I'm not exactly sure why, but God is just pouring out His blessings on my 2 older daughters right now. He is opening doors for them in a way that only He can do.
I wrote about the retreat and what a blessing that was to both of them. The friendships that came out of that were unbelievable. In such a short amount of time the girls made friendships that seemingly will last forever. That was such an answer to prayer for me. What I didn't know is that she was also an answer to prayer for them.
There seems to be a little revival in the school right now. We all know Christian schools are far from Christian a lot of the time. If they were as Christian as everyone thought I think everyone would pull their kids from public school, but so often, they are exactly the same except with the name. I know, I worked in one. However, this is not always the case, especially when people are really committed to raising disciples and when their is staff in place praying. That is what is happening at this school. There is a couple on staff who have dove into this school with all their heart. They are praying, investing their time and their gifts and what is coming out of this is fruit, so much fruit they don't know how to handle it all!
The new, on-fire, believers in the upper grades have been praying for someone to come to the school with the same godly passion to replace the ones who will be graduating. When my daughter showed up with and they saw her passion for the Lord, they embraced her and said, "You're the answer to our prayers!" That seemed a little nuts. We're homeschooling, have never sent a child to school yet, so how could she be an answer to their prayers? Well, I know...I had also been praying....about whether to send her for part of her grade 11 year or for her grade 12 or for just a course here or there. Each child is different, each child needs different resources and each year has been different. This school just so happens to be a few minutes down the road and offers a few benefits that could really supplement our home education perfectly. So I wasn't exactly surprised to see everything falling together so perfectly. The question became how and when? This term? Next term? I had no idea still.
On the Monday after the retreat, all the highschool kids that had been on the retreat met in their Bible class at the Christian school. My daughter was here doing her school at home. While they all sat around debriefing my daughter's name kept coming up apparently. They were talking and wishing she could be there. The guy on staff just listened feeling and thinking the same. He left the class and got a text from his wife saying, "I think we should consider having S join the Bible class." Crazy. Then he was walking down the hall and a girl came running up to him, "Is there any way S could join our Bible class?" After hearing it from the kids in the class, his wife and then the girl, he thought, "I'm going to go ask the administration if they'll let her audit the class for free...." They said yes! The next thing I know I get a call from him asking if she can join the class for the rest of the term, for free, with her new friends. Nuts!
Naturally she said, "YES!!!" The reason that is so crazy is because it was the first day of classes of the new term. I had been so specifically praying if she was supposed to go for this term. When the co-op opportunity worked out with my sister-in-law (that's another whole crazy story), I figured that was my answer...no, she wouldn't be going to the school this term. And anyway, even if she hadn't gotten the co-op, we didn't have the money for the school anyway. So when I got the call, late Monday night, inviting her to the Bible class, for free, Monday and Wednesday mornings, I couldn't believe it. God had gotten her in to the school after all, on the first day of the second term and I didn't have to pay a thing! It was the best of both worlds. She would be continuing her homeschooling with the benefits of the Bible class at the school and a whole group of new friends, all the while getting her co-op experience. My oh my oh my oh my.......
The co-op with my sister-in-law is the other amazing story. My sister-in-law has to be one of the greatest human beings on earth. My brother scored is all I have to say. We love her so much. Every niece and nephew fights to be with her and to have her ear. Having just had the cutest baby on the face of this earth, she is needing some extra hands these days while she manages her very successful marketing/graphic design/web business. My daughter now heads into Toronto 2-3x a week to watch her baby, in return for a crash course on every aspect of her business! She loves this! The irony of all of this is that my daughter is half-cat.....she hates waking up, never can.....except for others, not for me. So here she is now.......waking up 2-3x a week for my sister-in-law, 2x a week for this Bible class and then on the final day of the week, I might let her sleep in until 8 or 9, but then she is so motivated to get her school done that she gets up on her own! Now that is the true miracle in all of this.
I will save the story of my other daughter for tomorrow....that is just as crazy. Last night we sat around until midnight just talking with the older children about all the miracles that have been happening. I feel like I'm living in a Facing the Giants movie where God has turned things around in such an obvious way that all my kids are in awe and they keep saying things like, "I can't believe what God is doing!" The only thing I can think of is that God is doing for them what He has done for me so that they get their own faith bank accounts, so that they will never forget how amazing He is. When I asked the guy on staff at the school if it has always been like this, he said, noooooo....that there were real years of spiritual dryness, but he said those were good years, too, as they pushed him to prayer and dependency on God as they would cry out, "Are you there, God? Are you working here at all?" And He was.
My new favourite song that I've already played waaaaay too much and am already getting tired of is "Waymaker". The lines that get me are, "Waymaker, Promise Keeper, Light in the darkness, That is Who You Are" and then later, "Even when I don't see it, You're working, Even when I don't feel it, You're working...." A week ago, my daughter had been on the couch crying....it seemed her world was falling apart. She surely wondered if God cared for her as she had just experienced a crushing blow from what she thought was a future person in her life. In a matter of days, God showed her that Yes! He was and is always working, even when we don't feel it or see it. He is a waymaker, a promise keeper, a light in the darkness.....Wow. I'm in awe. Help me always remember this week, Lord!
Friday 31 January 2020
Monday 27 January 2020
God's Faithful Guidance
My oldest two girls had an amazing opportunity to go waaaay up north this past weekend on a retreat with a local Christian highschool. That might sound strange, but through a connection at church we know the guy who is the spiritual director at the school and he knew my daughter was a pianist and asked her to play in the band all weekend. This is the second time she'd done this and she absolutely loved it. The worship leader always gets the highest quality musicians he can find and she says it's like playing with Hillsong or Elevation Worship. Did I mention SHE LOVES IT!!! My next oldest daughter was also invited to come and knowing how amazing it had been last time we encouraged her to go.
