Balance and juggling isn't even in the Bible!

Seems I have never reached that magical point where my life is quiet, peaceful, slow, with all the details in my life organized. There are more balls in the air now than when our family was much younger!

Today as I was whizzing in the car to Kohl's (afterall, I had a 30% coupon in my hot little hand) looking for jeans and a couple of things that Joy needed, all the while keeping in mind that she has a meeting I have to drive her to in an hour.

Also knowing that I have to pick up some medication for the sinus infection I have developed with an internal ear infection (going on since Michigan--five weeks ago) and have an appointment with friends to pray at 5 and then pick Joy up from her meeting, and then go back to Walmart for the things she will need while I am gone;

and then to a cooking class with Sarah and Joy-- we signed up for a while ago, and then meeting friends who are flying in from out of town at their hotel at 9; finish packing and then leave for the airport with Clay and Sarah at 7:30 in the morning,

and I think--my life is not in balance--but I can still walk with God, have joy, enjoy my minutes and the ones in my life at each moment, and make it through one minute at a time.

My home is not in balance--I know that when we fly to 5 cities in 7 weeks, to host mom conferences,  that my house will get messier than usual and need a good cleaning when I get home. I understand that if I am going to be faithful to schooling when I am home and making meals and having quiet times in between all the prep for conferences--that things will pile up and go by the way side--but I also know I have a plan for getting it all together when I get home.

I know it will take all of us a few days just to sleep enough to have the energy to clean and straighten up--but I know that we will get to it and I will feel good about my home again.

I liked what a friend said to me, "The swinging hand on a clock is only in balance at one point while the fulcrum swings back and forth between the two sides."

And so my life goes--in perfect balance, rarely, once in a while--but always swinging between the two tensions.

My life wasn't in balance when I had 3 children under 5 and I had to nurse them and deal with ear infections and asthma.

My life wasn't in balance very often amidst the 17 moves--6 times internationally--seemed often I was packing or unpacking--

My life wasn't in balance when I had 3 teenagers and an elementary aged child who just wanted to play and read picture books,  while we were staying up late with our teens talking about all sorts of serious issues in life, and then getting up early with my wee, little fun one-with dark circles under my eyes.

And all the while these in my home wanted to eat, (which meant shopping, cooking and an endless stream of dishes) and wear relatively clean clothes and messes abounded--always cleaning and messing--straightening and cluttering. No balance but a lot of life and fun and discussions and work and corrections--a stream of life never ending, but flowing to yet another new challenge and season of life.

I think I would have been so much more content and joyful if I had just known at the beginning that life for me would not be balanced--but could always be meaningful--if I would just accept the limitations of each day, each season, each child, my marriage and my finances--none totally balance, perfect--but all a blessing--so that is what was going through my mind today as I was whizzing about.

I don't think scripture promises balance--Jesus's life was not balanced--he always had people chasing after him and someone was always criticizing him amidst the feeding of 5 thousands, healing lepers and forgiving prostitutes, holding children and blessing them and saying scathing things to the Pharisees--

Paul's life was certainly not balanced--even keeled--amidst prison, ship wrecks, beatings, and teachings. Peter was traveling, teaching, being persecuted--yet all of these had joy, full hearts, love and time to reach out to and teach others.

So, I was contemplating today--that if I would just see this day and all that my puzzle brings as God's will, I would be content, joyful and enjoy rest in the moments of my days.

Off to pick up Joy!

Teaching Your Children To Walk (At Every Age)

He who walks with the wise is wise,

A companion of fools suffers harm. 

Proverbs 15:20

"By walking in integrity at home, my children received from my life, training for battles that were ahead of them. By walking through the obstacles and curves of our lives, trusting God, living by faith, choosing to endure, our children became familiar with what it looked like to walk with God in the midst of their own challenges." -Sally Clarkson, The Mom Walk

When your children walk with you, are they walking with a wise person?  Can they look at your seasoned responses, your insightful understanding of people, your fortitude in difficult times as they walk the moments of your daily life? Children watch us, listen to us when we are talking to others, hear us behind closed doors as we talk to our husband, see us in public. Our lives are the walk that our children will imitate.

