~ Our fish had babies! Last Wednesday, I spotted two, tiny, baby fish in our tank. They've been trying to hide from the big fish who, Jeff assures me, would be happy to devour them. Nature is cruel sometimes! One baby likes to hang out in some coral in the tank, and it's a great hiding place because none of the bigger fish can get in there to eat him. Another one was doing a good job of hiding beneath some shells; but one recent night, a big fish moved those shells and rocks around, and now I can't see whether the baby is still there or whether his brief life is over. If one or both of them survive, it will be really fun to watch them grow!
~ Speaking of growing, David got a new tooth. It's number 13 for him, so it doesn't generate quite as much excitement as the first. :) But it's another reminder of how he's growing up!
~ I saw robins for the first time on Saturday. Robins are my favorite birds because they are an indicator of spring, my favorite season. I always look forwarding to seeing them for the first time, and usually record the date in my journal.
~ This coming Saturday, Jeff is officiating the wedding of Mark and Jen, a couple that Jeff met through the barber shop. They came over last night for coffee, dessert, last-minute wedding planning, and premarital counseling. It was really enjoyable to spend time with them; and for me, it brought back good memories of doing more of that kind of thing when we were working in the full-time ministry. I especially love to watch and listen to Jeff as he talks, both in front of groups and individually. Wisdom drips from his tongue, and I soak it up!
~ Premarital or marital counseling always nudges us to evaluate our own marriage; and as we did that recently, we came to the conclusion that we need to put a date night into our schedule and stick to it as firmly (which is to say, fairly consistently, but not without flexibility)as we stick to other routines, like our every-other-Friday-night Family Night. So the plan is for every-other-Monday-night Date Nights to develop! I am so excited...and grateful for a husband who is willing to listen to my needs and suggestions and take action to help our marriage to grow better and better.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Dreaming about...Planting Peas???
Spring is right around the corner! At least, the fact that our daytime temperatures were mostly in the 50's last week made that seem true. (We won't talk about how cold it currently is!)
With the arrival of spring comes the arrival of--gardening! Oh, bliss! As a child, I had the "opportunity" to help in the garden--like it or not! But as I get older, I find that I actually love it; and each year, I seem to be more and more eager to get my fingers in the dirt and help things grow.
This morning on our way to visit my great-aunt Lorraine, my mother and I stopped at a local hardware store to buy some seeds. You would not believe how giddy we were about this! We got seeds for peas, corn, green beans, lettuce, spinach, radishes, sunflowers, zinnias, other flowers that I'm drawing a blank on now, as well as onion sets and seed potatoes...probably other things, too, but that's all I can think of now...oh, I remember--beets--but Mother promised that she and Dad would eat all of those and I wouldn't have to! :)
A few nights ago, I was telling Jeff how eager I was to plant some peas and how much fun I was having simply dreaming about it; and he affectionately told me how crazy he thought I was. :) Well, he can laugh...and remind me in hot July and August how eager I was to plant this garden that needs watered and weeded and mulched and potato bugs picked off the plants and corn harvested and beans canned and tomato plants de-suckered, etc.
Our garden last year was basically a disaster. We'll blame that on the move! But this year...ah, this year...my hopes are high!
With the arrival of spring comes the arrival of--gardening! Oh, bliss! As a child, I had the "opportunity" to help in the garden--like it or not! But as I get older, I find that I actually love it; and each year, I seem to be more and more eager to get my fingers in the dirt and help things grow.
This morning on our way to visit my great-aunt Lorraine, my mother and I stopped at a local hardware store to buy some seeds. You would not believe how giddy we were about this! We got seeds for peas, corn, green beans, lettuce, spinach, radishes, sunflowers, zinnias, other flowers that I'm drawing a blank on now, as well as onion sets and seed potatoes...probably other things, too, but that's all I can think of now...oh, I remember--beets--but Mother promised that she and Dad would eat all of those and I wouldn't have to! :)
A few nights ago, I was telling Jeff how eager I was to plant some peas and how much fun I was having simply dreaming about it; and he affectionately told me how crazy he thought I was. :) Well, he can laugh...and remind me in hot July and August how eager I was to plant this garden that needs watered and weeded and mulched and potato bugs picked off the plants and corn harvested and beans canned and tomato plants de-suckered, etc.
