Multitude Monday: The Lens by Which We See

In the middle of the night, she blessed me.

He blessed me.

I'd gotten up, remembering that the wet towels needed a dryer. 

Out she comes, my sleepy-headed Beth struggling in the dark, too tired for words. When she found me, she simply put up her arms and I knew what she wanted.

I brought her to bed with me; as I adjusted the covers, her body squirmed and experimented, trying to nuzzle as close as possible.

She arranged herself just right, driven by the desire to fully enter into my essense. She wanted to be utterly connected until we felt like one. Until she felt wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by my love.

No hesititation exists in her, for she fully trusts my arms and my heart. She's never been turned away.

It's like that with our Heavenly Father too. He's never turned us away and we can wholly trust him. We can nuzzle in close, until we are one. Until we feel wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by His love.

And yet, do we look for Him in the dark?

So often we look at the clock and wonder if we'll possibly find the time to read our Bibles. And to pray. There aren't enough hours in the day, we lament.

Here's what I imagine God thinks of that:

"How will you raise your children? How will you do your daily work? How will you wake up and keep going, and go to bed and face the next day? How will you face tomorrow?"

He wants us to remember: "All for My glory. Everything you do, every day, is for my glory. I am your reason for waking up and taking your next breath. It's all about Me. So how can you not find the time? I am the lens you see through, the strength you live in, the food you need to consume. Without me, you're dead."

Cuddle up. Snuggle in. Squirm as close to Him as possible, until you are one in Spirit. Until you don't know where He ends and you begin.

Psalm 16:2 I said to the Lord, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good besides Thee."

 

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In

Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Giving Thanks Today:

~ For my sweet Beth, who reminds me to pursue Him with my whole heart.

~ For my husband, who says I'm beautiful and seems to see the 47-year-old me from the same lens he used when I was 33...taut and toned and minimally-lined, with maybe two white hairs gracing my whole head. Bless his 54-year-old, tender heart.

~ For the Bible being His essense and being so easy to enter into; always accessible.

~ For my friend's OCD son passing his nursing final. He needed a 78% and he got it, exactly. It was as if God said, "Yes, your brain goes wild during exams, but my grace is sufficient for you. He started his preceptorship (practicum) and is loving each 12-hour nursing shift. Praise the Lord!

~ For 18-year-old Chelsea's depression improving.

~ For my 71-year-old uncle making it through a stroke, still alive and able to walk and talk, abeit with a walker for now.

~ Spending time on the couch a few times a day with my girls, a stack of books on my lap to read.

~ My Mary memorizing all her favorites and "reading" them back to me. How a child can memorize every precise word of a book always amazes me. I don't think I could do it...but she can, even with complicated plots.

~ For Mary giving us such spiritually mature answers during dinner-time conversations. I recently asked her what she loved best about being a child of God. Her answer immediately brought tears of gratitude.

~ That gratitude is the answer for so many daily human ailments. Gratitude is simple, yes? Just look for the beauty and acknowledge it before God, thanking Him.

What's beautiful in your world today, my friend?

 

A List of 35 Things

 

Intermittently over the last year I've gotten dizzy...sometimes just lightheaded, other times a full spinning sensation with nausea. Just last month I had to call my husband to drive us home from the library, due to my sudden vertigo sensation.

In college vertigo came on due to high stress, so I pretty quickly decided I was under stress again.

But this month when it happened at AWANA I decided to investigate a little.

I want to share a list with you that just might save you beautiful, thirty-something ladies some money and stress in your next decade.

A lot of strange things can happen before you enter menopause. If you're 33 years old, don't read that word menopause and click out of this article. Give me a minute?

Women have incorrectly been diagnosed with Meniere's Disease and other disorders, after spending a lot of money on tests, when all along their issues were related to the hormonal imbalances occurring in the years before menopause.

Turns out, my vertigo comes only mid-cycle, along with heart palpitations....both of which are normal but less-discussed aspects of perimenopause and menopause. You don't have to skip cycles to be in perimenopause; at first the changes might go unnoticed. For example, your cycle might gradually come a few days sooner, be heavier and mimic endometriosis. Eventually it might come every 2 - 3 weeks before disappearing for a few months altogether. Then it might come four months apart consistently for a couple years.

