Slip Sliding Away

One day last week, the kids wanted to go out and play in the snow. Unfortunately, it was melting rather quickly in the warm sunshine. Anxious to use their sleds, they were bummed to see that the only place in yard that did NOT have snow, was the hill.

I let them go out--never dreaming that they would still be entertaining the idea of sliding down the hill. On the dirt. With their newly washed, cute little snowpants on. You know...'cause they would be thinking that they wouldn't want to make their poor mother re-wash eight pairs of snowpants.

"Jordan, it would be really helpful if you would give me a push instead of messing around with your sled."

"Wheeeeee! I knew it would work!"

"See? No problem! Mom, why do you look so annoyed?"

"I'm not widing down dat scawy hiwl. I jus tand hewe looking adowable."

"I wanna turn! I wanna turn! Let me do it!"

"Uh oh...this is kinda scary..."

"Ohhhh...that WAS fun! Can I do it again?!"

"I really have no idea why Mom is getting cranky about the mud on our boots and snow pants."

"OK, little kids, let me teach you the finer points of building a snowman."

"So. We are supposed to roll this snow into a ball? I don't get the point of this."

"Here's my snowball...is it big enough?"

"What did you say we are supposed to do with this?"

"I'm losing interest in this project. I think I'll just eat mine."

"Me, too."

"I had no decent help on this, but may I present to you....Mr. Snowman! Ta-da!"

A Crummy Commercial

One of my favorite Christmas movies is "A Christmas Story," so please pardon the occasional movie line quotes in this post.

We took the kids to Bass Pro Shop last night to the Santa Wonderland. We don't do Santa per se, but we still think it's kinda funny to go sit on his lap and pretend. It was one of those oh-look-we-finished-dinner-on-time-to-dash-over-there, spur of the moment things. Oh so sadly...I didn't have the kids color coordinated for the photo. (yes, that does matter to those of us who are shallow about things like color and design)

For the 'crummy commerical' part of this post....take your kids to Bass Pro Shop if they have one nearby. They have lots of fun things for the kids to do.

Waiting in line for Santa... "The line to see Santa stretched all the way to Terra Haute!"

"Oh mannnn...seriously?"

"Nope, just kidding. We will only have to wait about five minutes."

Jordan strains to see the displays and Santa, sitting in the middle of them.

I took this while Bass Pro Shop took our FREE photo...so the kids were looking at their photographer (well, all except Katie, who continued to look at Mom and Dad).

Then for the truly exciting part....getting to shoot a Red Rider Beebe gun!

Daddy gives Jordan some manly tips

SaraGrace is very serious about hitting that target

While the other seven kids were shooting guns, Kate fell in love with this bear

Jillian tries her hand at 'shooting hip shots on the arm."

Does this look like chaos? Well, that's because it was. It was FUN, though!

Step aside Annie Oakley!

"I'm so delirious from all the fun that I put my coat on upside down. Somebody help me!"

A Light has Dawned

For those who have been reading the blog since this summer, you may remember that the day we drove to Ryan's ship-out ceremony, God spoke with these beautiful sunbeams.

They were a hug from Him, straight to a Mama's aching heart.

And then Ryan didn't ship out due to an injury. The memory of the sunbeams has remained fresh in my mind and heart, however.

I shared last week about God leading me to Psalm 23 and the verse about walking in the valley of the shadow of death, and how I dreaded having to live there while Ryan was on act*ve duty. I have been praying and asking God to please show me how to live with Joy and Peace while simultaneously carrying the burden of my son going off to war. I know that only with His strength flowing through me, would I be able to handle it.

Yesterday at church, the first verse read was:

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2

The words bored into my head and heart in such a way that I knew God was speaking directly to me.

"Karin...a light has dawned on the land of the shadow of death. You DON'T have to live in the darkness of the shadow of death, because I, the "Light of the World," dispel all darkness. My light will shine on you and enable you to live and walk in light."

Wow...I was so moved. He is SO GOOD! I had been telling Him that I didn't want to live without peace, without joy and laughter. And He said, 'Live as children of Light." Why? Because that is who I am in Christ. I am a child of God, who says He is the Light of the World. (John 8:12) I have no reason to go out of my way to walk in darkness. It would be like pulling the blankets over my head because I am afraid of the dark--only the room isn't dark any more, because someone has turned the light on, and I didn't realize it because I had the blankets over my head.

