Having a large family during this time is actually turning out to be a pretty great advantage. Everyone has someone to do something with. I'm actually, oddly enough, finding the house quieter than usual. My husband has to do some work from home as he hasn't been allowed to go into the college as often so we all have to be a lot quieter as the wi-fi works the best in the kitchen, which happens to also be the most central place in the home! I'm grateful for a barn as the younger ones have been finding things to do out there and rediscover it as a play place.
We also have to be a lot quieter while my daughter teaches piano virtually from home, too. This has been great for her as she doesn't have to leave the house and pay all that extra money on gas. This also relieves me a lot as she is on the roads a lot less. I cannot say how many times she has come home saying she just missed a major accident on the highway, so this is great for me. I'm thinking she'll get more and more signing up for classes this way as it becomes more popular with parents. I'm happy for her.
My older kids have all become gym snobs recently and now that the gym is closed down they are all working out together....at home....love this! They are also taking my younger ones on hikes that aren't as busy which is great. Being rural is a bonus. I think this is really helping their potential "cooped up" feeling subside as any exercise is a good thing. We'll get a couple of them out in the vines possibly even today as it is supposed to be nice. Definitely pruning time as we inspected yesterday......
Assignments are keeping my oldest son busy, too, so I'm grateful he's not losing his school year. But again, he works downstairs where the wi-fi works the best, so we also have to be quieter for him. We still don't have a TV so that means if they want to watch something on-line they use a laptop which is never quite as good as a big screen, which I'm also happy about, thus less screen time. My 7 and 9 year olds weren't as quick at reading as the older ones were, but because of this strange time, they are now reading better than they ever did. My 7 year old has discovered books in a whole new way, thank you coronavirus, and sits and reads and reads.
My 13 year old was always doing flips on the trampoline and even on the ground, teaching himself all last summer and then into the Fall and Winter, as it was so mild all season. This has taken off this past week and he is out there most days, filming himself and putting it on his youtube channel where he is accumulating followers, to my shock. He showed me his abs yesterday from all this exercise and it's nuts! I was quite against this before as I was sure he was going to get hurt, but again, I'm thinking exercise during this time can only benefit him. His flipping is inspiring the 9 year old who is naturally athletic already. He is already doing crazy stuff. My 20 year old saw this through the window and decided, "I can do that." Out he went and got taught by the 9 YEAR OLD and he is now doing some of the flips, too. I just always pray for safety.
I'm almost 100% sure the next quiz meet for Bible Quizzing will get cancelled like everything else, but I'm trying to get the kids to memorize anyway. How can that hurt?
We still make an attempt at getting our school work done. I get a lot of resistance as they think we're on permanent holiday.
I'm organizing every book on my shelf. I have baby board books I've had for years that are mostly destroyed. I'm getting rid of lots of stuff and just making it easier to find the books they want and make things tidier. It's been on my to-do list for months.
My oldest daughter is never home at night as she taught most evenings pre-virus. This week she made dinner for the first time in who-knows-how-long. She did a great job and everyone was so impressed. I realized that was another side benefit to having everyone home, cooking together, eating together....it just hasn't happened in so long.
When my son lost his job at the restaurant, they had to do something with all the fresh produce, so that first week we had 4 full bags of groceries donated to us. During a time of what seemed like scarcity we were eating like kings!
I know this is a hard season, yet I just keep seeing so many side benefits. My older kids keep saying, "This is so great!" I think we all know it won't last forever and that being together as a family like this is work, but is also so wonderful.
Normally I don't love the kids being on the phone all the time, but lately I've seen it as a great way to stay in touch with their cousins and friends. My daughter was able to have a virtual Bible study with her class through all the neat different ways to connect. She was even able to break out into "small groups" online! How amazing! Conference calls, microsoft meets, zoom....all sorts of different ways people connect virtually...it's going on all around me and I can hardly believe how the virus has brought all this to life in a whole new way. People used these platforms before but never this often I'm sure. I may even do something like that with a few moms...we'll see!
