My Saturday List

My blessing list for Saturday:

- Baby Beth in the bathtub, playing with spice containers and their handy-dandy flip lids. What happens when you start cooking from scratch?  You go through a lot of spices!  The containers make great bath toys!  She has such a good time that she kicks me and hollers something fierce when it's time to leave the bath.

-  That last part is not included in this blessing list, mind you.  I just had to emphasize how much she loves spice bottles.  One night I decided to give her the electric toothbrush to play with while I put lotion and a diaper on her.  So far, so good.  I'm receiving fewer kicks.  Fewer kicks is a blessing.

- Baked ziti with lean Italian turkey sausage.  Yum.

- You know the Breyers natural vanilla ice cream with the vanilla bean specks?  Walmart now makes their own version of it with the same ingredients. Tastes exactly the same for over a dollar less.  That's a blessing!

- We love chili!  I make a double batch and enjoy the leftovers for lunch for a few days after.  We top it with colby-jack cheese and serve with corn bread (if I can get it baked).  Do you ever add salsa to your chili?   Try this chili recipe we invented:

- 1 jar Newman's Own Black Bean and Corn Salsa in medium spice.  Oh la la!  (All natural ingredients)
- 2  to 3 cans of black beans (or soak your own black beans)
- 1 bag of steamed corn
- 1 can of chili-ready tomatoes
- 1 pound of 93% lean ground turkey or ground beef
-  1 1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder or use refrigerated garlic (I don't have time to chop onion or garlic.)
 - Chili powder to taste

- And to save time, this five minute microwave cornbread is a blessing.

- Okay, enough with food.

- My Paul loves football.  He has a stuffed football he plays with in the house frequently, acting as announcer and solo football player, tossing the ball to his other arm as he makes his way down the hall.  It's hilarious!  He does the same thing out in the yard with a nerf football.  Baby Beth witnesses this scenario often, and apparently thinks it looks like great fun.  She actually started imitating it while I was cooking the other night, using the word "foo" for football.  I was so tickled that I started playing with her and taking photos to capture this funny memory.  She was all giggles!  The football almost made it into the chili!  My girl has a good arm!

- Walks with my children

- Paul obsesses about football and puzzles/board games, and Peter obsesses about catching/studying insects and swimming.  They are learning to submit to one another in love by playing what the other desires, even when they don't feel like it.  They do it for the love of companionship.  I think their differences and the compromises required are training them to be good husbands and fathers.  God gave them the gift of each other for a reason--to sharpen and bless one another.  That's one of my top three reasons for homeschooling:  Gleaning all that God intended from family relationships.

- The joy on Mary's face when she catches a butterfly or moth or cricket.  She is quite the tomboy, while still loving femininity.  I'm so blessed by her fun-loving, sweet nature.  

- My husband, who is trying so hard to provide for us.  He just picked up six more hours, making it a total of fifty working hours per week and eight school hours, plus studying.  He is overwhelmed and cranky often, to be sure, but he makes a conscious effort to be a blessing to each child, and to me.  I'm so grateful for him! 

Seeing is Everything

Our homeschooling friend met us at the library with her two sweet girls, ages 3 and 5.  They got out of their newer second car dressed in well-made, colorful summer clothes, with Mom donning a popular maxi-skirt ensemble.

As our conversation flowed that day--in the library's Literacy Room--I learned that she has a housekeeping service come every two weeks at General Motor's expense.  They are Michigan residents on an eighteen-month assignment in Ohio--benefiting quite substantially financially with a company-paid apartment, company-paid car, and per diem, along with the aforementioned cleaning service.

She buys whatever homeschooling curriculum she desires regardless of price.  If she doesn't like it she tries something else.

Her children are neurologically normal, as are her husband and herself.

If her daughter won't keep a hat on, she simply goes shopping--for a hat with a tie.

What ever comes up she takes care of promptly, whether it be purchasing new boots for wading in streams, or replacing a broken appliance at their Michigan home, which they visit once a month.

While I wouldn't describe her as frivolous, I can definitely say she's privileged.

I write all this to say one thing.

For the first time since my husband lost his full-time job seventeen months ago, I felt frustrated and strongly discouraged that our lives are so hard right now compared to so many in our culture.  Yes, the jobless rate is close to ten percent, but that still leaves 90% of the country employed and buying maxi skirts or another latest trend for their summer wardrobes.

As a woman in my forties and comfortable in my own skin, I don't struggle with envy.  And yet on that day--physically and emotionally exhausted--I was on the fence.

Had I let myself lean too far, I'd be lost on the envy side right now.  An ugly, sinful place.  A good-for-nothing place that serves only the enemy.

My older son, eight years old, is starting to compare our lifestyle to that of others, including to that of the friends I mentioned.  Sometimes he can disguise his envy.  Other times he lets it flow, although not in anger.  He's more puzzled than anything else.

