Look Up!

The Spice of Life

2007-06-20T11:03:00.000-05:00

Friendship. I consider it to be one of God's dearest treasures. Friends of ours who haven't been over for about a year came over last week. It was nice to laugh our faces off with them. It was also nice to have that connection that you don't have with just anyone. The kind of connection that you could just talk for hours and hours even though you've lived in a different country for a year. There was a time in our marriage that Matt and I didn't have any real close friends (outside of family). We prayed about it, and now we are blessed to have what I consider to be a greater amount of friends than I would have thought to be possible. They are people who I feel fiercly loyal to and I would do anything for. Some don't live here anymore but I couldn't imagine my life without them. They are genuine. They've sat with me in the hospital, and called me daily to see how I was doing. They love my kids and have been such a positive example in their lives. They know our faults but love us anyways. I really think I do know some of the world's greatest people. Thanks again guys for making life so full of joy!

Sending another one off

2007-06-01T10:18:00.000-05:00

In life there are so many stages. I guess our outlook on life determines how we accept these stages. I've given much thought about these "stages of life". I think of graduations, weddings, collage and many other events. When you are as sentimental (or just mental) as I am. the fact that I have three kids make these events seem emotional.
I thought that sending my 2nd kid off to school would be easier than the first. I ended up failing miserably in this department. Today was Hannah's TRIAL day. It wasn't even her 1st day at all!!! I just didn't expect her to be asking me to stay for the morning or trembling when I dropped her off at the classroom. Now don't worry, I wasn't one of those crazy moms who sit there and make it hard on the child to go in. I would've got a medal if you saw how brave I was. The stupid part came a moment later. I saw Danielle standing ouside of her classroom and crouched down to remind her to be helpful to Hannah if she saw her. I couldn't hold it together any longer and my eyes filled up with tears. Guess what happened next? Danielle started crying . I felt like an idiot. I managed to be tough for Hannah only to make my other daughter cry in front of her peers. I'm sure our family will have many laughs over this in the future.:D
Now back to what I started with. Hannah starting school is another stage in our family's life. I actually look forward to all the stages. (even the weddings, sniff, sniff) I'm not against feeling the emotions though. I just think you can hold your children back if you don't have the confidence to let them go and leave them in the Lord's hands. I've talked to too many collage students who talk about how ther parents can't let them go, and how guilty the students feel moving forward with their "own" lives. Interestly enough, these seem like the kids who advoid going home for another guilt trip. I plan to embrace these seasons of life . I'll shed many tears along the way for certain. But that's okay! By the way, when I returned to get Hannah, she didn't want to leave! But that's okay!

These are a few of my favorite things......

2007-04-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

COFFEE- Of all of God's wonderful creation, Coffee is for sure at the top. It makes me smile just thinking about. At bedtime, I think about how wonderful my morning coffee will taste. When I open my eyes in the morning it gets me out of bed. Mmmmmm..........

PINK- What an awesome, cheerful, feminine color. No matter where I am I always notice pretty thinks in the color pink.

FICTION ROMANCE- Not all novels are equal. It has to be excellent. (non-smutty) hint: You know it's a good one when your husband and children have been trying to get your attention for 15 minutes to no avail!

LAUGHING- The best feeling is laughing your face off until tears are streaming down your face.

CHIPS- The only thing not to love about them is calories and fat they contain. Maybe some day they will invent tasty, calorie-less chips. I'd better not hold my breath for this one. sigh

SIMON"S HUGS- It's a great feeling when that little boy wraps those little arms around my neck and squeezes and vibrates for all he's worth.

EXERCISE- For some weird reason, I do not have to force myself to exercise. I love it. That is really weird isn't it?

NATURE WALKS- My family and I go for these walks in the spring, summer and fall. Very enjoyable. (especially in the fall) It's enjoyable for so many different reasons.

This blog actually took me less than an hour. Sadly, not by much.

A final thought: For those of you that do not drink coffee- you have no idea what you are missing. I quite frankly don't know how you wake up in the morning!

HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK HOPEFULLY ENJOYING YOUR FAVORITE THINGS. TTFN

That's when I'll know I'm home

2007-04-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

Everyone's talking about it. The Virginia Tech shootings. The media is having a hay day with it. Students are feeling unsafe in their environment. Dads and moms are holding their children a little tighter and longer. Family and friends are grieving. People are angry and trying to figure out what happened.
When I heard what had happened the first thing I did was email my brother Junior and his wife Emily. They live in Virginia and Emily happens to be a crime scene investigator. I was wondering if she had been called to the scene. Junior emailed back and said that she hadn't. He did say that they knew some people who attend VT and that he had been glued to the TV all day. My brother is normally one of those very positive people, so his response kind of surprised me. He then said that he was having a moment that he was wishing that God would come back because there was so much pain and hate in the world. He said all of this before any of the circumstances surrounding the shooting was known. It was a reaction. I must admit that even though I love living, (please believe that I do, I have another wonderful sister in law who happens to be a psychologist and I don't want her to feel worried) that I have felt the same way at different times in this life. You do get overwhelmed with the amount of pain and suffering that is in this world. When Junior emailed me this it reminded me of a song that Matt sang in church once that I love. I want to share the lyrics with you.

THERE IS A PLACE MORE PRECIOUS THAN ANY OTHER
THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN'S DOOR
A PLACE WHERE WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER
A SHELTER IN TIME OF STORM
AND THO' IT'S A TREASURE THIS HOME'S NOT FOREVER
I LONG FOR THE LIFE THAT'S WAITING FOR ME
chorus
WHERE NO ONE WILL EVER BE HUNGRY OR COLD
AND NO ONE WILL HURT OR WILL EVER GROW OLD
NO ONE WILL DIE AND LEAVE SOMEONE ALONE
THAT'S WHEN I'LL KNOW I'M HOME
verse 2
THERE IS A PLACE WHERE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS BE SPOKEN
PROMISES WILL BE BELIEVED
A PLACE WHERE YOUR HEART CAN'T BE BROKEN
AND LOVED ONES WILL NEVER LEAVE
SO IF YOU ARE LONGING FOR A PLACE OF BELONGING
THE HOME YOU'VE DREAMED OF IS WAITING FOR YOU
repeat chorus
THAT'S WHEN I'LL KNOW I'M HOME FOREVER NO PAIN OR DISEASE
ALL WILL BE EQUAL
ALL WILL BE FREE
TRUE LOVE WILL COME AND WE'LL FALL AT HIS FEET
THAT'S WHEN I'LL KNOW I'M HOME
bridge
AND FINALLY I'LL SEE WITH THE DARKNESS ERASED
NOT THROUGH A GLASS, BUT THEN FACE TO FACE......................
THAT'S WHEN I'LL KNOW I'M HOME.

One of my favorites: "Now the dwelling place of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:3b-4

Mind Your Mouth

2007-04-10T11:53:00.000-05:00

I really have something I want to blog about but I don't have a whole lot of time. (bad combination for a slow typer like myself) I wanted to share two incidents from the two past days in our family.

Incident #1: I overheard Matt (my husband) say something to my son Simon. You need to 1st understand that Simon LOVES Matt above all others. I'm sure many of you have seen this in action! When Simon sees Matt he runs up to him and squeezes him around the neck really, really hard and vibrates with excitement. It is really cute. Matt usually says something profound and heart warming like "Hey buddy". This time when it happened Matt said something completly different. He said, "It's nice that you love me so much even with all my faults.". Tears welled up in my eyes because I knew that he had been having a kind of rotten week because of things that others had said to him. It's not that easy to catch Matt in that kind of moment and now here I am blogging about it. It really hit me though. Matt knows his faults. I know most of mine. There are times to correct and teach people. So many times though we just tear and nit pick apart about unimportant matters. I'm really tired of it.