Life is not the same at all. And, as before, I don't like the reason behind all of this change, but what is coming out of it is kind of exciting. Of course we still pray for our leaders and for an end to the crisis, but I will be sad when life goes back to how it was before. going on. I hope we can maintain a few of the changes that have happened since this all began.
I'm grateful that is occurring when it is seasonally, too. If it were just heading into the winter season I think we would all be more depressed. It is so great that the world is coming back to life. The weather is getting warmer. There are more things to do outside. It's getting greener day by day. Buds are appearing. Flowers are popping up. Birds are singing. I just love that.
Today my husband is heading into work "trying to save the world", we joke. If they can, they're going to try to get the materials they need to help in the production of medical equipment. His work is suddenly very exciting and meaningful and he's so grateful for the contacts he's made over the years so that he even knows where to source out that kind of material. It's neat to look back and see how God has used everything in his career to be used even now.
How long will this go on? No one knows. I can't look too far ahead. Taking each day, each moment and being grateful for what happens throughout the day is helping us get through it.
Thursday, 26 March 2020
Tuesday, 24 March 2020
The New Normal
Never in a million years did any of us see this coming. Literally a few days ago my daughter was applying to work at a tea house nearby and now it is closed. I wonder what the owner will do now that she has no income and it had been packed when we went there.
Barely a week ago I knew we were in a different world when they shut down the schools. I had had no panicky feelings up until that moment. I had seen the news about no toilet paper and long lines in the grocery store, but our little community was being normal and calm and so I wasn't worried, but once the school shut down happened, I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I knew all the moms of the world were going to go nuts and I was right. I went to the grocery store first thing the next day and it was crazy. There was virtually nothing left on the shelves of necessities like toilet paper, frozen food, butter, eggs. I walked around the store with my son and we were trying to stay calm, but inside I had a sick feeling that I had to keep praying about. I knew in my heart we would be fine. I knew eventually things would settle out. I knew the store would restock, but there was this underyling anxiety trying to take away all calm. I was one of the first in line in the check out. I looked like I was hoarding, but I was just doing a regular shop for 10 people!!! Then I looked behind me. The short line had grown to all the way down to the end of the store. Never had I seen that in my life. I was so glad to get out of there, but without toilet paper! Such a bizarre thing to hoard.
Once the schools were shut down every minute after that there was a new announcement on the news or email or text....Soon after, my son's university shut down, then my husband's work at the college. I couldn't believe that. He'd be home? In a way it seemed dreamy, but would they pay him? My other two kids seemed untouched at their work, but only a couple of days later, the restaurant had to shut down. I couldn't believe that either. I immediately felt badly for the owners and wondered how they would survive. Then my daughter got the email a few days later....no more piano lessons.....only virtual if parents wanted to try that. She was instantly worried as she has bills to pay.
It felt like we were living in a bad movie. I grew up with films like "A Thief in the Night" and "Distant Thunder". They were all about the end times and how scary they were. I always prayed as a child to make sure I was a Christian after those films! But now, it felt like I was in one of those films.
In that first week where everyone was home, I knew the rest of the world was perhaps panicking, and I did that first day in the grocery store, but after that, a strange calm, dare I say excitement, settled over me. I had everyone home, under our roof, and they couldn't leave! Except for my one son at MarineLand. He's considered an essential service so he has actually gotten more hours as a result. We figure we'll use his income if my husband loses his! As everyone was around we had so many great times! We were getting so much done! We finished painting a bunk bed, setting up the girls' new room, organizing clothes. Outside we were using the strong boys' muscles to clear up the scrap metal, the garbage, everything that had been accumulating over the winter and taking it all away and making money at the same time. We replaced a broken fridge that decided to die this past week. We started patching the trim on our windows getting them ready to be painted.....I had NO idea how under the pile we had become. I had no idea how much we needed to be quarantined. I could never have asked my kids to do this or asked the college to give me my husband back that they had stolen for nearly 4 years. I know I'm not supposed to say this, but I LOVE BEING QUARANTINED!!!!!! Don't get me wrong. I hate the virus and I feel so sad for how this is affecting people's lives around the world, so I'm not happy about that. I'm simply happy for how my world has been shut down.
