Cook'n

Yes! YES! i watch American Idol. it is 6 minuets till show time. If David Cook doesn't win...well, i might cry.

Good Pounds

Last week the kids and I took a field trip to the home of Dave and Lee Pounds.
Dave and Lee are our church family. They have the gift of hospitality, and spent the day sharing their lives with us. We enjoyed their beautiful home, flower gardens, vegetable gardens, bee hives with fruit trees, riding tractor and trailer to see the horses they care for, and their property.Did you know that it takes 3 yrs for asparagus to grow, but once it starts growing it grows quickly.
Did you know that the leaves of citris trees smell like the fruit they bear.
Did you know that Josie does not like riding in trailers attached to tractors, she will scream until you let her off!

Not only do Dave and Lee have the gift of hospitality (and very green thumbs), but Dave is the BEST chocolate chip cookie maker ever! And we got a lesson, complete with recipe, lots of cookies, and dough to freeze (we wouldn't want to run out).

Otis Spunkmeyer, Mrs. Fields, the Keebler Elves, and even the Girls Scouts should beware!
We are BLESSED to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Skin

To become new men means losing what we now call 'ourselves.' Out of ourselves, into Christ, we must go. His will is to become ours and we are to think His thoughts, to 'have the mind of Christ.' And if Christ is one, and if He is thus to be 'in' us all, shall we not be exactly the same? It certainly sounds like it; but in fact it is not so.
It is difficult here to get a good illustration; because, of course, no other two things relate to each other just as the Creator is related to one of His creatures...
Imagine a lot of people who have always lived in the dark. You come and try to describe to them what light is like. You might tell them that if they come into the light that same light would fall on them all and they would all reflect it and thus become what we call visible. Is it not quiet possible that they would imagine that since we are receiving the same light, and all reacting to it in the same way (i.e. reflecting it), they would all look alike? Where as you and I know that the light will in fact bring out, or show up, how different they are...
The more we get what we now call 'ourselves' out of the way and let Him take over, the more truly ourselves we become. There is so much of Him that millions and millions of 'little Christ's', all different, will still be too few to express Him fully. He made them all. He invented- as an author invents characters in a novel- all the different men that you and I were intended to be. In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him.
from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

It is my struggle to be comfortable in the skin God has given me (see bottom of page, "Jones Skin and God Skin). I know that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" by God's own hands. I know that He has fashioned and purposed me for a reason. But, I look at other's and they seem so comfortable in their skin. I watch and envy the affection, relationships, attention, acceptance, praise they are getting. My tainted inner monologue tells me to conform. I do so by reshaping and molding myself into an image that will gain approval. Eventually though, I must peel away the layers of everyone else, until I am nothing. I like myself best when I am nothing. Then it is Jesus I am wearing. I am lighter, free-er, more alive, and really me.

Not safe at all

4:45 p.m. Michael finds a rattlesnake in the yard, and kills it.
6:25 p.m. Michael runs over a gopher snake in the yard.
We may have to move.

Mother's Day and Spiders

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!

i remember my first Mother's Day. it was 10 years ago, i walked into church a proud brand new mother caring Noah, who was just one week old. i delighted in him as church family took a peek at our sweet bundle. i sang each praise song and hymn with more passion and determination for now i was mommy and "The Lord God Almighty made me keeper of this child's life" (words from Sacred). The most important thing i recall from that first Mother's Day is this.. my face hurt from smiling. These little people do that, fill our hearts with so much joy, it hurts!

Today, i hug them, look at them and praise God for His faithfulness in the yesterdays, as i wonder about their tomorrows. And, i thank them for making me Mommy, as i let them know i have the best job ever!


AND NOW! i was almost killed today!!!
we were on our way to church, when my hubby lowered his visor in the car, and then shrunk back in his seat as he drove and pointed speechless at this spider
(this is the actual size of the spider)
i started to unbuckle my seat belt and open the car door to jump out (yes, apparently i think i am one of the Duke's of Hazard). i am laughing even as i type this, that i even thought to do that, but look, i just wanted OUT! Thankfully Michael pulled over. And yes, i was out of the car before it came to a complete stop. Like any good mother i comforted the kids from OUTSIDE the vehicle as they were screaming in the backseat. Soon, Michael rescued us all, i was back in the car, screaming had turned to laughter, and we were on our way.

Btw- you should know i am not afraid of spiders in general. i can kill a household spider with ease and dispose of it. But this was HUGE, and crawling my way, and it was furry, and...

i am afraid of snakes and mice ( i was almost killed by a mouse in my garage a few weeks ago. it was right by my arm!! and there was a snake in my garage last week! i'm really not safe).

Surviving Ten

Here I am 10 years into this parenting gig- part of me wanting it all back, part of me just glad to have survived.

Before we were married Michael and I went to premarital counseling. On one visit the counselor asked us to write a 5 and 10yr goal for our marriage. We wrote the American dream; work, save, buy house, baby on the way at the end of 5 years, work, save, another baby, more savings by 10yrs. We also wrote of our spiritual ambitions for ourselves as a couple, our desire for growth, and our hope to do ministry together.
Our lives have never looked anything like our 5 or 10yr plan.

"Many are the plans of a man's heart,
but it is God who determines his steps."

Noah joined Michael and I 19 months after we married. I wasn't one of those new moms that enjoyed every minuet. Becoming a mother changed everything before I was ready for change. I was 24, admiring the independence of my single friends. I was not ready to wear maternity clothes, to gain 63lbs, for stretch marks, to drive a station wagon, to give myself up (literally) for another person. When Emilie came along 14 months later (and 7 weeks early) I wasn't ready. When I was pregnant less than a year later I wasn't ready, but I was moving into accepting God's plan because I had seen how He had been faithful regardless of my readiness. When we celebrated our 5th anniversary and our 4th pregnancy (with Josie), I had finally given in, and I began giving up the idea that life would look as I wanted it to.

I recall one afternoon in those first years- Michael had come home from work, I was still in my p.j's, toys were everywhere, the kids were running in happy circles around daddy, dinner was no where near being started, there were endless piles of laundry, doctors bills sitting on the counter, credit card bills lingering over us like a dark cloud, and a check book that had been in the red for too long. I looked at him and said, "would you have run the other way, if you had known it would be like this?" Michael said, "No, never."

If I were sitting in that counselors office, and I had it to do over again I would write just 3 words- REMAIN IN CHRIST!
He is the only constant, the only hope, the only future, the only one who can determine our steps. And I am counting on Him for the shaping, molding, and growing of our hearts, minds, and souls. I am counting on Him to take care of the ministry he has given us in raising these people for His kingdom. I am counting on Him to know their future, and ours without them safe in our home.

10

"She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not. She rushed to him. She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. And the next thing she new was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far around his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane. "Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan," sobbed Lucy. "At last." The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath came all around her. She gazed up into the large wise face. "Welcome child," he said. "Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger." "That is because you are older, little one,"answered he. "Not because you are?" "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
from Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

My bear is ten!
It goes too fast Noah. I love you more everyday! I didn't know my heart could hold this much love. My prayer for you is that you would be so in love with God, that you would rush to him, kiss him, find yourself, and your very breath in him. I pray that as you grow Noah you will find that God gets bigger.