God Loves Me the Way I Am!

We recently bought an 8-passenger van for our family. It is not new, but "new" to us. We used to have a 15-passenger van but we are downsizing due to kids growing up and moving out. We have 12 children, but only 6 live at home now. It is definitely different! In addition to buying a new van, I recently bought a new camera with some money that I had been saving for 1 1/2 years from cleaning houses. When I brought the van home from the dealership all the kids were excited to see it and I wanted to take a picture of it so that I could share it with the rest of the family. The kids are exploring the van and I am walking out to the van with my camera. I hear one of my kids say, "Why does she always have to take pictures of everything?" I don't think he realizes that I am old but I still have really good ears! I told him that his comment really discouraged me, that I just enjoyed taking pictures. I told him that I loved my family, I love nature, flowers, clouds, sunsets, and that is why I like to take pictures. That is just the way God made me. So I told him that when he makes a comment like that is just takes the joy out of what I like doing. I don't think my little speech made any kind of a profound impression on him but maybe he will think about it in the future. Well, here is one of the pictures that I took with my somewhat reluctant children!

That night as I was reading a devotional before I went to bed, I came across a verse that really encouraged me. It was Zechariah 3:17: "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." I read that last part and it made me so happy to see that God rejoices over me with singing. He knows all about me, he created me with a love for taking pictures and somehow I can use that love for glorifying God. Now if I can just be patient for the glory of God as people keep interrupting me while I am trying to write this. I have not written anything in my blog for over 2 years and I have missed it, but don't know if it will happen very often at this pace! I probably need to work more on patience or writing in the morning before anyone gets up.

My mom's having heart surgery!

Well, I decided to journal about my trip to AZ and to write something while I was there as well. I found out that my mom was having surgery at 10 p.m. on 1-24-2012. So, when she called and told me that her surgery would be the next day at 1 p.m. I started looking at flights with Southwest. I looked at Priceline, but none of their deals could get me there in time to see my mom before her surgery and I really wanted to be there before her surgery. It's very hard not to entertain the idea that this might be the last time I see my mom if she doesn't make it throught he surgery. So, I booked a flight with Southwest for $466 round trip, coming home February 15th. I don't think that's too bad of a price for practically the same day flight. Priceline was $320.

Spent a lot of time sending e-mails and updating facebook with the details of mom's surgery the next day. Doing laundry, packing, checkbook stuff, and making sure I can access our accounts while I'm in AZ. Said goodbye to Paul when he got up at 2 a.m. to go to work at FedEx. Slept from 3-4 p.m. Got up. Jim switched to the couch so I could turn the lights on in the bedrooma and finish packing for the trip. Our little puppy is howling. He just got taken out to the bathroom (I think he peed on the porch because it is raining really hard and Daniel probably didn't want to walk out in the yard with him) and he doesn't want to be put back in his kennel, but it is raining really hard, along with the thunder and lightning, so he is probably scared too. But he finally quiets down when he sees no one is going to rescue him. I am packing and I realize that I took Cindy Casper's labcoat home with me and I have not sewed the hem or switched her buttons around like I said I would. She needed it for class that day. Around 4:30 a.m. I got out my sewing machine and sewed the hem and the did the buttons. It only took about 15 minutes. I was going to wash it since it had a definite "dissection" smell. But I can't do everything. :o)

I woke Jim up at 5 a.m. and then I noticed that we had a leak by the entertainment center. I got a towel to soak up what was on the floor and then I got two buckets, one to put on top of the entertainment center and one to catch the drops right beside it on the floor. It must really be raining hard! I don't know if we are still classified as being in a drought situation, but we haven't got that much rain in a long time! (I heard later that we got over 6 inches of rain at our house!)

We left the house at around 5:30 a.m. to head to the airport.

There are some stories that you just have to write about before you forget about them, and this is one of them.

