Of All the Funny Things...

Sometimes things happen that just make you laugh...

My kids joined a homeschool music association this year, and our oldest three are in beginning band.  I have played piano since I was a little girl, but I've never learned to play a band or orchestra instrument.  During the time I've been sitting in the band room over the last eight weeks, I have been fascinated to learn about all the different instruments.  I'm also so impressed with the fact that the band director knows how to play every single instrument!

This particular music association allows parents to take the classes for free, so I had decided that next year I would join the beginning band class and learn an instrument.  I hadn't picked an instrument yet, but I figured I would just spend the next several years in the beginning band and learn a new instrument each year-- just for the fun of it!

I was talking with the band director this last Tuesday, telling him how much I appreciate what my kids are learning.  I mentioned that I wanted to be in his band next year, and to my surprise, he said I could join now if I could find an instrument!  When I asked if he had a suggestion, he suggested trombone!

I have never pictured myself with a trombone.  French horn maybe, but trombone?

The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be so fun to learn any instrument, including trombone.  I wrote to a friend that has played the trombone for many years to see if she had any suggestions or knew of any that I might borrow for a time.  As it turns out, she has one that I can use for awhile!

So I guess that now, for better or for worse, I'm going to learn the trombone!!  I just have to laugh.  This is going to be great fun!

Now instead of family practice sessions with a baritone, flute, and percussion (as well as the harmonica my parents sent to my youngest so he didn't feel left out), we will now have practice sessions with baritone, flute, percussion, harmonica, and trombone!

Oh, the noise and the joys!!!

I'll let you know how it goes.  This could be hilarious.

At any rate, it is another adventure for this piano teacher who is constantly preaching to her students to be life-long learners.

I guess it's time to take my own advice.

Heidi playing a trombone.  Of all the funny things!

Dusting or Resting

My coffee cup sits steaming on the kitchen table in front of me, reheated in the microwave for the third time since 9 a.m.  I lean in close to hear a seven-year-old read the part of the story where the Boxcar Children are reunited with their Grandfather.  His monotone, slightly-halting cadence is soft and steady, but he stumbles on fewer words these days.  He's learning fast.

To my right in the family room, a young percussionist is practicing pages 9 and 10 from his band book on the xylophone-like bells.  His audience is the ever-attentive puppy, who is sitting in her crate gnawing on a rawhide bone with little puppy teeth.  I hear the boy keeping time under his breath as his head bobs up and down and his hands tap with the green-tipped mallets.

"One, two, three, four, rest, rest, rest, rest."

Behind me in the dining room-- an altogether different sound.  A beginning baritone player is trying to figure out how much air needs to go down the mouthpiece in order to get an F instead of a B flat.  Warbled notes and multiple tones are slowly beginning to give way to sounds that are more musical, and he's doing his best to work his way through pages 9 and 10 too.

"Boom, boom, (warbly) boom, boom, rest, rest, rest, rest."

Upstairs I can hear a girl on a flute, probably sitting on the toy chest at the end of her bed with a music stand in front of her.  She's fluting away on a B flat scale and trying to hold a note for ten counts today, because yesterday she could hold it for nine.  One more count a day is her goal.  Last week she could only hold it for four, but the band director knows a girl that can hold it for twenty-one, so the blowing and breathing and practice continues.

"Toot, toot, toot, toot, rest, rest, rest, rest."

This indoor cacophany-- this blowing and tooting and tapping and huffing and puffing and reading-- all melds together as I gaze out the window on a gorgeous fall day.  The leaves are blazing gold and red, fluttering their way to the ground in the sunshine, making their own kind of music.

"Flutter, flutter, flutter, flutter, rest, rest, rest, rest."

But then this melody of sound and movement and practicing and resting goes quickly out of tune as I gaze around the kitchen.  Every pot I own is in the sink, waiting to be washed.  Library books, school books, and shoes clutter my view.  The couch is covered with laundry waiting to be folded.  Up on my bed, there is a pile of unmatched socks.  Did I even make the bed this morning?  An epic battle of Axis and Allies between dad and boys is ongoing on the dining room table, waiting for dad to get home from work.  A little bag of popcorn from last night's snack sits on the counter, along with the mail and the ads and the last couple of jalapenos from our garden.  And the dust.  All that dust.  Isn't company coming today?  And piano students? How do I get that dusting done?  What about the bathrooms, and the mopping, and the laundry, and the academics?"