We are in a generation and culture that has turned our children's training grounds into a battlefield. With relative morality, confusing voices, compromise of ideals, secular media values and opposing opinions, where will our children find clarity and strong, secure values to embrace?

As mothers, we must be ready and equipped with steady feet and strong souls to lead the way for our kids with integrity. We will give them confidence as we walk, staying close to them, holding their hand, and showing them sure footsteps to follow.

"O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart." -Psalm 15:1-2

No matter how old your children become, you are the example for them. They will always be looking at you to see integrity, ideals, and how you interact with God. And the longer you provide your children with wisdom based on truth, the more they will quickly consider your advice as they walk their own adult journey.Still, on a daily basis, I am walking with my adult children. They learned to trust their "path guide" on the trail of life we walked together, day by day.

We must lead the way and set a solid foundation for the paths our children will follow. Teaching our children to walk truly never ends.

Are you walking in wisdom today? Is your life one you want your children to follow? Is your pathway in your life with God getting brighter and brighter? May God lead us on His path with integrity in each step.

What are some of the ways you make each day a focussed moment of a loving relationship as you walk the days with your children?

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day

Proverbs 4: 18

Generosity: Expressed by the way we see ourselves {Mentoring Monday}

Mitch Slate, who lives on the unevacuated side of Burgess Road, spent four hours handing out more than six cases of water to residents waiting to be escorted into the Black Forest burn area Saturday, June 15, 2013. Michael Ciaglo/The Gazette

This thoughtful man did not sit home and wonder what to do. He took initiative to go out and buy gallons and gallons of water to give to those who had been waiting and waiting to see their beloved homes.

An estimated 1,000 people lined the streets outside of the Black Forest Fire command center, Saturday night, to say thank you to the firefighters, national guardsmen, police officers and sheriff deputies working to protect their homes as they changed shifts. Many had lost their own homes, but wanted to be a part of the community that thanked the fire fighters for risking their lives to save their homes.

Thousands of people were affected this week by the fire with the most homes lost in Colorado History. (460 homes totally destroyed.) How amazing it was to see this community of people support one another, help generously, pray together, and show love in countless ways. photo Michael Ciaglo/The Gazette

Members of First Baptist Church on Black Forest Road pray Sunday, June 16, 2013 over church members who lost their homes in the Black Forest fire northeast of Colorado Springs, Colo. The church, which is just outside the evacuation area in Black Forest, held a community prayer and praise worship service Sunday. At least eleven church families lost their homes to the Black Forest fire. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette (Photo credits given to The Gazette)

Generosity expresses the way we perceive ourselves.

Living to meet ones own needs is understandable to one who does not know God. After all, if we believed that we had to take care of ourselves, because we did not understand that God is the one caring for our needs, selfishness and hoarding would be natural.

Yet, when one comes to Christ, it is not just to receive forgiveness and entrance into heaven.  Humility and bowing our knees before the creator of the universe, must cause us to understand that our lives are not our own. When we give our lives to Christ, we give him our all. Everything we have belongs to God. Our possessions are not only for us to use, but what we possess is to be used for the service and provision of others. God entrusts us with resources because He wants to believe that we will be good stewards of his provision in order to help others.

Generosity, then, flows from a person who perceives himself as a steward of God's gifts.

However, the attitudes that are swirling around in our hearts, will most likely show  and burst to the surface when difficult circumstances squeeze our lives. Devastating fires, so near our home, effected all of us in our community this week. Disbelief that a fire could come so quickly and devastate so many homes in such a short time left us all breathless.

Yet, as with many disasters, we witnessed an outpouring of generosity from those who had already decided that giving of themselves was one of the ways to most model the sacrificial life of Jesus.

As we housed sweet family friends whose house was at times right in the center of the infrared map, we watched them as they lived what they had practiced believing--the joyful and humble trust of God.