Each woman is different, but hormones are powerful chemicals affecting many bodily functions, so multiple symptoms are likely.

The sad thing is, few doctors know much about perimenopause, or that neurological and heart symptoms during this time can be quite normal.

So, please, quickly look over this list and keep the possibilities in the back of your mind, before stressing about your possible brain aneurysm the first time the room starts spinning and the headaches keep coming.

And share it with your 40-something friends, if they start having medical tests done? Changes can occur in the late thirties and early forties, but age 45 is when the first subtle changes usually arrive. The symptoms can go on for several years before a woman is past the entire process and said to be menopausal.

About 15% of men go through similar experiences between ages 45 and 50. If you had high blood pressure during pregnancy, that is said to be a predictor of a more symptomatic menopause transition. Wonderful.

source here


1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
2. Irregular heart beat
3. Irritability
4. Mood swings, sudden tears
5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
6. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
7. Loss of libido
8. Dry vagina
9. Crashing fatigue
10. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
11. Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
12. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
13. Disturbing memory lapses
14. Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence
15. Itchy, crawly skin
16. Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons
17. Increased tension in muscles
18. Breast tenderness
19. Headache change: increase or decrease
20. Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
21. Sudden bouts of bloat
22. Depression
23. Exacerbation of existing conditions
24. Increase in allergies
25. Weight gain
26. Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
27. Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
28. Changes in body odor
29. Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
30. Tingling in the extremities
31. Gum problems, increased bleeding
32. Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor
33. Osteoporosis (after several years)
34. Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
35. Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, 'whooshing,' buzzing etc.

Some Special Treats

I've been doing more children's ministry lately and not surprisingly, I'm sick more often. I don't know if it's back-to-back colds or what, but fatigue and muscle aches seem to be a new normal.

Perhaps cold season has been so much harder this year because we never got any teaser warm days in March, like we usually do. April's been wintry so far, except for the 50's we had yesterday.

The tulips and other bulbs are usually in bloom by now, but this year they're just coming up out of the ground.

Easter Sunday the kids were acting and looking well and I wasn't coughing or sneezing, so we went to church. I noticed there wasn't enough help in the Pre K-K room so I stayed to assist.

Taking those kids to the bathroom is not something you want to do alone, and not every adult who signs up to help actually shows up. A few have the habit of peeking in and only seeing a few children, so they go to service instead.

Five minutes later, six more children show up. Children's ministry is very hard in that getting reliable help to work for free, feels like a miracle.

If you do any children's ministry, you're nodding your head right now.

Larissa, one of my favorite little girls in this class, seemed very healthy on Easter, all dolled up in her pastel fancy, happy as could be.

Then she sneezed...................

My friends, it was a sneeze you could write a children's book about. The Great Big Sneeze, by Christine Doe. I already have a few pages of that book written in my head.

A thick line of dangling snot shot from her lovely nose, reaching almost to the desktop. The teacher and I both scrambled, looking for tissues. Our church meets in a school and I believe this is the first grade room. Finding the unsuspecting teacher's stash, I ran to the embarrassed, dismayed girl with three tissues in hand, my heart full of compassion.

Sometimes it occurs to me that I could have been a school nurse. I love to nurture and when children are sick, my heart bleeds love. I volunteered to catch the dangling line of cold virus, thinking it was too much for Larissa to manage by herself.

And it was, believe me.

Larissa passed the rest of class feeling especially close to me, I think.

But I must have been in direct line of that sneeze, because now I have an old cold mixed with a new cold, despite the teacher's smart stash of hand sanitizer.

I think we owe the teacher some money for supplies by now?

If my husband can take over with the kids for just half a day, I can concentrate on drinking a ton of water and resting. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow afternoon.

Since I'm canceling our Children's Bible Study for tomorrow, I have a little time to share the great books we enjoyed this morning.

Am I Big or Little?, by Margaret Park Bridges, 2004



This book is reminiscent of The Runaway Bunny. It gave me such a warm, fuzzy feeling, I had to read it again immediately, letting it sink into my mother soul. My girls snuggled into me, enjoying every word.
A tiny preschooler asks her mom, "Mommy, am I little or am I big?"

"You're both, sweet pea."

"You're little enough to ride piggyback to the stairs."

"But I'm big enough to hop all the way down."

