Yipeeee!!!

We had a lovely weekend! Some friends of ours from Pennsylvania came to visit. We spent Friday evening playing Settlers of Catan and staying up way too late. Then, on beautiful Saturday, we went sledding!

You should have seen it outside! On Friday night we had a mini snow storm so there was a fresh blanket of soft whiteness, glistening with winter snow fairies. The cloudless sky was an immense sea of brilliant blue that took your breath away. The combination of bright blue and sunlit white was dazzling; it was the winter day that everyone yearns for in the heat of summer. So, after taking a terribly long time to bundle up all the kids and the parents, we trudged outside. The cold was crisp and fresh, but not too biting. The kids took off as fast as they could, kind of like overstuffed snow bunnies that decided hopping was too hard and instead waddled like ducks. Liam especially looked like a little Ewok with a full-faced grin.

We grabbed our runner sled, compliments of my Aunt Chris, and thought about how we could get a nice path worn down in the powdery snow. Being way too lazy, we decided to wing it and see if the sled would work without any effort. And WOW! Did it ever! Andrew took Abbi and Phin down for the trial run and barley stopped before flying out into the road! Then it was our friends’ turn. They dodged the trees and avoided going into the road as well. Finally, after what seemed like ages to this little kid trapped in a Mama’s body, it was my turn. The Carpenter had me sit in front of him so that I could see all the trees he was weaving around. I think I screamed the whole way down.

I tell you what, if you live anywhere near us, you NEED to come visit sometime this winter. I have NEVER had so much fun! We have the best hill ever and the coolest sled this side of the 21^st Century. All I could think about was the story from the Laura Books about when Pa was a boy: He and his brothers had built a runner sled, finishing it just before Sunday. On Sunday, when no fun was allowed, they quietly snuck outside to try the sled while their Father was dozing. They drug it up the hill and quietly got situated. Then, as they were picking up speed, a family pig stepped in the way of the sled and ended up getting a ride. It squealed the whole way down the hill (kind of like me) and past the house with Father’s face in the window. Oops!

Anyway, I think I had more fun than the kids. Andrew said I should go sledding everyday as a part of my new exercise program (that hill is a killer!). I think that will have to wait for naptime!!!

A Joyful Noise

Last night we were all gathered in the living room singing some songs before bed. We had started off some more lively songs, then slowed down to Step by Step (by Rich Mullins). Step by Step is one of the children's favorites. It goes:

O God, you are my God

And I will ever praise you!

O God, you are my God

And I will ever praise you!

I will seek you in the morning...

And it continues. We sang that a bit, then moved on to an even more quiet song:

Draw me, Draw me, Lord...

Well, as the Carpenter, myself, Abbi and Phin were singing, all of the sudden a little Liam voice rose above all and shouted out, "O GAWG are mieee GAWG!!!"

I held it together until Andrew let out a little chuckle, then I lost it completely! We all laughed and laughed!

What fun, what fun!!!

Fresh Morning Mercy

Well! It has been a little while since I’ve posted anything! I had written a post Monday morning but decided not to post it. It seemed a little to intimate, a little to revealing… and the Carpenter said I was being too hard on myself. Suffice it to say I had been in a “Mommy Rut” for most of the past weekend. I had severely lacked kindness and gentleness – among other Fruits of the Spirit – and hadn’t been the nicest Mama. Fortunately, I am learning to say, “I’m sorry” to my dear children. It is amazing how quickly they forgive! My heart wept when my not-so-little five-year old put her gentle arms around my neck and said, “I forgive you, Mama” when I told her it was wrong of me to have yelled in anger.

The song Great is Thy Faithfulness is dear to my heart:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee!

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not,

As Thou hast been Thou forever will be!

Great is Thy faithfulness,

Great is Thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning, new mercies I see!

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

And Monday morning I was walking fresh in His mercy, gratefully washed anew by His Holy Spirit and the prayers of the Carpenter over his wife. I want to be, to my children, like the Lord is to me: filled with compassion, not changing in character, constantly faithful and kind. I am so thankful for the Faithfulness of my Lord! When I turn to Him He does not withhold Himself! When I’m in need of His grace, He pours it out. When I ask for wisdom, He freely gives it. When I call for help, He comes, able and ready. All I have needed He has provided. Thank you, Lord!

