A Day At Grandma & Grandpa's Through Hannah's Lens

For the last 2 years the kids and I have had a kind of agreement with my dad's parents that we would drive down and visit them once a month. They are the only grandparents close enough to have regular visits with that are more often than the about once a year visits we get with any of Glenn's family. My kids can't have just about every day grandparent time like I had growing up but we are thankful for our once a month visits. We have made some great memories with them and always have a good time and enjoy our visit. We missed last month because we were passing colds around and didn't want to pass them on to my grandparents.

Wednesday was our monthly visit. We had fun catching up and playing with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa had not been doing well since his episode with shingles and it was so great to see him feeling so much better and playing with the kids. While we were there Hannah asked if she could have the camera. I almost always bring my camera but usually forget to take pictures. Well, Hannah didn't forget to take pictures. She also took LOTS of videos. I'm including some of the videos and pictures.

Grandma and me

Give me a hug!

The girls had SO MUCH FUN playing stuffed animals with Grandpa

funny face

No visit is complete without ice cream cones. There are still a couple cones left from the ones we brought them on a previous visit ;)

Getting ready to scoop the ice cream and enjoying cupcakes

yummy ice cream cones!

playing dominoes

snuggle time

Grandpa beating Abigail at checkers

Group Shot taken on timer mode

Doesn't 66 years of marriage look great!

Hannah and Grandpa

Grandpa and the girls had a lot of fun playing with stuffed animals together in Grandpa's bedroom. Hannah got some of the fun on video:








Last, but not least, here is Grandpa talking about Jesus. There is a bit of prompting by my silly Hannah.



I don't know that I would have taken any videos but I am so glad that Hannah did. I had no idea of the chaos that was going on back there while I was out visiting with Grandma. :) I am thankful that we decided to make our monthly visits a priority and I am thankful for a fun day!

Five Minute Friday: Trust

On Fridays we just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. Won’t you join us?
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them.
OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

TRUST

START

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Trusting God is not something that comes easy but the more I trust Him, the easier it gets. I used to be prone to worry. Anxiety would eat at me. I would have trouble sleeping and wake up at night thinking about things that troubled me.

Every time God came through. He may not have done things the way that I wanted Him to. He may not have done things as fast as I wanted to BUT He did something and caused my trust in Him to grow.

We are going into another unknown zone. We are moving soon to Lowville for 9-10 months. We don't have a place to live there yet. That is kind of normal. After our time in Lowville we don't know where we'll be living or what we'll be doing for the following 5-6 months before residency starts where ever that may be. All of these unknowns would have terrified me 12 years ago but I am not worried. I know that I can trust my trustworthy Guide and that He will provide and take care of us each step of the way.

STOP

Hugs from God

It's not Monday and I haven't kept up with my 1000 gifts list but...
Here are some gifts (I like to call them hugs) from God from today:
* kids in love with eclair cake that I made in honor of my mom (I haven't made one in years!!)
* leftover fried potatoes in the fridge discovered just moments after I said that I really wished that I had made some potatoes for supper but they would take too long. (they weren't very old, just forgotten from a couple days ago. There was enough for all of us to have some and and I had made them with extra onions so they were extra yummy!!)
* fun playing Monopoly with the kids. Today I decided that, when possible, 3:30-4:30 should be family game time since the kids aren't doing anything productive during that hour anyway because they're glued to the radio for the kids programs on WMHR
* my blog has been so healing and helpful to me and I am humbled to find that it has been a blessing and helpful to others as well.
* I got an email from the library in Lowville and they have a weekly art classes for kids introducing artists and trying out their techniques. I am so excited about this because it is art is an area our homeschool is weak in!
* the blessing of many encouraging comments about my blog about my mom that friends emailed me or commented on facebook. I especially appreciated Stacie sharing how my mom introduced her to cauliflower possibly inspiring her culinary adventures (that made me laugh!) and how Jamie has had the opportunity to use her brokenness since the death of her dad to bless others. To God be the glory!

* Sweet pictures drawn by my kids for me today. Lydia was struck this year by the fact that her grandma died a year before she was born. She drew this picture of my parents meeting in heaven. It made me smile because my mom was the shorty in the family but in Lydia's picture she is quite tall :)

Thanks God for all the hugs You gave me today and that You give me everyday if I just look. You are so gracious to me and bless me far more than I deserve! I am so grateful to be Your child!

