Snow Sunday

It's a snow day today. Church is closed, leaving us with an open, unplanned day ahead of us. Outside is below zero, covered in pristine snow. And while the sky was the most opaque white-gray yesterday, today it's an icy clear blue.

The kids, after being brokenhearted last night over canceled church,  are excited for our "Sunday school at home", reminding me of the different things we've done in the past for such days. "Remember when we made fish from paper and paper clips and then went fishing?" "Can we sing lots of songs?" "What are we going to do for the craft?".

Chester decides to try a breakfast experiment, and makes a batch of ginger-bread flavored bagels. Of course they turn out delicious, and breakfast is made more special with cinnamon hot cocoa and marshmallows.

I'm trying to think of a Bible lesson to go with ice and snow. And a craft too. And coming up empty. Then I overhear the kids' conversation about how God knows the number of hairs on our heads, and decide to go with Luke 12:6-7 instead. Chester teaches the story, and we start a bird craft. We talk about how we know and love each of our chickens, but God knows and loves us even more than that. 

While the paint dries on our bird puppets, it's decided that now is the best time to "break our backs". That is, go sledding. I stay home with Tommy.  We snuggle, and he plays the guitar and sings along.  Then he gets out a board book, and reads the story to me, in his baby babble.  I notice that he's covered with paint, and now it's dry.  I guess this nice shirt is now a paint shirt.  I should probably mind, because it's one of two nice shirts that he had that fit him.  But I don't.  It's a lazy day, and I feel content.

We make lunch together, creamy tomato soup, and wait for the family to return from their sledding adventures.




111. Long underwear
112. Ice-frosted weeds (wish I had a picture!)
113. Kids who love church so much that they cried their eyes out when it was cancelled tomorrow.
114.  Saturday night music practice, held as usual in the basement, at request of the kids (even though I wasn't scheduled to do music tomorrow anyway).

115. The Mondrian dress is finished and shipped.  Whew!  (There's 30 individual pieces in this dress). 


116. Instant gratification sewing projects!

117. Snuggling with my boys on lazy mornings.
118. A found jar of molasses, when cleaning out the cupboards!
119. Ginger snap cookies.
120. Ginger bread bagels.
121. All the kids favorite worship songs.
122. Singing at the tops of our lungs in the basement (so I can play piano to the singing.... not that you could hear the piano...)
123. Musical instruments, (that is, shakers, tambourines, drums and guitars), played as loudly as possible for the above songs.
124.  Baby songs.
125.  Furniture that isn't so nice that I'm bothered when I notice the kids painted it in addition to their craft.
126.  "Helpful" toddlers. 
127.  Wisdom that comes from experience telling me that someday the kids "helpfulness" really will be helpful.  Bennet loves to help by shoveling snow, for example.
128.  Crock pot suppers, making the day even more lazy.
129.  Sledding adventures, that didn't include a broken back.
130. Peek a boo between Dad and Tommy.

What I've been up to

So, I know, I know. It's been forever. I'm sorry.

Here's a few of the things I've been busy with in my absence.


Sewing a wedding dress for my sister-in-law.



The hem was a little wavy. Wish I knew how to prevent that. But overall, I was happy with it. I learned a lot in the process.



I also made a Mondrian dress.


I love this dress, and am really proud of the way it turned out, even though the lines are pretty wavy. I made it for a contest that I didn't even come close to winning.


Here's the before shot. I fused wool sweaters onto this foundation dress. It was fun.


Tommy got his first major injury by pulling a bowl of hot soup off of the table onto himself.


We had our major User's Group conference at work, which meant a few really long workdays for me. Our annual party for our customers was a cowboy theme. I had a lot of fun dressing up in cowboy boots, a western shirt, chaps and a hat. Of course I didn't get any pictures of me. You can see that Tommy was already mostly healed up (this was less than a week after the burn), and doesn't he look cute in the hat? (The one I wore was black, but they gave out these straw hats at the party).

A few hours after the User's Group conference was over, we drove up to a wedding rehearsal. We contributed a big batch of Maghani Muktar (Indian Butter Chicken -- better known as Chicken Curry) to the dinner. It was yummy.



The next day they got married. It was one of my favorite weddings of all time. So spunky, authentic and pure. The bride had never been kissed. Congratulations, you two!


Lisel was the flower girl.



I made my own dress to wear to the wedding -- my first time making a dress for ME.


