep pressing on. God used the experience of 9/11 to push me forward and helped me to not get discouraged. One year later I was engaged and 18 months later I was married and on my way to Texas - that lonely and painful chapter of my life was about to give birth to different challenges and trials.

I am so blessed that God is Sovereign - He knows everything I need to make me into the woman I want to become.

Long Enough

2011-09-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

FOR

BRAIDS!

Yes! Our little girl's hair is finally long enough for braids!

She is getting to look like a big girl ~ Attitude and All!

Our Magical Fall Blanket

2011-09-07T20:19:00.003-05:00

Over labor day I grabbed all the Fall boxes and decorated the house while sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte - one of my many traditions centered around thanks and cooler weather! I snapped a few pictures today and noticed that our Fall blanket has a magical effect - it causes pets and humans to fall asleep!

See for yourself!

The dog was caught on camera early this morning, how did she cover herself up?


So much for not being tired! We had settled down for our quiet reading time and I found Gabe like this when the timer went off.

I love fall!!!! This cold weather is just delighting me to tears, all I want to do is play outside!

Fun Friday - Lego Style

2011-09-02T14:54:00.001-05:00

"Lets fly!"

I guess Fun Friday also includes not getting dressed until 11 am?

Can you see it is an air and space museum?

Drew's version of a church!

See Through Chicken Egg Lesson

2011-09-01T20:29:00.008-05:00

This week we learned about things we can't see - we did a science experiment and studied the inside of an egg - what is in there, where do chickens come from, are they mammals or birds? Would you like to live inside that egg? Do you think it is soft or hard? Will it feel soft like a pillow or hard like a rock? Did God design a world where things change even though you can't see it with your eyes? If a chicken were growing in there, could you see its body form with your eyes? How long does it take for the chicken to form? What do you think will happen when we put the vinegar in with the egg? (Drew said a baby chick would come out, Gabe said egg plant would grow!) These were the science questions we asked and discussed. Drew, then drew a picture in his journal and wrote about what he saw."

I found the experiment here. The kids LOVED it, they especially enjoyed watching the reaction between the vinegar and the egg shell. I actually used this experiment for our Bible and Science lesson - how do you relate this to the Bible you might ask? Here is what I shared with them.

Day 1

"Boys - this egg represents your body, inside your body lives your soul or heart which is represented by this yolk. What color is the egg yolk? Yes, that is right, the yolk is yellow just like the sun. What does the sun give us? Yes, light. Who is our light? Yes, that is correct, it is Jesus! There is also something in this egg called the membranes. The membrane you can't see right now, but in a few days you will see just how necessary it is to protecting that yolk. Now lets put the egg into the vinegar. The vinegar is sin - what is sin? Good - sin is when we miss the mark (or in kid language - make wrong choices).

Look at that reaction? What is the sin (vinegar) doing to the body (egg shell)? Yes, it is eating away at it. What do you think will happen to the body (egg shell)? What will be revealed? Will we see it happen quickly or slowly? Yes, we won't see anything big happen right now, sin always takes its time, it is slow and methodical. Now lets leave the egg and vinegar in the fridge for a night and check on it tomorrow.

Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death,

but the free gift of God

is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Day 2

The following morning the boys rushed to the fridge to see what had happened to the egg. The only thing they noticed was that the egg was floating, instead of being on the bottom of the glass container, it had become lighter and floated to the top. The shell was still present and the vinegar was still reacting. I shared with them that sin seems pleasant for a time, sin can be fun and sometimes you don't get punished for that sin. It is easy to believe that its not effecting you and that you are happy in your sin.

Proverbs 9:17

Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

Day 2 Evening

Finally that evening we opened the fridge and the egg was yellow. I took the body (egg) out of the sin (vinegar), then washed the stinky, smelly, slimy egg and dried it off. Drew didn't want to touch it at all, but Gabe was bold enough to hold it. I then shared that sin (vinegar) eats away at our body (egg shell), it can sometimes be hard to spot - like a small little fib, or a selfish attitude, or not sharing with a sibling. Over time these little sins grow into bigger and bigger sins -it is hard to ever go back to the form you were before. That is where Jesus comes in, He knew that sin would eat away at our body and prevent us from the life God intended when He created us. Jesus saw that yucky, slimy, sinful body and died on a cross so that we wouldn't be left unprotected and alone.

God sent his Son Jesus to free us from that slavery to sin - Jesus died to take away that sin so we could be with Father God. Father God is sinless and so perfectly spectacular that it is impossible to be around such glory and power and might unless we too are perfect. If we went into His presence all smelly and sticky, like vinegar, we would die and go to Hell. God didn't want that at all, He wants to be with us forever! So, God loved us so much and He used our sin for good - to show us that we are sad, lonely, stinky, slimy sinners and need a Savior to unite us with that wonderfully majestic God.

See that membrane in there - that membrane is Jesus - see how the heart/soul (yolk) is protected and safe inside there? That is what Jesus does to us when we ask Him to rule and reign in our lives. Do you know what it means to have Jesus rule and reign? "No" - well it means that Jesus takes over the way you think, act, talk, and speak. It means you want so much to be with Jesus that you ask Him to take over your life - instead of you obeying sin, you obey Jesus. In your case as little children, that means you obey mommy and daddy and listen for God's voice. Like when you gave money to the Makeover last year, or gave your sword balloon to that little girl when her's broke. Those times of kindness came from Jesus and you heard His voice and instantly obeyed. You are in training and He is molding you into the likeness of Jesus - you are getting ready to meet God the Father one day. Jesus took away your stinky, smelly, sinful heart and is getting your heart ready to meet God!

Remember back to Day 1 when we talked about the sun being yellow? We also said that Jesus was the Light of this World, well, when Jesus comes to protect you ( like the membrane in the egg), He takes that light and places it within you - that is called the Holy Spirit. Remember Him? That light is what shines in this dark world. That light is what other people see when they meet you. You are called to share that light with others, not hide it way. We want God's glorious light to brightly shine in you and then you share that light with others. Who are some people you could share that light with? Maybe you could tell them about the egg experiment and then talk to them about Jesus?

Romans 6:15-17

What then, shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

First Day of Pre-School

2011-08-31T12:39:00.000-05:00

Gabe had his first day of preschool yesterday. Gabe was very shy, then his teacher commented on his cool lunchbox and he went right in. He then snuck back out to give brother and sister a big hug and kiss. I love this boy of mine!

