One thing I will often say to others and even amongst ourselves here at home is that I like not having tons of extra money. That may sound a little odd to say, because there are other times I'll say the exact opposite like, "A little money would sure help about now!"
What I love about the lack of "extra" is how it drives us, all of us, to be creative, to think outside the box, to be more grateful for what we do have, to pursue all sorts of different activities that require no money.
This weekend was another great example. Our children have been wanting to play basketball on our property for ages. We had a hoop at one point, but it got damaged and thrown out. We were offered another one, but couldn't take it at the time. The kids were content to go to playgrounds last summer whenever we could to throw a ball or at other people's houses, but as the warmer weather started to come around, they were really itching.
I noticed my 8 year old's creativity last week. He got a pail and put it on our small cement pad out front and was throwing it in the pail as if it were a basket. Cute idea except that it took all the things off the side of the house I had nailed up.
Then he brought the pail inside and was bouncing a ball all over the house, slam-dunking it in this pail all day! Do you know how loud that can get? Not to mention the things it was going to potentially break. That's when I got this great idea....
We had an old wooden fruit press with the bottom broken out. I'm not joking, this wooden barrel looked like the original basket the inventor of basketball must have used. I suggested they nail it something in the barn and then they would not only have a basket but a gym! They liked it but waited for Dad to set it up.
Yesterday he nailed it to a high spot on the wall on the inside of the barn and everyone is thrilled. They have an indoor basketball court now! They were out there so many hours it was amazing and the best part is I didn't hear a single bounce! It is protected from snow, wind, rain.....it's perfect.
It looks as primitive as it would have when the game was just invented, but I love it. The basketball we had was left at my sister's last summer, so we don't even have a real ball! They are using a soccer ball, but hey, it bounces and goes through hoops! They don't care! I marveled at their contentment. I had heard of a family that lives near us who was able to afford to transform their whole barn into a full-on legitimate basketball gymnasium. Our's does not quite have that same feel! There is hay everywhere, picnic tables to bounce around, old equipment, but for now, it works! Another great lesson for me that you don't have to have a lot to make kids happy. And for me, another great answer to prayer as I long to buy all these things that they ask for and sometimes I do feel sorry for myself because I can't, but then God gives us these lightbulb moments of sheer genius and creativity with just the resources we need and suddenly I feel His love for me again in such a unique and custom-fitted way. I write these stories down for the kids and for myself, so we'll never forget how He shows His love for us.
Monday 25 March 2019
Monday 18 March 2019
Reverence, Rays, Frolicking.....
Not sitting here as much as I want anymore. But life is still occurring all the same. I just don't get to write about it as much.
Recently we've had to be super creative about how to budget carefully as we are purposely trying to live on less than normal. It wasn't intentionally on the "Lent list" of sacrifices, but I've kind of added it subconciously. So, kind of like my son, I've given up "money" for Lent! It works!
So when this weekend rolled around, my husband really wanted to work on the house, but we didn't want to spend any money on it. How do you work on the house when you don't have supplies? Well, maybe you do have supplies, more than you think? So he asked himself, "What do I have?" This is one of my favourite questions in the Bible. Elijah asks the widow, "What do you have?" when she comes to him with all this debt and she doesn't know how to get rid of it, not to mention her sons might be taken from her. She didn't have much, but she had oil. We also looked around and turned out we had a lot of left over supplies from when we leveled the whole family room floor, enough to level the remaining hall and closet.
Though he has a lot of sore muscles, he got it done and the hallway is now level, too. This wouldn't normally excite me, but now I realize it is the little by little way we get things done. I still wish we could hire 30 contractors and get it all done in a weekend like they do on TV, but our way works, too, just a little slower, but it is getting done! I was reminded by my little Ann Voskamp calendar, "...the one way to live the big of giving thanks in all things in all things is this: to give thanks in this one small thing, the moments will add up." That's revolutionary, life-changing! It means I'm grateful a lot more because there are sooo many little things to be grateful for.
We also had a funny experience on Friday. We had someone coming by to pick a kitten. They are only 2 weeks old, but people are already picking kittens as they want the one they want! So they pick them and then will pick them up at 8 weeks old. When the lady came by to pick the one she wanted, she casually mentioned how it would be so fun to take two. Being the ever-selling salesperson that I should have been in an earlier life, I said, "I highly recommend two kittens! They are the cutest things ever when you see them together!" It is true. I do recommend two! What I didn't expect was the DOWN PAYMENT! She handed over a brand new $100 bill for two cats. We charge for kittens now - remember, the Kitten Dynasty? My sons' eyes nearly popped out of their heads and she handed it over. We were used to getting no money for kittens. I still marvel. One of them took it in his hands and said, in front of the lady, "I have to check to see if it's real!" and then as she was walking out the door he yelled, loud enough so she could hear, "We're going to be billionaires!" Oh dear, I've created a monster. But, all that to say, it was such a blessing! I hadn't thought to ask for a down payment! But she offered it! She was serious! When those things happen, it just feels like God is smiling down on us.