It was also a learning experience, but I'm okay with how it turned out. I'll probably make it again. This one was out of a navy blue sheet.


Now I'm just catching my breath. All these events took place in a three-week time frame. Also during that time, just unpictured, was a trip to the Omaha Zoo, a few days camping in a cabin (so much fun!), and our family's big annual Fall Fest.


I have dreams of starting a new blog -- really a replacement for this one, with a different name. We'll see if I do it. If so, I'll let you know...

My $40 Christmas

Christmas 2009 was an especially lean season for us, in the financial sense. And not terribly fattening in the physical sense either, since we had the stomach flu.

Because of the lean funds, though, and because I wanted to, I made most of our Christmas presents. I was really proud of how almost everything turned out. I wish I had gotten pictures of them all.

But I thought I'd share what I made:

For the grandparents, photo rubik's cubes and marble magnets made from the kids art (I just cut circles for the backs of the marbles, and then let them draw tiny pictures on them). Both turned out really cute, but didn't get photographed. I got the cubes and the marbles for the magnets at the dollar store, printed my own photos for the cubes, and ordered 100 magnets for the back of the marbles from ebay, for about $4.60. Total was $7.60, which I'll round up to $8.00

For my side of the family the adults drew names and have a suggestion that we spend $15 on each other. (Which, in my opinion, is a LOT). For one sister,

I drew and framed a picture of her dog


made her sesame street characters out of yarn pom-poms



I think Oscar is my favorite.

and gave her a cute vintage mug and a large jar of homemade instant chai mix.

For the other, I painted a stencil portrait of my brother and his wife. It was my first time painting, and I wasn't very happy with my skills, so Chester fixed it for me, and it looks much better. (I got the canvas and paints on amazing sales at Michaels, so the painting cost under $5).


She also got a jar of chai mix, and a half-dozen marble magnets, printed with star-trek icons.

Total cost for my side was about $8. I felt guilty spending so little, especially when my sister spent $30 on me. I'm not sure how to deal with that. I stopped feeling guilty when I realized that the sister who spent $30 on me makes about double what I do, and supports one, not seven, person on that wage. Still, I hope they didn't find my gifts cheap. I worked pretty hard on them. Not everyone considers time expensive.

Chester's side drew names too, and the kids were included in that gift draw -- so it was seven gifts total. On that side, it's okay (even cool) to give gifts that you got an a garage sale or thrift store, and the limit is $5. Most of what I gave were indeed garage sale finds from last summer: A cereal dispenser, filled with cereal from food net was $5, a gumball machine, filled with cereal from food net, was $2.50. A brand new swiffer mop was from food net (yeah, they give away amazing stuff that doesn't sell), a set of walkie-talkies that had been given to us a few years ago, a set of doll paraphernalia from garage sales totalling about $3, a set of exacto knives in various shapes, that we bought from a going-out-of-business sale for $3, and a home-made apron (which was a lot of work and turned out really cute, and I wish I'd gotten a picture of) that the recipient had requested. And family gifts of home-made Keva blocks (Chester cut them from some maple wood flooring pieces that were too short to be used well, and they turned out really neat), and a game of Bongo from a garage sale for $2. Total $20.50.

We gave each of the kids gifts that we'd gotten from garage sales, or that were re-gifts. Bennet got some books of paper airplanes to make (free), Matt got a set of car props (buildings and roads and such for cars to drive on, free) Josephine got a set of wooden dolls with "clothes" to dress them ($1 at a garage sale), and Lisel got a tea set in a wicker basket (free).

In the kids stockings were the "useful" gifts - tights and belts, and a pair of homemade mittens. As well as apples and oranges that had been given to us. The total there was under $2.

I used swagbucks to get Chester a book that he requested. It was $20 on Amazon, so I also ordered a book for homeschooling next year to bring the total over $25 and take advantage of the free shipping.

At church, we gave away about 40 jars of home-made jam and jellies. Those cost about $.65 each to make (most of which is the jar. Not many people return them when they're finished).

So, about $39 on gifts and $26 on jams and jellies. Chester got me a gift too (a nice vegetable peeler). I haven't looked to see what he spent. This post is about what I spent. I really was hoping to spend under $50 total, but when I consider what I spent on jelly, I'm pretty happy with under seventy.