And the cadence of my heart is very different now.  How do I ever keep up with all of these things?

"Teach, cook, wash, clean, stressed, stressed, stressed, stressed."

The booming and puffing and tapping and reading continue, and in my heart there is this banging and clanging and dissonance.

Next to me, I hear the next sentence, read by a small boy oblivious to all of the other noise.

Ah, but then the Conductor of the universe breaks through the noise in my heart and reminds me again of the words that brought life and melody out of the chaos just this morning.

"For He knows our frame.  He remembers that we are dust." Ps. 103: 14

The Composer of life and music and golden leaves doesn't just know I'm dust.  He remembers.  Knowing and remembering are two altogether different things.  Knowing is important, but remembering is active and conscious and gives way to life and grace and help.

And I suppose that if Almighty God, maker of Heaven and Earth has dust, maybe it's ok that I have some too.  Maybe the never-ending dust glorifies God by reminding me that I am just dust too-- that I am so dependent on Him for everything, and that I can't do this mammoth job of mothering without His help.

Oh, but He knows.  He remembers.  He remembers that I am just weak and frail with a heart easily stressed.  He tells me that His power is made perfect in my weakness.  That promise changes everything, doesn't it?

My gaze falls back on my steaming coffee cup.  I look around at my children, engaged in their little lives and activities, happily making noise and messes, mistakes and music.  And God lovingly gazes down on His daughter, engaged in life and activities, making noise and messes, mistakes and music.

The minor melody in my heart a few minutes ago has given way to an altogether different tune.

"He knows, He remembers, He knows, He remembers....

Rest, rest, rest, rest."

Talking to Myself

This is the conversation that I had with myself yesterday as I was once again working my way through the laundry pile:

"Swim trunks????? What in the world are swim trunks doing in the laundry on October 17th?  The pool closed seven weeks ago!"

"I can't be that far behind on laundry, can I?"

"Hmmmm.... Oh, wait.  That's right.  Now I remember..."

"Last Sunday, the boys spent the afternoon building Lego boats and testing them in the tub.  They must have needed to get in with the boats.  After all, that's what any good scientist would do, right?"

"Whew!!!"

"I'm not as far behind as I thought.  I think I'll celebrate with coffee..."

                "...No, may be dark chocolate..."

                                   "No, there's none in the house."

"Maybe I'll just take a nap."

A Week of Pictures- Day 7: Puppy Math

A little bit of puppy math:

6 (the number of people in our family that wanted a dog)

+18 (the number of months we prayed for one that would be "just the right dog that wouldn't bother our allergies and asthma".)

+1 (e-mail we got from a friend telling us she had met a family that needed to give away a puppy that was part the breed we had been looking for -Rhodesian Ridgeback)

+31 (the day in August that we met that family and the puppy and brought her home!)

+0 (the number of people whose allergies and asthma were bothered by this new puppy-- Nothing short of miraculous and a specific answer to a specific prayer!)

+2 (expensive vet visits-- one for several ailments she had when she came to us, and one for a bad limp that started 2 weeks after she came.)

+1 (expensive surgery needed to repair a torn ACL in the puppy's knee.)

+1 (week of intense prayer about what to do-- What is the path of faith?  What is the path of logic?  Should we keep her or give her away knowing that we had already spent several hundred dollars on vet bills and had no money for the surgery?)

+4 (long phone calls with rescue organizations and a dear friend who was a professional dog trainer.)

+6 (family members that were absolutely heartbroken that we might have to give her up.)

+1 (generous, gracious, anonymous animal-lover that has offered to pay for the surgery.  Again, nothing short of miraculous.)

+ 6 (people in our house who have fallen completely in love with this darling, good-tempered Rhodesian Ridgeback/Springer Spaniel mix that fits our family so well.)

=

1 puppy who is here to stay and

1 faithful God to Whom we trust our future and hers.