Being in nature I think was a highlight for both of them, but it was also being in the most worshipful setting on top of that which made it even more fantastic. I knew it could have gone either way, either the girls would embrace my 16 year old or hate her, as girls at that age can be so petty. Turns out they loved her! Yay! She came back with a handful of new "best friends".
This next term she has a very unique opportunity to do a "co-op" very similar to what my son did when he was 16. This will expose her to multiple fields that I could have never done on my own. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do in her life. Every time I get worried or a fearful thought enters my head, I am able to start reaching bank into my "faithful God" bank account. I have SOOOO many example of His faithfulness and that takes the place then of the fear that tries to creep in. "Remember how He guided your other child this way?" "Remember how He answered your prayer then for that child?" Yes, yes. The sermon was on the feeding of the 5000 yesterday. The pastor said that some people may say, "Well, God doesn't do that anymore." He reminded us that, yes He does, in small ways EVERY SINGLE DAY. We reflected as a family last night about the sermon and my daughter agreed, "We've had so many miracles in our life!" I'm so glad she knows that!
And, just to make sure I don't forget all these lessons on fear.....it just makes sense, I will be doing a talk on fear this Spring. Ha, so funny. That seems to be the new pattern - whatever I've struggled with ends up being the new topic that I write about. But it's such a good way for me to solidify what I'm learning and never forget. When I end up sharing it with others I become more accountable to the truths I've tried to learn myself. That's seems to be the way God works things out in my life anyhow.
Meanwhile, a miracle keeps going on down the street with my neighbours. Their marriage has been renewed. Their family is on a completely new trajectory. I'm in awe of what God is doing. The husband is getting baptized in a couple of weeks. Will I be there? YOU BET! My whole family will be there and I'll be bringing a BOX of kleenexes, guaranteed. I can't even believe the miracle. I pray they will write a book one day. And I know praying and fasting will be at the heart of it. The wife fasted until there was a breakthrough and boy, was there ever breakthrough! So amazing.
What will God do today? How will He work? I'm praying and watching for all the ways......
Being in nature I think was a highlight for both of them, but it was also being in the most worshipful setting on top of that which made it even more fantastic. I knew it could have gone either way, either the girls would embrace my 16 year old or hate her, as girls at that age can be so petty. Turns out they loved her! Yay! She came back with a handful of new "best friends".
This next term she has a very unique opportunity to do a "co-op" very similar to what my son did when he was 16. This will expose her to multiple fields that I could have never done on my own. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do in her life. Every time I get worried or a fearful thought enters my head, I am able to start reaching bank into my "faithful God" bank account. I have SOOOO many example of His faithfulness and that takes the place then of the fear that tries to creep in. "Remember how He guided your other child this way?" "Remember how He answered your prayer then for that child?" Yes, yes. The sermon was on the feeding of the 5000 yesterday. The pastor said that some people may say, "Well, God doesn't do that anymore." He reminded us that, yes He does, in small ways EVERY SINGLE DAY. We reflected as a family last night about the sermon and my daughter agreed, "We've had so many miracles in our life!" I'm so glad she knows that!
And, just to make sure I don't forget all these lessons on fear.....it just makes sense, I will be doing a talk on fear this Spring. Ha, so funny. That seems to be the new pattern - whatever I've struggled with ends up being the new topic that I write about. But it's such a good way for me to solidify what I'm learning and never forget. When I end up sharing it with others I become more accountable to the truths I've tried to learn myself. That's seems to be the way God works things out in my life anyhow.
Meanwhile, a miracle keeps going on down the street with my neighbours. Their marriage has been renewed. Their family is on a completely new trajectory. I'm in awe of what God is doing. The husband is getting baptized in a couple of weeks. Will I be there? YOU BET! My whole family will be there and I'll be bringing a BOX of kleenexes, guaranteed. I can't even believe the miracle. I pray they will write a book one day. And I know praying and fasting will be at the heart of it. The wife fasted until there was a breakthrough and boy, was there ever breakthrough! So amazing.
What will God do today? How will He work? I'm praying and watching for all the ways......
Tuesday 21 January 2020
A Cat Story
Every day I'm convinced God has something up His sleeve to keep us laughing. "She laughs at the days to come...." Proverbs 31:25 is what my good friend and I have discussed many times. We want to be women who laugh at life instead of being fearful and dreading the future! So, praying that together, God decided He would help me by bringing humourous situations into my life....
We should have a reality show featuring our cats. We have 2 sister cats who live indoors but hate each other with an intensity that is scary sometimes. They fight, uh, like cats. The one dominant cat scares the other cat into tiny places where she can hide. One of the places she likes to hide is in a vent high above our stairs that she has to jump to in order to get away from her sister. The problem is it leads to duct work down in the basement and if she ever were to slip.....In this episode.......I'll call it "The Night of the Duct Rescue"......(play scary music....)
A few weeks ago, she fell down the duct work. However, who knows how, she found her way out, and showed up upstairs shortly afterward, but last night was different.
She slipped again, due to her scary sister threatening her. She fell straight down the duct work, landing at the bottom, in the ceiling of the basement. We could hear her scraping and meowing, but she couldn't get out. We tried to entice her just as we had the last time, but she wasn't making her way out.
