Prayer Privilege

With four kids in the house, the necessity to take turns doing things is ever-present. While there are plenty of things we can do together as a family, such as setting and clearing the table, cleaning rooms, unloading groceries, taking trips to the library, and going to the park, there are others that are simply best taken in turn. Taking the dog out at 7:00 AM, toting the laundry to the laundry room, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning toilets, getting the mail - these are things that are best served with some kind of rotation. Oh - and feeding the fish must be on that list as well. Everyone wants to feed the fish, but that could be disastrous! ;0) The point is, in a busy family, there are many hands to make light of the work, but also many jobs to do. Ours is a family who works together, but we also love to play together. We enjoy our movie nights (Anne of Green Gables with pizza anyone?) and our Saturday afternoon piles of books and puzzles and games (with warm cookies and milk. Mmmmm). We love our church family and nobody complains about piling in the SUV on Sunday mornings. Our collective hearts desire the comforts of home or the fun of a trip somewhere when we'll all be together. One of the places we gather is around our table and we love that, too.

Back to taking turns, I have to admit that the kids are not pushing each other out of the figurative line to take the dog out or empty the trash. They are willing, but it is sometimes a grudging willingness. They are, after all, works in progress just like the rest of us! Sometimes the argument is about who has to do it, sometimes about who gets to, depending on the task.One thing I don't really mind them "fighting" over - and I use the term loosely and kindly - is mealtime prayer. When the time comes to hold hands and bow heads, they ALL want to be the one to pray. What a treat to see our children truly desire to go before the Lord in thanksgiving for His provision and petition for our needs and hopes. When the older boys pray, they do it with deliberate words that reveal things about the kind of day they've had, and they tend to be concise. When our daughter prays, she tends to be a bit long-winded, as though she is afraid of missing things or people. She prays this way at night before bed as well. She prays for people in Africa she's never seen and she prays for kids in her class and her brothers around our table. Sometimes she remembers to pray for the food! Our youngest prays as most three year-olds do, with one eye open, wandering the table, then settling on mom or dad, who help him through the words. He is quiet for these brief moments, so we have to strain to hear him. He is sweet in his thanksgiving for his family and hearing his little boy voice say the powerful name of Jesus is priceless. He usually needs to be reminded to say "Amen."

When the adults at the table pray, we are mindful of our daily bread, understanding in a way the children cannot, that our every need is truly met by the Father. We are thankful for His abundant provision and humbled by our blessings. We pray simply for things and people about whom our hearts pour forth much more than our few words express. We are also very aware that we model for our children the grateful hearts that pause before a loving God to thank Him for His ever-presence in our lives and in our home.

"I will spread out my hands to the Lord in prayer." Exodus 9:29

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

December is one of those months that can catch us off guard. There are so many things to do and see. We have attended kids' concerts and programs. We have shopped and wrapped. We have eaten ourselves silly and played games, even sillier, with our friends. It has been fun and I have worked hard to keep the busy hustle of the world at bay as much as possible. There was a week or so that was extra crazy, but the final two of the month we are blissfully enjoying in the comfy quiet of our home and in simple fun with our kids.

Some say Christmas is all about being together with family. Christians say, no, no, it is about Jesus, and of course it is! However, there is great merit in the together time of this special season. Our friends and our families bring us laughter and refreshment and often some much needed encouragement (and tears, I know, sometimes tears...). Christian family members sharpen and encourage our faith. Non-believing ones remind us to be bold in our witness and diligent in prayer. There is also much to be said for simply reconnecting with the ones with whom God has blessed us. During Christmas we catch up with each other and we remind our loved ones that we are there for them and they for us. If your family is like ours, you have loved ones who are excitedly anticipating great new things this new year and others who are prayerfully hoping for less change and more stability.

We are praying for jobs and good health and restoration for many we know. We are thankful for God's continued provision in our own household.

As we look ahead to 2010 (even writing that date feels like an entry in a sci-fi book!) we pray for God to continue His work in us. We know that He may choose things for us that we would never choose for ourselves, but we pray for His hand to be continually upon us, holding us up, guiding us on the path He has laid out before us.

What will your new year look like? As we finish out these last days of December, my prayer for you all is that you will join me in purposing to hug my kids more, especially the big ones, and take more time to hold my husband's hand. I want to hold my busy schedule with open hands before the Lord each day, asking Him to edit is as He sees fit. I want to want what He wants. Will you join me in asking Him for that?