Gabe was missed! I missed his humor and crazy antics. So did his brother and sister!

Drew met his teacher on Tuesday - his first day of Venture is on Thursday. His teacher. Mrs. Ness, is from Oregon! Drew also has a Science, Spanish, Bible and Drama teacher which he will visit throughout his Thursday's. Such fun - I'm excited for Drew. His first science class unit is on insects! One cool plus - there is a Starbucks next door! A match made in heaven!

Heaven Falling?

2011-08-30T11:16:00.002-05:00

Drew asked me this morning as we were driving Gabe to his first day of Pre-school, "Momma - Is heaven falling out of the sky?

"What?" I exclaimed

"Heaven, momma, its falling!"

I looked over and right in front of us the clouds had thinned and the sun's rays were shining through the clouds and it looked glorious. The sky was picture perfect for "something like heaven" to fall right through. The Son in all His Majesty was bringing joy to our morning drive.

The heaven falling conversation lead segment into how everyday we should be living in Advent of Jesus' return to earth. He will descend with all Glory - coming with all the saints to bring his children home! I hope I'm alive on that day, but either way I know I won't miss it!

As I'm working through Revelation in my quiet time I am just in Awe! I've spent 2 weeks just on chapter 1. I am in awe of Jesus - Revelation is the only book to reveal Christ in full glory. The picture of Revelation is Jesus - no longer a God-man in human form but the fully revealed God - all powerful, majestic, coming for judgement to unite His church. I never knew that the book of Revelation would allow me to fall more madly in love with my Jesus!

Inscriptions for Gabe

2011-08-27T21:46:00.004-05:00

I never had a brother, never knew what life was like to have older siblings. I am so blessed that God gave me little Gabe - exuberant and full of life. Gabe and Abby have a bond that is inseparable! They have been soul mates from the moment Abby and Gabe met - at 7 days old. Gabe loved to hold his sister, where as Drew was too busy. Gabe always told me when she cried or brought me diapers to change her. Even now, Gabe always has to know where Abby is, if we're in the store and she is trailing behind he has a melt down if I get too far ahead of her. Gabe will always run back to her and grab her hand - pulling her so fast that she falls over! I love this little man and his divine love for his sister. What a blessed mother I am to have children who are best friends.

My dear Gabe,

What a blessing you are to me! Tonight I watched you listen so closely to your older brother talk, then look over and help Abby with her food. You are the only one of my 3 kids who could thrive on being in the middle. You ache to be big like your brother Drew, but remember that your little sister is looking to you for guidance and direction. You don't even realize how big you already are - do not long to grow up so fast.

Today you were so jealous of your brother - you couldn't make Lego creations like him or build as great of a blanket fort as him. I just want you to know that you are not Drew, you were divinely made to be Gabe Williams. You are unique and like no one God has ever created. You are one of a kind and a dear blessing to our family. I do not want you to be like your older brother, his gifts are special in their own way for the purposes God has set aside for him. But you - my dear son, you are divinely created to be a leader to many, a quiet & intelligent thinker who will bring such glory and honor to God. You are gifted with a keen mind that thinks before he acts or speaks, you have been given a loyal heart that puts ahead others before yourself. You love to sing and dance and love life. You are not too serious - but not too goofy. Most importantly - you are not proud or boastful of yourself. The kind things you do are not self serving but for the genuine need of others. I love that about you!

Gabe - as you grow I pray that the smile on your face never fades. You have been my most joyful child, you came out of my womb quiet (you didn't cry!) and a student to this world. Your smile appeared at 6 weeks - once you discovered you could put your own thumb in your mouth. You never looked back Gabe - that smile has been in place since 6 weeks! You are always happy and a joy to be around . I've never known a child who has such a great sense of humor or who could tell me such funny jokes. I love you dearly sweet Gabers! You are a shy one when in unknown situations - I was shy too (still am). Just remember to try new things and meet new people. You are not as outgoing as your brother, but are more cautious. I like cautious - I've had far less scares thanks to your cautious spirit - thank you! You also have energy! You can run so fast and for great distances! God will use that energy to create in you an eagerness and an excitement that others catch and want to imitate. Remember to look to your Creator as the only disciple, those who imitate you need to see the light of God being lived out and glorified in your life.

Gabe - keep smiling and never give up. I pray you will embrace the character and personality that God has bestowed upon you and that you will use it for good, not evil. Remember that your sister is watching you! She longs to be just like you - even playing Lego's with the big boys by putting them in and out of the airplane. She longs to follow you around and do what you do. Do not get angry at your size or age - God has you right where he wants you. Do not break your brothers Lego creations in anger or destroy the forts that are made when no one is looking. I pray you will use that competitive spirit within you to do good and not evil. Your little sister adores you and is always watching. Remember that when you are led astray by evil, little feet follow behind in imitation.You will make an incredible leader one day - practice skilfully now - for good habits are easier to keep than bad habits to break.

My son - I am a blessed mommy! You have been my easiest child, you are so laid back and full of life. I know that God has big plans for your future! I love you sweet Gabers!

Love,

Mommy

Today Was A Pigtail Day

2011-08-24T23:10:00.003-05:00

Little Abby looks so cute in pigtails -too bad she takes them out when I'm not looking - every time!

I snapped this picture on Sunday and when I was editing noticed that Gabe is growing up - even with PB&J on his face!

Loved this funny picture of Gabe and his sissy. Gabe just adores Abby - I love that!

Sniff - the book club gals just left - we had such a great group of ladies and we all learned so much about becoming the mothers God designed us to be. Our book, Mission To Motherhood has ended and summer is now officially over on my calendar. I'm sad that my special girl nights are over for a while. I was so encouraged by all their insights and struggles and honesty. Sometimes you just need other mom's who are right there in the battle with you - they help you not feel so alone. I'll miss these special ladies nights - but I'm so glad I get to see them all during the week!

Next big thing on my "to do list" of fun adventures - planning field trips for all us mom's!

First Day

2011-08-22T23:11:00.002-05:00

Drew the crazy 1st Grader!

In Texas, today was the first day of school for most children. There were buses on the roads, children anxious to get out of the heat, and teachers nervous to meet their new children. In our home my husband was back to work and the boys Nana was blessed to teach 19 First Graders! It was an exciting day! We have been back in "school" for a few weeks, but I thought it would be fun to share what our school actually looked like today. We have a lot of random times with regular stops for reading and writing.

