My friend's mom told me this joke about a lady named Anita who married someone whose last name sounded like "go to bed." Anita Go'dabed. Yeah, that's how a linguist's daughter would spell it. And, see, that is just the essence of my life right now. I mean, here it is, after midnight—but when was the last time I went to bed before midnight? I don't know—and I have worked as wife and homeschooling mother, worked as Head Chef for Elite Eldercare, and worked as freelance Administrative Assistant all morning, all afternoon, and all evening, and that brings me to tomorrow, but I feel incomplete going to bed without doing ONE thing dream-related, ykwim?
I am beginning to come into a season of my life where I am believing that crazy big dreams CAN be achieved. I have had amazing fulfillment in marriage, and am flourishing in all of the wonders of being a Titus 2 woman, and in the unparallelled miracle of being a mother of children. It is my all-time favorite job. But I am realizing that 1) God has placed even more dreams in my heart! 2) We need to eat and sleep someplace, and it is (can it be?) within God's heart and purpose for us that we turn our dreams and greatest strengths into bread and butter. NOT doing so would be "burying the talents" and wasting life to some degree. 3) We have benefited so much from the help of others. Now it's time to step up and become leaders, believing in our ability to help others instead of staying in the "takers" realm. 4) I am created to be my husband's help-meet. What have I done lately to move my husband's dreams forward and further HIS career and loves? God obviously put us together for amazing reasons of multiplication and kingdom-impact. I know He is the author of our marriage. So if we are not doing amazing things together--kingdom and big-dream-things we could not do on our own, then we are falling short of our united potential. We cannot allow the One Who Casts-Between to hamper our creative together-powers. I mean, we have the two matching rings!
All that to say—I have to sit down and write, do something, every day, and though Anita Go'dabed is becoming my very best friend, here's to late nights of waking-dreams, here's to all my friends who are sitting up in the wee hours DOING SOMETHING. Believe your King, daughter. The land is there for the taking for those who are not afraid of big grapes. Er, I mean, giants. Hehe. Yup. With an Ally such as ours, victory is guaranteed—to—those—who—fight.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
July quotes
Golden: "We know how to make crackers! You get a piece of cheese, and you put it in your car until tomorrow, and it turns crunchy!" -July 2
(Yeah. side note, I found a crunchy half of a cheese stick in my bag the other day...)
Sp: "Mom! Why haven't we ever seen a giant stomping by yet? You SAID they were still alive!" -July 3
Sp: "Do people turn into giraffes when they get older, just like tadpoles turn into frogs?"
me: "Well,... is your grandma a giraffe?" -July 8
(talking about one of our friends, who has very simple tastes)
Thomas: "It doesn't take much to float her boat."
G: "Mom, if I were a teenager, I would sneak out, to the park, to the pond, if ------------ was there, and I would float my boat, and surprise her!" -July 10
G, while helping me make muffins,
"Pretend—that you're the mom and I'm the little girl who is being teached how to make muffins."
me: "I am the mom, and you are the little girl being taught how to make muffins."
G: "Oh." -July 17
G, doing a fish drawing,
"what do fish eat?"
me: "Algae."
G: "Oh. I don't know how to draw allergy." -July 17
G, opens her Bible and 'reads,' "The disciples... were going off to play." -July 19
Silas and mommy reading a book,
Si: "Oh, it's a bird!"
me: "Yes, and that one is called a Cactus Wren."
Si: "No, it's BIRD!"
me: "Yes, but that bird is called a cactus wren, It's a KIND of bird."
Si: "No, it's BIRD."
me, thinking of a brilliant way to explain it to him:
"For example, are you a BOY?"
Si: "No, I'm a GARBAGE TRUCK!"
me: smiling, then, "Well, OK. Is mommy a lady?"
Si: "No, you're a GARBAGE TRUCK!"
-July 20
Silas, cutting food in the kitchen with me, cut his thumb, it's gushing blood. he says, calmly to his sisters, "it is ketchup." Then I told him I had to wash the blood off the board. He says, "I'm sorry that I got bloody." -July 21
(Yeah. side note, I found a crunchy half of a cheese stick in my bag the other day...)
