gathering peeps...

it's monday again...

that was a super-fast week!  wow!  here it is - monday morning - and i didn't take the chance to blog at all last week!  i guess that means it was super-packed!  

speaking of super...

our theme was superheros at vbs.  "unleash the power of god".  cool, right?  unleashing the power of the holy spirit is a great theme!  

i love to be involved with "missions".  our theme was "the proclaimers!" and it was such a fun week in that room!  the teachers shared about tools that we need when we proclaim the gospel and follow jesus.  

here are two new friends of mine - jenn and ashley.  they were teaching about seeing the world the way god sees the world.  it was SO GOOD!  their tool was the globe.  they will be leaving very soon to join a team in west africa to proclaim the good news to an unreached people group!  it was such a blessing to hear their passion and excitement!

i had to leave vbs on wednesday morning to pick up ashley and jenn (and jenn's husband, michael) at the airport.  it was good timing, because my heart needed some adjusting...  coffee and quiet while waiting for their flight was just the thing i needed:

i love missions.  i love the idea of finishing the task of acts 1:8.  i love the picture of revelation 7:9-10!  i can't wait until all nations, tribes and tongues are worshipping the king around the throne!

here's a little something i don't love, though: the push-back from the enemy.  sometimes i forget that when we are working towards reaching and engaging a people group that satan has kept unreached for a long time, we are definitely going to experience some push-back; some warfare.

at the beginning of the week, kids maybe had never heard of the y people.  they may have never even heard of the countries that the y people live.  by the end of the week, they knew all those things and more!  the kids had raised (with the generous help of their parents!) over $2,200 to purchase solar-powered audio bibles to send with these missionaries to west africa!  the y people will HEAR the gospel proclaimed in their heart language because of these kids!  we were ALL so excited for what god was doing and was going to do!  and we got to be part of that!

and satan?  he was mad.  he was ticked that this people that has been unreached and unengaged with the gospel for soooooo long might soon be engaged.

i'll spare you the details, but satan has a bag of tricks labeled "tami" and he knows just which ones to pull out.  and he did.  and once again my response was "why would god allow this to happen?  we are being obedient to HIM!  shouldn't this be easier?!"  (yes, i said that...)  chris reminds me in these times that satan doesn't care too much about disobedient disciples...  he's right.

(and, seriously - where does that line of thinking come from in the first place?!  i'm embarrassed that my default is thinking things should be easy...)

time and prayer brings clarity and a renewed (and correct) perspective.  i'm reading "spiritual warfare and missions" by jerry rankin and ed stetzer.  i wish i would have started reading it before vbs... but the words have been an encouragement, no less.

i'm in the debrief time.  god has given a clarity to discern and i am thankful.

but there is something else on this page - towards the bottom: "to win the battle, we must value the advancement of god's kingdom instead of our own agenda."  that's something else god is teaching me right now.  i have great plans and ideas and i love sharing them.  i believe they are even god-given.  but, sometimes, for the advancement of the kingdom, we fight for our king and now just our cause...  and if you know me, you know my heart and my passion...  god's got this.  and this past week (and hopefully long term around our church) the kingdom and our king made some serious ground among the y people in west africa...

(i just went to sip a little more coffee and it's empty.  isn't that sad on a monday morning?)

to top it all off, yesterday i sent my big girl to camp.  actually, i sent her to counsel at camp.  for two weeks.  and i already miss her dearly...  i got a text from her last night.  i don't feel i can share the details, but would you pray for two girls in her cabin?  k and c?  god knows.  my heart hurts so much.  and as i drifted to sleep praying for them and for ash, i knew why god had taken ashleigh to them for the week...  what a blessing to a mom's heart - that misses her daughter - to see god working and growing and using her daughter.  i seriously anticipate god using this girl.  ahem.  i mean woman...

 

monday

it's monday.

and it's gonna be a crazy-awesome week!

but, before monday?  sunday.  and we celebrated my nephew micah's 2nd birthday!

here's 2/3 of my crew watching micah open presents:

cute, right?

this week is vacation bible school at our church.

i love the theme.  i love the heart behind it.  i love the passion of our children's ministry director.  i love directing missions...  it's my favorite.  

this year, i am simply "directing" and not teaching.  i didn't plan it that way originally, but i am so thankful that GOD knew i would need to have my days more free this week.

we have a huge day tomorrow that involves 6+ hours of evaluations and 6+ hours of driving.  when the behavioral sciences department at a major children's hospital offers you an appointment only 1 month out (instead of the typical 5-6 months out) you just take it.  so we did.  even though it was during VBS.  we are praying that we will leave that office tomorrow with some answers and direction that we simply haven't had in the past 31 months of parenting our most recent addition.  would you join us in praying?

thanks.  i knew you would.

oh.  and the rest of my crazy-awesome week?  you'll just have to check back.

