"I was crestfallen today when I found out that tomorrow we have to dress in our favorite team colors for the Super Bowl. I mean, I love Seattle...and they are a great team, but, orange and blue just look so good together." ~AbbySue age 12


("crestfallen"....really? My very own Anne Shirley)

loving these orange and blue bands on her braces.

"No."

"No."

not,

"NO!"

but, 

"No."

This is how the inflection of the "N" word has changed in our home as of late.

When they were littles we would say, 

"NO!" as they toddled towards a campfire or electrical socket. 

Our word was loud and clear, 

no one would argue with the danger. 

If the child would listen they were safe. 

If the child chose to continue towards danger? 

Well...

better a sore bum than a permanently injured child.

Sounds simple. I know it's not.  (flashback to the twenty something year old mother with two toddlers wondering how an independent, self efficient child could be any harder than this!?)

The little child takes more physical energy...when they sleep, we sleep. (Thank you God that they are asleep!)

But, 

The adolescent child takes more mental energy...when they sleep, we pray. (Dear God please keep them safe and help them walk in Your ways!)

As we move towards the adolescent years the dangers are a little less easy to identify. 

Now the dangers require discernment. 

Parental discernment. 

The pre-teen sighs at yet another quiet and firm, "No." when every friend has an iPhone, iPad, or iPod. 

The pre-teen sighs at yet another quiet and firm, "No." when "everyone else" can see that movie.

The pre-teen rolls her eyes at yet another quiet and firm, "No." when she asks for more independence and freedom on the internet. 

"Why are you SO protective!?" she wonders. 

And I want to spill over with so many reasons for the "No's".

I want to justify my parental rights, roll up my sleeve and show her the burns that come along with falling into the fire, 

but I don't. 

Not yet.

Right now I ask her  twelve year old heart to trust us. 

Because obedience born from trust and love is a stronger foundation to build on than fear. 

This world says, "let them learn the hard way." 

This world says, "they are gonna find out sooner or later."

This world says, "it's their right."

"No." 

In this home we hope to teach them how to identify those soul dangers before they find themselves neck deep in it...

And when they are out there in this world and they come to those inevitable crossroads, we hope and pray they say, 

"My parents said 'No.' because they love me. They must know this could hurt me. I better stand up for what is right and go the other way."

We have a heavenly Father who says "No." the same way and for the same reason...

Love. 

do you know about the dr. king?

" Mommy, do you know about the Dr. King?" Zibby asks, running into the kitchen...eyes wide.

"Dr. King?"

"Yes, Dr. Martin King?" her face uplifted, all seriousness.

"Oh, Dr. Martin Luther King! Oh, yes, amazing man right?" I answer, ready to hear her six year old heart express something...

special...

something...

important.

"Yes, mommy! Dr. Martin Luther King! Did you know about what used to happen a long, long, time ago?"  she's using her little hands to gesture at time passing behind her.

"What?" curiosity turns me from the stove...ready to let dinner burn for this one.

"Well, a long, long time ago when a person with dark skin would get on the bus they had to sit away far away from the people with white skin" her brow knits with concern and she continues,

"And if a white skinned person wanted to sit in a seat that a dark skinned person was sitting in, the dark skinned person had to move!" but she isn't finished...

"And if a dark skinned person was thirsty, they couldn't drink from just any water fountain...only a far away fountain!" searching my face she shares more...

"And dark skinned people did not go to church with white skinned people either!" clearly this was, to her, the cherry on top of a mountain of injustices.

"But, do you know what that Dr. Martin King said?"

"What did he say?"

 "This is not right!' We are all the same!" the wheels turning in that tiny, wondrous mind of hers.

"And what do you think Zibby?" I ask.

"God loves us all the same...in the skin He put on us. He likes my white skin (she touches her pearly arm) just as much as He likes black skin. He wants us to love each other. That's being neighbors."

And with that she's gone..

running out of the kitchen and on with her life as I turn back to my own thoughts and a boiling pot.

One day she will come to understand that Dr. King's dream was not so long, long ago.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

The Jesus Picture

a conversation between friends:


Husband: "Did you notice that painting of Jesus?"

Wife: "Yes." (suppressed smile)

Husband: "I couldn't stop looking at it."

Wife: (trying to be polite...reverent), "really?"

Husband: "I mean...didn't it look like Kenny Loggins to you?"

Wife: (doubled over laughing and relieved), "Yes, and I was afraid you were about to say you liked it."

