Bow the Knee

Weekend

So, Terry had a day off on Friday, so he went down to get Mikayla for a weekend at home. She mostly went around all day Saturday finding friends, and doing homework. Sunday, she played for the singing at church and she and I left that afternoon after a lunch out at Subway with another of her friends. I got to meet her dorm mates and hang out a little with them Sunday night. I slept in the guest room there and headed back home this morning. Lots of driving, but worth it! She's fine, and she loves it!

WOOHOO!

Mikayla is coming home this weekend!!!!

New

So what's new? Well, we have had some new things going on in our family. Mikayla being away at school is the newest, and the adjustment on this end is...hard...and odd. I was asked if the household was different without her here. It's crazy different! And it takes some getting used to, believe me. I'm so used to having the kids right here, or at least I know right where they are and what they are doing and when they will be home. So what's different, you ask? It's quieter. Mikayla is a talker. The other two go off and play or whatever, and it's...quiet. Weird!!! There is less drama. She's also a teenager. haha. The bathroom is freer. hahaha! I find myself watching the clock to try and figure out what she might be doing, but the truth is, I never really know unless I have a chance to talk to her. When she calls, she usually opens with saying that she only has a few minutes to talk. *sniff* I am not running from pillar to post trying to get the kids to all their different activities. Lanie opted not to play soccer this year, and Lanie and Nate are sharing a piano lesson time. That only leaves Nathanael's public school classes, which are back to back, one soccer team, and one piano lesson. It's downright bizarre feeling. BUT, those strange feelings, plus missing her like crazy are the cons. I would give anything to have that school within a few miles of us!!! As a matter of fact, the first week of school I could not keep that thought out of my head. I found myself thinking, "it's just not fair that this school is so far away and that there where no other options for her." Silly, considering the way that the Lord provided. I had to talk to the Lord about it , and those talks usually ended with, "but I MISS HER!!!" But there are pros, too--- Lanie and Nate come downstairs in the morning, giggle through breakfast, sing through showers, do chores, and go get at their schoolwork. Lanie is learning to be more independent since she doesn't have a big sister here all the time telling her exactly what to do. I am able to really concentrate on Alana's remedial work, and it shows! I'm so glad that I had her do third grade again. Fourth grade is a breeze for her so far. YAY! I am able to spend time just listening to Nate. He has the most fertile imagination I have ever encountered. He is loving his computer class that he is taking this year. Mikayla is taking Dublin by storm, landing the lead in the upcoming play, and auditioning for the ministry team and making it, loving the social side of being in school, as well as learning what real studying is. She is able to be challenged and stretch her wings a bit, as well, all while the values that we worked so hard to instill at home are being reinforced and hopefully strengthened.
We have had some new things going on in Church as well. This year we started a Good News Club. VBS saw us with a whole new bunch of kids whose parents seemed to be searching for good things for their kids to do. We decided on the Thursday night of VBS that we could try an after school Bible club to reach these new families on a weekly basis. I went to the computer, fashioned invitations ,coming up with a time and a name for it off the top of my head, printed them out, and sent them home with the VBS kids Friday night. WOW! Although it sounds like we were going to be flying by the seat of our pants, we have run all sorts of Bible clubs before and figured that it would be best to do one with just the basic salvation and Bible stories, songs, and crafts. Usually when we start something like this, we see our own church kids come and then maybe a few of their friends in the following weeks. Our first Good News Club, sans new music, awards, and 'bells and whistles', we had twelve children only two of which were our own church kids. The second week we had twenty, all of whom left with an invitation to give to a friend. Isn't that awesome!! We still have new contacts from VBS to call on, too. The first night we did a lesson on the wordless book and then the children made their own. I was amazed at how engaged they were as we sang the very old wordless book song as they turned the pages in their very own books. The second week the lesson was on sin and salvation, along with a review of the wordless book. We made key chains with ABC beads reminding them that one must admit that they are sinners, believe in Jesus, and confess. All the old Child Evangelism Fellowship songs are being sung lustily. It's funny how sometimes simpler is better, and old is new and wonderful again.
We now have a mini orchestra in our church that plays during congregational singing in our Morning Worship Service. We are blessed every week by this and it adds so much to our singing. This family is thinking about joining our church, too. That's new!
I need new curtains in the dining room. Why, what's wrong with the ones you have?? Well, I decided to wash them and they were so old that they literally came apart in the wash. Ok, then, I guess it's time for new curtains. Anything would be better than the sheet that hangs there now. :)

