~ GALATIONS 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ~
This year, instead of working on a fruit of the spirit alone, I decided to invite my friends to do it along with me. Several were interested and so I began a new facebook group just for us! :) I have been doing one fruit per year, from 2002 to 2010 and finished Self-Control last year. I didn't do well at all in that area. It was a whirlwind year in which so much happened. I didn't always have the best responses and immediate attitudes. Eventually though, God would correct me and I would change my attitude but it wasn't immediate like I wanted. I am back to Love, now (which I did so long ago in 2002). I am looking forward to this year's study. Love brings together all things, encompasses all things and lifts all things up. I am praying for such strong revelation in my spiritual life this year, as I study love, that all the other fruits will be easy for me in the coming years.
Love is so huge. The Bible tells us that without love we have nothing. I feel daunted as I even consider trying to do a word study on it. My Bible concordance is so full of verses on love that it is overwhelming. The Blue Letter Bible website I enjoy using has over 300 verses with the word love in it in the KJV, and over 500 in the NIV. There is no way that I can even begin to tell you the magnitude of God's love for his people but I may be able to help us to understand how we are to love, with some select verses that we all probably know, and some that we may not know.
Each January as I do my new studies, I always begin with asking myself some questions. Some that I hope to cover this year are:
WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO LOVE?
WHAT INHIBITS LOVE IN MY LIFE?
WHAT KEEPS LOVE FROM GROWING IN MY LIFE?
HOW WOULD GOD HAVE ME LOVE MY HUSBAND?
MY CHILDREN? MY FRIENDS? MY NEIGHBORS? MY ENEMIES OR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE ME?
HOW DID JESUS LOVE?
HOW WOULD GOD HAVE ME LOVE HIM?
HOW CAN LOVE HELP ME TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL AND SHARE MY FAITH?
You may have more great questions we could add to this list. Feel free to do so! :)
In my basic word study using just a Webster's dictionary, you find the richness of love, the importance of it, and the fun of it. This is not even going into the different forms of love in the Hebrew and Greek, and which forms are used in select verses! So, I will begin with a basic word study and study of sub-word definitions taken from the actual definitions for love.
LOVE AS A NOUN: what love is:
1) Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (a good definition describing love in the family setting-parents, children, extended family).
2) Attraction based on desire, affection and tenderness felt by lovers (great definition of the love between spouses).
3) Affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interests (friendship).
4) The fatherly concern of God for man (how God loves us).
5) Brotherly concern for others (neighbors, enemies).
6) A person's adoration of God (how we love God).
7) Unselfish, loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another (basic love which encompasses all things-putting ourselves last).
LOVE AS A VERB: how love is shown:
1) to hold dear
2) to cherish
3) to like or desire actively
4) to take pleasure in
SOME SUB-WORDS SELECTED FROM ABOVE, GIVING DEEPER MEANING TO LOVE:
AFFECTION: tender attachment, fondness
ATTRACTION: the action or power of drawing forth a response. A force acting mutually between particles of matter tending to draw them together and resisting their separation. The relationship existing between persons that are not naturally (or involuntarily) drawn together. I love these definitions as they remind me of the devotion we must have, in love, as well as the spontaneity, that often occurs between people! It is what makes love, fun! And not just between a husband and wife, but also among friends. It shows God's love, for love! :) It shows why Christ died for us! He died for us to draw forth a response from us all. Without the attraction there is nothing! :) Isn't this a wonderful and perfect thought? It shows that we can choose to ignore attraction but that it is hard, as the above definition states when it says, "resisting their separation". The author of love and of our Salvation, obviously understands pure and perfect love! Oh, that we might! :)
ADMIRATION: A feeling of delight and of astonishment
ADMIRE: To marvel at and to think highly of.
BENEVOLENCE: Disposition to do good, an act of kindness, a generous gift.
DEVOTION: An act of prayer or private worship. Dedication and loyalty.
DEVOTE: To commit by a solemn act of dedication. Attachment to an object, person, or to God.
DELIGHT: To take great pleasure, to give joy or satisfaction to.
ADORATION: To worship or honor as a deity or as divine. To be extremely fond of.
CHERISH: To hold dear, to feel or show affection for, to keep or to cultivate with care (repeat: WITH CARE ....as a gardener), to nurture, to harbor in the mind deeply.
To me, personally, I feel that the definitions for Cherish and Attraction best describes love to me! :) The beauty of love is amazing, for sure! :) Books are written about it, songs are sung, lives are given for it. It holds together marriages and families, friendships and communities. It teaches, it measures, it is worked for and strived for, it is highly regarded and highly praised. It is considered a blessing, considered in traditions and in mission work. It is everything to basically everyone, everywhere and the ROOT of it, is from God! God IS love! And He shows it in the over 500 times it is mentioned in the NIV translation. Here are some mentions of it....from God's Holy and Fully-inspired, precious and life-giving, WORD:
1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 Jo 4:10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1Jo 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1Jo 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1Jo 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1Jo 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1Jo 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
1Jo 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
1Jo 4:21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1Jo 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
1Jo 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
As we see in First John, God is obviously love! :)
Christ speaks in Matthew on the importance of love:
Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
Mat 5:44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mat 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Mat 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
Here are just a few of my favorite love passages (some are long, some are short):
Deu 7:7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
Deu 7:8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
Jhn 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
Jhn 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
Jhn 15:3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Jhn 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Jhn 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Jhn 15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
Jhn 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Jhn 15:8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Jhn 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
Jhn 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
Jhn 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Jhn 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Jhn 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Jhn 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Jhn 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
Jhn 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Jhn 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.
1Cr 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-
Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Col 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Col 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Col 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
1Pe 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
Tts 2:3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
Tts 2:4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
Tts 2:5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
JENNIFER DAVIS SAYS:
1 Corinthians 13:2
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I AM NOTHING.
1 John 3:15
Whoever does not love ABIDES IN DEATH.
I wanted to focus on what happens if you don't have love. There is a reason I wanted to do this study! I have felt like I didn't have love. I have felt like I couldn't show love. While that may not be true and may be a lie I have believed, I need to see what it really means to not have love. It means wasted time, wasted efforts, and ultimately death. I want more for my life!
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TRACEY DUNN SAYS:
Here is something from this evening.....Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:25 tells us if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
We all know that developing the fruit of the Spirit takes diligence and determination. So many times it seems that a tiny incident can take us from the love walk. When this happens it seems that we can literally see the fruit of peace, gentleness, long suffering just falling off of us.
God, our Father, is LOVE! From love all the other fruit comes forth. We first must have this agape love, this unconditional love that the Father has.
"walkinginfruitofspirithtm.com"
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This doesn't even come close to examining all the verses on love! There is no way to properly explain to you exactly how to answer the questions I stated above! That's why I need you ladies from my facebook group! This study will take a long time (and we have a year, plus the rest of our lives), to give practical ideas on how to live out these verses! :) Let's pray for and help each other this year!!! :) God bless you!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Physical Touch from God? Is It Possible?
Physical Touch from God? Is It Possible?
Here I am again with the crazy urge to write something that I just have to get out! I pray that God would give me the words to write what's been on my heart recently, in a way that would encourage someone. That's all I care about in my writing: to encourage my friends to follow God more closely and in practical ways. The Lord knows that I am all about practical! :)
In our Ladies Bible Study this week, one lie we can be led to believe in marriage is that we need a husband to be happy....or that we need our husbands to be a certain way, or do certain things, and in a certain way, for us to be happy. The truth that the author of our book (Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) shares, is this: "Happiness is not found in (or out of) marriage", "There is no person who can meet our deepest needs" and "No one and nothing can make me truly happy apart from God".
I would like to expand on this by using my own examples and by also using some information from the book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I am not at all intending to misquote anything in that book....I actually don't even own the book. I can remember a lot of what is in the book and I am going to use my own take on it, just to show you how God has used it in my life. I want to drive home an awesome truth that I have recently realized. I think that this could be encouraging for a lot of wives, especially military wives, who's husbands are gone. I began to realize this truth while James was in Korea but I didn't fully comprehend it until now, and I HAVE to share. Hang onto your seat, Donna! :) I SOOO love you....and you'll realize why I just had to say this just now, once you read this!
I want to give some background on the Five Love Languages, just in case someone doesn't know anything about them. Feel free to add anything to this in the comment section if you think of something.
Gary Chapman has done some studies and concludes that everyone "feels" love in one of 5 ways. He calls them languages. You will feel most loved if someone does one of the 5 for you. You feel least loved and the most upset when this language is absent in any relationship, ie: child/parent, spouse, friends, etc.
These are the 5 Love Languages:
Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch
I will give some examples of each of these, in case you are wondering, and so that if you have never heard of this you can discover what yours is....or what someone else's is ( a child, a husband, a friend, or whoever). You can tell what your love language is by realizing what you do when you want someone to feel that you love them. You will usually show others that you love them, in the exact same way that you yourself feel loved.
Affirmation- You will feel most loved through: Talking and sharing, getting letters, receiving compliments, a meaningful card or phone call, praise, when someone truly listens to you, when someone takes the time to really talk and understand you.
If you feel this may be your love language, you can be sure it is, if you feel most annoyed, irritated, or unloved if something like this happens: You get the cold shoulder or the silent treatment, you are spoken to harshly or talked down to, you are belittled, you don't receive phone calls from people you love, someone breaks correspondence with you....the list goes on. What probably hurts you most are what people say or how they say it. This is my son, Zane's, love language so I have to be very careful what I say to him and how I say it.
Quality Time- You feel most loved when: someone takes the time to be with you and to do something you enjoy, spends time with you (it could be anything---sitting on the couch with you, going walking with you when you know they'd probably rather not go walking,etc). It's going that extra mile for you and making you feel loved and important by sacrificing their time for you.
