"Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily."
St. Francis de Sales
I came upon this verse and found it quite encouraging, especially amidst all the craziness as the children and I strive to get our lives back on track. Our lives have been thrown off center over the past month as we have had so much extra activity.
We had a wonderful but brief trip to Colorado to celebrate my mother-in-laws 80th birthday. She was in heaven having her grandchildren with her for the celebration. We had adventurous journeys to and from Colorado though. We were only a little over 100 miles from our destination when the highway was closed due to high winds. It was midnight and we had to backtrack to the nearest town, which was quite small and full to the brim with stranded travelers. We finally found one of the last rooms available and tried to get some sleep. Our journey almost took 24 hours. On the way home, we encountered dangerous road conditions and both husband and I agreed that finding a hotel before an accident happened was the best idea. We found a super cheap and cute hotel and spent the evening swimming while the snow piled up around us. Brrr....it was cold too. We were able to resume our journey mid morning of the next day with sunshine beating down upon us. We were so glad to get home.
Two weeks later I had the honor of speaking at our state home school conference. It was my first time, but I really enjoyed myself. I loved being able to encourage the moms on their journey as home educators and am hoping the Lord provides another opportunity for me to speak again in the future.
With preparing for the trip, the trip and writing a speech, my house was beginning to crumble around me. My stress level was way too high and I was not much fun to be around, so today was a cleaning day. We broke out the rags, brooms and vacuum and worked our way through the house. I even straightened the book shelves. I love when the books are aligned and standing at attention. It seems to help reduce my stress as I gaze at their order. Of course, the kids think I am crazy, but I know that one day they will understand.
My children are at a place where they are not liking to help around the house without complaining and grumbling. They will do what I ask of them, but an attitude is usually attached to it and I find this to be most irritating and draining. I'm hoping to help to build their character in this area over the next couple of weeks. I might even help myself. I know that with God, learning to enjoy the tasks of our day is possible. I have a feeling that once we are back into our normal routine that this will be much more attainable for all of us.
I was quite nervous about speaking at the conference. I really am unsure about my two cents being worth much, but a good friend offered me the opportunity and I am so glad that I accepted it. I truly enjoyed being able to encourage the mothers to hang in there on this journey that God has called them too. To remind them that God will provide all that they need to see this journey to the end and not only survive...but thrive. It was also good for me learn from other moms and remember how exciting teaching my children can be. I have so much information to process and am looking forward to trying out some new ideas with my children.
I am so thankful for my little covey and truly enjoy seeing them grow each day. I pray that they grow closer to God and find themselves kneeling before His throne as they contemplate each day of their lives.
"Every man is at his best when he adds enthusiasm to...his undertakings."
John Wanamaker
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Pink Toilets and Broken Bones
"Life is pain, princess; anyone who says differently is selling something."
The Princess Bride
I find myself yet again embarking on a post a month after my last one and amazed at how much can transpire in those 30 some odd days.
The Lord calls us to take up our cross daily and to follow after him and this is what I endeavor to do each day even though these past weeks have been filled with much pain and way too much couch time. Despite my being stuck on the couch, Jesus is faithful and continues to be present and to grow me.
After finding out in December that I broke my foot in July, I began the slow process of trying to encourage my body to heal. I have an assortment of crutches and braces and a mighty numb bum. For over a month I stayed off my feet and my bone would not heal. So, my doctor decided to do a last ditch procedure to try and keep me from having to have surgery. Using my blood, be created a blood clot around my injured bone and tendon, hoping to spark a healing response from my body. The procedure was not pain free and the first day left me very thankful for pain medication. Then, irony struck and I spent the second day overcoming an allergic reaction to the medication. At the same time, I was battling the flu. Crutches and the flu do not work well together. Thankfully, I had no foot pain by this point...unless I moved my foot the wrong way. I still have several weeks of recovery ahead of me, but I am beginning to let myself hope that the procedure worked. The doctor says my carefree barefoot days are over, but we are both hoping and I am praying that I will be able to walk normally again really soon without fear of pain or re-injury.
My dear husband decided to begin our bathroom remodel in a very interesting way. He woke me early on a Saturday morning several weeks ago to let me know that he had somehow managed to FLUSH our daughter's SEIZURE MEDICATION down the toilet. The bottle was small enough to be flushed, but too big to exit the toilet. No amount of reaching could retrieve the bottle and our only option was to remove the toilet in order to eliminate the clog...a mighty expensive clog. Thankfully, we had friends that came to our rescue and not only came to remove the toilet, but brought up a new one to replace our really old pink one. I am quite pleased to say that the clog has been removed and I love my new white toilet.
The children have been wonderful during this time of sitting, but all of us are looking forward to Mommy getting back into the swing of things. School is much slower and we tend to get bored of sitting in the house. Thankfully, the weather has been agreeable and they are able to play outside every day without freezing. I am bummed about the lack of snow, but there are several more weeks of winter left.
