Numbly Rambling. That about sums up the way my mind and
body have felt the last few days. This has been a summer filled
with (in my viewpoint) one huge event, short rest space, next huge
event, short rest space....etc.

Actually there are just five big events. But really, isn't that
enough for anyone?

First was the All-Church BBQ we always host at our farm in May.
It was a LOT of fun, but a LOT of work getting ready for and
cleaning up from.

Next was getting ready and participating in VBS. Writing puppet
scripts, putting together the power point, teaching a class and
hauling our computer back and forth each night so we could run
the power point was exhausting. But it was a great week. We
touching a lot of little lives.

Now I have a few weeks to prepare for the next biggie. We are
hosting my husband's family reunion the second weekend of July.
It will be a blast, but, since I am on site, I am in charge of menus,
making sure those who aren't staying in motels have beds here or
at my folks house, and of course the yard has to be readied. If it
weren't for company we wouldn't cut the grass!

Then less than a week after the reunion it is off to Mexico for my husband,
three of our kiddoes, and me. A group of fifteen from our little church
are going on to Cuernavaca for mission work with Campus Crusade for
Christ.

Lastly, at the end of August we will be moving our middle son up to
St. Louis to begin his Sophomore year at Washington University. He
is a hometown boy and is not looking forward to this move. He is
already looking forward to next summer. The academic challenge in
pursuing his Electrical and Computer Engineering degrees is exciting
to him, but his heart is in Mayberry.

I guess my grandma (almost 96) forgave me for not eating
with her in town yesterday. She called me this morning to
come down the gravel and get some some new potatoes she
had dug out of the garden earlier. I also got cucumbers and
some lettuce.

Grandma's recipe for the new potatoes.

Boil them in their skins for 20 minutes.
Put some bacon grease and salt in a pan and heat it up.
Place the potatoes in the pan and rewarm them till they
are good and greasy and salty.
Delicious!

Don't tell her bacon grease isn't good for you. She'd never
believe it.

Out of the mouths of babes. Today Princess Daughter and
I were talking about being wise in developing boy-girl
relationships when you are of an age to. She said, "Mom,
doesn't it sometimes happen, like with the people down
the road from us that a woman who is, say Catholic,
marries a someone from another species?" I think she
meant denomination...but how funny. Men sometimes do
seem to be from another species, at least from another
planet. Seems I've heard that one before.

Quetion: What do softball and the Christian Life have in
common?

Answer: Romans 7

Romans 7:15, 23

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I
will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that
I do....But I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

I was voted to be catcher on our church-league team. This
is not necessarily an honor. Nobody else wants the job.
When you have 101 degree weather and you have to get
up and down with every pitch you have just experienced
a full aerobic workout without ever moving anything but
your knees.

I have a little problem with softball. I am afraid of the ball.
That is why I have always volunteered to play outfield.
My theory goes this way, the farther from the ball you are
at the initial point of contact with the bat, the slower the
ball will be going when it gets to you, therefore the less it
will hurt when it actually makes contact with your body.
Why do I play you ask. One wonders, one really wonders.

This year though, no one wanted to be catcher, so I humbly
accepted the honor. Now I have discovered something new,
not only am I afraid of the ball, I am afraid of the swinging
bat. Because of this, I close my eyes when the bat is
swung. This is not really a smart move. If my eyes were
open I could see what was going on and potentially save my
body from being hit by either the ball or the bat. But with
my eyes closed I am in grave danger.

See, my mind tells me one thing, but my body does the other.
I know what to do, but I can't do it. The pull to false protection
is so very strong. The law of my members is warring with the
law of my mind.

Romans 7:24,25

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from
this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ
our Lord!

My career as a world famous softball catcher is on a slowtrack
to nowhere. Thank God His grace keeps me from saying the
same about my Christian walk.

I love living in Mayberry, USA. Yesterday when I was in
town for my weekly errand day and grocery shopping
extravaganza I ran into my mother and grandmother (95).
(Okay, I didn't literally run into them, I met them as they
were driving off from Freds and I was getting ready to
shop at said store.)

Mom stopped the car and jumped out, she asked me to take
the $25 worth of pennies she had just gotten at the bank for
my kids and two of their second cousins for Bible School.
(We have an offering contest between the boys and the girls.
But the contest is which offering weighs the most, and so pennies
is the coin of choice for the kids. The contest lasts all week.
Thus far the girls have won two nights and the boys have won
two nights. Tonight will be the deciding factor for which color
color ribbon-pink or blue-the trophy will wear until next year's
VBS. This year the money is going to help send a team from our
church to Mexico on a mission trip through Campus Crusade.)

Grandma and Mom asked me to go out with them for a lunch
of chicken and dumplings. I had to say, "No," because I had
left Hattie at home in charge of making a dinner of chicken
and noodles. And, though her three brothers and dad were
there to oversee her efforts, I felt uneasy in my mind about
being gone too long. I wish I could have though. One has to
wonder how many more dinners out they will be able to
enjoy with their grandma when she is going to be 96 in October.

Nerd Family is hosting this week's Christian Carnival.
Go check it out for some thought provoking articles on
how Christianity plays out in our daily lives.

Notes from around the farm.

We have a new Boer billy. He and our older billy are not
co-existing very well. You might say they are butting heads.
(Pun intended) Older billy is headed to the goat auction
next week, but it will be fun watching them go at it during
the meantime.

We are going to adopt a half dozen old hens this weekend.
It's been a year or so since the fox, coyote, coon, possum,
whatever ate the final hen from our last batch. We are just
pushovers to friends who ask if we can take in their fowls
when they no longer can house them. I guess Tyler will have
to start setting the trap again for unwanted night raiders.

Our grand-kitty is missing. Our oldest son has a cat that we
babysit when he is at work. Now get this, Kent would never
let us keep an animal in the house (except for goats on IV's,
chicks just hatched, and other special circumstances)...oh, but
grand-kitty can come in and sleep on the beds and practically
do whatever she wants. What does this bode for our future
grandchildren. Do you think he will spoil them at all?

The hay is ready to bale. Our problem is that the equipment
is so old it barely makes it around the field one time before
needing to be repaired. Luckily (though I don't believe in
luck), Papa thinks driving hay equipment and repairing it is
"The Life", so we just wait 'till he gets it all done, and then
the boys and Kent hit the field to load hay bales and bring
them to store in the barn. Then they hit the creek and cool
off. It's tradition. The city cousins love haying time, but they
are all growing up and have a hard time getting here for it
these days.

If you wear earrings or have a Princess Daughter who does
then this idea may work for you. Earring trees are unstable
and just don't hold many pairs. Plus I have found that the
earrings are difficult to put off and on.

What works for us is to use one of those hardware organizers
that men use to sort their different size nails, screws, bolts
etc. They have little drawers that pull in and out.
The one Princess Daughter uses has 50 compartments.
She also uses the little drawers for rings, necklaces, lip gloss
and knick-knacks. This is nice because each piece of jewelry
can have its own place and doesn't get all tangled with the
others as they do in her jewelry boxes.

It is not as pretty as a jewelry box, but you can put it under
the bathroom sink if you want. This has helped us a lot in
keeping Princess Daughter's jewelry collection organized.

If you ever thought you'd be a good contestent on
The Price is Right go check out Owlhaven's challenge.

The 24th Carnival of Homeschooling is posted at
About Homeschooling. It, appropriately, is focused
on Dad.

We know that, as believers in the justifying death of
Jesus Christ, we have been set free from the penalty
of sin. Along with that Romans 6:22 tells us:

But now having been set free from sin, and
having become slaves of God, you have your
fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting
life.

But we also realize that this daily "working out of
our salvation" includes the truth of Romans 6:19:

I speak in human terms because of the weakness
of your flesh.

As parents we love to remind our children of
I Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has overtaken you except such
as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
are able, but with the temptation will also make
the way of escape, that you may be able to bear
it.

The question is, of course, in any given circumstance,
where is that way of escape? How do we find it? How
do we train our children to look for, find and take
that way?

There are a lot of angles to this question, but one, I
am sure, is recognizing ahead of time some of the
temptations we are prone to fall to and making our
determination not to do so.

Charlotte Bronte has Jane, in "Jane Eyre" make an
incredible statement to Mr. Rochester.

We must keep the law given by God; laws and
principles are not for the times when there is
no temptation; they are for such moments as
this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against
their rigor. Foregone determinations are all I
have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my
foot.

So, we talk with our children. "Tommy, if, when you
are playing with Rachel, she does thus and so, what
should you do in return? The Bible tells us to...."

