Fall Festivities

I love fall. I love the cool, crisp mornings and evenings, the beautiful golden hues found on trees and in the fields. The fall inspires me to get up early to make eggnog lattes for my husband, and drink hot tea every morning. My house is filled with yummy aromas because I get in the mood to bake sweet breads and muffins; And, best of all, big pots of soup that bubble away on the stove or in the crockpot all day. I like to get up with the kids and sit in front of the fireplace all snuggled together watching cartoons. I just love fall. One of the other things I love about fall is going to the pumpkin patch. We took the kids last night, and it was so much fun! We took a hay ride out the the pumpkin field where Caleb picked out way too many pumpkins and lined them up on the hay trailer. Amelia experienced her first taste of fresh plum (and ate a whole one!) and Nattie love running around the hay maze. It is great being a parent and watching my children experience the things I loved, too, as a kid. Yes, I love fall.

Two

It seems as if I should have a good excuse for the silence over the past month, but I don't. Just the normal stuff, three little kids, a husband, and a home to care for have contributed to my lack of posting. So here is a little peek into our wonderful birthday "bash" we had for Nattie. Our dear sweet girlie turned two a few weeks ago and we had a very nice evening at home celebrating as a family. It was a much welcomed change from the usual big parties we've had in the past. Daddy brought home a bouquet of balloons and I made a strawberry cake (fresh strawberry cream filling and whip ceam icing, it tasted like strawberry shortcake!). Then, we skyped with family in Oregon for the opening of her presents. It was relaxed and we had a nice, small, mess at the end. :) Nattie's birthday marks the beginning of the birthday season for our family. So now begins the marthon to Aunt Shell's birthday on New Year's with six birthdays in between. In the meantime, here is the photo documentation of the day:

Fasting and Feasting

I am going to take a small break from Proverbs 31 and share a really neat experience our family had this week. We are part of a great small group here in our new home-town. They have been a great encouragement to us since moving here. However, many of the families are in a time of transition; opposite to us, they are moving away. One family for school, another to learn about church planting, and another for career. Other families are trying to decide if this is where they should remain, or if they should move back to their home-towns, to the mission field, etc. It is had to have just made all these friends, only to lose them! But we are all still together for a few more weeks. And in this time of transition, many of the details are hanging as loose ends. Homes need to be sold, arrangements made, God's will heard, and more. Having just gone through a big move, our family understands these anxieties. So the group came up with an idea. We would fast. And pray. And take time to be still before the Lord. We made a list of all the prayer requests and it was e-mailed around. Each family chose either Sat or Sun to fast and pray. We would then come together on Tuesday for a meal together and talk of what the Lord had done through our time.

I must admit, it was a bit awkward at first. Neither Jason nor I had really fasted before. We weren't sure what to do exactly. But as our tummies grew hungrier, we realized those pains reminded us that we should be hungering after God as much as we were for food in those moments. We put all the kids down for naps and sat down to pray together. It was a great time of prayer, one of the best we've experenced as a couple! It was a great time of lifting up friends and family to the Lord.

I think one of the things that felt the best was the sense of community we all had. Here was our entire group, although not together physically, we were together spiritually. All of us on a personal quest to hunger after God and His will for our lives. It was a time of trusting, and releasing control. Of letting all our concerns and fears go, and taking hold of the peace that only HE can bring! It was a sweet feast we had on Tuesday. We filled our tummies together and spoke of all the things we'd learned during our time of fasting. So fasting and feasting. That was our week. And an amazing one it was!

Proverbs 31:14-15 - Food!

Proverbs 31:14-15 "She is like merchant the ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls."

First off, where are my servant girls? Haha, don't I wish for the help! These verses demonstrate the woman's responsbility in her home to provide nourishment for her family. Here she is going out and negotiating good food for her family to eat. In the context of that culture, it probably meant she was using things she had made to trade for food to save her family money. In today's culture, I can also negotiate food for my family through shopping the sales and using coupons, always getting the best price for the items we need. Also, the fact that she is bringing in food from afar may indicate that the food is from other cultures. I suppose it is a good thing to have a varied diet and provide your family with many types of food, not just the same ol' routine.

Not only does a virtuous woman bring the food into the home, she also gets up early to begin her day and prepare the food. This is a hard one for me! My husband gets up to get ready for work, and I often sleep in until the children get up. I know that my day should start "while it is still dark". Not so literally, I take this to mean, before the hustle and bustle begins in the household. It is important to take time each morning to begin in prayer alone with our heavenly Father. This is something I have wanted to have the discipline to accomplish regularly, but have not yet done. In addition, we are to prepare food for our family. I know my husband does not necessarily want a full hot breakfast every morning, but he has expressed how much he loves it when I get up with him and make his lunch for him to take to work.

So I ask myself: Am I doing a good job bringing food into my home? Am I doing all that I can to try and negotiate the best price for a wide variety of foods? What can I do better with regard to getting up and spending quiet time with the Lord in the morning? How does my routine need to change to fulfill the Lord's desire that I am preparing food for my family each morning?

Rear-Ended

Well, I wrote this back in April, just after we had moved. I found it in the drafts and realized I hadn't posted it because I was waiting to make sure insurance was all worked out for liability sake and all. So better late then never, here is the account of when the kids and I were rear-ended by a semi.

