Merry Sickmas---Ho Ho Achoooo

Well, for over a week now my family has been sick. Ugh. It started off last week on Thursday with Sam waking up at night with a fever and throwing up. He was sick all weekend. Max had a cold and coughed horribly and developed a fever also within a day of this. At the end of the weekend they seemed better and went to school Monday and Tuesday, but by 3:00 Tuesday afternoon they both had a fever and Sam now had the cold that Max had. So did Jason for that matter---and the fever. Sam had some virus and Max didn't, just a cold, but he also had swollen lymph nodes that were infected and couldn't eat or drink due to the pain. Ugh. Yesterday I hit a brick wall with the cold and am home today with Sam, both of us sick. The antibiotics worked on Max and he has been fever free two days now and was able to go to school. Whew. I am ready to sanitize the house and be germ free!

Anyway, Sam got angry with Maizie the other day when she tried to get him to play with her and nipped at him to get his attention. He yelled, "I'm so made at you! All I do is give you tender love and you bite me!" I just have to laugh about the "tender love" bit. I don't know where he heard that one. His current thing, which has been for the last 3 months, has been he wants to give me "married kisses". He holds my face in his hands and tilts his head to the side, seriously, and slowly gives me a long kiss on the lips. Jason and I keep telling him that that kind of kiss is only for mommy's and daddy's. But he is still enthralled by it. He also has to tell me 10 times a day in gestures (baby sign language) "I love you".

The kids have been sick and want me to snuggle with them so they have both been on either side of my lap coughing on me and snuggling. I love the snuggle time, but not the germs and ultimate sickness. Ooooh it is bitter sweet. As they get older I know I will have less of this snuggle time and am grateful for it now, but not the germs. I do have to say, though that looking back at last year at this time, this season is much merrier. Last year we were planning a funeral for Jason's grandmother in Coffeyville and wrapping up her affairs, our beloved dog Moses died two days before Christmas, Jason's job at Apache was having major upheaval with changes and people leaving so he was looking for a new job and stressed and our finances were in worse shape than now. So, each year does get better. I have to remind myself about the blessings and how God is providing and set my mind and heart on an attitude of gratitude.

I hope your holiday season is going well and is germ free and full of His blessings. Take care!

I Spy

In regards to the picture below with Max, Sam and Maizie in front of the Christmas tree...can you spot the two Maizies in the picture?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Train at Dry Gulch

Yesterday we got up and had a brunch birthday party celebration for my nephew Carson. He will be turning 11 in a few weeks! Wow. I still remember vividly the day he was born. We love you Carson. Last night we went to Dry Gulch to let the boys talk to Santa and get thier picture taken with him. We rode the train that had a show about Jesus' life, rode the carousel, went on a wagon ride that told the Night Before Christmas story, saw a Christmas puppet show and got hot chocolate. It was lots of fun but verrrrry cooooold brrrr. Today we have church and tonight we have our bible study group's Christmas party. It is a Party Weekend! And I just got back Friday evening from two days at a work training in OKC. Whew. I hope your weekend is fun but not tooo busy to relax.

I am thankful for Thanksgiving. It was a fun and busy day. We got up early to cook then went to Claremore to my parent's house. My mom had made cute felted knit hats for all of us girls, hence the picture. As usual we all stuffed ourselves with food, except for my boys who ate nothing, not even a roll. I talked Sam into taking a tiny bite of potato out of a buffet potato casserole and he kept gagging loudly so the next room of people could all hear it. I kept yelling, "It's like a little french fry. You like french fries. Just swallow it! Finally Sam gagged super loud and threw up the tiny pinky tip sized potato piece and lots of mucus along with it. It flew across the table and hit me right on target, splattering the table and butter dish along the way. Gross. Thank goodness it was just the kids' table I sat at and not the adult table. Yes, we were all done eating after that and I cleaned up the gross mess. If only I could change places with my boys for a month, then they could finally gain weight and grow and I could lose weight. If only...

Oh, and speaking of eating, Yes! I did get the yummy bag of Chex Mix my Aunt Judy made! Yeaaaah Judy! You are the best. Of course my kids didn't eat lunch, but they kept trying to talk me into letting them eat the Chex Mix. Not on their lives! They had to wait until the next day until they had eaten a meal finally.