"Why did God provide a second car to so many people, and not to us?"

"Other people go camping but we can't.  When will we be able to?"

"Will we be able to go to Stories and Crafts at the library this fall?"

"Will Daddy be able to take us to homeschool gym in September?"

All day long I repeat, "I'm sorry but we can't afford it.  Take your requests to God".  Or,  "I'm sorry but we don't have the van at that time.  Take your requests to God."

A few times a month I gently remind him that God isn't about making us comfortable and happy.  He wants more people in heaven.  Sometimes making people uncomfortable and then helping them cope, accomplishes that best.

I can see his comprehension when I talk about this.  It's in his eyes.  He knows how sweet salvation is.

Still, Peter is particularly bothered by our lack of transportation, especially as Daddy adds more hours and spends more time away.  I am less bothered because if you don't have much gas money and can't even stop at the ice cream stand, a second car isn't much good.  Even a country drive is wasteful, due to the gas involved.

But no.  I don't envy her.

The Compassion International blog posts from Africa changed me forever.  They kept me balanced on that fence I mentioned, so that envy didn't win.

I am rich in knowledge of what God wants Americans to do with their money.  Most Americans are impoverished in comparison--sometimes through no fault of their own.  They don't understand why God detests frivolous spending.

Sure, they might hear once in a while that children in some countries sell their bodies so they can eat.

But when it comes to abject poverty, hearing isn't enough.  Seeing is everything.

If and when I am ever financially secure, you can bet I won't be jumping up and down about going to a retail store for my clothes.

I'll stick to thrift stores thank you very much.

And I'll give my discretionary funds to Compassion International for child sponsorship, knowing that fewer children are eating rotten fruit out of trash cans.

And no, I won't look down upon those who spend freely.

But I will do my best to open America's eyes, through any forum available to me.

The financial discomforts we're feeling make us rich.  I've never been surer of anything.


Living in a style well under the Joneses and learning to be happy about it?  


That's priceless.

oh so random

A List:

- I'm blogging at 2:58 a.m.  Yes, that's a.m.  Don't ask why.

- Changing my blogger template seems to have caused Google Analytics to stop tracking my site.  So I tried to remove the new template, which seems impossible.

- I hate computers.  Really, I always have.

- Cookie baking paraphernalia is still sitting on my counter.  I have yet to do the dishes, or change the laundry.  Don't ask why.  (Hint:  I wish my baby would sleep.)

- My eight-year-old son is not into memorizing addition facts to 20.  Not to mention subtraction facts.  I've decided I'm done with that.  Moving on.

- My other son, two years younger, knows them all without ever having used a single flash card.  Some people just have a brain for mathematics.  Others do not.  Why fight it?

- Japan is getting away from rote memorization and standardized testing, while America is rushing more towards their old model.  Creativity scores in American children--particularly in younger ones--have declined since 1990.  Wasting any more time on memorization of facts seems futile.  Creativity is more important.  As long as he learns the multiplication facts, he'll do fine.  I wouldn't want him going through life needing a multiplication table in his briefcase.

- Seriously, I don't know if he'll have a briefcase.  I imagine him as a forest ranger or insect genius.  Definitely a scientist of some sort.

- The non-mathematical son uses big words.  The mathematical son does not.  We all have our gifts.  Peter will be a well-spoken scientist.

- Don't tell Peter I mentioned that he doesn't have a head for mathematics.  He can come to that conclusion himself, but let it not be because of something I said or didn't say.

- I am blessed beyond measure.  Now please just get me a housekeeper.

- Anyone else out there not sleeping?   (New four-time Mama Jess?)  Welcome to the Middle-of-the-Night-Club.  I have chocolate chip cookies to share.

- Tomorrow (or is that today, since it is now 3:15 a.m.?) we are going to a literacy playroom at the library, instead of the park, while Daddy sleeps till noon.  The humidity is awful here.  I know.  Paul, my mathematician, loves weather data and checks it online several times a day.  It all started when we shut off the cable earlier this year.   Peter, my anxious one, wanted to know how we would hear about tornado warnings without cable.  I said we would just check the weather online.  So, come summer, he made me do it often.  Especially if it looked like a storm was brewing.  Lo and behold, they fell in love with the weather site.

So that's how it was decided that Momma is not taking four kids to the park with two thunderstorms expected, in addition to rain-forest type humidity.

- When we mentioned to Californians about moving to Ohio, those in the know said, "Oh, boy.  Get ready for humidity in the summer!  It's awful!  And buggy!"   I'm happy to report that this is the only summer out of five that the humidity has been jungle-like.  And as for the bugs?  They keep my family entertained.  So there, California!

- I spend a significant portion of my day looking up bug facts.  First, we have to find a picture that matches the insect.  It has to be a perfect match.  Then, we use the given name to look up what it eats and how it should be housed.  Sometimes we get into mating habits and how the insect benefits our world.  Are we having fun yet?

