Overflowing with Thankfulness

For anyone who may have wondered...yes, my family and I are still alive and well. Life has been humming along at full speed, and I’m too busy managing each overstuffed day to sit down and reflect on it in lengthy typed paragraphs. But in honor of Thanksgiving, my Good Morning Girls study is having a week of being intentionally grateful. Our first assignment was to make a list of the things, people, and circumstances for which we are thankful. My list turned out to be too long to condense into a hastily written Facebook post. Instead, I thought that I’d clear some dust off the 'ole blog, and share with all of you a few of the things that are evoking joy in my heart right now.

Because I love (and am thankful for!) organization, I have categorized my list of blessings. And for those who, like myself, are appreciative of proper English spelling and grammar, I hope that my consistent use of capitalized and punctuated sentence fragments will overshadow my violation of the complete-sentence rule. Below, enjoy my 2012 Thankful List.

Food: Yummy breakfasts of granola or oatmeal. Eggs, meat, and nuts for protein. Being able to afford Shakeology, the Healthiest Meal of the Day. Homemade baked goodies. Feasting on Thanksgiving. Cookies and pies and other treats. Going out to eat. The freedom and responsibility to choose what to buy and what to cook each day.

Appliances: A high-tech, front-loading washing machine that gets all of our clothes nice and clean. Our dishwasher, which spares me from many hours of dishwashing every day. A refrigerator and freezer to keep our abundance of food fresh.

Warmth: Long, hot showers. The bathroom heater to enhance my long, hot showers. A cozy house to keep out the wind and rain. Quilts and blankets and warm clothing to snuggle in. Heat in my car. Peppermint tea with honey.

Abundance: Having two vehicles so that we’re never “stranded.” Being able to give away clothes that don’t fit right because we don’t need them. Having more food than we need, and never going hungry. Shelves loaded with books, including many translations of the Bible, as well as having the Scripture at our fingertips with smart phone apps and Bible Gateway. Having plenty of technological gadgets to manage our lives and keep us connected.

Senses: Soft, kissable baby cheeks. The way candlelight flickers. Stomping and shuffling through crunchy autumn leaves. The smells of cookies in the oven and cinnamon. The peaceful stillness of the house when everyone else is sleeping.

Activities: My local MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers), where fellow moms “in the trenches” of parenting and I can encourage each other over snacks and crafts. Accountability and exhortation from daily Bible Study through my Good Morning Girls group. Being able to put our children in gymnastics, which they love. Visiting friends and inviting them to visit us. Apple picking every September. Living close enough to the beach that we could drive there every week this summer. Swimming and kayaking and snorkeling and sunbathing at the lake.

Freedoms: The privilege of homeschooling my children and choosing their curriculum. The right to own guns for sport and self-defense. Having no fear of persecution for owning a Bible or going to church. The right to participate in choosing our government. Living in a capitalist republic. All of the soldiers who have made sacrifices to obtain and defend the freedoms we enjoy.

Health and fitness: Not having to worry about deadly diseases. Every day that I don’t have a headache. Being healthy enough to workout daily. Getting physically stronger. All of our fitness equipment and many home workout programs. Healthy children who are growing and developing.

Family: The rare but precious times when I see or overhear my children being kind to each other. Going on vacation to the mountains, beach, or on a cruise together. Grandparents who are generous and always willing to babysit. Laughing together. Having no shortage of people to pray for, hug, and visit.

Church: Our church family of dear people who love and encourage us. The ladies who are happy to snuggle Abby in the nursery. Friends who have new babies and like to talk about “mom stuff.” Singing praise songs and dancing for joy. Pastors who explain God’s Word with boldness and clarity. Friends all over the country who are brothers and sisters in Christ.

My husband: Late night laughter over something silly. Date nights at the beach or gun club or our favorite steak house. Snuggling on the couch. His willingness to work hard at multiple jobs to give us a better life. The way all children adore him and teens trust him. His strong sense of right and wrong, and ability to defend his position. His incredible strength. His ability to do crazy flips and other gymnastics. His blue eyes. Backrubs. Being woken up on weekday mornings by his kisses. Chatting and texting during the day. Praying together.

My children: Raising smart, beautiful children whom other people like. Watching them play together. Donny’s intelligence, his interest in all kinds of learning, his newfound love for reading, his mind for engineering, his helpfulness with household chores, his appreciation for organization. Hayden’s affection, his intelligence, his perfect handwriting, his physical strength, his love for God’s Word. Lydia’s verbal skills, her cheerful attitude, the funny things she says, her bedtime “one more hug”s. Abby’s snuggles, her tentative first steps, the way she has blossomed from tiny newborn into tiny person with thoughts and feelings, the way she plays with her siblings, her sweet smile. The way they snuggle up together and say, "Take our picture!"

My job: Being the one to teach my children almost everything they know. Not having a boss to report to or a commute to work. Using my creativity to turn a house into a home. Making life run more smoothly with schedules and organization. Earning extra income through my Beachbody business not because I have to, but because I want to. Helping others to get fit and healthy.

My God: God’s faithfulness to meet with me whenever I seek Him. Finding comfort in His Word. Growing in my feeble understanding of the Holy Spirit. The amazing privilege of participating in God’s work through prayer. Seeing prayers answered. Not having to be perfect, because I can’t be, and knowing that I am still loved. The glorious freedom of being in Christ - freedom from sin, and from restrictive laws. Most of all, Jesus’ death and resurrection for me. Without that, nothing else matters. He is everything!

This fall’s Bible study was on the book of Colossians. When we delved into Chapter 2, this verse stood out to me:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6-7

I have been blessed with so much in my life. It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, or that I never have struggles and trials. We can be thankful for good circumstances, but true thankfulness goes beyond circumstances. True thankfulness looks beyond the comforts of earth to the hope of heaven, and rejoices in a God who is good even when circumstances are not. The Apostle Paul writes of his overflowing thankfulness from the dark recesses of prison. He isn’t rejoicing over free cable and hot meals - his thankfulness is all about Christ’s redeeming work on the cross.

Fellow believers, as we reflect on our blessings this Thanksgiving season, we can appreciate all that is good in our lives. But if we are truly rooted and built up in Christ, we won’t just be full of thanks . . . we will overflow!

The Exceeding Joy of Rained-out Vacations

My husband went on a business trip, and obligingly let me and my little nursling tag along. My generous sister-in-law was even willing to take the three big kids for four days and continue homeschooling them in my absence. (It's definitely a blessing to have another homeschooling mom in the family!). So on Monday afternoon, Don, Abby and I boarded a plane in Boston and headed to Orlando for some necessary business and some fun in the sun.

Abby was a doll on the plane ride, bouncing happily in the beginning and end, nursing on the way up and down, and sleeping on my lap in the middle. Since I tend to get sick on plane rides myself, I am very thankful for children who tolerate them well. Our flight was delayed about 20 minutes by some bad weather, but we eventually landed, and my ear popped enough to relieve the painful pressure I had experienced in the air. After a long trek and then a wait at baggage claim, we gathered our suitcases and went to pick up our rental car. Although we were staying on Disney property during the conference and a shuttle was provided, I had requested renting a car for a day so that we could spend a few hours at Cocoa Beach, just an hour away from Orlando. Why come all the way to Florida without seeing the ocean? Don had agreed that it would be fun if we rented a cool sporty convertible to cruise to the beach, so we went to the rental counter to pick up our Ford Mustang.

Except, the Mustang wasn't there. They wanted to give us a Sebring instead, but we had paid for a Mustang convertible. After a few minutes, a suitable car was found, and we crammed our suitcases, stroller, and selves into the black sportscar. It was now much later than I had anticipated leaving the airport, and the skies looked ominous, so we weren't sure if driving all the way to the beach was a good idea. We decided to take our luggage to the hotel and make a decision there. We drove with the top up, because it was raining, and Abby - who had been so sweet and wonderful on the plane ride - screamed the entire way. The car had great pick-up, but the headrests were uncomfortable, and the voice commands took ages to respond correctly. At check-in, there was a brief scare where Don thought that we were being charged $500 to add Abby and me to the room (thankfully it was just a misunderstanding!). Then we found our way through the maze of the resort paths and halls to our room, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

In case you haven't guessed by now, we weren't going to the beach. As much as we wanted to, the thought of driving all the way there only to find rain was discouraging. Abby was asleep in her carseat, so we headed out to dinner at the Outback instead. Some good food helped the evening take a turn for the better, and then we returned the rental car and rode the shuttle bus back to our resort. Our room was nothing terribly special, but it was cleaner than some hotels where we have stayed, and it was nice to finally relax.