Husband: "It was weird."


Humor kids...it's what every good marriage needs to survive!

Ben the Man

Ben: "Can I come with you to worship practice tonight Mom?"

Me: "Okay, but it might be kinda boring. Are you sure you don't want to stay home with your sisters?"

Ben: "No, I like our time together...if you don't mind."

Me: "Of course I don't mind!"

He flies upstairs and fills the red blanket with his favorite "odds & ends"....books, his new Air Hog (remote control helicopters are awesome to fly around in the church basement), some Legos, homework, and his sketching journal.

Worship practice lasts for 2 hours and Ben had all that time to himself...to just be Ben. 

Sandwiched in-between two adorable but demanding sisters can take it's toll on any boy.

Ben is patient.

He will wear the size 5 unicorn costume for his little sister and trot around the house while the "princess" hollers her commands.

Ben is creative.

He will take the time to make a message for his mom out of pretzels just to make her smile.

Ben is an actor.

He surprised his parents once again this year at the school Christmas play evidently landing the lead role and afterward asking us when he can "get on stage again?"

Ben is a thinker.

"Listen to this music. What do you see when you hear that sound? Do you hear danger? Water? What does it make you feel like? I love how music completes an adventure." Ben, after sharing with Mom his latest favorite soundtrack.

Among so many other things, Ben is almost 11. 

In just a few weeks we celebrate our son growing closer to becoming a young man. 

We are excited to see what the Lord has planned for him.

Ben was born old though. 

It seems like he has always had a sense of things beyond his years. 

But, even with his gift of wisdom he is still for now...

our little boy. 

 sketching before bed

 wise old man

 a recent trip to a new & used lego store was the highlight of Ben's holiday

 "Mom is Cool" pretzel message

 Cousins share the stage...acting must be in the genes.

 in-between the "imp & the chimp" as we lovingly call these precious sisters

Ben the unicorn....ummm, ouch!?

birthdays

Apparently I turn 38 years old tomorrow.

I have to remind myself because all year long I thought I was 36.

Somehow I skipped a year I guess.

So, today I'm 37,

until tomorrow.

38 years God has given me upon this earth.

Such a short amount of time,

for so much life in-between.

Childhood,

adolescence,

independence,

marriage,

three children that grew in love underneath my youthful heart,

gray hair,

fine lines,

weathered hands..

all of this just beginning to make their mark on me.

Evidence of laughter, joy, and pain.

Why should I hide that? 

My younger friends (and husband) gasp..

38!

You're almost 40!

Yes, I guess I am...

and then I'll be 41,

over the hill,

here I come...

but what's so bad about being over a hill?

Sounds more like the better part of a race to me. 

I have had the words to this hymn copied down in my bible from the time I was 11 years old, and they are still my prayer today.

1. Take my life and let it be
   Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
   *Take my moments and my days,
   Let them flow in endless praise.
2. Take my hands and let them move
   At the impulse of Thy love.
   Take my feet and let them be
   Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3. Take my voice and let me sing,
   Always, only for my King.
   Take my lips and let them be
   Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold,
   Not a mite would I withhold.
   Take my intellect and use
   Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine,
   It shall be no longer mine.
   Take my heart, it is Thine own,
   It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour
   At Thy feet its treasure store.
   Take myself and I will be
   Ever, only, all for Thee.
7. Francis R. Havergal, 1836-1879
8. 
   

when God makes you take a seat...

Aaron woke up in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve to let the dog out and ended breaking loose a piece of cartilage in his knee (football is not good for you) which resulted in a New Years Eve surgery and change of holiday plans.

We left Abigail in charge early New Years Eve morning and headed to the surgery center...and returned only a few hours later (the big husband leaning upon the little wife) to all three kids waiting in their jammies and messy hair for Daddy. 

Daddy sat, leg elevated on the couch, while the kids played games and took care of their hero for the rest of the day. Zibby insisted on making Daddy his favorite New Years Eve treat...seven layer bean dip. 

The remaining days of Christmas break were spent quiet, slow, and peaceful...together. We walked together, talked together, prayed together, played together, read together, and watched our favorite movies together as a family. 

This was the way we said goodbye to a very full 2013 and welcomed the unknown of 2014. 

Refreshed and Ready. 

Only Jesus knows what the days hold ahead. 

There are plenty of things to hold us back....

or weigh us down when we worry about the future,

but we are learning to trust Him with all of that and just do our best for Him,

with what He has given us,

today. 

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