43 & Counting

No, I'm not having/adopting 39 more children. Don't get too excited. 

Today is my parents 43rd wedding anniversary, people. Forty-three years!!! How awesome is that?!?! Forty three years is definitely a longer time period than each of them were not married. 

I am so grateful for the legacy I have been given! Both sets of my grandparents were married to each other their whole lives. My dad's parent were married 60 years and my mom's parents were married for almost 56 years. Sidenote: Daniel's parents will have been married 49 years on July 30th (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MOM AND DAD RAKE TOO!) and Daniel's grandparents were married almost 59 years and almost 57 years! 

In a day and age when marriage and the family unit is under attack; when there is little to no difference in the divorce rate among christians and non christians; I am grateful to be in a generational line that is bucking the trend. I am grateful for parents and grandparents who aren't afraid of committment for the long haul. I am grateful to know that when my own marriage gets in a hard place I have lots of examples to look back at and be encouraged by. I am grateful for people who have been through it before me and won't be afraid to call me up and say "Work it out. Fight for your marriage. What you are doing is worth it!" 

I know marriage isn't always easy. I know my parents marriage has hard times, some VERY hard times, including the death of a child. But I also know they are committed to each other and committed to The Lord. I know that in the hard times they aren't afraid to ask for help from the authorities and people God has placed in their life. I know they may not like each other at one moment or another but they are commited to choose to LOVE one another regardless of how they feel. 

And so, on this day, July 10, 2014, my parents 43rd wedding anniversary, I feel like I am the one who is receiving the gift. The gift of a Godly example, of stability, of a secure foundation in my life, and the gift of finding joy in the journey, whether its easy to find or not! Thank you, Mom & Dad! And Happy Anniversary to you two crazy and adventurous lovebirds! ;) Love you both!

Justice & Mercy: Hand in Hand

This morning I was reading Luke 17-18. There are a lot of short stories of things that Jesus did during His ministry time here on earth. Many stories of miracles that Jesus performed and many times when He confronted the inner issues in the hearts of the people around Him. I found it very interesting that there was no distinction in when He gave mercy and when He dispensed justice. It wasn't mercy to everyone here and go to another place and only justice to the people there. They were intermingled. Mercy to the 10 lepers; judgment to the rich young ruler.  Mercy to the widow; judgment to the pharisee. Mercy to the children; judgment to the disciples. Jesus knows what each person needs at the moment He is in. He knew those who needed healing whether physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. He was also NEVER afraid to call out those who wouldn't repent, or who wouldn't sacrifice their whole life (like the rich young ruler), or to call out the disciples whether or not they would have complete understanding of what He meant. I guess Jesus was the perfect blend of justice and mercy. Justice and mercy walking together hand in hand, united and separate in one Man.

After that I saw how that is what I spend my days doing in raising my children; trying to balance discipling and training my children with mercifully loving them, caring for them (hurt bodies and hurt feelings), and serving my children and husband whether I feel like it or not. From my journal I wrote: "Shew, I could learn from Jesus when each one is needed the most!" I am sure there are times when my children need mercy when I don't give it and times when they need the justice of training or discipline and I'm too lazy to do my job. I need His wisdom and love to focus on what builds my children's relationship with me and more importantly with the Lord.

When I shared this with Daniel this morning, I said how neat it is to see how what Jesus does applies to my life. That even though He was never married and never had children, what he did in dealing with people can apply to what I do in raising our children. Daniel had a great response which was something like: "Sometimes people say "Jesus can never understand what I'm going through BECAUSE He wasn't married and never had kids. So it can't apply to what I'm doing." When actually they are looking at it incorrectly. It shouldn't be Jesus' life can't apply to mine. Instead we should be looking at how the situations in our lives can apply to the different things His life, the things Jesus said and did."  

How greatful I am that Jesus knows the perfect blend of justice and mercy and how to apply it. I hope to learn a little more of that now that I am more aware. Thank You, God! 

Finish This: A first of sorts

So, I've never exactly done this particular link up before. I attempted the other night, wrote the entire post (from the bathroom floor of a hotel cause my baby was trying to sleep) and then lost it all trying to add a pic. Darn it all. So, I don't know if this even counts anymore. So, maybe this is a second complete waste of time. But, I really hope not.