It was a late night for my husband, teaching at the college after a long day at work. I tried everything to get the cat out before he got home, even taking dry wall off the wall, so he wouldn't have to deal with it, but she was stuck in there. So as much as I dreaded to tell him, I had to. He had a few choice words about cats, let's say, when he found out.
Down he went taking the duct work apart. He wasn't happy about that! On top of it all, he couldn't find his hammer because all the kids use them and don't return them. Ewww...another thing that made him a little grumpy....kept getting worse!
Finally he got all the duct work off, but no cat. Oh dear. Was she stuck in an awkward position? Would she die in our vents? My kids were upset. Well, some of them. Others were having a party upstairs completely oblivious to our cat turmoil! Heartless!
Finally he went into the dungeon part of our house where there is a dirt floor. He found out we have a kitty litter down there that we had no idea was so extensive. How disgusting. Now we weren't sure we wanted to save the cat.
In the dungeon side he saw the back of the duct work and that there was a little lever to open a damper. He twisted it and the next thing you know there's a little black fuzzy face looking at me and smelling the can of tuna I had opened to entice her out. She was in a total panic and barely let me grab her, but I got her out to the happiness of everyone, except, maybe for Daddy.
We decided he was the best dad ever though. Saving a cat has to be one of the funniest things in the big picture of life as they really have very little purpose for living. They hardly mouse around here. They fight and make awful messes. They break things. They eat without any gratitude. They EXPECT you to take care of them, borderline demand. And yet there we all were, hugging her, petting her, so happy to see her. Hilarious.
When it was all said and done, even my husband said (the one who hates cats), "Does she want some tuna? If not, I'll eat it." Good to see he has his priorities in order.
We should have a reality show featuring our cats. We have 2 sister cats who live indoors but hate each other with an intensity that is scary sometimes. They fight, uh, like cats. The one dominant cat scares the other cat into tiny places where she can hide. One of the places she likes to hide is in a vent high above our stairs that she has to jump to in order to get away from her sister. The problem is it leads to duct work down in the basement and if she ever were to slip.....In this episode.......I'll call it "The Night of the Duct Rescue"......(play scary music....)
A few weeks ago, she fell down the duct work. However, who knows how, she found her way out, and showed up upstairs shortly afterward, but last night was different.
She slipped again, due to her scary sister threatening her. She fell straight down the duct work, landing at the bottom, in the ceiling of the basement. We could hear her scraping and meowing, but she couldn't get out. We tried to entice her just as we had the last time, but she wasn't making her way out.
It was a late night for my husband, teaching at the college after a long day at work. I tried everything to get the cat out before he got home, even taking dry wall off the wall, so he wouldn't have to deal with it, but she was stuck in there. So as much as I dreaded to tell him, I had to. He had a few choice words about cats, let's say, when he found out.
Down he went taking the duct work apart. He wasn't happy about that! On top of it all, he couldn't find his hammer because all the kids use them and don't return them. Ewww...another thing that made him a little grumpy....kept getting worse!
Finally he got all the duct work off, but no cat. Oh dear. Was she stuck in an awkward position? Would she die in our vents? My kids were upset. Well, some of them. Others were having a party upstairs completely oblivious to our cat turmoil! Heartless!
Finally he went into the dungeon part of our house where there is a dirt floor. He found out we have a kitty litter down there that we had no idea was so extensive. How disgusting. Now we weren't sure we wanted to save the cat.
In the dungeon side he saw the back of the duct work and that there was a little lever to open a damper. He twisted it and the next thing you know there's a little black fuzzy face looking at me and smelling the can of tuna I had opened to entice her out. She was in a total panic and barely let me grab her, but I got her out to the happiness of everyone, except, maybe for Daddy.
We decided he was the best dad ever though. Saving a cat has to be one of the funniest things in the big picture of life as they really have very little purpose for living. They hardly mouse around here. They fight and make awful messes. They break things. They eat without any gratitude. They EXPECT you to take care of them, borderline demand. And yet there we all were, hugging her, petting her, so happy to see her. Hilarious.
When it was all said and done, even my husband said (the one who hates cats), "Does she want some tuna? If not, I'll eat it." Good to see he has his priorities in order.
Monday 20 January 2020
Brakes Fixed, TV Broken, Godly Tomatoes, and Sibling Times
The weekend ended well - another brake job done on one of our cars! I am always amazed when RM gets another car back on the road. He said last night that he wishes he had kept track years ago of how many brake jobs he has done. He only remembers one time ever letting someone else do it for him, that is, paying someone else. He said he's probably done 100s! or at least a lot, but either way, think of the money that has saved him and us over the years. Amazing.
But in our house it is always something else that goes if it isn't a car. Nearly 2 weeks ago one of my sons tripped on a computer cord that was attached to the TV at the time. Our TV had been precariously positioned on some crates leaning against our window. Not the best place for a TV and I wondered at the time why we had left it like that. A long time ago our dog had broken its base when she went berserk at some biker riding by, so after that we always had to lean it against something. Anyway, when the computer cord was tripped on it brought the TV crashing down and right away we knew it was a goner as there was a huge crack in the screen.
What can you do? Go out and buy a new TV? No. Not going to happen. So lately we've been doing a lot more playing, reading, talking and cleaning. The kids still use the computers and lap tops when necessary, but screen time is definitely down. So RM is in no rush to replace it.