Gabe - my Preschooler!

Momma woke up and hit the gym, then did a little quiet study of her own before all the family woke up. She drank a nice warm cup of bold Kona coffee and enjoyed the scents of a lavender candle. John headed off to work and the little pitter patters of feet about 8:00 am broke the silence and a new day began!

We had breakfast and Bible time and then today was cleaning day! Every other Monday we try and get those not so fun chores out of the way - so Gabe cleaned the boys room and watered the flowers and Drew cleaned the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms. Momma cleaned her gross bathroom too - but never actually finished the job! I'm now blogging instead of finishing the bathroom!

Abby went down for an early nap and then we read about Aardvarks. The boys then watched a Wild Kratts episode about Ardvarks while Momma caught up on some work upstairs. Then Drew wrote in his nature journals about aardvarks and Gabe did his phonics on the computer. After, the boys spent about an hour building an aardvark hole to play in - that was fun!

Abby- the "helper"

After the aardvark fort, the boys went upstairs and played Lego's and I made lunch. After we ate lunch we sad down for some reading - I read a book to them about frogs, then asked questions like - can you find the word "Frog" on each page? What do you think happened to the frog - did he like his new pond? Can you add on to the story and send frog on a fun adventure? Then, we read a book about worm composting - exciting! Drew has big dreams for his little crawly creatures - our wormy composting class is on September 17th!

The boys then had a little rest which really wasn't a rest at all because they ended up playing Lego's for about an hour. Then Abby woke up and we all went downstairs for the 3-5 period during the day when everyone needs to run around and be crazy. The boys sat down and did their math, momma worked with Gabe on writing numbers and with Drew on solving for X. Abby ate the manipulatives and smeared her plum all over the table and floor! Drew then worked on his writing - handwriting without tears (no tears yet!) and then he worked on his language arts and reading on the computer for about an hour. Drew finished his chapter review on the sun and learned the sights and sounds of "IGH."I made dinner, administered the chapter review about the "Sun" chapter and counted down the minutes until John came home!

That was our Monday school day - nothing too exciting, just lots of Lego's and Fort making and learning!

Confirmation

2011-08-22T18:57:00.005-05:00

As I was headed home from the gym this morning I listened to KCBI radio pray for our children's first day back at school (Thank you!). They prayed against jitters and bullies and energy for teachers. I stopped at a stop sign and it hit me - my son is a 1st grader, but he isn't going to a traditional 1st grade and I can't imagine my life any other way? I turned off the radio and just listened to the silence, the peace as my soul rejoiced. I always thought that homeschooling would be hard, it wasn't my gift and a million other fears I've struggled with over the last year plagued me. But today, the Lord gentle confirmed to me that we're right where God wants our family. This school at home life is best for us. It is worth it. I never knew if I would get to this place?

I always thought that sending my kids away to school seemed unnatural, yet when I would have a rough day, I would dream about how much free time I would have if my children went off to school. I thought I'd resent not having time to myself, but I don't (most days). In fact I look at it as a blessing - I tend to be a waster of free time!

As I drove home I smiled as I thought about my sleeping children, home in their warm beds, they will wake when rested, play when desired and eat about a million times between now and dinner. They will learn about God and sharing and probably build a fort in the living room and then make Lego ships. I smiled that we didn't spend tons of money on school supplies or new clothes, I smiled that my energetic 6 year old, who must be a friend to all, will not struggle with kids making fun of him (at least when I'm around) because of how he dresses or if his hair isn't cut. I smiled that his energetic spinning in his chair while we're working on phonics doesn't bother me anymore. I smiled that he loves learning! I smiled as I drove home - what a blessing I've been given - more time with my children. This last year or two I've grown accustomed to the noises and messes and constant chattering - so much that I miss it. My mother watched the boys quite a few times while John was in Vietnam, those times with just Abby confirmed that I love being around my children - even thought its an exhausting job, its a job that fits with who God created me to be ~ A Mother.

I then remembered another moment God had forged into my head: last week while I was spinning at the gym I was saddened by what our class seemed to be in agreement about. The social acceptance that children are a nuisance and a bother was evident as the teacher yelled, "... kids are headed back to school on Monday." - everyone cheered. Then he shouted, "... teachers are back to work." - all the teachers booed. It made me sad that many parents are excited for their children to be away from them and that most teachers are depressed to be heading back to teach them. Who is here for our children - if not parents and educators - then who? Not even our culture values children - we abort them, often sit them in front of television all day long (popular with John's group of children - when he askes what they did over the summer), don't discipline them and then get so angry with them because they won't behave; we're even leaving them our country's financial debts because we selfishly can't control our own fiscal spending. I'm sure I'm making more of the event than I should, but it really made me sad. Children know when they are a burden and unloved.

I most certainly know a lot of great teachers who are excited to be teaching God's little blessings - my sweet husband is one of them! I do know that not all teachers hate their jobs - its just a cultural norm for people to hate and complain about their jobs!

We memorized 1 John 3:18 as a family this past week and it talks about love being an action - " My little children, let us not love in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth." I think this verse summarizes what I've been observing within our culture regarding children and their value to society. We can tell our children we love them all day long, but they will never believe us unless its followed up with sacrificial, unconditional actions. My goal each moment of every day is to bring God glory through sacrificial giving of my time and energy and thoughts. It is a struggle to be in constant training of the flesh, yet discipline produces such great eternal rewards.

Nature Journal: A Morning At The Creek

2011-08-17T18:57:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday we evacuated the house and went with a friend to look for fossils. I thought is would be a great opportunity to jump into our 2011-2012 Nature Journal. Funny thing was that thanks to the rainstorm from last week, the creek was now full of water - which made it all the more fun! So, here is a sample of what our nature journal's consist of.


First, Every good nature study begins with a tree to climb!


Then you go exploring and see what kind of critters you can find.


Then you do some more exploring using your senses: What do I see? What do I hear?	Of course you have to get wet!

Everyone participates!

Then we pretend we are beavers and make a beaver dam and search for fossils and turtles.

Then we go home and read about the critters we discovered - like a brown turtle and some shells.

Then we draw a picture about something we saw in nature - like a lizard (which we read about today but didn't see at the creek).

