Our Thursday Night Pool Party

Zander

Stacia's Favorite Trick (couldn't quite catch it with the delay thing)

Arielle was a big help with Zander when he wanted to go to the big pool

::snort:: I miss sports mode on the Nikon. This may have that, but I've not found it! LOL Picture Zander and Nolan barrelling out of here. Tried to find a new suit for Stacia. She decided at about 7:30 that it was time for the suit to come off. It is a suit from last year. So...we looked. No luck. So far just little bikinis. Don't they make one piece suits for infants any longer??????

~Highlights of the Day ~

Today was another busy day. My poor "to do" list is screaming in anguish and I could be stressed when I think how close our trip is and the THINGS I have to do. BUT - I've chosen not to stress. I thought I'd just share the highlights of the day.

This a.m. Deja and her children helped us sort produce. This was great. It was a small day so we were able to visit face to face. Deja AMAZES me at all she manages to do with her young children. I simply get tired and cranky if I have to leave my house....::snort::

Another highlight of the day was dinner out with two chaplains and their spouses. It was really fun to visit.

BUT - by far the highlight of the day was taking Arielle out for some girl time. We went to Walmart and picked out a gift for one of our chaplain's wives. We picked out some feminine foundation items for someone who is growing up too fast. I REMEMBERED, Bre and Krista, at the last moment not to hold them up to her to measure. We went to Academy and bought her a new swimsuit....and then we went to Coldstone....where we had Bible Study. We are working through *A Girl of Beauty* by Carol Fiddler. This book is written for PRE-TEENS (8-12). I don't have a lot of regrets from raising our girls...but one is that I never quite pulled off the focused one on one time in the word with them that I wanted. Don't get me wrong, Christ was our priority. We did a lot of studies. We did a lot of family studies. The kids cut their teeth on inductive studies. They love the Lord now. The girls attended Precept studies that I led...but I felt I could have done MORE mentoring with them. Maybe all moms feel this way. LOL

It's long been on my heart to have a mother/daughter Bible study...and I've seen glimpses of this. I've had several in my classes go home and teach their children. We've had high school girls attend our Precept classes.....I believe that cross-generational mentoring is very important and missing in most groups....anyway....my weekly meetings with Arielle are a start. We're both going to learn and grow through this simple book. I specifically chose a simple book to start with so that we established a habit and that I didn't blow her away with an inductive overview of the book of Revelation or something. ::snort:: This book focus' on different character traits. A short devotional and then some verses for further study. We're going to go to different venues for our study - special outings for US. Today we sat outside at Coldstone and talked through our lesson. Sure, some folks stared...but I think they were simply envious of the fun we were having. LOL Since I am not leading a study this summer, it seemed like a good time to establish a routine. (Mike is planning similar with the boys. The problem is that HE has 5 at home and they range from 5 - 18; he'll probably have to do 2 nights or something.)

One thing we discussed today that was GOOD is that the author talks a lot about character being something that takes HARD WORK to develop. I understand her point. WE have to make the daily choices that build character. I shared that really the hardest thing is to "let God do His work" (surrender). That HE is willing to give us the strength to make right choices, decisions, and to resist temptation, but that we have to be willing to let him do the work. In adult speak - we have to yield and surrender to the work that He is doing INSIDE us. It was good to get that off my chest; I certainly don't want to create a girl who thinks she must simply try harder to have the image of Christ formed in her life.

I know it's a highlight in Arielle's week too. I talked with Bre tonight. She mentioned that when she asked Arielle what she had done this week Arielle told her all about our Bible Study. YES!

Note:Mike spends lots of times with the girls and I spend lots of time with the boys as well. We also spend lots of time as a family. These are simply special times to bring up issues that they may not bring up with mixed gender around....Precious times. I look forward to more - 8 years more.