Each page is part of their conversation, and the illustrations by Tracy Dockray? Just perfect for the mood and characters.

I recommend you check this out especially for the lovely, perfect ending. You'll remember why there's nothing dearer or more worthy of your time, than loving a child.

One reading of this book every morning will carry you through the spills, the messes, the endless laundry and sticky floors.

Really. I mean that.

I'm aching to print the ending here, but that would spoil the suspence and I just couldn't do that.

Next up....

Eleanor, by Barbara Cooney, 1996



I very much enjoyed this Eleanor Roosevelt biography, geared toward ages 5-13, even though I found myself deeply saddened by the tragic turn her young life took. Later, as she develops into a lovely young lady full of compassion and grace, you can't help but cry and cheer. This would be an awesome addition to your library list this week.

I love the author here too, Barbara Cooney, who also wrote and illustrated Miss Rumphius, one of my favorite children's books.

I leave you with a longer review of the Eleanor book, from Scholastic.com:

"From the beginning the baby was a disappointment to her mother." So begins the story of Eleanor Roosevelt's painful childhood. Rejected by her mother and neglected by her father, she develops a "serious" demeanor, which keeps her isolated from other children as well. When her father takes her to a lodging house to serve Thanksgiving dinner to homeless boys, it is this demeanor which moves her to always remember the poverty in which some souls live. She is a lonely child, even before she is orphaned at the age of nine by her mother's diphtheria and her absent father's fall. Sent to live at Grandma Hall's gloomy, silent house, her shapeless dresses, short skirts, and black stockings make her stand out from the other girls. By the age of 14, her peers have become elegant young ladies and she is still an awkward girl. Finally, Grandma Hall writes to a European boarding school: "Eleanor is a good girl but sadly unattractive and full of fears." She asks the boarding school to accept Eleanor. Happily, Eleanor is accepted. At school she is encouraged to think for herself, and to be passionate about life. Her experience transforms her and prepares her for her destiny — to become the First Lady of the United States, one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century.

Barbara Cooney, a two-time Caldecott Medal winner, has said that a picture book is like a string of beads. The illustrations are the beads, and the text is the string that holds them together.
Children will be inspired by this biography of a great historical figure emerging from a life of hardship. 

Use Eleanor in studies of U.S. History or Great Women of the 20th Century. 

And here is Miss Rumphius, by the same author...another awesome addition to your library list for this week.



Publisher synopsis:  Seeking adventure in faraway places, Miss Rumphius fulfills her dream and then sets out to make the world more beautiful.

I loved reading this book to my first graders every year. Following the reading, I asked them to think and write about what they could do to make our world more beautiful. We talked about physical beauty and moral beauty...a great spring board for many discussions.
(ages 4 - 13)

Have a blessed weekend! We're praying for sun here. And warmth!

Isn't God Amazing, says my Peter

Our Sonlight curriculum includes daily Bible reading passages for a whole school year, plus other Bible support materials. This year the boys were assigned, among other Books, 1 and 2 Samuel. We got through the rape of Tamar ( 2 Samuel 13:1-22) with me explaining that Amnon physically attacked Tamar. I didn't explain what type of an attack, mind you, because I hadn't yet purchased purity materials and I didn't feel prepared.

I'm still looking for a reasonable price for what I want.

We got through David sleeping with Bathsheba by my explaining that this was David's sin, not Bathsheba's, because she would have put her life at risk in refusing a King's orders. I didn't say David attacked Bathsheba, per se, but that he forced himself on her, kissing her without her consent. The words, "lay with her" didn't spark much interest in the boys, who are too innocent to read anything into those words.

Then today, they were assigned in the book The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope, a passage about an egg and sperm uniting:



Page 31: Chromosomes and their genes are passed on during a process called fertilization. This happens when an egg cell from a woman's body joins with a sperm cell from a man's body. In the electron microscope picture above, the rounded shape is an egg cell and the tadpole shape is a sperm cell. They are joining together to create a new cell. The fertilized egg cell will contain a mixture of chromosomes from the sperm cell and the egg cell.

When the fertilized egg cell divides each new cell will carry an exact copy of these chromosomes and the genes in them. The cells will continue dividing to create more and more cells. Over the next nine months, these cells will develop into a baby.

Peter came to me, embarrassed, saying "Can you believe they put this in here? Digusting!"

