Are the Poor Lazy?

In order for our hearts to develop a religion that is "pure and undefiled", we have to let go of prejudice. In dealing with some neighbors over the past 14 months, I've been so challenged in my thinking. Slowly, God has dealt with my self-righteous, ill-conceived thoughts by interjecting an article here and there, and speaking to me personally from Scripture.

My heart took issue with my neighbors' cigarette smoking habit, their spending habits, their lack of gratitude, their habit of sending uncomfortable children over to beg for milk, sugar, bandaids, eggs, cash, etc., rather than coming themselves. Not to mention the idea of them burning children's paperback books I sent over, for whatever crazy reason.

I didn't consciously think I was better than them, but deep in my heart, that was my sin.

Scripture tells us that our hearts are deceitful, and yet deep down we stubbornly think this means other people, not us. When we're confronted with the truth, which is inevitable if we're in the Word, the next step is bending low, declaring: "Yes, God. You're right. My heart is vile and deceitful. Please change me."

Compassion must scream loudly from the heart of a Christian. How compassionate we are speaks of how grateful we are. It speaks of how thoroughly we understand our position before God. The Beatitudes tell us "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The poor in spirit understand their position before God. They freely admit they are bankrupt, devoid of anything redeeming, outside of the indwelling Holy Spirit bought by the blood of the Cross.

I invite you to take this journey with me. This poverty-of-spirit journey to help us fully understand what God has done for us.

Here is an article that will change your heart regarding the poor. It will explain why the poor make such seemingly stupid decisions, like buying cigarettes for themselves, rather than ensuring enough milk for their children. It will challenge your thoughts about how hard the poor work. In truth they often work very hard, rarely resting, the hope of even a mini-vacation a cruel joke. You'll understand more fully why compassion must be our middle name.

Before you click, let me say that not all the observations in the article are about the author's life. She draws from her own experiences, and the experiences of people she knows. It's raw, with a few F bombs, but please, click. More money in her life is not the answer. Christ, and his true Hope, are the answer. Joy comes not from enough comfort, convenience, or money. It comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit, who gives us joy regardless of our circumstances. Pray that for her, and pray that God removes the blinders from our eyes, so that we can do the compassionate, heart-changing work he desires of us.

We can't just read such an article and say, "Wow, that's sad." It has to change us...give us a pure and undefiled religion that compels us to live for Christ, so that hope can be planted in desperate hearts.

Poverty is the absence of hope, as the article will demonstrate. We can't obliterate poverty, for the Bible says we will always have the poor. But hopefully not the abject poor. Their numbers are dwindling, but they're is much work left to do. As our hearts purify, their numbers will reduce further. As we let go of our prejudices, so will their bellies let go of hunger.

“So wickedly, devilishly false is that common objection, ‘They are poor, only because they are idle’.” ~ John Wesley (The year 1753)

Testimony of God's Faithfulness

I've been blessed in my Christian walk whenever someone has given testimony of God's faithfulness. These testimonies are valuable, and yet sometimes it's hard to discern whether a faith incident should remain in secret or not. Scripture tells us to give in secret, to pray in secret, so we don't draw attention to ourselves as a Pharisee would do.

Yet, when the Lord has challenged me to do something out of faith, it's the Old Testament stories and the testimonies of other Christians that have helped me decide, "Yes, God. I will do it!"

So here's a testimony:

Our usual experience with Operation Christmas Child has been more of contributing to boxes packed at AWANA, which is a smaller financial commitment then packing one of your own. This year we are in a different AWANA and the Operation Christmas Child emphasis was more a "pack your own box with your family" commitment.

This was quite a challenge to us, and at first we felt burdened. But as AWANA day approached and it was time to fill a box, we had a wonderful time as a family. Truly a pleasure, from start to finish, as has been praying for the 5- to 9-year-old-boy we filled a shoebox for.

When the bill at the cash register came close to $45, my husband and I exchanged glances and gulped. "Wow, God. That was expensive."

But we believed, and we told our children we believed. The transaction left us with $50 to last until payday, and not enough groceries to stretch us until payday. Still, we knew God's math is not like the world's math.

We told the children that when your plans are for the Kingdom, God would provide. When your plans are for yourself, this is not necessarily so. Thus, when discerning what to do, decide what you are truly working for...your own advancement, or God's?

