"Freedom"

If you, or someone you know, has a disabled child, please check out Nancy's blog - The Olive Leaf Ministries. She has details there about a new Facebook page she has started to encourage and support parents of disabled children. Her own daughter has Autism and through the struggles & tears, God has taught her & her husband, Jimmy a lot of valuable lessons.

Click HERE to visit Nancy's blog post today & be sure to pass the word along!

He Had Compassion

I have a few other things I want to blog about and will get to those, hopefully, in the next week or so. But this morning, I wanted to share briefly what I read during my devotions this morning.

I have been reading through Genesis lately, but today I decided to read in Matthew. Our pastor is currently working through Matthew. I've been learning lots & am trying not to ignore the challenges our pastor gives us!

Matthew 9:36

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

We know from reading through the four gospels that Jesus was constantly bombarded with people. They wanted to be healed, to learn more about His teachings and just simply to be near Him. Jesus had compassion on the crowds of people. He didn't see them as being annoying people invading His space, or as ignorant people. Jesus saw the crowds of people as helpless (physically & spiritually).

Then I asked myself the question: how do I look at people when they're surrounding me, demanding me of my time, etc. Sounds like those "people" are my kids! I tend to get uptight & shoo them away when they are nagging, pestering, invading my space. When I get hungry, tired or busy, I like to have my space (both physically & mentally). It frustrates me when I have to repeatedly tend to my kids (usually for the same things over & over & over...) & all I want to do is be in my own little world.

That's when verse 36 really made sense to me - Jesus had compassion on the crowds of people because they were like a sheep without a shepherd. Surely I could try to have compassion on my kids when they crowd around me and when they continuously crowd my thoughts.

Lord, help me to have compassion on my kids & to not shoo them away. And help me to have compassion on others you bring across my path, to see them with Your eyes - to see them as helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Amen.

Catch Up - Again!

Has it really been a month since I've written on here?!

I'm sitting here waiting for the kids to finish their supper (yup, it's a late one) & hop into bed, so I figured I might as well write a quick update. I can't even remember what I wrote in my last post so forgive me if I repeat myself!

Things here have been rather chaotic lately. Where do I start?

We are wrapping up our first week of Spring Break (this week is technically a "School Closure Days" as a way to for the school district to save $$ & next week will be the official Spring Break). I've been very steady with my business & am seeing the results of my work paying off. So far this year, we've been able to buy Daniel & myself new glasses & we'll be redoing mine & Jeremy's bedroom closet soon - all with my earnings from Epicure.

Jeremy continues to work hard at his work. He is off this week - only a couple more days to go. We originally wanted to visit some friends in Alberta but finances didn't allow for that, which in the end worked out for the best. Jeremy's Grandma passed away so we headed to the Island for the funeral last weekend.

The kids are now tucked in bed & sleeping. I'm in the midst of a bad cold (achy, chills, congested head, swollen glands, etc) so I'm feeling the need to sit & drink some tea. I'll intersperse my sips with some typing.

On the Saturday, we headed to Victoria with my parents & did the "Be a Tourist in Your Home Town". Each year, Victoria hosts this, allowing people to purchase tickets for only $10 each & then tour a number of different places for free or for a reduced price. Because we bought enough for the group rate we only had to pay $8 each. We visited Miniature World, the Royal Wax Museum and the Undersea Gardens. It was a full day but was lots of fun, despite the freezing winds that whipped through the city. We even had snow a couple times that day! We came home Monday but missed the ferry due to a major snow fall. My parents had 6" in their driveway by the time we were packed & ready to head out. It was slow going. If we were tempted to speed up, we were quickly reminded to stay slow from all the vehicles in the ditches, upside down, smashed, etc. We even witnessed a pick-up truck rear-ending a car right beside us on the highway and a 4 or 5 vehicle accident on the side of the road, one of them being a hearse! Thankfully it was empty & it didn't look like it was needed to carry any bodies away from the scene. Yup! It was crazy weather & needless to say, my stomach was in knots till we hit Nanaimo & most of the snow was melted. By the time we reached the ferry terminal, the roads were wet but clear & the sun was shining. Driving off the ferry it looked like the mainland hadn't even had any snow (they received a dusting that morning). We made it home safe & sound!

The kids started free swimming lessons on Tuesday & just finished today. They both loved it and were excited each day. Now to maintain that excitement & put them in lessons again.

I had a doctor's appointment this week. I had a medical concern, but thankfully the doctor had good news and all is well. And seeing as the week would have been boring with just one doctor appointment, Daniel & Becca had one too!

