The last 4 weeks...silly and somber

Life has been a whirlwind since school started, so let's see if I can find anything somewhat interesting from those weeks to share on as a blog update.

House Stuff
After meeting with almost a dozen contractors since March, we FINALLY signed a contract with a builder who should begin construction on a porch and deck for us in early November.  It's hard to believe that it took us only a few minutes to select our lot while overseas at the time, a few days to pick out our floor plan and elevation, and only three hours to select every option inside and outside the house.  Yet, finding a builder and selecting the options for a simple porch and deck have been like a part-time job for me over the past five months! As of today, we've selected and/or purchased the stain, tile, grout, shingles, hardiplank, railing design, ceiling style, windows,door, post caps, LED deck lighting, fireplace heater, and building materials.  We've received multiple sets of 2D and 3D drawings and ended up using plans we constructed on our own.  We've gotten signatures from the neighbors and submitted HOA request forms.  The only things left to pick out are the ceiling fan, possibly a patio dining set, and a few decor options.  Whew!  What a headache that has been.  No more home improvement projects for us any time soon.  We're exhausted and our home improvement budget is now officially empty and will be for a long time.  The pics below show some of our selections.

Ceiling stain color

Ceiling style - tongue & groove wide pine

Wrap around steps from porch landing to deck

Patio furniture we bought

Fireplace to heat it during the winter

Tile choice & grout (we chose the 2nd from the left on the top row.)

Deck and lattice will be similar to this one except much larger.

Friend Update
I may have mentioned on here about two years ago that I been trying to help a nearby friend who was in an abusive relationship.  I had been keeping her boys some, coordinating counseling sessions through our church, sharing the gospel and ministry resources, praying with and for her, and encouraging her as much as possible to leave.  It took a long time, but she did finally leave AND she started going to church.  She started praying more and seeking God's will instead of her own. 

With God now in first place, radical transformations began taking place.  First she resolved to only settle for a godly man, and looked to my husband as a model of what traits would characterize such a man.  Aww!  Her oldest son, who had been a drug addict for years, lived with a stripper who was a heroin dealer, and had been in and out of rehab centers with no improvement, agreed to check into a very strict Christian based rehab center.  There he had a profound encounter with the living Lord and is now an on-fire believer who is overcoming the addictions that have consumed his life for over a decade.  Christ is setting him free, and now he has surrendered to God's call on his life, at least for the next year or so, to serve in the rehab center as a counselor helping others break free as well.  Other improvements came in the lives of her younger sons who were struggling in school and came to me for tutoring while living in the abusive home.  They are now making top marks in school and have been accepted into a better school across town.

Recently, she moved out of the apartment she had escaped to when she left her abusive boyfriend and into a home of her own far away from the ex-boyfriend she had previously still visited on occasion as she struggled to let go of him. The fact that she could get approved for the mortgage and that the previous owner sold her all the furniture and the new washer and dryer for only $500 was another unexpected blessing.  How differently our lives go when we sow good seed instead of bad.  Hardships still come in our fallen world, but those hardships do not overwhelm us when we commit all things unto the Lord.

Please bless this house, Lord.

When she moved in, she asked me to come bless her house.  That's something I had never done for anyone before, and I was a little unsure as to my qualifications.  My daughter and I drove across town to see her new place and walked around it and through every room (even the attic) praying God's protection and His presence in each and every place.  My daughter looked up verses to share with her as well.  She expressed so much gratitude for that simple act of blessing her home.  This friend has encouraged my heart so much and reminded me that such simple actions can go a long way in changing a person's heart and life.

Teaching
I began teaching my Mighty Mom fitness class and two of my STEM classes last week.  I'll add my other two STEM classes this week.  As I prepared the night before all these new teaching endeavors officially began, I did some reflection while worried that the ankle I sprained the Friday before would make everything go wrong.  My thoughts went like this:

Some people develop a clear vision of what their vocation will be at an early age and follow that path directly without detours. Then there are others, like missionary friends of ours, who pursued two very different fields that seemed to have no connection whatsoever only to receive a ministry calling that required expertise in both, for God knew all along where those preparations would lead.