Recently, I pulled out a book I hadn't read in ages (I guess I should return it to you one day BFFC!) It is called Raising Godly Tomatoes. It is well worth the read. The author is a homeschooling mom of 10 and she wrote down years ago some of her best ideas of how she trained her children. Having read it years ago and used her website as a resource when all my kids were small I found it a lifeline, but I hadn't looked at it in a long time so we pulled it out and were actually reading sections of it with the younger four last night. I was no longer reading it trying to get my children to sleep through the night. That is hardly the problem. Now I need creative ways to get them out of bed! Instead I went to the back of the book to where she wrote about character development. Her first three character traits were where we decided to start - arrogance, sulking and disrespect.
It's funny, we all knew they were areas each one of the children struggle, but at first they would name someone else that struggled with the negative trait! Ha! That is funny! It really is true that you can pick out the "speck in your brother's eye" when all along there is a "plank in your own eye". That was a good place to start. So we'll see. We reminded them that we had more time to work with the older children and that we can't just forget the second set! The younger four are definitely a different group all together with different strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad we still have time with them. The older four are definitely more and more out of my grasp in some senses. Three of them are adults now.
We haven't done much in the way of organized sports, but we did put the 9 and 13 year old in a church basketball league this Fall. It has been very low key and not a huge commitment, but it has certainly brought out some of the negative character traits. Not being used to playing against older kids, as they group the 13 year olds with 15 year olds, has been a challenge. The younger ones are definitely not as big or talented as those who have played a couple more years. No chance for arrogance there, but lots of chances for sulking and pouting. So this will be a good opportunity to work out some of those kinks.
I can always tell when my oldest son is back at work at Marineland - our gas bills go through the roof as we are driving all the time, dropping off and picking up. Yikes. However, I have told everyone to get season's passes to Marineland this summer. My son will be in the show at the stadium this year and is already being trained for all the things the animals love to do. Yesterday he got pushed around by a dolphin with its nose on his feet going supersonic speeds around the pool! We are all still in awe at his weekly schedule - school from Monday to Friday and then Marineland on the weekends. He is able to fit church in by going to the young adults on Sunday night which is nice. They actually listen to sermons together which is fantastic and then pray in small groups. That makes me so happy because I was sad that he was missing out on church. It's an answer to prayer that the older 3 can all attend that together. That is such a bonus about a large family I have to say. You never have to go anywhere alone! You always have a buddy to take with you!
This weekend my 16 year old will attend a youth retreat. She would never go alone as she has never met anyone going, but again, because my older daughter is attending in the worship band, she has a buddy, so it makes it much easier to make the decision to go! I'm also grateful we didn't have big gaps between their ages as they are all so close in age that they enjoy a lot in common. Also makes it easier to hang out.
Writing is so good. I can see the hand of God even as I reflect on the past 24 hours. Although it doesn't always come without a few bumps in the road, literally. Both my husband and I on separate occasions yesterday fell out of our truck! I stepped out of the truck at church and when my boot hit the ice on the pavement I went flying, very ungracefully. I have a very nice bruise on my elbow and a lovely scrape on the inside of my forearm as I must have hit it hard sliding down the side of the truck. It wasn't pretty and I walked into church quite shaken. Thankfully nothing was broken. Later that afternoon on our driveway my husband did the exact same thing! He also landed on his elbow and felt like he twisted his ankle! We were a piece of work that's for sure, but again, we were spared from becoming what could have been two incapacitated parents! So grateful.
There's my reflection for now......
But in our house it is always something else that goes if it isn't a car. Nearly 2 weeks ago one of my sons tripped on a computer cord that was attached to the TV at the time. Our TV had been precariously positioned on some crates leaning against our window. Not the best place for a TV and I wondered at the time why we had left it like that. A long time ago our dog had broken its base when she went berserk at some biker riding by, so after that we always had to lean it against something. Anyway, when the computer cord was tripped on it brought the TV crashing down and right away we knew it was a goner as there was a huge crack in the screen.
What can you do? Go out and buy a new TV? No. Not going to happen. So lately we've been doing a lot more playing, reading, talking and cleaning. The kids still use the computers and lap tops when necessary, but screen time is definitely down. So RM is in no rush to replace it.
Recently, I pulled out a book I hadn't read in ages (I guess I should return it to you one day BFFC!) It is called Raising Godly Tomatoes. It is well worth the read. The author is a homeschooling mom of 10 and she wrote down years ago some of her best ideas of how she trained her children. Having read it years ago and used her website as a resource when all my kids were small I found it a lifeline, but I hadn't looked at it in a long time so we pulled it out and were actually reading sections of it with the younger four last night. I was no longer reading it trying to get my children to sleep through the night. That is hardly the problem. Now I need creative ways to get them out of bed! Instead I went to the back of the book to where she wrote about character development. Her first three character traits were where we decided to start - arrogance, sulking and disrespect.
It's funny, we all knew they were areas each one of the children struggle, but at first they would name someone else that struggled with the negative trait! Ha! That is funny! It really is true that you can pick out the "speck in your brother's eye" when all along there is a "plank in your own eye". That was a good place to start. So we'll see. We reminded them that we had more time to work with the older children and that we can't just forget the second set! The younger four are definitely a different group all together with different strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad we still have time with them. The older four are definitely more and more out of my grasp in some senses. Three of them are adults now.
We haven't done much in the way of organized sports, but we did put the 9 and 13 year old in a church basketball league this Fall. It has been very low key and not a huge commitment, but it has certainly brought out some of the negative character traits. Not being used to playing against older kids, as they group the 13 year olds with 15 year olds, has been a challenge. The younger ones are definitely not as big or talented as those who have played a couple more years. No chance for arrogance there, but lots of chances for sulking and pouting. So this will be a good opportunity to work out some of those kinks.
