On the Road Again

We arrived in Michigan Friday evening.  We had a good visit with the family.  There was a lot of Construction in Illinois and in Michigan.  We arrived and unpacked most of our things.  I had Jonathan and Elijah sleep in the room with me while Joshua, Ruth, and Hannah slept in the livingroom.  The older two slept on cots, and Hannah slept on the couch.

Saturday, we went fishing on a pontoon that belonged to Scott's, mother's, husband's, brother.  I guess that would be Scott's mother's brother-in-law.  Anyway, we went on the boat and everyone caught a fish.  Even Jonathan caught a fish. 

Saturday night, I asked Scott's mom, Judy,  if there was a church that she would like to visit.  Normally we always go to the church Scott was saved and grew up in.  This time we went to the church she went to when she was a girl.  It was a cute little church building in the country.  I was amazed at how many people went to that little church.  They had a lot of cute little children as well.  There were several people there that were friends with Judy's family.  Some she remembered from when she was a girl.  I even saw Scott's uncle Howard there.  He is very nice.  I found out that he has been helping the Amish in their part of Michigan.  I think that is pretty neat.

Monday, we went to a Museum called the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.  There were a lot of rides there.  One section had air planes and another building had an outerspace exhibit.  It was pretty neat and the kids were able to ride a lot of neat rides.  I'll have to post more about that when I have more time.

Then Tuesday we stayed at Judy's home and enjoyed visits from several of Scott's family.  His Aunt Vicky and Cousin Nancy came that morning and then around lunch time we enjoyed a visit from his Aunt Beverly and Aunt Shelby.  Joshua enjoyed playing with Aunt Shelby's grandson Joey.  

Then today, we loaded up the van and headed out around Noon.  If we were able to drive the whole way without any stops we could have been back by 5 a.m. or so.  The kids were real excited about that, and even said they wouldn't ask to go to the bathroom for the whole trip if we could get back to Texas in one day.  But I knew that wouldn't last long.  Right now we are in Illinois and will probably make it through to Arkansas tomorrow. 

Ruth's birthday is Saturday and she is really not wanting to be on the road on her birthday.  So I'm going to try to make good time tomorrow and hopefully stop around 9 p.m. tomorrow night.  I'm tired and will need to get some good sleep tonight. 

Scott called me today and he told me that this has been a really productive trip.  He is amazed at all the ministry he has been able to help with on this trip and the response of the people to their team.  I have not had internet the whole time I was in Michigan and had been wondering about how he was doing.  It was so good to hear his voice.

Friday, I am hoping to make it to my parents by Friday.  On Saturday, we will celebrate Ruth's birthday, and then Sunday I am looking forward to hearing my Dad preach again, and then Sunday or Monday I hope to head home and get the house in order for Scott's arrival on Tuesday. 

The above pictures were taken as we were headed toward Michigan.  The one of me was taken by Hannah.  The other two pictures were taken at Boomland which is one of our favorite stops on our way to Michigan.  We had stopped for a restroom break and I let Jonathan and Hannah ride one of the kiddy rides. 

I'm so glad to be able to be online again. Tomorrow, I will try to post some more pictures from our trip.

From a Hotel Again...Night 2

I am so tired right now but I wanted to blog that we made it to our hotel around 11:00 tonight.  It took an hour to get everything in and the kids to bed.  I should be in bed right now myself but really wanted to go online since there was free access and see how things were going for Scott.  I hadn't heard from him today but I saw some posts by others on the Mission team.  I also got to see some new pictures.  It sounds like everything is going well there.  I pray every night that God will help them as they awake.  And every morning I pray that they are able to sleep well. 

I decided to drive later tonight than I did last night.  We had stopped at Boomland in Missouri for a restroom break and to let the kids stretch their legs.  It was about 8 p.m. when we stopped there and I decided I was feeling pretty well, that I could drive a little further tonight while Elijah and Jonathan were asleep.  I figured that would leave us with only 6 hours to drive tomorrow.  Check out time is 11 a.m. tomorrow so I hope that we are able to make good time in the morning.  Even if we left at check out time, we could drive 3 hours and stop for a break or lunch and drive another 3 hours and make it to Michigan before it got dark.  That's if we can manage to keep our stops short.  We tend to take a long time getting back in the car after we stop.  Having to change two dirty diapers in one stop doesn't help any.  But I think we will be able to do it tomorrow.  Especially if I go to bed and get some sleep here in a minute. 

Last night we stopped at a hotel and the three older children wanted to sleep in one bed and I let Jonathan sleep in my bed.  It's amazing how much wriggling a two year old can do in his sleep.  I had fallen asleep or was about to and suddenly I was kicked hard in the back.  I turned around and found Jonathan was laying sideways in the bed.  So I repositioned him correctly on his pillow.  Then I tried to fall asleep again when suddenly I was hit in the face by his hand.  Then I was afraid he might fall out of the bed with all his moving around.  At one point he even put his head toward the foot of the bed trying to get comfortable.  It was crazy.  I moved him back the right direction again.  If he does it again tonight he might wind up sleeping on the floor.  But so far he seems to be staying still over there.  He must be too tired to care which position he falls asleep in.

I had a slight emotional moment while driving tonight.  My shoulder was sore from being too tense while driving.  I have a problem tensing my muscles when I drive at night.  I was all tense when I thought about how Scott would rub my shoulders.  It made me sad a little and in the dark I allowed a tear or two to fall.  I also thought about how I've never seen this much of the country before.  Usually Scott and I take turns driving and sometimes while he drives, I fall asleep.  This time I have been awake the whole trip.  I reckon that is a good thing.  But I miss him terribly. 

I'll end with a picture Hannah took today.  I was trying to get pictures of everyone in the van.  The only one I couldn't get a picture of from my driver's seat was Elijah so I gave the camera to Hannah.  Here is the picture she proudly took.  I have four copies of this picture in my camera.   It must have been the first picture I've ever let her take with my camera since she was so proud of it.  I did have Ruth take another picture and Ruth actually got his face in it. 