I'll Never Forget That Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW8puRqE4Sc

The Final Word About Dublin

Mikayla is going to Dublin Christian Academy! It's the miracle we prayed for! When I said at the beginning of this endeavor that it would take a miracle for her to go, I wasn't kidding. Terry already has an extra job to make ends meet as it is. Soooo, as most of you know, I applied for a scholarship. She got one covering 60% of her tuition. We got really excited over that, but after looking at what was left to pay...well, let's just say, we still needed a miracle. I almost brushed this idea off as way too pricey for us, BUT, we decided to go ahead and do up the paperwork needed and then we visited the school on our vacation. LOVED it!! You should have seen this kids big brown eyes light up and stay lit throughout the entire visit. Had a wonderful meeting with the administrator and headmaster. Had a great tour of the place with the secretary. Went home and waited to hear from them again. See, after he met with us and then Mikayla separately, the administrator said that he would look at our financial situation again. After several agonizing days after returning from vacation, we could stand it no longer and Terry finally broke down and called them to check on the status. They called right back and said that they had upped the scholarship to 75%. Excitement took hold of us again as Terry took out his trusty ledger and pushed numbers around. There was/is room and board, fees (for every little thing, it seems), books, uniforms, and little things that you need when living away from home, to pay for. We prayed about it, and literally had to shrug our shoulders because it was sooo out of our hands. I went ahead and started looking for books and uniforms finding them on ebay and used book auctions. I would find a book that she needed, watch it for days with bated breath, and then bid in the last seconds to get the cheapest price. I listed some of my used homeschool books and sold them, too, using that money to buy her new ones. I figured that the Lord was at work here. 75% off tuition is nothing to sneeze at and if the Lord wanted her to go even at the last moment, she would be ready. As of today, all her uniforms have been provided, one complete outfit from Nana, a bedroom set bought by Grandma, and all her books and school supplies have been purchased. The school let us set up a twelve month payment plan even though the billing for that starts in June. They also combined the registration fee into the twelve month plan, meaning that we don't have to come up with all of that next week. One of our close friends came over the other day to buy some used curriculum from me and paid way more than what I was asking so that we could pay the music fees. Is God at work here?? Oh, I have NO doubt whatsoever! There have been some difficult things come up that almost derailed us, and we realize that there are more hurdles to jump and some tight days ahead until tax season, but God has made it possible for her to go. She is ecstatic, anxious, sad, and dying to go right now, all at once. AND she is recovering from having her wisdom teeth out. Ah, there's another little piece of our miracle. This oral surgery was not within our ability to pay for. We hated it, but we applied for the state healthcare in order to get it done. It was supposed to take forever to get scheduled. Mainecare was supposed to take forever to answer the request for the surgery, and there was supposed to be all sorts of red tape and I don't even know what all, that had to happen first. But, we got the consult done, and they accepted our letter of acceptance from Mainecare in place of the cards that hadn't come yet. Then, they told us that mainecare had to approve the surgery and said that it usually took three months or more to get said approval. Well, I have to admit to calling and unashamedly bugging them, but they finally scheduled it for September 8th. I called two more times to bug them and got it scheduled for the 23rd of August. Done and healed before school starts!!! YAY! Yet another part of this miracle that convinces me that God has been working on this before we even thought of it, is this: Terry felt, at the beginning of 2010, that times were going to be uncertain, so he paid all of our bills ahead for the entire year and set the rest aside in a savings club. I thought it sounded good at the time, but now? I can only say that God must have put that in his head to do. Don't we serve an awesome God?!

PS. You can check out the school if you scroll down to our "links we like" and click on Dublin Christian Academy. Be sure and check out the Chorale's pictures. You can find them by looking for photo albums and then Chorale Tour. Mikayla will be joining them this year!

Another Word From Dublin

We visited Dublin Christian Academy when we went off on our little vacation and found it to be quite nice! It is exactly what we feel Mikayla needs. We had a wonderful interview with the administrator and headmaster, and the secretary took us on a full tour. She also answered many questions and explained things as we went. The administrator also met with Mikayla separately from us. On our way out, Terry spoke to him more about finances and he said that he would review our situation again. Today the call came and they have now awarded Mikayla a 75% scholarship!!! We are scrambling around to see if we could possibly send her this year. There are books to buy and uniforms as well. All very pricey. Keep praying!!!