One morning, as they heard of family friends who lost their home, their first response was not fear of losing their own home. But, immediately, they pondered, "What would most help this family? Let's give a gift card to Target, get their kids some new clothes, and go visit them to cheer them up. They probably need a lot of support right now."

The heart of Jesus is to give whatever it required to save his beloved children. In our case, He had to give His all.

Generosity is caught when modeled. It is learned when practiced. It plants seeds in the heart when, out of great thanksgiving to God, for all that He has done, we give always out of our resources to His kingdom causes and to others who are in need.

When we capture the reality of God's nature being extravagantly generous on our behalf, this character quality born in our lives and trained into the lives of our children, reflects a wordless picture of a love that will reach hearts.

No wonder God loves a cheerful giver--it is a true reflection of His children behaving like Him.

WAY # 11

WE ARE GENEROUS WITH WHAT WE HAVE, SHARING FREELY WITH OTHERS.

Memory Verse:

"Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Fire update

Would so appreciate your prayers right now---2 hotspots that came up on infrared are where 3 precious family friends live--and now fires are burning strong near their homes. Would you please pray right now for God to spare their areas and for the fire-fighters to have strength, wisdom and hope and that God would supernaturally protect any more houses from burning. 369 homes burned, 38,000 evacuated, but there is hope today. Our Father loves to answer our call. Thanks for supporting our area in  your prayers.

Fires and status of Black Forest

 Black Forest--a close community of families near our home.

So very thankful for the fire-fighters and the police and national guard and their tireless service to our community.

Sweet Friends,

Thanks for all of your emails and fb notes. It means so much to our whole family.

Still dramatic here in the area--0 containment of fire, 370 homes totalled, 15,000 acres and growing. it grew from 8500 and doubled in one day. Deb's house ok, mine ok, Brandee evacuated but her home is still standing. Many, many family friends have lost their homes. The problem in the Black Forest is that there are no fire hydrants--just wells. The winds have been so active and blowing the fire in many directions.Biggest loss of homes in Colorado history. The problem is the number of trees (Black Forest) and all the pine bows and grasses catch quickly. Record high temperatures. Fortes with us and awaiting news on their home.

The effect on all of us is sadness, of course, to see the land destroyed and to see precious family friends displaced. But also a realization that only our family, friends and the Lord are our essential treasures. We had 4 families gathered at our home last night for dinner--a break from all of the work, and our hearts were filled with the love we have shared over many years of living life and staying with one another through all the dramatic and joyful issues of our lives. In this, we all have our treasures.

Quite surreal. These were our stomping grounds where many of our friends live and have shared life for all the years we have been here. We are praying for all of our friends. More soon. Thanks for your many prayers.

We will keep you posted. May God bless each of you with a true sense of what really matters and with His love today.

God is a sure refuge

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c] 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Almost exactly a year ago, we saw flames dancing high into the air in our home town, fire raging as bright as day against the mountains. Many were evacuated and lost their homes. Tonight, sweet friends are sleeping with us, having evacuated their home. Other dear friends lost their homes tonight. The fire is raging in an area where there are thousands of homes and thousands have been evacuated.

We would so appreciate your prayers for our area and for our friends. Thank you so much for your many notes and prayers.

I am so deeply grateful for all of the firefighters and police and volunteers who have risked their lives and for many who have tirelessly served all of us in our community.

For all who have been effected in these trying times: May our precious God grant comfort, peace and rest to you and your precious children. You are in the prayers of our family.

Beautifying Life

"Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The chill air of a winters day breathed on my face as I stepped out onto the sidewalk next to my modern, stucco, stark apartment building. I glanced up at our 5th floor window, still bare against a gray sky. Excitement bubbled up inside as I mentally reflected on the mission I was about to undertake.

