Cows are Messy (and so are kids)

Recently I met a man that reminded me of this verse in Proverbs 14:4. "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

We were walking together as a family and as is usual when people see us all together, this man stopped us and asked if the children were all ours. As we began to speak with the man, he told us about a family that he knew that had a large number of children and how clean their house always was. He said that this family always had a spotless house with sparkling windows. To top it off, he said their floor was clean enough to eat off of.

This was quite impressive to say the least, especially since it reminded me of our house--at least a little. It's true that our windows rarely sparkle because they usually have quite a few fingerprints on them. It's also true that it certainly doesn't rate spotless--at least since we moved in. One thing he said,though, made me really relate to this amazing family that I have never met. This gentleman remarked that one could even eat off the floor in this house. I laughed to myself when he said this because people can often eat off the floor at my house also. Yep, there could even be a few cheerios there right now. Maybe even a Pepperidge Farm goldfish or two. If you get here at just the right time, you'll probably score some leftover birthday cake since we have so many birthdays around our home!

Over the years, I have discovered that each one of us has the same amount of time allotted to us. Some people use their time making their home spotless, others surf the internet or chat on facebook (shouldn't have said that one I guess...), and never take time to clean up the home. Others realize what this verse in Proverbs 14 says brings valuable insight into a proper perspective. If you don't have cows around, you will have a clean barn. However, remember that cows are valuable, so take your choice!

Children are like cows. They're messy and sometimes it even gets smellly; however, I would rather have a house full of priceless children than have a spotless house and none to be seen. Now back to the big family that had the spotless house. My best guess is that the gentleman had failing eyesight. Other than that, I would say that there could have been some misplaced priorities.

Today I took my children fishing with their grandparents. I had plans to get a lot of household things done, but grandparents won't always be around and neither will my kids. In the last few weeks, we have gone fishing three times and caught about 250 fish. Nothing will ever replace the memories we have made standing on the creek bank and watching my daughter continually yank her fish into the tree top while eagerly reeling it in. I also had time to have a picnic with my daughter back in the woods--just the two of us.

Friday, we enjoyed one of the privileges of homeschooling and cancelled school to go to the Discovery Place in Charlotte. On the way back we enjoyed 99 cent meals at IKEA (hint: families watching their budget should watch the restaurant specials at IKEA--we got 12 full size meals for 99 cents each).

Yes, you can probably find a snack on my floor tonight, but you can also see some smiling kids around my table. We don't have a spotless house, but we do have children and as of last week, we also have a cow, but that's another story for another day. Thanks to my sister in law, for keeping my cow at her house. I hope she remembers how valuable it is when she sees the mess it is making!
For other thoughts on children and time, visit our site for ladies.

God is Helping Me

Thank you so much to each one of you that send kind emails, cards, prayers and even great food our way in this last week. Thanks to the friends who live close by who stopped by to talk and cry with me and showed themselves to be true friends.

During the past week, I have experienced a lot of struggles as I have worked through the loss of our baby. Although I never questioned why God allowed this to happen, I still had questions and things that I did not understand. Since last week, I had been getting very little sleep and my days were not much happier. I know it is normal to grieve over losses in our lives, but I was looking for some answers from God and wasn't hearing much from Him although I knew He was there.

Yesterday morning I was able to spend some time by myself in the quietness of the morning, so I began to talk to God about all the things that were bothering me and things I did not understand. As the Psalmist says, I "poured out my heart before God." When I finished, I decided to read one of the Psalms as I felt perhaps I could find some answers there. I took my Bible and opened it instead to a passage of Scripture that talks about the holiness of God.

As I began to read about the holiness of God and about how everything He does is always righteous, pure and holy, God began to touch my heart in a way that I can only best illustrate by relating what happened at the hospital just a few days ago.

I have always been a private person when it comes to displaying emotions in public--especially among strangers. However, after all the stress of having found out that our baby had died, I found myself crying in front of hospital staff, in the waiting room and in other public places where I normally would have been able to maintain my composure. The day before my surgery, I had to go for pre operation procedures so I was at the hospital for a while in various offices. I'm sure my face was a mess and I was having a hard time just going through with everything. I got to the lab at the end of my time there and by then I had been crying for a while.

The lab technician didn't say much but she looked at my already bruised arm and proceeded to jab it again and draw even more blood. When she was finished, though, she did something that no one had ever done even though I have had blood drawn many, many times.

As she finished, instead a sticking a little bandaid on it, she began to carefully wrap and bandage my arm, but as she did it, she not only bandaged it by carefully wrapping it, but she patted my arm and and squeezed it and communicated to me without saying a word that she didn't know my difficulty, but that she cared. In the quietness of that room, she took the time to care without saying a word.

Back to the passage about the holiness of God...
As I quietly thought on the holiness of God and about how God is different from the other "gods" we often hear about, I realized in a new way that God is a holy God and He does nothing out of spite, or revenge, or hatred, or just to take advantage of us. He does everything that He does out of His goodness, His righteousness, and His holiness. His holiness only allows Him to act righteously toward us, and this began to comfort my heart.

