Easter Weekend 2014

While sitting in church one Sunday, out of the blue a thought came to me with such force that I knew it had to be from the Lord.  We were exhausted after just hosting a series of families at our home, and my husband and I were both ready to take a break from so much cooking, cleaning, and hosting.  Yet, I knew right then that I was supposed to host an Easter egg hunt for our neighbors and incorporate the gospel message with resurrection eggs, for our community is very diverse representing a wide variety of faiths (or lack thereof) and ethnicity.  I had been praying for our new neighbors since our home construction began and before any of them had even moved into the community. I knew there were lots of kids in the neighborhood, so I felt like the Lord was telling me an Easter egg hunt would be a great way to meet the neighbors.  My husband probably groaned inside, but he would not deny my request if it came from the Lord (Gift #572).  We looked at the calendar, and the only availability we had was the morning of my birthday on the day before Easter.

So, as soon as I got home from church, I started writing invitations which the kids gladly delivered for me.  I prayed the people who needed to be there would come.  I also posted an invitation on our community's group page on Facebook.  I initially received a few "no" RSVP's as people were traveling for Easter but no "yes" responses.  I assumed it would just be our kids and maybe some friends they could invite from school.

The next day, my daily devotional reading "just happened" to contain this quote:

"Lord, as I open my home and life to others, help me to see that I am opening myself to You.  I admit that sometimes entertaining seems to take so much effort.  I wonder if it's worth the bother.  Show me the rewards of opening the door and welcoming friends, acquaintances, and even strangers into my world. Amen."  - Miriam Huffman Rockness

That was all the confirmation I needed to believe that this idea came from the Lord even if no one initially said they would come (Gift #573).

I finally got to meet our Hindi neighbors on the other side of us during the week before Easter. I was nervous about meeting them after an unpleasant encounter the husband had with the Lowe's delivery guy who parked in the middle of the road while delivering our refrigerator, but the family seemed to be very nice and did not appear to hold the Lowe's guy's rudeness against us (Gift #574).  The wife offered to help me with the egg hunt, so I was excited about the opportunity to get to know her better while we worked.  Her teenage daughter ended up helping me instead, but I was thankful for the open door with them and have enjoyed our conversations with them ever since (Gift #575).  It helps that they have a puppy (even though one primary reason we moved out of our first house was to get away from the next door neighbor's dog who barked ALL.NIGHT.LONG making a good night's rest impossible) to serve as a conversation piece and a lure for our animal loving daughter. 

I posted a reminder on our Facebook page two days before the hunt asking for a final count on who's coming, and then the floodgates opened.  By Friday afternoon, we had over 12 kids plus about that many sets of parents coming with not one family sharing my faith or my ethnicity that I could discern though at the last minute, a few natural born Americans did arrive.  So I frantically went shopping for more eggs and prizes and food while praying that God would help me not to make any cross cultural blunders that might unintentionally offend my guests.  Then Jehovah Jireh ("The Lord will Provide", Genesis 22:14) "just happened" to connect me with a new believer at church who had recently moved to the United States from the same country in which half of our neighbors were born.  I knew of her because I had helped behind the scenes with baptisms the evening she had been baptized and had shared her testimony, but I did not really know her until she commented on a devotion I had written for our church website which was posted on Easter week.  We began chatting and before I knew it, she had offered to come to our egg hunt (a long drive for her) with her young son and husband.  She had been wanting to share her faith with her own people group, and I needed someone to bridge the gap!  She was a Godsend for sure (Gift #576)!

The egg hunt was a blast!  It rained that morning, but thankfully, I had written on the invitations that in case of rain, come anyway!   And so they did.  Neighbors from yet another country came too without having RSVP'd so we had a great turnout!  It felt like a taste of heaven to be surrounded by people from four different continents (Gift #577)!  We moved the egg hunt into our recreation room upstairs, which is an enormous open space (or it was "open" until we filled it with media equipment, lots of furniture, and most of the kids' toys and games) perfect for such a venue.

When the kids arrived, they decorated gift sacks to be used as Easter baskets for the egg hunt.  This craft time helped them ease into the new setting while the parents exchanged introductions and pleasantries.