Last week we caved and let the kids do a hike or two with friends, but not this week. My older kids thought they were going crazy last week, this week they're really going crazy and I love that, too. They are being forced to do everything at home, with us, with one another, for us, for one another. It is definitely revealing how they feel this constant need to do things, be somewhere, buy something, eat out somewhere. All that has stopped. May it never go back to that other way of living again. Can we just learn to be content at home? Satan loved it when we were all going somewhere all the time, yet going nowhere, doing some things together, yet nothing together. And we were pretty good at keeping our family together at least a little, but it shows how separate our family was slowing becoming.
Family worship is hard enough in a regular world. Our family worship was almost always missing someone due to work. We are now almost always together, except the one who still is at work, but he's not gone everyday, so to have all 10 of us together is powerful. We are trying to use this time as much as we can knowing it will not be like this forever. Again, for all the people who see this time as awful, I'm so sorry to say I'm loving this time so much. I'm not asking God to extend the quarantine, but I will NOT fight it if it goes on.
It has showed how much we were behind in everything. If the quarantine hadn't happened, we would have survived, but we would have never been able to get on top of anything....ever. We're still not on top of anything, but we are slowly getting to the surface. Things I've ALWAYS wanted to get to are actually being done or at least discussed. Yes, there are times where things are squirrely, but even for that I'm grateful.
Sometimes I wonder if people will ever see how crazy everyone's life had become. Do we really have to go out all the time? Do we really need to be involved in every single activity that we were before? Is it best to do everything we were doing? Knowing the rest of the world is in lockdown helps my kids, but I would have loved to do a lockdown even if the virus hadn't happened! If this ever stops, I might make a suggestion we have a 3 week shutdown once a year! My kids will revolt, but having this time feels like this is a bit of restart, a reboot. If our family needed this, surely we're not the only ones.
So here we are....the big news is that now we have toilet paper! We have groceries. My husband is still working. The college is actually helping out in the war effort, so his work is now becoming very important, so I'm grateful for that. I've tried to reach out to a few neighbours. I am sensing that we can be bolder with the non-Christians around us during this crazy time. We are continuing to use this time to get on top of the crazy life that we lead. We'll be busy in the vines soon. We ARE NOT BORED, that is for sure. I know how grateful we should be to live on a property. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to live in an apartment. I wish we could rent out our property for other families to play!
Bottom line - I am not fighting this. I'm quite enjoying it, at least on a personal level. Of course, we are praying for an end to the death and dying. One day the quarantine will be over. I will probably be a little sad about that! It's one day at a time for now.
Barely a week ago I knew we were in a different world when they shut down the schools. I had had no panicky feelings up until that moment. I had seen the news about no toilet paper and long lines in the grocery store, but our little community was being normal and calm and so I wasn't worried, but once the school shut down happened, I got a bad feeling in my stomach. I knew all the moms of the world were going to go nuts and I was right. I went to the grocery store first thing the next day and it was crazy. There was virtually nothing left on the shelves of necessities like toilet paper, frozen food, butter, eggs. I walked around the store with my son and we were trying to stay calm, but inside I had a sick feeling that I had to keep praying about. I knew in my heart we would be fine. I knew eventually things would settle out. I knew the store would restock, but there was this underyling anxiety trying to take away all calm. I was one of the first in line in the check out. I looked like I was hoarding, but I was just doing a regular shop for 10 people!!! Then I looked behind me. The short line had grown to all the way down to the end of the store. Never had I seen that in my life. I was so glad to get out of there, but without toilet paper! Such a bizarre thing to hoard.
Once the schools were shut down every minute after that there was a new announcement on the news or email or text....Soon after, my son's university shut down, then my husband's work at the college. I couldn't believe that. He'd be home? In a way it seemed dreamy, but would they pay him? My other two kids seemed untouched at their work, but only a couple of days later, the restaurant had to shut down. I couldn't believe that either. I immediately felt badly for the owners and wondered how they would survive. Then my daughter got the email a few days later....no more piano lessons.....only virtual if parents wanted to try that. She was instantly worried as she has bills to pay.