Our kids can't wait until they are in a parked car to
decide where they stand on certain issues. We have
to guide them into thinking these things through and
making their own determination against what is
wrong. They must learn to plant their feet.

Of course we know that God is always gracious to
forgive when we do slip (I John 1:9.) But working
diligently to keep our feet planted fosters a safe
and joyfilled life before God. Blessed is the man
who walks in such a way.

When June and a full moon collide it is an excruciatingly
glorious occasion. It rather steals ones breath away.

Let me review some June highlights leading up to
last nights full moon.

1. Princess Daugter got her first (maybe her last?) home-
run this week. Comment overheard by her mom as
Princess Daughter was talking to her dad--"Dad, everytime
I think about it I just get happy all over.

2. I missed this historic homerun because I was at a JOY
Meeting. (JOY is the name of the women's group at our
church that meets monthly to eat and talk.) Comment
overhead by me as I was following my friends Ruth and
Angela out to the cars--"Everytime I tell the people at
work we are having a JOY meeting they think I say I am
going to a jailhouse wives meeting."

3. Same friend Ruth as mentioned in above comment led
me to commit one major Faux Pas. She wanted me to ask
our mutual Chinese friend, Yong, to teach our VBS kids
Oragami. Comment heard by me when I asked Yong to
teach Oragami to kids--"What is oragami?"

4. Yesterday's softball games were played in 101 degree
heat. 19 year old son was being third-base coach. His game
wasn't 'till later. Comment heard by third baseman on
other team as I came up to bat--"Go, Mom." Comment
heard by catcher as third baseman on other team came
up to bat--"You do not look old enough to be his mother."
And he is not even my oldest son. Chuckle. Being 4'9" has
its advantages. Hitting homeruns is not one of them.

5. Sweet comment heard by me after I related above story to
husband--"You do look young, and not just because you
are short." He, however has a head full of grey hair. Am I
that hard to live with?

Life is just plain fun sometimes.

Oh, This is Joy. This is Bliss. This is Felicity.
Quote by Laurie (flavored heavily by
Jane Austin)


Stay, June stay! If we could stop the moon, and June!
Quote by Christina Rosetti

Sometime ago I posted about the different seasons
I've noticed since living in the country. There is
another aspect of nature I notice now that I didn't
before. Actually, my mother called my attention to
it some years ago and yesterday I was telling
Princess Daughter about it as we drove to a birthday
party.

The colors of the wildflowers change as Spring and
Summer progress. In the early spring the wildflower
are blue and pink. This time of year the wildflowers
are predominantly orange and white (Butterfly Weed,
Tiger Lilies, Yucca and Queen Anne's Lace are
everywhere); as Fall approaches the yellow flowers
will take over.

Can you imagine what it will be like if God allows us to
join Him in designing new worlds in eternity?

I've noticed quite a few folks who post a hymn of the week.
So, I thought I'd try my hand at it. I don't think I'll do a
hymn of the week though, maybe a hymn of the whenever
I feel like it.

I don't mean to antagonize anyone, but this has to be the
worst hymn ever written. It is actually in "Heavenly
Highway Hymns." Why some editor in a dark, smoky room
hasn't taken the axe to it over the years is a mystery to me.
It does serve a purpose I guess, it shows how really, really
odd we people can be.

This hymn doesn't have an author (go figure) it just says,
"As Sung by Cook and Whitworth."

Aint It A Shame

Aint it a shame to work on Sunday,
Aint it a shame, a working shame,
Aint it a shame to work on Sunday,
Aint it a shame, (A working shame,)
Aint it a shame to work on Sunday,
When you've got Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, And you got Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, Aint it a shame.

Aint it a shame to joyride Sunday,
Aint it a shame, a joyriding shame,
Aint it a shame to joyride Sunday,
Aint it a shame, (A joyriding shame,)
Aint it a shame to Joyride Sunday,
When you've got Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, And you got Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, Aint it a shame.

Aint it a shame to gossip on Sunday,
Aint it a shame, a gossiping shame,
Aint it a shame to gossip Sunday,
Aint it a shame, (A gossiping shame,)
Aint it a shame to gossip Sunday,
When you've got Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, And you got Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, Aint it a shame.

Aint it a shame to lie on Sunday,
Aint it a shame, a lying shame,
Aint it a shame to lie on Sunday,
Aint it a shame, (a lying shame,)
Aint it a shame to lie on Sunday,
When you've got Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, And you got Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, Aint it a shame.

The best thing I can say for this work is that it
has made us all giggle numerous times. And the
second best thing I can say is no one at our church
has ever asked to sing it.

Do you think the author really means it is okay
to lie, gossip etc. all week long, just as long as you
avoid it on Sunday? Boy, if so, my life just got a
lot more interesting.

I know that Vacation Bible School has gone out
of fashion in many churches, but it is still one of our
biggest yearly outreaches. And, for us, it works.
We have had families begin to attend that were
previously unchurched. So, since this VBS idea
works for me I thought it would be a good idea
to add to the queue for Words for Me Wednesday.

Coming up with appropriate crafts for VBS is always
a challenge. But I have one full-proof craft that is
inexpensive and works for almost any age. It is
adaptable, easy, and lots of fun. The group I work
with most are the 10-12 year olds, and they love it.
When they finish their other crafts they'll ask if they
can make this one again.

It takes salt, sidewalk chalk, lots of throwaway
bowls and a glass container for each child. This is
the cheapie way to make sand art.

Pour a small amount of salt into a bowl. Take any
color chalk you want and rub it over the salt until
the salt has the shade you want. Then pour it
into the container and begin anew. You can fill the
salt/sand up to the top and poke with a sharp stick
down the sides to make the mountains of regular
sand art. You can fill it up partway and put a small
candle on top for a candle holder. You can use one
of those small fancy bottles for a cute little knick-
knack. Personally I prefer to use pint canning jars
because that takes lots of salt and because my kids
are never tired of making these.

This goes perfect with any lesson that has anything
to do with a desert or mountains or being the
light of the world or...(I told you it was adaptable!)

Mothering an adult child is a task of far greater difficulty
than mothering an infant, toddler or child. It takes
tremendous finesse to back slowly away as time goes
on and to let them be the adult God has been preparing
them to be.

I remember when my now 19 year old son was about 8.
One day he was mowing the grass with the riding mower
when he suddenly ran into the house, came up to where I was
standing in the middle of the kitchen, leaned into me and
burst into tears. "Mommy, I'm so sorry," he sobbed. I
didn't know or care what he had done, he was already
forgiven and as far as I was concerned the issue was over
except for the comforting. His little heart was breaking
and so was mine...and I didn't even know what had
occured. Finally he was able to settle down enough to
tell me what had happened. "I ran over the hose by mistake
and chopped it in half."

Oh, I miss those days with him. The days when a mommy
could make everything all better so easily. The days when
deciding between chocolate or vanilla ice cream was the
dilemma of the hour. Yet, I look at him, so tall, so strong,
so deep in his relationship with Christ, so determined to
do what is right and I glory in today.

We are still adjusting in our relationship to one another.
Now he goes to his wise father and his wise Father more
than to me. It is right. It is good. But when I think of that
little eight year old boy with kissing cheeks leaning against
me and sobbing heartbrokenly, it causes me to have to go into
a quiet corner and weep a little weep. These are the good
new days, but the good old days are worth a nod of
remembrance from time to time.

Creative people breed creativity. One of my delights
over the recent Memorial Day weekend was watching
my niece and my princess daughter. My niece, 12, and
my daughter, 8, decided to make a movie. For years
they have been doing smaller programs. They would
go, along with an older neice, into a room, spend an hour
or two practicing and creating costumes and then do a
dance and song program, or perhaps put on a short play.
Of course we always had to pay to watch these. Sometimes
there were refreshments, sometimes there were not. And
always the closer one sits the more one pays. Typical
charges are 10, 20 and 25 cents.

This weekend though, they put their creativity into, not a
program, but into a production. They decided to
recreate "Narnia". We spent the weekend on the river,
fishing, at ballgames and just hanging out and wherever
we were they had their heads together planning. They have
a huge chest of old dance costumes and clothes to choose
from. They figured out an answer to everything. I am the
"wit*ch". Instead of making it always winter, I make it always
summer, but never swimming time. I ride a four-wheeler
decorated with flowers and wear berries in my head. But
I get to speak as sternly and as meanly as I wish...what fun!

The best, in my opinion, are the beavers. They talked
my 19 year old son and his friend Jen into being Mr. and Mrs.
Beaver. Their costumes are a riot.

I love it when princess daughter and darling neice get
together. Because they are both of a creative turn they
encourage each other and they both become more so.