Meet our sweet little Leeli:

A Week of Pictures- Day 6: The Nintendo 3DS Cake

Josiah asked for a Nintendo 3DS cake for his 12th birthday.  The cake was a large sheet cake literally bent in half, propped up, and frosted.  We used Skittles, Twizzlers, a Starburst, and frosting to add the details.  Here are a couple of pictures:

A Week of Pictures- Day 5: Sugar Rush

Over Labor Day weekend, we hosted a large gathering for the family fantasy football draft.  We had a fantastic day with two of Paul's siblings and their families, and two of his uncles and their families.

This was the scene on the table and kitchen counter at some point during the day.  I think someone counted more than twenty 2-liters of pop! Talk about a sugar rush!

A Week of Pictures- Day 4: Growing Up at the Beach

When Paul's uncle died, we drove to South Carolina for the funeral.  It was a blessing to be there to support Paul's aunt, and we had the joy of seeing many other family members that we hadn't seen for quite awhile.  Since we were so close to the coast, we took a little time one morning to go play on the beach.

I now have quite a few pictures of our kids sitting in the sand on our various visits throughout the last several years.  To look at these photos side by side is bittersweet.  Same beach, same kids, same girl with a handful of sand, and in some cases even the same swimsuits on different boys, but time marches forward, and these precious ones get bigger all the time.

2007

2012

A Week of Pictures- Day 3: Blueberry Picking

"Berry Picking" was one of the items on our Summer Bucket List.  One day in August, some friends took us to their favorite blueberry farm, and we came home with fifteen pounds of berries!  A few of them even made it to the freezer!  Here are a few pictures...

I've given a lot of thought to the sign pictured above.  We tend to see bees as a nuisance or difficulty, but without them to pollinate the flowers on the bushes, no fruit would grow.  It's true for my life too.  I've often seen the Lord produce fruit through the difficult times and the hard circumstances. 

Isn't it just like the Lord to continue to teach me important things about Himself-- even through unexpected things like a small sign taped to a counter at a blueberry farm?  

A Week of Pictures- Day 2: The Window Herb-Garden

I have a sunny kitchen window that has almost no window sill.  I have always wanted to grow herbs in that window, but I never knew how to accomplish it.  Last spring, I started researching herb gardens and finally found what I was looking for-- an idea for a way to hang them in the window.

Paul grew the herbs from seed for me.  I saved coffee cans, wrapped them in some twine I found in the garage, and purchased two $3 tension rods.  I had some small chip-board letters that someone had given me, so Sarah and I made little tags for the cans.  We also used the letters to spell "Grow in Grace" in the middle of the rods.

I started out with dill, oregano, basil, and parsley.  The dill got really tall and went to seed recently, but the oregano, parsley, and basil are still going strong.  I think next year instead of dill, I'm going to try thyme!

A Week of Pictures- Day 1: Summer Sewing

I haven't posted pictures for awhile, so I thought I would recap some of the things we've done recently by posting a few pictures each day for the next week.  

I love to sew but don't get much time during the school year.  I am also still learning, so each new project is a good challenge to expand my skills.  Amazingly enough, I actually completed nine or ten projects this summer, although I don't have pictures of all of them.   Here are just a couple of the completed projects:

I needed pot holders, so I made some!
 (You know you've been married awhile when you cut up the raggedy towels that were once a plush wedding gift and use them as insulation in pot holders.)  Life is just too short not to have a set of red polka-dotty pot holders, right?

This is a bag I made for a birthday gift, and with a few modifications, it turned out to be completely reversible.
 It was a new pattern for me, but it is a keeper!  I love the black and white.

Here you can see a bit of the inside with a big pocket!

If you have worked on developing a skill, I'd love to hear about it!  As one dear friend said to me once, "God is the Creator, and because we are made in His image, He made us with the innate desire to create."

That's something I'll probably continue to ponder for the rest of my life...

Julia Child I am Not

It was a rough week in our household.  We seemed to be attacked from all directions, and I am very thankful that it is Friday!

To top it all off, I had some particular cooking struggles this week.  Lest anyone should ever get the mistaken impression that I have it all together, let me set the record straight!