Well, I had better get some sleep now.  From some of the messages I've read on Facebook, I'm hearing that God is doing some amazing things in Thailand.  He's been taking care of them and He's been taking care of me and the kids as well.  

I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  I better get some sleep though.  I don't guess the Prov. 31 woman didn't let her candle go out by night because she was blogging. 

A Billion Eyes...

"Is God helping Daddy in Thailand?" Hannah asked me today as we were driving down the road.  I assured her that He was.  Then she asked, "Is God here with us too?"  Again I told her that He was.  I was afraid she was going to start asking me deeper and harder questions, but instead she exclaimed, "Wow! God must have a billion eyes!  He can see everybody everywhere!" 

We are staying in a hotel in Arkansas right now.  We didn't quite make it to Little Rock, but I hope that we will make a little better time tomorrow.  We left from my parents house later than I had wanted to, but we made pretty good time only stopping twice.  Once to feed everyone, including Elijah.  The second was to let everyone use the restroom.   It's now 11:40 p.m. and I have all the kids in bed listening to the Bible.  As soon as I'm done blogging I will be going to bed too. 

I did a first this evening.  This was my first time to get a hotel room all by myself.  I know that doesn't sound like much to the braver sort, but for me that was a pretty big deal.  I didn't even act like it was my first time.  I just went in asked how much the room would be.  He told me the price after asking how many children I had.  I decided the price was worth the free breakfast we would get in the morning.  So I gave him the informnation he needed and paid him.  Hopefully tomorrow will go just as easily. 

If the hotel we stop at tomorrow has free internet, I'll try to blog again about tomorrow's adventures. 

Two More Weeks

I love this picture of Scott in Thailand.  It was taken in Thailand and posted on the Mission's facebook page.  Scott is holding his e-reader and I'm sure he is showing the gentleman some of the pictures he has of our family. 

I received an e'mail from him and they are doing well.  They are in the village teaching about 600 children.  There is a computer lab in the school where he is able to send me brief e'mails as time permits.  It sounds like they have been keeping pretty busy. 

I let the kids play with water guns yesterday.  Ruth did not have a water gun so we let her use the water hose.  That did not seem fair to Joshua at first but after I explained it to him, he agreed and had a great time. 

This is a video of Elijah.  He is almost rolling over.  He can roll to his side but hasn't quite gotten all the way over to his stomache yet.  I try to let him have some floor time each day.  It's hard with the kids running by, but no one has gotten hurt yet.  You can see that he likes having a little freedom to stretch out and roll around.

I imagine by the time Scott gets back, Elijah will be rolling all the way over.  A baby can learn a lot in 3 weeks.    I was hoping to have him saying "Dada" by then but he's not acting too interested in repeating specific words.  He likes to make his own sounds.

Tomorrow the kids and I will be heading out toward Michigan.  We should be all packed tonight and have the windshield wipers replaced before we leave out tomorrow.  I don't know how far we will get the first day.  We will probably stop at a hotel along the route.  Stopping at a hotel to get a room will be a first for me.  Scott has always been the one to talk to the receptionists. 

I'm not sure whether I will be stopping at a hotel with internet access or not.  If I do I will try to post another blog then.  Thanks for all the prayers for both Scott and our family.  I am looking forward to two weeks from today when we shall be back together as a family again.

Independence Day

I took this picture of Elijah this afternoon. We had great services today at my parents church. I always enjoy hearing my Dad preach. He preached a really good Independence Day message. He preached on 1 Samuel 8:1-22. He talked about how people give up their God given freedoms so quickly. It was very good and very pertinent to our world today.

Friday night, I took this second picture of the older four children sleeping at Memaw and Daddy Jim's house. I had a hard time getting Jonathan to settle down, but when he did this is how they turned out.

We went to the Canton Trade Days on Saturday. There was a lady there that was a blessing to me. All five of my kids and I had gone a separate path from my parents. I was buying toys for the kids when Elijah started crying in his stroller. I knew he was hungry, and was trying to hurry the others along so that I could take care of him.

It was at this point that a lady in another booth came over and asked him what was wrong. I explained to her that he was hungry and I was about to feed him as soon as the kids were done. She left for a second and then asked me if I breastfeed. Then she offered a chair she had behind her booth where I could feed him beside a fan. I gave the kids each a dollar and she offered to take them over to a booth where they could buy themselves something to drink. When she came back she told me she had been one of five children herself and knew how nice it was to have someone offer help. I was very impressed and silently prayed that God would bless her.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

Why?

Why did Scott agree to go to Thailand? And why am I driving 5 children to Michigan? These are two questions I will attempt to answer in this blog post. I am not only answering these questions for anyone who may express concern, I must answer them for myself as well.

If God ever did call our family to a foreign field in a long term capacity, we would have the same good questions to answer. How else would we know if it is God's will or not?

Thailand isn't a great vacation spot this time of year. It is hot and there won't be air conditioning in the village where he will be helping, and he may be served foods that we in America may not consider palatable. He may even wind up sleeping on a pallet on the ground. Why would he want to go? There was a need, and Scott was willing to help. God provided the money. Yes, it was our own personal money. We did not ask for financial help and no one sent any money to help him with this trip. I realize that we might could have used our money for a lot of other things. But we both felt that God wanted him to go help in Thailand. It is one thing to pray that someone else will go help when there is a need. And another to say, "Here am I, Lord, send me." We both knew it was God's will for him to go.

Our church where Scott is pastoring is small and there isn't anyone there that will mind us being gone a few weeks. They all know we will be back. The community we live in is so small that I doubt anyone will miss us much besides on Sunday. I've wondered in the past if the church members would have a problem with Scott being away 3 weeks this year. But since they do not have to pay him while he is gone, no one has voiced any opposition. In my mind this is one way our church is able to tithe to Missions, by allowing their pastor to go on a short term mission trip. He may not be preaching from a pulpit while there but he will be a witness to about 600 children and their teachers who may have never heard the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wouldn't it be wonderful if even a few were saved?