A Little Getaway

We joined our friends for a day at Storyland.

The Word From Dublin

Well, some relatives and friends have asked me to keep them posted about the scholarship that we applied for from Dublin Christian Academy. I got the word today that they would award Mikayla a 60% scholarship on the tuition. In numbers, that would be about $4,182.00 towards tuition leaving about $2,818.00 for tuition and another $7,000.00 for room and board. For us to pay over $9,000.00 for her to go would take a miracle. At this point it looks like a no go, but I am still going on with the application process. I feel it is what she really needs that, neither I as a homeschooler nor the public school, can provide. I believe that if the Lord wants her there this year, He will provide a way. If it comes down to the fact that she just can't go, we will be ok with doing what we need to do here for her junior year and saving for her Senior year. I spoke for quite awhile with two different people at Dublin and was impressed with their willingness to pray along with us and answer any questions that I could come up with. Believe me, when you have had the total responsibility for your child's education along with the regular responsibilities that go along with parenting completely on your shoulders for this long, there ARE going to be many queries and questions! They have been very kind and quite understanding so far. I still have some more questions that I will probably reserve for our visit and meeting with the administration. So, that's the word. We covet your prayers on the matter.

Adventures in Owen Sitting part 2

It always totally amazes me how the littlest kids can figure out the tech stuff these days. He figured out the Wii controls very quickly. Much faster than his Aunt Jen did!

Owen wanted to "play" the piano with Mikayla. After doing that for quite some time, she needed to come up with something else for him to do that still made him feel like part of the fun. She came up with this solution. Ingenious!

Adventures in Owen Sitting part 1

Prayful Consideration

I have not posted in awhile mostly because we've been busy, but not with the usual blogworthy things. I haven't taken many pictures really. There are many things on my mind that I have trouble sharing on the blog, and even though it would be therapeutic to type it here, I probably shouldn't.
One thing I can share...We have been prayerfully considering sending Mikayla to Dublin, NH to attend a Christian, college prep school. It's a wonderful school that has high academic standards, and is chock full of fine arts opportunities. She would have the opportunity to take piano, voice, flute, and be in a traveling chorale group, as well as being a part of drama productions. All things that are right up her alley, and things that are very difficult to provide up here in Lincoln. She is ready to be done with homeschooling, and if I'm perfectly honest, so am I. High School is so difficult and there are so many things that we would love to provide for her and can't. Two problems with this...she is still quite young and I can't imagine her gone from home for such long periods of time although she is raring to give it a try. I think she's ready, it's just her Mom that has had her nearby all the time that is struggling even though I can see how great it would be for her. The other major problem is how expensive it is. We applied for a scholarship, so now we just pray and wait. I usually have the next school all planned out by now. So, for now, I have done all her grades, had her tested and gotten the results back to send to them, sent in the application for enrollment with the fee for that, and sent in the application for a scholarship. And we pray and pray and pray. This is seriously one of the times that I wish that God would shout out the answer. But He doesn't. He is not in the whirlwind or the storm, but speaks with a still, small voice.

The End

We have had a busy schedule full of end of the year happenings. We still have a piano/voice recital coming up. I can't imagine how it would be if my kids were in school and involved with all that goes with it. As it is, just being in band has really made us busy! Nate and Mikayla both had year end band concerts and were in the Memorial Day parade. Mikayla also had band responsibilities with the Senoir awards night, and graduation tomorrow. I took plenty of videos and posted them to Facebook, but here are some for the ones who haven't joined the dark side as of yet. Nathanael also played the Navy Hymn in church on Memorial Day for an offertory. I told him to watch and play it again if the offering took a little longer. Well, he only played it once through because there were people out of town and the offering only took a minute. I should have told him to play it at least twice and then more if needed. Oh, well. :)

Here's the marching band. They combine the Jr. High and High School, so both kids are in it.

Nathanael's teacher gave him a solo in the jazz band, and then had him play with a couple of other kids to help them with timing. Soooo proud of him, I must admit!

Spring Happenings

Easter Sunday

Lanie's Birthday

When the Girl of the Year is named Lanie, you just have to order one for your own Lanie!