Clay and I had just moved to Vienna, Austria together to work for a year at the International Church of Vienna. Newly married just a year before, this was our first international venture together. We had rented a 3 room + kitchen apartment. It was totally empty--(no curtains, no kitchen cabinets, no closets, not much but empty rooms--common in many places throughout Europe. (We were blessed to have a kitchen sink, small stove and oven and  four while metalic cupboards adjoining the stove in which to store some food and a paltry few pots and pans.)

I was on foot to explore second hand shops, bargain basements, material stores and just to window shop to begin finding those pieces that would make our empty rooms into a cozy home. Armed with about $100 in my pocket, I was out to get a dining table--as this is where I knew the life of our home would take place. I imagined guests from all over the world resting at our table. Little could I have known the parade of people who would march through our humble rooms--diplomats from South Africa, refugees from Iran, an opera singer and her husband who played in the Vienna Philharmonic; students begging for a home-cooked meal, Austrian neighbors, and more.

I conjured up a picture of meals savored, cups of tea and coffee, hearty discussions, life-changing Bible studies, secrets shared--all over warm-tasty treats, comforting bowls of soup, satisfying crusts of bread, melted butter and pungent cheese. I could just imagine the memories we would make over the table I would find.

And so I boarded the squeaky tram, little knowing where I would find my treasure. Two stops later, I dismounted on foot, beginning my search for treasure. A furniture store begged me to enter. After 5 minutes, I left, knowing I would need to set my sites lower as I couldn't even afford a chair in the lovely shop. I looked all around, at every window shop and down every crooked street anxiously looking for the place my table was waiting for me to find it.

Then, after 2 hours of weary walking, my eyes lit on a dark, dusty window that was a second hand store. From the window, I could see all sorts of nick-nacks and odd pieces of furniture piled high and scattered over the crowded room. As I opened a creaky door, bells jangled against the top of the door frame.

A stooped, wrinkled old man crept our from an even darker room at the back. "Yah, bitte?"

In my very limited German, I asked if I could look around to find some furniture to fill my apartment. He looked at me questioningly through smudged, thick spectacles and waved me in. So, my heart raced as I looked at stacks of chairs, bookshelves, dusty books and stuff sprinkled over the room. Then, high up in a corner, I saw legs round oval legs that looked like they were the base of some kind of a table.

"Was ist?" I asked, hoping he would understand.  He then brought the legs down, went to the back room once again and brought out a stained, mildly scarred table top to fit on top of the base. There it was! I just knew this could be my table.

"Was kostet das?" I asked, hoping for the best. It was the equivalent of $50. I was ecstatic. Maybe I could even some chairs. I looked up and down the piles of stacked items. There on top of each other, at the far end of the wall, were two cute, wood carved chairs, covered in vinyl that looked like leather. How much, I asked again. $35--again in my budget. How surprised Clay would be to be able to eat together on chairs that very evening, as I had a friend who promised to help me pile them into her small station wagon.

I used my last $15 on the way home to buy one yard of colorful material, a candle and a small bunch of flowers from the lady at the street market near to my house. Looking back, I wonder if this small purchase, found in the spirit of great adventure and expectation has brought me more pleasure than all of my more expensive purchases in the years since.

When we sat at our very own table that very evening, I was so proud in my heart of providing something so essential to the many memories we would make. The table was old and had various scratches and stains from other meals shared, but I took what I was given and sought to beautify it. I poured lemon oil on its top and gently polished every inch of surface. Gently folding my piece of cloth as a centerpiece, I arranged what would be the first flowers and candles to welcome weary guests to my feasts.

Now, this very table sits in our little kitchen nook. How many hundreds of meals we have shared around this old piece of wood. It has been moved 17 times and has sat in different rooms. Once a chess table in our mountain home near the living room window. Another time, a corner table in an enclosed porch overlooking fields of trees and thousands of daffodils in our Tennessee house.

If the table could talk, it would tell of toddlers happily munching on bits of food and cheerios scattered atop the plastic placemats; birthday cinnamon rolls with brightly lit candles and hot mugs of tea; warm soup around stories told and shared on winter's nights, Sunday afternoon tea times with picture books and James Harriet's stories of animals read dramatically. It wasn't that the table was beautiful, but it was crafted into a place in which beauty and life was displayed and celebrated.