I miss him when he is gone, but the joy we will have in hearing what God has done when he returns will make up for the loneliness now. I can't fully explain it. In my mind I have often wondered in our nearly 14 years of marriage, why God had never called him to a foreign mission field on a long term basis. We are both willing to go, but I leave it up to God to do the calling. I feel God must call my husband to a field first and then my children and I would follow. But since that has not happened yet and may never in the future, maybe it is God's plan that we just go and help others. Mostly it will be Scott going, and maybe occassionally I will go, and maybe even our children as they get old enough to serve.

While Scott is gone, I may seem crazy for taking the kids, (one of whom is being potty trained, and another who I must stop and feed every couple of hours) all the way to Michigan, without Scott here to help. I must admit I do have a little bit of nervous anticipation about it. I am going to be leaving my comfort zone behind, but I think this is for the good of Scott's family. I have several reasons to believe God would have me do this. I have always felt that Scott's mother needs us to visit at least once a year. There have been times that we have missed a year. But we try to see them each year when it is possible. And maybe my own spritual growth will benefit from my forcing myself to leave my comfort zone occassionally.

Some of my reasons for going are: (1.) Scott's mother has never met Elijah, (2.) I want Scott's family to see that even when Scott's away, I still see our relationship as important. (3.) I want them to see that our family is committed to each other even when he is away.

I would really like to be with him right now to help in Thailand, but I also realize that Scott needs me here to help take care of our family. I would really like to go on a Mission trip as a family, but that would cost a lot more for a family of 7 to go than for one or two to go.

I also realize that maybe what seems clear to us, may not seem clear to everyone else. I value the insights of others, both for and against what God may or may not be doing in our lives. But I also know that God would want us to do what He wants not necessarily what we want. It may not even be comfortable for us to do what God has in store for us, but sometimes He still wants us to leave those comfort zones and do what he wants us to do anyway. Even if we meet some opposition along the way. Ultimately He will bless our efforts if not in this world then in the next.

I pray for Scott every night as he is waking up that God will help him during his day. Then in the morning I pray that God helps him sleep in whatever hot and humid condition he may find himself. Then I pray that God will help the days go by quickly, when He will bring us all back together as a family once more.

Isaiah 55
1Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

4Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

5Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

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

7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

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

9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Growing up...

I got an e'mail from Scott saying that he arrived in Taipei, China. If I have the times figured that means he should be arriving in Bangkok right about the time I'm writing this. It would be really nice if he could e'mail me from there.

The kids and I finally arrived at my parents house this evening. It took us far longer than I had planned to get everything packed. I was hoping to get to visit my sister today but we left so late that I decided to go straight to my parents and visit my sister and her husband on another day.

Tomorrow we will be going to visit my grandparents in Henderson. I think we're planning to possibly visit Canton on Saturday on our way home from Henderson. I have never been to Canton for their trade days. I've always heard really neat things about it, and seen things people have bought from Canton but I've never experienced it personally. I'm looking forward to that. I think the kids will have fun with there as well.

Joshua's birthday was Sunday. Joshua wanted a chocolate cake with strawberry icing. But he didn't want it to look girly so I tried to decorate it so that it didn't look too pink. He was quite pleased with how it turned out. We had a party for him and another boy in our church whose birthday is 3 days after Joshua's. They both turned 12 this year.

After church Sunday we had hot dogs, chips, cake, and ice cream for anyone that would stay and celebrate the boys birthdays. They both had their own cake and candles. Then after eating we passed out water guns to all the children that came. There were 10 children present at church that day. A few of the children stayed and played with the water guns outside. He told us that evening that his birthday turned out a lot better than he thought it would. I'm glad he had fun. It's hard to believe he's already 12. It won't be long and he'll be driving.

Then to think that when Elijah turns 12, Joshua will be turning 24. I'm not even going to think about how old I'll be when Joshua turns 24.

I plan to cherish these years while my children are young. They grow up so fast.

"The Best Picture"

I printed this picture for Hannah this evening after we dropped Scott off at the airport. She had told me that she was worried about forgetting her Daddy's face. After I printed this picture for each of the children, Joshua announced that this was the best picture ever. I think because we all look like ourselves. I mean I just grabbed a cloth and through it over our bookshelf for a background, and then we set the camera on the desk. I was in a hurry for a picture that day and barely got everyone together I didn't even worry about what everyone was wearing or how our hair looked. So this is a picture of our family. The last professional picture we took did not have Elijah in it and Scott had a beard. This one has our complete family in it.

Scott will be flying for Thailand tonight. I miss him already. In fact as soon as I drove out of the airport I felt sad. I had hoped we would get to go inside with him but we wound up having to drop him off at the door. We let the kids out of the car to give him a hug before he went in. Then we went and parked in a free parking area at the airport. I had hoped Scott would be through all the lines by the time I was finished feeding Elijah but when I called him he was in a long line and had bad cell phone reception. I couldn't hear much of what he said but I knew he would call me if he had problems. I decided to go ahead and go. Scott did finally call me and told me that there were no problems. He made it through all the baggage checks and was sitting at his gate. It will be a long flight for him and I know he will be extremely tired from the jet lag.

So why is he going to Thailand? That is the question I know is on a lot of minds. In February or March I had seen that there was a team being formed of volunteers to go on a Short Term mission trip to Thailand to help the Missionaries there work in a village school teaching ESL and basketball. At the time I mentioned it to Scott but he had somehow dismissed it and wasn't considering going. I guess it was because he had just gotten back from a Mission trip to Paraguay and maybe he thought it was too soon for another trip. I'm not really sure.

Instead we planned to go to the ABA meeting which was held in West Virginia this summer and afterward we thought we would take the kids to see Washington D.C. and then take them to visit Scott's family in Michigan. Then in May the missionaries in Thailand sent out a plea for an Emergency back up team since the original team was considering backing out due to the political troubles in one of the major cities in Thailand. As soon as I saw the message about the need for another team, I felt like if I could go I would. I knew Scott was good at that kind of ministry and so as soon as I saw it, I approached Scott with the possibility of him going. He said he would have to pray about it. I think he was waiting to see if the other team really backed out or not. We thought he would have a week to decide. Then another plea came out after a few days telling that the team did back out and that this would be a major disappointment to the village. The missionary and his wife were still going to have something over there even if no one else came. I went to Scott and had him read the message. He wanted to go but couldn't see how we would have the money that soon.