Book Review: The Ministry of Motherhood, Ch 9

Chapter Nine Quotes ~ Enough for a - Lifetime A Model of Faith (my thoughts in green)

We're getting comments on Chapters 7 and 8 - so I'm going to go ahead and post some more today. Remember, you can click on the links in the sidebar to read what others are saying and dialogue back and forth, at any time.

We now move to examine "Gift of Faith" in our GIFTS acronym.
"In order to know God and follow His purposes, we must know and understand His word, which is the primary source of our knowledge of Him and His ways. " page 99

OK I could pull some little semantics here and get into a theological discussion - but honestly - the point is well taken. We do NEED to be in the word, to know the God of the Bible and to trust in His character.
Faith Leads us to stake our lives on God's truth as revealed in the word. page 99 I guess I would say that faith leads us to stake our lives on the truth of God's character and nature as revealed in the word.....but yeah - I'm there with this.
After talking about the disciple John, Sally goes on to quote, " Jesus said that this world is passing away, that we will live with him in his kingdom for eternity, but also that eternity starts right now as we establish his spiritual kingdom in our hearts and learn to live with an eternal perspective. " page 105
This is BIG. Do you get it? I remember the first time I heard a pastor explore this view of eternal life - it was a much younger Mike. ::snort:: We studied it out (because I check everyone out when it's something new) and the word tense etc in this passage in John is amazing. It changed me to realize that when Jesus came to bring us eternal life it is not pie in the sky. It's now. He came to give us a life that is characterized by the eternal. That abundant life begins NOW even in the midst of the fading away and decay of our world and society. Cool stuff.
If we teach our children through our actions or instruction, even subtly, that being successful in this world is somehow a measure of their importance and success, then we will miss the point of all the Lord's teaching. We are given one chance to live on earth and the true measure of our success will be our faith, our faithfulness, and our obedience. page 105... If they can keep eternity before their eyes, they will be able to live in hope no matter what happens to them in this life." also page 105
Whew this is good for parents to remember. Maybe, especially homeschooling parents? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this. First this was convicting - ouch. What AM I focusing on with the children? How am I measuring their success? Then, it was encouraging....because I know of some weak areas in my graduates. But THEY LOVE THE LORD WHOLEHEARTEDLY....and the more I thought about it that really is the TRUE measure of success for a Christian, isn't' it? I think that Sally is not saying that you won't focus on excellence, but that you will train your children not to think more highly of themselves than they ought if they excel in things the world considers important. What do you think?
I think the main point of this chapter is to keep eternity before our eyes.
Oops no time to even proofread - gotta go pick up produce.

Book Review: *The Seven Pillars of Health by Dr. Don Colbert*

I first saw this book during the holiday season. I began asking if anyone had read it and no one had. Then, Dr. Colbert came to a local church one weekend. His wife hosted a seminar the next day. Church leaders were invited. My friend Tricia and I went. (*Note Tricia is not Trish and doesn't like to be called Trish either - ah my confusion). Advanced copies of this book were given to everyone who attended.

I read this book to "keep the conversation going", as my dietitian says. She explained that it is important for me to keep the principles of healthy eating in the forefront of my mind...otherwise I tend to skip meals, cut portions, fast for 3 or 4 days on end....that sort of thing. Many of you have read my journey.

I started this book - but certainly wasn't making the expected progress in it. ::snort:: Until I put it on my Spring Reading Thing List.

My views expressed in this review about some of the theology I caught glimpses of hold true.....BUT there is a lot of great info in this book. I didn't find as many annoying references to "read this book I wrote" in this book - but it could be because it is a bigger book and so they were more spread out - or it could be because I simply let my eyes bounce when I saw a recommendation coming. ::snort::

Dr. Colbert says that if we have two pillars out of whack - we'll be "ok". When we get 3 or more out of sync we end up ill and such. The pillars are: Water, Sleep and Rest, Living Food, Exercise, Detoxification, Nutritional Supplements, and Freedom From Stress.