Exactly three days later, $100 came in the mail from a friend whose family struggles to make ends meet. I was stunned, and definitely wasn't sure that accepting it was the right thing to do. I walked around the house with the bill in hand, confused and conflicted, at first not remembering our shoebox price tag.

I asked her..."Are you and your husband sure about this?"

Do you know what she wrote back?

"Oh, yes. We are very sure it came directly from Command Control." This she wrote with a smiley face. (Command Control of course, meaning God).

Then it hit me. It really was from Command Control, just like our pull to fill the shoebox in faith was from Command Control.

We needed milk; I try to make sure the children drink 3 glasses a day, which is a hefty financial commitment. While I expected God to provide for groceries, I didn't expect Him to provide more than double the cash register total for the shoebox.

Amazing. That's what God is. That's what His math and His heart and His radical grace is. Amazing.

When we step out in faith, God has far more opportunity to prove He's amazing. When we give testimony of his faithfulness, his Glory reaches more hearts, changes more lives, creates more occasions of glory, growing God's Kingdom.

God doesn't need our help. But he wants it.

He created us to bring Him glory (and to fellowship with him).

Please, share your own testimony of God's faithfulness?

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Mom's Survival Guide: Cold & Flu Season

I've spent a stressful couple nights with my cold-virus suffering four-year-old daughter, who also happens to be on an immuno-suppressant drug, and boy did it bring back memories. Some years when all my children were little, it seemed like we went from one cold to another, with week-long breaks in between. The nights were grueling, with more than one child up coughing, and croup a frequent visitor for Peter, up until he reached 6 years old.

I learned that many different cold viruses lead to croup for susceptible children, that some cold viruses lead to suspicious rashes in the younger set, and some lead to harmless fever. Some viruses are more likely to bring on sinus infections and bronchitis and ear infections, though 90% of these end up viral, against which antibiotics are worthless.

I finally learned to stay away from doctor's offices unless fevers had gone on too long (more than 3 days), or unless there were breathing difficulties, or the child became listless and acted seriously sick. Visiting the doctor in the winter just invites more viruses to your home; the more children you have with you, the more likely this is.

I'm experienced enough now to say that 80% of doctor's visits for colds and related infections are unnecessary, especially if you breastfeed. I wish someone had told me this in the beginning, because I actually brought my first baby to the doctor at 7 months old, just because he had his first cold virus, and some baby book said to take a baby to the doctor if it's a first cold.

What? Who writes these things?

The doctor treated me like an idiot because my baby had only minor cold symptoms, and I had no other complaints. This is the same pediatrician who later on answered my question about how long to feed baby rice cereal with this snarky remark: "I don't care if you feed him Frosted Flakes for breakfast."

Okay, so my baby was 12 months by then, but still.

Last night for the second night, Beth suffered a low-grade fever, and she had discharge from her eyes all day. "Just shoot me if this is pinkeye, God. I never want to deal with that again."

New last night was an hour of restless itching everywhere on her body, during which I panicked, wondering what kind of strange cold virus brings on itching. "Could it be meningitis, God?" She went to the world-famous ophthalmologist last Monday, who sees patients from many different countries. I wondered if a foreign family unwittingly deposited strange germs in the waiting room.

It's amazing what exhaustion can do to a mother. Today there's no itching, no fever, she's active, and the eye discharge was obviously just part of a nightmare cold virus that brings profuse leaking--nose and eyes.

Tips for Mom's sanity during the winter:

~ I can't prove this, but love works. Drop everything and hold the sick ones. Pray over them and kiss their foreheads. Read them stories, tissue box in hand, and watch movies with them. They will always remember that Mommy was the best, most attentive Mommy when they were sick. These memories will cover over a multitude of your mothering sins.

~ Yes, the house will get very, very cluttered during sick weeks. After being up half the night, you will be tempted to say up another half-night to set the house to rights. Don't. They will need you again when the post-nasal drip brings on a terrible coughing spell, so sleep when you can.

~ Make easy dinners, even if you just had spaghetti two nights ago. If you order take-out, you'll just bring home more cold viruses.

~ Before cold and flu season hits, stock up on supplies. Buy multiple tissue boxes laced with lotion, and multiple generic bottles of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but don't medicate a mild fever during the day. It's a natural part of immune system function. At your weekly library visits, check out movies that will keep them lying down for a couple hours, and buy liquids they will drink, even if you normally wouldn't choose them.