We weren't expecting any money in until June and that would be too late. I asked Scott if he had checked the bank lately. He said he hadn't in a few days. I told him, "I'll call the bank and if the money is there maybe you are suppose to go." I called the bank and sure enough the money from our Tax refund had come in early. There was enough to pay for his airfare. I handed him the phone so he could hear the amount in the bank. He looked surprised and said, "Well, I guess I'm going to Thailand." I wasn't too surprised because God had done that kind of thing in our lives before. I remember early in our married life and in Scott's ministry we used to wish God would just show us a neon sign, when he wanted us to do something. But now I known he has always shown us His will. We just have to keep our eyes open to see it.

I'm glad that our church hasn't given Scott any problems with going on short term mission trips. I think it is good for him to go and use some of the talents he has for the Lord's work, that he is unable to use as much at home. Scott loves learning new languages. I have often wondered why he would want to learn a language that he may never use. He worked on Russian and Ukranian for our short term trip to Ukraine. He speaks Spanish well and was able to use it a lot in Paraguay. He has also been working on Chinese and Japanese lately. Then when he started preparing for going to Thailand, he started working on Thai as well. (He has admitted that Thai sometimes gave him a headache to learn.)

We went to some of the Asian markets in Houston where he got to practice a little of what he has learned. We've even eaten out at a couple of Thai restaraunts. He talked to several of the owners about his trip and asked them questions about which part they are from.

I have come to see that most people are proud to talk about their homeland and are excited to hear someone try to speak their native tongue. Scott isn't afraid to speak at all. I have more of a tendency to worry about what they might think if I mess up. Someday I'll try to work on a language but right now, I'm undecided which one I need to focus on. I'm not good at doing like he does and learning several languages at one time.

I definitely am missing him. This month I have quite a few plans for the kids and I while Scott is away. We will be visiting my family here in Texas for one week and Scott's family in Michigan for the next week. I know Scott will miss getting to see his family. But we would not have been able to go see them at any other time this year. So I decided that Scott's mother needed to see the kids. Especially since she has not yet met Elijah.

I will be continuing to blog as much as possible during the time we are traveling. I do not expect to hear very often from Scott, but as I find out how he is doing I will post that as well.

Please pray for Scott as he is helping out in Thailand. And pray for me as I travel across America with our 5 children. It's going to be hard to travel without Scott beside me to help me with decisions that I'm sure I will have to make. But I know God can help me make it through these next few weeks.

"I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears that I may be filled with joy, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee..."

2 Timothy 1:4-5

Mastitis

I wasn't feeling well yesterday. I knew I should have stayed home, when my symptoms started getting worse. It hurt when I nursed Elijah on my left side, I had a headache most of the day, and by night I was running a fever of 101.7 degrees.

We were invited to a home of some homeschooling friends that have started attending our church. I knew I should have told Scott and gone on home but I suffered silently hoping it would just go away. It didn't and last night I had a splitting headache. Poor Scott tried to figure out why I was crying. I told him that I just wasn't feeling good. I think he thought I was upset with someone. I wasn't, I just had a headache my body ached and to have to admit I was sick was upsetting.

I'm feeling some better today. I don't feel feverish, and my headache went down to just a slight ache, and I started nursing Elijah every hour instead of 2 hours in order to keep from becoming engorged and to clear the infected milk duct. So I'm feeling quite a bit better. I just don't want to feel like I did yesterday again.

Today, Joshua was asking me what my favorite part of yesterday was. I explained that I wasn't feeling very well yesterday so there really wasn't a favorite part. He said, "Oh, I thought your favorite part was watching The Wiggles" I found that funny.

I told him, "If watching The Wiggles was my favorite part, that doesn't say much for the rest of the day." I think he must like them more than I do.

There was a panic this afternoon as I heard a loud crash in the kitchen. I had asked Joshua to take out the scraps. He was going to empty the crockpot and it slipped out of his hands and fell. I was on the phone with Scott (who had called to check on me) and I told Joshua it would be okay just make sure no one hurt themselves. Joshua was worried that he was going to have to pay for it. I told him that he wouldn't and that it was okay. Accidents happen. Scott thinks we should get a cast iron Crockpot. Is there such a thing? :)

Today I plan to take the kids to karate class as long as I'm continuing to feel better. This is Scott's last week to drive the school bus. The kids and I are looking forward to spending extra time with him this summer.

This is going to be a busy summer. Scott will be going to Thailand to help the missionaries there. While he is there I am planning to visit my parents and also take the kids to Michigan to visit Scott's family there. Then we'll only be back a week before Church camp begins.

I'll be posting more about our Summer activities as the time draws closer. The picture above is what might be going on while I'm blogging. Right now I'm blogging with Elijah sleeping in my arms. I've gotten pretty good at typing one handed.

Time Flies...

Time sure goes by fast. It either zooms past while you're on the computer. (You mean I've been looking at GPS's for over an hour?)

Days go by fast. (Didn't I just take the kids to Karate class?)

The weeks go by fast. (Yep it's been at least 2 weeks since I've blogged!!!)

Months go by fast. (Elijah is 2 1/2 months old already?)

And then the years go by fast. (Joshua is about to turn 12!)

It all happens so fast.

I remember when I was younger (that wasn't so long ago). I used to say, "Ah it's not going by that fast." Of course that was when Joshua was a baby and I thought the days were a lot longer. But now with 5 kids, the busier life has gotten and the faster the time seems to go.

Sometimes I look at the time going by so fast and think about all the things I have left to get done in the day or in the year. It can be overwhelming sometimes but that is when I have to prioritize and use my time as best I can. Getting organized with my office space helped a lot. I'm always surrounded by distractions but at least I can keep an eye on them all.