I can always tell when my oldest son is back at work at Marineland - our gas bills go through the roof as we are driving all the time, dropping off and picking up. Yikes. However, I have told everyone to get season's passes to Marineland this summer. My son will be in the show at the stadium this year and is already being trained for all the things the animals love to do. Yesterday he got pushed around by a dolphin with its nose on his feet going supersonic speeds around the pool! We are all still in awe at his weekly schedule - school from Monday to Friday and then Marineland on the weekends. He is able to fit church in by going to the young adults on Sunday night which is nice. They actually listen to sermons together which is fantastic and then pray in small groups. That makes me so happy because I was sad that he was missing out on church. It's an answer to prayer that the older 3 can all attend that together. That is such a bonus about a large family I have to say. You never have to go anywhere alone! You always have a buddy to take with you!
This weekend my 16 year old will attend a youth retreat. She would never go alone as she has never met anyone going, but again, because my older daughter is attending in the worship band, she has a buddy, so it makes it much easier to make the decision to go! I'm also grateful we didn't have big gaps between their ages as they are all so close in age that they enjoy a lot in common. Also makes it easier to hang out.
Writing is so good. I can see the hand of God even as I reflect on the past 24 hours. Although it doesn't always come without a few bumps in the road, literally. Both my husband and I on separate occasions yesterday fell out of our truck! I stepped out of the truck at church and when my boot hit the ice on the pavement I went flying, very ungracefully. I have a very nice bruise on my elbow and a lovely scrape on the inside of my forearm as I must have hit it hard sliding down the side of the truck. It wasn't pretty and I walked into church quite shaken. Thankfully nothing was broken. Later that afternoon on our driveway my husband did the exact same thing! He also landed on his elbow and felt like he twisted his ankle! We were a piece of work that's for sure, but again, we were spared from becoming what could have been two incapacitated parents! So grateful.
There's my reflection for now......
Wednesday 15 January 2020
God Uses Unlikely People
I am not sitting down here much, though I'm just as awake each morning. With everyone off to work and school so early I'm usually running around making breakfasts, lunches, doing laundry......
I haven't committed to much this semester. We are doing piano so far and an outing here and there, but we are trying to really buckle down on school and I'm actually really enjoying that. It may be a little harder for the kids to get used to after their long Christmas break, but it's helping me feel a little better!
I did get a little bit of a shocker last week though. I'll be going in for a biopsy next month for what appeared like a suspicious image on my first mammogram. It is literally microscopic in nature, what they call "calcification", but when they magnified it on a second mammogram, it made them want to take an ultrasound to clarify. I saw the image on the screen myself. These tiny little dots the size of grains of salt were there, I saw them, too, but when they zoomed in on them, they appear to be in a circle, all joined together which could be something or it could be nothing. Either way, I have to go back which, really, is no big deal. In the examination room, when the technician told me they wanted me to come back in, I said, "Are you serious?!" For one, I was NOT expecting that. Two, I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!!! The appointment was over a half hour away, plus you have to allow time for parking, plus waiting, plus, plus, plus........I REALLY WANT TO HOMESCHOOL MY KIDS AND YOU HAVE TO BE HOME TO DO THAT!!!!!
That's my rant for the day. I have not been concerned really since then. If there is something to detect, then I'll deal with it when that time comes. I'm still living in a bit of a bubble assuming it is nothing. But I'm also learning and trying so hard to live more by faith and less by fear. Faith has really helped eliminate all my stress with respect to this. So, it's not denial, it's really that I trust the Lord and I see it as a test. Will I trust Him even as the year starts off with this kind of news? I almost laughed out loud when I first got the phone call to come back. It just seemed like such an obvious test. I wasn't going to fall for it.
This week I got another great reminder of how God uses the most unexpected people. Once again, it was through my son's easy reader. I love how the author of these books takes classic Bible stories, like the one about Jacob and Esau, puts them into easier language, but how the message is still the same. My son is just reading it to get better at reading. I read it to help him learn, but I end up hearing God's voice as I read it with him. So cool! Anyway, Jacob had just finished deceiving his father, stealing his brother's birthright and blessing and then running away because Esau wanted to kill him. The next story he's lying down with a stone for a pillow and God speaks to him in a dream, reassuring him that He'll be with him! I immediately was in awe how God could use such a man, after all he had done. It reminded me how we certainly don't understand all of God's ways by any means, but at the same time, I was encouraged. If God could use Jacob and promised to be with him, despite all his faults, then He can do the same with me, in my life, with my kids. I certainly have no shortage of faults and it seems that has passed on to my kids as well. But really, all throughout the Bible, that is one of the main themes, isn't it? That God uses the most unlikely of people to accomplish His purposes. I've been taking that theme into the new year. Every time I want to doubt my skills, my abilities, I try to remember Jacob.
Now, I can really say, I have no idea what the next year, let alone month, holds, but I know another main theme in Scripture is to not fear and that God will be with me. So I just think on that....
I haven't committed to much this semester. We are doing piano so far and an outing here and there, but we are trying to really buckle down on school and I'm actually really enjoying that. It may be a little harder for the kids to get used to after their long Christmas break, but it's helping me feel a little better!
