just an excuse....

Just an excuse to post this beautiful painting? Maybe - but also an apology: I've had to add the annoying "type these random letters" thingie to my blog comments section because I have been inundated with spammer's suck up comments. *frown*
But it IS a lovely painting, isn't it? I would love to have this one. *smile*

Wrapping Wee Ones

Tally is coming over today for a wrap session. It has the potential to be very comical. I am by no means an expert - just have a little more "time" under my belt. The big kids will run and play and the wee ones will get wrapped in several different fashions. I wish I had known about this when my first two were small. The accidents I would have avoided...*sigh* (like the day the double stroller didn't "click" and it collapsed instead!!) How much easier it would have been to have only ONE in the cart - and how much happier CF might have been snuggled up to mama....ah, well - can't do a thing about now. *laugh*
(edited to remove pictures)

Thanks to someone else's posting (sorry I can't remember who's), I am considering doing this: Believing God Study.
First, I need to ascertain if I actually have time available. It already seems like I have more to do than hours in the day. (sounds like a lame excuse, huh?) We'll see......

overflowing fount

There is so much to absorb...so much!! Thank you to all the wise women out in the blogosphere willing to share their insights. *smile* May you continue to be blessed with wisdom, grace, and mercy.

Here is a taste. Enjoy with delight...

either or?

I've always said (well, when saying...) that I "believe in God."
But I realize after some reading today that I have an option that I never considered.
I can:

• Believe in God
• Believe God

I like "B". Thanks for sharing. *smile*

that is all

I love this painting. (Monet)
That is all. *smile*

up late and rambling...

I imagine I am seeing this out my window...and I am thinking about the events of the day...a bit introspective as usual.
It was a slow, busy day - I had a lot I wanted to do, but didn't do a lot - I rushed and I worried about being finished with the tasks I had set before myself, but really there was no need. The more I accomplish around my home, the more I see for me to do and it can be overwhelming. The better it gets, the closer to perfect I want it to be - and that is unrealistic. I know this, yet I stress about it anyway. *shrug*
For some reason I always hear this is in the back of my mind: "It can be better you know, it can always be better." "You can do better, you know, you can do better." It's always pushing me...don't accept the status quo...do not be, what's the word? - content. I fight it a lot. Sometimes I try to block it out. Act like I don't hear it. Let things go - because it "could be worse, right?" And then it spirals out of control and I get this horrid monster that I can't handle. And it eats me. In tiny bites. Then it's louder - "It can be better, you know; you can DO better!"
Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag!! SHUT UP ALREADY!

Anyway, something else. I've been pondering the way imposed change affects people - of all ages. It's quite common and expected that when small children deal with large changes in their lives (new babies, a move, a death, etc.) that they will regress in their skills and behaviors. Children previously potty trained have accidents. Those who used to sleep thru the night, will wake again. Some even want relationships as a whole to go back - as in the case of the older brother of a new baby desiring to be "babied" - held, carried, fed, rocked.... you get the picture?
Wondering, in that "what do you do while you wash yet another sinkful of dishes" kinda way - I thought about if and how adults regress when confronted with imposed or sometimes even self imposed changes in our lives. How do we react spiritually? How do we handle MAJOR stress? How do we handle challenges to our beliefs and thought processes?
Personally, I know I get really and truely GRUMPY. I snap and bark and claw and have a huge desire to retreat to a cave somewhere on a mountain where no one will bother me. So socially, I regress in a way. Spiritually, I fall back into the "Does God care? Will he DO anything?" kinda place...never mind that he has shown over and over that yes He does and yeah He will - tho it may not be just the way and when I want. So, spiritually, I regress as well.
Cyclically, this reminded me of the Isrealites in the Old Test. wandering in the desert for 40 years. At every new change in circumstance they regressed to doubt as well - even tho they had witnessed many miraculous interventions by God on their part. Good to know I'm not the only one. Sometimes judging by the way I behave you'd think I knew nothing of God's grace! To top it off, I also sit judgementally over others and think the same of them in their "regression". *rolleyes*
So next I wonder what to do with this....is there something I can do to prevent this with myself? How can I deal gracefully with other people when I see them "regressing"? More hmm's than I have time to answer right now, but you know, I'll be thinking about it. *laugh*
And yet another rabbit trail.....
Sometimes things just fly right out of my mouth. *embarassed* I say things and then realize how mortified I would be if someone had directed that same comment to me. *sigh* Tonight I did it TWICE. I think something "got snipped" in there as Tally says. Anyone know how to hotwire a control for the mouth? *laugh* Lord, place a guard over my mouth!
Switching topics yet again, was the weather not glorious today? I wish it had been just a tad cooler so that I might have opened all the windows and listened to the rain and smelled the freshness of it all. It's raining again as I type - what a wonderful sound. Who is it? Eddie Rabbit? Who sings that song I Love a Rainy Night? Well, anyway...I do...
*humming*

ah, yes..here it is:

