Let me tell you about a “revelation” moment in my life last summer. As Christian moms we all KNOW that our husbands and our kids are our number one priority and ministry. Yes, in our heads we would all say it’s true. What does that really mean though? I was having a hard time coming to grips with it in my own life at that time as a new mommy. We are involved in this great camp ministry, and those of you who know me know that my heart is in Christian camping! Before I was married I was as involved in camp as I possibly could be, and it was a lot. However, this past summer at camp as a wife AND mommy, I was not able to do even half of what I really wanted to do. Colossal struggle in my heart. I wanted to be involved with camp, but I hadn’t realized that being the support my husband needs and caring for our son really were my involvement. I thought about how I should be helping encourage the staff, or counsel teens, or clean up more or, or, or. But one day in August after camp I was driving home and it just struck me that there is NO greater ministry for my life than to invest it in my hubby and kids. I don’t know why it suddenly “clicked,” but it did. Almost as if out of the blue God was speaking to my heart and letting me know that my ministry was no less than it had been when I could be “involved” at camp. If anything it was more so. That was a special drive for me, I even remember the stretch of road where the light bulb came on. Recently I was reading in this book and there were a couple paragraphs that kind of summed up what I was thinking that day, and I wanted to share it with you. The book is “Don’t Make Me Count to Three!” a mom’s look at heart-oriented discipline, by Ginger Plowman. Here’s what she says; “Yes, my greatest accomplishment today was nurturing the two precious children that God has entrusted to my care. Now let’s talk about my greatest challenge today…and every day. It is raising these two precious children in the ways of the Lord. God does have an important job for me, and it does require much skill. It is my calling, my priority, my struggle, and my goal. I will rise to the occasion and accept the task at hand. I will love, nurture, and train my children the way that God has called me to do. Moms, we need to be reminded of the awesome responsibility that God has given us. when we respond to the high calling of motherhood with passion, the rewards are far greater than any we could ever gain outside of that calling. The joys of motherhood are rare and beautiful treasures that can be easily missed if we don’t seize the opportunity to grab them.” This is a good book! Let me encourage you to get it and read it often. It’s not long or expensive. I know that I frequently need reminders to keep my hear on track, and I’m sure I’m not alone. 
We can’t afford to miss this truth. Unfortunately we probably all know people who have sacrificed the hearts of their children on the altar of “ministry.” Is it worth it? NO! God expects our ministry to be our family first. I think if Christians would practice this that we’d actually see much more fruit in our perspective ministries. Think about it. What greater way to leave a Christian legacy than in bringing up your kids in righteousness?
Archive for January, 2008
My Ministry
01.31
Still waiting…
01.30
I’m still waiting for zooomr to get it’s data transfered to Japan or something so that I can upload some photos. Apparently (according to their blog) they had some issues getting the hard drives through customs in Japan and THAT is why it’s taking so long…. Hmmmmm? Why couldn’t they just keep it here? I don’t get it! Oh well, you all will just have to wait a little longer to see some of the awesome pics I’ve taken with my “Christmas present”
Today it’s been snowing! I love to watch the snow fall. I figure if it’s going to be gray and gloomy out, it might as well snow! Stuart got to come home early because of the weather, and now he’s napping on the couch. He has earned it. He woke up at 4:30 this morning!!! I was completely dead to the world which is just the way I like it at that hour. Hee hee! Anyway, now the sun has come out and looks really pretty on the snow! Ahhh! The world is a beautiful place!
Sage went home after only being here for maybe 2 hours today. His mom was nervous about the weather (understandably) and decided to send him home with his grandma rather than have him on the road later with her. I didn’t mind. Gives me more time with just MY guys! Qade hasn’t been napping well today. He is in his room right now playing with his hands the last I looked. I’m hoping he’ll drop off again. He only slept for maybe 40 minutes at best. I KNOW he needs more than that!
I got the floors swept and mopped today. With as wet and soggy as it’s been lately the mud gets tracked in. We take our shoes off in the utility room for the most part, but dirt is pretty sneaky and manages to work it’s way across the kitchen floor anyway. I have beat it back for the time being, but I know I’ve only won the battle and there will be many more in this “war.” I have not a clue what to make for dinner tonight. Perhaps if I put it off long enough genius will strike. Either way it will be something simple. I’ve made “new” recipes twice in the past few days. Neither were a flop, but they weren’t a smashing hit either, so something simple and “normal” (ha ha) would probably be the best idea for this evening.
ta ta friends!
