Summer Activities

This summer my kids are staying home and not going to my mom's house. They are old enough to handle most things on their own. I started to panic a little when I realized that for most of the summer they are going to be alone, probably watching TV, playing on their handheld games of choice, talking on their cell phones, texting and playing on the computer. I'm sorry, but that sounds like a lot of lazy nothingness to me, so I started signing them up for various things to make their summer more productive and so they wouldn't have too much down time. I'm overwhelmed with how much I've scheduled in, and I'm not even the one having to do this all. Think I overdid it? LOL!!

• weekly art lessons for Mark & McKenna
• four weeks of the summer daily swimming lessons for Mark & McKenna
• soccer practice for McKenna
• weekly reading class at the library Mark & McKenna
• camping for the whole family
• family vacation to the beach
• one week of garden camp for McKenna
• one week of bug camp for Mark
• family reunions
• twice weekly gymnastics for McKenna
• weekly tennis lessons for Amanda & Mark
• babysitting jobs for Amanda
• Tennis camp for Amanda

I'm sure that this isn't a complete list, but this list alone makes me tired. How about you guys? What do you do to keep your kids busy for the summer?

Matthew 25: 31-46: Verses I Can't Get Out of My Head

The Final Judgment

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. ³²Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

³⁴Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' ⁴⁰And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

⁴⁴Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

A Healthy Husband

Ruth has been listing the things that she is thankful for and I've really enjoyed reading them. Her goal is to list 1,000 things. That's a lot!! I've been thinking about starting my own list because I think that it is so important to always be thankful.

I'm thankful for one major thing today. I'm thankful for my husband's health. Dan has a terrible nerve disorder called Trigeminal Neuraglia. It's very rare and extremely painful. Usually it doesn't affect him but last Thursday Dan had a tooth pulled and it triggered it. Whenever he has had an episode he has been able to handle it with his medication and within hours of the first dose the pain diminishes. He wasn't so lucky this time. He has been in excruciating pain for 7 days. This was scary. He had to quadruple his dosage to get any relief and by the time he was that medicated he could barely walk from the meds.

The meds are never guaranteed to work and since it took 7 days and huge doses of medication I was frightened. I was so scared that maybe this time his meds weren't going to work. Some people suffer continuously with this disease and never get any relief.

I'm thankful tonight that Dan is healthy. He's back to his goofy self and we can put this terrible week behind us. Plus, it's his birthday and Father's Day on Sunday so he'll be ready to party! :)

"Live your life in a way that demands explanation."

~Unknown

A New Christian Life

I'm not going to lie: I've become increasingly bored with the brand of Christianity I've been practicing. It seems that I joined- no, was born into- some sort of club and the rules involve trying not to cuss, not drinking (or at least not drinking excessively), dressing up on Sundays and carrying my Bible to church. No matter what sort of week I've been having, there's an unspoken obligation to be perky at church. We should be happy at church, but because we're free and forgiven not because it's the thing to do. I've noticed that my life bears very little difference to the lives of my unsaved neighbors and friends. We're all after the same thing: security, money, a healthy retirement account, the American Dream.

Last year I read Max Lucado's book It's Not About Me. (My blog post here.) That was the beginning of seeing my life the way it should be rather than what I've allowed it to become. It was the first time I had consciously considered that Christianity wasn't a side thing to do along with the rest of my life, but the main purpose of the life God gave me. Then I read Tom Davis's book Red Letters (my post here) and started visiting his blog. Until then I had always thought of anti-hunger organizations as the non-Christian's way of feeling like they were making a difference without God. I thought it was making up for not having Jesus. What an eye-opening experience to realize that the saved are those that should be at the forefront of these efforts for the hungry, orphaned and widowed!

God began to speak to me about making a difference where I am- to bloom where he plants me. I can show his love to my neighbors, believing that He put me where I am for a divine purpose. I heard Lee Strobel's Focus on the Family- aired recordings "If Jesus Lived At My House" and suddenly a whole new world of opportunity opened up.