We do some writing and imagine a story about turtles.

Then we build a beaver dam and eat lunch tucked away beneath the "sticks!"

There you have it, a simple and fun way to experience nature and inspire writing, creativity and imagination. Drew is fascinated with all creatures great and small so these lessons were fun for him - don't you just love his lizard known as: the Basilisk? This beats writing about "What I did over my summer vacation" - I never did like that question!

We also discussed descriptive words - like "The turtle was brown." or " The dam was tall with leaves sticking out." A free resource on nature journals is here at Simply Charolotte Mason.

Drew loves to play Wild Kratts on PBS kids and learn all about God's amazing creatures. I use this program as an incentive for focused attention on school work. For this moment, it works like a charm and he is learning way too many random facts about animals!

Home Learning Week in Review

2011-08-13T21:05:00.003-05:00

I just love it when my kids want to learn! I actually told John that "they won't stop learning, they keep asking to do phonics or math or writing, or nature journals or Cheetah facts. Who are these children and what happened in the last few weeks?" I know it is a phase soon to pass, but for now I'm trying to fill their little minds with all the information they can process.

Here are a few things we "accidentally" did this summer to encourage their recent hump in learning:

1. We took some great week long breaks this summer and just played - with Lego's and blocks and read books and played outside (when it wasn't over 100!). Not that we don't normally, but this summer we had huge gaps of time to just do "nothing." The boys became rather bored and were forced to create their own fun - with blankets and pillows and friends next door. The time the boys spent "playing" actually opened their minds to retain more information and they became excited about learning. Drew specifically became interested in the "how's" of life. At 4-5 everything was "why," then he progressed to asking us "when" and learned about months and weeks and the continuous cycle of time. Just this past month I've been noticing everything is "How!"

"Momma, how does the dryer work?"
"How does the Cheetah run so fast"
"How did God create the world in only 6 days?"
"How does my letter to Simera get to her in Africa."

2. At my husband's prompting, I asked the boys what they wanted to learn about and have been working through various projects tailored to their desires - Cheetah's, the Earth, Bugs, Frogs - all things they are interested in right now. All those little changes made a huge impact on the first few weeks of "relaxed" schooling at home. We've not been adhering to rigid schedules or turning down play dates so we can do school work, we're just fitting learning into our lives. Such a fun way to learn in this place we call life.

3. I purchased a great program called Time4Learning - which is tailored to my right brained child. It is an online phonics program that is self paced and fun! It has up to 3 grade level's available at any time so there are so many options when he gets bored with one topic. Drew is loving this way of learning, he has completed the entire science curriculum and is half way through reading/phonics. There is also a language arts section which we're slowly working through as well. I purchased this program the beginning of July to change things up a bit and have a month of something new. Little did I know that this was going to make our learning much more relaxed and fun! Now 6 weeks later we've decided to keep it in the budget. Drew has blossomed, the program has given him great confidence and within 3 weeks Drew went from barely reading 1-2 sentences, to reading an entire 10-12 page book with multiple sentences per page. I can't believe it - seriously like night and day. Gabe spends about 15 minutes a day on the Kindergarten section learning about: over under, sights and sounds of letters, how books are written, rhyming, etc. Gabe and Drew both beg to play it and just one 30 minute session teaches all the phonics they need for each day - easy and so much fun!

4. I bought some "special" markers and colored pencils and paint - only for art time this year. These supplies are special and only for our lessons! Who would have thought that some fun markers (skinny ones) and 50 different colored pencils and some tempera paint with cool looking paint brushes would get my kids excited about art? My boys were the ones so not interested and now I can't stop them from playing with play dough and drawing tractors? Odd.... but true.

So the last few week we've been inching into a relaxed school schedule with phonics, reading, math, drawing, and bible. I'm a little amazed at how much learning we naturally have on a given day.

As for little miss Abby - we've been playing tea and cleaning up all her messes! Abby loves to blow out diapers and take all the Rubbermaid out of her drawer and empty all her toys onto the floor. She is also especially fond of getting into the boy's Lego creations. Abby also loves to help and imitate her brothers, today when I was handing the boys clean laundry to take upstairs, she waddled over and put out her hands to take clothes up to her room too. She is never one to be left out!

Vietnam Summary

2011-08-08T21:18:00.001-05:00

John arrived home safely on Saturday! He is oh so very tired and his car battery is dead from all this heat, but he is home and smiling! Oh, John had a wonderful time in Vietnam. He has so many adventures to share, some are still coming since he has been very tired the past two days.

Overall John was super pleased with the conference, he was inspired and in awe of the love the parents and administrators have for these special children. The only things lacking is knowledge, which he and his team so graciously offered. Over the two weeks they established many relationships and encouraged so many caregivers.

I asked John what stood out to him the most and he said it was the teaching he was able to do. The Vietnamese were so attentive, writing down every word he said - very humbling. His talk took on a life of its own each time he presented, the beginning talk was very "to the text" but as he talked with more people the more he adapted and changed what he was saying to be more personal. The parents left the conference so encouraged and inspired to teach their children - most of these parents believed the lie that their children were never going to amount to anything and thus they felt sorry for them - never expecting anything from them. John was quite a light to these parents - he talked a lot about trials and struggles and how working hard to overcome adversity isn't a bad thing. He shared that children will rise to the expectations of encouraging and pressing parents and teachers. John was the only - the only - disabled person they had ever met who had done anything with this life. In their culture special needs children, if not abandoned, receive a free pass to do nothing but watch TV and are basically alienated from society. The parents seemed very burdened - John's encouragement went such a long way to lifting their hearts. Think about the sacrifice these parents went to - they are only allowed 2 children in Vietnam so to keep one with special needs is a huge sacrifice in their culture. What a sad reality, life there, John said, was not filled with meaning and purpose.

The last few days John went up into the mountains to continue working on various relationships and help plan a Northwood teaching conference this upcoming October. John saw the hand of God work in mighy ways one afternoon in Sapa- in a matter of 2 hours the October conference (they were planning) had doubled in attendance, locations changed, interpreters found and met with, equipment loaned, and curriculum adjusted and approved. What was once just in the beginning phases ended up being completely worked out and finished. Wow! God has big plans for this conference in October!

