Boredom Buster

Okay, so I was outside yesterday with my 2 girls and I was trying to get a list of things together to go to the beach. I was attempting (not successfully) to read some recipe books to get good ideas for fast and easy things to cook at the beach. My girls were screaming that they were "so bored" and they were hanging on my chair and we had already done the swings and the slide and all the other normal outside things. Then all of a sudden- I had a wonderful idea. I know- those who know me well are in disbelief right now. You say "It can't be so!" But it is. You see my husband has not cut the grass for about a week now and we have a lot of weeds and such in the yard. So- I went inside and got 2 pair of scissors and told them they could cut all the weeds and long pieces of grass with the scissors and also gave safety instructions. You would have thought they had just won the showcase showdown on the Price Is Right. This occupied them for at least an hour and they only got a small section of the backyard done. (With 8 acres- looks like I am going to be able to do a lot of meal planning....) They have already done it 2 more times since then. I know- I am the smartest woman in the world.

I Love Long Week-Ends....

We went to the lake for Memorial Day week-end and the weather was perfect and the girls were well-behaved. It was a good time to get away. Our friends from Hungary came with us and brought their 4-year old daughter. None of them had ever been to the lake. The mom and dad had never been in water over their heads. They floated for the first time in their lives- with lifejackets, of course. It was really neat to see them do all this and have a good time. It took forever for us to convince them that the lifejackets would hold them up! Sometimes life is like that- God tells us to do things and we think- "There's no way- I can't possibly do what you are asking, Lord!" But, we do it anyway and all of a sudden we realize that even in the deep water we are floating and it is Him holding us up. That Hungarian couple is getting baptized at our church Sunday. I am so excited to see that. It reminds me of what is important in life. All the committees at church and everything else that goes on is silent to me when I see someone give their life to Christ. None of that other stuff even comes close to mattering when you put it all in perspective. I am still listening to hear God's voice to tell me what to do next. He won't lead me in the wrong direction- I just have to trust Him to hold me up when I get into the deep water.....

Yuck

Okay, so today has not been so good for me. I am having a harder time with things than I thought I would. I hope tommorrow brings a little bit of restoration.........

Some Things We May Never Know

Sometimes things happen and we don't know why. I don't have to understand it all- I just have to know that there is always some reason and that the thing to do is seek God's guidance for the next step and to trust Him to lead you. I could spend a lot of time wondering why or even being upset about things when they don't go my way. But, living in the past robs you of the future and I choose to look forward. I'm just thankful that I don't have the troubles that a lot of people have. When it comes down to it- I am greatly blessed. The things I have had to deal with are minor compared to what a lot of people go through. I may not understand God but I will praise Him and I will trust Him with my future.

What a Week-end...

Wow- this past week-end was great! On Friday night, we went out with C and M and had a good time going to California Dreaming and hanging out. I got to go to the outlets with a great friend of mine all day on Saturday and even though the deals weren't quite as good as they are on a weekday- we had a lot of fun. I got to clean my house, uninterrupted on Saturday night for almost 2 hours. (It is still a long way from done- but looks a lot better than it did!) On Saturday night my husband and I got to watch a movie called "Facing the Giants" together- the acting is not that great in the beginning, but the movie was absolutely fantastic. And on Sunday- the vote at church went through- barely- but I'll take it. Now we are just waiting to hear an answer from the Music Minister candidate to find out if it was enough for him to come here. And our house that we need to sell showed TWICE on Sunday afternoon. (It hasn't shown in 5 months before that.) Hopefully- someone will make an offer and the people with a contract on our house will go ahead and close on it. God has really taken a lot of time to give me several blessings this week-end. There were other things that happened that were really cool, too- but this blog would be too long to read if I included it all. I think God knew that I really needed to see that He was still there and was still listening to me and that He reassured me that He is taking care of things. I got the message.

Good News

Well, God has answered one of our prayers! My husband has been looking for a Dr. to replace the part-time one who is leaving and he is going to hire 2 part-time Dr.'s to replace her. God has really blessed my husband's practice and he is excited to get these 2 Dr.'s (who seem really excited to come work here.) We are going to miss the one who is leaving- she is an excellent physician. But- at least the new prospects seem promising. One can start in August and the other in January. God is good! Now, if I can just hang on to sanity long enough to see Him answer our other prayer requests- the house we need to sell and the vote at church this Sunday. The good thing is- we know He will answer them. The hard thing is- it will be in His time. But, His time is always the right time when everything is said and done. Maybe He is trying to teach us patience- we have never been very good at that. Sometimes we never know what the lesson is that God is trying to teach us through a certain trial, but hopefully we learn it despite ourselves. Our church has a team of 11 people in Trinidad right now on a mission trip- so keep them in your prayers- that when they leave there , people who did not know Jesus will have come to know Him through them. (Is'nt that the way it's supposed to be wherever we go?) Oh, well- hopefully I will have more good news to share, soon.

Eye-Openers

Well, Annelise's class had their annual K-4 Mother's Day tea this morning. We both had to dress up and her class sang songs to the mothers and they talked about what their mother meant to them and they thanked us for everything we do for them. She was so proud that I was there. It made her feel special that I came to see her and clapped for her and hugged her. I guess it made me realize that I have had the wrong attitude about my kids lately. I spend a lot if time trying to get them occupied with something so I can be alone or watch my TV shows. I don't really play with them much when they are outside. I look forward (a little too much) to the times they will be spending the night with grandparents. All of that has caused me to sometimes miss the blessing that they are. I take them for granted too often. I looked at Annelise today while she was singing and grinning and wondered- "When did she get so old?" My next thought was "Why did God think I deserved her or Emmaline?" Seems like they were just learning to walk or talk and all of a sudden, they are operating DVD players and playing by themselves. I realized that I will have plenty of "alone time" when they are grown- and that when that happens, I will be wishing for the moments that I have already passed up. Don't get me wrong- I still don't mind them going to spend the night with the grandparents on occassion (thanks Mama and Daddy), but I won't be dreading the days when it is just me and them, either. I want to appreciate the times we are together. I want them to remember a mom who got in the floor and played and who didn't groan when they asked to be pushed on the swing. I want them to remember that they felt loved. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

So this is what a blog is, huh?

Well, I have been toying around with the idea of journaling for a while, but a friend started a blog and it seems like the better idea. This way, my friends and family can keep up with my life and see what is up in my world! (As crazy and busy as my world is- this will probably be interesting...) With everything I am going through right now, I can say for sure that God is good all the time. We have a home that has been on the market for over a year and we also have 2 other houses- so we would like to sell that one; my husband is searching for a pediatrician to replace the one who is leaving and can't find anyone who wants to work full-time; and my church is going through a lot right now with decisions it has to make.... But my children are healthy and my husband loves me and I have awesome friends and family. God sustains me. He shows me every day how fortunate we are to have the small problems we have. All you have to do is read the news and see that it could be a lot worse! Faith is all about believing in something you can't see, yet- and I have faith that God will deal with all of our problems in His time. He has never failed us before and I know He never will. We are voting on something in our church on May 20th and there is so much riding on that vote.... I know God is working on some people right now, so I am not worried. If you have something that you are worried about, just trust Him with it- He will take care of it and you.