I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT
Eddie Rabbitt

* Well I love a rainy night (2x)
I love to hear the thunder
Watch the lightning
When it lights up the sky
You know it makes me feel good
Well I love a rainy night
It's such a beautiful sight
I love to feel the rain
On my face
To taste the rain on my lips
In the moonlight shadow

# Showers wash
All my cares away
I wake up to a sunny day
'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Well I love a rainy night (2x)

Repeat *

Puts a song
In this heart of mine
Puts a smile on my face every time

'Cause I love a rainy night
Yes I love a rainy night
Ooh I love a rainy night
Yeah I love a rainy night

Repeat #

Can a person hum in their sleep? *laugh* Sweet dreams...

Panicked Joy!

Things were looking GREAT around here and then something exploded yesterday...and now my house is .....let's just say it IS. Now the panic sets in (only a mild exaggeration) as I race to tidy and clean before housechurch tonight and I get to see Shari and Mike!!! WOooooHhhooOooie!!! I don't want any work to have to be done while the are here. So...gotta go...if I had a hump, I'd be bustin' it! *laugh*
On a side note - don't you just love that cat?!? *laugh* Sometimes I feel like my eyes do that. *giggle*

are they very tiny?

Cute poem about toothfairies...
CF Lost another tooth - this one went down the drain...Noel could not rescue it as it had gone beyond that U shaped joint, whatever it's called. *laugh* Anyway - CF was delighted this morning to discover the wonders left under his pillow. Excitedly, he showed me his coins and and then wondered if tooth fairies were very tiny fairies. *smile* CA tried to tell him that the fairie is really mommy, but to no avail. The fun of imagination!
Yesterday afternoon, CF and CR rode on a magic carpet - I have no idea where they went or what adventure they had, but they were happy riding on a green bath towel together on the living room floor. I wonder what they will pretend today....

The picture is from
Graphics by Penny Parker
Penny's Place In Cyberspace

does it hurt?

Character issues. I've been thinking about my kids and how to help them in areas that they struggle. The thing is, they display many of the same issues - we'll call them traits *laugh* - that I am working on. And I know why.
One of the harder things about homeschooling is living your life in the 360* mirror from What NOT to Wear - but in this case it's more appropriate to call it What NOT to Be. It's hard to discipline (teach) my children not to yell, be easily angered, or pout, and to work first and play after, when I myself am having the exact same problems. *exasperated-sigh*
My biggest problem in dealing with this is that I am forever trying to change myself. CHANGE MYSELF. I want to change myself to be what I think I should be. (...there is a way that seems right to a man....) What about the way God wants me to be? (..in the likeness of Christ...) CHANGED BY GOD.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;"

Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
6 "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

James 1:5 (WYC)
5 "And if any of you needeth wisdom, ask he of God, which giveth to all men largely [that giveth to all men largely], and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him."

Grace, patience, humility, gentleness, kindness....laughter and playfulness - these things I ask for. You've placed the desire in my heart. I know I wouldn't think these thoughts if not for you - that I would not desire these changes, but not for you......I am asking. I am seeking. I am knocking. Mold me into the gentle mother I know you desire me to be that I may raise my children in a way that honors you. amen.

fuzzie navels or C'est la charité!

Hairy belly buttons - uch - ok, so not so cute. *laugh*
What I'm thinking about is how much I love my friends. I LOVE YOU GUYS!! *warm fuzzies*
I am also thinking about those that I don't particularly "feel" the vibes for - people that irritate me, have annoying habits that make feel like I am developing a nervous tic when I'm around them, and those that are just plain 'ol hateful.....and I am remembering that I'm supposed to LOVE them as well. So...just how does it "look" to love someone you don't particularly like? And I don't mean in a cheapo, plastic, barbie smile kinda way, either. I'm talking genuine 1 Cor. 13 kinda love. I mean, after all - it is an action word, eh? And is it any different when you aren't "liking" someone you do love...what does that "look" like? Interesting that a lot of the things I think of that "show" love can be done for others with out any love in my heart at all.......