I did get a little bit of a shocker last week though. I'll be going in for a biopsy next month for what appeared like a suspicious image on my first mammogram. It is literally microscopic in nature, what they call "calcification", but when they magnified it on a second mammogram, it made them want to take an ultrasound to clarify. I saw the image on the screen myself. These tiny little dots the size of grains of salt were there, I saw them, too, but when they zoomed in on them, they appear to be in a circle, all joined together which could be something or it could be nothing. Either way, I have to go back which, really, is no big deal. In the examination room, when the technician told me they wanted me to come back in, I said, "Are you serious?!" For one, I was NOT expecting that. Two, I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!!! The appointment was over a half hour away, plus you have to allow time for parking, plus waiting, plus, plus, plus........I REALLY WANT TO HOMESCHOOL MY KIDS AND YOU HAVE TO BE HOME TO DO THAT!!!!!
That's my rant for the day. I have not been concerned really since then. If there is something to detect, then I'll deal with it when that time comes. I'm still living in a bit of a bubble assuming it is nothing. But I'm also learning and trying so hard to live more by faith and less by fear. Faith has really helped eliminate all my stress with respect to this. So, it's not denial, it's really that I trust the Lord and I see it as a test. Will I trust Him even as the year starts off with this kind of news? I almost laughed out loud when I first got the phone call to come back. It just seemed like such an obvious test. I wasn't going to fall for it.
This week I got another great reminder of how God uses the most unexpected people. Once again, it was through my son's easy reader. I love how the author of these books takes classic Bible stories, like the one about Jacob and Esau, puts them into easier language, but how the message is still the same. My son is just reading it to get better at reading. I read it to help him learn, but I end up hearing God's voice as I read it with him. So cool! Anyway, Jacob had just finished deceiving his father, stealing his brother's birthright and blessing and then running away because Esau wanted to kill him. The next story he's lying down with a stone for a pillow and God speaks to him in a dream, reassuring him that He'll be with him! I immediately was in awe how God could use such a man, after all he had done. It reminded me how we certainly don't understand all of God's ways by any means, but at the same time, I was encouraged. If God could use Jacob and promised to be with him, despite all his faults, then He can do the same with me, in my life, with my kids. I certainly have no shortage of faults and it seems that has passed on to my kids as well. But really, all throughout the Bible, that is one of the main themes, isn't it? That God uses the most unlikely of people to accomplish His purposes. I've been taking that theme into the new year. Every time I want to doubt my skills, my abilities, I try to remember Jacob.
Now, I can really say, I have no idea what the next year, let alone month, holds, but I know another main theme in Scripture is to not fear and that God will be with me. So I just think on that....
Thursday 2 January 2020
2010-2020.....A short look back.....
Wow - 2020 is here! It came so fast. My daughter keeps telling me how she can't believe the holidays are over. You wait and wait for them and then all of a sudden....done. We were very grateful for the break though. We have never been able to have my husband home for so long. He's back at work today.
We did a lot of reflection over the last week and have more reflecting still to do, as we aren't just looking over the last year, but the last decade. We were all amazed what had happened in ten years as it was just over ten years ago that we packed up and moved here and now we have lived a full decade in Niagara. Here are a few of the things we remembered:
- we had two babies in Niagara, miracle babies from what I've heard as they were both in my 40s, and apparently that is pretty rare!
- we built a house, bought/renovated a farm, sold a house
- we went from no animals to cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cats, lizards and tarantulas
- we started multiple mini-businesses from my daughters' photography business, piano teaching, cake pop making, to my son's dog breeding business, kitten selling and even lemonade stands each summer
- we did a microgreen business this past summer
- my husband went from being self-employed to college-employed, from lead research to center manager
- we graduated 3 kids from homeschooling
- 2 have gone on to further schooling, a 3rd will this Fall
- our children went from no jobs to 4 having full and part-time work
- none driving to 3 driving and 2 owning cars of their own
- a couple of operations and at least one broken bone and a few stitches here and there
- from dilapidated barn to redone roof and floor
- started Bible quizzing and started the junior quizzing program, memorizing many books of the Bible in the last 10 years, so far 7 kids have been in the program, only one left and he starts this Fall!
- piano lessons so far for all 8
- kids began to self-teach guitar, ukelele and now drums and bass guitar
- planted gardens, vineyards, hay
- international travel has happened for the last two summers
- careers have been launched with our kids
- learned to can and preserve food on a very small, but fun, scale
Clearly, a lot has happened in the last 10 years. We are amazed when we reflect on all that has happened. We can't even imagine what the next 10 years will hold. We hope for a few marriages and grandchildren! That would never have been in my wildest dreams 10 years ago. It's happening in my sister's life this summer, so we have to believe it could be our experience, too!
I am excited about the future and though I have struggled with fear a lot throughout the past decade, I hope to see my faith strengthened and fear less and less. I have too many answers to prayers to look back on to remain in a state of fear. I have learned to be thankful first and then the miracles comes after. That was probably the lesson of the decade.
I think our next decade might be a little more musical. Let me explain....When my husband was self-employed, he could dictate his own hours and how he spent his days. Working for someone else now, they dictate his hours and how he spends his time. This has been a challenge as now his work gets his best hours and he comes home feeling tired, yet the kids and I still need his attention. This Christmas he invested in some musical instruments. He, himself, is quite musical and has taken guitar lessons and self-taught himself mastery of the instrument. He's really good. But he wanted to do something that would involve more time with the kids, so crazy us, went and bought a drum set, for the 9 year old in particular and a bass guitar for the 13 year old. Turns out every single person, besides myself, has sat at the drums this last week and have been playing non-stop. It was never a quiet house before and it certainly isn't at ALL now. But, to our amazement, the kids are all learning very fast and doing great. RM gets to play alongside his kids and they are all loving it. I'm not sure that a family band is the goal, but at least they are playing music together A LOT. It's actually really amazing to hear.