To begin with, I'm not a connoisseur of the culinary arts.  Cooking is a task that I gladly do to care for my family, but it's not a love of mine-- mainly because I hate cleaning up the mess from a large cooking project.  We've also struggled with food allergies, so that wipes out roughly 67.4538% of all recipes.  I enjoy some new recipes from time to time, but I am not a chef at heart.   What I make for my family is fairly simple and usually fills up the tummy-- or should I say, six tummies.

Anyway, the following is a recap of our incredible unusual dinners this week.

Monday-- Menu:  beef rice-a-roni, loaf of Italian bread, and salad.  Reality: the boxes of beef rice-a-roni turned out to be chicken rice-a-roni, which I didn't realize until I had browned the ground beef and was ready to dump in the seasonings.  We ended up having the delectable strange combination of taco meat with tortillas, chicken rice-a-roni with no chicken in it, a loaf of Italian bread, and salad.  (I rescued the browned ground beef with a packet of taco seasoning thanks to Josiah's suggestion.)

Tuesday- really rough day.  Menu: hamburgers on the grill with chips and veggies.  Reality:  The beef wasn't thawed, so I put it in water to speed up the process not realizing that there was a hole in the plastic.  Soggy, smushy, water-logged ground beef met me an hour later, and after sobbing at the kitchen sink, I was lovingly rescued by my husband who took us on a surprise ride to get dinner out instead.

Wednesday- Menu: Spaghetti with meat sauce and salad.  I'm still wondering what happened to the other jar of sauce that I am sure was in the cupboard.  Instead of having meat with our sauce, we had sauce with our meat (over noodles that were two different varieties).  The homemade garlic bread would have been great too-- if I hadn't run out of butter.  No Italian cooking TV gigs for me anytime soon.

Thursday- Menu: Chicken and dumplings.  This one actually made it to the table.  I'm not sure, but the sauce may have been slightly scorched when I was trying to start laundry while cooking dinner.  I don't always multi-task very well, but once in awhile we need clean undies and socks to go with our chicken and dumplings.

So what's for dinner tonight?

Paul is cooking.  Grilling, I think.  Maybe hamburgers, but I haven't gone anywhere near the fridge to see.  I don't want to jinx it.

Julia Child I most definitely am not.

Reflections On Two Years With Only One Car...

One bright, sunny Saturday in June of 2010, we had a terrible car accident.  A girl pulled out in front of our van just as we went through a green light, and we had no time to stop before we broad-sided her.  Our van was totaled, but thankfully, none of us were seriously injured.

In order to purchase a new van, we decided to sell Paul's car and share one vehicle.  We figured that if we could even make it six months, it would be a big financial help.  At the time, I knew I was going to be the one to give up the use of the van most of the time, but Paul's flexible schedule meant that I could probably use it if I needed it.

The down-side was that the kids and I were unable to do many things that we wanted to do.  I just simply couldn't get them to sports leagues, ballet classes, and other activities.

I kept telling myself that I could make it for six months, but then the months turned into years, and I confess that I started to resent the situation.  Paul did everything he could to make sure I had a vehicle when I really needed it, but realistically, he needed to work.

Then last winter, the Lord began showing me that my resentment had turned into outright bitterness.  I would go to band concerts and other events for family or friends and then cry all the way home because our kids couldn't do those things.  I felt trapped and angry.

As the Lord convicted my heart about this awful sin of discontentment and anger, He also began showing me all that He had actually given us by taking our second car.  I began to see the ways He had blessed our family by drastically simplifying our life and schedule.

For example, sometime in the last two years I re-discovered that I love to ride my bike.  As soon as Isaac was off training wheels, we spent many afternoons riding all over our neighborhood.  We even watched the Lord miraculously provide bike locks this last summer, so we spent quite a few afternoons biking to the pool!

I also realized that we have read hundreds of books in the last two years.  If I had been out running around my town from activity to activity, we wouldn't have spent nearly as much time in the magical places we visited in our books.  An unexpected benefit of all the reading we've done is that all of my kids are now voracious readers themselves. This summer I was literally stunned to hear myself say, "You may not read for the rest of the day.  Please go play."  Who would have ever imagined that being homebound would play a huge part in their love of reading?