It felt like we were living in a bad movie. I grew up with films like "A Thief in the Night" and "Distant Thunder". They were all about the end times and how scary they were. I always prayed as a child to make sure I was a Christian after those films! But now, it felt like I was in one of those films.
In that first week where everyone was home, I knew the rest of the world was perhaps panicking, and I did that first day in the grocery store, but after that, a strange calm, dare I say excitement, settled over me. I had everyone home, under our roof, and they couldn't leave! Except for my one son at MarineLand. He's considered an essential service so he has actually gotten more hours as a result. We figure we'll use his income if my husband loses his! As everyone was around we had so many great times! We were getting so much done! We finished painting a bunk bed, setting up the girls' new room, organizing clothes. Outside we were using the strong boys' muscles to clear up the scrap metal, the garbage, everything that had been accumulating over the winter and taking it all away and making money at the same time. We replaced a broken fridge that decided to die this past week. We started patching the trim on our windows getting them ready to be painted.....I had NO idea how under the pile we had become. I had no idea how much we needed to be quarantined. I could never have asked my kids to do this or asked the college to give me my husband back that they had stolen for nearly 4 years. I know I'm not supposed to say this, but I LOVE BEING QUARANTINED!!!!!! Don't get me wrong. I hate the virus and I feel so sad for how this is affecting people's lives around the world, so I'm not happy about that. I'm simply happy for how my world has been shut down.
Last week we caved and let the kids do a hike or two with friends, but not this week. My older kids thought they were going crazy last week, this week they're really going crazy and I love that, too. They are being forced to do everything at home, with us, with one another, for us, for one another. It is definitely revealing how they feel this constant need to do things, be somewhere, buy something, eat out somewhere. All that has stopped. May it never go back to that other way of living again. Can we just learn to be content at home? Satan loved it when we were all going somewhere all the time, yet going nowhere, doing some things together, yet nothing together. And we were pretty good at keeping our family together at least a little, but it shows how separate our family was slowing becoming.
Family worship is hard enough in a regular world. Our family worship was almost always missing someone due to work. We are now almost always together, except the one who still is at work, but he's not gone everyday, so to have all 10 of us together is powerful. We are trying to use this time as much as we can knowing it will not be like this forever. Again, for all the people who see this time as awful, I'm so sorry to say I'm loving this time so much. I'm not asking God to extend the quarantine, but I will NOT fight it if it goes on.
It has showed how much we were behind in everything. If the quarantine hadn't happened, we would have survived, but we would have never been able to get on top of anything....ever. We're still not on top of anything, but we are slowly getting to the surface. Things I've ALWAYS wanted to get to are actually being done or at least discussed. Yes, there are times where things are squirrely, but even for that I'm grateful.
Sometimes I wonder if people will ever see how crazy everyone's life had become. Do we really have to go out all the time? Do we really need to be involved in every single activity that we were before? Is it best to do everything we were doing? Knowing the rest of the world is in lockdown helps my kids, but I would have loved to do a lockdown even if the virus hadn't happened! If this ever stops, I might make a suggestion we have a 3 week shutdown once a year! My kids will revolt, but having this time feels like this is a bit of restart, a reboot. If our family needed this, surely we're not the only ones.
So here we are....the big news is that now we have toilet paper! We have groceries. My husband is still working. The college is actually helping out in the war effort, so his work is now becoming very important, so I'm grateful for that. I've tried to reach out to a few neighbours. I am sensing that we can be bolder with the non-Christians around us during this crazy time. We are continuing to use this time to get on top of the crazy life that we lead. We'll be busy in the vines soon. We ARE NOT BORED, that is for sure. I know how grateful we should be to live on a property. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to live in an apartment. I wish we could rent out our property for other families to play!
Bottom line - I am not fighting this. I'm quite enjoying it, at least on a personal level. Of course, we are praying for an end to the death and dying. One day the quarantine will be over. I will probably be a little sad about that! It's one day at a time for now.
Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Extending the Family and I Got In!
