festivus for the rest of us

So my hormones are still trying to get evened out so that makes me jekylandhydish. I am trying to pray my way through but I am quite EGG.AUST.TED in the evening.

Last night was church night except for the fact that my girl had a ton'o homework. They have short week this week ( and last and next) so I guess they still are trying to make it through with the same amount of work. So us girls stayed home and the boys went on to church- Nick had to christmas pagent practice.

We worked on algebra and then did some Titanic reporting. Fun stuff. Then momma just couldn't take much more fun and took a 20 minute snooze on the couch cause I am just that tired.

Anywho, it was a rush of field trip monies, fund raiser forms and leftover eating. Just another day in the Pore House. Festive, huh?

Today both my kiddos got awards at school. My knight in shining armor went to the ceremonies this go round. Also, my dad went. I think this was his first school assembly in about 4 or 5 decades but they were doing a veterans day theme and were going to have all the people who served in the armed forces stand up. Nick wanted people to clap for his grandpa so he went. Amazing the change in a person once they become a grandparent. So happy that my kids are close to their grandparents.

Thanks

So how did November get here already? It should easily be just the beginning of September. Oh well, life moves quickly. I thought I would steal a couple minutes to slow it down by posting some of my recent favorites.

I have missed so much with my kiddos this week as it is preregistration, my busiest work time. I have had to leave early in the morning which has upset the whole morning routine but my kids are such troopers...even leaving at 6:15 in the morning with night before washed hair and being 13 years old.

So this morning was the first morning of normalcy. So I was able to see all I had missed.

1. Little boys who need haircuts have mohawk morning hair.
2. When pushed to their limits, pink zebra striped blow dryers can be a sister's equivilant to a Nerf gun.
3. Three shirt options are the minimum amount of outfit changes
4. Our semi-rushed morning routine is like balm on our souls after the last week of earliness.
5. Gameboys get left behind voluntarialy in exchange to group scripture memorization in the car.

God is good and I am so thankful for these little whispers of life that I get to keep and cherish in my heart.

last night, my girl and I went over to a friends house to visit for a few minutes. As we drove the darkened roads, she started sharing her heart with me about how things were in her life. How hard and pressed the world was getting. She asked some good questions about how Christians live in the mess, how they can be perceived in debates (like gay marriage rights etc). It was a wonderful conversation. I hope to never forget this little snipet.

Her: But Mom I know all about the Word being the sword of the spirit but sometimes it just feels like we just sit around and get bashed up.(Oh how true that may feel)

I just prayed for His words to be mine as I spoke to my little prophet. My little "all or nothing", never halfway Spirit filled miracle. Then I spoke of His truth- it is not the people we fight. It is the principalities and the powers of darkness that cause the division we must bind up.

Oh to see the Light in her eyes.

Oh to feel His presence in that car.

His words,not mine. His girl, not mine.

Truth spoken to a soil that is ready and ripe. Love wins.

Again I whisper, thanks for letting me see this, to be here, to feel this. Keep knocking, keep being what she seeks, keep loving her in ways I can't.

Thanks for this moment.

Roller coaster

So my boy is pretty energetic. He is on go constantly. Jeff and I just shake our heads sometimes because he is such a bull in a china shop. he has such a joyful person and has energy but his attitude is laid back. he stresses over very little.

When he is up- he is up but once bedtime hits, he is down for the count.

This picture just is so typical of Nick. Stretched out and laid back, resting up for when those eyes open up for an adventure.

Think he looks like he is riding a roller coaster. Which is sometimes what it feels like being his mom- ha!

My morning view

This morning as I flipped on the lights to wake up my sweet Abigail. I was immediately struck with a grateful heart. Not because her room is neat or that she was peacefully sleeping like an angelic baby, but because of the realness of her life is in that room. One day in the not so distant future, especiallyif you take into account how fast the last 13 years have gone, I will pine away for the days I could see her face everyday. I see my friends with kids in college or applying for colleges and it pangs my heart to think that she will be moving on and out.

So that is deep for a Friday morning wake up but all the same the realization hit me in a moment. So before I woke her I took this picture so that I could freeze time for a moment to remember.

Things I love about this picture:
1. That balled up beneath that comforter is my sweet girl. She rarely sleeps all spread out and relaxed. She always is tightly wound in her blankets. It speaks volumnes of her personality as well. My girl has purpose and a reason for everything.

2. The bibles at the foot of her bed. Not one, but three stacked on the floor on top of a devotional book. My guess is she was sitting on the beanbag reading the devotional and either had a question about something or she just wanted to take it deeper so she started her research, comparing and contrasting the different translations. Seeking His Word on the matter that was on her heart. I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving when I saw them. Thankful that she knows where to find truth and that He spoke straight to her heart in a way that I can not.

3. The guitar case. She had lessons the night before. Abigail is breaking the cycle of our non-musical roots. She loves to sing, play guitar and piano. She can read music and has a natural ability of musicality. I am completely in awe that she has gone on this path since her parents are so not musically inclined. We just pay those who can help her to reach her goals.

When I get home today. The bed will be made. The bibles tucked away on her desk, the guitar will be hanging over her bed. Things will be different. I will still hold the picture of this morning in my head but life will have moved on. I am grateful I really saw the morning view.

Can't touch this

So we changed plans to stay in tonight. The kids decided we are going to have a Dance Party. This should be fun.

Jeff and I are already 'talking smack' to each other about who is going to school who on the dance/livingroom floor.

Love it! Pictures and posts to follow.

He prays for me

So I battle demons of the ovarian kind. I have some female issues which can lead to quite bit of pain and uncomfort. My husband has been in my life most of my womanly days and knows the signs. Not that he could miss some of them. But you know what he does...he prays.

He prays for my pain, for my healing and the restoration of my health. He comforts me with his words and his touch but he goes beyond and ask God to comfort me more.

I love him. He prays for me.

and God winks...with words

So I have been feeling creatively barren the last few years. You know this is a stage in my life where I am growing my children into what looks like grown up people. Each day it takes a village in my heart and soul to do this. My village is the Father, Son and Spirit and every once in a long while, little old me.

I love though that I still get thirsty for words. Thirsty for His words, thirsty for words from books, thirsty for my husband's words, thirsty for the words of my sisters, thirsty for my children's words.

So in all of this communication or lack there of, I love a good story. I love to tell a good story. I love to be told a good story.

Today God winked at me with words.

I have a wonderful friendship with two women. I like to think it is my multigenerational trifeca. We span decades. Each of us from our own generation but ever so connected to each other. We lunch at least once a month and oh, how I wish it was more. I always leave our lunches with sore cheeks from the smiling and a little bit wiser.

Today was lunch with my girls. One friend's mother had just passed away last week and we were talking about her mother, the funeral, her dad, family issues. It was a wonderful time filled with lots of stories. Stories that should be told. Stories that will be forgotten if not documented and not believed even when documented.

God winked at me during this lunch. He told me that stories need a place to be written. He nudged me to start writing them down. Start with the notetaking of life.

So I will be obedient. Be prepared, oh heart and mind, you are about to be exercised.

God winks and I get to tell stories, stories that will not be forgotten.