A Day in the Life...

Today was what I would term a near perfect day. We got up, but didn't have to be out until 9:30 so we could get breakfast, have our devotions and get our morning chores done without looking at the clock much. Gabe and Elly finished early and were playing nicely in the front room, some combination of trucks/tractors and little animals. Isaiah took a little longer but had time to head outside to check on his bugs and feed his spider.

We headed off to swim lessons. Got there early enough to chat with Joya for a few minutes. Isaiah decided to read Gabe his books for the library summer reading club (Go Isaiah!) and Elly was only too happy to play with Baby Braelyn. Then the two older kids headed off to their classes where they 'did their best' and 'paid focused attention' (my admonition each day). Gabe and I reread his books and then played little tractors, The Itsy, Bitsy Spider and chatted.

We headed home where again, we could really just not have to deal with the clock. Elly and Gabe played playdough (making pies with duplo blocks) while Isaiah tried out a new website recommended by Aunt Sam (questforcompassion.org) with four countries to fly to and learn about through a "mission"...all this connected to their real missions that provide kids with basic needs (including Jesus, which Isaiah says is the fourth and most important basic need).

We had a little lunch somewhere in that. I got some phone calling and emailing done. The kids all headed up for a little quiet time and I read them enough books to "get their library prizes tomorrow". Then the friends popped over for a movie and a romp in the baby pool and sprinkler. I spent some time outside watching and some time inside working at the kitchen table so I could watch. And then a delightful thing happened....Gabe fell asleep 2 minutes in Bob the Builder. Isaiah asked to play with a buddy (but stay on the street) and Elly and Katie headed down to the basement to set up camp. I was a free bird for a little while and in the middle of the day too. That gave me time to contemplate the $950 AC repair Kev said the mechanic thought we needed on the truck. We very quickly and in total agreement decided that we would try a sealant and 3 cans of coolant for $24 instead. And God knows whether that will work or not and I can say, I'm not stressing about it. What will be, will be another day. This one is good and I'm not borrowing any trouble. It also helped that I had that to think about while I was cleaning bathrooms and folding laundry...it goes by fast that way.

Kevin came home to our dinner of beans and ham, cornbread and applesauce. (Yes they at the main dish but the other two dishes were the incentive.) Everyone ate without too much commotion, took turns talking and cleaned up without much reminding. We headed out to the tramp for a little game of "Mummy, Mummy Come Alive" and I puttered in the garden and flower beds while the kids finished playing.

We came in and did the quick bed routine since the stories and baths (via sprinkler) had been taken and they all opted for 1 room for the night with a few books to attend to before they sleep. Here I am typing this blog and I'm headed up to start another great Lamplighter book for myself.

No the day was not perfect. I read that Mr. Obama has decided he can just grant federal employees' same sex partners benefits which makes me wonder how the man figures he can just get around DOMA. But hey, I'm praying and letting it go...and writing him tomorrow. And Kev isn't here tonight, but he's at Bible Study and I'm glad he has that men's group so I can be happy to have an evening to putter.

That's it, my near perfect day. Thanks, Lord for it. I know not to expect a lot of these, but I'll treasure this one...and remember it everytime I read my blog. Thanks for that too. It gives little glimpses of life.

Elly's Prayers

Ellyanna has been given an gift for interceding for others. If she hears in church or I tell her about a prayer request that's come on the etree, she's always quick to remember those people and "check in" on them. What has been a big blessing is that many of those she's prayed for have seen God's work in their lives--though she and I are learning that it's not always in the time frame we have in mind. I hope she learns this early and can have absolute faith that God hears and answers later on.

She prays for our special friends in Ukraine who are orphans--specifically Kristina and Pasha. And she prays for our Compassion kid, Jesus. She loves to pray for a man who has terminal cancer from church. And he is off treatment and getting better! She also prays for his wife and little boy, even making him cards and having me send them for her. She also prays for anyone she knows is sick--from having lice, or a cold, to an aunt with cancer. Recently she prayed for her aunt and uncle who's mother passed away suddenly. She regularly prays for her family...even that "Isaiah would be nicer to me."