Sp: "Mom! Why haven't we ever seen a giant stomping by yet? You SAID they were still alive!" -July 3
Sp: "Do people turn into giraffes when they get older, just like tadpoles turn into frogs?"
me: "Well,... is your grandma a giraffe?" -July 8
(talking about one of our friends, who has very simple tastes)
Thomas: "It doesn't take much to float her boat."
G: "Mom, if I were a teenager, I would sneak out, to the park, to the pond, if ------------ was there, and I would float my boat, and surprise her!" -July 10
G, while helping me make muffins,
"Pretend—that you're the mom and I'm the little girl who is being teached how to make muffins."
me: "I am the mom, and you are the little girl being taught how to make muffins."
G: "Oh." -July 17
G, doing a fish drawing,
"what do fish eat?"
me: "Algae."
G: "Oh. I don't know how to draw allergy." -July 17
G, opens her Bible and 'reads,' "The disciples... were going off to play." -July 19
Silas and mommy reading a book,
Si: "Oh, it's a bird!"
me: "Yes, and that one is called a Cactus Wren."
Si: "No, it's BIRD!"
me: "Yes, but that bird is called a cactus wren, It's a KIND of bird."
Si: "No, it's BIRD."
me, thinking of a brilliant way to explain it to him:
"For example, are you a BOY?"
Si: "No, I'm a GARBAGE TRUCK!"
me: smiling, then, "Well, OK. Is mommy a lady?"
Si: "No, you're a GARBAGE TRUCK!"
-July 20
Silas, cutting food in the kitchen with me, cut his thumb, it's gushing blood. he says, calmly to his sisters, "it is ketchup." Then I told him I had to wash the blood off the board. He says, "I'm sorry that I got bloody." -July 21
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Sparrow is Seven
My pretty Sparrow turned seven recently! She is so full of ideas, so full of potential, and so smart.
Her heart is full of dreams.
Her birthday came 2 days after we moved houses, so our life was still very crazy at the time and since the move came suddenly, I was unable to plan a party or anything, but we decided to go to the circus. She loved it!!
Here are a few photos of the special day.
Sparrow,
You are growing into your destiny. You are getting braver. You are getting stronger. You are getting so thoughtful and conscientious and helpful and I love having you around. I get lesson after lesson when I watch you. The way you play with Golden is amazing--your friendship will last forever. The way you appreciate Silas and love Pippa is beautiful to behold. You are free. You are filled with the songs of God. I love you more dearly every day. You are funny, intelligent, a thinker and a girl who loves to laugh all rolled into one. You love beauty. I love that about you. Your excitement in God's creation. Your sense of justice. Your quickness to obey. Sometimes I give you a lot to handle, firstborn, and you handle it all so gorgeously, I am amazed. May all your paths be love. May you feel God's presence strong this next year. You are beloved. You have nothing to fear. Love, your Mom
Her heart is full of dreams.
Her birthday came 2 days after we moved houses, so our life was still very crazy at the time and since the move came suddenly, I was unable to plan a party or anything, but we decided to go to the circus. She loved it!!
Here are a few photos of the special day.
 | |
| Morning of the birthday. Breakfst at Chick fil A! |
 | |
| And yes I DID buy them ice cream at 9 am! |
 | |
| Informal presents on the porch |
 | |
| The next day we had cake at home. |
Sparrow,
You are growing into your destiny. You are getting braver. You are getting stronger. You are getting so thoughtful and conscientious and helpful and I love having you around. I get lesson after lesson when I watch you. The way you play with Golden is amazing--your friendship will last forever. The way you appreciate Silas and love Pippa is beautiful to behold. You are free. You are filled with the songs of God. I love you more dearly every day. You are funny, intelligent, a thinker and a girl who loves to laugh all rolled into one. You love beauty. I love that about you. Your excitement in God's creation. Your sense of justice. Your quickness to obey. Sometimes I give you a lot to handle, firstborn, and you handle it all so gorgeously, I am amazed. May all your paths be love. May you feel God's presence strong this next year. You are beloved. You have nothing to fear. Love, your Mom
Monday, July 22, 2013
Rainy Day Shenanigans
Baby
was hot and fussy with a fever all day; I was holding her in the wrap
and trying to cook with my little boy clinging to my leg for dear life
during today's thunderstorms. He wouldn't let go! ("I'm scared of the
blunder.") So there I was like a car with a boot, galumphing around the kitchen while shouting cleaning instructions down the
hall to the girls; the lightning was cracking and the lights were
flickering threateningly, and the rain was coming down with record speed
and fury. And thus I burned the vat of creamed spinach for the elderly.
