.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So, throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.


-Mark Twain-


so glad i had the privilege of caring for my dad the last 2.5 months of his life. it was not an easy time, but God is good and provides the wisdom (usually not before just the moment you need it) and strength (again, when you need it most and think you can't keep going on) to do what He asks you to do. i'm sure my dad is enjoying heaven: the place he couldn't wait to see, with his Lord and Saviour.

we miss you dad.

the day that ended the posting

this is it. it was a wednesday and we were scheduled to get our church pics done at 1pm. it was the only time we could get all of us together with karis' work schedule and other commitments.

have you ever read this book ? yea. well. it was worse than that. i came home and laid in the hammock, took that picture and thought of the blog post i would write. and when it came down to it, i decided sleep was more important. and i spent days after that just trying to keep my head above water. only with 7 kids and a husband, 2 dogs and 2 elderly in-laws across the street demanding vying for my attention, i got out of the blogging habit. i'm all about rhythm and routine. and lots of sleep.

fast forward 6 weeks, and i already regret not posting the memories my kids have made these past few weeks. some firsts for kids and us as parents, easter, letterboxing, quitting jobs, getting new ones....lots going on. we'll get caught up soon.

(not my original post. that one got deleted while i was out delivering girls to babysit. but now my brain is gone... so this will have to do)

on today's agenda

*edited 9:37 pm* nick tested negative for strep. the doctor thinks it's swine flu, though they didn't do the bloodwork (the test is not accurate, and her daughter had it with the exact same symptoms). his fever is down some tonight and he had enough energy to take a shower! romeo has a fever too (apparently from inflammation in his pelvis), got a shot for pain and is on two different pain killers for an apparent bruised tail bone. that will teach him to run away late on a sunday night in the dark, even if it was a full moon.

6:30 wake up/work out/shower and dress

7:40 greet makenna at the door, wake up big girls

8:30 take nick's temp. he can't talk and he looks terrible (it's 103* again. in spite of fever reducing medicine)

9-12 mops (mothers of preschoolers). thankfully i'm not speaking this morning. karis, makenna and olivia go with me. karis drives (still not quite used to that....)

(cancelled nick's oral surgeon check up appt. so i can)
1:15 take nick to doctor for his continuing 103* fever, now accompanied by a throat so sore he cannot speak or get out of bed

4:00 take romeo to the vet since he hasn't walked normally since sunday night (something appears to be wrong between his back legs. he keeps his tail tucked in and won't let me touch it or look at it.) he can hardly do the stairs and doesn't get up from his spot in the sun.

juliet is worried sick.

(picture from last year, raking florida neighbor mr. jim's leaves)

5:30 feed everyone something for dinner. it was supposed to be meatloaf, but i used that ground beef for the world series taco party we had saturday night (when the yankees won!) when we had more people than i originally planned. wishing now i had quickly gone to the store to replace that meatloaf meat....

6:00-9 take haley to gymnastics, pick up her two friends cody and karis from church to take with us. drop them off.

_____ guess what time i'll get to bed tonight? and how many kids will have a heinz list (catch-up school work) from the kind of day their teacher had?

glitches

there have been some major glitches with the sale of our home. it is exhausting and extremely emotionally draining to deal with. not to mention we will have no money left when it's all said and done. would you please pray for us to work things out, be sensitive to God's timing and to not be bitter in the process? all miracles indeed, immeasurable grace needed. thanks.

new life

i love working outside.
we have great soil here.
3 days is all it took to bring new life to long neglected flower beds and landscaping.
all a reminder of the long awaited promise of new life in Christ.
He makes all things new.
indeed.

time moves on

today karis goes to her last prom in high school.
she graduates in 4 weeks.
haley celebrates her 17th birthday in 2 weeks.
where has the time gone?
the saying is true when you're deep in child raising:

"the days are long but the years are short."

hug those babies

(train track in montreat, nc)

we studied nature

we found a bird's nest (empty)
we wonder how long ago they made it


it was in this box in the garage!
to the best of our knowledge, the door has been closed for 3.5 months.
but the pool guy and the neighbor have access.
hope the birds weren't too discouraged all that work for nothing.

guess who's coming to town?

http://lancasterndp.com/

got hope?

