A Date?

Jonathan is doing better with his new tooth. He had a bit of a rough weekend but his tooth is finally through and he has been a lot more like the cheerful baby he was before. However we had a bit of a fussy baby on our hands for a few days. I bought him some cold teethers and kept giving them to him. Those made him happy for a few minutes at least.

Scott had an interview on Monday. He doesn't like being treated like a number and so he picked up some more applications. Then he got a call from the Manager of the store he had his interview at and they wanted him to come back. So he should be going back for another interview with the main manager this time. If not Scott will have the other applications filled out to turn in with his resume.

I took the kids to Vacation Bible School at a church in town. They really had a good time. It was an evening VBS and so Scott was off work. He was home when I drove up and he came over to the car and sat in the passenger seat and we sat there for a half hour trying to decide what we want to do while the kids were gone for 2 hours. It was just us and Jonathan. Then we drove around trying to decide what we wanted to do. Then we decided to go to Herschells and have a snack. Then by the time we did that it was time to get the kids.

When we were all back home, the kids asked what we did. I told them that we mostly sat around and drove around trying to think of what we were going to do without them. So during our nightly prayers Joshua prayed that God would help us think of something to do while they were in Bible school today. After we all finished our prayers, I told Joshua that his prayer was already answered. I told him that we already knew what we would do while they were in Bible School today. We'll be in Church!

Now Thursday is the day we'll have to figure out. I told Scott since we had short notice on our Tuesday date, maybe we can actually think of something to do for Thursday.

Friday Scott and I will be packing to leave. We'll probably be leaving late on Friday night after picking the kids up from VBS. So another late night will be upon us. Maybe I'll eventually catch up on all the missed sleep.

I have a lot I need to finish today. I better get back to work.

Ouch! New Tooth!

This evening, I felt Jonathan's first tooth. I actually felt it earlier today but did not think as much of it until I told Scott about it. So he got out a flashlight and spent a good bit trying to get him to show his new tooth. Then with a cheerful excited voice he says, "Ahh!! Jonathan has a new tooth!"

My response, "Oh boy, Jonathan has a new tooth. A bit early don't you think?" Which got us discussing our other children. Joshua didn't have a new tooth until he was right at 1 year old. Ruth was about the same at about 1 year old. Hannah, I thought was early at 9 months old or so. However Jonathan has beat them all with a new tooth at 6 months and 3 weeks old, and yes I still intend to finish nursing him until he is 12 months old. Ahh! I hope this will not be a long 6 months!

Actually, he has been fairly good tempered about it. I would have not known he was getting a tooth if it had not been for all his drooling and my feeling it this afternoon. I'm just not exactly excited about the next 6 months of his tooth scratching me when I feed him. However, I'm sure I'll get used to it after a month or so. I hope.

Anyway, I thought everyone would be excited to hear about his new tooth. I'll definitely get a picture as soon as it's big enough to show when he smiles. Right now you have to actually hold his mouth open to see it. So no pictures yet! But just keep checking back. I'm sure I'll get some before too long!

Not Again!

Today has been a pretty good day. I went to bed a bit late last night but I got up with enough time to get Joshua up and ready to go with Papa on their hike. He was real excited. I know they are having a lot of fun right now. I couldn't help but what they are doing through out the day. Right now I am wondering if they are looking for a good spot to put up the tent. They may have 15 minutes to a half hour left of daylight. Of course I'm sure they would be able to put the tent up by flashlights if they had to.

The girls and I have been having quite a bit of fun today. I don't usually let the children watch very many movies. We may put on a movie and watch it about once in a week if that much. There is just so many other better things to do than watch movies. So watching a movie for our kids is a special treat. Ruth was wanting to watch "Princess Diaries 2" and Hannah wanted to watch "Monster's Inc." So this morning we watched "Monster's Inc." and then this afternoon we watched "Princess Diaries 2". I like the second "Princess Diaries" better than the 1st one. Ruth likes the Mattress Slide and the Parade where all the girls get to be Princesses.

I called Scott at my usual time. I usually call him everyday right around the time he might be getting off. Today, I called him around the same time and I asked him how he was doing and he said "Well, I'm alright." Which by the tone of his voice I knew something was up. Can you guess?

If you said, "Car problems again." Then you were right. He was at one job site and noticed red liquid on the ground under our van. He didn't give it too much thought until he saw it at another location he drove to. So he got under the van and looked and sure enough it was leaking transmission fluid. He talked to someone at an automotive store and they said that it could just be leaky valves. The bad news is that it is probably going to be $450 or so to get the transmission pulled out so that they can get to the hoses that need to be sealed. Ugh!

It is actually a little funny in a sad sort of way. We just spent $180 to get our blinker working so that we could get our van inspected just last week. Now it is leaking transmission fluid and we won't be able to drive it without fixing that problem. We are actually talking about selling all but our car and getting ourselves one of those Bikes that hold 6 passengers. They look kind of like a wagon or a little car. It's pretty neat since 4 people can pedal and there is a little seat in the front that can actually hold two small kids. It would be perfect for our needs and we could stay in shape going into town. We would actually save quite a bit of money by not spending so much on gas. We are really leaning that direction. We discussed long trips where we might need a van and we decided with the money we would actually save the rest of the year we could rent a van to go visit family. I don't at this point simplicity sounds good to me. We would keep our 6 passenger car. It won't hold us too good, whenever we have one more child but another child probably won't come for at least another 15 months or so.

I don't know exactly what we will do. Scott is thinking we could either sell the van or give it on to a Mission work in Mexico. It always sounded nice that we have a 15 passenger van but now it's just becoming less and less practical the more we have to fix it. Too much money keeps going into the tank and into repairs. I don't know what else we can do with it at this point.

We may be moving sooner than we were originally thinking. There was a job opening that might be a good opportunity for Scott. It doesn't pay much but he would get to meet a lot of people. He'll be checking into that on Monday.

So that should catch everyone up on most of our activities here. The girls,and I will be scrapbooking with Nana tomorrow. They are excited. They have all the snacks figured out that they want to take with us. I'm sure they will have tons of fun. I just need to go through some of their pictures. Jonathan will be getting a lot of attention as well.

Jonathan has just woke up and I need to get the pizza out of the oven. I'll try to write more later on and let everyone know what we decide on our vehicular troubles. 'Til next time!

Cameras, Hiking, Crawling, and Sitting

I bought Joshua, Ruth, and Hannah their first digital cameras. Of course it was the cheapy $12 camera from Wal-mart but I wasn't about to spend more than that until I see that they can take care of these ones. You can't view the picture from the back of the camera like most of the high dollar kind, so we got some crazy pictures at first. As you can see.

This is a picture of Ruth's nose! They hadn't quite figured out that they can't hold the camera too close to what they are taking a picture of.

This is a picture of Joshua's eye.

And Hannah's Mouth!

They were finally getting the hang of it after a while though and actually took some pretty neat pictures.

Ruth was pretty proud of this picture of the 3 of them, which she took with the 10 second timer. She actually did a good job with this one! Sadly it was on the lower resolution but it still is a nice picture!

Thankfully the newness is starting to wear off and they aren't bringing me their cameras every few minutes wanting me to put their pictures on the computer.

We walked 3.6 miles today. It took us about 2 hours to walk it but we had fun and stopped about 3 times for a break. Of course, we also paused a couple of times to look at two dead snakes along the way and a dead bird. We didn't look too close but the kids were fascinated.