December Dawning

Can it be December? September days were full of freshly sharpened pencils and shiny new two-pocket folders. Fresh, tart-sweet apple cider washed down our October days and cups of frothy hot treats accompanied our many days at the soccer field. Our fall went sailing past us on the ever cooling winds of the changing season. But November seems to have escaped me altogether! Have you seen my Veteran's Day? My National Peanut Butter Month? ;0) I blinked and we seemed to have leaped right off the neighbor's doorstep (trick or treat anyone?) right into our seat at a heavy laden dinner table! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Were you, like us, more stuffed than the turkey when the last drip of gravy was swiped off the table!

In spite of my apparent daze last month, we have landed in the precious month of our Savior's birth and I don't intend to miss a thing. The kids eagerly opened their first advent treat yesterday. They, like me, wish to savor every delectable minute of this special season.

How will you purpose to enjoy these next weeks? Will you carefully read your way through the book of Luke (did you know there are 24 chapters? Perfect for one per day until Christmas!) Will you open a special advent calendar each morning, counting down the days until the much anticipated 25th? Perhaps you will use your December weekends to go on a Christmas light tour, do some shopping, walk about your neighborhood caroling, hailing the newborn King! Whatever you do, may I challenge us all to make our plans carefully, choosing wisely the things that will bring our families together, and will point everyone to the One whose miraculous birth we celebrate? Join me in a slow, steadfast resistance to the bustling pace of the world around us this Christmas season!

Christmastime is here. Let's keep our eyes on the heavens, glorying in every precious snowflake on our faces, each sent by the One who drew us to Himself through His perfect Son.

Comfortable Hush

I am whispering so as not to disturb the peace. This week we have had a blanket of germ induced rest, a respite from the clamoring world at our door. It is not as strange as it sounds. We have cleaned and disinfected with the rest of the world, so you will not find a Q on our door, although quarantine is precisely the state in which we have found ourselves. We have had sick kids this week, which resulted in cancellations and hibernation, all to our general quiet and comfortable hush. My calendar for September and October looked like an old fashioned newspaper, all black and white, smudgy in spots, busy with text and crammed with information. Those papers of old were great for sharing information and keeping one up to speed, but sadly lacking in readability, or visual appeal. Many a day in October I could be found rifling through the drawer searching for the elusive fine point white board marker so I might squeeze yet one more tiny reminder on a reluctant, albeit accommodating, calendar square. Please don't misunderstand. I blame nobody for the whirling pace of fall. It was one blustery day after another and the constant traipsing and traveling in most cases could not be helped. Also, please don't think that I was secretly excited to have sick children. Those of my friends who know me best, know how I crave peace and, like my friend Jane, consider nothing better than staying home for real comfort. However, I do not relish feverish brows or wracking coughs and I snuggle my children, as do the rest of you, praying for speedy recovery. I must admit to thoroughly enjoying our collective sigh when the answer to, "What do we have going on today" was a simple, "we're staying home and staying in our cozies." Life will return to normal, and I use the term loosely. The soccer schedule is winding down to a quiet din and for a moment we pause and breathe before the holidays inch their way onto church and school schedules. Christmas party did you say? Choir concert? What's that you say? Family get-together? I'm sorry. I can't hear you over the hush of chapter books and board games, lego creations and long naps.

Radical Transformation

The leaves are turning. I love autumn, with its colorful dance and crisp revelry. Like peacocks displaying their finery and vying for attention, the maples dazzle with their fiery reds, daring the other trees to match their display. The gold and orange and even purple that greets me when I step outside reminds me yet again that nothing in God's creation is stagnant. Creation is constantly changing, drawing our attention to God' handiwork in new ways. The season we're in also reminds us that the grass withers and the flowers fade but the Word of God stands forever. He alone is eternal. He Himself is a fixed point, and yet He is constantly working and making changes in us. Jesus turned water into wine, death into life, slave into free, lost into found, stranger into son. He is able to transform my life for His glory like he transforms the bright greens of summer into the varied and vibrant hues of fall. However, unlike the leaves, which eventually fall and die, the life that Jesus gives is an abundant one that is eternal, that never fades. I praise Him for this glorious, glowing season and thank Him for His redemptive work on the cross, transforming me into one whom He calls His own, and clothing me in His finery.