We just got a new puppy on Thursday, January 19th, and of course, we are working on potty training him. He's doing really well and I have learned that he does a lot of his business after he eats. So, I fed him, and I am outside waiting for him. He went pee and I am waiting for the poop part. Sorry to be so graphic but it pertains to the story! Well, Tom brings me the phone in the backyard to talk to my mom who is in the hospital, but he forgets to shut the back door. While I am engrossed in a conversation with my mom, the puppy went in the house and pooped right inside the door on the tile. I finished talking to my mom, went to find the puppy, and see that he has pooped in the house. So, I clean that up and take the puppy in the backyard, and discover John is in the backyard, has taken his pants and underwear off, and he is pooping in the backyard!

"Wait a minute," I am thinking, "something is messed up here! My dog is pooping in the house, and my 3 yos is pooping in the yard!" And I thought I was DONE potty training, but not quite. I started potty training John on 5-21-2011 (I don't know why that date is so engrained in my mind!) and this day is 1-23-1012. Up until a few weeks ago, we were still setting an alarm and taking him to the bathroom, so at least he is finally taking the initiative to go to the bathroom on his own. I just never invisioned this scenario!

A few more snow pictures!

I have a few other snow pictures to post that are worth posting. Hope you enjoy them!



This is Mark's dog, Trooper, in the snow. He was so frisky that day and he ate a lot of snow that day too! After he ate some snow, he was shivering so hard that we felt sorry for him and let him come inside until he warmed up.





These are some pictures I took of a cardinal in our yard. Not as pretty as the cardinals in Grandma's snowy yard in IL, but it was still pretty!



This was a block of ice that had frozen in a bucket. We turned it upside down to get the ice out and it looked like a trash can made out of ice!



A snowball to the head!

Snow in Texas?

February 4th, 2011 was an amazing day! We woke up to snow covering our land with a blanket of white! The most fun thing to me is seeing how the kids react to it. Sarah ran to get the camera so she could take pictures of it before anyone stepped in it.



They were all upset when our neighbor drove his truck up the road and messed up the road with his tire tracks.



Mark walked up the hill in the tire tracks so as not to mess the snow up anymore than was necessary. They were just enjoying it and soaking it all in. Later in the day I saw Ben walking around and he told me, "I just feel like I have to walk everywhere and see it all before it melts." I just thought that was so sweet to see him enjoying it.



Our other neighbor tried going up the hill a few times but didn't make it out until later in the day, so everyone had fun watching various people drive up the hill. Our neighbor said he was going to the store to get kitty litter and we thought that was pretty unusual.

In the morning it was too powdery for it to stick together to make snowballs. Mark and I walked up to the top of the hill to see how much snow was there and then we went back to the house. We were analyzing all the animal tracks as we walked on the road. Mark even "made" his own mysterious tracks. Very funny! Can you guess who made the following tracks?











Everyone went back up the hill, but this time we brought some big tree buckets to try sliding down in. They were big enough for Jim and I to get in too. It was fun, but someone had to pretty much push you all the way down the hill or you would stop pretty soon once they stopped pushing. But I think the kids had a lot of fun anyway! Jim went with us but you could tell he was cold!







Tom and I made a snowman, but it was mostly me. Tom made the middle of the snowman and I made the top and the bottom part. He came out and I told him if he wanted to help me, then he needed to put on some shoes because he had been walking around everywhere without his shoes and no mittens. So, he told me, "Well, I guess I'm going inside then." So off he went into the house. I guess he cared more about being barefoot than about being with me. Oh well! At that moment it was Tom's way or the highway! Some of the kids came out and helped me decorate the snowman. Notice he is making the longhorn symbol!



I was planning on taking some pictures of the kids with the snowman, but after I took 2 pictures of the snowman he unexpectedly fell forward and that was the end of him! He had a clean snow veneer that I had put on the front because underneath he was really a mixture of snow, dirt, grass and leaves! So, when he fell over, he lost his clean veneer for the pictures! LOL (Oh, and I gave up on Tom with his shoes and mittens because he walked around all day like that. It was go outside and get cold to the point of red hands and feet, then come inside by the fire and get warm, outside, inside, etc.) But later, Tom and I made a tiny snowman and decorated him with cedar tree berries, a little piece of pointy carrot that I carved, a wreath made from morning glory vines, a little feathery grass top, and some twigs with berries on them. It turned out really cute. He helped me walk around and collect stuff for it and he made it from clean snow that he had collected. So we still made a snowman together, just a small one!