Our family has grown again. Since November and up into this June, we will have gained 5 new family members! Our little niece, who is 4 months old now, was born in the Fall. As of yesterday my sister in the States officially adopted 3 more adorable little African Americans (we call them the chocolate cousins) and her son will be marrying his fiance in June this Spring. So exciting! From just 4 kids, there are now going to be 23 cousins. That's a lot of kids!
My nephew brought his wife-to-be up to Canada to meet all of us. It was very special for our families, the sisters in particular, because it was his initiative. In other words, his mommy didn't make him come. We felt we must have done something right in order for the cousins to feel so close that he would want to do that. What we loved about hearing their story was that God was such a key part of it and that my nephew didn't delay once he knew how he felt about her. He literally drove over and told her and that was it. Very few guys seem to have that kind of courage these days. "Goals"....as my kids say.
My new little nieces and nephew that my sister adopted have got to be the cutest little things I've ever seen. They have sad stories in their background, but they have finally "landed" in my sister's home and we couldn't be happier about it. Is she overwhelmed? 100%. She went from her youngest being 12 and having an empty nest feeling already to having a 6 year old as her youngest and is now far from being an empty nester. She now has 6 adopted children and just 2 biological. How cool is that? She would tell you she doesn't feel qualified or ready or even able, but isn't that when God gets all the glory? When you can't do it except in His power? We've never prayed so much for one another.
I'm excited for when we'll all get together in June for the wedding. That'll be a party. I'm watching closely as the reception is at their farm which is almost identical to our's. I will be very curious how they will pull it all together and make it look "wedding-ish". I keep trying to plant seeds of having weddings at our farm as well one day. We'll see if I can get buy-in when the time comes.
In other big news....I got accepted into college! I mean, my son did. When you homeschool through highschool and your child applies to school and then gets in, you kind of feel like YOU got in. Everyone assumes he was accepted into the school because my husband pulled some strings. Not at all. He had to do it all himself. We created the transcript, but he did the work. Needless to say, we were so happy for him! He'll finish working at the restaurant he works at this summer and then head to school in the Fall. What makes this extremely cool is that my husband will be driving himself, my oldest son and now the next son, all at the same time as they all will be going in the same direction together. It'll be so great for them to be together each morning and then debriefing each evening. Only God could coordinate that. It'll be a 3 year program with a co-op so he'll even make money during his diploma! That is always a bonus. Thanks to my husband's job his tuition will be paid for so he'll graduate debt-free...what a gift. Again, only God. Once he's completed his program, he has the option to go on to aviation if he wants to or he can even finish an engineering degree if he decides that's the direction he wants to go. Or....he can also just start work if he gets a job with one of his co-op placements. One thing I have learned is that I don't need to worry. God works all things out.
So big things going on. I pray daily that God will show up, that I'll see Him working. I certainly can attest that He has been answering those prayers.
My nephew brought his wife-to-be up to Canada to meet all of us. It was very special for our families, the sisters in particular, because it was his initiative. In other words, his mommy didn't make him come. We felt we must have done something right in order for the cousins to feel so close that he would want to do that. What we loved about hearing their story was that God was such a key part of it and that my nephew didn't delay once he knew how he felt about her. He literally drove over and told her and that was it. Very few guys seem to have that kind of courage these days. "Goals"....as my kids say.
My new little nieces and nephew that my sister adopted have got to be the cutest little things I've ever seen. They have sad stories in their background, but they have finally "landed" in my sister's home and we couldn't be happier about it. Is she overwhelmed? 100%. She went from her youngest being 12 and having an empty nest feeling already to having a 6 year old as her youngest and is now far from being an empty nester. She now has 6 adopted children and just 2 biological. How cool is that? She would tell you she doesn't feel qualified or ready or even able, but isn't that when God gets all the glory? When you can't do it except in His power? We've never prayed so much for one another.
I'm excited for when we'll all get together in June for the wedding. That'll be a party. I'm watching closely as the reception is at their farm which is almost identical to our's. I will be very curious how they will pull it all together and make it look "wedding-ish". I keep trying to plant seeds of having weddings at our farm as well one day. We'll see if I can get buy-in when the time comes.
