Multitude Mondays

Our summer has been busy and my weekly gratitude list has gone by the wayside, but we have had plenty to be thankful for.....

842.   return to Silver Lake camping for the Oesterles....watching the soccer playoff game...riding in Kip's Jeep....devotion time and singing songs from our youth

843.  tradition of walking the dunes...big cousins carrying little cousins...people yelling which way to go...thinking, "This has to be the last hill!"

844.  sharing experiences only with my daughter....putting on Rachelle's baby shower, washing dishes together at camping (don't ask me why this last one is just a mother/daughter thing...my boys have hands too....) 

845.  Benny's first camp experience at Camp Barakel....how I missed him all week!!

846.  the end of Moose season  

847.  the blessing TEC was in Jake's walk and seeing my eldest FREE 
848.  tradition of camping with the Sinnaeve family - this year @ Sand Lake and Lake Michigan, Manistee

849.  playing Egg-Chicken-Dinosaur w/ Sinnaeve family - pure silliness!

850.  swimming goggles and funny faces

851.  girl-time for Madeline

852.  Grandpa & Grandma Sinnaeve's family building ideas

853.  joy and unchecked interest in feeling a baby girl growing

854. camping at Mom & Dad Oesterle's with Townsends

855. watching my youngest and his interest in fishing

856.  crazy-poker-cardplaying-cousins

857.  powdered sugar covered smiles

858.  Ben joining Charis and I this year in cleaning ~50 fish

859.  yummy fried fish

860. camping alone for a few days before being joined by the Dysarts

861. 4 exhausting, beautiful days of Unity Festival
862.  burying kids in the sand

863.  Ga-Ga dirt-covered kids, dirt was up their noses, all over their face, hands, arms and legs
864.  laughter

865.  watching sunset over Lake Michigan

866.  coming home
867.  Allie's bowling birthday party

868.  Isaiah's decision to be baptized

869. Saturday cleaning on a Friday - it has been too long!
870. Francis Chan podcasts and conviction and truth
871. 20 years of marriage, with all it's ups and downs

872. God's creations...walkingstick...large blue spotted salamander...frogs...kittens....degu...hedgehog

873. Elisabeth Elliott sermon mp3's
874.  Oreo, our new kitten...he showed up on our church bench late one night with the dogs circling him, once he realized he was safe he wouldn't let me stop petting him and he was very thin...since then he's gotten fat and loves to follow the kids around in the woods and still loves to be petted...a few days after having him around, Nater was trying to ask where he was and he said, "Where's smore's?"  He remembered that we named him some kind of food item, but got it mixed up.

875. practicing the discipline of slowing down

Before School Starts....Laughed out Loud!!

All you homeschoolers out there have to go read this blog by The Pioneer Woman! Made me laugh out loud at 6 a.m. in the morning!
before-school-starts-a-reminder

Slowing Down

I hate being late...Don't know exactly why....I just want to respect people's time, want them to respect mine, and probably don't want to pegged the person who is always late with a van-load of kids. Today the older boys had ortho appts. and we wouldn't have been late, until amidst all my "Let's go! Someone kennel the dogs! Grab a book so you won't be bored!" Ben came in from the van and reminded me that the van is on E and we'll need to stop and get gas.

Grrrr.... I hate that when that happens. So since I hate being late, I focus the whole way there on driving at the edge of speeding, checking the time again and again and thinking, "We may just may make it on time." Jake talks to me from the front seat and I seem to pay attention, but in reality my thoughts are consumed by not being late.

Then as I'm passing a truck that is moving too slowly for my time-table I realize, on the other side of the truck is my exit!! I immediately am mad at myself, mad that I had to get gas, mad that I'm going to have to loose time by going to the next exit and backtracking.....when I possibly hear someone say, "Mom?" I turn the music down some and listen... "Mom?" I ask, "What?!" (because you know I'm irritated at being late) and Isaiah says to me, "I'd like to get baptized."

I'd like to pretend I responded in a perfect mom way, but you already know I'm not perfect and so I said, "That's cool...Okay." As I really am focused on speeding up a little to approach the next exit quicker and turn the music back up.

Then a few seconds later I realize I'm missing it again! I'm missing the Joy exit, the Love exit, the Gift exit! So I turn the music back down and ask Isaiah why - what has happened or changed that he's wanting to do this.... and he says, "I dunno....it's probably from listening to Francis Chan the other day and what he said and I just want to give God everything" as his voice breaks.

