Playdough

So the other week we made an attempt at making playdough.... and it was a success. Thus I share the pictures of our triumph and fun:

Kneading the colors into the dough.

 Vanna showing off our colors.

 Let the play begin...

My Mom's playdough creation a few days later. =)

We had a blast and when Abi woke up from her nap - voila! Playdough!

P.S. I found the this recipe to work well.

Cup Runneth Over

I was talking to Matt on our vacation - I know, CRAZY. And one night I just busted out a new revelation (brace yourselves) that I am satisfied with where God has me.

Have you ever had that revelation. not an I'm comfortable with my devotion level and therefore going to plateau. But just a joy and a satisfaction with exactly where God has you and is teaching you and is growing you. I hope you feel that every day.

It's funny but it's so easy to become over-booked and exhausted by "too much to do that won't get done" or the hard parts of life that I don't step back and enjoy the ride. It really is a joy. And I think that while it is challenging, God has blessed me beyond measure. My cup runneth over for sure.

Have you ever stopped to ponder your blessings? Not just the amount of stuff you have in your house, though a good wake-up call to just how blessed we are by what we have is a sobering experience. But also to the extent of enjoying the purpose God has placed before you. Do you feel like your cup is overflowing with goodness from the Lord?

Maybe you too need a refresher here and there. It's so easy to look at the "too much" of life and find yourself overwhelmed or discouraged by those "am I ever going to learn this" lessons. Maybe you are too overbooked and over-extended that you have created a stress that hinders you from serving the Lord wholeheartedly and joyfully. I was in that mode for a while too. Declutter and get back to the basics. God doesn't have us here to do 2,000 things, but to do things wholeheartedly and well. Accomplish Kingdom work with purpose and intentionality. I've found that as i have slimmed down to the core things God wants me to do (identified through prayer and God's priority revealing) it's like a weight has lifted off and I have become a better Mom and wife and Christian.

God is not here to serve me. He's not alive to rescue me from my self-imposed stressors. He's not a sugar-daddy God handing out blessings void of hard lessons. As Christians it's important to continue to evaluate how much we are serving God verses expecting or desiring to be served by God. And in this evaluation expectations change.

I have found God growing me from a complainer (to be honest) to a thanker. As God has grown my heart of gratitude and opened my eyes (Thanks be to God!), I have been convicted and cleansed and begun to serve Him better right where I am. The situation has changed only in minor ways, but my heart is so less self-pleasing and self-seeking.

Therefore, I find myself satisfied and overwhelmed by the blessings God has already given me. My family, my friends, fellow real Christians to spur me on to God-worship and away from self-worship, my country, my freedoms, my status that I may help and encourage others... the list could go on for days.

A few weeks back - wow, I think it's been over a month- Rachael and Abi (sort of) and I went around the house and put a post-it label on everything we were thankful for God giving us. In an effort to learn gratitude and that God is taking care of us, I was hoping to start planting more intentional seeds of God-honoring. The post-its littered our house for weeks until they lost their sticky and were one-by-one moved to the world of waste. =) But it opened my eyes to all the physical blessings that surround our family and that God has provided. There was something changing about walking into a room covered in "Thank you, God" post-it notes. Alters the way things are seen.

So how is your cup running over?

What are ways that God has blessed you?

And how are you using those blessings not to worship yourself, but to worship the Lord?



- humbled, blessed, taught and changed.

Jehovah Jira

"Jehovah Jira" - God the Provider.

Exhortation. A spiritual gift of encouragement. Exhortation is designed that another brother or sister in Christ would not just receive a pat on the back or a high five, though those are nice, but that a brother or sister in Christ would be spurred on toward Christ in the equation. Encouragement that after the transaction the sibling in Christ would be more like iron sharpening iron, not for the purpose of pointing out flaws and being judgment, but instead for pointing out Christ-like behaviors and encouraging martyr-like faith moments. A pressing on and encouraging of a brother or sister in Christ to run the good race, fight the good fight and keep the faith. Exhortation.