North Conway

March and April 2010 has been remarkably warm. We have sure enjoyed the early spring this year. The ice on our little lake went out a full month early, and now, the week that it usually goes out, there are daffodils and crocus in full bloom. My azalea burst forth yesterday. We are planning to put in the garden this weekend, which is waaaay early. April brought Easter, and we actually had an egg hunt OUTSIDE! This has NEVER happened in my memory of my whole entire childhood, or in my children's childhood. There is usually still snow on the ground, or at the very least, MUD! It was so nice to NOT have to shop for sweaters to cover bare arms. Easter dresses are quite often sleeveless, for some reason, making it difficult for us Mainers. The girls loved that!
We went to North Conway, NH this year for spring break for the simple reason that there was a conference there that Terry was asked to speak at. We were excited to be able to go, as we are not always able. We planned to go a day early and got a hotel that not only had an indoor pool, but waterslides! My kids were in Heaven! We also hit the outlets later in the day, and attended First Baptist's Bible study and prayer service. The next morning we had more time for the slides and then headed off to conference in the afternoon.
Back in Maine, we celebrated Lanie's tenth birthday. We didn't throw her a party except to have cake and share gifts as a family this year. The reason? Well, American Girl dolls are quite pricey, that's why. The doll of the year this year was named Lanie. What else were we to do? Lanie didn't mind the trade-off, as you can see from the huge smile. I remember getting a Jennie doll when I was her age. I played with that one more that any others, and I had quite a few dolls. It must be all the special clothes that are just for her. My mom and my friends mom sewed a bunch of little dresses and things for our dolls. American Girl has books to go with their dolls, which is another great thing!
This week, we are back to reality. School as usual, but this weekend my two older kids are headed to a music camp put on my Lee Baptist Church. They have the kids prepare ahead of time to preform a sacred piece on their instrument of choice, and then they work with them on singing in a choir. The kids had a blast at the last one. Of course, there is lots of food, fun, and Bible, too.
Pictures will have to come a little later. Firefox won't let me upload, so I have to figure that out. If I have too, I will go under Explorer to do it.

Lanie was too fearful to try the big slides. We finally got her to go down this little one. That's where she stayed.

Remembering Dad

My wedding

Reading to his "Little Doll".

A quick hug from "Thano"

Being silly with Lanie at her third birthday.

Holding Mikayla about three days old at our home in Maryland.

I remember how he would always try to say a word of encouragement to Terry and I about our efforts in our ministry. He seemed to be endlessly optimistic about the ministry even when we were ready to throw up our hands in defeat. A quick compliment. A promise to pray about it. A story. A smidgen of advice.
An arm around a grandchild along with a small compliment, or encouragement. A special nickname for each of them.
I remember a quivering chin when talking about a mentally disabled person pointing out John 3:16 in his worn out Bible.
I remember that his suit jacket always smelled like cigarette or cigar smoke because he sat in the local coffee shop with a bunch of fellas. I remember the waitress calling him "Reverend Deyah" as she refreshed his coffee again. If I got to tag along, I got to have a hot cocoa and a chocolate, sugared doughnut.
I remember that I couldn't get away from his influence. Even out of state trips brought us to someone who knew him and had a story to tell about him. It seemed that Dad knew everyone and could carry on a conversation with anyone. When I was a young person, it was exasperating. Not now. Now I hope it never ends.
He wasn't perfect, but we loved him. He didn't always do everything right, but God used him.
Today, it has been a year since I laid my head on Dad's chest as I cried and said goodbye. So, rather than going on and on about my memories, I would love to hear some of yours. No matter how small.

Good Friday and Facebook

Dear Friends and Family,
What a blessing it is to remember what Christ has done for us this Good Friday. How are you remembering His death and resurrection this weekend? Share with us! We would love to hear from you. We have heard a little from some of you on Facebook this morning. Our family has enjoyed playing hymns all day today. I have posted some of these on the left hand side for you to listen to. Later, we will be practicing our special music for Easter Sunday. This Sunday, we will have a sunrise service followed by breakfast with our Church family, and then the usual Sunday services. Then I have some surprises up my sleeve for my kids. :)
We never realized when we started up an account with Facebook what a blessing it would be!!! I doubt that the inventors of it ever realized how it would be used by the Christian community. At first, we were put off by questionable ads and apps. Several pop-up blockers and filters later, and we are enjoying it to the fullest in our own way. This morning, Good Friday, I logged on and read status after status with verses of Scripture and quotes from hymns all commemorating His death on the cross for us. My dear Christian friends scattered all over the globe each sharing what was on their hearts...what a rich blessing!! How I miss them all! But how wonderful it is to hear from them almost daily! This could never have been accomplished just a few short years ago! We hear about their struggles, their joys, their prayer requests, and their ministries.
It is my prayer that all my friends and family will take seriously the celebrations of the weekend. Allow yourself to be fully blessed by what the Lord has for you in your churches this Resurrection Sunday! Let Him work in your hearts! Look what He has done for you. What other King would leave His kingdom to live on earth, knowing that everyone would reject Him and eventually kill Him?
"Amazing love!! How can it be? That Thou, my God, should'st die for me?"