(impatient me, brought some forsythia in to force it to bloom early. isn't it lovely?)

as a graduate of lancaster bible college, i had the privilege of learning the school song by heart by the end of my time there. it has come in handy the past few years, and especially this past year when i lost the hope of having more children due to an unexpected hysterectomy last summer at the age of 41, i lost the hope of educating my children after 10+ years of homeschooling when we enrolled them in public school and i wondered if we would ever see our hope of returning back to our roots and our parents come to fruition (we had been praying about it for over 3 years).

so i sang this song often, and reminded myself (and anyone around to listen, usually the dogs or pete) that my hope is in the Lord. simply in Him. not in how often i get to be a mom, or where my kids primarily get their education, or even where my husband has a job.
the song? here are the lyrics:

my hope is in the Lord
who gave Himself for me
and paid the price of all my sin at calvary

refrain: for me, He died
for me, He lives
and everlasting life and light
He freely gives.

no merit of my own
His anger to suppress,
my only hope is found in Jesus' righteousness

refrain again

and now for me He stands
before my Father's throne
He shows His wounded hands and names me as His own.

refrain once more

His grace has planned it all
tis mine but to believe
and recognize His work of love and Christ receive.

refrain final time.

got hope?

casting

i'm currently working on knitting a scarf to match my carolina blue coat and black hat/gloves.
it wasn't easy to find yarn exactly like i had in mind, but eventually i did.
and when i cast on those 25 times, i thought of the verse,
"cast your cares on Him, for He cares for you."

ever think about that?

when you cast on for a knitting project, you don't want to take it back.
when you cast a fishing pole, you aim to bring it back altered. with something attached to it.
if you need a physical cast, a liquid is transformed into a protective solid.
casting agents for a play find people to pretend to be someone else.

the Bible talks about casting often:

• casting crowns
• casting lots
• perfect love casts out fear
• casting out demons
• better to be cast into the sea than cause a little one to sin
• casting into fire
• casting off all pity
• casting down righteousness
• casting sins to the depth of the sea

(there's more. go here for a free trial of my new favorite study bible through march 31).

is there something you need to cast on Him today and replace/transform it with His peace, His love, His Sovereignty/Holiness......

as for me, i'm casting my cares of clutter that is not mine (and i can't do anything about), school concerns (that are out of my control), fighting against principalities/spiritual forces (oh yes, it is real and we are going through it as a f a m i l y), and timing on the sale of our home (Lord Jesus, come quickly!)

if i can add yours to my prayer list, i would love to. comment or email privately.

you are loved!
jeremiah 31:3

8 weeks

it's been 8 weeks since we arrived here in the land of in-laws.
so let's list 8 things we've learned/remembered the past 8 weeks.

1. friends really are friends forever when the Lord's the Lord of them.

2. as fun as winter is, it makes you look forward to spring.

3. it is not fun to share a 10 x 11 room with 2 small children.

4. offer everything to God.

5. be still and know

6. give thanks

7. refuse self-pity

8. turn your energies toward the satisfaction not of your own needs but of others

(those last 4 come from a list by elisabeth elliot of 6 things that, if done in faith, can be the way to ressurrection)

i love flowers

i will miss camelias. they don't grow in the north.
i look forward to flower and vegetable gardening this spring/summer.
i hope we will have our own place by then.
it's so hard to plan when you don't know what the plan is!
but we trust fully in the Planner. He is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
happy worship tomorrow!

choose wisely

good things over at the shepherd press blog concerning choosing friends and social networking sites like facebook. facebook and friends is a great, biblical treatise on what is a real friend. i refuse to do facebook (introvert that i am) for the very same reasons that my brother/others *do* facebook (we can look up kids from 3rd grade! every person we ever dated can catch up with our lives as middle aged people! all 400 of our closest friends can know our status at any given moment!). but i let my kids do it to alleviate the guilt i occasionally feel for making them move 5 times in 13 years. it's a great way for them to keep in touch with cousins as well as friends, and it sure is fun to log in on their accounts and see those pictures of my brother that his 3rd grade friends still have around and have scanned in.

however, i have many concerns. i can't possibly police every comment written on their walls, or that they write on their friends' walls. i don't know many of their contacts. and is it a good use of time? after all, it's "just facebook." i can hear my teenagers now. i want them to read these articles and sit and have an intelligent discussion with me about them but i'm not sure yet whether it would produce the result i desire. they already have enough attitudes to fight against right now.

one thing is for sure. post only what is helpful is what i strive to document here on the legacy i'm leaving for our kids. if i ever waver from these four basic principles:

1) Be faithful to God and you will be faithful to others.
2) Be brief.
3) Be truthful and factual.
4) Be pleasant and encouraging.

you have my permission to call (comment or email) me on the carpet about it.

(if you're new to blogging, click on the red words to go to the link that i've referred to and on every picture you can click to enlarge. if the picture is too big, right click and click on "view image" and it will calm down to a reasonable size).

so long, farewell.

we sold the piano. i didn't necessarily want to, but knew it was necessary (does that make sense?). we put it on craigslist and it sold within a week. it's a nice young family with 2 daughters, the oldest plays and was ready for more than a keyboard, and her younger sister is following behind. i'm glad someone will love it. i didn't realize the habit i had of walking around the corner and playing a song or two and then moving on. especially since the bigs are all in school.