The kids had fun throwing snowballs at each other.









Regressing back to the morning, the kids took John outside in his footy pajamas. I don't think it was a good experience because he got really cold and started crying. I told them to take him inside and we would get him officially dressed, along with shoes and his coat. So, we get him dressed and I try to put on his mittens and he just starts crying like he realizes that he is going outside and he doesn't want to. It was so funny! I just wanted to take some pictures of him outside in the snow and he is mad and doesn't even want to look at me!







We are definitely not outfitted for snow. No wool socks, no good snow mittens, etc. So, I got my pictures and we went inside. He seemed to enjoy looking outside at it from the inside though.



He calls it "snowf" so it sounds really cute. Even today he is saying "snowf gone". He is starting to put two words together at a time. My little baby is growing up! Sniff, sniff!

I forgot to tell you that they saved all the snow on the trampoline and then they jumped on it at one time. By the time they got done, they were just covered with snow! Looks like fun. I kept thinking someone was going to hit their head or something like that, but everyone survived! I tried to upload the trampoline video but it does not want to load, so I will have to try some other way for you to see it. It is 2 1/2 minutes, so maybe it is too long to load. Frustrating! I might add a few more random pictures at some point that are pretty interesting.

Love all of you,

Darlene

Unnatural Fear?

Sarah and I spent some time together today running errands. We went out to Miss Carol's mother's place to get some peacock feathers for Lacey Medina's wedding album. But we had to vote on the way there, go to the post office, drop something off for Celeste at the BPRC. We were laughing, because if it wasn't on my list of things to do, I had to write it on the paper and then cross it off. Well, Sarah mentioned that we should go out for lunch before I headed to AZ. I said, "Yeah, we should spend some time together before I die in a plane crash!" Of course, I'm half joking and the other half is seriously how I feel. As I have gotten older, I seem to think more about all the catastrophic scenarios that can happen along the way. I said, "I wonder what would happen if I got on the plane with a parachute on my back?" I mean I don't think anything will happen on this flight, but just in case. I would probably be arrested as a terrorist instead of the worried passenger that I am! But I learned that Rebekah and I are kindred spirits in the worrying department. I remember when we lived in FL, there was a particular bridge that we always had to cross over and I would always practice in my mind what I would do if the bridge were to collapse. I would unlock my seatbelt as the car was falling, then decide which one I would get out first. Of course, at THAT time I had 4 children under the age of 5.

Well back to our errands. After we got our peacock feathers and worrying about what if a mouthy horse would bite Sarah or if Red Cloud would somehow kick her as she steps into the stall, we went to Subway to eat. We met a cute older man that didn't go out to eat very much and he had one tooth on the top in the middle of his mouth. The lady was waiting on 4 of us at a time and she slopped the mayo and mustard in mostly just one place because she was in such a hurry. As she is wrapping it up, I see the mayo and mustard slopping out of the middle and towards the front of the sandwich. Then it was off to Wal-mart to buy butter, lettuce and gum (Although I ended up getting mints!). Then to BCOC to pick up the backpack that Benjamin and Elisabeth had forgotten there the day before. Then to the junkyard to get bolts for our van window that had fallen out. So, Sarah and I got a tour of the junkyard and got to walk all the way to the back of the junkyard to where the vans were where we found a very close model of our club wagon. I refrained from picking up every nut, bolt, screw, and washer that I saw like Jim has taught me. I did pick up one bolt! We went back to the shop and waited for our parts. He told me they would be $10, but I said how about $5, and he said that would be fine. Jim told me I did good when we got home, that I had brains and beauty all wrapped up into one! Sarah and I had a good time while we were out and then it was on to the packing for my trip.

I did realize one thing just now - I don't really worry about John being carried off by a coyote! But I don't know why?