The picture is one I took a few months ago. Joshua and Jonathan are wearing some of their Daddy's clothes. It won't be long and they will be able to wear them by themselves.

I have to remember as I try to keep up with everything to cherish each of these moments. I even need to cherish potty training, even though I wondered about it this morning as I cleaned up yet another pair of dirty pants. But at least progress was made yesterday even though he seemed to forgotten it all today. Maybe we'll leap two steps forward tomorrow.

When I was a child my best friend and I would visit at each other's houses. One day her mother told us that my parents would be coming to pick me up in about 10 minutes. I remember we wanted to play but we knew the time would go by too fast when we are having fun. So instead we stared at the clock, to make time go by slower.

I could do that I guess. Not plan any fun activities just plan to stay home and do the same thing over and over in order to keep time from going by too fast. But I would rather enjoy life and the time God has given me hear on earth to do things for Him. I enjoy watching my children grow up and learn. Time may go by too fast but at least we are working for a purpose.

One day God will be calling me home and I will look back and say, "Wow! That was quick!" I don't want to look back over the years with any regrets when it's my time to go.

I need to cherish every moment God has given me and use them for His glory. Then when time flies by and I look back on my life I can say, "I've redeemed the time."

Ephesians 5:15-16 "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

Colosians 4:5 "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."

James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth even for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

7 Hours, Potty time, You Name It...

I can't decide the best title for this blog since so much is going on. Elijah is now sleeping 7 hours straight at night. He has even slept 8 on a couple of nights. So I've been able to get a little caught up on sleep. I do have to make myself go to bed sometimes, instead of doing all the hundred odd jobs I can't do with a baby in tow. But I'm very happy that he is now sleeping at nights.

The second title I could give this blog was Potty Time. We have now officially started potty training Jonathan. I told the kids that we want to make going to the potty a positive experience. So we are not commanding him to go right now we make it exciting to get to go. We have started by setting the timer for every hour. When the bell rings we all excitedly exclaim, "It's Potty time!!!" Jonathan then gets all excited and runs to the bathroom and sits down on his potty. So far he has been keeping himself dry. I'm not sure yet what will happen when he needs to have a bowel movement. Yesterday he dirty himself during Karate class. I had the potty there and after I changed his dirty pull-up I had him use his potty in the bathroom. He did go and stayed dry the rest of the time. So I hope that it was a case of not getting him to the bathroom soon enough and that he will go in the potty when he needs to next time.

But we have only one pull up left. I decided to go ahead and save that one so we have put him in big kid undies as I call them. They are actually cloth training pants. I also have plastic training pants to put over them in case he has an "accident". I'm hoping that accidents will be few and far between. I would hope he would never have one but I don't want to get my hopes up to high.

So I have one child trained to sleep through the night and another in the process of learning to use the bathroom. My husband was teasing me when the bell went off and Jonathan hollered, "Potty Time" that he may one day be a heavy weight boxer or something and when the bell rings he suddenly has to use the bathroom. Oh well, at least he'll know that he's suppose to go in the potty. Right?

Well, it's only day 3 of potty training and I'm not going to vouch for this method just yet. I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes. I will say that not every method works for every child. They all have their own individual personalities and what works for one may not work for another. So I guess that's my little caveat (I need to ask my brother if I spelled that right. He's probably looking at that word saying a what?!? Hmm.. Maybe I should have googled it.) Anyway, you know the small print at the end to keep you from getting in trouble.

Well, I have a new computer and so far it hasn't shut off completely in the middle of this blog. So that should mean I'll be able to blog more than I have been. My other laptop was having some real issues. The top didn't stay up and the battery wouldn't stay charged, then it would just shutdown for no reason in the middle of my working on something. I then went to using my husbands mini-laptop and I think he wanted it back. So he bought me a new one. So all that to say keep checking back I'll try to post more often now that I'm back in business.

Until next time... "Ding!" Was that the bell? "It's potty time!!!"

I love being a mom!

Too Long...

It's been too long since, I've blogged last. It's actually hard to believe that a whole month has passed. My mom has been checking my blog every day for a month to see if I've updated it. Has anyone else been wondering about me?

One of my problems in blogging lately was that our dial-up wasn't working. I finally called the tech support for our internet and they gave me three other access numbers for our area. They pretty much told me that if one didn't work try another one. I mentioned the fact that it was running a lot slower than normal and they told me that depended on my phone line and how good the connection was. So it's a good day when I get online at 48 kbps. It's a slow day on the internet if I get on at 28 kbps. And an impossible time on the internet when it connects at 8 kbps. I'm looking forward to Hi-speed internet getting to our area. I may have to wait awhile though.

A lot has actually been happening this month. Elijah is now a month and a half old. He has definitely grown a lot since he was born. He has just started sleeping longer through the nights. Two nights in a row he has gone 6 hours between feedings. I feed him around 9 p.m. and he doesn't wake up until 3 a.m. for his next feeding. I've been remembering to lay him down at nights instead of sleeping with him in my arms. I'm hoping to get a little better sleep. Now my only problem is getting myself not to do all the work I didn't get done while the kids were awake. One of those nights I stayed up two hours doing dishes and clothes. But the next night I was so tired I decided to go on to bed and skip the chores.

Another thing to add to my sleep deprivation was a house full of sick children. I felt like I was cleaning up after everyone while they were sick. Trying to find foods they could eat that wouldn't hurt their throat. Also fixing hot tea for them and making the older two who had soar throats gargle salt water. Even Scott went through a spell with it. We were afraid it was strep throat. We took the kids to the Doctor for a test and the results came out negative for strep. So she said they were going to be okay, and that since they were already feeling quite a bit better they wouldn't need any medication. They were especially glad that they wouldn't need shots.

This weekend Scott and Joshua are attending an "All the King's Men" retreat. It is a retreat that they try to attend each year. Scott was attending the annual retreat just himself and the past 3 or so years he has taken Joshua with him. They really have a good time of fellowship and encouragement during the two day retreat.

The rest of the kids and I decided we would go visit Memaw and Daddy Jim, where we would also see Papa and Nana. For those who don't know, Memaw and Daddy Jim are my Mother's parents and Papa and Nana are my parents.