I can't wait to see the production in its entirety. Edmonette
has only just arrived at the castle of the wit*ch and so it
will be some time before they are finished. We may have
to wait till Labor Day weekend when they will have another
3 days to work on it.

There is something about an orphan story that is captivating.
A child, hopeless, homeless and alone, suddenly finds him/
herself wanted, loved, accepted and belonging. Think of some
of our best loved books: "Oliver Twist", "Jungle Book", "Anne
of Green Gables", "Emily of New Moon", "Jane Eyre", "The
Little Princess".

The same captivation holds for our story. We were orphans.
We were alone, hopeless and homeless. And then, by the
grace of God, we were made part of a family. We found a
place where we were valued, loved, accepted and at home.
We were adopted.

You can hear John shout with suprise and glee as he pens
these words in I John 3:1.

Behold, what manner of love the Father has
bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God.

And how thrilled Paul must have been to realize that
he, too, was now a part of God's eternal family.

Galatians 4:7

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Melinda at Intellectuelle has a good post on the difference
betweent an objective and a subjective Christian relationship.

Last year when we were going through a bit of a trying
time with one of our teens I memorized Psalm 127. As
I lay in bed at night I would repeat it to myself. What a
comfort. It is filled with truth and promise.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early.
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

I would remind myself...He will give me the gift of sleep.
I can find my rest in my Savior. My children are a blessing.
It has become a mainstay scripture for me.

BTW-the teen that was struggling is growing and we are
very proud of him.

ARGH, ARGH, ARGH, and GROWL. Rezimphretzel.
Is there a right way to spell rezimphretzel? In case anyone
ever wonders what is the MOST frustrating aspect of
being self-employed--I can tell you. It is researching
and choosing your health insurance. Every two or so
years we start from scratch because every two or so
years our premiums go out of sight again. It is so discouraging
to research, and discuss and then feel like you are comparing
apples and oranges. We come out of it just
exhausted. Kent and I are even growling at each other.
This has been weighing on my spirit for a few weeks, but
hopefully after signing the dotted line tomorrow we can
just set it aside again, at least for two or so years.

But there has been a funny side to even this. Yesterday,
after I got the umpteemth phone call from an unknown
insurance agent my boys got to wondering what was going
on. I just sighed and said, "For some reason I seem to have
a lot of strange men calling me these days." Boy did their eyes
open wide, and did their dander stand straight up!

Amy wrote about eclectic homeschooling. Eclectic is
my middle name. But I can't hold a candle to my
sister, Eclectic is her first name. She has had her kids
in an amazing number of different combinations of
school situations. She began with her son in government
school. Then her family moved overseas to do church
planting. While there her son was in a one room school
with other missionary kids. Her older daughter was too
young to join the other kids so she had a tutor. Becky,
my sister, then began to homeschool her kids and usually
one or two of the other missionary kids on their team
would join with them. Oldest son left for boarding school
when he hit highschool, but Becky still homeschooled her
daughters plus the extra kids. They then moved back
to the states and oldest son went back to government
school while daughters were still homeschooled. Then came
the wildest year of all--oldest son was in government school,
older daughter was in private Christian school and younger
daughter was homeschooled. This year oldest son is going
to Christian college, and both daughters will be in the
private school. Are you dizzy yet? I've got to go catch my
breath.

I've had fun participating in Works for Me Wednesday.
It is hard though to find things that I may have figured
out that are somewhat unique. I do not feel that I am
an especially gifted or crafty person. But this morning,
when I was in despair for an idea, one suddenly popped
into my caffeine infused brain.

I do not like a lot of clutter on my walls or on my shelves.
I have some lovely pictures by a neighbor who is a
well-known wildlife artist. I also have several relatives
who are professional artists and I have some beautiful
pictures by them. My problem has always been what
to do with family photos. I wanted to show off different
pictures but didn't want to fill the walls more and more.
This was dilemma number one.

Dilemma number two was that our little home was too small
when princess daughter was born. We had three boys in
one bedroom and nowhere for the little one to go. So we
added a bedroom to our mobile home. When we did so we
blocked a window in the living room. For several years I
just kept the shade pulled down on the window because
you could see the two by fours and the insulation between
the two rooms. Then I had my brain-storm. I had a box
with shelves built that was about three inches deep that
fit exactly into the window space. This is now my picture
gallery. I put pictures on the shelves and when I am
tired of a picture, or find another that is really special,
I change them out. This space has become my cozy
nook for quiet times. I love it.

Blessing my children at bedtime has been a delightful
way for me to end the day. Quietly I walk into their
rooms; sometimes I hold their hand or lightly
touch them, sometimes I just poke my head around
the corner and whisper the words to them. I don't
have a pat blessing. There are times when I am
frustrated with one of them and don't want to do it,
and then I have gone into their room later when my
heart is softer and they are asleep. It may take them
going to sleep before my heart is forgiving. I don't feel
that it is a "magic" thing, and if I skip a night, or a week,
I am not afraid of bad things happening.

Yet, to leave them with a blessing as their last connection
with their parents at night has been a strengthening tie.
"May the Lord keep you. May you grow in His grace and
knowledge." Or, "May you become the woman of God that
He has planned for you to become." Or, "May He who began
a good work in you complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Today in Psalm 26:12A I found a new blessing. It reads:

My foot stands in an even place;

Wow! To stand in an even place is incredible. That even place
is the God of the universe. I have always loved the thought
of being stayed on the Lord. So, to read that verse is like hitting
a homerun in baseball. And that is what I want for my kids.
The world offers only a slippery slope through their philosophies,
morals, and popular thinking. But God offers an even place. He
offers a firm foundation. He offers permanence. I think I'll use
this blessing tonight. "May God plant your foot and keep it in an
even place."

Blest With Sons asks a very thought provoking question.
Since the answer I am going to post is rather long I
decided to do it here instead of as a comment to her
post.

Actually, there is a greater issue here even than the
question about which issues/behaviors in our children
we can relax about. It is the idea you brought up
yourself in relating your conversations with your
mom. How can we allow our children to have the
experience of unfettered alone time?

All behaviors can be let go to some point. And none
can be let go to an extreme...but you already know
that. The true question is how can we give our
children the freedom to be alone to dream and pretend.
And along with that, how can we give them unsupervised
(by adults) time with other kids, so they have to
work out squabbles on their own?

I, too, had much freedom as a child. There were countless
hours alone or with my friends riding bikes, walking the
neighborhood, and playing games. But, as you know, the
world is not as safe as it was then. So, the crucial question
is how can that kind of time be offered to our kids in a safe
environment?

I don't have specifics for you. You know your neighborhood,
your kids and your feelings as no one else does. I do know
that for our family it has been wonderful to move to the
country. Our boys have been able to spend hours in tree
stands, on their four wheeler, walking through the woods to
the creek, and we have felt safe with that. Of course, they
didn't do this when they were four, but they could by the
time they were 13. Somewhere in there they made the
transition. But when they were four they were encouraged
to go outside, or to their room, to spend time alone in play or
just daydreaming.

You are being a good mom by keeping the little nippers under
close supervision. I would encourage you, though, to stand back
a little longer sometimes to see how far they can go in working
out problems. Talk to them ahead of time, when they are
going to be with friends, about how to behave (as if you didn't
already.) Talk to them afterwards about how things could
have been handled differently. But don't feel bad about
intervening if you need to.

And above all ask for the God of all wisdom to give you
wisdom in knowing when and when not to let out the reins.

I have more thoughts on this subject, but "enough is as good
as a feast" as Mary Poppins says.

Epic struggles

I have been thinking a lot about Epic Struggles lately.
Maybe Eternal Struggles is the better title for them.
Sometimes one wants to shake one's fist at these
struggles and yell, "This should not be!" Sometimes
one merely shrugs one's shoulders and says, "Oh, well!"
And sometimes one just giggles.

There is an eternal struggle between the spirit and the
flesh (Romans 7).
There is an eternal struggle between male and female
(Genesis 3).
There is an eternal struggle between the wheat and the
tares. (Translation-those on God's side and those
againt Him...good and evil...Genesis 3 and following)
There is an eternal struggle, not between the old and the
young because they get along fine, but between youth
and middle age.

Actually these are not eternal. They will be resolved
someday in the sweet by and by. But do not fool your-
self into thinking that all struggles will go by the wayside.

There are some struggles that are truly eternal...such as--

Chocolate or vanilla?
Cat or dog?
Cream or no cream?
Coffee or tea?
White meat or dark?
Fat pillow or skinny?
Window open or shut?
Air con set on high or low?
Stop a lot on car trips or never stop at all?

Ha! This is just the beginning of a never-ending
list of unresolvable differences. Let's see what
eternity does with those.