I can walk without fear, because His light shines on me.

"He will have no fear of bad news, his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord." Psalm 112:7

"I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant..." Psalm 34: 4, 5

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

We woke up to a gorgeous snowfall this morning. I ran outside in photographer euphoria. About twenty minutes later, I realized my neighbors might find it strange that I was running around the yard in my red plaid pajamas and Ryan's black lace up boots (because I had no idea where my snow boots were). I am always amazed at the beauty that God creates around me.

Our drive to church was amazing. We oohed and aahed all the way there. SaraGrace, who tends to be very expressive, said it looked like we were driving in a snow tunnel. She asked me to be sure to take pictures so that she could remember how beautiful it was. I took the photos through the front window of the van, so they are a bit cloudy--but you can still get the idea. Jeff was following me in his car and was rather perturbed about how I would suddenly slow down to take photos. hee....

The kids had a blast playing in the snow until after dark.





I'm so bummed that this photo is blurry.



Don't eat yellow snow, Jake.

Tarbaby Jake

Here in Massachusetts your car has to pass inspection. There cannot be any holes in the body of it, due to rust. Well, Ryan's truck has holes here and there. I don't really get how this makes a car non-road-worthy. Ryan tells me that it's so you don't hurt a pedestrian or biker with the sharp areas of your car. Huh? I'm thinkin' that if you hit them with your car, the scrapes or impalement's they get from sharp areas are the least of their worries. But whatever....

He needs to take it for inspection, so he has been fixing the rust holes with various things. Last night, he sprayed some black stuff that kinda balls up and hardens (you're welcome for this detailed explanation...I'm happy to give you the technical wording because I'm very smart that way).

A bit later, I called the kids in for dinner. I heard Jake before I saw him and he was wailing, "Mama....Mama....."

He came stumbling into the garage and what I saw made me stop dead in my tracks. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or get very scared. I saw this: only he wasn't smiling--he was crying.

It would seem that he decided to check out the black, tar-like stuff on Ryan's truck. It is extremely sticky and dries like super glue. Jake had done this:

and had gotten it all over his hands. He then tried to wipe it in the grass because there was grass sticking to his hands. Somewhere along the way he wiped his eye and his eyelashes were stuck shut. I couldn't tell if the stuff had gone into his eye, so I started getting ready take him to ER. However, Ryan was able to discern that it only seemed like Jake's eyelashes were effected. I got vaseline and went to work. Thankfully, it freed his eyelashes. Since I was concerned that maybe some of the toxic chemical had gotten into his eye, we followed the Poison Control Center's advice (thanks, Mom, for that suggestion), and flushed his eye for five minutes. He was not happy about that--but all seems to be well now.

That KID! Argh....

The Big 5-0!

My man is 50 today. It sounds younger and younger every day! :) He says he doesn't feel old and that the kids will keep him young--which is good because they are going to be living with us until we are ready for the home.

A few of our kids have recently become obsessed with not wanting to get old. What's up with that? This morning, Molly imparted some of her 9-year old wisdom to me.

M: I don't want to get old.
Me: Why not?
M: Because I don't want to use a cane.
Me: Well, I think you are a long way from that.
M: Oh well. I am just going to enjoy being young. It's my last year before I am in double digits. Next year I will be 10 and that is O.L.D.

I smothered some giggles because she was oh-so-serious about her impending old age.

You know what? I LOVE being in my 40's. It's been so freeing in many ways. And as long as we stay healthy, I think we will love our 50's as well.

So Happy, Happy Birthday to my sweet hubby (who is out of town today--wah)! Thank you for being so sweet, kind, thoughtful, and for working so hard to take such good care of us.

Soldier Sons and their Mama's Hearts

I have debated whether to post this...it's a bit of raw emotion...but after praying about it, decided to go ahead. Maybe I speak for other Mom's who are sending their son's off to war. I don't know. Warning....you don't have to read it!

Some of you have asked about Ryan and thank you for that. At the time, I wasn't sure what to post. The Station where he was supposed to ship from (here), said they had no paperwork on him whatsoever (despite the fact that he sat in THEIR offices for hours filling it out). Ryan also had sustained an injury to his hip, and well...this Mama's heart was hoping, hoping, that maybe he would get discharged or something.