I have several projects waiting to be finished and am looking forward to finishing a quilt I am making for my mother-in-laws 80th birthday at the end of this month. I am giving my foot a few more days to heal before I tackle running the sewing machine. I had thought I would get all of my projects finished over this last month, but alas, my plans were far too lofty. However, I take comfort in knowing that I am making progress. Dear Hubby was wonderful this last weekend and we took advantage of a local fabric store having a great sale. I think I came home with 8 yards of fabric and paid less than 50% for it. It was an awesome deal and I look forward to coming up with ways to use the fabric in quilts.
When faced with the mundane of my days of sitting on the couch, I have had many hours to read and stumbled upon a quote from one of my favorite characters: Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
Mrs. Cadbury: Tell me what you know about yourself.
Anne: Well, it really isn't worth telling, Mrs. Cadbury...but if you let me tell you what I imagine about myself you'd find it a lot more interesting.
Oh, how I love Anne and her dreamy, whimsical, romantic ways. They call upon the child within me and I can't help but smile as I recall the innocence of youth and how I know Anne and I could have been bosom friends and would have had such grand times day dreaming. I hope my retelling of my life hasn't caused you to stifle a yawn. I'll keep working on more frequent and spicier posts.
Until next time, Be Blessed.
The Princess Bride
I find myself yet again embarking on a post a month after my last one and amazed at how much can transpire in those 30 some odd days.
The Lord calls us to take up our cross daily and to follow after him and this is what I endeavor to do each day even though these past weeks have been filled with much pain and way too much couch time. Despite my being stuck on the couch, Jesus is faithful and continues to be present and to grow me.
After finding out in December that I broke my foot in July, I began the slow process of trying to encourage my body to heal. I have an assortment of crutches and braces and a mighty numb bum. For over a month I stayed off my feet and my bone would not heal. So, my doctor decided to do a last ditch procedure to try and keep me from having to have surgery. Using my blood, be created a blood clot around my injured bone and tendon, hoping to spark a healing response from my body. The procedure was not pain free and the first day left me very thankful for pain medication. Then, irony struck and I spent the second day overcoming an allergic reaction to the medication. At the same time, I was battling the flu. Crutches and the flu do not work well together. Thankfully, I had no foot pain by this point...unless I moved my foot the wrong way. I still have several weeks of recovery ahead of me, but I am beginning to let myself hope that the procedure worked. The doctor says my carefree barefoot days are over, but we are both hoping and I am praying that I will be able to walk normally again really soon without fear of pain or re-injury.
My dear husband decided to begin our bathroom remodel in a very interesting way. He woke me early on a Saturday morning several weeks ago to let me know that he had somehow managed to FLUSH our daughter's SEIZURE MEDICATION down the toilet. The bottle was small enough to be flushed, but too big to exit the toilet. No amount of reaching could retrieve the bottle and our only option was to remove the toilet in order to eliminate the clog...a mighty expensive clog. Thankfully, we had friends that came to our rescue and not only came to remove the toilet, but brought up a new one to replace our really old pink one. I am quite pleased to say that the clog has been removed and I love my new white toilet.
The children have been wonderful during this time of sitting, but all of us are looking forward to Mommy getting back into the swing of things. School is much slower and we tend to get bored of sitting in the house. Thankfully, the weather has been agreeable and they are able to play outside every day without freezing. I am bummed about the lack of snow, but there are several more weeks of winter left.
I have several projects waiting to be finished and am looking forward to finishing a quilt I am making for my mother-in-laws 80th birthday at the end of this month. I am giving my foot a few more days to heal before I tackle running the sewing machine. I had thought I would get all of my projects finished over this last month, but alas, my plans were far too lofty. However, I take comfort in knowing that I am making progress. Dear Hubby was wonderful this last weekend and we took advantage of a local fabric store having a great sale. I think I came home with 8 yards of fabric and paid less than 50% for it. It was an awesome deal and I look forward to coming up with ways to use the fabric in quilts.
When faced with the mundane of my days of sitting on the couch, I have had many hours to read and stumbled upon a quote from one of my favorite characters: Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
Mrs. Cadbury: Tell me what you know about yourself.
Anne: Well, it really isn't worth telling, Mrs. Cadbury...but if you let me tell you what I imagine about myself you'd find it a lot more interesting.
Oh, how I love Anne and her dreamy, whimsical, romantic ways. They call upon the child within me and I can't help but smile as I recall the innocence of youth and how I know Anne and I could have been bosom friends and would have had such grand times day dreaming. I hope my retelling of my life hasn't caused you to stifle a yawn. I'll keep working on more frequent and spicier posts.
Until next time, Be Blessed.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Ringing In the New Year!
Hmmmm....what have I been up to? Oh, where do I begin?
We had a wonderful Christmas party and are planning on doing it again next year. The parents and the kids had a great time and most of the food was devoured as we spent hours in fellowship. It was a wonderful way to set the tone for celebrating the birth of Jesus and I'm go glad we made the effort to bring people together.
Christmas was wonderful! Those three words seem to suffice.
