Next week we go on our family vacation, although it's more of a business trip for us. We have to be in a weekend long convention Fri night through Sun. afternoon in St. George, Utah, so we're adding a few days before and after, bringing the kids and trying to make it somewhat fun for them. It's been a tough year in sales, especially as a single-income family, so there's no extra money for a real relaxing vacation - so we make due with what we have instead of charging what we can't afford.
We plan on leaving Wednesday to spend a night with Tim's parents and grandparents up in the mountains. We'll leave the next morning for Utah but we're taking the longer route to drive the kids through Zion National Park. (Hope #1: The kids will appreciate our efforts and wonder at what God built, the beauty of something natural, with breathtaking views.)
Once in St. George on Thursday night, we'll relax, enjoy breakfast at the hotel, swim a little, maybe sightsee, and if we're lucky, my daughter and I will get our hair done (it's a birthday gift to her and I need it for the evening's event). (Hope #2: The kids will realize we spent the day with them so they aren't feeling neglected when we're in an all-day seminar on Saturday.) and while we're on the subject, (Hope #3: The kids won't fight or be noisy in the hotel room while we're in the seminar 3 miles down the road Saturday).
Saturday we'll get a break so we can bring the kids some food and check in on them. They've done this before (well, mostly just the boys) so I think they'll be fine. Our oldest is a great sitter.
Sunday morning we'll have breakfast with them and bring them to the worship service at our convention. They always provide one so we don't have to miss a week. The kids know some people there so I think they'll enjoy it.
Sunday afternoon, we'll be back at the hotel by 4:30 and we're spending the night, so we can hang out with the kids by the pool to get them out of the room and into some fresh air. Maybe dinner will be at some nearby cute little place.
Monday morning after breakfast, we don't have to be home until Friday around noontime, so we'll either spend it back at their grandparents' house, or come back home early and do fun stuff in town with them.
(Hope #4: My last and final hope is that we all come back feeling a bit closer and more relaxed.)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
I bet God has days like these...
I have such a hard time with my "middle child". He's been a different kid for about the last 6 months. He used to be so loving, so eager to please, so warm and friendly, but lately he's just ANGRY !
I tell him not to do something and he deliberately disobeys - and even preceeds his statements with, "I already know I'm grounded, but it's worth it..." Since when is punishment a choice instead of a consequence of disobedience? Honoring his mother and father has gone out the window these days and I don't really know how to fix it.
Then it hits me - I bet God has days like these. He tells us the family rules and we choose to disobey just about every day. We know we should love others unconditionally, speak only words that build others up, don't touch forbidden things, be a good steward of what we've been given, and not complain about what we don't have. Yet, every day we also break our Father's rules, don't we? At least, I know I do.
As exasperated as I feel after a verbal bout with Middle Child, I bet God also gets frustrated with us. I'm sure He asks Himself why we can't just obey and be thankful for what we DO have.
I think maybe that's why we're given children, to understand our relationship with God in a real way.
So, if it helps me relate to my Father, and understand what He goes through with me, then I guess the learning experience is worth the struggles on the journey.
I tell him not to do something and he deliberately disobeys - and even preceeds his statements with, "I already know I'm grounded, but it's worth it..." Since when is punishment a choice instead of a consequence of disobedience? Honoring his mother and father has gone out the window these days and I don't really know how to fix it.
Then it hits me - I bet God has days like these. He tells us the family rules and we choose to disobey just about every day. We know we should love others unconditionally, speak only words that build others up, don't touch forbidden things, be a good steward of what we've been given, and not complain about what we don't have. Yet, every day we also break our Father's rules, don't we? At least, I know I do.
As exasperated as I feel after a verbal bout with Middle Child, I bet God also gets frustrated with us. I'm sure He asks Himself why we can't just obey and be thankful for what we DO have.
I think maybe that's why we're given children, to understand our relationship with God in a real way.
So, if it helps me relate to my Father, and understand what He goes through with me, then I guess the learning experience is worth the struggles on the journey.