I felt like it was a really special Christmas to give people things that I had put a lot of heart and effort into, and I was pleased to also not go broke in the process. Handmade is really great! (So are garage sales!)

The New Year

It's resolution time, or at least reflection time. I'm not really so into resolutions - they seem to spawn anger in me (I fail, then blame someone else for my lack of success, and get angry). And I'm usually very much into reflection, but even that lately doesn't really float my boat. (I end up reflecting on the way I wish that things were, and blame someone else that my life isn't the way I wish it was, and get angry).

But I have noticed lately that some things in life just aren't working like they should. And there is, in every case, an easy solution.

I'm tired and crabby, I feel overwhelmed at all that I need to do and get nothing done. The solution I would like is to do less - just quit all these pesky duties like feeding my family and training up my children. The better, less convenient solution comes with the recognition my body needs exercise. It's too cold outside for that to be a nice walk, but I can tell that my body is screaming for it. So I'm starting to stretch and do a few sit-ups every morning. Every little bit helps, right?

I always fail at my read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. And when I do read regularly, it seems to go in one ear and out the other -- ten minutes later, I have no idea what I read. The solution is to take is slower -- instead of the Bible in a year, just a chapter a day, and force myself to pay attention and write about it. That keeps me accountable to a greater measure.

Third, I've noticed that I'm ungrateful. God provides all these wonderful things for us, and I feel whiny and discontent. This doesn't please God, and it doesn't make for a happy home-life. The answer is kind of silly, but I think it'll work. I'm hoping to, for this entire year, keep a tally of the things God gives us free. Already, in the first four days of the year, I'm blown away.

Finally, I've noticed that I'm more centered, calmer, kinder and generally more sane when I take the time to write here. After a year of barely, if ever, writing, I'm hoping to be back. If you're unfortunate enough to read me here, then, well, you'll have more to put up with. (It probably won't be every day or anything). I'll be writing just to chronicle life and my thoughts, not putting tons of time into planning and editing posts like I once did. I don't have that kind of time or energy. I'm okay with that.

Welcome to the New Year of Our LORD!

A scribble art primer

This week's art project: scribble coloring.

My family did this when I was a kid, and I realized this week that my kids had never done this. So we learned.

First, you scribble loosely on the paper.


Then you color in the spaces, all different colors.


Josephine was very careful to color in all the spaces.


Bennet had his own interpretation of the scribble picture, and it looks great!

A Sweet Namesake

Last Sunday was a Family Holiday: Sweet Sunday

Years ago, the Davises lived in the city, and were somewhat impoverished. One year when they had practically nothing to eat, someone dropped by with a truckload of corn, and just gave it to them (the corn, not the truck). They celebrated by inviting over a couple of friends and eating an entire meal of sweet corn that night. Thus, the birth of Sweet Sunday.

The next year, they celebrated Sweet Corn season again, by inviting a couple of friends over and having a meal of sweet corn. And a tradition was born.

Sometime along the way, Sweet Rolls were added to the mix. And now, there's usually a rebel or two who feel they need protein in a meal, and bring sliced meat or something.

But each fall, we gather as a family, to remember and celebrate God's provision in the harvest of Sweet Corn.

This man is a mainstay at Sweet Sunday.


He was the best man in our wedding,


and is Tommy's namesake.


The meeting of the two was Sweet indeed.

Of all the kids, Lisel is the most like me. This causes her to be both uniquely endearing and uniquely annoying to me. In my totally pregnant, super hot, so achy I can hardly move, the "annoying" side has definitely been dominating lately.

Most of my childhood insecurities, I see in her. But instead of causing me to have compassion and reach out to her in a way that I know is meaningful to her, I'm annoyed and pull back. I know that it's not right to withhold affection from my child in this way. I'm not excusing my actions at all. I'm just wanting to record what life is right now. I don't like the way I'm parenting, especially Lisel.

But in the last week I've been given a really insightful blessing with her. It started out as a "we need money desperately" type thing. At least two years ago, I had submitted Bennet and Lisel's name to the local university for a "Preschool Problem Solving" study (psychology stuff, you know) that paid pretty nicely. Bennet didn't get in, and Lisel wasn't old enough at the time. But a few weeks ago, they called back, asking about whether Lisel was now in the correct age range, and twenty bazillion other questions to determine her eligibility for the current "Preschool Problem Solving" study. She was accepted.