Since then, Jeff has called the MI service office and they had Ryan's paperwork on record. Odd...since he filled it out HERE.

Whatever....

Ryan is in physical therapy for his hip injury and it looks like it will heal just fine--not something that will prevent him from passing the mil*tary physical.

Yesterday, he told me that he had 'one month and five days,' until he shipped. My heart started to hurt. Badly. Reality is setting in again after a few months reprieve and I have to face the fact that my baby, my firstborn is going into harms way. Then my mind would find another spot of hope...maybe he wouldn't have to go THERE. You know...THERE...the desert place they talk about on the news.

But then...last night, more news came that 20,000 more men would be sent THERE.

And this morning, it overwhelmed me. I am not one who cries much, but I sat and sobbed at the thought of my son going over there. I grieved for this young man...barely out of childhood, who truly has no idea what he has gotten himself into. I grieve for the innocence he is about to lose. I grieve for the burden he will have to bear for the rest of his life from the memories he will have from that place. And I question...is this God's purpose for Ryan's life?

It is a question that I cannot answer. But this I know...no matter where we go, God is with us. I know that Ryan is His child and that God will hold him tight--whether on a battlefield or on US soil.

So I begged God to give this Mama's heart some comfort. I opened my Bible. It fell open to Psalm 23. Nooooo.....that is NOT what I meant, God. I don't want to read THAT. That's the passage they read at funerals. Not THAT, God.

But that is where I was. I could not deny that it was reaching for my heart. So I read it. I read about God's rod and staff comforting me when I passed through the valley of the shadow of death.

And I realized some things. While Ryan is over there, I will live in the valley of the shadow of death...wondering each day if officers will show up at my front door. I'm really not sure how I will cope with that. I dread it. I don't want to be in the valley of the shadow of death. I don't want my baby to be there.

But the valley is where we are going and there is nothing I can do to stop it. (Well, nothing honorable, anyway, and yes, I have considered it.)

While I pondered all of that, I reached for a book called, "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23," by Phillip Keller. I highly recommend this book!

He was a shepherd, and explains the rod and staff. I needed to find out how a rod and a staff were going to help me walk through the valley. I can't write out all that I read--you'll have to get the book--but here are a few highlights:

The rod is a symbol of the Word of God, or the Bible. It can be a weapon of protection, a way to safeguard the flock. Picture a shepherd carrying a lamb, while holding a weapon that fights off any attempt to harm it. By reading my Bible daily, I can be protected from letting my mind go off in the wrong direction--in ways that are harmful for me and for everyone around me.

The staff is a symbol of the Spirit of God. A shepherd uses a staff to comfort, lift lambs up, and sometimes just to guide. There are times when the shepherd will apply a gentle pressure on the side of a sheep with his staff and will leave it there as they walk together--sort of hand-in-hand. Likewise, I have the Shepherd to comfort me, lift me up and carry me close to His heart as we walk together through the valley.

I cannot honestly say that I am all better now. However, I know that whatever comes, God will be there right beside me--probably carrying me--and I will survive. He never wastes our pain. He never doles out pain capriciously. There is always, always a purpose. And He has already walked this valley Himself. He sent His Son for me, for you...He knows intimately the pain of a Mother's heart.

And He holds my heart in His strong, loving hands. And there I am safe.

Teacher Gifts

Looking for a special gift for your child's teacher(s) this year? Not really loving the whole apple motif or coffee mug ideas?

Well, have no fear, LWB is here.

Last year we gave my kids' teachers a gift that they absolutely loved... a donation in honor of each teacher, of a winter coat for a cold orphan in China. This year, the winter coat is a $12 donation! Where could you spend only $12 and give such a useful gift? There are other wonderful gifts on the LWB site to give to teachers--including an area to give educational gifts to help orphans go to school. There are also medical gifts and foster care gifts. (So if you have other hard-to-buy-for folks on your list, maybe they would appreciate a gift that helps a child in China.) LWB will send a gift card to your child's teacher telling them of the donation that you have made in their honor. Whatever your budget, there is a meaningful gift idea, whose true warmth will last far longer than the apple inspired coffee mug.

Make a difference. There are children in China who wonder if they matter to anyone in this world. You can be the answer to that question that lies so deeply in their hearts.