Friday, July 13, 2007
An Unhurried Life: The Practice of Slowing
I'm currently studying John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted. Chapter 5 really caught my attention. Just think, to have an Unhurried Life! In 2007 there's so much guilt associated with not hurrying, like if we don't, we're wasting our life and the time we have left. John asked his friend what he needed to do to be spiritually healthy and the answer was one of my favorite quotes, "You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."
When I read that I looked up from the book to see if he was somewhere watching me! We become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we don't make time for God, or prayer, or giving thanks, or especially reading His Word. When I'm hurried and distracted, I know the very first thing to go is my time with God, yet if you asked me, I'd tell you it's what's MOST important to me. I think many of us are like that, so what can we do about it?
The answer is to just slow down. Rushing isn't the answer - that just leads to forgetting things, doing a sloppy job, being short-tempered, and sometimes...speeding tickets. With the way we're always rushing, you'd think we'd end up with hours of spare time left over, but do we? No, we never do, so now we're just as busy, still out of time, and we're further from God than we know we should be. So how do we discipline ourselves not to rush?
Like any discipline, it takes practice until it becomes a habit. Step 1 is to practice slowing, we could put ourselves in a position throughout the day that makes us wait - in the longer grocery line, not zigzagging in and out of traffic to pass everyone and be first, to take time to do a job right instead of just fast.
Step 2 is to practice solitude. If it's not part of my day normally, then I'll start with 5 minutes a day. First or Last thing of the day works best. Just take 5 minutes to be still (not easy for my dominating, task-oriented personality). Close your eyes, take a deep breath or two, say hello to God, review your day with Him. Ask for forgiveness where you failed, ask Him to help with your struggles, thank Him for the blessings He's given you, and ask for guidance to do what you should be doing - and to forget about the rest of unnecessary things that aren't in our control anyway.
Try it for a week and see if it makes a difference. I'm going to. I'll let you know how it went.
When I read that I looked up from the book to see if he was somewhere watching me! We become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we don't make time for God, or prayer, or giving thanks, or especially reading His Word. When I'm hurried and distracted, I know the very first thing to go is my time with God, yet if you asked me, I'd tell you it's what's MOST important to me. I think many of us are like that, so what can we do about it?
The answer is to just slow down. Rushing isn't the answer - that just leads to forgetting things, doing a sloppy job, being short-tempered, and sometimes...speeding tickets. With the way we're always rushing, you'd think we'd end up with hours of spare time left over, but do we? No, we never do, so now we're just as busy, still out of time, and we're further from God than we know we should be. So how do we discipline ourselves not to rush?
Like any discipline, it takes practice until it becomes a habit. Step 1 is to practice slowing, we could put ourselves in a position throughout the day that makes us wait - in the longer grocery line, not zigzagging in and out of traffic to pass everyone and be first, to take time to do a job right instead of just fast.
Step 2 is to practice solitude. If it's not part of my day normally, then I'll start with 5 minutes a day. First or Last thing of the day works best. Just take 5 minutes to be still (not easy for my dominating, task-oriented personality). Close your eyes, take a deep breath or two, say hello to God, review your day with Him. Ask for forgiveness where you failed, ask Him to help with your struggles, thank Him for the blessings He's given you, and ask for guidance to do what you should be doing - and to forget about the rest of unnecessary things that aren't in our control anyway.
Try it for a week and see if it makes a difference. I'm going to. I'll let you know how it went.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
I love to read.
This summer I've had a very rare blessing - I had 3 weeks with no kids! I filled that time with reading voraciously. I love to read but never get the chance because I usually only have time to read what the kids are reading for school, since I'm the teacher.
I read business how-to books, Sidney Poitier's biography "The Measure of a Man", the latest Francine Rivers book "The Scribe" about the life of Silas, and although the kids are back, I'm trying to devote time every day to continue reading for me - at least until school starts back up in 6 or 7 weeks.
