200 posts??????

Wow, seems like yesterday I was sitting at Glorietta Christian writer's conference figuring out what the heck a blog was and how to create one.

I think I have written on just about anything and everything related to kids. And parenting kids, and so on.

I feel blessed to have you all in my life and am going to take today to just be grateful to still be writing.

God bless you and yours.

Another Rainy day

Why is so hard to get out of bed when it is raining cats and dogs outside. I want to curl up with a good book and leave the world behind. I am covered in mosquito bites from last night's hangtime at the Kosek's. I did use spray, but apparently left out some key areas and now have several bites in those areas, should be an interesting day at work.

I am sitting here contemplating life and realize that I love a rainy day. I takes these days to bake and cook and make the house smell yummy. I have to do laundry and get ready for work and go pick up Tyler, who spent the night at the Kosek's. Last hurrah of the summer. They gave up the idea of sleeping outside somewhere around the ten thousandth mosquito bite. I hope Stacey survived, all three of her children had friends spend the night, quite a houseful. I believe at last count it was 19 kids altogether. God bless her and Dan, I don't think I would have been able to handle that.

So I must go through the mud to pick up Tyler in the "country" this morning. Make something for lunch and then go to work. Maybe it will rain all day and the teenagers will avoid the mall tonight. Oh well, Hope springs eternal.

What do you do on rainy days?

God bless you and yours.

Sophomore Registration

Quick one today, I have to take a shower so I do not embarrass my child at registration. We go this morning so he can get his picture taken and get his class assignment. Where did all the time go. A good friend of mine is saying goodbye to her daughter as she leaves for college today. So many kids getting ready for new adventures. Amazing. Then, last night when I was working, there was a very pregnant woman expecting her first child. Some days it seems like yesterday when I got the news I was pregnant with Tyler, now he is starting high school.

First steps, first words, first hurts, first smiles, all so long ago. I relish the times we spend together now. Having conversations, sharing Facebook, whatever. He still doesn't have a cell phone. Won't get one until he can pay for it himself. Life sometimes, is not fair.

I am off to get in the shower and put on make-up on my day off, a minor miracle really. I will not cry and make him red in the face. I will be happy that he has reached another milestone in his life. I will be happy.

God bless you and yours.

Rainy days and laundry

So, I slept late because it is raining and I kept thinking it was six in the morning. Nothing like a good sleep in. That being said, I am a little behind in the laundry thing, so off I go to sort the stuff, wash, dry, fluff and put away the laundry.

Laundry is a never ending task in my world. Yours too I imagine. What do the kids actually do in their clothes to make them so dirty. I cannot fathom it. Thank God for bleach and all those pre-treating sprays. I have come to know that I can get everything out except Sharpies. That's really not too shabby.

I still have ten orphaned socks, cannot find the other one for the life of me. There are in sock purgatory, with lost other items that will show up at weird times. Oh well.

So I am off to get going on the laundry and finding missing socks. Making beds and cleaning rooms are the order of the day for the kiddos. Last summer hang time tomorrow out at the Koseks, cannot wait for that. Should be a blast.

Have a great day, God bless you and yours.

Relying on God

In today's world, or at least in our little worlds, we pretty much run everything. We all know that if momma goes down, everything goes down. We are very used to being in charge and getting things done. We do fundraising, we run meetings and businesses, we run PTA's and parents meetings, we meet the teachers, we get the kids where they need to go. Moms do all these things and we do them well. I wonder though if sometimes in our need for control, we forget about God.

God has always been in my life. Even when I walked away from church and faith, I knew He was watching over me. But I can tell you that it has taken a long time for Him to be the center of my life. If I am running everything well, why do I need God? Good question, we are all very good at running our lives and making things run smoothly. But without God in my center, I sometimes felt I was running out of control. Satan had an easy mark, because I was so tired. I gave into sin because I could justify it. I am not saying I am a sin free person now, that is just foolish. But I do think I am doing a better job at recognizing it in my life and praying about it.

