Perfect Day Perspective

Perfect Day Perspective by Rachelle Phipps There is nothing in this world (no struggle, no temptation, no amount of money, recognition, or fame) that could ever tempt me to leave my post as wife and mother! God has blessed me with the absolute perfect day!!! I don't deserve it: *Reading poetry (The Highwayman--my absolute favorite) to the kids, on the porch, for school...when people in other countries can't read and enjoy books....maybe they've never even seen a book, much less had someone to teach them. * A brown haired little beauty with a fishtail braid, and a bright swimsuit, when a little girl in another country wears a man's t-shirt and searches through a dump to find scraps to eat. *Two rambunctious boys searching for illusive robins' nests...when other boys (maybe orphans) in other countries don't have time to be children because they walk miles to search for water, carrying their orphaned baby brother who carries a smeared water bottle, too.... * Seeing the warm delight in the big blue eyes of our miracle baby as he is surrounded by toy cars on the patio...when other couples are trying to conceive, or struggling to keep a pregnancy to term, while one American abortionist, is on trial for murdering 40,000 babies in his "sick" career, some of which survived abortion only to be killed after being born, with scissors.... * Needing to quickly go outside and slipping my feet into our oldest son's flip flops, thinking they won't fit, but it's like Cinderella and the glass slipper.... I fit my son's flip flops...? When did this happen...? And why do we get the privilege of raising him for almost ten years, so far, when people in other countries fight for their children to survive? ...Who walk miles to find medical care for the baby, only for him to die on the way there? * Shedding a happy tear when i read a sweet and caring text, from a man I love, on an iPhone that I don't deserve...relishing that text along with my coffee, which would be considered a delicacy in another country where they don't even have clean water! * Having the time to write (my absolute favorite thing in the whole world, probably) because my man works hard all day to protect our country, while Obama tries to lower military forces and funds our enemies... *Surrounded by fiery sunshine and a green carpet of grass created by a loving God...who this nation denies exists, defies with their rebellion, and turns their back on in our government and schools..... I can usually put this stuff into words but not today.... There's just nothing that compares to the freedom of being a stay at home mom, homeschooling our children, and serving a God who hears and sees and cares and saves.... I know there are women who wish they could do exactly what I do every day, and what i have grumbled about in the past. Not anymore! When things happen in your life to bring you to your knees, no one says you're going to respond perfectly in every situation...but if you learn from the struggle and you can still have a "perfect" day, amidst the trials and struggles, like I have had today, then you will know that God LIVES! You will know that he breathes his Word into your life, enabling you to weather every storm! You will know that he gives good and perfect gifts to his children exactly when they need them! You will know that He moves in the trials and wishes you'd hear him if you'd just listen and see! You will know that little things don't matter anymore, but that eternity is in the hearts of those who love Him and are committed to him! You will know that even the hardship, and heartache, and disappointments, and tragedies don't compare to your destination, and they happened to you, to bring you to the place you are, where you get the PRIVILEGE to enjoy a perfect day, when you actually deserve hell!!! Better is ONE day in God's house, than a thousand elsewhere!!!! Why can't we see God's grace in this country? Why can't we look past our trials and realize that people in other countries would love to have our struggles? If we were living every day, looking for food and water, we wouldn't have time to sin, or sit in church asking how we can stop sinning... If we lived out the Great Commission we could be considered the "Beautiful Feet" that brought the good news, to people who have never seen a Bible, and who may have never owned a pair of shoes, much less seen a closet like mine, full of them. If I went on a missions trip and wore some of the shoes I have or the blingy earrings I love so much, I'd be seen as a Princess! Beautiful feet??? Are you kidding me? Not even close! I'm not a princess. I'm selfish. Guilty as charged. Blessed beyond belief. And I sit here day in and day out crying because of my troubles, asking God why they happened to me, and forgetting that I get to breathe! ....much less have a perfect day. Maybe this isn't the perfect day, after all. My heart is suddenly filled with grief, conviction, and guilt! No. This isn't the perfect day. The perfect day would be living like the Jesus of Nazareth, that I say I follow , but care about wearing red nail polish on my toes. It would be walking into another country (barefoot like i deserve) who's never heard the gospel of Christ, and leading people to the One who fills and satisfies the soul and maybe bringing them some shoes for their soles. The perfect day would be seeing men, women, and children, calling out to God for salvation the way I did when I was 19, because I doubted stories in the Bible, that they've never even had the privilege of reading.... What is wrong with me? I came to Christ because I doubted the words in a book; The Book, that people in other countries are prohibited from owning and could be killed for possessing. The book that some people huddle around, reading by a dim candle, underground, so they don't get caught. And I'm 19, surrounded by fifteen million bibles, repenting of my sin of doubt and unbelief, of a book that people in other countries have to share and pass around. And I have like five bibles of my own, in five different versions, and I can't let go of personal grievances against me, when my Bibles tell me exactly how to do that....I'm worried about grievances against me, while I'm surrounded by my wealth and greed, and "the perfect day"....when people would think they were in heaven if they had my day. Unfortunately, they won't have anything close to "my perfect day" because they have never heard the message of Jesus Christ and will burn in hell. And the only reason they didn't hear it is because I sat in the lounge chair my husband gave me for Mother's Day a few years back, like I've sat it in ever since, and nursed my hurts, my anger, and the offenses against me, in my bright orange bikini, with a jar of clean water. With ice. "W hoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "H ow beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things !" (Romans 10:13-15 NASB)