New

Not much is new that I would consider blog worthy, but it's been a long time since I posted. Here's some things that are new. I got a new camera for my birthday, but really don't have any reason to take any pictures right at the moment. But I anticipate using it quite a bit , so look out.
I have been working on the Church blog a little more, adding pictures that one of our members is taking for me. You can check that out here.
We had a great time having a horde of boys over for Nate's 13th birthday. We were able to have some missionary kids, Ethan and Fletcher Frost, come and spend the night with him and then enjoy the party with us the next day. The Frosts are in translation work with Bibles International. Nate says that just having those two over was a gift in itself.
I have an appointment with the dentist to have a bad tooth removed. UGH! The infection has kept me laying low for the past week or so, so I'll be glad to have that over with. The dentist will put in a new spacer thingy so I can chew on that side again, once it heals.
Mikayla is working hard to catch up on some schoolwork that she got behind in. I am pushing Alana a little bit with her math in anticipation of upcoming testing. She does not test well, so I am keeping my fingers crossed and just keep trying to prepare her in the best way I know how. I made the right decision having her do third grade again, and she has really improved a lot in weak areas of her learning. Nate plugs away every day, sometimes doing extra out of boredom. He has completely finished two of his classes for this year. Lanie calls him the "lucky ducky" of the family. :)

We added another music lesson to the budget just for Mikayla. She hopes to major in music or music education in college. Her piano/voice teacher is very happy to begin preparing her to excel in that major. She has two years of schooling left before High School graduation, and then, because she is younger, has the option of another year to prepare. We are thinking that she could work and take a few classes by correspondence. ( Terry has been researching College grants and scholarships. UGH!) We were having all three kids share one half hour lesson a week. So they alternated, and we felt that it wasn't enough for her to only have a lesson once every three weeks. Now she studies (and I MEAN STUDIES) piano one week, and voice the next. She also is playing flute in the MA band. Alana and Nate now share the other half hour lesson for piano, so that they each have a lesson every other week.
We had the Musical Ministries Team from BJU in at Bible Baptist again this year, and once again, they were great! This year some of our members made the dinner for them before the concert. In past years, that was up to Terry and I. It was nice to have someone else be in charge of that. We were able to sit and get to know the team a little better.

Spring has indeed sprung here in Maine, and I have pansies in bloom. I guess that would be considered "old" because I planted those last May and they have come up again. In February! What a hearty little flower the pansy is! This is the earliest and warmest Spring on record. We are loving it!
That is about it for "new" things going on around here.

On February 18, 1997 We Were Given a Gift

This is a birthday gift that I made to put in my son's birthday card. I'm going to burn it to CD. He doesn't know, but since he isn't in the habit of reading my blog, I think it's safe to post it. Plus, it was hard for me to wait. The music is a part of who he is, too, so don't forget to scroll down and stop the blog music before you start the video. He is really into the old fashioned jazz, and big band style and plays this type of music on his trumpet. He is in Jazz band at the Jr. High where Mrs. White encourages this big time! He really is a gift!

Amazing!

