Our Family Circus

Too often bedtime is a mess! If I get started later then scheduled, it is a rushed process. In the rush, the little ladies have a hard time falling asleep. My impatience carries right over to them! It seems most likely to happen when the day has been long for both My Dear and I or when My Dear is away at bedtime. It eventually comes down to the girls needing a back rub, an extra million hugs, a song, or for Miss B. to be rocked. I know it would take about 10 or 15 minutes but I am still too anxious to do it. But when I put the me aside, I climb to the top bunk to whisper sweets into Dolly's ear and give her those extra squeezes. It is like medicine for her she goes to sleep feeling calm and loved. Miss B. grabs her bb and is ready to "wock." She even makes a request of what song she wants me to sing. On those nights, in the dark of the girls' bedroom, with the sound of a squeaky glider, the warmth of a sleepy toddler against me, and the sound of sweet voices, I enter ...

I have a confession. I love the Internet ! I keep up with our family and friends via email and now my friendships have expanded to Facebook where I am reintroduced to childhood, High School, college, and well, "I have seen you around" friends. When I need adult time with no adult around, I go to the computer to check on my friends. Yesterday was a blah day! Whenever I needed a moment, I plopped in the computer chair. What was to be 5 minutes turned into more and I got NOTHING done. I bet I was not very nice either. I was disappointed in myself because it was clear to me, there was a problem! This morning, the kids asked to play on the computer but I said no. I kept the computer turned off all morning. Morning turned into afternoon. Laundry and dishes were getting done. Teaching was done. Student willingly did school work. Baby was read to. Marble contraptions were praised and experimented with. Names were written in chalk on the driveway. Girls were pushed on...

We returned yesterday from a trip to Israel with our family! My head is FULL of stuff I want to follow up on and study more of. I have so much to learn! Of all that I saw and heard, this one mini-conversation is really on my heart. I do not even recall how the conversation started but Nana T., as our kids call her, shared how we limit God. Someone had shared this same fact with her. Have you noticed that when we pray, we ask God that He would just do this thing or that He would just give enough? We ask for JUST instead of allowing God to fully bless us! What if God wants to do more? You see, Nana T. went to the Holy Land in 2006 when someone in her church donated money for others to go. While there, she felt God calling her to bring her family. She knew it was a huge order and had no idea what God had in store to provide the finances for 10 of us, including our 7 year old son, to go to the Holy Land-but He did. I am pretty sure it was not a JUST prayer that Nana praye...

Last week, we had a nice heavy rain. Mark had taken the big kids to PE class with him giving me time at home alone with a napping baby. When the gang returned home, the fellas came in but not our Little Miss Sunshine. You see the large amount of rain had flooded our driveway with probably 100 worms. Miss Lydia was out on the driveway, picking up one worm at a time and returning them to the soil. Sometimes there seems so much that needs to be taken care of. It can be overwhelming! Lydia did not look at what she could not accomplish, but looked at what she COULD accomplish-one little worm at a time.