The study involved two meetings -- one at our house, one at their office. Both were long -- about 2 hours each. During them, Lisel was given a ton of different IQ-type tests -- most of which I would consider falling within the math-skills sets. Meanwhile I filled out form after form after form on things everything from how our household works, what my level of satisfaction with life is, how I parent, and health of everyone in our family, etc.

But in the background, while I filled out forms, I could hear and see the tests that Lisel was doing.

I was amazed. I learned so much about my daughter during this time. (For the record, this was also a paid study -- we earned a $75 Wally World card).

So, more as a way of documenting it than because you'll read it, here are some of the things I noticed.

• Lisel won't guess at something she doesn't know. The tester demonstrated counting backwards - -3, 2, 1. Then asked her to try counting backwards from ten. She refused to even try. This wasn't rare. In general, she knew the correct answer or she wasn't interested in guessing.
• Yet Lisel has really amazing math skills (at least, I was surprised). She could accurately solve simple division story problems: Emma and Anna made ten cookies, if they each eat the same number, how many did they each get? She nailed it. Now mind you, the most math I have ever taught her has involved counting -- and she can only count to twelve. This is a way more advanced skill that she has somehow picked up from life.
• She's fast. Every segment of our testing was done early. This is another trait that she got from me. I was also super smart in school, and the first one done with any exam. In our house now, this "book smart" characteristic is kind of downplayed and unappreciated because Chester is so "handyman smart". He, and most of the other kids, can figure out how anything works, and can fix anything. Lisel and I are left poking our nose into books and knowing things that feel relatively useless. It was nice for her to get validated as "smart". I need to pay more attention to this with her.
  
• When she's tired, she quits. This is sort of in line with the first one. And it makes me realize that she has just a bit of a passive-agressive tendancy. The last test in each session was timed. In two of the three sessions (last week, this week before snack and this week after snack), she quit part way through the timed test (before time was up or she was finished), because she was tired of doing it. She wouldn't be persuaded otherwise.
• Her favorite animals are currently monkey and owl. I was shocked. Last week they were unicorns, and before than kitties, butterflies and rabbits -- all fairly girly. Then today they're monkey and owl. I asked her about this later, and here's how the logic goes: Bennet changed his favorite color from red to blue. So she decided to change her favorite color too. (It had been purple). Bennet wouldn't let her have blue, since that was his, so she chose brown, since her and my eyes are brown (everyone else in the family has blue eyes). Monkeys and owls are brown, so they became her new favorite animal. Several times today after the testing, she played "owl", running around flapping her arms and whoooo-ing. The tester's said they've never had someone pick "owl" as the animal they liked. I wouldn't have guessed either.
• Lisel has a much stronger tie to rules than I would have guessed, and good delayed gratification skills. In one part of the test, she was given a handful of M&Ms, on the table in front of her, under a clear glass. Also on the table was placed a bell. She was told that she had to stand perfectly still, not talking or anything, with her hands on the table, but not touch the bell or the glass with the M&Ms. She was also told that at the end of the time (which was four minutes), she would get to eat the candy. Then, during the four minutes, the tester had to try to distract her for a couple of minutes (not overtly, just doing things like moving around, dropping a pen, coughing, etc), then leave the room for the last 90 seconds (testing whether the kid would disobey in some way with the tester absent...). I was allowed to watch through a two-way window. I had read about this study (they published results of it a year or so ago, from a different test group), and was really curious what Lisel would do. To be honest, I thought she'd probably eat the candy, but leave the bell alone. But she did pretty much perfectly. She moved very minimally (in her mind, I'm sure she was perfectly still, but the tester said that she wiggled her fingers constantly), she didn't even show signs of being tempted to eat the candy or to touch or ring the bell. She didn't even squirm much beyond the first few seconds, and didn't talk at all. I was pretty surprised -- I'm not sure why, I would have done exactly the same at the age, and she is a lot like me, but I was surprised anyway.
  

All in all, the time was really special. She got a prize at the end -- she picked a purple notebook with a cupcake on the cover and a flowered pen to write with. She picked them because the cupcake was sparkly. She totally ate up the time with Mom, one on one. It made me realize again, that this sort of thing is really important to the kids. A while back we had tried taking our kids on "dates" every once in a while -- just an hour out with Mom or Dad alone. We tried to keep it simple -- like taking a walk down to the store to buy a cookie together, or going for a bike ride, but it was still too complicated to fit well in our life and only lasted a couple of weeks. But Lisel especially, and Bennet to some extent, still talk about these dates and ask when we'll start them again. Having this time with Lisel, and noticing the new appreciation that I have for her as a unique individual, motivates me to try to start this up again. How, I have no idea. It's not like there's any spare time around here.