Jonathan is starting to hold himself up on his hands and knees! He started that Sunday. We had him on the floor in the living room and he pushed up onto his hands and knees. He did this several times through out the day. At one point I tried to get him to come to me while he was in this position but he kind of look at the floor like he was trying to figure out how to coordinate all of these parts to move. He wound up tumbling forward, but it's a start. I need to get a picture of him. If I can get to a camera in time! I may have to put the kids up to the challenge of getting his picture.

Today, I was changing his diaper. He likes to try to flip over while I'm changing him. I no longer change him on a changing table. It has become easier to change his diaper on my bed. While I was changing his diaper he sat upright! I was trying to hold his diaper on him when all of a sudden he curled his head upward (like he was doing a crunch) then he rocked his shoulder to the side a bit and with a little bit of help from his right arm he sat up! Now how was I suppose to velcro his diaper like that? So I laid him back down and he was so impressed by this new game that he did it again. I don't know if I'll be able to get him to do that for a camera but we'll have to try. He is getting so big so fast. Sunday, we stopped by a store and I tried letting him sit in the front of the cart instead of in his carseat in the basket part of the cart. He sat there just fine! These kids grow up so fast!

I love my children! I'm so glad that God gave me each of them. They each add so much to our family.

Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward."

Waiting

This is a picture of my husband and our son Jonathan waiting at my sister's wedding rehearsal. My husband is making use of his time by reading different mission reports on the bulletin board.

Today was filled with waiting as well. This morning I had to wait on the kids to get their shoes on and change their clothes for Jonathan's doctor's appointment. Then we got out to the van and drove to get the van inspected. So again, more waiting while the man drove the van in a circle. He told me I needed to get my right blinker fixed and needed to replace my windshield wipers before it would pass inspection.

I then drove to Wal-mart to buy wipers. You would think that would be simple and quick. Nope! The little computer thing that tells you what size wipers your vehicle needs was broken. So I had to wait while the lady behind the counter looked it up. She wasn't completely sure which one it was and had to go into another room to ask one of the other workers there. Finally she came back and told me the size I needed to get. I then grabbed the wipers with the lifetime warranty wondering how long the life of my vehicle will be. I decided the little extra cost to buy the wipers with the lifetime warranty was worth it.

Then we were getting close to the time I wanted to be at Jonathan's appointment so we left Wal-mart and went to the Doctor's office. We were there a half hour early, so there was a little wait but it wasn't too bad. Of course the appointment itself seems to take a while. We were called back to the room and waited for the nurse. Then we waited for the other nurse. Then we waited for the Doctor. Then we waited for the first nurse to come back and give Jonathan his shots.

Now all that waiting at the Doctor's office I thought the kids, especially Hannah would drive me crazy. But the nurse came into the room and told me she wanted to compliment me on how nice my children are. She said she was amazed at how well behaved they are. It's nice when someone tells me that because to me they seemed fidgity, but compared to most children that come there they are extremely well behaved. So I thanked her, and she asked me if we homeschool and I told her we did. She was impressed. I'm proud of my kids.

Then after the Doctor's appointment I tried to get the car inspected at another place. More waiting... They gave it an inspection so that they could tell me exactly what it needs and give an estimate on how much it will cost to fix the part that we needed fixed. $320! So I told them I would check around and get back with them if we decided on that. So I then went to our normal Auto repair place. They have gotten used to seeing us there. They are very sweet and feel bad for all of our car troubles. We just drive worn out vehicles. They have always been good to us and tried to give us better prices than we are usually able to find anywhere else. Which is what they did this time. They were able to fix it for $180. Much better! Except they won't be able to get to it until Monday. But that is o.k. We might try one more place that might inspect it with that minor problem, with the understanding of course that we are getting that part fixed.

Anyway, during these visits my son gets a call on my phone from his Grandfather, "Papa". Of course the antenna would disappear in the middle of the conversation. "Mom! It hung up on us!" So my poor son had to learn a lesson in waiting. Later I was able to get him back on the phone with Papa. Then while I was driving we went into another area where the antenna doesn't work. So another lesson in waiting for my son. Sometimes I think a lot of life is about waiting patiently. Now he is looking forward to his hike with Papa. Of course, I'm going to be hearing about it every day. "Is it time yet?" "How many more days?" He will definitely have the calendar down by the time the hike gets here.

There is definitely a lot of waiting in life. My son is young and will have a lot of waiting ahead of him. It is good for him to learn how to wait patiently at his young age. What better way to teach him how to wait patiently than showing him by example. So everytime I wait for something I need to remember my children are watching and make sure that I'm waiting patiently.

Romans 5:3-5 "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

James 1:2-5 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

And now for everyone to wait patiently until I get another blog written. :)

Good and Busy Days!

We had a busy week last week. The first part of the week Joshua and Ruth worked on their projects for the Scholar's Exhibit. Then of course Wednesday night we had church services. Then Thursday night was the Scholar's Exhibit and Recognition night. Then Friday night we went to the rehearsal for my Sister's wedding. Then we had the wedding on Saturday. After the wedding we left for the Church of which my husband is now the Pastor.

I am so glad that we will soon be settling down in our new community. Scott is a lot happier fulfilling the calling that God has given him. He does not mind hard work but he prefers the work that God has called him to do as a leader and a shepherd. That is what he went to Seminary for. He has been needing a church to help guide. We do not make very good pew warmers as we like to tell people. We need to be working in the calling that God has given us as a preacher's family. I have a lot of ideas for our small church that we are now a part of. I hope to see the youth in our church doing more and taking an active part in our services. There are not very many members but there are enough and it is a great number to actually work with the children during services. I hope we are blessed with many years serving the Lord there.

Above is a picture of Joshua holding an Anole Lizard. This is one of the pictures we put on Joshua's display.

I hope to get a few pictures of the wedding onto my computer so that I can show some pictures of the girls dressed up in their beautiful dresses and Joshua in his suit. They were really cute!

This week should be a little slower I am imagining. Scott will be moving some building material from a house that we had originally planned to rebuild. But when plans changed we had a few things still sitting over there. So we need to move it before that house gets bull dozed.

Wednesday, Jonathan has a Dr. appointment. I anticipate that it will go well. He has been growing well and seems to have no problems with the Baby food that we have been giving him about once a day. So his appointment should be fairly uneventful, except for maybe some shots.

Thursday, there will be another homeschool event. It is a field day. I don't know what all the events will be but I do know that their will be hay hurdles. So I imagine that the kids will have a great time with that.

Other than that it should be a pretty easy week. I am planning to go to the store sometime this week and buy a few things for the parsonage where we will be living in a couple of months. We will be slowly moving things that direction. This week I want to move some dressers that we have not been using in our present location. I am also thinking of taking a few of our dishes over there. I am looking forward to getting over there full time.

Well, Jonathan is not happy so I must go for now. I need to start putting more Bible verses on here again. I will try to get some passages for next time.

Recognition Night

Our homeschool group had a Scholar's Exhibit and Recognition Night last night. It was a lot of fun. It is really great to see that many homeschooling families and to see the imagination that each of the students put into their Exhibits.

Joshua did his exhibit on different creatures. He has a collection of different bones and skeletons. He has a perfect tree frog skeleton and a coyote's skull. He also has a snake skin, a horn beetle, a turtle shell, and a sea snail shell. It was a really cool display. We even had a picture of him holding an anole lizard. He wrote a paper about the lizard and what it eats and about how it loses it's tail.

Ruth did her display about musical bottles and how you can pour water into them and make different notes. I printed a piano keyboard off for her to write the notes on the keys and on a music cleff. It was really neat as well. Scott helped her with the water pouring and the tuning. She held the tuner as he blew into the bottles so she could see the note on the tuner. She even wrote a paper on how the bottles work and the process used to make the music with them.

