Beauty~

I had forgotten....

Women are to bring beauty to our 'world'...

"Beauty is an essence that dwells in every woman. It was given to her by God. It was given to you. All beauty speaks of God. For God is nothing if not Beautiful. Simone Weil wrote: "The beauty of the world is almost the only way by which we can allow God to penetrate us... Beauty captivates the senses in order to obtain permission to pass straight through to the soul... The souls' inclination to love beauty is the trap God most frequently uses in order to win it."

God has given beauty to Eve, to every woman. Beauty is core to a woman- who she is and what she longs to be- and one of the most glorious ways we bear the image of God in a broken and often ugly world. How do you bring beauty to your world?

Beauty is the most essential and, yes, the most misunderstood of all the feminine qualities. We want you to hear clearly that it is an essense every woman carries from the moment of her creation. The only things standing in the way of our beauty are our doubts and fears and the hiding and striving we fall to as a result."

(~Captivating, Unvieling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul) 

SO...... how can I bring beauty to my world??? I don't want my children to remember me as the weary unlovely thing I feel... How will they remember me... I need to be what I want them to remember. Lovely, LOVE-ly, as in full of love. I had learned this one... but drifted into a somewhat dispassionate place. My sweet Lord gave me a reminder this a.m., and my husband confirmed when I said I want to remember to bring beauty to our world, he said, yes, that is what I miss. (Me: sad to realize he had noticed... duh, right? They DO notice) He said I had it, he remembered when I was practicing it and then just had it down, without trying. 

HOW DO WE LOSE THE THINGS WE LEARN??? GRRR! Isn't life and seeking to grow difficult enough without LOSING things?!!

It is a fight, isn't it. We are in a battle. This short journey on earth is a battle, but... One Day, one glorious Day, "that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple." (Ps 27:4) Ahhhh, how sweet is my Lord. 

p.s. don't miss the part about our beauty NOT coming from our looks, our clothes, body, etc., our beauty is in our essense, it is about who we are, who we are still becoming. Thank you, Lord, for that one, too. 

Happy Birthday Daisy May-Flower! You are 3 years old! We love ya!

A precious glimpse...

                                                                                   Every once in a while, I catch a glimpse of my babies. On one hand it seems so long ago that they were babies... another lifetime. And my friends and family that are further along in life than I will laugh at me because I am, in all reality, only moments past the baby days. Things hit harder these days as my baby goes through her firsts that are our 'last firsts.' But, all is well. Life is good, I cannot and will not complain. There are things to enjoy and appreciate in each stage. The baby days are precious, but almighty tiring and mine were quite a challenge because I had a sight of growing up of my own to do! (My husband could testify, but he won't, because he is too sweet!) 

Life changes and just when you are in the new groove, it changes again! Often it is a good change, and when it isn't, it could be a great learning opportunity! 

So the pics above, if you couldn't tell, are Phoebe. This morning I fixed her hair in flashback style, I love it! What treasures God gave us in our children.... 

I get flashbacks of Nate when he gets animated and silly, all of the sudden he will do something that flies me back to when he was a little boy. 

And just the other night at dinner, Ellie said something in just the way she used to, and once again I found myself flying back in time to her as a two year old. Ahhhh, mmmmm.... it hurts so good. Sweet memories have a way of making you wish you were back there, don't they? But in all honesty, I do not want to go back. I love my life right where I am. Unless of course, the genie in the bottle says I can go back and re-do it all but as I am now, with the knowledge that I am getting to re-live life, so that I really soak it up and have my perspective straight, you know. I missed so much because I was out of focus. And I don't have to re-learn all those lessons the hard way again! HA!SNORT! So, I'll just enjoy the flashbacks as they come and thank God for them! I do love the idea that we might get to watch home movies with God and He can give us all of the behind-the-scenes. I am sure He has a big ol' bowl of the best popcorn and, of course, M&M's that never run out! (right, Mikey?!) 

Love y'all! XO

Live intentionally!
Life changes,

and GOD IS GOOD!

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Easter 2009

(*I am done struggling with the captions, the spacing is weird and they are a little out of order, but it was wiggin and I can't get it straightened out!*)

AND I forgot that the pics load backwards.... so in reverse order of the day.... 

