A Week of Giving Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours! Our hearts are full of thanks as we reflect on the past year and all that God has done for us. We were thankful for a short week of school this week, my parents coming for a few days, a short visit with Roger’s parents, attending the pie and praise service at church, a successful deer hunt, a fun Turkey trot race, and a table full of guest and family on Thanksgiving day. We are so blessed! 

My parents came in from Wisconsin for a few days, and they arrived late on Monday night. We allowed Chandler to stay home from school on Tuesday to spend some time with them. He’s done well with making good choices in school, but a day of mentorship from my dad was the right choice for him on Tuesday. They spent the day setting up deer stands, talking to the neighbors, and just being together. We are thankful for those that mentor and disciple our children. My friend, Laura, brought me coffee and a biscuit to school and that was a special treat. I’m also thankful for those that pour into me! It was so thoughtful and kind! It’s not easy to uproot, move, and re-start, but God has been faithful through it all. 

On Tuesday night we attended the Pie and Praise service at church. This is always one of my favorite services of the year, and every church does it just a little bit differently. We were happy to meet Roger’s parents at the Pie and Praise service as they were passing through the area. My heart was full as I listened to testimonies of God’s goodness and character. I tend to be emotional on nights like these, but I only cried when I heard my friend express the goodness of God when I knew that she has had the roughest year in her life. I did say a word of praise expressing my thankfulness to God’s perfect timing. After I sat down, I thought of other things that I could’ve said better or differently, but God knows my heart. We do have so much to be thankful for as we look  back over the year. 

Wednesday was a half day at school, and we were thankful it was a short day. I came home and made lots of food in preparation for Thursday’s dinner. Two pies, pumpkin roll, chocolate crème pie, macaroni and cheese, and a bunch of other food items. Chandler went out to deer hunt around four pm, and he came back around 5:15pm to tell us that he had shot a deer. There was a few frantic moments as we gathered up the knife, boots, and everyone piled into the truck to go out to the field. Chandler was excited to have hit his first deer, but we then realized that he had accidentally shot the deer on someone else’s land. The person was very gracious about it, but we would appreciate your prayers that we could figure out who’s land is whose and where the property lines are at. We want to be on good terms with our neighbors and we want to be a good testimony for the Lord to our neighbors. But anyways, it was an exciting moment for Chandler and our household! 

Oh, and I know this is random, but I did want to interject a moment about the Freshmen Trip that Chandler is preparing to go on next month. There was a teen fundraiser after church on Sunday night, but it was poorly attended. I mentioned in my last post that Chandler has been working on raising money and trying not to take money out of his bank account. Last week, a new friend came to visit me in the library for a minute. She handed me a card and as I read the note I could hardly keep the tears at bay. It was the sweetest note that I’ve read or received in a long time. It was for Chandler and her family was expressing their thankfulness for our family and in getting to know us. Funny thing is that Roger and I had a similar conversation about this exact family earlier in the week and Roger had commented on how easy they were to talk to and we were looking forward to getting to know them better! She had read the blog, and then her family had given Chandler a gift for his trip. Even though the Sunday night event wasn’t well attended, Chandler now has all the funds that he needs for his trip! God is so good! 

Here’s another random story about the goodness of God: Last Friday Travis had taken a dollar to school with him so that he could buy a treat at lunchtime. Well at lunchtime, he realized that one of his classmates didn’t have any lunch. Travis gave his dollar to his classmate so that his friend could buy something to eat. At the basketball tournament later that same day, Travis had noticed that the Pastor had spilled his drink. The Pastor asked Travis to go grab some paper towels to clean up the mess. Travis got the paper towels and cleaned up the mess. Pastor gave Travis $5.00 for helping and being thoughtful. Travis tried to refuse the money, but the Pastor told Travis that the Lord wanted him to give the money to Travis. When I saw Travis later in the day, Travis immediately told me about the story. It was the PERFECT reminder that we cannot out give God, and that God will do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think! Also, last Friday, Travis and Wyatt had the opportunity to get out of school early so that they could go to the basketball tournament earlier to watch the girls team play. I was going to be coming after school, but the younger boys were thrilled to get to go to the basketball tournament earlier with the Hardison boys. Mr Hardison had a van full of five boys! We are thankful for friendships that are being made in the boys lives also. 