On Tuesday morning, I had planned to take care of some business computer tasks and get a tan by the pool. God had other plans, though; the internet was painfully slow, and it rained all morning. A mid-day overcast sky gave me just enough time to take a walk with Abby before more rain came. We were here in Florida, the Sunshine State, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. With no beach, unfavorable pool weather, no where to go without stepping outside, and a slow internet connection, the cable TV was starting to look like the highlight of the trip. As I walked along winding paths through the muggy grayness, I wondered what God was trying to say to me. I wasn't happy, but I knew that He is in control. For some reason, He saw fit to send rain.

Back in the hotel room, as I wondered what God was saying, I clearly felt Him tell me to listen. I hadn't bothered to pack a Bible, since I knew it would be accessible on my phone and laptop, but thankfully the Gideons had placed one in my dresser drawer. I opened it up somewhere in the middle to see how the Lord would speak to me through His Word, and here is what I read:

Psalm 43
Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Isn't it amazing that when we listen, God speaks? There in a simple Psalm, He clearly told me: "I am your health, your beauty, your joy. Sunshine and swimming pools can't give you the joy that I can. When you feel discontent, and things aren't going perfectly, look at ME! I am Light and Truth and the Way. Come to me, because here is not some shallow, sun-kissed happiness, but deep and lasting exceeding joy!"

And by God's grace, on Wednesday, the sun came out. I probably wouldn't have appreciated it so much if it hadn't rained on Monday and Tuesday. And I may never have looked up and wondered and read and remembered that no matter what the weather, exceeding joy is mine in Christ.

How to Have a Happy Birthday

If you want to have a Happy Birthday, decide ahead of time that you will. Attitude is 90 percent of having a happy day.

If your husband happens to be home and agreeable, kick off the celebration by going out - alone! - for an hour on your Birthday Eve. Enjoy the quiet drive to the electronics store. Return the tablet that you bought to replace your deceased laptop, and pick out a shiny new Samsung laptop instead. The tablet is a neat piece of technology, but not very functional for managing a home, school, business, and social life at the same time. Don't waste time mourning the death of your old laptop, even if it did eat your baby's six month pictures and all of your documents when the hard drive crashed. Your blog readers will understand why they'll never see those image-laden posts you had intended to write last week. Take this as a reminder to back up anything important. Right now. (I'm talking to you. Stop reading and go back up your pictures!)

Before heading to bed, change your earrings. If your husband has turned you into a girlie-girl (and he has), he'll want you to have a girl's best friend, and you'll want to look a little extra special for your special day.

On your birthday morning, wake up early - even if you think you could use another hour of sleep. You don't want to waste your birthday lying around in bed. Enjoy your husband's presence, since he is usually at work long before you open your eyes in the morning. Graciously remind him and your children what day it is. Never resent others for not being as date-conscious as you are. If the day matters to you, tell them, smile, and return their birthday hugs.

Check in with your Bible study group on Facebook. Spend some time in the Word, remembering Who gave you this day and every other. Read messages and emails from friends. You just might have a message inviting you to a tour of a local dairy farm on that very day. Since the sun is shining, everyone is healthy, and you have a vehicle for the first time this week, you should go! Plus, you love cows. (Don't you?)

Don't skip your workout; exercise will help keep you happy, and burn off a few of those birthday treat calories too. Shower, eat, and pack up the children for a fun field trip adventure. Meet up with your friend Nancy and her little ones, known by your children as "the family we met in the bikes," because she recognized you from your blog posts and introduced herself when your families were both shopping at WalMart one day. Meet some other homeschooling families, a farmer, and lots of cows.

Learn alongside your children about how the cows are cared for and the milk is processed. Buy plenty of goodies at the farm store - it is your birthday, after all. Rare treats of ice cream, pie, and honey sticks will make the day so much sweeter.

When you arrive home in the afternoon, watch with delight as a monarch butterfly flits arounds your front door. Let the children stay outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Accept and cherish their offerings of weeds, wildflowers, and a heart-shaped leaf. Then send the older ones to your mother-in-law's. They'll have fun playing with relatives while you enjoy some relative peace and quiet.

Snuggle up with baby in your favorite nursing chair and take a nap together. You won't get much done, you might not even get much rest, but you'll want to savor this moment. Remember doing the same thing half a year ago with your tiny newborn? Before you know it, a few more half-years will go by, and she will be too big for nursing and snuggly afternoon naps in your arms.

If you have time, send a few emails so you can feel like you were productive. Smile that birthday cards and the book you pre-ordered a few weeks ago arrived in the mail. Share your testimony with friends, and reflect on God's grace in your life. Bake the chicken pie (that you bought at the farm) to share with your family when they come home. Finish the day with apple pie, Bible stories, and hugs. Contemplate writing a blog post to recount all of the little blessings of the day. You have had a simple but wonderful birthday, and you are thankful!

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17

Arrows in Hand

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.
Psalm 127:4-5

With the sudden arrival of spring, the sunshine has gone straight to my head. Even today, a Tuesday, I was still on a bit of a high from the weekend. A visit with a sister in Christ on Friday, fun with friends on Saturday, and a beautiful sunny Sunday of worship and family time were blessings to my spirit.

At Don's suggestion on Sunday afternoon, we all went to the local Fish and Game Club that we recently joined, where everyone but Abby tested out my pink bow, and we only lost a few arrows. Then we trekked over the muddy trail through the woods to see the under-construction 600 yard rifle range. It was a perfect afternoon for a nature walk, with Daddy pushing the girls in the double stroller while I practiced running in my fantastic new shoes. We raced the last stretch back to van, sweaty and thirsty and laughing together. Back at home, we finished off the evening with baths, grilled hamburgers, and gathering around on the floor for Bible storytime. It was a simple but special afternoon, made all the more precious by the rarity of such moments of just relaxing and enjoying our togetherness.

Monday came and went while the temperature rose. Then last night, a sick little Hayden staggered out to the living room. Daddy bathed him while I changed sheets and blankets and wiped up floors. Thankfully, he returned to bed without any more vomiting disruptions, and we all got a good night's sleep (which I am learning to never take for granted). I didn't set my alarm, but still managed to get a workout in this morning while the baby and Hayden were still sleeping.

While I finished stretching, sweet Lydia came to join me, and her attempts to copy my splits made me smile. Then, ever specific in her snack requests, she asked for "some of Daddy's cottage cheese." I didn't think she liked cottage cheese, but she ended up finishing it, and asking for more...and more. Then while I showered, I heard her at the sink and asked, "What are you doing, Lydia?" She was washing the bowl from her snack, of course! I was touched by her capabilities and charming two year old ways, and counted my blessings as I sat down to nurse the now-awake and hungry Miss Abby.

Suddenly, a loud crash rang through the house, freezing both Donny and me in our tracks for a millisecond, until an unusual scream came from Lydia's room. Donny ran in while I unlatched Abby and followed, only to see Donny run back out, also screaming. A five-drawer dresser had fallen, drawers spewed open, and I couldn't see Lydia.

In the next few seconds, I located her distressed face pinned in the wreckage, pushed the dresser back in its upright position, and lifted a drawer off her helpless leg. Donny asked if he should get the phone (I said no) and helped comfort his crying baby sister while I lifted the other sister onto the bed. There was a deep indentation in her shin where the edge of the drawer had been pressed into her. And...that was it. No breaks, no blood. She was crying, but she could stand and wiggle her toes and hug me back as I wrapped my arms around her and thanked God.

I have heard tragic stories of toddlers being killed by falling dressers, so "never climb a bookshelf or a dresser" has always been a rule in our house - a rule repeated one time too few, perhaps. Or we could blame the backlog of unfolded laundry; when she found her bottom drawer empty of the usual dresses and pants, she had opened higher drawers in an attempt to reach them and find something to wear. Whatever the cause, I thank God for Lydia's doll stroller, which had been parked in front of the dresser and seemed to absorb some of the blow from the falling furniture. The metal frame was cracked and mangled, but dear Lydia was safe.