Our Monday
01.30
It was still pretty early morning, Stuart had just been up for a little bit, and I was snuggling luxuriously under the warm covers drowsing in that blissful “I-don’t-have-to-get-up-for-another-half-hour” feeling. Just after that I heard a weird noise, and Stu popped his head around the corner and said, “Was that thunder?” See, I had thought he was doing something to make that noise, so I unwillingly woke up so I could better think about it. Turns out it was icy snow blowing from the trees onto the roof. It’s an eery sound. Right after I finally lugged myself out of the warm bed into the cold reality of a Monday morning the power flickered. *GASP* It came back on, flickered again, back on. Whew! We remember the week we were out of power in October because of the tree on the line. BAM! It was totally out this time. By this point Qade was awake. It was still dim enough in the wee morn light that we needed flashlights. I got Qade up and changed him using a head lamp. He was rather amazed at this new glowy “thing” on Mommy’s head, but it worked. Qade had his breakfast by candle light while Stu and I scrambled to pack up some stuff. The temperature was rapidly dropping, and we don’t have wood for the stove right now, so we were going to head to Stuart’s grandparent’s house where their heat was still on. Qade was supposed to have his 9 month exam at 10am, but we weren’t sure what the interstate would look like. However, by the time we were packed up and ready to go the sun was bright and shiny. He was mocking us I’m sure. Turns out the paved roads were pretty clear so we decided to head to town for the appointment. Might as well, it’s not like there’s much you can do with no power. The power company said it should be on sometime that day. I have no confidence in them though. The trip to town went fine. My poor boy had to have 3 shots. 
I just feel like a horrible person bringing him in all happy, and them taking him out so sad. He didn’t stay sad for long though, and we were able to get some shopping done too. When we did get back home the power was actually ON!! Wow! We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on things that needed to get done. Stuart didn’t work because of the whole situation, so even though it was an inconvenience I was glad to get to spend part of my Monday with him.
Who needs 5 anyway?
01.27
One of my most favorite children’s stories is “Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.” One one of the pages he “left out 16″ when he was counting and his reply was, “Who needs 16?” It’s pretty funny, if you’ve never read it you should because we can all relate. That’s kind of how I was thinking when I figured out the other day that the 5 on the microwave is no longer working! What in the world? I mean it’s only like 5 months old?? How can the 5 quit already? Dumb machine. I’m not too worried about it though. In the larger picture the buttons on the ‘nuker’ don’t matter so much. I have other things to occupy my mind.
Today it’s raining. Isn’t it weird how weather affects your moods? Sometimes on rainy days I feel “cozy” and just want to stay inside in slippers all day and read a book and sip a hot beverage. Other times it makes me feel cold and lonely. Strange. It’s been a different kind of weekend. I’ve had a couple of days with my always fun migrane hanging around. It hasn’t been really bad, but it has been constant. I think I really need a chiropractic adjustment. Yesterday we went into town because Stu’s grandma is 80 this weekend! So we had lunch with her and that was a good time. I have quite the shopping list going, but fighting through the crowds on a Saturday is very un-fun, so we decided to wait. I have to take Qade in for his 9 month exam on Monday anyway. Poor boy will have to get more shots. I never like that! HOWEVER, I have become a proponent of immunizatons. I’ve read and heard every arguement for and against them. I have decided on my own that Qade won’t get the chicken pocks one, but other than that we’re going for it. Whooping cough has been BIG this year and it’s mainly because there are a lot of people who haven’t had the immunizations. Illegal immigrants for one, and people who don’t have their kids immunized because they are scared of the shots. I know that there are occasions when people have had sever allergic reactions to the shots, and in decades past some children actually contracted the dieseas that the shot was for. However, advances in medicine have really changed things a lot. Anyway, my own personal oppinion is that unless there’s a medical condition that prevents it, immunizations should be given. You never know when your child might come in contact with someone from overseas or even just a traveler who could be carrying who knows what. The bennifits far outweigh the risks. But that’s a rabbit trail huh? I still don’t like to see Qade have to have shots, and he doesn’t like it either. Hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly.