We had another appointment with our pediatrician for Daniel. He's been experiencing some side effect from his new medication. He has been having trouble concentrating, wrestless, "not getting it", and so on. It was really affecting his time at school so we met with the school psychologist, his teacher, Teacher's Assistant, Learning Assistance teacher and some other lady (not sure who she was but I assume she has something to do with learning assistance) last week before going to the Island. They were quite concerned for Daniel & wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. His last 2 days of school last week seemed to better, with better concentration, etc. This week he seems to be good as well but he's also not in a scheduled environment like school, so we'll know for sure when school starts again in another week. The only other side affect we seem to be dealing with is a really bad rash. It's all over his body & is very sore. The pediatrician says to give it a couple more weeks to see if it goes away (as the other side affects have done). If not, then we look into things further. In the meantime, we're being very careful with how we touch Daniel & he's being very careful with getting dressed & undressed. He's such a good sport with hardly any whining. It also seems that we've found a good dosage for Daniel as he hasn't had any seizures for the past week or so.

Becca also had a doctor's appointment this week. Our family doctor referred her to a Nose, Throat & Ear specialist to have her tonsils looked at. Becca's tonsils are almost kissing! They are huge & her breathing is often laboured, especially while sleeping. It didn't take long for the specialist to examine her & see that she definately needs to have her tonsils & adenoids out. I signed papers yesterday at the appointment, so we will be hearing in the next week or so when Becca's surgery date will be. Most likely it will be in about 2 months. I'm not looking forward to the actual surgery & recovery, but I'm so glad she's going have it done as I'm hoping this will improve her breathing. Maybe she'll even be able to breathe through her nose & smell things for the first time!

Lets see...what else is there to share?! Jeremy has had this week off & had a long TO DO list. It wasn't till yesterday that he was able to start working on his list. And as always, when Jeremy puts his mind to something, he doesn't stop till he's accomplished it. Our van is now fixed & clean, our garage/rec room now has heat & blinds on the windows (just in time as we have people sleeping in there tonight!), Jeremy has bought a used dishwasher for our basement suite as that one died. Hopefully tomorrow it will get installed. The last big thing on the list is our bedroom closet. But that will have to wait as the cupboard set we want is currently out of stock. Oh it feels good to have things getting done!

Well, I've finished two cups of tea & my bed is calling me. It's 11:16pm & my parents & entourage (their international student, my aunt & uncle & their youngest son - 16yrs old) will be here in about 45 mins. We have to finish getting beds ready & tidying up. Life is never dull here at the Olson's!

I'm not going to proof this so please excuse any mistakes! Until next time...!

A Long Day

This has been a long day.

It started last night about 8:30pm. Daniel had a seizure. He didn't take his medication on Tuesday night (which I didn't realize till the next day). In the past when we've forgotten his meds, the next night he wakes up with tingley lips. It lasts a couple minutes and a cool damp cloth seems to sooth his lips.

Well last night, he woke up, managed to walk out to the living room while having his seizure. We immediately laid him on the couch on his side. We didn't want any choking to occur. His seizure only lasted about 2 minutes, but this is the worst it's been since his very first one 4 years ago. After his seizure finished he fell fast asleep & was fine for the rest of the night.

Mentally, we knew he was fine, but it really took an emotional toll on us. This morning I let his teacher know - just in case, but all was fine.

Then...the next part of our day happened! I was visiting with one of the moms after the kids went into class & our kids were playing. Of course, I was babysitting today & had the 4yr old boy with me. Well the kids found a frozen puddle & were having fun with the ice.

Becca had pulled her arms out of her coat sleeves & tucked them inside her zipped up coat (kind of like a mummy). That spells disaster but my brain was still foggy from Daniel's seizure last night, so I didn't think to say anything. Soon enough, she slipped and fell face forward onto the ice...with no hands to break her fall (they were safely tucked inside her coat!).

Her tooth cut right through her top lip. I quickly took her inside to the school office & the principal came & helped. I couldn't think of what to do. It's unusual for me, normally I jump into action. But I think my head was still too full with last night's events. After cleaning Becca up & seeing that the bleeding was stopping, I took her to a walk-in clinic. The doctor there sent us to the Emergency at the hospital because he didn't have the necessary thread for stitching - if it was going to be neccesary.

To make a longer story shorter, the doctor at the hospital decided that Becca did not need stitches. The cut was closed up enough that the doctor said he couldn't do anything better to help it. Becca (& I) were very happy to hear that!

Jeremy was able to get off work early & met me at the hospital. He took my babysitting boy home so I could focus better on Becca.

The kids are in bed right now, both sleeping. Jeremy & I are waiting to see if Daniel will have another seizure or be fine. If he's going to have one, it's about 10-15 minutes after he goes to sleep. At this point, it looks like he's going to be fine. So, we're praying that our long "day" will soon be done!

One last thing, while Jeremy was praying today, the song "God is good, all the time..." kept running through his head. He felt that God was asking him if he really believed that. Yes, we KNOW that God IS good...ALL the time!

Update!