~ If your husband helps, great, but don't fight with him if he doesn't do the dishes himself, even though you haven't slept in four nights. Consider this: if your husband stays up late to help, and then gets sick himself, he will miss work and drive you more crazy than your sick kids. Just sayin'.

~ They're a cruel parenting joke, these cold viruses. You worry yourself to a tizzy and watch your sick child's labored breathing through the night, only to wake up to a chipper, happy, snot-faced child who doesn't understand why Mommy is cranky and tired. Colds are always worse at night, so never decide in the middle of the night if a doctor's visit is warranted, unless you have a young infant and you suspect RSV or other form of bronchiolitis.

~ As soon as your child feels well again, you'll be sick as a dog with a horribly messy house and no relief in sight. Life will seem incredibly grueling and you might just cry, because you were so worn down when you caught the cold, that a sinus infection comes quickly, leaving you begging for mercy.

This too shall pass. Before you know it, your youngest will be almost five and you'll feel like crying because there are no babies left. No soft cheeks to caress and kiss. No bare, sweet bottoms to laugh at as they toddle down the hall, giggling and running away from you at bathtime. No sweet-smelling babies to lie against your elevated chest in the middle of the scary, exhausted nights.

These snot-nosed days are the best years of your life.

Let it all go, Momma. The house, that perfectionist bent, that pride over your multi-tasking skills. If you're in cold and flu season and your house looks great, you're choosing the wrong thing. 

With Love,
From a Momma who's been there

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Operation Christmas Child: There's Still Time

You still have time to participate in one of the most important acts of the Christmas season. Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes are in delivery week, which ends this Monday, November 25. Click here to find a drop-off location near you.

If you don't have time to put the box together yourself, click here to build a box online.

We went to the dollar store, knowing it would not be packed with Thanksgiving grocery shoppers, and still found quality brands.

If you want to do it yourself, here's how:

1. Obtain a shoebox. Use an empty cardboard or plastic shoebox (average size). You can wrap the box, lid separately, but wrapping is not required. Don't wrap the box and lid together, because Samaritan's Purse puts evangelical materials into every box.

2. Choose gender and age.
Decide whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14.

3. Bring the shoebox (to size everything) and go shopping with your family. Get the kids involved. It will be one of the most meaningful things you'll do this season; your hearts will be filled with joy throughout the process!

4. Include a personal note and picture of your family. If you include your name and address, the child might write back.

5. After you pack it, download and print the appropriate boy/girl label. Mark the correct age category and tape the label to the top of your box.

6. Place a rubberband around the closed box, and deliver the box to the drop-off location during National Collection Week, November 18–25. Visit the Drop-off Locations page (check the times for drop-off) to find the closest collection site. Or, call 1-800-353-5949.

7. Help cover shipping and other costs related to delivering your shoeboxes to children overseas by donating $7 for each gift you prepare. You can give online to discover the destination of your box. Or, you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on the memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the items inside your shoebox. If you are preparing multiple gifts, make one combined donation. Note: Follow Your Box is only available through online giving.

8. Pray for the child every day, throughout the year.

Gift Suggestions:

Toys: Include items that children will immediately embrace such as dolls, toy trucks, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, balls, toys that light up and make noise (with extra batteries), etc.

School Supplies: Pens, pencils and sharpeners, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

Hygiene Items: Toothbrush, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

Accessories: T-shirts, socks, ball caps, sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries).

A Personal Note: You may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. If you include your name and address, the child may write back.

Do Not Include: Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; aerosol cans.

Samaritan's Purse Background Information:

"Since 1993, more than 100 million boys and girls in over 130 countries have experienced God’s love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan’s Purse works with local churches and ministry partners to deliver the gifts and share the life-changing Good News of Jesus Christ."

"Soon, millions of gifts lovingly packed by individuals, families, churches, and civic groups will be on their way to children in need in 117 countries around the world. The gifts will be delivered by every means possible—boat airplane, wagon, foot, horse, and even exotic animals such as elephants and camels." (Quotes courtesy of Samaritan's Purse)

Samaritan's Purse Personal Testimony:
Sue grew up in war-torn Bosnia. Shootings and bombings afflicted her surrounding neighborhoods, and many people were nearly starving due to food shortages. But despite the devastation around her, she found hope in an extraordinary gift when she received a shoebox during the winter of 1993-94.

