4 of 40 – Rescued Link

Posted in blogging, friends, grace by

Day 4 of 40 topic: Friends and Faith.

I didn’t include “friends” on my original plan for 40 days of Family, Faith, and Funnies. But I’m adding it. It’s my game, so I get to make the rules. Here is why I’m adding it… because you need to read this blog written by a friend of ours. Yes, I said need. If you are a parent, it’s a must. And if you’re not, read it anyway.

And so, that is my “blog” today. A link to his blog. Is that cheating to count that as a post for today? I say no, and like I said, it’s my game, so… 🙂 Now go ahead. Click this link and read his story: Rescued by Hope. You’ll be glad you did.

3 of 40 – Human Nature, Humbleness, and Thanks Giving

Posted in Eucharisteo, grace, holidays by

Day 3 Topic: Faith and Family

Do you ever have one of those moments where you think of something that is just so awesome you can’t wait to tell someone? In your mind you build up that moment when you will share it with them, imagining they are so in awe of your awesome idea and your awesomeness in general? No? That’s only happened to me? Hmm. Well, it was kind of me at the beginning of this month. I had this idea that – while not necessarily super awesome or unique – I thought was rather clever. And I was quite proud and excited to share it.

Then I realized a couple things:

  1. I am not so brilliant that this is a brand-new idea. I’m sure thousands of people have done it or something similar. In fact, I know 1,000’s of people have done it before, because I Googled it just now. Lots of people have done it. And way better than I did.
  2. Why is it I want people to think I had such an awesome idea? Am I so proud that I want to be noticed and applauded for an idea or accomplishment? This verse came to mind: “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” ~ Isaiah 5:21  Ouch.
  3. My “clever” idea was just a fun way to remind my kids (and Matt and I) to be thankful each day for the blessings God has provided, to remind us of HIS providence.  I was proud of my idea that was meant to keep us grateful and humble. Oh, the irony.

Human nature is a funny – and frustrating – thing. It’s always there, ready to poke it’s ugly head up at any second. Even in the moments when our spirit desires to bring Glory to God – No, especially in those moments – the desires of the flesh – the longing to be noticed and applauded, in this case – creep in and can take over if we let it. Paul calls that The Law of Sin.  He writes in Romans 7:21 “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” Hmmm…. Sounds like a verse I need to memorize and think about every time I “want to do right.”

Paul goes on (verses 22-24, emphasis my own): For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

But we can’t stop there. Because the next verse, and the first few verses in chapter 8, are the promises of God, the Hope Jesus gives: Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

I’ve written my favorite analogy for this in my Bible next to those verses. (The analogy is not my own, but one I heard first in a sermon, then later in a Freedom in Christ course): The Law of Sin is like the Law of Gravity. Always there. Always pulling us down. But how do overcome such a law? Through a greater law. For gravity, a greater law is the Law of Aerodynamics. For sin, it is the Law of the Spirit.

Yep. Always there. Always pulling me down. How thankful I am for the hope of Jesus. Who gives life and has set me free from the law of sin and death.

Thankful. Which brings me to my “clever” idea. Which 1,000’s of people have already thought of. And which a famous author (Ann Voskamp) already posted just this morning. Only hers is way better than mine. And so is her blog post about the idea.

This is our family’s Thanks Giving Tree (in a blurry pic): Each night in the month of November, we each say something we’re thankful for, write it on a leaf, and hang it on our tree.

We put 1 Chronicles 16:34 next to the tree so we remember to whom we should direct our thanks. Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! Then after hanging the leaves, we thank the Lord for those things we’ve just written.

Annalise is learning to write, so it has been especially fun watching her excitement (most nights) writing her own letters, and sometimes even Jacob’s. Other times, Jacob “writes” his own, with a translation from Mommy.

These leaves say:

  • “Jacob says, ‘Leesie.'” (Next to Jacob’s own scribbles that mean he is thankful for his sister.)
  • “Family” (Annalise’s writing)
  • “A Good Job” (Matt’s)
  • And in the corner on the red leaf, you can see Annalise’s “E” from “Ellia”

Not that I’m keeping track or anything, but Annalise’s first 7 leaves seem to be missing a certain member of her family. So far, she’s been thankful for: 1. Family, 2. Izzy (the dog), 3. Daddy, 4. Jacob. Then she “couldn’t decide between Ellia and Auntie Kye-Kye.” So she picked Ellia first (#5) and “would do Kye-Kye the next night.” Except the next night she forgot and put “my bed.” At least Kye-Kye was considered. Her #7 thing she is thankful for is “Thanksgiving.” I still have 23 days to make the list… Not that I’m keeping track or anything.

My #7 thankful thing? Freedom in Christ. Not the class (although I’m thankful for that, too), but the actual freedom. I don’t have to be “good enough.” I don’t have to “work hard enough.” I can walk freely, a child of God, drawing closer to Him, without guilt, doubt, and worry that I won’t measure up. I don’t have to win the battle over sin, because Jesus has already done that for me. Thanks be to God.