(As if anyone is actually reading.....)

Do you have any ideas for 1) fitting a date with kids into a schedule, and 2) keeping scheduled dates with kids maintainably simple?

This is important, and I want to make it happen.

Principals of Scripture memory

Scripture memory is one of those things that makes me laugh at Christians. First of all, we all know we should do this, but we don't. And strangely enough, we don't consider ourselves to be sinning that we don't (what is that verse in James which says "to him who knows what to do and does not do it, to him it is sin...?). (Either that, or we don't care that we're entrenched in laziness and sin for our lack of spiritual disciplines, maybe that's more it....). Like all sins, it has consequences. I'm not sure what the consequences of not memorizing scripture are, but I do know what some of the rewards for memorization are: a sharper mind, a closer walk with God, a more fruitful life, discernment, a greater understanding of scripture, a proper perspective, to name a few of the more obvious ones.

So maybe the consequences of not memorizing scripture are the lack of these things.

So then, when we decide to memorize scripture, we go about it in such an awkward way. We have all these Christian catch-phrases - things like "Christianity is relationship, not religion". Or, "Christianity is God reaching out to us, not us earning our way to God". Or, "It's about who you know, not what you've done". These are all true and right. Though works have their place and are rewarded in heaven (and on earth, by the way), what distinguishes Christianity is that it's core is about grace -- we don't earn our Eternal Life. It's all grace.

Then we go to memorize scripture. First, We're probably motivated by guilt or by some pastor's motivational speech, not by our honest assessment of the rewards that we will get from this discipline. Things attempted from guilt rarely stick for long. Then second, we forget all the beauty of our Lord and go straight for memorizing commands. Now, yes, all scripture is God breathed and valuable. This of course includes the commands. But in all honesty, it's far more important to understand and love who God is, than to have a grasp on various commands. We aren't motivated by lists of commands. We can't keep them (this was established back in the "we can't earn salvation" bit). And we never will keep them on our own. No, we're motivated by relationship. We need to know a God and be so enthralled with who He is that we want in every way possible to please Him. Then we can delight in realizing that He's even told us exactly how to please Him. What a great God!

(As a digression, this is one of the most beautiful things that I see in most oldest children, they desperately want to please their parents. Almost everything they do, they look for approval and a "wow, that's really neat" from Mom or Dad. They love to spend time with us parents, and they want to grow up to be just like us. Would that be the case if they didn't really know us, but just thought we were a list of rules? Not on your life. Our relationship with God is the same way).

A. W. Tozer, among his many great quotes, says "I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God...." (The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer, Chapter 1. Someday I'll read that book).

I think that quote, besides being brilliant is so very right on the money. If we thought correctly about God, our doctrine would be right, and so would our application of that doctrine.

So, then, I propose that scripture memory should begin with meditating and memorizing those parts of scripture that are directly about who God is, and that lead us to right and noble thoughts of God. It makes sense to me. Does it make sense to you?

Toward this end, I'm beginning to compile sets of verses to memorize - a list for kids, and a list for me (or adults in general). When it gets going, these verses, and my meditations about them will, I hope, be part of my new blog. Because, well, it's fun to start blogs. And I want to make this a continued priority in my life (I've been sort of half-heartedly memorizing scripture about the character of God for a couple of months now, and it is definitely worthwhile).

This blog will continue, of course. I need a place to post funny things my family attempts.

Driving Lessons

Two years ago, when I started my first (now defunct) blog, I opened with a story on how we'd own nineteen vehicles in our (then) 5.5 years of marriage. At the time he'd just bought two-wheeled vehicle number nine, a Honda Nighthawk that I really liked. But I did wonder if nineteen vehicles in less than six years was normal...

Since then we've bought and sold at least a half dozen more. It's not really special any more. At one point there were more than ten motorized vehicles who lived here (and no, we're not dealers or anything. Just junk collectors).

