Math "Little Boy Style"

Today's math lesson with my six-year old went something like this:

Math Book: "Tell a subtraction story from this picture." (The picture had 3 pineapples and 6 papayas.)

Isaac: "Once there were 9 fruits. The papayas wanted to wrestle with the pineapples, but then they got scared because the pineapples could knock them over, so they ran away. 9-6=3!"

Math "little-boy-style" is too funny! Where does he get these things?

Potato Chip Packaging and God's Sense of Humor

I had no idea I had such strong opinions on potato chip packaging.

Yep, potato chip packaging.

When I was invited to take part in some paid marketing research about some potato chips, my only concern was the "paid" part.  I've been praying for God to provide for us financially, and it paid $100!  I couldn't believe that someone would pay me $100 to give my opinion on potato chips.  I still laugh when I think about it.  I could never even dream this stuff up.  God providing through my opinions on potato chips.

So I went a couple of weeks ago, gave my opinions for an hour to the guy on the other side of the table, and surprisingly, had some strong opinions about the packaging he showed me.  I never even tasted a chip that day, although it was a brand I've eaten before.  That makes the story even funnier to me.  It was all about the outside of the bags.

I left with my check, thanking God for providing in such an amazing way, and I thought that was the end of it.

Then a lady called yesterday from the same place.  Apparently, unbeknownst to me, they videotaped the potato-chip-packaging-opinion-giving interviews.  To make the whole story even more comical, the lady said that the tape ran out before my interview was done.  They wanted me to come back and see if I could redo the last 10 minutes of the interview, and they would pay me the $100 again.

So today I'm going to give my last few opinions all over again...

and make another $100...

about potato chip packaging.

Who knew I had such valuable opinions?  I sure didn't.

Only the Lord can dream up such ways of providing for our family.  I just have to laugh.

In the Fire

We are in the fire right now.  There's no ignoring it, no denying it, and very little we can do about it but pray and trust and cling to Christ and each other.  I don't know what our future holds, and quite frankly, the unknowns spark a range of emotions from being slightly unsettled to downright terrified.  I have struggled to comprehend some of the difficulties we have experienced since Paul came home from Iraq-- mostly difficulties relating to his health issues and our own financial situation.

I know we aren't alone, even though the heart is often slow to follow the head.  Christ said He would never leave us nor forsake us.  God said in Isaiah not to be afraid because He had called us by His name and we are His.  He promised that when we passed through the waters, He would be with us, when we passed through the floods they wouldn't sweep over us, and when we walked through the fire we wouldn't be burned, because we are precious in His sight.  He said He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.  He said He would fulfill His purpose in us and be faithful to complete the good work He had begun.

So I cling to these promises like a child trying desperately to hang on to the monkey bars so she doesn't fall to the hard ground below.  The Spirit supports me and brings encouragement, just as a parent holds the child onto the bars so they can make it safely across without falling.

There aren't too many people that follow this little blog, and I keep it mostly as a place to write down things that the Lord is teaching me as we step heavenward day by day.  If the Lord happens to bring you to this post on this tiny blog, we would be grateful for your prayers for our family.

I do not know what God is doing, but I know He is doing something.

On that knowledge, I plod on...

All Grace Abounds

II Corinthians 9:8- "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

The following poem was written several months ago, and it is even more true today.  Amy Carmichael said of II Cor. 9:8, "All means all, not some;  always means always, not sometimes.  Lord, today help us to live upon this all."

II Cor. 9:8
On hard days, Lord,
On good days, Lord,
You say, "All grace abounds."

In the light of dawn,
At deep twilight,
You say, "All grace abounds."

When in my life
Naught else abounds,
And I behold
Scant provisions,
        scarce solutions,
             the overwhelming impossible,
Even then,
You say, "All grace abounds."

Why, dear Lord?
Why does all grace abound?
Why do You make it so?
"So that,"
Two tiny words-
A purpose?
In Your sufficiency,
At all times,
In all things,
Good works abound.
Because--
You said, "All grace abounds."

Super Mom vs. Abiding Mom

Our school year officially begins tomorrow, and I guess I have to admit that I have mixed feelings.  I'm ready for the routine,  but I also find myself wishing that summer was here for a bit longer.