Mom:  "Why is it disgusting?"

Peter: "Well...okay. I guess it's not." After a hesitation, he added, "Isn't God amazing?"

Whenever he reads something new about God and nature, he always says that:

"Isn't God amazing?"

Dear Lord, in our education endeavors, may we continually point our children to this powerful, life-changing truth...."Isn't God amazing?"

When we know that in our heart and in our heads, we can truly live....Blessed.

I think we'll go over these verses at lunch time today. The microscope is a nifty tool, spreading some light on God's amazing design. I'm blessed to hear that Peter sees it for what it is...God, not science.

Science only helps reveal God's work.

Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Isaiah 44:24  "This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,
 

Books and Homeschool Musings

The school year saunters along nicely around here, until it's time for curriculum decisions. I thought this would be a once-a-year endeavor, but I'm finding that Sonlight, our curriculum of choice, doesn't include enough books for a full year--especially not a 10.5-month school year. Children and families who don't love to read find there are way too many Sonlight selections, while avid readers find there are far too few.

You buy all the novels and other non-fiction resources and Sonlight provides you with tips and support materials, and a daily schedule of readings. If you follow their schedule you have enough for a school year. But when a child loves a book and wants to continue reading, it goes against everything I believe to say, "No, the schedule says to stop here."

I boss the curriculum...it doesn't boss me. I'm teaching a child, not a program. So Peter, an avid reader, has one and a half books left and it's April. (We school until the first week of August.) Paul, who reads slower and goes ahead less, has four books left, still leaving us with a big gap.

So for three days I've been perusing Homeschool Classifieds and e-Bay, hoping for reasonable deals. Homeschooling, if you do it with multiple children, is expensive. And the more children you're working with, the more you need a complete curriculum that doesn't involve frequent library trips for the books you need. The boys and I use the library to supplement our spine program, such as checking out sequels or more titles from a much-beloved author.

I've always schooled the boys together, adjusting as necessary, and now I've begun schooling the girls together using a K-1 combo kit...the Sing, Spell, Read, Write program. This reading program has been around a long time, receiving outstanding reviews from reading experts over the years. The girls and I love it and the boys enjoy watching the fun.

The phonics song included in this program is more effective than the Leap Frog fridge phonics, though I still recommend that purchase, especially since Sing, Spell, Read, Write is over $200 new, though you might be able to buy the CD of songs and letter place mat separately. My Beth has picked up multiple sounds in just a few weeks, previously knowing only about 5. And she's had a blast with the song!

This program includes reading, phonics, spelling and writing, but must be supplemented with read-aloud literature and more easy readers, which we have on hand. I'm also searching for titles from Honey for a Child's Heart to enrich the girls language and love for books, and I'm looking at history titles from Sonlight for young learners.

 

Both my boys enjoy teaching and at this point, they teach math to the girls and read aloud to them intermittently, and sometimes lead their phonics games.

Whenever Peter tags along at a church or nursery class with me, he always mentions that maybe he'll be a Children's Pastor someday, because he really likes working with kids. Other times, he just says he'll have as many children as God allows.

He's definitely on to something...his heart going in the direction God's leading.

I hadn't intended on formally schooling Beth at age 4, but she just couldn't stay away as I taught her sister, preferring to sit on my lap and participate instead of entertaining herself elsewhere. It took me awhile, but I caught on eventually to God's plan. He wanted another schooling duo to make my life easier and the children's schooling more fun.

I've found through Sonlight and other resources, 8 books so far to supplement the boys' year of history: 1850's to approx. 1960's. These first six books I'm featuring are from newer Sonlight curriculum lists from the same period, though these books aren't new. We especially love Marguerite de Angeli's novels, so I can't wait to read Thee, Hannah!

I'm taking the time to list these here because they seem like wonderful literature to read together as family, or to give to your children for nighttime or weekend reading. I haven't chosen these to fit a particular grade level, but more for their period content (most fall into a 9-13 age range).

I know the books Sarita, Sonlight's founder, chooses, so I already know you'll love these. Her picks pull on your heartstrings without being sentimental or sappy. They say something profound about the human condition, about childhood and character building, or about God. They're timeless and in a selection of over 40, there are usually only two I don't care for.