The Nighthawk was sold and replaced with a smaller Nighthawk. The Moped was sold and replaced with a bigger moped. But it was sold to Chester's brother, who also lives here, so it stayed, until he sold it a couple of weeks ago (he replaced it with a Honda Rebel). The van was totaled and replaced with another van, The car was sold in an attempt to minimize, but then replaced with a pickup, which was then sold to another of Chester's brothers (who also lived here) and later replaced with another Honda Civic (this time a hybrid that was wrecked and Chester fixed up). And the saga goes on.

Today, though, we graduated into a new class of vehicle.



And the kids got their first driving lessons.


(If you're wondering why in the world we would buy a tractor, it's for mowing and tilling and the like at our newest house).

Painful Garage-Saling

I think I've done a rather effective job of brainwashing my kids in some areas: They all love to garage sale. Yesterday morning was a special treat -- one of the best church rummage sales I've ever seen.

Bennet brought his own money, and very quickly made the decision to use it to buy a skateboard.



After we had him cleaned up from "trying it out", they gave it to him free.

I earned a penny today

After supper tonight, Chester did the dishes (what a man), while I sat out front, pretending to weed the flower beds, and watching the kids play. After a while, Bennet grew tired of simply riding his bike, and came up to me.

"If you go tell Dad that I'm almost ready to play football with him, then I'll give you a penny on your birthday!"

Made it Myself Monday: Easter kid crafts

With all the heavy posts lately (dare I even call it lately, when it was probably a month ago? Maybe I should say, "with all the heavy thinking I've been doing lately, that will at some point turn into posts that may even be thought-through....") -- I thought I'd just post a quick couple of pictures of our Easter crafts. We had a blast doing them, and I need a bit of something from the lighter side right now.

We stayed home from church on palm Sunday -- I had just returned from a business trip (at 4:00 am!) to very very sick kids. The kids were not only way too sick to go to church, we were just wiped out in general. (Poor Chester had sick kids by himself while I was gone -- what a hero!) The kids don't mind staying home, because they get to do extra cool crafts when they have a whole Sunday morning at home with Mom and Dad. Dad does the lesson, and Mom scrambles to find an appropriate, somewhat related craft.

On Palm Sunday, Chester chose to do a lesson on "Jesus is the good shepherd". He told a story illustrating the differences between a good shepherd and a bad shepherd, then read a short passage from John on Jesus being The Good Shepherd. Naturally, I thought of making sheep for a craft. So we took an old CD, covered it with white felt, added a black face, legs and tail, and some cotton wool and called it a sheep. Of course, the kids then proceeded to decide they wanted different animals than just sheep. So here's what we made. They ended up surprisingly cute. (We added a pink tongue to the yellow dog after taking this picture, he looked much better with it until Matt ripped his eyes off).




On Easter, I had the lesson for the preschool class at our church. They're a rowdy group that likes to make things, and it didn't take me long to settle on making "eggimals" (from Family Fun magazine). I thought it would go well with a "new creatures in Christ" theme, and tied it in with the resurrection by noting that if Christ hadn't risen from the dead, He couldn't give us new life.

So we gave our Easter eggs "new life" as other animals. It didn't go super smoothly (mostly due to the glue setting up more slowly than I had hoped), but they were popular anyway. Here's a smattering of a few animals (we made about 18 as a class of 10 kids). Shown is a green dog, a purple and red skunk, a blue dog, a pink pig and a yellow dog. There were also cats in the mix -- which looked about like the skunk with a more dog-like tail and no white stripe. Once the glue set up, they're really quite sturdy, and the kids like to play with them. I was surprised that the skunk was by far the most desirable animal for the preschool SS class!

A game of tag

So, when I blogged regularly, I wanted so badly to be tagged. And no one tagged me.

Now that I blog almost never, I get tagged (Thanks, CalvaryGirl!). And my amazon account has a bit of money in it. (Bought two books, Intended for Pleasure and Sheet Music, both excellent books, for a friend getting married with the $10 that was there today). These things are weird.

So, in honor of my first tagging, I'm joining the game. I'm not going to tag anyone else though, since I only read blogs once every few weeks at this point (I'm still working my way out of time-wasting in this area).

So, here goes: A game of Threes.