Happy 9 Years in Heaven Mom

In just a couple of minutes I am going to go into my kitchen and make an Eclair Cake. I made my first one when my parents and Glenn's family came down for my college graduation and from that time on it was my mom's signature dish to bring to potlucks until that fateful day, May 23, 2001. I am making it today in honor of the 9th anniversary of her Home going. Later this afternoon I'll dig out pictures and tell the kids stories about the grandma that they never had the chance to know.

Mom, Caleb, & me from their last visit to TN for Easter in '01

This time of the year is always tough for me but I am also so thankful. This morning while I was exercising I listened to Carol Kent's radio talk from a few days ago on Trusting God When the Unthinkable Happens. At the end she said this: "God is showing me broken people minister to broken people so if you're broken, that's good." I have found this to be so true. I am NOT thankful that my mom is gone. I would LOVE to be able to have a conversation with her. (A couple of weeks ago, as I was thinking ahead to this date, I realized that I haven't had a conversation with my mom in the last 1/3 of my life, almost 11 years since she wasn't able to talk really after 5/23/01.) I am TOO OFTEN jealous of people who have parents, whose kids have grandparents. I often wonder what it would be like to have a mom as an adult and to be able to talk to her about everyday things and big things.

BUT.... I am SO thankful that God has allowed this BECAUSE I can understand the pain of others. I know the agony. I have experienced the uncontrolled sobbing that happens at such random times, the feelings of self-pity, the sorrow that comes from losing someone close. Many of my friends have lost parents since I have lost mine. I wouldn't have known how to pray for Phoebe, Olivia, Leah, Patricia, Courtney, Nikki, Amanda, and so many others if I had not experienced, in some measure, their pain myself. Just today, when I got up I saw on facebook that my friend Susan's dad, who had been ill for a while passed away. I've been there. I know the mixed feelings: SO thankful that he is no longer suffering, SO sad that you'll never have a conversation with him again in this life, SO thankful that this life is NOT the end, the homesickness for Heaven that comes from having a loved one there.

I am so thankful for the broken people that ministered to me, especially Jaye and Robin, 9 years ago. I am also so thankful for the opportunity to, as a broken person, be able to minister to other broken people. The trials in my life HAVE been for my good and HAVE enabled me to do things that I would never have been able to do otherwise and have given me such a greater picture of who God is. I'm reminded of a quote from Ruth Stull that was quoted by Elisabeth Elliot in my mom's Bible: "If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is because pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will satisfy only a young lad."


So, today, I am having a party for my mom to celebrate the anniversary of the best day ever for her: the day she finally got to see her Savior face to face. I miss her so much. I long for the day when I too will see His beautiful face. Until that day may I be faithful with the blessing of brokenness that He has entrusted to me for His glory.

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG)

Five Minute Friday (belated once again): Real

I'm late for Five Minute Friday again but here is my post. Here are the rules if you want to join me:
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them.
OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

REAL


START

I've been convicted this past week with something. What is a real friend? Do I have any real friends? Am I a real friend?

I've been confronted with this because (in)courage is having a conference this spring. Not a big somewhere in the US conference where you get together with people from all over the US but (in)RL. In Real Life. It's great to have friends all over the country (and all over the world) and I do. But it is vitally important, as a woman, to have friends in real life.

I have lots of facebook friends. Many of them have been real friends in real life in the past and when I spend time with them (like I got to spend some time with one of them last Saturday and another one today) they are real friends BUT.... they live far away. They can not be a part of my actual life.

I move often. Making friends does not happen overnight. I have a hard time wanting to make friends because I know that I will not be a part of their lives for long because it is inevitable that in a few months or years I will be leaving. I will not be a forever part of their actual life so why try?

STOP

This is an ugly work in progress but my timer is done and I don't have answers for this...

Do your kids ever get frustrated with you?

My kids often frustrate me. I, also, often frustrate them.