We were real proud of both of them. I let them pick what they wanted to do for their displays and I was impressed with what they chose. I probably would not have thought of musical bottles. I kind of figured Joshua would want to do something with his critters as we call them. As they were preparing their exhibits, I wanted them to do the majority of the work. I was just their for consulting and if they found themselves in a bind. But they did real well on their own.

I really like the homeschool group and when we move, I am determined to find another group to join. I like the friendship and encouragement we get from other homeschool families. I also like the opportunities for the kids to do things with other children under the supervision of parents who care about each one of them. I am looking forward to another year of homeschooling. I know that some parents give their children a break for the summer and I usually give them short breaks here and their but I will be continuing to homeschool through the summer months. Of course with plenty of breaks.

Scott bought me a copy machine/ fax/ printer. It is really neat. I am able to make posters from small pictures and everything. In just the one week I have had it, I have been able to do so much more. I was able to print in just seconds a whole pile of worksheets. It was great! I have so many reproducible homeschool workbooks that I have been wanting to use and now it will be easier to use them. Normally it took a whole day to print what I am now able to print in seconds. Yea!

Well, I better get busy. I have quite a bit to get done today before the wedding rehearsal tonight. The kids are all excited that they will be in the wedding tomorrow. They have been asking me about every time we get ready to go in the car somewhere. We'll take lots of pictures and I'll try to put a picture on here of us all dressed up.

Bad weekend, good week-beginning!

Well, I would like to say that I had a good weekend, but I did have a great week beginning. Scott was sick last week and had to come home from work and stay home the next day. He was feeling better by Wednesday night. He went back to work Thursday. He fell better by then and I took the kids to a Planetarium and an art museum with a homeschool group. That night I drank some water from Scott's bottle thinking he wasn't contagious anymore. Well, I guess he was.

I got sick Friday. Ugh! I felt horrible and thought I wasn't going to make it to y sister's shower that my cousins and I had worked hard to plan. After a broken nights sleep, I felt somewhat better but very tired. So I went ahead and went to the shower. I just wasn't going to get too close to anyone. Ok, that might have been a mistake. We did have fun though and I was feeling better. I did go home tired and with a horrible headache but I knew we would be driving for a while and would get some sleep. That seems to be the trick with that virus, sleep.

I felt so much better after I was able to eat the best tasting burger I had eaten in a while. The reason it tasted so good was that my appetite was back! Sunday I was back to normal without even a headache. My husband accepted the call to the church that we visited. And everyone was feeling great. But it looks like my dad may have caught it! Oops! Sorry, Dad! I hope no one is sick on Saturday or my sister may never forgive me!

Busy Days!

I just finished another busy day. Scott started the day sick. I was hoping he would get to feeling better but he wound up having to leave work early. I am hoping that he feels better tomorrow.

The kids were good today. I was trying to print them off some lessons I wanted to start them on from the internet. However, since my laptop is not working and Scott had set up this computer for me to use, I didn't have Adobe Acrobat on here. So the kids patiently waited quite a bit of the day for me to download all the files I needed. It gave me so much trouble. I even had to restart the computer at one point, which meant I had to re-download all those files I was trying to load. Thankfully, I have that done and should be able to print those papers for the kids tomorrow. I highly recommend http://www.learningpage.com. This is a wonderful resource that I have used with my kids a lot. You can find lesson plans and worksheets. They have lesson themes that have always captivated my children whenever we use them.

I have so many things I want to teach my children that I sometimes don't know where to begin, I just throw in a new lesson whenever I find an open opportunity. Thursday, I will be taking my children on a field trip to a Planetarium and an Art Museum. This is an activity that is planned with a homeschool group that we are a part of. My husband may accept a church soon and if he does I want to find another homeschool group like the one we were a part of here. I like the support we receive from other homeschoolers in the area. I also like how we can get discounts going to museums and things as a group. It also helps our kids see that they are not the only ones that are learning in their home instead of in a Public educational setting. So if I am able to find another Christian homeschool group, I will be really happy.

Yes, a church has finally voted to call my husband as pastor. He will be preaching there next Sunday and is planning, Lord willing, to accept their call. I won't name the church at this time but will just say it is another church in Texas. Some reason the Lord has seen fit to have us stay in Texas all these years. Churches are seeking Pastors all over the place. It is hard sometimes to just pick one location and say this is the place we are suppose to be. We just keep following the open doors that God gives us until he opens a new one.

Well, it is very late and I am very tired. I'm not even going to review for typos right now. I hope there are not too many. I will try to post another blog later. Good-night.

Back Online

A few weeks ago our laptop's cord quit working. So I felt a bit out of touch. I'm back now, and will try to catch up on events.

We just got back from a week and a half trip northward. We visited a church in Indiana, Michigan, and Arkansas. It's amazing the distance a preacher and his family will travel seeking God's will. This trip we used as a chance to visit Scott's mom as well. We had not seen his family in 2 years and they had not met Jonathan. We had a wonderful time. Joshua can ride a 4 wheeler through the woods by himself. It surprised me that he had gotten that big. He was so careful that we even let Ruth ride behind him. He ven took me for a ride. I told Scott that it takes a lot of will power to allow your 9 year old son to control the vehicle you are riding on. He did it though and didn't hit any trees nor flip the thing over at all. We're proud of him. He has sure been growing and maturing.

Uh oh, I have to change a diaper right now. I'll have to save the rest for later. Check back soon.

Doing More for God!

It is easy to get comfortable with things the way they are. If you own a shoe that is comfortable and you like it a lot it is sometimes hard to stop wearing it, even if it starts to wear out. It's easy to say, "This is my favorite shoe. I'll just patch it up and it will be fine." I know that it can be that way in life as well. "I don't want to change what I'm doing. It's been fine so far."

The day we are saved there is a change in our hearts. We should not be the same people we were the day before our salvation. We should desire the change and want to grow from the beginning of our new walk with Christ.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

If a person prays for salvation but does not have that change of heart, are they truely saved? Or were they just praying for fire insurance? Now maybe a person did have a change of heart after they were saved. They may have become on fire for God, but then over time they become satisfied. "I've learned all there is to learn. There is nothing more I need. My friends and family know that I'm a Christian. I'm a sermon in shoes. Look at me! Life is good!"

Then they are satisfied. There is nothing more a person with that type of attitude can learn. They are content and do not want to change. They have done things that way for so long, they are afraid that it would mess something up if they changed and did something different.

I'm afraid that that might be happening to many of the Lord's churches today. Are we becoming complacent. Are we afraid of change? As I sit here I can think of at least 5 preachers who desire to pastor, but yet are without a church. They are all good doctrinally sound preachers. They have all been taught how to study their Bibles for themselves. They all have expressed a burning desire to reach the lost for Christ and seeing people grow in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The only problem that a church seeking a pastor could possibly have with any of these men, is the fear of change.

If people start seeking God with their whole heart, there is going to be change! It is going to happen, there is no stopping it. A good pastor will preach from God's word what God has laid on his heart to preach. That pastor should have a desire to see the people in his church grow spiritually. He should not be satisfied with his church not doing more. His sermons and guidance may cause the membership to feel uncomfortable with the change, however it is for their good.

A good parent should want their child to grow. They should teach their child to work hard, and to do the things that are good, even if it is hard at first. What they learn as a child will make them what they will be as an adult. My son does not like to write, however I make him write for his good. I cannot allow him to be content with just drawing pictures. I realize that he needs to develop his writing even if it is not comfortable for him. He may not like the work it takes to change, but I realize that that change is necessary, so I must as a parent lovingly push him to write more.