A little girl named Jenny from Ohio sent a shoebox gift to Sue containing a Barbie toothbrush and toothpaste; shiny pencils and erasers; notepads; a pink and purple hat; gloves and scarf; a coloring book; a My Little Pony; and her favorite gift— a pair of pajamas with glow-in-the-dark stars.

“You may feel that it is silly I cared so much about my pajamas while people around me were getting shot and starving,” Sue said. “At the time, I didn’t understand it either. That little blue box made me happier than a piece of bread did.”

For her, the shoebox gift was the extra measure of comfort that made the greatest impact.

“Being provided with food is normal and expected,” she said. “However, being provided with love is exceptional. Being comforted is miraculous. And receiving Milky Way pajamas when I knew I didn’t have to have them meant exactly that to me—that somebody loved me and wanted to comfort me.”

Please join volunteers around the country and world in sharing this kind of comfort that can be sent through a simple shoebox gift. Remember to pray for each child who will receive shoebox gifts this year, specifically that they will feel loved and comforted, despite their current circumstances, and that they will get the opportunity to receive the greatest gift from God, Jesus Christ.

Homeschool and Mother's Journal Nov 22

In my life this week…
Okay, so, I got on a soapbox here...didn't really mean to, but my mother instincts took over. Skip this whole "in my life" section if you don't want to read a soapbox about the media and our children's hearts.

This week I'm grateful for so many things. I'm grateful that when I was 31, the Lord plucked me from this world, and he's still plucking. There were such contrasts this week, and each one filled me with gratitude for being spared.

We live sheltered here, with no TV signal and an Internet speed too slow for videos. Much of what goes on in the world escapes us, but we do read articles in an attempt to follow real news.

It bothers me that when Bing comes up on Internet Explorer, along with it come trashy pictured article teasers to choose from, mostly about celebrities, complete with cleavaged pictures I hate for my children to see (pictures my Internet filter doesn't do anything about). Today I decided, that's it! I'm searching for a child-friendly browser.

America has become so calloused and immoral, few in the business get it. In Italy, where I spent 14 months as a pre-teen, one got used to seeing trashy p-rn magazines on newstands. Right away, Europe's fallen morals stood out to Americans, but now, not so many years later, look where America is?

It's time for Christians to take a stand. I can't say how each family should take a stand, but I know we are responsible before God for preserving our children's innocence. We are not powerless, though it would seem like it. The Lord tells us that if our eyes cause us to sin, gouge them out. He's that serious about us making pro-God decisions.

This week two of the kids had dentist appointments so we ended up in a waiting room with cable TV, on which there was a morning talk show with the trashiest topics--mostly about Hollywood. We all had books and tried to read, but the unkind, gossipy show host had such a big mouth we couldn't escape her (no controls on the TV that I could see).

Right away I felt sad that such a show survived--that anyone thought it worthy. Why are celebrities so intoxicating to people? Fame often leads to tragic downfall, and the intoxicated audience shares much of the blame. When we don't click on a celebrity article, we're doing the celebrity a favor.

After fifteen minutes the talk show got worse and I was more angry than sad. In a gutsy-for-me move, I got up and told the front desk that the show was so trashy my children shouldn't be hearing it. They apologized, saying they don't keep track of what's on. One of the women absentmindedly changed it....to a soap opera, just as offending.

I wanted to kiss Jesus right then and there, that for four years now, cable TV has been absent from our home. I can't imagine even changing channels without my children becoming more corrupted by the minute.

It would seem that in order to raise good children nowadays, we need to recreate the atmosphere of the 1800's in our homes, so that when our children have their wings, they will be grounded, rooted in countless hours of family devotions and Scripture, wholesome whole-family entertainment, excellent literature to feast their hearts on, hardwork and camaraderie, and the confidence that comes from it.

In the current atmosphere, I fear there is just no way to ground children. Never has there been so much available to confuse children (and parents), countering Truth at every turn. When mainstream media starts looking like Sodom and Gomorrah, it's past time to say...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Turn magazines over at the check-out counter, asks clerks to turn off the TV--show your children not to be ashamed of the Gospel. Never fear the prudish label or the whispers, when standing up for Truth. Never before has it been truer--you are either for me, or against me, saith the Lord. Christians can't just shake their heads in disgust anymore...we need to act, or the Enemy wins...and we lose our children.

