Transition

Is it funny that we are in the same position-almost-as last year? Moving, setting up a home, starting a new job, deciding on what to do for school.

We have moved a few times in our thirteen years of marriage. Some big moves and some small. Every time though we have learned something new. We moved into my sister and her husband's house when we were newlyweds, as we waited for our own house to close. I learned about respect and thin walls. And before you get the wrong idea, it was more along the lines of me having a early to work job(coffee shop) and the rest of the house working late nights. So movie watching in the wee hours of the morning were a no go for me as I tried to sleep through the surround sound. Hey, I was young and it didn't bother me none.

Being in our first home showed me how much I enjoy setting up a home. I loved that home but was also caught up on making it just right and realized the balance of being content, dreaming, and knowing that what I had was enough.

We then moved a few states away to Oklahoma. That was a rough move for me. I was out in the country with just about no friends and surprised to find myself pregnant in the first week we got there! I realized how I had been back in Oregon. I has all the friends and family I needed and didn't really give it a thought to reach out to families that had just moved into the area. Now, I was that new person. I wanted a good friend desperately. I have never cried so much in my life. It was rough but I learned a lot.

Fast forward two years, and now I found myself surrounded by tons of great people in Idaho. Micheal.'s job was a better fit for our family and as a whole we were a pretty happy family. We lived in the same house for three years before a hop, skip and jump to a small town just 30 minutes away. It was a great fit from the beginning! We loved our new house, Micheal's job was great, and we made friends fast!

Now, a year and a half later we are in the mountains instead of the desert of Idaho. It too is a great fit, although in different ways. I can tell that it will take a bit longer to settle as we finish our home and get to know the community. Once again, I am observing the community and church services and am amazed at how different we all are!

There are many ways to do life and I have learned a lot from many wonderful people. I don't regret all our moves although I hope this will be the last move for a long while. Micheal and I both love it here and I think the kids have transitioned well also. We still don't have close friends-heck, it's only been a couple months!- but we love the people we have met and we have absolutely wonderful family here.

So this is home. This is what we wake up to every morning and continue to search out for new places to explore and new things to be involved in and new people to meet.

It's different from all the other places before, but it's kind of the same too. It's a great place to call home!

Whirlwind

Hello there friends! I have missed this blog so much! Life is a bit different for me for the moment.
Modern day conveniences are not in abundance but so much more has made up for the other things we lack, so there remains a balance.

We are in the process of buying a cute little cabin and at the same time are converting the garage into a bathroom, laundry room and bedroom. Kind of going on a limb to put so much time and money into a house that you don't own and that if the loan doesn't work out, you won't get to enjoy, but we feel that if God has worked out all the other details of our move to the mountain side then surely He will continue the work right?! Well, I sure hope so! Actually we are close to closing (possibly next week) and we are close to finishing the add on too. Our current space is 632 sq. feet with one bedroom and a tiny closet with a toilet. We have a small kitchen also with a mini stove and sink. It is an adventure! Most days it is wonderful but every once in awhile I have a, " This is SO hard!" kind of day! But really, it is a sweet time.

It's been about 8 weeks since moving in. Lots of fun has been had. Zade just finished up flag football, August has started soccer, Micheal has started college and we are 7 weeks into homeschool. Liam is weaned and taking up conversation with anyone who will listen and engage! Micheal stays up late with us all and we have lots of dreaming sessions of what our life will be here and how to do this or that for the house and I guess we shall go swimming again and take some showers down at the pool. ;)

We have gone to the two churches in the area and although they are wonderful, we miss our church body in Twin. Maybe we can add a bit of what we have experienced and learned into the body here. (If you happen to live near or in Twin, I recommend checking out The Dwelling Place.) Spirit led and filled with love.
But really just being in church is such a great feeling. We were very sick for the first three weeks of being here so we missed meeting together with other Christians.

We finished up our Summer laying by the pool and hanging out at our family's house every day. If it were not for our family it would have been a rough transition. Our house would not be nearly close to being finished if it were not for our Uncle and his wealth of information, skill and desire to help us. We have learned a lot. How do you repay someone who you are so indebted to? A lot of thank you's and dinners!

Fall has come and with it such beauty. Today is the coldest day we have had and our power was out for an hour or so. We cozied up in the house and the kids played while I read a book.  A book about writing I may add, which to me is surprising as I have never thought of myself as a writer, even with having a blog for this long! But I guess there is something in me that desires to write and do it well so alas that is what I am reading this week.

