Thankful Thursday (on Fri.)

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God.

I Thessalonians 5.16-18

“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” -- John Henry Jowett

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
-- John Milton

Dear Lord, thank you for these gifts:

~ The Growing Story, by Ruth Krauss. Oh, my heart loved it! A little boy notices, along with his mother, all the growing-up changes that happen to the animals and plants and trees, but he wonders, "Why am I not growing, too? This story introduces seasonal, math, and farm concepts, featuring wonderful art work. The heartwarming conclusion, priceless, is sure to make any mother cry, and any child rejoice.

~ The Doorbell Rang, by Pat Hutchins. Pat Hutchins is one of my favorite children's authors and she doesn't disappoint in this fun math book about dividing homemade cookies among friends and family who keep knocking on the door. With each knock, the math changes and children will delight in the problem solving depicted here. Around since 1986, this book has delighted millions. Bake some cookies and enjoy some math with your children!

~ Cool Robots, by Sean Kenney. My boys can't get over how incredible this book is...sure to delight any Lego-loving boy or girl in your home. If you have the small Legos from Lego Creator toys, you'll have enough on hand to build these nifty robots. Fun and fabulous!

~ Singing Father Abraham with my preschoolers (and my big boys). If you've forgotten this classic Christian kids' song with its giggle-inducing motions, view this short teaching video with your children. Even 46-year-old mothers are known to giggle through it and want to repeat it again and again.

~ Falling asleep holding husband's hand.

~ The zinnias, which Peter planted in the garden to attract insects, bring the most beautiful butterflies!

~ A new hummingbird feeder attracting hummingbirds on the second day.

~ Daddy, home recovering from surgery until Monday, spending individual time with each child. He instinctively knows what each child needs.

~ Husband's breaded yellow squash (from the garden)

~ Lots of banana peppers this year.

~ Children chewing sugar-snap peas fresh from the garden.

~ Sisters pretending to be mother and daughter--their favorite game.

~ Sweet, delicious strawberries this year.

~ Miss Beth deciding she loves shepherd's pie. Last winter and spring she wouldn't touch it.

~ A few good rains greening the grass. Local corn isn't fairing well, though. Lord, help the farmers! Give them strength and faith in your divine provision. 

~ Miss Beth smiling at everyone, wherever we go. Three is a flirtatious age. :)

~ The children learning so much from the Book of James (and the adults relearning).  

~ Mary moving right along in beginning reading skills.

~ A second writing program purchase, Writing Strands, which begins a bit simpler than The Institute For Excellence in Writing. Both programs are excellent, but Writing Strands is far cheaper.

~ The church calling to see how my husband is doing.

So Busy, And Prayer Request

I miss this space.

Miss Beth has four appointments scheduled this week, between speech, dental, and her two therapy sessions. All were (are) necessary.

I love the speech therapist exceedingly well. According to the testing workup, Beth is a smart little cookie with lots to say. As I suspected, her intelligibility needs a lot of work. On paper her articulation disorder looks moderate, but the therapist couldn't understand much of what she said--except when Beth was naming pictures--so she thinks it is moderate to severe, but fairly easy to correct.

She will also work on a few articulation issues in Mary and Paul (articulation difficulties run in the family) hopefully in group session with Beth, so that we can meet fewer times and keep our lives more sane. Lately, sane doesn't describe our schedule, but the swimming therapy ends after August, so that will improve things some. Beth's issues seem to run our schedule, unfortunately.

Another stressful thing.

Lexi, the neighborhood friend I've written about, recently suffered another tragedy in her life. Her mother and her mother's boyfriend were both arrested for domestic violence. Lexi and her brother witnessed it, and Lexi had to go to a neighbor's to ask for help. This didn't occur in our neighborhood, which is relatively quiet. It was at the boyfriend's residence about twenty minutes away.

So, they are back living with the grandmother and grandpa in our neighborhood. The mother's car was towed here yesterday, and she was released from jail.

Both Lexi and her brother came to visit yesterday--the first time we've seen her six-year-old brother. They both have anxiety issues and behavior issues and the brother's visit made me realize I can't keep ministering to Lexi as I'd like, especially if the brother now accompanies her here. I wasn't able to control him at all.

The more the mother--who probably has mental problems--upsets these children, the worse their own issues become, and the less I can do for them, outside of much prayer. Yesterday was overwhelming and I can't keep up that pace. Now that they are living here again, the visits would be very frequent and long, since the mother has little control over them and she apparently appreciates the long visits here.

All of their needs are very great. I don't think Lexi or her brother would be accepted by any daycare, due to behavioral problems and volatility, so the mother might be prevented from holding down even a menial job--thus, no home of their own. The grandparents probably can't handle the kids on their own, either.