Well, after the lunch table fiasco, the kids all decorated Mimi's tree for her and put up Christmas decorations in her house. Later we went to Coffeyville KS to see Jason's cousins and aunts and uncles. Then we headed back to Claremore to get the leftover food we left there and then headed back to Tulsa. I was exhausted. The kids were fussing, wanting to put up our tree and Christmas decorations, but I made them wait until the next morning.

Finally on Sunday, I bribed Max into letting Jason pull his loose tooth. He looks so cute and sounds adorable with his tooth gone as he lisps. It is only his third tooth he has lost and the last one came out on Christmas Eve last year. This one has been a long time coming. I told Max I would buy him a puzzle once it was out. As we were walking into the store he said, "Mom, I know what I can do with the money the tooth fairy leaves me." I asked him what. He said, "It can be an offering." I asked, "You mean to God? Give it to the church as an offering?" He said, "Yes". I wanted to cry. How sweet. That made my Thanksgiving this year. What made yours?

Let Me Do SOMETHING!

Ok, so back to the book Crazy Love. If you are tired of hearing about it, sorry, this is the last blog. I finally finished the bible study. But it has really spoken to me. Since I was little, I have longed to be used by God in some way. I wanted to do Something to show him how much I loved him and how grateful I am...Something to show others about God and Jesus and how much they love them...Something to help others...Something! Not that I want to be famous, and I know I will never be Saintly...not until I get to heaven and become a saint and throw off this worldy, self-seeking rag of a body that weights my spirit...Anyway, back to the Something.

I think many people struggle with this good notion and aspiration, But What To Do? What am I supposed to do? I keep waiting for a divine inspiration from God and then many fleeces to confirm it and constrain my anxiety. Oooh. The reality is that God just wants me to do what I can when I see the opportunity. If He calls me to Africa to be a missionary then I need to respond in obedience. But not everyone is called to do that. So what do the rest of us do? Pray daily for God to open your eyes and heart to opportunities around you to step out of your comfort zone and serve Him and others. This life is not about serving ourselves, not even about just serving our loved ones and friends, but to extend ourselves out to others...the world, especially the difficult, unlovely, even scary people we encounter. We need to be purposeful about it to make it happen.

Now the danger is that we will make our relationship with God into a chore. Serving and sacrifice is not to be a chore, but a priviledge. We are honored by being allowed to be part of God's work and purposes. He doesn't NEED us...or anything from us. But it is His Good Will to make us in his image and prepare good works in advance for us to do alongside Him, not on our own but with His help. We can rejoice in this work, this sacrifice because it is a priviledge and God promises a Reward for it. The more we do this, we realize we are not the givers, but actually the recipients of the gifts that come from it. Just like when I have been on a Mission trip to Costa Rica. The two times I went, I went thinking (arrogantly) that I would go to be a blessing to others. But I was humbly shown that I was the one blessed the most. The people I went to serve and help, were much greater servants and served me and blessed me the whole time I was there.

I love this saying from George Bernard Shaw. "This is true joy in life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

We have a distinct choice to make...we can just let life happen (which is not serving or following God, just following our own desires and comforts) or we can actively run towards Christ. We need to WANT TO SEE GOD more than we want our own COMFORT. I fear I crave comfort more most of the time. I crave security more than seeing God move and work in my life and others. Ugh! If feel like a wretch. But that doesn't help matters. I must stop wallowing and start seeking Him and enjoying Him in the process. Yes, sacrificing and serving is Enjoyable when done with the right spirit. We must go out of our comfort zone to do this...this makes it God's work and power and not our own. This is when a witness is made and miracles happen and God is seen, not us. Having FAITH, stepping out in faith can be scary. That is what makes it require FAITH. But it is also exciting. There is nothing like it. I have to constantly remind myself that Comfort/Security and Excitement/Faith can't go together. Our security and comfort is to be found in God and Jesus alone. I admit, as awful as it sounds, that I like to surround myself with Things that provide me with so called Security. My anxiety pushes me towards this selfish response. I just need to remind myself of the TRUTH that God is my provider. It is only when I walk out this truth that I see God do the impossible. When we are out of our comfort zone and our abilities and power aren't enough, that is when God happens, He comes through to show what He and Faith can do. We won't see miracles until we are in a position to Need them! If we only allow ourselves to be in situations where God is not needed and we can do things on our own (which is where we tend to stay) then we won't see God. That is sad.