You will probably feel unloved if this happens: The person spends too much time at work, working overtime when maybe your finances don't really need it, the person would rather spend time alone or with other friends (in excess), than take the time to be with you, the person doesn't include you, etc. This is my daughter, Abigail's, language. Playing barbies with her, cooking with her, or just spending time doing anything with her is what makes her feel loved. You can literally feel her heart warm, when you make the time for her.
Receiving Gifts- You feel most loved by: receiving tokens of the person's love for you, knick-knacks that tell you the person was thinking of you (on the trip, or at the store), a picture drawn by your child, gifts large or small, roses, chocolate...all that stuff. A meaningful or appropriate gift speaks volumes in this love language.
You will feel least loved when the person never gives you anything, forgets your birthday, anniversary, or another important event, or gives a gift that is not in your taste. But usually in this love language, any little thing from anyone, makes you feel loved and cared for! :) I think this is my mother-in-laws love language because she always gives the best gifts and they are always exactly what you want! :) And she remembers what you say that you want! I am afraid to say that I am a horrible gift giver.....she can attest to that.
Acts of Service- You feel loved when someone takes the time to do something for you that you hate doing. It's usually the dirty jobs, but it can be anything that makes your life easier such as: watching your kids so you can have a break, doing your dishes and laundry, taking out the trash, taking care of stuff before you have to ask them for help, not procrastinating on stuff such as projects in the home that you can't take care of, or even something that you just can't do but would love to have done, and in a timely manner.
You are probably most irritated and feel unloved when you are feeling overwhelmed and no one cares to lift a finger, or when no one even offers to do anything for you that needs done. You may be a very organized person and tend to manage time well but oh, do you feel loved if someone gets to the job before you do! :) At this point, you look at the empty trashcan, clasp your hands together and say, "Oh, thank you, so much for doing that". This is 1/4 of my love language....and sometimes it pushes to 1/2, depending on the busyness of my life at the time. Now, if you give me a HUG after you do something for me, ....well, that is TOTAL love, since my main love language is Physical Touch!
And the last one is Physical Touch- you feel most loved when you get a hug or a kiss from the person you love, a hug from a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a pat on the back, holding hands (especially when it's not convenient to do so), when a friend grabs your hand when you are upset, and says, "Let's talk". It can be a back rub. It is most definitely taking a minute to stop and touch you, instead of passing right by like you're invisible. It's when they make a slight detour to the kitchen sink while you're doing dishes, before heading on their way down the hall. It will greatly irritate you if you have to constantly go to the person to receive this type of love language. In doing so, you will feel like you are smothering the person, and that's exactly what you are doing. You're trying to tell the person what you need, and you probably do it without realizing it. You just want the person to reach out to you on THEIR own accord, not yours. Otherwise, you feel that you won't receive it unless you initiate it and it is very frustrating. This is probably true for all the love languages, but since this is mine, I know the dynamics of it.
You will feel unloved especially from the "cold shoulder", and especially when that happens after a disagreement. Withholding physical touch on purpose, is devastating to you. Absence of the person (such as during a deployment), is particularly frustrating. A child who doesn't like hugs or to be held. It's easy to tell in children since, socially, they haven't learned to cover up their feelings, as well. Just because the child won't hug you doesn't mean he doesn't love you....it just isn't his love language and you must find out what his is. Adults will "put up" with your hugs just to be socially acceptable but a child will not. Sheldon's love language is physical touch so we mutually give each other many hugs. He loves to sit in my lap and "must" be tucked in complete with two kisses and one very big hug. I think this might be why he nursed for so long and why I had trouble weaning him. He loves to be held. He loves me to hold his hand. He doesn't like to be away from me, or anyone he loves. He loves snuggle time. Sometimes I just swoop him up and hold him close and he doesn't mind. This is how I know his love language is Physical Touch.
Now, onto what i really want to write about! :)
Without wanting to disrespect my husband, I will just say that this has been a struggle in our marriage. He just does not feel love in the same way that I do. Nine times out of ten, you and your husband will not share the same love language. This has been frustrating for me. However, God is powerful and God can fulfill all of your needs no matter what they are. There are no barriers with God. No impossibilities. And this is where I hope to encourage you!
While James was in Korea I turned on Christian radio and caught the tail end of a program where Gary Chapman was the host's guest. He was promoting a book of his and I think it was called The Five Love Languages of God. I'm not certain on that and I have never read the book. It's something to that effect, anyway. At the end of the show he was talking about how God shows love language to us in the exact way that we need it and in the most effective way. God gets his message of love and care to us, by loving us in our personal love language. Then, Gary Chapman gave the title of his book and his website, I think, and then the show was over. I felt my focus blur and I don't even remember what show came next, or anything. All I could think about was the tail end of that show. I started thinking, one by one, how God shows his love, through each of the 5 love languages. I could see how God shows us affirmation through His written Word, the Bible. He obviously shows us His love through His Word, through the sermons of others, through christian based music, and through prayer we can "talk to God". I could see how God shows us Quality time, through our own personal relationship with him. He is never too busy for us. He always wants to spend time with us, in showing us His truths, and in "walking" with us day to day. I could see how He uses Receiving Gifts to show us His Love. He gave us the ultimate gift of his Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf. He gives us a myriad of gifts and blessings each day. I could see how he loves us through Acts of Service. He bestows His power on us to get through the nasty trials, the bad days, the headaches of our world. He deals with the yuck in our hearts and is constantly at work in our lives doing the ultimate acts of service. He can't take our trash out in a literal way, but he can sure clean us out. Every day, we see how he keeps us going in his acts of love toward us. But, Physical Touch??? How in the world can God show me this????? I was stumped for sure....but VERY interested. I was interested because my husband was in Korea for a year. The two years prior we barely saw each other, and the years before that I always complained that he wasn't fulfilling my needs. My love tank was definitely on empty. If there was a way that God could show me love in my personal love language, I was all for that!
I know I immediately asked God to show me how this was possible. I knew that nothing was impossible with God, but my heart was aching for my husband, and I also doubted that my husband would change much, in this way, once he got home from Korea. We had talked about it and he had said he would try harder. I don't know why I had this expectation. It was probably stupid, but so was I.... I guess I thought that since we'd spent three years pretty much apart, that somehow he would automatically be better about speaking my love language. It doesn't work that way, though.
Anyway, I didn't realize it at the time but God started to show me how He could do this! :) Looking back. I know how God sustained me, and ALSO, how he changed me and my expectations. I see now how He met, and meets, my deepest needs. I see now how He shows me love in the exact and perfect way that I need. I see now, how it's not so important if my husband doesn't fulfill all of those needs. I see now, how I have relieved some of the pressure off of him (not fully----I mean he IS my husband and I am MADLY in love with him, after-all, and I do crave his physical attention but it's ok now if I don't always get it from him). I guess I've grown up a little. Nothing will ever take away this desire but if I can feel love in this way, from my God, than that expectation isn't fully on my husband. I will not shrivel up and die if he is ever taken away from me, or while he is gone.
Amazingly, the answer to the question in the title of this note, is a "YES". God can show me love in a physical way.
During the three years that I lived in North Idaho, we had some of the worst winter weather, since 1969. With each winter we got more snow until in 2008/2009 we had gotten about 5 feet of snow and not much of it melted. During the winter, in my mom's valley, the sun doesn't shine much. There is always cloud cover. It's very grey and dreary, and cold....and I hate to be cold. Anyway, imagine my surprise that during the winter while James was in Korea, I just happened to live in a cabin that had large front windows....that winter we just HAPPENED to get A LOT of sun, even though we got 5 feet of snow. When the sun would shine through those huge windows I would drop everything and run over there to soak in the warmth. Our cabin was built in the 70's and wasn't very warm. The sun shined so much that year that it faded that side of our couch. I'd sit on that corner of the couch and just "FEEL" God's love for me. When I was at the breaking point, God gave me a sunny winter after two prior winters of nothing but clouds. Sun just about every day.....God KNOWS I love sun! :) Sure, it was cold outside, but God gave me his warmth there on that corner of the couch.
I made a Bible reading schedule that year so I would be more accountable in my daily Bible reading. I made the schedule so that I would finish my Bible in two years. I made it in January of 2009. I began In the New Testament. I was in the Gospels in Jan, February, and March...some of the coldest months of the year, there, and the last few heart-wrenching months until James came home. What's the significance of that, you say? Well, I am so drawn to any Bible story where Jesus touches someone. It's so weird but my favorite stories of my Savior, center around him touching someone. My favorite of all is when he heals the woman who touched his robe. That woman could have SO been me! She thought to herself...."if only I can just touch the edge of his robe, I will be healed". I can't bear the thought of the physical pain that he went through during his Crucifixion. But I could feel God's love for me as He drew me to His Word, and into passages where Jesus touched people, and his physical death and what that means to me. Also, I have come to love how the pages in my Bible feel and how they smell. Touching God's Word, is equivalent to touching my Savior, and feeling his love for me. My favorite thing to do is take a hot bath and James bought me a waterproof Bible. NoW, I can read God's Word as I relax in the tub...
And then, the quilt at Trinity Baptist Church...ah, yes....the quilt. One day at church I had forgotten to bring Sheldon's blanket, so I went in the nursery and randomly grabbed one. Nothing special. It was always cold in the sanctuary so I ended up leaving the quilt in my chair. The church has movie theatre type seats and so I would fold the quilt up and then fold it up in the chair. It stayed in that chair for two years. No one ever moved it because it was my seat and it was my quilt....they thought, I guess. Every Sunday I sat there with that quilt on my lap...I'm sure I even wiped my tears on it several times. I have that quilt now. I couldn't bear to leave it there. I asked the church cleaning lady who it "really" belonged to and she said it belonged to me since she had no idea where it came from! :) It hangs on my hallway wall filled with signatures from women I dearly love. Women who loved me and kept me going through three years of hard times. Women who offered me a shoulder to cry on...women who listened to my anger and cared about me....a woman named Donna who always hugged me....always touched my shoulder and looked in my eyes and asked me if something was wrong, or how I was doing. She always encouraged me and listened to me try to make sense of everything happening in my life. I can run my hand along that quilt as I walk through my hall. For a long time I couldn't look at it. I kept it folded up in my closet but two weeks ago I knew it was time to display this wonderful work of a Mighty God, where all the world could see! :) Yes, it's just a quilt, but it holds the signatures and messages of women who were physically there when my husband couldn't be and women who God appointed to be there. I wish I could repay them.