So much more has happened this past month. I would try to blog about it all now but I guess I will save some for later. I will try to get my internet working quicker soon and hopefully I'll be able to post more pictures of the kids. I especially need to post some pictures of the kids at their karate class. Ruth just got her white with yellow stripe belt. Joshua will be testing for his in June. Hannah is even endeavoring to gain that belt instead of just going for the little kids stripes which is a different system from the big kids and adults.

Please don't give up on me with my blog. I am really hoping to get my computer cooperating for me and connecting faster to the internet. I'll try to post more pictures soon.

Hannah's 5th Birthday Cake

Elijah was finally born and so Hannah finally got to have her birthday. Her birthday was last Friday. She seemed to think that her birthday was connected with the birth of her brother. The longer it took him to come the longer she thought she had to wait for her birthday. He was due the 10th and born on the 19th. Her birthday was the 26th. She only had to wait one week after he was born to finally get to enjoy her birthday.

I let the kids pick their birthday cakes each year. The cakes were usually fairly simple Chocolate, Strawberry, etc. I think last year Hannah wanted a Banana cake. But even that turned out fairly simple. This year she wanted a Vanilla, Chocolate, Vanilla cake. That wasn't the hard part though. I had two round cake pans and so I was able to make the 3 layers out of two cake mixes. The chocolate one being rather thick, since she only wanted one layer of the chocolate and I didn't want to waist the batter. She originally wanted "up-down, up-downs" on it. Those being zig zags but when we went to buy the specific cake mixes she saw the candy decorations and wanted the pink letters and the soccer balls instead. The hardest part of the cake was that she also wanted the icing to be vanilla, chocolate, vanilla. Most people I have described this cake to at this point are picturing a mess. But as you can see in the picture I was able to pull it off and she said the cake was, "Perfect!"

So score one for mom with that cake. Of course now the kids have the idea that they can come up with just about anything. They did decide that 3 layers were way to thick. So they decided to be satisfied with two layers at this point. I just don't know how difficult some of their cakes are going to get. I think I'm going to have to practice making cheese cakes, because I've already had one of the older kids talk about wanting a two layer cheese cake for their birthday. At least I have until June and July for those cakes.

The pictures above are from Hannah's birthday party. It was just our family but we had fun. Hannah wasn't feeling 100% herself that day and even ended her evening with a slight fever. The fever broke during the night and she was all better by morning. I did feel bad for her having a fever on her birthday. I think she had just worn herself out. We have all been suffering from sniffles and coughs this week. I think it is because of the pollen that has come out. It's been pretty thick outside. I also need to do some spring cleaning and will be washing all our curtains to get the dust out of the house. I hope that helps.

We are looking forward to visiting my parents on Friday. We don't have much time to see my brother's family before they go back to France. So we want to take advantage of Scott having this Friday off. I'm glad that the kids got to spend a week with their cousins at my parents while we were waiting for Elijah to be born.

I know everyone is looking forward to getting to see him. We need to plan a visit with my grandparents as well. At least my grandparents are a little closer and we just need to pick a Saturday to visit them.

This will be a pretty busy weekend so keep checking back I plan to post more pictures this weekend.

Elijah

I just wanted to post this quick blog to let everyone know that Elijah has finally arrived safe and sound. He was born yesterday at 1:09 p.m. He weighed 9 lb. 3 oz. and was 21 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair.

It was probably the hardest labor I have been through. I hope to never have to be induced again but I was able to make it through even though it was hard. I'm just glad that the Lord helped me when I thought I wouldn't make it. My husband was a real blessing. He watched my contractions on the monitor and held my hand and told me when they were about to go down. He could see them lower before I felt the pain lessen. It was a big help to me to have him say, "It's about to go down now."

I actually found that the contractions didn't seem to last long but they were very intense and fast. Also since I was on Oxytocin the contractions were coming faster than I had ever felt them before. I felt a bit out of control of my normal pain management. It made for a very tough time, but my doctor was very good and arrived as soon as I hollered, "I need the Doctor now!" She was running in the door.

But the real blessing is that after such an intense moment it was an even greater relief when it was all over and they handed Elijah immediately to me. They even let me hold him while they cleaned him. I was even allowed to feed him before they took him to the nursery and moved me to another room. I was so happy to hold him. It made the whole experience worthwhile.

My parents and the kids came today to see Elijah. My parents went home and Scott took the kids to the house. They will be picking me and Elijah up sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. I am looking forward to our all being home and getting back into a routine again. This time with our newest family member.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful, beautiful family.

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

Not Yet...

This has been the start phrase of all my phone calls to my Dad. He warned me whenever I call someone that they are going to think I'm in labor. He recommended that I start my phone calls with, "Not yet."

I actually have been saying that a lot lately. Everytime I get a phone call, I answer and of course their first question is, "Is the baby here?"

And I respond, "No, not yet."

I had a Doctor's appointment Monday and she separated my membranes hoping that would start me into labor "naturally". I'm not actually sure how natural that was but it did start contractions. After my appointment Scott took me shopping and then around 8 p.m. we decided to go to the hospital again since my contractions were steady. I arrived there and after about 3 hours of monitoring they told me I wasn't in labor yet and again they sent me home. I never blogged that I had false contractions last Friday as well.

My parents were sweet and came as soon as I called Friday with contractions. After it turned out to be a false alarm they offered to take the kids home with them, so that I wouldn't have to worry about who will watch them. So my other 4 children are at my parents along with their 4 cousins and my brother and sister-in-law. I know things have to be hectic around there. It's too quiet around here. But Scott has been off this week for Spring Break and so we've been trying to get as much done around the house as we can before the baby comes.

My Doctor told me that she does not want me to go beyond 41 weeks and so we've agreed to go in Friday morning to induce labor. I'm not very excited about being induced but I am glad to know that I'll definitely have the baby this week. Waiting can be so hard. I will probably be pretty nervous Thursday night in anticipation of Friday. But maybe my nervousness will bring labor on by itself and I won't have to be induced.