We had a hard summer in many ways.  The Lord especially taught me much about His expectations of me as a wife and mother versus my expectations.  By God's providence, I came across a chart called "Super Mom vs. Abiding Mom" that has been very thought-provoking for me on this journey. It came from a homeschooling blog, but it's not just for homeschoolers.  It is instructive for all moms.  I share it here in the hopes that it might encourage someone else.

So for now I plod onward toward another school year, trusting the Lord to continue to teach me what it means to abide.

Morning Glories and Grace

Sarah and I planted Morning Glory seeds this summer near a trellis we made with bamboo poles and twine.  I had no idea how much I would fall in love with these beautiful flowers.  The seed packet must have had a mix of colors, because we are now finding flowers of about six different shades of pink, white, and purple. They are just gorgeous!

And isn't it just like the Lord to teach me more truths about Himself through my garden?

I watch these beautiful flowers bloom every morning, and they only bloom for that day.  By the end of the day, they are faded and wrinkled.  They shine gloriously, and then fade as evening comes.

But then the next morning, more blooms have appeared, and I get to enjoy them all over again.  I have come to love opening the curtains every morning just to see the lovely, bright flowers with their faces turned toward the sun.

At night you can see the next day's flowers tightly wrapped in the calyx, just waiting to burst forth into bloom, but then they are new flowers the next morning, repeating the cycle once again.

As I looked at them this morning, the Lord brought my mind to the mercy that is new every morning.  His mercy is given for that moment-- for that day-- and I move through the hours that are filled with activity, responsibility, and sometimes great trial.  By the end of my day, I am faded and shriveled and used up, and I crawl into bed praying for much-needed rest and new mercies for the next day.

And those mercies are always there-- those mercies that come fresh and new and bursting with life-giving beauty.

This morning that mercy came in the form of a realization that God's glory is stamped on even the smallest things.  Those flowers are reminders that grace flows down.  They are reminders that even tiny things like Morning Glories, with their short, insignificant little lives, glorify God perfectly by pointing to the Creator who fills me up and gives me the strength to bloom where I'm planted, with my face turned toward the Son.

I think that for the rest of my life, I'll always wonder if this is why they are called "Morning Glories".

Be Still

Ps. 46:10- "Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted in the earth.


Psalm 46:10

"Be still," God says.
"But, Lord," I say,
"I have so much to do."

"Be still," He says.
"Abide," He says,
"There's much I want to do in you."

Mental Aerobics

We have just two more days of school left for the year!  We are all anxious to spend some time doing the fun things that come our way this summer, and I'm anxious to get caught up on my house projects.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and evaluating over the last few days.  What worked this year?  What didn't work?  How can I streamline my tasks?  How can I be more organized?  What should I plan for next year?

One thing is certain.  With four students in three grades, I spend the day jumping mentally from...

...short and long vowels
...to division of decimals
...to botany
...to synonyms
...to Psalms and the attributes of God
...to prepositional phrases and dependent clauses
...to printing letters and numbers
...to the causes of the Revolutionary War
...to syllables
...to Bob Books
...to 3-digit addition
...to the Westminster Shorter Catechism
...and on and on and on!

The mental aerobics are exhausting and challenging to my feeble brain!  Now if I could just burn as many calories with the mental aerobics as I would with regular aerobics.  Wouldn't that be grand!

The World is in Bloom

I absolutely love the moment when the stark, drab gray of winter is gone and spring makes its long-awaited arrival in my yard.  Right now I have red tulips, yellow daffodils, pink and white bleeding hearts, and grape hyacinths blooming!  Our pear tree and cherry tree are filled with beautiful white blooms, and an ornamental crabapple is right on the cusp of bursting out into a bright pink, breathtaking display.  I could stand and look at these flowers all day long.  What a lovely reminder of the paintbrush of God.

I wonder if He looks at the flowers blooming and laughs with great joy in the colors that He made?  I am made in His image, and I find such pleasure in the hues and blooms, so I think He must.  I can only imagine His happiness as He holds His glorious paintbrush and says to a tulip, "Here, little one.  I'm going to paint you with orange and yellow, and the one who sees you will marvel at My design!"