Isaiah's Latest Musings

I was sitting here thinking of all the funny things recently around here. It's never too long between laughs. I thought of three different great "processing" moments for Isaiah. They are a comfort and a blessing--to see the conviction of the Holy Spirit alive and well.

So, probably a month ago, Isaiah had invited one of the new neighbor girls to play in our backyard. This was unusual since he's usually so focused on boys. What was even more unusual for Isaiah, and I believe evidence of the Holy Spirit at work, was the fact that he noticed that she was sad and asked her about it. She told him that she was sad because "her Grandpa was in a box". After a little more discussion, Isaiah figured out that her Grandpa had passed away and was cremated and in a "box". So he was trying to comfort her and said, "Did he believe in Jesus?" "Yes," she said. "Well, he's in heaven, not in that box!" he told her. She still looked sad. "Are you a Christian?" he asked. "Yes, well, no, I'm nothing, "was her reply. This was VERY disturbing to him.

I found Isaiah outside with his buddy Connor planning and plotting and spying on this little girl later. I asked them what they were doing and got the story above. And Isaiah says, "We are waiting for her to come out of her yard and we're going to take her my Bible and show her how to be a Christian." (That AWANA training is coming in handy.) We did have a little discussion about being friends with her first and then being ready to give an answer if she asked about it rather than hit her over the head with the Bible. :) I think I would call that "zealous".


Second scenario was a week or so ago at the park. Isaiah came up and ate an ant right in front of me and some friends. I was so proud that I didn't freak out--hoping that less attention would make this new bug eating thing a non-repeat event. Later, I asked him why he thought he would like to eat bugs. "Well," he said, "I want to be a missionary in Africa someday and I want to help with the animals there too. I know they have to eat bugs over there so I figured I better try them out. They aren't so bad." I decided not to tell him about the chocolate covered insects over in the Orient!

And last came an "ah ha" moment in the car the other day. We have been studying Greeks and with that, we've read some tamed down Greek myths which Isaiah found interesting. But he wasn't saying much about them. That day we were listening to KLOVE in the car and the song "God of This City" started. The part of the song Isaiah was singing was "There is none like our God. There is none like You, Lord." And he pipes up, "There IS no God like our God! Those Greeks had so many gods, but they weren't like Ours. They were more like people. Our God was never created, but if He wanted to, he could create other gods...but He won't, because He's the only One." I just about bawled right then and there, so thankful that this belief is rock solid for him. I told him, "You are very wise, Isaiah. Many people don't understand that idea at all and they waste their lives looking to all those other gods who will never save them."

I've typed these up, because I'm sure there will be many hard days when it will seem like our parenting and discipleship is not getting through. But God does amazing things in His time, not in mine.

Pasto' Micah

Gabe and I were folding washcloths upstairs last night. He was jabbering away a mile a minute so happy to have Mommy's undivided attention. Unfortunately, Mommy's "Gabe-ese" was failing so he was having to repeat himself two and three times for me to get it all deciphered.

He started talking about "Micah with blue eyes not like my brown ones." (He's big into eye color these days and would really like blue eyes if he had a choice.) I'm thinking, 'He doesn't have a friend names Micah with blue eyes...who is he talking about?'. So I questioned him trying to get him to say the name more clearly or get more info to figure out who he was talking about. Finally (three repeats later) I heard "Pasto' Micah". Ah ha, light bulb! "Gabe are you talking about Pastor Mike?" I asked. "Yeah, I want hair like his!" he replied with a big grin. "I want my hair shorter." We'd buzzed his hair that morning to 1/4 inch. You don't go much shorter--unless you want hair like Pastor Mike, who is...you guessed it...bald on top.

Oh the things we wish for...I didn't give into the Mommy tape number 321 about being thankful for how God made each of us, but I did giggle for awhile.

Musings About a Two-Year-Old

Gabriel Lucas has reached the ripe age of 2 1/2 this fall...a fun age, a hard age. Lately he's either very happy or very--not happy. Kind of like the little rhyme about the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead..."When she was good, she was very, very good but when she was bad, she was horrid." I think I've quoted that little rhyme between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 often with all the kids.

