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

Off to World Quiz

Monday morning Isaiah left with Jonathon & Harrison Dysart to travel to the World Quiz in Mt. Vernon, Ohio.  These boys have studied and competed over this past year and earned the right to go to this quiz event with teams from all over the world.  Sunday night we got together, the Dysart family and our family, to pray over these young men.  It was a sweet time for me, just to reflect on their hearts - how they love God's Word and how ultimately my prayer is not that they'll necessarily quiz beautifully (although that would be awesome), but that God will work in their hearts in the service project they'll be doing, that they'll start each morning seeking His face in the Word before any competition and that win or lose - they'll do their best because they want to be used by Him.

I know it was difficult for Jake to not be going with them, but he is with them in spirit and in prayers.  I would appreciate your prayers as well for them this week. 

"Hope" is the Thing with Feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest sea,

Yet never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

by Emily Dickinson

I wear a ring that says the word HOPE on it.  My sister got it for me when Ted and I got back together after being seperated for over a year.  My story, my life, who I am all is wrapped up in that little word and what it means to hope in God!

Multitude Mondays

799. Weldon boys...they are quiet and easy going...they just fit right into our crazy family. They enjoyed playing baseball, watching Facing the Giants and Nacho Libre, going to a double header to watch Jake play Moose baseball, looking at me with amazement when I let out a "did you hear that?" burp, giggling at us...and they all slept in until 8:30 a.m.!

800. fat, chubby fingers offering up beauty to make me smile....God gives it as a gift, little eyes spy it and pluck it as a gift, vase holds it for all to enjoy in the quiet

801. slowing to watch a mom and 2 fawns cross the road....only to be added by a buck w/ velvet horns and another doe
802.  unexpected visit from out-of-town friends, visit that was too short to catch up on everything, the friend she is - faithful, chooses to make time to reconnect whenever she's in state,  her strong hugs!

803.  quiet time in 1 Peter this morning...reading God's Word is like a balm to my troubled spirit...wanting that for my children...
804.  Ted's ability to stay calm and loving as a parent, when all I want to do is knock some sense into my kid

805. toothless friends...memories of all the other milestones they've shared
806.  10 years of friendships...weekly gatherings...playing together....doing school together...

807.  safety....thankful for how the Lord looks out for us... Saturday night a violent wind blew thru our woods and we all heard the loud cracking, fearfully searching out windows to see where a tree was falling...it missed our home and just missed my new dogwood that we haven't planted yet!

808.  cousins and giggles in Aunt Cheryl's pool

809.  first toothless attempt to eat corn on the cob

810.  fathers and families...the two go hand in hand...Ted and I are so blessed by the fathers God has given us

811.  playing games....teaching Up and Down the River, playing cardgame Golf and kids playing Laddergolf, catch, and pool

811.  this has been a season of seeing the value in my husband and the kind of father he is to our children...I couldn't be more thankful!

Multitude Mondays

I know it's not a Monday and I know I've been quiet here lately.  Baseball, school, and just being a family have taken over.  Each day I think of things I want to blog/journal about, but it's a matter of finding the time.  It haunts me when I cannot find the time to post because this is one way I can give testimony to the work of God in my life.  Posting the multitude of things I'm thankful for just builds and builds, even if I don't have time to post it weekly.  So you'll have to bear thru this long gratitude list.  Edgar Guest explains it better than I in The Weaver.

The patter of rain on the roof, The glint of the sun on the rose;
Of life, these the warp and the woof, The weaving that everyone knows.
Now grief with its consequent tear, Now joy with its luminous smile;
The days are the threads of the year-- Is what I am weaving worth while?

What pattern have I on my loom? Shall my bit of tapestry please?
Am I working with gray threads of gloom? Is there faith in the figures I seize?
When my fingers are lifeless and cold, And the threads I no longer can weave
Shall there be there for men to behold One sign of the things I believe?

God sends me the gray days and rare, The threads from his bountiful skein,
And many, as sunshine, are fair. And some are as dark as the rain.
And I think as I toil to express My life through the days slipping by,
Shall my tapestry prove a success? What sort of weaver am I?

Am I making the most of the red And the bright strands of luminous gold?
Or blotting them out with the thread By which all men's failure is told?
Am I picturing life as despair, As a thing men shall shudder to see,
Or weaving a bit that is fair That shall stand as the record of me?

776.  celebrating 14 years spent with Jacob Meier (Dad taking day off from work so we can go out to eat for lunch, plan trip to Guitar Center, have cheesecake and cake batter icecream after baseball)....I am so proud of the young man he is growing into...he makes me laugh, he makes me cry, each day is a gift with him

777. iced coffees from Speedway
778. twizzlers and sunflower seeds at baseball games
779.  silly children who make me smile

780. the freeing feeling of loading up a trailer of stuff we don't need anymore and letting Grandma Sinnaeve work her sales "magic", so we don't have to bring anything back home

781.  Madeline's softball debut

782. boys who can mow the lawn and the smell of fresh cut grass
783. cool basement to retreat to on hot days and to sleep in on hot nights
784. witnessing the new birth of Denise & Jeff Weldon on May 30th - all I could think of was how the angels and God in heaven were rejoicing!

785.  summer hair cuts (Jake actually had a deadline of May 31st to have his hair cut shorter - this resulted in a late night haircut on Memorial Day, with an emergency trip to the barber in Mason for a cut-correction preceded by an argument from Jake that he wasn't going to go in a barber shop!) (Nate pictured on next line)

786. the pain and joy of loosing your two front teeth - the first front tooth was knocked out by Maddie in the pool, then the 2nd top tooth was knocked out by Maddie in a pillow fight...are we seeing a theme here?

787. listening to the lisping words of my youngest because he has no front teeth
788. beautiful performances by Jake & Madeline at their piano recital and the family who comes to support them...Jake's piece was How Great is Our God and during his playing, I felt the Holy Spirit so strongly and could feel God's pleasure as He listened to Jake

789. drum teacher who is so encouraging to Isaiah
790. friends and family who help us in getting 4 children where they need to go for games on one night
791. baseball....how can I not be thankful for it? Even though this season has been tougher than any and I recognize things I would change adamantly in future years, I love watching my boys and my girl play ball!
792. baseball caps with scripture written inside to remind and encourage the reader that God is the prize, not a hit, not an awesome pitching outing, not the end score.  Isaiah chose Deuteronomy 29:11, Ben chose Psalm 27:3, and Jake couldn't narrow his down so he squeezed in:  Hebrews 12:2, James 1:22, 1 Peter 1:15, James 3:5, Galations 2:20, Colossians 3:23, James 1:12, Proverbs 3:6, Psalm 37:5, Psalm 22:7, Romans 8:38-39, Psalm 27:11, Philippians 3:8, Proverbs 8:9

793.  holding hands with Ben in the car

794.   trying to sneak downstairs and let Ted put kids to bed, but my middle child seeks me out and says, "You're not getting away!" as he approaches with arms outstretched for a goodnight hug....thank you Lord for his affection

795.  time with husband at home, unable to do much but just "be" with us, due to back pain flareup

796.  the hummingbird nest outside our bedroom window...sitting on the roof, trying to hold super-still with camera poised to get a shot of the mom on the nest.  It is so amazing!  It is so small that I never would have spied it.  I tell my kids they are witnessing something at their young age, that I haven't witnessed for 42 years!  God's creativity is humbling!

797.   watching a coyote cross in front of us on the way to baseball Wednesday night - amazing as well
798.   Godly friends and sister who encourage me, sit and chill with me