Good Words

 Good to Remember

Without Complaining

 The other evening, Lee Lee was having a hard time.  I've recently started the four oldest kiddos on daily chores which rotate every day.  They are all pretty big chores - loading the dishwasher, unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the kitchen after dinner, cleaning the table after dinner, and feeding the animals.

The hardest part about these chores is that most of them need to be done after dinner, and the kids are often tired and cranky after dinner.  I have not had routine chores during the school year for exactly this reason... but now that summer is here, and they are able to sleep significantly later, now is the time to make the chores a part of the routine.

If the children gripe and complain about their chore, and/or do not give their best effort to their chore, that will be their chore again the next day until they can do the chore as best as they can, without complaining.

Lee Lee's job a few nights ago was unloading the dishwasher.  She had spent much of the day playing with friends and riding bikes, so she wasn't even home to do the chore before dinner time... and after dinner, she was not a happy camper about doing her chore.  While she was griping and complaining, I informed her that this would be her chore tomorrow as well because she needs a little more practice about the things we say while doing our chores.

She was crying, and started telling me that hated the rules at our house.  She went on to tell me that she wanted to be the Mama.  Why couldn't she be the Mama because then she could make the rules.

Even while she continued to comply and get through her chore, she was crying and crying... She wanted to be the Mama because then she could make the rules.  When I told her that she would be the Mama someday, and then she could make the rules, she told me that she wanted to be the Mama NOW!

And when she finished her chore, she came to me for a hug, and she cried and cried about how unfair it was that she couldn't be the Mama now.  She wanted to make the rules now.

She went to bed, and woke up the next day, and unloaded the dishwasher around lunchtime without and complaints, and she was happy to hear that she will have a different job tomorrow -- no need to repeat the unloading job another day, and it won't come around to her again for another three days.

All that to say, while she was crying and crying... and she was very tired, and she sincerely felt like life was unfair, and she really did want to make her own rules, I couldn't help but be so convicted because that is exactly what I say to God about my own life.

"Why can't I make the rules NOW?"  "Why do I have to do it Your way?"  "Why did you make things happy they way they did... why couldn't You have done it MY WAY?"

I understand the big picture of trying to mold my daughter's character and teaching her the responsibility and determination of having daily chores to contribute to how smoothly our household runs... that's why she has to follow our house rules.  But I don't always get to see the big picture of why God puts me in certain situations, or makes me to walk down a specific path -- one that I would not have chosen for myself.

How often am I tired of the currently job, and just crying and complaining about having to do it His way?  And how often does He make me repeat the path until I can walk it without complaining?

Good To Know

 

Monday Thoughts

 I want to keep this at the forefront of my mind this week:

He is not here!

 1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week,a Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

2Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.

5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.b 7Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.”

8So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. 9Suddenlyc Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. 10“Do not be afraid,” said Jesus. “Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see Me.”

Christmas Eve

 We are usually home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  It is a priority that I have set for our Christmas tradition with our family since our children were born.  That was not different this year.  We arrived home from Great Wolf Lodge on December 22 with enough time to prepare for a wonderful Christmas at home.

That said, several things were different this year for our first Christmas Eve at our new home.

First of all, we did not go to church on Christmas Eve (which really bothered me) but we were SICK.  Some of us came down with illness while we were at Great Wolf Lodge, some of us were sick on the way home, some of us were sick once we arrived home.  We had a nasty 2-week fever/cough virus that STILL is not fully out of our system.  So, we stayed home on Christmas Eve both for our own health but for the health of others that we would see at a Christmas Eve service.

Also, this was the first year since the twins were born that we were not packing up to leave right after Christmas.  While our tradition is to spend Christmas at home, for the past 6 years, we have ALWAYS packed the car and hit the road December 26 or 27 depending on the weather.

This year, because I didn't have to pack up the family, and (honestly) because we were not going to church, we RELAXED as a family ALL DAY!

The kids wrapped a few presents to each other (I had all the presents wrapped and hidden away).  I turned on a Christmas movie shortly after breakfast and we had Christmas movies playing pretty much all day, and I actually sat and watched a few (that ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS in the Christmas season).  Also, our kids were all under-the-weather either a lot or a little, so rest was exactly what they needed and they were happy to lay and cuddle.