There are absolutely no barriers to God's love, if you will just open your eyes and your hearts to him. Stop relying on humans to fulfill your needs and expectations. They can't. They can certainly help, but they can never do and be what God can do and be for you! Sure, the 5 Love languages will help your marriage and make it easier here on Earth, but nothing can compare to God's unfailing love and deep devotion for you. He knows you. He knows your needs and your deepest desires. Just open your eyes and SEE it...open your heart and FEEL it! :)
Here I am again with the crazy urge to write something that I just have to get out! I pray that God would give me the words to write what's been on my heart recently, in a way that would encourage someone. That's all I care about in my writing: to encourage my friends to follow God more closely and in practical ways. The Lord knows that I am all about practical! :)
In our Ladies Bible Study this week, one lie we can be led to believe in marriage is that we need a husband to be happy....or that we need our husbands to be a certain way, or do certain things, and in a certain way, for us to be happy. The truth that the author of our book (Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) shares, is this: "Happiness is not found in (or out of) marriage", "There is no person who can meet our deepest needs" and "No one and nothing can make me truly happy apart from God".
I would like to expand on this by using my own examples and by also using some information from the book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I am not at all intending to misquote anything in that book....I actually don't even own the book. I can remember a lot of what is in the book and I am going to use my own take on it, just to show you how God has used it in my life. I want to drive home an awesome truth that I have recently realized. I think that this could be encouraging for a lot of wives, especially military wives, who's husbands are gone. I began to realize this truth while James was in Korea but I didn't fully comprehend it until now, and I HAVE to share. Hang onto your seat, Donna! :) I SOOO love you....and you'll realize why I just had to say this just now, once you read this!
I want to give some background on the Five Love Languages, just in case someone doesn't know anything about them. Feel free to add anything to this in the comment section if you think of something.
Gary Chapman has done some studies and concludes that everyone "feels" love in one of 5 ways. He calls them languages. You will feel most loved if someone does one of the 5 for you. You feel least loved and the most upset when this language is absent in any relationship, ie: child/parent, spouse, friends, etc.
These are the 5 Love Languages:
Affirmation
Quality Time
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service
Physical Touch
I will give some examples of each of these, in case you are wondering, and so that if you have never heard of this you can discover what yours is....or what someone else's is ( a child, a husband, a friend, or whoever). You can tell what your love language is by realizing what you do when you want someone to feel that you love them. You will usually show others that you love them, in the exact same way that you yourself feel loved.
Affirmation- You will feel most loved through: Talking and sharing, getting letters, receiving compliments, a meaningful card or phone call, praise, when someone truly listens to you, when someone takes the time to really talk and understand you.
If you feel this may be your love language, you can be sure it is, if you feel most annoyed, irritated, or unloved if something like this happens: You get the cold shoulder or the silent treatment, you are spoken to harshly or talked down to, you are belittled, you don't receive phone calls from people you love, someone breaks correspondence with you....the list goes on. What probably hurts you most are what people say or how they say it. This is my son, Zane's, love language so I have to be very careful what I say to him and how I say it.
Quality Time- You feel most loved when: someone takes the time to be with you and to do something you enjoy, spends time with you (it could be anything---sitting on the couch with you, going walking with you when you know they'd probably rather not go walking,etc). It's going that extra mile for you and making you feel loved and important by sacrificing their time for you.
You will probably feel unloved if this happens: The person spends too much time at work, working overtime when maybe your finances don't really need it, the person would rather spend time alone or with other friends (in excess), than take the time to be with you, the person doesn't include you, etc. This is my daughter, Abigail's, language. Playing barbies with her, cooking with her, or just spending time doing anything with her is what makes her feel loved. You can literally feel her heart warm, when you make the time for her.
Receiving Gifts- You feel most loved by: receiving tokens of the person's love for you, knick-knacks that tell you the person was thinking of you (on the trip, or at the store), a picture drawn by your child, gifts large or small, roses, chocolate...all that stuff. A meaningful or appropriate gift speaks volumes in this love language.
You will feel least loved when the person never gives you anything, forgets your birthday, anniversary, or another important event, or gives a gift that is not in your taste. But usually in this love language, any little thing from anyone, makes you feel loved and cared for! :) I think this is my mother-in-laws love language because she always gives the best gifts and they are always exactly what you want! :) And she remembers what you say that you want! I am afraid to say that I am a horrible gift giver.....she can attest to that.
Acts of Service- You feel loved when someone takes the time to do something for you that you hate doing. It's usually the dirty jobs, but it can be anything that makes your life easier such as: watching your kids so you can have a break, doing your dishes and laundry, taking out the trash, taking care of stuff before you have to ask them for help, not procrastinating on stuff such as projects in the home that you can't take care of, or even something that you just can't do but would love to have done, and in a timely manner.
You are probably most irritated and feel unloved when you are feeling overwhelmed and no one cares to lift a finger, or when no one even offers to do anything for you that needs done. You may be a very organized person and tend to manage time well but oh, do you feel loved if someone gets to the job before you do! :) At this point, you look at the empty trashcan, clasp your hands together and say, "Oh, thank you, so much for doing that". This is 1/4 of my love language....and sometimes it pushes to 1/2, depending on the busyness of my life at the time. Now, if you give me a HUG after you do something for me, ....well, that is TOTAL love, since my main love language is Physical Touch!
And the last one is Physical Touch- you feel most loved when you get a hug or a kiss from the person you love, a hug from a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a pat on the back, holding hands (especially when it's not convenient to do so), when a friend grabs your hand when you are upset, and says, "Let's talk". It can be a back rub. It is most definitely taking a minute to stop and touch you, instead of passing right by like you're invisible. It's when they make a slight detour to the kitchen sink while you're doing dishes, before heading on their way down the hall. It will greatly irritate you if you have to constantly go to the person to receive this type of love language. In doing so, you will feel like you are smothering the person, and that's exactly what you are doing. You're trying to tell the person what you need, and you probably do it without realizing it. You just want the person to reach out to you on THEIR own accord, not yours. Otherwise, you feel that you won't receive it unless you initiate it and it is very frustrating. This is probably true for all the love languages, but since this is mine, I know the dynamics of it.
You will feel unloved especially from the "cold shoulder", and especially when that happens after a disagreement. Withholding physical touch on purpose, is devastating to you. Absence of the person (such as during a deployment), is particularly frustrating. A child who doesn't like hugs or to be held. It's easy to tell in children since, socially, they haven't learned to cover up their feelings, as well. Just because the child won't hug you doesn't mean he doesn't love you....it just isn't his love language and you must find out what his is. Adults will "put up" with your hugs just to be socially acceptable but a child will not. Sheldon's love language is physical touch so we mutually give each other many hugs. He loves to sit in my lap and "must" be tucked in complete with two kisses and one very big hug. I think this might be why he nursed for so long and why I had trouble weaning him. He loves to be held. He loves me to hold his hand. He doesn't like to be away from me, or anyone he loves. He loves snuggle time. Sometimes I just swoop him up and hold him close and he doesn't mind. This is how I know his love language is Physical Touch.
Now, onto what i really want to write about! :)
Without wanting to disrespect my husband, I will just say that this has been a struggle in our marriage. He just does not feel love in the same way that I do. Nine times out of ten, you and your husband will not share the same love language. This has been frustrating for me. However, God is powerful and God can fulfill all of your needs no matter what they are. There are no barriers with God. No impossibilities. And this is where I hope to encourage you!
While James was in Korea I turned on Christian radio and caught the tail end of a program where Gary Chapman was the host's guest. He was promoting a book of his and I think it was called The Five Love Languages of God. I'm not certain on that and I have never read the book. It's something to that effect, anyway. At the end of the show he was talking about how God shows love language to us in the exact way that we need it and in the most effective way. God gets his message of love and care to us, by loving us in our personal love language. Then, Gary Chapman gave the title of his book and his website, I think, and then the show was over. I felt my focus blur and I don't even remember what show came next, or anything. All I could think about was the tail end of that show. I started thinking, one by one, how God shows his love, through each of the 5 love languages. I could see how God shows us affirmation through His written Word, the Bible. He obviously shows us His love through His Word, through the sermons of others, through christian based music, and through prayer we can "talk to God". I could see how God shows us Quality time, through our own personal relationship with him. He is never too busy for us. He always wants to spend time with us, in showing us His truths, and in "walking" with us day to day. I could see how He uses Receiving Gifts to show us His Love. He gave us the ultimate gift of his Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf. He gives us a myriad of gifts and blessings each day. I could see how he loves us through Acts of Service. He bestows His power on us to get through the nasty trials, the bad days, the headaches of our world. He deals with the yuck in our hearts and is constantly at work in our lives doing the ultimate acts of service. He can't take our trash out in a literal way, but he can sure clean us out. Every day, we see how he keeps us going in his acts of love toward us. But, Physical Touch??? How in the world can God show me this????? I was stumped for sure....but VERY interested. I was interested because my husband was in Korea for a year. The two years prior we barely saw each other, and the years before that I always complained that he wasn't fulfilling my needs. My love tank was definitely on empty. If there was a way that God could show me love in my personal love language, I was all for that!
I know I immediately asked God to show me how this was possible. I knew that nothing was impossible with God, but my heart was aching for my husband, and I also doubted that my husband would change much, in this way, once he got home from Korea. We had talked about it and he had said he would try harder. I don't know why I had this expectation. It was probably stupid, but so was I.... I guess I thought that since we'd spent three years pretty much apart, that somehow he would automatically be better about speaking my love language. It doesn't work that way, though.
