2013 will go down as a not-so-stellar blogging year.
2013 went so fast and I suspect 2014 will fly by at the same speed.
We ended this year going to see Ray Vander Laan in Midland, Texas. We had so much fun and learned so much. He really reignited the flame to be in God's word and dig in deep, to ask myself as I read God's story, what does it reveal to me from God. To know that God wants us to intimately not just know the story, but to join His story. Be the message, not just bring the message.
Our friends Becky and Shawn rode with us and stayed in the same hotel as we did. It was so nice to catch up with them and then to talk about all of the stuff we learned while at the conference.
We had some other friends who went along as well and it was so encouraging. I love the people God has put in our lives; the ones who stretch you and make you try to understand just a little deeper; the ones who ask you why you believe that or where do you get your information from; the ones who encourage and help to fan the flame of digging into God's word AND applying it life.
Lisa and Katie had a great time also. I was wondering if they would be bored, but they were not. In fact, we had to sit in the first row for the entire conference.
The front row. The entire time.
Katie was in line to ask questions during every break there was. RVL is sending them a couple of tassels for them to wear. They are very excited for those to come in the mail. He said that he takes seniors who just graduated from high school to Israel every summer and both girls could come along when they graduate. How awesome would that be?
We learned that Christians treat the Bible like it is two stories: Old Testament and New Testament. But it is really one continuous story. We learned to ask ourselves as we did deeper: why do I need to know this, where does it link, is there a connection?
RVL compared Mark 4:35-41 to the story of Jonah. Jonah was asleep, Jesus was asleep, guys get Jonah up, disciples get Jesus up, Jonah was running away from his mission, Jesus was going towards His-Decapolis. Then Jesus calmed the storm. The disciples must have thought of Psalm 107:28-29 "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed." Of course, RVL does a much better job and had lots of insight to add, so this is just a feeble attempt to get my notes more organized :-)
There are so many more....to be continued.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
A December Walk at the Ranch
Dad, Lisa and Katie on the hill at the ranch.
Walking with dad to check on feeders.
Jogging when possible.
Stopping in at Grandpa Baker's and saying "hi".
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Christmas 2013: Simplicity
Merry Christmas
This Christmas season has been marked by simplicity. We didn't mail out cards this year, didn't put any ornaments on the tree, except for 7 names of Jesus. This Christmas season finds us about to move. We will be living in an apartment for 3 months and then moving into our "new" home. We are calling our apartment living and "adventure". Our adventure begins January 6.
We weren't planning on moving. But doors opened and we just kept moving forward. Our home was on the market for only 1 day when we got a contract on it. We can't move into the other home until March because the people living in will not be moving until mid-March. They are building a home in North Texas to live closer to family. The husband in this family has been a patient of Mike's for three years. They live here in Shavano Park, so we are staying here, just moving to the other side of the street. The people buying our home wanted to be in it before Christmas, but there was just no way we could manage that.
With a move comes cleaning out and purging. It forced us to go through all of mom's stuff that had been sitting up in the garage for 5 years. It was time.
It is a good feeling to live simply. I have heard Mike say many times "loose grip, loose grip." That has been our motto along with "We can't take it with us"--meaning eternally. Seriously, would we want too? We come into this world with nothing...not even clothes, but yet sometimes I place such value on things.
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14
Loose grip.
Simplicity.
Wisdom.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Summer Recap 2013
School begins in two weeks and we have two middle- schoolers. Wow.
Here is our summer 2013 recap (not in any sort of order, just how it popped into my head):
This summer Lisa ran in a track club. We all benefited from it, but it made for long weekdays. She had practice M-Th from 6-8 pm. I logged over 72 running (OK more like jogging) miles the month of July. Pretty good since I am not training for anything in particular. Mike is training for a rim2rim2rim (R2R2R) at the Grand Canyon in November with Brandon and some other guys. It is motivational to have something to work towards, or at least have somebody in the family working towards something :-)
Katie played basketball this summer. Her games were every Wednesday for 7 weeks at 8 pm usually. Thankfully, track practice was at a high school and BB was at a middle school 1 mile away.