{wink}

 

26 hours

*RANDOM leftover post that i never published!  crazy!  this was from mid-april...

 

26 hours just isn't enough time.

but, since that's what we had, we totally made the best of it!

back in december, when i turned 37 {ahem}, i requested one gift: tickets to see mary poppins in kansas city.  and, i got them!  i had to wait over 4 months, but i finally got my gift on friday night!

seriously, the best part was 26 hours with him:

it's easy for me to take him for granted.  yes, he's my best friend, but he's also my partner in parenting and running this house.  so many days, our time is consumed with taking care of the kids and putting out little fires, that we just don't think too much about how blessed we are to spend our energy with our family with our best friend.

we dropped abe at school on friday noon and took off toward kansas city.  we didn't have a plan; just tickets for a musical and a hotel (priceline ROCKS!).  

chris had one request: the apple store.  he didn't want to buy anything, but i think that place is a magnet for some people.  he spent some time in there (i sat in the sunshine in the car!) and came out about 30 minutes later.  he laughed and shared that he spent more time talking to one of the tech peeps about imovie and a dvd he's working on for lighthouse china than he spent looking at stuff.  

next stop: trader joe's.

i know.  so boring.  but, i had not been there yet, and we were out of coconut oil {smile}.  we (seriously) had fun looking at all the things they had, reading labels (you still have to, even there!) and wishing we had a cooler to buy some cold items and take them home!

we got checked into the hotel and made some plans for dinner.  i was feeling rather teenager-ish and asked if he would do a selfie in the mirror with me before we went out for the evening:

so, dual selfies in the mirror.

i love this picture.  i love it because we laughed so hard trying to get it just right.  i love it because i am happiest when i am right by his side.  i love it because this is the man god has given me to spend my life with.  i am happy to grow old (but still act like a teenager) with him.

dinner was predictable and inexpensive.  so us.

then, onto the music hall in kansas city!  i just love the expereince of the theater.  it's changed, of course, and people don't treat it with the fanfare they once did.  

i loved the score!  a good mix of original and "for broadway" numbers!  

 

we finished our trip the next morning with a little breakfast and antiquing.  loved our time together!  love him.

catching up

sometimes life happens.

sometimes hard, stinky, yucky life happens.

yup.

but, the great thing about storms is that the sunshine comes and rainbows (and PROMISES!) are inevitable...

here's my rainbow:

(austin's 8th grade promotion)

mercy, grace and kindness reach in.

then, you simply push forward.

so,

today?

we are pushing forward.

thankful for the reminder today that our stories are a testimony and that god gets the glory in it all.

yes.

and, amen.

lighthouse china foundation GIVE AWAY!

lighthouse china foundation is hosting a give-away!

we are giving away a $50 gift certificate, provided by junk posse, to use in her etsy store!  

why would junk posse provide this FABULOUS prize for us to give away?

well, because tracy is awesome, of course!  but, tracy also designed a stunning silver pendant for lighthouse china as a fundraiser for an orphanage in an AIDS village that we support!  all the proceeds (a generous $35 per pendant!) will go towards a project to provide some extra curricular activities for the kids!

wouldn't this pendant make a fabulous mother's day gift?!

go.  now.  to the direct link on her etsy store.  order by april 30 and she can guarantee delivery by mother's day!

but, also, enter the contest!

you can share the link for the pendant on facebook and get one entry. 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/129677730/china-love-necklace-reversible-pendant?ref=shop_home_activeyou can also blog about the giveaway and get one entry.

HURRY!  the contest ends at 11:59 pm on tuesday night (april 30).

make sure to leave a comment in my comment section telling me how many entries and linking me to your blog!

brothers

these two:

i've needed to write a post about them for awhile.

what is it about boys?  for a momma, the challenge is that, for the most part, we don't have a lot of experience.  yes - we are married to boys.  yes - we may have had brothers.  yes - we may have read dobson's book on bringing them up.  but, seriously?  these two mostly leave me puzzled and asking god "really?"

abe and austin are 8 years apart.  their DNA couldn't look any different.  but, seriously - these two are cut from the same cookie cutter.

chris and i were talking about this last night.  i had been at a banquet at school and when i came home, abe was sleeping - on his floor.  austin went through a phase of sleeping on the floor.  we chuckled about how similar these two really are...

but, it goes deeper.

they are both very passionate!  you can hear it in their voices and see it in their body language!

they are both very compassionate.  if they see someone hurting or lonely, they are quick to minister compassion.  seriously - the people you or i might completely miss, they notice.  abe used to ride in the grocery cart and hear a baby crying four or five aisles away.  i'd have to take him to find the baby, so he could SEE that the mommy/daddy was taking care of the baby.  one of my favorite memories of austin is when he was about 2 or 3 years old.  he was at a company picnic with my dad.  the short story is that there was a little girl crying and when austin saw that she was distraught, he went up to her and started wiping her tears. 

they both love to talk!  these two boys use more words in a day in our home than our four girls!  sports, bugs, snakes, school, friends, church, music.  you name it; they'll talk about it.  it's a quiet night at the dinner table if both the boys are gone.  {smirk}

the both start their day wanting to know what the plan is.  "what are we doing today?"

there are numerous other examples, but for the sake of saving face, i'll keep those details in the four walls of our home. 

here's what totally blows my mind: they are brothers.  i mean, duh.  but, what i'm saying is, they couldn't be more alike if i had given birth to both of them.  before i traveled, we started praying that abe would have the same heart that austin has; that he would be like his big brother.

clearly, god has said "yes" to that prayer.

i couldn't be any more thankful.