Firsts

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. (Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis)

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. (Madeline, Ludwig Bemmelmans)

When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.(To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)

The first line of a great book is like the first few words of an interesting conversation. That for which we hope in a story or a friendship is the same. We want to be drawn in and have our hearts touched. For those of us who are lovers of the written word, when we first read sentence after sentence that entice us, we have high expectations for a delicious adventure between the pages in our hands. For those of you who thrive on relationships, you love the taste of conversation on your lips, for it is sweet to you and you savor the moments spent with a kindred spirit.

Today was a special first for my daughter, who stepped into academia today. Scoff if you like at my referring to Kindergarten in the same way one might name the hallowed halls of their college alma mater, but it truly promises to be a year rich with learning for her. Today she entered the sticky sweet world of glue-sticks and story time, but at the end of the year, she will emerge a READER! What delightful little delicacies await her.

The first line of her story was written long ago, and Jesus Himself holds her future in His hands. May He alone write the story of her life on her heart. May she [fix her eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of her faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2]

Summer Fun

Sand between my toes (and in my bathing suit, but no harm done)
Underwear for the two and a half year-old (who am I kidding - he says he doesn't want to sit on the potty, but I sure would like to get over this hurdle this summer!)
Miles of beach for excavation and architecture and building (read: sandcastles)
Miles of fresh water for jumping, swimming, splashing, cooling off - aaahh!
Extended evenings for peaceful lounging (love that long lasting daylight - but wait - it is almost bedtime for the kids! Yikes! Am I the only one for whom that sneaks up in the summer?!)
Riding bikes all over town just because we can (Ace Hardware has free popcorn - seems like a good enough reason for an outing to me!)

Family time (Monday nights at the beach anyone? Bring your own meat to grill and a dish to pass...)
USA network (I know this is lame, but I am addicted to this show called In Plain Sight - about the witness protection program - love Mary McCormack)
Nothing on the calendar (there are far more of these days lately and we are loving it!)

*Sigh*

The kids and I enjoyed a perfectly blissful four and a half hours at the beach today. The water was surprisingly warm, the sun was ever-so hot, the sky its dutiful blue. As always I sink my toes into wet sand and my senses are filled with so many little treasures of distant but not forgotten days when I was the little one playing in the gentle surf, getting sand in all manner of places! What a treat to see my own children enjoy the rhythmic waves, the soft sand, the coolness of Lake Michigan. Even the greedy gulls cannot snatch us out of this cocoon of hazy, lazy summer fun! They may sneak a sandy crust of peanut butter sandwich or the cheesy remains of a scattered Cheeto after we leave, but for now the pleasure is all ours! We giggle and jump as we strip off our T-shirts, toss our flip flops and splash our way into the lake for the first time. I well remember the feeling of sheer joy and sweet contentment that I see on their sunscreen and sand streaked faces and I am pleased to say that even this thirty-something mother of four was able to set aside the demands of a busy household for a few hours and bask in the glow of a perfect June day! Praise God for this flawless view from my beach chair! Thank you, Father, for the coolness of the fresh water on my sun kissed skin. We will go to bed tonight with a bit of sand in our hair, a hint of warmth on our pink shoulders, and the sweet call of birds and waves and other revelers echoing in our sleepy heads. Here's to a day of accomplishing nothing at all and enjoying every minute of it!

Take 5

As many of you know, I have had a few opportunities to speak in front of groups such as MOPS, and I have been asked to give the same particular talk at a women's conference in September. I am humbled and excited about this opportunity to once again share some things from my heart with a group of ladies. As I prepare and pray this summer, I am asking God to fill me with His grace and truth and to protect me from the evil one who delights in coming between God's people and the work to which He has called them.

The topic of my talk is loving and encouraging one's husband and I use chocolate to help make my points. If you have not heard it, I won't spoil it by telling more here (look for more information here is August about the conference), but as I prayed for my husband this afternoon, I decided to share with you one of the most important points I will share with the ladies in September.