Today the it was the latter. Today after HIM (the monthly homeschool co-op we go to) I was praying out loud asking God to get us to a gas station or to send some good samaritan to help us if we ran out of gas. I had planned on buying gas on the way to HIM but we were running late this morning so I decided that we'd have to buy it afterwards so we wouldn't be late. We have one of those meters on our car that tell us how many miles worth of gas we have left in our tank and when I got back in the van after HIM it said 0 miles. That made me a bit nervous so I started praying out loud. Caleb got so mad at me. He ranted at me, "Mom, why are you worrying? God always takes care of us. You know that. He has always taken care of us before. He's going to get us to the gas station and if He doesn't He is going to provide someone to help us. Seriously! I totally don't understand why you worry about things like this. He always takes care of us."

Well, God did get us to a gas station and I am thankful. I am also thankful for the faith that my kids have in our great God. I didn't have as much faith as they do when I was their age and, because they have consistently seen God provide for and take care of us, they often (especially Caleb) get frustrated with me when my faith is lacking. I am thankful that their faith is in God (Who will never fail us) not in me (who fails all the time). I often wonder how many of our faith stretching experiences are to prepare our kids for what He has for them in the future.  

Please give me wisdom God as I walk through this life and help me to train these blessings for what You have in store for them. Thank You that I can always trust You!

Dad got it right

When I was growing up I would often get frustrated with my dad. When we would go to church or be out somewhere and people would ask my dad how he was doing his response was usually, "Almost excellent" with a big grin on his face. In my head I would get so mad at him thinking, "That is not true. You are not doing well. Why are you lying to these people??" My dad was a non-compliant diabetic that was always suffering with some kind of physical ailment (like crazy blood sugars, huge ulcers on his feet, amputated toes, etc) and I felt that by saying "almost excellent" he was trying to deceive people.

Today I read an email that made me realize that he just had a different perspective of reality than I did. The email talked about 3 actions to help you change your attitude:
1. Shift your focus
2. Change your posture
3. Watch your language

Dad's focus wasn't on the fact that he was sick or hurting. He was surrounded by people which is where he loved to be and his focus was on the moment, not on his struggles. He had a huge smile on his face and he was using words that made his reality true. He's been gone for nearly 4 years but I am so thankful for the lesson that he taught me by example today.

During DEAR time today I re-read another chapter from Calm My Anxious Heart. (note: I just noticed when I put that link in that it is only $5 right now at CBD. If you don't own it BUY IT!) I'm reading it on my kindle app this time (it was free a while back) though the actual book version is one of the few books that didn't get packed when we packed all of our books because it is one that I have always had out and near since I first read it with my beloved Tuesday morning Bible Study back in 2007 at the Waterloo Rec. It is a book that I return to time and time again because I constantly need the reminders that are underlined all over it. I am reading it again because I need it again. I need to be reminded that God is "the Blessed Controller of all things" and to keep my focus on Him. Today as I re-read chapter 2 I was reminded once again that "Our thought life - not our circumstances - determines whether we are content." Seems like a theme that God is trying to teach me today.

And "How does God enable us to be content? He infuses contentment into us through His Word. [another theme He seems to be impressing on me.] As it seeps into our minds, it transforms us. Just as a cup of tea gets stronger when we give it time to steep, so we become more content when we spend time in God's Word and allow it to seep into our lives, transforming us to be like Him."

This week I have been reading Psalm 27 in my Psalm study. David has such confidence in God. He doesn't need to fear because God is his light, his salvation, his defense. He chooses to seek and praise God though his enemies abound. He chooses to wait on God. I love verses 13-14 "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord."  After reading them I wrote out a prayer: "Lord, this reminds me of One Thousand Gifts. It is so easy for me to give over to despair when my eyes are on my circumstances but You long for me to open my eyes to the blessings that You give that surround me day after day after day. Moment by moment blessings. Give thanks. You have made so evident Your goodness in 'the land of the living.' How much more will You in the real life hereafter. As I long for that day may I be constantly aware of Your blessings today!" Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

Lord, thank You for the lessons that you are teaching me. I am sorry that I am so forgetful and must be taught again and again and again. Thank You for Your patience with me. Thank You for the example that You gave me in my parents. They both had so many struggles, physical and otherwise, but they rarely let them affect their attitude. Please help me to spend time steeping in Your Word so that I can shift my focus, change my posture and use language that will bring glory to You.