Shouldn't a pastor want the same for his church members. He knows what is good for them. As he studies God's word and tries to make changes in his own personal life, shouldn't he also desire the best for the flock God has intrusted to him. Should he stand back and allow them to not do what he knows deep in his heart would be better for them to do. But then there is also a fear that if he tells them what they need to hear, they will cast the man of God aside and seek another one that will not push them to change. This treatment has even happened to many prophets in the Bible. And will continue to be a problem according to Paul in his letter to Timothy his son in the faith.

2Ti 4:1-4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (2) Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Scott preached a sermon last night from Revelation 3:14-20 on Lukewarmness.

Rev 3:14-20 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Too many of God's people are satisfied with being lukewarm. They need to change, but that change is uncomfortable. Jesus is standing at the door of churches today, knocking, desiring to come in. However if it requires change to allow the Savior into their midst many churches will not open their doors.

My prayer is that we allow God to work a great revival in our hearts and in our churches, and that His churches will listen to His messengers and will seek His will with their whole heart. If that does not happen now, one day it will happen at His return.

Rev 22:20-21 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

May we not get caught napping. (Mark 13:33-37)

Jonathan Video

Alright, as previously foretold, I am now uploading the video of Jonathan. I will try to get even more pictures and videos at a later date.

Joshua and Ruth are making a calendar right now as I write this. It was their idea, which I thought was a good one so they got out notebook paper and commenced to writing. When they get done with that, I'll be starting them on their reading lessons. Hannah turned my ironing board into a drum. She was tapping on all different parts of it with her pencil to see what different sounds it makes.

I just took a short excursion while typing this to help them with their calendars. They started them on the wrong day. Oops. :) I told Ruth hers would work for June. But she was almost near tears over it so. I got them started on a better foot. I just went to the marker board and explained the month to them. They were just trying to copy the calendar on the wall but got confused on where the first day should be. So I got them straightened up. They know there months from a previous days lesson. They knew the days of the week but I am having them further their knowledge. After today they will know that the week should always start with Sunday. And they will remeber that there are 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. At least I hope they remember that. I plan to drill it real good in their heads, so they won't forget.

Interruptions like that are good ones. I guess that is why blogging takes me so long. I answer kids questions, play with Jonathan, or hold Jonathan, or feed Jonathan, while many times typing one handed. And then I am constantly having to reconnect the computer, because Hannah knocked the phone line out of the wall or the computer. So if I don't get a blog done in a day, everyone knows why.

On to another topic. Scott has just about gotten the gas tank off his truck. He has only had a couple of hours this week to work on it. But he should have more time today. The tank he is removing has a hole in it. He found a tank at a junk yard for $50. That's a lot cheaper than a new one would be. So everyone pray with me that he is able to accomplish this task and the truck runs better than ever. If this happens he'll save us at least $200 dollars. I think he'll also gain a good sense of accomplishment as well in doing it himself. Of course his time can be a problem, it will help with the days getting longer, but if his time gets too cut short to allow him to finish working on the truck, I told him that it was o.k. with me if he wanted to take it to the shop. Maybe a little less pressure will make the job feel easier.

We've been getting quite a few preaching appointments. So far this month we have two Wed. night appointments filling in, and one Sunday in view of a call. We also have an appointment made with a church in Indiana in April in view of a call. I'm hoping we will have our van running by that time. Even if the van gets bad gas mileage it will be more comfortable for the kids.

Well that is all I have for now. I'll try to write more soon.

4 Months Old

Jonathan turned 4 months old yesterday. I wanted to post a video I took of him but dial-up would not allow it. So I decided to just post some pictures today. The first one is the only baby picture we have of Scott. I'm not sure how old he is exactly but I'm guessing he is at least 3 months maybe 4 months. I am guessing that age because of how well he is holding his head up. If he were younger, his mom would have been holding him differently. So i think that is about his age. I am also putting on here a picture of Jonathan. I thought it was neat to see their resemblances. I need to get a good baby picture of me on our computer. Sometime I'll try to put pictures of all 6 of us at about the same age. So stay tuned for more pictures.

And as soon as I get batteries in my camera, I'll take a better recent picture of Jonathan. The top picture was taken yesterday and the bottom picture was taken in January. Sadly I didn't take any digital pictures in February. But I do have some film that needs to be developed. So I'll eventually scan those pictures of our Zoo field trip onto our computer. I know everyone will be waiting in anticipation now. So I will definitely blog again soon.

Perspective

I had a wonderful visit with two of my cousins yesterday. We had all gotten together at McDonald's so that the kids could play in the play place while we all visited. We had a wonderful time. We had one fun discussion that I thought was interesting. I was holding Jonathan while my cousin was holding her baby. We were having fun talking about what all they are able to do at their different ages. She was looking at Jonathan and asked "His eyes look so far apart." Scott and I just found that so funny. We told her that all our kids eyes were that way. They have different parents than her kids had. Scott popped out a baby picture of Hannah and she said, "Well, I guess so!" It was so funny! Then I was looking at her baby a little later and leaned over to Scott and said, "Isn't her baby's eyes a bit close together."

I guess we all look at things a bit differently. Just imagine how much differently God's view on our lives must be.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

It's all a matter of perspective. We should strive to see ourselves from a little more of God's perspective.

The Rest of the Story

Well, the trailer is no longer here. It has been moved. It took a little work getting it all cleaned out but it is finally done and moved to its new spot for however long it is needed. That was one of the things I was planning to have accomplished this weekend and thankfully it is done. I was able to keep my word that I would have it cleaned out by the end of this week. All of our stuff was cleared out and I feel a bit of relief with having that accomplished. Although it wasn't moved on the day I had planned.

We also got the tools loaned out that I said we would let someone borrow. However, not on the day I told them we would get it to them.

Now all we lack is to take the kids to visit my parents, which I had originally planned for this weekend along with everything else I had planned. Hannah had been talking about getting to go to Papa and Nana's church all week. Hopefully, Lord willing, we will get to do that next weekend. At least my parent's were able to stop by our house for a short visit on Thursday. That helps.

So now, as Paul Harvey would say, you have the rest of the story.

Numbers 30:3-16

These were the verses that were on my mind today as just about everything I had planned went awry. I had so many things I told people I and my husband were going to do this weekend, and then today Scott told me that we weren't going to be able to do everything like I had planned. Yes I was a bit disappointed, but I also realized that I had overplanned again. I keep thinking that I will get everything done, that I plan. I go about telling people the order I plan to have everything done in and then to find out there is a glitch in the plan. I guess I go on overload sometimes thinking I can make everything work out for everyone and make all the plans fit together so everyone can be happy, yet I miss something somewhere and Scott has to stop me and say "Whoa, wait a minute."

This verse came to mind today because I thought I could get everything done that I told people we would do. And when Scott had to make a change in my plans, I thought, but I just told everyone... So I had to explain to all those I told, including our children why plans have changed. I'm glad that God understands my mind and has made it to where a wife can be submissive to her husband and yet not found guilty for the promises she made ignorant of the problems that might insue. I would not be a submissive wife, if I had to force my husband to help me keep all the things, I said we would do.

I kept one part of what I said I would do this week. Scott did not tell me I couldn't so I was able to do that part. But the part that he voided, I was not able to keep. I would have sure bent over backwards trying but Scott told me that we couldn't do things how I planned.

It is always interesting when I live out an example in the Bible. It makes it more clear to me, why God would say that the wife is not responsible for a vow that her husband voids.


Num 30:3-16
(3) If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;
(4) And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
(5) But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
(6) And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
(7) And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
(8) But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.
(9) But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
(10) And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;
(11) And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
(12) But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall forgive her.
(13) Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
(14) But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
(15) But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
(16) These are the statutes, which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.