I've heard the argument time and again that women, especially, are in need of encouragement. Women are the "unsung" heroes of the kitchen (have you tasted my cooking? HA!), the martyrs in the home and the "unrecognized" population that keeps the household together. Therefore, I have heard the argument that women need "me-time" to recharge their batteries. Who doesn't like a little me-time, right? But while I too feel the comforts of the words roll off my lips and the overwhelming "agreed" label stamped on that statement, I wonder at it Biblically. Where in the Bible does it guarantee us a right or a just duty to "me-time"?

Please don't hear me wrong; recharging MUST occur for a woman to serve God through her family. But in everywhere that I have read and experienced in my life that recharging does not come from pedicures, massages (oooh, but sign me up!) and pampering days, but from the Lord.

I think we have begun to look at it a little backward. We have women's conferences to "recharge our batteries" and women's events to "press us on" and encourage our beaten down hearts. First off, I have nothing against corporate exhortation. It's nice to be among like-minded people and there certainly can be value to having an "I have been there" crowd of experience. But there is a deeper sweep that we must be careful of as women in Christ. This sweep in women's events says, "You deserve this" and "you need this" and "you need me-time through this conference". Here's the heart issue: where in Proverbs 31 does it state that the woman is seeking her-time? The premise of "I need me-time" is a heart of dissatisfaction. I am not happy with where I am and how things are, therefore I need a respite. It's not to say that the weak need a break, but it is to say that the context of "women's events" is often that we are overworked, exhausted with our responsibilities and pulled apart by our requirements. To me that is nothing like the Proverbs woman. The proverbs woman isn't staying up late at night to get stuff done because she has to. She isn't waking up earlier than her family because someone has a gun to her head. She is joyful. She loves her role in Christ. She adores her family. Her love compels her to service. Her desire for God compels her to real life.

Are you tired, women? Are you overbooked? Are you swimming in too much service to your family and your friends and your community? Do you feel like you’re expected to be everywhere at once and do everything to everyone? Or are you flowering where you have been planted? Do you view your motherhood and your wifehood as a wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord? I'm not talking about a Snow-White moment, but I am talking about Joy coming in the morning! (And no, that's not only for morning people. =]).

I would challenge the "need" for women's ministry events to "recharge your batteries" and for large women's conferences to "rebuild yourself" and "endure for the next year." I think that's a wrong view. The only recharging we need is Jesus - not some elaborate concert or run-down of exhausting speaker lists that leave us in emotion and physical need of a respite from our respite. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have a worship set that helps us see beyond our window of Christian women. It's really neat to look out over a crowd and see a sea of women giving their hearts to the Lord. In some ways it feels like a little glimpse of Heaven-worship. But those concert and event junkies and even we semi-junkies need more of Jesus. We need to lose the "this is what I deserve or need to endure my Christian faith" thought. Do we really believe the Word is all we need? Was that even in the running of how to regain strength?

I'm going to step out on a limb here and say that if you are not enjoying your role as a wife or a mom and are finding it more draining than a "look forward to" experience then you need to evaluate your devotion times. Are you viewing God's gift of being a woman of faith correctly? Are you prioritizing the Word in your daily life? Are you seeking God as your only source of strength to renew your mind and change your heart? Or are you looking toward concerts, women's events and big gatherings to find your steam?

It is so dangerous to think of needing a "once a month" or "twice a year" event to define your Christian walk when the very Words of Life sit in multiple copies on your bookshelf.

Again, there is value in women's events. There certainly can be moments of Christ-honoring and self-sacrificing exhortation (and there can also be moments of "we need to control our tongue" that we always need to be looking out for). But we need to be VERY careful at making sure events are not advertised and feeding this "renewal" policy if we are at the same time making the claim that Jesus is more than enough. Events can have renewing qualities, certainly, but that is the job of the Holy Spirit administering through the Word of God that is present at the event.


Is Jehovah Jira enough?

Today, in this moment is Jehovah Jira enough?

