This Little Light of Mine . . .

I recently began volunteering in Owen's kindergarten classroom. I head to the school once a week for about an hour. I love getting to see his teacher in action and meeting the other kids in his class.

The teacher was giving the students some instructions today so I had a few minutes to look around the room. I noticed a large piece of paper hanging on the wall. The top of the paper said . . . "Ways that baby animals are the same . . ." Under this heading, the teacher had written the responses given by each student in the classroom. I scanned the page and found Owen's name and response . . . "With the help of Jesus."

Owen is shining the light of Jesus in a place that I can not shine. As his mom I am proud of him and humbled at the same time. How am I doing? Do I shine where God has me? I pray that "with the help of Jesus" I can shine like my 5 year old did today.

One Sentence Updates

Too busy living life to write it all down. Here are the highlights . . .

Brandon: The fun dad with lots of youth ministry plans.

Owen: The inquisitive learner who likes to talk a lot.

Miles: The potty-trained boy who makes us laugh.

Me: The blessed mom who is trying to take it all in.

More Random Pictures

Getting ready to visit GGs (Great Grandparents). Yes, it is still summertime in the Midwest. Probably reached high 80s this particular day. I believe he kept all this on for most of the 1-hour van ride.

There has got to be a better way to slice boneless chicken breasts in half. I was actually laughing out loud in the kitchen as I butchered these poor things.

We visited Madison zoo this week. I was hoping to show the boys a camel. We are getting ready to talk about the Israelites in Egypt during our devotion time. A camel would have been a great object lesson. Unfortunately, the camels were in the middle of the construction zone. Are penguins in the Bible anywhere?

When asked what he was most excited to see at the zoo, Miles said "dinosaurs!" Fortunately, there was a little dinosaur graveyard in the play area. That seemed to please the little guy!

This picture cracks me up!

We weren't able to see any camels, but the boys did get a mini-lesson on giraffes. We discussed how they fit into the ark!

We talked about Jacob's 12 sons this week. This will come in handy for future lessons as we talk about the 12 tribes and the Israelites. We didn't discuss the multiple mother situation at this point. We'll save that for another time:-)

Owen absolutely loves his Joseph coat. He wore it to Giordano's Pizza the other day and modeled it for the garbage man as well!

Me and the hubs heading off to a wedding. We will be celebrating 10 years of marriage on August 12th!

Training

There is a lot of training going on at our house these days. Miles is at the tail end of potty training. You might even consider him newly trained. Owen is in training to be a better listener. He is attending Kindercamp at our church this week and gets a little encouragement and reminder each day to listen to the teachers. So far, he has gotten really good reports. I am training my body. I’m training my body to get up early, to exercise, to eat better, and to go to sleep on time.

Twelve days ago, I committed to doing an exercise DVD that challenged me to exercise for 30 days in a row. The first challenge was starting. You would not believe the excuses I threw out there to avoid beginning this venture. As I sat and encouraged a good friend to do some training in another area, I was convicted to take my own and advice and just do it!

The first few days went smoothly. I could barely move, but I didn’t mind because I knew it was working. Then on days six and seven I faced some crossroads. My regular training routine and schedule had been interrupted. How would I handle it? Would I give up or would I press on and honor the commitment I had made? I chose to stick with it and find a way to keep going.

Yesterday, I noticed that my pants weren’t quite so tight. Although I don’t look forward to or enjoy my early morning workouts, I do delight in the results. I’ve recently been put through some pretty tough training. I didn’t want to be put through this training and there was not any part of it that I enjoyed. However, with my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, I am beginning to recognize some of the results; a deeper faith, a greater joy, and a peace beyond understanding. Thanks be to the skilled trainer who has taken me on with grace, mercy, and compassion to shape me into the woman He has called me to be.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Random Pictures

In April, Brandon and I headed south to Cancun, Mexico for an early celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary coming up in August. This picture was taken at Chichen Itza.