So it has been requested that I let you know the outcome of Daniel's little escapade! If you haven't read about it yet, check below first.

The outcome is rather anti-climactic (spelling?!). Later in the day, I called the pizza place. I asked my "strange" question about whether or not my son left a message earlier that morning. The young guy kindly informed me that although they have an answering message, people are not able to leave a message. Whew! So after clarifying (I just had to make sure) that my son did not leave a message, I said "Thank you very much & we'll be sure to call them the next time we really want to order pizza!" So that was it! Like I said, rather anti-climactic, but I'm sure glad!

Funny thing - this morning when I asked Daniel if he was hungry for breakfast, he said that he was because he didn't eat any candy or anything he wasn't supposed to...AND, he didn't phone the pizza place! Of course I jumped at the opportunity to encourage him for being such a good boy this morning! Here's hoping the phone call was just a one time thing!

Taking Things to a Whole New Level

Time: 6:55am
Event: Waking up to answer the door for the boy I'm babysitting today
Surprise: !!!!

As I was opening the door, I noticed Daniel was hiding behind the couch - a tell-tale sign that he is guilty about something. My Mom-radar was instantly kicked into gear. WHY is Daniel hiding behind the couch? While observing the situation, I noticed the phone sitting on the floor next to him. Hmm, we must have left the phone off the charger last night, but how did it get behind the couch? It must have fallen or something. (Of course these thoughts ran through my head in about 1.2 seconds). "Daniel, pass me the phone please."

Daniel's response: !!!

As he passed me the phone, he also handed me the phone book (I hadn't seen that during my quick observation). As he handed me said items, he (almost proudly) informed me, "Now we'll have peperoni & cheese pizza here for supper". "Pardon me?!!!"

Oh my goodness! I compared the number on redial to the number just inside the front flap of the phone book & sure enough, it was the number for a pizza place here in town! According to Daniel, he phoned the pizza place & talked (at least he said he did when I questioned him), but no one answered. Now today I have to call the pizza place to make sure we won't have any peperoni pizzas delivered at supper time!

This is certainly a whole new level of mischieviousness for Daniel. It usually has something to do with turning the TV on, food (candy, chocolate, granola bars...) or toys that have been put away as a consequence. I'm hoping that the consequence he got this morning will stop him from doing this again. I think Jeremy's more hopeful than me. Time will tell!

Life in Pictures & Ideas Wanted

Last week we had a real heat wave, at least it felt like it! One day when Daniel got home from school (I love carpooling!) this is what he looked like! Talk about wild & crazy hair!

All hot & sweaty after playing on the playground after school!

What goes through your mind when you see a picture like this?

If your answer was "clippings from a hair cut" you would be correct - well, sort of...

Becca ~ the willing participant

Daniel ~ The Culprit
The end result

Did you see it? The hair is cut level to her ear. Daniel cut off about 3"! Needless to say, we weren't too happy. Especially because we had just finished telling Daniel & Becca to put the scissors away after they were trying to cut a stuffed puppy's fur. Sigh! We'll probably take Becca in for a haircut this weekend to see if anything can be done to make it look a little better. And while we're at it, we'll get Daniel's crazy hair taken care of too!

Now on to today's adventure! Daniel lost another tooth! We were at Costco having lunch with my Mom. She was on her way through to the Interior for a "Music for Young Children" conference. Because of the short time that we'd have to visit - and she wanted to fill up at Costco (gotta love cheaper gas) - we met at Costco and had lunch. While eating his pizza, Daniel's tooth popped right out! I thought it was pretty cool that Grandma was there for the special occasion. Here is the happy boy!

Now for wanting ideas.

I am planning Daniel's 7th birthday party. We are trying to save money so I'm thinking of ideas for having his party at home. But then it could rain & who wants 10 kids running around in a small house with no playroom? So we might end up going somewhere.

What I am wanting ideas for are the birthday cake. I only have limited time but making the birthday cake is something I really want to do. Any ideas how I could make / decorate Daniel's cake with little effort & cost? I'm thinking something along the lines of Space, Cowboys & Indians (we're reading the "Little House on the Prairie" series so he's interested in this), airplanes/jets/rockets, pirates (nothing yucky), treasure chest, castle (knights, etc). I saw a wonderful idea of doing a treasure chest with cupcake pirates, with the chest overflowing with candy "treasures" but most of the candies I looked at today contain peanuts (or traces of). One of the boys Daniel is inviting is allergic to peanuts and I want to be sensitive to the allergy - making it so he can eat everything we offer.

Any ideas? Please leave them in the comments...I'd love the input. I'm planning to start on the cake as soon as possible. Thanks in advance!

Sharing

Today I read a couple of blogs that spoke to me personally so I wanted to share them with you.