I still have big dreams about all that I want to see done around the house, but I have learned to let that go this past decade, too. I now try to accept the fact that it might take another decade to get things to where I'd like them and that's ok. If I look back to what the house looked like when we bought it, then I should be in awe of what we've managed to finish in the ten years, all while raising a family, crops and working full-time.
My oldest daughter's gift to me this Christmas is to help me slowly but surely organize my house and create systems that will work to keep it organized and tidy. So much clutter always comes into our house and she is known for her ruthlessness in getting rid of stuff, so I'm hoping she'll help me be ruthless as well as I hate throwing things away that I MIGHT need one day....thus the clutter.
As usual, where do I stop....I could go on and on. I am so grateful for this past decade. If I were to say which one was my favourite, it has to be this past decade. Not because it was the easiest, but SO MUCH HAPPENED. We left the suburbs and moved to the country where I've felt the most fulfilled ever. I absolutely love it out here and I thank God so much for the experience. If we have to move one day (we talk about it all the time), I will be grateful that we had at least 10 years here. If God allows us to stay another 10 years that would make me super happy. That is another thing I've learned, everything can change in a moment and contentment in the moment is key.
A couple more days before the kids and I resume school. Somethings never change - I have loads of laundry ahead of me and always cleaning, organizing and meal planning. That never stops. If anything that will increase in the next ten years if our family multiplies.....but I love it. |Ten years ago is one thing to look back on, but this year will mark our 25th anniversary. That's nuts. I never could have seen what was ahead 25 years ago! We started out downtown in a condo...to 8 kids in the country. It's unreal. I'm sure I will enjoy reflecting more and more as the year passes.
Our pastor shared Psalm 117 on Sunday. It has to be one of the shortest psalms in the Bible. But it's message is clear, "Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples. For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever." That's it, the one constant in my life over the past decade, let alone 25, or 50 years, even, is the Lord's faithfulness and love. The pastor was saying that because there had been some sad losses of husbands and fathers in our church over the year. Can we celebrate even when there is loss? Can we reflect fondly even when there have been tough times? Yes and yes and yes.....we had many tough times over the last ten years, but over and over we saw God's goodness to us, almost moreso in the hard times. So I can be like the psalmist and praise Him for His amazing love and faithfulness to us, to me personally. That was another major takeaway for me, especially this past year. God met me, in a hidden way to others, but very clearly to me, over and over. I'll give one final example....
This past decade was a tough one for me and appliances! Everything went - the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher, the fridge, the stove......yikes! I won't even get into cars, but anyway! We eventually got them all working or replaced them. Who knows how. When my husband finally fixed the dishwasher after two years of handwashing, we were all so grateful, so when it went again a couple of weeks ago inexplicably we just threw up our hands in the air, bought dish gloves and started handwashing again without even skipping a beat. RM figured he would find time to take a look at it over the holidays. This past Sunday, we were sitting having lunch and, I'm NOT JOKING, I suddenly heard a sound coming from the kitchen that I hadn't heard in a while....the dishwasher had suddenly started running ALL ON ITS OWN!! What?! How does that happen? I just assumed someone had started it, but no one had! And how could it start on its own anyway when it hadn't worked for weeks and we had tried everything to get it going?! It was the most bizarre thing. I wasn't convinced it was working though so stopped it and tried to restart it thinking there was no way it would work again as I had tried many many times before. To my utter amazement, it did restart and hasn't stopped since!! I cannot explain it. We are calling it our dishwasher miracle. We had a fridge miracle a few weeks before that, so it seems to be God just coming down and resurrecting our appliances just because he can. So funny! I am not about to question it and again, maybe there is some way to explain it, but not very easily!!! Even to my engineering husband, so to me, it is just God's way of saying, "I'll take care of you....and your dishwasher....." Crazy!
So, will I worry about the next year? or the next decade? or the next 25 years? How can I? His faithfulness to me has been obvious, so I think whatever comes in the next year or more, He'll be faithful.
We did a lot of reflection over the last week and have more reflecting still to do, as we aren't just looking over the last year, but the last decade. We were all amazed what had happened in ten years as it was just over ten years ago that we packed up and moved here and now we have lived a full decade in Niagara. Here are a few of the things we remembered:
- we had two babies in Niagara, miracle babies from what I've heard as they were both in my 40s, and apparently that is pretty rare!
- we built a house, bought/renovated a farm, sold a house
- we went from no animals to cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cats, lizards and tarantulas
- we started multiple mini-businesses from my daughters' photography business, piano teaching, cake pop making, to my son's dog breeding business, kitten selling and even lemonade stands each summer
- we did a microgreen business this past summer
- my husband went from being self-employed to college-employed, from lead research to center manager
- we graduated 3 kids from homeschooling
- 2 have gone on to further schooling, a 3rd will this Fall
- our children went from no jobs to 4 having full and part-time work
- none driving to 3 driving and 2 owning cars of their own
- a couple of operations and at least one broken bone and a few stitches here and there
- from dilapidated barn to redone roof and floor
- started Bible quizzing and started the junior quizzing program, memorizing many books of the Bible in the last 10 years, so far 7 kids have been in the program, only one left and he starts this Fall!