For today's Works for Me Wednesday I give
you three for the price of one.

We love our milk. We love our milk cold. I keep
glass glasses with handles in the freezer, then when
it is time to pour the milk I pull them out. Nice and
cold!

Moving on to number two...I keep a zipper bag in the
freezer (I'm big on the freezer today) that I fill with
the bread crumbs left over from slicing french bread.
I add to that crunched up crumbs from the bottom
of chip bags. There are always wee pieces of bread
at the end of a loaf. I put them in a bowl to dry
overnight and then crunch them up and add to the
mix. When I need bread crumbs for a casserole-
wa-la!

Number three is a hint from my husband. I asked him
last night what good household tips I could pass along
and his reply was, "Tell them to go to bed at the same
time as their husbands." Go figure! Happy marriage!

Psalm 92:1

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name,
O Most High....

Fun and fellowship was in abundant evidence at
our place on Sunday. We had over 90 at our BBQ,
and they were all having a good time!

I was slightly numb Monday, but am quite (somewhat)
recovered today.

Here are a few photos of the good time we had.

One of the chief bar-be-quers:

There were piles of kids. Here are a few having a swimmingly good time.

We can't get together as a church family without playing volleyball.

The Joy of God

JOLLYBLOGGER has a wonderful quote from The Divine
Conspiracy by DallasWillard.

We should, to begin with, think that God leads
a very interesting life, and that he is full of joy.
Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the
universe. The abundance of his love and
generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy.
All of the good and beautiful things from which
we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-
exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in
all their breadth and depth and richness.

You can read the rest of the quote here.

Consumed but not stressed (yet)

Every year we host a BBQ for our church. This Sunday
we will have about 100 people for dinner. It is a lot of
fun--we have the perfect setting for such an event.
We have a trampoline, a swingset with sand box, a large
homemade playhouse, a metal (watering trough) pool for
swimming, a huge yard for volleyball, basketball on the
carport and plenty of room for horseshoes, whiffleball
games and anything else that might show up. Don't you
wish you could come? You'd be welcome.

We sandwich our church summer activities with this BBQ in
May and then a Fun Day BBQ at another member's house in
August.

I love planning for company. Don't worry, I am normal and
I definitely can get stressed out, but mostly I just enjoy it.
I even like cleaning up afterwards. The biggest kick I get
is during the BBQ (or whatever people are over for) watching
people have fun at my house. I love to provide a place that
will facilitate relationships and enjoyment. And on top of all
that my kids love this so much they don't complain at all over
the hours of weed-eating, mowing, and general clean-up
involved. Our yard never looks so good. It will get at least
one other good clean-up this year because we are hosting a
weekend family reunion in July for my husband's family.

I suppose the gift of hospitality is on my list of God-given
gifts. But I don't have it to the degree that my friend
Donna Miller does. She told me once that she only dusts
when she has company. "Ha ha," thought I, "she only has
company 4 or 5 times a week."

I Peter 4:9

Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

I have to admit though that I was consumed (stressed?)
enough that on Wednesday I put the pork chops in the
oven at 4:00 and when I went to check on them at
5:30 I discovered I had forgotten to turn on the oven.
Oh well, the biscuits and scrambled eggs were good and
the pork chops fed us on Thursday instead.

Diligence is quite a word.

To continue working at something whether or not
it is fun, whether or not you feel that you are
accomplishing anything, but just because you
know you should is a hard concept to teach to
your children.

Yesterday I was talking with some young people,
friends of my boys, and they were telling me that
they never study. "School" comes easy to them and
they don't need to. This is not a discussion on
government schools but on student attitudes. I have
been ruminating on this through the night. It was
on my mind at 3:00 am, 4:00 am and even 5:30 am,
which is when I dragged out of my cozy nest for the
day.

I wish I'd been quicker on my feet. Those boys are going
to come up against things in life, eventually, where, if
they don't know how to study, or can't study, they
will either walk away without any attempt to under-
stand, or will quickly make up their mind with no true
understanding of the matter at all. I wish I'd made
just some small comment to this effect.

It would be awkward to go back to those teens now--
but what I will do is hit my own boys up again with
2 Timothy 15.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.

One cannot be diligent with the word if one does not
study. Fly-by-night does not cut it in the Christian
realm. Sure, if needed, I can fill in at the last minute
for any children's Sunday school class going, but it is
only because of the past years of study and struggle.

God is the giver of wisdom, but may He grant my
children the diligence to pursue that wisdom.

Works for me Wednesday

If you have prodigious amounts of laundry, as I do, you
might easily get discouraged over never seeing the
bottom of the clothes hamper. With a small farm,
sports, a husband who horseshoes and life in general we
have piles of stinky, dirty clothes. I have found some
ways to help me deal with those clothes that may be
helpful to others.

First, I had to develop the right attitude. I used to be so
discouraged over not seeing the bottom of the hamper. I
tried to do all the wash in one day and then would be so upset
when the first dirty piece hit the hamper. But when I began
to see the wash as an ongoing dance it became, almost, fun and
challenging to see how well I could do at it.

Second, I color code the hampers. If you have ever
gone from hamper to hamper gathering up whites only
to discover that you didn't really have enough for a full
load then this will work for you. I set aside one hamper
for whites and delicates (those are easily separated), one
for towels and jeans, and one for everything else. Now,
I can look in, see if there is enough for a load and go to it.
We are pretty limited on space and for a time I had the
hampers in the family room as part of the decoration. Now
they live in the coat closet. I will do whatever it takes to
keep this wash monster at bay.

Third, I have one great tip for those of you with sons that
have white baseball uniforms. The grass stains from
sliding used to be the bane of my life, but I have found
a solution. The Tide scrubber, a little battery run scrub
brush, does wonders. In about five minutes I can pretreat
the entire uniform with this and by adding in a presoak
time the washed the uniform sparkles...until the next
game (sigh).

Yesterday the towels out on the line were dry, I knew they
were dry, but I put off getting them in until, of course, it
started to pour. Oh well, life is interesting always!

Grandparents play such an important part in the
lives of children. They can assume many different
roles. They cheerlead at games; they provide a place
of refuge during the storms of life; they are a cuddle
spot; they are the setting for famiy gatherings. It
is interesting to note the different ways grandparents
relate to their grandchildren.

My father has, I think, a unique way of relating. He has
always been able to get to the level they are and just
plum be their friend. He has always related to my boys
especially as he would to anyone else he loved to be
with.

Kent was given a gift certificate to a local pizza place
for his 50th birthday. So, on Sunday night we took
the family, a famiy friend, and my parents out to eat.
It was providential, the certificate was for $55.00 and
the bill came to $55.68. We spent less that a dollar to
feed 9 people! Pretty good.

While there I was delighted to watch the family in their
relating to each other. They laughed so much that heads
were turning to watch. The conversation was jumping
back and forth, definitely more like a ping-pong ball
than a gentle stream. But what I really picked up on
was how much the guys, Kent, my three boys and my
dad enjoyed their time together. They are all just
good buddies. Age plays no factor in this equation. The
19 year old son got so tickled he almost fell backward
in his chair. There was just not enough time to tell
every story and listen to every joke.

What a good birthday, Mother's Day dinner it was.

But he who is of a merry heart has a continual
feast. Proverbs 15:15

Good blonde joke.

Yesterday my oldest son Joel shared this joke
with us. I can tell these jokes because I am
a blonde, well sometimes I am.

A blonde and a brunette were standing on opposite
sides of a river from each other.

The brunette yells to the blonde, "How do I get to
the other side?"

The blonde thinks for a while, then looks puzzled and
replies, "You are on the other side!"

Springtime is in full swing and so are our schedules.
This summer our family, 5/6 of it, is participating
in a mission trip to Mexico. We had a fundraiser
softball tournament Saturday to raise money for
the building projects we will be doing while we are
there. It was a long day and a lot of work. But what
a blessing. We want to take plenty of money for the
building project we will be working on and we made a
good chunk of it Saturday. We will be working on the
mission headquarters for Campus Crusades and on a
church that has a back wall but no sides or roof. We
will also be showing the "Jesus" film a few nights.

Anyway, between the tournament and putting together
a Mother's Day powerpoint presentation at church
for yesterday I was a wee bit tired. It was good
though, and we had so many people who gave time,
energy and money to make the tournament a success.
God has surrounded us with a wonderful group of
people, and we often thank Him for them.

Kent turned 50 on Saturday. Yesterday, when we
left church to get in the car, someone had put a
magnet on the back of it. It read, "Over the Hill
Driver." Ha Ha! We are going to pass that one along.