August

Terry...a follower of Christ, a soldier, a husband, a father, a friend...loved,
respected and honored by the many who knew him. Missed by all.
r

Abbie riding Hope

Me leading cousin Carson on Hope

Us Girls in the kitchen! Left to right: Ashley, Me, Cierra

Playing in the hot tub

At the Seattle Aquarium: Left to right Zane and I, James and Sheldon
Cierra, Clayton with Abbie, Ashley and Emma

Sheldon, Emma, Abbie and Zane

Abbie and Sheldon (with a blackberry face)

Daddy and Sheldon

Stair step kids! Sheldon looks to be catching up to my petite
Abbie

abbie and I

Wow, what a month! It's been exciting, but also hard. So much has happened that I don't even want to write about it...but post, I must...it's been too long.

The first week in August brought much of James's side of the family for a small family reunion. We had my mother in law Sherri, my father in law Jim, my SIL Ashley and her two children as well as one on the way :), my BIL Clayton and his wife Cierra. It was a great time! We visited the Seattle Aquarium, the Pacific Science Center, The Space Needle, and The Museum of Flight. The guys all went Golfing twice and one of the times, Zane went along with his own Junior Golf set and apparently he has a great swing! :) Us Girls (and Clayton) all went to the Pike Market and had a glorious shopping experience! I bought, some very nice Lavender, Egyptian Geranium and Vanilla Bath oil, some Organic Muscle Rub for James, many things to taste :), candy for the kids and a few other things! :) Sherri surprised me with some AMAZING raw Blackberry Honey! I love honey! My dad was a bee-keeper when I was a baby. Once he joined the Army, he had to let that go, but he always had MANY flavors of honey in the house! :) It was hard seeing everyone leave and knowing that it will be awhile before we see them all again!

I have many pictures to share from the reunion so I'll get those posted as soon as I can.

The next two weeks in August I spent being very down with Migraines that were so bad that it felt like I had the flu, plus a cold that was mostly a cough, and other "things" to complicate the matters. Then a bad eye infection. I was perfectly miserable and became very behind in my housework.

On the 20th I got a phone call early in the morning from LaNette. She's a good friend of mine that I knew before I was married, and got to know even better while James and I were stationed at Campbell. Her husband is retired Army. At the church we went to, we got to know Gina, an Army wife who's husband worked with my husband. She is LaNette's best friend and a good friend of mine. Anyway, LaNette called to tell me that Terry, Gina's husband had been killed during a training exercise in Colorado, when his Blackhawk crashed. It was a very, very sad day/week/two weeks for everyone who knows them. It was just so untimely, so unthought of, so horrible....and so unexpected. It was Terry's last trip before retirement, having served for over 22 years (I think). He left Gina, their son, Braden (8) and their daughter Emma (5). His children are so young and they had already sold their home and were planning to move to Kansas. Terry had, had his retirement party as well. He always dreamed of owning his own ranch and Gina was looking forward to their new life outside the Army. They were more than able, financially to make his and her dreams come true and all came to a screaching halt. Three other soldiers were killed, as well. Prayer is appreciated for all of them. James knew all of them. Very sad...

