The Two-Person Tent

Almost thirteen years ago, Paul and I were given a two-person tent for a wedding gift.  We both enjoy camping, and we had registered for a tent and sleeping bags thinking we would have great times going up into the mountains of Colorado on little weekend excursions.

When we came home from our honeymoon, I started back into my teaching job, and Paul started a law practice.  Six months later, we found out we were pregnant with our first baby.  As it turned out, we never used that little tent before Paul went into the Army and we moved away from Colorado.

Fast-forward thirteen years.

In the years since we were given that little tent, God gave us four kids in less than five years, and we had nine different addresses in five different states (I still struggle to remember my zip code-- seriously.).   Somewhere along the line, the kids used the tent as a play structure a few times, and then it got ruined in our last move.  Sadly, we never went camping in it.

Next week we will celebrate our thirteenth anniversary, and how will we celebrate?

We're taking the kids camping for the first time.

Instead of breakfast in bed, it will be bacon over a campfire.  Instead of lazy days in a romantic resort, we will spend a day on a lazy river in two rented canoes.

And I couldn't be happier.  Or feel more blessed.

Because with the "for better or for worse" (and we've had our fair share of both in the last thirteen years), came the blessings of a family and a love that hangs on tight through the good and the bad-- precious gifts from an Almighty God Who loves us with an everlasting love and holds us in the palm of His hand.

I can't think of a better place to tell God "thank you" than sitting beside a campfire in His woods in the early morning with my family sound asleep...

...in our new 8-person tent.

When God Speaks Through a Bird's Nest...

Several weeks ago, I was sitting in the family room reflecting on a conversation with my sister in which she said she believes that each room in a house needs three things: something growing, something from nature, and something from the ocean.  As I looked at the room, I realized that while I already had a plant and had set out some of my favorite seashells, there was nothing from nature.

I didn't grow up loving nature like I do now, but in recent years the Lord has given me a deep love of the outdoors and the beautiful paintbrush that is expertly wielded by His Almighty hand.  I have to ponder-- Can you love the Creator without also coming to love His sovereign omnipotence so marvelously displayed in all things from the tiniest seed to the largest mountain?

In the midst of my ponderings,  I was suddenly inspired to begin my quest for something from nature to put on our large mantel.  I was still testing different arrangements and objects when Paul came in from outside and surveyed my progress.

"What I'd really like to have up there is a real bird's nest," I commented to that man that I love so well.  

"But... really," I had to ask myself, "How often do you come across an abandoned nest?"  I figured I'd just wait and keep my eyes open, and maybe someday I would find one. 

A few days later, Sarah and I decided to take a leisurely walk on a Sunday afternoon.  At one point, she looked over at a large tree and exclaimed, "Mama, look at this!"  On the ground underneath the tree was an empty little nest.  

I stood there absolutely amazed.  Could God have heard and fulfilled even my tiny longing for a bird's nest?

We brought it home, cleaned it out, zipped it up in a bag, and put it in the freezer for a few days in case there were any mites.  Now it sits on the mantel with a picture of a bird tucked up in the top.

I have spent much of the last several months poring over Matthew 6 almost every morning, finding promises that carry me through hard days, uncertain days.  As I've run to the Word, I've also looked out the window and watched the birds flit around the yard in the early morning sunshine.

"Look at the birds of the air, " Christ says to my fearful heart.

  "They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,

and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.

  Are you not of more value than they?"

Matthew 6:26

A few chapters later, He says,

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

 And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

  But even the hairs of your head are numbered. 

 Fear not, therefore;

 you are of more value than many sparrows."

Matthew 10: 29-31

I know He hears all of the little prayers and longings of each of our hearts, yet in the grand scheme of life, hard times, famines, wars, and other giant issues we face, a bird's nest for my mantel seems so tiny.

But is it really?

Day after day, night after night-- that nest sits on my mantel, and I think of these verses...

And His promises...

And my own fears that go flitting away as He says, "Look at the birds of the air..."

Can God really speak through a bird's nest?

Absolutely.

On turning 40...

I celebrated my 40th birthday a couple of weeks ago.

I was blessed with a wonderful day surrounded by my husband, children, and precious in-laws.  They showered me with love and kisses and fun presents like a watering can, flip-flops, and a bracelet that grows over time as beads and memories slide onto the silver band.

So what do I think of 40?  I think I have plenty of wiry, gray hair beginning to appear on my head.  Those creases around my mouth and eyes?  I think they're here to stay.

More than anything, though, I have now lived long enough to know that I don't really KNOW much at all.

But I know this...

"O God, from my youth

 you have taught me,

 and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

So even to old age and gray hairs,

 O God,

 do not forsake me,

 until I proclaim your might to another generation,

 your power to all those to come."

Ps. 71: 17, 18

The Summer Bucket List

I've always been fascinated by the people that make these "bucket lists" of the things they want to do before they "kick the bucket".  The lists usually go something like this:

1.  Go on an African safari
2.  Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
3.  Ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower
4.  Read War and Peace
5.  Sing at the Sydney Opera House
6.  Read every Dr. Seuss book 5 times

(Well, I'm not so sure about that last one, but it sounds like a worthy goal, right?)

Anyway, I saw a great post on another blog about a mom that makes a Summer Bucket List with her kids every summer.  Imagine the thought-- a fantastical, dream-filled list of everything they want to try to do before summer kicks the bucket!  I thought that sounded like a great way to soak up the summer and redeem the time (not to mention eliminating the mournful conversation I always have with Paul in September that starts with "Where in the world did summer go and what in the world did we do?")

I was tremendously inspired by this idea, so I sat my little gaggle of blessings down and said, "Family, what should we try to accomplish this summer?"

We now have a big chart on the fridge of all the fun things we'd like to do-- play dates with buddies, berry picking, making pickles, going to visit Great-Grandma on the other side of the state, mom/dad/kid dates, bike rides, having some families over for dinner, and a whole host of other exciting things.  Most of them are very low cost, although two trips to Cold Stone Creamery and a family trip to a Detroit Tigers game managed to sneak their way onto the list.  We'll see how much we can actually accomplish by Labor Day when the bookshelves, pencils, and textbooks begin calling to us and we have to drag our sun-tanned faces back to the table for very "non-bucket-list" things like math facts and very non-exciting, handwritten essays about exotic places like Mount Kilimanjaro and the Eiffel Tower.

So now I'm sending out e-mails, setting up play dates, looking for fun places to visit on day trips, and heading off to our neighborhood pool with four little sunscreen-smelling, goggle-wearing, towel-wrapped people.  It has been fun to see the kids cross things off and anticipate each thing we get to do-- no matter how small or simple.  They're loving being intentional about how we spend our summer.  It has also been a good exercise for this mama that struggles with a tendency toward all work and no play. I'm learning to work hard at finding things that will build up the joy in our family as we play together.  That is most definitely a lesson I need to learn.  Maybe that's why God in His providence caused me to stumble across that other blog post.

It will be interesting to see the list at the end of the summer.  The kids put "Pool" on the chart 30 times.

Literally.

As of tonight, it's 3 down and 27 to go.

Oh, yeah, and just in case you're wondering-- I don't have a bucket list, but I did read War and Peace cover to cover once (emphasis on once) and sang with a music group at the Sydney Opera House.  I'm not sure, but I would be willing to bet big bucks that I've read every Dr. Seuss book at least 5 times to at least one of four tiny people.  As for Mount Kilimanjaro and the Eiffel Tower, I guess I'll have to be content with those exotic, er... interesting, handwritten essays.

For now, though...

...Sunscreen, here we come!