It made for a busy but physically active summer. I am extremely thankful for our health and that God has given us the ability to run and walk. In my job, I review all of the mortality for the hospital system, so I am reminded everyday how precious our lives are and that health is a gift from God. We honor God not only in the food we choose to eat, but also in maintaining an active lifestyle. That is not to say we can control every disease or sickness that happens to us, but it really helps me keep food in perspective. With that being said, I am on day 8 of doing the whole 30 plan again. I did it back in January and it was awesome. I kept it up for February and then started eating more bread products. So back to lots of veggies, lean proteins and fruit. No sweets/white foods/processed food. I feel more energetic and headaches have pretty much disappeared (I had a really bad migraine a couple of weeks ago--so bad that it caused capillaries in my eye to burst--not fun). When I eat healthy, the whole family does too--imagine that!
Lisa got to sew at Threads of Love with our friend Sheila on Tuesdays throughout the summer. She made little outfits for the premature babies in the NICU's around San Antonio. She would hang out with all of these ladies with tons of sewing experience and learn from them the fine art of sewing. She is very creative and the ladies loved having her around. She also went on a mission trip with our church to an area of San Antonio where homes needed lots of work and people needed the love of Christ shown. Her experience was a good one and her pictures were hysterical--for example: stray cats and dogs, the food they ate, the showers they used...Oh the world through the eyes of a teenager.
Katie and Lisa both volunteered at VBS. This same week Evie, Lisa's best friend, came and stayed with us for the week. Her mom Beth, one of my closest friends, came down with Lawton and they stayed with us for a few days. It was so much fun and so uplifting.
Mike took the girls snorkeling at Canyon lake and Landa Park a few times this summer. They loved it. We are thinking about a Caribbean vacation next summer that would involve a beach and snorkeling.
We did go to the coast for a long weekend. We met Brandon, Lisa and their 4 girls and had a great time.
We have been having a wonderful summer with our small group. I have been leading the preteens/teens through a Bible study called Follow Me by David Platt. The adults are going through Ray Vanderlaan's "In the Dust of the Rabbi" and the little one's are being read "The Little Pilgrim's Progress" by one of the adults. It is awesome.
I also took both girls (individually) through Passport to Purity. It is a CD kit from Family Life that I highly recommend. It was a Friday evening and Saturday until about 3 pm (It is recommended for 6th graders, moms take daughters through it and dads take their sons). We listened to the CD's and had discussions and also had projects to complete and then I ended it at James Avery where they picked out a ring. Their first ring. I had it packaged and brought it home where Mike got the opportunity to talk to his daughter about how we are responsible to teach her and help her set boundaries in her relationships, how Christ should have preeminence in her life and how He wants her to remain pure until she is married. He then put the ring on her finger and said that the next man to put a ring on that finger will be her future husband.
Cue the tears.
Oh. My. Goodness. Wasn't it just yesterday we were rocking them to sleep?
Here is our summer 2013 recap (not in any sort of order, just how it popped into my head):
This summer Lisa ran in a track club. We all benefited from it, but it made for long weekdays. She had practice M-Th from 6-8 pm. I logged over 72 running (OK more like jogging) miles the month of July. Pretty good since I am not training for anything in particular. Mike is training for a rim2rim2rim (R2R2R) at the Grand Canyon in November with Brandon and some other guys. It is motivational to have something to work towards, or at least have somebody in the family working towards something :-)
Katie played basketball this summer. Her games were every Wednesday for 7 weeks at 8 pm usually. Thankfully, track practice was at a high school and BB was at a middle school 1 mile away.