Even now, every changing season, I ponder how to make it a new place of life and memory, considering how I will adorn it to reflect color, tradition, meaning and the Life of the one in our midst. What we bring to the table, will constitute its glory.

My table quietly whispers to my soul. As women, we have a table, so to speak, of our family. Each has a history and some scars and blemishes--as this is the broken place and all of us have some baggage. Yet, a woman's glory is best when she understand the capacity she has to beautify that "family" table and redeems the design she has been given.

To build a godly legacy by bringing to the table, the Life of Christ through the grace of loving relationships and intimacy shared around this center of life, nourishing souls and spirits with the food of the word of God, providing grace and peace through gently accepting and wiping up the spills of life, in the strength of His love and grace, and by establishing a spirit of graciousness by welcoming all who come as guests of the true Great Hospitality where all are served and all are made whole. To celebrate the days of life by establishing and commemorating traditions of joy, milestones achieved, however small,  fostering the taste of greatness cultivated through the stories shared, books read, memories made, faith lived out through all the seasons--both summer and winter.

I picture that I can be an instrument through which to  bring life and beauty and redemption to the limitations of my marriage and family, because in God's spirit, I am filled with the Life that always brings light to the dark places and redemption to the broken places. In short, a woman's greatest life work will help define the heritage that is built throughout eternity, by determining how much she is willing to give to make her own place one of the elegance of her Designer, with the artistry of His hand, the loveliness of His presence. It is engaging our hearts to His great work, as we become those who understand, that it is the "Wise woman who truly builds her home."  Proverbs 14: 1

And so my table tells me that I have a work of beauty to engage my heart in and to persevere by His tender encouragment--a reflection of my will to celebrate each and every day as He has given it to me.

Blueberry Muffins: My Daily Bread

A house full of kids, friends, and soooo much  eating and talking over and over again. I am having so much fun hanging around my peeps--even though it is constant eating/washing/eating washing. This morning I was making scrambled eggs for 7 people. I had bought 72 eggs last Saturday. When I went to make the eggs this morning, there were only 5 eggs! Cakes, cinnamon rolls, breakfasts took all the eggs!

Yesterday, I got 2 big boxes of blueberries and made 3 pans of blueberry lemon bread.

As the summer sun glistens this morning, I am drinking my strong cup of tea on our deck and the tantalizing aroma of fresh blueberry muffins being baked to perfection fills my kitchen.

I love summer fruit and of course blueberries, they say, is a strong anti-oxidant. They also help strengthen the brain--which I really need these days!

Creating a happy home for my family involves feeding the soul-but many a soul has first been opened by feasting. But, beginning each day with a warm, fresh, daily bread to excite the taste buds gives everyone a good start to the day.  the wonderful fragrance of something baking in the oven, pre-disposes all of those in my home to have an open heart to my messages. As we eat these warm muffins, I will share the words that Jesus used to encourage me this morning and I know all hearts will be open to my messages because their stomachs and tastebuds will be satisfied and happy! Heart, body and souls satisfied all at once!

This delicious recipe will definitely warm and delight your soul.

From my soul to yours:

* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour * 3/4 cup brown sugar * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 2 teaspoons baking powder * 1/3 cup vegetable oil * 1 egg * 1/3 cup milk or 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt * 1 cup fresh blueberries (you could also use frozen) * 1/2 cup white sugar * 1/3 cup all-purpose flour * 1/4 cup butter, cubed * 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (very important!)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. 2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. 3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. 4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Mentoring Monday Contentment is a Heart Issue

Titian

Family Way # 10

"We are content with what we have not coveting what others have."

Murder was the first violent sin described early in the old testament, which arose from jealousy between brothers. Coveting God's pleasure with Abel, Cain allowed his anger to determine his actions and committed the first murder. The desire to resent others for what they have and what we do not have is natural to our flesh.