Despite the morning's scare, the day was peaceful. Hayden slept much of the day, as did Abby, lending an usual quietness to our busy house. I sent Donny and Lydia to the backyard with sidewalk chalk, and Donny showed her how to write the letters of the alphabet. I caught up on emails and business things, folded laundry, and read aloud to the boys for school.

And now that the laundry is folded and tucked into closed drawers, beds are covered in fresh clean sheets, and little heads are resting on their pillows, I am left thanking God for each of these precious blessings. They have their share of trouble and tantrums, but they are also all unique and wonderful personalities who make our lives richer and our everyday moments sweeter.

Thank you, Lord, for the privilege of raising arrows for You, and thank you for keeping each one of them safe in Your hand.

Wordless Wednesday: Crazy Happy Siblings

I love these little people!
I am so blessed to bask in their smiles every day.



He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
~ Job 8:21

All Things New

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!"
Isaiah 43:18-19a

Happy New Year! I hope to be able to blog more in 2012, but so many new things are keeping me busy that I rarely have a spare moment at the computer. There's the new baby, of course, who has been keeping hands occupied for three sweet months now. And Don starting a new job meant more transitions for our family. Since he can set his own hours, he has been leaving home extra early in order to beat the rush hour traffic. The trade-off for his pre-dawn disappearance is that we get to spend time with him in the afternoon. Of course, now that he is working outside the home and I have errands and children's activities to get to, we also needed a second vehicle.

For a few weeks, we pondered the many options: an expensive new commuter car, a cheap old car that may break down, a bigger family vehicle so that Don could take the van (which we own), buying him a truck that could also be used for trash-hauling and hunting trips, leasing something, and so on. Meanwhile, our dear friends were also in the process of preparing for a new job. Jared's new position as a youth pastor at a church in Kansas meant that he and Laura would be moving halfway across the country, and they didn't want to drive both of their vehicles out there, so they planned to sell their Chrystler Sebring convertible. Though we didn't know much about the car, it seemed like a clear sign to us that we should buy from our friends who needed to sell - the transaction would benefit both of our families as the husbands started their new jobs. As it turned out, Jared and Laura needed to use the car up until a certain Friday, and the very first day that Don needed to drive to work was the following Monday - AND we were already going to Jared and Laura's house for their going-away party that very weekend! As if that wasn't enough, we expressed interest in buying the car before we knew how much it was worth. Meanwhile, Jared had prayerfully set the price tag at $2000. Ever since Don and I paid off our van, we have been setting a certain amount of money aside each month in an ING account called "New Car Savings." In December, we had over $1900 in the account, and on January 1st, the total would have topped $2000! I love when God works things out right to the last penny to answer our prayers. And even though it's not a brand new pickup truck or gas-saving hybrid supercar, Don is actually enjoying his new vehicle. My cold-hating husband was even caught driving home from work with the top down on a 50 degree December day!

There have been changes at home, too. Now that we no longer need to use one bedroom as an office, our growing family can fill our three bedrooms instead of cramming into two. While in the process of changing the office to a girls' room, we ripped out the nasty old carpet and had new carpet installed. The night before it arrived, when excess furniture and miscellaneous stuff was cluttering every room in order to leave the office completely empty, my husband (after chatting with his mother) suggested an even better idea: the newly carpeted room could be our room. The girls could have the boys' room. And the boys, and all of their toys, could have the oversize room we've been using as a master bedroom/nursery. We just hit the three year mark in this house (twice as long as we've lived anywhere else!), so it was fun (though temporarily chaotic) to change things up a bit. We are all very happy with the new set up, so when I get a chance, I'll share some pictures. I also got, after a long wait for the rescheduled delivery and a few frustrating phone calls, a brand new front loading washer. It may seem silly, but after having a very basic washing machine for five years, I am so excited about all the different cycles! It is especially nice for washing diapers. Instead of running up and down the basement stairs three times to prewash, wash, and rinse, I can just set a long sanitize cycle and forget about it until everything is clean. What a blessing!

The household rearranging was completed just in time to start our new school year this week. Since we started First Grade last January and finished in November after schooling straight through the summer, it is time to move on to second grade. I am excited about using the My Father's World Adventures curriculum since we have had such good experiences with their Kindergarten and First Grade programs. This year we will be learning about the 50 states, American history, and the names of Jesus related to our science studies. We're looking forward to a great year! In addition to homeschool, visits with grandparents, and continuing to get together with friends for Lego building time, we will also be making weekly trips to the gym. Hayden had his first gymnastics class last week and loves it already! His gymnast Daddy is thrilled, of course, and Lydia can't wait until she is big enough to join a class too!

Don and I are keeping up our own physical fitness with a brand new workout program called P90X2. Beachbody's P90X extreme fitness program is well known for yielding great results, so we hope that this sequel will do the same. Don has done P90X a few times, and I completed it myself at the end of 2010 (one of the reasons I wasn't blogging then - it's very time consuming!). It is difficult to squeeze in hour-long workouts with a new baby and three loud children who alternate between wanting to join the workout and sabotaging it with their demands ("Can I please have one raisin?"), but I love the results of a challenging exercise program. Don also wanted to follow the diet program, so I have been carefully meal planning and calorie counting for him. (Since I'm nursing and don't need to lose weight, I am not worried about the number of calories I eat, but I am trying to avoid the pile of Christmas candy in the cupboard!) And between buying new workout programs and Don and I both drinking Beachbody's Shakeology® daily, I concluded that it was worth signing up to be an Independent Team Beachbody Coach, both to get a discount ourselves, and to be able to share these products with others. We were already telling people how much we love certain products, and now we can send them to my Beachbody site to learn more about the workout programs, nutritional supplements, and online tools that Beachbody offers.

Finally, I had been thinking and praying about finding a group of other women with whom I could meet for prayer, encouragement, and accountability, when the Lord graciously introduced me to Good Morning Girls. Since Good Morning Girls is a form of online accountability for having daily quiet time, it is perfect for moms like me who may not be able to get to Bible studies and prayer groups outside of the home. A group of my local young mom friends and I have committed to hold each other accountable to grow daily with God, and we'll be emailing each other every weekday to encourage one another and share what we are learning. I am looking forward to getting to know these wonderful ladies better, and to see how God will use our group for His glory! I will also be participating in the free Ephesians Bible Study offered by Good Morning Girls. If you don't already have a daily time set aside with God, I encourage you carve out a few minutes of your day, join me in this study, and invite others to hold you accountable. I know God will bless us for being faithful to Him!

And lest you start to suspect that I am some kind of wondermom, able to embark on a myriad of new adventures without batting an eye, you should know that there is a basket of clean laundry that has been sitting in my bedroom for so long that the boys have been shopping for clean clothes in there every morning. There are piles of clutter resulting from the bedroom switcheroo (and ensuring closet switcheroo) that are driving me crazy, and I haven't baked bread (which I used to do weekly) for a year. I can't do it all, but I can do that which God has given me for this season with His help and His grace, and I am so thankful for the many new blessings and opportunities He has already given me this year. By His strength, I am excited to dive into 2012!

A Little Thankful Thursday

It's November, the time of year when even the secular world pauses to count their blessings and pin "I'm thankful for" feathers on a paper turkey. I have heard many wonderful ideas of ways to share our thankfulness, from a Thanksgiving Tree to dropping slips of paper in a box (to be read aloud at Thanksgiving dinner) to posting one thankful item per day on Facebook. In my college years, my sisters and I created a thankful poster each November, and all of the family members jotted down blessings - from salvation to sugar cookies - to add to the poster. Then when Donny and Hayden were in kindergarten, which finished last November, they created a page for their Blessings Books every Thursday. They would draw a picture of something they were thankful for, I would help them spell the word, and the sheet of paper was tucked inside a sheet protector in a 3-ring binder.

While the boys were hard at work on these precious keepsakes, I would pick up my own notebook and jot a few bullet notes of things I was thankful for that week. Sadly, since we finished kindergarten, both the children and I have often neglected to thank God for both the small and large gifts we receive each day. But tonight, in a rare moment of quiet, I picked up my long-forgotten notebook and quickly filled a page with a few of the ways God has blessed me recently. Here is my list. When you finish reading, grab a piece of paper or open a new text document and start your own!