Understood Betsy is a book I've been meaning to have the children read for awhile now, and the Corrie ten Boom as well. They happen to match the time periods we're learning about this year.

You can never know enough about literature, I say.



Synopsis: Discover pre-Civil War Quaker life with 9-year-old Hannah and her family. Hannah finds it hard to wear a plain bonnet that pinches her ears and a plain dress with no lace! Will she ever understand the value of plain dress and learn to be content as a Friend? The answer may come when Hannah gets to live out her Quaker heritage and help some runaway slaves. (synopsis found on Sonlight product-page , by clicking on the book)

Synopsis: Life in Sassafras Springs has always been predictable, boring. But that all changes when Eben McAllister's pa challenges him to find Seven Wonders in Sassafras that rival the real Seven Wonders of the World.

Eben doesn't think he'll have any luck, but little does he know that the Wonders he'll discover among his neighbors and family will give him the adventure of a lifetime ... without ever leaving home.

Synopsis: Quiet, 9-year-old Gregory is searching modern London with his precocious sister Janet in tow. His quest? To find a Ukrainian icon of the Madonna and Child for Marta, the family's hired help from Polish Ukraine.

Instead of retreating into his usual silence, each difficulty helps Gregory draw from the well of faith and resourcefulness within him. Master storyteller Rumer Godden brings to life a portrait of a lonely boy discovering the creative power of love.

Synopsis: A lighthearted adventure that explores how siblings can learn to work together and play together. Four siblings stumble upon a magic coin one boring summer and discover they get half of whatever they wish for. Between rescuing Sir Lancelot, exploring the Arabian desert, and learning how to love each other, the children are in for one wild ride!




Synopsis: Tells the dramatic story of our nation's struggle with slavery and human rights in the pre-Civil War years. These were the days of Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln and Dred Scott--figures God used to change the course of human history. Watch John Quincy Adams fight for the rights of the rebellious slaves on the Amistad, and see how abolitionist movements gained momentum. Learn about the events that led up to the Civil War, including the Mexican War, the Gold Rush, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the emergence of Abraham Lincoln.

The "Discovering God's Plan for America" series offers a different perspective and covers different key events than most other American history books. A helpful tool for considering views and looking at the same story through different perspectives.




Classic tales of American folk heroes. Adventure alongside Paul Bunyan and his giant ox, that coyote cowboy Pecos Bill, sailing Stormalong, riverman Mike Fink, frontier hero Davy Crockett, the legendary Johnny Appleseed, hammering John Henry, and made-of-steel Joe Magarac.




Synopsis: Corrie ten Boom's ordered life was lost in the insanity of war. With bravery and compassion, her family and countless other Dutch citizens risked everything to extend God's hand to those innocents marked for certain execution in a world gone mad. Corrie ten boom's life of determination, faith, and forgiveness in the face of unimaginable brutality and hardship is a stunning testimony to the sustaining power of God. (publisher synopsis)



Synopsis:  A warm and charming portrayal of life in the early 1900s. Sheltered 9-year-old Elizabeth Ann has always heard her Aunt Frances talk about "those horrid Vermont cousins." Now she is terrified. Aunt Frances can no longer take care of her, and she has been sent to stay with her New England relatives. "Betsy" gradually comes to enjoy the challenge of living with her country cousins, and she has a difficult choice to make. A delightful book. (synopsis from good reads)

If you like the idea of homeschooling, or just enriching their childhood and their hearts through literature, you can also peruse other literature-based homeschool companies. I don't have time to include the links, but Tapestry of Grace is out there, offering good wholesome literature that is tamer and lighter than Sonlight's, and Heart of Dakota, and My Father's World. Sonlight makes you think and feel, sometimes outside your comfort zone. The other Christian-based, literature-based companies stay on the safe side, not wanting to offend anyone with the occasional cuss word or premature kiss (though I should say that the majority of Sonlight's are very wholesome). You have to pre-read Sonlight's selections, whereas I doubt it would matter spiritually if you didn't pre-read those from these other companies. It's just that reading all of them enhances your teaching/discussions.

Okay, friends. I wish you a day curled up with a good book, after you finish those breakfast dishes and dress all those babies. And switch that laundry and wipe down that toilet. 

And, oh my. Where did the day go? 

I started my day with beautiful Psalm 84. Enjoy


1How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.