If we are ever to teach our children to be content, we must first understand the process in our own lives. We cannot teach what we have not understood.

Rage, anger, frustration, jealousy, envy storms in the soul of all of us. How do I know?  Because it has raged in my soul. Sometimes sin seems like a distant, impersonal issue in church sermons--selfishness, attitudes, greed, pornography, adultery, murder, violence, stealing, abuse of every kind. Pronounced from the pulpit, yet our own sin unknown by those around us.  Most of us sit silently, hiding the battles in our heart to love, to forgive, and battling silently with the demons that plague us at times, when we see into the dark corners of our heart.

We underestimate the cancer that sin has wreaked in the very inner being of our hearts. A grid of self-centered reality permeates the way we see life. When we measure ourselves by the circumstances of our lives, we often come up judging others, criticizing them as the one who is wrong rather than us. Our sin corrupts our vision.

And so often, our grid through which we see life, distorts our understanding of what will really bring us happiness, fulfillment and contentment.

Our culture proliferates material possessions as a source of happiness. Those who have are happier and those of us who don't have are somehow unjustly struggling.  We believe that a new house, a better car, a larger salary, recognition--that there are things that will bring us happiness. And often, the longing for more things and money lead to us idolizing money, working hard  and seeking a way to provide for ourselves instead of trusting God with our humble circumstances.

Beautiful bodies surround us in television, movies and commercials that promise perfect bodies by buying a product, taking a pill, or exercising. Sexual images and perfectly staged relationships is the focus and picture of most relationships in media. If there was an awkward moment or a flabby body on one of the heroic or adventurous movies, we would critically observe that the heroine or hero was poorly cast, as we sit at home with our various assortment of flab, overweight and not so perfect bodies, comparing to the images that fill the media.

All of these sources and other cultural messages feed our vulnerable, tender point of temptation--that of discontent. If only we had......a better car, a bigger house, a better marriage partner, more well-behaved children, a  more exciting life, more love, someone who will love us better than those we have in our lives.....then we would be happier. God knew that this would be havoc to our spiritual health and so He even included it in the Ten Commandments!

 It is not sinful or wrong to have desires for something more. Our hearts can actually perceive a better world and more wonderful circumstances because we were made for a better place. We were made for perfection, love, joy, great blessing. It was in the heart of God to provide us a magnificent life.

However, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, it set the whole world in a motion of destruction and brokenness, disappointment and a battle to live well, stable and healthy.

The only way that we will ever be able to be content is to realize the nature of a fallen world--(this is not heaven yet) and then to cultivate a level of thanksgiving and contentment in the life we have been given.  To choose to see the goodness of God, to look for His fingerprints every day in our lives, to have an eternal perspective is the only way we will be able to be content. 

Contentment is a heart issue. We cannot change our emotions and selfish desires by force. Our only hope is to look to God, to ask Him to teach our heart to be contented, to want to trust Him and not live in ungratefulness or in looking to what others have. Choosing to be content, resting our desires and dreams into God's hands, learning to love and bring light into broken places is the beginning of learning to be content.

As long as we covet what we do not have, we will never be at peace. Whether in marriage or family or with possessions, the beginning of contentment is to know that having our own way and practicing selfishness or expecting perfection in a fallen world, will just be a vain goal.

And so, as we teach our children this important 24 Family Way, we must come to them with compassion, understanding and teaching them that we all are tempted to want what we do not and may never have. We cannot force our children to be content by "guilting" them in discipline.

Paul told us that He learned to be content! It was a process.

 We must understand that contentment is like a muscle--the more practiced, the stronger it will be. It is an attitude inside of a heart that is soft and says, "God, I want to learn to be content, so today, I am going to seek to be grateful for you, for what you have provided and for the eternal life I will share with you, where joys beyond my imagination will be real, will be fulfilled and will be provided by you, because you love me. "

But helping them to understand that contentment, the humility of accepting with joy, the circumstances of our lives, is of great gain--great value to our Christian life. Contentment is a powerful character quality which will allow us to mount up over many of life's battles, as we keep our eyes on Him to provide us with all we need in the midst of the stories of our lives. Remembering the memory verse:

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Need a little more daily encouragement along the path of the 24 Family Ways?