Anyway, I didn't realize it at the time but God started to show me how He could do this! :) Looking back. I know how God sustained me, and ALSO, how he changed me and my expectations. I see now how He met, and meets, my deepest needs. I see now how He shows me love in the exact and perfect way that I need. I see now, how it's not so important if my husband doesn't fulfill all of those needs. I see now, how I have relieved some of the pressure off of him (not fully----I mean he IS my husband and I am MADLY in love with him, after-all, and I do crave his physical attention but it's ok now if I don't always get it from him). I guess I've grown up a little. Nothing will ever take away this desire but if I can feel love in this way, from my God, than that expectation isn't fully on my husband. I will not shrivel up and die if he is ever taken away from me, or while he is gone.
Amazingly, the answer to the question in the title of this note, is a "YES". God can show me love in a physical way.
During the three years that I lived in North Idaho, we had some of the worst winter weather, since 1969. With each winter we got more snow until in 2008/2009 we had gotten about 5 feet of snow and not much of it melted. During the winter, in my mom's valley, the sun doesn't shine much. There is always cloud cover. It's very grey and dreary, and cold....and I hate to be cold. Anyway, imagine my surprise that during the winter while James was in Korea, I just happened to live in a cabin that had large front windows....that winter we just HAPPENED to get A LOT of sun, even though we got 5 feet of snow. When the sun would shine through those huge windows I would drop everything and run over there to soak in the warmth. Our cabin was built in the 70's and wasn't very warm. The sun shined so much that year that it faded that side of our couch. I'd sit on that corner of the couch and just "FEEL" God's love for me. When I was at the breaking point, God gave me a sunny winter after two prior winters of nothing but clouds. Sun just about every day.....God KNOWS I love sun! :) Sure, it was cold outside, but God gave me his warmth there on that corner of the couch.
I made a Bible reading schedule that year so I would be more accountable in my daily Bible reading. I made the schedule so that I would finish my Bible in two years. I made it in January of 2009. I began In the New Testament. I was in the Gospels in Jan, February, and March...some of the coldest months of the year, there, and the last few heart-wrenching months until James came home. What's the significance of that, you say? Well, I am so drawn to any Bible story where Jesus touches someone. It's so weird but my favorite stories of my Savior, center around him touching someone. My favorite of all is when he heals the woman who touched his robe. That woman could have SO been me! She thought to herself...."if only I can just touch the edge of his robe, I will be healed". I can't bear the thought of the physical pain that he went through during his Crucifixion. But I could feel God's love for me as He drew me to His Word, and into passages where Jesus touched people, and his physical death and what that means to me. Also, I have come to love how the pages in my Bible feel and how they smell. Touching God's Word, is equivalent to touching my Savior, and feeling his love for me. My favorite thing to do is take a hot bath and James bought me a waterproof Bible. NoW, I can read God's Word as I relax in the tub...
And then, the quilt at Trinity Baptist Church...ah, yes....the quilt. One day at church I had forgotten to bring Sheldon's blanket, so I went in the nursery and randomly grabbed one. Nothing special. It was always cold in the sanctuary so I ended up leaving the quilt in my chair. The church has movie theatre type seats and so I would fold the quilt up and then fold it up in the chair. It stayed in that chair for two years. No one ever moved it because it was my seat and it was my quilt....they thought, I guess. Every Sunday I sat there with that quilt on my lap...I'm sure I even wiped my tears on it several times. I have that quilt now. I couldn't bear to leave it there. I asked the church cleaning lady who it "really" belonged to and she said it belonged to me since she had no idea where it came from! :) It hangs on my hallway wall filled with signatures from women I dearly love. Women who loved me and kept me going through three years of hard times. Women who offered me a shoulder to cry on...women who listened to my anger and cared about me....a woman named Donna who always hugged me....always touched my shoulder and looked in my eyes and asked me if something was wrong, or how I was doing. She always encouraged me and listened to me try to make sense of everything happening in my life. I can run my hand along that quilt as I walk through my hall. For a long time I couldn't look at it. I kept it folded up in my closet but two weeks ago I knew it was time to display this wonderful work of a Mighty God, where all the world could see! :) Yes, it's just a quilt, but it holds the signatures and messages of women who were physically there when my husband couldn't be and women who God appointed to be there. I wish I could repay them.
There are absolutely no barriers to God's love, if you will just open your eyes and your hearts to him. Stop relying on humans to fulfill your needs and expectations. They can't. They can certainly help, but they can never do and be what God can do and be for you! Sure, the 5 Love languages will help your marriage and make it easier here on Earth, but nothing can compare to God's unfailing love and deep devotion for you. He knows you. He knows your needs and your deepest desires. Just open your eyes and SEE it...open your heart and FEEL it! :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Kite
The Kite
I have begun to realize a mental picture that I always tend to see whenever I think about my life, trials and spirituality. God gave it to me a long time ago but I have suddenly realized just how much I think of it. I have come to the conclusion that it is my special and very personal connection with my Savior and that he wants me to view this symbol he has given to me, as mine! :)
I am a very visual person. I love imagery. Some of my favorite songs, books, art or movies all tend to be rich in visual imagery, or have hidden meanings. I have many favorite country songs that when I hear them I have certain mental pictures. I love movies with deep color (such as very green grass, or very blue sky). One movie that I saw a long time ago was The Virginian. It is a western and I have no idea what the story line is, but every time I think of the movie I see the deep green grass in this huge open field and the deep blue skies in the film. Someday I want to find that movie and watch it as an adult. Maybe Netflix has it. Anyway, I would like to tell you about my life symbol....the Kite.
From the time I came to know Jesus as my Savior at age 19 until I was about 24 I was a very happy person. I had never felt depressed. Yes, there were times when I was sad or angry, but generally I was very happy. Very happy with my life, family, etc. Then one year a lot of trials started hitting me. I felt as if my life as I knew it had been thrown up in the air and that I was trying desperately to catch little pieces of the happiness I had once known. I would try to catch these pieces and try to fit them together into a puzzle. There would be a chunk missing here, and a chunk missing there that was never to be found, or so I thought and felt.
During this period in my life I felt as if I was flatlining, spiritually. As if my prayers were somehow inhibited, that is if I could even pray with focus, or pray at all. During this time, I had a very strong mental picture that was constantly in my brain. I would think back to when I was a happy person, and I saw myself as a beautiful, colorful, free kite. I always saw myself floating high in the sky and I always for some reason pictured my husband as the person flying the kite, as if it was up to him to bring me happiness. Of course, as you know with flying a kite you occasionally will lose wind speed and your kite can sort of dip down like it is going to come down. At times, if I was sad or angry I know that my kite would dip down, but all of a sudden the wind would whip back up again and I'd be back to flying high. Then, one year my kite was flown right into a tree. With each trial I felt as if someone was pulling me down and I would get stuck on the next branch. With every tangle I felt myself ripping, and the wooden parts of the kite breaking. I couldn't see out of the tree. All I could see was green leaves. I always pictured my husband at the end of the kite, pulling me through all these trials, as if it was all his fault. Every time I hit a branch and ripped, I hated him more. I felt like I would never get out of that tree, and would never see the light of day, again. All I could see were these green leaves in front of me and all these branches below me....(more trials and tangles to fall into....or get PULLED into, as I thought). One day I fell out of the tree and landed under it, in a pile of broken kite...full of depression, anger, resentment, hate, bitterness, ad hopelessness....all ripped, tattered and torn, with no hope of ever being the kite that I once was. Beautiful and happy. Then one day someone picked me up, sat down with me on His lap under that awful tree, and for months that person tenderly sewed and mended the rips. Slowly, carefully and with great love. My wooden braces felt as if someone was strongly tying, at each junction, a cord of three strands. I started to feel as if my flatlined, cold, spiritual life was seeing the light of day again. That, as if two years of Winter were finally turning into Spring (picture The Chronicles of Narnia, here- another favorite movie of mine)! That, color was finally coming into my life again. That finally, I could see a color other than green. As we all know, the color green usually means growth and while I hated that color while I was stuck in that tree, I came to realize later, as I looked up at that tree I had fallen from, that it was actually a beautiful green...the sign of spiritual growth. And I then had respect for that color and I became thankful for it. I also changed my perspective. I realized that the One holding the end of the Kite was my Heavenly Father....that He had been in control of my life at all stages (even getting flown into a tree) and that I no longer had to visualize my husband as the flyer of my kite. That it wasn't up to my husband to make me happy. He never flew the kite. It has always been God, whether I saw it or not.
And so, here we are now, four years later. I feel as if I am even more beautiful than I was before. With all my mended rips and tears. Stronger for it, and with a changed perspective. I know there will be more trees. I know now that I will get through them and I will grow with each one. In between the trees, I can fly high in the sky with the Holy Spirit flying my kite and no one else. It is so freeing!
My life symbol....THE KITE! What is yours????
I have begun to realize a mental picture that I always tend to see whenever I think about my life, trials and spirituality. God gave it to me a long time ago but I have suddenly realized just how much I think of it. I have come to the conclusion that it is my special and very personal connection with my Savior and that he wants me to view this symbol he has given to me, as mine! :)
I am a very visual person. I love imagery. Some of my favorite songs, books, art or movies all tend to be rich in visual imagery, or have hidden meanings. I have many favorite country songs that when I hear them I have certain mental pictures. I love movies with deep color (such as very green grass, or very blue sky). One movie that I saw a long time ago was The Virginian. It is a western and I have no idea what the story line is, but every time I think of the movie I see the deep green grass in this huge open field and the deep blue skies in the film. Someday I want to find that movie and watch it as an adult. Maybe Netflix has it. Anyway, I would like to tell you about my life symbol....the Kite.