Catching Up on Memories

Alright, alright, so it's been 6 days since I posted! :) So for my brother, I'll try to catch up. This past weekend we visited a church in Oklahoma. We enjoyed our visit with them. They put us up in a real nice hotel with an in-door swimming pool. The kids really liked that. We let them stay up a little late Saturday night to swim. Jonathan was the only one who didn't seem to like the water, but I think it's mainly because he was tired and wanting to go to bed.

Sunday, we stopped at a gas station on our way to church. The gas station wound up having a computer glitch and so he wound up charged twice but they wouldn't be sure of it until they counted the till later that day. So Scott told them he would be back after church and they can give him his money back if he was over charged. Thankfully we made it to church before Sunday School started even though waiting on the computer took a while.

The kids made a few friends at the church. We got to see a 9 month old baby, which got the kids dreaming of when Jonathan will be big enough to do that much. The church had what Scott and I call canned music. Their piano is played over the sound system off of a CD. We didn't tell them that I played the piano at the beginning. We don't like churches calling a pastor because of what his wife can do. Some churches may say they are seeking a pastor when they are actually seeking a piano player. I think more people should learn to play piano. I am going to have to get out my keyboard and start teaching my children how to play as well. They can play the Ukulele pretty well but I need to teach them the piano. I've never taught piano before but I figured it would be worth trying with my kids. It would be a good part of their education.

Let's see, what else is going on? Instead of blogging I need to be outside working on the trailer. After lunch I will probably start working on that again. I worked on it some yesterday but had to wait on some boxes. I now have the boxes and can finish the task. We are glad we have the trailer available to be used. We will be delivering it to it's new temporary location at the end of this week. I have a lot of fond memories of that trailer. We lived in it for a year. Even though it was small, we were actually able to manage quite simply. The only problem I had was figuring out where to put our 4th child.

From the experience of living in a trailer, I learned that a person can be content with little. Maybe we shouldn't ever sell the trailer. We should keep it around and whenever I feel discontented, I should go out to that trailer and sit in there and remember what life was like that year.

I need to occasionally remember all the trips to the laundry mat with 3 kids in tow. Laundry day back then was a once a week, all day event.

I need to remember getting the kids to bed and hanging a curtain up to wash dishes, so I would not disturb the kids sleeping on pallets on the floor, while I was doing dishes.

I need to remember the kids folding up their blankets and getting out their t.v. trays in order to do their lessons.

I need to remember all of us sitting around that small table reading our Bibles as a family.

I need to remember having to put thick curtains around the windows to keep in the heat from the heaters in the winter time. And the air from the air conditioners in the summer time.

I need to remember the time our electricity completely quit on us on the coldest day of the year. I remember making bedrooms for us in the church, for a couple of days, while Scott got it running again with a little help from his boss who was a former electrician.

I need to remember all those things and how much we learned from the experience. Now any house will seem big compared to that. I'm looking forward to the day that we are again in our own house, no matter the size it will seem big in comparison. God has definitely blessed us with always giving us a roof over our heads.

Jonathan Rolled Over!

Last Saturday Jonathan rolled over for the first time! I laid him down on the floor in the parsonage we were staying in for the weekend. I laid him on his back and I turned around for just a second and he was on his tummy looking around. I wish I had a camera! I told Scott about it and he turned him back over a little later and sure enough he rolled back to his tummy again. That time we saw him do it. They grow so fast! He's even smiling at me right now. He's too cute! I'll have to put some more recent pictures on here.

We enjoyed our trip to Florida. We took a supposed short cut that Scott's coworkers suggested but it took way too long. I think they had to have been speeding to go that route. We had to go 55 mph most of the trip because of the road we took. Although it was scenic it was dreadfully long. On the way home we took the Interstate and it was 70 mph the whole way. It was a lot quicker or at least seemed quicker since we were able to drive faster. It also helped on the ride home that Scott was able to drive more. He had caught a Virus and was not feeling well Friday, so I drove and let him sleep most of the drive. Thankfully he was better by Sunday.

Of course like a regular virus Joshua had to catch it as well. I thought of my mom the other night, while I was sitting on the floor scrubbing the carpet that Joshua threw up on. I thought about all the times my mom helped me when I was sick. You feel especially close to your mother in those times. Other than that we had a wonderful time in Florida. The members of the church were real nice. Of course I say that about everywhere we go. It seems like most everyone at our churches are especially nice. I'm looking forward to our visit in Oklahoma this week. The kids enjoy all these trips as well.

I took the kids to the zoo yesterday. They learned a lot. I had them read most of the signs themselves. They practiced following the zoo map. That was real good for them. They had to tell me which way we needed to go to see whichever animal we were wanting to find. So it turned out being a great learning experience for everyone. Joshua and Ruth got to participate in a class that the zoo had for homeschoolers. Ruth's class learned about animal senses. Joshua's learned about animal survival. Jonathan, Hannah, and I stayed outside with some other mom's with toddlers and enjoyed visiting. Hannah even made some new little friends.

I guess that catches me up a bit on my blogging. Now I need to help the kids with their lessons and do the laundry I didn't get done yesterday. I'll try to write again soon.


Luk 5:31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

My Dear Sweet Scott!

Well, today is Valentine's day. Today is the day that most people spend the most time thinking about the one they love. So I want to dedicate today's blog to my dear husband who I love very much. Here are just a few of the things I admire about my husband, Scott.

I admire how he works hard to provide what he can for his family. He is not afraid of hard work. He is willing to work as much as he needs to provide for us, even working extra hours to make sure all our needs are met. If I wanted him to, he would even take on an extra job in order to provide more. However, I told him I would rather do without many things than to have him gone all the time. So he honors me with his time. He also has to do without some of the things he would enjoy, in order to have more time with his family.

Another thing I admire about my husband is his ability to lovingly discipline our children when there is a need. He is firm when he needs to be firm and caring when he needs to be caring. We work together in the discipline of our home and when one decides something the other backs it up. If a situation arises we are able to talk about it and determine what the best course of action is for our children's sake. I love his firm but caring leadership in our home.

I love his willingness to communicate. We have found that the most important thing in our marriage has been communication. We are able to talk and discuss any issue that arises in our home, family, church, life, anything. If we have troubles figuring out something, we talk about it. If either of us are having a bad day, we are able to talk about it. If there is a misunderstanding, we resolve it by talking about it. Communication has become a vital part of our marriage. You can't be selfish when you discuss things, or else it turns into an argument. Proper communication comes when we both listen to each other.

Another thing I admire and love about my husband is his friendship. We are best friends. He knows more about me than anyone else. He is not critical of my thoughts and feelings. He knows who I am and what I want in life. He may lovingly tease me about some of my interesting terminoligies and idiocyncrisies. But it is always in fun. He doesn't mind me teasing him back. We are friends and as such we have fun. We play music together. He even bought me a nice Ukulele since I liked them so much. We play games together. I enjoy occasionally beating him in a game of chess. I say occasionally because he tends to beat me more than I him, but I enjoy giving him a run for his money. :) I enjoy our at home dates. With four children, our dates are pretty much Frozen Pizza and a movie at home, after the kids have gone to bed. But as long as we spend the time together we have fun.

I also love the way he guides our family spiritually. He is careful and steady in spiritual matters. He is able discuss the Bible with anyone without getting offended at opinions and beliefs that may be different than his. He is well read in the Bible and has many verses memorized. If I have any question about the Bible he helps me search it out, even taking me through the Hebrew and Greek if I need it. He doesn't just let me fall back on just his own thoughts but lets me think for myself as well. He teaches me and our children how to look at the context of passages. He is willing to admit when he doesn't have an answer, and is willing to spend time researching it out.