One story John shared just broke my heart, he said as they were going down a mountain and he saw three children all our kids ages - 6,3,1 - the oldest was commanding 3 water buffalo up this huge curved road, the 3 year old was carrying his little sister on his back - there were no parents for miles. That seemed to be the norm up in the mountains. John said he saw a lot of children - very few were being supervised and most were under the age of 6 - playing along roads many miles away from a town or adult. Their water system isn't drinkable but often he would see children playing in the culverts next to the waste. It was so very sad to see.

There were many other crazy stories that helped me appreciate the luxuries in America - like A/C, chicken (instead of kitten), sanitation, driving laws, and building codes! Please explain why they have a law that you must wear a helmet, but no law that says you need to drive on the right side of the road or stop for pedestrians????

Overall, John had a great time and looks forward to going back next year with a slightly different talk that centers on encouragement, goals and expectations for special needs children.

Thank you all for praying! God used this trip in John's life in so many ways - he is still digesting all that he experienced and processing! I'll be posting pictures as I edit though the 500+ pictures of Vietnam at the following link: http://www.babyhomepages.net/johnandmelissa/pictures.php?viewalbum=47040

Thanks!

Melissa

Crabby or Not Here I Come

2011-08-07T21:41:00.001-05:00

Today I hit the bottom - I reached the end of my patience and it was so embarrassing. It was one of those times when I knew it was coming - it had been creeping up for the last 4 days and I just wasn't sure what to do about it. I just needed time to breath, think without kids, spend some quality time talking to my sweet husband and maybe throw in a nap?

So my story begins two weeks ago when my sweet, loving husband left for an adventure in Vietnam. He arrived home Saturday and I was so excited to finally get him home. I had cleaned the house, done all the laundry and dishes and was excited to get my love tank filled with some quality time. After all, I'd had 12 days of caring for kids and the house and very few adult conversations. To say I was running on fumes would be an understatement.

After 1 hour in traffic, an extra 15 mile detour, I finally arrived at the airport and picked up my man! John was very tired and feeling a little sick from 24 hours of travel. He did sweetly recap his trip for me, knowing I was dying to have a real conversation. We arrived home to three excited and boisterous children who were so excited to see their daddy! Daddy on the other hand was tired - he did manage to stay up and spent time with the kids - sweet man of mind. So that night, when the house was a wreck, the kids were cranky, the kitchen had exploded with banana bread, suitcases were strewn about, I looked around and felt totally alone and overwhelmed. After the kids went to bed, so did John, and I was left to my own pity party.

So now we're at Sunday morning, don't you love the peace and harmony that ensues on Sunday mornings? Yes I always wonder what our Sunday mornings leading up to church will look like - today it was a doosie! First, the kids spilled cereal all over the kitchen floor, the banana bread mess was still in the sink, and my sweet man was still sleeping at 8:30 am. I knew it was totally illogical to want him to get up and help me - he was jet-lagged after all. But, I had been serving these kids for 12 days - breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a bazillion snacks - I just didn't want to wipe or prepare anything else!

I grabbed my bad attitude and my coffee and sat down to feed Abby her yogurt, but she refused. I set the yogurt on the table, sipped my coffee, then went upstairs to get Abby some church clothes - I also told the boys their outfits weren't quite church material - they needed to match! I arrived back downstairs to Drew reprimanding Abby, "Abby, get back in your chair, don't climb on the table!" As Abby was scooting back into her chair, she backed into the yogurt and sat right in it. The yogurt went all over her bottom and chair and the floor. I picked her up to wash her off, but she ran off, so I focused on the floor and chair since running after my 18 month old didn't seem realistic. Not 2 minutes later I heard Gabe yelling "Abby, gross you got it all over the floor and my bike!"

"What!" I jumped up and saw that sweet Abby had taken her yogurt covered diaper and sat on Gabe's little trike, then in her haste swung off the yogurt covered bike, twisting her diaper. I guess in her excitement she decided to pee and it all landed in 2 puddles next to the bike. I was not pleased!

With a frown and my bad attitude, I breathed deeply and then moved Abby away from the mess and went in search of a bath towel, since there was a lot of pee on the floor. While I was away, Abby got back on the bike and rode right through the puddles of pee. She then tried to get off the bike and slipped and fell right in the middle of the pee. She was covered - 5 minutes before we're to leave for church and she was covered in pee!

This is the scenario that brought me to my breaking point - I lost it! I grabbed my pee covered daughter who was now screaming hysterically because in the fall, she had bashed her head onto the floor; I ran upstairs and put her in the bath tub - diaper and all. All the while yelling "I'm done, I'm really done, I'm done!" By this point the boys were hiding in their room. I found John in the bathroom half asleep, his eyes were as wide as a raccoon, just staring at his crazy wife who was acting totally nuts! "What is wrong?" He so patiently asks. That wasn't the answer I'd hoped for and I spouted off about how I needed help and was finished! I'm not sure what I was finished with - but then again I guess I new I was being irrational!

The ride to church was very quiet, before we arrived Drew smiled at me and said in his calm, 6 year old, wise voice, "Mom, maybe after church you won't be quite so grouchy?"

I just want you to know my husband is a saint - first he brought me coffee during 2nd service at church, talked to me for an hour in the coffee shop, took the boys to the circus today (another long story) and left me at home with a sleeping Abby and a 1 hour massage. I spent 3 wonderful house cleaning the house, reading my Bible, catching up on some work and getting a massage. He is the one jet lagged and I'm the one who ended up with the 5 star care. I'm happy to report that the love tank is again full, quality time has been had, mommy's attitude has been put into check, forgiveness has been asked, and all is well again in the Williams house. Have I mentioned what a great husband I have and what a crazy women he married?

Too Hot

2011-08-07T21:09:00.001-05:00

Its too hot to even step foot outside, the kids are cranky and tired of being indoors. So, in order to keep Abby happy while I made dinner, she enjoyed some cool water time in the sink -- kitchen sink! She really enjoyed the ice creak scoop. tongs, and pouring water from cup to cup. Funny how much fun a little water on a hot day can bring - I'm especially grateful that it gave me 45 minutes of peace to cook dinner!

Who Are You?

2011-08-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

I was asked by our team a few weeks back if, "my husband is the same man today that he was when I married him?" Without any hesitation I replied "Nope, not even close."

God has done a number on this man, I wish I could claim even an ounce of credit, but truly is wasn't until I backed off and dealt with my own ugly sin that God moved in to work on his heart.