And now I've been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I've been impressed with so much of the book, but these particular points have stood out so far:

• Christians were first called "Christians". They didn't name themselves. The unsaved looked at them, at the way they lived, and said, "Those people are like the one they call the Christ. They are followers of his teachings. They are Christians." How many of those around you would voluntarily call you a Christian, or is that a label you've given yourself? What makes it true?
• God is HUGE and doesn't need me. He wants me. He created everything through Himself and for Himself.
• It's time to step out of our Western Christian mindsets and live radically for Christ in whatever way He calls each of us to do that.
  

I'm still not sure what all the practical applications of that will look like in my life. But here are my first, elementary thoughts: I don't have a job and I am raising kids. I want to raise them with an awareness of what true Christianity looks like. I want to be an example of that. In the following days and weeks I will be praying for God's directing in my life on how to do that. I will pray for the lost and abandoned and hungry and pray that the change I see in myself will be lasting and not a passing personal fad. I will start this year to get an education that will lead to money and skills to help the lost and hurting. Currently, I'm planning to pursue a nursing degree, unless God tells me otherwise. Until then, I will begin selling many of the possessions I have that weigh me down. I'm tired of feeling bloated and sluggish in regards to my material possessions. I don't need most of what I own, and it would be much better put to use for the kingdom of Heaven. I will be using my eBay account to sell my things, with a majority percentage of the profits going to charities that I will be choosing.

With the Spirit of Christ in us, we can change the world.

Blogging About Blogging: Anybody Out There With Answers?

Hello, my name's Reese and I used to be a blogger.

Well, maybe I still am. But you couldn't tell by the number of post I've done in the past few weeks, right? These long, awkward blogger pauses are the reasons that people invented recurring, daily blogging events (Wordless Wednesday, Fill-In Friday, etc.); some of us just don't have anything interesting to say every day. I've actually resorted to shoving needles in my feet in the hopes of achieving good post material.

What makes one blog more interesting than the next? Bloggers and their followers are generally bound together by common interests (organizing, cooking, charity work, motherhood), or by real-life relationships (that's why friends and family are our most faithful followers). In the event that a blog is followed by people that aren't family, friends, or don't relate through common interest, humor is often what draws readers. (Every now and then I wish I had the brains and biting wit of Ann Coulter. I'd have thousands of readers to my weekly posts. I'd probably have as many book deals as she has also.)

For me, I'm standing at a blogging fork-in-the-road. To blog or not to blog, that is the question.

What's the answer? I'm still waiting for Heather's email on the subject. Until then, I'd like to ask you, if you're a blogger:

• What motivates you to blog?
• How long have you been blogging, and how long do you anticipate keeping it up?

If you're a regular reader, to this or any other blogs:

• What keeps you coming back?
• How long does a blog remain stagnant before you give up and stop visiting?

Heather and I have always tried to cover a variety of topics, not purposefully, but just to use the blog as a reflection of our daily lives. If we're thinking about Johnny Depp, we'll probably blog about Johnny Depp. If we are getting misty eyed while we think of our kids, you'll probably be reading about it within a day or two. When school and work and family obligations overwhelm us, you probably won't hear about it- in fact you might not hear about anything from us for awhile. The trouble with that is that when a blog isn't updated regularly people stop visiting, so when we decide to reappear and post again, there might not be anyone around to read it... and what's the point of having a blog that no one reads?

I love our blog and don't think we're anywhere near throwing in the towel. It's just that I'm thinking about blogging, so I'm blogging about blogging.

Got that?!

Mama's Heart

Last night McKenna started showing me all of her first grade, year end stuff - you know, the backpacks filled with all the wonderful miscellaneous paperwork. Most of the items will have to be thrown away, but she stumbled upon a priceless treasure for me. It was her first grade journal, complete with photos that the teacher added in. The thing for me was that as I looked through these photos and saw her bright smiling face, I also saw the sadness in her eyes. I usually measure the year by the school year, not the actual year, and this school year has been filled with so much sadness. I almost cried as I looked through those photos. I knew she was trying so hard to put up a good front, but I also knew how sad she had been most of the year. The house fire was hard on her. She likes her structure and she was definitely out of her element this year. She was very successful academically so I'm thankful that all of the obstacles didn't bring her down. I know that this only helped to shape her character.