Earlier in the week I had read a verse for our Lent devotional and it was a verse I had never seen before, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves." What a great verse. I love everything about it. It describes "you who revere my name". I talked with the kids and we all agreed we hardly revere God's name the way we should, yet we try. In this period of Lent we have been more focused as a family like never before. I have the Bible open breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, part of that is for Bible quizzing so that they hear the material all the time, but the other aspect it to get them in the habit of regularly reading God's Word, praying, having a relationship with God. As we attempt to revere His name, the verse promises that "the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays". We listed the areas of our life we need healing, from our sinful nature, to our emotions, to finances and even academics. It went on to describe how we will then "go out and frolic like well-fed calves." The interesting thing about that phrase is that we just finished a week with baby goats that required bottle feeding. They were "well-fed" and sure enough, after their feedings, three times a day, they would frolic and run around their pen. Such a great image for my children that captured the essence of the verse. Reverence gets followed by rays of healing that leads to frolicking!
We've experienced that all this week. As a result of their diligence they saw financial rewards for their hard work with the goats and even with the kittens resulting in money in their wallets! Trust me, they were frolicking around the house, and not the animals, my kids! Human kids, not baby goats! For kids who don't live on a farm the Bible would be just a book of metaphors, but for our kids, it all makes so much sense! God came down once again and brought the Bible to life.
Recently we've had to be super creative about how to budget carefully as we are purposely trying to live on less than normal. It wasn't intentionally on the "Lent list" of sacrifices, but I've kind of added it subconciously. So, kind of like my son, I've given up "money" for Lent! It works!
So when this weekend rolled around, my husband really wanted to work on the house, but we didn't want to spend any money on it. How do you work on the house when you don't have supplies? Well, maybe you do have supplies, more than you think? So he asked himself, "What do I have?" This is one of my favourite questions in the Bible. Elijah asks the widow, "What do you have?" when she comes to him with all this debt and she doesn't know how to get rid of it, not to mention her sons might be taken from her. She didn't have much, but she had oil. We also looked around and turned out we had a lot of left over supplies from when we leveled the whole family room floor, enough to level the remaining hall and closet.
Though he has a lot of sore muscles, he got it done and the hallway is now level, too. This wouldn't normally excite me, but now I realize it is the little by little way we get things done. I still wish we could hire 30 contractors and get it all done in a weekend like they do on TV, but our way works, too, just a little slower, but it is getting done! I was reminded by my little Ann Voskamp calendar, "...the one way to live the big of giving thanks in all things in all things is this: to give thanks in this one small thing, the moments will add up." That's revolutionary, life-changing! It means I'm grateful a lot more because there are sooo many little things to be grateful for.
We also had a funny experience on Friday. We had someone coming by to pick a kitten. They are only 2 weeks old, but people are already picking kittens as they want the one they want! So they pick them and then will pick them up at 8 weeks old. When the lady came by to pick the one she wanted, she casually mentioned how it would be so fun to take two. Being the ever-selling salesperson that I should have been in an earlier life, I said, "I highly recommend two kittens! They are the cutest things ever when you see them together!" It is true. I do recommend two! What I didn't expect was the DOWN PAYMENT! She handed over a brand new $100 bill for two cats. We charge for kittens now - remember, the Kitten Dynasty? My sons' eyes nearly popped out of their heads and she handed it over. We were used to getting no money for kittens. I still marvel. One of them took it in his hands and said, in front of the lady, "I have to check to see if it's real!" and then as she was walking out the door he yelled, loud enough so she could hear, "We're going to be billionaires!" Oh dear, I've created a monster. But, all that to say, it was such a blessing! I hadn't thought to ask for a down payment! But she offered it! She was serious! When those things happen, it just feels like God is smiling down on us.