I have shared that I read the book "Fasting" by Jentezen Franklin. Although I was bringing God into my daily life by choosing to start my day in the bible and praying. Every day I do this to center my self and those around me. Although this is a daily ritual, I was shocked at how much closer I have gotten to God through fasting. It opened up an entire new look at my life. Fasting is part of my "three strands are not easily broken" life. Give, pray, fast. Three strands that are keeping me centered in chaos.

You see, my life right now is in chaos. My mother-in-law through no fault of her own is losing her house. Scott and I tried to save it and were told it was considered a family bail out. We can get a mortgage, but no one will give us a mortgage to buy her house. Thirty banks said no. So as we began to search for a home, we found the NSP program. A federally funded program to get foreclosed homes off the market. As we put in offers, they get rejected or someone got there first. We need sixty days to close on this type of deal and we have around 45 days left in the house we are in. Chaos reigns supreme in my life. It seems as if the blackness is closing in.

But as I fast and pray and continue to give, monetarily and through time and talent, I am peaceful. God is in control. I am not. He is working supernaturally to put us in the house that He needs us to be in. I cannot see all that is going on behind the scenes but He can. I have let go of this and given it to God. I still do my part of the work. I look for houses, go through them, put in offers, run around and get papers signed. Now, I have to wait and see and pray and hope. As I come closer to God, He comes closer to me.

So as the chaos I am in errupts, I will be calm, I will pray and know that God is with me. I release the control to him alone and know that we will all be fine. We will get the house that God has picked for us. We will amaze everyone involved by making it happen when it seems it should not, and we will tell them it is by God's grace that these things have happened.

Releasing control to God is the hardest thing I have ever done. I struggle with it and want to take things back and make them work my way. In doing that, I could be closing a door that God is opening. I have to let Him work.

Where is chaos reigning supreme in your life? Get your bible out, get into a Spirit filled church, and get some good friends around you who support you and will pray for you.

God bless you and yours.

Getting Ready for Three different schools.

Okay, Tyler is in high school, Grant in middle school and the twins at elementary school. So where does this leave us? Running around like crazy people and going nuts. Filling out forms in quadruplcat (sp?) and going to open houses. Yikes, sounds like madness and it is.

We don't start school here in Michigan until after Labor Day, so it is late this year. I have two more weeks of at home kids. So bored with each other that they fight constantly and make me crazy. I did get them all new shoes. Except for Tatum, she has inherited my shoe fetish and has way too many shoes. And hand me downs from all her cousins. Yikes, she has more shoes than I do. I was very happy with my extra 30% off at Kohls and the shoes were all on sale, so three pairs of boys/men shoes for 80 bucks is not too bad.

Hit all the back to school sales for supplies, don't really need crayons and markers and all that jazz, but needed spiral notebooks, pencils, and paper. I need folders too, but I just remembered, I did not buy those yet, oops. I will get those later. I always buy markers and crayons when they are sale so I do not have to buy them in the middle of the school year for projects.

After all of this, we just wait until the day of school starts. Yeah!!!! I may take the day off and go listen to the silence. I love listening to the silence. It's my favorite sound.

What have you done to get ready for school? How are the kiddies doing?

God bless you and yours.

Why do what you do?

Interesting.... our new youth pastor asked us to go around the table and explain why we work with the youth group. Most of us have felt called by God to be there. The funny thing is, God called us all in very different ways. He works like that a lot of the time. I think the point is to come when He calls. It's never easy, but it's always worth it.

I was "called" when my children wanted to go to winter church camp. We did not have the money, but I had heard there were "scholarships" available. So I went up to Pastor Tim and asked him about it and then told him I would do all the fundraising for the mission trip. Silly girl, fundraising is for people who have time. I did not. That being said, between the cookie dough fundraiser, the silent auction/spaghetti dinner, the car washes and the mission letters going out, we raised all we needed to raise.

Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, I fell in love with these kids. So when PT asked me if I would be interested in being a leader at our summer church camp, Velocity, I said yes. Then I fell in love even more. These kids' hearts are on fire for God it is amazing to watch. How could I NOT be a part of it.

So where is God calling you today? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.