From the time I came to know Jesus as my Savior at age 19 until I was about 24 I was a very happy person. I had never felt depressed. Yes, there were times when I was sad or angry, but generally I was very happy. Very happy with my life, family, etc. Then one year a lot of trials started hitting me. I felt as if my life as I knew it had been thrown up in the air and that I was trying desperately to catch little pieces of the happiness I had once known. I would try to catch these pieces and try to fit them together into a puzzle. There would be a chunk missing here, and a chunk missing there that was never to be found, or so I thought and felt.
During this period in my life I felt as if I was flatlining, spiritually. As if my prayers were somehow inhibited, that is if I could even pray with focus, or pray at all. During this time, I had a very strong mental picture that was constantly in my brain. I would think back to when I was a happy person, and I saw myself as a beautiful, colorful, free kite. I always saw myself floating high in the sky and I always for some reason pictured my husband as the person flying the kite, as if it was up to him to bring me happiness. Of course, as you know with flying a kite you occasionally will lose wind speed and your kite can sort of dip down like it is going to come down. At times, if I was sad or angry I know that my kite would dip down, but all of a sudden the wind would whip back up again and I'd be back to flying high. Then, one year my kite was flown right into a tree. With each trial I felt as if someone was pulling me down and I would get stuck on the next branch. With every tangle I felt myself ripping, and the wooden parts of the kite breaking. I couldn't see out of the tree. All I could see was green leaves. I always pictured my husband at the end of the kite, pulling me through all these trials, as if it was all his fault. Every time I hit a branch and ripped, I hated him more. I felt like I would never get out of that tree, and would never see the light of day, again. All I could see were these green leaves in front of me and all these branches below me....(more trials and tangles to fall into....or get PULLED into, as I thought). One day I fell out of the tree and landed under it, in a pile of broken kite...full of depression, anger, resentment, hate, bitterness, ad hopelessness....all ripped, tattered and torn, with no hope of ever being the kite that I once was. Beautiful and happy. Then one day someone picked me up, sat down with me on His lap under that awful tree, and for months that person tenderly sewed and mended the rips. Slowly, carefully and with great love. My wooden braces felt as if someone was strongly tying, at each junction, a cord of three strands. I started to feel as if my flatlined, cold, spiritual life was seeing the light of day again. That, as if two years of Winter were finally turning into Spring (picture The Chronicles of Narnia, here- another favorite movie of mine)! That, color was finally coming into my life again. That finally, I could see a color other than green. As we all know, the color green usually means growth and while I hated that color while I was stuck in that tree, I came to realize later, as I looked up at that tree I had fallen from, that it was actually a beautiful green...the sign of spiritual growth. And I then had respect for that color and I became thankful for it. I also changed my perspective. I realized that the One holding the end of the Kite was my Heavenly Father....that He had been in control of my life at all stages (even getting flown into a tree) and that I no longer had to visualize my husband as the flyer of my kite. That it wasn't up to my husband to make me happy. He never flew the kite. It has always been God, whether I saw it or not.
And so, here we are now, four years later. I feel as if I am even more beautiful than I was before. With all my mended rips and tears. Stronger for it, and with a changed perspective. I know there will be more trees. I know now that I will get through them and I will grow with each one. In between the trees, I can fly high in the sky with the Holy Spirit flying my kite and no one else. It is so freeing!
My life symbol....THE KITE! What is yours????
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Bits and Pieces
Time to post again, though I really am not in the mood to do anything! I hate this time of year; I really do...
However,
+ The hubster got promoted which is our most exciting news from November! It was a very exciting time for him and I was so happy to be a part of his happiness! Zane got to remove his old rank and put the new rank on. It was precious! :) Because of where we were, I couldn't get good pictures but I will eventually post what I have. That is what I hate about blogging...adding pictures....it's so annoying.
+ the bunnies are now litter box trained which is very nice...no more little balls of poop rolling off the newspaper around the garage! :) They are so cute though...and I still don't have pictures of them! :/
+ We had a nice Thanksgiving, with people from my husband's work. I did some of the cooking and my friend Michelle did some of it. We played on their Wii, which was fun, but I wasn't really impressed....I am NOT a video game type of person though I do actually enjoy Farmville on Facebook. :)
+ We are going to Idaho for Christmas. I have most of my shopping done for my side of the family and I am really excited to see everyone, especially my sisters! :) We need to find a round bale of hay for Hope while we are gone and hopefully it will stay warm enough that the bunnies water bottles won't freeze, ...or Hopes water trough. I can't find her tank deicer, so i guess I need to buy another one unless James knows where it is...I hate winter and dealing with animal watering. It's a pain in the butt...
+ Homeschooling is going well....same ole same ole there. I am looking forward to Christmas break, though. Abbie is starting to read which is exciting! She is definitely ready for Kindergarten!
+ It's cold but not as cold as Idaho. I guess they were -8 this morning and we were about 9 degrees here. It's usually about 15-20 degrees colder there. I'm glad I am not there.
+ My friend Michelle and I did the Black Friday shopping thing and had fun! :) We didn't go super early, since we were tired from Thanksgiving, but we did go and it was a nice time away.
+ Our Ladies Bible Study wrapped up last week and we had a tea party later in the week. I had a blast ...I just love those ladies! :)
+ My husband has a few more new horseshoing customers! :) That's a praise! I have been praying that more would come! :)
Well, that is ending on a good note...I haven't had a very good day and nothing is seeming to help, so I am going to get off here and find some chocolate.... :/ God Bless and Merry Christmas!
However,
+ The hubster got promoted which is our most exciting news from November! It was a very exciting time for him and I was so happy to be a part of his happiness! Zane got to remove his old rank and put the new rank on. It was precious! :) Because of where we were, I couldn't get good pictures but I will eventually post what I have. That is what I hate about blogging...adding pictures....it's so annoying.
+ the bunnies are now litter box trained which is very nice...no more little balls of poop rolling off the newspaper around the garage! :) They are so cute though...and I still don't have pictures of them! :/
+ We had a nice Thanksgiving, with people from my husband's work. I did some of the cooking and my friend Michelle did some of it. We played on their Wii, which was fun, but I wasn't really impressed....I am NOT a video game type of person though I do actually enjoy Farmville on Facebook. :)
+ We are going to Idaho for Christmas. I have most of my shopping done for my side of the family and I am really excited to see everyone, especially my sisters! :) We need to find a round bale of hay for Hope while we are gone and hopefully it will stay warm enough that the bunnies water bottles won't freeze, ...or Hopes water trough. I can't find her tank deicer, so i guess I need to buy another one unless James knows where it is...I hate winter and dealing with animal watering. It's a pain in the butt...
+ Homeschooling is going well....same ole same ole there. I am looking forward to Christmas break, though. Abbie is starting to read which is exciting! She is definitely ready for Kindergarten!
+ It's cold but not as cold as Idaho. I guess they were -8 this morning and we were about 9 degrees here. It's usually about 15-20 degrees colder there. I'm glad I am not there.
+ My friend Michelle and I did the Black Friday shopping thing and had fun! :) We didn't go super early, since we were tired from Thanksgiving, but we did go and it was a nice time away.
+ Our Ladies Bible Study wrapped up last week and we had a tea party later in the week. I had a blast ...I just love those ladies! :)
+ My husband has a few more new horseshoing customers! :) That's a praise! I have been praying that more would come! :)
Well, that is ending on a good note...I haven't had a very good day and nothing is seeming to help, so I am going to get off here and find some chocolate.... :/ God Bless and Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
My Personal ABC's of Thankfulness 2009
Everyone is doing one form or another of the ABC's of thankfulness...some are doing a daily status on Facebook, some are doing increments on Live Journal, but I wanted to do them all today and post it here so I will always have it...and all in one place. I LOVE this kind of thing. Soon, I will be assessing my 2009 Fruit of the Spirit, and studying for my 2010 one (which is self-control) and I am really looking forward to it. I always do it in January. For now, I want to relish and hold close to my heart what I am thankful for.
A: Abigail. My only little girl. She is precious to me. When I am in her room, playing barbies or My Little Ponies, or helping her organize, my heart just overflows with thankfulness for her. She is a mini-me and it is so fun to watch our similarities. I love her. The only thing I regret is that she won't have a sister, unless we reverse James vasectomy (which we are thinking about....JUST thinking). Even then, there would be no guarantee.
B: My Bathtub....most people probably don't think about their bathtub much but I love bathtubs and I am thankful for mine every time I use it. When you have to live without one, you become thankful for that among many other things.
C: Children. My life is my children. Yes, I have other hobbies but none are as important to me as my children, being their mother, raising them correctly. My home is my life. Most might find it boring or un-fulfilling but I definitely do not. I love it here. I love teaching them here, love being with them. I would gladly get rid of any of my hobbies rather than going out into the workforce. I also would never be guilty of making my own child be the mom. It is MY job and I love it. Some days are hard, but everyday that I learn more about being a better mom, lessens the days that are bad and increases the days that are good. Mothering takes practice. Patience takes practice and there is nothing more fulfilling than conquering impatience, being a great mom, and running a household with order and ease. Yes, no matter what anyone says, to me, children are a blessing. They are highly prized in my book. Now, I don't necessarily like other people's bad-behaving children but I sure do love mine...even when they have a bad day! :)
D: DOD. The Department of Defense supplies my husband with a job, provides for our home and ultimately provides me with my freedom. I am super thankful that my husband is involved in keeping me, our family and yours, free. This country has an all-volunteer military. Isn't that wonderful? Many, many men find job fulfillment in the military because they are involved in something bigger than themselves. Yes, sometimes what the Commander in Chief decides isn't what our men would decide. Sometimes in the military you have to do things that seem like a waste of time (and I'm sure some of them are), or do things that don't make sense to civilians. But it is all, ultimately, for you all. For your freedoms. And I am thankful for these things. I am thankful that my husband isn't a truck-driver, anymore. I am thankful that I get to be an Army wife. I know his job is hard. I appreciate that he decided to come back into the Army. I understand that he may have done it, mostly for me. I don't know. All I know is that if you think being a military wife is hard...try being a trucker's wife. It stinks with a capitol S.