I had a fun conversation with my friend Ruth. She was
telling me about some of the odd people in her family.
She does have some oddities, I know her family and
well, some of them do push the limit. Her Uncle Punk,
in particular, refused to believe that man had ever been
in space. He lived next door to her and never had running
water. He only died about 5 or 6 years ago, so that was
quite unusual. Actually I have met Punk, he even used
to play fiddle with my grandpa, though I don't remember
that, I am only going by what my grandma tells me. If you
have ever seen the movie, "Where the Red Fern Grows"
you have seen his old car, he sold it to the people who
made that movie.

I told sweet Ruth that my family had some odder oddities
even than hers. I had a great-grandpa who was a stump
preacher, and he not only refused to believe that man
had ever been in space, he believed the world was flat.
The Bible talks about the four corners of the earth and that
was enough for him. (And my dad, his oldest grandson,
worked as an engineer for McDonnell Douglass and helped
design some of the parts that went into the spaceships.)
Great-Grandpa was convinced that the pictures from
space of the earth were fakes. And his wife, who lived
till I was 16 and was dearly beloved by me, smoked a
pipe and chewed tobacco till she died at 89. She looked
like an adorable dried-up apple doll.

Ruth allowed that I had her beat to smithereens. I didn't
even get around to telling her about the Fleetwood-Alsup
fued, one of the biggest fueds ever in the midwest.

As the old Quaker said to his wife, "All the world is queer
except for Thee and me and sometimes even Thee's a
little queer."

Something Epic is hosting the Christian Carnival 121
for the week of May 10.

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY

I love to have the front of my refrigerator clear
of all pictures and magnets. When I have something
that absolutely must be dealt with immediately I
always post it on the fridge; then, I know I will
take care of it soon so that I can see a clear space
again.

My 95 year old grandmother lives down the
gravel from me. She still lives alone, gardens,
cooks bunches and quilts. She also play a mean
game of High Five (a card game), although she has
been bummed lately because she is on a BIG losing
streak. She hates to be my partner in this game
because I am easily distracted and it requires quite
a bit of strategy. She is very blessed to have
2 sons and a daughter who also live on the same
gravel as she does. Plus she has my family and
me, her adoring grand-daughter.

She started a quilt this winter that had a gazillion
tiny pieces in it. She cut and sewed so many pieces
that she was ready to spit before she was done. But
it turned into a gorgeous purple and aqua piece of art.

Life is a quilt sometimes. It is all bits and pieces and
often we get so lost in the minutia that we lose the
big picture. We forget that a master quilter has
our bits and pieces in hand and is making a master-
piece out of them. It is important for us to take
moments out of our daily rushedness to see the work
that our Great and Holy Father is doing in and
through us. How stupendous that He allows us to
become a part of His program. Let me delight myself
in Him so that He may give me the desires of my
heart. (Psalm 37:4) The more I know Him, and the
more I love Him, the more my desires line up with
His kingdom plan. How exciting to see His kingdom
grow and come into fruition.

Yesterday the church had fun with Kent. Since
he will be 50 this week they passed the word
for people to dress in black. I knew ahead of
time so the kids and I all were dressed accord-
ingly. Then, he was left dozens of cards on the
"blessing board". It was just perfect, because
Kent doesn't like a lot of hoopla, yet it is always a
refreshment for the pastor to know that he is
loved and appreciated.

Crystal at Biblical Womanhood has a great
contest going for Mother's Day. The prize
is a nice baby carrier. Go to Mother's Day
Contest! to check it out.

Was it a compliment or not?

I was at a picnic today at a neighbors house. I sat down
next to a dear lady and she looked at me and said, "I
didn't realize that your hair was so red." Note: My
face was now a bit red too! I replied, "TeeHee, well
actually it wasn't so red until about 8:30 this morning."

Then she said, "You look so cute in those jeans. You are
really dressed appropriately." (Note: even though we
were at a picnic it was drizzley and in the 60's, so I wore
a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, jeans, warm socks and
tennis shoes. She, poor thing, had on white, picnicy
crop pants, a three-quarter sleeve shirt and sandals...
I guess I was dressed appropriately and I was very
comfortable.)

One time a date told me I looked "adequate." We were
going to a very fancy shindig and I had spent a long time
getting ready. He meant I looked "suitable for the
occasion." Some compliments I could probably do
without!

Girl Talk has a fun exercize for you to try. It will make
you giggle!

One of the most fascinating parts of parenting is watching
young people grow into their own faith. As my sons have
questioned our beliefs it has caused them to become
solid. I don't mean here our belief in a Father God, or
in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross, but some
of the "finer" points of doctrine. However, just because
they might be "finer" doesn't mean they are minor.

One of my 19 year old's friends, especially, comes from a
different theological leaning than we do. Matthew, the
friend, loves debate and questions Billy's stands on God's
providence, sovreignty, predestination and eternal security.
We have covered all this ground before as a family, yet it
is now becoming very pertinent and real to Billy. He is
asking the eternal question.

I have titled it this because this question is eternally asked
in these types of discussions. The eternal question is, "How
can there be both free will and predestination." We can only
tell him over and over that it is a mystery, and show verses
that say "whosoever" on one track and "chosen in Him from the
foundation of the world" on the other. We can show commen-
tary from many sources that again confirm it is a mystery.
But either you have to believe it or you have to decide you
will throw out any scripture that doesn't fit with either one
side or the other because you are only going to hold yourself
to one view or the other.

The love I have for the security of the believer is just that-
The wonderful security that it surrounds me with. I had to
be silly though with it and so I wrote a ditty for all those
who are otherminded. It can be sung to the tune of "Michael
Finnagin."

There was a man who was born againagain
He kept falling into sinagain
He'd repent and then beginagain
Poor old man who was born againagainagain

No offense is intended and I hope none is taken.
I also have a cute ditty I wrote for my kids when
they were little and taking their baths...I'll tell that
some other time.

I

My husband works at home and I have
discovered that this is the grace that God has
given me. In the past my sister and I have
often commiserated with each other because
she is in the same position. Not only do I have
the children calling for my attention, and not
only is the house calling for my attention, and
not only do I have a long list of people to contact,
errands to run etc. daily, I also hear many times
throughout the day, "Laurie, I need your help."

I never questioned my position as helpmeet. I
know the big picture, however, the day to day
could be discouraging. It could make one almost
envious of nice engineer husbands who work from
nine to five and have a commute of 30 minutes
each way. But, from the beginning, we have done
everything together. I audited seminary classes,
I help wherever I can in the church, we discuss
sermon ideas, I have even held horses in the past
to calm them down for shoeing. And, of course,
with our little farm, whenever Kent needs help,
there I am. (Especially now that the boys are grown
or nearly so.)

Today, I was going to clean the porch and then go
to town to grocery shop. I had a lot of laundry to
take care of, and of course the schooling that needs
to be accomplishedwas also in the mix. But from early
on Kent needed me in the furnace shed to help put
up insulation. And added to that major problems with his
e-mail account which we spent hours working on today.

At least the school work got done. And thanks to the
crockpot we had a good dinner.

But the truly blessed thing is that I am realizing more
and more that having a work-from-home husband
is part of the grace that God has given me. He has
providenced that my life would fall into these lines
and it is for my own good. I wish that I could have
realized this more deeply as a younger woman rather
than wasting my time wishing for more Me-Time.

And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Now I am trying to see how God has tied it all
together, and I am trying to see what it is that He
is building into my life through the peculiar lifestyle
He has placed me in.

The Thinking Mother has posted the 18th Carnival
of Homeschooling. There is a lot to delve into--have
fun!

Where do fireflies go when it storms? I wonder.
Why do ferns curl up the way they do? I wonder.
What is the difference between a peeper and
a bullfrog? I wonder. (I know one difference, you
can hear people talk when the peepers are peeping,
but when the bullfrogs get going you have to yell
to be heard...at least that is how it is at my house.
They are so loud they drive my in-laws from the
city bananas. They [my in-laws, not the frogs] refuse
to sleep with the windows open when they come to
visit. Don't even ask about how they felt toward my
guineas. Back to frogs for a minute. I don't know why,
but there are so many little frogs in my yard and
driveway this year that we can't avoid them. Everytime
we drive in or out, or if we walk outside in the dark, we
squish some. My aunt always told me that dead frogs
were just fairies that were pretending to be dead frogs
until you looked away and they could flit off. I keep
hoping one will disappear when I turn away, but it
hasn't happened yet.)

There are many things in this wonderful creation to
wonder at, to marvel at, to learn about, to ask about
and that is why this contest from Spunky is so exciting.
What better way to learn about creation than with
a good biology book and a microscope.