Tonight I am thankful for...

• a warm, cozy home
• chicken soup on a rainy day
• sweet sleepy newborn noises
• being blessed with Abigail Joy on 10/10
• an easier C-section recovery than last time
• surviving the first trip to the grocery store with all four children
• the lady in line behind me saying, "Can I just tell you, you are the most calm mother! And your children are so well-behaved!"
• a small opportunity to witness when the cashier agreed with her and asked, "What do you do different?"
• knowing that anything good in me or our family is only by His grace
• the fun anticipation surrounding birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas
• having the resources to bless children around the world by participating in Operation Christmas Child
• my husband's new job that will allow him to grow professionally and (hopefully) ease his stress
• God's continual financial provision as our family grows
• a few moments of quiet while everyone else sleeps to sense the Lord's presence and bask in His love
  
• knowing that I serve a very big God!
  

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6-7

The Father's Joy: Not a VBAC Story

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
John 16:21

(Disclaimer: This is a birth story. Some details may not be appropriate for men, children, or the squeamish. :)

On the afternoon of Sunday the 9th, my husband and I dropped the children off at my parents' house and drove to the hospital for my pre-op appointment. I was having some contractions, enough to make me somewhat uncomfortable and even require the occasional deep breath, but then again, I had been having sporadic contractions for a few weeks. As expected, the pre-op included signing paperwork, having blood drawn, and going over every detail of the morning's scheduled surgery with the nurse. When our questions had been answered, Don and I went to dinner at our favorite steakhouse to enjoy one more date before baby came (and so that I wouldn't have any dishes to wash). We came home to a strangely quiet house. I folded the last scraps of laundry, emptied the trash, and double-checked our bags to ensure that everything was packed. We were as ready as we could possibly be to bring home a new baby.

Before heading to bed, I quickly looked up some information on "irritable uterus." Apparently, the term refers to frequent, irregular contractions toward the end of pregnancy that - unlike true labor - do not cause the cervix to dilate. With the frequent tightness and contracting I had recently experienced, I suspected that my uterus was, in fact, irritable. Don and I stayed up too late talking, and when he went to sleep around midnight, I found myself lying wide awake. I finally got to sleep after an hour or so, only to wake up sometime after 3am with continuing contractions. These were strong enough that I couldn't sleep through them, and found myself wanting to change positions instead of lying still. After several had come and gone, I started glancing at the clock at the start of each one. They were four minutes apart. For anyone else, that would signal time to head to the hospital, but I knew my body. Since we had to be there at 6am anyway, I figured that I probably could just wait. So for two hours, I quietly drifted through steady contractions every four minutes. Finally, it was 5am and time to get up.

"So, if we get there and I'm at, like, 2 centimeters, we'll go ahead with the C-section as planned," I proposed to Don, "but if I'm in active labor, maybe we can wait a few hours and see if she comes out?" "We'll see," he replied, as we drove through the silent darkness. It was too early for anyone else, or even the sun, to be up, and since I had hardly slept, it felt like it was still night. We arrived at the hospital a little before our 6:00 appointment, and I mentioned that I was having a lot of contractions. The first nurse I saw, ironically, was a friend of a friend whom I had gotten to know at our mutual friend's party several months ago. She seemed excited that I might be in active labor and asked if I wanted to be checked. Since we know each other, she called in another nurse to check me. I wasn't dilated. "I can barely get a fingertip in there," the second nurse said. Yes, several hours of painful contractions every four minutes had done absolutely nothing to push this baby out.

As frustrating as this news could have been, it actually brought me a lot of peace. I couldn't help but laugh at God's timing, to send me this mock labor just hours before my scheduled surgery. If the contractions had started just a few days earlier, I'm sure I would have been back and forth to the doctor's office several times waiting for my cervix to dilate, all while having painful contractions, and it probably would have ended much like Lydia's birth - with a baby that wouldn't come out. Instead, the Lord gave me just enough contractions to feel like I was doing something good for Abby's health. (Statistically, C-section babies who experience labor before birth have fewer breathing problems than those that are taken straight from the womb without experiencing labor contractions.) And He gave me peace in knowing that a natural, uncomplicated delivery was not His plan for this baby - beyond a doubt, submitting to my husband in scheduling the C-section had been the right thing to do. In fact, we had even picked the right day, because with the intensity of my contractions, I would have been heading to the hospital on the 10th either way! I knew that God would work everything out in His perfect timing, but He arranged the details even more perfectly than I could have imagined, so that I was fully, completely ready to have the C-section at 7:30am that morning.

Like when Lydia was born, inserting the IV was a failure due to my wiggly arm veins. When my nurse friend missed (and felt terrible about it), another nurse came in to start my IV and get me completely prepped for surgery. My contractions slowed down significantly as Don and I waited in our hospital room for the process to begin. After meeting with the doctor and anesthesiologist, it was finally time to walk down the hall to the OR. Don wasn't allowed to come in yet, so I had to sit on the edge of the table and lean against a nursing student for what seemed like a very long time as I waited for the spinal needle to be inserted. As soon as the discomfort was over, I felt somewhat sick and lightheaded. They laid me on the operating table as my lower half slowly fell asleep. I realized one advantage to an emergency Cesarean: everything happens so quickly, there is no time to realize how unpleasant it is. Lying sprawled out, drugged, and unable to move as doctors prepped every last detail seemed to last for ages this time. Finally, my sweet husband was allowed to come stand by my head and comfort me. I was concerned that I didn't feel numb yet; it was more like my legs were asleep. In fact, during the procedure, I was sure that someone or something was repeatedly poking me in the same spot. When Don looked, however, I was apparently cut wide open and nothing was touching the area where I was feeling pressure. It was strange and unpleasant, but apparently the discomfort was all in my head!

The details are fuzzy, but at some point during the procedure, I really didn't feel well. According to the anesthesiologist, my heart rate fell to something like 50 beats per minute and he had to give me medicine to get my heart rate up. Later, I felt tugging and knew this meant baby was coming out! "Guess what was around her neck two times?" Don asked. Like her brothers and sister before her, this baby had likewise strangled herself in the umbilical cord. Thankfully, in a C-section, a cord around the neck is not the problem in can often be during a vaginal delivery. (Both of my boys were fine within a few minutes of birth, but it certainly scared their Daddy to see them come out blue.) And soon after the tugging sensation, there was some very pronounced crying: our baby girl was born!

Of course, the nurses immediately took her to the side of the room to clean her up, examine, and weigh her. They were blocking my view, so Don took a picture and brought it back to show me. "Does she look like an Abigail?" he asked, knowing the name I was leaning towards. I said I needed to see her, not just a picture. Finally, after another long wait, they brought the naked baby over to me and placed her right on my chest. After having two babies whisked away after their vaginal births, I have longingly wished that I could hold my newborn against my chest immediately after birth, instead of seeing them for the first time swaddled in hospital blankets. This time, despite the wait, my first contact with my baby was a precious skin-to-skin bonding opportunity. She was so tiny: 5 pounds, 9 ounces, wonderfully perfect, and definitely an Abigail. When I noticed her tiny mouth rooting around on my chest, I asked for some help (not being able to move much, as I was still being sewn up) and allowed her to nurse. Right on the operating table, my little Abigail was nursing, and I was as happy as someone undergoing surgery could possibly be.

To complete my operation, the doctor stitched me back together on the inside, and then used superglue to seal my incision. I had no idea that superglue was a medical product, but supposedly it will heal with a clean scar, and no stitches to remove. The doctor had also cut around and removed my old scar, so this way I will only have one scar line from the two surgeries. Don and I asked him whether my uterus looked thin; after all, that was the reason an elective Cesarean had been recommended to me by the last doctor. No, he said, it didn't look unusually thin. The next day, in fact, he said he didn't see any reason it shouldn't hold up for another pregnancy, and that labor would even be possibility if I wanted to try it. Praise God for His healing hand on my womb!