We've played countless board games and tromped through the woods.  (I have never loved nature like I do now.)  We've collected leaves and made muffins.  Oh, how I cherish those times-- happy times spent at home with my kids, enjoying their company, teaching them about botany and astronomy, and spending hours with Johnny Tremain and the Swiss Family Robinson.  I'm pretty sure I would have missed out on many of these things, because I have always struggled with being intentional about how I spend my time with them.

One other thing the Lord showed me is how much I had been over-committed outside of my home.  By taking away my vehicle, he also took away my ability to be too busy with other activities and commitments.  To be painfully honest, I'm not sure I would have learned such a lesson otherwise.  Those other things weren't wrong in themselves, but it was painful to realize that my husband, children, and home needed more of my undivided attention than they were getting.  Maybe it took a car accident and the loss of a vehicle to teach me a little about redeeming the time with this family-blessing that God has given me.

As we approached this fall, it was obvious that we were going to need a second car.  There were just too many schedule conflicts to share the one car anymore, so Paul leased a vehicle two weeks ago.

It has been an eye-opening change.  I made the funny realization this morning that my van isn't magically filling up with gas every so often.  The "ding" and gas light on the dashboard startled me!  I think I can count on one hand the times I put gas in the van in the last two years.

I'm now able to go where I want when I want, and to be honest, it's a bit of a wistful change.  Paul and I were forced to communicate and work together to share the one vehicle, and I hope we don't lose that.  I also hope I don't forget the lessons God taught me about my own heart and priorities.

My bike is still in the garage next to five other bikes, and there are some lovely fall days ahead.  If you can't reach me, I'm probably out tromping through the woods or riding on the bumpy path through the neighborhood golf course.  I have a mile-long list of books to read to the kids, and the blueberries we picked this summer are in the freezer waiting for their grand moment in a muffin.

Maybe the final lesson I learned here is that sometimes God is actually giving us gifts when it seems like He is taking something away.  In the end, He took away not just a vehicle and over-committed schedule, but my ensuing discontentment and anger as well.  He replaced it with the good gift of being less attached to things and more like His dear Son.

And that, my dear friends, has turned out to be worth far more than a vehicle ever could have been.

More than the Sand

Ps. 139: 17, 18-- "How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.  I awake, and I am still with You.


Psalm 139: 17, 18

I woke up heavy today,
Like the rain clouds in the dark morning sky.
A feeling of uncertainty, concern;
What is it I've forgotten?
The same way I awaken so many mornings,
Cares of the world so soon on my mind.

Can a waking be sweet? serene?
I can't shake that rain-cloud
heaviness that
floods
           in
                just
                       as
                             I
                                wake.


Lord, this is the day that You have made.
So I will awaken
                             and
                                      rejoice!
For Your thoughts to me are precious,
More than the sand on the shore.
I awake!
And I am still with You.

Today's Yesterday

School schedules, doctor appointments, homeschool groups, church activities, bills arriving in the mail.

The nightly check of the calendar for the next day-- (What to do tomorrow?)

The nightly check of the bank account-- (What is due tomorrow?)

The voice of God that echoes as my mind jumps ahead to worry about things that haven't even happened yet--

"Take no thought for tomorrow..."

"Take no thought for tomorrow..."

"Take no thought for tomorrow..."
Matthew 6:34

For the "tomorrow" of two days ago, is today's "yesterday". 

And God was there.

"And lo, I am with you always." Matthew 28:20

Old Jewelry, New Priorities

When a girl sells old jewelry that now holds little sentimental value for her (despite the fact that it once meant a great deal)...

When she happily decides to use the money for the last payment on an appliance...

She once again realizes how much her priorities have changed.   (Or is it really how much God has changed her priorities?)

For while she knows there's nothing wrong with enjoying beautiful things like jewelry, she realizes that holding on to things that don't mean much causes life to mean less in the long run.  As days and homes are clogged with stuff, the things that are true priorities-- like husbands, children, friendships, and a growing relationship with God-- often get buried in the energy-zapping, never-ending, maintenance-demanding piles.

Grace upon grace upon grace, leading us along, giving us new minds and hearts...

...and priorities.