- piano lessons so far for all 8
- kids began to self-teach guitar, ukelele and now drums and bass guitar
- planted gardens, vineyards, hay
- international travel has happened for the last two summers
- careers have been launched with our kids
- learned to can and preserve food on a very small, but fun, scale
Clearly, a lot has happened in the last 10 years. We are amazed when we reflect on all that has happened. We can't even imagine what the next 10 years will hold. We hope for a few marriages and grandchildren! That would never have been in my wildest dreams 10 years ago. It's happening in my sister's life this summer, so we have to believe it could be our experience, too!
I am excited about the future and though I have struggled with fear a lot throughout the past decade, I hope to see my faith strengthened and fear less and less. I have too many answers to prayers to look back on to remain in a state of fear. I have learned to be thankful first and then the miracles comes after. That was probably the lesson of the decade.
I think our next decade might be a little more musical. Let me explain....When my husband was self-employed, he could dictate his own hours and how he spent his days. Working for someone else now, they dictate his hours and how he spends his time. This has been a challenge as now his work gets his best hours and he comes home feeling tired, yet the kids and I still need his attention. This Christmas he invested in some musical instruments. He, himself, is quite musical and has taken guitar lessons and self-taught himself mastery of the instrument. He's really good. But he wanted to do something that would involve more time with the kids, so crazy us, went and bought a drum set, for the 9 year old in particular and a bass guitar for the 13 year old. Turns out every single person, besides myself, has sat at the drums this last week and have been playing non-stop. It was never a quiet house before and it certainly isn't at ALL now. But, to our amazement, the kids are all learning very fast and doing great. RM gets to play alongside his kids and they are all loving it. I'm not sure that a family band is the goal, but at least they are playing music together A LOT. It's actually really amazing to hear.
I still have big dreams about all that I want to see done around the house, but I have learned to let that go this past decade, too. I now try to accept the fact that it might take another decade to get things to where I'd like them and that's ok. If I look back to what the house looked like when we bought it, then I should be in awe of what we've managed to finish in the ten years, all while raising a family, crops and working full-time.
My oldest daughter's gift to me this Christmas is to help me slowly but surely organize my house and create systems that will work to keep it organized and tidy. So much clutter always comes into our house and she is known for her ruthlessness in getting rid of stuff, so I'm hoping she'll help me be ruthless as well as I hate throwing things away that I MIGHT need one day....thus the clutter.
As usual, where do I stop....I could go on and on. I am so grateful for this past decade. If I were to say which one was my favourite, it has to be this past decade. Not because it was the easiest, but SO MUCH HAPPENED. We left the suburbs and moved to the country where I've felt the most fulfilled ever. I absolutely love it out here and I thank God so much for the experience. If we have to move one day (we talk about it all the time), I will be grateful that we had at least 10 years here. If God allows us to stay another 10 years that would make me super happy. That is another thing I've learned, everything can change in a moment and contentment in the moment is key.
A couple more days before the kids and I resume school. Somethings never change - I have loads of laundry ahead of me and always cleaning, organizing and meal planning. That never stops. If anything that will increase in the next ten years if our family multiplies.....but I love it. |Ten years ago is one thing to look back on, but this year will mark our 25th anniversary. That's nuts. I never could have seen what was ahead 25 years ago! We started out downtown in a condo...to 8 kids in the country. It's unreal. I'm sure I will enjoy reflecting more and more as the year passes.
Our pastor shared Psalm 117 on Sunday. It has to be one of the shortest psalms in the Bible. But it's message is clear, "Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples. For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever." That's it, the one constant in my life over the past decade, let alone 25, or 50 years, even, is the Lord's faithfulness and love. The pastor was saying that because there had been some sad losses of husbands and fathers in our church over the year. Can we celebrate even when there is loss? Can we reflect fondly even when there have been tough times? Yes and yes and yes.....we had many tough times over the last ten years, but over and over we saw God's goodness to us, almost moreso in the hard times. So I can be like the psalmist and praise Him for His amazing love and faithfulness to us, to me personally. That was another major takeaway for me, especially this past year. God met me, in a hidden way to others, but very clearly to me, over and over. I'll give one final example....
This past decade was a tough one for me and appliances! Everything went - the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher, the fridge, the stove......yikes! I won't even get into cars, but anyway! We eventually got them all working or replaced them. Who knows how. When my husband finally fixed the dishwasher after two years of handwashing, we were all so grateful, so when it went again a couple of weeks ago inexplicably we just threw up our hands in the air, bought dish gloves and started handwashing again without even skipping a beat. RM figured he would find time to take a look at it over the holidays. This past Sunday, we were sitting having lunch and, I'm NOT JOKING, I suddenly heard a sound coming from the kitchen that I hadn't heard in a while....the dishwasher had suddenly started running ALL ON ITS OWN!! What?! How does that happen? I just assumed someone had started it, but no one had! And how could it start on its own anyway when it hadn't worked for weeks and we had tried everything to get it going?! It was the most bizarre thing. I wasn't convinced it was working though so stopped it and tried to restart it thinking there was no way it would work again as I had tried many many times before. To my utter amazement, it did restart and hasn't stopped since!! I cannot explain it. We are calling it our dishwasher miracle. We had a fridge miracle a few weeks before that, so it seems to be God just coming down and resurrecting our appliances just because he can. So funny! I am not about to question it and again, maybe there is some way to explain it, but not very easily!!! Even to my engineering husband, so to me, it is just God's way of saying, "I'll take care of you....and your dishwasher....." Crazy!
So, will I worry about the next year? or the next decade? or the next 25 years? How can I? His faithfulness to me has been obvious, so I think whatever comes in the next year or more, He'll be faithful.
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