Bingo!

Our kids were really excited to start playing Summer Bingo today.  I saw the idea here and modified the activities in the squares, rules, and prizes to fit our family.  I also just printed blank cards and hand wrote in the squares different things for each child, because I think that is faster for me than typing them in.  What a fun way to get some work done and have fun ideas already planned out!
Here are our rules & prizes for this week.  We'll see how it goes and might tweak them before we begin new cards.

The Rules

1.  You must make your bed, get dressed, brush your teeth and ask Mom or Dad how you can help around the house before you can play bingo.

2.  Tell Dad or Mom what square you have done to get your sticker.

3.  Do your jobs with excellence and No Whining about an activity or being unable to do the square you want when you want.  You will still complete that task, but an "x" instead of a sticker will be placed over that square making the rows it affects ineligible for bingo.

4.  Cheerfully help your siblings earn stickers.

5.  You earn 1 ticket for every bingo.

6.  You will have to pay Dad and Mom tickets for disobedience.

7.  You will have each card for 1 week.

 The Prizes

2 tickets = chew a piece of gum

3 tickets = 20 minutes of computer games

4 tickets = stay up 10 minutes late

5 tickets = rent a movie at the library

Blackout = pick a treat from the treasure box or a special drink (root beer, Sprite, etc)

Psalm 126:5 - 6

The last week or so has been full, and I am rather worn out.   Some, but not all of the things going on are happening directly to our family.  They are all affecting extended family and friends we love.  Serious health issues, a wounded soldier, car issues, storm damaged homes, financial strains, parenting struggles - life feels like it is piling up...sound familiar?  I know God is sovereign.  And not only that, He is also good and faithful.  I take joy in the ultimate hope of Christ.  Still, God created us with emotions.  A while back I read (posted somewhere?!?) this devotion from John Piper's A Godward Life about Psalm 126:5 - 6.  I hope you will read it and be encouraged, because we all sow in tears at one time or another.


Talking to Your Tears 

“May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5-6

There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest. Yet Psalm 126 speaks of “sowing in tears” It says that someone “goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” Why is he weeping?

I think the reason is not that sowing is sad or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be done, even when there are things in life that makes us cry. The crops won’t wait while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next winter, we must get out in the field and sow the seed whether we are crying or not.

This psalm teaches the tough truth that there is work to be done whether I am emotionally up for it or not, and it is good for me to do it. Suppose you are in a season of heartache and discouragement, and it is time to sow seed. Do you say, “I can’t sow the field this spring, because I am brokenhearted and discouraged”? If you do that, you will not eat in the winter.

Suppose you say instead, “I am heartsick and discouraged. I cry if the milk spills at breakfast. I cry if the phone and doorbell ring at the same time. I cry for no reason at all, but the field needs to be sowed. That is the way life is. I do not feel like it, but I will take my bag of seeds and go out in the fields and do my crying while I do my duty. I will sow in tears.

If you do that, the promise of this psalm is that you will “reap with shouts of joy.” You will “come home with shouts of joy, bringing your sheaves with you,” not because the tears of sowing produce the joy of reaping, but because the sheer sowing produces the reaping. We need to remember this even when our tears tempt us to give up sowing.
...

So here’s the lesson: When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, and you are full of sadness and the tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears: “Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life, but there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, a car to be fixed, a sermon to be written). I know you will wet my face several times today, but I have work to do and you will just have to go with me. I intend to take the bag of seeds and sow. If you come along, then you will just have to wet the rows.”

Then say, by faith in future grace, on the basis of God’s Word, “Tears, I know that you will not stay forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears and all) will in the end bring a harvest of blessing. God has promised. I trust Him. So go ahead and flow if you must. I believe ( I do not yet see it or feel it fully)---I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring sheaves of harvest, and your tears will be turned to joy.”

Faithfully, Not Perfectly

We've wrapped up our first year of homeschooling, and intend to begin second grade -wow!- and kindergarten - double wow! - after summer break.  The Middle Tennessee Home Education Association (I know it simply as MTHEA - I sort of made up what the words are ;oP but you get the idea!) curriculum fair is this weekend.  I have been busy planning for next year and thoughts of why we are on this path have been dancing around in my head.

As I imagine explaining these things out loud or typing them on a screen I am constantly aware that my words have the potential to offend families who choose different routes for educating their children.  For that matter, our reasoning behind and methods of homeschooling are different from other homeschooling families we know.  I want to say loud and clear that I do not believe home educating the way we do is the only way, the right way, or the Christian way to do school.

I could (and probably will one of these days) list the things I love about homeschooling and specifics of our personal choice.  Today, I want to keep it simple.  We are not after perfection, but faithfulness.  We need not step outside our front door to find imperfection and sin.  It is in my heart and the hearts of Jon and our children.  The education choice is about prayerfully and faithfully parenting the children God placed in your care.  For us, for now, this is how we best know to faithfully obey.

Ann writes today about homeschooling. click here  I like her answers (and want to live on a farm and do school in her beautiful school room).  Her posts about homeschool were means used by God to nudge me in this direction.  Thanks, AML, for sending me the link. :)

Heard Around Our House

KB: I NEED another birthday.
* * * * * *
E: I heard a noise [that woke me up] and then I realized it was me throwing up all over my bed.

I AM

I AM 

Who’s my protection when I go where I’ve not gone before? (I AM) 

What’s my direction when I can’t find the path anymore (I AM) 

When you are shown the way, 

But you still feel afraid 

I am the Source that sustains you, and 

I am the Light that will guide you, and 

I am the God who provides when you give your life,  

I AM. 