I found this picture on my phone that one of the kids took while we were watching Home Alone -- the first family movie of the day.

Another new thing was I made French Onion Soup for Christmas Eve dinner, which is a long-standing Sanden Family Tradition, but I have never made it because I couldn't figure out the logistics of making the soup, serving dinner, getting to church on time, getting to bed at a relatively decent hour (for the kids), and getting the nice broiler-safe bowls clean and put away before we had to get out of town 36 hours later.

As much as I always wanted and craved French Onion Soup on Christmas Eve... it just has never made the cut of things I could get done on Christmas Eve.

This year, knowing we were staying home for the evening, and knowing we were staying home the day after Christmas, it just seemed do-able.

We did not have the correct bread, and we did not have the fancy cheese that the recipe calls for, so I fondly called it "Poor Man's French Onion Soup" but the kids really liked it, and it was not as hard as I had worked it up to be in my mind.  When I called the kids to the table and told them to wash up for "Christmas Eve Dinner", the three girls saw the special bowls I was getting out and took the cue from the title "Christmas Eve Dinner" to run upstairs and put on fancy dresses.  You will notice from the picture, they still have pajama pants on, but honored the special meal with a beautiful dress.

After a year of tremendous life changes, tremendous joy, but loads of stressors and transition, we truly had a merry little Christmas, which began with a relaxing, enjoyable, and delicious Christmas Eve. 

He Knew

 I have a stressful week ahead … so I dished myself up a generous bowl on ice cream. 

Then I got into bed and saw this post from a friend… and suddenly I see my stressful week and bowl of ice cream from a totally new perceptive. 

The Book of Common Prayer

 We have a big week here and by the end of the week, Lord willing, we will be unpacking and fully residing in our new home, in our new town.

As I was thinking about what I could share this week, I kept thinking of the book of common prayer.  This is not something I was exposed to as a child because I was not raised in the Episcopal church, but I have heard a few excerpts from this book from a dear friend from graduate prayer whose father is an Episcopalian Priest, but also from the Mitford books by Jan Karon, in which, the main character, Father Tim will frequently reference The Book of Common Prayer.

I love the reverent language, and I love that there are so many prayers for so many unique situations.

All that said, I did not find a prayer in the Online Book Of Common Prayer over those who are moving, or to bless a new home... but I was drawn to one prayer over Towns and Rural Areas.

Please join me in prayer:

Lord Christ, when you came among us, you proclaimed the
kingdom of God in villages, towns, and lonely places: Grant
that your presence and power may be known throughout this
land. Have mercy upon all of us who live and work in rural
areas [especially Rangely, Colorado]; and grant that all the people
of our nation may give thanks to you for food and drink and
all other bodily necessities of life, respect those who labor to
produce them, and honor the land and the water from which
these good things come. All this we ask in your holy Name.
Amen.

Word in Season

 

Baptisms

 We had an incredibly busy weekend over the 4th of July -- Rifle, Rangely, Vernal... picnics, swimming, fishing, a parade, a cheerleading performance, bounce houses... and the highlight... our three oldest were baptized!

We feel incredibly blessed that our three oldests made the public declaration to be baptized.

Falling

 I heard this quote today and wanted to share it... very good to remember.

The Battle Belongs

Almighty fortress, You go before us
Nothing can stand against the power of our God
You shine in the shadow, You win every battle
Nothing can stand against the power of our God

He's Alive!

 He's Alive!

Message For Now

 My sister-in-law gave us a light-up message board sign for Christmas to hang on our wall.

I change the message on it every other month or so.

Coming into this Spring, this is our message for now:

Merry Christmas!

 

This

 Every. Word. Of. This.

Happy Independence Day

 Happy Independence Day!

Thank you, God for the amazing blessings of living in a free country.

Prepare

 

Such a Time as This

 Hubby and I share links back and forth that we find on facebook or from news articles or anything we think the other one would enjoy.

Yesterday Hubby sent me this by Alex Cravens:

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions den. 

He knew David could handle Goliath.

He knew Esther could handle Haman.

He knew Peter could handle persecution.

He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime.

Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.

~Alex Cravens

This Is the Day