The balance of living a quiet and peaceful life and yet being apart of our community and keeping in touch with my wonderful friends and family is well, a lesson. We feel we are able to get connected with our community so much easier with it being so tiny, and we love it. Not having internet has made the quiet and peaceful part happen! But peaceful doesn't mean quiet, and I feel blessed to share that I had an issue in my heart that was not peaceful but this last week it has been resolved and dealt with. It came down to the fact that I was ready to deal with it and God was obviously there to help me through it all. The Bait of Satan by John Bevere was a huge help.

Have you ever been offended? I dare speculate that most of us have been. Have you harbored bitterness? Have you not forgiven? Well, that is what the book is about and I was very encouraged through it. Don't waste another day being in that state of hatred(I know that is a strong word!). Deal with your problems and move on. There is the most amazing peace that comes from taking the time to work through all those feelings, misgivings, and past hurts. God desires so much for us and considering all the forgiveness He gives us, we should be quick to forgive others. Also, there are always two sides to a story and owning up to the fact that you have not acted in the best ways either is important in the whole healing of the circumstance. All that to say is, I have had a "mountaintop experience" while living on a mountain!

I wish I could upload pictures but I don't have that ability right now. So many great shots of the countryside and of my little people growing and enjoying this time of our life. I will figure a way out and will hopefully be back sooner rather than later to keep up on this here blog.

The only picture I have is of the trees changing colors!

I do hope you all are taking in all this beautiful world right now. Fall is such a spectacular time of year!

Let the music lead you

This last couple of weeks we have hit up our local(tiny!) library and August found a set of books that he loves. They are a bit longer than picture books, but not chapter books either. Each book is about a different person from History and talks about their life and some kind of character trait.

Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music. 

Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying. 

Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc. 

I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories. 

The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before. 

It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays! 

We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts. 

For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight. 

Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching. 

We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it! 

I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of. 


Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling. 

Abiding

I can't quote lengths of scripture and if I do in fact spout off a verse from the Bible, there's a good chance I can't tell you where it's to be found. That's not something to be proud of, just a telling of the truth. 

What I can do is testify of the many things that Christ has done in my life and what He speaks into my life, and oh how He speaks! 

I have a simple faith but it is fierce. I like to say it's an unshakable adherence to the One who saved my soul. Nothing has shaken me so badly as to let loose of Him and I pray nothing ever will. Without God I wouldn't be the woman I am today, like me or not, agree with the way I live or not. He lives in me, and I cling to Him. It's an abiding kind of life that leads to peace and calm even when the storm rages. 

I am in the midst of a mini storm now. 

We are moving soon and have no place to move to. Interesting, if I do say so myself. Ever since we had our first big move across half the country, I have felt a kindred spirit to Abraham.  

From the ocean to the prairie, to the desert and now up into the mountains; we keep trucking along with our Saviour who opens one way and closes another. 

The house that almost was

The house we thought we had secured for our family fell threw. The owners needed to sell it as fast as possible and we weren't able to be in that kind of hurry. I'm a slow mover with most things but I sure would have moved quick to snag that cute little cabin if I could of. But circumstances being what they are(we are waiting on our business to sell and Micheal's other job to start up),  we have no choice but to be patient and wait hopeful that when things need to work out, they will. 

I loved the idea of that sweet mountain cabin. So cozy and a bit of a stretch to fit us all in, but we were going to make it work and by the Lord's grace be happy about it! 

After the initial shock of that house not working out, what else could we do but start praying again. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed that first evening after getting the call that the house was not to be ours and Micheal hugged me and said that we have done enough thinking and worrying for one day, we needed to rest and get up in the morning ready for another. 

That's exactly what I needed to hear. Rest. In the Lord. It's the only way to get through anything, with peace that is. 

So, here we are waiting to hear about another house. Hoping it will work out. Hoping for a home to live in. Hoping for the timing to be good and hoping that we will be like water off a duck's back with whatever Christ lets come our way. 

Currently the house we are looking into seems to be a HUGE blessing from the Lord. Isn't that just the way it works out? He knows best.  It's a lot newer and doesn't need any improving, just some adding on. In the end, it will be cheaper and bigger. About 1600 sq. feet and for us that is a perfect size. Not the cute little cabin feel like the other one, but it is in the mountains and it will be cozy in it's own way. 