Then while the older kids hunted eggs upstairs, the younger kids competed downstairs in fun egg-in-a-spoon races.  After the first shift of egg hunting, we all feasted on Easter themed snacks (and a birthday cookie from Mom and Dad).

Kudos to my husband for agreeing to make the bunny biscuits I requested even though the recipe had a disclaimer by the photo which read, "Objects in photo were crafted by a professional pastry chef, so your results may not look the same."  My husband called them mutant bunnies, but I thought they were cute enough for the kids. 

The kids made sure that our bunny got to enjoy some Easter treats as well.

Alpha buck hides behind the recliner and the obnoxious bow.

They each took turns feeding him a carrot. The looks of amazement on their faces reminded me of the time Grandma took us all behind the scenes to feed the elephants at the zoo where she volunteers. It was so fascinating to feel their trunks and watch them eat.

Next, the younger kids hunted eggs while the older kids played games.

On your mark!

Get set!

Go!

The smiles on these girls' faces were some of the best birthday presents I received this year (Gift #578).

 

After all the eggs were found and prizes were given, the children gathered around in a circle in the family room for sharing time.  I asked them to share their favorite Easter traditions. Then we told them about our family's traditions.  I told them about the cross cake we like to make on Good Friday.

I did not go into any detail, but I would like to share here the significance of that cake to me.

Because He suffered the agony of the cross and rose again, "death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54). Because of His perfect sacrifice, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom (Mark 15:38), so that those who accept Christ as Savior & Lord may enter His presence and "taste and see that the Lord is good! How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Psalm 34:8) Thank You for suffering for vile and wretched men and women like me, for "there is none righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10)

Then we told them about the resurrection eggs we go through every year beginning 12 days before Easter Sunday.  I asked the parents if they would object to having me share a condensed version of the resurrection eggs, and they did not (Gift #579).  So, I put all the eggs in a basket and had each child take turns pulling out the eggs in order and opening them up to find an object inside.  We talked about the significance of each object as it relates to Passover Week and to the greatest story every told, the true story of the ultimate price Jesus paid for each of us on the cross.  I shared with them that Jesus loves them so much that he endured all of that suffering we deserve in our place. Some kids had questions, and all the kids participated.  I always get nervous with such presentations, but people were praying for me, so I got through it, though I will admit that I hesitated when the Muslims living behind us arrived.

(Side note:  It was a pleasure to meet our Muslim neighbors.  We found much in common, and the husband/father even came over to help us move a tree when they saw us struggling to transplant it (Gift #580).  Why do I always assume people will take offense or not want to be our friends if I openly share our faith?  We must be bold in our witness but always share in love.)

After the presentation, I invited everyone to join us at church the following morning where my husband would be singing.   The worship time at our church the next morning was so awesome that some commented that we could just go home without a sermon after being so inspired by the music and lyrics.  I was too focused on the worship to look at the bulletin, but our daughter noticed a photo of her daddy printed at the top of the Easter bulletin.

After church, I looked at that picture and thought:

The kids already think their daddy is a superhero who puts on his super suit and goes out at night to save the world while they sleep. But when our daughter saw this picture of her dad in the  bulletin, she thought he must be famous, too!  He may not have a super suit, and he may not be famous, but the way he loves his family, lives with integrity, and serves the cause of Christ ranks him far above a real life version of any Marvel, DC Comic, Pixar superhero creation. May he keep pointing us to the only One who can save the world but chose first to save our souls (Gift #581)!

We took obligatory Easter photos before church on Easter despite my having a very bad hair day and my kids' refusal to even brush their hair.

Later Easter evening, my friend who had served as a bridge at the party notified me that certain Hindi neighbors were interested in learning more about our Savior (Gift #582).  Praise the Lord!  And several neighbors sent emails thanking me for hosting which helped ease my concerns that I may have offended them with my resurrection message (Gift #583).  To God be the Glory!

Bunny Shenanigans (April 2014)

After our bunny's last post announcing that he was starting up a modeling business, I thought I would give an update.  He was to be the featured photo prop for the Easter Egg hunt we hosted on my birthday and for our family Easter photos (that blog post is coming soon and out of chronological order on this blog), so we felt some grooming assistance was in order.