As I was looking through her photos I was thinking about Amanda and Mark. They are both graduating on this year. Amanda to her first year of high school, and Mark onto his first year at the middle school. Their first grade years were also difficult. During Amanda's first grade year, I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant with McKenna. Normally that would not have been a big deal as my first two pregnancies were great. However, McKenna had a different plan. Her pregnancy was by far my hardest and Amanda had to deal with a mom that wasn't really "with it" for nine months. Mark's first grade year was the hardest ever. That was the year that James passed away. Thankfully Mark had the best teacher at the school. She happened to be my teacher for third grade and Amanda also had her for first grade. I remember the week after James died and we were all starting to go back to work and school. I walked in with tears streaming down my face. I felt like I was abandoning my children. She came right out with big hugs and wrapped both Mark and I in her arms and told us how much she loved us and that she would take good care of Mark and call me immediately if I was needed. I know he was in an angels' arms that year.

This mama's heart feels a little sad this evening for the hardships my kids have endured. They have come out stronger, but I hate they have had to go through them. If I put it in perspective they really haven't been through alot. However, they have endured more then I did at their ages. The situations they have been through are ones that I have not had to deal with until adulthood. I do know that they are more compassionate, loving and kind. They are accepting of others and their surroundings. I'm thankful for who they are and know that God has an important plan for each one of them and that their childhood experiences will help shape them for that.

It's getting dark and the kids are coming back in so I'm logging off for now. I know I could write this better, but I'm going to leave it "as is" and go hang out with them.

Anyone Up For "Swapping" This Weekend?

The Lord has put the hungry, orphaned and widowed on my heart recently and I have begun attempting to mold my life into a more Christ-centered existence. I've started visiting Tom Davis's blog (link in our blog roll), and he has this interesting post about the weekend: Click HERE for the post.

I'm swapping. How about you?

And The Piercings Continue...

Since Heather and I have a history of sharing when we get pierced with things (click here and here for a reminder), I knew I had to post this one. After teaching at youth group on Wednesday night I got home and effortlessly stepped on a sewing needle. Do these things ever take effort? Well it took effort on the part of the person (Little Boy, no doubt, though no one is 'fessing up) who dug around in my sewing box and carried the needle down to the living room), who not only left one needle on the floor, but Sean found another one after I left for the ER.

Why go to the ER and not just yank it out myself? I was asking myself the same thing for about an hour-and-a-half after it happened. See, I took out "Taking Care of Yourself" (military issue medical book) rather than the needle. When it asked if I'd had at least 4 tetanus shots (I don't think I have, though my last one was in 2007) and if there was any "foreign material in the wound" (duh!), I suggested to Tim that we call the ER before pulling it out. They always "err on the side of caution"; they told me to come in.

Here I am filling out paperwork before the x-ray to see if the needle had hit the bone. (It hadn't.)


The craziest thing about the whole experience was how fun it was. Tim and I haven't had a lot of time together lately, as he is putting in overtime at a second job. As soon as he was told that I had a needle in my foot, he hung up with a client and took good care of me. At the ER the techs, nurse and doctor ribbed me mercilessly and it was fun. We even took out the camera and recorded all the moments we could. Here I am being goofy, still waiting for the x-ray tech.

When it first went in, the only part showing was the eye of the needle. Grossly enough, I pushed on the top of my foot and it stayed at this level the rest of the time, till the doc pulled it out with pliers.


Here's the Staff Sergeant that set off all the teasing when I first got there. He asked me, very seriously, how it had happened. The nurse laughed and said "How else you you get needles in your foot?!" He answered, still serious, "Maybe she did it on purpose." That was it. After that they started teasing me about clearing needles out of every room before they wheeled me, lest I stab myself purposefully again. SSgt P ended up being the one to clean my in-a-flip-flop-all-day foot. Eew!


After it was removed.