The rest of the day was spent resting, recovering, and introducing Abby to her grandparents and siblings. Even after feeling returned to my legs, I couldn't get up because the medication from the spinal left me lightheaded and queasy. Still, I was able to snuggle with Abby and nurse her almost continually - for the first 24 hours, she was either sleeping or sucking. My sister-in-law noted that Don looked better than he ever had after the birth of one of our children. Certainly, this had been the easiest and least traumatic for him. Everything had gone smoothly, and sweet little Abigail was perfectly safe and healthy.

The name Abigail means "father's joy," so it fit her perfectly. Abigail Joy, our double joy, had brought joy to her earthly father with her smooth and predictable birth. And I trust that her Heavenly Father, who knew every heart conflict that led up to the day of her birth, was filled with joy as well. I will always be a supporter of the amazing miracle of natural labor and birth, and I would encourage other C-section moms to consider trying a VBAC with their doctor and husband's approval. But for Abigail and me, the scheduled C-section turned out to be the best plan. I am feeling better emotionally than I ever have in the postpartum weeks, and my physical discomfort is much than I experienced with my first C-section. Truly the Lord has been faithful to answer our prayer that this sweet baby, this gift from His own hand, would be received into the world with an abundance of joy.

A Perfect 10

The Lord has blessed us with another beautiful baby girll! Abigail Joy arrived by C-section this morning, 10/10/11. She weighs 5 pounds, 9 ounces and is 19 inches long. I am nauseous and sleepy, but otherwise doing well. Abby is healthy and nursing eagerly. I will share her birth story and more pictures when I am feeling up to it. For now, thank you for your prayers, and for rejoicing with us over this precious gift from the Lord!

Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.
Isaiah 49:1

Showered with Blessings

I will send down showers in season;
there will be showers of blessing.
~ Ezekiel 34:26b

I thought I was going to a ladies' dinner at my mom's house.  I was looking forward to the time of fellowship with Christian friends, despite having to leave the children at home with a reluctant husband.  I called on my way to let Mum know I was running about 15 minutes late. When I pulled in, there were a few more cars lining the road than I had anticipated - including one that bore a striking resemblance to my sister-in-law's minivan - but I didn't think much of it.  Then my mom met me in the driveway and told me, "There are a few extra people here....because it's a baby shower."

"For whom?" I asked.  (Okay, I said "who," but "whom" is correct.)

Had any thought run through my head before I spoke, I would have realized the obvious: it was for the pregnant lady who just arrived!  Yes, for my fourth baby, my dear mother planned and executed my first-ever surprise party and baby shower.  Since Donny was conceived so shortly after my wedding and we were blessed with ample hand-me-downs for him, I never had a baby shower.  When Hayden came along two years later, we had everything we needed for a baby boy.  Even when Lydia was born in 2009, generous friends and relatives provided all the girlie hand-me-downs and sweet new pink things we could imagine using.  It certainly wasn't a thought in my mind that anyone would plan a shower for me at this point in motherhood, but it was a wonderful surprise! (Oh, and my husband's reluctance to watch the children was all part of the cover-up!)

I was happy to see my good friend Audra there, who is due exactly one month before me.  This is the second time we've been pregnancy buddies - both times while expecting girls - so we of course had to get a baby bellies picture.

I savored a delicious catered dinner of lasagna followed by homemade apple pie (my favorite!) from another dear friend.  I also had the fun of opening precious little girlie outfits (including some with a matching dress for Lydia!), toys, gift cards, and even some books and movies for the older children to enjoy while I'm busy with the new baby.  We were even blessed with this adorable handmade quilt!

Thanks, Mum, for a special night, and for being a great mommy to your own two girls! I love you!

Reflections on Clearwater

As part of our recent family vacation to Florida, we were privileged to spend nearly two days in Clearwater Beach. The time went by quickly as we enjoyed the warm water, sweet sunshine, and white sand. The boys dug holes, built castles, and collected shells, while Lydia loved playing in the water with Daddy. Exciting findings included a hermit crab, sea sponge, and fossil rock with the print of a scallop shell. We even spent a precious evening on the shore watching the sun set over - or as it appeared, into - the Gulf of Mexico. On Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of our Savior right on the shore, enjoying the God's amazing creation as we remembered His most precious gift. I wished we could stay longer - and, admittedly, our curiosity did lead us to spend half an hour in discussion with a local real estate agent - but even a brief visit to such a beautiful place was a blessing. I am so thankful for the peaceful moments of reflection and the chance to watch our children discover one small corner of the amazing world God made.

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

~ Psalm 97:1

The perfect horizon

Swimming with Daddy

She loves the beach

The water is so clear!

Sunny smiles

Everyone out to sea, enjoying the calm waters

My goofy, sweet, precious gifts from God!

The sun melting into the ocean - what an incredible sight!

Seven Days of Grace for the Weak

Our mid-March taste of spring was apparently nothing more than a tease, because we had flurries and hail the following week, and - no joke! - a few inches of snow on April 1. In addition, after a blessedly healthy winter, everyone in our family now has a cold, which has only added to the list of daily concerns. In fact, last week was full of appointments and errands, sickness and showings. There were many little challenges, and yet through it all, there were glimpses of God's grace.

It was on Sunday that Lydia woke up with her nose running like a faucet - a faucet that continued to drip for several days, and needed to be chased with a tissue in order to prevent her from leaving a trail of mucous smears through the house. We had a showing right after church, which meant that the house had to be in perfect order before we left. My dear husband obligingly helped me by vacuuming the floors, but in the process, somehow managed to stop the agitator from functioning, effectively crippling our vacuum cleaner. I guess that's what I get for asking for help!

Since we could not go home right away, we tried something that is commonplace for most Americans, but not for our family: visiting a fast food drive-through. While we will occasionally stop to get something for Don, this was the first time that the whole family was part of the operation. Picky Donny had a nutritious lunch of French fries, while the only meat that was safe for allergic Hayden turned out to be some extremely sticky boneless chicken wings drowned in a leaky container of sauce. Despite the potential for disaster (and the lack of feedback from the home buyers) it was a nice afternoon, and I don't think we even left any French fries behind to pollute our vehicle.

Monday morning I took Hayden to a three hour long appointment at the allergist for an egg challenge. The purpose was to see if despite testing positive for egg allergies, he could tolerate small amounts of egg in a baked good. Over the course of three hours, the boy who has never tasted a trace off egg ingredients ate one and a half cookies that I had baked with egg in them. He had no reaction whatsoever, which led to the joyful proclamation: he can eat foods with baked with eggs! While he still has milk and nut allergies to beware of, and omelets are off limits, this will expand his dietary choices in exciting new ways. He was thrilled to be able to eat regular cookies!

Tuesday was an OB appointment to follow up on some minor bleeding I had a few weeks ago. I was not only relieved to know that the baby is alive and well, but it was incredible to see all the tiny features via ultrasound on a 2 1/2 inch long person. I am so thankful for the technology that allows us to have that glimpse into God's amazing Creation - truly He does knit us together in the womb!

Not all of pregnancy has been smooth-sailing; there is the regular first trimester fatigue and nausea to deal with, and in addition, my varicose veins are already showing their ugly selves. Many days this week, I had minor pain in my leg that made me long to get off my feet (a difficult task for busy mothers, as I'm sure you know). Wednesday we went for our weekly chiropractic adjustments, which have been immensely helpful for Hayden's breathing, but thanks to Lydia's cold, he still started to wheeze that evening. After the boys had gone to bed and I was figuring out how to set up Hayden's new humidifer, we got a call for a showing: tomorrow at 10:30am. Any delusions I had of getting to bed early were quickly swept away as I realized that I needed to get to work tidying, baking, and doing something to exterminate the pesky ants that kept crawling though our dining room.

The next morning was our typical pre-showing routine: rushed breakfast, quick clean-ups, putting away anything remotely personal or cluttery, turning on all the lights, and the boys playing Angry Birds on Don's phone to stay out of trouble. I baked some delicious chocolate chip cookies (thanks for the recipe, Di!) and had every crumb, dish, and speck of visible lint cleaned up just in time. The children's rough-housing left Lydia screaming and bleeding just minutes before departure time, but even so, things were (relatively) under control. The boys were in their boots waiting for me by the door when the phone rang: the showing was canceled. Apparently, the Lord wanted my house clean that day! And thanks to the lack of buyers, my sweet husband and I got to enjoy the cookies ourselves. We turned off the lights, put the cookies away, and breathed a mixed sigh of frustration and relief.