First we have the "NO" saga. Nearly everything out of his mouth is "no". Most of the time with an attitude. And when he lowers his brow and glares at me, I just pick him up and plop him in the nearest time out area until he can "be sweet". I think whoever thinks that little children are innocent needs to come and visit our house for an hour! Then, as I sit there getting frustrated at the umpteenth time he's been on his "NO" bandwagon during the day, I have to see how often I say "NO" to the Lord. No, I don't want to be patient. No, I don't want to control my tongue. No, I don't want to do my work. No, I don't want to obey. No, no, no. I guess I need some time sitting in my "time out" spot letting the Lord work on my attitude too.

Next we have the tendency to not listen, not acknowledge, and ignore any adult giving instructions. He's quick to obey if it's "come and get a snack" or "let's go for a ride in the truck" but suddenly, the child is deaf when it's "put your cup on the counter" or "pick up your shoes". The result is a mama or daddy that goes over to Gabe and takes his hand walks him over to do what was asked...kicking and screaming if needed. Sometimes it takes a time out if the resistance is prolonged and it takes 10 times as long to get the simple task done. And then I realize...yep, sure enough, that's exactly what I do to God. If He says, "Go to church and worship with your friends" or "Sing a praise song with the radio"...no problem. When he says, "Go talk to someone you don't know well" or "Go apologize and ask forgiveness of your husband"...well that's a good time to turn a deaf ear. And then what does the Holy Spirit do? He nags...keeps dragging me over sometimes kicking and screaming inside with a bad attitude.

Finally we have the "nobody but Mama" issues. Gabe has always been the easy one for going with people. He's the one that liked the nursery much better than the others. He's the one who LOVED his daddy to distraction and would run to meet him whenever he saw him. He's the one who would take his brother or sister's hand and go off on an adventure without a look back. Not so much right now. Now if Mama thinks she will leave his sight during naptime or heaven forbid, leave the house for a meeting...it's major meltdown with cries of "Mama, Com'ere!" I thought we were supposed to be moving toward independence! But after much reflection...I think I can learn much about insisting on Jesus' presence alone instead of all the others who can't satisfy from Gabe. Not that I can take the place of the Lord for him, but at this juncture, I am the security, the most familiar, the one who is there though bad and good, the one to run to for help for Gabe. And shouldn't the Lord be that for me?

All in all, 2 1/2 is a steep climb nearly every day. There are surely times when he uses a big word or does something new and his face lights up that we laugh and clap along. (You wouldn't believe the party we have when he goes poop in the toilet!) But some days when he's finally down for a nap I have to sigh in relief for a little respite. Most days by the time he's down for the night I have to collapse into my bed too with no energy or thinking power to spare. But it gets me in good communication with God even if it's frequently..."Lord, I need some HELP!". It's good to see that God sees me in a lot of ways the way I see Gabe...but he's never out of energy or patience. Thank you, Lord, for that!

Reid Family Lessons in Camping (With Small Children)

Last weekend (the first weekend of August) found our family of 5 camping at Branched Oak Lake near Lincoln with 4 other families from church. It was a first for Elly and Gabe and Mom but a second for Kevin and Isaiah, who did an overnight this spring.

Friday am found us packing up the tent, bikes, coolers, swimming stuff and way too much clothing and sleeping gear in the truck. Yes, it took us all morning and half the afternoon. But we did make it to the campground by check in time at 4. We were the first ones by a long shot. Could have not stressed about the time...lesson #1, camping is not a scheduled activity time.

We got our tent up--something that should have taken 10-15 minutes but took 3 times that long since Gabe was wandering off and Isaiah and Elly were too distracted by bugs and flower picking to help much with set up or Gabe watching. Lesson #2...take a leash for your 2 year old when camping.

Our first night's meal was simple...I had made the sloppy joes ahead so they only needed heating on the camp stove. I let Kev do the "cooking" or burning whichever the case may be. I realized I'd forgotten most of our fruit/veggies in the fridge at home but it was hot and we weren't too hungry anyway. Lesson #3, even with a list, you still will forget things. Do without or mooch.