Continuing the interesting experience with an airman and the British EMT on duty. That EMT had a blast. I was surely the most interesting case to come in all night.


And afterward, Tim and I had dinner together! What a great way to end a very interesting day. I'd take another needle in the foot for a fun evening with Tim, but I'd probably pull it out myself next time.

My Flowers, The Garden & The Fish

I just had to come today and show you how my flowers are growing, they are turning out so pretty.

Also, I have decided to do a garden this year. The plants I have growing right now are 1 watermelon, 4 cucumbers and 9 sugar snap peas. Right now we have this fencing over it to keep the dogs out. The plants are starting to weave their way through the fencing now so we are going to have to figure something else out.


I've also decided to clear out an area of our yard and I'm going to plant corn, more watermelon, cantaloupe, maybe some more peas and a green pepper.

Here is the area I'm clearing for that.

When I first started it looked like this

As you can tell our backyard is a big, nasty jumbled mess so I'm so excited to see what I can do with it this year. I've always wanted to grow a garden, I just never gave it a try. Apparently this year I felt the need to really go for it. I can't wait to just go out back and grab corn on the cob for dinner!

Oh, and here are my new little friends. I turned one of my wine barrels into a fish pond. We started out with 9 fish and are down to 5. I'm hoping these ones survive okay. It's so nice when you are working in the backyard to hear the sound of the fountain going.

The Prayer Americans Refuse To Pray

Pastor Francis Chan of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.

Trust

"Your baby will die immediately upon birth", the doctor said.

"The fluid in your baby's brain is growing rapidly, you do have other options"

"Your baby's face is severely deformed as are her hands"

"The outlook is grim, don't make plans for her"

(Mother' Day, the day Bethany did not think would happen)

I listened to those words, instead of these powerful ones:

I will give her a future and a hope, plans to prosper her (Jeremiah 29:11).

Or how about my most favorite verses of all, Psalm 139

For you created McKenzie's inmost being;

you knit her together in Bethany's womb.

I praise you because McKenzie is fearfully and WONDERFULLY made;

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

McKenzie's frame was not hidden from you

when she was made in the secret place.

When McKenzie was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw her unformed body.

All the days ordained for McKenzie were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

I wish I wasn't so easily swayed. I wish my doubt didn't always creep in so hard and fast. I'm thankful that I have this beautiful little girl in my life to remind me that I don't need to be in control that I just need to trust God for the ride.

She will be 7 months old on Friday! McKenzie had her cleft lip surgery yesterday, and I would say it was successful.

She was beautiful before, and she's breathtaking now. I am thankful I get to be a small part of her journey. The plans ordained for her are going to be amazing to watch unfold. Her personality shines through in every circumstance. She's not able to completely smile yet, I'm sure it will be a few days, but we can't stop staring at her, just waiting to see. You can bet, there will be more pictures soon. She is done with surgeries for awhile and we are so happy.

Doing Hard Things

I've started reading Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, and while it's directed at teens, it is hitting me right where it hurts. I've avoided hard things for much of my life, and missed out on many years of rewards as a result.

Here is the book's official description:

The next generation stands on the brink of a "rebelution."

With over 16 million hits to their website TheRebelution.com, Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge in a growing movement of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing to "do hard things" for the glory of God.

Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins' revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential.

Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.

Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.

Had my teen years been the launching pad described here, I can't imagine where I might be. I'm still toying around with the same ideas I was in high school, usually paralyzed by the fear of failure when I think of stepping out and trying anything new. Now, a teen pregnancy, early marriage and four kids later, I've found myself firmly planted in my 30's and wondering how I got here so fast.

My hard things involve career choices, lifestyle changes, and personally radical choices for God. I'm planning an all-out assault on complacency and excuses, in whatever form that assault eventually takes. God is stirring in my heart a compassion for the unborn and the women trapped in the lie of a convenient escape, for the desperately poor in Third World nations, for the persecuted and underground church around the world, and living a life clearly marked as different from that of the world. I'm excited to see what God has in store.

As a side note, do you think he has a visit with Kris in the future for me?! That would be pretty cool too.