Last week was a busy week for Roger as he had a school board meeting, a missions board meeting, and he went to a men’s retreat on Friday- Saturday. While it was a busy week for Roger, and he was a bit overwhelmed with also preparing for ground school on Sunday, we are so thankful that Roger had the opportunity to go to the men’s retreat. We all need encouragement and good fellowship from time to time, and this retreat provided that for Roger. He came home greatly encouraged, and it was such a delight to my heart to know that his walk with God was encouraged. There was a group of five men that went to the retreat from our church, and I think they all came away encouraged and blessed.
Chandler’s birthday was on Sunday, which is kinda a rough day to have a birthday as it’s hard to plan a party around church services. However, our church had our annual meeting after church with a potluck lunch and then we took our youth and teens ice skating. We had a good turnout of about 25 kids and teens at the ice skating event, and a good time was had by all! Chandler asked if he could have over the boys in his class for a small birthday party, so we are planning that for a few weeks down the road.
It’s been a rough last couple of weeks in our community and school, as we’ve had several tragic events that have affected families in our school and community. One of our community families had a tragic death occur and another family lost a small child to a drowning incident. Our hearts have been heavy as we’ve prayed fervently for different outcomes, I’m thankful that we serve a God who is timeless, and He sees our hurts. He outpours grace on us, and loves us more than we could fathom. Twenty years ago, on January 27, 2000, my family experienced our own heartache, as my mom gave birth to a beautiful baby girl...stillborn. Oh, how our hearts hurt and the grief was so strong. I’ll never understand why God in His infinite wisdom choose to take home my baby sister before we even got to know her, but I do know that I can trust God. Twenty years flew by, but my heart does hurt sometimes for the sister that I never got to know and the aunt our children have never known. We have two choices when our lives are shaken by tragic events. We can either become bitter, angry and withdrawn from God or we can choose to lean into His everlasting mercy, grace and comfort. Choosing the latter doesn’t make the pain magically erase, but we can have peace in the midst of heartache. We don’t know what the future looks like and certainly none of us would choose pain and suffering, but peace, oh sweet peace can be found when we cling to the promises of God.
I’ve been reading though a book about raising boys this week “Strong Mothers, Strong Boys”. It’s been a good read, but ever read books on parenting or raising kids and think, “Well, I hope I’ve done something right?!” I’ve made so many parenting mistakes that it would be easy to be bogged down by the failures, but I know that my strength is not in my own but in Jesus. One thing that I’ve really been trying to do more of is just listen to my boys. I’m good at formulating responses before they’re even done talking! These teen years are hard! And I love my boys (and Emma) but sometimes I wonder if we are going to get through these years and come out loving each other and loving Jesus! Any prayers would be appreciated!
These months from January to spring (whenever that comes) sometimes tend to feel a bit long and slow. Chandler made the comment to me that “there’s not much fun stuff happening right now.” Ha! I know the feeling...sometimes we just have to ask God to help us be content regardless of the circumstances or “fun”. The boys have been trouble getting the ice skating rink to stay in working order so I know that has them a bit frustrated and discouraged. The weather hasn’t stayed cold, so that’s been a struggle. Lord willing, they’ll be able to use it again soon. This is the time of year that sometimes the monotony seems long...school, packing lunches, chauffeuring, making meals, laundry, etc...again, we are to be content regardless of our circumstances! “For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there with to be content.” I’m still a work in progress for sure!
Also, Emma started off in kindergarten strong and knowing a lot of the material. However, she has been really struggling as of late in her phonics and reading. We just need wisdom in how to help her understand and retain the material. She seems to enjoy going to school, but she comes home tired and worn out.
A few smiles and praises:
* the kids are taking tennis lessons once a week through the school. Travis comes into the preschool classroom last week on the morning of tennis, and says, “Mom, I have a problem.” I ask him what the problem is and he points to his feet. He has on matching shoes, but two different sizes!! How on earth did he mange to get all the way to school before realizing that he had on one of his shoes and one of Chandler’s shoes?! I asked him what he was going to do about his problem. He didn’t have any suggestions, so I told him to think about it. He thought a few minutes and then said he would wear the shoes to tennis and then wear his snow boots the rest of the day. Well, that seems like a solution son! He survived the day, but Roger and I had a good laugh about it in the evening.
* Emma lost one of her front teeth on a baseball bat this past week. It was a plastic one, and she was swinging it around and managed to knock her tooth out...yes, it was already loose! The boys were in complete awe of how she managed to do that!
*Wyatt has figured out how to solve the Rubik cube! He has patiently read directions on how to solve it, and has asked a friend for help, and has now practiced it to perfection! I have no clue where to even begin on solving a Rubik cube, so I’m impressed!
* I shop for Christmas presents and birthday presents year round, and I have several boxes of gifts that I’ve accumulated for when the need for a present arises. While at Walmart last week, I found many markdowns on toys, clothes, and shoes. I bought some things for our preschool class, gave some things to Emma’s teacher, and stocked our present box. We spent $90.00 on items that the retail value is over $400.00! The boys are stocked up on flannel shirts ($1.00 each) and shoes ($3.00 a pair!). Emma was thrilled to get pink tennis shoes! She’s been wanting some pink shoes for a while, and I was happy to be able to get her a pair for $3.00! God is so good at providing us with so many blessings!
God is good and faithful even in the midst of discouragement or disappointments. We’d appreciate your prayers as we continue to parent our children and work to point them to Jesus.
Love, Sarah
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