It has been an exciting month for us. From hospitals to moving and now a car accident to top it off! Two days ago, (April 20) I was out running errands and had just finished up at the last stop, Costco, and was headed home. Halfway home, I was stopped at a red light getting ready to turn when I heard a huge crash from the back of the vehicle. My flip flops flew off my feet and it took a few moments to realize my car was moving. I was so stunned that I had a hard time finding the brake pedal. It's funny what goes through your mind in those moments, and my first thought as I was dumbfoundedly groping with my foot for the brake was, "my brake pedal is gone!" I then turned my head to see what had hit me, saw a flat-bed semi and the driver had a crazy look on his face. Must have been him. Things seem to go in slow motion and it seemed like forever before I found the brake. Once I did, I stopped just off of the road on the far side of the intersection and turned around to look at the kids. I asked Caleb if he was ok, since he could tell me yes or no, and he said "yes". I asked if he was hurting anywhere and he said, "No". I told him to just stay there (like he could move, he was strapped in!) and got out. The truck driver pulled off the road just ahead of me and came running over. He said, "I'm sorry, my brakes wouldn't work!" Then he looked in my SUV and saw all the kids. He started shaking and rambling, "Should I call the police, yeah, I should call the police! Are they all ok? Well, we have good insurance. Oh, I'm so sorry." Then he got on his cell and called the police. I took a second to find my cell phone, which had flown onto the floor and come apart. I put it back together and called Jason to tell him I had been in an accident, he said he'd come. Later he told me his first thought was, "this better not be her fault!" Haha. Thanks for the confidence, hunny! When the police arrived they gave me some paperwork to fill out and asked if anyone was hurt. I realized my back was hurting a bit, so the kind police man offered to call an ambulance. I ended up going in the ambulance to the hospital with Amelia just to make sure my back was ok. Jason brought the other kids and met us there. My car was towed off the scene to be assessed for damages. So the long and the short of it is this, my back is quite sore, but the kids all seem to be fine (praise the Lord!!). Here are some cell phone pictures of our SUV. The green truck parked in front is the one that hit me.

Current Update:
We are all seemingly ok! My SUV had about $10,000 in damages but was repaired and seems good as new (amazing what good autobody shops can do!). My back has been doing ok, and the kids never showed any signs of injury. The Lord is good! During the time my SUV was in the shop, we had a rental van, and actually loved it. So I think now we are going to try and replace Jason's car with a van someday thanks to an extended "trial run" with one.

Proverbs 31:13 - She Works With Eager Hands

Proverbs 31:13 "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands."

As I read this, I feel empowered! Wait, empowered you may ask? Yes! Here the woman is "selecting" her wool. This means the decision is hers! Since, as we learned before, her husband is able to trust her and because her interest is in his good, she is given responsibility. This responsibility is to select (and I am assuming purchase) things her family needs. In this case, she is finding clothing materials for her family. Woohoo! So if I don't like that one shirt my husband is always wearing (not true, just an example), then I can go buy him a new one! Hold up. I don't think that is what this verse is saying, nor would it be responsible or caring. If my hubby likes his shirt, and if it is decent, then it would be a waste of our money and possibly hurtful of his feelings to replace it. Instead, we need to keep in mind that I am only given the freedom here because I am trusted and my husband knows I have his best interest in mind. Equally so, when I am at the store and see a great new pair of shoes, and buy them even though I don't really need them, I am not using our money in a responsible way. When I act this way, I am not being the kind of woman mentioned here, who is carefully selecting items her family needs.

Ok, so we have the freedom and responsibility of finding necessary items for our family. What about the second part of this verse, "and works with eager hands"? When my son wants something, say a shave ice from the stand down the street, I use it as a reward. So right now, we have a calender and he gets a sticker each day when he helps with a chore. Once he gets enough stickers, we get to go to the shave ice stand. I have never seen his little hands so eager to pick up toys, clean the windows, or help with the laundry. I know he can almost taste the yummy shave ice as he works. We are to always work with that same fervor. Whether it is dishes, laundry, or mopping floors, we are to go about it all remembering the prize at the end is a family who is well cared for. Ultimately, we are working for even more than our family. Colossians 3:23 tells us, "Whatever you do, work at it with all our heart, as working for the Lord, not for men".

So I ask myself. How am I treating the wonderful freedom and responsibility I have been given to gather items my family needs? Do I take it lightly and purchase unnecessary items, wasting the money that God has provided? Am I working with eager hands? Do I look forward to all those dishes and laundry, knowing my family is taken care of because of me?

Proverbs 31:12 - She Does Him Good.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this! The last couple of weeks have been filled with visitors, VBS, and general craziness. So anyway, here it is.

Proverbs 31:12 "She does him good and not evil All the days of her life." NAS

On the surface, this one seems a little bit self-explanatory to me. I am to do my husband good, not evil. Hopefully that is not something I need to be told to do! But since God decided it needed to be said, maybe we women need to be reminded. What about the times when I am upset at him? Am I justified in leaving the dishes for him, or in leaving that poopy diaper on my daughter just a few minutes longer so he can change it when he walks in the door from work? According to Proverbs 31, nope! We are to do good to him ALL the days. There are no circumstances listed here. No matter what is happening in our lives, I am to be my husband's helper. This even goes for how I speak about him when he is not there. We all have husbands who are real people, right? So that means none of them are perfect. But does it do well by my husband to chat with my best friend, mom, or other confidant about his weaknesses? Even if there are things that really bug me, it is not helpful to reflect my husband in a poor light to others. So what do we do to keep ourselves from tearing down our husbands when we really feel like we need to talk it out? Is there anyone to whom we can talk? God, of course! He wants to hear from us even when we are struggling. This is where our prayer life becomes a vital part in helping us do good and not evil to our husbands. I often find that if I begin to pray with the intention of complaining about someone, God will often change my heart and I will instead find myself praying for that person! I will leave my time with the Lord with a fresh attitude and no longer feeling the need to tear my husband down to someone else. So I ask myself a few questions. Are there times when what I am doing is not helping my husband? How do I need to work on purging the "evil" out of my behavior toward him? Are there times when I need to shut my mouth to others and instead come before the Lord about my husband?