It has always amazed me how God supplies what we need when we need it. I had a really tough couple of weeks. When I said goodbye to 2009, I stuck my tongue out at it. I said good riddance 2009! 2009 stunk! So, anyway, I also said 2010 has to be better, right? Of course, January has never been easy in Maine for anyone. The cold and darkness gets to people. And I figured that since we had been through so much last year that we would maybe be hardened to stuff happening. Hmmmm... I thought that losing a friend at church couldn't be as bad as last years losses. One friend in Heaven and the other just lost to me but still around. Then the loss of my biggest fan, my Dad. Well, another loss isn't quite as bad, but I am not hardened to it by any means! Losing people that you have invested time, effort, prayer, and love into( even if they leave in a good way) is very hard! If you have a Pastor's wife that has spent any time with you at all...go hug her! Seriously! It doesn't matter that you don't agree with her all the time. She may not say the right thing at the right time. BUT... She aches over you and your family. She prays for you. She loves you. She sees a bigger picture, and prays for the right things to say and the courage to say it. And she knows that she must continue to be faithful where God has put her and her husband. And so she wipes her tears, prays some more, clings to promises in Scripture, takes a deep breath, and goes on.
ANYWAY, you get the picture...I needed some help. My husband is awesome ,so I had that. We were bolstered by the ever faithful in our church. Praise God for that! And then I was invited to a ladies retreat. I didn't want to go. But I went, knowing that it would be fun to go with my friend Jocelyn anywhere.
We went a day early, Jocelyn having paid a little extra for an extra night so we could just relax and enjoy the pool and the quiet. The next day more and more ladies trickled in. We swam, and hot tubbed to our hearts content. ( Hot tubbing in January outside is an adventure, by the way) That evening, the host Pastor's wife started things off with a devotional, and then we played games till the wee hours, laughing till our sides aches and the tears ran. We shared the responsibility of making the meals , talking, sharing, and laughing, and enjoyed two more speakers the next day. Both were so encouraging!!! So, I went home tired, but very refreshed, and amazed again at how God provides just what we need when we need it.
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made Heaven and Earth.
He that keepeth thee shall neither slumber, nor sleep.

I Know There's a Bigger Picture Here

We are here. You are there. There is a reason for that. God has a plan. Sometimes it's hard to rest in that. Like now coming off of a really tough week and having another really tough week so far. I feel very weary in well doing. We have tried and tried our hardest and our efforts seem wasted. Why was it that we decided to home school again? Was I crazy to try high school? I could really go for a dose of Pastor Campbell's optimism right now. A really BIG dose!! He would say to just keep plugging away and do right till the stars fall. I miss my Dad! I do know that there is a bigger picture. Really. And so we continue to be faithful until the Lord tells us to quit.
On the bright side, we had a great missionary in this week. He will be going to Israel. What an encouragement to have him in our home. I believe that God gave him the gift of encouragement. Even spending time to talk to our teenager for a bit to encourage her. We have no major health issues. We have a great marriage. We have been blessed with three great kids. Terry has an extra job that pays the bills. Mom is well and works and helps us at the church.
I don't know why I share all this except that blogging helps me to not have a nervous breakdown. That is a good thing, right? Maybe it will help whoever is reading. There is a plan, and it is Divine. My husband and I have been spending a long time in prayer before bed every night. What a relief it is to put your head on the pillow and be able to sleep because you have left all your troubles and burdens in a pair of very capable hands!

As Long as You Are Glorified

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt
Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified
Are You good only when I prosper
And true only when I’m filled
Are You King only when I’m carefree
And God only when I’m well
You are good when I’m poor and needy
You are true when I’m parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You’re still God in the darkest night

I must admit that I do not know the author of this, but when I read it really enjoyed it. I have no idea of the tune or how it is sung, only that the words touched my heart. So, I thought I would share.

What Kind of Parent...?!

Battleship! BOOM! My missile sunk your ship!

Nate had an obsession with the Medieval Age for awhile, especially the jousts, archery, catapults, and fencing. Now he is obsessed with Star Wars because he can wield a light saber.

Boys.
Girls.
The difference between the two debated in the halls of education. This Mom knows first hand that there are differences! It doesn't take a college degree to figure this out. I have had several discussions recently with two very different, young mothers who have two very different little boys. But, for some reason, these two little boys share a strange fascination for anything that shoots, fires, or blows something up. hehe.

Ah, yes. The stages of parenting. That ideal( whatever it may be) that is held onto by the new parent. The statement, "No child of mine will ever________." I just have to laugh whenever I hear stuff like that. I laugh at myself, as well.