Finally, I love his commitment to me. Before we married we agreed together that we would never leave each other. We know that if we ever have a problem that we must work it out or just be miserable for the rest of our lives. We quickly learned how to work out our disagreements. Now I couldn't ever imagine life without my dear sweet husband. We also have guarded each other's trust. We know that it doesn't take much to lose a persons trust, so we set up boundaries for ourselves from the beginning of our marriage, so that there would never be a problem with us trusting each other. Marriages fail many times due to jealousies within the marriage and so we guard against such problems. He will always be faithful to me and I to him. We will always belong together for the rest of our lives.

I love my husband and am glad that God saw fit to give him to me.


Pro 22:29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Mar 10:7-9 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.


Col 3:18-24 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. (19) Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. (20) Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (21) Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. (22) Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: (23) And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Loose Teeth

We had a pretty busy day today. I took Joshua and Ruth to their Irish Dance class today. They are real proud of the stuff they are learning. Today when we Scott got home they had to show them some of the stuff they learned. They do need to practice more. I would love to take the class with them in order to help them practice but I have my hands full in the hallway with Hannah and Jonathan. So I stay out in the Hallway with some of the other mothers and watch through the windows. I really enjoy visiting with the other mothers though, so I have fun too.

Joshua and Ruth both have a loose tooth. So today they both have been spending a lot of time with their fingers in their mouth wiggling their teeth. Joshua is a little more experienced at pulling teeth than Ruth, so I think he will probably lose his tooth first. Ruth is trying to give it a pretty consistent effort though. She doesn't have any teeth popping through behind her baby teeth this time so hopefully she will be able to pull it on her own. Maybe her brother having one loose will encourage her to try harder as well. He's been giving her tips and tricks to tooth pulling so we'll see. I just hope Hannah will not get any ideas in her head and start trying to pull her teeth to soon. So far she hasn't seemed to notice them much, so maybe she'll keep her hands out of her mouth. We pay the kids for their teeth, but I may have to pay Hannah not to pull hers. Hmm... That might get expensive so maybe just talking with her will keep her from trying.

Scott has another preaching appointment this Sunday. So I need to pack and get ready for we are leaving tomorrow.

Ok, I like to end my posts with a relative verse but the only verse I can find is out of context and well it is about losing teeth but not exactly what I had in mind. However since I now have y'all's curiosity up I'll post on here anyway. If anyone can find a more relative verse please leave a comment and I'll check it out.


Psa 58:6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.

3 Months

Wow, it's hard to believe that Jonathan was 3 months old this past Monday. Time sure goes by fast and yet it's seems like he's always been around. We can't picture life without our Jonathan. Babies grow so fast the first few months of life. It's amazing to me that I had to buy him a size 3 diaper already. His other ones kept coming unvelcroed too easily.

It's also amazing to think that Hannah will be 3 years old in March. I still remember when she was the baby, in fact I remember when Ruth was the baby as well. I even found a shirt in a bag of hand-me-downs that used to be Joshua's and now fits Jonathan. Scott and I had Joshua hold it up to himself to see how big he's gotten in the past 9 years. Joshua thought it a bit strange but he humored us and held up the baby shirt to himself. It's amazing how they grow.

Today I have them working on their reading. They read a chapter in their readers and then they work on the workbook pages that go along with their reading. It's been real good for them. I'm glad I found this set of curriculum for them.

Whenever Scott gets a preaching appointment outside of Texas. I look on a website to see what their homeschool laws are. Some States are a lot stricter and harder on homeschoolers than others. If you are interested in homeschooling and want to know the Legalities in the state you live in or if you might move to another state you may want to look at this website to see the legalities and requirements for homeschoolers in that state. http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

You would be amazed at how many families there really are that have started homeschooling for various reasons. It's been good for my family and I don't regret having made that decision so many years ago, when our oldest was only 2 years old. At the time my husband was a substitute teacher in a public school system. He came home one day and told me that we weren't putting our kids through that. I was glad since I had already been thinking on homeschooling since I had friends that were homeschoolers. And now even when I get discouraged, I just picture my kids sitting in public school, and I'm glad I have them at home where they can learn and thrive without as many negative influences in their lives.

Psa 34:11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.


Pro 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

"Where is my God?"

It is so cute seeing things through the eyes of a child. That is probably why Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Hannah is always saying, "This is mine!" Pretty much about everything. "This is my Pencil?" or "This is my coat?" Then the next question that usually follows is "Where did I get it?" It has become an ongoing conversation piece for her young almost 3 year old mind.

Just the other day, Scott was working on something, and Hannah came in the room to watch him, when suddenly she asked, "Daddy, where is my God?" So he tried to explain how God was in Heaven and he is everywhere just we can't see Him. She thought about that briefly and then she asked, "Where did I get Him?" Scott then explained that God made her, and that He was her God and she was His Hannah. This answer put a smile on her face and she was content.

It's amazing what goes on in a child's mind. We should be seeking for God also. It would be good for everyone on this earth to do a little Soul searching and ask ourselves, "Where is my God?" and "Where did I get Him?" Then we should go further and seek to be closer to Him.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:


Mat 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

My Children and the Giant Popcorn!

I just had to share my kids lunch time conversation. I gave them popcorn to go along with their hot dogs today. Somehow they got into a discussion over "what if..." The question this time was "What if you had a giant popcorn the size of the whole house?" They discussed several possibilities as to whether or not they would share. Then they decided they could each have their own giant popcorn. So they commenced to discussing how they would eat it. First you would have to start from the bottom and let it fall as you eat it. Then they had a brilliant idea...A Popcorn House! So they were all satisfied discussing how they would eat rooms in their popcorn house. Aren't children fun! They come up with the most interesting ideas. It reminded me of a book I read before of Dave and the Giant Peach. It's a story of a boy that finds a giant peach and the adventures he and his friends go on.

We got our truck out of the shop yesterday. It seems to be running well. Scott is glad to have his work truck back. The man at the auto place told him of something to check on our van. We're getting to know the mechanic and secretary pretty well now. They have been good to us and trying to help us out the best they can. But I now know that there are 3 fuel pumps on our van, 2 inside the tank and 1 outside. If the problem is the outside one it won't be as hard to replace. We'll have to check that out. Still thinking a bicycle built for 6 is a good option. Scott is starting to talk about getting us a car dolly eventually.

On the ministrial side Scott has 3 possible preaching appointments lined up for February. He tries to be fair to all the churches involved. He schedules them in the order they call and then considers them individually. Pretty much the first church that calls him, if he feels it is the Lord's will he will accept their call and call the other churches lined up after that to let them know. He in turn offers to fill in for the already scheduled Sundays if those churches want him too. So far though we hadn't had to go through all that yet. A lot of churches seem to prefer to hear several preachers in view of call before selecting one. So we just keep setting appointments and figure the right church will give Scott a call when the time is right.

We have our Midweek Bible studies tonight. So better go for now and get the children all ready for church. I'll try to write more later. :)

A Windy Day

The wind has sure been blowing hard today. It's amazing to see such large trees swaying in the invisible wind. It almost looks as if the trees are dancing.

I think we should be getting our truck out of the shop today if they got the problem fixed, that is. And if they don't find anything else wrong with it. As soon as we get it back, I'll be able to use my parents truck, and Scott will have his work truck. Then it will be a matter of finding out what is wrong with the van.