Our garden last year was basically a disaster. We'll blame that on the move! But this year...ah, this year...my hopes are high!
Titus 1:6
A little over a week ago, I wrote a post (My Deepest Desire) that referred to the devotional book Night Light for Parents and some impacting things I had read in it about our desire for Godly children and the anxiety we can carry as we strive to point our sons and daughters toward God. Recently I read another devotional in that book that gave me additional food for thought. Here, in part, is what it said...
A pastor sat in his study, utterly devastated. He'd just learned that his twenty-one-year-old son had impregnated his girlfriend at the Christian college campus he attended...The pastor felt guilty..."What did I do wrong? How could it have happened?" Remembering the words of Scripture--"An elder must be...a man whose children...are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient" (Titus 1:6), the pastor saw no choice...he would resign immediately.
Was this anguished servant overreacting in his decision to resign? We think so. We believe the Scripture above refers to younger children. In Paul's day, males and females were considered grown much earlier, marrying at fourteen or sixteen years of age. The Lord appears to settle the matter in the book of Ezekiel: "The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him" (18:20). Remember, too, that the father of the Prodigal Son was not blamed for the young man's wickedness (Luke 15:11-32).
For mothers and fathers of grown children, it may be a comfort to realize that each adult is responsible only for his own behavior. Instead of taking on the sins of our grown kids, let's respond by bathing them in continual, loving prayer.
The portion of this that stood out to me was how children were considered grown at a much earlier age in biblical times than now...and how that would imply that the Titus 1:6 passage refers to younger children. I remember some years ago in San Diego when the leadership of the church was looking for candidates for elders and was, unfortunately, having a difficult time finding any based on a strict interpretation of Titus 1:6 that the children of an elder should be old enough to have made a decision about whether to make Jesus the lord of their life...and should, obviously, have made that decision affirmatively. I certainly don't have all the issues relating to eldership and parental responsibility figured out, but I do appreciate this devotional and the additional light it shines on the subject.
The other intriguing comment to me was about how the prodigal son's father didn't take the blame for his son's actions--and no one else put any blame on him either. Interesting!
A pastor sat in his study, utterly devastated. He'd just learned that his twenty-one-year-old son had impregnated his girlfriend at the Christian college campus he attended...The pastor felt guilty..."What did I do wrong? How could it have happened?" Remembering the words of Scripture--"An elder must be...a man whose children...are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient" (Titus 1:6), the pastor saw no choice...he would resign immediately.
Was this anguished servant overreacting in his decision to resign? We think so. We believe the Scripture above refers to younger children. In Paul's day, males and females were considered grown much earlier, marrying at fourteen or sixteen years of age. The Lord appears to settle the matter in the book of Ezekiel: "The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him" (18:20). Remember, too, that the father of the Prodigal Son was not blamed for the young man's wickedness (Luke 15:11-32).
For mothers and fathers of grown children, it may be a comfort to realize that each adult is responsible only for his own behavior. Instead of taking on the sins of our grown kids, let's respond by bathing them in continual, loving prayer.
The portion of this that stood out to me was how children were considered grown at a much earlier age in biblical times than now...and how that would imply that the Titus 1:6 passage refers to younger children. I remember some years ago in San Diego when the leadership of the church was looking for candidates for elders and was, unfortunately, having a difficult time finding any based on a strict interpretation of Titus 1:6 that the children of an elder should be old enough to have made a decision about whether to make Jesus the lord of their life...and should, obviously, have made that decision affirmatively. I certainly don't have all the issues relating to eldership and parental responsibility figured out, but I do appreciate this devotional and the additional light it shines on the subject.