Oh yes, and since Ann Voskamp did the Thanks Giving Tree much better than I did, here is a link to her blog post about it. I just cut out plain leaves from fall colored and textured paper. She actually has a printout with verses of thanksgiving on the back, and you write what you’re thankful for on the front. Genius.

2 of 40 – Halloween Costumes!

Posted in grace, holidays, my boy, my girl by

Day 2 Topic: Family

I never did get around to posting Halloween costumes on Halloween. So this makes for an easy Day 2 of “40 Days of Faith, Family, and Funnies.”

First, I must apologize to all those who share my Ferndale roots. It wasn’t planned, but it just worked out this way…

Yes, that is a Lynden Lion and a Lynden Cheerleader. And yes, they are roaring. Like I said, Ferndale folks… I’m sorry.

He wanted to be a lion. She wanted to be the princess from Brave. I didn’t want to spend $50 on costumes. My favorite consignment store had the lion costume for a couple bucks. She already had the cheerleader costume and was satisfied.

Nearly Free Halloween Costumes = Happy Momma

Happy Momma > Alma Mater Loyalty

Therefore…Nearly Free Halloween Costumes > Alma Mater Loyalty.  It just is.

P.S. I love that right now, as the presidential race results are being televised, my kids are in their room singing at the top of their lungs, “Our God is a GREAT BIG GOD. Our God is a GREAT BIG GOD! Our God is a GREAT BIG GOD, and He HOLDS US IN HIS HANDS!” Thankful for them. Thankful for HIM. Thankful HE is in charge, no matter who is president.

40 Days of Faith, Family, and Funnies

Posted in blogging, Eucharisteo, family outings, holidays, joy found, my boy, my girl, my husband by

I sorta have a love-hate relationship with October.

Love the rain… hate the rain. Love that my girl has a birthday this month, hate that she’s growing up so quickly. Love the fall colors, hate the mud and muddy wet dog. Love feeling in the groove at school, hate feeling like conferences are too soon… how can it be time to prepare already?

And while one of the things I absolutely love about October is the fun family festivities: (going to the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, cozy family nights with hot cocoa, and decorating pumpkin cookies), October ends up being the month I hate the. very. most. for several reasons: the horrific TV previews, creepy disgusting evil things in stores, and political propaganda (which is generally deceitful and/or hateful) everywhere you look. From all the outcry on Facebook posts, I take it I’m not the only one who has had enough.

But ahhhh…. November. The month of thanksgiving. I’m sure thankful this peaceful, filled-with-thanks-and-joy month follows the creepy, filled-with-evil-and-hatred month. It’s certainly refreshing for the soul. And again, from all the Facebook posts of thanks, I take it I’m not the only one who finds the change much needed.

Even so, I decided not to do the “Thirty Days of Thanks” this year. I love reading the posts from others. I did the challenge last year, but I wasn’t good at keeping up at it, and mostly, I’m just not so good at being brief. (Matt just said, “Really? YOU? I never thought of you as someone who has a hard time being brief.” Do you hear his sarcasm even in writing??? Brat.)

But back to the thankful posts. I was inspired by them, and also by a friend who blogged a summary of her day-to-day life each day for 7 days. (She says her life is “average,” but I looked forward to her blog post each and every day.) So I decided to give myself a challenge: Instead of 30 days of Thanks, I will write (or will attempt to write) a brief post each day around the topics that I am most thankful for: Faith, Family, and Funnies (a.k.a. kid antics.) For 40 days. Or until I run out of things to say…

So why 40, you ask? Well, partly because in exactly 40 days, I will be officially on Christmas Break, so the posts will – in a sense – be a count down (or up, rather) to vacation. But honestly, it is mostly because of the alliteration. Yes, I’m that nerdy.

Well… I guess here we go.
Today’s post topic: Family. I was a little behind on my October posts, so this first one is easy.

Pumpkin Carving…

Matt ran to get pizza while the kids and I formed a plan and prepared the pumpkin carving area.

(Super excited kids = not looking at camera and blurry in pic.)

I sliced off the tops while Leesie began to scoop out the innards. She isn’t very thorough, but her hands did get inside each pumpkin (4 large, 5 small). Definitely a good effort.Jacob decided he didn’t like the looks of it and didn’t touch a single pumpkin. (Hmmm. Sounds like another male Priestman I know.) Eventually, I was facing the rest of the family fun task alone. Just me.

Just me and my Christmas music, that is.

Jacob wanted a Mickey Mouse pumpkin (fitting, since he picked out the pumpkin while at the patch with you, Auntie Jill.) The Mickey pattern seemed easy enough. It wasn’t. Or I’m not that good at it. But at least it’s recognizable.

Annalise wanted Rapunzel. A little more detail than Mickey, and the pattern was too large for the pumpkin. She got over the fact that I was cutting length off Rapunzel’s hair, which is really her only identifiable feature in a carving, and settled for the chin-length-hair-generic-princess look. Upon viewing my final product she said with surprise, “Well, it’s better than I thought at least. Thanks, Mom.” Then went back to playing in the other room. I decided against a close-up of this one.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted my pumpkin to be yet, but I had done this with the little pumpkins last year:

I wanted to do something similar this year. I carved out my letters:

By the way, that doesn’t spell HOPET. It is a cross at the end. It was suggested I add some space in between the E and the cross to make it easier to read. Noted.