As I sat in the quietness of the morning and began to think about these things, God began to "bind up the brokenhearted" as the nurse in the lab bandaged up my arm. There wasn't a lot said between me and God, but I felt Him bandaging up my heart-- stopping to pat it and pour some "Balm of Gilead" in it and take His time to communicate that He cared. When He got finished, I was able to walk into the day having experienced a wonderful office call with the Great Physician.

Thanks again to all of you who have prayed for me and sent emails from all around the world. Between this blog and facebook, I have received a steady stream of thoughtful comments from those close to home as well as from thousands of miles away. I never knew there were so many people who cared!

Blessings on your day! God is always good.

What is it like to touch the face of God?

Tonight we found out that the baby we were eagerly waiting to hold has already "slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God." Our loss is temporary, but our child's gain is forever. While we are sad, how can I be sorry when our child is perfectly happy and whole with Jesus tonight? I have so much to be thankful for, that while I am sad, I am glad that God made a way for us to meet in heaven. I like the words of the song, "Blessed be your Name... You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, blessed be the name of the Lord."

Our Trip to Europe in Review

The newspaper recently wrote an article about our time in Europe. If you are interested in reading it, here it is. Enjoy reading about a miracle trip!

Haiti

Most of us have been deeply touched by the needs of Haiti in this past week as we have seen the pictures of the devastation that has come upon their land. For those of you who are looking for a Christian organization who will minister in the name of Jesus, you may want to consider this mission which is directed by a good friend of our family.

This organization has been in Haiti for years and already has an established medical clinic, Christian day school, church, and orphanage. Within hours of the earthquake, they were headed for the streets of Port au Prince to minister to the needy there. For years they have been shipping tons of medical supplies, office equipment, and basic supplies to help the people of Haiti through their mission there.

While there are numerous organizations to give to, you may want to consider giving to an organization that has been there for years, and will be there for a long time to come and will be sharing the love of Jesus to these people who cannot be healed by medicine alone. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these..." Matthew 25:40

God Works on Refrigerators

One of the greatest joys in trusting God to provide our needs is actually getting to see Him do it. Recently, we got to see the Lord take care of our refrigerator.

This year at Christmas, we had a very busy household--much busier than usual for us--with lots of people coming and going. We were looking forward to enjoying several meals with extended family and having large groups in our home. The night before our first guest was to arrive, I was up late working and getting ready when I noticed that our refrigerator had stopped cooling. Not only was this really inconvenient because it was well after midnight, but also because we had two big meals planned for the next day for friends and family. I had a large amount of food in my refrigerator just waiting for the next day.

I must say that I was frustrated, because not only was I very tired by this time of day, but I didn't want to have to go find a refrigerator on Christmas Eve and still have to prepare two meals. It was cold outside, so I knew I could just put things there, but that would be a lot of work which I really didn't want at the time. I just stopped, and partly out of exhaustion, and partly out of frustration, I just prayed to the Lord and asked Him if He couldn't just make the refrigerator work just until the holidays were over. With the faith that I had, I just left the refrigerator and kept working awhile and came back. I was delighted when I came back right before I was ready for bed and saw that the thermometer showed the refrigerator to be very cold--almost too cold. The end of the story is that the refrigerator worked wonderfully through the next few days and through the holidays. Our last guest was preparing to leave, when I noticed the refrigerator was getting warm again.

I mentioned this story to someone in my family, and they said, "Why didn't you just ask the Lord to fix it?" I don't know why I didn't, but I am glad that He did what I asked--He fixed it for the holidays.

The end of the story came tonight right before Lowe's Home Improvement closed for the evening. We had been watching for a good deal on a refrigerator while we used a smaller one to get us by until we could find one large enough for our family. Tonight, Rick went to Lowe's to buy other things when he decided to ask the man back in appliances if they had any damaged appliances that were marked down. Rick told him what we were looking for, and the man said they had one in the back. Now, keep in mind that we were not wanting to spend anywhere near full price for a refrigerator that would suit our family size. We were looking at used options or praying that we could find a blemished one.

He took Rick back and showed him a refrigerator that was a great refrigerator--much better than we have ever had before, but the original price was $1700. They had marked it down to $1500 for some marks on the front, which was a nice discount, but still way more than we wanted to pay. Rick began talking to the man and he said that he would sell it to him for $900. Rick said, "Well, I tell you what, if you will take $800, I will buy it tonight." He agreed, and we walked out of the store with an amazing deal and a brand new refrigerator (with a little scratch on the door). We also came out of it with another story of God's provision for our family! What a blessing we would have missed by just walking in, handing over a credit card, and buying a refrigerator big enough to meet our family's needs. God provides for those who choose to place their trust in Him!

My Christmas Present to my Husband

This was one of my Christmas gifts to Rick this year. I had been wanting to purchase vinyl word art for our home, but when I saw the price, I decided against it. However, after researching online, I was able to make this word art for about $1, and I think it turned out fine--even if I say so myself! If you are interested in how to do it, visit this link that I made. If you try it, send me a photo. I'd would love to see your work!