I am a blessed, so blessed woman to be married to such a man. He was awesome on the day we said "I do!" I truly couldn't have imagined him any better. God did a spiritual work in his life and worked on his heart. God worked on his holiness. God worked on my holiness. God changed us both to look more like Himself.

I remember a time early in our marriage when things were not so holy and my own sin got in the way of God's workmanship. At the bottom I looked up and read 1 Peter 3:4 " let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God" So I prayed for my man, instead of nagged, who would have family devotions, consistently be in the word and encourage me in the same practice, a man who would be supportive of homeschooling, a man who would lead our family and not withdrawal into childish ways. God then moved.....

As I meditated on 1 Peter 3:1 "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, ² as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior"

I stopped complaining and nagging and began to purify my speech to only speak words that built my husband up. I practiced the "love dare" before it was even called a "love dare." I truly was the woman who the proverbs talks about being so harsh with words that her husband would rather sleep in the corner of an attic.

My sweet and gentle husband, today I look at you some 5+ years later and wonder - Who Are You? "Who Am I?" What a mighty work the Lord has done in our lives.

I know that God used mighty trials to purify our hearts and mold us together as one. What Satan meant to rip us apart, God used to melt our flesh together as one.

I am so proud to call you my husband - a man of God who daily meets with the Lord, lifts up our family in prayer, cares for orphans and widows, is generous beyond understanding, has the most sensitive and caring spirit and who sacrifices daily for his family.

I asked the boys what they miss the most about you being gone and they both replied "Bible time!" They so very much miss your stories and voice overs and life lessons that speak truth and grace into their hearts.

I wish with all my heart to grow into a woman who loves you as much as you love your family. Your famous line to be is "If ever you think I've done something to intentionally hurt you, you've looked at the situation the wrong way. I only do things to build you up." In looking at past experiences, John's statement has always held true. My husband truly is the most selfless man alive - I can't think of anything he has ever done to intentionally hurt me.

John - your commitment to God is the example to me I wished for early on in our marriage. Your compassion is beyond measure and I'm so very blessed to call you my husband. As I watch you serve and sacrifice special needs children I'm in awe at your skill and deep God given love for others. I know God is richly blessing your time in Vietnam and I'm forever receiving blessings from God because of the godly life you lead. I can't wait to welcome you home, into my arms, in just a few short days and hear of your many adventures!

Love,
Missy

2011 Disciplines: Prayer & Fasting

2011-08-02T14:51:00.003-05:00

A few years back our team had read Celebration of Disciplines by Richard Foster and I was overwhelmed by the many faceted christian disciplines that are to be normal occurrence in my life. I'm not sure about you, but as a recovering perfectionist and oldest child, I have a hard time doing things I'm not good at. I just avoid them like the plague. Last year God changed that aspect of my "thought" system a little and I've been more open to things I don't always feel competent at - I think homeschooling had a lot to do with that! So I asked God what two disciplines I should focus on for 2011 - he laid on my heart Prayer and Fasting (since they go together a lot).

The prayer portion didn't seem like such a stretch compared to fasting! I've gone without things for periods - like giving up TV, or fast food, or Starbucks, but never a biblical fast from all food. Yikes - when God picked fasting for this year I really felt out of my comfort zone. I do caution that I'm only writing about a fast to encourage others in this life changing discipline, not to bring glory to myself. For that reason, when I have fasted in the past I choose not to tell anyone because it is something personal between just myself and God.

Here is some of the research I did before my first fast:

Purpose: The purpose of a biblical fast is to gain deeper fellowship with God. By taking our eyes off the things of this world, we can more successfully turn our attention to Christ. I found that having a purpose in fasting is a great motivator - so for example I fasted for our trip to Colorado, praying we would be a strong witness while spending time with family. The last fast was for John's presentation in Vietnam, having a vision throughout the day to pray specifically for, made it much more personal and intimate with the Lord.

Why fast?: The Bible gives us examples of God's people fasting and praying so they could be reminded of their covenant with the Lord. King David wrote that he "humbled [him]self with fasting" (Psalm:35:13). Fasting brings us clarity like never experienced before, we are brought back to the deep reality that we are not self-sufficient. Fasting allows our fragility to deepen our dependance on God. I look at fasting as a detox from the world - fasting is a direct connection into the mind and heart of Christ, which reveals my greatest weakness and convict me of beliefs that are paralyzing my relationship with God.

A Caution from Matthew 6:16-18 on fasting, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Lessons Learned:

Start small - I did my first fast from dinner to dinner so it didn't seem like such a long time.Then gradually added more time - the longest fast I've built up to was 36 hours.
Drink lots of water
When done fasting, eat light otherwise you'll get a huge stomach ache!
Pre-plan meals, the temptation was so great when I had to be in the kitchen making the kids food, so I pre-made lunches and made Mac n Cheese for dinner - quick, simple and not as tempting.
During the day my stomach would rumble - especially getting closer to the 36 hour mark, it was in those times I chose to pray more frequently. The rest of the time I tried to stop each waking hour to pray and reflect on what the Lord was teaching me. Sometimes I would just sit in silence, other times pray for specific needs, or just meditate on a scripture I'd been practicing.
Avoid going out! I realized so many temptations are just a drive away. When I was at my weakest I was out driving the kids places and saw the media and advertising for what it truly is - temptation! Temptation to not be satisfied with what I already have been blessed with. As I get better at fasting I think this will be less of a temptation, but I'm still a baby when it comes to this discipline so avoidance is the best option right now.
Don't go grocery shopping unless you want a lot of point of purchase items making it home!

One last caution, start slow - I've only done a handful of fasts and its already August! Fasting will be a life long discipline that over years and years I will establish more consistency with - I know they will get easier and more deep, but I had few expectations and just wanted the Lord to speak to me and teach me afresh. I know God honors my attempts and He is there with me in my weakness. Do not get discouraged, celebrate the small accomplishments - otherwise fasting leads to a joyless person who no one wants to be around!

* Fasting by Jentezen Franklin
* A Hunger For God by John Piper - I have this on my list to read but haven't gotten to it yet.