The chapter on Nutritional Supplements was FULL of information. I really don't do supplements. After reading his thoughts I see WHY the person eating the SAD (standard American diet) would need supplements. However, over and over he says that this is found in perfect balance in fruit, this is found in green veggies...and it seems to me that if you are following the principles in *What the Bible Says About Healthy Living* you may not need such a full range of supplements. AND if your dietitian has you eating 10 - 13 servings of produce a day to lower your cholesterol I'm quite sure you're getting all the phytonutrients, antioxidants and etc that you need. Of course, Dr. Colbert would say that eating so much non-organic produce is actually going to make me ill because of the pesticides. ARGH. (Note on that above link- I know longer follow the principles of Thin Within to a tee - because I was never eating for days on end and killed my metabolism).

Dr. Colbert makes a big push for organics. I get it - in my mind. It's the pocket book that isn't getting it. LOL Well - there are a lot of little things that he may be right on, but I'm not quite ready to implement...

However, this is an easy format - one chapter a day for 6 weeks. This book also has a DVD series and is meant to be used in a small group format.

The statistics here were eye-opening. Statistics show that for the first time in our history our children (statistically) have a lower life expectancy than their parents because of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes that young, young children are getting.

One of my favorite lines goes something like this.....if you have a headache you don't have a "Tylenol deficiency"....if you can't sleep you don't have a "sleeping pill deficiency"....I think of that often and it has helped me to evaluate choices I make....except I still think Benadryl is a wonder. ::snort::

Holocaust Briefing

Each year the base hosts a group of Holocaust Survivors from Tucson, AZ. I've never seen any other base do this; but I think they should. The guests have been speaking at various groups on base. Yesterday, they held a memorial service at the chapel that I hear was very touching.

This a.m. they had a "briefing."  Jamin, Jared, and I attended. I'm finding it hard to sort out my thoughts. It was amazing. I do wish that I could find a way to get these folks to speak to our homeschool group next year, or into the local schools....seems sad to keep them to ourselves. Maybe the best bet would be to sponsor homeschoolers onto base, to be sure that it is mentioned in the group's newsletter......hmmm....

Did you know that the word genocide was invented AFTER ww2? It was interesting to me to realize that civilization had no words to describe the Holocaust. Holocaust itself is a new word from two words meaning "burn" "completely".

We heard from Dr. Gail Wallen, the director of a big place in Tucson (I can't remember the title).....she spoke about the things that lined up to allow the Holocaust. She spoke of religion, literature, pan-German, economic measures, and more all lining up. It was very interseting and tied a lot of what we've studied this year in TOG together.

Then we heard from Mrs. Rosa Freund - a survivor of Auschwitz. I've been reading the books by Isabella Leitner. She's pretty blunt. Still, I can't explain sitting there and hearing this sweet, graying lady talk about things that were done and realizing she was not sharing stories but MEMORIES. As she talked she shared memories of Dr. Mengele and could "feel his touch now right on my arm".

Another lady there was a survivor from the Warsaw Ghetto. She was 5 years old when the war began. We got to talk with her after the event was over. She said how rare it is that she survived. Most young children were either killed right away or victims of experiments.

One of our troops shared at the memorial service how he remembered his grandfather (or great grandfather) making family trees. All the branches but theirs simply stopped. As a young child he asked, "why do all the branches stop?" and was told "they all died in the Holocaust". It's simply mind boggling.

Rosa encouraged the active duty folks to defend democracy and to personally speak up. Silence is acceptance.

It's been 62 years since WW2 ended. It's sad to me that the survivors and liberators are all aging. Soon we won't people to lecture us who have first hand memories of these events. I believe it is important to keep the memory alive....especially as we begin to hear some of the same lies repeated. While listening to Dr. Wallen speak I couldn't help but think of the various historical factors she mentioned lining up to allow the Holocaust....I see many of the same ones lining up again in our time.

Here is a Holocaust Survivor quilt....I took a lot of photos of various squares but here are a few....