Oh, how I love the spring!

I've come to realize...

...several things in the last week.

1.  Paper plates are worth the money.  I would rather play a game of "Sorry" with my eight-year old on a Sunday afternoon instead of washing dishes.
2.  It is bittersweet when your baby turns six.
3.  It is even more bittersweet when that six year old loses his first tooth.
4.  The thing I like most about my home is being there with the five people I love most in this world.
5.  I need to focus more time and energy on the things that are unseen and eternal in my home instead of the visible and temporal.  Laundry waits, hearts don't.

Lord, let me see what is important, and help me not to stress about the unimportant.

For Easter

I think in paragraphs and stories. I long to spend hours writing, and then I somehow feel like the things I would write are too tender or too insignificant to share. The days go by, and the stories remain unwritten-- for now, at least.

My calendar has been full, our days have been busy, and the stress of life seems like almost too much sometimes. Even to say that, though, I know that so many have far more stress than I do. I have the responsibility of leading our homeschool co-op, and even that has been a really rough road lately. On this night before Easter, I'm just plain tired. Exhausted, really.

I don't say all of this to complain, but more to explain why I feel like Easter has come upon me suddenly this year-- without much stillness or time for contemplation. Here it is, the middle of the night before Easter, and I can't sleep, despite my exhaustion.

Were the disciples unable to sleep on the night before the Resurrection? What about Mary? On that dark night before the glorious dawn, what were they thinking? Was the stress of life almost too much for them? Had the events of life left them little time for contemplation? Were they even able to share the things they were thinking at that moment, or did they feel that those thoughts were either too tender or too insignificant? Were they full of fear and despair-- trying to face the reality that the One in whom they had placed their hopes and dreams had been nailed to a cross a few days earlier.

Ah, but then the next day everything changed. Christ was risen! The amazing truth that gives my current small difficulties some perspective is that my Jesus lives. I'm not alone, and He is not dead. I have a High Priest that is able to sympathize with my weaknesses. He understands that I get stressed, discouraged, hurt, and laden down with life. And He lives. He lives. He lives.

When life feels like I'm just slowly trudging uphill, He lives.

When I am heavy- hearted, He lives.

When I'm filled with joy or sadness or confusion or weariness, He lives.

He lives, and He gives me life.

He lives.

He lives.

And on that one truth I place all of my hope, because if Christ is not risen, then my faith is in vain.  He lives. He lives on this night before Easter.

And my exhausted heart finds rest yet again.

A Fun Poem on a Cold Day

We are snowed in right now, so I have been working in my house.  I have been noticing all of the dust, and that set me to thinking about one of my favorite poems.  Maybe it can bring some smiles on a cold, cold day!

Dust
Author Unknown

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it better
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,
Music to hear and books to read,
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there,
With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come, and it is not kind.
And when you go-- and go you must,
You, my friend, will make more dust!

Adjusting to God's Plan for My Days

It is two days after Thanksgiving Day, and I finally have a minute to sit down at my little blog for the first time in several days.  The boys are watching football, my daughter has her play dishes spread out on a table in the living room, and we just got home from our first cider mill trip of the year-- on Nov. 27, mind you.  I had planned to post something every day of November on my "Twenty-Five Days of Praise", but I have had to do some serious adjusting to God's plan for my November.  My plan didn't match up with His, but His plan is perfect nonetheless.  God sent several events, responsibilities, and people my way that I had not anticipated, and so my plans for writing every day had to take a back seat.  I felt very sad that I couldn't keep up with it, but there were people and things that needed my attention more, and those things were God's plan for me.  I would go to bed every night thinking about how there had never been time to write something that day, and I would just have to say, "OK, Lord, You know what my day held and You ordained all of that for today."

Someday I will have time to write all I want, but for now, I'm just going to have to be content with an "every-so-often" kind of blog.  My blog writing may be every-so-often, but my God is a constant companion and faithful refuge.  I'm so glad it isn't the other way around.

I continue to rejoice in the Lord's provision and His goodness to us.  I am so thankful for my precious husband and my four beautiful children who love me and need me day after day.  I praise God for the many family and friends that He has blessed me with-- friends and family that challenge me, encourage me, and love me despite my faults. We were blessed to spend Thanksgiving Day with three other families that, like us,  do not live near their families, and it was a precious time of fellowship for this little "far-from-home" bunch.