So we are called to Love others and we do this through serving and sacrificing. It is easy to Love if it costs us nothing, but that is not really Love. But is love and sacrifice worth it? YES. Wouldn't you do anything for your children? God and Jesus feel the same towards us. When we sacrifice there is a cost, but there is also a great reward and blessing from it. The more love we give the more love that grows in us. It is a direct response to our investment. When we invest ourselves in things we care more about them. The same is true in investing ourselves in others, especially those outside our family and friends.

So a big question is, what are we doing right now that requires Faith? What are we doing that takes us out of our comfort zone? There is more to faith than friendliness, politeness and even kindness. You may wonder, who really lives that way? There are many people who have done so and been a mighty witness to us: Rich Mullins (my fav), George Mueller, Elizabeth and Jim Elliot,etc.) and many heroes of the bible. Like I said before, though, not all are called to be a missionary in a foreign land, or sell their house to give the money to the poor,etc. We all have a unique call from God. Some are called to do these things, not all, but we are called to do Something. We have all been given different spiritual and physical gifts from God to use wisely to serve him. I love what Francis Chan wrote, that "Our God is a creator and not a duplicator!"

"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. Thre are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." (Paul).

We need not read things and be just inspired. God gives us mountaintop experiences, but we can't stay there. That does us and nobody any good. We must then go back down into the valley to use the memory to spur us on to good works to serve God and others. Memories/Mountain top experiences are wonderful, but do we live differently because of them? Ask yourself, "Is this what I want to be doing when Christ comes back? Is what I am doing, where I am at in my work/life, benefitting God's work and others? What will people say about my life when I am in heaven? Will the saints in heaven speak about God being glorified through your life? Can we answer the Kings' question, "What did you do with what I gave you?"

These are good questions to think about. Now we must act on them and do SOMETHING...whatever God calls us to do. Ask Him daily to open your eyes to His work and where you can join in and enjoy the scary, exciting, blessing and priveledge of joining in His work.

Latest Pics

I am a little behind in posting Halloween pictures of the boys. They had fun. Max was a shark with a man's legs sticking out of its mouth, Sam was a bat, Carson was a Ninja and Sawyer was Harry Potter. My family went to Hallowzooeen for the first time this year. It was insane. It took us an hour and a half to get to and into the zoo. Traffic was backed up so bad we just sat trapped in our cars. Max was sooo sad and scared that we would not make it there before it was over. He was afraid that we would just give up and go home, (which is what Jason and I wanted to do). But we didn't because I had taken the kids to the mall by our house to trick or treat earlier that day since it was advertised to have a Halloween party there. It was a lie! It was a gimmick just to get people there. All it had was some teenage cheerleaders in the food court singing YMCA badly and a few games for older kids that you had to pay for them to be able to do them. They didn't even spend the money to have candy at the food restaurants. Dozens of angry parents and sad kids were there, confused.

Sooooo I had consoled my kids with the fact that we would go to Hallowzooeen later that day (Saturday). Little did I know how crazy that would be. But, we survived. Once we got into the zoo it was fun. But it was very dark and I kept trying not to trip. The exhibits set up by local businesses were neat such as haunted pirate ships you could walk onto. There was a big Pirate theme this year. They also had the ghost busters singing and all in gear next to the giant Marshmallow Monster Man, the Wizard of Oz and a few other ones. I just don't do well in crowds, I especially get annoyed with rude people that shove in front of you and your kids. Ugh! Anyway it was a test of my patience--which I failed at, by the way. I was exhausted and glad to be home when it was over.

We did that Saturday night and on Sunday our church had kids dress up in their costumes for church/Sunday School and encouraged kids to bring friends. That night we went to Brook's neighborhood and went trick or treating like we do each year. It is a great neighborhood where she knows all of her neighbors well and it is a simple circle we make that takes 1 1/2 hours. Whew. It was a fun and tiring weekend. I needed another two days to recuperate, but alas work awaited me and school for the kids.

On this last Thursday, Veterans Day, Brook and I had the day off work, but the kids had school so we and mom went shopping and made a major dent in our Christmas shopping. Yay! What a great feeling. The whole day we all kept salivating thinking of my Aunt Judy's Chex Mix that she makes---better than Anybody!!! It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is a few weeks away and then it is Christmas time. Where did the year go? Anyway, that's the latest update.