Miscommunication Comedy

This is on the subject of John knowing how to unlock the doors by himself and get outside. Jim and I are concerned about the fact that he might get outside without our knowledge and get hurt. So, one day last week we were discussing what kind of lock we were going to put on the door to keep him from opening it and going outside by himself. There were several different opinions and then Daniel said, "I have an idea." So Jim says, "See, Daniel probably has a different idea." Then, Daniel says sarcastically, "I think we should have no lock on the door." So then Jim starts telling us a story about a little boy that gets carried off by a coyote and how we are doing this for John's safety - I don't remember the whole story correctly. Well, then several of us start smiling and kind of chuckling which sets Jim off on a spiel about how he doesn't think it is funny that John could get carried off by a coyote. Well, when he started saying this again, I just couldn't hold it in anymore and went from a smile to a full burst of laughter! Poor Jim! I told him I could explain why I was laughing and he said he would really like to hear it because he would like to know why I thought it was funny that John could get carried off by a coyote. Hearing that again just started me off again into this unstoppable burst of laughter and I couldn't even talk anymore about it. I actually asked him if I could go spend the day with Rebekah, so I went and did that, all the while trying to think about how I could explain why I was laughing and how I still loved my little son! :o) I left the house around 1:30 and I got home around 8 p.m. So, when I got home I was able to explain to him why I was laughing. It was obviously not the fact that I didn't love my son or that I thought the lock was a bad idea, in fact, I was on board with putting the lock on the door. I told him that when I think of something happening to John, him getting carried off by a coyote is probably way down on the list of possibilities and it seemed so unlikely, that that was why I was laughing. Plus, when he kept saying this thing that seemed unlikely to happen, it just set off my funny bone. I told him that when I thought of the dangers, I thought of him wandering off and getting lost, going down the driveway and into the road and getting hit by a car, stepping into an ant pile. getting stung by bees, climbing up the steep stairs and falling out of the tree house, finding a snake, etc. But I never really thought of John being carried off by a coyote. I guess I was thinking of the things that could happen during the day. Not that it couldn't happen, it just wasn't on my radar. But I guess it would be more likely to happen if he got out at night. So, he said he understood and we had a good laugh about it! But for the first few days, every time I thought about him saying that statement, I would just start laughing out loud!

We have affectionately named it the "coyote lock"!



There could be a coyote on the other side of that thar door!

Rosie

This is our sweet kitty, Rosie. She is the most loving cat ever and I have never seen anyone like her. When we come home from church on Sunday nights, she is sitting on the tree stump where the van usually is parked. Abby just loves Rosie and Rosie endures Abby. She has lived through people pulling her tail and dunking her in a bucket. Mind you, I don't condone any of this activity but I only have 2 eyes. She pretends to eat when she thinks you are going to put her outside, she hides when she knows we are leaving the house, she got a ride to church one time and pooped in our van to make her presence known, she follows us around outside, participates in picnics (especially when turkey sandwiches are involved), even comes when you call her sometimes, and talks to us. She is adorable!

A new blog after 5 months!

Wow, I haven't blogged in so long I had to hunt up my login and password and then figure out how to put a post on here again! Pretty sad!

I have missed blogging a lot. I have recently begun to listen to more music and I heard this song on the radio that just made me cry today. I'm at the gas station filling up with gas with red teary eyes!

Who am I? by Casting Crowns
(words are not in order)

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.

Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again.

Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done.
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,
And you've told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Whom shall I fear,
Whom shall I fear,
I am yours,
I am yours!

I remember when I was coming back from Houston to be with Sarah after she broke her leg, I kept passing all these broken down old barns and it just made me think how much I am like those buildings. I think I look pretty spiffy, but on the inside I am so broken and in need of repair. I think I put my trust in the Lord until something comes along and shakes my trust and I give in to fear. You know how us mothers are! I am the eternal optimistic pessimist (I am positive that the worst WILL happen!). I need the Lord to help my heart believe what my mind knows!

Oh God, give me a sure foundation that is based on Your Word. Fill me from the inside out! Make my roof strong so that it can withstand the storms and anything that would threaten to cave it in! I need the Master Builder!

The rest of the story . . . . . . . .

Well, I told you that I accidentally let 6 cows escape out of Rebekah's yard, but I didn't tell you the "rest of the story"!