E: In my home-schooling/preschool revolving brain, all I can think about are Elephants...so I need to come back to this one! :)
Yes, electricity! :) I am so thankful for the little things that I, at times have had to go without. Hot running water, lights, refridgeration, and electric heating. I LOVE a wood stove but only for EXTRA heat! :) Someday when we build or remodel a home there will be a wood stove for extra heating and a real wood cook stove. They are so nice to have when the power goes out. Electricity is a wonderful blessing that we have in this country that other countries don't have and we shouldn't take it for granted.
F: Fine Chocolate. I am not an "any-kind-of-chocolate-will-do"girl. It has to be expensive! :) I don't need to explain why I am thankful for this. I think most women know that sometimes you just need a hunk (doesn't have to be big) of melt in your mouth fine chocolate, to make a stressful day seem better. Now, for some reason a handful of milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips will do the trick, as well! :)
G: Grace, from my Lord Jesus. I wouldn't make it through a day of motherhood, marriage, deployment, homeschooling, heartbreak, financial stresses, etc without the grace of God. I would be a complete failure, wandering aimlessly through my life. I thank god for His grace in my life and his mercy, too.
H: Horses. I love horses and even though my life with them is sort of on the back-burner, by my own choice, I will always be thankful that my parent's bought Hope for me. Even though I don't get to ride her very much, my children do get to. They are learning to ride on the same horse that I did. Someday, when we are out of the military, retired and most of my children are gone, I will jump cross-country again, but until then, a ride on Saturdays, in the summer is enough for me! Horses are wonderful. They smell wonderful, too! 8)
I: Internet. It makes Army life easier, definitely! There is no way I could call all of the friends I have left in various places. I need Facebook if i want to keep in touch with anyone. And when my husband is gone, it helps a lot, too.
J: My husband James. You know, there really are jerks out there and he's not one of them. He's not perfect. We clash about a lot of things. Mostly it's because we pretty much had to start our marriage over again, after the three years that we barely saw each other. Both he and I grew in different ways while we were apart, so coming back together has been hard and it has had it's issues. God will be glorified in them, eventually. James is the love of my life. That fact will never change. Even when we were going through hard times (that couples eventually go through), I still loved him. You're naive to think you have a great marriage if you have only been married for 1-3 years, and it's been all smooth sailing. Hard times will come, if they haven't already. But you better LOVE that man, no matter what happens!
K: Kitties. I love my kitty, Katie. She's so sweet to all of us, even the kids. She's a wonderful pet and it will be sad when it's her time to go. She's already seven years old, now. I wish I could have a houseful of cats, but I wouldn't be able to handle the mess. Notice that "D"was NOT for dogs! :) The mess our dog creates is worse than a child, I hate dogs. They are disgusting.
L: Love. I am LOVED by so many people, but especially by my husband. Why, I don't know? Sometimes I say things that I can't take back. He still loves me. It's amazing. I am thankful that the Lord loves me and has great plans for my life. He loves me even when I keep doing the same stupid thing over and over again! My children love me and it seems that they have a better grasp on loving unconditionally than I do. They are so forgiving of me that it amazes me!
M: Meals. Mealtime around my "well-loved" dining room table is my favorite time of the day. I love that table. I will never get rid of it! It's just too precious to us all. Meals shared with our entire family, that I cooked from scratch and labored over when I could have been doing something else, are well worth the effort. Not only do we share a meal, but little tib-bits of news from the day or the latest funny thing, from Sheldon, usually. We share hopes and dreams; we share heartache and hurts. We train our children during meals, in lessons that they probably wouldn't get otherwise. I am thankful that we have three meals a day...and they are well rounded. We are rich in America. There is an abundance of food in this country that some people can only dream of.
N: Natural Medicine. I love natural medicine, especially herbs. God created every herb for our use (in some way). He provided us with hundreds of plants that heal us. I am truly thankful for medical doctors, their wisdom and to the people who discovered antibiotics. I gratefully go to them when I cannot heal myself or my child. They have their place and rightfully, so. But oh, the love I have for the times when I can heal or comfort my child from the plants in God's creation! :)
O: Open pages...whether it is the empty sheet of paper waiting to be touched by the pen in a letter to a penpal, friend or relative, a thank you note or a hodgepodge poem of mine, or the open pages of a book, the soft, crinkly pages of my open Bible or a letter to me, from a friend....I just love them. I love Opening mail! I love it when the envelope spills out little things my penpals send to swap (called FAT mail) such as recipes, bookmarks, tea, friendship books and Slams, stickers or whatever the fad is at the time. Slips of paper with the scribbling of a poem from Bobbi Jo, a magazine article from another, instructions to a craft that looked interesting, pictures, confetti, address labels, or who knows what else. I know....i am very weird, but it's something I love and am thankful for!
P: Piles of Laundry. I never buy clothes (except underwear, socks and shoes) for me or the kids, but somehow we always have plenty and I am thankful for that because clothes are way too expensive...
Q: Quiet. I am so thankful for the quiet after my children have gone to bed. My body refuses to sleep until I have soaked up at least 15 min of it! I relish those times when all is quiet. When I can think, pray and just relax. For a homeschooling mom, the quiet is great! Add a chunk of chocolate and some coffee or tea, a good book or an empty page of paper to fill and a kitty on your lap and that is heaven! :)
R: Rainy Days. Even though I love summer and the warmth it brings, I am thankful for rainy days when I can stay inside and not have to go out much, except for feeding Hope. I like the relaxing sound of rain and the comfort it brings...but most of all, it isn't snow! LOL!
S: Sisters. Sisters are truly a huge gift and I am so thankful for mine! I love it when Sarah calls just to tell the latest funny thing to happen in our family, or at her work. I love it when we call to share recipes. This is called the SRN (Sister's Recipe Network....also stands for Sarah, Rachelle and Naomi). I love getting together with them and laughing. We always laugh and it's usually something that no one else would find funny. Sisters are great!
Sheldon. I have to add him on here! He is extra special to me. If you read his birth story on my blog, you'd know why. Not that he had a miracle birth or some type of amazing story like that but just the fact that God knew I needed him at the time he came, even though it seemed like the worst time! Sheldon is sunlight, a whirlwind and just absolutely, wonderfully, precious! :) Ask Donna Neale. She says he is D-lish! :)
T: Tea. Whether a cup of steaming green tea in the morning or Chai with Organic Sugar and a ton of half and half, it soothes my soul. I never forget my HUGE pink mug with white polka dots when I go to church, or bible study. I love trying new tea. I love coffee, too, but I will usually choose tea over it. Anyway, tea is awesome.
U: The United States. I know I am getting redundant BUT we are blessed beyond belief in this country and I am so thankful that God chose me to live here! :)
V: Victory in Jesus! I am SO thankful that I have victory over my personal sins, habits and tendencies. I am so thankful that it is richly available to us. If we would just take the time to see it, to realize that it is there for our use, and use it. So many times we try to conquer things on our own strength when victory is right at our fingertips. I wish I would remember that more often! I want to live my life for Christ. I know He can give me victory over the things in my life that seem like they will never change. It's right here for me (and you), and I overlook it so often!
W: Well Water. I love the clean, sweet taste of well water! :) I am thankful we have it!
X: UneXpected eXtra money. Usually in the form of a gift, or a new horseshoing client. We are ALWAYS thankful for a little extra!
Y: Yard. Our yard is big and it is a place we have gathered with family and friends to just have fun. We have a trampoline, BBQ, fire-pit, hottub, picnic table and more ideas to come, that make it wonderful for our family! :)
Z: Zane. I am so thankful for this first child of mine! Where Sheldon is a whirlwind of activity, Zane is my calm, steady, kind, obedient child! It's amazing that the two are so different, but that they compliment each other so well. When I was pregnant with Zane, the ladies at my baby shower laid hands on my tummy and prayed for our son. Everything they prayed has come true. They prayed he would be sweet, obedient and that he would come to know the love of Christ in a personal way. They prayed that he would do great things for God, and his father and I are waiting to see what they will be! :) Most of all we are thankful that he KNOWS God, at such an early age. It is apparent everyday that the Holy Spirit dwells in his little heart! What a great place to end! :)
I know there is so much more I could be thankful for, but I will save them for next year! Happy Thanksgiving!
A: Abigail. My only little girl. She is precious to me. When I am in her room, playing barbies or My Little Ponies, or helping her organize, my heart just overflows with thankfulness for her. She is a mini-me and it is so fun to watch our similarities. I love her. The only thing I regret is that she won't have a sister, unless we reverse James vasectomy (which we are thinking about....JUST thinking). Even then, there would be no guarantee.
B: My Bathtub....most people probably don't think about their bathtub much but I love bathtubs and I am thankful for mine every time I use it. When you have to live without one, you become thankful for that among many other things.