Worse, the mother's poverty and her own emotional/mental issues probably lead her to one troubled man after another.

Please pray for this family?

It seems that life is so much about what country you're born into, and what family and issues you inherit. Overcoming huge things like this takes the strength of a relationship with God. Please pray that for Lexi and her family?

Thank you!

Multitude Monday, July 30

Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 118:28-29

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley

Dear Lord, thank you for these gifts:

~ two excited sisters on the last day of VBS--an outdoor carnival

~ a hernia repaired

~ Beth singing songs to Daddy before they took him in for surgery (Twinkle, Twinkle, and Baby Bumblee, and Jesus Loves Me)

~ finally, a speech evaluation appointment for Beth tomorrow

~ four children behaving better (more used to Daddy's convalescence)

~ Beth singing her new favorite song over and over

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.
Won't my Momma be so proud of me?
I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee.
Ouch, it stung me! (shaking hand with a pained face)

I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee. (rub hands together)
Won't my Momma be so proud of me?
I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee.
Ew, I'm sticky! (looking at hands)

(Look around to see if anyone is looking)

I'm licking up a baby bumblebee. (pretend to lick hands)
Won't my Momma be so proud of me?
I'm licking up a baby bumblebee.
Oh, my stomach hurts! (rub tummy)

I'm never going to do that again!

~ Beth playing dress up

~ Paul baking a chocolate cake on his own

~ 6 in1 solar kit toy Peter got for his birthday finally working

~ laundry caught up

~ Beth night trained (no more diapers in my life; she night-trained earlier than the rest)

~ my preschoolers learning all their nursery rhymes and laughing with Momma at Mary Had a Little Jam And Other Silly Rhymes -- highly recommend this gem! It features many nursery rhymes rewritten with giggles in mind.



~ We love Madeline stories and also enjoyed a thrift-store bargain, Madeline, the movie. I laughed out loud a few times and found this surprisingly similar to the books, except that Miss Clavel has more heart in the movie--she loves the girls very much. There's a more spiritual feel to the movie.

~ teaching my children how to play foursquare with a playground ball

~ Our Compassion child, Nelson from El Salvador, getting a mattress, clothes, and food supplies

~ Peter turning in excellent photos for the library photo contest

~ making this fudge recipe with non-fat condensed milk (super easy, healthier, and no detectable difference)

~ Paul and Daddy playing Chinese Checkers and Chess during Daddy's convalescence

~ the Book of Jonah really speaking to our hearts

~ Peter and Mary catching crickets and butterflies together and looking for praying mantises

Linking with Ann for Multitude Monday

How He Parents Me

"Do you understand?", he pleads for maybe the tenth time in thirteen years. "The most loving thing you can do for me, besides making love when I'm well, is to wear a mini-skirt around the house at night so I can look at you. It makes me so happy to look at you."

This desire, expressed on his birthday, the day after surgery.

After a day with four children who fussed, complained, argued, fought each other. To the very. last. minute. before they fell asleep. With the loss of routine, they fell apart, the impulsive one leading the pack.

What am I doing wrong with these kids? This inquiry filled my head and my prayers all day.

Even had I not fallen asleep with exhaustion while nursing Beth, easing the pain of varicose veins that ached all day and begged to be rested......him? He fell asleep after reading Narnia stories to the boys.

When will it get easier with the kids, he wonders.

And I don't know the answer. I don't know how to stretch myself or chop myself to care for all these people...their needs often conflicting with each other.

How can I ever be enough? When one wins, another loses.

Beth wakes three times in the night from dreams--her sister once, complaining that bumble bees invaded her bed. When do children dream, roll over, and just go back to sleep? With the boys I don't remember so many dream-related wake ups.

This marriage? It's strong, lived with grace, and he will survive, like every other man whose wife is caring for small children. God gives these intense years and they are gifts.

Still, he needs me to listen and plan and act.

Black bear sightings increase here, I read this week. Just last week, a sighting in the next township over. They search for bird feeders and pet food bowls and exposed trash May through mid-July.

Most interesting, I read that the parents, they kick the cubs out at one year old, who then must find their own territories.

And human children? We love, teach, nurture for twenty years, and then some. And God knows his own design. He knows a mother's challenges.

I sit in the dark living room...insomnia at 2 AM.

I talk with my Lord and he comforts me, agreeing that yes, I am not enough.

But I am, He reminds. Pray your way through...for me, the great I AM?

I do not parent like a bear. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. 

photo credit

Something About Jonah, Part 3

Read part 1 here, part 2 here

Jonah Chapter 3; Jonah Goes to Nineveh Scripture in red, my commentary in blue.

1Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

3Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. 4On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”

Preaching a message of doom. Wow. Is that an easy assignment for any of us? Would we want to go out into our neighborhood with a bullhorn, preaching repentance? What are some of the consequences, potentially? 

We would be ridiculed. Our house would be toilet-papered, rocks thrown in our windows, or worse. No one would speak to us, henceforth, but they would watch us closely, looking for any reason to call us hypocrites. Our children would be ostracized.

We are called to share our faith, to make disciples of all nations...or neighborhoods. This isn't an assignment we can ignore, any more than Jonah could ignore the command to preach repentance to an evil nation. 

Just last week I felt an incredible pull to go down the street and give a dinner invitation to a neighbor and her seven-year-old grandson (the one who lost his mother as a one-year-old baby. This grandma has custody of him). Previously I had gone down to properly introduce myself and let her know we were here, should she ever need anything. She was appreciative and friendly and not in a hurry for me to leave, and asked about the church that meets in the elementary school down the street, which we've attended about a year.

Then after receiving my dinner invitation, she never responded at all, even to say she wasn't interested. I put two potential Sunday evenings on the invitation, asking what would work for her. The first Sunday has already passed and we've heard nothing. She is two houses down and was out talking to her neighbor on Sunday, and though we were out as well, she didn't come down or wave, though Landon, the seven-year-old, did wave.

I thought she was a Christian because she sends her grandchildren to VBS and AWANA every year. The invitation explained that we wanted to be the Body of Christ to her and fellowship with her and be here for her, should the need ever arise. Inviting her didn't feel risky; I thought she was a Christian. Maybe she is, but from our last conversation I surmised she doesn't currently go to church, nor did she ever attend the church she sends her grandchildren to for programs. Her sister is the connection to that church. I didn't invite her to church, but I did gave the start times after she inquired. I wanted to concentrate on making a real connection and I felt a casual summer dinner would be the best way. 

Remember that I'm shy. All this started after my study of the Body of Christ. I felt a pull, not from within, to go down the street and see this woman. It was God, for sure, which makes me all the more confused.

I wouldn't have taken these steps had I not thought she was a Christian...and that bothers me. I don't share the gospel except with young children (like ten-year-old Lexi, our neighborhood friend), and on the Internet through my writing...because it's safe that way. 

How many of us want to feel safe, more than we want to work for God? I have to admit my neighbor's lack of response makes me feel stupid--as though I'm not even worth a walk over to say she's too busy. Unbelievers can do that to us...make us feel less than. We mustn't let it stop us though, for who defines us? Who gives us our worth? The world, or our loving Heavenly Father? 

5The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.


Wow! Can you imagine a more miraculous response? How blessed we are that the Lord desires to correct us in love, not take revenge. 


Judah and Israel had been dealt with by prophets before, but they never repented; their hearts remained hard. Jesus said in Matthew 12:39-41 that at the time of judgement, the Ninevites would stand and condemn Israel for not repenting.


Matthew 12:39-41 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now onee greater than Jonah is here.

I have to admit to a lack of mercy in my own heart. When I saw my neighbor out the other day, talking with another neighbor, my heart grew hard. I didn't want to look at her. I felt humiliated at her lack of response and I didn't feel she deserved any kindnesses. My own perspective, my own feelings, prevailed, just as we'll see happened to Jonah in chapter 4. Peter, my son, had more heart than I did. He waved at Landon and tried to wave at the grandmother as well (she was preoccupied with her conversation). Peter, too, feels bad about her lack of response. He's shy as well, but more social than me; he looked forward to having dinner with a neighbor, but his disappointment didn't stop him from extending kind gestures.

Trust me, you'll be disgusted at Jonah's response in Chapter 4. It'll leave you shaking your head. But don't shake it too much. If you look deep enough, you may find similar hardness in your own heart. 

The Book of Jonah has so much to teach us! One of the most important lessons is humility before God--having an awe at His divine mercy toward all people, no matter their sins. No sin is too great for his mercy, if we will only humble ourselves and repent. We must be mindful of our lowly position before God. We are worthy now, as a redeemed people, thanks to His mercy and grace...but exalting ourselves above others in our own minds? Always a grievous sin!

I never meant for this to get so long.  I fully intended on getting to Chapter 4 today, the conclusion of the Book of Jonah. Maybe tomorrow? My husband is having hernia surgery at 11:00 am this morning (Wednesday). If he doesn't need me much in the coming days, I'll get to Jonah 4 hopefully on Thursday or Friday. Please pray for a perfect surgical outcome? Thank you!