THREE NAMES I GO BY
These would be so much more interesting if it was "three names I have gone by". Then it could include "skinny minnie, babe, ames, amarie", and the like.
1. Mommy
2. Mrs. Davis
3. Amy

THREE INTERESTING PLACES I'VE WORKED IN MY LIFE
Hmm... have I even had three jobs? Yeah, I guess I have. But most of them are pretty boring.
1. As a gardener for the city -- taking care of flowers
2. At IBM, as an intern
3. At the city mission, as a volunteer -- this was my favorite "job"


THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED
I think I'll take the term "lived" rather loosely.
1. Cameroon, West Africa (for 7 weeks)
2. Rochester, MN (for 3 months)
3. Nebraska (pretty much the entirety of my life)

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
Umm... since I don't have a TV, and don't watch other's TVs, I'm not sure I could even name three current shows. Sorry.

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN
Hmm... I'll try to use places that I didn't "live"
1. Mexico (a few weeks ago, we drove in about miles, visited a company, then returned. Saw nothing)
2. Nigeria (while staying in Cameroon, we walked across the border, just because we could)
3. Smokey Mountains (on my honeymoon - wonderful place!)


THREE PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO GO
1. India
2. China
3. Thailand


THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
1. Ice cream
2. Lamb or Beef Rendang (but not too spicy, I've become a wimp since having kids)
3. Just about anything my husband makes, Asian food in particular (he's a great cook)

THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO
1. Quitting work (am I allowed to say that?)
2. Chester being out of school (still several years left)
3. Ripe fruit of this season -- the trees are budded!

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE OWNED
1. "Kitty" was my cat in childhood. My brother was allergic to him.
2. "Pedro" was a plecostamus (or however you spell it) that we had for a few weeks with the kids. He was ugly
3. We tried adding 5 goldfish to "Pedro's" tank, before we gave it away, but they died.

THREE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPLY
Considering that I'm not tagging anyone, no one :)

THREE FAVORITE TEAMS TO WATCH
Umm.. showing my geekiness. I don't even know anyone who plays sports on a team.... And I don't watch sports otherwise either.

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. Water
2. Fresh Lemonade
3. Chai

Three top Concert experiences:
I was a concert junkie (all classical music) in High school, but it was so long ago, and now it's wayyyy outside my budget..... Can I even remember what I saw and loved?
1. The first opera that I saw live. I can't even remember right now what opera it was. But it was incredible.
2. Stomp. Great show.
3. Les Miserables? Moscow Symphony? There's a lot of great ones that I saw back in the day...

Three Things that make your SKIN CRAWL:
1. Horror/Thriller movies. They still make me scared after 15 years. I don't watch them anymore.
2. "people noises" in the night -- like the door opening, when you're pretty sure no one that lives here is coming in or going out.... I'm glad God is always with me!
3. Large spiders. (There was this one that jumped on my head in Africa, while I was on a paranoia-inducing malaria drug. Yeah, they still give me the willies).

Three Things that calm me down when I am stressed:
1. Praying
2. Reminding myself of scripture
3. Having a warm drink (if it's making me lose sleep)

Gratitude in odd places, and a lot of rambling

The other day (actually more than a week ago), I was really convicted by a Charlotte Mason quote that I read on the Ambleside year 0 email list. I'm too lazy to look it up, but says something to this effect:
Be careful not to make your house too comfortable. A simple shelter is the best, for anything more than that will keep you from experiencing and enjoying all that nature has to offer.

As much as I like my comfortable house, it wasn't hard for me to see the logic: The nicer my house is, the more I want to be in it, rather than outside enjoying creation. Another consequence follows: The more stuff I have and the nicer my house, the more time I must spend cleaning and maintaining, organizing and the like. This very much takes away from my freedom to be outdoors, enjoying what's going on in the part of God's world that I take as my back yard (or nearby neighborhood park). Furthermore, even if we wouldn't be outside, taking care of my "stuff" takes time away from my kids and my family.

After mulling on this for a while, an old familiar bitterness revisited me. I have a husband who is very handy and loves to start projects. I'm the type of person who likes projects finished. See the problem? Several times in recent years (we've only been married about seven and a half years), I've had to really take a couple steps back to keep the unfinished-project bitterness from taking root.

Then it suddenly occurred to me that these unfinished projects that I consistently work to ignore (so that I won't be bitter), are actually a blessing. They make my home less comforting to me, making outside more inviting. Who cares if the walls have coloring on them and are covered with smudges? They're ugly without trim anyway. Instead of wash them, I'll go outside and plant some seeds in the garden with the kids. And so, for the first time, I'm feeling ever so slightly grateful for these unfinished areas of our home. They remind me that this isn't home anyway, and I shouldn't be getting too comfortable.