I have a sweet friend who leads a Mom Heart Group in California. A relative created the most beautiful poster of our 24 Family Ways for her to use. My friend is in the midst of trying to raise funds for an adoption.

Here is an opportunity to do have the poster for your family and to help her family fund their adoption. Check out this beautiful new poster based on the book. When hung on your wall it is a gentle reminder of all of the Family Ways covered fully in the book. These posters will be for sale for a limited time as an adoption fundraiser for the Foster Family. Click the image above to buy now or you may go Here.

Thanks so much for providing us with this beautiful poster, Lorene! May God bless you in your adoption.

You Just have to keep laughing.....

What a great week I have had. Joy has been home for one week from school and so I decided it was to be our week of celebrating life together. Putting aside the duties of details of life, I worked on the eternally valuable work of being best friends. What a great decision this was. After tea times every day, a couple of great movies, sleeping in, walking in our favorite places where spring was budding all over and going out to breakfast twice, I now have a whole heart full of new memories made.

Duties are always there. Remember, Jesus said, "Martha, you are worried about so many things." And take time to enjoy this day, this family, this place in the season of life--and laugh at one of my own embarrassing days a couple of years ago.

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Once after a marathon of a winter with sick children, lots of snow, ministry conferences and 3 teenagers and one elementary child in the house, a sweet angel friend bought me a massage. It just took one time to make me a fan. Now, I save my treasured extra dollars in a secret drawer and when I have enough saved, I treat myself to a massage, as I am quite sure it must be good for my health.

I was looking back at some pictures from a year ago, and ran into this anecdote from a last year, as Joy and I were squishing together on the couch at home tonight, looking at old pictures, stalking instagram,  and we giggled all over again!

So enjoy my true story that still makes me laugh!

A couple of weeks ago, I went in for a massage and it was wonderful.

When it was over, I dressed in the dim lights and could hardly see anything.

I then went to three stores, when at the last store, a lady gently came forward and said, "I don't know if I will offend you, but did you know your shirt is on wrong side out and all the tags are showing and the buttons are backwards? Just thought you might want to know."

To think I went through 3 stores that way----life is generally humbling.

But, it actually made me giggle, over and over throughout the day!

Joy told me of a quote that she was thinking about, and it made her giggle.

"A Puritan is someone who is deathly afraid that someone,

somewhere, is having fun."

H. L. Mencken

Though I have nothing against Puritans, this probably expresses what my children sometimes thought of me!

All of life a serious issue and no room for humor!

Perhaps there are times we just need to lighten up and have fun and enjoy the fun that life has given to us.

Too much instruction, too much seriousness or correction is heavy for a child's spirit and becomes just way--"too much."

So next time you wear your shirt wrong-side out, just giggle and get a good laugh-don't take yourself too seriously.

Don't be afraid to smile or to let your children be silly or just act their age. (And I think Jesus wants us to be as children, too.)

Don't be afraid to laugh at your 4 year old boy's silly joke. ( Joel said, "What happened when the snail crossed the road? He got squished!" hahahahaha--this was a 4 year old joke in our home! Smile and giggle--you will live longer."

(And please no one write to me about the person who wrote this quote--a satirist, who was a journalist and did not especially like Christians. I know! But his quip did reflect a bit of truth--that I have seen at times in myself and in others.)

Maybe, as believers, and as moms,

it would just be good for us to celebrate laughter and life a little bit more than always being too serious.

Research shows that a person who smiles 10 times a day, is happier and raises his happy hormone levels immensely. So sometimes in the car while driving, I will smile 10 times--because scripture is actually true--a joyful heart is good medicine, and it drives my kids crazy and then to laughter.

There were times when my children told me to "lighten up," and I actually found it to be good advice--less stressful on the body!

Hope your day has at least a couple of good laughs in it. :)