Brandon and I were taking pictures as we walked along with our tour group. We were in the middle of the Mexican jungle and it was HOT!
This is where I spent most of my mornings. I spent my time reading a missionary biography and working on a Bible study about prayer.
My friend Rose got married in June. These are most of the girls from my Bible study group. Rose was the last one to get married. Our other Bible study buddy Erin wasn't in the picture because she was on her honeymoon!
Owen played soccer for the first time this year. He was part of AYSO which is all about having fun and learning. He had a great coach and his team improved very much over the 10 weeks!
Owen was so excited about receiving his first ever trophy!
On July 3rd, we celebrated Miles' golden birthday! We had a Diego party, excelente!
My friend Tona and I lead a small group of Jr High girls. We really enjoy spending time with the girls and getting to know them better.
To celebrate Brandon's return from a week long missions trip to Chicago, we made a trip to Volcano Falls for a little mini-golf. Miles insisted on using the putting technique Grammy taught him for croquet!

Spiritual Homeschooling

I’m sending my oldest off to Kindergarten this fall. As I look forward to helping him with school assignments and projects, I realize that one subject won’t be taught in his public school--the Bible. Over the past 5 years, I’ve fallen in love with the Bible. The more I study this incredible book, the more I depend on it to survive.

Brandon and I take primary responsibility for the spiritual development of our children. We read the Bible together, we talk about God, we pray. We are supported in this endeavor by our church and it’s various ministries. With the recent implementation of a family routine, devotional time has been an important addition to our schedule.

The boys love The Beginner’s Bible. Each received this Bible as a gift on their 3rd birthday. Owen and I have read through the Bible multiple times. Miles is showing more and more interest in the stories and pictures presented. I want to nurture this interest and model a growing and vibrant relationship with the Lord.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast each morning, the boys know it will be devotional time. They grab a special chair to sit in or plop down on a pillow. Sometimes we sit at the kitchen table. We begin by patting the Bible and singing a special song they learned at church. Next, we say our verse of the week. We all open our Bibles to the story for the day. We are starting at the beginning and going straight through. Between creativity from the Lord and some google searches, I look for coloring pages, mazes, experiments, crafts, etc. to go along with the Bible story. We finish with a prayer/thankfulness time and a few songs. We all really enjoy this time. Throughout the week, I seek out teachable moments to apply the lessons we are learning to everyday life.

This all takes a bit of creativity and planning ahead, but the investment is so worth it. I am finding the planning to be fun and I am even learning things as I seek to pull out important precepts to teach my children.

Below are two pictures from the days we talked about Noah's Ark. We focused on the story of Noah's Ark the first day and rainbows the second day. The boy's and I really got into our rainbow experiment using milk, food coloring, and soap. The last two pictures were a snack we had the day we talked about Adam and Eve. We used apple slices to make a mouth. This snack idea was in one of Owen's High Five magazines.

Routine

I love to plan and organize! In the past few years, I have discovered my gifting in this area and have used it in ministry to women and teens. I’m not sure why it has taken so long, but I am finally realizing that I can and should be using this gifting to love and serve my family.

Recently, I have become frustrated with myself. My children are overly “busy”. Our home is cluttered and disorganized. The kitchen is collecting dust from lack of use. I am a few pounds away from having to buy a brand new wardrobe. All the while, I am running in circles trying to figure out what to fix first.

As a dear friend reminded me, I have been through a lot in the past year. I have been caught in a cycle of morning sickness and grief. With that in mind, I am not going to beat myself up about the mess I now find myself in. God is doing a beautiful work inside of me and I am grateful for that. As a matter of fact, I believe this renewed passion to love and serve my family has developed out of the internal construction God is doing in my life.

Sunday night I sat down at the computer and developed a daily routine for our family. I thought through what I wanted our day to be like. I considered different priorities and things I wanted my children to experience. We are only three days into this grand experiment, but I am thrilled with the results so far! I am enjoying my boys and accomplishing more. Our “firmly flexible” routine includes daily chores, devotional time, plenty of bathroom breaks, rest time and much more. As I prepare to send Owen to kindergarten in the fall, I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer with my family.