I went on Tuesday to stain the wood floors for Rebekah and Travis. Since she is pregnant, it is not good for her to be breathing stain and paint fumes. Rebekah left the house with Eliana to go get a pregnancy massage. After Rebekah left, I got to work and realized there was still dust to deal with, so I called their neighbor and borrowed a shop vacuum cleaner from them to use. I went with Miriam to their house, we got the shop vac and she brought me back to R & T's house. I vacuumed the back room and then went to screw the pad on the end of the broom handle. So, I am standing there at the front door and I look out and see two cows walking out the gate and down the road. I see a little baby cow still in the yard, so I ran to shut the gate, hoping that the cows would stick around since the baby is still in the yard. I called Miriam and asked her if she had shut the gate. She said she did not and I had neglected to make sure that she shut the gate, I just assumed that she would shut it when she left. So, I asked her if she could come down and help me get the cows back into the yard. I just remember how I was just shaking, feeling terrible that I had just let these cows out of Rebekah's yard, and they are not even her cows! So, Miriam, Christian, and Phillip came down and they were pretty easy to shoo back into the yard. Boy, was that mama mad though when she got back in and I remember thinking she was going to run me over trying to get back to her baby! But all was well. I shut the gate and Christian told me if I needed their help again just to call. :o)





So, I am going about my merry work of staining. I decided to take a little break and I notice one of the cows is standing by the gate again. I can see it is still shut but I was wondering why she is there mooing. Well, beyond the gate, on the other side of the road, and behind a fence, there are about 5 other cows mooing back at her. I just thought how cute that was that they were talking to each other back and forth across the road! But that cow just stayed by the fenceline and finally laid down and just stayed there. I began to think that was strange and that maybe those were actually more of Rebekah's cows and that possibly I had only seen the tail end of the cows going out the gate. But we had looked for more cows and had not seen any, plus, there were no gates open down the road, and these cows were behind a fence.

When Rebekah got home, I told her the story and she told me that she saw those cows and in her mind she was thinking, "Those look like our cows!" She rode around the property on their 4-wheeler and could only find the two cows and the baby, so she was pretty sure that those were her cows. So, she called the cows' owners and the property owner and they were able to get the cows back onto Rebekah's property. It took them quite a while because they didn't want to leave because of the long green grass. I think Rebekah said that they used a horse, a tractor, a motorcycle, and someone on foot to get them out of the property and back into their rightful place! The man who owns the other property didn't own any cows. But this is what happened. He came home for lunch, opened his gate, had an hour for lunch, the cows walked in, he left after lunch and locked the gate, and didn't realize the cows had come in. That's why we didn't know how they got in! At least they were locked in and nothing happened to them. But it sure was a lot of trouble, and all over an unlocked gate!

Does anyone need me to come help them with anything? I'm available!!!!

Hannah's New Pad!

Well, here are pictures of Hannah's new place. I couldn't take a picture of her room because she wasn't able to move in yet because her roommate needed to clear a space for Hannah since she had the whole room to herself for the previous semester. I do know that her roommate's name is also Hannah! I thought that was kind of funny.

Her new address is:
2000 Pearl Place
Room # (check back for this info)
Austin, TX 78705

Frosty the Snowman - Then and Now?

I hope you guys will go ahead and take the poll. Obviously, those who have known us the longest can make a more educated guess as to which one of my children are the snowmen, but go ahead and try. I will publish the results after a few days and let you know who the little snowmen are.


PICTURE #1



PICTURE #2

Little John is here!

For those of you that didn't get the details:

John Boucher Benoit
(Boucher [pronounced boo-shay] is Jim's mom's maiden name - keeping with the French theme, I guess!)
Born on 12-17-2008
8:58 a.m.
9 lbs. 10 ozs.
20 1/2 inches long



Isn't this the cutest little baby!

We discovered that John really likes music. When he was crying, if you brought him into the room where music was playing, he would stop crying and just listen. It is so cute. For our family devotions, we just got done using a book with Christmas hymns on CD that my mom sent to us done by Joni Eareckson Tada. We recently sang "Silent Night" and it was so touching, I just started crying. There was little baby John (I know he is not Jesus!), and we are singing the words, "Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face, wwih the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.". All I could think of was how sorry I was feeling for myself that day, and here God sent down His Son to earth for me! He lowered himself from heaven and came to earth as a little baby. How humbling that was to me that night.