Anyways, back to the week at hand- that is now almost over- again! This morning (Thanksgiving morning) the four boys and I ran in the 5k Turkey Trot race. There were 244 runners in the race. Chandler came in second overall. Garett beat me, but I was ahead of Wyatt and Travis. It was a slower race for me (read “I haven’t been running as much lately!), but I did finish third in my age division (which also gets older every year!). Roger came along for moral support and Emma was happy to stay home with my parents! It was a beautiful morning for a run, and we are thankful that we have healthy bodies to run with. My friend, Jennifer, was there at the race, and she’s the one that invited us to join the race. It was good to have a few moments with her also. 

After the race, we came home to do more cooking! We had Turkey, ham, rolls, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, strawberry fluff, Brussel sprouts, macaroni and cheese, pasta salad, and lots of dessert! Another family from church was able to join us, and I love to have people in our home, so I was especially thankful for that opportunity again! We are so very blessed to have people to gather in our home to eat and fellowship with us. 

This year I’ve again created an acronym using the word THANKSGIVING. I’ve done this before and it’s interesting to see how things change from year to year. God has been so faithful through the years, and while every year brings about challenges and trials, the faithfulness of God never changes. 

T- Together Last year, Roger had a job in Michigan and while he was home for Thanksgiving, we spent much of the year apart. This year we are thankful to be together and host dinner in our home again. 

H- Heart I am thankful that God knows my heart. These years of raising teenagers are challenging, but when I don’t know how to express my thoughts into prayers, God already knows my heart. 

A- Attitude Sometimes we really struggle to have an “attitude of gratitude” in our home. As we talk to our teens and Emma about their attitudes often, I am thankful for the moments of gratitude in our home when our children remember to have that attitude. 

N- New Experiences I’ll be the first to admit that I am not always thankful for new experiences, but my faith is always challenged to grow. When I lean into Him, I can be thankful for new experiences. 

K- Kindness As we’ve experienced many new things in the past six months, I am so thankful for those that have extended kindness to our family either through action or word. 

S- Salvation- This is the best gift I’ve ever received! God send His son to die on the cross for my sin. I am so very thankful that I have the promise of a home in heaven. Jesus is the Rock of my Salvation. Spouse- I am thankful for Roger. He is my best friend. School While it’s been a major adjustment to transition to a new school, we are thankful for the Christian school. It’s not perfect, but we’ve added five imperfect children to the school. We are thankful that they have the opportunity for a Christian education. 

G- Good- byes We’ve said a lot of these this past year, and some of them have been very emotional. It’s hard to be thankful at times, but it’s also a reflection of the gifts of many friendships that we’ve been blessed with in our lives. 

I- Intercession I am thankful that the Holy Spirit ever gives intercession for me/us. So often I don’t know how to pray for our family, or 500 other things, but God knows. 

V- Victories When we see our children make good choices, love others, speak kindly or reflect Jesus, my heart is blessed. These are victories over the flesh and that is a victory! 

I- Investors I’m referring to those investing in the lives of our children and Roger and I. We are so blessed by those that speak Jesus in to the lives of our children and are investing in them for eternity. 

N- Never late Whew! I am thankful that God is never late and always on time! My timetable is rarely, if ever, on the same schedule as the Lord’s, but He is never late. He’s provided in miraculous ways for our children’s Christian education, our home, and thousands of other ways! 

G- Grace  I am thankful that God’s grace is never ending. He is never weary of me, and His grace flows freely. What a blessing! 

Photo credit- aleanjourney.com 

November Musings

 

Another week in November is over! And it took me almost a week to write this post, so it’s already old news! 

We’ve experienced more sickness, our first basketball game, a day off of school, fellowship at the pastor’s house, a fall sport finale, and a bike-a-thon! Last Monday, I wasn’t feeling great, but I managed to drag myself and five kiddos to school. It felt like a long day, but we made it through. The boys have been having basketball practice every night except Wednesdays, and it makes for some late evenings. We’ve started coordinating pick ups with another student who also plays basketball and that has helped a lot with trips to school. Roger and I also try to go together to pick up the boys so that we can spend some time together. Since one of us has to go to pick up kids, we might as well both go so that we can have some conversations with each other also. 