Terry and Gina were members at the church we attended, while stationed at Campbell. Terry was devoted to Christ, his family and to the Army. He was honored with two memorials and his funeral. He was one of the best pilots in the Army, and will be greatly missed by the whole Grace Bible Church family and his affiliated Unit in the Army. If you would like to listen to the message that Pastor Mark Totten gave at church, the following Sunday go to: www.gbctn.org Go to Messages and search for "When Life Throws You a Curve". It was AWESOME! It is a great sermon for anyone. It will help you learn how to deal with the unexpected or just with things that don't make sense. I encourage you to listen!

So, I think we all had a hard time functioning, initially. I imagine it will take a very long time for Gina to.

We bought all of our hay for the winter. A load off of our minds. Hope is nice and fat this fall, so I'm sure she will do especially well this winter.

The children are doing well in school, so far. Zane started his first grade and reading is about 1/2-way clicking! I cannot wait until it fully clicks for him, so he can enjoy it more. Abbie is doing preschool again, this year. She turns 5 in April, so she will start K next fall. In some subjects (Math, Phonics, Science) she'd be ready right now for K, but in others (Reading and Writing, she isn't ready. I think waiting until next fall will be best and I bet she will fly easily through K! :) She is very, very intelligent and a very fast learner! :) Sheldon is doing a little preschool. I am working mostly on colors, shapes, numbers and letters. He has a very short attention span and causes a little disruption and distraction for Zane so, we are working on a play schedule for him and Abbie. What I have been doing this week, is he and Abbie have a playtime in their rooms alone, and then later in the day they have a play time together in Abbie's room. I use these times to help Zane with Reading and Math, when he needs the quiet. I am still not too fond of Art, and am doing it once a week again but plan on doing it twice a week in a little while. I just don't have the patience for Art. I love the idea of it, but when it comes down to it....ugh....I just don't enjoy it. At least they are getting it once a week and the projects are meaningful! :)

My friend Amy is getting stationed here and will be here in the middle of September, which is very exciting! :) She has a three year old little girl who doesn't talk well, so I think she and Sheldon will really hit it off, since he doesn't talk either! LOL!

Oh.... :) My friends at church! I am so happy with our church and the wonderful women I have met there! They are all treasures and I am learning from them each time I am with them! :) We are all starting our Ladies Bible Study on Sept 29th! It's a Beth Moore on Esther! I am SUPER excited! I love that book of the Bible, so I am excited to get started. I always become a lot closer to the women in our churches when I participate in the studies! :)

We have a lot of Blackberries this year, so I made some Jam and some homemade Icecream with them! Yummy! :) Our garden has done really well, although I am sick of cucumber, and no one likes the summer squash but me. We got about 12 gallon freezer bags full of corn. I blanched it all and it is super good! I also blanched a lot of green beans and the other day I saw lots of new beans starting, so I should get a lot more!

My little sister, Naomi (who was pregnant at the same time as my middle sister Sarah) miscarried this month. She was 6 weeks pregnant, I think. Everyone was so excited and looking forward to the double baby showers and just the fact that both sisters were pregnant at the same time. It was so sad for her, since it was her first pregnancy and everyone was so thrilled. I talked to her a few times on the phone to give her some support. I know how hard that type of thing is and people forget very quickly how hard it really is. :(

Naomi did say that she wants to try again, so Lord-willing she might be pregnant with Sarah again, after-all! :) A new pregnancy is always a healing balm after miscarriage, so I hope it is God's will!

I have a feeling that Sarah will be having a girl! :) I hope I am right! She wants a girl really bad since she already has a boy and only wants two children! Keep your fingers crossed!

Well, I don't think I have much else to report on. James is doing fine at work. He's trying to get ready for his Board in October and Lord-willing again, maybe he will be promoted to e-6. He already does the job of one and really deserves it, so we are praying for that!

Have a glorious fall, everyone! And I'm sure all of you can understand how happy I am for winter to come! I'm sure it will be an easy one here in Washington! I feel so much better about it! God Bless!