I don't normally like fiction because I hate "romance" stories, I'm just not wired that way, but I absolutely love Scottish fiction stories and will even put up with the romance junk to be able to read about life in Scotland in the late 1700s to late 1800s, especially concerning it's leadership in regards to England.
I'm currently half way through "Kilgannon" by Kathleen Givens. I found her books advertised in a magazine I picked up for the first time called Scottish Life. The library had it, so I got that and the second one in the series "The Wild Rose of Kilgannon". The odd thing is that reading the way the main character, and falls in love with the Scot is opening up a new mindset for me in my faith.
I always hear song lyrics and speakers talking about falling in love with Jesus and I have to tell you, that seems strange and almost irreverent to me. Like it should be a respect for authority thing and not a heart thing. But as I read this book, I see how she's attracted to his thinking, the things he says, the equality he gives her with other men, how his heart longs to please her, always promising that her life will always be as she wishes, (in other words, if there's any major changes it's because SHE wished it, not him making her decisions for her), and especially how he cares for and protects those he loves, as well as those he cares for as chieftan of his MacGannon clan.
As I read this, I begin to wonder if I've been reading the New Testament all wrong. I read non-fiction in most cases, all head - no heart. The same way I probably read about Jesus. Now I wonder how different Jesus would seem if I paid attention to the way he spoke, the things he said, read about his story as if I was picturing myself there like in a fiction novel, noting when he spoke, when he retreated, when he prayed, how he taught, but really focused on how he loved. Granted there wasn't a lot of touching and caressing like in most fiction stories, but isn't a gentle touch on the head while producing healing just as impactful? Wasn't it human-like to need to get away from it all to be alone with his Father? What about the love he still showed for humanity as he was in agony on the cross, hoping death would come soon, yet still asking for their forgiveness with his last breaths? That's dramatic! That's touching! That's captivating! He knew ahead of time what he'd have to endure but he CHOSE to trade his life for our sake, would you do the same? I don't think I could when you really get down to it. I think for the first time I really see what those lyrics and scriptures mean when they call Jesus their "lover" and us his "bride". I think I have some more reading to do.......
I read business how-to books, Sidney Poitier's biography "The Measure of a Man", the latest Francine Rivers book "The Scribe" about the life of Silas, and although the kids are back, I'm trying to devote time every day to continue reading for me - at least until school starts back up in 6 or 7 weeks.
I don't normally like fiction because I hate "romance" stories, I'm just not wired that way, but I absolutely love Scottish fiction stories and will even put up with the romance junk to be able to read about life in Scotland in the late 1700s to late 1800s, especially concerning it's leadership in regards to England.
I'm currently half way through "Kilgannon" by Kathleen Givens. I found her books advertised in a magazine I picked up for the first time called Scottish Life. The library had it, so I got that and the second one in the series "The Wild Rose of Kilgannon". The odd thing is that reading the way the main character, and falls in love with the Scot is opening up a new mindset for me in my faith.
I always hear song lyrics and speakers talking about falling in love with Jesus and I have to tell you, that seems strange and almost irreverent to me. Like it should be a respect for authority thing and not a heart thing. But as I read this book, I see how she's attracted to his thinking, the things he says, the equality he gives her with other men, how his heart longs to please her, always promising that her life will always be as she wishes, (in other words, if there's any major changes it's because SHE wished it, not him making her decisions for her), and especially how he cares for and protects those he loves, as well as those he cares for as chieftan of his MacGannon clan.
As I read this, I begin to wonder if I've been reading the New Testament all wrong. I read non-fiction in most cases, all head - no heart. The same way I probably read about Jesus. Now I wonder how different Jesus would seem if I paid attention to the way he spoke, the things he said, read about his story as if I was picturing myself there like in a fiction novel, noting when he spoke, when he retreated, when he prayed, how he taught, but really focused on how he loved. Granted there wasn't a lot of touching and caressing like in most fiction stories, but isn't a gentle touch on the head while producing healing just as impactful? Wasn't it human-like to need to get away from it all to be alone with his Father? What about the love he still showed for humanity as he was in agony on the cross, hoping death would come soon, yet still asking for their forgiveness with his last breaths? That's dramatic! That's touching! That's captivating! He knew ahead of time what he'd have to endure but he CHOSE to trade his life for our sake, would you do the same? I don't think I could when you really get down to it. I think for the first time I really see what those lyrics and scriptures mean when they call Jesus their "lover" and us his "bride". I think I have some more reading to do.......