On Monday evening (last week) I went to bed as soon as Roger and I brought the kids back from basketball practice. I wasn’t running a fever when I went to bed, but by 2:00am, I had a fever. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go to school on Tuesday, so I sent a text to my administrator to tell them I wouldn’t make it in for school. I hate missing school because it puts us behind on our school bill, but I also knew that I was going to need some extra rest. By the time the kids were up and we were leaving for school, my fever was gone, but I was just really, really tired. I stopped to vote on the way to school so that I could have that done. I was voter #26 at 6:50am. I am always thankful for the privilege of voting, and while it often seems like lately the votes haven’t come out the way I’d choose, I know that God is still in control. Voting is also a reminder that I want to make sure that our children understand the importance of voting, taking part in campaigns, and doing our part to stand against the tide of evil. God is faithful, and He rises up and set down rulers. He is still at work in the lives of people, and I am confident that He will continue to do His plan. It’s easy to be discouraged and disheartened as it seems like evil runs rampant around us, but I can rest in the fact that God has a perfect plan for each one of our children and their future. He is not surprised. 

After I dropped off the kids at school on Tuesday morning, I came home and took a four hour nap. It’s amazing what some extra rest can do! I felt like a new person, so I cleaned the house, did laundry and about 500 other things that needed doing around our house. It was a productive day. I went to get Wyatt, Travis and Emma at three pm, and the boys were invited to go to the basketball game with their friends, Gabe and Enzo. So Emma and I headed home to wait for Roger to get off work before going to the varsity basketball game. I wanted to be there to encourage them, but we didn’t make it until the varsity game. Unfortunately, the varsity boys lost their first game, but we have to start somewhere! Chandler and Garett both did get a chance to play in the game, so that was fun. We were not prepared for how late the night would be! It was about 11:30pm when we arrived home on Tuesday night! Needless to say, we will be rethinking our plan about away basketball games! We are thankful that they boys have have the opportunity to play, but we are definitely not late night people, so it’ll be interesting to see if the boys decided to try out for the team next year. But for now, we are committed to this year. We will see what God continues to do in and through the boys during this season. 

Guess what? It was a short week last week due to Veteran’s day! We were certainly all ready for a day off of school, and it was nice to have minimal plans for Friday. We did some painting, house projects, took the boys to basketball practice, and spent a quiet day at home. We never get done what we think we are going to get done, but every time we do make progress. My parents are coming to visit next week, so we are trying to make some additional progress on our house. The painting is never done, and neither are the various projects, but we do make progress. 

Chandler participated in a bike-a-thon on Saturday morning. He is trying to raise some funds for a Freshman trip that the youth group is going on. He would rather work for someone but we don’t know very many people to ask for funds or work. He did find a few to help him out with his trip, including my sister, and a new friend here in North Carolina. He did a lot of biking on Saturday, and he would’ve kept on biking but I told him that no one wanted to keep paying him for biking! He is closer to his goal for the trip though, and he would really like to not take money out of his bank account. 

On Saturday afternoon, Roger worked with Garett on his car while I took three kids to a birthday party. The party was at a roller skating rink, and those places always feel like stepping back in time! Emma, Travis and Wyatt had a good time while I enjoyed the opportunity to sit and have adult conversation with Laura. I’m thankful that Gabe and Enzo and their family as well as extended family have become friends with our family. It’s nice to start to develop these important friendships in our lives here in North Carolina.  Acquaintances are good, but we sure do savor the deeper friendships in our lives. I stay connected with a few friends from our travels across America- Alaska, Wisconsin and Maine, and I’m thankful for deep conversations and friendships. 

Garett is getting much closer to being able to drive, and I know I’m not ready for this new stage of life! While it takes up a lot of time for us to run the kids to and from practice, I’m going to miss these moments of conversations in the car with our teens. I will never be able to understand why some parents seem to step back from their middle schoolers/teens rather than trying to spend more time with them! These moments are just so fleeting, and every day is a reminder that life is flying by.  We are so blessed to be the parents to five great kids, but we are such a work in progress! Sometimes, the progress seems measurable and sometimes it feels like we are taking three steps backwards! Emma struggles to have good friendships, and Travis is just looking for a friend in his class! Garett is friends with everyone, but he doesn’t have a close friend. Chandler has a lot of friends, but he is selective in his deeper friendships.  He’s kinda a loner in someways, but so far it’s probably kept him out of trouble. Garett is kinda looking forward to driving, and I’m confident that he will be a safe and cautious driver, but I’m just not ready for our kids to grow up so fast! 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we are looking forward to having a few days off of school. I love this time of year, but I don’t like how fast the time flies between Thanksgiving and Christmas! I want to do some baking, decorate our house, prepare some Christmas cards and do all the Holiday things! But for now, I’ll just keep making food for supper, painting, and living one day at a time. We have so much to be thankful for and I am so thankful for all that God has done for us. We are blessed.  

