Praise in the Storm

Praise the LORD! Brandon's results came back this evening. He has stage 4 cancer, BUT it is a type that is very responsive to chemo. He starts in the morning with his first round and the best news is that this cancer has a 90% cure-rate!

These precious friends are so firmly rooted in the LORD, it is a blessing and an honor to walk beside them in this life.

Kyle and I are reading Little Pilgrim's Progress (so good, highly recommend, it's our second time through it) and today we read how the character Mercy received a little golden anchor as a gift from the character Piety, who explained the meaning of the anchor like this:

"You know what is the use of an anchor. If it is firmly fixed the sailors do not mind how rough the sea may be. The anchor holds their vessel safely, though the waters may be tossing and the wind roaring all around them. So if you love the King, the hope that He will help you will keep your heart from failing. And, though you may be in the greatest danger or difficulty, you will never be really afraid."

Little Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of (for? to?) the Bible and the above quote reminds me of this verse in Scripture:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:1b-2

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

God doesn't say "if" we have trouble, but "when" we have trouble. Believers aren't immune to troubles, but the deeper the anchor the more brightly God's glory is reflected and from my vantage I see God's goodness and glory shining radiantly in the Hall family. Pray for them, check their blog for updates, and encourage them as they pass through the waters and walk through the fire, God is surely with them.

Pray

Please join us on our knees for Brandon, Windy, Reed and Dossett.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him. Romans 15:13

Healed and Revealed

Don’t you just love showing off your scars? No? Me either. I recently heard a sermon which reminded me that is precisely what we should be doing though.

The pastor pointed out that it was the scars of Jesus which prompted Thomas to believe and stop doubting.

By definition a scar is a wound that has been healed. In the case of Jesus the wounds were caused by sin, not His, but the sins of others – the Roman soldiers’, the religious leaders’, mine, yours.

Our wounds may be from our own sin or they may be from hurts others have inflicted on us.

Some people are great at showing their scars and telling of the Father’s healing touch. I am not one of them. I know I have been healed; I know I have been forgiven. It is one of the most powerful sources of witness I can think of. Yet it is for that very reason our enemy wants desperately to convince us to keep our scars covered. What would people think if you tell them of the sin and hurt that caused those wounds? Good Christians shouldn’t have wounds like that. You’re supposed to be an example, that sin couldn’t possibly glorify God anyway. Hide it. Cover it up.

Just like Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers, I know that our enemy meant those sins and wounds for my destruction, but God used them for good.

God is good. God heals and He makes new. God didn’t forgive me because of anything good or special about me. He forgave me because of the perfect sacrifice of His Son. My righteous deeds are filthy rags, but He looks at me and sees the Spotless Lamb. He looks at me and sees His beautiful child, bought at a great price.

My past is ugly. My present is full of stumbling, but it is all part of the journey to the foot of the throne of grace – beautiful, wholly unmerited, but fully received – grace.

I want to show my scars, I want to proclaim in humility the touch of God in my life, how he picked me up out of the mire and set my feet on a firm foundation. I don’t have to enter each room and confess my sins to everyone in earshot, but I do need to be obedient and share them when God nudges me.

I want to be the light I am called to be and let others see it is within their reach to come out of the darkness. We can’t pull ourselves out of the mire though. God lifts us out when we stop striving and let His mighty and tender hand redeem our ashes.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Psalm 103, here are a few verses:

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

Perspective

An ice storm knocked out our power on Tuesday for fifty-something hours. I think the prayer that Kyle had me write on the chalkboard today pretty much sums up how we are feeling.

In case you can't read my beautiful chalk dictation, it reads:

Jesus Christ is our Savior. Thank You God for my toys, thank You that we have lights and electricity, but most of all just thank You for loving us. Kyle 1/30/09

I would personally like to add: Thank You, God, for Internet and heat.

A Sweet Find

I am the official record keeper for our family. The gift purchaser. The birthday remember-er (or sadly, the birthday forget-er, as is often the case). The photographer. The videographer. Let's just say, if something needs to be remembered or kept for posterity, in this family, I am the go-to-girl.

That's what made this recent find so incredibly sweet. In all of my de-cluttering and reorganizing, I came across something in the bottom drawer of Mike's dresser -- two little sandwich baggies with the names of our children scrawled on them in Sharpie marker. Inside were ticket stubs to every sporting event each boy has attended.

If Mike had asked me to put them in a scrapbook I would have done so gladly, but it is so much sweeter that he collected them himself. The little plastic bags with their names written in his handwriting are more special than any papered, ribboned, tagged, or fancied-up scrapbook page I ever could have made. I love that man!

Simplifying My Life, One Closet at a Time

Oh my goodness, how strange to be typing a blog post! My computer seems like a stranger to me. All of my spare time, and even my not-so-spare time, lately has gone to tearing my house apart and putting it back together again.

Now when people come over, I will be tempted to offer them a peek in my closets. (Okay, not a peek so much as an extended viewing involving "oohs" and "aahs.")

We lived in our previous house for seven years and we accumulated a lot of stuff. But before we put that house on the market we seriously de-cluttered. It was a fabulously freeing feeling. Then we moved here and even though it's a smaller house, everything we had fit and it was great. For a while.

However, in the three years we have lived here our stuff has seriously multiplied. It is very difficult to have everything in its place when there is not a place for everything. I have been feeling overwhelmed for the past few months because of the amount of stuff in our house.

I was antsy to simplify and de-clutter, but each time I would go into a closet intending to get rid of stuff, I would see things I didn’t want to part with, then turn around and close the door. I felt paralyzed with too much stuff, but not ready to totally say good-bye to it.