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So, what have we been doing with new mercies, fresh each morning? Well, drinking coffee for one thing! And this morning I even ate a Lemony Christmas Cookie … of course before the kiddos got up (actually, I ate a couple)! We’ve been decorating our house in anticipation of celebrating Jesus’ Birthday, baking bread and the afore mentioned cookies, reading books, making presents, and doing bits of school here and there (and, of course, laundry).

Abigail has started piano lessons. This is going better than I anticipated! I had been very nervous about trying to teach her piano. Finally, I just jumped into it; she had been expressing much interest and I didn’t want her desire to wane. I ended up talking to my mom about when I started learning – how much did I practice (10 – 15 min a day for starters), did she stand over my shoulder and make sure I practiced the ‘right’ way (no, she had no clue what I was doing anyway), should I demand perfection before moving on to the next lesson (no, that created much frustration in me, squelching my creativity). So, by the good grace of God, I’ve relaxed and am actually enjoying this! So is Abbi. She is flying through the lessons and even jumping ahead! Yesterday she even learned “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” as well as “The ABC’s” and “Baah, Baah Black Sheep.” She couldn’t WAIT to show Papa!

Phinehas is making Abbi a Christmas present – a beaded bracelet. I am once again impressed by that little boy! He was so focused and patient! He adds the beads and I am looping the thread around to make it a looped bracelet. He especially likes the fact that he has a shortened naptime!

Liam’s new favorite words are, “atch ME, Mama!” He wants me to watch him do all his new tricks. Its funny; sometimes he will ask me to watch him and then all he does is freeze in place. I’ll wait and when nothing else comes along I continue with the task at hand. Then, almost immediately, Liam asks me to watch him again. The process is repeated over and over till finally I have to say, “You need to DO something if you want me to watch!!!”

Lydia is crawling. Well… not conventionally. She inches while on her back, arching up then pushing with her feet. I do so wish I could get a picture of that! She’ll go all the way across the floor, turning when her head get hung up on something like the couch or a chair. The kids call her the inchworm!

Well, that is a little glimpse into our days, freshly filled with morning mercy! My “Mommy Rut” is over and I hope it stays away.

He Loves Me, Yah, Yah, Yah!!!

Yup. The Carpenter sure loves his woman!

Wanna see what he bought for me?

Now, bread making will be a breeze! And, yes, I've already used it!

It makes REALLY BIG batches of yummy bread. How fun!

Kid Talk

This morning over toast and eggs:

Phin - "Abbi, I'm going to tell you a funny joke."

Abbi - "OK!"

Phin - "What if a pig was yellow?!"

Abbi - "Hahahahah!!! Then it would be rolling in egg yolk!"

Together - "Hahahahahah!!!!"

Respect – How?

I have a dear friend who has come to a place in her marriage where she not only knows that she should respect her husband, but she also really wants to. She decided that she was going to step out of her ‘safety net’ and bow before her king, aligning herself beneath his headship. If you’ve never dared to do this, and I mean REALLY do this from the heart - not in mere outward action, then you may know the fear and trembling that was in her. She was absolutely CERTAIN that she would be unleashing a tyrant, a power-hungry dictator who would then walk all over her; she was SURE that by surrendering herself to her husband that she was absolutely nuts (and most today would have agreed). But, she did it anyway.

After she took only ONE initial step to demonstrate her genuine respect and reverence for her husband, she was absolutely astounded to be able to see for the first time ever that her Beloved earnestly desired from the first to love and cherish and adore her… but she had not been in a place to receive it for she had removed herself from the cover of his headship; she had refused to stand in a place where she could receive his love and care for her.

Her account of this experience has reminded me of a couple things:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – Luke 9: 23-24

In order for my sweet friend to enter into the beginnings of a glorious marriage, she had to deny herself. She was so afraid of respecting her man, for fear he would trounce on her, that it really was an act of ‘losing herself’ in order to find what she was looking for; if she had tried to preserve her own will and desire, she would never have found the abundance of love her husband had for her. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

“Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive… but blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear” – Matthew 13:14, 16

My friend had heard that the right thing to do was really respect her husband, to wholly honor him. However, until she stepped out into the unknown she couldn’t see the beauty of a marriage in right order. Though she had heard, she could not understand until she chose to blindly walk in obedience – then her blind eyes were opened and she received sight! Incredible!

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The “how’s” of respect will vary in each marriage. If I were to tell you the things I do and you were to try and emulate them, they probably would not work. The carpenter is a one-of-a-kind man, and the things he recognizes as respectful may be meaningless to your husband. However, there is one thing that I feel is a foundational key to respect and honor and, yes, even that misunderstood word, submission.