- All sarcasm aside, I do love science.  It beats math any day.  It's just that the pics of some of those caterpillars could give you nightmares.  If my baby would let me sleep long enough to have a nightmare, I probably would.  It is teething?  Who knows?  She won't let me check the progress of the last tooth--her bottom incisor.

- My baby will be 20 months in a few days.  That hurts.  Only four more months of babyhood left.  Husband is out working graveyard, but if he were here, he'd say a hallelujah that our baby days are ending.  I can't ever get enough, which is probably why God has me enjoying her in the middle of the night too.

- Do you think I should go and do the dishes, and just count my sleeping from 9:30 pm. to 1:00 a.m. as my sleep for the night?

- No, because the second I get started, she'll wake up again.  And that will be frustrating.  But equally frustrating would be trying to do the dishes in the morning, while also trying to keep four children quiet until the library playroom opens at 10:00 a.m.  It's air conditioned, you know.  And my children love the library.  Like the park, it's free.  Free is very good.  Free is very, very, good.

- I've decided to go and do the dishes.  And sleep for an hour or so more, should she let me.  Before she wakes at 6:30 a.m.

- Life is good.  Well-rested is a word I will use in my future.  I will.  Right?

a conclusion of sorts

Thank you for your prayers, friends!

After the call from the bank this morning, I called my dad in Las Vegas, who sold real estate and invested in rentals for many years.  He lost everything twice, in the prior two recessions.  He knows a thing or two about foreclosures, to say the least.

The facts are:

- Paying partial payments means nothing to the bank. They'll take every penny they can get--meaning they'll pocket your partial payments, but still move forward with foreclosure.  Partial payments also won't get any fees waived or stopped.  Penalties can get very high, and without paying them, your mortgage holder won't put you in good standing, even if you start making your full mortgage payment again.   They'll proceed with foreclosure for these unpaid penalties.

- It is better for the homeowner to stop paying the mortgage so that some money will be reserved for moving expenses and for renting a house or apartment should the home ultimately be lost.  Continuing to pay--if you're really in trouble--is a gamble.  Wait and pay it all at once if you think you will have a sufficient resource in the future.

- It takes one year, usually, before you are actually evicted.

- My cousin in California--a custom landscaping businessman with a nice house and large mortgage--starting going broke over a year ago.  The bank wouldn't work with him because the recession got so bad where he lived, that he didn't make enough money to qualify for a workout agreement.  He didn't lose hope however, and started making partial payments when he could no longer make full payments.  Business never picked up, and despite being talented in many handyman areas, (including building houses) he couldn't make enough money to make ends meet.

He just moved to Ohio a month ago, to reside with his parents, a year after foreclosure status started.  He is in his early fifties and married.  They walked away from the house before they were evicted.  He lost all his partial payment money.  He couldn't sell the house because it had lost too much value.

After my dad explained all that to me, I decided we had to borrow the $2000 dollars we needed to become current--from my family, since husband's father never responded.   Like many homeowners, we hadn't fully understood how it all worked.  All pride aside, the kids needed us to take this step before the penalties and fees became unmanageable.  Now that husband has the second part-time job, we can make full payments again.   My mother and step-dad are taking the money out of savings to help us, and we will pay them back in February with tax-credit money.

All in all, I am relieved, even though borrowing money is one of the worst things I can think of--especially from my family, who are not Christians.  It seems like (to them) that God isn't answering prayers--that he is not providing.  Or at least I wonder if this is what they think.  They don't actually have any faith in God, but I'm sure they must reevaluate that, as most non-Christians do, when life throws different things at them.

It's so hard to understand His plan, isn't it?  Some matters are so complicated it's hard to see how he is gloried through it all.

Somehow, I hope all this leads to saving faith for my parents.   I sure don't see how, but I trust Him with the details.

Here is an update on Daisy, the cancer patient about whom I previously linked here.

counting them on a Monday

- blond ringlet curls, bouncing down her back

- the late Hugh Lofting, whose Dr. Dolittle books teach my children about history and culture, effortlessly

- genuine, tight hugs from my sweet nineteen-month-old.  How does she know when I need them most?

- a sweet Sunday school teacher in the six-year-old room.  Paul reports, "My teacher is really nice."  I agree and give thanks.

- a baby gobbling up California-mix steamed veggies, and asking for more

- hearing laughter from the kiddy pool

- God calming my panicky, nearly-teary self, after Bank of America calls me to say foreclosure status starts Sept. 1.  I was alone with the kids--crying just won't do (nowhere to hide).

- childhood and its carefree days (relatively speaking).

-- food in the cupboard and fridge

--Even though my credit rating here on earth will now go south, I can give thanks for a free gift from Him.  Eternal life!  For every class of people, rich or poor.  No down payments, no late fees, no penalties, and no loan origination fees will be collected.  Hallelujah!