 

 

time to pull it together... seriously!

This morning, in the quiet before kids, puppy and hubby were awake, I took this picture.
Then I thought: "Girl! Pull it together already! Seriously!"
My house is a wreck. My brain is a wreck. My heart is a wreck (divinely disturbed and gloriously ruined).
My goals for today: make dinner for my family (including my little brother who will be joining us), tidy the living room/kitchen/dining area, clean bathroom #1 and vacuum.
Surely I can handle that, right?

friday!

i can't remember a more busy spring break!  and we didn't even GO anywhere!  

monday - once a year doctors appointments for the girls.

tuesday - i can't even remember tuesday.

wednesday - yeah.  it was busy.  and then the youngers went to stay the night with a friend (which meant date night for me!).

thursday - orthopedic appt and OT for amy.

friday.  well.  friday was a great plan...

i wasn't really thinking about how stressed i might be in preparing for my dad and step-mom's 25th anniversary part (this sunday!) when i said "hey!  we should take the kids shopping on friday!  buy them a few new things!"

i also wasn't thinking about stress and shopping when we accepted an invitation to attend the local ice hockey game with chris's family.

oy!

we left the house - all 8 of us - at noon.  we arrived home almost 10 hours later.

i think we did pretty well.  several near meltdown moments, but a good day was ultimately had by all.  clothes were purchased, ice cream cones were inhaled, dinner was had and money was spent.  i even met a really cute easter bunny:

a few times through the day, i asked myself WHAT i could have been thinking!?  i'll just shoot it to ya straight: we don't do a lot of big outings.  even when all 8 of us are perfectly behaved, we draw a lot of attention...  it's not always fun to be stared at (especially if you are a teenager).  i prefer to be at home.  i'm just a homebody and a control freak and i can generally have more control in our own home.

but, sometimes, it's just good to be out.

and maybe...  maybe one of those people that stared at our large and conspicuous family considered adoption for the first time.  that would be good.  adoption is pretty amazing...

(that cute bunny is the only picture i got all day.  i kept thinking - as the girls were trying on clothes or chocolate ice cream was framing little mouths "i should be taking more pictures today for a fun blog post!", but sometimes it's better to LIVE in the moment and make the memories...) 

amy update

i wanted to take a minute to give a little "amy update" on her arm.  it's been right at 5 months since her break.  how can it have already been 5 months?!

amy was dismissed from her orthopedic doctor back in january on the same day that we started occupational therapy (OT) with our rock-star hand therapist.  we've been going once a week to OT and amy is making progress.

the OT has been concerned about the level of nerve damage that amy sustained and asked for us to be checked by the ortho doc.  we visited him yesterday.  he stressed that the injury amy sustained to her ulnar nerve was traumatic.  her nerve and her artery (in her upper arm) were mangled in that break and her ulnar nerve was stretched - not only in the break, but as he was trying to untwist it all in surgery.

the recovery time for this kind of injury is typically upwards of a year or more.

watching amy at therapy is amazing.  she works SO HARD to tell those fingers to move!  some weeks she works so hard that she is moved to tears, because she is just so tired.  her pinky and her ring finger still do not have feeling.  imagine how hard it is to make fingers works when you can only tell they are obeying because you SEE them working - not because you FEEL them working.

please continue to pray for amy's recovery.  once summer gets here, she will be doing OT twice a week (plus all the time we work on things at home!)

one thing i know about my amy - and i've known since the day i met her (almost 7 years ago!) is that she is STRONG.  she fights HARD!  she is not going to wimp out and give up on this!  the reason this is so hard right now is because she is forging NEW pathways for her nerves!  it's mind over matter - and this girl is up for the task!

a few therapy pics:

amy with her 1 lb. weight :-)

amy working that "thera-puddy" between her fingers!

tami?

"Here!"
Ahhhh. Remember attendance being taken at school? I never mumbled. I loved being animated (aka - annoying).

I'm still here. I was on such a roll with blogging... and then I wasn't.

No trauma. No drama. Just life and not slowing down enough to even blog from my phone.

I took this pic last week right before I went into my kids' school to share in the elementary chapel. I love those kids and I love the opportunity to mobilize for the kingdom!