Silly Saturday- The Kitchen Chalkboard

About three weeks ago, Paul helped me paint the kitchen a lovely gold color.  Shortly after I put back up my cute, shabby-chic chalkboard on the freshly painted wall, I came around the corner to find this:

Paul must have been giving the boys a tutorial on flag football plays.

Look out, Better Homes and Gardens.   We have Gold Buff paint accessorized with deep red curtains, a white framed chalkboard, and the final perfect decorating touch just in time for fall-- a quarterback running to the right.

If George Muller Registered His Kids for Band...

What would George Muller, the great hero of the faith, do if he had a 12-year-old boy who had begged for many years to play the tuba? (Of course, it had only now recently become a possibility since you have to be bigger than the tuba to play the tuba.)

He would pray as he registered that boy and his homeschooled siblings for a homeschool band.

He would pray on "new-family orientation night" as the band director talked to the boy and gently listened to his 12-year-old dreams.  He would pray as that wise band director encouraged the boy to start on a baritone instead-- it's smaller, a little easier to lug around, but still makes the transition to a tuba a great possibility down the road.

He would pray as he found out that a good, used baritone is anywhere from $600-$2000 to purchase  or $70 a month to rent. (Gulp.)  He might ask that boy if he's interested in the triangle instead, but he would smile when that boy said he'd really like to play the baritone.

He would search craigslist and Ebay, call music stores, and gather information in order to make a wise decision, but he'd still pray to the One who created music and brass and notes and songs-- pray that somewhere out there might be a baritone for a young boy, knowing all the while that the Great Giver of Music could provide one instrument among all the thousands of instruments.

And then he'd watch God provide a baritone to borrow for the year, one that's already owned by the band, one that's providentially not being used currently, one that will cost only a miniscule amount for the whole year instead of $70 a month.

Then he'd fall to his knees with tears of thankfulness, and he would get on his blog to tell his dear friends that nothing is too hard for the Lord-- that God has provided miraculously yet again.

Yes, that is what George Muller might do, if he had lived in the age of blogs and craigslist and homeschool band.  But prayer?  That transcends all technology and the information age.  The God of George Muller is my God and hears my prayers, even for things like instruments.

Once again, this great man of God who believed in the power of prayer and trusted in the unfailing provision of an Almighty Father reached down through the centuries to instruct and cheer on a mama who needed a baritone...

... for a 12-year old boy desperate to play the tuba one day.

Just this morning, He brought one that my son can use this year for just a small fee!  What a provision and answer to prayer!

May this boy and his newly-borrowed baritone ring out with low notes of highest praise.

Great Giver of Music, thank You.

Summer and Winter and Springtime and Harvest...

Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I absolutely love summertime.  I love the sunshine, warm weather, relaxed schedule, extra playtime with the kids, and extra time for doing things that I can't do in the school year (like sew and read).  I'm most definitely a summer girl.

I have found over the years, though, that this love of summer produces a certain amount of dread and anxiety as fall and winter approach.  The days will be shorter, the sunshine won't be out as much, the schedule picks back up, and the responsibilities get heavier.  This year has been no exception.

Ah, but isn't it like the Lord to come in and bring truth in unexpected ways.  He spoke to my heart a couple of weeks ago to the point where I find myself anticipating the coming of fall like I never have before.  This may seem like a small thing, but it is a big hurdle in my own life and attitude.

I was at a prayer breakfast for homeschooling moms, and we sang a few songs together including "Great is Thy Faithfulness".  I have sung that hymn hundreds, maybe thousands of times.  We even sang it at our wedding.  I would say it is a personal favorite, but one verse popped out like it never has before.

"Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness,

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

As I was singing, it hit me...

Summer and harvest both proclaim the faithfulness of God.

Summer AND harvest AND winter?

And not just proclaim, but join with ALL nature.  I had to let it sink in for a few minutes.

Could even my beloved summertime flowers, gardens, and sunshine be joined by leaves, cold weather, and snow in proclaiming the goodness of my God?  And joined in manifold witness?

Manifold.  Many fold.

                    A thousand-fold?

                                         A million-fold?

Manifold.

Witness to what?

To Thy GREAT faithfulness.

And enduring mercy.

And everlasting love.