1 Corinthiens 13:13

13Maintenant donc ces trois choses demeurent: la foi, l'espérance, la charité; mais la plus grande de ces choses, c'est la charité.

1 Corinthians 13 (Wycliffe New Testament)

1 If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and I have not charity, I am made as brass sounding, or a cymbal tinkling.

2 And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowing [and all knowing, or science], and if I have all faith, so that I move hills from their place [so that I bear over hills from one place to another], and I have not charity, I am nought.

3 And if I part all my goods into the meats of poor men, and if I betake my body, so that I burn, and if I have not charity, it profiteth to me nothing.

4 Charity is patient, it is benign; charity envieth not, it doeth not wickedly, it is not blown [it is not in-blown with pride],

5 it is not covetous [of worships], it seeketh not those things that be his own [it seeketh not those things that be her own], it is not stirred to wrath, it thinketh not evil,

6 it joyeth not on wickedness, but it joyeth together to truth; [it joyeth not in wickedness, forsooth it joyeth together with truth;]

7 it suffereth all things, it believeth all things, it hopeth all things, it sustaineth all things.

8 Charity falleth never down, whether prophecies shall be voided, either languages shall cease, either science shall be destroyed [whether prophecies shall be voided, or languages shall cease, or science shall be destroyed].

9 For a part we know, and a part we prophesy; [For of part we know, and of part we prophesy;]

10 but when that shall come that is perfect, that thing that is of part shall be voided.

11 When I was a little child, I spake as a little child, I understood as a little child, I thought as a little child; but when I was made a man, I voided those things that were of a little child.

12 And we see now [Forsooth we see now] by a mirror in darkness, but then face to face; now I know of part, but then I shall know, as [and] I am known.

13 And now dwelleth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the most of these is charity.


(Yes..I love to see the Scriptures in other languages and translations - sometimes it offers a new perspective! )

hodgepodge

Some things just aren't nice. Inflicting them on others - even unintentionally - is just as "not nice". I want to grump and complain about it, but I don't think it would be very nice for the poor person I want to grump and complain about....not that this person(s) would ever read my blog...*shrug* I wonder if it makes a difference - I mean when it comes down to it - I AM grumping about someone(s). ( I love putting that little "s" in there - just makes it all the more confusing and funny to me. *laugh*) Anyway - I lived thru it and if that's the only "suffering" I have this week, I'm doing pretty darn good, you know?! *laugh* This is going to sound unrelated but it's not. It's kinda like habituating to something - like I do to the mess in my house - you don't really see it until you look at it from someone else's point of view or see an actual snapshot of the situation. Kinda scarey sometimes. I honestly think some things could be cured if the "offending" party got to see the problem on video! And goodness knows I've been the offending party more than I care to admit... some things are harsh but true.

(please do not stalk me with a camera if I offend you! *laugh* - well, unless I'm in denial....)

so much!!

There is so much today that touches me out in the blogging world!
Someday I, too, plan to be out in my Wellies, digging up carrots and picking tomatoes and zuchinni....Ahhhhh. *happy sigh*
For now, I'm happy to see someone getting to enjoy it! Great garden!!!

wisdom passed down

Thank you, Kathy, for sharing. I feel like I'm in the locker room getting the "talk" I need before the next quarter. (Kathy posted this at her blog last Friday.)

So much in parenting is so basic. It is not fancy. It starts with remembering that kids are people. It starts with treating your child the way you would want to be treated. With empathy: remembering how it felt to be that age.

Remember that family members are precious and smile at them and make eye contact with them when they wake up in the morning or from a nap.

Make pleasant eye contact with your children and touch them gently on the shoulder when you ask them to do something. Make it a chance to cooperate before it becomes a command to comply.

Be considerate--give your children time to disengage from what they're doing before expecting them to jump up to fulfill your request.

Be considerate in letting them know what to expect in an upcoming situation. We can forget that everything is a new situation when you're a child.

Be aware--of how long it's been since your child ate or slept, and also of the stress and stimulation of different situations. Just like grownups, children find it hard to be patient and gracious when they're hungry, tired or stressed out. Be attentive to their frailty in this area and you will cut problem behaviors by a huge percentage.

Children, like adults, appreciate it when authority figures (that's you) take time to investigate the facts before you jump to conclusions about their culpability or motive in some situation.