After inspecting himself in the mirror, yes and even licking the mirror, he took a seat to wait his turn at the bunny beauty parlor.

First he had his nails done which he then filed by shredding a box filled with newspapers.

 

Then he showed us his nasty yellow teeth, so we debated a zoom whitening treatment that the dentists around here like to advertise, but we decided a homemade baking soda tooth paste may be less  dangerous for the in-house dental hygienist.

After a busy weekend of Easter photography, he joined us for dinner on the deck followed by some belly scratching while seated in my lap.  Check out my view from here.

Yes, our bunny leads an extravagant life with nutritious, gourmet meals served 2-3 times a day, daily romps through the fitness room (aka bunny playground), a very nice home indoors, and a vacation home (hutch) outside.  He certainly has nothing to fear in this charmed life of his, yet he is always searching for new hiding places.  You can take a rabbit out of the wilderness where predators lurk and set up safe boundaries for him in a loving home, but you just can't take the "scaredy-cat" out of a bunny.

Cody's new hide-out

Y Guides Spring Outing 2014

After hearing all out his sister's experiences at the annual Y Guides spring outing for the past three years, our son could not wait to experience his own weekend with Dad at this wonderful camp they did not sleep much in their cabin with 15 father/son pairs.  My son was so excited he didn't even eat much, despite the delicious offerings and the large ice cream sundae bar.  But they certain made lots of wonderful memories together.

A rainstorm followed them to the coast on Friday, but the weather was simply gorgeous the rest of the weekend.  My son only went down the zipline, his sister's favorite activity, once because the water was so cold, and the swimming distance from drop point to shore was so far, but he did spend lots of time shooting arrows smack dab in the center of the bullseye target with a compound crossbow, and I hear his aim was just as accurate with a BB gun.

They enjoyed games, tennis, boating, canoeing, and a treasure hunt which required solving clues, taking photos at each destination, donning moustaches, and traversing over four miles.

They returned home Sunday afternoon exhausted but happy and just in time for me to take the kids to choir practice.  The fun never ends and the taxi driving never stops it seems.

I'm so thankful my children have a father who is willing to make so many sacrifices (time, money, comfort, preferences, etc.) to show how much he supports and loves them (Gift #571).

Girls' Weekend & Lessons Learned

This past weekend, my husband and son traveled to our son's 1st Y Guides Spring Outing near the coast.   I had a lot of work to get done here, but I still wanted to make the of the mother/daughter time special for my girl.  She must have felt the same because she went out of her way to be good company and not so annoying.

I had scheduled an evening of horseback riding at the farm where we celebrated her birthday a few years ago, but rain and hail storms postponed those plans.  Since the weather was miserable and frankly, I was exhausted from another crazy busy week, we decided to have a relaxing Friday evening at home.

She kept saying she wanted to have fun and thanks to a CD prize in a McDonald's happy meal, she was familiar with Cyndi Lauper's song lyrics: 

 "Oh, girls, They wanna have fu-un, Oh, girls, Just wanna have fun...." 

So in the spirit of Lauper's 80's era, we feasted on pizza, jammed to 80's tunes, and looked through old scrapbooks from the 80's while she made fun of my hair and clothes. I heard such comments as:

"Mom, your clothes on your 9th birthday looked Dutch." 

"Whoa...in this picture, you are wearing rainbow weird style like I wear now...you would never dress like that now." 

"Is that Uncle Paul in that picture?" to which I had to respond, "No, that was me, dear. I had short hair in the early 80s."

The next morning, we rushed to the doctor's office to get my back, neck, and hips put back in place and then went to the Feed the Hunger packathon at church. She was such a great helper as she scooped vitamins and rice and weighed and sealed each package.  We danced to Christian rock music while we worked and set a Feed the Hunger all time record.

When we had finished our shift, we gathered in the sanctuary for a final report from the project director and President of the worldwide aid ministry that leads these projects and delivers the food.  He is childhood friend of mine who graduated with me from the same high school, so an added benefit of the annual packathon is getting to see this old friend who has consistently been characterized as a humble, faithful Christ follower as long as I have known him.  We were so pleased to learn that records had been set in each of the two shifts thus far that weekend, and that our shift had packed the most ever for Feed the Hunger in one shift (Gift #564)  My dear daughter wanted to keep her hairnet on for the final tallies and closing prayer.  How I love that silly girl.