It is a daily question. "Am I proving You are enough today, Lord?" Does my speech reflect my dependence on You? Do my thoughts about my husband and children reflect how sustaining and rewarding of a God You are to bless me with such responsibility? How about the way I respond to correcting my children, what does that say about what I believe about You?

Living a life of faith and being a Proverbs 31 woman pushes us to say, "in this moment, I surrender what I think I deserve for Your mind, Lord." And then to repeat that phrase in the next moment. and the next. and the next throughout the day. It's not about playing a role, but receiving your ministry from the Lord. For when I view motherhood and wifehood and house-keeper-hood (a technical term) through God's lenses they are not exhausting. Sure my body needs rest, God's seven day model proved the need for rest. And rest I must find and make. But my role does not become a hindrance of a burden when I shed all the other 48,572,865,728,067,580,267 ministries that ask of me and put worship into serving God through my family. Because out of my worship God through serving my family comes serving the poor and needy, praying for the Body of Christ, seeking opportunities to serve others and encourage others in their faith, God-opened eyes to the dying world, and a righteous walk in the Lord. Isn't that what we want? Daily lifestyle worship?



Jehovah Jira! You are more than enough! You provide all that I need and so much more!



Thank You, Lord.

U Univeristy

We're all in danger of it... it lurks around every corner... and suddenly you are enrolled in it... when you least expect it:

U University.

My eyes are increasingly opened to the sad truth that while we all struggle with U University, there is an overwhelming amount of people that choose to be permanently enrolled. We can get our degree in drama, or the American dream, or even humanitarian acts and still be enrolled in U University.

I was saddened recently to have my eyes opened to the affects of U University. I often use that term with my toddler when she's having a selfish moment. She doesn't get it, but it helps me to identify it and try to eliminate it from my life as much as possible this side of the New Jerusalem.

It doesn't surprise me when the lost act like the lost. But it does break my heart when the "saved" act like the U University of the lost.

We can call it teenage drama to help us pretend like our kid's 4 year enrollment in U University is normal. We can call it "college age" to help us write off their disinterest in anyone but themselves. Or we can fess up and realize that U Universities serve U Universities and result in wasted time and space.

Please hear my correctly, I struggle with U University just as much as the next guy, but self-control shouldn't be thrown out the window because we all struggle with it. It would be like making rape permissible because there are so many cases of it in our country.

It's in times of U University that I find myself desiring to be the Holy Spirit. "Snap out of yourself!" I want to holler at a Christian, "Look outside of you! Are you here to serve yourself? What does that communicate about God?" And while guiding someone in love and compassion is much different than hollering, I am glad there have been Holy Spirit convictions in my life and not only "I am representing the Holy Spirit wrongly" volunteers.

I've seen a good host of self-proclaiming Christian examples of U University: those angry at their friend's efforts to celebrate their birthday, those constantly playing the drama card to remain in the spotlight, those playing the superior game to reside in others' minds, those constantly seeking more for their families and always complaining about how little they have... sound like anyone you know?

Sadly, we all know them. And many times we are those people.

But God has so much more for us.

It continues to blow my mind at how true the Proverb is: "Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied." [Proverbs 27:20]

Sheol is "the nether world" and Abaddon is "the place of destruction". They are always seeking more to come and reside. And just as the broad path is so much easier and so much more comfortable and so much more appetizing, so are man's eyes never satisfied.

That proverb is sobering when I start my U University thoughts. I will never be satisfied - my flesh will never be satisfied, therefore, I MUST self-discipline and deny self for Christ to be alive in me.

A challenge.... and a lifestyle emerge.


"And He [Christ] was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:23-25)

A Little Something About Love

While in an adoption training we heard this story:

There was an adoptive/foster mom on the trainer's caseload back when she was doing casework. This foster mom went to her foster son's IEP meeting at his school to advocate on his behalf.  Everything was addressed in that meeting from the child's behaviors to his current educational needs. And this mother sat on her own at the meeting in representation of her boy.