Pray for me and baby Elijah this week. I just want everything to go smoothly and to soon deliver a happy, healthy baby.

I know our other children are anxious to see him too. They will be coming to see us either Friday afternoon or Saturday. I have a 9 month picture of me but it's on my camera which is still in my bag in the car. I was not wanting to forget to bring it to the hospital. So I'll have to post that picture later.

In the mean time I'll do like my Dad and post a random picture. The above pictures are of Joshua and Jonathan wrestling. Jonathan loves to wrestle with his big brother. Joshua will be 12 in June and Jonathan turned 2 in November. It won't be long and Joshua will have a second little brother climbing all over him too.

I love to watch him wrestle with his two year old brother because he's so careful not to hurt him. They just have fun. I worry more about Jonathan hurting Joshua. Just because 2 year olds don't know how to be as careful. But Joshua is good and manages not to get hurt while keeping his brother from getting hurt as well. You know his two younger brothers are really going to look up to their BIG brother. He's a good big brother too.

I may not post again until the baby comes, but I will definitely post as soon as he does. And I'll post more pictures soon too.

Ultrasound Picture

I had an ultrasound done today. My Doctor ordered it since my fourth child, Jonathan, was a big baby at birth. When Jonathan was born he weighed 11 lb. 4 oz. I asked my Doctor if there was any way we could know the size of Elijah. She asked me again how big my last one was and when I told her 11 lb. she decided to order me an ultrasound just to see.

This is the picture with some of the measurements the ultrasound machine took. The technician told me that it wasn't 100% accurate on getting the exact weight. This picture is the best we were able to get. You can see his nose squished up against the placenta. The other pictures we got, we can barely make out his face at all. The technician also assured me that he was very much a boy. I'm glad because it would be incredibly confusing for our children if there had been a mistake and we had a girl instead.

Now according to this ultrasound, my due date would be March 13. But I'm still considering it March 10. Of course all of my babies have been late so I wouldn't be too surprised if he was born a few days late. It also set his estimated weight at 7 lb. 4 oz. I kind of think he may be a touch heavier than that. I'm guessing he'll weigh around 9 lb. at birth. He doesn't feel quite as big to me as Jonathan did.

I felt good about the measurements they took. I have my twinges of nervousness about the approaching due date. But then I'm excited that I will finally get to see my baby and not just feel him kicking. Only a week or so left to go!

Toasted Toaster...

There are so many titles I could give this blog. But since Jonathan cooked my toaster this morning, I decided on this title. My guilty cook has a pretty serious face in the picture below. I actually took this picture of him right after I took the picture of the toaster. The toaster isn't in the exact same spot I found it, I had actually tampered with the evidence a little bit to see what the exact damage was.

This morning I got up and had some phone calls to make. After I got off the phone, I went to check on the kids and change Jonathan's diaper. As I was changing him, the central heat kicked on in our trailer. I asked the kids, do you smell toast? They all agreed. They said it smelled good and wanted toast for breakfast. I wasn't planning on making toast but I was curious what would cause the smell.

I had Joshua check inside the vent in the kitchen. One disadvantage to central heat in a trailer house is it's easy to get crumbs in the vent. I thought that was where the smell was coming from. But he didn't see anything cooking inside the vent. So we didn't worry about it.

After I got up from changing Jonathan, I decided it was time to fix some oatmeal for breakfast. I started the water boiling when I felt heat beside the stove where the toaster was. The levers weren't pushed down on the toaster, I had seen that earlier, but I realized that the griddle had been plugged in.

When I came out of my room, I had seen Jonathan doing something in the kitchen but nothing seemed amiss. I didn't realize he was tall enough to reach the plugs above our kitchen counter. I had placed the toaster on top of the griddle yesterday after making the kids some peanut butter toast before bed. Jonathan had seen the cords this morning while I was on the phone and decided they needed to be plugged in. He just forgot that he's not allowed to touch them.

I'm just glad I found it when I did. The bottom of the toaster was melted to the top of the griddle. Even the toaster's plug was scorched. We had a fire hazard on our hands, but thankfully I was able to unplug it before any real damage was done. I called and told Scott about it, and he just laughed. He said that Jonathan must have wanted to fix us breakfast. The only problem is your not suppose to toast the toaster. But that's okay, Scott never really liked our toaster anyway. This will just give him a good reason to get us a new one.

And the lesson I learned from this: Never underestimate the height and abilities of a two year old. As Scott told me on the phone, "Nothing's safe now!"

120 Hours Worth of a 24 hour Virus

Your probably wondering how we managed to make a 24 hour virus last that long. Well, when you have 5 people that catch it, it adds up. We started with Ruth and Hannah getting sick Sunday night. They were sick all Monday. Hannah has deemed "spit-up" as her least favorite word and if anyone says it. She grumbles. I went ahead and took them with me to my doctor's appointment hoping that they were getting over it. Hannah wound up spitting-up in a bucket she brought with her in the car.

Then Tuesday, they were feeling a bit better but Jonathan got sick sometime Tuesday night.
So I had more sheets to wash on Wednesday.

Then Wednesday night Joshua "spit-up" in the bathroom sink. Then that night he spit-up in his bed which meant more sheets for me to wash. Also on Wednesday night Jonathan "spit-up" in his car seat. Then once we arrived home, he spit-up on my lap and on the floor at my feet. I'm not sure if he was more disturbed at spitting up on me, or just the fact that he "spit-up".

The kids were starting to feel some better on Thursday, but then sadly it was my turn. Thankfully I never did spit-up but I had another problem which lasted through Wed. night and all day Thursday. My stomach was in such sad shape that I couldn't eat much of anything. We all knew once we got to feeling better we'd be starved. The kids were perkier on Thursday, but I had to sleep the whole day, with brief bathroom breaks and breaks to solve problems for the kids. They got to watch a lot of veggietales. I was too tired to make them do much else.