These days are full with activities, memories, and life with teens and Emma! :) We are wanting to make the most of the moments and the memories. We do have a few prayer requests to share.

1) We are still praying for a good friend for Travis. A bad friend is worse than not having a friend, but a good friend can be such an encouragement to a weary heart. Emma could also use a good friend. Sometimes Emma gets a lot of attention from older girls, but it’s not always good attention. One of her brothers made the comment to Roger and I that he feels like the girls just want to be friends with Emma because the girls want to be friends with them (the boys). Pray for the protection of our son’s hearts as well as Emmas. We need healthy relationships in our lives, and so do our children. 

2) Garett will be driving soon and this will be another transition for our family. I probably need the most prayer in this as I’ll be the one driving with Garett the most! 

3) We need some parenting wisdom, which is nothing new, but parenting teens is a challenge. Actually so is parenting Emma! So we just need a lot of prayer!

4) Roger and I are facing some “stressors” in our life, and we need wisdom in how to adjust the sails and make changes or just keep on in the direction we are going. 

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November!!

      Life has been busy and full as of late- but now that I think about it, that’s a way of life for us right now! Roger and I have lately said “no” to some activities for our teens simply because we need family time too. Last Sunday night we participated in a “Trunk-or-Treat” at church. Our friend, Laura, and her boys invited us to stay with them at their trunk and hand out candy. We’ve done a trunk for these kind of events in the past, but we kinda just wanted to see how it was done at this church. There were A LOT of trunks and a lot of people! We almost ran out of candy, but we had enough for all that came through the line. Roger and I both said that we were impressed with the organization of the event. Sometimes it’s easy to want a community out-reach event, but it’s harder to be organized with how to give the Gospel to the lost that are literally  in our backyard. This particular church sets up their Trunk-or-Treat event so that everyone that comes through is directed (funneled) through the auditorium for a clear Gospel presentation. I know that some Christians are adamantly against anything to do with Halloween, but we tend to take the approach that this is a fabulous opportunity to give Jesus to lost souls. Maybe next year we will have a trunk, we will wait and see. 

    Monday marked the day for our “Library Book Character” day! We had a great number of children participate and it was fun to see their creativity. I went as Mary Poppins, and Emma went as Laura from Little House on the Prairie. We had book characters from Charlotte’s Web The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Little Red Riding Hood, Clifford, Peter Pan  and a whole host of others! It was a fun event, and I think both Jennifer (the library assistant) and I are both glad it’s behind us!  A lot of parents came to watch the parade so that was exciting for the students also. We handed out participation prizes as well as a “Best Dressed” prize that included a gift card and a package of fun pencils. A few kids that didn’t participate said that next time they wanted to do the parade. So that’s a token of success in my book! (Pun intended!) 

    Garett went on a teen overnight activity last weekend. A bunch of guys and the youth leader took some young men to a fun event but also to invest and provide some discipleship in their lives. However, one of the teens that went on the trip wasn’t feeling well. Want to guess what happened over the next several days?! By Monday, about six of the ten boys were sick with body aches, fevers and chills. Garett came to find me around lunch time at school on Monday. I didn’t even need to take his temperature as I could tell he wasn’t feeling well. I ended up taking him and Emma home (Emma had a little bit of a cold) and then coming back to school to finish the day. Garett found out that both he and Chandler made the Varsity Basketball team, but Garett wasn’t able to go to practice on Monday. After school, I ran a few errands to pick up a few groceries. I was still wearing my “Mary Poppins” outfit. Wyatt and Travis asked me if I was going to change my clothes before going grocery shopping. I was like, “No, I just need to run in and grab a few things.” Wyatt promptly replied, “I am SO going to stay in the van! That is so embarrassing!” I just laughed and left them both in the van! Honestly, I did get a few unusual looks, but I still think I looked far more put together than a lot of people that go to the grocery store!