I have often felt I lacked vision since my interests are so diverse, but it has just occurred to me that I will be combining my life long love, practice, and study of health & fitness, teaching, Bible, devotional writing, engineering, math, science, technology, and apologetics all together in my work with the STEM and Mighty Moms programs, which I guess some would say I founded because there was a need and without even realizing how much they fit my many pursuits.  Both types of classes require intense movement on my part, so I was feeling discouraged about my ankle injury, but when you consider that I have been preparing my entire life for such a time as this, an ankle sprain can't stop me now. Nothing can thwart the plans of God.

I asked my three prayer warriors to be praying for me, and I tangibly felt their prayers.  Everything went great (well, except for pulling my back and making my quads, knees, ankles, and neck dreadfully sore requiring several trips to the DC and lots of KT tape).   I loved working with the other moms and did not realize until someone mentioned the time that we had already gone 20 minutes over the end time.  Two other moms joined our group that day after watching us in action, so we are over full. 

For the past 10 years, I have worked out all by myself in the privacy of my own home. Now that I get to workout with an awesome group of "Mighty Moms", however, I am having more fun and am more motivated than ever before. Those moms requested a cardio kickboxing workout, so they better watch out because I'm developing a high intensity kickboxing workout that may have people calling them "Beastly Beauties" instead.

The STEM class went really well on Monday despite having 19 students (four more than the original maximum)  The Tuesday class, with 17 students, was nosier with more boys and younger students in general.   Getting students from the carpool line by myself (my assistant showed up late) didn't go as smoothly either on Tuesday, so I realize now how much I need those assistants. The kids were very engaged and seemed to have a great time despite more talking and teaching time than usual due to the first day administrative tasks to cover.  Here are some pics from the first day.

 

The technology component of the class involved touring outer space through some virtual reality goggles we made at home with cardboard, concave lenses, duct tape, and Velcro.  We used those same goggles to present a spiritual application showing the dangers of looking through the world's deceptive lens (a poor and twisted imitation of God's handiwork) instead of viewing life and the world through the lens of God's absolute truth. 

I have had a lot of different jobs in my lifetime, but I never imagined I would teach. I couldn't understand why my teachers would work such long hours pouring so much of themselves into us students for such piddly pay, Yet, teaching is what I enjoy doing most even though it can be all-consuming and exhausting at times. I wasn't sure why I enjoyed it so much until I reread 1 Thessalonians 2:8 which sums up what teaching allows me to do. "Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well." Teachers are compelled by love. There is no other reasonable explanation.

Kids
Our first born started 6th grade earlier this month, so I'm still trying to accept the fact that we have a middle schooler in the house. So what does the school do to us before we even make it to September? They send home school pictures that make our kids look years older than they should. ‪

6th grade

3rd grade

The kids are adjusting to school far better than I am. They have lots of friends and find the work easy, so that means very little studying.  I desperately wish the schoolwork was harder and stretched their brains more, but I'm thankful they don't have the crazy homework load I had at their age and can just enjoy being a kid before the stresses of daily life in a corrupt world invade their bubble.

One of my 12th grade tutoring clients showed up at my son's classroom dressed like Squanto one day.

I still enjoy shopping trips with my son, for he is such good company and a great help.   He really embarrassed me recently, however, but the checkout clerk saved the day.  Here's how it all played out:

While checking out at Harris Teeter with him, he and I were both quietly humming an 80's dance tune. When the checkout clerk lifted a package of feminine products from my cart, my son asked too loudly, "Why are you buying diapers if we don't have any babies in the house?" Then as I began to blush but before I had a chance to answer his question, the clerk saved the day by asking, "What's that song you are humming?" So my boy sheepishly replied, "Everybody Dance Now". Then the clerk began singing that song at top volume with near perfect pitch while busting out awesome rhythms with her voice beat box. A dance party instantly broke out in checkout lane #3. She's always been my favorite checkout clerk, so I usually try to stand in her line, but now I love her more than ever. ‪

I printed out new chore charts for each of the children, and the 8-year-old negotiator said, "I'm going to keep using the old chart until we discuss an allowance adjustment."  While I know I should correct him for his attitude, I know how he feels, for his remark resembles many of us adults when we are expected to give more without getting more in return. If we truly understood what fairness and justice would merit us, we would be grateful for all the grace and mercy God lavishes on us out of love, for we certainly don't deserve any of his wonderful gifts.