Today is just another day. Another day to rest and abide in God. To allow Him to do His thing and a chance to offer my life as a living sacrifice, a holy offering of trust and obedience. Today I get the joy of thinking(and sharing!) of more things the Lord has shown me and done for me and my family. 

I get to breathe in the grace of my Lord and breathe out my worries. He has them all taken care of and there is no need to fret. He loves me. I must remind myself of this and I must remind you too. He loves you. Trust in His leading, even when you can't see the way. He sees it all. Trust that He knows what is best for you. 

I am Yours, yes I am. 
       Only Yours, I will abide. 

Through it all, through it all, 
      My eyes are on you. 
Through it all, through it all,
                 It is well. 

This is the goal of knowing You; to be Yours. 
          I will abide because I am Yours and You are mine. 
                    Nothing else for me. 

Hold me together Lord, I abide in You. 
                New mercies every morning, moment by moment. 
                            I am Yours. 

                                                                I abide in You. 

- Bits of worship and thoughts from my journal mingled together


Here we are abiding in Christ, waiting with a hopeful heart that we will have another temporary home here on earth, waiting with a patient hope for our home eternal. 

Cultivating beauty: seasonal bounty edition

When God created, He made all things gorgeous and perfect. When sin entered the timeline, death and ugliness came along.

 We know all that, but sometimes we forget. Sometimes we are so surrounded by the current news headlines that the ugliness and brokenness overwhelms and brings us down. 

But then there are the beautiful moments. 

On a walk last night we noticed a neighbor's overflowing apricot tree. He said to pick to our heart's content and so this morning the girls were up early and we rode over in the early windy cloudiness and got us a basket full. 

Fact: it does not take a whole day or a perfectly planned out event to cultivate beauty in our lives. 

In our case, it was a mere 30 minutes of riding bikes, looking at the scenery of a small neighborhood, laughter from squishy apricots in our toes, challenging tree climbing, tasting the sweetness of orange fleshed fruit,  and catching a few perfectly tree-ripened apricots tossed down from mama to child.  It was a few moments of enjoying God's creation and it does a soul some good! 

When we got home the kids went off to continue on with the story they have been playing out since last night, and I went about taking some pictures of our free fruit; for beauty's sake.

God saw the importance in making things beautiful. I am woman created in His image, so therefore I too am a creator -not THE Creator- but an imitator of what He is, a maker of beauty. 

It doesn't take long, but it speaks volumes to our children and the people in our lives, when we cultivate beauty. 

What are you doing to create a space of beauty? Are you taking the time to notice all the small things in life that we usually take for granted? 

Our daily lives are the sphere for glorifying Christ in all that we do and say. It's a challenge to find the beauty in the mundane daily life sometimes, but a worthy challenge to embark on in my opinion! 

In every season there is something beautiful and pleasant to be found; a gift from the Father of lights. 

Go about finding those gifts and living in thankfulness for them. 

Change the world, one beautiful thing at time. 

Castles in the sand, trusting in the Rock

To start this post off,  I want to share that sometimes things don't work out as you think they will. When I wrote this post, I was on cloud nine, but I had counted my chickens before they hatched. The next day, the guy came to work and said his wife had shown them their finances and they shouldn't be spending more money on a truck. So our truck is still for sale. God knows what we need and more importantly, He knows when we need it. Apparently our truck doesn't need to sell, just yet. 

When we got that call a couple months ago about the job, we just knew it was God opening a door for us. It was exciting, but in all reality there is a lot that has to happen for it all to work out. I was watering our garden one morning and was talking with Jesus about it all and He convicted my heart of unbelief. Ouch! 

I had asked for prayer and we have been praying for things to happen but I did in fact have a heart that kept saying quietly, "I don't think this is working out. I don't think our house will rent. I don't think anyone will buy the truck. I don't, I don't, I don't...." 

So there I was in the back yard and my eyes were opened! Stop with the "I don't" and start believing the, "God can." 

And He has! 

Our house has renters moving in the first of September. Our business is selling. The house in the mountains is working out. The job is waiting for us. We signed Micheal up for school! 

We still need to sell the truck and van but we still need them to get around, so I am praying, really believing, that God will sell them right when they need to be out of our lives. 