In our homeschool this week…

The boys are starting The Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti (gorgeous illustrations), and keeping on with their regularly scheduled Sonlight F reading.





Homesick, by Jean Fritz, is the autobiographical story covering two years of Jean's childhood, spent in China where her parents worked for the first ten years of her life. A Newbery Honor book, it promises to stay in our hearts for some time, as we hang out in China with Sonlight Core F (Eastern Hemisphere). The book deals with some serious issues, so it's definitely one for parents to pre-read in order to teach, discuss, flesh-out.

Publishers Synopsis: The accolades speak for themselves: "Fritz draws the readers into scenes from her youth in the turbulent China of the mid-twenties. One comes to appreciate the generous affection of her nurse/companion Lin Nai-Nai, the isolating distance in her mother's grief over losing a second child, the dynamics of a suffering population venting its hostility on foreigners, and most of all, the loneliness of a child's exile from a homeland she has imagined constantly but never seen....A remarkable blend of truth and storytelling."

The very cold weather has awakened a cooking and baking fire in the boys' and Momma's heart, so we're scaling back school a tad to make time for baking and cooking lessons--part of the one-piece life, in which life and school flow together, rather than school being a separate beast, after which real life beings. It makes sense to heat up a cold house with the oven fires burning, and then gather joyfully to eat the fruit of our labors, which today bring us a crumb apple pie and homemade cinnamom rolls, and a crockpot roast chicken with mashed sweet potatoes.

Mary and Paul are learning to peel apples, and Beth helps where she can, but her dollies are still her first love.

Mary, first grade, has gained some independence in her schooling. She now prints her lower-case letters well enough for me to walk away, if needed, during copywork and journal work, and she can do Explode the Code by herself, which I added to supplement her spelling. She can do a math sheet on her own, read some on her own, though her Sing, Spell, Read, Write books are gaining rapidly in difficulty, meaning I need to be there more often than not.

Beth, almost 5, varies daily in her interest in school. Her late birthday--like her sister's--means she doesn't technically start kinder until next fall, so I'm not forcing it, but it would work well for her to be in a schooling duo with sister, like the brothers are. If she can stay motivated for just an hour of school a day, I can have her reading alone by summer, to start a Sonlight Core with her sister by next fall. We will see.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Beth had her three-month opthamologist appointment this week, which brought good news for the third consecutive time. Her eyes show none of the inflammation that less than 20% of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis patients suffer from. Her only eye inflammation came in the first year of the disease. Praise God for one less reason to be concerned about her future.

Yesterday brought a long library visit during which I perused the Christmas section. In our library this section is vast...two rows long, so if I don't start today, I won't have time to share all the Christmas literary treasures I found for the season.

I look for books that depict Christmas as a joyous Christian celebration, as opposed to an event besieged by the modern marketplace and the Enemy. Thus, many of them depict Christmases of the late 1800's and early 1900's. We'll start today with a few:

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski



Publisher Synopsis: Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows about the mementos of his lost wife and child that he keeps in an unopened drawer. But one early winter’s day, a widow and her young son approach him with a gentle request that leads to a joyful miracle. The moving, lyrical tale, gloriously illustrated by P.J. Lynch, has been widely hailed as a true Christmas classic.

The widow McDowell and her seven-year-old son, Thomas, ask the gruff Jonathan Toomey, the best wood-carver in the valley, to carve the figures for a Christmas creche.

I read this riveting book--the one shown above--in the library and nothing could turn my attention from it, save Beth's too-loud library voice as she played on the library train cars (yes, there is a train in our children's section, but lest you feel jealous, let me also say that our main children's librarian is a mean-faced lady who scares me).

As soon as we arrived home, I made dinner, and when the last mouth stopped chewing, I gathered everyone for "one of the best Christmas stories ever." (My words). I read it in place of our dinner devotions, in fact, as it's truly a masterpiece of storytelling and rich meaning.

The Gift, by Aliana Brodmann (Hanukkah story, but about dying to ourselves to care for the least of these, and how that is gift itself to the giver's heart.)



Publisher Synopsis:
With her Hanukkah money in her pocket, a little girl eagerly sets out to find the perfect way to spend her treasure. Will she choose a fancy hat? A new doll? A soft, gray kitten? Nothing seems just right until she hears a lovely melody from a street musician's accordion. Suddenly she knows what to do with her gift -- and in giving from her heart she receives the best gift of all.