Incident#2: Matt and I were lucky enough to get over to Fredericton for a couple of days last week to visit dear friends of ours. The last night we were there was Friday and Matt, Danielle, Simon, and I ALL got sick. Barfing and such things kind of sick. The whole night will be one we will be talking about for a while. It was very difficult to clean Danielle's throw up at 2:00 in the morning. It was on Murray and Val's mattress, sheets, blankets, comforter, both pillows, both of us. It was twice as difficult because I was very ill. Everybody (but Murray) was still sleeping. Anyhow, that is probably too much detail for some of you. That's okay though. The night was worse than that. I've gone easy on you. Wait until you hear Matt's version!! On the way home Matt stopped at Sobey's for some stomach coating medicine. While he was inside, right out of the blue, Danielle said something to me that I'll treasure forever. "Mommy, you take such good care of us when we're sick-even when you're really sick." It sounded like she was going to cry. I did. My daughter said one nice thing and it literally did make my day. Hannah would want me to say that she feels the same as well:)

So lets start the change today. We can only do it one at a time. God wants us to do it. It feels great when someone does it to you. Let's focus in on picking one another up. That's what I'm gonna do.

Ephesians 4:29- Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

PS- Matt I love you just as much as Simon!! (warts and all!)

"True Beauty"

2007-03-31T11:46:00.000-05:00

I saw one of my two favorite cartoons last night. Beauty and the Beast. What a great movie! I find myself tearing up during the whole movie. For one thing Belle (the main character) loves to read. A girl who loves to read as much as her is a girl after my own heart. She also sacrifices her own well being for that of her father's. A selfless act of love for her family. I'd like to imagine if I was put in a situation that I had to choose between myself and that of my family-I'd choose them. My favorite, favorite part of the movie is that Belle falls in love with the beast even though she has no idea that he is really a prince. There is also a really dorky guy named Gaston (who is supposedly attractive) in the movie. He is conceited and really wants to marry Belle. She knows he is a loser and refuses to give in to his advances. There aren't that many movies made that I know of that have this kind of a moral. If only more of us chose to be like Belle. If only you and I would always choose to look past the exterior. The world would instantly become a better place. I try with everything in me to teach this to our children. The sad part is that no matter how hard you try to teach it, for most people it is somewhat of struggle. We are so saturated with it as a culture. What happens if my kids grow up to be not the most attractive people (by society's standards)? Does this make them any less valuable to society. No way. I'm so sick of seeing commercials that purposely make you fell inadequate looking so you'll by a stupid product. Then maybe you or I will attain a 5'11", 117 pound body(which, by the way, is the average size model). Then maybe we'll be worth something. Boy, this has got to be my most depressing blog to date! You get my drift. Take care of your shell. Don't be obsessed with yours or anybody else's. It just that-a shell. Who and what you are is inside of that shell. Spend your time (I'm speaking to myself as well) grooming and changing inside of you for the better. Don't waste your precious time.
Even though I know that my kids will have to deal with all these issues, I'm hoping that what we try to teach them will stick with them. They are already such beautiful people-where it counts.
Oh yeah. The other cartoon I love is "The Incredibles". It's awesome.
Oh yeah again: Galatians 2:6b- God does not judge by external appearance.

Letting things go

2007-03-24T07:31:00.000-05:00

Do you know my daughter Danielle? If you know her at all, you know she is slightly clumsy. That is a nice way of putting it. I don't think she'll ever become a ballerina. Well, Danielle fell down during gym class on March 15th. She went over on her ankle and hurt it quite badly. She stayed in school the whole day. When we picked her up she burst into tears and told us what happened. When we wanted to look at her ankle the tears fell because it had hurt so bad to put her boot on. When we looked at it we headed over to emergency right away. When the doctor saw us, she sent us right up to x-ray. When the doctor looked at the x-ray she told us that nothing was broken and that she had a bad sprain. So we packed up and took her home. The ankle hurt all week, but we didn't think about it a whole lot. Exactly one week later there was a call for me to call our own doctor. Turns out that Danielle has a fracture in what's called her"growth plate". Thankfully, it is a fracture that casting would not have helped in the first place and she is expected to make a full recovery. I don't know what your reaction has been to this long winded blog. Maybe it's like mine initially was. Why did the school not call us? The doctor read her x-ray wrong? This should not have happened. This is a little example of what happens quite often. Events, mistakes, and unfortunately tragedy occurs and whamo- we seem to have this need to find somebody to blame. The funny thing is, it never changes the outcome of what has already taken place. It makes me think a lot about my own life. The wrongs I've committed, the judgments I've screwed up, the people I've hurt. The truth is-intentionally or unintentionally we have all done wrong. I know what I want for my screw ups. I want grace. I don't deserve it but I get it. My family and friends give it to me daily. More incredibly -God gives it to me-over and over and over again. It is totally undeserved and it feels really good. God's Word puts it this way-"Do to others as you would have them do to you.".Luke 6:31