By Tuesday morning, Emma  sounded like a “barking seal” with her cough. Travis asked her, “what in the world is the matter with you? You sound like a Mack truck that can’t get started!” Leave it to her brother to put it in perspective like that! Garett still had a fever on Tuesday morning, and since Emma wasn’t feeling well either, Roger decided to stay home with those kids. The rest of us trotted off to school for another day. All around the school, it felt like kids were dropping like flies with either a cold/flu, stomach bug or something else! We made it through the day, and Chandler went to basketball practice (both for JV and Varsity). 

Wednesday is another full day of the week for me as I help out with elementary art. I really like working with the art teacher, Cara, and the day usually goes by pretty quickly. By the time the day is over, I can about do the art project in my sleep! Around 11:20am, Travis came to find me in the art room. He had tears in his eyes as he told me his headache was so bad he couldn’t focus. He ended up spending the day in the library sleeping on the library cushions. Emma had already planned a play date with a girl from her class, and the day felt all wacky! Thankfully, the school secretary checked in on Travis a couple of times during the day, and he slept the afternoon away. We were all ready to leave for home directly after school that was for sure! Emma had a great time playing with her friend, while Travis curled up in our bed and continued to sleep. He started running a fever and then  he was throwing up. I think he was throwing up because his head hurt so badly, but it was a pretty miserable afternoon for him. Roger was able to coordinate his schedule so that he could stay home with Travis on Thursday. Normally, I’d stay home with our sick kids, but since I need to work to pay the school bill, it worked out a little better for Roger to stay home. I felt like we just rotated through which kids were coming to school every day this week! Hopefully, we are all on the mend!

By Friday, it felt like the end of a very long week! Usually Friday is my favorite day of the week, but wow- it was a week! I did manage to set up the Thanksgiving bulletin boards in the library, which needed to happen. It’s such a short window of time between the Thanksgiving bulletin boards and then needing to do a Christmas board! I decided to put up a bulletin board featuring “Ways to Show Gratitude!”We need to be reminded of this as adults, and so do the children we are working with! I’m not an overly complicated person, so the ways I came up with are very simple! “Say Please”, “Smile”, “Be respectful”, “Say Thank-you”, “Be on time”, “Write a note,” “Ask ‘How can I help?’”, and a bunch of other ones. 

We also have a few more new books for the library, so my day was full with those projects. We are working hard at changing out bulletin boards, playing trivia games with them, reading aloud, puzzle and stem projects, but none of those things gets itself prepared without hard work!  

Roger sent me a text on Friday afternoon to see what I thought about his brother and two kids coming for a visit. Well, my house feels a little behind and it’s not as picked up as I’d like it to be, but they’re welcome to come over! So Roger’s brother, Nate, and two of his kids came for a visit on Friday night. They’re staying for a few days, and I know that Roger is glad to see his brother, and we are happy to have family come and visit. 

We have enjoyed some beautiful weather this week, and I’m still waiting for it to “feel” like fall! I wore my dress boots once, but my feet were too hot! Today was about 82 degrees so we spent a lot of time outside! The kids played baseball with their cousins, dad and uncle, while I took a nap. I’m trying to avoid coming down with something! This Friday we have the day off due to Veteran’s Day, so we are all looking forward to that. We did finish up the first quarter last week, and everyone passed all their classes- Thank YOU, JESUS! 

The days are flying by now that basketball season is practically here. Garett is not nearly as aggressive as Chandler when it comes to playing sports, but Garett is also a child that will remain calm. I do think he is a leader in his own quiet way, whereas Chandler is often a leader also, but he needs to work at remaining calm, level-headed, and using edifying words. We are all a work in progress! God continues to work through us as their parents, and even though we make a LOT of mistakes, God provides mercy and forgiveness. It’ll be interesting to watch their skills develop as the season progresses. Roger and I have both been impressed with the boys basketball coach, and I think that the coach is another person that can invest in their lives and point them to Jesus. 

Thank you all for your love and prayers! As we prepare for Thanksgiving, I pray that you’ll take some extra time to focus on the blessings that God has given you. I know that it’s easy to complain about rising prices on everything, but we still have food to eat, and God continues to provide. It’s easy to harp on our kids about things I want them to improve upon, but I am so very thankful for each one of our children. God has given me salvation, what a gift! We are so blessed! 

Photo credit: fontlot.com