Two large pumpkins left. I still wasn’t sure what to do with them. The UW logo wasn’t printing for me. The face I drew looked stupid. I decided to do a camera for Matt. The template didn’t work because it made the entire picture come out, leaving a gaping hole. (Don’t they know they have to leave parts connected to the rest of the pumpkin so a picture emerges?) So, I created a masterpiece with the chunk that fell out using my own imagination and about 50 toothpicks to piece it all together. When I was done, I called the family in to look. Matt wasn’t sure what it was. Annalise said, “It’s supposed to be a camera.” Jacob was clearly not impressed. I decided against a close-up of this one, too. And then I decided not to carve the last pumpkin.

The final product was ridiculously awesome, just as long as you squint your eyes and stand at least 20 feet away. But even this close, I think it didn’t turn out too bad, wouldn’t you say? And yes, there is a space between HOPE and the cross.

a

What gender is YOUR food?

Posted in family outings, Food Stuff, joy found, laughter, my boy, my girl by

Jacob has made it known – without actually saying it – that he is a vegetarian. There is not a single meat he will eat, except maybe McDonald’s chicken nuggets, which you can’t really count as meat… or even food. So we avoid those. Which means then that yeah, he eats ZERO meat. I can’t even sneak it into stuff, because he won’t eat something that resembles a casserole or has an ingredient he can’t see. (Neither will his dad, but that’s another story.)

There are very few things Jacob will eat. I’m going to list what I’ve tried so you all know and can give me suggestions, which are welcome. Encouraged, actually:

  • PB sandwiches, plain or with jam usually works. PB with honey? Nope. Unless he’s at Grandma’s.
  • Beans? Sometimes. Re-fried with cheese and sour cream is a success about 50% of the time. Which, let’s face it, 50% of the time is a success. Green beans no more. Whole beans (kidney, black, other) about 10% of the time.
  • Noodles? Never with a capital N.
  • Fruit? Usually – because it’s sweet and sugary.
  • Veggies? Only red, orange, or yellow bell peppers. Not green. The others are sweeter. (But technically, they’re a fruit, too. I won’t get into that, though, since it will likely result in my husband calling me a nerd.)
  • Cheese? If it’s string cheese or Havarti slices from Costco packs. Yes, he’s that picky. Or orange Tillamook cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich.
  • Bagels? Sometimes. With cream cheese usually, but then he sometimes just licks the cream cheese off.
  • Oatmeal? With brown sugar and blueberries. (a.k.a. “Bare-boobies.” For those of you that don’t know that special story, I’ll post it below.)
  • Yogurt? Usually. But not plain greek, which is about the only kind not full of sugary stuff or other junk. (Let me know if you know of a good idea there.)
  • Chips, crackers, fruit snacks and any other processed garbage full of sugar? OF COURSE! Only, we don’t like to buy that stuff, so…

That’s it! Other than that, I’m out of luck. Most of his meals include a PB sandwich and a cheese stick, with hopefully some fruit or bell peppers (not green.)

Today’s lunch menu was a grilled cheese sandwich, a banana, and a glass of milk. I need to go grocery shopping. It was either that or PB, which I get tired of watching him eat.

Annalise and I sat eating ours, while Jacob sat with a scowl. Something like this face he gave to my cousin after being asked to eat a hot dog. (I forgot to inform Andy that Jacob doesn’t eat meat… even hot dogs):a

Yep, that’s my strong-willed little boy. I have no idea where he gets it from.

“Jacob, you need to eat your grilled cheese sandwich, please.” I started gently.

“NOPE! I. NOT. GONNA.” He was a little more firm in his reply.

“But you like grilled-cheese sandwiches! Mommy made you something special that I know you like!”

“Nope, I DO NOT LIKE THEM!”

Annalise, observing the forming struggle turned to me and whispered, “Mommy, you’re calling it a girl–cheese sandwich! No wonder he doesn’t like it!” She turned to her brother, “Jacob! Silly mommy just forgot. MINE is a girl-cheese sandwich. YOURS is a boy-cheese sandwich. Will you eat it now?”

Jacob paused, looked at it for a bit, his furrowed brow softened. And then he laughed, “Silly mommy! I am not a gew-wohl. I will eat my boy-cheese sandwich.”

And he did. Silly me. Dogs eat dog food. Of course boys eat boy food and girls eat girl food. Duh.

 

And now, the blueberry story. In case you didn’t already know:

Jacob loves, loves, LOVES, blueberries. Last year, he asked for them all the time. Only he called them “bare-boobies.” I found it utterly hilarious and laughed every time (like an 8-year old boy… remember? My husband found me awfully immature,) until I found myself in the produce section of Costco with my 1 year old in the cart screaming with excitement while waving his arms, “BARE-BOOBIES!!!!!!!!!!!”  Then I just wanted to crawl under the bananas and die. The end.