Linking up with Nicole, Becky, Jen, & Lisa. I got to this link up from BG.  Here we go:

I have a quarter to use a pay phone, I call …. Daniel, my husband. Because if I'm calling from a pay phone I don't have my cell phone and I would assume calling would mean an emergency or that I need help of some sort and for all those things D is my go to guy! The. best.
I found $25 in my pocket, I buy … today I put it toward buying a new ipad keyboard case. One that isn't cracked. Or a bluetooth speaker for the ipad - but that is something I need for tutoring at our homeschool coop next year. 
I have 25 minutes to watch anything on TV, I turn on … The Duggars on 19 Kids and Counting or Jen Hatmakers show coming to HGTV in August. Only problem is I do not have cable of any sort. But we are dreaming, right???
A meal I can prepare, from start to finish. in 25 minutes or less is … sandwiches or cereal. Low  no prep, baby! 
At the age of 25, I wish I had known … more about classical Christian education. We are loving our coop (Classical Conversations)  and the practicum & training I attended this week was so good! 
If I drove 25 miles (direction) from my house, I’d be in … um, the middle of nowhere, KY most likely otherwise known as either Montgomery County or Bath County. Probably near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in rural farmland area. And between where I live and where I attended college at Morehead State University. 

Until next time...

7 Quick Takes: A day late and a dollar short...

Hellooo. (Hear this said in the deep deep voice of my 2 year old little guy.) 

Linking up with http://teamwhitaker.org for 7qt. 

uno. Shew. We made it through crazy week part 1. Now for some weekend crazy including visiting friends, picking up Asher from camp (yay!), and watching my niece and nephews overnight. 

dos. I love a good summer thunderstorm complete with a reasonable amount of lightening and thunder so long as tornadoes are not involved. I do NOT love driving through them. 

tres. I cleaned and rearranged my girls room today. Why does the kids messy rooms make me crazy eventually? I got it done though. I'm feeling very accomplished and the room is feeling very peaceful. Ahhhhh.... 

cuatro. Have I mentioned I love chocolate? LOVE IT. 

cinco. O gosh, duh, we got an iPad!! wahoo! I am so excited! And Daniel is too. :)  we bought it off Craigslist so hopefully it is a successful purchase and we don't regret it. 

seis. Traveling on car trips that are just a few hours long makes me never want to take the kids on long trips anywhere. As a kid, my family drove to Wyoming and back from Kentucky. How did my parents deal with us for that long? Bless them. 

siete. You wanna know something else I love? Skywatching at sunset. I love to see how differently God can paint the sky each night. 

And lucky you get a bonus qt this time around: my 4 year old is brushing her teeth in the car... Or at least playing with her battery powered toothbrush. Why in the car, you ask? She asks, why not? ;) 

Adios.

How to cope?

   Friends, these days are CrAzY!!! We are in the midst of the most crazy 2 weeks planned for so far this summer. And we've had some extra unexpected things added in on top of that.
   One of those things is that JRy came down with a rash. It is hand, foot, and mouth disease. Awesome. Naturally, I was thrilled to find out that we are now quarantined away from everyone for three days until he isn't contagious. Not. I'm seriously hoping it doesn't spread to others since I have a conference to go to next week. Anyway, we have been running nonstop for days. For sure since Friday, maybe longer. I don't evene remember last week. Today, I felt like I reached my limit and needed to come up with something to distract the kids and me. So, what do I come up with as a way to cope? A sprinkler! I dragged all three of the younger kiddos to the store, bought a sprinkler, and everyone chose a treat. Now we are home for rest time and then playing outside in the sprinkler! Wahoo!!! Maybe I'll join them even.With chocolate!  :)
   On another note, my oldest is away at camp for the whole week. I haven't talked to him since Sunday morning. I sure am missing this guy!

7 Quick Takes: From Nine Years to Nail Polish

So, in an effort to blog more I'm going to try this whole 7qt link up via Bek's Contemplations... and her friends at Team Whitaker. Here goes!

uno. I'm hanging out alone tonight with the kiddos while my hubs relieves my parents and stays with our friend. I'm watching a movie and painting my nails in a new color. Sally Hansen Insta Dry in Jade Jump seen here:

This is my favorite brand of nail polish ever. Ever. 

dos. I've recently started volunteering at our local pregnancy center. Tomorrow I'll spend a couple of hours at our local Beer Cheese Festival walking around, talking to people, and passing out balloons and info for New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center. I'm excited to help out and excited to eat beer cheese!