Loved the details at the edges of the quilt

Each square was made by a survivor...The red one to the bottom right is a Kindertransport and was signed by the child....really hit me

I simply couldn't pull out the camera and snap a photo of the boys talking with the survivors - seemed to trivial in the midst of the discussion.

So, What was I Doing?

My "to do " list was basically hijacked by my family's schedules and needs today. That's o.k. My turn will come. ::snort:: Rather than go on and on about the unexpected twists I thought I'd simply say....."we're busy".

After dinner I took the four younger ones to the pool. They loved it. Mike and Jared are at the base. Jared has Civil Air Patrol and Mike uses those few extra quiet hours to try to keep ahead of the steam roller. Josiah and Jamin are working.

We got home from the pool and the youngers collapsed. All of them. I set up tables, checked SHS mail....tried to upload photos and they won't work...

I think I'll write a couple of entries in draft and try to add photos later. LOL

It's Official I'm a Fruit!

In fact, when Trish thinks of fruit she thinks of me FIRST!!!

I visited Trish's blog and read this which left me snorting, sniffing, blushing, and tearing up all at the same time. Trish considers me a fruit and has graced me with this graphic (hopefully displayed to the right).

Background: Trish emailed me last week with an "award" she had been praying about and wanting to start. She asked me to be the first recipient. I replied honestly. It made me uncomfortable. I didn't like the idea of an "award", I didn't want folks to think that I was boastful or that *I* have anything really good in me. I don't. I strenuously avoid pedestals. Mike, laughed at me and said that maybe a "humble button" would make me feel better. He told me to share my feelings with Trish. I did.

Trish asked what would help me feel better, because she really had prayed about the idea and knew if I had this reactions others might as well. I shared taking award off the graphic and just letting me use her gorgeous graphic would be great. ::snort:: She shared her heart (click to read). She told me to read my profile. I did. Hmmm...if I want to lead others to an extravagant love relationship with my Lord, I guess I'd best hope they see something worth imitating. We talked about encouraging one another to love and good deeds, about recognizing the work of God in each other, she told me not to rebuff a blessing (I've heard that before).

This morning, I clicked on Trish's blog and read some very sweet comments about myself. I'm now allowed to post the graphic in my sidebar with a link.

I'm also asked to blog about what it means to me that Trish thinks I'm a fruit among fruits! ::snort::

Seriously, I'm touched. Trish knows me. Trish met me in Alaska during a season in my life when I was seriously OUT OF BALANCE. Trish does not have me on a pedestal. Trish helped me make a zillion tea pots when I had a zany idea about giving each mother/daughter a handmade tea pot at our chapel tea. Trish didn't even attend the chapel or the tea. Trish heard me gripe far to often.

It does sort of stagger me that she sees Christ in me. Honestly, it's not ME - its the reflection of grace that would ever cause anyone to see anything of worth in my life. It ENCOURAGES me to know that others are beginning to see, in some small way, the life of Christ manifested in my life...because it's been a heart cry for years....and I'm simply not the personality that you would think of when you think of those ladies Trish mentions in her blog. When someone says something like this to me, when some of you comment on my blog, when Mike makes comments about me....I'm shocked to think that others consider me to be nearing the league of say that Titus 2 chick or the Proverbs 31 gal.... I have spent many years wrestling with the flesh (sometimes it doesn't like to stay crucified) and will spend many more wrestling with it....and it does mean a lot to me that someone who not only reads my blog, but knows me warts and all, would think that they can see the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I've also come to think in recent weeks that maybe God brings trials into our lives because He is answering our heart's cry and is forming something in us that we simply don't see. Ok - I'm stopping.

Trish really has a heart to recognize blogs that reflect grace, Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit. I may not have explained it all well here...click that graphic in the sidebar and read for yourself. She is asking that you feel free to email her with blogs that you think also reflect the Fruit of the Spirit.

And um....Trish...what should I put for a title above that graphic? That was one of my less silly captions.