In other big news....I got accepted into college! I mean, my son did. When you homeschool through highschool and your child applies to school and then gets in, you kind of feel like YOU got in. Everyone assumes he was accepted into the school because my husband pulled some strings. Not at all. He had to do it all himself. We created the transcript, but he did the work. Needless to say, we were so happy for him! He'll finish working at the restaurant he works at this summer and then head to school in the Fall. What makes this extremely cool is that my husband will be driving himself, my oldest son and now the next son, all at the same time as they all will be going in the same direction together. It'll be so great for them to be together each morning and then debriefing each evening. Only God could coordinate that. It'll be a 3 year program with a co-op so he'll even make money during his diploma! That is always a bonus. Thanks to my husband's job his tuition will be paid for so he'll graduate debt-free...what a gift. Again, only God. Once he's completed his program, he has the option to go on to aviation if he wants to or he can even finish an engineering degree if he decides that's the direction he wants to go. Or....he can also just start work if he gets a job with one of his co-op placements. One thing I have learned is that I don't need to worry. God works all things out.
So big things going on. I pray daily that God will show up, that I'll see Him working. I certainly can attest that He has been answering those prayers.
Monday, 9 March 2020
Jumanji, Herbie and Peter
We are on week two of puppies, dogs, chickens, cats and now a bird. It's starting to feel a little bit like a cross between Dr. Doolittle and Jumanji over here, but we actually don't mind! The kids have had many friends over visiting the puppies and everyone just loves them so much. However, it hasn't been without incident! When I went over to the house on the weekend, the heat was off! Who knows why. My husband said the bird would probably die if we didn't bring it over, but the problem was the cage the bird was in was HUGE and it would never fit in a car, so I had to get creative. I looked for another smaller cage and found what I thought was a bird cage. We easily transferred the bird into it, but within half a second it flew out. This was when I wished I was being videoed....it was youtube/viral material. My son and I chased this bird literally all over the house until it got so tired we could just pick it up. It was pretty funny. I then went and found another cage, this time one it couldn't get out of. It is currently trying to bite through the wire bars of this cat cage. Sorry, birdie! Super cute though!
Last night was the final celebration of my boys finishing their little basketball season. Having never done anything like this before, it was kind of fun for them. Friends were made and it was short, sweet and to the point. I liked that there was a spiritual element to it as it was organized by a church and had an evangelical outreach aspect which I appreciated. They brought in a big name speaker, the "Voice of the Toronto Raptors", Herbie Kuhn, for the final night, too. He gave a talk that made me so happy! It was literally a message straight from the heart of God, sharing his story how he gave his heart to God nearly 25 years ago and then surrendered his voice, which he felt was his God-given talent, and then he watched how God took that gift and has used him with the Raptors and many other professional athletes over the years. At the end of his talk, he shared how others listening could also give their hearts to Christ. I haven't heard such a strong evangelical message in a while and was so happy as I knew there were many non-Christians in the room. He is now working full-time with Athletes in Action, which is under the umbrella of Power to Change which my parents used to work for when I grew up. I got a chance to talk with him, too, after everyone was nearly gone and we exchanged a few names that we both knew. He is a cool guy!
One of the things that he shared was how he had dreams growing up of being a professional athlete himself, winning championships, holding up the trophy of whatever team he was on. But as he got older, he found out he just wasn't that good. He knew he had a good voice though, one for public speaking, or announcing and he started to get practice announcing college games, etc. After he surrendered his life and voice to Christ, everything started to come together for him. God took his talents and started to use them for His glory.