Friday is usually my grocery shopping day, but because we were already dressed to go out and snow was in this Friday's forecast, we made our weekly excursion a day early. Grocery shopping with three little ones has become a rather exhausting task which seems to suck up most of the day. That left Friday for homeschool. Did I mention that we are now doing five days of school a week? Since we took a year and a half to do kindergarten, I had planned to use a similar schedule for first grade, so that Donny would complete first grade at the same time his public school counterparts do, and we could have plenty of time for errands and outings with a 2 to 3 day per week school schedule. However, Don recently expressed his desire for the boys to learn as much as possible, and accordingly, we are now doing five days of school in one week instead of two. So far, the boys have not even seemed to notice the adjustment. I am so thankful that they are both eager learners who can master new material quickly!

By Friday, Don and Donny had the cold too, and I had a headache, so we missed our small group meeting of church friends. I ran to the pharmacy to pick up Hayden's nebulizer medication: has hasn't needed it for months, praise God, but this cold triggered his reactive airway disease. I had forgotten that our insurance does not cover the medicine up-front (they reimburse us for a portion of it instead), so the initial bill was for $300! I asked to only get one box instead, cutting the cost down to $154, and meanwhile Don came home from a dentist appointment with a similar bill. Good thing we have insurance!

Lydia apparently napped for far too long while I was running errands, because she was wide awake even past 10pm that night. Don and I finally had to turn out all the lights and lie down with her in bed to convince her that it was bedtime, and even then, she continued to crawl on our heads, ask for her Cheerios and water, and hog my pillow for far longer than I wanted to be awake. Then late in the light, my head still throbbing with a migraine and my legs in a more minor discomfort, Hayden woke up coughing. As I gave him his inhaler and his water and rubbed his back, running through my mind were the words "God's grace." How can I get through this difficult night, with my own tired body in pain and my son struggling for breath? Only by His grace. By His grace Hayden fell to a peaceful sleep, I got back to my own bed, and morning came with the headache pain gone.

Saturday was a day of waiting for Don to finish a work project so that we could enjoy an outing to a maple sugar house. He finally finished in the afternoon, and we were able to complete our field trip in time for a family birthday party in the evening. We enjoyed our time with family despite a few sniffles and sneezes.

When Sunday came again, we were all sick (with the possible exception of Lydia, whose nose has finally dried up), so we stayed home from church. I waited for many minutes to drop off our vacuum cleaner at the repair shop, and thanks to a faded receipt, they almost couldn't find our information in the system. I thank God that we bought the five year warranty (not the three year, as I had thought) and that at the last minute, He allowed me to remember our old phone number, which retrieved our information and assured that the repair would be covered. Thank you, Lord!

And now it is Sunday again. Our house is for sale, everyone is sick, I have no vacuum cleaner for ten days, and a new crop of ants are marching one by one into our home. And yet, there is grace. I sent the coughing, sniffling boys outside to play for a few minutes before dinner, but soon Hayden reappeared at the door.

"A sign of spring!" he exclaimed, holding out to me a small, tired-looking dandelion. Even as bits of Friday's snow clung to the neighbor's lawn and we shivered in the chilly wind, Hayden was right: it was first flower of spring. A sign of hope. A tiny yellow reminder that in spite of each day's trials and challenges, there is grace. There is a God who takes weak and broken people like you and me and lifts us up out of the muck and mire. I do not need to wallow in today's pain or fear what tomorrow may bring. He will hold my hand, and each new day, if I have eyes to see it, there is evidence of His overwhelming grace.

For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

Isaiah 41:10

Number Three at Almost Two

While most of my mental energy has been consumed lately with house-related thoughts, there are moments when I am able to step back and enjoy the blessings of the moment. Many of these moments have been spent laughing at my sweet, dramatic, hilarious little girl. Lydia is now 21 months old, her language develops every day, and along with it, her enchanting personality shines through.

Modeling her brother's "gas"

She is sweetly affectionate, always ready to give Mumma or Daddy a "nice hug," and her random statements of "I luh voo, Mumma" melt my heart.  Her verbal affirmations certainly have a feminine touch, as evidenced last Friday, when I woke her up from a sound sleep after I had showered and dressed.  After blinking her eyes a few times to get her bearings, she said, "I like skirt, Mumma!" She also likes hair - Mumma's hair, Daddy's hair, her brothers' hair, and finally her own wild locks.  When, a month or two ago, her hair finally grew long enough for some sort of clip, she cried whenever I tried to do anything with it. Now that we have convinced her that it's "pretty," though, she'll agreeably let me gather her stray wisps into a tiny ponytail.

Without challenge, she is my best eater. Donny is a self-made vegetarian who likes all his foods separate; Hayden is allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts. I am so thankful that Lydia will try almost anything, from soups to chili with rice to pizza (though she picks off the cheese and leaves the rest behind!). She doesn't seem to care for most meat or some vegetables, but her willingness to try new things and her steady appetite are encouraging. She loves apples, pretzels, crackers, cheese, and to wash it all down, a few sips of cow's milk in her "milk-puck." I give her a regular plastic cup with just a tiny bit in it, and most of the time, she heeds my "don't spill" command.  She is also quite skilled in handling a small fork, and will cheerfully feed herself yogurt with a spoon even if only half of it actually makes it to her mouth. And I am amazed at her correct grasp of a pencil or pen; she already loves to (attempt to) write and color.

If we were not selling our house, I would have plunged into full-fledged potty training, but knowing that we could have a showing any day, I didn't think this was the time to risk accidents on the carpet or couch. Still, Lyddie goes on her Little Potty several times throughout the day, and always wants to read a book while she is there. One of her first long sentences was, "Read-Night-Moon-Mumma?" And obligingly, I read Goodnight Moon at every potty break, every day, until the tattered board book finally ended up in the office instead of the bathroom stepstool. If I am going to read the same children's book five times a day, I am thankful that at least it is one of my favorites!

Another sentence that impressed me just two weeks ago was "I can't-open-closet." She was trying to put something away, I'm sure. She is a cheerful and willing helper, eager to deliver laundry or wipe down the table with a rag and "More spray?" I love how tidy she is: one day she spontaneously brought me the plates her brothers had forgotten to clear from breakfast, then pushed all the chairs in to the table and announced, "There, all better!"

Since then, the sentences are spilling out as fast as she can muster them. She runs around and crashes into things, and I tell her, "You're insane!" "I not-insane-Mumma!" she responds with glee.  Even when I had to discipline her for disobedience today, through her choked cries she remembered, "Daddy tol' me all done cryin'" and plaintively confessed, "Mumma, I sad."

A dramatic moment

And she loves to pray, always reminding us if we forget to say grace before a meal.  Last Wednesday, after reading Bible with the family (and climbing on everyone through the reading), she wanted to pray herself: "More Dear God?" She mentioned Donny, Hayden, and Daddy, so we thanked God for all of them, and randomly (but apparently important to Lydia), for the window. She added in a few lines of babble unintelligible to me, but I trust that the Lord knew what she was saying to Him. Sweet Lyddie, I am so thankful to have you as a daughter, and I pray that your heart will always be as tender and prayerful as it is today!

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise...
Psalm 8:2a

Seeing Through the Glass

It may seem silly, but I am truly thankful to God for contact lenses. Since I got my first pair at age 13 (for softball, supposedly, though that was my last season participating in anything that resembled a sport), I have never been seen in public sporting the four-eyed look. In fact, I have not bothered to even own a backup pair of glasses for the last decade; I just put my "eyes" in as soon as I get up, and take them out right before bed. This system was working wonderfully until I got an eye infection last winter and had to spend a weekend in relative blindness. Since then, I have realized that despite my distaste for spectacles, there may be some wisdom in owning a properly prescribed pair.