I am enjoying my daughter so much more now, and I feel our relationship is much improved over what it was when we were homeschooling.  She's really been growing spiritually, so that makes it all the more joyful.  She's got to be one of the most hyper and creative kids around, but she's also a deep thinker, so you never know what she might say.

I answered one of my daughter's more serious questions by saying, "A wife must never try to change her husband or tell him what to do. He must choose for himself what he will do."

She replied, "Is that what is meant by the saying, 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink?"

The other day I noticed that she did not write her name as you would ordinarily expect on her Dickey's cup.  But she did write it in a way that shows she know her true identity in Christ. I'm so thankful she personally knows Him who calls her by name.

Our son's  humorous 2nd grade teacher often made him laugh and taught him a different way to fold paper airplanes than the way his dad taught him (Dad's method makes the plane do stunts), so it seems appropriate that he would use her technique to make this airplane out of the Sunday comics.

I thought our 6th grader might start spending more time on the phone when she entered middle school. Instead, neither she nor I gets much time on the phone because her shy, introverted little brother is always on the phone. What in the world?



I've been testing a lot of different experiments for my STEM class this past weekend.  You know your imaginative child should not be helping you test out science experiments for your classes when she asks you to take her shopping for 500 cups of cornstarch so she can fill her bathtub with non Newtonian fluid.  We bought five pounds instead.

Using the same size Pyrex dishes for Ghiradelli fudge brownies and a batch of Oobleck for some science experiments may be a bad idea if anyone decides to sneak a brownie tonight in the dark.

Parenting
Confession: I sleep in while my kids pack their own school lunches. If they forget a protein or a veggie, their bodies will feel it enough to remember those essentials the next day. I don't make my kids do their homework and do not help them with their homework until after they have struggled through it on their own and have asked for help. I don't always bring them things to school they leave at home, and I have asked their teachers to give them harder work so they can struggle. Why? First of all, I am lazy. It's true. I can't do everything for everyone and do not even try. Secondly, I really am trying to teach them to be mature and responsible, and natural consequences are a very effective teacher. So I let them fall and fail, for grades just aren't as important to me as their character. So call me slack if you wish, but there are some teachers who actually prefer my style to overparenting.  Here are how some schools are handling the overparenting crisis.

Sudden Death
I recently connected with a neighborhood friend (she lived across the street from us) on Facebook whom I haven't seen since college.  It has been fun to catch up with her and to learn that she lives really close and has twin boys only two years older than our daughter.  But then this past week, I learned that her mother had a sudden and fatal heart attack.  She and her dad were still in shock when I went to the funeral home with my parents and some other neighbors from that same street.  Despite the circumstances, it was good to catch up with them.  It was downright amazing to see her dad looking almost the same as he did 30 years ago even in his mid 70s.  He still competes in decathlons and continues to set new records for each age group he enters. So long, Mrs. V. You left a wonderful legacy.

Current Events
America continues to spiral headlong into the abyss of immorality.  Liberalism has become so completely illogical and maddening that I wonder if they know how to think or reason at all.  A new presidential campaign is underway, and I see a number of decent prospects in our party along with some that are just as crooked, self-serving, and narcissistic as our current POTUS.  The other party's  candidates consist of a pathological liar would should be spending the rest of her life behind bars for a lifetime of crimes committed and a socialist lunatic.  Seriously, has history not taught us enough how utterly destructive and enslaving socialistic policies really are? Why shrink the economy instead of grow it.  Why let the government control your every move?  Laziness and ignorance are the only reasons I can imagine.  If anything, Americans should know by now that they cannot put their hope or trust into any government authority to fix anything, for while we are all sinners, power corrupts even the most pure hearts and the best interest of society is never a concern anymore.

The plight of Syrian refugees is as bad or worse than the refugee problems during WW2.  None of the neighboring countries are helping them, so they flee by water, with many children washed up dead onto the shores every week. It's heartbreaking, and we're desperately looking for the best way to help.