So my "Twenty-Five Days of Praise" turned into just a few posts, but I learned a lot about the difference between my plan and God's plan.  I can't fight against it when the days don't look like I expect them to look, but I can rest in the fact that God has perfectly ordained each interruption for His glory and my good.  Actually, they are not interruptions at all, just differences between God's "To-do List" for my day and mine.  Wrangling against it will do me no good, but accepting that God is writing the story of my life makes each day an adventure.

I'm so glad He is writing my story.  He will do a much better job than I ever would.  Let the next chapter begin...

Twenty-Five Days of Praise- Days Six through Sixteen

When I set out to post about twenty-five days of praise, I had no idea that I was going to be overtaken by a bad respiratory infection.  Consequently, I have been doing the bare minimum the last several days, and blogging has taken a back seat.  By God's grace, I am feeling much better, and I am beginning to get caught up on all of the things that got set to the side during my illness.  I was praising the Lord while I was sick, but I wasn't necessarily up to writing about it!  I guess my plan was not God's plan.

Today I simply praise the Lord for His strength, his grace in my life, and His healing from this physical illness.  It's startling to realize how much I take health for granted until I am sick.  It gives me great compassion for those that live with chronic illness, and it makes me realize how blessed I am to have been so healthy for so long.  I am also thankful for the ultimate healing that will come one day-- the healing that was purchased on the cross by my dear Savior.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits...

Twenty-Five Days of Praise- Day Five: My Husband

Today I thank the Lord for my husband-- the love of my earthly life, my dearest friend, and the person I'd rather spend time with than anyone in the world.  What a gift of grace he is to me.  Paul loves me when I am lovely, and more importantly, he loves me when I'm not so lovely.  He is the living, breathing love of Christ to me and our children day after day, and I'm very blessed to be called his wife.  I praise God for the precious gift of a husband who loves Christ, loves me, and loves our children.


Dear God, I prayed, all unafraid
(as we're inclined to do)
I do not need a handsome man
but let him be like You;
I do not need one big and strong
nor yet so very tall,
nor need he be some genius,
or wealthy, Lord, at all;
but let his head be high, dear God,
and let his eye be clear,
his shoulders straight, whate'er his state,
whate'er his earthly sphere;
and let his face have character,
a ruggedness of soul,
and let his whole life show, dear God,
a singleness of goal;
then when he comes
(as he will come)
with quiet eyes aglow,
I'll understand that he's the man
I prayed for long ago.
                       --Ruth Bell Graham

Twenty-Five Days of Praise- Day Four: An Advocate

I John 2: 1-- "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

There are many things I have learned during my years as the wife of an attorney.  I have learned that it is hard to out-argue a man that is quite skilled at making valid arguments.  I have learned that I am sometimes very quick to judge a situation when there is often much more there than meets the eye.  I have learned much about the protections afforded an individual in our court system- even if the accused has pled guilty.  Our constitution guarantees each citizen wise and competent counsel.  Our constitution guarantees each citizen an advocate, whether they are guilty or innocent, deserving or undeserving, lovely or unlovely.

As Paul has practiced law throughout our marriage, I have observed first-hand what it is to have an advocate in a courtroom.   He is often the only person pleading for the cause of an individual or speaking on their behalf.  I think he especially loves being an advocate for those that truly have no other means of help.  I don't often know much about his cases.  Once in awhile, however, he is able to share a bit with me, and I am always amazed at how seriously he takes his job as an advocate.

In Job 9: 32, 33, Job speaks of God when he says, "For He is not a man, as I am, that I might answer Him, that we should come to trial together.  There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both." (ESV) Job is pleading for an advocate between himself and God, someone that might present his case and come alongside him.  Really, Job is pleading for Christ.

I never expected to learn so much about the gospel being married to an attorney, but I am continually struck by the fact that I have an Advocate with God the Father.  Despite my guilt, Jesus is my Advocate before God.  As the hymn "Before the Throne of God Above" so beautifully says, He "ever lives and pleads for me".  Not only do I have an Advocate, but he is a righteous Advocate that also took the punishment for my sin and guilt.  He stands before the Father pleading on my behalf on the basis of His righteousness.