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A day in the life of me...
I'm enjoying taking the summer off from activities - but I'm already dreading my schedule once the new school year starts. I'm homeschooling an 8th, 6th and 4th grader this year - all at the same time. We'll be working Mon & Wed. - Fri. from 9am til about 2pm. That's 10 classes each, times 3 kids, or 30 classes a day! Why don't we work on Tuesdays? Because that's my weekly Ladies' Bible Study morning, I'm teaching a Co-Op 30 miles away right after that, then my oldest has his drama lessons. The other two will be busy with flag football, ballet and soccer, but on Tuesday afternoons, we'll spend time at the parks and stores near drama class. It'll be that way until Christmas.
I have a friend who's just starting to homeschool this year, her daughter's the same age as mine so we'll add a third girl their age from church and do a monthly writing co-op. I wonder if I take on too much sometimes, and I have my days where my auto-immune disease makes me VERY tired, but it's times like that I have to stop and ask myself what's really important? As busy as I often make my weeks, I also have a goal to change the world. I thought it was only by raising up Godly leaders in my three children, but lately I think it's more likely that I'll expand by one family or one household at a time.
Tim's business he's growing on the internet just may be the forum I (or we) need to help re-educate America. The last 4 years living here have brought us through so many struggles and so many challenges, but we've learned from these experiences and I believe we really can make a difference in helping other people get through what we've gone through. Tim and I shared our deepest secrets and hurts not too long ago with our very closest friends and the first response we got was "someday you're going to share that story in front of a large audience". When I heard our friends say that to us, it's like a light in my heart went on for the first (and last) time - I really want to be able to help others. We just need the opportunity to do that outside of our usual circumstances. I'll just work on preparing my heart, mind and faith in the meantime so that when God brings the opportunity to share, I'll be ready to serve Him.
I have a friend who's just starting to homeschool this year, her daughter's the same age as mine so we'll add a third girl their age from church and do a monthly writing co-op. I wonder if I take on too much sometimes, and I have my days where my auto-immune disease makes me VERY tired, but it's times like that I have to stop and ask myself what's really important? As busy as I often make my weeks, I also have a goal to change the world. I thought it was only by raising up Godly leaders in my three children, but lately I think it's more likely that I'll expand by one family or one household at a time.
Tim's business he's growing on the internet just may be the forum I (or we) need to help re-educate America. The last 4 years living here have brought us through so many struggles and so many challenges, but we've learned from these experiences and I believe we really can make a difference in helping other people get through what we've gone through. Tim and I shared our deepest secrets and hurts not too long ago with our very closest friends and the first response we got was "someday you're going to share that story in front of a large audience". When I heard our friends say that to us, it's like a light in my heart went on for the first (and last) time - I really want to be able to help others. We just need the opportunity to do that outside of our usual circumstances. I'll just work on preparing my heart, mind and faith in the meantime so that when God brings the opportunity to share, I'll be ready to serve Him.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
I thought the well was dry...
I haven't been inspired to write a new devotional in over a year, so I figured the well dried up and figured I'd gotten too far away from God somehow to hear Him. Now He has a new season of life for me. I homeschool my 3 kids and I'm inspired to write a Genesis curriculum for them. Sure I could buy one, but this makes ME dig deeper into it, to get all the excitement out of His Word. When I'm done, I'm going to create an adult version - my Ladies' Bible Study at church has agreed they want to play "guinea pig" when I'm done to test it out, find the errors, and the spots I should expound upon. I'm so excited whenever I get the priviledge of writing ANYTHING that I know is God-inspired. The strange part is that I have absolutely NO desire to work on it without inspiration. I wouldn't have it any other way.
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