Sleeping went OK the first night after we'd gathered for the traditional s'mores. Lesson #4--Always pack glow sticks.I had some glowsticks from Target that saved us as far as keeping track of kids. We could tell where everyone was because they glowed neon! And, bonus feature, they work as nightlights (which are something my kids can't live without)!

The next day was a SCORCHER...we were at the beach all morning and most of the afternoon. Good for keeping cool, bad for sun exposure. Lesson #5--Spray on sunscreen is for the birds. Everyone who used it burned. (Thankfully, we didn't learn this one the hard way because we had "tea tree sunblock lotion". I highly recommend it.)All the kids got on the tube with Daddy. And Mommy and Gabe and El got a really "bumpy and fast" ride back to the dock with lots of "bubbles" (water spray). Gabe was thrilled to have a "boat ride"--words that I heard from morning to night while we were there. In fact, he woke the whole tent with those very words--at 6:30 am.

The evening was hot but we kept our spray bottles handy and made frequent trips to the shower and water spigot to soak ourselves. Finally, when we collectively could take it no longer, we wimped out and drove to the nearby town for ice cream in a semi-air conditioned parlor. (Then our family took a trip through the small town on Malcolm and all the way around the lake in an effort to get cooled off and keep the kids busy till bedtime without being soaked.) The kids were beat so they went down OK but it was SO HOT in the tent that I put them all crosswise on the air mattress with me in the middle and sprayed water mist into the air every 2 minutes or so until they were sleeping and then some. It's a testimony to their exhaustion that they didn't even peep when I sprayed them, even in the middle of the night. Lesson #6...If you have an electical outlet at your campsite (we did) bring an electical FAN!!

Sunday was basically everyone up early to pack up and a unanimous vote to move the family camping weekend to (Lesson #7) early JUNE next year. We loved camping...we're just wimps about hot weather. We're thankful for safety and lots of fun and give the Lord the credit for it.

Mommy Guilt, Casts and Crutches

Our adventure this week starts on Wednesday night after supper. Kev and I sent the kids to the trampoline to play after supper was cleaned up so we could chat a moment. We were watching, really we were! Isaiah comes to the door distressed that Elly had hurt her knee and sure enough she was crying and holding it. We got her off and put ice one it. Couldn't see anything wrong...but she was pointing to her leg right below her knee. So began the 'Mommy Weight Lifting Regiment' as she couldn't/wouldn't put any weight on it. She slept the night with some Motrin and ice.

The next am we debated, kept ice on it to make her feel better and decided that if it was a twist of some sort, working it was best...so we went to the pool where she cried and whined the whole time even though she was floating. I was exasperated with her for not trying to work it since she didn't say it was hurting, only that she was afraid it would hurt to put it down.

The next am--still more crying and a little bruising showing up so I had her crawl around. She desperately wanted to go to Grandma's with her brother's for the weekend but Gram has a bad leg herself and can't lift her and Grandpa had wrist surgery recently so no help there either. I was sure when we dropped the boys off her desire to see the puppies would give her enough umph to walk...but alas more crying and no walking.

So, we went to the doctor. He pulled, twisted it...she didn't peep. (She was a bit scared of him since he wasn't our regular lady doctor.) He said any swelling was bad for a bone and ordered three X-Rays. We were back in the exam room when he came in to say, "You have to see this!". I was worried we were really in trouble...never having really considered a broken bone. But alas, she has a buckle fracture near the top of her tibia on her right leg. Could see it plain as day (once the doctor explained it). So we got a bright white cast and went to the drug store/med. supply for kid sized crutches...

So far the crutches are a no go but the stroller is good. We had a neighborhood picnic last night so the white cast now is rainbow colored with names and pictures. She's been playing a lot of pet shops on the porch with whoever is feeling sorry enough for her to come and play.

So we have three weeks in a cast and then a promise that it should be healed "beautifully". We'll pray to that end. And pray that lessons in character traits such as perseverance and patience that will be coming for both Elly and Mama won't be too taxing.