It made for a busy but physically active summer. I am extremely thankful for our health and that God has given us the ability to run and walk. In my job, I review all of the mortality for the hospital system, so I am reminded everyday how precious our lives are and that health is a gift from God. We honor God not only in the food we choose to eat, but also in maintaining an active lifestyle. That is not to say we can control every disease or sickness that happens to us, but it really helps me keep food in perspective. With that being said, I am on day 8 of doing the whole 30 plan again. I did it back in January and it was awesome. I kept it up for February and then started eating more bread products. So back to lots of veggies, lean proteins and fruit. No sweets/white foods/processed food. I feel more energetic and headaches have pretty much disappeared (I had a really bad migraine a couple of weeks ago--so bad that it caused capillaries in my eye to burst--not fun). When I eat healthy, the whole family does too--imagine that!
Lisa got to sew at Threads of Love with our friend Sheila on Tuesdays throughout the summer. She made little outfits for the premature babies in the NICU's around San Antonio. She would hang out with all of these ladies with tons of sewing experience and learn from them the fine art of sewing. She is very creative and the ladies loved having her around. She also went on a mission trip with our church to an area of San Antonio where homes needed lots of work and people needed the love of Christ shown. Her experience was a good one and her pictures were hysterical--for example: stray cats and dogs, the food they ate, the showers they used...Oh the world through the eyes of a teenager.
Katie and Lisa both volunteered at VBS. This same week Evie, Lisa's best friend, came and stayed with us for the week. Her mom Beth, one of my closest friends, came down with Lawton and they stayed with us for a few days. It was so much fun and so uplifting.
Mike took the girls snorkeling at Canyon lake and Landa Park a few times this summer. They loved it. We are thinking about a Caribbean vacation next summer that would involve a beach and snorkeling.
We did go to the coast for a long weekend. We met Brandon, Lisa and their 4 girls and had a great time.
We have been having a wonderful summer with our small group. I have been leading the preteens/teens through a Bible study called Follow Me by David Platt. The adults are going through Ray Vanderlaan's "In the Dust of the Rabbi" and the little one's are being read "The Little Pilgrim's Progress" by one of the adults. It is awesome.
I also took both girls (individually) through Passport to Purity. It is a CD kit from Family Life that I highly recommend. It was a Friday evening and Saturday until about 3 pm (It is recommended for 6th graders, moms take daughters through it and dads take their sons). We listened to the CD's and had discussions and also had projects to complete and then I ended it at James Avery where they picked out a ring. Their first ring. I had it packaged and brought it home where Mike got the opportunity to talk to his daughter about how we are responsible to teach her and help her set boundaries in her relationships, how Christ should have preeminence in her life and how He wants her to remain pure until she is married. He then put the ring on her finger and said that the next man to put a ring on that finger will be her future husband.
Cue the tears.
Oh. My. Goodness. Wasn't it just yesterday we were rocking them to sleep?
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Mom Stuff
My girls are growing so fast. Lisa is about to turn 13 in a few weeks. How can this be?
It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms as an infant and now she is a young lady.
There are some things she does that really crack us up. She adores her daddy. She thinks he is the coolest dad around (unless she is in trouble). She thinks he is hilarious and will copy word for word what he just said, laugh and say "that is so funny". Mike and I just look at each other and can hardly keep the laughter in.
I taught her how to shave her legs last week. She didn't want to learn and that warmed my heart. But there comes a time in life when a girl needs to learn how to shave her legs and this was the time. I showed her on about one inch of her leg and she took it from there and got into it. Then she exclaimed "My legs are soooo soft. This is great." She may have said the word "Coolio" a few times. I think that means cool.
Katie is at an in between phase in growing up. She is still a little girl, but is rapidly maturing into a young lady. In our society it is a challenge to keep them from growing up too fast. I love that she still likes to play with her stuffed animals (along with the cats whom they dress up in doll clothes).
It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms as an infant and now she is a young lady.
There are some things she does that really crack us up. She adores her daddy. She thinks he is the coolest dad around (unless she is in trouble). She thinks he is hilarious and will copy word for word what he just said, laugh and say "that is so funny". Mike and I just look at each other and can hardly keep the laughter in.