When children behave badly, it often is a clue that they are feeling badly--just as it is with grownups. Set firm limits but also investigate what the underlying cause of the behavior is.

Children NEED lots of time and attention from their parents.

There is a difference between being firm and being mean -- and children know that as well as you do. (And incidently, meanness at the behest of some parenting guru whose book is making the rounds is still meanness.) Firmness is dignified; it draws respect--and shows respect. Firmness sets a wise boundary and stays with it. Firmness looks the same in public as it does at home. Meanness deals out of impatience, revenge, fear, embarrassment, or a sub-human view of the child. Meanness seeks privacy. The light of day tends to reveal meanness for what it is.

Parenting well is mostly relationship. Thus, if you're a Christian parent, ponder parenting applications when you come across those "one another" verses (and other relationship verses) in the New Testament. You'll be blessed and challenged.

Enseigne-moi, Éternel

Psaume 119:25-32 (Louis Segond)

25 Mon âme est attachée à la poussière: Rends-moi la vie selon ta parole!

26 Je raconte mes voies, et tu m'exauces: Enseigne-moi tes statuts!

27 Fais-moi comprendre la voie de tes ordonnances, Et je méditerai sur tes merveilles!

28 Mon âme pleure de chagrin: Relève-moi selon ta parole!

29 Éloigne de moi la voie du mensonge, Et accorde-moi la grâce de suivre ta loi!

30 Je choisis la voie de la vérité, Je place tes lois sous mes yeux.

31 Je m'attache à tes préceptes: Éternel, ne me rends point confus!

32 Je cours dans la voie de tes commandements, Car tu élargis mon coeur.

Psalm 119:25-32 (New Living Translation)
New Living Translation (NLT)

25
I lie in the dust, completely discouraged;
revive me by your word.

26
I told you my plans, and you answered.
Now teach me your principles.

27
Help me understand the meaning of your commandments,
and I will meditate on your wonderful miracles.

28
I weep with grief;
encourage me by your word.

29
Keep me from lying to myself;
give me the privilege of knowing your law.

30
I have chosen to be faithful;
I have determined to live by your laws.

31
I cling to your decrees.
LORD, don't let me be put to shame!

32
If you will help me,
I will run to follow your commands.

Buffet? ....there's no buffet.

Yesterday was an amazing marker in our marriage - 11 years! Reflecting on the joys and trials of our past, I realized we have made 4 interstate moves, have brought three wonderfully loving children into the world, survived 10 surgeries with our second son, made lasting friendships, been hurt and healed, grown and pruned, and of course: learned, laughed and loved. *smile* Over all it has been good - Thanks to God and his mercy and grace. (amen.) We should've made a banner that said "50 yrs. or Bust!!" and had our picture made with it. *laugh*

The last couple days I have been seeing that God is always working on something. I mean, I've known that....but have I really known that? I can see it this time. As I am painfully missing my sweet friend, I find that God has brought someone else closer to me. It has been a balm for my heart. What's more, she has been a challenge and encouragement to me spiritually. She is a good friend ~ delighting in the Lord, seeking His will. The Holy Spirit is evident in her life. And I am Thankful. (amen.)

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Kolosser 3:12,13

(12)So ziehet nun an, als die Auserwählten Gottes, Heiligen und Geliebten, herzliches Erbarmen, Freundlichkeit, Demut, Sanftmut, Geduld;(13)und vertrage einer den andern und vergebet euch untereinander, so jemand Klage hat wider den andern; gleichwie Christus euch vergeben hat, also auch ihr.

Colossians 3:12,13

(12)Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
(13)You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

These verses need to be pasted to my walls. Perhaps if I wrote it out 100 times on the blackboard it would sink in, you think?
To be clothed in tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience I am so painfully, and obviously NOT.
We become like those we spend the most time with. What kind of example am I being to my children? Today I was hardhearted, harsh, condescending, abrupt, and impatient.Oh, and LOUD. *sad-frown*
The Word's of my Savior are not a place of comfort for me today. Rather they are rebuking and peircing. My own disapointment with myself is keen. (Col.3:17 - And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.)
If you are familiar with this passage you know what follows swiftly after this, right? (vs. 21, Fathers, don't aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying.) The farther I read the more I see - all I can do is pray.

Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy. Mea culpa.



Mary Magdalene detail from Sacred Conversation, by Giovanni Bellini

Le Sigh

*sigh*
a wee bit discouraged....
and I miss my smilies. *hrmph*

bathing is not optional!