The other intriguing comment to me was about how the prodigal son's father didn't take the blame for his son's actions--and no one else put any blame on him either. Interesting!
An Easter Story
What's being sick without simultaneously reading a book? A waste of time!!!
Every time I'm sick, I reach for an easy-read book to help me pass the time until I feel better and can get back to normal life. This past week when I was sick for a day was no exception...although most of the time during those 24 hours, I was too sick to even feel interested in reading or care to hold a book in front of my face--highly unusual behavior for me! I did, however, pick the book An Easter Story by Elizabeth Yates off the shelf and start reading it. It is a short book, very quick reading, enjoyable (though a bit...um, what should I say?...overly fanciful...maybe even melodramatic?). On the positive side, it did get me looking forward to Easter--and reflecting on the significance of it!
Here's one quote from it that I particularly liked: None of us can ever say how we will act until we are put to a test. When that time comes, our act is no sudden thing but a sum of all we have been doing, living, being, up to that moment. When I read that, I thought in particular of the morning of the robbery and Jeff's instant response of helping our neighbor while putting his own life in danger. In a situation like that, thoughts race at the speed of light; but there is really no chance to deliberately and thoughtfully assess the case and determine the best course of action. The response is automatic; and because Jeff's life is built on principles of love, giving, and self-sacrifice, his reaction exemplified those characteristics. Once again, I've just gotta say how proud I am of him!
Every time I'm sick, I reach for an easy-read book to help me pass the time until I feel better and can get back to normal life. This past week when I was sick for a day was no exception...although most of the time during those 24 hours, I was too sick to even feel interested in reading or care to hold a book in front of my face--highly unusual behavior for me! I did, however, pick the book An Easter Story by Elizabeth Yates off the shelf and start reading it. It is a short book, very quick reading, enjoyable (though a bit...um, what should I say?...overly fanciful...maybe even melodramatic?). On the positive side, it did get me looking forward to Easter--and reflecting on the significance of it!
Here's one quote from it that I particularly liked: None of us can ever say how we will act until we are put to a test. When that time comes, our act is no sudden thing but a sum of all we have been doing, living, being, up to that moment. When I read that, I thought in particular of the morning of the robbery and Jeff's instant response of helping our neighbor while putting his own life in danger. In a situation like that, thoughts race at the speed of light; but there is really no chance to deliberately and thoughtfully assess the case and determine the best course of action. The response is automatic; and because Jeff's life is built on principles of love, giving, and self-sacrifice, his reaction exemplified those characteristics. Once again, I've just gotta say how proud I am of him!
Chocolate from Cheek to Cheek
On Sunday morning, Josiah helped me mix up a batch of brownies for our lunch together after our time of fellowship with the church. I let him lick the spoon (such a classic part of childhood!), and he managed to get the brownie batter all around his mouth...I guess a little bit actually went in his mouth!Monday, March 5, 2007
100
This is my 100th post on this blog--hard for me to believe. I've had such fun since beginning this blog less than two months ago. It's been an ideal way for me to journal for my own personal enjoyment...somehow, sitting down at the computer and typing up a paragraph or two often seems easier than opening a real journal and writing out my thoughts by hand. It also has been a fun way to give far-away (and sometimes close-by) family and friends a peek into our life, a glimpse of my thoughts, and up-to-date pictures of our growing boys.
It's been a great journey so far...here's to the next 100 posts! :) (And many thanks to those of you who are along for the journey with me. Your comments--both typed on this blog and delivered in person--are unfailingly encouraging to me!)
It's been a great journey so far...here's to the next 100 posts! :) (And many thanks to those of you who are along for the journey with me. Your comments--both typed on this blog and delivered in person--are unfailingly encouraging to me!)