The Words You Speak

“She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness” – Proverbs 31:26

I have been reading through Proverbs of late and I am absolutely astounded at how many verses give reference to our speech! When I take heed and pay attention to the words that come out of my mouth, making sure they are life giving and edifying, I am amazed at how much more peaceful my home and heart are. How true that “your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.” (Proverbs 11:17) Yet, I am often appalled at how easy it is to say cutting, destructive remarks. How often my silent prayer is, “Lord! Help me to be ‘swift to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry!’ (James 1:19)”

You know how easy it is to casually tell a ‘funny’ story about a mistake your husband has made, even if it was years ago. You know how quickly conversation among women turns to revealing minor (and major) faults and flaws in their husbands. These things should not be! And how swift we are to give ‘helpful’ suggestions to our husbands regarding what they do, how they act, the choices they make. If you are honest with yourself, you will be able to admit that your ‘helpfulness’ isn’t anything more than mere nagging – and you wonder why your husband acts annoyed (Proverbs 19:13).

Each person will be called on to give an account for “every idle word” they speak (Matthew 12:33-37). That knowledge is enough to make me want to take a vow of silence! However, that wouldn’t be wholly profitable in the end. Instead, I need to call on the Lord and yield to His workings in my life. I need to daily “set my affections on things above (Colossians 3:2)” and seek wisdom that is from above (James 3:17-18). “If anyone does not stumble in word he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” (James 3:2 – indeed, read the whole chapter!)

Obviously, the words we speak affect each and every area of our life. I, as a wife, want to speak words of life to my husband. I want to be a joy and a crown to him, not sapping his strength (Proverbs 12:4 NLT). I want to obtain and keep his trust (Proverbs 31:11). I don’t want to be a fool, “venting all my feelings” but rather I want to be found wise, able to “hold my feelings back” (Proverbs 29:11).

So, I encourage you to take heed to the words that come out of your mouth. Are they a source of life, or is death and destruction in your tongue? I challenge you to not speak an unkind, harsh, or negative word to or about your man. Try it even for only a day or two. Check the words before they leave your tongue; if it is not profitable, don’t say it. You may find that you end up often silent – but that is better than tearing down your ‘house’ (your marriage) with your own ‘two hands.’ Guard your mouth and tongue and thereby keep your soul from trouble (Proverbs 21:23)

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Back to my dear friend: She is new to this “bridling of her tongue.” How easy it is to slip into old, familiar habits! If you are used to heedlessly giving voice to every thought that enters your head, this will indeed be a difficult change. My friend, though she has had her share of blunders, has not hardened her heart. She is able to recognize when the words she has spoken have been anything but respectful and she has humbled herself and asked for forgiveness from her husband. That, to me, is beautiful to see. She is giving one of the greatest gifts to her children – a home where Daddy and Mommy love and respect each other. When I hear about and see the change in her I see something majestic and stately: “There are three things which are majestic in pace, yes four which are stately in walk: … a king whose troops are with him.” – Proverbs 30:29-31

Are you with your man?

Early Morning, Late Morning

Today was an early morning for the carpenter and his wife. We rolled out of our toasty bed and tiptoed down stairs shortly before 5:00. The stillness and quiet of the pre-dawn house was enjoyable. After my man pulled away I had some moments to myself - sipping coffee, reading undisturbed, watching the gray dawn slowly wake the chilled earth. In fact, I had quite a few moments: for once all four of my children slept past not only 6:30, but even past 7:00 to the late 7:30!! Believe it or not, clockwork Phin was up last! He must have felt the slow, gray day and decided that under the cozy covers was the place to be!

Now, we are contentedly finishing our breakfast of sourdough bread, yummy fried eggs, and tasty tea! As we sit here, we are watching snowflakes as they gently swirl to the ground; it seems like winter is finally trying to creep in, now that December has arrived. The snow isn't preventing the birds from gathering at our feeders, nor is it stopping the squirrels as they scurry about wishing they could reach little the houses filled with tasty seeds. They need to content themselves with the seeds scattered by the messy bluejays - I'm sure they are not disappointed.

Today we will jump around to some good folk music, have fun with play dough, do some schooling, read some books. Maybe we'll venture into the crisp, cold, snow-filled air outside and run around with bright red cheeks and chilly noses. And of course, the nemesis ever waits for me...