The first one is Lysa TerKeurst at Proverbs 31 Ministries. The title of her post from today is called "Good Mom, Bad Mom, Good Mom". I think it's something that all Moms can relate to, unless you're perfect! Click on the post title to check it out.

Now that you've checked out Lysa's post, here is another post that I really enjoyed today. It's by Nancy Douglas at Olive Leaf Ministries. One of the ministries she's recently started are short video devotionals. I really enjoyed this one (it's actually from yesterday but I only watched it today) and just had to pass it along to you. I hope you enjoy it as well! Nancy has also provided some Home Study Notes to help you dig deeper! So go on over and enjoy Nancy's "Silence is Golden".

After you've checked out these two blogs, I'd love to know what you thought. Leave me a message & let me know!

Catch Up

Here it is the end of the first week of a new school year and I haven't done a post about Daniel's 1st day back to school! So here is his unofficial "First Day Back to School" post!

Here is my little boy, who is not so little anymore, proud to be in Grade 2!

Daniel - almost 7yrs old

And to top it off, if you didn't notice from the picture, Daniel lost another tooth a week or so ago. It's his top front tooth. We were at McDonald's and his tooth became extra loose. I asked him if he wanted me to try to gently pull it out. He agreed, so with little effort, his tooth popped right out! He was so excited!

Another sign my son is growing up!

Learning

These past couple of weeks I have been seriously contemplating taking a big step in order to increase the amount of income I bring in. Monday evening I attended a meeting so I could get a feel for things before I make a commitment.

I really want to do this venture. Jeremy has concerns but is willing for me to give it a trial run to see how things go. Everything has been falling into place. I even filled out an Application/Agreement form.

I hadn't faxed it in yet to make it official. Somewhere in my heart, quite near the surface to be exact, was this uneasiness. I had asked God what He thought about me taking on this new venture but quickly ended my prayer, not really waiting for an answer. Because I am so excited about this I was scared that God would say "NO". Of course, in not waiting for His answer I also missed out on hearing if His answer was "YES". To me, on paper this looked like a no-brainer, but I knew I still didn't have an answer from God. And one of the things I've learned these past several months is that just because something looks good on paper doesn't mean it's the best thing.

I was going to fax off my application a couple of days ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Something else I've learned over these past several months is that the time I spend with God on a daily basis (at least I really try to make it daily) is very precious to me; the time I spend reading the Bible seems to be closely connected with whether my spirit is at peace or not.

Tuesday afternoon I saw my Bible sitting next to our laptop. I knew I needed to spend time reading God's words - even if it is just about the Israelites and how they have turned away from God yet again. Funny how this scenario is repeated over and over again, but I keep learning from them! So, I took a lawn chair, my Bible and journal out to the back yard (in the shade - the shade is my friend) and sat down to see what God had to say to me.

I must pause here for a moment and say how thankful I am that during the time I was reading my Bible the kids were quite well-behaved. I still had to get up to take care of things here and there (and was slightly distracted by a mom desperately trying to raise her child - see Tuesday's post), but overall, my kids weren't squabbling or misbehaving! That in itself is a small miracle!

Anyways, I continued reading where I had left off - Amos 5 (click here to read the chapter). At times I quite enjoy reading the books from the Old Testament, but sometimes I just want to quit and move onto the New Testament. But for the time being, I am sticking with the Israelites. I started reading chapter 5 and came across this verse, "This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live;...'" (verse 4). That seemed to speak to me. Here I am wondering if I should start this new financial endeavor and the words that speak to me are "Seek me and live". Hmmm. What does this mean in my situation? Is God trying to tell me something through this?

Then I read verses 21 - 23:

"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps."

Now I don't claim in any way to know deep theological truths, especially from the Old Testament. The things that stood out to me may be completely out of context, so I can only hope that I am not misguiding anyone with what I learned the other day. When I read Amos 5:21-23, those verses made me stop and think. God is speaking to the Israelites. They have been making sacrifices to Him along with all the pagan rituals they have adopted. God is saying to His chosen people that He cares more about their heart attitude than He does about their religious rituals. The Isrealites were offering sacrifices to Him, as He had taught them so many years before, but they meant nothing to God because of their heart. They weren't focused solely on Him, forsaking all the other religions, worshiping only the one true God; they were doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. God hates this kind of behavior. God really is a jealous God. He created us to worship HIM, not other things or people.

The rest of chapter 5 (verses 25-27) is God reminding the Israelites about the 40 years they spent wandering in the desert and how they brought sacrifices and offerings to Him but they also worshiped other idols made by their own hands, therefore not honoring the LORD.

My heart was beginning to feel more at peace about this endeavor but I wanted to take some more time to hear from God. So yesterday I read chapter 6 (click here to read the chapter). The chapter starts out very strong: "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!" That's pretty strong!