To most people, this may not seem like much of a realization, and it's something I've known mentally for a long time, but what about my fickle, frail heart?  It's not always so quick to follow the truth that I know in my head.  I don't notice the "joining in manifold witness" as quickly as I notice the shorter days, cold weather, dead grass, and gray sky.

The truth that changes the looming drab into a buffet of anticipation and color is knowing that I'm heading into an autumn where God IS and where He will most definitely be praised.

How like my Lord to sing His truth over me once again-- to redirect my heart and mind to His glory in every time, every season, every change.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided...

...even when the thing needed is the grace-filled truth that helps a summer girl say hello to autumn.

Great is Thy faithfulness...
 again,
 and again,
 and again.

Checking In Quickly

I apologize for my long silence.  We were just getting settled in after our eventful camping trip when we received the word that Paul's Uncle Ed went to be with Christ last Tuesday morning.  After weighing the options, we decided to travel as a family to Myrtle Beach for the funeral.  The kids knew Ed and loved him very much, and we were flexible enough in our schedule to be able to drive down together.

We left last Thursday and just arrived home again last night.  I think we spent more than 32 hours in the van in the last several days, but it was a good trip.  The kids are amazing travelers, and I don't think I heard a single complaint the whole time (although Paul's "Car Bingo" helped us pass many hours as we searched for all of those easy-to-find items like a West Coast license plate and a dinosaur)!

I'm extremely glad we all went down.  Despite the sad reason for a reunion, funerals have the effect of bringing many family members together in one place.  Along with spending time with Ed's wife (Paul's Aunt Linda), we saw two of Paul's uncles, another aunt, two cousins, and all of Paul's siblings.  We also had the opportunity to love on Paul's mom and dad for a few days.

Ed's favorite song was Michael Card's "Immanuel", and it was my privilege to play that song along with other favorite hymns and songs at his funeral.  He has been quite ill for many years although his death was still unexpected.  I think we are all rejoicing that he is no longer struggling physically.

The Lord was gracious to us on our long drive.  We have literally driven thousands and thousands of miles over the last thirteen years and have never once had a mechanical difficulty with a vehicle.  About four hours into this trip, a sensor in the van went out, and we ended up at a dealership somewhere along our route.  Two hours later we were back on the road with a new sensor that was covered under our warranty.  (We were less than 2,000 miles away from the end of the warranty when the sensor went out.)  Praise be to God for protecting us and allowing the problem to be fixed quickly.

Now we are back home settling in again.  Since we were in Myrtle Beach, we did take the kids to the beach on Saturday, and we made a couple of trips to the pool where Paul's parents live (more x's on the bucket list!).   I'll try to post some pictures in the next few days-- as soon as I figure out our new camera.  (Our old camera never did recover from the shock of the canoe incident!)

So on we plod, being reminded again that life is fragile and fleeting.  We don't know much, but we do know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Ed's healing is finally complete, and for that, I am very thankful.

Thunderstorms, Tents, and The Capsizing of a Canoe

After a very full few days, we are back home from our camping trip!  I'm pleased to report that we returned with all of our children, all of our belongings, and most of our sanity. (Well, we probably returned with as much sanity as we left with, but that's a different post!)

All in all, we had a fantastic time!  We picked Josiah up from summer camp on our way, and it was so wonderful to be back together again out in God's creation.

Other than the obligatory mosquito bites and campfire smell, our trip was uneventful-- unless you count a torrential thunderstorm our first night and the capsizing of one of our rented canoes the second afternoon.  If you count those things, it was a grand adventure that our kids will never forget.

I've never experienced a thunderstorm from inside a tent before.  A few of the thunderclaps were so loud that they caused us all to pitch to the floor.  Then we would sit up and laugh hard when the rumbling stopped.  I don't know if we laughed to send the fear scurrying or if we laughed to keep embarrassment at bay.  Either way, we would scream and laugh, talk about making a run for the van, and then decide to just stay put as another torrent of rain came pouring forth from the heavens.

The skies cleared up just in time for us to build a fire for marshmallow-roasting before bed.

On the second morning, the owner of the campground took the kids out into the river for "Kayaking 101".  They did really well learning to paddle and steer a little boat-- something that helped immensely a few hours later.