Earlier in the week I had read a verse for our Lent devotional and it was a verse I had never seen before, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves." What a great verse. I love everything about it. It describes "you who revere my name". I talked with the kids and we all agreed we hardly revere God's name the way we should, yet we try. In this period of Lent we have been more focused as a family like never before. I have the Bible open breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, part of that is for Bible quizzing so that they hear the material all the time, but the other aspect it to get them in the habit of regularly reading God's Word, praying, having a relationship with God. As we attempt to revere His name, the verse promises that "the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays". We listed the areas of our life we need healing, from our sinful nature, to our emotions, to finances and even academics. It went on to describe how we will then "go out and frolic like well-fed calves." The interesting thing about that phrase is that we just finished a week with baby goats that required bottle feeding. They were "well-fed" and sure enough, after their feedings, three times a day, they would frolic and run around their pen. Such a great image for my children that captured the essence of the verse. Reverence gets followed by rays of healing that leads to frolicking!
We've experienced that all this week. As a result of their diligence they saw financial rewards for their hard work with the goats and even with the kittens resulting in money in their wallets! Trust me, they were frolicking around the house, and not the animals, my kids! Human kids, not baby goats! For kids who don't live on a farm the Bible would be just a book of metaphors, but for our kids, it all makes so much sense! God came down once again and brought the Bible to life.
Well, that's a lot of rambling thoughts..everyone is scrambling for breakfast......
Monday 11 March 2019
Bible Quizzing Reflections and more.....
Back from another quiz meet. We had a really tough practice season with quizzing this winter as so many practices got cancelled. Then some of our team weren't able to make it due to an injury in a family. I got a lot of grief about memorizing from some of the kids just because it is a LOT of work and it doesn't come naturally to everyone to be able to memorize so much material. When I got to the quiz meet, I was honestly thinking.....maybe we just need to take a break....
But then, the day started and I saw the kids interacting with other kids. I saw them jumping up for verses they knew. I interacted with many moms that day that all had a story about the impact of Bible quizzing. I watched so many kids who knew their stuff so well. It was truly so inspiring. How could we take a year off when it is so obviously impacting them for eternity? It was a great day. Our kids didn't do the best, but even my 15 year old said that even if she didn't win an award that day, she'd memorized 6 more chapters of John! They'll have done the whole book by the end. It was the longest book so far, over 900 verses. Mind boggling really. So, I guess we'll just keep at it for now!
I learned that my presence at the quiz meets matters. I didn't even realize that really. I wasn't able to make it to the last one and knew I should try to be there for this one. I made it to most of the quizzes, but missed a few, too. When we got home, my daughter said how much it made her feel so good to know I was there in the room watching her. Then she said, "It's so great to see you in the hall!" When I wasn't there last time, I guess it was noticed! Those are such interesting statements to me. I wasn't coaching, hardly even talking to them, but there was just something about them seeing me that made them feel something positive. Maybe security? Maybe happiness? I don't know. It's hard to get in the head of a child, but I'm pocketing that information. It made me feel like maybe, just maybe, my job as a mom does get noticed sometimes. They have a hard time putting it into words sometimes, but when they do, it is so great.
I laughed when my oldest son told me he was giving up "money" for Lent. Kinda makes sense as he has no money. But when I probed him on it, he said that every time he would typically want to spend money on coffee or a muffin, now he can't, so instead he prays - about his future, our family, his goals, our goals....I thought at first it was an out, but it turns out, he wants to spend money all the time, so instead he is praying more because he has no money to spend! It still works!
We are loving the "no TV" house we have right now. We are interacting way more as a family, enjoying activities that got ignored when the TV was around. We're all pretty glad it's gone. Lots of positives there.
One thing my youngest daughter has started experimenting with during this time is homemade lip gloss. The other day she made one out of coconut oil and a melted crayon! I tried it and loved it! Ok, maybe crayon wax isn't the best thing on my face, but it was a pretty good deal and I didn't have to go spend any money, so I thought, for now, it's good!
The kids think it is March Break.....I'm not sure how to break it to them that we still have to do school....lots to do.....
But then, the day started and I saw the kids interacting with other kids. I saw them jumping up for verses they knew. I interacted with many moms that day that all had a story about the impact of Bible quizzing. I watched so many kids who knew their stuff so well. It was truly so inspiring. How could we take a year off when it is so obviously impacting them for eternity? It was a great day. Our kids didn't do the best, but even my 15 year old said that even if she didn't win an award that day, she'd memorized 6 more chapters of John! They'll have done the whole book by the end. It was the longest book so far, over 900 verses. Mind boggling really. So, I guess we'll just keep at it for now!