Power of God's Word

2011-08-01T07:00:00.002-05:00

It is early Saturday morning, I growl at the clock glowing 6:45 am. I'd stayed up until 12:30 am the evening before folding laundry, washing dishes and relaxing for the first time all day. Now I was going to pay! I guess my little daughter didn't get the dreamy message that Mommy wanted to sleep in. I'd banked on the fact that Abby would again sleep in until 8:30 - which is the case most mornings, but, alas not to be the case this morning. I let sweet child fuss for 20 minutes and then heard that real cry that shouted "I'm not going back to sleep!" The boys were up jumping on their beds by this time, so sleepily lifted my head and opened my eyes. I then hit the floor running, missed my quiet time and jumped into breakfast making. Not 30 minutes later I heard Gabe yell, "Mom, Abby puked all over the floor!"

I quietly put down the laundry I was folding, smiled a happy "I'll not loose my joy, I'll not loose my joy..." smile and went to see the damage. Wow, it was ugly and she hadn't puked just once, but three times all over the entry way and playroom. I asked Gabe to keep the little wiggler out of the mess while I cleaned it all up - this led to lots of crying on Abby's part and Gabe left mid-way cleanup in frustration. Somewhere, while cleaning up lots of puke while keeping said child and dog out of the mess, I lost my joy and chose to be grouchy. The grouchiness continued as my darling daughter cried and fussed for the next hour - wanting to be held, then wanting down, then wanting a book, then getting up and wanting water, then emptying plastic bowls out of cupboard, then running off crying because I'd sneaked out of the room. Finally, in frustration she began to pull off her diaper and I thought she needed to be changed, so I took off the soiled diaper and went in search of a new one - that is always a lengthy search in our house! When I arrived back in the kitchen I discovered that Abby had peed all over the tile floor and then walked right through it - so had the dog!

Sigh - not my day. I silently cried, "God I need my husband, why is he out serving while I'm here with grouchy, sick, ear infected, teething children!"

Sigh - yes I had a foul attitude, even my children were noticing by this time. I cleaned Abby up, noticed she had a fever and was constipated, gave her some medicine and Miralax and rocked my sweet baby to sleep at 10 am. I couldn't believe it was only 10 am!

I ~~pleaded~~ asked the boys to spend 40 minutes in their room, while mommy had her quiet time that she had intentionally skipped that morning so she could sleep in. Drew commented " Do you need God to change your heart mommy?" "Yes" I replied. Drew and Gabe, almost in excitement, skipped to their room - I'm sure quite pleased that my foul mood would soon dissipate!

I warmed my lukewarm coffee and turned to Colossians 1, I read through the first chapter and then went back to pray for my sweet husband, my prayer went something like this:

³John, I always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when I pray for you, ⁴ because I know of your your great faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people (Especially Vietnam) — ⁵ your faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. In the same way, I pray the gospel will bear fruit through the team in Vietnam and the message would grow throughout the whole country —just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷ You learned it from Andy Dixon, our dear fellow servant,^[c] who is a faithful minister of Christ, ⁸ and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

What a blessed woman I am to be married to such a servant whose life has truly been changed by the power of God's word and the obedience within his spirit.

Amen

I then did a little journaling about my sin in being frustrated with my children for things they couldn't control - in essence I was mad at them for "ruining" my morning and creating more work for me. Confession is such a releasing and freeing discipline that I'm still muddling through. Finally I closed my journal, prayed for grace to parent these energetic children and went to see how much their room had been destroyed and ask for forgiveness! When I walked in the boys room, they both smiled at me, showed me their airplane hangers and little city. Then Drew asked "Mom, you look better now, did you spend time with God and did he change your heart?"

Yep my son - I know its going to be a great new day, God's mercies are new each morning, even when the morning begins again at 11 am!

Walking with the Lord brings great joy when patterned with disciplines.

Compassion Child

2011-07-31T14:57:00.000-05:00

Samira - from Burkina Faso

A few years ago our family adopted a little girl from Africa. It began as a way of teaching the kids about other cultures - specifically that most people in this world do not live privileged lives like we do in America. Last year we learned about poverty and fresh water and hygiene practices to supplement some school activities. We prayed often for Samira and her family. Over the last year Drew and Samira have been writing letters back and forth. The latest letter brought about some great dinner table conversations.

Samira had written and asked if we celebrated Easter, the Christian Mission Alliance of Tampouy had put on Easter programs and had spent a lot of time talking about what it meant for Christ to die for us. She then said her parents are Muslim and do not celebrate Easter - she asked us to pray for her parents salvation because she wanted a christian family like Drew has. Drew is so faithful to pray for Samira, he prayed for her parents too after the most recent letter. Yesterday he asked "What is Muslim?" That lead to a great discussion about other religions and their beliefs. I was so encouraged as Drew stated things like "Well that is not what God says?" or "Is that in the Bible mom?" Drew's plumb line for right and wrong, truth and lie is beginning to take shape and he is looking to the God of the Bible to answer those basic fundamental questions. It was very interesting for me to just listen to Drew talk and see him rationally talk out what he was wrestling with in his mind.

I urge you to sponsor a Compassion Child, in Burkina Faso the average income is 22.00 a month. Your support of 38.00/month provides food, education and medical care to children plagued by poverty. So little to change the future for a child! The relationship you develop with this child is so tight, the compassion my own children are learning is priceless. I love it that my kids want to send Samira letters and pictures they have drawn. I love it that she is the center of many prayers at night. I love it that my children are learning to serve others instead of being served. The cost of sponsorship is so small and delights the Father because we have "... served even the least of these in the name of Jesus Christ."

There is now a permanent link from this blog for those interested.

While Daddy Is Away....

2011-07-28T20:42:00.003-05:00


Lego Creations around the kitchen table - Drew did this one with very little assistance!

Fun times reading about inventions.

The past few days gave flown by, my mother has been helping with the boys a lot so Abby and I have had more time to prepare some fun lessons. Our frogs are multiplying and my kids seem to be fascinated with just about any topic these days so we've had a lot of fun painting and coloring and writing and working on Math. We also are learning a little about Vietnam and their culture. Here are some of the highlights of this week as we anxiously await Daddy's return.

We did a colors project this afternoon, I read the boys Mouse Count and we mixed colors together and then mommy painted the boys with the new color. We then made pictures, Drew made one of flowers to send to his sponsored child in Africa. It is so sweet how often Drew things and prays for Samira. He verbalized a letter last week that we sent off to her - Drew answered her questions about Easter and told her he was praying for her Muslim parents. Drew's first question to Samira was "Do you see Cheetah's where you live in Africa, do you know they run as fast as a car?" He also decided to dive into the Cheetah lapbook I was preparing for our first week back to school, I guess school and fun are finally synonymous! Sorry the picture quality is lacking, my prized camera is in Vietnam with my sweet husband, so I'm resorting to our little coolpix camera.