It is now smoked spinach. I wonder if they will notice.
Actually, the little koalas were not at fault for the demise of the spinach. I had decided to take a little break while the frozen spinach cooked down, to watch a rainy-day puppet show that Sparrow and Golden had prepared for me, and I was immensely enjoying myself while the spinach died a miserable death in a fiery inferno.
Here is that show, for better or worse:
Actually, the little koalas were not at fault for the demise of the spinach. I had decided to take a little break while the frozen spinach cooked down, to watch a rainy-day puppet show that Sparrow and Golden had prepared for me, and I was immensely enjoying myself while the spinach died a miserable death in a fiery inferno.
Here is that show, for better or worse:
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Lives will be changed!
It is a master schedule for the family. I will be making about 7 of these, one for each day. Just kidding. But probably 2 or 3.
This is the schedule half completed--each color represents a different member of the family--yellow is me, and pink and purple are the older girls. (Most crucial to be scheduled gets scheduled first.)
Note that I bought a neat little foam poster board for this. And the schedule ran way off the board onto the table and down the side of it. That is my baby trying to get her sticky little fingers on my bedtime routine.
Check out what I have in my schedule: Child Training! Most EVERY DAY!!! Update: I have been doing this for one day now and I had an AWESOME day. There was time for everything!!! Cleaning, child training, everything!! Nevermind that it is 2 am now. My computer play time doesn't really count.
Later we made these. Twix. Seriously. Without all the preservatives and chemicals. TJ's animal cookies with TJ's fleur de sel caramel and melted tj's semisweet choc chips. Put on a dirty old cookie sheet with a bunch of glitter stuck in the corner, (optional added effects contributed by children), and freeze. You will thank me. I apologize that they are about as ugly as sin, or is that my prehistoric cookie sheet? Thankfully it does not affect their taste either way.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
The Smiling Family Project
Today's QTiS (Quiet-Time in Shower) revelations:
1) Recording the smiling journey on this blog. Because joy is a thing that must infect the whole family. And I have failed so many times in the past at transmitting infectious joy... hang on, I think I have NEVER done this. My personality is in the natural more skeptical/ cynical. It is time to bring my children something concrete that we can all work on together. And that means letting go of some of that old identity (witty sarcasm) and putting on new things. The fruit of the spirit is love and joy. Oh I have love! I love Jesus, I love my family. But how is that translating to my little children when I mope around, shout, or complain? It must translate in JOY and all of the rest of the fruits of the spirit. (We will to go into all of these in-depth on later posts.) What if I don't wait for the feeling of joy to come? What if I start acting it out at every opportunity? Just yesterday I was asking the Lord for creative ideas, and for more of a joy breakthrough, and today He gives me this. So these are the pages where we will record this experiment. And invite others to join the smiling journey as well.
2) Simplicity. There are soooooo many things pressing in on us all the time. But instead of feeling guilty and overwhelmed about everything, ...I need to pare down. I need to focus on the simple things. No, I can't quit my obligations, but simplicity means no more feeling guilty that I have not yet dug up my ground for the organic garden, after 2 1/2 months of living here (and now it is midsummer and a lil too late for that anyway),or that the beautiful porch is a crazy mix of husband's tools, sticky, dried-up bubble dishes and broken kites, and latent garden supplies, oh and SHOES. No more guilt that though being a native German speaker, I have not managed to transfer this ability to any of my children, despite lofty intentions. No more feeling frantic that I am going to miss the deadlines for summer gymnastics and VBS, and guilty that my children have not yet had any sort of pet, oh yeah, and it is 11:15 and I have not started home school yet for the day; who cares if they don't get to take gymnastics classes THIS summer? At least they will have a smiling mother. Just smile. And breathe. It's OK to stay home. Just smile. And everything else will also fall into line, and also come more more Spirit-breathed, and simpler, einfacher. (See, I'm speaking German again already!) Take this journey in faith with me?