This picture was taken the night we were getting ready to leave the hospital.

A Beautiful Diaper Cake!

I just had to take a picture of this adorable diaper cake that a lady from church made for our new baby! Mrs. Terpstra made it. She is so sweet and she does so much for us in other ways as well. She made an offer to help me with my mending and she has been doing that for probably almost a year now. What a blessing that has been. I almost feel guilty not doing my own mending. Thomas took his blanket to her and she did a wonderful "restoration" job. I say "restoration" because I didn't really think it was fixable! She is also a Celiac, along with Daniel, so she has been a tremendous source of information and has sweetly remembered to make Daniel gluten-free snacks at church, as have other ladies at church. This past Christmas dinner, so many people accommodated Daniel with a GF turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and sweet potatoes (me, his mom!). I have noticed that it's usually other people that have food sensitivities. I guess it's not really something you think about until you develop a problem yourself. God has used so many people in our lives! Thank you Lord!

Mt. Everest has disappeared!

No, not the real Mt. Everest, the one in my bedroom! Jim had affectionately dubbed the pile of clothes and miscellaneous junk in my room, Mt. Everest. After being told that my blood pressure was high on Friday, did I rest on Saturday? Of course not! I was a bad girl and cleaned my room for about 8 hours. Sarah helped me and it took from about 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. at night. Notice the lump in the bed is Jim, who couldn't wait to get into bed until we were done. It looks so nice. I wish I had a before picture. But I can tell you that before we cleaned, the mound was so high that when you opened the door, you could not see the bed and it was almost as tall as me. So, it is an amazing transformation. Even today, Jim was still marvelling at how nice the room looked! Ok, NOW I'm ready to have the baby! I think my blood pressure just went down. :o)

Sunday Musings!

I decided to post something from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. I remember how it blessed me years ago when my dad passed away and I was just kind of pondering it today and decided to look it back up and type it out. I hope that it blesses someone else today!

March 22nd

"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am."
John 17:24

O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightst be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is though Jesus' prevailing prayer - "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." It is that which bears them on eagle's wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and His people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say, 'Father, I will that Thy saints be with me where I am;' Christ says, 'Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.'" Thus the disciple is at crosspurposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from His throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?" Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but Thine be done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life, if you could realise the thought that Christ is praying in the opposite direction - "Father I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." Lord, Thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.

Enjoying our granddaughter, Eliana!

Well, we watched Eliana for 3 days this week and we enjoyed being with her and getting to know her better. She is so sweet and easygoing! So, here are a few pictures we took of her while she was at our house. She is really becoming mobile too. She will 8 months old on December 19th.

Sunday Musings!

I decided today to remember and write down all the things I'm thankful for! This could take a while! Psalm 92:1-2 "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."

I'm thankful for the Lord and His mercy to me when He saved me. His unconditional love, His life that He laid down for me so I could be forgiven and have a home in heaven with Him someday, His forgiveness, all His attributes that allow us to have a peace that passes understanding, how He shows that He cares for us!

I'm thankful for my husband. He's such a hard worker and a human "rock" that we can all lean on. He takes looking for a job seriously, a time of daily family devotions is important to him, he cares for us, he has been mopping the house once a week for me at least 14 years now (if not longer!), he changes diapers, babysits, cooks, fixes stuff - I just couldn't ask for a better husband!

I'm thankful for all my children - what a blessing they are to us! They are such a joy at every age and I pray for the ability to appreciate it ALL the time. My only thought it how unworthy I feel to be blessed with all of them and ask the Lord for help to be a good mother. It is so wonderful to see them grow up, become independent people, and most of all, to see THEM love the Lord. We pray that for all of our children. 3 John 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." THAT is our prayer for them!

I'm thankful for our new little one being knit together inside of me! Jim told me this morning that he found the meaning of John in his Bible, and it means, "God has been gracious." It couldn't be a more fitting name!

I'm thankful for my son-in-law Travis (married to Rebekah) and my new granddaughter, Eliana. Travis takes good care of Rebekah, and Eliana is a little sweetie pie! I just enjoyed a night out with Rebekah, Eliana, and Hannah for my birthday. What fun to spend time with them as grownups! Times that I only dreamed about long ago!

