Wrapping up of October

Can you believe that the month of October is almost over?! The leaves are in the final stages before falling completely off the trees. We can see our neighbor’s house again, so it’s another reminder that the seasons are changing. We did see a few flurries of snow last week but no accumulation. The boys and Emma are anxious for the snow to fall. Emma told me that she can’t wait for the snow because “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to eat clean, white snow, Mommy!” So we have five kids that will be delighted when the snow does start falling!

Roger and Chandler left on Friday afternoon for their trip to Ohio. They flew from our area airport to Boston. From Boston they had a direct flight to Cleveland. Roger has a good friend that lives in the Cleveland area, so Chandler and Roger were able to stay the night at his place. Kyle has been a friend of Rogers for years and years, and Roger said it was so refreshing and encouraging to be able to  reconnect with that friendship. Chandler had a great weekend with Roger, and the other boys are anxiously waiting for whenever Roger might need to go on another trip! On Saturday, they spent time with Kyle, picked up the u haul, picked up the airplane part, and got ready to head back to Maine. Roger and Chandler were on the road by 4:00 am., and God provided good weather and clear roads. They were home by 8:00 pm. On Sunday night! I’m so glad that Roger was able to take one of our children with him. I’m not going to lie...it was a bit of a long weekend for me! The other boys and  Emma did really well together, but I definitely missed Chandler and Roger. We stayed busy with  various projects around the house. Travis and Emma helped make a few pumpkin rolls, and I started  on a crochet project for the auction...provided I can finish it in time!

 

On Sunday we had a church dinner following the service as well as a church business meeting. That can make for a bit of a long afternoon. I made crockpot lasagna and we brought along a pumpkin roll. When we arrived at church, the church had no electricity! I guess the wind from the night before had caused the power to go out. That meant that all the crockpots wouldn’t work! Thankfully our church  sanctuary has lots of windows, so we moved on with the Sunday school hour. Interestingly enough, we are discussing thanksgiving with the kids in our Sunday school class. It was a good time of discussion as they popped up with so many things that they are thankful for which included electricity! I’ve enjoyed these past few weeks with the children on discussing prayer. I feel like I’ve learned so much, and I certainly enjoy hearing what the kids have learned. Our time to shape, mold, and direct them is such a short window of time. We have no time to waste. I want to be intentional in teaching an opening Sunday school exercise as I am about teaching music class every week. Thankfully the power did come back one before the Sunday school hour was over, so there was enough time for the crockpot food to cook.

By the time the meeting and lunch was over, it was about two pm. That makes for a very short afternoon when the children’s program starts at five in the evening! It felt like we had very little time at home, but it was enough time to get laundry going and to pack lunches for school. It definitely   wasn’t an ideal afternoon, but we all survived!


Monday morning started another week of school, as well as our Parents Group meeting. Our auction is now just two weeks away, so we are on the home stretch. I will be so thankful to have this massive undertaking behind us, as the Christmas program is only three short weeks after that! It was a small group of moms that met together on Monday morning, but the willingness to work together  and in harmony was present. I am very much praying that God will give each of these moms a special blessing as we work on this event. It’s our schools’ 19th annual auction, however, that doesn’t mean that it comes together of its own accord! It’s a lot of hard, hard work. I wish I knew how to better encourage families to want to participate or help out, but I don’t. So instead I’ll move forward with a happy heart to serve the school in this capacity. I know we serve an amazing God!


 Monday evening, the kids had an opportunity to go to an event. Travis didn’t want to go as he was
 suffering from a head ache. He was sleeping by 6:45 pm., so I know he was tired! He seemed to   bounce back the next day, so off to school he went.  

Emma and I spent much of Tuesday working on contacting various businesses for donations to our auction. Emma and Travis had appointments at the doctors office after school to have some  vaccinations. The nurse asked the kids what they were going to be for Halloween. We certainly don’t
 celebrate Halloween, but we do participate in our church’s trunk or treat event. Travis looked at the nurse and replied, “I’ll be myself, of course!” I had to laugh as Travis does not like to dress up for anything so clearly he would want to be himself. Emma loves to dress up, and she always likes to try on my clothes also!



Wednesday was another full day, and I knew it would be. Since Wednesday is my music class teaching day, as well as our annual Trunk or Treat, it was a full to bursting day! After music class, I did lunch duty. Then we dropped by at the airport for a little bit to see Daddy. We had enough time to need to find something to do, but not enough time to go home. So Emma and I went to visit an older
couple in our church. Our kids enjoy older folks for the most part, and I want to encourage our children to make sure they interact with older people. We have so much we can learn from them. It was an enjoyable visit, and I believe it was a God -honoring way to fill up our afternoon. We picked  up the boys from school, and then we got ready for our trunk or treat. I’m not a fan of Halloween, and I do believe that people do wicked things on Halloween. But guess what? People do wicked and evil things every day! The Bible says, “This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.” I would rather raise our children to not be fearful of a day, but rather to rejoice in how  great our God is! The Trunk or Treat event is one that the community is coming to the church. I  firmly believe that we, as Christians, have a wonderful to point families to Jesus! We decorated our
trunk like on of our church ministries. Since I teach the little ones on Sunday night, we decorated it
along that theme. Garett handed out the treats, and Emma handed out flyers to our children’s program on Sunday nights. Chandler and Wyatt hosted the table with hot choclate and Gospel tracts. I’m not
sure how many cups of hot chocolate they drank while hosting, but oh well! We saw a lot of kids and families on Wednesday night. I don’t know how many, but it was quite a few. I’m praying that seeds  were planted or watered, and that  God will be glorified through this event. It was a long and tiring
day, but we came home with happy hearts and sugared up kids!


 I have more to write about the events of this week, but I think I’ll save it for another post. I will say that I would definitely appreciate your prayers. The ending part of this week was exhausting,  troubling, and disheartening. I know that ultimately God will refine me as I face struggles, but sometimes spiritual growth is painful. However, we will continue to serve our Heavenly Father until He calls us home.

 

 Travis studying his spelling words 

I’ve been thinking about this statement by A. W. Tozer  a lot in recent days...a whole lot. It’s led to several discussions with my dearest friends. My heart’s desire is that my children will love God so passionately and fervently that they will be set apart and different simply because they love God so deeply. However, if my children grow up to love Jesus, serve Him, and live for Him, it will be In spite of me, not because of me. Being a parent is the hardest job...ever. I fail every day to point my kids to Jesus. Yet I know that as much as I love them, their Heavenly Father loves them even more. Oh, I want to be a vessel used by the Master to ever point them to Jesus.