1) Recording the smiling journey on this blog. Because joy is a thing that must infect the whole family. And I have failed so many times in the past at transmitting infectious joy... hang on, I think I have NEVER done this. My personality is in the natural more skeptical/ cynical. It is time to bring my children something concrete that we can all work on together. And that means letting go of some of that old identity (witty sarcasm) and putting on new things. The fruit of the spirit is love and joy. Oh I have love! I love Jesus, I love my family. But how is that translating to my little children when I mope around, shout, or complain? It must translate in JOY and all of the rest of the fruits of the spirit. (We will to go into all of these in-depth on later posts.) What if I don't wait for the feeling of joy to come? What if I start acting it out at every opportunity? Just yesterday I was asking the Lord for creative ideas, and for more of a joy breakthrough, and today He gives me this. So these are the pages where we will record this experiment. And invite others to join the smiling journey as well.
2) Simplicity. There are soooooo many things pressing in on us all the time. But instead of feeling guilty and overwhelmed about everything, ...I need to pare down. I need to focus on the simple things. No, I can't quit my obligations, but simplicity means no more feeling guilty that I have not yet dug up my ground for the organic garden, after 2 1/2 months of living here (and now it is midsummer and a lil too late for that anyway),or that the beautiful porch is a crazy mix of husband's tools, sticky, dried-up bubble dishes and broken kites, and latent garden supplies, oh and SHOES. No more guilt that though being a native German speaker, I have not managed to transfer this ability to any of my children, despite lofty intentions. No more feeling frantic that I am going to miss the deadlines for summer gymnastics and VBS, and guilty that my children have not yet had any sort of pet, oh yeah, and it is 11:15 and I have not started home school yet for the day; who cares if they don't get to take gymnastics classes THIS summer? At least they will have a smiling mother. Just smile. And breathe. It's OK to stay home. Just smile. And everything else will also fall into line, and also come more more Spirit-breathed, and simpler, einfacher. (See, I'm speaking German again already!) Take this journey in faith with me?
Monday, June 3, 2013
Pippa is One
Our littlest turned one the other day...
One year olds are so fun to have a party for. They have no precedent, so they are not opinionated about how it's going to go!
We invited a few people we know, made sugarless black-bean-chocolate cupcakes, and decorated them with flowers.
Pippa ate her cupcake with a spoon.
She is adorable.
Pippa--You are a fearless princess, a smiling sunflower, making people laugh with the openness of your countenance, the unassuming lilt of your voice. You have delighted and amazed us every day of your life. You have the power of slowing down time. Because you are lovely. Holding you, breathing you in, is a retreat from the busyness and stress of the world. You add so much to our family. We are not perfect. Sometimes there are moments when everybody is looking out for their own interests and it's all going crazy. Then you do something hilarious and we all look at you and laugh, remembering the important things. You are important. You have the God-breath in you. YOU will change this world. You will go forth in confidence and in the authority of the Lord. Your song is fearlessness. Your song is freedom. Your song is of a heavenly kingdom.
Happy birthday, little one.
One year olds are so fun to have a party for. They have no precedent, so they are not opinionated about how it's going to go!
We invited a few people we know, made sugarless black-bean-chocolate cupcakes, and decorated them with flowers.
Pippa ate her cupcake with a spoon.
She is adorable.
Pippa--You are a fearless princess, a smiling sunflower, making people laugh with the openness of your countenance, the unassuming lilt of your voice. You have delighted and amazed us every day of your life. You have the power of slowing down time. Because you are lovely. Holding you, breathing you in, is a retreat from the busyness and stress of the world. You add so much to our family. We are not perfect. Sometimes there are moments when everybody is looking out for their own interests and it's all going crazy. Then you do something hilarious and we all look at you and laugh, remembering the important things. You are important. You have the God-breath in you. YOU will change this world. You will go forth in confidence and in the authority of the Lord. Your song is fearlessness. Your song is freedom. Your song is of a heavenly kingdom.
Happy birthday, little one.
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| Silas the big brother, prepared with balloons! |
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| Neighbors, friends, and the older folks, of course! |
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| Lovely Lily holding Pippa--she is so sweet and amazing that way. All the Carter girls are! |
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