Our plan that day was to rent two canoes (the place we stayed is a campground and a canoeing/kayaking outfitter) and canoe down a river through a national wildlife refuge.  The trip was supposed to take 4 1/2 hours and cover about 16 river miles.  We planned to stop for some bird-watching and snacks along the way.  It was still very cloudy, but the guy that put us in the water said that the sun was supposed to come out later that afternoon.

Everything started out well.  I was in one canoe with Josiah and Isaac, and Paul was in the other with Micah and Sarah.  Other than a few mishaps canoeing into trees, getting stuck on some fallen logs, and knocking spiders out of the trees into the canoe, we were moving along just fine.  (Who knew that one treachery of canoeing is spiders falling out of trees when you bump into said trees? Eek!)

About an hour into the trip, I had just gotten stuck on some fallen logs when Josiah, who was in the front of my canoe, looked behind us and yelled, "They're in the water.  The other canoe is upside down!"

At that particular spot, the river was narrow and full of rocks and downed trees.  Paul, Micah, and Sarah had gotten dumped over when the current knocked them into a large tree branch.  When I turned around, I could see that Paul was struggling hard to keep the large canoe from sinking while the twins were floating through the water trying to catch our belongings and a lost paddle.  Praise God that the water wasn't very deep or fast in that spot and we were all wearing life vests.  Providentially, because I was stuck and my canoe wouldn't budge, I wasn't struggling to stay nearby.  I had the twins swim over to me, we retrieved our things as they floated past, and then they climbed up onto a log and got into our boat, shivering and crying.  Meanwhile, Paul was still trying to get the canoe turned back over.  When he finally did, it was full of water.

After about 30 minutes of tipping the canoe to get the water out, bailing out the rest of the water with a cut-off water bottle (it takes awhile when you're bailing 12 oz. at a time), calming the twins down, and discovering that everything in our fancy "stay-dry" bag was soaking wet (including the extra clothes and our cameras), we were finally underway again.  A few hundred yards down-river, we found the lost paddle caught on some more downed trees.  I had prayed specifically that God would stop that paddle somewhere so we could find it, and He answered that prayer with another log!

At that point, we had many miles and several hours to go to meet up with the van that would take us back to the campground.  I found myself in knots most of the rest of the afternoon.  Paul kept trying to remind me how blessed we were and how God had taken care of us, but my mama-heart was anxious every time either canoe got stuck or looked like it might tip even slightly.  We got the twins paddling right away to warm them up, and a couple hours later, the sun finally came out.

Eventually the river widened, the going was much easier, and the kids (and the mama) began to enjoy the trip.  They were such troopers-- all four of them paddling most of the way.  About five hours after setting out, we arrived at the pick-up point to meet our ride.  Aside from sore muscles (and Josiah declaring that his "blisters had blisters" from all of the paddling), we were all in one piece.

God really protected us that day.  Our only casualty was our camera, although thankfully everything on the memory card is likely still there-- (hence the reason there are no pictures of our camping trip yet).  I'm going to be reflecting on that canoe trip for a long time-- the providence of my getting stuck just before the other boat capsized, the shallow water, the hard work Paul did righting and bailing out the other canoe--all while standing chest-deep in the water.  I'm also going to be pondering how it helped when the sun came out, the obstacles and twists and turns of the river, and the spiritual parallels to the experience of those in the canoe farther ahead yelling instructions to those behind them on the journey-- "Stay to the right up here.  Be careful in this spot!"

Compared to that adventure, the rest of our trip was truly uneventful.  We had a great evening by the campfire (I loved learning about cooking over a fire), we all slept hard, and we arrived home late the next day.

I'm certain that there are many more camping adventures in our future.  The kids are now officially hooked!  I think Paul and I had the chance to remember how much we enjoy taking trips like this.  We decided long ago that we would always try to give our kids experiences, not things.  God was good to give us a safe, albeit adventure-filled few days, and I'm thankful for the chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday life.

So a few more items have been crossed off the summer bucket list, and memories were made that will last a lifetime.  I guess the only thing I can add is this:

God is very good...

To protect His children...

To give us the opportunity to make memories together...

To allow us to experience the beauty of his creation and the majesty of His thunder...

and

To bring us back home again after teaching us many things about Himself.