It struck me because we heard a sermon yesterday on a similar theme. The disciples were listening to Jesus. In Mark 8 He asked them who people were saying He was. Then He asked who the disciples thought He was. Peter immediately answered, "You are the Christ." But then, when Jesus went on to tell them about the suffering that was to come and the death that He was to die, the same Peter who just said He was the Christ, then "took Him aside and began to rebuke Him"! The nerve! He called Him "the Christ" and then told Him He couldn't do what the Christ was supposed to do. In other words, He wasn't acting the way Peter wanted Him to act. The pastor explained it this way - everyone, including the disciples, had expectations of how things were supposed to go, how Christ was supposed to save the world from Roman domination, how He was supposed to be King, sitting on a throne. Herbie, himself, had dreams, of how his life was supposed to go. All of us have dreams and expectations of life, marriage, kids, careers. The pastor's challenge was, what do we do when things do go as we think? What do we do when Jesus doesn't comply with our desires? His plan was harder, he explained, but it was better. Herbie tried to communicate that, too. His dream of being a professional athlete was crushed, but it turns out the plan God had for his life was better....once he surrendered it. Now, not only has has lifted up a championship trophy, but MULTIPLE trophies. Not only has he become part of a professional league, but he gets to mentor these guys on a personal level every single day as a chaplain. As he said, he has the BEST job, gets to sit courtside, for free, and is friends with all these athletes just as a bonus. God's plan is better! Even when we don't get it. It was such a great reminder.
The final takeaway from Herbie and Mark 8 yesterday was pretty clear. If we call Jesus the Christ, then we have to let Him be the Lord of our life. We can't take Him aside and rebuke Him, which I jokingly like to do sometimes. I'll say occasionally to God in my prayers, "Uh, I know you are the Lord of the universe, but I think if you would just do things my way, it would be better." No, that is just not an option. After being rebuked by Peter, Jesus quickly rebuked him right back and said, "Get behind me Satan!" Not because he was Satanic or demon-possessed, but he was "not setting his mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." The things of God are often harder to live out, accept and understand, but in the long run they are ALWAYS better.
Monday, 2 March 2020
Dogs, Revivals, and Chaos
I have a short memory. A little while ago I would have told you how much I missed having puppies and dogs, but just a few days into watching a friend's puppies and dog...it's all coming back to me. I literally woke up to the smell of dog poop wafting up the stairs into my room. And not just one pile, but 4. Really big piles. But I couldn't deal with it right away. I had to take her outside to the barn where we have her 9 puppies. She must have really wanted to nurse them because she literally dragged me there. I almost fell the whole way. Wait, I did fall. Inside the dark barn where I tripped over a ladder I didn't see on the ground. She quickly nursed her puppies and then back inside I dealt with the poop. It was a gag/shovel/gag/shovel experience I don't want to repeat for awhile. The whole time my kids are all fast asleep.
Ah well, I'm in a little over my head, but it has brought some joy back into the home after losing a dog this past summer. The thing is, a dog is a huge commitment that all my kids seem to have forgotten. I am now definitely remembering. Yet, there is a bigger picture going on behind the scenes. I'm not just watching a dog family, I'm hopefully participating in a reconciliation marriage story. As the dog family is here, the human family is away trying to work out the kinks. The time will pass quickly and hopefully the small offering we give will have spiritual ramifications. Isn't that what this time before Easter is all about? Giving up convenience? Time? Money? Usually when you fast, it is food and then, when you are hungry, you pray. I'm going to try to turn that on its head this time and pray every time I see a kid take the dog for a walk, or I bend over and pick up a pile of doggie doodoo. Not exactly the type of fast I intended and, in a way....HARDER!
Meanwhile, Friday night's Revival was amazing. I think the thing that made me the happiest was that for an hour of the night our entire family was able to be there together. Everyone was able to experience the joy of worshiping, singing, praying, begging God to work in our lives and in our friends' lives, in the life of our community. There weren't hundreds of people, but there were enough to make it feel like it was full. It was amazing to see so many students with closed eyes, raised hands, jumping up and down at some points, and then down on their knees at other points, all clearly wanting more of God in their lives. The worship leader was trying to tell them the emotional high that people were feeling can't stop at the one night. Nights like that can be hard to recreate every single day as it is definitely a mountain top experience, but at the same time they can recharge you and help you get through the harder times.
I wish I knew what went on in the hearts of my little ones. I know they were definitely moved, some even to tears. I'm not even sure they can articulate it themselves, but I pray that God will keep their hearts soft, that they will learn to recognize His voice. I know that God isn't limited by age. He speaks to people of all ages, so I can't assume just because they are young that God wasn't talking to them.