For reasons that are obvious to those who know me or my family, I have never cheered for UNC in any sport.  However, I am cheering for the UNC football team for now anyway because they set such a great example for their younger fans by volunteering at our church's Feed the Hunger packathon this past weekend. Thank you for showing our kids that real men serve instead of seeking to be served.

After the Feed the Hunter packathon, she wanted to me feed her hunger at Chick Fil A.  We had a coupon from a CFA location way out of our way.  It probably would have been cheaper to just buy her a sandwich at the CFA across the street, but she wanted to use her coupon, so we drove a long way and waited in lots of traffic because I wanted to let her make some of the decisions this weekend.

Driving out there made me realize how grateful I should be that we did not move to the most exclusive side of town where this CFA is located.  (Gift #565)  We could not have afforded it anyway, but it is so gorgeous out there and prestigious enough to receive national recognition.  A popular apocalyptic fiction book series I recently read was even set in this community.  Not only is everything overpriced out there, but it is too far out and way too congested for me.

Ironically, the road that leads us right into this community has a unique home and yard alongside it that provides a stark contrast to the hoity-toity upscale communities all around it.   I cannot believe the very strict town ordinances, which are so strict that several builder friends refuse to do construction work in our town, even allow it.  It at least provided a nice diversion while stuck in traffic that simply was not moving.

When we finally got there, cars were circled all around the building for the drive thru, and the line was out the door to get food.  I guess CFA gets more business on Saturdays to ward off CFA cravings on Sundays when all CFAs are closed.

Feed Her Hunger Mission almost accomplished

Later that afternoon, dear daughter joined me for a bike ride on that most gorgeous day.   During previous family bike rides, she never made it to the lake because her younger brother would complain that his legs were tired, or the kids would start fussing causing us to cut the bike ride short.  This time, we went all the way to the lake and back (Gift #566) She was thrilled to keep up with me.  Our pace was only about 2 minutes slower per mile than when I ride solo, so it was still very enjoyable for both of us.  This girl loves rainbows and rainbow colors (as her bedroom decor and wardrobe will attest), so how fitting that a rainbow reflection would appear at the lower left corner of this photo (Gift #567).

Lesson learned during our bike ride:
Just as you should turn off your cell phones while driving, you should probably avoid taking selfies while biking because you might inadvertently break the law against taking photos against a bright background.

Another valuable lesson my daughter learned this weekend with her dad and brother away is that maybe having a brother isn't so terrible after all (Gift #568)

10-year-old: Not having my brother around this weekend makes me think of how it must feel to be an only child. It can be lonely not having another kid to talk to all the time.

Me: Are you saying that you miss your brother?

10-year-old: Well...not all the time, but yea, I guess sometimes.

Then I wondered how long after the guys' return it would take before they had their next argument.

My girl's behavior that weekend was remarkably different. Instead of crying and complaining over chores, she did them without whining.  She even took initiative to help me by making herself breakfast and dinner and sharing some of it with me with accompanying little hand written notes from her to me (Gift #569).

At the end of the weekend, she commented, "Gee, Mom, we haven't argued all weekend!"
Imagine that!  When we each look out for the interests of others instead of only thinking selfish thoughts, relationships flow so much more smoothly!  Maybe that lessons we've been teaching for years is finally taking root in her heart (Gift #570).  Regardless, I appreciated her thoughtfulness very much.

Philippians 2:4

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

State AAU Gymnastics Meet & Season Highlights

Background
Our family has experienced a lot of firsts this year in terms of gymnastics.  After sending our daughter to classes in every sport we had access to (soccer, softball, basketball, ice-skating, dance, cheerleading, tumbling, horseback riding, swimming, diving, golf, and who knows what else) and after teaching her some archery, shooting (the girl could easily become an expert marksman), and tennis on the side, we wondered when she would ever pick just one as her primary sport.  She loved them all...except soccer.  We rotated her through sport after sport until she watched Gabby Douglass win the gold medal for the all around at the last Olympic games.  Then she decided gymnastics would be her sport. Most competitive gymnasts start at age 3.  She was almost 9.

