Please Pray

Pray for the Bullins and Brockmeyer families in Virginia. They are two large families we know of who just lost their wives/mothers in a tragic accident. A tree fell on the car of the two mothers who were out shopping together. There are eight children in one of the families and ten in the other. The oldest child in either family is fourteen. They are Christian families in our friends' church. Can you imagine the grief and loss and the almost insurmountable task of caring for the physical and emotional needs of that many young children...without mommy? Only the Lord can care for their needs and comfort them. He is sovereign even over this. Please pray!!!

Funky Bargain Drapes (and lots of other stuff too)

pic #1 Mercy Doodle sick in bed...at least it is a new bunkbed. A great place to be sick. We got it at about 70% off at Walmart and put it up on Thanksgiving! The cheapest bunkbed to be found this side of the Vermont state line (sorry, I love to brag about my deals--a trait passed down from my Mother). The mismatched carpet squares flooring was also an amazingly cheap way to replace the threadbare 40 year old carpet that was in there...looks ok for a kids room and if anyone happens to get sick on it--as was almost the case last night...we could just replace the carpet square with a new one :).

Oh yea, our home is technically a 3 bedroom with a den which is an inlet off the hallway. For now all four kids will be sharing that "den" as we have closed off the back two bedrooms for the Lambert's to live in. You can see the brown door that leads to their "house". We might finish off an attic bedroom eventually so we'd have two kids in each bedroom. We'll see.



pic #2 The kiddos in the family room. We love the family room for it's size. It's a GREAT room for Bible studies, having guests, etc. The 30-year old rust carpet is not my favorite, but I have figured out how to pull rust into my decor---there is no ignoring that rust carpet! It does remind me of my carpet growing up a bit though (chocolate brown) and makes me nostalgic for the good old 1970's in Fresno, California.



pic #3 Our kitchen is amazing. The kitchen window overlooks the front yard. I put the "HOME" sign up the first day we moved in while we were praising the LORD and singing to Him that we finally had a home. He is faithful...gives us way more than we deserve.



pic #4 Like I said the (eat-in) kitchen is amazing. We don't have a "formal" dining room. We are glad to not have one as to us it would seem like a waste of space. We do love the space we have however. The previous owners remodeled the kitchen and were possibly planning on doing the rest of the house later...so the kitchen is the best part of the house. Here are my two adorable sick children at the table today. And of course my funky green drapes.



pic #5 So here is the outside. I think it looks like Hansel and Gretel used to live here. I love the cottage look. Silas and Mercy like the fact that it's "army green".

OK here is an excerpt from a note to my fam I wrote a couple of weeks ago.(if no one else cares about my funky green drapes, at least I know they will--ha!):

"We are mostly unpacked…and thanks to some slightly damaged clearance waverly fabric (funky green and white damask pattern)…my kitchen/dining room looks like it walked out of a magazine…if I do say so myself. I added some framed bird pictures from an old calendar and some branches from a tree outside and voila! Granted the funky drapes aren’t sewn yet-but they are clipped up there with drapery rings…I’ll get to sewing them sometime later.

Regarding the church…we are now meeting in that gothic style-(i.e. brick, stained glass windows, huge towering steeple) 1869 church right off Main St. We have had several recurring visitors (some have said they plan to keep coming) and have about 45 each Sunday. So we are growing. Craig moved his office from CCC and finally has a place to work without stepping over kiddos and having to run to the closet when on a phone call. God is good. We are thankful. We can’t believe the Lord has blessed us like this when other pastors we know are really struggling."

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So yes, things are settling down...and when I thought the unpacking/organizing would never end...it did. Or at least the cloud lifted and things became more manageable. Amazingly, the house suddenly was "under control" on the very day I started thanking God for the messy situation instead of sinking beneath the dirty dishwater and boxes. I chose to thank Him for strength instead of pleading for more help...and keep working too. He gave me joy and a clean house. Funny how that works. Thank You LORD!

The Lambert's (a young couple and good friends) are living with us in what we've made into an apartment (the back two bedrooms with a back door to the outside)...in exchange for some babysitting, snowblowing, etc. We love our new neighbors! Silas gets to talk to his hearts content about army guys and airplanes whenever Ben is around. :)

Silas is enjoying kindergarten tons! His mommy is not really enjoying the noontime commute to school 1/2 hour away. But it is worth it. He's memorizing psalms and hymns and they just finished two convalescent home visits with his school singing their Thanksgiving songs.

Aside from all of that, we are all sick this week (Daddy is the last hold-out) with some kind of nasty bug (fever, nausea, nasal nastiness). But we are cuddling alot and surviving. I thank the Lord, that I had plenty of leftovers in the fridge when this all began...we are not that hungry anyway. After another long night with the kiddos the Lord reminded me of His goodness and worth this morning...stopping my self-pity in it's tracks. I love this passage!

1Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
2Why should the nations say,
"Where, now, is their God?"
3But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.

Just when I want to have my own way (healthy family, sleep, etc), feeling I deserve it, the Lord reminds me of this verse, "not to me O Lord!!!" He gets the glory and He does WHATEVER HE PLEASES. I am happy with that!

So this post has been a little random, but I wanted to leave everyone with this encouraging Psalm. Have a good day everyone...and come visit us in Keene whenever you can!

Keene Pumpkin Festival Pics

Food and Clothing

1 Timothy 6:8 says, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."

When it all comes down to it, the things my family needs the most is food and clothing. So when it comes down to it the most important tasks on my to-do list are MEALS, DISHES AND LAUNDRY.

These tasks are daily and unrelenting, yet they help provide food and clothing for us. These exhilarating tasks are the first and many times the only "task" I accomplish in the day. It would be so much fun if I could get up and say, "Hey, what do I want to do, or accomplish today? Something fun? Something noteworthy?" But God says that with merely food and clothing we shall be content. So, I am a weakling, striving to love the Lord and yes, be content with every meal to be made, every sandwich to be diced into toddler-sized chunks, every bib to be wiped off, every dirty frying pan, every load of filthy laundry, every pile of folded laundry that is toppled by a baby.

In some ways, knowing these are my top-priority-tasks helps me to have self control. Each day, I wake up and don't need to make any major decisions about how to spend my time. First on the list is time with the Lord, then starts the day with MEALS, DISHES AND LAUNDRY! Of course the children and their daddy know how to fill up the rest of my time! But these are precious, eternal tasks (at least I am seeing them rightly if only for today). As well, these tasks can be done with scripture and prayer on the brain. I have resumed some scripture memory/meditation this week and my daily tasks have been been transformed from duty, to a time to meditate more. I have taken my prayer/scripture notebook into the kitchen with me in the morning so I can glance back at it on the counter and recall to mind what I was studying in the Word. Then I remember to praise God again instead of complaining in my heart about the drudgery of the day. So, don't be discouraged. Go feed and clothe your family and learn with me to be content!