Ben's Christmas Carol, by Toby Forward, Illustrated by Ruth Brown



Publisher Synopsis:
Toby Forward and Ruth Brown have collaborated on a wonderfully original story about the mice who live beneath the floorboards of a great London mansion, the home of Ebenezer Scrooge. It's Christmas Eve, but a miserly mouse named Ben feels no special cheer. For him, Christmas is just another day. After an unexpected visitor takes him on a ghostly tour of London, the awed creature decides he'll never be mean again. Full color.

An Orange for Frankie, by Patricia Polacco. Ah, the way this family celebrates Christmas...it's the perfect, meaningful Christmas, full of love and joy and the spirit of giving, but the only gift for the children? Oranges, which absolutely delight their innocent, loving hearts. But in the year of the story, there's a beautiful twist on their traditional Christmas orange.



Publisher Synopsis: The Stowell family is abuzz with holiday excitement, and Frankie, the youngest boy, is the most excited of all. But there's a cloud over the joyous season: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and Pa hasn't returned yet from his trip to Lansing. He promised to bring back the oranges for the mantelpiece. Every year there are nine of them nestled among the evergreens, one for each of the children. But this year, heavy snows might mean no oranges . . . and, worse, no Pa!

 This is a holiday story close to Patricia Polacco's heart. Frankie was her grandmother's youngest brother, and every year she and her family remember this tale of a little boy who learned--and taught--an important lesson about giving, one Christmas long ago.

My favorite thing this week was…

Reading teary Christmas stories at the library, and sharing them with my family at home.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was…

Cuddling for family stories, the promise of snow in the weather report, baking together.

Things I’m working on…

At AWANA I serve as needed, meaning I run between Sparks and Cubbies, depending on which teachers are absent. In Sparks one week I noticed a small boy, probably 5 or 6, who wore filthy, ill-fitting clothing. He was the sweetest young boy, as one might expect. The unspoiled ones are usually the sweetest at this age.

I wanted to go immediately to the thrift store for him the next day, but I knew I'd be using our grocery money, so instead, I sent out an e-mail to our Freecycle network. Two days later I picked up some clothes from a kind lady, but while there were some good sweatshirts and shirts and a church outfit, there weren't any jeans, save for a play pair with holes.

No one else responded to my Freecycle e-mail, so I waited a few more days, and then went to Goodwill, telling God I was trusting him to provide for the little boy, and for us. Not only did I learn it was 35% off day, but also, when I went home with my like-new, numerous items for this little boy, including four very good pairs of jeans, my husband shared that he had an opportunity for overtime for the next two Fridays. Yippee! God is awesome!

It is Operation Christmas Child time, so I'm counting on God to work another miracle as we put a shoebox together to take to AWANA.

Sometimes, it doesn't come down to the numbers on the lines of your budget. If it did, I couldn't be home with my children...the numbers just don't add up in our favor. It comes down to your faith. If your plan is for the Kingdom, God makes a way.

I’m cooking…

meatloaf, crockpot whole chicken, whole wheat pancakes, potato soup (yes, again...it's sooo good), bowtie pasta with sausage marinara, chicken noodle soup, baked ziti

Baking pumpkin bread, crumb apple pie, cinnamon rolls, all with the kids' help.

I’m grateful for…

~ God's kind of math

~ friends who can relate

~ kind words

~ wholesome books

~ four children

~ winter comfort food

~ sweet 5 year old boys at AWANA who make God's glory shine

~ snow on the way

~ online friendships

~ for Franklin Graham and his wonderful Operation Christmas Child ministry

~ Compassion children to celebrate Christmas with, even if only in letters

~ a good, hardworking Christian husband who listens to my Christmas picture-book pics with tears in his eyes

I’m praying for…

My 90-year-old father-in-law left a rehab center in Florida against the doctor's orders 3 days ago. He is not doing well in his home. He is weak, depressed, but still as stubborn as ever. Every time he doesn't answer the phone, I worry; I can't get him out of my mind. I told him again how happy we would be to have him here in our home in Ohio, but he just says it would be a burden. God will make a way, I told him. He dreads the trip itself. Though the trip would be hard at his age, God would help, I assured him.

I am praying for his safety, and that he will allow God to decide what is best for him. I fear his stubborness will be what kills him.

A  quote to share... (hurray for God's plans!)

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Thank you for reading, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!