tres. Our anniversary is coming up this week! 9 years. Amazing, awesome, wonderful, busy years. Thanks for loving me, Babe! Hey, I'm the lucky one.

quatro. Oh my goodness! My sis is going to have a new little babe next month! I'm getting super excited to meet that new little person. Little babes are the best. I will only struggle with not being able to go to her house and sit and hold that little one all day every day.

cinco. I've been potty training my littlest guy, JRY for the last couple weeks. And it's really happening! He has potty trained younger (25 months) and easier than any of the other three. Thank You, God! He was my most difficult baby and is a super busy, super active but fun and sweet dude. So, all that to say for anything, particularly potty training to be kind of "easy" is a blessing I consider nothing less than major.

seis. I saw the movie "Mom's Night Out" a few weeks ago. Twice. Loved it so much! I felt like I could totally identify with the main mom. Oh, and she was adorable. Anyway, like three days later my fam and I are at the zoo with some friends. While looking at the Andean Condor and some other very large birds, a lady walks by and proceeds to go on and on to tell my friend about some eagle cam she watches online and then spells out the website. I nearly lost it and no one with me knew why that was so hilarious! If you've seen the movie you will understand. Seriously such a funny movie!

seite. Last but definitely not least I get to watch my "god-daughter" (for lack of an official term) tomorrow for a bit. Yay! I'm happy to spend some time with her and the girls will be thrilled too. She is the cutest.

And that's it for today! Adios Amigos!

Community

   Most of my life, I've been part of a church that was small and the people are very close and involved in each others lives regularly; not just on Sunday. It's what I know to be life. To me, bringing dinners to those who are sick or have recently had a baby is normal. Stopping by unannounced isn't taboo or shocking. Men helping re-roof a house in a day and the ladies providing lunch is pretty normal. Moving a family can take half to  two-thirds of a day and about 4 trucks; and most likely none of them were rented. We talk a lot about community and I feel like we live it. This week I have seen many examples of community lived out from small things to big things caring for the dying.
   I've written before about our friends who moved to Nicaragua. Well, a couple of them have been back in town for a couple of weeks. The other day the mom of the family stopped by to see me and chat for a few minutes. When she arrived I was folding several loads of clothes I had clean and on my dining room table. She came in and said "Are you folding clothes? I can help." I told her she didn't have to, but she did it anyway and then we sat down talked for a while before she left. After she left, I thought "Wow! You know you are good friends when your friends is back in the states from another country and she comes by to say hi and helps fold your clothes while she's here!"
   Later that night I started having trouble with what I thought was my washer or dryer. (All is well now!)  I could stop doing laundry for a while because I was mostly caught up but I had to finish drying the load currently in the dryer and the load in the washer so they didn't mildew or mold. I couldn't reach my mom and she has lots going on at her house anyway, so I called another friend from church who lives just a few blocks away and asked if I could finish the loads there. Her immediate response was "Sure! Come wash or dry whatever you need to! I won't be here but you can come anyway." At the end of the day I thought "You know it's real community when both of those things happen in a day!" I am so grateful.
   On a much larger scale, there is an elderly man who attends our church. He has known my family since before I was born and has even lived with us at times. He has lived alone for many years and has no blood family nearby. He has recently been diagnosed with advanced cancer in 2 and possibly 3 places in his body. Because he is in his 80's and already lost a lot of strength, some of the normal treatments aren't options. He moved into my parents house a few weeks ago and now he has been placed on hospice care in their home. There has been such an outpouring of support for both this man and for my parents who have the responsibility of caring for him. Different people from church come almost every night to spend time with him and to give my parents some time to get out on their own, as he isn't being left alone at this point. Sometimes people come during the day. I think he feels the love and care of these people in our church. And I know my parents are blessed by being served and carried through this very difficult time as well. And I am so grateful that my parents do not have to carry this alone. That, my friends, is what community looks like. When people just sit with someone who is sick. When they take a shift of care so others can be relieved if even for a short while. When even children are willing to sing songs or read scripture on video so this man can be blessed by God's Word anytime day or night. And when this dying man, who has been an intercessor to a greater extent than anyone else I've ever known,  is waking up praying and weeping for others in the midst of his own trials. That is community.
   All this is good. So good. Life is so full and rich. And yet it is not even the end,  thanks be to God. Today I read this quote by C S Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." I am so thankful this is true whether we are nearing the end of life, or in the middle of it, or just at the beginning!