It would be a huge time saver if bathing weren't a necessity and merely an enjoyable relaxation tool. *laugh* But I am so very glad that it IS necessary!!! It means I do get to relax, even if it isn't daily....(sorry, y'all, if that's TMI - you can blog-hop elsewhere. *giggle*)
One of the things I am most thankful for beyond the usual things we all list, like family, and freedom of worship (I know those are not small things - I don't take them lightly - don't worry!*laugh*), is hot, running water from an overhead spigot!
Anyway - I guess my point is that I am looking at the small things today (that really don't seem so small when they aren't there) and remembering what a blessing they are as well. A good perspective to have when one has a million and one loads of laundry and dirty floors that need to be mopped - yet again. *laugh*
Ever so often I read this little story - it certainly helps my attitude -

Annah is from South Africa. She and her husband came to the United States from Soweto - the all black southwest township of Johannesburg- so that her husband could get his Ph.D. Her home had been two rooms without electricity or running water. She had never seen a vacuum cleaner or operated a dishwasher.
She and her daughters visited with us for two weeks one summer. Daily Annah rose and started to clean my house. When I urged her to be a guest instead, she shook her head. "Oh, you have such a lovely home. It is a joy to clean."
A joy to clean? For me, cleaning was something I did when company was coming, when I began to stick to the floor, or could not see out the window. Certainly something to do only if I couldn't think of anything better to do!
"I love to polish," Annah told me, making my sink gleam. "In Soweto, women polish their buckets until they shine. We are proud of what we have."
Seeing Annah's delight in cleaning- and feeling a little guilty that she was working so hard in my house- I began to work with her. I discovered how much joy there can be mopping a floor, polishing wood until it glows, lifting clean dishes from piles of suds, folding swee-smelling clothes.
I am grateful to Annah. She taught me to take joy in performing the tasks that bring light and sparkle to my home.

~from House Warmings: For those who make a house a home by Patricia Houck Sprinkle

Work without joy shall be as nothing.
Resolve to be happy, and your joy and you shall form
an invincible host against difficulties.
~Helen Keller

Establish the work of my hands! amen

The real deal?

How real am I? I wonder at transparency....at honesty....at approachability.
I know I am real and honest. I also know that I am self-sensoring and secretive - not in a dishonest way - just in an introverted sort of way. I keep most of myself unto myself. Sometimes I think I also with-hold from myself because I don't want to deal with that part of me. I think it is a struggle to keep "introverted" from morphing into "self-centered"......
Hence the daily struggles:

• ~ to empty all myself of self that God may fill me with Himself instead...
  
• ~ to be transparent before the Lord, that I may be made clean - as His mercies are new each day...

If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
And say,"This is not dead,"
And fill thee with Himself instead.
But thou art all repleat with very thou,
And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says,"This is enow
Unto itself - 'twere better let it be,
It is so small and full, there is no room for me."
~Sir Thomas Browne


12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep me from deliberate sins!
Don't let them control me.
Then I will be free from guilt,
and innocent of great sin.
14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:12-14

When you read my mind, what does it say? What do you find there?
When my thoughts unwind, reflections of you, I pray they will be there....When you read my mind......
~Joel Weldon, musician

the cow says.....

Mooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
*giggle* (CR is reading to herself from Moo, Baa, La, La, La by Sandra Boynton)
Now she's looking through Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Catapillar. Another book lover. What bliss! *smile* CF draws detailed stories about his adventures as a super hero. I can't wait till he can write the words out and illustrate. *grin*

Actually, I began this post because there are a lot of things pinging in my brain and it helps to make a bit of a list - sort of to check it off kinda thing - thought more about this: check! So, there won't really be much to converse about probably - just something to go "hmmmm???" at. *laugh*

floors
paint
bottles
furniture
arrangement
WMBed-Head
the "order" of prayer
lining up lables (why do I need to? *laugh*)
if the rainbow didn't come in the color order it is would I like it any less? (ok..just joking on this one!!! *grin*)
grass
shrubs
weeds
wading pool algae
things under the carport
dishwasher
dead plants
floor polish
my reading list
digital scrapbooking
mold spores *rolleyes* - I know, of all the things to think about. *snort*

Past bedtime for the wee ones......
oh, final note - had a great lunch with Melissa and Josh today. Looking forward to getting to know them better. *smile*

Serenity

Beautiful. Peaceful. Comfort. Love.
*smile*