Spunky is giving away a Benz Microscope and
Apologia Biology Set this week. Click Here to get the
details.

I went to St. Louis this past weekend with the ladies
group from my church. We always stay at my very
gracious in-law's home. On Sunday morning, at the
breakfast table, I opened the community paper and
started reading at random. I came across one of the
funniest things I have ever seen.

Our hometown paper has a Letter to the Editor section
and they also have a Speak Out. Basically Speak Out is
an unsigned complaint center, complete with horrible
grammar. But it can be amusing!

But not as amusing as the Sound Off! in this community
paper. Consider the following:

On Sunday I was in the Home Depot parking lot
when a young man driving a white Ford Taurus at the
last second pulled into a space that I had been waiting
for. I am an elderly woman who grew up in a time when
respect for your elders was taught to children. I
wonder what this country is coming to.
I had to park at the far end of the lot. So
instead of buying a new filter for my furnace I bought a nail gun and flattened all his tires. I hope you read this sonny boy so you know it was me!

After chuckling over this one, everyone wanted to know
what I thought was so funny, so I read it to them. Then,
when I got to the next one I was laughing so hard I could
barely read it.

Never in my life have I seen politics reach the low
point that it has in S-------- County. You've got a
divided City Council that seems more interested in
their own egos than working on behalf of the city.
I'm sick and tired of all the backstabbing
and name-calling. My mother always told
me that if you don't have anything nice to
say don't say anything. Obviously that was a
lesson that these scum-sucking morons missed.

By the time I read the next one to the girls I was laughing
so hard tears were streaming down my cheeks.

I live near Highway K and Royallvalley Way and
last Friday after watching a movie at the Great Escape
Theatre I was driving home when I was abducted by
aliens. It was really weird. They were in a large
spaceship that looked like the Goldenrod Showboat.
They made me play the part of Curly in their
production of "Okalahoma!" They stole my credit
cards and then released me. I called the mayor
of Dardeen Prarie but she said I live in O-Fallon.
So I called the mayor of O'Fallon but she said I
live in Dardenne Prairie.

Maybe these seemed so funny because of the sleep
deprived state I was in at the time. But I was tickled,
and the girls became tickled with me, probably out
of sympathy for my temporary insanity.

Being a good pastor's wife I had to bring in some
spirituality to the conversation. I quoted Matthew 7:3.

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's
eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye."

I cut the article out to take home to Kent and the
kids, I knew they would appreciate such funny stories.
But, and here is where the face is turning red, maybe
even approaching purple, when I was reading it to
Kent I read the introduction to the articles and they
were all made up.

Now, I wonder, do I tell the girls, or do I let it go its
merry way?

Oh Glory! The lightning bugs are out. Usually they
don't arrive 'til the middle of May, but tonight when
I pulled into the driveway with princess daughter
she yelled (yes this princess yells sometimes), "Oh
look, fireflies." And she flew out of the car and into
the yard. I wonder if they will stay 'til the end of June,
as usual, or if, since they came early, they will depart
early???

But, oh, my poor peonies. Yesterday, while I was
in St. Louis, there was a big hail storm here and it just
tore my poor babies to pieces. They were big and
gorgeous this year.

While I was in St. Louis my mom-in-law told me that
the big, huge, gigantic St. Louis used book sale was being
held. I talked the ladies I was with into going, but they
only gave me 40 minutes to look. I didn't even make
it through all the children's tables in that amount of time.
But I did get 17 books for $5.00. It was the second to
last day of the sale and they were half off their already
rock-bottom prices. But the girls promised me that if
our annual shopping trip to St. Louis coincides with the
sale next year they will give me half a day there. That
will suit me fine because I am not a happy shopper in
malls...although I dearly love my friends and keep a smile
pasted to my face to keep them from realizing how icky
I feel. Actually the smile is pretty real. We have a good
time together.

Tomorrow, when I am more caught up on my sleep I will
tell about the huge faux pas I committed. I didn't even
know I had done it 'til hours after it happened. I may
not be able to get the nerve to tell it even here, but I
probably will because it is very, very funny.

"Do you think there will be fireflies and peonies in heaven,"
she asked plaintively. "Of course, you silly," said her wise,
theologian, pastor husband.

As believers, we are in the Christian walk for the
long haul. Of course, it is God that gives us the grace
and who has promised to complete the good work He
began in us, but Tiller of the Backyard Garden has some
interesting thoughts on being a slow-burner in our living
of life.

Reformed Musings has some encouraging words on
the trend of moms in the workforce.

Queen Guinevere tries to teach Lancelot a lesson in
'umility and gets caught in a terrible trap. Humility,
what a powerful word. Life can be very humbling and
can seem most unfair to our kids. Maybe that's because
it is rather unfair most of the time. To teach our
children to stand up and fight for what is right and
yet to have the humility of heart to accept what is
often doled out unfairly is quite a balancing act.

Tyler, our 16 year old, can spot an unfair situation a
mile off. His baseball team, especially, is filled with it.
He's not even concerned with fairness to himself, but
unfair treatment of others. He is irritated to the deep
parts of his soul by a coach who gives favors to one or
two. Sometimes those favors have come Ty's way, but
his sense of fairness runs so strong that he won't take
advantage of them.

It is hard. Hard to be gracious in a situation where we,
from our "mature" perspective, agree with our son 100%.
(I'm not just being an overly sensitive mom. Tyler gets
to play the every game the whole game. It is the attitude
the coach has towards the players that is at issue here.)
What Kent has told Tyler over and over is, "Don't be
surprised when you have a coach that is unfair, just be
grateful when you come up with one that is good." He also
tells our oldest that about his supervisors at work. "If you
get a supervisor that knows what he is doing, and that keeps
a good tab on what the workers are up to, then be surprised
and thank God for it."

It's a good time for me to remind the boys that certain battles
are worth a good fight and others aren't. And it is a good time
to look for the grace that can build humility in our lives, a
humility that is pleasing to our Father.

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble. James 4:6

Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble. Proverbs 3:34

We will ask God to keep us from being like the men in
Psalm 17:10

They have closed up their fat hearts;
With their mouths they speak proudly.

Job 12:12 "Wisdom is with aged men,
And with length of days, understanding."

I ran to show this to Kent a few minutes ago because
next month he turns 50. This has to become his
life verse from now on! Actually, many years ago
Kent and I came across this quote and we have clung
tightly to it ever since.

"Maturity is worth all that comes before it."

Maybe this is so near and dear to my heart because I
am so extremely short. I never got the babysitting jobs,
my very tall best friend did...even tho' I was sure I could
do a better job (smirk). I don't mind being short, in fact,
I rather enjoy it, but I didn't like it when people felt I
wasn't capable of something because of my size.

Kent and I have had some very funny experiences with
this. Once I was pregnant with child no. 2 and they didn't
want to let me on to the golf course because no one under
15 was allowed. Kent was the recipient of many angry
looks whenever I was pregnant. I was Wanda the Walrus
and looked so young. He was definitely considered the
bad guy. And I didn't even have baby no. 1 'till I was 23.

I have even had people think he was my grandfather. He
went grey rather young. (Not because of me! Maybe the
kids had something to do with it.)

But, really, I love being in the "over 40 club" and I look
forward to being in my 50's. It is fun for me to begin to
look a little mature. And on top of all that, the older I have
become, the more confidence I have gained, both in myself,
and most of all in God's providence for my life. Maybe I
don't take myself so seriously, maybe I am more relaxed,
maybe I have seen God's hand work over the years in such
perfect ways, whatever the reason maturity is definitely
worth the energy and non-wrinkles of earlier years.

Goal oriented is a good description for most of us.
We all want to accomplish. When my children were
younger I was so frustrated one time that I told
Kent that my to-do list for the day was to wipe
every snotty nose I saw, change every diaper that
was wet or dirty, make sure everyone was fed, swipe
up every spilt glass of milk and get all little ones to sleep
before midnight. That was it, I could do no more.

I read a funny story, long ago, about to-do lists. A son
asked his mother why his dad's list was long and only
had a few things marked off, but hers had everything
marked off. She laughed and said, "I only put things
down on my list after I've already done them." Brilliant.

Today I have only one goal.

That Christ may dwell in [my] heart
through faith; that [I], being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to
comprehend with all the saints what
is the width and length and depth and height-
to know the love of Christ which passes
knowledge; that [I] may be filled with
all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

Sure I hope to do my 4 loads of laundry, cook
chicken and dumplings for the gang for dinner,
finish all the home-schooling that I feel needs
to be accomplished, dust, vacuum...list without end.
But the only really-truly goal, the thing I will ask
myself if I accomplished when I lay in my bed
tonight, will be- Did I realize the full love of God for
even just a moment? If I did, then, you know, it
was a really worthwhile and lovely day.

