Things That Have Helped Me Get the Job Done

We are still in the process of moving. Almost all of our things have been moved to the new place. We will sleep here tonight and in the morning we will eat breakfast, throw a few more things in a box and go over to our new place (of course, I'll be coming right back to clean). I was thinking about the little things that have helped me get this very big job done. Here are a few

Letting my kids sit in boxes. The first day I started taping boxes together it went like this. Tape up a box..."Silas, Mommy needs to put something besides you in the box"..."nevermind"...Tape up another box..."Silas, what happened to the last box I taped up? I need this box, dear"..."Forget it"....go get the last box I taped..."Hi Gideon, are you have fun in Mommy's boxes"...leave them alone and tape another box.

Bubble wrap...seriously, I know adults who can't resist the stuff

Old pictures. This occupied my boys for quite a while, but I didn't get much done while they were looking because I wanted to look to.

Last but not least, Toy Story 1 on you tube...even after the TV and DVD player where on their way to the new place I could put the boys in front of the lap top. It kept them out of the way and safe while we were carrying the other big stuff down the steps.

Verses the Lord led me to this morning

Isaiah 26:7 The way of the righteous is smooth;

O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast

Psalms 40:2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

Are we catching the theme here...God is so good to me. His word washes over me this morning. I praise His holy name and I will walk through this day securely, my feet will not stumble (Proverbs 3:23) for He will lead me to the Rock that is higher than I (Ps 61:2)

Moving

We are moving...after months of barely being able to pay rent, we decided something was going to have to give. We started talking over our options and what the Lord was speaking to us...the two seemed to conflict, UNTIL...Quentin's parents offered to let us move into their basement apartment.

And so begins the packing of the boxes and moving of furniture. I'm sure the boys will be very helpful. :)

We will have a little less space, but we're determined to make it work. Please pray that this goes smoothly and quickly. Thanks!

My Not-Twitter

If I had a Twitter account, this is what you would've gotten today:

10:32 am - Just happened to stop by Hancock Fabrics during their 50% off sale...SCORE!

11:04 am - Confession: I love Big Lots

11:38 am - Feeling grossly violated by the country music playing as I walk through the Dollar Store

11:45am - NOOO...Not the Belton Walmart too! Why do they have to rearrange my favorite Walmart so that I can't find anything!?! You have failed me Belton :(

3:30 pm - The electric bill for last month made us pee ourselves, so we are trying to go without AC...everyone is grumpy.

6:49pm - AC back on...grumpiness is subsiding.

7:05pm - Watching UP with the boys...CAW CAW ROAR!!

There you have it...My Not-Twitter for the day. Could you imagine me pausing throughout my day to peck that out on my not-full-keyboard-cell phone...I don't think so. So for now, I'll just turn it in to a blog post at the end of my day if I get several good ones! :)

Smash Brothers

Oliver has said some really funny stuff lately, so I thought I'd share.

Every Friday evening we have a Shabbat dinner together to celebrate the Sabbath. I always make homemade challah bread and we light candles. Actually, we do alot more than that, but those are the important details for this story: Oliver and I were reading a lift-the-flap Maisy book. I would read the question, then before we would lift the flap, he would guess the answer...he got them all right, except the page that said, 'What are you doing, Maisy? With: eggs, butter, flour and candles' Oliver said, "Making a shabbat dinner!"...(it was supposed to be Birthday cake, but I liked his answer better!)

I'm not sure how the conversation turned this direction, but the other day, Oliver said to me,

"I'm the big brother and Gideon and Silas are smash brothers."

me- "Why do you call them that?"

Oliver -You know...because they break toys and stuff

me- Well, that's not all they do.

Oliver- Yeah, they also eat.

Then this morning, Oliver looked at me and said, "Mommy, do you know why my leg itches?...It itches because it wants to go fishing. Really...It does!"

I looked at Quentin and said, "did you feed him that?" Quentin swears that he didn't!

Pentecost

Shavout celebrates the day that God gave Moses and the Israelites the 10 Commandments. That was the first time they received the law. They continued to receive the law after that and even now, the Jewish people fill themselves with it daily.