I taught her how to shave her legs last week. She didn't want to learn and that warmed my heart. But there comes a time in life when a girl needs to learn how to shave her legs and this was the time. I showed her on about one inch of her leg and she took it from there and got into it. Then she exclaimed "My legs are soooo soft. This is great." She may have said the word "Coolio" a few times. I think that means cool.
Katie is at an in between phase in growing up. She is still a little girl, but is rapidly maturing into a young lady. In our society it is a challenge to keep them from growing up too fast. I love that she still likes to play with her stuffed animals (along with the cats whom they dress up in doll clothes).
Lisa is getting confirmed next week. She will take her first communion and will verbalize for herself her faith and trust in our Lord. For Confirmation we let Lisa pick out her own Bible. She picked out an HCSB Study Bible and we had her name engraved on it. We picked it up today and she was thrilled. My prayer is that she has a passion and is on fire for God, His Word and continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:13)
This is a picture of Lisa and Ellie (with Pastor Tucker) when they acolyted together a couple of weeks ago. Lisa got the privilege to acolyte for the Good Friday service. Our Good Friday service is one of my favorite services of the year. The Pastors each take Jesus's words from the cross and do a devotional on it. The lights get dimmer throughout the entire service until the end when it is very dark. There is no benediction, everybody just leaves in silence. She said that at the very end after the pastors finished stripping the alter, her and the other acolyte got to go up to the alter with the pastors, bow and leave. She felt so humble and started to cry. We came home and she got to watch The Passion of the Christ for the first time. We all cry during that movie--because we know it is more than just a movie--it was payment for our sins--and we really cannot grasp the depth of it.
We asked her what she thought of it afterwards and she said with tears streaming down her face, "It was horrible."
Yes, sweet girl, it was. But this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:16
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Stress and Philippians 4
Today at church we started a new sermon series. Actually they started it last week but that was Easter and we went to the sunrise service, so we missed out on the actual first sermon for this series. I may go back and listen to it. Anyway, yesterday I posted that I may write out Philippians when I finish the Psalms because I felt like I was lacking in the joy department.
Well today's sermon was just for me. Funny how God does things like that!
Philippian 4:4-13
Well today's sermon was just for me. Funny how God does things like that!
Philippian 4:4-13
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(As a side note: Biblegateway.com does not have the NIV 1984 version anymore. Mike sent a note to them for which they have not yet replied.) The following are notes from our sermon and ABC class.
Our sermon series is: Illusion: The Devil's Deceptions Revealed. Today's topic-Stress
Stress affects us mentally, physically, spiritually. Two illusions of stress is that all stress is bad and there is nothing you can do about stress. There is good stress (eustress). It is the zone where stress causes good performance. Too little and we slack, too much and we get distressed.
Background: Paul is in Caesar's jail, which was like maximum security prison. He was waiting for his trial to be in front of Emperor Nero. Paul was under stress. The Philippian's at this time were not under stress. They were experiencing an economic boom, there was lots of agriculture, they were living the easy life. Why would Paul want to write them a letter about stress? Because a day would come and they would be stressed.
Seven stress relievers from Philippians 4:
1. It begins with attitude. "Rejoice". It is a command--it is about perspective. We could lose everything here on earth, but we still have the Lord--and eternal life. Rejoice is also present tense in the greek language--rejoice right now. In the greek, rejoice is plural--it is like us saying "y'all rejoice".
2. Slow down. Let your gentleness be evident (in the NIV 1984 it does say gentleness). Pastor had us touch our eye. He noted that nobody went at it full force, but did it gently. The faster we go, the less gentle we become. I do like the word reasonableness in ESV.
3. Pray. That is the antidote for stress. Prayer is a gift from God. "Present" our requests to God. In ABC the illustration was about re-gifting--present.