My sister, mother and I joined forces to hold a
garage sale in St. Charles, at my sister,s home,
this past weekend. Living "down the gravel"
makes holding a garage sale in Mayberry a bit
hard. But Becky lives on a busy street, so we headed
north to have it there.

My share of the profit is going towards a Mission
Trip to Mexico that my family is taking this summer.
We are going under the auspices of Campus Crusade
and are very excited. However, that is a post for a
different day.

A telling incident occured at the garage sale. My boys
and their boy cousins grew up playing "war" with pellet
guns. Hours and hours were spent at this game. But
they are all grown, or nearly so, and we decided it was
time to let the pellet guns go.

When a mom with little girls would come up to the table
we overheard these types of comments, "Oh, that is
horrible, they look so real." But when a dad with boys
would come up to the table, we would hear the following,
"Oh, wow guys, look here, we need these!" I was reminded
of Blest With Boys and her Boy-Raising Manifesto.

God created men and boys with such a desire to
conquer and protect and fight. Let us as women not try to
shortcircuit that original purpose of God. Let's channel
it, as mothers, into good and holy action. I remind my guys
daily that they are the protectors, the conquerors, and that
my daughter and I are in their care. And then I pray for them
to be filled with the wisdom, grace and mercy of our Lord as
they go about their manly duties.

Life in Mayberry continues. You may think that
from the fun I poke at my little community I feel
removed from, or better than them...I don't. But
I do see the funny side of life in a small community.
I suppose having spent my first 30 or so years in
suburbia I catch the funnies more quickly.

Last night at the highschool baseball game a giggle
swept through the bleachers where I was sitting.
I turned to see the source of the giggle and it was
a little boy with his pants pulled down, just going
about his business. I have been told, since moving
to Mayberry, that one of the easiest ways to potty
train a boy is to let him "go" off the front porch. I
guess that could work when you live down the gravel
and on 40 acres with no neighbors in sight, as we do.
I do know that the men in my family consider the
entire 40 acres we live on as their own personal
powder room.

Since I can't be beautiful I want to look interesting.
That has always described my view of my outer
being. So, that being the case, today I went and
got a tizzy perm. 16 year old son said, "It looks
good." 8 year old daughter said, "Well, you're not
exactly beautiful." She is rather brutally honest...
we are still working on the "if you don't have any
thing nice to say, don't say anything at all." Actually,
I like it though, and I think Kent will too. The other
two boys probably won't have an opinion.

This reminds me though of the eternal struggle between
the outer and the inner man (woman in this case). The
struggle between wanting to be the woman God wants
me to be and the pull to be what the world presents as
alluring.

Girltalk has some good thoughts on modesty and what pleases
God as far as the outer person is concerned.

The books Every Man's Battle, by Stephen Arterburn and
Every Woman's Battle by Stephanie Ethridge are
invaluable resources in today's society. When I first
peaked into Every Man's Battle, I thought to myself, "I
don't think so, my precious boys aren't going to read this."
But then Kent devoured it and told me that it was the book
he needed when he was a young man. It has made quite
an impact on our three boys (ages 16 and up). We don't
even have TV, but you can't escape what you are surrounded
with day by day.

If you're curious about the Gospel of Judas check this out
for some good solid information.

When Jesus said in John 6:51, "I am the living bread,"
He said something that is incredible. Earlier in chapter
6 He said, (vs. 32, 33) "My Father gives you the true
bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who
comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

What does it mean to feast on Jesus? It means to be
spiritually connected to Him, to have union with Him.
In chapter 15 of John, Jesus portrays it as the union
of a vine and its branches.

How to be connected in an intimate way with Jesus
always comes back to the same things. God's Word
and prayer have to be the backbone of our days.
Isaiah 66:2b "But on this one will I look: On him who
is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at
My word." Have you ever trembled at His word? He
is our closest friend, but He is also the Creator and
Sustainer of the universe.

Psalm 16:8 "I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved."

The "Just So Stories" (I had to use quotation marks, the
italic isn't working on this page today) by Rudyard Kipling
are just delicious. I've always enjoyed reading them to my
children. They have to be read aloud; the cadence is lost if
you don't. I must have skipped over "The Butterfly That
Stamped" in my past readings. It is funny. If you want a story
that has a good commentary on male-female relationships
this is it. It also give some good ideas for loverly statements
to make to that one who is the "Regent of your Soul".

Looking Forward by Amy Scott has some wonderful
truths about prayer and the proper perspective we
need to gain in our view of God and His work in our
lives and in the world.

Because my husband is bi-vocational he seldom has
a scheduled "day off". However, we do try to keep it
lighter on Mondays since weekends can be exhausting
for a pastor. Today Kent has been cutting wood, doing
a little office work and most important of all, showing
our 16 year old son how to change the oil in the car.
Tyler does not have a bent towards mechanics, but
by teaching him this one basic do-it-yourself job, Kent
is setting Tyler up to save hundreds of dollars over
the years. Plus it gives them male bonding time.

Yesterday, after all the Easter doings, Kent took Hattie
out for pizza. Eight year old daughters really hold their
dads in high esteem. What a God-given opportunity
for him to share his love for her, and his hopes and
dreams for the princess he sees her becoming by
God's grace. When they came home I was told we had
to save the pizza box. That was beyond my comprehension.
It had gunky cheese and crumbs all in it. What a relief
to find out we only had to save a little label from the box.
I happily cut it out. It is not easy living with packrats.
I can not pitch out more than the rest combined can bring
in.

I Corinthians 15:17-22

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile;
you are still in your sins! Then also those who
have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If
in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are
of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ
is risen from the dead, and has become the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For
since by man came death, by Man also came
the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

If you change the trip to Savannah to two trips
to St. Louis, the cinnamon lattes to strong black
coffee, the Russian novel to various other titles,
and the trip to the hospital to planting a garden
with princess daughter then Ten Spring Days
sums up my life lately.

Spring is delicious...but so much work. The new
life that springs up around us reminds us so
poignantly of new life in Christ. May you have
a blessed Spring.

Life in Mayberry Part 3

Even though we only moved 3 hours south of St. Louis,
our growing-up city, the difference in talking patterns is
amazing. We hadn't been here too many years when
Kent asked a friend, Danny, to come help him do some
work on our house. Kent said to me, "I am so confused.
Danny's eyes said, 'Yes', but his words said, 'No'." What
Danny had said was, "I don't care to." In St. Louis that
means, "No, I don't want to." But we came to learn that
here in Mayberry, A/K/A Doniphan, that means, "Yes." We
would have said, "I don't mind."

I kept getting strange looks from my friends when I would
tell them I lived on a rock road. Jackie especially would look
befuddled. Later I learned that I actually lived "down the
gravel." Jackie thought I meant that I lived on a cobblestone
road. My kids have all grown up knowing we lived down the
gravel. They do not make the faux pas that I do, lucky them!
See, it is true that children who are immersed in a foreign
language will learn it easier than their adult family members.

I also didn't know that in order to look cool here you had to
"show out", I grew up "showing off." Not that I ever ended
up looking cool. My eight year old daughter told me the other
day, "Mom, Dad is cool, but you are, you know...(not cool)." I don't
worry over such things, she will grow to be a best friend to her
mom, I am confident!

I went to overnighters, or sleepovers, as a child. Here there
are bunking parties. The list goes on, but I will quit here.
It is interesting that the confusion caused by the Tower
of Babel builders continues to this day, even in so little
a distance as 200 miles. Won't it be tremendous to be with
the Father of Communication in Heaven, and to never
be misunderstood again.

The 15th Carnival of Homeschooling is up and
running.

JOY

The ladies group in our church is titled JOY.
It's the familiar acronym for Jesus, Others and
You. We even sing the JOY song (which I think
is a little silly) every time we meet. Last night
I hosted the meeting at my house. The hostess
always get to choose a theme for the food. The
theme last night was to try a new recipe-to
represent NEW LIFE- or resurrect an old
recipe-to represent, what else, the RESURRECTION.

I thought it was cute, and the food was great,
however a few of the ladies here in Mayberry,
a/k/a Doniphan, turned up their noses at my
asparagus casserole...I thought it was delish.
These ladies are my dear friends and I do
thank God for their place in my life.

Thoughts on Taxes and Things

Today I overheard an explanation by my husband to
son #3 on homeschooling and taxes. He explained that
we pay taxes to government schools, and then we
turn around and we buy books and supplies in order
to school at home. I was reminded of the movie we
were watching last night.