I realize this post is getting lengthy so I'll summarize the rest of what I learned yesterday morning. God lists the disobedient things the Israelites are doing (v. 3-6) and tells them what will happen to them (v. 7). The rest of the chapter the LORD says that they are rejoicing over nothing; they had empty praises. Also, the Israelites were praising themselves for defeating a strong city, but in reality, whenever they defeated an enemy, it was God that made it possible (v. 12,13).

So what did I learn from all this? Check back tomorrow to find out!

Taking My Own Advice

Have you ever overheard someone who was totally oblivious to those around them? Have you ever thought to yourself, "Is that what I sound like when I forget others can hear me?"


I had that experience today and I must say it was a humbling experience. I could hear myself in this struggling mom as she attempted to be in charge of her child. I sat there wanting to offer parenting tips over the fence.


The longer the situation took, the more I realized I have done the same thing with my children. And as I was listening to the very frustrated mom, my head seemed to "have all the answers". The problem is, when I'm in the midst of a situation with my children I don't always remember those great parenting tips! Funny how all logic can slip out the window when you are under pressure.


While hearing this woman struggle to wrap up the situation, I made a mental note to remember this situation the next time I am in her shoes. Perhaps a lot of my parenting frustrations would be relieved if I would only adhere my advice!

Canada Day in Review

Our Canada Day plans were rather last minute, but that was okay because we had a great time celebrating our country's 141st birthday!

On Monday morning, I had a phone call from my mom saying that she & my dad, my little nephew and an aunt & uncle and cousin were all coming for to our house for the night! I knew on Friday that they might come but it wasn't confirmed until Monday morning! They were catching a ferry around supper time and would be at our house around 8pm. Time to tell my kids about the excitement (I tend to keep things a secret from my kids just in case plans change).

So Monday was the mad dash, cleaning and making sure there was enough bedding for everyone. Jeremy came home from work and tried finishing things up in our garage. We are almost finished (just need to put down a bit of lino at the entry area and sew & hang some curtains) converting our garage into a rec room. God has blessed us with quite a bit of free stuff, helping us finish the garage.

My family was a bit late getting here, thanks to the ferry, but the kids were ready to greet everyone nonetheless. After some visiting time, we got the kids settled into bed. When the grown ups went to bed at midnight, it was nice knowing we had already had a good visit and lots of laughter. I still have visions of my dad galavanting around in his...maybe I'd better not say!, my dad making us all laugh - somehow it's hilarious when it's midnight, my dad wears his breathing apparatus (to help his sleep apnea) and makes silly faces! Maybe you had to be there!

Tuesday morning, Canada Day, we got up (some earlier than others), made a wonderful breakfast of fruit, pancakes and healthy baked omelet. We laughed over the early morning escapades of some of the children - my little nephew climbed into bed with my parents about 5:30am and Daniel joined them about 6am. So much for sleep!

After breakfast, we quickly got ready and got all 10 people out the door and off to see the parade. The parade wasn't as exciting this year as it has been in past years, but the kids enjoyed it and even got a bit of candy. One thing that I thought was so neat was an entry by the Gideons. They were handing out Bibles! My kids wanted one, but I thought it would be better if they left them for other kids who don't have bibles yet. Here are a few pictures of the parade.

Aiden, my little nephew, at the parade

After the parade, we came back to the house and relaxed.

My Dad catching up on some lost sleep with Aiden's bunny

Uncle Don having a snooze!

My Mom & Auntie Marion visiting!

Okay, we didn't relax for very long before we had everyone working (sorry, no pictures to prove we worked hard)! Because Jeremy was so close to being finished and we had extra hands available, we decided this would be the time to move our upright freezer and treadmill off our deck and into our garage/rec room. So Jeremy scooted to his work, grabbed a dolly and loaded up the heavy items. Of course, moving these big items put my mom, aunt & myself to work cleaning up the things up and cleaning up the deck afterwards. It's amazing how much dust accumulates over time! Thank you, Mom & Dad, Uncle Don & Auntie Marion for all your hard work. My aunt kept sweeping even though she could hardly stop sneezing from all the dust!

The guys decided they needed to go to Canadian Tire for some "guy time", so us ladies got things ready for our BBQ supper. It was a delicious meal, topped off with strawberries & vanilla ice cream (thanks Auntie Marion & Uncle Don!). After letting the food set for a few moments, there was just enough time left for our family to quickly pack up and say good-bye before heading off to the ferry. It was a short time, less than 24hrs, but filled with a LOT of laughter (any time my dad and aunt are together there's sure to be laughing) and good memories.

Daniel showing off his new sunglasses

Looks Can Be Deceiving

First, I will have to wait to share about our Canada Day celebrations because I think Jeremy took the camera to work (the one with all the pictures on it!).