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness today for my Advocate, Jesus Christ.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great High Priest whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.


My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heav'n He stands,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
                   --Vickie Cook

Twenty-Five Days of Praise- Day Three: A Favorite Poem

Psalm 89:1-- "I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;  with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations."

I have to admit it-- I love poetry.  I have a few poem collections that I meander through quite often.

One of my absolute favorites is called Sitting By My Laughing Fire, a compilation of the poetry of Ruth Bell Graham.  I also have several books that include the poems of Amy Carmichael, the English missionary that rescued girls from the temples in India and began the Donhavur Fellowship.  For day three of the twenty-five days of praise, I decided to include one of Amy Carmichael's poems found in her book Edges of His Ways.


O praise the Lord, for it is good
      And pleasant and a joyful thing
To lift the heart as all men should
     Who have so dear a Lord to sing.


The number of the stars He tells,
     And calls each star by his own name:
No two of all His flowery bells
     Or leaves or grasses are the same.


So individual is His thought
     For all of us, did one let go
The hand of Joy, and sore distraught
     Forget to sing, His heart would know.


From rainbow did a color float,
     Or did a shining sun burn dim,
That were far less for Him to note
     Than dumbness of a child to Him.


O save from that!  Let grateful song
      And jubilance of melody,
And loving merry-makings throng
      The road that leads us home to Thee.

Twenty-Five Days of Praise- Day Two: Citizenship

Romans 13:1-- "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority, except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Today I sit here thankful for my citizenship.  First and foremost, my citizenship is in Heaven, and I am secure because of that.  I have always loved the verse in Psalm 20:7 that says, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  I am thankful that no matter what an earthly government does, I serve the King of Kings-- and He is sovereign over all things including governments.


But does that mean that I have no responsibility here in America- in this time and place?  I have always struggled with those that have the philosophy that patriotism as an American is incompatible with being a citizen of Heaven.  As the verse from Romans 13:1 asserts,  I am subject to the earthly authority that has been put in place by God.  I am a citizen in America because God sovereignly ordained that, and I thank God for the freedom to speak, worship, and vote.  I will vote today, because I have been given that right and responsibility, and I will tell my children what a privilege it is to vote my conscience and have some say in our government.  All the while, I will pray hard.  I will pray that God would have mercy on us as a nation.  I will pray that my children will also have the opportunity to vote when they get older, and I will pray that Americans would come to realize that the solution to the majority of the problems we face is not found in government, but in Christ.  


Today, I am exceedingly thankful for my citizenship and the right to vote, knowing all the while that every authority that exists has been instituted by God.

Twenty Five Days of Praise- Day One

I haven't had much time to write often on this little blog of mine, but in honor of Thanksgiving, I am going to begin 25 days of praise until November 25.  The posts might be about something that I'm thankful for, but they also might be a psalm, a poem, or a picture.  They will all have one theme though-- God's great goodness to His children.


Today I begin by praising God for Jesus Christ and the salvation found in Him alone.  On my own I am not deserving of anything but great punishment, and I have nothing worthy to bring to Him.  I am full of sin and selfishness.  It is because of His great love that He has called me and saved me.  He picked me up out of the miry clay, set my feet upon a rock, and gave me a new song to sing.  When I consider how sinful and unworthy I am on my own, what Christ has done for me by dying on the cross to take my punishment, and what I am in Christ- adopted, made whole, washed clean, and called a child of God- my heart wells up with thanksgiving.

Psalm 37:7

My body sits so very still,
But not so- my insides.
They quiver, shake, twist, and turn,
My mind, my thoughts and stomach churn.
"Be still before the Lord,"- the Psalm,
"Wait patiently for Him."
Be still, my mind-
Be still, my thoughts-
While others see the outward calm.


Great God of the Invisible,
You know my heart is not so still,
And waiting seems unnatural,
Yet Your Word clearly marks Your will 
For me- a deep internal rest,
Not just a calm veneer.
Your sovereign hand carved out this test,
Enable me to trust You here.