Tut Tut

Tut Tut

• Jun. 11th, 2009 at 6:02 AM

Well, it finally rained after like three weeks! It was so nice! I have had to water the garden everyday so it should be nice and wet, now. We have an abundance of Spinach, Leaf Lettuce, and just got done harvesting all the radishes. Besides those, the other plants are doing great. We have White and Red Potatoes, 4 Tomato plants, Red and Green Pepper (we hope these make it to the end of the season...they are pretty little still), 4 rows of corn, Bush Green Beans, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cucumbers, Patty-pan summer squash, acorn squash, Butternut Squash, and as for herbs, I have Dill, Parsley, Basil, Chives, Thyme, Tarragon and Marjoram. We are pretty happy with our garden so far and I am keeping it weed free! I was finding slugs in my lettuce so we put a shallow pie pan of beer next to the lettuce. 8 or 9 slugs died happily while floating in the beer! :) Then we had trouble with the ants eating little bits of things and bought marigolds to randomly plant in the garden and they are staying away.
We had been getting slightly annoyed with driving 40-50 minutes to church, so we had kind of thought about trying to find a new church. I was very worried about not being able to serve in AWANA as a leader for the simple fact of the drive, the gas prices, and the fact that AWANA is during the winter and there is no way I can make that drive in the dark on icy roads. So, I was just stressed out about that and worried that the kids wouldn't get to go because of all that. We were annoyed that most of our Sunday it seems like we are driving, and that by the time we get home we are starving. I took the kids to the park in McKenna on Wed. last week, and on the way back I saw a sign for McKenna Community Church. I turned and went to see if it was an open and operating church...much to my happiness it is! They have a little park there, and the outside reminded me so much of my old church in Idaho. So I got out to read the sign and low and behold, they have AWANA there! :) They will also be having VBS in July which I REALLY wanted my kids to go to. Anyway, the church was open because a boy was mowing grass so I went in and grabbed some flyers. There was one for a Family Fun Night, that they do every Thursday when AWANA isn't going on. They have outdoor games, fellowship and a BBQ/Potluck. So, the kids and i went on Thursday and we are going to go today! James couldn't make it to the last one because he had to work late but he is planning on coming tonight. We went to church there on Sunday----(which is why we weren't at church, Sarah). We loved it! Sheldon would consistantly cry at Emmanuel....like, shrieking....which he had never done before. Well, this past Sunday he didn't utter a sound when I dropped him off BOTH times! I couldn't believe it. I think he was scared at the other church because there were so many people. He just walked right in and started playing at this one. The other kids loved their class, too....not that they didn't love their other one, but you know... Also, I forgot to mention that the added bonuses of this church are these: it is THREE miles from my house....there are several military wives and about 80% of kids there are homeschooled....there about 100 kids there....and probably half of the kids are very mature (it seemed like) teens, and the other half kids my kids age. All seemed very nice. I already made several friends and I only went twice! :)
We liked our old church, but in practicality it just wasn't working. And gas prices are going up. Another thing...my friend Brandi and her husband have been wanting to go to church with us, but said it was too hard for them to make the drive (she lives a mile away from me). Well, she came with me this past Sunday and loved it, and it is only 4 miles for her, so it is working out for both of us! :) So, praise God for that!
Two more days of school and we will be out for the summer! Hallaluliah! :P
My father in law is driving up for a visit (from KY) and bringing some of our things that they have had in storage, and a flat screen Plasma tv that my sister in law didn't want anymore! Another good thing, because we hate ours and would never be able to afford a new one right now!
Then August first we are having a family reunion (a small one) here at our house. My sister in law will be coming...her husband, Randy just left for Basic Training last month, so it will be nice for Ashley to come over and spend some time with family. She has two babies and one on the way, so she will need a distraction by August. She will be 8 months pregnant when she comes (also from KY), so pray that everything goes ok and that she can come. I have never seen her kids! :(
I've been mowing my heart out, and sprayed weeds the other day...lots of yard work to do.
James is in Cross-fit right now, a very strenuous work-out that he goes to, that the Army pays for ....I think he has like 5 weeks left of that, but will be able to be an instructor and use it for PT at work. He is getting very muscled up. I liked him before and I hope he doesn't get too beefed up! :) I like men with slender, slightly smooth-muscled arms. I'm not into the beefy look, but he looks wonderful right now! :)
Life is good right now. I am getting a lot done....being very productive and just enjoying my summer! :) I hope you guys are too!