Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Gardening God's Way

Plant three rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul

Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant four rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be faithful
Lettuce be kind
Lettuce be obedient
Lettuce really love one another

No garden without turnips:
Turnip for meetings
Turnip for service
Turnip to help one another

Water freely with patience and
Cultivate with love.
There is much fruit in your garden
Because you reap what you sow.

To conclude our garden
We must have thyme:
Thyme for God
Thyme for study
Thyme for prayer


"A Child's Book Of Grace"

Monday, March 29, 2010

Spring Break 2010 Part 1 - Lake Cresent Hike

Brant drove us over to my parents in Sequim on Saturday and then left Sunday late afternoon for home. He has one of the biggest work weeks of his career this week so we decided it would be easier if the kiddos and I were gone. We did manage to pack a lot in his 48 hour vacation. We got up Sunday morning, went to the early church service, and then headed north for Lake Cresent in the pouring down rain. Lake Cresent is near Forks (where the Twilight movies are filmed) and the Rain Forest for those of you who are not familiar with the Pacific Northwest.
Hiking to the falls
So cute!
One of the bridges we crossed.

I love the bridge!
Oh and this tree was just breathtaking!

Everyone loved the tunnel! See the rain coming down...Typical spring weather!
VERY wet kiddos~

After we made it to the top.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Oh My Goodness We Made It!

Warm fall day at my parents. See the silhouette of the Olympics in the background!

Spring break is here and I am kicking it off with an extremely late night of packing! I can honestly say there is nothing I'd rather be doing?...Um, well I would love to be done with this part and sipping a nice warm cup of coffee with my parents, looking out of their beautiful windows at the rugged snow covered Olympic mountains surrounding the Sequim Valley...BUT first things first...RIGHT!!! My packing adventure is slightly different since we are hitching a ride over and taking the train back. Because the kids and I have to hoof it over the ferry and then a few blocks to the train station I was thinking less is more, what ever the kids can carry they can take. As I'm sure you have probably already predicted, this is proving to be harder that I thought it would be. There is between a 50-80% chance of rain forcasted for our entire trip which means rubber boots, coats and lots of layers. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa have a rather nice washer and dryer. Well that's all for now! We'll post pictures of the week as we can. OH and BTW!!! I have a random comment to share. I decided to color my hair tonight too...that turned out wonderful, but the bangs I cut for fun are a big mistake...BUMMER!
Cheers!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

A Little Bit of This AND A Little Bit Of That!

Oh how we can not wait until spring break! This is our last week of school until the 6th of April and as always there seems to be EXTRA stuff to do! We are feeling the push but seem to be able to get through it thanks to longer days and LOTS of sunshine!
Four Square After School
Practicing Spelling
Penmanship!
A Little Rest Before Dinner

Thoughts on Paper...Blog Paper That Is...

Do you ever feel like your in the dark? Do you ever feel like you can see God working but the outcome is just still too fuzzy to make out? I'm sure everyone answers are an overwhelming YES, and if not than I confess I am alone in the midst of the desert...but I really doubt that! I have spent the past several months trying to figure out where and what I am supposed to be doing in the months ahead as all my kiddos will be venturing off to school. Honestly it REALLY does feel like just yesterday that I was telling the University of Idaho that I would not be coming back to work after Simon was born. Now I'm sitting here with 4 kiddos growing and maturing rapidly before my eyes wondering what I will do once they are all in school. I know that Ben is only going to be in pre-school but really the point is that we are privatly educating them and the expense is quite large. Assistance from me is crucial in order for us to continue sending them to TRA. I am perfectly capable of working to help cover the cost of tuition and frankly kind of like the idea of putting my old rusty brain to work!
I keep getting hung-up on little issues that allow me the opportunity to almost talk myself out of working all together! Here are a couple internal struggles I am having...
First, I seem to have lost my nerve along the way! I'm not sure where it and my self-confidence went??? The self-confidence thing is a rather tricky and messy little personal character trait. If you have too much your teetering on the cliff of self-righteousness if you have too little your expression is bleak and you lack a bright cheery aroma that shows you have confidence in God and his promises. I know the ideal place to be is in the middle...moderation is always good and for the most part I think I'm there....only....this one little area is so hard to pinpoint and tie down. How do I sell myself and the importance of the past seven years to a world who does not value mothering, hospitality, being a wife, budgeting, LOVING GOD and growing in faith. Putting it all on a resume has been a rather interesting and uncomfortable experience.
Second, I have this expectation that I need to find something meaningful and worthy of my absence away from the home, which is hard to do in Wenatchee, knowing full-well that if I REALLY want my kids at TRA I need to be willing to do whatever God brings my way...oh and cheerfully would also be nice. This may come in the form of a job at my kiddos school, serving my community through non-profits, making coffee, or scrubbing toilets (certainly hope NOT). My point is that I need to be open to Gods plan for me regardless of the task. I need to be praying for guidance and for OBVIOUS door slamming answers. I am rather dense so subtlety is not my strong suit.

Thank you friends for listening, sometimes thoughts just need to get written down rather than bouncing around in the brain! Have a fantastic Thursday!

BEN

This is pretty typical for our little character. Sometimes pictures say it all!