Who is the strength when I can’t find the strength to go on? (I AM) 

Who is the power that drives me when all hope is gone? (I AM) 

When you have all you need, 

But you’re still feeling weak 

I am the Source that sustains you, and 

I am the Light that will guide you, and 

I am the God who provides when you give your life, and 

I am consumed with compassion, and 

I am the King of the nations, and 

I am the One who can save them 

Because I am I AM. 

You are the Source that sustains me, and 

You are the Light that will guide me, and 

You are the God who provides when I give my life, and 

You are consumed with compassion, and 

You are the King of the nations, and 

You are the One who can save them 

Because You are I AM. 

Words and Music by Jeff Bourque, Sammy Ward, Rachel Bowen, and Isaac Treesh.  ©2003 Manicotti 

Music (ASCAP).   

Keys

Jon picked up keys to the Bellevue LC space today from the realtor!  :)  Access to space = this feels real.

Invasion

A blurry cell phone shot of one of the MANY cicadas in our yard

The emergence of the 13-year cicadas out of our yard is both disturbing and fascinating.  A few nights ago, Jon and I went out with a flashlight to watch them crawl out of the ground.  I commented that it was one of the most bizarre things I had seen with my own eyes.  Thanks to YouTube and TV channels like Discovery and TLC, I have seen things that made my skin crawl and stomach turn more (have you seen the tree man?!), but those don't count as real life experiences.  Without hesitation he made some remark about watching me birth our 3 children.  Yes, he wins the prize for the real life disturbing and fascinating experience! He can always make me laugh. :)
If you're unfamiliar with the phenomenon, here is a short article on the invasion:
13-year cicada will soon invade Middle Tenn. - WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather and Sports |

Eli's new found hobby: catching cicadas

We found out last night that some missionaries from our church live in a place where cicadas are a delicacy.  I can't imagine getting one of those things anywhere near my mouth - can you?!?

Just outside the front door

LC Update (and the way God used barf for our good)

The lease for LC3 {in Bellevue} is signed, and the contractor should start work this week (might even be pulling permits as early as tomorrow)!  Thank you so much for your prayers and continued encouragement through this process of building a business.  Would you please pray for LC4 as well?  We (I use that term so loosely.) need to find a fourth location pronto in order to maintain our growth rate agreement with corporate.  We know God will work all things for our good and for His Kingdom...we just don't know what the details will look like yet. :)

Can I give you a little glimpse into the way we've seen God use something that seemed miserable to work for our benefit?
We went camping Saturday night and intended to come home today to celebrate the end of our school year and Mother's Day.  KB ended up throwing up 8 times between midnight and 4am.  Let me just say it was nasty.  I detest everything about throw up, and having it all over me and all over the sheets and pillows in a tiny camper made it worse than normal.  I guess now I can say I have faced one of my fears, and we are all still living!  We were bummed, but came home a day early.  You know, for a shower and to do laundry even if we didn't need it.  Fast forward to today... Jon had a rather discouraging talk with a county employee about LC3 this morning.  Later he got a phone call back requesting a measurement of part of the Bellevue store and an invitation to come to the county office this afternoon.  You guessed it, at that meeting all the last details were APPROVED and our permits are ready for the contractor to pull.  Did you catch that?  We were supposed to be out of town today.  The being covered in puke episode resulted in our coming home early which resulted in Jon's ability to pop right on over to the county office.  No small deal considering it has taken from April 5 until today for Jon to finally reach this man at the county.  Thankful tonight for interrupted camping plans!

Cinco de Mayo

{Re-post from 5-5-2009 because Cinco de Mayo will always make me remember.}


Cinco de Mayo has  been my reminder to give DinDin (my paternal grandfather) his birthday phone call.   I ask how he is doing.  He chuckles and says something to the effect of, "I've never felt better...the good Lord (I guarantee you he'd also be pointing his index finger toward heaven) has blessed me."  

This is the first year I haven't been able to make that call, and I kept feeling like I was forgetting something all day.  DinDin would have been 86 years old today.  He died almost exactly 12 hours after Kaylee was born.  I didn't want that to happen.  I wanted his suffering to end.  I didn't want the entire family to be torn between his bedside and mine.  God had intended this emotional day for us, though.  DinDin was holding on, waiting for word that mom and baby were well.  The occurrence I had dreaded was, in a strange way, very special.  

We will get to share the whole story with Kaylee when she is older.  She will know how much DinDin loved her even before she was born.  She will know that though he could scarcely whisper, he was excited about her.  (Imagine then how our holy God loves us, and is excited for us!)

Toothless little Kaylee often reminds me of DinDin in his last days.  I get good laughs when she is eating, when she closes her mouth and pulls her little chin up..."You're making a DinDin face!"

The Power of the Gospel Over Hatred

The sermon Scott preached at Grace yesterday morning, "The Power of the Gospel Over Hatred," was so timely considering the news of Osama Bin Laden's death last night.  I often forget to pray for our enemies.  I made a point of it during Jon's time in Iraq.  More often now I have a hatred (as partially defined by Scott as not grieving for their souls) for them.  I am not at all condoning what the extremist, terrorist groups do, but I don't grieve over their lost souls like I should.  There are so many people living in darkness without Christ.  This sermon has encouraged me anew to pray for the lost - even the ones who seek to harm us (whew - that feels really personal as I think of what Jon faced in Iraq).  So, today as I am thankful for and praying for our military and their families, I also pray for those fighting against them (Luke 6:27 - 33; Matthew 5:43 - 46).