I'm thankful for the godly heritage of my parents, David and Elaine. I'm thankful for all the love and the lessons I learned growing up in their home. (My dad passed away in 11-99.) I'm thankful for my stepfather, Richard, and for the love that he and my mom have for each other. Thankful for how they have grown in the Lord together, how you watched over them through all of Richard's cancer treatments, for the love they have for our family! God couldn't have given me a better mom. She is so caring, understanding, and enouraging in the Lord, just like my dad was! I won't even go down that road - I'll be crying for sure!

I'm thankful for my husband's parents and the family I inherited when I married Jim. I couldn't ask for better in-laws. They have been supportive and loving to us and we always have a good time when we get together. Gennie taught me how to successfully cook and manage a Thanksgiving Day feast. Jim's father just passed away this past summer and we mourn the loss.

I'm thankful for a good church with a pastor that truly takes his responsibility seriously and shepherds his flock. I'm thankful for the visits to our home, the times he has taken our children out for lunch to talk to them or invited them to his home to keep up with their life, or hosted Bible study get-togethers for groups of teenagers and young college students.

I'm thankful for our church family and Christian friends. As a mother, it is a real blessings when people show a genuine interest in my children and spend time with them. It makes me smile when I think of Mr. Johnson playing ball outside with Elisabeth, Mrs. Johnson teaching Joel to crochet a potholder for me, Mrs. Terpstra teaching Elisabeth to cross stitch or sharing a pear with Thomas, Mrs. Collier spending time teaching Elisabeth how to play the piano, Mrs. Fujii spending time with Daniel and Joel teaching them Origami and how to speak Japanese, Mrs. Levy spending time with Joel in the nursery, and I'm sure I'm forgetting many others. Oh, Mr. Udwary teaching grammar to the children! And Mr. Terpstra trying to teach the children how to have an Australian sense of humor! All the Sunday School teachers/youth group leaders that spend their time teaching my children and us. The list goes on and on!

I'm thankful for their home school educators that care more about our kids' education than they do about money, that forgave our tuition until Jim is able to get a job. Friends that have helped us with rides, helped our computers rid themselves of viruses, given us wonderful farm eggs, helped us with the fence on our property. It is so good to remember how good people have been to us and how God cares for us through human means! It makes me cry and so thankful for all the blessings that I have.

I'm thankful for all the trips and time spent driving in the car, flying in airplanes, helicopters, riding bikes, buses, and how God has kept us safe through it all. Preserved us through sickness, surgeries, C-sections, childbirth, falling out of tree swings, household accidents, lost children, snakes, scorpions (in the yard, wash rags, Bible covers, playpens, falling out of AC vents, on the floor), etc.

I told you this would take a long time! I'm sure I could keep going! When you start thinking about it, it gets overwhelming.

God has provided for everything that we have ever needed! Note - I said "needed". Sometimes we get "needs" and "wants" confused. God has provided WAY BEYOND what we have needed and wanted! Praise the Lord!

How long was the Mayflower?

Today, we were doing some activities associated with the Pilgrims and their voyage the New World. We were cutting, pasting, coloring, etc. and we learned that the Mayflower was 90 feet long and had 102 passengers. So, I told them we could probably go outside and measure 90 ft. to see how big it really was. Jim was sitting at the computer and he said he had a tape measure they could use, so I suggested that they go outside with Dad and measure 90 ft. They all flew outside, tired of the sitting. In a little while, they ran inside and told me to come outside and see how long 90 ft. was. So I went outside, thinking they would have measured in some wide open space, like the driveway, or maybe the big open area in the front yard.



But no! There was a starting line drawn diagonally in the back corner of our driveway and Jim is practically standing in the woods!


(Now look carefully - there is Tom, all the way across the driveway, through the opening there by the garage, over the upside-down wheelbarrow, and just beyond the camper shell!)



I asked him why he measured it through the obstacles? He said that is just where Tom wanted to measure, so that's how they did it. I thought it was so cute that he seemed to pick the hardest way to try and measure 90 ft.

But you know, I NEVER do things the hard way! :o)