In Kidnapped Allen Breck is explaining to Davy Balfour
about the highland taxes. He said, (and I paraphrase to
some extent) "Davy, my people pay taxes, and heavily
too, to your King George. And then they collect a second
tax and send it to the true king over the water."

Davy asked, "They pay two taxes? I call that noble!"

Allan responded, "Noble? They are staunch, Davy!"

"Staunch" rates right up there with "Stayed" and "Staid"
as one of my favorite adjectives.

May the Lord keep us staunch in our quest for teaching
our children.

Pre-training

Yesterday as my husband and I were helping our
daughter plant a garden he reminded me of a very
crucial child training principle...pretraining.

A perfect illustration of pretraining occurs when Kent
goes to shoe a horse. Some owners have their horses
trained beautifully (often far better than they train
their children). No matter what unforseen event takes
place, those horses are calm and if they begin to act up
they are quickly brought into line by the owner.
However, there are other horses who are just unstable
critters, and when the heat is up nothing can be done
with them. Kent carries ACE with him, which can calm
them down, however, the horses will sometimes be just
too difficult to be dealt with.

As parents, the more situations we can prepare our
children for ahead of time the better and calmer they
will be when those situations arise. Talking is the key
here. Let them know what you expect of them when
a grownup greets them, or when they are asked a
certain kind of question, or when they are in the
store with you. We can never know everything they
will be faced with, but the more they are prepared for
the easier it will be for them to jump from knowing how
to handle a known situation to knowing how to handle one
they haven't been presented with. They will just have
more to work with.

Of course, there are going to be times when the little
cuties cause you to turn 17 shads of red. Just laugh
and remember the huge amount of grace God has shown
to you. They are just little plants and have a lot of
growing to do.

Pet Peeves

One of my pettest of pet peeves is plastic forks that
are so cheap that their tines bend when you try to
stick them into the food you are attempting to eat.

Another gripe I have is when a "writer" tries to
continue another writer's series. For instance. Gene
Stratton Porter, who wrote Freckles, and many
other books, was a wonderful writer. (You do need to
screen a few of her lesser known books because she
was a bit prejudiced towards some people groups.)
However, her books are wholesome, interesting and
fun. But, when her daughter tried to continue with some
more books using the same characters, the very fiber of
the characters change. It is so disappointing. I have
found the same with other writers also. Ho Hum...I
guess the lesson learned is to stick with the originals.

However, if you enjoy children's literature, you should
check out Semicolon with their focus on children's
poetry this month.

http://semicolon.reachcoop.org/index.php

Joel, Jobs and College

My oldest son Joel is somewhat handicapped. He had
encephalitis when he was 4 years old. He was in a
coma for several days and paralyzed on one side for
even longer. After three weeks in the hospital he came
home with a seizure disorder. He had brain surgery
at 16 and had a major portion of his brain removed.
All of this has certainly affected him. There are many
lessons, heartaches and blessings that came from all
of this, but today I want to concentrate on the issue
of college.

Coming from a family that has always pushed college,
I never doubted that all my children would get a higher
education and be professionals. However, as Joel
grew into his teens, it became obvious that this would
be a very difficult thing for him to do. He never really
told us that he didn't think he could do it, but we could
sense a fear, or hesitancy, within him.

One of Joel's greatest attributes is his work ethic. He
loves to work and he likes to work hard. He takes any
job he is given seriously. He began to set his sights on
factory work. We were disappointed at first. But as
time went on we began to see the value of it for him.
He has been working at a factory that is a 40 minute
drive from our house for 3 years now. He shows up at
least an hour early everyday and never misses work.

Another of Joel's good character traits is that he loves
to save money. He is so good at this that at 22 he has
just had a small house built and only owes about $10,000
on it. He will pay that off in less than two years. So,
God willing, he will own his own home outright by the
time he is 25. Pretty good for a boy that struggles with
life. Plus he has no other debt.

Through all of this we have learned that college is not
for everyone. There are certainly many other avenues
of life that are open. To be able to actually begin work
at 18 or 19 can give a non-professional man a huge
headstart on earning and saving money.

Through this we learned, as always, thatGod knows best
and will guide as you let Him. He has certainly shown
Joel the way. All that he has gone through has made him
a wonderful person, and has opened his eyes to eternity
and the promises of God for his future there.

Turkey Calls,

This is the time of year that turkeys are calling
incessantly at my home. Whether or not these
are real turkeys is up for discussion.

There are four basic types of calls that the boys
use. The first is a mouth call. These live full time
in my refrigerator next to the penicillin for the
animals. They fall out every time I grab for the
butter. The second is a type of box that is
rectangular with a handle. (You can tell that I
am not the one who uses these calls.) Then there
is one that is round and filled with a resiny substance
that you rub with a type of stick. The fourth is less
expensive, it is a call the boys do with their very own
mouths.

Day and night all I hear is blublublublublu. The only
reprieve is when they are in the woods listening for
the critters. I love DST because now I don't have to
get them up at 4:45 A.M. I can wait till 5:45...when I
am already up myself.

All this calling reminds me of the many verses in Proverbs
about the "Chattering fool." Maybe if they actually
ever got one I would feel different. It seems like a lot
of noise and work for so little return. (They have the
deer thing down pat as all the mounts in my family
room prove.) Of course, I love the time they spend
in the woods, and all the planning and the family
socializing between the brothers is great.

Maybe it is just that the constant gobbling noise is
turning me into a chattering fool.

Seasons

Psalm 104:19,24,31

"He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows
its going down....O Lord, how manifold are Your
works! In wisdom you have made them all....May
the glory of the Lord endure forever; May the Lord
rejoice in His works."

Spring is always a good time to consider the seasons.
One kindergarten teacher in our community tells this
story about a little boy she was screening for school.
She asked him what the four seasons were and his
reply is priceless. "There is deer season, turkey
season, gigging season and bow season."

Only in Mayberry.

Honestly, since I have lived here outside of "Mayberry"
now for over 14 years I also have come to have a
different set of seasons than most people. There is
peeper season. It begins in February usually. You
leave your window open on a night following a warm
day and you will hear a few peepers (little frogs)...and
as the days grow into March and April they grow in
number and intensity. I think they must be like the
crickets, the warmer it is the faster they peep. At the
beginnng of April is bullfrog season. They are loud.
Tyler, when he was about 6, stuck his head out the door
one night and said, "What's that scary noise." It was
bullfrogs, of course, they are a bit overwhelming.

In the middle of May comes firefly season. First a few
pop up, and then by the beginning of June it looks as
though the whole sky has landed in the field outside
my bedroom window. But they only last till sometime
in July.

Turtle season is in June and following. That is when
the turtles all cross the road. We judge our car trips
by how many turtles we see crossing.

In August comes gollywhomper season...some call it
snakedoctor season. I don't know their real name but
they are the huge dragon/damsel flies that buzz around
the yard during the hot muggy days of midsummer.
There will be thousands of them in sight at one time.

Of course there is fly season and mosquito season, but
they are not fun to think about. In September, towards
the end, when it begins to cool a little, is glowworm season.
The little glowworms are fun because they disappear right
before your eyes.

There are other seasons too numerous to mention. Oh, and
by the way, my household is also regulated around deer,
turkey, and bow season...I am never allowed to forget those
important times. More on those later.

Sunburns and Such

Yesterday caught me offguard. I almost never travel
in the summer without carrying sunscreen with me,
but we were at a softball tournament and we all got
sunburned. My boys, especially, are quite red. Oh
well, I guess I just didn't expect the early April sun
to be so potent. Time to refurbish my tote bag. I did
have water, frozen in juice bottles, and snacks, to save
on eating out...but the lawn chairs and the sunscreen
that I don't leave home without, hmmm.

I was agitated yesterday, as I am so often, because the
list of things to do was so long. I read somewhere that
whatever a man is doing he feels it is the thing he is
supposed to be doing. So, if he is washing the car, he is
comfortable in his mind that he should be washing the
car. If he is napping, ditto. But a woman, no matter what
she is doing feels she should be doing something
else. If she is doing laundry, she should be weeding the
flowers, or vacuuming, or cleaning out closets or whatever!
She is never comfortable in her mind.

Sometimes when I know I am not going to be comfortable
no matter what, because the number of jobs is just way too big,
I ask Kent for help. I just show him my list and let him
choose what I should do for the day. That way I know that
I am doing what will bring the most peace to the home,
even if I have to step over piles of laundry on the way to
the door. He won't fuss over what he has told me to ignore.
He isn't a big fusser, but this is a method that works for us.