We have a preaching appointment this Sunday. Scott will be preaching in view of a call. He is still thinking on the new job possibilities but also doesn't want to start a new job just to say, "Oh, Sorry I just got called to a church." So he has talked to his present employer about training in order to get a raise. His boss sounds favorable toward that end and Scott plans to work hard and see if he can earn a raise. With his present job he knows he can have weekends off for preaching, other jobs may not be so flexible. So we'll see. Since churches have been contacting us again, we may just hold tight and see what God might have in store for us.

It's easy to get discouraged and near sighted but I know God has something that He wants us to do. We just have to hold tight and wait for his timing.


Psa 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Car Troubles Again!

It seems to be an ongoing thing with our vehicles. Every month seems like at least of our two vehicles wind up in the shop. If not both at some point. Scott and are also joking whenever something goes wrong with one of our vehicles that it's going to cost at least $200. So here we are with our truck in the shop and our van needing to go as soon as we get our truck out. Hopefully our van will be an easy fix. Eventually with all these repairs we'll have new vehicles.
At least all of the parts will be new. The '80s weren't that long ago our vehicles should be in their prime.

Last night we were heading to our church from the Spanish Bible Study. We were maybe half way when our van just stalled out. Thankfully we were able to coast to the side of the road where Scott tried to crank our van up again. It sounded like something was blocking the fuel somewhere. The sun was about to set, so we decided to get out and just walk the few miles to our church and then maybe someone would be able to give us a ride from church. Thankfully we had a stroller in our 15 passenger van and some warm clothes to put on everyone. The main unspoken concern on both Scott's and my mind in walking was getting all 4 of our children through any dogs that might come out barking. We had only started walking a few feet when a young man stopped and offered to help us out. He had to get his mother's Quad Cab pickup and me and the kids had to share seat belts but we made it home and my husband was able to have a wonderful talk with him. He was a youth minister of a nearby church of another denomination. He just happened to be passing us when he stopped to help us.

Right after he dropped us off at our house, we had restroom breaks for the kids and then we all got into my parents pickup truck which we have been borrowing until we get our other truck back. After loading everyone into the truck (yes, two of our children had to share a seat belt again) we went back to the van with a fairly decent but not perfect tow strap.

I was sort of dreading the long drive down oil roads hauling the van behind the truck but I knew it had to be done. Scott and I have pulled so many vehicles that broke down on us that it no longer phases me as much to hear that it is time to pull another one. Thankfully we were able to pull our 1 ton, 15 passenger van and didn't even break the strap once. I breathed a prayer of thanks to God for helping us again with another towing.

When we finally made it home, Scott came to my driver side window and told me, "Wow, Stacie you're getting good at this!" I responded with a smile, "I guess practice makes perfect." I just wouldn't mind not having to practice as much. I now know when to go slower and when to speed up and how to keep the rope between the vehicles tight or it will snap. That snap is not a pleasant experience. Especially when the strap keeps getting shorter and shorter every time it breaks and we have to tie a new knot in it.

Well, we made it home with out a hitch! :) And now we will just wait patiently for our next step.

Scott is already starting to look for another job with better pay. We have been using up too many of his hard earned pay checks on vehicles. But I told him that I know that God has something in store for us and when we look back on this day it will seem like such a small thing that happened a long time ago. He still is looking for a church to pastor but so far God hasn't brought us to the right one. So until he finds the right church he is planning to also seek another secular job.

I just know God has a plan for us. All these problems are just building us up for something to come. One thing I do know is that when things get better, we'll really enjoy them even more because of the trials we go through today. So we just have to keep hanging onto God's promise to provide for our needs and keep praying for his help.

I like to end my blogs with a related Bible verse when I have time so here is the Bible verse for today.


Psa 34:6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Psa 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

We had a pretty good day so far today. Yesterday after I had written we went to a Spanish ministry. I really need to improve my Spanish by quite a bit. The missionary needed Scott to read a letter he had written in English to see if it sounds right, so we will be going over to another location that this minister has a ministry to help him with his letter and see how there services are on Sunday afternoons. I'm not sure if we will stay at that church for the English services tonight or go to our services tonight. I guess we'll see. It's easy to get too many irons in the fire. There is so many directions that we can feel pulled toward.

Yesterday I had my sights a little too high as far as what we are able physically and financially able to accomplish in a short time. I try to rush things and then it is no longer done well. It's just done fast.

Scott and I have talked about what we would like to accomplish in the future. We want to teach the children skills that they can use when they are grown whether or not they choose to go to college. We want them to have a broad range of possibilities as far as carreers are concerned.

Scott would love to build and sell musical instruments. That has been a dream of his for a long time. I would love to see him pastoring and building instruments in his freetime. I told him that his building instruments will dedfinitely save us money.

I want to complete my education in Institute for Children's Literature and start publishing things for magazines. It won't be long and we'll see these goals accomplished especially if we slow down and watch what God wants for us.

Well, time to go to the Spanish Ministry. I'll have more to write later. Keep smiling!

No New Pictures

Ok, I know that in my last post earlier today, I said I would put up pictures of the days accomplishments. I was kind of hoping for more to be accomplished. The wood was too wet. So Scott and the kids just cleared some of the trees and came back to the house around lunch time. Scott was good and wore out. I wish I could have helped more but he said there wasn't much to do until the boards dry to build the floor joices. So we wait. I'm hoping that maybe more will be done next week. But there is more rain in the forecast for our area. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time I'll try to wait patiently.

I'm sure looking forward to having a home of our own. I don't know what God has in store for our future, but I kind of hope it includes a home soon. Ok, I guess I have a lot of work to go on being patient and waiting. Which maybe why God has us here for now. I do know that once we finally have our own home, I'll be so happy and will appreciate it even more. So I don't know why the wood has to be so wet today, but I'm sure there is a reason.

We are also still waiting to hear from churches that want my husband to come in view of a call. We have one appointment in February. So I don't know if the Lord has a church for my husband or if we will build this house first. It's times like this that I would like to see into the future at what it is to plan for.

In the mean time I suppose I'll just wait and try to keep working on our present living quarters until the Lord provides us a more comfortable arrangement. Hopefully I'll post a little more encouraging news next time. Please keep praying for us and that God will provide us a home that we can really call our own. I'll just keep on smiling knowing that eventually God will answer our prayers.

Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Building a House

Today, Scott and our older children are at the house site working on our new home. This picture was just taken this morning. I'll be going down there shortly as well. We plan to set up our tent for the kids to play in while we are working. Hopefully the weather will stay nice. Here is the picture. That's our 3 oldest children standing by a pile of bricks. I'll try to write more later and add another picture of what we accomplished today.

Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Homeschool

Today has been a good day, as most days are. Today, I got up and got the kids their breakfast. I am amazed at how big Jonathan is getting. He is one big baby! I may have to give him rice cereal earlier than I did my other 3. He just seems to need to eat more often. The pediatrician had told me at Jonathan's 2 month visit that he would be ready for some rice cereal at 4 months of age. I waited until 6 months on the other children. I'll probably wait and ask the Doctor again at Jonathan's 4 month visit. Right now he nurses every two hours during the day time. At least he does sleep through the night. However I feel like I'm always feeding him in the day time.

The kids have been working hard on their homeschool lessons. I started them on knew readers yesterday. I found some wonderful readers at a Bible Book Store. They are really good readers for a good price. The workbooks were a good price as well and will be easy for me to upgrade each child to the next level when they finish. All I will have to buy is the workbooks for each of them but those are only $2.25. So that is not a bad price. I started Joshua on the 2nd grade reader and Ruth on the 1st grade reader. Technically they should probably further along than that but I wanted to start them off simply. This way we get through all the workbooks in that grade level and then by the next grade level they will be familiar with the format of this set of lessons. So when Joshua completes Grade 2, he will go into grade 3 and Ruth will go into Grade 2 and use his hard cover books and I will only have to buy the workbooks for her.

