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?

Proverbs 31:11 - Trust

"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain." -NAS

"Her husband has full confindence in her and lacks nothing of value." -NIV

As I read through today's verse, I am reminded of the importance of trust in a healthy marriage. In the NAS version, it says, "the heart of her husband trusts in her." The heart is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. It is the center of our being. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do." When our heart is involved, we are vulnerable! And in Proverbs 31:11, we learn that our husbands should trust us with his heart. He should trust us with his inner-most being, the part of him that will affect everything he does. If my husband trusts me with his heart, and if his heart affects all he does, then it is of utmost importance that I do all I can to preserve this trust! His success is tied to this trust, as confirmed in the second part of verse 11. "And [he] lacks nothing of value", or "And he will have no lack of gain." When my husband is able to trust me with his heart, he is able to succeed. Likewise, if I am not trustworthy, it will contribute to his inability to succeed. This gives me a sense of my importance, and reminds me of my worth as his help mate! It moves me to ask several questions of myself. What am I doing to earn my husband's trust? How do I behave toward him that encourages this deep trust? Am I doing all I can do to preserve this trust?

Now, what does the Bible say makes us women who are worthy to be trusted? The behaviors and qualities listed in the rest of Proverbs 31. Stay tuned...

An excellent wife, who can find?

I have been thinking much of the identity of this blog. I have been blogging for about a year now and mostly it has contained the facts and figures of my growing family. Occasionally, I have gotten crafty and blogged of my cooking adventures. As we embarked on the adventure of moving away from all family and friends, I feel that I have become more focused on trusting the Lord. I have been feeling that maybe I should share, here, a bit of my heart and what the Lord has been teaching me.

In my effort to become the wife God has called me to be, I am going to challenge myself to study Proverbs 31:10-31. I will go verse by verse and share here what I have studied and ideas to implement this wisdom into my life. Today is verse 10, "An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels." I know that only God can make me into an excellent wife. So that is why I write today of all the ways I have found to help me to grow into the wife of Proverbs 31.

The past few months have been a time of growth in faith for me. After moving, Jason and I were able to quickly find a small group which includes several other young families. We have been blessed beyond words by the amazing people whom we can now call friends! Each of the families has a fire and passion for the Lord, and encourage us in our walks. I have been especially impressed upon by all the wonderful ladies in the group. We seem to share common interests in maintaining a warm home, providing solid nutrition for our families, raising our children to love the Lord, and in being the wives God has called us to be. Through these ladies, I am encouraged to raise the bar, so to speak, and examine my weaknesses so that I can change and grow into the wife God wants me to be. I have also been reading a couple of books lately that have further helped me to examine the areas in which I can grow as a mother and wife. One is "A Woman After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. Before moving, we started this study in a mom's group I attended, and since I didn't get to finish before we left, I decided to read the book on my own. I have been challenged to be wholly dedicated to my walk with the Lord. Building into my daily routine time for the Lord, both in prayer and in study of His Word. I have learned that supporting my husband in prayer is vital to his success, and mine! I have also been encouraged to view my position as a mommy as a most precious ministry, as I lead my children toward the Lord. I am by no means perfect in any of these areas, but am able to strive to be better every day! My goal? I want my husband to look at me and think of me as being worth more to him than diamonds.

Spring Has Sprung?

In South Central Idaho, spring is trying to make it's appearance. But we had snow this morning for this second time this month. Apparently, winter is not ready to give up just yet. Regardless, the days have been warm enough to get outside here and there. I guess it's been a while since I last posted. The quick version is this: the kids and I were rear-ended by a semi truck (everyone is ok!) while sitting at a red light, the whole family went through a 'bout of the stomach creepie cruds, and Amelia turned 4 months old! All of the kids are gaining skills daily. Caleb continues to amaze us with his ability to reason and his extended vocabulary. The other day, we were all sitting the the living room and he found a toy with some scrapes on it. He says to us, "Look, this toy is damaged." And when we got the rental mini-van while our SUV was in the shop after the accident, he jumped in and said, "I LOVE our new vehicle." He sure is picking up words like crazy. Natalie on the other hand is now 19 months and is starting to find her voice. She loves to repeat words after us. Some of her favorite words are "dada, uh oh, pee, cracker, and milk (gook)." Amelia is growing and can now roll both directions with purpose. She is grabbing toys, playing with her feet, responding to her name, and starting to teeth. I am trying to treasure every minute with each of the kids, because these present moments are quickly turning into memories. And here are some recent pictures of the kids from one of those warm days.

Easter Eggs

While the girls were napping, Caleb enjoyed dying eggs for Easter. The pictures tell the tale...