Have a great day!

Brain awareness week

2007-03-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well this is brain awareness week. It's really got me thinking. What would this world be like if everyone were indeed aware that they did have a brain. This may sound a little sarcastic (you need to remember who I'm married to). Now I can't say for myself that I always act like I have a superior brain. I've left too many purses in the mall, and too many coffee cups on top of cars to claim a prize or anything. I'm blogging about the big things. For example: If you really sit down and think about it, giving your child everything he or she wants is very bad for your child. It can make them believe so many wrong things about life. It can make them believe that"stuff" can make them happy. It can make them think that the world is about getting what you want. It can make YOU broke, frustrated, and tired. It can make them unable to sympathize with others. It teaches you an incorrect definition of love. It can inhibit their imagination. Now, many people have great intentions when they give everything to their child, but if they sat down and thought about it, they probably could see that they were in fact harming their child. Now I know that people use their supposedly superior brains many times to get bent out of shape about the little things. Things that in the long run won't hurt a soul. The things that I'm talking about have consequences. They matter more than the fashion of my clothes, and my grammar in this blog. Let's not use our brains to major in the minors. I do realize that this has nothing to do with what brain awareness week is all about. I'm just proposing that maybe this is what it could be about. And for those us that are Christians we could really make a difference in this world. That's a loaded statement that may require further blogging.
TTFN

So it starts!

2007-03-08T16:25:00.000-05:00

Boy it starts young. The drama of having two girls that are going to be teenagers has been hitting me this week. The kindergarden soap opera has been in full swing. It all started with one of Hannah's friend starting a "club" of sorts. This "club" according to her friends is only allowed to have 3 members. This poses a bit of a problem when her class has 12 kiddies. It has become quite a thing to be part of the "tickle tickle" group. Interesting name don't you think? Hannah was a part of this group for a couple of days. I've been trying to explain to her that these groups can make others feel bad if they are excluded. It turns out that being cast out of the group was actually the best way to find out. I guess she started crying when she was cast out and her little friend felt bad and let her back in. I actually convinced her to try and start and group that everybody can be a part of if they chose so Hannah told her friend today that she was no longer a "tickle tickle". Apparently the group has not disolved because according to my daughter a fight broke out at figure skating today over who would take her spot.(not a physical fight of course, but a girlie word fight) So the drama is continuing as will for many more years I am sure. Matt and I will just have to take it all as it comes through all the tears and hurt feelings that are sure to ensue. What really gets me though is when adults act like Hannah's kindergarden class. These years are supposed to teach not to behave in this way. I guess there are all kinds of people who get it. I know that there are plenty who don't. I guess my advise is to reflect on it yourself. What are you like? Do you belong to any "tickle Tickle" groups. If so- graduation time is here.