This morning our kids received their monthly copy of the Clubhouse Jr. magazine from Focus on the Family (or click here for the Canadian website). My sister (& family) gave a one year subscription to our kids for Christmas. Daniel immediately began flipping through the magazine.

He came across a drawing of a man on motorcycle, complete with the leather attire, sunglasses, studded leather wristband and shiny, cool motorcycle (a lot like a Harley). Daniel thought he looked "so cool"! As he was showing me the picture, I noticed a verse right beside the picture. The verse is, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" 1 Samuel 16:7. I explained to Daniel what the verse means. His reaction was rather nonchalant. I didn't worry because I know an opportunity will come up again at some other time to expand on the lesson.

Well, I was just reading Heather's blog, Mumblings of a Mommy "Monk". Take a moment to read her post from today (click here) and you'll see the connection! This is one of the reasons I enjoy blogging. So many times there have been connections of themes between various blogs or with what's happening in my day. Here is yet another example! I love it!

Thankful Thursday

Read other thanksgivings at Sting My Heart, hosted by Iris.

I am thankful for my identity, as a Christian, in Jesus Christ. I am thankful that because I am a child of God, I can stand firm against Satan and his armies.

Who I Am In Christ

I am accepted...
John 1:12
I am God's child.
John 15:15
As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1
I have been justified.
1 Corinthians 6:17
I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27
I am a member of Christ's body.
Ephesians 1:3-8
I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:13-14
I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:9-10
I am complete in Christ.
Hebrews 4:14-16
I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ.

I am secure...
Romans 8:1-2
I am free from condemnation.
Romans 8:28
I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances.
Romans 8:31-39
I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
I have been established, anointed and sealed by God.
Colossians 3:1-4
I am hidden with Christ in God.
Philippians 1:6
I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me.
Philippians 3:20
I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Timothy 1:7
I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
1 John 5:18
I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me.

I am significant...
John 15:5
I am a branch of Jesus Christ, the true vine, and a channel of His life.
John 15:16
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 3:16
I am God's temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
Ephesians 2:6
I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm.
Ephesians 2:10
I am God's workmanship.
Ephesians 3:12
I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

"The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity!"

(From Victory Over the Darkness , by Dr. Neil Anderson)
Copyright © 2006 Freedom in Christ

All Rights Reserved

Check it out!

I read these two blogs this morning and was encouraged and challenged by both of them. I thought I would share them with you. Feel free to check out these wonderful ladies' blogs:

Susan from Penless thoughts: Susan has a two-part post called "Authentic and Vulnerable". For Part 1, click here; for Part 2, click here.

Heather from Mumblings of a Mommy Monk: Heather has a post called "Pessimism" (click here to read it). She works through Philippians 4:8 and looks in detail. I was challenged to relate this to my parenting. It's longer than most posts but definately worth reading!

Farms, Neighbors & Rain!

This post is a medley of happenings from yesterday and today. Enjoy!

Yesterday afternoon we met some friends at a local farm. This farm sells ice cream that they make (mmmm!) and has a barn open for visiting the cows and whatever else is in the barn.

The closest I got to the cows

Now, if you know me personally then you know how much I don't "do" farms. Before I got married I had a list of "qualifications", non-negotiables if you will, that I was trying to abide by for choosing a husband. If my memory serves me correctly, this was the list (not a comprehensive list):

• I won't marry someone from Bible College (technically Jeremy & I didn't meet at Bible college, we met off campus at a kids' ministry!)
• I won't marry someone younger than me (Jeremy is two years younger than me)
• I won't marry someone from Vancouver Island (Jeremy is also from Vancouver Island)
• I won't marry a pastor (Jeremy has a heart for ministry and if someday God calls him into a pastoral role then we would accept)
• I won't marry a farmer

First of all, please be sure that wasn't my full list. I really am not that shallow! Anyway, as you can tell, the first four "I won't"s went out the window when I met Jeremy! Somehow those four didn't matter anymore. But, the one I just couldn't compromise on was the "farmer" one. I have never been able to tolerate farm smells: hay makes me gag, farm animals have a "certain" aroma, etc. I have tried through the years but I have simply learned that it's better for me to avoid farm situations than to explore them.

All of that said, I went to this farm yesterday with my family & friends. On the way there, when I realized that we were going to a real farm (as opposed to a place that has a little petting "zoo" that sells ice cream) I said to Jeremy, "Is this our friends' way of getting me to a real farm?!" As much as I don't like farms, I appreciate what they give us (food, milk, etc) and the hard work and sacrifice it takes to run a farm. And I am trying really hard not to taint my children's perspective of farms and all that goes along with them. So far I think we're okay. Jeremy and the kids went in the barn to check out the cows and my kids loved it. I happily waited outside. I love that my kids enjoy farms and part of me wishes I could tolerate the smell.

After the kids washed their hands from looking at the cows, they ran to the play area. Daniel loved climbing up and sitting on the tractor. He was so proud!