I learned that my presence at the quiz meets matters. I didn't even realize that really. I wasn't able to make it to the last one and knew I should try to be there for this one. I made it to most of the quizzes, but missed a few, too. When we got home, my daughter said how much it made her feel so good to know I was there in the room watching her. Then she said, "It's so great to see you in the hall!" When I wasn't there last time, I guess it was noticed! Those are such interesting statements to me. I wasn't coaching, hardly even talking to them, but there was just something about them seeing me that made them feel something positive. Maybe security? Maybe happiness? I don't know. It's hard to get in the head of a child, but I'm pocketing that information. It made me feel like maybe, just maybe, my job as a mom does get noticed sometimes. They have a hard time putting it into words sometimes, but when they do, it is so great.
I laughed when my oldest son told me he was giving up "money" for Lent. Kinda makes sense as he has no money. But when I probed him on it, he said that every time he would typically want to spend money on coffee or a muffin, now he can't, so instead he prays - about his future, our family, his goals, our goals....I thought at first it was an out, but it turns out, he wants to spend money all the time, so instead he is praying more because he has no money to spend! It still works!
We are loving the "no TV" house we have right now. We are interacting way more as a family, enjoying activities that got ignored when the TV was around. We're all pretty glad it's gone. Lots of positives there.
One thing my youngest daughter has started experimenting with during this time is homemade lip gloss. The other day she made one out of coconut oil and a melted crayon! I tried it and loved it! Ok, maybe crayon wax isn't the best thing on my face, but it was a pretty good deal and I didn't have to go spend any money, so I thought, for now, it's good!
The kids think it is March Break.....I'm not sure how to break it to them that we still have to do school....lots to do.....
Monday 4 March 2019
Trip Recap and Happy New March!
Well, it's been a week already since I've been back from our short little getaway. Life is full. I feel like I'm busier now with the big kids than I ever was with the little babies and toddlers.
I found out I am a great long distance driver and that time doesn't seem to mean anything when you are driving endless hours. It all just kind of rolls into one big hour. Though we were on the road for 12 at a time I don't even remember it. My daughter did spell me off a little both coming and going, but I honestly think I would have been ok even if she hadn't been with us. Makes me realize I might just be able to do a 24 hour drive to the south sometime!
Seeing my sister and her husband in their own space with their new group of little foster kids was awesome. My kids took to them immediately and by the end of the time we had all fallen in love with them and them with us. They are "chocolate-coloured", as my 10 year old daughter put it, African American, and cute as anything. One of them asked my daughter, "So....you're whole family is peach-coloured?" So cute! They do give my sister a run for her money, as the saying goes, but I watched in amazement as her husband runs around giving them a run for their money! He is 6'3" and they all look like dwarves in his arms. They love him to death.
I even got to be involved with my daughters and my niece at a college and career/youth group event for young women. My sister and I were the "senior women" and we went out one night to someone's house to talk about the definition of being a woman, the Biblical definition vs. the world's definition. Each one of us got to share our perspective. I would have stayed there all night except that we had left about 100 kids under 12 with my brother-in-law, so we thought we should save him. When we got home, it was totally quiet...he was cool! My girls stayed much later and came home sad. Why sad?! Because they had made friends that lived 12 hours away! They don't have that kind of community around here, so maybe we'll have to drive 12 hours next week, too! But it was a great experience and all the cousins left more best-friend-cousiny than ever.
This week will mark the beginning of Lent. Again, we are not orthodox or Catholic or "religious" in the sense of following a church calendar just for the sake of it out of legalism. No, we like to take the opportunity most years to take on the discipline of prayer and sometimes fasting of some kind for a particular issue or concern or maybe even a new project in our lives. This year will be no different. Each child is considering taking something out of their lives that is a potential hindrance to them. Snapchat is a habit for a couple of my kids. I cannot say enough how much I hate snapchat. I hate it soooooooo much. I wish I could erase it from the world. I wish I could get into the mind of a teen and rewire them to see the idiocy in it. However, I haven't had to say anything. That is the one thing two of my kids are giving up, knowing how it is such a distraction in their lives. So I'm grateful. I didn't even have to suggest it. They knew what to throw away.
Meanwhile, my husband already removed the TV. It's gone for now. Don't know when it will come back. I'm kind of happy about that, too, though I do love to use it for school sometimes. But that is an easy thing to sacrifice for the betterment of the family. We're buckling down on a whole bunch of other disciplines, too, so I'm excited about that. Health is always a goal. Exercise is always a goal. We're in the middle of another major pushup challenge. But this time, it's between me and RM. We do multiple sets a day and are seeing improvement already in how many we can do in the few weeks we've been doing it. The goal? 100 day. RM has basically reached that and is feeling the pain! I'm about half that, but can't believe I'm even getting than many done. Super proud! The fun part is when we get down on the floor to do them, all the little guys join us. If someone manages to get that on video some day I'm sure it will go viral....it's a pretty funny scene.