C: Children. My life is my children. Yes, I have other hobbies but none are as important to me as my children, being their mother, raising them correctly. My home is my life. Most might find it boring or un-fulfilling but I definitely do not. I love it here. I love teaching them here, love being with them. I would gladly get rid of any of my hobbies rather than going out into the workforce. I also would never be guilty of making my own child be the mom. It is MY job and I love it. Some days are hard, but everyday that I learn more about being a better mom, lessens the days that are bad and increases the days that are good. Mothering takes practice. Patience takes practice and there is nothing more fulfilling than conquering impatience, being a great mom, and running a household with order and ease. Yes, no matter what anyone says, to me, children are a blessing. They are highly prized in my book. Now, I don't necessarily like other people's bad-behaving children but I sure do love mine...even when they have a bad day! :)
D: DOD. The Department of Defense supplies my husband with a job, provides for our home and ultimately provides me with my freedom. I am super thankful that my husband is involved in keeping me, our family and yours, free. This country has an all-volunteer military. Isn't that wonderful? Many, many men find job fulfillment in the military because they are involved in something bigger than themselves. Yes, sometimes what the Commander in Chief decides isn't what our men would decide. Sometimes in the military you have to do things that seem like a waste of time (and I'm sure some of them are), or do things that don't make sense to civilians. But it is all, ultimately, for you all. For your freedoms. And I am thankful for these things. I am thankful that my husband isn't a truck-driver, anymore. I am thankful that I get to be an Army wife. I know his job is hard. I appreciate that he decided to come back into the Army. I understand that he may have done it, mostly for me. I don't know. All I know is that if you think being a military wife is hard...try being a trucker's wife. It stinks with a capitol S.
E: In my home-schooling/preschool revolving brain, all I can think about are Elephants...so I need to come back to this one! :)
Yes, electricity! :) I am so thankful for the little things that I, at times have had to go without. Hot running water, lights, refridgeration, and electric heating. I LOVE a wood stove but only for EXTRA heat! :) Someday when we build or remodel a home there will be a wood stove for extra heating and a real wood cook stove. They are so nice to have when the power goes out. Electricity is a wonderful blessing that we have in this country that other countries don't have and we shouldn't take it for granted.
F: Fine Chocolate. I am not an "any-kind-of-chocolate-will-do"girl. It has to be expensive! :) I don't need to explain why I am thankful for this. I think most women know that sometimes you just need a hunk (doesn't have to be big) of melt in your mouth fine chocolate, to make a stressful day seem better. Now, for some reason a handful of milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips will do the trick, as well! :)
G: Grace, from my Lord Jesus. I wouldn't make it through a day of motherhood, marriage, deployment, homeschooling, heartbreak, financial stresses, etc without the grace of God. I would be a complete failure, wandering aimlessly through my life. I thank god for His grace in my life and his mercy, too.
H: Horses. I love horses and even though my life with them is sort of on the back-burner, by my own choice, I will always be thankful that my parent's bought Hope for me. Even though I don't get to ride her very much, my children do get to. They are learning to ride on the same horse that I did. Someday, when we are out of the military, retired and most of my children are gone, I will jump cross-country again, but until then, a ride on Saturdays, in the summer is enough for me! Horses are wonderful. They smell wonderful, too! 8)
I: Internet. It makes Army life easier, definitely! There is no way I could call all of the friends I have left in various places. I need Facebook if i want to keep in touch with anyone. And when my husband is gone, it helps a lot, too.
J: My husband James. You know, there really are jerks out there and he's not one of them. He's not perfect. We clash about a lot of things. Mostly it's because we pretty much had to start our marriage over again, after the three years that we barely saw each other. Both he and I grew in different ways while we were apart, so coming back together has been hard and it has had it's issues. God will be glorified in them, eventually. James is the love of my life. That fact will never change. Even when we were going through hard times (that couples eventually go through), I still loved him. You're naive to think you have a great marriage if you have only been married for 1-3 years, and it's been all smooth sailing. Hard times will come, if they haven't already. But you better LOVE that man, no matter what happens!
K: Kitties. I love my kitty, Katie. She's so sweet to all of us, even the kids. She's a wonderful pet and it will be sad when it's her time to go. She's already seven years old, now. I wish I could have a houseful of cats, but I wouldn't be able to handle the mess. Notice that "D"was NOT for dogs! :) The mess our dog creates is worse than a child, I hate dogs. They are disgusting.
L: Love. I am LOVED by so many people, but especially by my husband. Why, I don't know? Sometimes I say things that I can't take back. He still loves me. It's amazing. I am thankful that the Lord loves me and has great plans for my life. He loves me even when I keep doing the same stupid thing over and over again! My children love me and it seems that they have a better grasp on loving unconditionally than I do. They are so forgiving of me that it amazes me!
M: Meals. Mealtime around my "well-loved" dining room table is my favorite time of the day. I love that table. I will never get rid of it! It's just too precious to us all. Meals shared with our entire family, that I cooked from scratch and labored over when I could have been doing something else, are well worth the effort. Not only do we share a meal, but little tib-bits of news from the day or the latest funny thing, from Sheldon, usually. We share hopes and dreams; we share heartache and hurts. We train our children during meals, in lessons that they probably wouldn't get otherwise. I am thankful that we have three meals a day...and they are well rounded. We are rich in America. There is an abundance of food in this country that some people can only dream of.
N: Natural Medicine. I love natural medicine, especially herbs. God created every herb for our use (in some way). He provided us with hundreds of plants that heal us. I am truly thankful for medical doctors, their wisdom and to the people who discovered antibiotics. I gratefully go to them when I cannot heal myself or my child. They have their place and rightfully, so. But oh, the love I have for the times when I can heal or comfort my child from the plants in God's creation! :)
O: Open pages...whether it is the empty sheet of paper waiting to be touched by the pen in a letter to a penpal, friend or relative, a thank you note or a hodgepodge poem of mine, or the open pages of a book, the soft, crinkly pages of my open Bible or a letter to me, from a friend....I just love them. I love Opening mail! I love it when the envelope spills out little things my penpals send to swap (called FAT mail) such as recipes, bookmarks, tea, friendship books and Slams, stickers or whatever the fad is at the time. Slips of paper with the scribbling of a poem from Bobbi Jo, a magazine article from another, instructions to a craft that looked interesting, pictures, confetti, address labels, or who knows what else. I know....i am very weird, but it's something I love and am thankful for!
P: Piles of Laundry. I never buy clothes (except underwear, socks and shoes) for me or the kids, but somehow we always have plenty and I am thankful for that because clothes are way too expensive...
Q: Quiet. I am so thankful for the quiet after my children have gone to bed. My body refuses to sleep until I have soaked up at least 15 min of it! I relish those times when all is quiet. When I can think, pray and just relax. For a homeschooling mom, the quiet is great! Add a chunk of chocolate and some coffee or tea, a good book or an empty page of paper to fill and a kitty on your lap and that is heaven! :)
R: Rainy Days. Even though I love summer and the warmth it brings, I am thankful for rainy days when I can stay inside and not have to go out much, except for feeding Hope. I like the relaxing sound of rain and the comfort it brings...but most of all, it isn't snow! LOL!
S: Sisters. Sisters are truly a huge gift and I am so thankful for mine! I love it when Sarah calls just to tell the latest funny thing to happen in our family, or at her work. I love it when we call to share recipes. This is called the SRN (Sister's Recipe Network....also stands for Sarah, Rachelle and Naomi). I love getting together with them and laughing. We always laugh and it's usually something that no one else would find funny. Sisters are great!
Sheldon. I have to add him on here! He is extra special to me. If you read his birth story on my blog, you'd know why. Not that he had a miracle birth or some type of amazing story like that but just the fact that God knew I needed him at the time he came, even though it seemed like the worst time! Sheldon is sunlight, a whirlwind and just absolutely, wonderfully, precious! :) Ask Donna Neale. She says he is D-lish! :)
T: Tea. Whether a cup of steaming green tea in the morning or Chai with Organic Sugar and a ton of half and half, it soothes my soul. I never forget my HUGE pink mug with white polka dots when I go to church, or bible study. I love trying new tea. I love coffee, too, but I will usually choose tea over it. Anyway, tea is awesome.
U: The United States. I know I am getting redundant BUT we are blessed beyond belief in this country and I am so thankful that God chose me to live here! :)
V: Victory in Jesus! I am SO thankful that I have victory over my personal sins, habits and tendencies. I am so thankful that it is richly available to us. If we would just take the time to see it, to realize that it is there for our use, and use it. So many times we try to conquer things on our own strength when victory is right at our fingertips. I wish I would remember that more often! I want to live my life for Christ. I know He can give me victory over the things in my life that seem like they will never change. It's right here for me (and you), and I overlook it so often!
W: Well Water. I love the clean, sweet taste of well water! :) I am thankful we have it!
X: UneXpected eXtra money. Usually in the form of a gift, or a new horseshoing client. We are ALWAYS thankful for a little extra!
Y: Yard. Our yard is big and it is a place we have gathered with family and friends to just have fun. We have a trampoline, BBQ, fire-pit, hottub, picnic table and more ideas to come, that make it wonderful for our family! :)
Z: Zane. I am so thankful for this first child of mine! Where Sheldon is a whirlwind of activity, Zane is my calm, steady, kind, obedient child! It's amazing that the two are so different, but that they compliment each other so well. When I was pregnant with Zane, the ladies at my baby shower laid hands on my tummy and prayed for our son. Everything they prayed has come true. They prayed he would be sweet, obedient and that he would come to know the love of Christ in a personal way. They prayed that he would do great things for God, and his father and I are waiting to see what they will be! :) Most of all we are thankful that he KNOWS God, at such an early age. It is apparent everyday that the Holy Spirit dwells in his little heart! What a great place to end! :)
I know there is so much more I could be thankful for, but I will save them for next year! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
What We Did In October....
Sheesh, I am late posting for October! I will have to post today while we are doing school, when I get a minute here or there. I am using my laptop right now, as my desktop kept crashing and turning off every few minutes (another reason I am late in posting).
The rainy season is here and most of October we got a lot of rain although we've had a week without much of it this first week of November. We will get a lot more, I'm sure. I like it; it's better than snow! :) My mom already got some snow in Idaho and I am so thankful I am not going to have to deal with it, here. I think I have said something along this lines in every monthly post! Ha ha! I really am thankful! :)
I was down with the flu twice in October. It was awful. Before I could get better from the first one, I was sick again. No one else got it, so that was wierd but nice at the same time. Here I was expecting everyone to get it while i was sick and couldn't take care of them. I was wiped out, totally. I should have gone to the hospital for the dehydration but I decided to just drink what I could hold down (small sips of water or juice). I lost ten pounds. Luckily, James was able to get off early one of the days and that was nice. Sheldon got a bad fever, and Zane and Abbie got runny noses but no one got the symptons that I got.