I see God developing friendships with my older kids that they all need to stay on track. A long time ago, when all our kids were still very young, under 9 or 10, we met an older man who saw our family and wanted to pass on advice. His main piece of advice was to watch the influence of friends. They were his children's downfall he said. I've never forgotten that. All I want is to make my children happy and sometimes I'm willing to risk my children's souls just to make them happy. My husband is not like that at all. He would rather my children have next to no friends than to have the wrong friends. It's much more clear to him. All that to say, now that the older set are becoming adults and I have less choice in who they spend time with, I am praying they will continue to surround themselves with positive influences that will spur their faith on. Friday night's revival was full of those kinds of people, so I was super happy about that.
On a completely different note, we are repainting the girls' room. After nearly 10 years, it needed it. It's amazing the damage girls can do to walls, ceilings and floors with just tape and pins. The patching on the walls made it look like there wasn't a spot that hadn't been destroyed by them. It never gets done fast enough as my husband will be away most of this week, but it eventually gets done. I have to live with more chaos than normal because their entire bedroom is in the hall or my room, but what can you do? Chaos is our specialty. That is a great name for a book.
Ah well, I'm in a little over my head, but it has brought some joy back into the home after losing a dog this past summer. The thing is, a dog is a huge commitment that all my kids seem to have forgotten. I am now definitely remembering. Yet, there is a bigger picture going on behind the scenes. I'm not just watching a dog family, I'm hopefully participating in a reconciliation marriage story. As the dog family is here, the human family is away trying to work out the kinks. The time will pass quickly and hopefully the small offering we give will have spiritual ramifications. Isn't that what this time before Easter is all about? Giving up convenience? Time? Money? Usually when you fast, it is food and then, when you are hungry, you pray. I'm going to try to turn that on its head this time and pray every time I see a kid take the dog for a walk, or I bend over and pick up a pile of doggie doodoo. Not exactly the type of fast I intended and, in a way....HARDER!
Meanwhile, Friday night's Revival was amazing. I think the thing that made me the happiest was that for an hour of the night our entire family was able to be there together. Everyone was able to experience the joy of worshiping, singing, praying, begging God to work in our lives and in our friends' lives, in the life of our community. There weren't hundreds of people, but there were enough to make it feel like it was full. It was amazing to see so many students with closed eyes, raised hands, jumping up and down at some points, and then down on their knees at other points, all clearly wanting more of God in their lives. The worship leader was trying to tell them the emotional high that people were feeling can't stop at the one night. Nights like that can be hard to recreate every single day as it is definitely a mountain top experience, but at the same time they can recharge you and help you get through the harder times.
I wish I knew what went on in the hearts of my little ones. I know they were definitely moved, some even to tears. I'm not even sure they can articulate it themselves, but I pray that God will keep their hearts soft, that they will learn to recognize His voice. I know that God isn't limited by age. He speaks to people of all ages, so I can't assume just because they are young that God wasn't talking to them.
I see God developing friendships with my older kids that they all need to stay on track. A long time ago, when all our kids were still very young, under 9 or 10, we met an older man who saw our family and wanted to pass on advice. His main piece of advice was to watch the influence of friends. They were his children's downfall he said. I've never forgotten that. All I want is to make my children happy and sometimes I'm willing to risk my children's souls just to make them happy. My husband is not like that at all. He would rather my children have next to no friends than to have the wrong friends. It's much more clear to him. All that to say, now that the older set are becoming adults and I have less choice in who they spend time with, I am praying they will continue to surround themselves with positive influences that will spur their faith on. Friday night's revival was full of those kinds of people, so I was super happy about that.
On a completely different note, we are repainting the girls' room. After nearly 10 years, it needed it. It's amazing the damage girls can do to walls, ceilings and floors with just tape and pins. The patching on the walls made it look like there wasn't a spot that hadn't been destroyed by them. It never gets done fast enough as my husband will be away most of this week, but it eventually gets done. I have to live with more chaos than normal because their entire bedroom is in the hall or my room, but what can you do? Chaos is our specialty. That is a great name for a book.
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