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Boys at Play
Our living room was the scene of much merriment tonight, as shown in the above picture. If Dad's back doesn't hurt at all tomorrow, we'll know we've discovered a new alternative therapy for chronic back pain: carrying a small child on the shoulders! I love having three generations together to spend such happy moments and build precious memories for the future.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Somebody's Following You
While I was sorting through picture files tonight, I came across this photo I took last summer--Jeff's, Josiah's, and David's sandals. For some reason, I adore this picture...I guess because it reminds me of the three men, big and small, that I adore more than words can say...and because it reminds me of how closely Josiah tries to follow Jeff, and how closely David tries to follow both Josiah and Jeff. I am overwhelmingly grateful for the man who fills the shoes at the head of this line, the Godly man my sons are privileged to have for a father.
Anti-procrastination, Day Five
With Day Four in the dust, I was eager to accomplish something on my anti-procrastination list today...so tonight I bit the bullet and waded through the maze of online photo developing websites to try to figure out how in the world we're going to develop the hundreds of pictures we take with our wonderful digital camera! Of course, one of the very best aspects of a digital camera is that you don't have to develop all the pictures...or any of the pictures, for that matter. But I'm old-fashioned enough to like a real photo album that I can hold in my hands and look at without the aid of a computer. So I've been wanting to catch up on our photo developing project.
When we were in Israel, I did a great job of staying up-to-date with our pictures--getting them developed and even put into albums (although I did not get them all written on). But since we've been back in the States, that has sunk to the bottom of the to-do list, and I wanted to change that.
I finally decided to go with the Snapfish site, and I figured out how to upload pictures and order prints. We should have 46 photos on the way to us soon; and if it's as easy and cheap as I think it is--and really and truly turns out OK and I didn't mess something up along the way--I'll be very excited...and of course, I'll wish I had learned this months ago!
When we were in Israel, I did a great job of staying up-to-date with our pictures--getting them developed and even put into albums (although I did not get them all written on). But since we've been back in the States, that has sunk to the bottom of the to-do list, and I wanted to change that.
I finally decided to go with the Snapfish site, and I figured out how to upload pictures and order prints. We should have 46 photos on the way to us soon; and if it's as easy and cheap as I think it is--and really and truly turns out OK and I didn't mess something up along the way--I'll be very excited...and of course, I'll wish I had learned this months ago!
Hooray for the Mennonites!
This week has been a big service project for the local Mennonites: canning meat at the meat cannery on the other side of our hill; the meat gets shipped to other countries of the world to feed hungry people. Many Mennonites from this area have participated--not just the Old Orders. It's been fun to see the cars lined up on top of the hill some days, and even more fun to see the horse and buggies lined up! The other evening as the sun was setting, I couldn't resist and snapped this picture.Today I was talking with my neighbor Wilma, and she said casually, "Yeah, we were up at the meat shop this morning at 4:30 am cutting up meat. Wednesday we were up there about 4:30, too--well, it was about a quarter to five. This morning there were only a few of us there at 4:30, only 10 or 12. A lot more people came trickling in later until the tables were full of people cutting up meat."
Oh. I can't remember the last time I got up at 4:30 am voluntarily for any reason (calming a crying child doesn't exactly fall into the "voluntarily" category), much less to do a service project. I'm convicted.
Another wonderful thing about the Old Order Mennonites...last Sunday when we were all snowed in and all the church meetings here in the Harrisonburg area were cancelled, guess who was going to church? The Old Order Mennonites, trotting along in their horse and buggies. There may be snow on the roads, it may be freezing cold outside; but they are faithful people and do not forsake the assembly!
David's Family Night
Tonight was David's Family Night, so we celebrated with (once again) mac & cheese for dinner (plus home-canned green beans and peaches), a game of Uno afterwards (David LOVES to play this game...he helps me as we play; when it's my turn, I hand my card to David, and he places it on the pile...plus, he always wants us to tell him what number and color are on each card), and a bubble bath for the boys.
One thing that we always do during Family Night is take turns sharing what is special to us about the person we're honoring that night, and I write it all down in a journal so we can look back and remember these fleeting moments. So this is what we shared about David tonight...