Somehow I made it to AWANA every week to lead, and only missed one night of Bible Study. I made it to church each Sunday. It was the homeschooling that got skipped. We did what we could. God is good, and we were able to somehow catch up. The joy, ease and flexibility of homeschooling...I love it!
We didn't end up going trick or treating. We had a fun Halloween night at church that the kids dressed up for earlier in the week. I was a farmer, Sheldon a cow, Zane a Transformer and Abbie a Princess (Cinderella). It was fun. We meant to go trick or treating on post, but that day James had horses to shoe and came home with three rabbits (one for each kid). They were neglected at this barn and our friend Katie was trying to get rid of them because their owner didn't care about them. We had been wanting to get three girl bunnies in the Spring for the kids, so we ended up getting them early! :) They were free and came with cages and feeders, etc. We made the three cages into one big cage with a nesting box and they are a lot happier. Zane's is named Penelope. She is white-ish cream with copper spots. Abbie's is Rosie. She is white with pink ears and eyes. Sheldon's is named Chloe and she is solid black! My kids are in love with them! We plan to buy a big hutch for them, when we can and put it out in the backyard. Then we also want to put some woven wire fence around the bottom of our trampoline so that in the Spring, summer and fall the bunnies can be out for exercise AND the kids can play under there with them. It will be shady and cool under there and the grass grows really well under there. I had rabbits when I was little and have always liked them. :)
Jimmy went to the e-6 promotion board this month and scored a 147, so we're waiting to see if he gets picked up on December first. We hope so! It will be nice and he deserves it. He has a LOT of promotion points! :) Maybe next month I will be posting that my husband is now a Staff Sergeant! Yippee.
Not much else is going on really. I have just been doing the homeschool thing, the church thing and staying inside a lot, which is fine with me! I'm doing a beautiful, whimsical 1500 piece puzzle of Noah's Ark. It is gorgeous and I plan to frame it for the boys room. I am also reading the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis and am enjoying that.
OH>>>> My sister Naomi is PREGNANT again! :) She is 7 weeks and feeling really good so that is great news (she is the one who miscarried in August)! Sarah's baby will be born in March and Naomi's should be due around July. So, really it's not that far after Sarah's and they can still have a double baby shower and share baby clothes, and such! :) Great news!
Well, I think thats all for now. I will add some pictures to this once I find some BATTERIES for my camera! Ugh. I don't even have pictures of the bunnies yet!
Blessings to all, Rachelle
The rainy season is here and most of October we got a lot of rain although we've had a week without much of it this first week of November. We will get a lot more, I'm sure. I like it; it's better than snow! :) My mom already got some snow in Idaho and I am so thankful I am not going to have to deal with it, here. I think I have said something along this lines in every monthly post! Ha ha! I really am thankful! :)
I was down with the flu twice in October. It was awful. Before I could get better from the first one, I was sick again. No one else got it, so that was wierd but nice at the same time. Here I was expecting everyone to get it while i was sick and couldn't take care of them. I was wiped out, totally. I should have gone to the hospital for the dehydration but I decided to just drink what I could hold down (small sips of water or juice). I lost ten pounds. Luckily, James was able to get off early one of the days and that was nice. Sheldon got a bad fever, and Zane and Abbie got runny noses but no one got the symptons that I got.
Somehow I made it to AWANA every week to lead, and only missed one night of Bible Study. I made it to church each Sunday. It was the homeschooling that got skipped. We did what we could. God is good, and we were able to somehow catch up. The joy, ease and flexibility of homeschooling...I love it!
We didn't end up going trick or treating. We had a fun Halloween night at church that the kids dressed up for earlier in the week. I was a farmer, Sheldon a cow, Zane a Transformer and Abbie a Princess (Cinderella). It was fun. We meant to go trick or treating on post, but that day James had horses to shoe and came home with three rabbits (one for each kid). They were neglected at this barn and our friend Katie was trying to get rid of them because their owner didn't care about them. We had been wanting to get three girl bunnies in the Spring for the kids, so we ended up getting them early! :) They were free and came with cages and feeders, etc. We made the three cages into one big cage with a nesting box and they are a lot happier. Zane's is named Penelope. She is white-ish cream with copper spots. Abbie's is Rosie. She is white with pink ears and eyes. Sheldon's is named Chloe and she is solid black! My kids are in love with them! We plan to buy a big hutch for them, when we can and put it out in the backyard. Then we also want to put some woven wire fence around the bottom of our trampoline so that in the Spring, summer and fall the bunnies can be out for exercise AND the kids can play under there with them. It will be shady and cool under there and the grass grows really well under there. I had rabbits when I was little and have always liked them. :)
Jimmy went to the e-6 promotion board this month and scored a 147, so we're waiting to see if he gets picked up on December first. We hope so! It will be nice and he deserves it. He has a LOT of promotion points! :) Maybe next month I will be posting that my husband is now a Staff Sergeant! Yippee.
Not much else is going on really. I have just been doing the homeschool thing, the church thing and staying inside a lot, which is fine with me! I'm doing a beautiful, whimsical 1500 piece puzzle of Noah's Ark. It is gorgeous and I plan to frame it for the boys room. I am also reading the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis and am enjoying that.
OH>>>> My sister Naomi is PREGNANT again! :) She is 7 weeks and feeling really good so that is great news (she is the one who miscarried in August)! Sarah's baby will be born in March and Naomi's should be due around July. So, really it's not that far after Sarah's and they can still have a double baby shower and share baby clothes, and such! :) Great news!
Well, I think thats all for now. I will add some pictures to this once I find some BATTERIES for my camera! Ugh. I don't even have pictures of the bunnies yet!
Blessings to all, Rachelle
Monday, September 28, 2009
It's Fall!
MY BEAUTIFUL HORSE20 1/2 YEARS OLD HERE
MY HUSBAND AND JACKSON ATTHE UNIT FORMAL
THE KIDDOS ON HOPE
FRIEND SARAH, ABBIE, SHELDON
AND ZANE THROWING GRASS! :)
HOPE IS SO SWEET TO THEM!
FRIEND SARAH, ABBIE AND SHELDON
JAMES AND RACHELLE AT THE 2009 FORMAL
BEFORE THE FORMAL, LOOKING SASSY!
"I DON'T WANNA DO SCHOOL"....LOL!
~IT'S FALL ~
I feel so bad that I haven't been able to blog but once a month, but I just haven't felt the desire to pour out my heart online much these days. Mostly, that is because my husband is home now and I can pour out my heart to him when I need to! :) Still, I wish I could post more often and not just my monthly report, but something with more depth and feeling...hmm...maybe this winter!
What a glorious season Fall is, especially in Washington! :) It's warm during the day and cool at night. I love it! Mostly I love it because I don't have to worry so much about surviving horrid winters, here, like I had to in Idaho.
Well, we've been doing school, doing the church thing and we started AWANA this month. I am now the Sparks Director and it's a hefty job, so please pray for me as I go about this endeavor and ministry! I am NOT a good speaker and like Moses, I feel inadequate. Maybe you all could pray about that when you think of me. It's a very big responsibility and there is a lot of weekly preparation, so it takes time and much studying and prayer, on my part. I need it though. I love children's ministry, so it should be even better for me than when I was a Color leader for Sparks. I need to grow in the Lord and this is a way for me to come out of my shy shell (shy when it comes to presenting the Gospel, anyway). I have SO many color leaders, though! I am so blessed with their willingness to serve God and to help me. Our Sparks team lacks organization, so I am definitely thankful for these willing members of our church, in this whole thing! I have more than enough leaders, so I think we'll have a great year!
Church is going well...we are SO INCREDIBLY blessed at McKenna Community Church!!! I cannot say it enough. Each Sunday I am blessed, filled to overflowing, taught, drawn out, and just happy! I love our church. I'm so glad and thankful to God that he has led us to this particular one. What a LOVING, KIND, CARING and ALL-KNOWING God we serve! WOW! I have made so many good friends, too, many of which who have become dear to my heart already.
School is going smoothly! :) Zane is doing very well and I get better each day it seems. Homeschooling takes practice and I know it will be a few years before I reach my potential, at this whole thing!
Our Unit Formal went well! I will post pictures of that! We had a great time. The food was wonderful and the ceremony meaningful ( especially so soon after Terry's death). We enjoyed watching the drunk people. It was hilarious. We will probably go again next year. I had fun and felt like a Princess!
Oh, the first week in September my husband's Grandfather and Step-Grandmother came for a visit, while on their RV trip across the US. It was great to see them and give them a nice home-cooked meal! The kids enjoyed seeing them and they enjoyed meeting Sheldon for the first time.
This past weekend I got to meet a facebook friend that I've known for a little over a year but never got to meet. Amy and Sean and their little girl, Sarah came over for dinner and we saddled up Hope for them. They seemed to enjoy it and I just loved meeting their family. They are an Army family, too, and just got stationed here at Lewis.
My Ladies Bible Study group starts tomorrow night! I am so excited to have some one on one time with my girlfriends without the children around. :) I think James might be doing the Men's Bible Study (at the same time) but they have child-care at the church, so that will be great.
Really not much else going on to report about. I stay super busy doing all the things I do around here! :) I do want all of you to know that I think of you often, love you and care about what is going on in your lives! Let's keep in touch! <3
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us".
If you are a believer, never forget what Christ did for you....where he pulled you up out of....that he saved you when you were still in sin! If you aren't a believer and have never been converted, know that God cares, that He loves and that he saves the lowliest of sinners along with the little child who has hardly sinned yet in his/her lifetime...we have ALL sinned and we have all fallen short of His Glory.
Rachelle
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