So we signed her up for a beginner's gymnastics class in a neighboring town hoping they would move her up quickly.  Fast forward six months, and she was still in the beginner's class and had not learned any new skills.  After much pleading, we convinced the gym owner to move her up to intermediate, but we were already frustrated with the gym and the way the owner had treated us.

Then we learned about a Christian gymnastics facility much further from our home with strong Biblical values, devotions at every meet, and a hugely successful boys team which is so hard to find around here.  We sent her to a trial class, and they immediately put her on the recreational team.  Say what?  This gym saw potential in her that the previous gym owner had missed perhaps because she was too busy coaching her stars to notice the younger ones who were being taught by high schoolers trained to just go through the motions.  There was no question what to do next.  I would be commuting to take both kids to this gym.  They wanted to put our son on a boy's pre-team, but he just doesn't have that competitive drive like his sister though he is the right size and has the coordination.  And frankly, I did not have the time to do that commute four days a week!  Finally our kids had landed in a sport where being small is an advantage!

Shortly after the kids started at this awesome gym, we moved across two counties.  We looked at gyms closer to our new town, but none compared, so I kept driving the kids to this gym (one hour to get there during rush hour, 35-45 minutes to drive back home) two days a week for two hours of training each trip.  It was so worth it, but if our daughter wants to advance any at all, she would need to go to the gym four days as week instead of two, so we are making finding a closer gym our next priority.

Firsts
This year in gymnastics, our daughter got her first experience performing by herself for judges.  It was her first experience competing with a team, and the way those girls supported each other prayerfully and lovingly while competing against each other at the same time was inspiring to watch.  She mastered a standing back handspring and a round-off back handspring for the first time and even incorporated them into her floor routine at the second meet.  She also experienced her first bad fall from the beam at her first meet (followed by two more at the next meet) which augmented some of her fear issues with that event.

At her first meet ever, she won 1st place in the vault, bars, and floor and first all around for her age group and division, so they moved her up to advanced level, totally skipping intermediate.  She faced some tough competition for the first time after advancing and fell twice on the beam at the next meet.  She adjusted her strategy and kept working hard while her team encouraged her with scriptures.  She did not let the beam mishap distract her during the events that followed.  She learned how to maintain her game face.

The team's motto this year was "Faith, not Fear", and she took it to heart. At the third meet she conquered her fear of the beam and improved her beam score by over a full point without any falls that time.  By the state meet, she was ready to face the enemy (the beam) head on with courage and determination.

Pirate's Revenge
The state meet was more entertaining than the previous meets because the hosts implemented a theme, Pirate's Revenge:  Gymnastics on the High Seas. The signage, backdrops, and overall decor carried out the theme beautifully. After the initial warm-ups and before the processional, tumbling dancers dressed as pirates donning neon LED daggers, performed a fabulous dance with stunts while a pirate movie was projected on the back wall.  The emcee dressed as as pirate and had a great British accent to go with her costume.  In addition to paying for programs, costly gymnast entrance fees, and admissions fees to attend the event, family members could also purchase a pirate bear with an eye patch.  This bear would deliver a secret message to your gymnast (for a fee of course) while the gymnast got to keep the stuffed bear.  Our daughter was thrilled with her encouraging note and stuffed bear who looked a lot like our bunny except with an eye patch and hot pink skull and crossbones printed vest.

Our daughter loves to be in charge, always bossing leading others, so it was appropriate that she was the one chosen to lead her team in warm-up exercises and stretching.  Here are some pics taken before the meet, during the stretch session, and during the grand processional of all the teams onto the floor.

Capturing Some Pirate Booty (ie, Bringing Home Some Hardware!)
Three quarters of the way through the meet, it seemed that none of her scores at the state meet were as high as they had been in the past although there was less disparity in her scores between events, and the beam was the last event on the schedule.  I wasn't sure if the judges were scoring all the participants more rigidly or if our girl had forgotten to pack her mojo for the trip.  Regardless, I knew God was with her yet still found myself fighting feelings of frustration that we had spent a small fortune, driven all that way, and would not get home until after midnight only to pull her out of bed early the next morning so she could take EOG standardized tests at school just to have her leave the meet feeling disappointed with her performance.  Then an amusing idea came to me.  I told my husband, "Wouldn't it be funny if after all her battles with the beam, she walks home as the state champion in the beam event?"  I made that remark in jest, for I did not think it was remotely possible.