I shared with these younger mommys my own stories of raising my son.
When we found out that we were to have a boy, I determined( in my naivety) early on that no boy of mine would ever be allowed to wield any piece of weaponry. I was horrified by mothers who allowed their little boys to point sticks at their little friends and pretend to shoot them. I mean, what kind of parent would ever allow such a thing!!? Right?
Sigh. Now that I have had my son lo these nearly thirteen years, I have come to realize that it's out of my hands. And how did I come to this? Well, I spent the first three or four years of his life not allowing toy guns into the house. And so my little boy started building guns out of mega blocks. I stopped it. He started drawing them. I stopped him. He automatically pointed his little finger at things and made the sounds of gunfire. I told him that wasn't nice. By age five, He built wonderfully imaginative forts out his lincoln logs, and you guessed it, prepared for war. I had discussions with him about how mean it looked and sounded. He soberly( as sober as a little boy can be) agreed with me. I made a rule. Isn't that what good parents do? "No guns". My sweet little guy humored me. I didn't hear gun noises emanating from his room for some time. It wasn't long before I started hearing other noises. Guess what? My beautiful, loving son had taken up arms yet again. But he stayed obedient. He had now gone to sword play. I firmly, made another rule. "No weaponry of any kind!" My husband tried to hide his smirk. He pretty much knew what would happen, having been a little boy once. But like any good Husband and Daddy, supported Mommy. He agreed with me about the safety issues involved. I mean, what if our little guy had the chance in some off moment of parental unawareness, to pick up a real gun?
And so to make a long story a bit longer, one day my little guy was playing with his sister. The sister was meticulously setting up her doll house. She was asking his opinion on whether the little plastic couch should go by the window or against the wall and so forth. He was being so patient and giving his opinions in a kind manner while boyishly playing with the little people on a toy train in the back yard of the dollhouse. I was pleased. My daughter finally had her house set up just so. My son looked around, sure that Mommy wasn't paying attention, and yelled, "EARTHQUAKE!" and then proceeded to shake the dollhouse, completely ruining all her work. The difference between boys and girls glared brightly. I have to laugh now, but at the time, I was upset. He was punished. The day went on, my son once again playing nicely with his sister. After awhile, I checked on him again. He was playing with a Barbie. Some intellectuals would say that that is because there in no difference between boys and girls. That boys, with stereotypes removed and given the opportunity, will play with dolls and enjoy it as much as his trucks. Ah, but the rest of the story remains to be told. He had grabbed the doll, stripped it, and was using her as a sword! The head of the Barbie in his little fist, he was wielding it at some imaginary foe, making horrible slashing clanging noises along with the sounds of the dying. It was this incident that made me throw up my hands in defeat. My dear husband gently told me that boys will be boys.
And they will be. We can raise them to be kind and loving, but God has a special purpose for boys and men. And that's just the way it is.
So, as of today, my son has owned GI joes with guns in hand, transformers with flying missiles, army men, cowboys and Indians, one BB gun, a recurve bow with arrows and special feathers( I know there is some special term for that, but forgive me for not being able to recall it at the moment), way too many nerf guns and plastic swords to count, and nerf ball blasters.
"What kind of parent...!" my young friends sigh, shaking their heads in mortification. I just have to laugh.

So, now that I have relaxed that long ago rule and have had time to see the results, has my son grown insensitive and mean?

NO!No!

No! Take heart, all you Mommy's! Boys are boys. God made them to be different than girls. You really wouldn't want it any other way. But since I know that people don't necessarily take my word for it, check out Dr. James Dodson's book Bringing up Boys. Very good reading!
This last pic, by the way, is my wonderful boy snuggling with his little cousin while blowing something up in his Star Wars game. ;)

Safe at Home: Upstate Missionaries Recall Quake | WSPA

Safe at Home: Upstate Missionaries Recall Quake WSPA
If you would like to see more of the homecoming of these missionaries, scroll down to Links We Like and click on Majesty Music. There is a full write-up on their safe return and greeting at the airport along with pictures of the people singing "To God Be the Glory" as they come into the airport.

New Family Pic

Lynn has been taking pics of all the Church families to add to our church blog. Of course, we were not exempt. Here's ours. Not too bad. Typical for us. The usual "Lanie Look". Straying eyes. Silly child! HAHA.

Family waiting to hear from Upstate minister in Haiti during quake | WCBD

Family waiting to hear from Upstate minister in Haiti during quake WCBD

Another wonderful testimony! God is good!

Found!

We just heard through Majesty Music that Dr. Garlock, Sarah Bennett, and the native Pastor have been found alive. Praise God! Thank you for praying!

