It would be truly impossible to capture all that we did and experienced this week in Wisconsin. We had a wonderful week at my parents home, and they graciously offered hospitality to our chaos and many of our dear friends. Since I had lived in Wisconsin for about thirty years, I have a lot of memory trails and some dear, dear friends. We tried to visit and see many of our friends, but unless I had a lot more time, it would be impossible to squeeze in anything more.
My dad took the kids fishing, let them sleep in the camper in the driveway, and put up with many hours of four-wheeling and gator noise in the yard! (As well as guns shooting!) My mom allowed my children to eat her out of house and home, and she said she just couldn’t believe how much our kids can yet! Yes, yes I know!! Milk is about $2.00 a gallon in Wisconsin and in Maine we pay just under $4.00 a gallon. I’m pretty sure that Garett drank about half a gallon a day! At home we have to sometimes limit milk consumption and we still go through about four gallons a week! The boys were delighted to be back in the Dairyland state!
My dad tried to take the boys on a camping trip on Friday, but instead he spent most of the day trying to move vehicles and equipment around! His truck broke down on the way up to the cabin in Wausau, and he had the trailer with the canoes and four-wheelers on it. My mom took our van to go get the kids and bring my dad back to find a friend with a truck he could borrow. Then my dad, Chandler, and Garett went back and got the canoe trailer. And then one more trip to put the broken truck on the trailer...whew! The boys were disappointed about not being able to go up north, but God had a plan. While my dad was driving my van back to get another truck, he realized that something was not right with the van. He asked the mechanic to look at it and the power steering pump was broken...ugh! Now in one day, two vehicles needed to go to the mechanic shop! Obviously, we needed our van to take back to Maine, and we had plans to go to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter with my parents. My parents left on Monday morning (7/29) with our three older boys, while Travis, Emma and I waited for the van to be fixed. Thankfully, the mechanic was able to have our van fixed by around eleven, so we were all able to meet up at the hotel on Monday night. (We have two days planned. And my mom’s sister, Lisa, is bringing two of her grandchildren also.)
Anyways, back to the rest of the week. Every day was full to overflowing, but so is my heart. I had so many heart-to-heart conversations with several of my dear friends. I’m thankful for friends who ask the hard questions and are willing to engage with me about every topic under the sun. Many of my conversations these days revolve around parenting challenges and raising kids that love Jesus! Oh, my hearts desire is to see each of our children filled with the Holy Spirit and have a desire to love and serve Him! I had conversations about is there such a thing as too much Bible? What is the balance between sanctification and service? How do we encourage our kids to serve and to be involved in the local church without it becoming “loathesome” to their souls? What makes for a good Christian education? And so much more!
I was able to connect with one of my friends who I didn’t see last year. She and her husband have faithfully served in full time ministry and recently God brought them through some “refining fires”. They have continued to serve the Lord and wait patiently, and recently became involved in the church Roger and I were attended. Over and over throughout the week people mentioned to me what a blessing this couple has been to the church. The body of Christ has been encouraged and become stronger because of this dear couple. I’m so blessed to count them among our friends, and I loved hearing how God has orchestrated these events! Beka and Jared have been friends of ours for years (they can’t get rid of us!), and it was such a blessing to me to hear about how God has once again shown that His way is perfect.
Our children had a full and wonderful week. I so enjoyed seeing our older children interact and play with younger children. Garett has a special gift with young children, and many of them seem to
gravitate towards him. It happened in a flash, but now my kids are becoming the older kids!
Wyatt had several rough learning lessons this week. He accidentally broke the John Deere gator and had the hard job of telling Papa about it. However, he did it. Secondly, when he had a friend over, Wyatt was convinced to let his friend drive without asking Papa about it. Wyatt then needed to say “I’m sorry and will you forgive me?” Roger and I have continually worked with our kids that an apology is not complete until you ask for forgiveness. It’s sometimes easy to bark out “I’m sorry.” But...looking someone in the eye and asking for forgiveness is much harder! Wyatt struggles with wanting to please people, and sometimes that allows him to make poor decisions. If you think about it, I could surely use some prayers on how to help him! I sure do love that boy!
Emma had a friend over for a sleep over. Roger and I are totally not sleepover type parents, but every once in a while, we allow it to happen. Story is the daughter of one of my dearest and bestest (I know that’s not a word!) friends! Story and Emma have totally different personalities but yet they seem to really enjoy each other’s company. It was so sweet to see them playing together, and I hope their friendship continues over the years.
Truly God gave us a wonderful week. It was wild and crazy, but full of memories. We serve an amazing God. I am blessed with wonderful grandparents for our children, and I rejoice in serving a great God!
“Iron Sharpeneth Iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”
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