Then I hatched a plan that set me in motion. I decided to pack things up that I knew I wouldn't need right away (and possibly never need again) and get them out of our valuable indoor closet space and into our attic or basement. I packed up things like Mike's letter jacket, the dress I wore for high school graduation, leftover napkins from our wedding reception, little knick-knacks I've had since childhood, a lamp we bought on our first anniversary, and you know, stuff.

How do you get rid of things like that? But who has room for it all? It is a dilemma, or was a dilemma. But now they are nicely boxed away. No doubt, many of the things I will be ready to part with next time I see them, but for now I am just thrilled none of it is taking up prime real estate in our house.

When my wedding dress was professionally boxed up eleven and a half years ago, my veil and train wouldn't fit, so they have been in plastic bags on a shelf in my closet. I was very surprised and pleased to see they were not yellow. I took a picture for nostalgia.

Here is the train, yes it takes up the whole king-sized bed. Did I ever mention I was princess of a small country? Gee, I can't imagine why it didn't fit in the box with the other 45 yards of tulle.
I also boxed up many items for a garage sale or to donate, so don't think I'm a total pack rat.

I took pictures of my closet organization victories, but somehow they don't look as impressive in the photographs as they seem in real life. This one of our craft/cookbook/dog food/swiffer storage cupboard gives you an idea though.
In keeping with the theme of simplifying, here is a simple recipe I made last week. My mom never made chicken and dumplings so I am no expert, but this was very yummy and oh so easy!!

The inspiration recipe came from Mary Hunt’s newsletter Everyday Cheapskate. I first heard about her on Focus on the Family or Family Life (I have a mental block that refuses to let me differentiate between the two). I really love her advice and strategies on debt-proof living. She and her husband have the best strategies ever for teaching your children to be grateful, responsible stewards of money. But that’s a whole different post, back to the dumplings:

Tina's Version of Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings:

2 large chicken breasts
1 tablespoon butter
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
20 ounces of chicken broth +/-
7 buttermilk biscuits
1 can sliced carrots

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and broth in slow cooker. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on high. One hour before serving, shred chicken breasts with forks in slow cooker, add can of cooked carrots, and open the biscuits. With palm, smash each biscuit to be about 1/4-inch thick and cut into 1/2-inch strips with pizza cutter. Add to the slow cooker. Try Make sure to get the dough covered with liquid, adding broth if necessary (or even water). Continue cooking until the dough is no longer raw in the center, about 1 hour. Don’t keep opening your slow cooker to stir dumplings or dumplings will take much longer to cook and your family will be starving to death and your children will be writhing on the floor saying, "But I need to eat now!" Just saying, keep the lid on while the biscuits are transforming into dumplings.

Recipe notes: I put my chicken breasts in frozen, no problems. I had a 32 oz. carton of broth so I just added what looked right, but I think it was pretty close to 20 oz. I also went ahead and baked the remaining biscuits and saved them for breakfast. Waste not, want not! (glancing around) Where did that come from? Is that you, Grandma?

Gleaning Wisdom

To glean is to collect bit by bit. What could be better to collect than wisdom? Bit by bit we first need to hear the truth, then have the opportunity to put that truth into action, and finally apply it consistently in thought, word, and deed.

Here are some nuggets of wisdom I have gleaned which have blessed me and I thought it would be a shame not to share them. Here goes:

When we allow our kids to experience “natural consequences” resist the urge to have a serves-you-right-attitude. Instead, be on their side and don't lecture them after they have suffered the natural consequence to their action. It won’t dull the learning curve for them, but it will enhance your relationship with them. (Gleaned from a National Center for Biblical Parenting seminar)

God, then husband, then kids. Not only is this the God-given order of priorities, it is just so practical. When the kids are grown and gone your husband will still be there (God willing), so make sure to continually nurture and prioritize your marital relationship. (Gleaned from the Bible and A Woman After God’s Own Heart)

Have a code name your children can use when they need your help and can’t come right out and say so. Example: If they normally call you “Mom” the code name can be “Mother.” If they need you to step in and be the bad guy in a situation they can say, “Mother, can Tom stay longer?” When you hear “Mother” you are alerted that something is up, you can say “no” and your child can save face. I think this would come in very handy with older kids, but even young kids could use it. I had a situation at the grocery store with Kyle where I stepped a few feet away from the cart and someone was too close for comfort to him, but he was in the cart and couldn’t get away. If he said, “Momma,” I might put him off with a, “Hang on,” or “I’ll be there in a second,” but if he said “Mother” I would know something was up and be immediately responsive. (Gleaned from a “seasoned” mom)

What is your husband’s favorite thing to do? (Hint: Most likely it starts with “s” and ends with “x” and has one letter in between.) What is your favorite thing to do? If it’s the same answer for both of you then great, skip to the next tidbit. Possibly it's not the same, in that case imagine that you could only do your favorite thing when your husband wanted to do it with you. Now imagine that your husband rolled his eyes and acted put upon when you asked him to do your favorite thing with you. Pray for a thankful heart that your husband wants to do his favorite thing only with you! (Gleaned from Is That All He Thinks About?)

Experience the blessing of serving together as a family. (Gleaned from multiple “seasoned” moms)

When our kids are grown would we rather they think back and say to themselves, “My Mom always kept the house really neat,” or “My Mom always took the time to sit and play with me.” (Gleaned from a “seasoned” mom)

Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. Proverbs 3:13-14