For math I found some reproducible workbooks. I like those for I will be able to reuse the lessons for each of the kids. When Hannah and Jonathan get bigger they will be able to use all these lessons as well. Right now Hannah has an Alphabet workbook that we found at the same bookstore. So far she has learned the letters "Aa" and "Bb". I'm trying to teach her the letter names and the sounds they make. The hard part is keeping her serious and keeping her brother and sister from laughing at her when she makes a mistake. She likes them laughing at her and so she will make mistakes on purpose just to make them laugh.

Jonathan has gotten to where he can chew on some of his toys. Here is a picture of him chewing on his Butterfly toy that he got for Christmas. He was so cute I had to take pictures of him. So I will include them on this post. Even Jonathan is learning. I guess we are all learning something new all the time.

I'm sorry this post isn't very neatly and probably has a lot of typos. Joshua and Ruth are finishing up there lessons for the day and Jonathan and Hannah are napping. I want to take advantage of this quiet time while I have it. I'll write more later.

Team Work

I am finally able to stop and blog a little bit. I have a hard time finding a "good" time to blog. So I'll just try to pop in and blog as best I can when I am able and the computer isn't tied up.

Yesterday, the kids and I worked a bit on our living quarters. I swept all the toys, clothes, trash, papers, etc. into a pile in their room and had them picking it up. I would love to be organized like a family I saw a website for that has 11 children. I like to glean tidbits of information from those families so that I might can incorporate a little bit of organization into our daily routines. I have quite a ways to go before I'm that organized, but maybe before I have 11 children I'll have it figured out. Until then we just have a massive clean up the bedroom of too many toys. It gets better though because they wind up breaking their toys and those get thrown away, so that makes less to pick up for next time.

While they were working on their room, I had my own challenge of clothing. There is 6 of us and a lot of clothes. So I spent the time they were working on their floor to work on sorting clothes. Winter clothes, summer clothes, church clothes, play clothes, outgrown clothes, torn clothes, for 6 people can be a bit daunting sometimes. Then on top of it being daunting I put the job off and it really becomes a disorganized mess. So that was the task I worked on yesterday and still have more to go on it. I have found though that when the children and I work together on tasks they get done pretty well. There are a few jobs that the kids wind up being "too much" help and slow me down, but if I get them on the right task then the job gets done easily and quickly.

A good example of team work was our moving a t.v. yesterday. We have a big t.v. that my brother had given us before he had moved to France. The t.v. was on our floor because we didn't have anywhere else to put it. We had been given a rolling t.v. stand and it was in the children's room. Hannah helped me roll it into our dining/ family/ bed room. Ruth helped hold the cart from rolling so that Joshua and I could lift this incredibly heavy t.v. Joshua held the back of the t.v. while I lifted the front. We had to lift it about two or three feet in order to get it on the cart. It didn't take long and we were real happy to be able to surprise Scott when he got home, instead of having to wait until he got home from work to pick it up for us. I was real proud of our team work. I couldn't lift it by myself so with the little bit of extra help, we were able to get it done.


Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
(Ecc 4:9-12)

It's amazing what we can accomplish when we all work together. Time to get back to work. Just wanted to share my thought for today. :)

District Ladies Auxiliary

Today, I woke up after hitting the snooze a couple of times and had to hit the ground running pretty much. After giving the kids their breakfast I had to get them and myself ready for the Ladies Auxiliary meeting that was going on at a church near us. It was pretty neat going back to the church I grew up in. A lot has changed and yet quite a few things remain the same. It was a good meeting and I enjoyed hearing my Aunt play a special on her harpsichord. I didn't even know she could play anything besides the piano. She is a wonderful piano player and played for the song service today. Next quarter our church will be hosting the meeting. There was only two of us ladies there from our church and so it felt a little awkward offering to host without knowing if everyone else would mind or not. So I went ahead and said we would go ahead and host it. I'll let the rest of the ladies know tomorrow at church. I wanted to sing a special but got there a little late to tell anyone. I was going to play my Ukulele and sing "Amazing Grace" and "He Looked Beyond my Fault" as a medley. It is really pretty together. I wish I had gotten there early enough to sing it. But there is always next time.

At the meeting we got to see a presentation by a man that had spent 3 months in Australia with his family helping a church over there. I think they are planning to go back there. It was a really good presentation.

Well, I guess that is all that has happened so far today. As soon as I get off the computer I plan to mail my next assignment to The Institute of Children's Literature. I have finally completed Assignment 3 and will be mailing it in to my instructor. I am glad that I am taking this writing course. I love to write and hope to see my work in magazines and maybe even a book written by the time I'm done with this course.

We had lunch at the Auxiliary meeting so I do not have to get the kids lunch fixed. However I do need to get them to work on their lessons. I also need to buy stamps sometime and I would like to get some laundry done before Scott gets home. I'll try to keep up my posts as often as I can. I may miss some days but seeing my dad writing a twice a day post has me wanting to try to keep mine going more regularly. It's good practice for my writing as well.

Must go for now. I'll try to write again tomorrow or later on this week.

Much needed Update

It's been a few months since I've written. Jonathan has now entered our lives and Scott and I have agreed we can't imagine life without him. He is only two months old but he adds so much to our family life. I mean homeschool lessons wouldn't be the same without the occasional "Isn't that right Jonathan?" He just loves it when any of us talk to him. He usually returns a big smile in response.
He also loves the attention of his doting brother and sisters at least until he gets a little overwhelmed by them. Then they all say, "Oh, Oh! We're making him mad!" then they run away from him. He usually calms down again when I pick him up.
I'm getting fairly proficient at typing one handed as well, being as the only time I really get to get on the computer is while I'm holding him.
Scott and I are very proud of our children. Every time I bring all four of them to Jonathan's doctor's appointment I receive compliments on how well behaved they are. The doctor told me that it is very unusual to have a room with that many children that quiet.

We are still waiting for a church to call Scott as pastor. We have been to several churches in view of a call but none have called as of yet. He is not the only preacher waiting for churches to call. We have friends who we go to church with on Wedneday's and we ask them, "Have y'all heard from ___ church yet?"
And they say "No. How about y'all? Have y'all heard from the church y'all went to?"
"Not yet."
So many churches say that they are praying for God to call more men to preach and yet there are men called by God waiting for churches to accept them. I don't know what these churches are looking for. My husband has preached some really good sermons and has the salvation message in each one. He answers all their questions honestly and makes sure everyone understands the answers. He has even stated he is willing to take a part time while pastoring if needed. But he still has yet to hear from anyone. I think these churches should hear a man at least twice before assuming he's not the one for their church. I don't know though. Someone suggested that it could be Scott's beard causing churches not to call him. That seems rather petty to me though. I personally like his beard and I don't think it should matter as long as he keeps it neatly trimmed.
Scott said that a lot of churches are looking for Saul when they should be looking for a shepherd. The other preachers in our church seem to agree. I'm tired of church politics. It's almost like preachers have to run for office in order to preach.
Anyway until God sends us to the church he wants us to be at we will continue to do our best where we're at. I'll continue to fulfill my purpose taking care and teaching our children and Scott will continue to work hard at his construction job and continue to organize materials for the house he intends to build for us. We will also do our best to help with any local ministries we are able to help.

Well, I must go for now I need to buy some more homeschool supplies. It's amazing how fast pencils disappear when it's time for writing lessons. Until next time!