I found out the Friday before Christmas that I broke a bone in my foot. Ouch. I actually broke it in July when I stumbled into a hole. The first doctor said it wasn't a break and that with rehab I would be just fine. That turned out to be the wrong diagnosis. I ended up just prolonging the healing process. It took several x rays and an MRI scan to figure out what was going on. I found out that I actually have an extra bone in my foot and that is what I broke. The doctor and I, with the help of my family, are trying to get the bone to heal so that I don't have to have surgery to remove the bone. I am on crutches and am supposed to stay off my foot as much as possible. With eight children and a home to take care of, there are days where this is proving to be quite difficult. However, as the days pass, the kids and I are getting better at our system. I am hopeful that my foot is finally beginning to heal. I am so thankful for the prayers of my friends and family.
My husband provided an opportunity for us to start the new year off with quite a bit of excitement. Early in the morning of January 1, my dear hubby came into the room to wake me and tell me that he has somehow managed to flush our daughter's seizure medicine down the toilet. The only thing I could manage was to squeak a "what?" as I stumbled out of bed. Oh, my! Sure enough, the medicine was gone and no matter how far my brave children reached into the toilet to try and grab it, it was beyond our reach. Our only option was to remove the toilet. Yikes!
Thankfully, we have wonderful friends that rose to the occasion and came to our rescue. Dear Hubby and I have no idea how to do something that scary. They brought a new toilet with them so we could get rid of our ugly pink one and spent the day undoing what Hubby had done. Needless to say, the medicine went from the toilet to the trash. We now have a beautiful white toilet and it is a welcome addition. The family is learning to put the lid down before they flush and hopefully we will never have a repeat of this type of excitement.
The baby is crawling and into everything. However, his "wild side" is shadowed by the insanity of our puppy, Indie! That dog is either going to teach me patience on a whole new level or kill me. I've never had a puppy before and I don't think we will ever have a puppy again.
We also lost one of precious cats, Zena. We'd had her as part of our family for thirteen years and are always going to miss her. Her last days were tragic and I pray the vet is a much better doctor now. The children were amazing and so strong, despite their tears and heartache. I was in awe of their strength as they said goodbye. Once Zena had passed, my 8 year old swept her up off the vets table and walked to the van. WOW! The kids younger kids didn't even blink and were so strong as we buried her.
On week into the year and the Lord has kept us on our toes and on our knees. I am excited to see the plans He has for our family as this next year unfolds. I pray it is a year full of much love, patience, wisdom and growth.
I pray your heart is full of hopeful expectations for this next year. Be bless and praise the Lord for new beginnings.
We had a wonderful Christmas party and are planning on doing it again next year. The parents and the kids had a great time and most of the food was devoured as we spent hours in fellowship. It was a wonderful way to set the tone for celebrating the birth of Jesus and I'm go glad we made the effort to bring people together.
Christmas was wonderful! Those three words seem to suffice.
I found out the Friday before Christmas that I broke a bone in my foot. Ouch. I actually broke it in July when I stumbled into a hole. The first doctor said it wasn't a break and that with rehab I would be just fine. That turned out to be the wrong diagnosis. I ended up just prolonging the healing process. It took several x rays and an MRI scan to figure out what was going on. I found out that I actually have an extra bone in my foot and that is what I broke. The doctor and I, with the help of my family, are trying to get the bone to heal so that I don't have to have surgery to remove the bone. I am on crutches and am supposed to stay off my foot as much as possible. With eight children and a home to take care of, there are days where this is proving to be quite difficult. However, as the days pass, the kids and I are getting better at our system. I am hopeful that my foot is finally beginning to heal. I am so thankful for the prayers of my friends and family.
My husband provided an opportunity for us to start the new year off with quite a bit of excitement. Early in the morning of January 1, my dear hubby came into the room to wake me and tell me that he has somehow managed to flush our daughter's seizure medicine down the toilet. The only thing I could manage was to squeak a "what?" as I stumbled out of bed. Oh, my! Sure enough, the medicine was gone and no matter how far my brave children reached into the toilet to try and grab it, it was beyond our reach. Our only option was to remove the toilet. Yikes!
Thankfully, we have wonderful friends that rose to the occasion and came to our rescue. Dear Hubby and I have no idea how to do something that scary. They brought a new toilet with them so we could get rid of our ugly pink one and spent the day undoing what Hubby had done. Needless to say, the medicine went from the toilet to the trash. We now have a beautiful white toilet and it is a welcome addition. The family is learning to put the lid down before they flush and hopefully we will never have a repeat of this type of excitement.
The baby is crawling and into everything. However, his "wild side" is shadowed by the insanity of our puppy, Indie! That dog is either going to teach me patience on a whole new level or kill me. I've never had a puppy before and I don't think we will ever have a puppy again.
We also lost one of precious cats, Zena. We'd had her as part of our family for thirteen years and are always going to miss her. Her last days were tragic and I pray the vet is a much better doctor now. The children were amazing and so strong, despite their tears and heartache. I was in awe of their strength as they said goodbye. Once Zena had passed, my 8 year old swept her up off the vets table and walked to the van. WOW! The kids younger kids didn't even blink and were so strong as we buried her.
On week into the year and the Lord has kept us on our toes and on our knees. I am excited to see the plans He has for our family as this next year unfolds. I pray it is a year full of much love, patience, wisdom and growth.
I pray your heart is full of hopeful expectations for this next year. Be bless and praise the Lord for new beginnings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)