We celebrate now by bringing to the Lord, the first fruits of the harvest, thanking God for it, and anticipating the rest of the harvest, unto completion.

When God gave Moses the Torah for the first time on Mt. Sinai, it was not the Fulfillment of the Law.

Just as the first fruits of the Harvest, are wonderful, we look forward to completion of the work in the fields and the Great feast that follows.

Today my heart is aching for the Bridegroom Jesus. I am thanking Him for the outpouring of His Spirit that He gave to us at Pentecost, believing that it was just the first fruits. And I am longing for the day when we are done in the fields, He returns to Earth and we celebrate our marriage at the wedding feast.

123rd Terrace

I read this article the other day and it inspired me to write about what we are doing right here on our own street.

We have lived on 123rd Terrace for over a year now. Last year about this time, we were all packed up into the van, ready for a picnic at the park. Of course, Quentin and I can't get 'all ready to go' without about a dozen 'last' trips up the stairs to get what we forgot. This time, we were actually parked on the street, waiting for Quentin to come back from one such trip up the steps. While we were waiting, an elderly lady dressed in about a dozen shirts, sweat pants, and combat boots approached me. She asked me if I could spare a few pennies. I literally had no pennies, not a cent on me or in the van. I'm so glad I didn't or I would have given her some change and left it at that. But I didn't, so I said, are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich! So I did. After all, we were packed for a picnic, I had all the stuff right there in the middle of the road with me.

And then I did something that surprised even myself. I learned her name and told her mine and then I pointed to my front door and said, "Ms Mollie, I live right there...if you are ever hungry, you come knock on my door." What a crazy thing to do...ladies and gentlemen...I do NOT live in the best part of town. I don't even live in the "I guess its ok" part of town. But what's the use in living on the "wrong side of the tracks" if you don't make a difference while you're there?

I believe with all my heart that God had put us here on 123rd Terrace. I don't know how much longer He will have us here, but I do know that the safest place in the world to be is in the center of God's will!

The next time I saw Ms. Mollie, the boys and I were playing in the back yard. She again asked me if I could spare some pennies. I didn't give her money, but I did get her something to eat and sent her home with a few things to eat as well.

After that, she came around asking for something to eat a few time, but eventually, she just came to visit her friend. She calls me her little white friend. :) Her visits really take a lot out of me because she's extremely difficult to understand when she talks. She doesn't have teeth, for one thing and I'm not certain that she doesn't have some level of deminshia as well. ( so when I write 'Ms. Mollie said,' it should probably read I think 'Ms. Mollie said,') But I'm getting better at understanding her and sometimes she seems very happy to just watch the boys play as I continue in the kitchen...as long as I bring her something to eat :)

Once I was on my way to the grocery store with out any of the boys (*miracle*) and as I was driving down 123rd Terrace, I saw Ms. Mollie walking down the street. I pulled the car over and hopped out to give her a hug and say hello. She asked me where I was going and then asked if she could go with me. I said, Sure! We got quite a lot of stares walking through the grocery store together. I remember her going to the little sample stand twice.

One the way home, she showed me which house was hers so I could drop her off. This opened up something new! Now I knew where she lived.

The next week, I pushed my double stroller up the 123rd Terrace hill (its a doozey) with twin 16 month olds in the seats and a 3 1/2 year old hanging off the back. I was sweaty when we arrived. However, when Ms Mollie saw us standing at her door to visit her, you'd have thought it was Christmas morning and we were Santa and three elves! She was so excited to see us!

Have you ever been inside a small, poor household in a different nation? That's what Ms. Mollie's house reminded me of. It was dark...only lit by the light peaking through the sheets over the windows, it smelled a little strange, the TV was on the whole time, and I could only understand about a third of what was said. I met one of her granddaughters that day and have met her daughter and other granddaughters since then. I was surprised to learn that I couldn't understand any of them much better than I could understand Ms Mollie.

This is turning into a very long post...I will try to finish it later.