She noticed some cruel glances shot in her direction as the topic of the child's "born addicted" status arose regarding his current behaviors. The boy sat silently and watched his foster mom as he noticed the judgements placed on her shoulders.  The foster mother sat contently, continuing to advocate for the boy's services.

Not once did the mother state that she wasn't his biological mother or distance herself from the drug abuses inflicted upon this boy through, "it wasn't me" deflection.

Instead, she just took it all on her shoulders and left the meeting, having done the best she could for her boy.

The school district was unaware that her boy was not her biological son.
According to that foster mom, that "foster" label was on a need-to-know basis.



- Sometimes love is so strong it's hard to put into words.

Good Stewardship

Every time I hear the word I think of a dollar sign: Good Stewardship. Growing up I always thought this had to do with your tithes and offerings and making sure you were a good steward of your money - AKA giving your money to the church and generally not being selfish when the offering plate rolls around. It's like somewhere on the plate there was the engraving, "A good Christian gives abundantly because 'it all belongs to God."

How many times have you heard that phrase, "It all belongs to God." I can recall primarily hearing that phrase from those wanting to borrow money after spending their own on a new pair of shoes for themselves. Or there was that one time that I remember hearing that phrase roll off the tongue of a young mom as she overwhelmed her kids with loads of Christmas presents and filled 1 or 2 Operation Christmas Child shoes boxes. It all belongs to God.... is my life proving that?

Good stewardship.

I've been reading a lot lately (condolences to my sister who read 58 chapter books in a contest and failed to win the Nook prize). I've been doing some studying, as mentioned before, and generally filling my post-kid-bedtime time with some 10+ books while watching Matt's new football video game out of the corner of my eye. The themes are running together. The suggestions good, but a bit overwhelming at times. And the tones of the books range from "grab your torch and pitch-forks!" to "homeschooling is a preference." But one theme, sadly, has only arrived in one of the 10 homeschooling books I read( even though a good handful of them were "Christian" in nature) : Good Stewardship.

It's not the "Go Green because we're running out" good stewardship, but the "be thankful for what God has given you - cuz it's not yours" good stewardship. Yet it didn't stop there...

What about our time? We like to call it God's, but have we sat down and realised what we are communicating through our time?

What am I saying to Rachael through the time I spend Online verses the time she sees me doing house chores? (My husband's too nice to say an amen to that statement.) What am I communicating to my mom and Rachael and Abi when they see the green pool water out the window because I haven't made time to get to it yet? What about our overgrown weeds in the front flowerbeds? How about the wrinkled laundry? How about when we spend all day running around doing errands and we don't have time to play together? Now I'm not saying I'm a crazy slob who doesn't do house chores, but I am saying there is much to be said in how you spend your time.

This is not some big guilt trip. This is evaluation.

What am I communicating to God about how I value what He has given me?

What do I feel I deserve?
Should I feel I deserve things?

Matt and I spent some date night time together last night. It was nice to do something one-on-one that wasn't an adoption class. We've been trying not to stress out our family by leaving the kids with sitters 3 nights per week between the adoption classes and Wednesday church so we took a mild break from date nights and included the girls in our date nights for the past few weeks. We will be done with 2 per week adoption classes this week, but the value of knocking them out before Matt's schooling begins and between vacations was deemed higher than date nights. (Don't judge me, we exchanged adoption classes spent together for date night for 3 weeks. lol)

So last night we were talking about life and getting back on the same page and sipping couponed smoothies - mmmmmmmm. And we just talked about life and training up our kids in righteousness and serving the Lord and how it matters what we do to convey Jesus to our kids and whatever future kids God may add to our family. It was nice. Reaffirming. And right.

I think God is pleased with what we communicated through that use of our time.

And while we have more time and resources and actions and service to constantly be in evaluation of, it's not for the sake of being a super-Christian. It's for the sake of communicating clearly and deliberately that we are grateful and blessed and appreciative of God's provision, through time, finances, children, blessings. And we have been entrusted 2 children, thus far, to train in righteousness - that Christ would be exalted louder from under this roof.

Funny how when you think about teaching a child, God schools you.


Thank you, Jesus.