I will give thanks to the Lord

Psalm 7:17
I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.


Dear Lord, 


I praise your Holy name!  Thank you for........


- children who suddenly like snow play.  A lot.  I love watching them out the window, as I enjoy a quiet house. 


- a morning spent sledding with Daddy.  They all fell into bed exhausted that night!  Long trek back up the hill, over and over again.


- the aroma of pumpkin pie baking, followed by heavenly gingerbread men (recipe coming soon).

- children who are soaking up spiritual lessons.  I heard two children playing in the shower rather than washing.  After two warnings, I went back in there and just shut off the shower, telling them they were done.  They sobered up quickly, apologizing for wasting water.  


Momma (after already yelling once today over lazy playroom clean up, and feeling guilty about it):  "Thank you for apologizing, Lovies.  It's okay--there's always grace."


Mary: "And mercy."


Momma:  "Yes, mercy too.  To have mercy means to not give a deserved punishment.  And grace is giving a gift, instead of a punishment." 


Peter:  "Jesus gave us both grace and mercy!"


- sharing the above conversation with husband later, and watching him shed tears, along with me.  These rascals are not easy to raise.  They do many childish things over and over again.  But they are learning about Jesus!  Praise God!


- a Cooper's Hawk on our chain link fence.  Awesome! 

- sisters enjoying books together

- spontaneous dance parties

- grace to endure hard things, like watching our skin decay (husband and  me).  We are both aging very fast now.  Husband seems less bothered, until he sees a picture of himself.  Watching yourself decay is a scary, emotional thing--especially when people look you up and down, wondering if you are the parents or the grandparents.  As Christians we can usually put the decay in perspective quickly, going on with our day.  I am so thankful to have Scripture as a filter.  Life would be unimaginably hard without the promise of grace while on earth, followed by eternal life!


- folded clothes sitting behind me, rather than full baskets


- my oldest boy's decreased OCD symptoms.  He is reading again for pleasure without repeating lines! 


- a surprise package in the mail--homemade caramel popcorn from sweet friends!


- Miss Beth feeling better and sleeping well.

What will I do? My babe is two!

My last baby was born on December 8, 2008.  Today she is two and my heart aches so!  She still loves to nurse, which was one of my prayers after husband told me of his vasectomy decision.  If you've been with me for awhile in the blogging world, you know (but probably forgot) that she took a whole month to learn to nurse, making her first month of life one of the most stressful months of mine.  But God provided.  She learned.  So grateful I was, I got down and worshiped my loving heavenly Father, right there on the floor.

Then, in winter 2009, my husband's vasectomy decision was announced.

Lord, may she not wean early.  May we have many, many more months of night and daytime nursing cuddles.  

Again, He provided.  At two, she hasn't the slightest interest in weaning.  As sad as I am today, I can thank God for that.   

When you've got another miracle growing in your tummy, two is a happy day.  At 44.5 years old, I'm an old woman for sure, but my body can produce another bundle of joy, so perhaps this is some natural yearning I'm having.

Anyhow, I love this little girl so much it hurts!  She is such a delight.....such a blessed surprise.  Someday, she may look at my wrinkled face and perhaps want a younger Momma.  I'll have to count on the Lord's grace to see me through that, just as I have to for every glimpse in the mirror these days.  

For now, Miss Beth and Momma are a happy pair.  

Her first two years, in pictures:

Perfectly Wonderful

When you're the mom of several, you might enjoy spending three hours (minus chasing your toddler around) doing a large puzzle of the world.

After the puzzle is done, everyone will celebrate the accomplishment.  

One day, you might wake up to find a snowstorm.

And while you're getting the older ones ready to play in the snow, your baby will climb and make mischief.

Mischief like, say, red Playdoh on the window.

And orange crayon on the wall.

Once the kids are outside in the snow, you'll see this.

When they come back in, you'll find this.

Snow play might make your pleasantly-crazy one giddy with excitement.

It's sooo cold, you predict they'll come back in after ten minutes.  

But you'll be wrong.  They'll stay out for forty-five minutes, for the first time in six years of Ohio winters.

Because you're reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books, your son might bring in some clean snow for snow candy--something you'd read about the night before.

When you're the mom of several you might have beautiful faces in your midst, begging to be kissed. 

 And crying faces, begging to be nursed and cuddled to sleep.

When you're the mom of several, life is.......perfectly wonderful. 

my football-lovin' son

To say that my seven-year-old Paul likes college football would be an understatement.  He loves it!  We don't have cable now but we have taped games that are one to two years old.  He recently finished watching all those.

My husband--Paul's partner in all things college football--taught my eager son how to check the scores of current games online.   Our Internet speed is too slow to watch online clips, so Paul settles for checking the scores a few times a day.

Now, my sweet son knows I worry about him becoming truly obsessed, so he approaches me gingerly to ask if he can check the scores.  Again.  If he has completed at least three subjects in school (morning), or is done with school (afternoon), and if his chores are done, then I say yes, sometimes reminding him that God and family should always come before his interests and passions (I don't want his wife to feel neglected!).

As parents, we both have reservations about Paul's newest passion.  First, he does seem obsessed--occasionally even keeping himself awake at night thinking about football games.  Secondly, many college football players, while a bit purer than the pros, still have major morality issues.  My husband doesn't follow pro football--never taped any games--so Paul knows nothing about those teams or players.  But he is learning an enormous amount about college football teams all over the country.  His memory amazes both of us!