Today, I woke up and told Scott, "I'm hungry!!" I was so happy to be feeling better. I'm still tired but I hadn't had the stomach troubles I had yesterday. The kids all greeted me with the same excitement this morning. "Mom, I feel much better!" Then came all the requests for all the foods they thought they could eat for breakfast. I decided to go easy and fixed them Cinnamon Toast.

Wednesday night, I called my Mom to thank her for all the times she cleaned up after me and my brother, and sister. If you haven't called and thanked your mom lately you should.

We're on the mend now. I just hope it ends here and that Scott doesn't have to go through it.

It sure has been a long week.

Snowy Day

The kids and I have been enjoying our stay with Papa and Nana. We will be going home soon, and I wanted to post their snowman picture.

We bundled them up pretty good this time. My Mom got out all their gloves and hats they had in a box in her room. They were a bit big on the kids but it kept the kids warm.

I'm looking forward to getting home. Scott will be there before us. We're getting a late start. We wanted to get all the kids clothes and shoes dried out before we take off.

We have a busy weekend. We'll be decorating for our "Love Your Neighbor" banquet. We'll also need to start cooking the brisket and side dishes for the dinner. I hope we have a few visitors come.

Now it's time to get packed and take our things out to the car. I'll try to post again soon. I now have batteries in my camera so maybe I'll have more pictures for my next post.

Peanut Butter and Gum in the Hair

Yesterday evening, Ruth had gum stuck in her long blond hair. I finally got a chance to test the remedy I had heard from a few people that using peanut butter will get the gum out of hair real easy. It took quite a bit of peanut butter. Well, maybe not as much as you would use on a sandwich, but enough to make a greasy mess in her hair. But it worked! She gets to keep her beautiful long blond hair.

She was near tears when she told me that she had gum stuck in her hair. She must have thought I was going to have to cut it out. Which would have probably been my normal answer. I just had her wash the peanut butter out of her hair afterward with shampoo. She came out happy that her hair was still in tact. Of course Hannah made a lot of wierd faces about me putting globs of peanut butter in Ruth's hair. I usually get onto her and Jonathan for making a mess like that. I just had to explain that this was for a good cause, "Ruth gets to keep her hair."

We've been so busy, I've missed a lot of posting. We had our Keepers of the Faith meeting last Friday. My parents came for a visit. My Dad spoke to the Contenders for the Faith which is the boys class. He was very impressed with the boys. They are all homeschooled children and very attentive and polite. Most people imagine a room full of 15 boys between the ages of 5 and 14 as chaos, but these boys are very well behaved and well mannered. They really enjoyed my Dad's presentation on hiking. They asked a lot of very good questions. They sat in the class for about an hour and a half before we broke for refreshments. Even remaining quiet for the prayer my Dad gave at the end. Then they played kick ball for the remaining half hour after refreshments.

Saturday, we had a Mom/ Son night with the Contenders for the Faith group. We had 5 pairs of Mothers and Sons meet at a restaurant and then another mother with two of her children came for the Live Concert we attended at the Liberty Opry. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Country Kidz Show. The singers were all young people under the age of 16. They had some amazing voices for being so young. They performed to the live music of the Liberty Opry band. Joshua enjoyed it so much that when some of the others were planning to leave after the first hour when they had a break, he wanted to stay. So I bought him a bag of popcorn, a sprite, and some M&M's and then we went back in and watched the rest of the concert. The Concert ended at 10 p.m. As we went home, I stopped at Jack-in-the-box and bought Joshua and myself a milk shake.

That was a night he'll never forget. Which was what I wanted for him. He got to order anything off the adult menu he wanted. It was a Mexican Food restaurant and he got excited over them having Cheese enchiladas. It didn't take him any time to make his selection.

Monday, I had a Doctor's appointment and our baby has turned head down. Jonathan was funny Monday night at home. In the evenings after one of the children gives their devotional, I sometimes let them see the baby kicking. Jonathan went right up to my tummy and yells, "WAKE UP, BABY!" Then he just cackled at himself. I just hope Jonathan doesn't wake the baby that way once he's born.

Tuesday, was our homeschool park day. It was very cold out that afternoon but we braved the weather. My daughters braved the weather more than I did. We arrived at the park and they informed me that they both forgot their coats. I had announced that they needed to remember them before we ran out to the car. But they forgot them anyway.

I loaned an extra light weight jacke I brought to Ruth and Hannah told me her Keeper's of the Faith teacher was going to bring hers. I asked Hannah what she would do if the teacher had something happen and couldn't make it. She could have worn one of her other coats. But thankfully her teacher came with her children and Hannah's coat.

We had fun despite the cold. The kids all passed out valentines and one of the mothers brought cupcakes for the kids to ice and decorate.

Then we came back home where we took a short break and then left for the kids' Karate Class.
Saturday there were belt tests. Hannah and Scott both tested. Hannah earned a yellow stripe for her belt. Her Karate teacher put her stripe on her belt at Tuesday's class. Scott will get his yellow belt next week. My digital camera had run out of batteries, so I couldn't get digital pictures of her getting her stripe but I did have a disposable camera and need to get the pictures developed sometime.

Today the kids and I plan to go visit my parents. Scott had a business trip this week and is at a Technology Convention. I sure miss him. I had nightmares Monday night, which was the first night he was gone. But then last night I tried putting some happy sounding music on and my dreams were much nicer. Okay, I was dreaming of Cinderella. LOL So you know the music had to be real calming. Cinderella dreams are much better than nightmares any day. I was almost afraid to go to sleep last night until I turned the music on repeat.

Hopefully a change of scenery at my parents will help the time pass a little quicker. I'm looking forward to Friday. We will be heading home and Scott will be heading home as well.

Then Saturday we'll be getting prepared for the "Love Your Neighbor" Banquet we've planned at the Church. I hope we have a few new visitors come. But it should be good even if they don't. It's the effort that counts. I made up invitations for our church members to give to family and friends. In the note I mention that this is our way of showing our appreciation for our neighbors in the community.

Well, I better get things ready for us to head for my parents. I just wanted to throw out a quick post before we leave. I need to get some more batteries for my camera so that I'll have some good pictures for my next post.

Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. (31) And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.