My brain is a bit fuzzy today because we didn’t sleep well last night. Qade sometimes has these issues, I don’t know if it’s “night terrors” or what, but he’ll wake up in the middle of the night screaming at the top of his lungs, and even when I do get him back to sleep and bed, he doesn’t rest well, and will often wake again. They don’t happen on a regular basis, so I’m kind of stumped about what the cause is. That’s one thing about parenting, it’s one BIG learning experience. Things may work beautifully one time, and the next have no effect at all! Ha ha ha! It’s an adventure, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything! Needless to say our bubby was really sleepy this morning. He slept all through church! Mommy might have wanted to as well, but it’s not as acceptable somehow. Well, I’ll stop blabbing on about nothing. Hope your weekends have been wonderful.
It’s a hard knock life
01.25
Poor Bubby was finding that out today. He just seemed to be having one of “those days.” Guess they come even when you’re very young. First he was playing in his room and I heard a crash and then screaming. Sometimes he falls and gets frustrated, but this sounded a little more urgent. Turns out he had pulled the baby monitor off of the bookcase. It was hanging by one of those things you hang stockings over the fire at Christmas. That was my bad, I shouldn’t have had it there, but at the time it seemed like the perfect place for it. Anyway, when it came crashing down it landed on a “burro” bank that had come from “somewhere” (I have no idea how we got it) and it pretty much smashed the thing to bits. I snatched up my boy and checked his head for bumps because that would have been quite the bonk to the noggin. He did NOT have a mark on him thankfully. I think it scared him more than anything. A little later in the day Qade decided to teach himself a lesson in gravity and took a header off the couch. Ouch! Poor guy! He’s a tough little monster, but sometimes learning to navigate in this life is a little hard on a body. It’s hard for mommy and daddy too. You know that accidents are going to happen, and you know that you can’t “protect” your child from absolutely everything, but when it does happen you can’t help feeling guilty to a point. I’m just glad that in his little hard knock day, Qade didn’t really get hurt, and maybe he did learn a few things after all. Stu thinks that all people are born a genius and then we bang our brain cells out learning to crawl and walk. Could be true.
P.S. I would really like to post some “new” pictures on here from our awesome camera, BUT our online picture site is undergoing some “construction” so to speak, so it’ll be a couple days.
Drizzly Day
01.24
Happy Thursday friends,
Last night Stu and I started watching “You’ve Got Mail” again. I think he probably gets tired of re-watching all of my chick flicks, but it makes me happy that he’s willing to do it anyway. But I was thinking of the part where she says that she likes to start her e-mails as if they are in the middle of a conversation. I like to do that with my blog too. See, it’s a way for me to share just regular every day life with people I care about. I’m far away from good friends and family and it’s fun to think that even though there’s miles of distance between us, I can still share life with YOU. I find myself thinking of how I can “blog” about things that happen all day. It’s fun! Most of my “mental blogging” never makes it to cyber space, but that’s okay. It still gives my brain something to do besides diapers, cleaning, and lots of baby talk.
So last night I made this dinner recipe that I got out of my “semi-homemade” cook book. It was called Italian Chicken, and it was a slow cooker recipe which I LOVE. It had artichoke hearts in it, and tomatoes and mushrooms, veggie soup mix etc. Well, I did discover something that I hadn’t known before. I do NOT like artichoke hearts. Ha ha ha! Stu wasn’t really thrilled with them either. The chicken and other veggies tasted good though, and we had it over pasta. Still, I think we’ll cross artichokes off our list as ingredients. Which leaves me with a problem. I have 3 more cans of the stuff! I think I’ll make a veggie dip from them though. I have had artichoke dip before and like it so that should take care of the problem. I swept and mopped the floors just in time for Qade to throw down his sippy cup and get apple juice all over it. Ha ha! Stu vacuumed for me YaY! What a guy! It’s kind of discouraging when you spend a big chunk of your day cleaning, and yet nothing seems clean. Hmmmmm…. well, having a sweet little family is worth it anyway!
Today is kinda rainy, but kinda not. Sage is over and according to his mom didn’t sleep at all last night so I’m hoping he’ll make up for it today. The last couple of days he’s been so fussy and miserable that I’ve had to hold him a LOT, and I don’t like doing that too much because it takes away from my bubba. I’m thinking about making slow cooker Taco meatloaf today, but I’m not sure if I’m up for it…. there’s a zillion things to do today. Maybe I’ll just plan on grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. That’s always a winner on a chilly drizzly day. I need to cut Qade’s curtains, clean the kitchen, separate the ground beef and shredded cheese for the freezer, fold laundry, and various other things. What I’d really like to do is nap. Yeah right! Life is one big adventure day after day! Hope you are all enjoying your own adventures. Ta ta
Sweet Thoughts
01.24
A friend of mine sent me this in an e-mail and I thought it was precious. It’ll bring tears to your eyes, but we all love stuff that does that don’t we?
Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunization.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests, or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom,
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never got up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.
of a mornin’
01.23
I’m reading “The Secret Garden” again. I like the “yorkshire dialect” written in it. Anyway, this morning Stuart is sleeping. I’m not sure how he slept last night, but I know he was totally wiped out. We had a fun weekend away, but I can’t say it was restful. I think he called in to school to take the day off. You can only do so much when you’re running on empty after all. I hope that today he can recoup. I’ll have to baby him. I think I can handle that. I’m starting Qade out on his 3 solid meals a day schedule now that he’s 9 months. He’s already been eating two. He doesn’t mind the food part, but he really doesn’t like to have to “wait” for his morning bottle. He did pretty well this morning with his oatmeal and bananas, but he was rather impatient for the bottle that was sitting right in plain view on the table. Hmmm… maybe I should keep it out of sight till we’re done. Yesterday Qade was quite the grumpy head. We always have at leas one day of “transition time” after a trip or something to get back into our regular routine. He went down for his naps pretty well, but he didn’t sleep nearly long enough. But it helped in one way, he was totally ready to konk out at bed time. 
Sage came yesterday and had a bit of a cold or something. Poor baby always seems sick! Anyway, he was a bit fussy between 5 and 6pm. I was holding him for a long time, then I put him down to give Qade his bath and when I picked him up again he was BURNING UP! I took his temp under his arm and it was registering at 102.9!!! Poor baby! I gave him tylenol and his mom got there pretty soon after to pick him up. I think she’s going to take him to the doc today just to make sure everything is okay. RSV has been really bad around here, and that’s kinda scary.
Okay, well I have one very ‘ripe’ boy who needs to be changed and dressed. Then he’s going to have a little room time while mommy has her coffee!! Woo hoo!!! Have a great day friends!
Happy Christmas to MEEEEEEEE!!!
01.22
Well, today before we left Abq, Stu and I headed over to a camera shop to check out the camera that I “got” for Christmas. Well, we knew we were going to eventually get it, but we really wanted to hold it in our hands before committing to buying it. It’s nice to know what you’re getting before you order something. Wow, the camera was awesome! It just “felt” like a real camera you know? This shop was the only place in Abq that we found even had the thing in stock. Everyone else told us they could order it… seems kind of pointless when you can just do that on your own. Anyway, after checking it out we were more convinced than ever that THIS was the camera for us. That conclusion come to we couldn’t just leave it there so we came home with a brand new ‘baby.’ Ha ha ha!! But really for what we spent we got a spankin’ good deal, but for what we spent, we’ll be taking VERY good care of this camera. It’s a Nikon D300. We got the body and a 18-135 lense. Okay, to be honest, I don’t totally understand what all those numbers stand for, but I am ready to be educated. Picture takin’ has been a pastime hobby for me for several years, but my little digital camera really wasn’t performing as I’d like. Now I HAVE to learn all the cool tech stuff because this camera can more than perform!!! I’m so excited about getting some great shots! Don’t worry, I’ll let you all in on the fun by posting some of them to my blog. That’s all for now folks. I just wanted you to know that Christmas came again to our house!
MLKJ Day
01.21
Today is an interesting “holiday” to me. I’ve personally never thought we needed it. I mean, I like the day “off” especially when I was teaching, but the actual person behind the day…. well, I’m going to get myself in trouble. I believe what he did for equality and civil rights and all was awesome… but to give him a national holiday seems a little over the top.
Anyway, here’s our agenda for today. *yawn* Qade didn’t sleep well last night and ended up in bed with us for half of it. Hence WE didn’t sleep that well. Ha ha! He did fabulous the first night, but it’s still a struggle with the whole traveling thing. I’m sure it’ll get better though. So we’re going to get his pictures made (I can’t believe he’s 9 months already!!) and then after that we have the shopping to do. We have to go to Cosco and get all of our “bulk” items. Then I’ve got to make a trip to Albertsons and the Dollar Tree. Wheeeeee! After that we will probably be packing up and heading home.
It’s been a fun weekend, kinda busy, kinda tiering, but good! It’ll be nice to be at home in our own beds tonight. Hopefully that will help Qade sleep soundly all through the night!
Oh yeah, check out the cool blog I found called Unclutterer !