I took my camera as close to the beam as I could to video record her routine.  She delivered the best performance she has ever done on the beam, and her score was higher than any she had received on any event all season.  Her coach was crying as they slapped high fives and exchanged hugs.  How appropriate that her first event (bars) at her first meet ever would yield her second highest score of the season and her last event (beam) at the last meet of the season would result in her highest score for the season.  My joke came true.  She took home the gold medal for the beam!

I was so excited and could not wait to show her my video, but apparently something went wrong while filming because as soon as she walked up to the beam, the video went black. I have full videos of every event except for the one that was her best the entire season! Ugh! Oh well, I guess the videos are only useful for correcting mistakes, and that performance did not need much improvement at all!
 

Her gym owner who was filling in for one of her previous coaches who quit two weeks before the state meet (ugh!), predicted that she would take home the gold medal for the vault.  She had not gotten first place in vault at any of the meets since moving up to the advanced level, and she did not even place in vault at the second meet, yet he thought she would win the gold at the state meet with more competition?  I did not believe him.  Each gymnast gets to perform two vaults at each meet, and I think they take the best one for scoring....or maybe they average them together.  I just don't know!  We are all so new to gymnastics that we're still learning the rules.  I did finally figure out that the straighter the body without any bending at the waist or knees the better.  Her first vault was not very good for her.  I watched her coach whisper something to her, and then she performed the next vault nearly without fault.  I love the way his hands flew up in the air in celebration of her much better second vault.  His prediction came true, too.  She took home the gold medal in the vault.

Her bar and floor routines at the state meet were certainly not her best, so we did not expect her to place.  Yet, she still took home 3rd place in bars and 4th place in floor which when combined with her gold medals in vault and beam helped her win 2nd place all around.

She also racked up enough points to qualify for the top competition level, elite, which means she'll have even fiercer competition next year.

We have loved the AAU league and especially like the more relaxed schedule (half as many meets, much less travel, fewer practices) as compared to USAG.  We are looking at two gyms closer to home and only one has an AAU team and is currently ranked last in the league.  So we must pray a lot about what direction to take next so as to preserve family time, peace, and sanity while also nurturing her God given gift.  To God be the glory for all His excellent works!

She was wired on the way home that night.  She needed to rest for her big end of grade standardized tests next week.  She may be even been delirious because she asked during our drive home, "Is that coffee I smell?" Her father then corrected her by saying, "No dear, that is a skunk you smell."  I don't think this girl will be a coffee drinker.

The next evening after dinner she said, "I sure hope eating all these vegetables pays off someday so that I didn't consume all those nasty things for nothing."  So I reminded her that the vegetables certainly paid off the night before at the state meet.  She hesitated for a while and then said, "I can't stand it when I can't come up with a comeback for Mom!" :-)

Mom: 1, State champion gymnast:  0

Appendum:
On Thursday after the meet, the coaches held a mini party for the team to show them how impressed they were with their performance at the state meet. Our daughter wasn't the only one who brought an excellent performance. Her best friend from the team, for example, tied for first on the bars with a 9.4 score, a record for this green team.  The gym owner's wife said that she usually texts the coach after every meet to ask how their team finished.  She said that he will usually reply with "fine" or "good" but never anything more than that.  At this meet, however, he texted her before she ever texted him, and his message was simply, "Wow!"  Even though the AAU gymnasts are young and experienced and not quite the focus that his level 9 and 10 USAG teams are who are vying for scholarships and such, he still got quite emotional at the girls' meet because they had come so far so quickly.  Congratulations again to all of Nick's AAU girls.

Counting gifts through glimpses of ordinary life

Ann Voskamp, the author of the book One Thousand Gifts, which prompted me to begin counting God's gifts until I numbered at least one thousand, regularly reminds me through her blog posts that God's hand can often be seen best in the simple moments of life.  Ken Gire wrote, "Our search for God and His search for us begin at windows in our everyday experiences.  These are the windows to the soul."  It's looking past the neatly framed picture on the canvas and past the surface of someone living on our street or in the street to the deeper message and/or heart of the person.  So as I recount episodes from our mundane routines of life, I hope my glimpses see past the surface to the gifts God offers to each of us.