ISIS continues to grow in their horrific slaughter of innocent people, yet our government does nothing about it.  They should have been stopped from the beginning.  Terrorists and criminals continue to flood our borders while Christian families seeking the freedom to homeschool here legally are being denied citizenship or even permission to live here.  The world is upside down. How long will God withhold his judgment?  Those wild conspiracy theories that suggest that the "Mystery Babylon" described in Revelation is not the same location as ancient Babylon but actually the  USA are starting to seem less crazy.  As a nation, we certainly act a lot like ancient Babylon.

Planned Parenthood undercover videos continue to be released showing increasingly vile deeds done by the organization with each new release.  Full term babies removed from the womb alive and brains cut out to be sold for profit while the heart still beats.  The horror!  Yet, those who support abortion look away, unwilling to watch, lest they feel convicted or see evidence of how wrong they are.

I hear a lot of people asking, "Why do so many people not even care about the evil deeds being exposed so blatantly and graphically?" One answer is moral relativism, which has taken over America. Moral relativism says that what you think is right can be right for you and what I think is right can be right for me (unless I claim to have absolute truth), so don't bother me with thinking about the contradictions. This worldview pretends truth is individually selected, subjective, and fluid, and it insists that the only wrong is judging another. So, school shooters and bombers, baby butchers and baby body part sellers, pornography producers, sellers, and users, liars, cheats, and crooks, and pedophiles and human traffickers all feel justified in their actions because it is right for them in their own eyes. Since our generation cares more about not judging or offending than about justice and truth, they continue along their wicked path without hindrance and society continues to unravel. Love does not ignore evil. Real love cares, confronts, and corrects.  Our nation is starving from a lack of real love.

I did get some encouraging time last week with some friends who serve overseas in a very dangerous part of the world.  They pour out the love of Christ day in and day out and are seeing the fruits of 20 years of love and labor.  Even so, many of their friends in their country have lost sons to ISIS and are heart-broken.  They explained how ISIS always targets regions with economic problems and often targets economic systems in their warfare.  The unemployment rate in their country is over 60%, so many men waste their days away in cafes or in front of the TV lacking purpose or hope.  ISIS offers them a distorted hope for some sort of purpose, twisted and deluded as it is.  Those people desperately need the only One who can fill the void in their hearts that even the best employment or brave war conquest can fill.  

This friend also explained how the western world greatly misunderstands the Islamic people. Most are peaceful people who oppose violence.  Yet, the Quran is written in such a way that no one really understands is, for the later parts contradict the earlier parts, and no one is sure in which chronological order each part should be placed.  Like our book of Proverbs, each verse stands alone without any context for interpretation, so the people rely on their imam to interpret it for them.  

The Quran speaks of love and peace, but it also clearly calls for jihad against all infidels (ANYONE who does not follow Islam strictly on the outside).  Just like we find in too many Christian churches, most are hypocrites, breaking all the Islamic laws but acting like the Jewish Pharisees, putting on an air of religiosity.  They just don't want to get caught.  None of their deeds flow out of love, personal relationship, or even worship.  It's all selfishly motivated for what it will get them personally.  They are following a lie. 

Liberal Americans who embrace Islamic people and welcome their religious practice here are putting Americans in great danger.  These people follow a book that does command devout followers to kill us.  They also murder gays.  It's a dangerous religion, and we must not let them take over as they have done in the UK.  Yet, we also must not characterize them as bad people in general just because a small percentage of them are radical terrorists.  Such stereotyping is flat out wrong.  Similarly, this new #BlackLivesMatter movement in America is based on racist hatred and the false assumption that all police officers hate blacks, when the truth is that most of them voluntarily risk their lives day in and day out for people of every color.  The real racists who so readily notice someone's color, in my opinion, are those who refuse to take responsibility and need someone to blame for their poor choices which will inevitably lead to bad outcomes.

Anyway, the talk was very enlightening, and we all enjoyed the mini college reunion that formed when we all came to see them before they flew back to the country they have called home for the past 20 years.  They try to get back to the U.S. every two to see family and friends, but the summer long tour is exhausting for them.  We also discovered that it was our special guest's birthday, so we enjoyed an impromptu birthday party for him.

We haven't lost our sillies yet.

Our legacy and future IVCFers in attendance