Things we love about David and thank God for:
Josiah said: that you're my brother and you're also my friend...the way you find the letter "x,"...the way you play with bouncy balls
Jeff said: the way you point at the letters...the way you come to the top of the steps when I get home and you're so excited to see me...the way you get excited to take baths...your smile...the way you waddle when you walk
I said: the way you were so snuggly and cuddly recently when you were sick...the way you love your big brother and try to do the things he does...the way you're so enthusiastic in your voice and facial expressions
Anti-procra...Well, Whatever!
Anti-procrastination week came to a screeching halt yesterday when sickness landed me flat on my back on the couch! Through all the previous fever/sore throat/runny noses/cough stuff that Josiah and David got in California and Jeff suffered from after we returned, I had stayed strong and healthy--and was so grateful for that blessing! I had even told someone, "I hope if I get sick, it's AFTER everybody else in the family feels better!" Well, my wish was granted :) ... only for me, it was intense nausea that knocked me out yesterday. It started yesterday morning with faint uneasy twinges in my stomach. While the boys napped yesterday afternoon, I slept as well; but by the time David woke up from his nap, I was not feeling well at all. In fact, when I got him out of bed and had to change his (incredibly smelly, full) poopy diaper, I literally thought I was going to pass out. I kept chanting, "God is with me, God is with me," like Webster does in the Hermie movies...and managed to remain upright long enough to get a clean diaper on David before putting him on the floor and almost collapsing there beside him before I could recover enough to finish putting his clothes back on.
I sure felt like a little kid again as I called my mom: "Mom, I'm sick. Can you come help me?" Fortunately, she was able to come to my rescue and stayed here with me until Jeff got home from work. Thank God for moms who live close by and run to their daughters in time of need! All during the evening, I could not even stand up or sit up without feeling terribly nauseous. At bedtime I dragged myself up the steps to bed and managed to actually sleep well until...
Shortly after midnight, Josiah screamed, "Daddy, I throwed up!" Yep, sure enough, I didn't throw up at all yesterday, but Josiah did...we like to share the love and the germs around here! Jeff had put him to bed, so he jumped up to help him when Josiah called for him...but I also wanted to help so I sat up and gingerly put my feet on the floor to see if I could stand without the room spinning. Amazingly, I could! What a wonderful feeling! I was able to help Jeff get Josiah cleaned up and even take the dirty sheets down to the laundry room and get a load of laundry going in the middle of the night.
I wasn't sure if I was really feeling better, or if it was just "doing what had to be done." But even this morning, I felt better; and even though my stomach still feels a little weird, today has been a MUCH better day. There's nothing like a little sickness to make me appreciate my health!
Needless to say, I didn't get anything on my anti-procrastination list done yesterday...and so far today, I haven't either. Oh well, there's always tomorrow! :)
I sure felt like a little kid again as I called my mom: "Mom, I'm sick. Can you come help me?" Fortunately, she was able to come to my rescue and stayed here with me until Jeff got home from work. Thank God for moms who live close by and run to their daughters in time of need! All during the evening, I could not even stand up or sit up without feeling terribly nauseous. At bedtime I dragged myself up the steps to bed and managed to actually sleep well until...
Shortly after midnight, Josiah screamed, "Daddy, I throwed up!" Yep, sure enough, I didn't throw up at all yesterday, but Josiah did...we like to share the love and the germs around here! Jeff had put him to bed, so he jumped up to help him when Josiah called for him...but I also wanted to help so I sat up and gingerly put my feet on the floor to see if I could stand without the room spinning. Amazingly, I could! What a wonderful feeling! I was able to help Jeff get Josiah cleaned up and even take the dirty sheets down to the laundry room and get a load of laundry going in the middle of the night.
I wasn't sure if I was really feeling better, or if it was just "doing what had to be done." But even this morning, I felt better; and even though my stomach still feels a little weird, today has been a MUCH better day. There's nothing like a little sickness to make me appreciate my health!
Needless to say, I didn't get anything on my anti-procrastination list done yesterday...and so far today, I haven't either. Oh well, there's always tomorrow! :)
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