Earthquake in Haiti on Our Hearts Today

http://www.wyff4.com/video/22232368/
Please pray along with our family for Dr. Frank Garlock, President and founder of Majesty Music. He and several others were there on a mission trip and are among the missing. Terry and I have had the opportunity to attend one of Majesty Music's conferences and have met the Garlocks as well as thier daughter and son-in-law, Ron and Shelly Hamilton. They are very gracious, down-to-earth people, and we really enjoyed meeting them. The link above is a news story. Also missing is Sarah Bennett, the wife of one of our instructors from BJU.

Defrostie the Snowman

I found this idea on Family Fun. Easy, yummy, but SWEET! Big hit with the troops. I think I'll make some for youth group.

Wii Time

We bought a Wii for the family this year for Christmas. We also bought each of the kids one game each. Then, some of our friends got wind of it and bought each of the kids a game, too. So, we ended up with quite a selection. Well, needless to say, it was a big hit! They love it and wanted to spend every waking hour of Christmas break playing. Although it was a vacation for them, there were still things that needed to be done, but they were ignoring everything else. Nate especially would get up in the morning and literally haunt me until I gave him permission to play. I have a problem with that. I started making them take care of their responsibilities first , but they kept trying to fudge on them in an effort to hurry. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they loved this gift, and I'm not one of those moms who really hates video gaming of all kinds, but when bickering over who got to play next ensued, and no one had gone outside in days, I knew something had to be done. Here's what I came up with. Not only did I use the Wii as an incentive for doing chores, but I also decided that I could take away time, too. You can click on the first pic to enlarge it enough to read the rules. Nate helped me come up with them. Hard to believe, I know, but Nate has always had an overdeveloped sense of what is fair and what isn't. I was very pleasantly surprised with how much he was on board with it. I guess he figured that I was GOING to set limits, so he might as well make sure that they were good ones and applied to everyone. We wrote an amendment about three minutes after printing up the rules.:) Taking my new found knowledge of lap booking, I made a folder for each child to have a visual of time earned. For every chore( aside from personal responsibilities, i.e, schoolwork, room cleaning, music,etc.) they get 15 minutes of Wii time. This has really made things peaceful...and CLEANER around here. :) Responsibilities get done so that they can spend their time earned when they are finished. They don't always have time to play on a given day. For instance, Tuesdays we have youth group and Wednesdays we have Bible Study and Prayer service. Sometimes there is just too much schoolwork and projects to do. When this happens, they don't get upset because they know that they have earned the time and will get to spend it when there is time. One of my friends told me that she allows three hours for weekends and that meant that it was hard to make plans without a major bargaining session. Not happenin' in this house! That would drive me insane! Sometimes they are interrupted and as you can see I added a rule about attitude. No bargaining aloud! Also, Dad has overruled several times for a family game night. The kids get a big charge out of this. :) For the eldest(14 1/2 going on 25), who is wanting to chat online with friends, check emails, and blog, and doesn't really care quite so much about the Wii, this works well, too. Just one of my ideas for a peaceable household, even though I will soon have TWO teenagers ( Nate will be 13 next month :0). Sometimes you just have to get creative as the kids get older. Now, I realize that the visual folder and little quarter hour pieces of pie may seem silly for older kids, but hey, it's working and they're happy. I'm ecstatic! What could be better?

I Faked It.

Well, I got three different emails from people asking me where I bought the wall art for my girls. When I said I had made it, the natural question was how. I faked it. Haha! I guess you could call it faux vinyl lettering. So here you go, Gals. First, go to Wally World, or any other such store. Buy some contact paper that you like. I wanted black, but had to settle for white which actually looked better with the color on the wall after all. Second, find a font that you like on printshop or whatever program that you have and print out the letter(s) that you want. Next, use your copier to enlarge it. This will make a pattern for you to tape to the contact paper, so cut this out and tape it down to your contact paper. Lastly, just cut around your paper pattern, take the pattern off, and there you go. Don't peel away the backing of the contact paper until you are ready for placement. I have to say that I only did one letter at a time. It might be too hard to cut out a long saying, but it worked great for the flower and first initial that I did. I got the flower shape out of an old coloring book. I flipped the flower over for Alana's side of the room to make it opposite. This little project only cost me $3.99, the price of the contact paper, and my daughters were ecstatic. And I have a lot left over for other things. I want black, though. Next time I go to the big city, I will have to keep my eye out.