4. Take control of your thoughts. "guard your hearts and minds" Guard-phroureo-a detachment of Roman soldiers. The Philippians had soldiers stationed around the city. They felt safe. Be in God's Word.
5. Solve problems, don't marinate in them. In verse 8-9 Paul list's some gifts: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy...think about such things. It was brought to my attention that this list is not stress free. In our culture standing up for truth can be stressful. Living a pure lifestyle goes against our cultural beliefs. Who are we going to stand up before on the final judgment day? The world or God? (uhmm....that would be God).
6. Practice contentment. The Philippian's were people who cared and prayed for Paul. V18 states that he received the gifts they sent and was amply supplied. When I am stressed, is there someone who helps? Yes, my husband, my sister, my friends, my church family, even counselors if need be.
7. I belong to God. I need Christ's strength. There is this philosophy called Stoic Philosophy that people believe "I can do it on my own". Been there, done that. It never ends up pretty.
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(As a side note: Biblegateway.com does not have the NIV 1984 version anymore. Mike sent a note to them for which they have not yet replied.) The following are notes from our sermon and ABC class.
Our sermon series is: Illusion: The Devil's Deceptions Revealed. Today's topic-Stress
Stress affects us mentally, physically, spiritually. Two illusions of stress is that all stress is bad and there is nothing you can do about stress. There is good stress (eustress). It is the zone where stress causes good performance. Too little and we slack, too much and we get distressed.
Background: Paul is in Caesar's jail, which was like maximum security prison. He was waiting for his trial to be in front of Emperor Nero. Paul was under stress. The Philippian's at this time were not under stress. They were experiencing an economic boom, there was lots of agriculture, they were living the easy life. Why would Paul want to write them a letter about stress? Because a day would come and they would be stressed.
Seven stress relievers from Philippians 4:
1. It begins with attitude. "Rejoice". It is a command--it is about perspective. We could lose everything here on earth, but we still have the Lord--and eternal life. Rejoice is also present tense in the greek language--rejoice right now. In the greek, rejoice is plural--it is like us saying "y'all rejoice".
2. Slow down. Let your gentleness be evident (in the NIV 1984 it does say gentleness). Pastor had us touch our eye. He noted that nobody went at it full force, but did it gently. The faster we go, the less gentle we become. I do like the word reasonableness in ESV.
3. Pray. That is the antidote for stress. Prayer is a gift from God. "Present" our requests to God. In ABC the illustration was about re-gifting--present.
4. Take control of your thoughts. "guard your hearts and minds" Guard-phroureo-a detachment of Roman soldiers. The Philippians had soldiers stationed around the city. They felt safe. Be in God's Word.
5. Solve problems, don't marinate in them. In verse 8-9 Paul list's some gifts: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy...think about such things. It was brought to my attention that this list is not stress free. In our culture standing up for truth can be stressful. Living a pure lifestyle goes against our cultural beliefs. Who are we going to stand up before on the final judgment day? The world or God? (uhmm....that would be God).
6. Practice contentment. The Philippian's were people who cared and prayed for Paul. V18 states that he received the gifts they sent and was amply supplied. When I am stressed, is there someone who helps? Yes, my husband, my sister, my friends, my church family, even counselors if need be.
7. I belong to God. I need Christ's strength. There is this philosophy called Stoic Philosophy that people believe "I can do it on my own". Been there, done that. It never ends up pretty.
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Already on Psalm 139 and Other Things
Psalm 139
1 O Lord, You have searched me and You know me
{most literal translation: You have searched me and you know.}
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. (about those thoughts from afar Lord....)
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. (help me change those all too familiar ways that are not pleasing to You)
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. (put a guard on my mouth Lord--even my tone of voice)
5 You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me. (so comforting)
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (I would mess it up)
13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully (unique) made; Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well {ESV version says 'My soul knows it very well'--I love that}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am currently writing out Psalm 139. I cannot believe that I will probably finish writing out the Psalms within the next month. I started this journey last May and it has been a wonderful experience. I am kind of sad to see it that it is coming to an end, but am looking forward to whatever else God has in store for me to do. I have been thinking of possibly writing out/memorizing Philippians. I have been a little lacking in the joy department lately.