Here is our Easter.... 

We went to our friends', the Bantas, with a few other families. Delicious food, fun, and lots of laughs! Thanks again Brady and Vicki for another holiday enjoyed with friends! We love you guys! Without friends like these we would drown in our sorrows, being So Far from our family.

 

Riley and her friend, Shelby, (pictured below) straightened Nate's hair again. (pictured above!)

                                             

  

  I grabbed a shot of sweet Vicki, she is usually taking pics and not in them. 

               Two of the Banta girls... Hallie, brunette in pink, is in the same grade as Jacob, and very sweet. Bailee, blond in blue, is in Ellie's class and they are precious friends.   

The family pictured above- the Oyens, Matt, Stacy and their boys. We go to church together and enjoy getting together for laughs as well.  

  

                   Phoebe and Easter egg hunt @ Bantas.
                     Here is Charlie Banta. Quite a charmer.
      I made mocha brownies with powdered sugar stencils for decoration and....
                              Tiramisu Brownie Trifle. :-)
                                Eggs dyed. Check!
 

Morning pics before church. 

A prayer request~

(  Hippie Day at school)
 (Jacob's double-mohawk)
 (Ellie always has a pose)
(and PHOEBE!)
Hey sweet friends and family...

Yesterday we found out that the junior high age son of Phoebe's kindergarten teacher (she is a dear, much-loved teacher of many years) took a truck on a "joy ride" outside of town Tuesday night and lost control of the vehicle and was killed in the accident. 

Just before the school year started, a junior high age daughter of another christian family here, committed suicide. 

In the last couple of years the junior high students were so out-of-control that they lost the priviledge of an open campus at lunch-time. Sexual activity was among the issues

Last summer I was talking with an acquaintance and she asked if we were home-schooling Nathan for junoir high. I said no, we had a peace about sending him to Washington. Surprised, she exclaimed, she couldn't believe we were sending him to that school. 

The enemy has a foothold at the junior high. Without the precious prayer group (http://www.momsintouch.org/) I have been in the last two years, I would be too weak-hearted for this! And even still, we are petitioning our Good and Almighty God for wisdom, if He would have us pull our children out of the public schools that He would make it clear to us. If He would have us continue to be His Light in the darkness, may we, our children, shine brightly for Him and may the only God our Savior be a Shield about them. 

I ask you to pray with us. The children need your prayers. They are out in the battlefield and The Enemy is against them. 

We trust in the Name of the Lord our God, His love is never-ending! 

Thank you and we LOVE you!

Quote of the Day

I bet I could post about every day and sometimes more than once, a cute, funny, or poignant quote from one of my precious children! Not that they are any more cute, funny or amazing than your children in reality, but, of course, they seem so to me! :)

So.....

Phoebe and I took Daisy and Aliese, the little one we babysit,  on a walk and after several blocks, Phoebe said, "Oh my goodness! I have a crap in my leg! My leg is tired and it has a crap in it!" I was smiling and saying what did you say? And then she started saying cramp. I don't know if she even realized, but I get a kick out of those funny little mispronunciations and mistaking one word for another.  Like yesterday when the boys went to the 'shooting range' with John and a friend and Phoebe said 'the shooting lounge.' haha

Have a great day and I hope you don't get a 'crap in your leg!'

XO

WARNING to Friends and Family in ID: These children are growing like crazy! Ellie has several pairs of pants that at the beginning of the year were too long and now they are NOT ROLLED UP ANY MORE!! AAAHH! She has grown like a couple of inches!!!  Phoebe's pants that fit perfectly at the beginning of the year are now serious high-water pants! Nate is continuing to rise above me as his voice sinks lower and lower and Jacob just looks taller, too!!!  They are growing right in front of my eyes! I don't know how you will recognize them! :) Love you! XO

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/04/512-thinking-youre-naked.html

This Stuff Christians Like is a blog I like to check every now and then. He writes some funny and sarcastic posts and some like this (the link above) are very thought-provoking. This one made me want to share! :)

Love ya!

XO

Have a beautiful day.