A conviction

My kids go to this great little Christian school around the corner. ( I will have to post sometime in the future about our interesting educational career) Anyway, they now attend Valley Christian school and, needless to say, they love it. It is the perfect balance of structure and socialization.

Tomorrow, both of them have a scripture memorization quiz in thier Bible class. So, for the latter half of the day I have been repeatedly listening to them recite Phillipians 1:27-30. And, I must say, this is very refreshing and VERY convicting.

I am thinking I need to adopt the same mentality of facing a quiz each week. So, I am looking for partners in this adventure. I know there are many verse of the day or week things out there but, I would like a little accountability or offer myself as your accountability. Let me know what you think. You can either comment or send me an e-mail. sunshine@themovement.org

A Sunday

I must start by saying that I truly look forward to Sundays. I am SO thankful to be able to take part in an awesome church each and every week. (http://www.themovement.org/)

But, just for fun, I thought I would do a timeline of my most recent Sunday.

5:30am- 1st alarm for Jeremy to wake. Snooze 1 time. Actual wake time is 5:45. (although this is "Jeremy's alarm time", I am the actual operator of the alarm.)

6:30am- 2nd alarm which is actually for me. This is the ONLY day I actually sleep later than him. My actual wake time is 7:00. (the snooze button is my friend)

8:50am- The kids and I rush into church. The fact that I am rushing is quite hilarious since I live 5 blocks from church. But,in my defense, at the last minute I painted my daughters fingernails and toenails. And, this was no easy task since she has nubs for fingernails. (nasty habit)

9:20am- After worship, I have my first round of impromptu announcements. (yes, I do announcements)

10:45am- I touch base with Jeremy at the conclusion of the service and rustle up a snack of some sort. Then I snag a coffee from the coffee shop to warm my chilly self. I must say, I LOVE wandering this converted warehouse I call my "second home. There are so many people and faces moving about doing whatever job here and there. This morning, both my kids are tailing me like little ducklings. My 13 year old was pining for, and received a Monster. (yes, bad mom) And, my 11 year old daughter patiently waited for a hot chocolate. (she was spacing out her sugar since we have complimentary doughnuts that she indulged in at the 9am service)

11:00am- The beginning of the 2nd service and a second round of announcements. A few more laughs this time. I am thinking the 11 o'clockers are more awake. And, the Nebraska in me wants everyone to smile and have fun so, suddenly, I am fulfilled.

11:30am- This is my time to return to one of my loves...families. I absolutely love random conversations, welcoming people and making kids smile. I think I consider it a challenge. (the making kids smile part afterall, I love to talk) So, during the 11am service I just walk, look, and talk. Today, I settled in the 1 year old room since I was determined to help a little boy, Hunter survive his separation anxiety. But, since I really don't know Hunter and he loves his mom and dad way more, I failed. But, Samantha ( on her first visit) conformed and fell asleep on my shoulder. Another mission accomplished.

1:00pm- I corral the family and figure out what is going to happen next. Apparently 2 kids are coming home with us and at the last minute a woman I have never met needs a ride home from church. Since it is not really out of my way, I send the kids with Jeremy and drive Becky home myself.

1:20pm- I serve leftover pizza for the kids and quick lunches for Jer and I. At this point, my 13 year old jokes at the cleanliness of the house. This is obviously sarcastic since a) he would never notice and b) there are dishes, pizza, salad, bags, and leftovers strewn about the kitchen. So, Jeremy takes Noah and the 2 extra boys to play a pick-up game of basketball and this translates into a perfect time to clean.

2:00pm- After tidying up, wiping down the bathroom, changing the laundry and vacuuming, I am on to my final task: swiffering the kitchen floor. As I am doing this, I notice little "kool-ade" spots on the floor. Oh my...Chewie, our toy poodle, is in heat. Crikey. Off to Petco for puppy diapers. Grace and I wander the aisles and I shoot down request after request for doggie dresses, turtles and hamsters.

3:30pm- The boys return from basketball and Jeremy and I retreat to our room to read and sort connection cards for the next hour.

4:30pm- My backyard is now occupied by 6 boys playing basketball. Since I actually feel responsible for at least 4 of them (per their parents' arrangements) I decide it is time for dinner. I am quite proud of my smorgasboard of food: chicken nuggets, fries, tater tots, carrots and dip, chips and salsa, goldfish, sliced apples and leftover pizza. And then...I made cookies! I am not even this good on my best day. The Suzy Homemaker angel was surely making a visit to my house.

5:00pm- At this point, I realize that my husband should be treated to a "real" dinner so, I throw chicken breast on the Foreman grill and steam some veggies. I must say, this easy, ready to micro, steaming veggies thing is pretty sweet. It makes me look like a pro.

6:00pm- Jeremy is off to church again and I clean up dinner.

6:26pm- At the last minute, a kid who a) has never been at our house but, b) just ate dinner with us and c) was apparently walking up the street when he heard noise and decided to stay for a while asks for a ride home. No problem really, thank God church is just around the corner.

6:30pm- I step into the sound booth for a quick hello to Jeremy and announce my arrival to our third service of the day.

6:55pm- Phew, I finished my final round of announcements. I am joking somewhat since my duty pales in comparison to Jeremy's commitment to delivering a concise "God heard" message form the Lord. But, somehow I do feel the personal need to extract a laugh or two and make a little small talk with a thousand or so people.

8:00pm- Home again, at last. It would seem to be a time to relax but, behold we are having 2 kids sleep over since it is a holiday. Yay! Thankfully they are 13 and very good kids. After a final round of food, Jeremy and I retreat to our room. Our home is a little under 1500 square feet so, our bedroom is our only quiet spot on a night like this.