I am facilitating an evening women's Bible study at church. It just started this past Thursday and it is a new experience for me. There are about 18 ladies who are going to join me for the next 6 weeks as we study Jonah--Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. On our first evening (which was just 2 evenings ago), we didn't break up into small groups (we will next week), so I had the ladies introduce themselves and say a little about themselves or any thoughts on the video we had just watched. I think it helped to bring about a spirit of being sisters in Christ.
Lisa and Katie are already in the last quarter of the school year. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I told Mike the other day that we are in a "sweet spot" with the girls. They are old enough to stay home by themselves for short periods of time and we don't have to worry about them driving off or any of their friends driving on over.
We are giving them a little bit more responsibility and teaching them how to do stuff for themselves--stuff they will need to know how to do when they go to college. Mike is better at that than me. I know they need to learn by doing this stuff, sometimes it is easier to just do it myself-- it is something I am learning along the way--giving up control.
What difference does it make how the dishes are loaded in the dishwasher or how the towels are folded or any number of ways I am set in my ways?
Will they remember a nagging mom or will they remember an encouraging one?
Will they remember a mom who kept a spotless house or embraced a warm home?
Will they remember a mom who loved their daddy?
Will they remember a mom who loved Jesus?
Mike continues to adjust to "retirement" without any problems. He also has A's in his two classes he is taking (advanced A&P and Law & Ethics). Next will be advanced pharmacotherapeutics.
First he will have to learn how to spell it. :-)
1 O Lord, You have searched me and You know me
{most literal translation: You have searched me and you know.}
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. (about those thoughts from afar Lord....)
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. (help me change those all too familiar ways that are not pleasing to You)
4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. (put a guard on my mouth Lord--even my tone of voice)
5 You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me. (so comforting)
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. (I would mess it up)
13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully (unique) made; Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well {ESV version says 'My soul knows it very well'--I love that}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am currently writing out Psalm 139. I cannot believe that I will probably finish writing out the Psalms within the next month. I started this journey last May and it has been a wonderful experience. I am kind of sad to see it that it is coming to an end, but am looking forward to whatever else God has in store for me to do. I have been thinking of possibly writing out/memorizing Philippians. I have been a little lacking in the joy department lately.
I am facilitating an evening women's Bible study at church. It just started this past Thursday and it is a new experience for me. There are about 18 ladies who are going to join me for the next 6 weeks as we study Jonah--Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. On our first evening (which was just 2 evenings ago), we didn't break up into small groups (we will next week), so I had the ladies introduce themselves and say a little about themselves or any thoughts on the video we had just watched. I think it helped to bring about a spirit of being sisters in Christ.
Lisa and Katie are already in the last quarter of the school year. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I told Mike the other day that we are in a "sweet spot" with the girls. They are old enough to stay home by themselves for short periods of time and we don't have to worry about them driving off or any of their friends driving on over.
We are giving them a little bit more responsibility and teaching them how to do stuff for themselves--stuff they will need to know how to do when they go to college. Mike is better at that than me. I know they need to learn by doing this stuff, sometimes it is easier to just do it myself-- it is something I am learning along the way--giving up control.
What difference does it make how the dishes are loaded in the dishwasher or how the towels are folded or any number of ways I am set in my ways?
Will they remember a nagging mom or will they remember an encouraging one?
Will they remember a mom who kept a spotless house or embraced a warm home?
Will they remember a mom who loved their daddy?
Will they remember a mom who loved Jesus?
Mike continues to adjust to "retirement" without any problems. He also has A's in his two classes he is taking (advanced A&P and Law & Ethics). Next will be advanced pharmacotherapeutics.
First he will have to learn how to spell it. :-)
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