--------------------------------

A couple of days ago, I read 1 Timothy. I liked it so much that I read it again the next day. It really hit me between the eyes (and I'm not too lazy to look this one up). (1 Timothy 6: 3-11 or so). It's talking about how people promoting false doctrines are bad and promote controversy in God's church because they suppose that godliness is a means of gain (v 5).

6.But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

Okay, so Godliness is a means of gain (even great gain), but only when accompanied by contentment. That means, that if I'm godly in hopes of gaining something for myself (say, a nicer house, or more money in some way), then I'm wrong. That's not the Godliness that produces a great gain. Godliness is only a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. Can I really say that if I have food an covering, I'll be content with these? (The NKJ translated this food and "cover", if I remember right, which seemed to me that it implied both clothes and shelter -- who knows). Hmm... I have a lot of food, a lot of clothes, a perfectly adequate house with a few unfinished projects. Can I be content with that, or am I always dreaming of the next thing? (hint, it's the latter).

Now, I'm not saying that dreaming of the next thing is necessarily bad. I'm a visionary -- I need these dreams and hopes of the future. And I think it's Biblical to be yearning and working for our future (especially eternity). But when my dream is "Maybe he'll have some down time and finish a project.... " That, my friends, is lack of contentment.

Then Paul takes it further in 1 Timothy.
9. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

Okay, I'm not going to lecture on how we're all rich. We know it. We know that the poorest person in America is filthy rich in worldwide standards. I don't have to have any money in my bank account to be rich -- I have a house, more vehicles than I care to admit (the men around here, not just my husband but also his brothers, have a thing for buying vehicles), toys for my kids, mountains of clothes, mountains of food, yada yada.

In what ways does my richness draw me into evil, or away from God?

We have a family of friends, who are raising support to go into missions. He's been out of work for nearly two months, and their fourth child is almost due. They're living on, quite literally, no income. Chester hired the husband for a couple of days to help out with the house we're fixing up to resell (ooh, I actually have two houses -- ouch), but ran out of money to pay him. To me, this family seems amazing. I think I might go insane, living for months without income (they've never made much, and I doubt they have savings to live on). If I remember right, this is their third time that they've had extended periods without income in their five year marriage.

That to say, I'm contemplating quitting work when this baby comes. I believe that it's a godly desire to be with my kids. I think that my motives are right. I'm beginning to see some harm done from my having been the sole breadwinner for the past couple of years, and I think it's time for that to change. Chester agrees heartily.

But I'm scared to death of the prospect of living with no income in the event that Chester goes with fixing and reselling houses as our main income. One lump of income every several months? Spending LOTS of money to fix up these houses? What if they don't sell? What if they sell slowly?

In reality, It's God that I'm not trusting (and probably a bit of not trusting Chester too). God has always provided for us. Why would He stop? Our missionary friends are fine -- they're still eating, still have a house to live in, etc. My wealth is causing me to rely on myself, not on God. It's enticing me to not fully trust, causing me to sin.

Ouch.

Charlotte Mason and Paul are really saying the same thing, I think. Too much nice stuff makes you miss out on what God has for you. Charlotte Mason is harping on nature -- that's her thing, and it was in a section on the importance of outside time in a child's development. God broadens it in 1 Timothy through Paul's pen. My too much stuff breeds a lack of contentment, which leads down the road to desiring more. This causes me to distrust God, and probably causes a host of other problems I just don't notice yet.

So what do I do about it? I'm starting out by acknowledging that God is faithful and has always provided for our needs. I can trust Him to continue to do so.

Secondly, I am becoming grateful for what I have -- not the the things (indeed, I'm working to get rid of some of that excess), but for the reminders that God has better things for me that I can ever earn through a job. I can enjoy God's lovely creation more when I care less about inside. I can take time to really love my kids (which also means parenting properly, rather than lazily), when my energy isn't spent in ratraces for more. Gratefulness, just might be the road to contentment. And it's that lack of contentment that causes the problems (well, and ungodliness...)

Third, I will talk with my friends, interview them, to find out how God provides for them when they don't have an income. I tried to have them over tonight, but their kids are sick. I'll share what I find here. I think these are some giants in the faith, and want to learn from them.

So there you have it. Directly from my mind ramblings.