The funny thing about a day like today is the push and pull of being overwhelmed and fulfilled. Yes, it would be nice to coast on through but, tackling the day and adjusting my perspective turns out to be much more joyful. As you can imagine I awoke to a bit more work with cinnamon rolls, turkey bacon, eggs and toast. But in the end, sitting in my semi-quiet room, I listen to my kids laughing with their friends and I figure it is all worth it.

A Valentine Wish for Dad: from Noah and Grace

Happy Valentines Day Dad!

We love you dad!!!
You always make us glad
You are so special to us
We know that you’re the one we can trust
You help build up our faith in God
And you’re pretty good at C.O.D.
Why we love you so much we will tell you why
You help us back up when we start to cry
You bless us with clothes, games, and love

Are you great? Amazing? Nope, all of the above
You are the best pastor but that’s not all
You are the greatest although you don’t answer all of our calls
We will love you infinity and beyond
For ever and ever and ever
We love you dad!!

A Valentine Wish for Mom: from Noah and Grace

Happy Valentines Day, Mom

We love you so much!
Thank you for everything you do and such
You are the best mom we could ever ask for!
Every day you make us love you more and more
We will love you forever and ever!
We will become mad at you never!
We love it when you smile
It makes everything you do worthwhile
Please believe us when we say
We love you now and forever more
So Happy Valentines Day!!

we love you mommy!!

Why Start Now

Do you read blogs?

Do you wish you could blog?

Have you started to blog and then quit?

Have you thought 'who would want to read my blog'?

Do you feel like you are running after the blog train waving your arms wanting to jump on now?

If you answer a yes, or raise your brows and think 'huh'...you are not alone. I am now linking my totally disjointed and dated attempt and re-attempt at a blog to my Facebook. I have mulled those five questions over in my mind many times. And now, I am throwing caution to the wind and going public!

Just kidding. This isn't that monumental. I just had to make an excuse for the dates of entry you will see on my blog.

That is if you read it...

My intention is to share a bit of what I see from my little fishbowl. Maybe now that I have exposed myself, I will be a bit more disciplined and intentioned in my writing. Check back and let me know what you think.

A theme

I find myself sitting at my computer on a Saturday morning with a few minutes to spare and I feel quite guilty. After all, I should be busy doing SOMETHING, right? But, my house is clean (that is relative, I suppose), the laundry is caught up (well, close enough), the kids are busy playing with friends, I have read my bible and I don't feel like running on my treadmill quite yet.

I am always suprised, when I slow down to breathe, how quickly I rush to find things I SHOULD do. I am sure most women, mothers and wives suffer, to some degree, with this illness. This, 'I must have a "to-do" list' mentality. Or, 'I must be planning to do something in the very near future, if not immediately' kind of stress.

So, right now, I am going to rebel. I am going to grab a couple more Jelly-Belly's and dabble in this blogging thing. I might actually waste a half hour. But, is it wasting? Oh well, that is for another blog...

A View of the Past: June 2006

Fun Family News!Over the course of the past couple months, my kids have been coming home from school and updating us on their track and field qualification attempts. As many parents can agree, sometimes, when you don't exactly understand the whole scope of what your kids are explaining, you just listen and nod and say "good job". (which I really, truly meant because it sounded like they were doing a good job)

Last week though, a permission slip, a time schedule and a shirt purchase form came home and I thought...'huh, this looks like fun'. Both my kids had qualified to run in the 100 yard dash, and since my husband and I are both former tracksters, we thought this was going to be "cute".

Well, both kids raced home from school this last Thursday and we all scrambled and rushed to get to the track field on time. (this scrambling and rushing thing is a whole other blog) Anyway, when we got to Mission Hills High School we were quite suprised to see the stands full of parents, spectators, and teeming with with students from 9 area schools. At this point, I am finally realizing what a big deal this whole thing is. And, I am recalling my nonchalant nods to their frenetic updates on track stats and I can't help but smile. They really were serious.

My daughter Grace, who is 8 and in third grade was the first one to race. You have to understand that this is a former "back-pocket" child. Meaning, she spent a good portion of her young life clinging to my back-pocket and hiding behind me. She turned a lovely shade of green last year when she tried out for basketball in front of about 50 people. Now, she was lining up against 8 other kids, strangers no less, and preparing to race in front of 100's of people. I think I was the lovely shade of green. I had the largest amount of empathetic stress to date, as a parent. I was half laughing and about to cry as I watched my little pony-tailed girl line up at the starting line. 'Dear God, just let her run hard and finish well.'When the gun (yes, gun....this is serious) sounded she took off with the most incredible determination I have ever seen from her. (We have watched the video at least 5 times now and yes, it is the most determintation ever)

Well...she didn't start out first but, about somewhere mid-race she pulled ahead and I thought...'oh my lord'. Wouldn't you know, she got FIRST! I was shocked, her dad was shocked, but, man we were proud. And, if you know Grace you would know her response. A huge smile and a really red face. Nothing else. She just smiles ( a large grin actually, showing no teeth) and her face turns red.Her brother Noah, who is 10 and in fourth grade, ran an awesome race as well. He placed fourth and had some tough competition. Two days prior he had a game winning 2 run single in baseball so, today was apparently his sister's day to shine. He took it in stride and was genuinely happy to take a picture next to his blue-ribbon sister. How awesome when a brother, or a sister, celebrates a victory with you. I am so proud of both my kids. 'Thank you Lord.'