We're also praying about a new family project - we're thinking about taking on the farmer's market world. We've got some ideas that might make some extra cash for us and our kids, but we know that nothing can happen without God's blessing and His touch of grace on anything we do. So we'll be praying about that as well and starting the set-up, Lord willing.
So, lots of things to do, lots to pray about, lot of goals....asking the Lord to continue to show Himself to us all as a family and as individuals. Spring is such a great spiritual re-start. January is old news already, so why not have a restart 3 months into the new year? For us, it's necessary, critical and vital! We'll call it Happy New March!
I found out I am a great long distance driver and that time doesn't seem to mean anything when you are driving endless hours. It all just kind of rolls into one big hour. Though we were on the road for 12 at a time I don't even remember it. My daughter did spell me off a little both coming and going, but I honestly think I would have been ok even if she hadn't been with us. Makes me realize I might just be able to do a 24 hour drive to the south sometime!
Seeing my sister and her husband in their own space with their new group of little foster kids was awesome. My kids took to them immediately and by the end of the time we had all fallen in love with them and them with us. They are "chocolate-coloured", as my 10 year old daughter put it, African American, and cute as anything. One of them asked my daughter, "So....you're whole family is peach-coloured?" So cute! They do give my sister a run for her money, as the saying goes, but I watched in amazement as her husband runs around giving them a run for their money! He is 6'3" and they all look like dwarves in his arms. They love him to death.
I even got to be involved with my daughters and my niece at a college and career/youth group event for young women. My sister and I were the "senior women" and we went out one night to someone's house to talk about the definition of being a woman, the Biblical definition vs. the world's definition. Each one of us got to share our perspective. I would have stayed there all night except that we had left about 100 kids under 12 with my brother-in-law, so we thought we should save him. When we got home, it was totally quiet...he was cool! My girls stayed much later and came home sad. Why sad?! Because they had made friends that lived 12 hours away! They don't have that kind of community around here, so maybe we'll have to drive 12 hours next week, too! But it was a great experience and all the cousins left more best-friend-cousiny than ever.
This week will mark the beginning of Lent. Again, we are not orthodox or Catholic or "religious" in the sense of following a church calendar just for the sake of it out of legalism. No, we like to take the opportunity most years to take on the discipline of prayer and sometimes fasting of some kind for a particular issue or concern or maybe even a new project in our lives. This year will be no different. Each child is considering taking something out of their lives that is a potential hindrance to them. Snapchat is a habit for a couple of my kids. I cannot say enough how much I hate snapchat. I hate it soooooooo much. I wish I could erase it from the world. I wish I could get into the mind of a teen and rewire them to see the idiocy in it. However, I haven't had to say anything. That is the one thing two of my kids are giving up, knowing how it is such a distraction in their lives. So I'm grateful. I didn't even have to suggest it. They knew what to throw away.
Meanwhile, my husband already removed the TV. It's gone for now. Don't know when it will come back. I'm kind of happy about that, too, though I do love to use it for school sometimes. But that is an easy thing to sacrifice for the betterment of the family. We're buckling down on a whole bunch of other disciplines, too, so I'm excited about that. Health is always a goal. Exercise is always a goal. We're in the middle of another major pushup challenge. But this time, it's between me and RM. We do multiple sets a day and are seeing improvement already in how many we can do in the few weeks we've been doing it. The goal? 100 day. RM has basically reached that and is feeling the pain! I'm about half that, but can't believe I'm even getting than many done. Super proud! The fun part is when we get down on the floor to do them, all the little guys join us. If someone manages to get that on video some day I'm sure it will go viral....it's a pretty funny scene.
We're also praying about a new family project - we're thinking about taking on the farmer's market world. We've got some ideas that might make some extra cash for us and our kids, but we know that nothing can happen without God's blessing and His touch of grace on anything we do. So we'll be praying about that as well and starting the set-up, Lord willing.
So, lots of things to do, lots to pray about, lot of goals....asking the Lord to continue to show Himself to us all as a family and as individuals. Spring is such a great spiritual re-start. January is old news already, so why not have a restart 3 months into the new year? For us, it's necessary, critical and vital! We'll call it Happy New March!
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