It took me until summer to see an eye doctor for a prescription and until New Year's to look into filling it, but it is finally done. I bookmarked Zenni Optical after reading about their incredibly affordable glasses on another blog, and I am so glad that I did! Not only are their prices unbeatable, but they even have software on the website so that you can upload a picture of yourself and "try on" hundreds of frames. Don and I each spent an hour or so narrowing down our choice of frames based on size, shape, color, and cost. Don didn't believe me at first that the $12 to $15 price tags were for more than the frames, but when we realized that the low prices also include lenses, a plastic case, and a cleaning cloth, we decided that we would each get two pairs! At that price, in case one pair didn't fit properly or look as fantastic as it did in the virtual fitting room, it was worth ordering a second. And believe it or not, we had four pairs of brand new prescription glasses to shipped to us for only $50!

After a couple weeks of waiting, our glasses finally arrived. Amazingly, all four pairs fit and seem to be just as high quality as the hundred-dollar ones we could get at the mall. Besides the fact that I don't find glasses particularly flattering, it was a strange feeling for me to put them on after all these years. Goodbye, peripheral vision; hello, motion sickness. The sensation that the world is moving up and down as I walk looking through the lenses is a bit unsettling for someone who normally forgets that she lacks 20/20 vision. Contacts are like a correction for my eyes; glasses are a foreign piece of hardware. Still, I am thankful to have acquired such useful (and relatively stylish) hardware for so little cost!

And how much more thankful am I that though my flesh may fail and my eyes are weak, my God is unfailing and His vision is perfect. Without contacts, glasses, or any help from me, He watches over all His creation, and gives good gifts to His children where He sees fit.

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, 

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

Proverbs 15:3

The Sense of Sight

Something ironic happened in the middle of our homeschool unit on the five senses: We lost our senses.

No, we didn't actually go crazy (though a certain five year old's whining was enough to drive anyone crazy!). Actually, we just got sick. Donny started with cold symptoms and complaining that his mouth hurt when he swallowed. Then his ear hurt. And his eye was full of crusty goop. I took him in to the doctor on Friday in time to find out that he had an ear infection (not a surprise given the symptoms), conjunctivitis (also not a surprise), and strep throat! And although he never displayed any symptoms, Hayden also had the telltale white bumps of strep, so now they are both enjoying a twice-daily sip of bubble gum Amoxicilin to clear up the many infections.

Since his ear has been infected, Donny has been having some trouble hearing (especially when I am giving him instructions...suspicious, isn't it?). Like anyone with a cold, his sense of smell is diminished as well. When we did a smelling activity ("Close your eyes and guess what Mumma is holding under your nose!"), his stuffiness impaired his olfactory abilities. As for the sense of sight, I am the one who suffered the greatest impairment. I woke up on Saturday morning with one eye crusted shut: apparently, despite my careful handwashing, I had contracted Donny's conjunctivitis.

The treatment was easy enough: the doctor called in some prescription antibiotic eye drops for me. I was instructed, by doctor, nurse, and the prescription label, not to wear contact lenses. For most contacts wearers, it might not be a big deal to put on glasses for a few days. But since I hate wearing glasses, I have not bothered to own a pair for the past ten years. I managed high school, college, driving, marriage, giving birth (including surgically), and being up in the middle of the night with fussy babies and sick toddlers, all without the use of glasses, but recently I have been thinking that it might be wise to invest in a pair, and now I am convinced that it would be beneficial. Without my contacts, I can't see!

It's nothing like being in total darkness, of course, but I tend to say that I am blind without my contacts in. I can clearly see less than a foot in front of my face; anything beyond that is blurry. Normally, inserting contacts is the first thing I do in the morning, and removing them is the last thing I do at night, so to spend two entire days without my visual aids was certainly a different point of view. I am so thankful that my dear husband was home to help me! Not only was I unable to drive to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription; I couldn't watch TV, use the computer, or even read without holding the book right in front of my face, or see whatever the boys were trying to show me, or exchange smiles with my baby girl from across the room. Even something as simple as glancing at the clock to check the time was impossible.

When I finally reinserted my contacts after two blurry days, it was amazing how sharp and clear everything was! In spite of the inconvenience, this case of pinkeye gave me a deeper appreciation for my sense of sight (and for the technology that allows me to have sight when my natural eyes fail!). And all of this got me thinking about sight, and vision, and how the words apply to so much more than just that which is right in front of our eyes. Next time I blog, I plan to share some thoughts on having a vision for our lives, which is fitting as we start a new year. Until then, rejoice with me that you are able to read this blog because God has blessed you with the gift of sight!

Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.
Proverbs 20:12

Today's Status

This life may be temporary, but it is complicated and engrossing nevertheless, filled with moments of joy and pain and routine, with memories and hopes and problems and people. My readers who are fellow Facebook members may understand the difficulty inherent in summarizing one's daily thoughts, emotions, and activities into one witty, pithy, or remotely interesting comment that is fit to present to the virtual world as our "status." I feel a bit stuck today, not because I have nothing to say, but because there are so many things to say...there is not enough substance for a blog post, and no one thought that stands out clearly above the rest. Below are several accurate assessments of my current status. You can help me choose the best one for today!

Manda...

...loves staying inside on rainy and snowy days.
...got the winter gear out of the attic, went out in the snow, and made a snowman with the boys this morning.
...saw the snowman melting in the rain this afternoon.
...heard thunder this evening!
...wishes her camera wasn't broken; there are so many picture-worthy moments to capture.
...hopes to get a new camera for Christmas!
...is entertained by Lydia's frequent spit bubbles and raspberries.
...smells our yet-to-be-decorated Christmas tree.
...made some yummy beef dip sandwiches for dinner.
...was amused when Donny called his sandwich a "bundle" instead of a bun.
...has almost finished the cookies from Saturday's cookie swap.
...is getting addicted to working out, but knows that doesn't excuse the extreme cookie consumption.
...will someday be able to do a perfect push-up.
...refuses to turn on the oil heat. We're trying to use just our electric heaters this winter.
...knows she is a stubborn New Englander when a 62 degree room feels comfortably toasty compared to the rest of the house.
...wonders why Donny is still awake...
...doesn't like to hear Hayden coughing at night.
...loves putting fresh clean sheets on the bed.
...read Proverbs 9 and 1 Peter 1 today.
...is thankful for time spent in the Word, and wants to make Bible study and prayer more of a priority.
...rejoices in the love of her Savior!
...needs to address the stack of Christmas photo cards. ("Hello, cards!")
...finds Candy Cane Lane tea delicious.
...hears, "You have your hands full!" at least three times during every trip to the store.
...is thinking about New Year's already.
...thinks she might actually be caught up on email and laundry.
...is glad to be part of the youth ministry team.
...will have a five year old, a three year old, and a half year old by the end of the week.
... is "filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."
...should probably sweep up the Cheerios on the floor from yesterday.
...will be getting a phone call from her husband soon.
...is being growled at by a tired baby.
...has a lot on her mind.
...has a lot to do.
...has a lot to be thankful for!

Be joyful always; pray continually;
give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Thessalonains 6:16-18

Lucky Me

Our everyday dinnerware is a set of blue and white willow china that belonged to my grandparents. When Don and I moved into our first apartment owning few of the necessities for living on our own, my mom's parents showed up with boxes of dishes that they no longer needed. They remembered that I liked the china set depicting Asian scenes reminiscent of Tiki Tiki Tembo, and I was thrilled to have our own dish set, especially such a special one.

Of course, through the years with young children and daily use, some of the dishes have broken or chipped. At one point when Donny was a toddler, he commented that his bowl was broken, and not wanting him to see it as something to complain about, I replied, "Lucky you!" After repeating this interaction a few times, Donny came to believe that he really was lucky when he got the chipped plate or bowl. In fact, apparently the word "lucky" is exclusively associated in his mind with broken dinnerware, because a few weeks ago, when I said something along the lines of, "I'm so lucky," his response was a confused, "You're not lucky. You don't have the chipped bowl!" And after glorying in his chipped plate one day, he even comforted his brother by pointing out all the cracks inside Hayden's teacup. "See Hayden, you're lucky too!"

When most people think of being lucky, they don't think about dishes. They think about big houses, cars, health, wealth, perfect bodies, perfect spouses and children, and tropical vacations. When things go wrong, we don't say we're lucky. We see the chip on our plate or the crack in our teacup and wonder why we were the unfortunate ones to get an imperfect dish. We see our spouse's bad mood, our children's disobedience, a stack of overwhelming bills, or a rainy day when we wanted sunshine, and we become unhappy. Instead of thanking God for giving us a plate, we carelessly pile things on, around, and under it while sighing over the menacing flaws, or perhaps wondering why we don't just break the whole thing.