We've been learning about Cheetah's - at Drew's request. They really are fascinating animals.

We started to learn about Vietnamese culture and geography was a great place to begin.

My sweet friend Chantal shared how she used a light and a globe to explain the time difference between Vietnam and America. We don't have a globe, but a soccer ball worked to explain this concept to Drew. He was quite excited that he remembered that the Earth revolves around the sun. He then asked what would happen if the earth stopped rotating -- I really need Daddy home for that one. All I could say was that God created the universe so meticulously that if the earth stopped rotating there would probably be utter destruction. However, God is in control of all creation so I don't think we need to worry about that, though it is fun to thing about.

Drew's flower picture for Samira

Gabe's Masterpiece (Abby had one too but it was in pencil and the picture didn't turn out).

What is left of Gabe's Red and Blue makes Purple lesson


Free 1+1+1=1 Frog book that I laminated, plus a 1.00 pocket holder from Target.

Our frogs are procreating and we have eggs, tadpoles, froglets, and our adult frogs. The boys love seeing them transition. Today we had one froglet who sat on a rock all day while his tail absorbed into his body. Crazy!!! I wish I had my camera and could have done a time laps. I printed these great, free, books from 1+1+1=1 and used my handy new laminator to make the above picture. Drew really is taking to these very short little lessons. Today he learned how to spell the word "fly." Our favorite ABC Bible verses are free on 1+1+1=1 so this year we will be going back through the book, this time with Gabe, and I can print out and hang up our weekly bible verse. How cool, she even has easy activities to re-enforce the letters. Such fun!

Life Cycle of frogs who are "live and in color," "doing it" in our playroom!
I seriously wonder if our female frog will die from all the procreation & male grabbing going on, they never stop!

Finally, I have been enjoying the ladies who are coming over for the Mission To Motherhood book study. We have been talking about some very counter cultural ideals and sharing stories of fun and frustration. Last night we talked about gardening our children's hearts and filling them with righteous living. Sally gave us some great, practical ideas on how to inspire our children to greatness - my favorite was her sharing on literature. So.... I grabbed all my favorite books that promote great character and we had a lovely time sharing and discussing the role of books in family life. I've had some great feedback and many of the ladies have already purchased some classical literature to add to their library. I am truly blessed by this group of women who faithfully commit to read and share so willingly. What a great group of friends I have! Chantal even came over early to help clean and bake so I wouldn't stress about getting it all done before everyone arrived. Sweet Holly brought treats for the second week in a row and she inspired me to take more of my pictures and journals and create memory books for my family to enjoy. I never thought of that before. I'm eager to copy all my 1,000 gifts and compile them into a book for our coffee table.

Arrival

2011-07-27T13:27:00.002-05:00

John just e-mailed, texts' and Skype'd to figure out what worked from his hotel - they all did! Isn't technology amazing! John spent the last 24 hours on a plane and is now settled in a hotel. It was around 1 am when he called and he had to be back up at 6:30 for a breakfast, then opening ceremonies and then he will begin his 1st of 4 talks over the next 3 days. Please pray for him, that he would not be tired and would be bold and courageous to speak with a passion for the disabled. I couldn't imagine flying half way around the world, sleeping very little and talking in front of large crowds- my husband certainly is courageous! Thank you all who supported this trip - it has been a great lesson in faith for our family.

The boys are I are keeping busy and pressing on with summer fun. My mother is helping out a ton, she took Gabe overnight so Drew and I could spend some time together. Drew's idea of a great evening with momma - a Wild Cratz show learning about flying lizards and then some art together coloring Cheetah's.

Again, thank you all for praying!

Melissa

He Has Left The Continent!

2011-07-26T21:14:00.001-05:00

It seems to this momma that John has left the planet, since he is going so far away! But, John has actually left our continent and is off to Asia, first stop is Japan, then Hanoi Vietnam. The kids and I took John to the airport this morning and said our good-byes. The boys cried and begged to go on the big "777" with Daddy. Gabe really wanted to climb in his suitcase, but sadly had to come home with me instead. When the boys were crying in the car on the way home I tried to comfort them and tell them that Daddy was doing God's work and needed to obey - just like they obey us, Daddy must obey God. Then I said, "God is sending Daddy to share the love of Jesus with those who do not even know the name and who haven't read the Bible." To which Gabe cried, "I haven't heard of Jesus either so he needs to come home and be with me!" Drew piped in, being the ever so smart one and replied "Gabe, you hear about Jesus ever day and Daddy reads you the Bible at night, you hear about Jesus all the time!" I just smiled at the innocence of my kids and their great deep love for their daddy. Oh, how much more our father in heaven love us!

John will arrive in Hanoi on Wednesday morning Central time (I think) which will be around 10 pm in Hanoi. Please be in prayer over John when you go to sleep on Wednesday evening, the opening ceremonies begin on Thursday morning in Hanoi which is when we are getting ready for bed.

Please pray the jet-lag won't be a problem and that he will speak what is on God's heart. Pray he has wisdom and guidance from the Lord and is the hands and feet of Jesus over the next 12 days.

Thank you again for all your support and prayers, as the kids and I prayed over John this morning and our team prayed over him on Sunday evening - John just felt renewal in his spirit and is so eager to see what the Lord has in store for him.

I'll update as John and I chat, good night!

Melissa

Let Us Eat Cake... pweese?

2011-07-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

Traditions Are Sometimes Flexible

2011-07-18T07:03:00.001-05:00

It is sweltering hot in Texas these days and I haven't quite been in the mood to bake yummy scones and drink hot tea. So we changed it up a little bit and made...... smoothies! I think the Sunday Sabbath is still a hit despite the weather! I've been trying to read the boys Sara Plain & Tall this week, they aren't quite as excited as I had hoped. Maybe it is because they are boys? Sara Plain and Tall was my favorite book when I was younger, I'd hoped they would have been as excited to listen as I was to read it to them. Oh well, they were still excited about the smoothies! Abby enjoyed her smoothy too, but I think in all my eagerness to clean her up I forgot to get a picture.