We are doing what we can to make this all happen, but that isn't much. God is the One that really does the work. He is the One that opens doors and closes them. Gives and takes away. We are just sand in His open palm. 

This whole transition has been a great time of seeking the Lord and waiting patiently, in hope. 

And that is great practice for the ultimate thing we wait for, the hope of our salvation, coming in the clouds to take us to heaven, where we will forever sing His praises and talk of all the wonderful things He has done and who God is! 

The next few weeks will be super busy, so will you please continue to pray that we would rest in Him, and that God would continue to work all things out. We sure would appreciate it! 

The gift of July

It's been a full month and a surprisingly perfect balance of rest and busyness, being social and keeping to ourselves, procrastinating and actually getting stuff done. 

It's been a luxurious month and when I say that I don't mean that I have flown around the world, eaten the most expensive foods, or spent a bunch of money on clothes or what have you. I mean that I fully recognize this gift of staying home with my children and I fully take pleasure in getting to do what we get to do; staying up late, waking up late, eating toast and eggs together while reading a Bible devotion or the next chapter in our read aloud, jumping on the trampoline, splashing in the water, gardening, cleaning, having a garage sale, hanging out with friends, and the list goes on and on. 

My reading slowed way down this month. I have only read 1.4 books! I started a couple but couldn't get into them. I have found that July has been a month of hands on enjoyment of this beautiful earth. I didn't want to read. I have wanted to experience and explore, to get my hands dirty and get down on the floor with my kids and tickle and play. I needed to put together a garage sale in hopes of making a few bucks and getting rid of some things we no longer need. I enjoyed some much needed time with friends to just talk and live it up! We traveled just a bit to see family and celebrate freedom. Yes,  July has been luxurious! And I am so very thankful for it all.  

And on this last day of this wonderful month, we find out we have some people interested in renting our house. That's some exciting news for our little family but with that news comes a realization that a bunch of stuff has to happen within a very short amount of time. 

So farewell my luxurious and fun July and hello to you, my adventurous August! 

30/52

Last week I wanted to focus on Grace turning 10 so I didn't post any of the boys. This week is nothing especially fancy photo wise, but as a Mama, these photos are precious to me.

Enjoying the summer in all it's fullness:

Weekend pondering - waiting for hope

Strive to be one of the few people who walk this earth with the ever present realization - every morning, noon, and night - that the unknown that people call heaven is directly behind those things that are visible. 
   
                                           - Streams in the Desert ~ July 26

The whole, short devotion is wonderfully encouraging. 

Here's another excerpt:

"Dear Lord, You have made waiting beautiful and patience divine. You have taught us that Your will should be accepted, simply because it is Your will. You have revealed to us that a person may see nothing but sorrow in his cup yet still be willing to drink it because of a conviction that Your eyes see further than his own." 

Is that not beautiful and oh so true, if we could but swallow it? 

Swallow the truth of accepting His will because that's what we believe right? That He is God and a good God. That He actually has a will and we are not just going from one thing to the next for no good reason. That even though there is sorrow, there also is peace and joy walking with God, who cares for each one of us more than we are able to comprehend. That He sees it all and all at once! He is God and has not the constrictions we have! 

Do you see the hope or is it hiding behind the visible? 

Look up! He is there! Ready to help! Ready to give peace and comfort to your soul! 

Happy Saturday. May you be dwelling upon the vastness of the Lord this last weekend of July.

Double digits.... whaaaaaa?

Our first born and only daughter Grace, AKA Katelyn, AKA Sister, has turned 10! 

We had a fun swimming party last week and some friends over for pizza and cake. 

I have wanted to take some pictures celebrating her big birthday (ten is a big one to me!), but hadn't made much time until I snapped these this afternoon. I bought a 20x28 inch black foam board while doing errands this morning and put it to use straight away. 

Loving the black background and LOVING this girl even more! 

She's silly and sweet and outdoorsy. She's a softy for her baby brother, a hard worker, and big dreamer. She's the spitting image of her Daddy, generous like her mama, and a bit ornery too! She also does not wear glasses! These have no glass in them! 

This is our daughter in a nutshell of a blog post. We sure are blessed to have her in our lives! 

Happy 10th birthday dear daughter! May the next 10 years be full of love, joy, growth, and more love.