Photo courtesy of Daniel

After checking out the little store, we went back to our friends' place and enjoyed some of the nummy ice cream cones (Bubble Gum and Caramel Swirl - separate, not mixed!). After some visiting we headed home. I popped the kids into the bath and tucked them into bed.

~ ~ ~

While I put the kids to bed, Jeremy went over to our neighbor's and helped him pick up some wooden planks from the store and take them to his backyard. We are really enjoying getting to know our neighbors more. Jeremy is always looking for ways to connect with our neighbors. The ones on either side of us are not Christians (yet) so with each friendly interaction and helping hand, we hope that they will be able to see Jesus in us, in our everyday lives.

~ ~ ~

This morning I considered putting some laundry on the line. Am I ever glad I didn't. About 10:45am the clouds opened up and spilled forth their contents! I haven't seen or heard rain like that for a long time. Within minutes, the gutters were overflowing.

Our neighbor's house

Because of the immense amount of rain, a poorly-made seam (by the previous owners) started leaking into our house. We dealt with leaking after we first moved in but haven't had to deal with it since Jeremy and Adrian (we originally bought our house with Adrian and his wife, Patty; we bought out their portion this past fall) did a temporary (3-5yrs) repair. As soon as I discovered the dripping by the back door I knew what I had to do.

After setting up my kids (thankfully the little guy I take care of was napping) with their TV shows, I went outside to conquer the rain. I was armed with my rain jacket (it was still raining hard), a plastic kitchen stirring spoon and the telephone (I always figure if something goes wrong at least I'll be able to call 911 - hopefully!). I positioned the ladder, climbed up and onto the roof. Oh the gunk! Decaying leaves, pine needles, small branches, sludge, pine cones, and cold water! Out it all came allowing the water to flow!

I decided I was finished when I was drenched and cold, the phone was ringing in my jacket pocket (Jeremy was checking in on how the leak was going - go figure!) and "my" little guy's grandma was here to pick him up. The leaking stopped! I saved the day!

Visiting with Friends

This weekend (yesterday until today) we headed to Vancouver and stayed the night with our friends, Barton & Heather and their two kids (3yrs & 18mths). Our kids were so excited that we were going to sleepover at their house and to go to their church.

Jeremy and Barton were roommates during their first year of Bible college. After their first year they both transferred over to Columbia Bible College during Heather's second(?) year and my third year. That was where Barton & Heather and Jeremy & I met each other and our spouses! Jeremy & Barton had many conversations about the women winning their hearts!

Anyway, Barton is a pastor of a church in Vancouver, so this weekend, we not only got to visit with our friends whom we hadn't seen for so long, but we got to hear Barton preach for the first time since he's been pastoring this church (6yrs). I will do a separate post about his sermon because there I have a lot to share about it!

We arrived at Barton & Heather's a "little" late (sorry guys!) yesterday afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful BBQ with their family.

Daniel, Emily, Becca & Tyler enjoying ice cream for dessert

Emily & Becca

Tyler

Our kids all got along wonderfully. Their 3yr old daughter, Emily, was thrilled to have Becca play with her and Becca was so excited that they had a little girl close to her age! The two girls had a sleepover in Emily's room last night - you would think they were teenagers for how late they stayed up! Finally after being separated, they both settled down and went to sleep. Daniel, thankfully, was sound asleep in our room. The grown-ups had a great time catching up on life over the past years and reminiscing about Bible college days!

This morning we attended their church. It was only the second time we've been there since Barton began pastoring at the church 6 yrs ago. The first time we went to celebrate him being ordained and begin his pastorship. Daniel & Rebecca had fun during the kids' time at church. Daniel didn't want to leave - he was having too much fun playing with the lego! After church, we took the kids to a playground (Barton had a previous commitment so he wasn't able to join us) and let the kids play while we waited for our delicious pizza to be made. After a quick lunch (their little Tyler was more than ready for his nap), we said our good-byes and went our separate ways.

We didn't have all that much time together but the time we did have was so good. We were able to reconnect again and are looking forward to the next time we go for a visit. Before we said our good-byes today, Emily asked if we would be coming back to their house again soon. It was so sweet! How could we say no?! The girls got along so well. The sweetest was when our girls walked down the sidewalk holding hands, wearing red dresses and with their hair braided (thanks, Heather!) looking like the best of friends! What a treasured memory!

Thankful Thursday

It's Thurday ~ time for pausing to think of the things we are thankful for.

Today, I am thankful I put my wants aside for a bit and spent time with my daughter. Rather than reading, watching TV or blogging I spent time with Rebecca.