Yet we each have so much to be thankful for if we choose to see it. I am blessed - or lucky if you will - to have a hardworking husband who commutes through rain, snow, and traffic jams to provide for our family, who protects and leads us, and who always makes me laugh. I am blessed with three healthy, intelligent, adorable children. We have a comfortable home with three bedrooms, space for entertaining, and locks on the doors. (If you have small children, you can appreciate the luxury of bedroom and bathroom doors that lock!) We have a yard full of trees and flowers and enough wildlife to provide countless hours of nature study. We have cupboards full of food and a reliable minivan to haul the food and children home from the nearby grocery store. We have family and friends and our amazing church family all within a fifteen minute drive. God has given me so much!

It's easy to forget how lucky we are when catalogues full of delightful but unaffordable items fill the mailbox. Or when we wake up to find toys strewn all over the living room and the adorable children inside - yes, inside - the couch cushions, pulling the stuffing out to make room for their mischievous bodies. Toys break, cars break, computers break, washers and dryers break, sometimes all at the same time. In these moments - and lives are made up of moments - it would be easy to complain about the chipped plate of my life. But God doesn't see it that way. No matter what our specifics look like, He commands us to be thankful, giving "thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

So I pray that I will give thanks in all the imperfect circumstances that threaten to shatter my joy. May I rejoice in the life God has given me instead of dwelling on my wishlist of improvements. And next time one of our heirloom dishes crashes to the floor, instead of sinking into despair or anger, may I say along with Donny, "Lucky me!"

But beyond being lucky, God has an amazing way of working things together for His glory. I thought through this blog post last Friday, but when I finally sat down at the computer to type it out, I was too tired to begin. The weekend with its busyness quickly pushed any thoughts of blogging to the back of my mind. Then on Tuesday morning, I had just finished getting dressed when I was startled by a crash. I hurried into the kitchen to find my charming helpers carrying out my instructions to unload the dishwasher, but instead of neatly stacking the breakable dishes on the counter as usual, they had decided to use them as building blocks. Plates, bowls, mugs, and pots were all stacked together on table, counter, and floor. And Hayden was guiltily standing in china dust, apologizing for dropping my plate. I quickly hurried the boys out of the room so that I could sweep up the shards before they stepped on the mess with their bare feet.

But on second glance, there wasn't much to sweep up. A tiny bit of dust, yes, but the plate had not shattered as one might expect. On the floor beside it was simply a chip - a big, perfect chip broken off the edge of the dinner plate - resulting in the second chipped dinner plate of our collection. I used to keep the other one on top of the stack, figuring that if one was to be broken, in our frequent use of it, it would be the plate that was already chipped. Yet for some strange reason, on Tuesday the previously chipped plate was about six plates down in the stack, even though we normally only use a few large plates each days, and the the dishwasher is emptied daily. So now, if you join us for dinner, please excuse our chipped plates...and know that your chances for being the lucky dinner guest have doubled!

I don't believe in coincidence; God is in control of every situation. He knows exactly what we need to be encouraged, convicted, or reminded of His Greatness. And while yes, I forgave Hayden, and no, he won't be unloading the breakable dishes for a long time, I do not see this as an isolated accident. Instead, I see the hand of my Heavenly Father, lovingly handing me another chipped plate to remind me how lucky I really am.

Safe with the Father

After last week's post about Hayden being rushed to the hospital with a cough, he ended up spending another day and night there. They attributed the coughing to viral bronchitis and the wheezing to what they are calling reactive airway disease. According to our understanding, it is similar to asthma, and the virus caused it to flare up. The diagnosis - if it is one - makes sense, since allergies and asthma tend to be related, and Hayden always sounds like a purring cat when he has a cold. On top of this, his x-ray indicated pneumonia. After a two nights and a day of nebulizer treatments and antibiotics, they released Hayden around lunchtime on Thursday with a few medications to take home, including an inhaler for his breathing. In the future, we may have to use the inhaler again if a bad cold or anything else causes coughing fits and wheezing. For now, though, he seems to be happy and healthy - praise God!

God was gracious to provide helpful family members, paid time off for Don, and peace in my heart through those two crazy days. I was able to visit Hayden at the hospital on Wednesday afternoon (while my sister-in-law watched Lydia in the waiting room so as not to expose her to Hayden's germs), but Don was with him the entire time. I was greatly comforted to know that Hayden had Daddy by his side, and I'm sure he was too. I also praise God for Hayden's good spirits; he never complained about the medicines, having to use an inhaler, or even about being hooked up to hospital monitors. The doctors were impressed with his verbal skills and the nurses could not resist his two year old charms. One nurse couldn't believe that he said thank you when she brought him something. Another saw me with a gift bag and said, "You must be looking for someone who had a baby!" I responded, "Actually I'm looking for my son; he's in room 316?" She exclaimed, "Oh, that sweet little Hayden! I'm his nurse today!"

Thank you, Lord, for keeping my sweet, sunggly little Hayden safe and healthy and joyful. Thank you for protecting the rest of us from Hayden's illness, and especially that Lydia has not had so much as a sniffle during these recent weeks of sickness. Thank you for his loving father who cuddled and comforted him during what could have been a scary time, and for the peace I had while staying home with our other children. And thank you for being my loving Heavenly Father who never leaves my side. You give me comfort through the times that could be scary, joy through painful times, and peace through the chaos and craziness of life.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
Psalm 73:23

Notes to a Newborn

Dear Lydia Faith,

It was just two and a half weeks ago that you made your grand entrance into the world. Despite the drama of labor and your surgical birth, your life outside the womb has been happy and healthy so far. Your early scowl quickly gave way to a variety of expressions, including sweet smiles and the rooting "popeye" face. You are a great nurser; in the hospital, the lactation consultant noted that you have a very powerful suck, and at your two week checkup, you had already gained a pound and grown an inch! While lying down, you wiggle and roll from side to stomach. In typical newborn fashion, you sleep a lot, sometimes in a deep sleep, and sometimes in a light, twitchy sleep that exists only as long as some warm arms are holding you. You can be quite vocal if your needs are not attended to immediately, but so long as you are fed, burped, changed, and held, you are content.

You are the perfect addition to our little family. Your two older brothers adore you; Donny lets you suck his knuckle, Hayden gives you hugs and kisses, and they both like to visit with you and sing songs to you. I am more in love with your Daddy than ever to see him hold you and know that God has used him and me to create these beautiful children. Everyone is happy to have a girl in the family, and even people we don't know are sending little dresses for you to wear and pink fuzzy blankets to keep you warm. It is fun to dress you in bubblegum pink baby gowns and cloth diapers, adding a softly feminine touch to your infantile innocence. You are the princess, not the spoiled brat princess, but one who is born to royalty and great expectations. We do not yet know what your personality will be like, but we expect you to conduct yourself as a proper little lady. And like the Lydia of the Bible, we pray that the Lord would open your heart to the gospel, that you might become a woman of faith and a worshiper of God.

For now, you are everything a newborn should be: small, sweet, sleepy, soft-skinned, and wonderfully precious. I delight in every part of your little body, from the scent of your softly fuzzy head to your tiny fingers and toes, your penetrating dark blue eyes, your perfect button nose, the nursing callous on your upper lip, your funny folded legs and feet, and even your cheesy-smelling neck folds. I keep you near me by holding you with one arm when we are busy at home, wearing you in a carrier when we are out, and cuddling you close when it is time to sleep. I could snuggle with you and watch your face for hours on end, because I know these days are all too fleeting, and I want to soak up every moment of your babyhood.

You will be an infant for such a short time, and a newborn for even less than that. All too soon you will be a toddler, a girl, and someday, a woman. When that day comes, I hope that you will be as blessed as I am, to hold your baby in your arms and know that he or she is a perfect, precious gift from a perfect, holy God. I pray that you will welcome your own children as blessings, just as we have joyfully welcomed you into our family and our lives.

Sweet Lyddie Bitty, I am so thankful for the privilege of being your mother. You are a precious gift from God!



Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Psalm 22:9-10