Recently, my husband heard a story about a college football player's father getting into bidding wars and taking money from the team his son finally ended up with.  This team move came after the son cheated on academics at one school and was about to be expelled (from a junior college I believe). The NCAA decided not to punish the player for the sins of his father, even though the player knew what his father was doing, and, most likely, he benefited financially from his father's six-figure payoff.  He gets to stay on this new team.  Obviously he's a very valuable player. Character means nothing, especially in college and pro-sports.  Disgusting, eh?

Anyhow, as my husband was relaying this story, I could only think of my little Paul and his obsession with college football.  What an unsavory business!  I told my husband I thought we needed to take great pains to explain to Paul that while enjoying the game is okay, he should take care to never revere players.  

So husband explained the whole unsavory story to Paul this afternoon, who seemed disgusted at the NCAA's decision.  Husband also relayed that many sports players get into trouble and have poor character, sometimes brought on by confusion over too much fame, and often because of greed and selfishness.  They are not to be worshiped in any way.  Focus on the game if you must, but not on the players--unless, of course, an individual player is particularly worthy of respect.

I hope that was enough to drive the point across.  Unfortunately, college football players and the NCAA will probably give us many more teaching opportunities.  We should probably also explain how the fans support teams, and the football business, financially.  When Paul has an income of his own he will have to decide whether it's ethical to spend his money on tickets or on TV viewing--at least for some teams.  If my husband is right and all teams participate in bidding wars but some don't get caught, well, then, I just don't know.  What a horrible business!  I pray Paul does what Jesus would desire of Him, in this and in everything.

Husband and Peter share a love for insects and nature in the warmer months, while in the winter months, husband and Paul share a love for sports.  We don't want to take away any bonding opportunities, obviously.

With good character long out of fashion, life gets pretty complicated.  All we can do is dwell closely with our children, keeping careful tabs on their hearts and on their exposures, helping them filter everything through Scripture.

I think it's a blessing we can't afford cable!

simple gifts, simple pleasures

There are so many things my soul wants to say.  I feel as though deep inside me there is poetry waiting to spill onto the screen, but somehow, right now, I can't reach it.  Instead, thoughts spill out wordy and choppy and chaotic.  I can spot the writing problems but I can't fix them in this season.  Maybe I'll never write something great or even very good, but there is that feeling of tension, of wanting to release something hidden.  Something good.

I suppose all who love the written word feel this same tension.  Some eventually tap the beauty inside, producing art, but even those who never quite get there bless at least themselves through their words, through their soul searching.  A soul story spills out, meaningful to the one penning it.

Right now I'm too invested in raising these children to have other ambitions--literary ambitions.  That is just me. I am fulfilled as a mother more than I will ever be as a word spiller.  The desire to raise and dwell with these children, to nurture them, is so central to who I am, that there's no question as to who is responsible.  He is.  He chose this--motherhood--as my contribution, my occupation.  It feels so good to be so sure of that.

While I tread water as I mother, to keep from sinking, words are my life vest.  Through my gratitude lists I worship God, thank Him, learn from Him, and listen to Him.  He reminds me that he's still there--I can still trust Him, draw strength and wisdom from Him.

I'm thankful for:

- the time spent hugging each child in turn on the couch, while they watched a Veggie Tales video about obeying your parents in the Lord (Colossians 3:20).  Okay, Miss Beth didn't exactly watch it.  She more made it challenging for the rest of us to watch it.

I'm too conscientious a parent to be a fun parent.  I don't tell jokes or come up with spontaneous new games.  Every mother has her strength; mine is to nurture.  I pray the Lord brings in other people to teach the value of laughter, for I feel its scarcity in our lives.

- The Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas stories.  Laura and Mary and Carrie got pretty peppermint candy and new mittens in their stockings--often their only presents--and they were happy, excited. My boys learned that simpler can be sweet and precious.  Peter asked that we begin this same tradition--of pretty candy and something homemade for Christmas.  He's already planning what he will make each family member.  (Yikes! Where's a knitting teacher when you need her?!)

- I love the Ingalls-Wilder books for this treasure most of all: they teach simplicity and gratefulness.  And good character, of course.  So much of the old literature teaches that good character--Godly values--are invaluable endeavors.  In current culture, good character now takes a back seat to success and recognition and individualism.

- Cheek-to-cheek tight hugs with Miss Beth

- That precious we're-in-this-together feeling produced through marriage.  Hardships richen that feeling, as does time, making the bond inexpressibly beautiful.

- A monetary gift from my aunt before she left for Florida, used to buy Mary a new coat, allowing us to pass Mary's well-cared-for coat down to Beth.   Everyone is warm.  Thrift stores don't get many coats in (kids seem to wear them out).  Burlington Coat Factory always has good quality coats for decent prices.  Thank God we have one close enough!  Washing a Walmart coat too often means it falls apart at the seams.  Not so with Burlington Coat Factory--many washings still leave their coats looking wonderful.

- Miss Beth suffers from a UTI, the doctor confirmed Friday.  She is on an antibiotic and will hopefully be sleeping comfortably soon.

Well, Miss Beth has managed to interrupt this writing a few times before my bedtime, a few times in the middle of the night, and now a few times this morning.  That's my frustrated cue to end this.

Have a wonderful, blessed weekend, friends!