She wanted to play a board game. After she had played by herself for a few minutes, she asked if I would play. I have never been the kind of mom who sits on the floor and plays with my kids for long periods of time. I just never really enjoyed it. However, as time has passed, I have realized some of the perfect opportunities I lost to connect with my children. These days I am trying to be more intentional about spending quality time with my kids, even when I don't want to or it seems unnatural for me.

This morning, Becca asked me to play Snakes & Ladders with her. I stopped what I was doing and we enjoyed a great game! Then, later after the littlest guy was down for his nap, Becca called me into her room to show me the amazing train tracks she had set up. The tracks weren't quite matching up so I helped her to fix them and then we played together. New routes were created, wooden animals were added to the fun (we had to get creative when the zebra wouldn't fit in the tunnel), and blocks were used to construct a barn. It was fun watching her use her imagination. Times like these are priceless and I hope to have more of them!

Check out Iris' blog to participate in Thankful Thursday or to read other people's thankful thoughts.

Faith Lifts is Back!

The daily devotionals, Faith Lifts from 5 Minutes for Mom, is back up and running! It has been on hiatus for the past couple months as it was waiting for some new people to fill in the gaps. I read today's devotional, the first official one since starting up again, and I have already been challenged.

Today's devotional, "Waiting on the Lord", is about beginning our day with God (click here to read this post). While reading it, I was encouraged to try BEGINNING my day with God. That doesn't mean waiting until 11am when kids are napping and the chaos of children playing has subsided, although that is a great time for me to do my devotions.

What I mean is to BEGIN my day with God before my feet even hit the floor! I know this will be challenging for me.

First, I don't like mornings, I never have! Before having kids, people would ask me when I was going to have a baby. I would quickly answer, "When I'm ready to give up sleeping in!" I have given up sleeping in (although I still try to on Sundays - I love Saturday night church!), but the thought of getting up any earlier than I need to is NOT appealing to me, to say the least.

Secondly, I don't often wake up until I hear a knock at my door announcing my day care kids arrival. Either that or I'm jumping out of bed to get Daniel ready for school.

So my plan for tomorrow (I'm taking this one day at a time) is to say a quick prayer for God to guide my day and to give me the strength and wisdom I need for the day, all before my feet hit the floor and I stumble down the hall to answer the door.

I believe that focusing on God FIRST will help me to be more aware of Him in my day, which in turn will help me be a better parent. I don't claim that I will have a perfect day - God doesn't promise that, but He DOES promise that He will meet all my needs ("And my God will meet all your needs..." Philippians 4:19) because His grace is sufficient for me ("My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9).

For me, this is something that will be quite difficult to accomplish, but with His strength I will try! I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Mother's Day!

Six years ago I celebrated my first official Mother's Day! The year before that I was pregnant so I wasn't officially a mommy yet. I thought it would be fun to show a few pictures leading up to me becoming a Mommy for the first time!

Jeremy & I at our friends' wedding

(approx. 20wks pregnant with Daniel)

May '01

Sept. '01 (38wks pregnant)

I'm a Mommy at last!

Sept. 30, 2001

Approx. 7am

Our new family

Jeremy, Leanne, Daniel & Richard (our former foster-son)

Then 2 1/2yrs later, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Rebecca, into our lives.

Yesterday's Mother's Day celebration was pretty low key but ended up being very relaxing and enjoyable.

We began our day by going to church, something that is weird for us! We normally have church Saturday night (our church rents another church's building, so we meet Saturday night so as not to "push" each other out on Sundays). This past weekend we joined with another church and met Sunday morning! It did kind of throw off the feel of our weekend a little but it was all good. So after church, we headed to the first restaurant that didn't have a 2hr wait! We managed to find one with only a 15 minute wait!

After lunch we headed home so the kids could give me their gifts. Daniel made a cute card and a very nice candle holder at school. It was very sweet!

Then, the kids - along with Jeremy - gave me the gift they all worked together on. Jeremy says I can't keep plants alive (I keep disagreeing but after looking around at the variety of dead plants, I'm beginnig to think I might have to agree!), so I was presented with a beautiful planter full of artificial silk flowers placed in real soil! I love the colors (blue being my favorite) and the kids were excited to show me the the flowers they each picked out. Daniel chose the pussywillows and Becca chose the blueberries. The great thing is that last summer I kept looking everywhere for a taller planter but, not wanting to spend lots of money, I didn't end up buying one. And here they gave me one for Mother's Day! It was perfect!

I was out with some ladies from our church on Friday night and ended up being out quite late, so needless to say, I was still tired yesterday. Jeremy took Becca grocery shopping while I stayed home and napped and Daniel watched some TV. Later, Jeremy put the groceries away, made supper and got the kids ready for bed. I really felt like I had a day off from "Mommy Duties". That is probably one of the best gifts I could have, especially these days with the extra kids I take care of!

After a phone call with my Mom and sister, Jeremy & I relaxed with some TV and headed off to bed. It was another great Mother's Day!