As a parent, sometimes I'm oblivious to how God's working because I'm so focused on MY agenda and I'm grieved to admit how much of my days are task focused. A few days ago, I was doing school planning in the dining room and playing some Francis Chan sermon podcasts and my kids were in the living room playing, but Isaiah was sitting just listening....God was at work in his spirit....

Lord, please continue to teach me to slow down...Don't let me "miss" another exit of Jake telling me something HE finds interesting, don't let me "miss" another exit of being there to rejoice in what You're doing in others' lives, don't let me "miss" another exit of closeness with my children - whether that's reading them a book, snuggling in the early morning hours, being there mentally to hear their heart and what they are sharing....My heart longs to be free of my agenda so that I can savor Your agenda in my life, the moments each day you give me. Thank You for the gas tank on E, for the missed exit, for the lesson to pay more attention to people and less attention to me. Thank you most of all for Isaiah's decision to identify himself with You, to die to himself publicly and to be a reflection of You. More of You, less of him. More of You, less of me.

20 Years of Dancing in the Minefields

Last week on Wednesday, it marked 20 years of marriage. We were camping and going to Unity Festival, so we told each other we'd celebrate after we got home. Today we are going to celebrate.  When I look back over our 20 years of marriage there has been many minefields and without Christ we wouldn't have survived together.

Multitude Mondays...I mean Thankful Thursday

812.   jumping and laughter....we got the trampoline repaired and since then it's been constant jumping and laughter and some squabbles as well
813.   patience...to endure rainy mornings and constant bickering, constant questioning of "can I go outside and jump?"
814.   watching a mama bunny nurse her two baby bunnies right on Crocus Trail
815.   Thursday: quiet & still house at 8:20 am??? What's up with that?  That is so not our family, to sleep in, but this morning I have 4 sleeping babes upstairs still!
816.   70's weather!
817.  God at work in baseball...softening Coach's words towards Jake...Jake's reliance on Him moment by moment, sometimes failing, but always clinging once again
818.  hearing Isaiah's voice last night all the way from Ohio....hearing that he misses home, hearing how he's staying positive even though individually he's not doing great, hearing his happiness for his friends who are doing great individually, thankful that he took a 2 hour nap and knows when he needs sleep  (his team is in first place as of this morning!)
819.  driving down the road with Jake in the passenger seat...stealing sideways glances at him until he laughs and says I'm so wierd!
820.  summer dirty feet

821.  bracelet from my sweet neighbor...I love it!

822.  my sweet neighbor

823.  frogs cupped in little hands

824.  fat toes, barefeet, soft and yet able to run over rocks and sticks

825.  my kids in catchers gear...what is it about it that makes me just think they are soooo cute???

826.  dressup...imaginations...little ones
827.  the ball game kids made up for the trampoline....put as many balls on the trampoline as you can, start jumping and the first person who gets touched by a ball is out - next player rotates in

828.  tough faces made when pitching

829.  family coming to support boys in baseball

830.  beautiful hot weather to watch baseball and little boy who falls asleep and drools

831.  performing New Testament Rewind on Sunday - what fun!

832.  Monroe Reunion...stepping out of comfort zones to initiate conversations, find family connections, taking pictures, boys and Madeline playing softball with cousins they don't know
833.  Jake's artistic self that sees a shot and grabs my camera

834.  boy who creates as he sits at the piano, then picks up guitar and recreates

835.  hummingbird nest, able to get a closer shot because we got our big ladder back

836.   cousins playing softball together

837.  creativity...Jake's obsession lately with "fiden" necklaces (cloth like necklaces twisted with titanium in them?) and his homemade version with yarn and copper wiring....it quickly became a hit amongst all my kids

838.  books....I love seeing my kids hidden behind a good book, may they always love reading!
839.  meeting with principal at Dansville to discuss options for online classes in order to be eligible for sports in high school and the thoughts that fostered as to why we homeschool and to hear Jake's thoughts as well....coming full circle in realizing what we value more than sports or other things and praying God will take care of our desires to play ball
840.  watching Maddie play softball - she's so into it!  In the last picture you can see she was doing a "yes!" hand movement when she was safe at third.  She often hides her joy behind her glove too when she's on the field!  Her last game is tonight - she's bummed!  Her team still has games next month, but we'll be on trips for them.

841.  driving up our wooded driveway at the end of the day