Speaking of pictures on canvas....
Our kids participated in their first art show. It was just a simple art display at their school showing a sample of each students' work for sale as a fundraiser, but even so, it was such a gift (#549) to see the kids learning to express themselves artistically, especially considering the unique artistic talent among the paternal side of their ancestry.  Art was a subject I could not teach them in our homeschool, so it is a blessing to see them expressing themselves with colorful paints.

Our daughter's colorful southwestern landscape

Our son's water color fish

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I'm so thankful for perfectly timed reminders and assurances through daily Bible study and devotionals (Gift #550).

"I used to try to pray and receive God's leadings on the run.  It became obvious to me that the pace of my life outstripped my capacity to analyze it.....At the end of the day, I would wonder if my work had any meaning at all." - Bill Hybels

10 years ago, I walked away from titles, degrees, tangible affirmations, and fat paychecks to slow down my pace, seek His guidance, and hopefully invest in that which would not rot, rust, decay or disappear in a down economy but which would instead last forever.  I have lost focus, been selfish, grumbled over the thanklessness of it all, wasted time, lamented over the could haves and should haves, and failed in so many ways, but if freeing up that time allowed me to push one person closer to Jesus, then my efforts had meaning, and it was worth it.  Let us encourage one other to slow down, seek Him, and press on toward the prize that lasts forever.  (Philippians 3:13-15)

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My 10-year-old is a tomboy whose hairstyle and dress usually look very much like Jo from The Facts of the Life despite my many pleadings that she present herself more like a lady. So imagine my surprise when she came to dinner yesterday evening with a purse across her shoulder. I told her a purse isn't necessary for family dinners, and she replied in an exceedingly prissy voice, "It's not a purse, Mom. It's a cross body bag." - Snap! Just like that our tomboy turned into a tween! 

I'm thankful for the "heads-up" that she will soon be entering a very awkward stage, so that I can treasure every moment and prepare myself for what is coming soon (Gift #551).  I have already begun some preparations by attending a lecture on how to handle that stage and by ordering a copy of Passport to Purity for it will not be long until I must take her away for some mother/daughter bonding and the "talk".  God help me!  Thanks for the helpful resources!(Gift #552).

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Speaking of hairstyles....

Some people would call this hair of his "bed head", but he says it's a popular new hair style called "Angry Bird". I call it a lame attempt to get out of combing his hair this morning.

Even so, every time this boy makes me laugh (usually every day), I count it as a gift. (Gift #553) 

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It can be discouraging for a parent to teach and reinforce key precepts to our kids only to have them act as though they refuse to listen. However, I am thankful for the encouragement I received recently that the time will come when your kids will preach it all back to you (albeit in a different context) confirming that they were in fact listening after all (Gift #554)!

Recent Example:
As we drove into the parking lot of the library so that I could tutor a student, they were surprised to see their father's car and exclaimed, "It's Daddy! Horray! Has he come to take us out to dinner?"

I replied, "Indeed he has. It's your lucky day!"

The 9-year-old scolded, "No it isn't, Mom. We don't do luck. This blessing comes from God and is in His perfect plan!"

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One morning last week, I tried to teach the kids that advertisements are often deceiving, so do not be fooled by their false claims. Now I'm weeping over an absolutely precious gum commercial.  

Thanks, Extra, for showing me that advertising isn't all bad. 

 "Sometimes the little things last the longest!" is a great tag line and a timely reminder (Gift #555).
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It seems like we are always wrestling with new decisions that are difficult to make.  I counted it a gift when a morning devotion reminded me that the answer usually comes in the form of God's perfect peace (Gift #556).

Gary Smalley says the Greek word translated "rule" in Colossians 3:15 ("Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts....") means "be the umpire". So as baseball season gears up into full swing, may God's peace help us all discern whether "we are safe or out" or whether our "circumstances are fair or foul".