Pray for you husband! Consider these five points as you intercede for him.
1 - Pray for his relationship with God: If he is a believer, praise God for that and if he isn't pray for his salvation and pray that he would find in you a woman who fears the Lord and who provides a quiet example of godliness that might win him without words; pray that he would do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God; pray that he would be a man after God's own heart; pray that he would seek forgiveness when necessary; pray that he would hunger and thirst after righteousness; pray that he would find time in his busy schedule to spend time in prayer and in God's word
2 - Pray for him as he leads your family: pray that he would step up and be the spritual leader God has called him to be; pray that you would recognize that only God can stir his heart and give him the desire to do this and no amount of nagging on your part will ever do it; pray for godly men to come alongside him and encourage him in this area and keep him accountable
3 - Pray for his protection from temptation and sin: pray for a hedge about your marriage and family; pray that your husband would not be decieved by the lies of the world that offers pleasure with no price; pray that he would have Christian coworkers and Christian friends who would encourage him to walk the path God has placed before him rather than be lead astray by the lies of Satan and those who seek to destroy; pray that he will carefully weigh the consequences of his actions; pray for his thought life, that it would be pure
4 - Pray for him in the workplace: pray that he will be bold in his witness for the cause of Christ; pray that he will be a man of integrity, one to whom his coworkers look as an example and from whom they take encouragement; pray for his reputation, that he would be known for his honesty and trustworthiness, his skill and dependability; pray that he will be a hard worker known to put everything he has into his job when he is at his job, but that he would not become a "workaholic"; praise for continued provision in his job, or for the provision of a job!; pray that it would be known in his workplace that he is a godly man who loves and is faithful to his wife
5 - Pray for his physical health and safety: pray for protection as he travels back and forth to his workplace; pray that he will remain healthy so he can continue to care for and provide for your family; pray for continued strength and praise God if your husband is healthy and able to take care of you; pray that none of you would take this for granted and pray that you would remember that there are men who are not able to work or care for their families this way and that each day of strength and health is a gift from our Creator and Great Physician

As the kids and I embark on three months of vacation, and we watch my husband go off to work each day, my hope for myself is that God would remind me daily to bring my husband before my Father in prayer. I am thankful for him and need to remember to praise God for him and pray for him regularly.

Curious

I offer my long absence from this keyboard as evidence that I have had a busy few weeks! My husband and I have decided that May rivals December for the most busy month. Calendar squares sport scribbled engagements and scrawled events until there is no more room to be found! Do you find your spring equally hectic? I say, bring on the lazy hazy days of summer! Yes - bring THEM ON!

In the hustle of programs and projects, field trips and field days, graduations and grandparents days, spring soccer and Saturday showers (the bridal and baby variety), I have discovered a few questions rolling around in my foggy brain along with dates and time, deadlines and destinations.

Here they are at complete random (not sure I have the braincells to organize them at this point!)

How is it possible that my fifth grader is still forgetting to take his trumpet to school? They have been at this for a good nine months now...

Who keeps using up all the toothpaste/toilet paper/Kleenex/milk/cereal/bread when I feel like we are NEVER HERE?

Isn't it too much to ask for my family to expect to be fed three times a day? Really.

When the squirrel eats a hole in the blue plastic garbage bin, isn't his little tummy too full to eat the refuse within? What is the point, then, of all that work?

Why does my boys' room smell like a bologna sandwich (we don't even eat bologna!)

How can it be 32 degrees and 72 degrees all in one day? Is God joking? I know He has a great sense of humor. I have four children.

Why is the maid such a slacker on the stuff that I hate to do the most? (Emptying the dishwasher, putting away clean laundry) Doesn't she know she is making it that much more bothersome for me? (You understand, that she is a hypothetical maid that has yet to show her face or fanny)

Why can't teachers at one school talk to each other so I don't have to choose which field trip to attend on an given day?

Why do I still have to get on the treadmill, when it feels like I have been on one all week?

When I do work out, why do I want to take a nap when I am done - where are those endorphins that are supposed to energize me?

How does my husband still think I am beautiful when I know I need a shower/clean shirt/swipe of lipstick? (I know...because he loves me - still, it is great and it boggles my mind!)

Why do I get to live in this great country full of freedoms that people had to die to ensure?

Why did God choose to bless me so abundantly?

Why do I forget to trust HIM?

Why do I sometimes neglect my time with God, when I know that is the most important thing I can do with my time?

Why does my two year-old talk so much about the potty, but can't seem to actually use it?

Why is a bed of lettuce and greens with some veggies and dressing so much yummier when someone else makes it (like at a restaurant)?

Why does my neighbor still have a Christmas wreath on her front door?

When do I get to take a nap???