Catch up

Sometimes life is whizzing by so fast that it is hard to sit and reflect and figure out the deeper meaning because it keeps whizzing by as I am sitting! That is how the past few weeks have been. Part of it is the addition of our new sweet beagle pup, Scout. She is precious. We have all adjusted nicely, and she is well-loved. Thankfully, a new dog has proven much easier than a new baby, and we have all slept nicely and been able to leave her behind when we "go to town". As my friend says, "Yeah, you don't exactly have to worry about their future."

We've been praying a lot for Van's step-dad. He has some serious health issues, and we pray that he regains his strength soon. We also pray for Van's mom as she cares for him.

We pieced together the Resurrection Eggs (12 Easter Eggs that tell the crucifixion story) after years of use and shuffling in the moving process. The children know the story very well, so we were thankful for the Bible teaching that they have had. Avi's understanding shocks me. "He died on the cross to take away our punishments." So true.

While that parenting decision went well, the one of the red Kool-Aid at supper did not. While Van was out on a run, I put the kid's food on the table. Usually we try to eat together, but it was weird timing it with the fun neighborhood girls over. Van and I got to eat together while the kids played, and that was refreshing. Anyway, the red Kool-Aid with the child with the glass bowl on the tablecloth with the puppy tugging at the corner was disasterous. They were all sent outside while I cleaned up (and hollered a lot) so the puppy wouldn't try to eat the food mixed in with the broken glass. Poor Van came home to a scene.

That's what happenened in the last few hours. I'm not sure what we did last month.

Holding on

So much has happened in the last month or so that it will take a while to catch up, but one story that I want to record happened last night. For a couple of months, Cade has been saving up for a pocket knife for when he is "maturre enough". He does this by doing extra chores. Normal chores are things like putting up his clothes, taking out the trash, and taking the new puppy (!) outside. Extra chores are harder things like pulling weeds, vacuuming out the car or sweeping the porch, and they are also used as punishments until enough are given that we can see a change in his heart. They come sporatically because homework and friend time can take a good chunk of time after school. So, Cade had saved up about $5. The book he REALLY wanted at the bookfair that included a description for each one of the Star Wars minifigures AND it included a REAL minifigure was $18. Cade decided that he was not mature enough for a pocket knife, and he would start over saving for it if I could cover the rest of the cost. Sounded good to me! At the bookfair (after an incredible performance of Zane in a PE program) Cade found his book. When it was time for check out for our family, we were trying to navigate him to outside of the library where the line was short. He didn't understand, and started to panic clinging to the book thinking that we were going to leave without it. It was very crowded and very distracting, but he finally trusted us to move outside of the doors of the library to the easier check-out. Reflecting on it later, it made me ask myself what I am holding onto? What area of my life am I not fully trusting in God, panicking, and not wanting to just simply listen and move "outside" my comfort zone?

Downer

The grand ol' Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
and he marched them down again.

And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only half-way up, they were neither up nor down.

I have another virus/infection? Yuck. I'm staying home from church and the activities for the day. I have my very own nebulizer for breathing treatments now, and I have a couple of strong antibiotics. Hopefully, I'll stay out of the hospital. I go to Dallas on Thursday, and I think Van is going to go as well.