Simple Woman's Daybook 5/28

 

 

Outside my window...

 

We had a gorgeous last five days. Now, it is humid, cloudy, with more rain expected shortly. The large farm next to our housing complex planted all their corn over the weekend, so the rain is welcome. It's been dry for a week. Our garden went in too this weekend. In northeast Ohio you plant on Memorial Day weekend, which is your best bet to avoid a frost.

I am thinking...

I just finished a biography on Corrie ten Boom tonight. I am thinking about all the evil in the world, and how just when you think it can't get any worse, you hear of another horror. I have not read a lot about German concentration camps, but enough to know that some of the worst evil in all humanity occurred in them. Hitler was all about championing the strong, and Christ is all about championing the weak and the humble...the least of these. What a contrast.

For 33 years after leaving her last German concentration camp, Corrie traveled around the world, speaking about God and forgiveness. Her sister Betsy was with her in two concentration camps, and she died in the second one. Her last words were..."We must tell them there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper."

Every time Corrie thought she might settle down and stop speaking and writing, her sister's words came back to her, inspiring her to continue. Betsy was the stronger Christian, able to forgive even the Germans who treated her like a dog. Corrie had no intention of forgiving them, until Betsy's words, and the Holy Spirit's power, gave her the divine power to forgive.

Sometimes having a son who struggles makes me feel like there will never be relief from the stress...that life will always be hard, and bittersweet. The Lord could have spared Corrie and Betsy. Their brother, nephew, and another sister were released from prison very early, and never went to concentration camps. Their father died 10 days into his prison sentence for hiding Jews, so he never saw a concentration camp either. The Lord spared them all, but not Corrie and Betsy. He had amazing plans for these two spinster sisters, and the plans were not pretty. They were horrendous, in fact.

But in the end, all that mattered was that God was glorified.

In our everyday lives, it's so easy to forget that it isn't about us, but about the Lord's glory. We waste so much time feeling sorry for ourselves, wishing that things were better for us, instead of concentrating on being obedient servants. I write so often on this blog, enough to make your eyes roll, that we are bought and paid for...slaves to Christ. The Lord can allow concentration camps in our lives, or any other manner of horror, and it still behooves us to remain obedient.

"We must tell them there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper."

I am thankful...

~ for a relaxing Memorial Day weekend.
~ that the sweetest little girls call me Mommy.
~ that I get to be a Mom. I get to!
~ for being the wife of one obedient Christian man, whom I love.
~ for having a happy family, not withstanding our disorders.
~ for the Word of God...its power to transform, to encourage, to cleanse, to strengthen.
~ for Paul's self-discipline and strength.
~ for Peter's passion and hard work, trying to fulfill his dreams.
~ for Compassion children to love, pray for, and write to.

 

In the kitchen...

 

~ ground turkey haystack dinner (recipe coming soon), salad

 

~ burrito pie, brown rice, salad

 

~ crockpot whole chicken, corn, baked potatoes

 

~ spaghetti

 

~ meatloaf, brown rice, steamed veggies

 

~ baked beans, corn on the cob, salad, strawberrry shortcake, smores, and lastly, brats, cooked on an open fire, which my husband bought and I wouldn't be caught dead eating. He has specific requests for holidays meals, but otherwise I don't let him choose our menu, reminding myself that I'm supposed to "guide the house" and that means my family's health. I have transformed my formerly nutritionally-challenged husband, who as a long-time bachelor ate the fattiest meat and drank whole milk by the gallons (all the while staying lean, somehow).

 

~ french toast, fresh fruit, cafe potatoes

 

I am wearing...

 

flowered brown and pink rayon skirt, pink top, slippers, since it's almost midnight. It's 2-shower-a-day humidity time, and will be for a while. But I love crawling into bed feeling clean every night, and starting my day feeling clean. Corrie ten Boom went 11 months without a bath or being able to brush her teeth. I feel very, very spoiled, but the fact is, the humidity is my enemy (headachey, thirst I can't seem to quench. Even chocolate doesn't appeal as much during humidity).

 

I am creating...

 

books in my mind, which may or may not ever be written down or published. Too much laundry and dishes to get in the way.

 

I am going...

 

I got my first pap smear in three and a half years out of the way today, and got a script for Topamax for migraines, and one for my first mammogram. Yes, 48 is a little late for a baseline mammogram, but I nursed my last child until age 47. I hope I don't have any cancer lurking anywhere, and I confess I wish all the results were already in, with normal written all over them. The longer it's been since your last doctor visit, the more weight the results carry.

 

I am wondering...

 

how a friend is doing tonight, who is under a great deal of stress.

 

I am reading...

 

Just finished the ten Boom biography, and tomorrow will start Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen, which is a read aloud from the Sonlight curriculum. My husband does the read alouds with the boys, so I don't usually list them here, but sometimes I read them by myself. This one promises to be riveting.

 

 

Synopis:

In an ancient Arab nation, one woman dares to be different .Buran cannot -- Buran will not-sit quietly at home and wait to be married to the man her father chooses. Determined to use her skills and earn a fortune, she instead disguises herself as a boy and travels by camel caravan to a distant city. There, she maintains her masculine disguise and establishes a successful business. The city's crown prince comes often to her shop, and soon Buran finds herself falling in love. But if she reveals to Mahmud that she is a woman, she will lose everything she has worked for.

A retelling of a traditional Arabic tale in which a young woman disguises herself as a man and opens up a shop in a distant city in order to help her impoverished family.

Also reading...We are done with James and are 4 chapters into 1 Corinthians in our morning devotional time.

I am hoping...

for good test results, and for a peaceful return of our dog, Rudy, to the foster dog home that runs a dog-rescue operation. He has snapped at the children about five times since we got him 2.5 months ago (not biting, but lunging forward to scare the kids). I don't have the money to hire a trainer to train out the aggression. He has food aggression, toy aggression, and space aggression. 97% of the time he is a very sweet boy, but when children are involved, that's not a high enough percentage. The kids can be too impulsive with him, getting too close to his face, and not remembeing to leave him alone when he's napping. I can't count on 100% obedience from the kids--they forget too easily when it's been a long time since the dog last snapped. We love the dog and are heartbroken about it, and Peter gives me no peace about it, but we have to think of the horrible scars and nerve damage that a possible bite could cause. Rescue dogs can have issues, and a family without younger kids is the best, I think, for many of them.

We won't try again for some time, as the dog never did help with Peter's issues. I am aiming for three years from now, when Peter is 15 and my youngest is 8, unless God brings the perfect situation sooner. We didn't want a puppy because of all the basic training they need, but maybe a puppy from a family we know would be the safest bet.

Around the house...

I put away a whole lot of clutter today, and tomorrow I will dust and vacuum and catch up on the laundry I didn't do on Memorial Day.

Scripture to share...

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.