15 Years of Valentine's Bliss

2007-02-07T10:55:00.000-05:00

Well here it is. It's one of those time's of year again They occur almost monthly. Let's go through them together. We have New Year's day, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Canada Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the grand finale-Christmas! There are a couple of months when there is not a "special day". For the most part we are bombarded by advertisments that encourage us to spend money to tell someone how much we love them. Right now Valentine's marketing is in full swing. If you choose to tell your significant other that you love them in any of these typical ways I say- "go for it"! I'm choosing to tell you how I prefer to be told. I can tell my husband is loving the direction of this blog! For any of you that know my husband you already realize that he is not a sweet talker:) That is okay with me. From my own experience a sweet talker is just that- a talker. My husband shows me multiple times daily that he loves me. He shows me by spending time with me everyday. He shows me by doing the dishes every night. He shows me by changing dirty diapers, by bringing my morning coffee while I'm dozing on the couch, by listening to me talk, by forgiving me when I'm cranky, for taking over when I'm ready to "kill" my children. He shows me by being my biggest supporter and standing by me through every thing. My husband doesn't need Hallmark to tell me that he loves me. Happy Valentine's Day Matt. Thankyou for showing me that you love me everyday for the last 15 years. You're the best!
I hope I haven't made anyone feel llike running for a bucket. Also Matt- if you choose to show me you love me in the typical Valentine's way, I won't be upset!

Remember

2006-11-14T06:34:00.000-05:00

It's two years today since my accident. I can hardly believe it. In some ways it feels like yesterday. In other ways it seems like a dream that could not have happened. As sure as I am standing here it did happen. This morning I went down to Hannah's room and was hugging her and told them it had been two years since the accident. Of course that didn't mean a heck of a lot to them and Danielle cut me off to ask me a questoin about kid's television programming. :) I was hugging Han and telling her how much we have to be thankful for. Mommy can run, God kept them safe, and now we have another family member. He gave us so much. I told her though, that even if mommy wasn't here, she would still have a lot to be thankful for. She would still have a great Daddy and a sister to share things with. ( I made no comment about constant bickering. It wasn't the right moment.) I started crying (of course) because God for some reason on that day, saw fit to orchestrate a series of many events that are really incredible. I guess today is going to be a day for me to remember these events. I'm probably going to cry a lot. It's going to be a day that I say thank you again and again. Even though my family would've gotten along okay without me, I am soooooooooooooooooo glad they don't have to. Praise God!!!

My Children: The Flanders?

2006-11-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

Two present Flanders and one future Flanders...

A rebuttal to my pals Ben and Dave:

Apparently you guys compare my children to the Flanders kids. I'd like the two of you to remember something- as far as I know you are both hoping to have children someday. Before you make fun of someone else's kids, you should always keep this in mind. Doesn't the Bible even talk about "an eye for an eye?" Rembember that! Anyways this is the rebuttal part-I am taking this as a compliment. The Flanders' children may possibly be a little geeky, and maybe even a little goodie two shoes. If this is the worst thing you(and anybody else who may have been guilty of participating in this) can think of to say about my children,then WHA-HOOOO! I think that anybody who works with children(like yourselves) would also agree with this. So there! Now keep on complimenting our parenting!

PS- This has nothing to do with any other geeky things Matt may influence them about. They are doomed, aren't they? Oh well.

My First Post!!!!

2006-10-09T17:12:00.000-05:00

Wow! I actually am posting on my blog. I'm getting so computer savvy. I keep telling myself I'm gonna post, but Alas, every day goes by and I am still postless. My blog is the talk of all my friends who keep begging me to post. Well...... Ben and Jen did tell me I should:) I can say anything I want to. I am really long winded so this may end up being the most boring blog on the face of the universe.

Since it's thanksgiving it seems right to say something about that. Thanksgiving is great for those of us who are extremly nerdy, and feel really mushy about all the things that we are thankful for. If only we could focus on those things every day, maybe our attitudes would get much needed improvements. Good thing God is more patient than we are!

Since the title of my blog is "Look up", I guess "I should say something about that. Everyone that knows my family, knows that our life has been pretty interesting over the last couple of years. I still have a ton to learn, but I am learning that the secret to being content is to forget about looking around you. or looking downwards. The only way to stick through things when they look impossible is to look up. I have a God that specializes in doing the impossible. When I think about that it seems petty and silly to worry about all the things I can't control, when I know from direct experience that God does. I hope that everyone who is reading this gets a little bit of encouragment for their week. God bless, and next time my posting will be very humorous and less preachy. (although it does seem like a great way to preach) I have to shut up now. Matt is telling me that nobody will read this if it's too long. I actually took a half hour to write this. That's how slow of a typer I am!!!