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We are enjoying our new neighborhood, and I am so thankful for recent opportunities to meet our new neighbors (Gift #557).  The twins who live beside us (or it seems like our house sits in their back yard since their house sits on the corner and faces the adjacent street) recently celebrated their 3rd birthday, and it seemed as though the entire neighborhood came to the celebration.

We had plenty of fun but are most thankful to have met more neighbors.  I'm hosting an Easter egg hunt this weekend at our home, so I hope many will come and that relationships will be strengthened.

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Our new neighbors are very generous, too.  I am the type of person who dreads fundraisers and would contribute all the money myself before knocking on doors for support, and when our kids have had fundraisers in the past, we always just wrote them a check. However, this time, they were raising funds for a most excellent cause, feeding hungry children around the world, so I allowed our children to knock on doors one weekend only (a first for us) to raise money for Stop Hunger Now while warning them not to be discouraged if few answered the door.   They blew us away with their kindness and generosity which gave our kids confidence to advocate for the less fortunate. Even the neighborhood children gave from their piggy banks! Their contributions alone provided 690 protein packed means for the less fortunate around the world (Gift #558). The kids packed those meals later that week to be shipped out to the areas where they are needed most.  The school funded and packed 100,000 meals, and our church will be funding and packing over 300,000 meals in two weeks. (Gift #559) 
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I was disappointed to see the lot diagonally across from us get cleared for new construction when we initially thought it would be reserved for the original developer's children.

Aside:  I love the fact that our subdivision is named after the previous owner & developer's last name, and his last name is the same as that of my all time favorite spiritual mentors.  We will never forget you, Sam and Nell!  As if the crosses on the front facade of our house are not enough of a reminder to seek Christ first, the entrance of our subdivision bears your last name.  Gotta love that accountability! (Gift #560)

I will admit, however, that it has been fun to watch the construction progress from our home's vantage point.

 

 

 

We took a walk through the framed home and were overcome by how much the front of our house is the focal point out all these enormous front windows. Our home is not angled in their direction, so we mostly look at the wooded lot next door, so our daughter needs to be aware of their viewpoint and keep her blinds closed!  I'm so thankful God gave us their perspective (Gift #561)!  From the back windows, these future neighbors will have a great view of the greenway and the physician's pool next door.  He probably needs to take a walk through the framed house, too!

I was quite startled when I caught a glimpse of a large roof truss flying by our window.  Even at age 40, I find cranes and roof assemblies fascinating.  They put up this roof in about two hours, and that is no small house!

Sometimes when I hear the train whistle in the middle of the night or look out my windows and see rooftops instead of treetops, more land, or lush golf greens, I miss living "out yonder a ways" where we spent the first 12 years of our marriage. But when I consider the amenities and views (shown below) within walking distance of our new home, and when I consider how close we are to school, work, and every shopping need (ie, the gift of TIME!), I am so thankful God has transformed us into city folks after we had spent over 5 years praying about a move (Gift #562)

The creek runs behind our neighborhood and all along the bike trail.

View of the lake from a gazebo covered rest stop with water fountain

View of lake from the bike trail

A fishing pond beside the bike trail

We joined this pool & tennis club this weekend.  It's 0.8 miles from our house via sidewalks.

Our daughter joined the swim team.  We have never lived close enough to a team pool to join a team until now!

More wooded bike trails

I will end this blog post with a gift concerning Biblical prophecies concerning end times. 

While working through the Left Behind series with our kids (with more violent parts edited out), I have wondered if the themes were too mature for my little ones. Then the other day when we got to the part just before the glorious appearing where the book authors have the antichrist mounting a horse to ride through Jerusalem for the final battle, my 7-year-old asked, "Is the antichrist trying to imitate Jesus when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the week of his crucifixion?"  What a blessing that my boy is already learning how to discern between God's truth and the enemy's wicked imitation (Gift #563). Oh, that these children would always be on guard, studying His truth, and growing in their relationship with their Savior so that they can easily discern the works of God from those of the evil one who disguises himself as an angel of light.

Then the next day I realized the vocabulary may be too confusing for our boy. He heard this prophesy from Isaiah 25:5 quoted:

"Like heat in drought, You subdue the uproar of aliens;Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced."

Then the 7-year-old said, "Whoa! Are aliens from outer space going to invade the earth during the last battle?"  Oh how he amuses me!