The Calling

Caleb is a warrior. He is headstrong, he is overflowing with faith, he pours his entire heart and being into everything he does. Now, he has a heading. God has directed his path. The following is an excerpt from his personal journal (I typed it exactly how he wrote it):

"4/30/14
Tonight at 5:12, I had an important vision. So, I just walked up to a baby, and a roman army. The baby asked why I came here. I told the baby and the army I was here to tell them about God. So I told them. The baby and the army asked "Can I have Jesus in my heart?" A diamond appeared in my hand. A flash of light appeared among us. Then I got the verse phil 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him."

After Caleb told us the vision he said he thought he knew what it meant but he wanted to see what we thought. I immediately knew how to interpret it. I began speaking before I even realized what words were flowing from my mouth. I told him that the Lord was preparing Him to preach. That he was going to lead many to Jesus. Damian added that he believed the baby and the army represented that Caleb would preach to all ages. After we shared our thoughts with him he agreed that he also believed that is what it meant. He also believes that the diamond represents God's presence and that the flash of light was when everyone accepted Christ.

He has talked about the vision everyday since. He shared his calling with his Royal Ranger troop. He gave a speech about it in his (public school) classroom. He has begun digging into his Bible more. His heart is set. His mind is steadfast. He is excited about his future harvest.

Thoughts On A New Year.

Today is a quiet day full of peaceful moments all strung together creating a beautiful calm. My children are curled up in various cozy areas reading or drawing. The world outside is silent and covered with heavy snow. It's a good day to write, to think, to dream. So here I sit, at my wooden kitchen table that is scarred with the memory of meals and homework and play, and I write.

Comfort. It's a word that brings warm fuzzies to my heart. I long for it but God is calling me to step out of it. I am no longer content to pray for the hurting, hoping that they will step out of the mire on their own. That way I won't have to touch the filth. No. I must wade into that filth and grab those hurting in a loving embrace. I must meet the need with practicality, if it is within my power to do so. This year I will open my eyes wider. And yes, I will still pray, but my prayers will sound different. More fervent, less rushed. More passionate, less selfish. God is changing my heart. I must make a difference in the lives He has placed in my path. Those inside the church as well as outside. My soul longs to love harder.

I am blessed. This year I will be more thankful. I will slow down and drink in the beauty of simple things. I will realize the gifts all around me. My hard-working, Jesus loving, servant hearted husband. My three miraculous darlings who fill this life with such innocent joy. Sunsets. Bird songs. Hugs. Books. I will post Philippians 4:11-12 somewhere in my home and live it out on a daily basis! ("I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.")

I have other dreams, goals, resolutions, whatever you wish to call them. Those will remain safely tucked away in my dear journal. Now I am going to go and embrace this moment, turn the music up and feast with my little family! Happy New Year.

Recent Tidbits

Medium Boy had his surgery eleven days ago. He has been such a brave trooper! I have enjoyed watching how the oldest really stepped up to help during this time. When Caleb was dizzy, Ethan held his hand and walked him to the bathroom. When Caleb was thirsty, Ethan ran to the kitchen to get him a juice box. If Caleb was crying, Ethan did all he could to comfort him. So precious to see sibling love carried out in servanthood.

Ethan has been reading his Bible each morning and writing about his readings. He told us yesterday that he feels like he's growing closer to God each day and loving Him more each day. Last night at church he came to the altar to lay hands on and pray for one of his teachers. Then on the way home he told me that something was urging him to take his baseball cap off in the sanctuary. (*We have never discussed that it's respectful to take of your hat in the house of God*) I told him that the urging he felt was God speaking to his heart and his whole face lit up in a smile. It's wonderful to see him developing a relationship with God independent of us!

On a completely different and somewhat random note, the way my boys play video games directly relates to their personalities. Ethan is methodical: defeating every enemy, collecting all coins, and finding each secret before finishing the level. Caleb is like a hurricane: Rushing through the level with his only goal being to finish. It makes me laugh!

The Retreat

Recently life has been flying by at warp speed. I actually took a photo of my May calendar and sent it to a dear friend with the caption "Welcome to my crazy." I'm not complaining (well, mostly). This is the life we were called to, this is the life we have chosen. But sometimes one just needs to step back for a moment and simply breathe. This past weekend we were given the opportunity to do that. Imagine a cozy, adorable house with a large deck that sits right next to a lake. Imagine a blue heron swooping down to catch it's breakfast while you are sitting on the deck in your pajamas eating yours. Imagine quiet, except for those three little cuties you brought with you! This was our retreat. Now imagine it was all free (true!). We fished, ate s'mores, blew bubbles, played games, and visited the camp playground. We rested. We prayed. We were refreshed. The first night we were there Caleb got up complaining of an earache. Caleb has had multiple ear infections over the past eight months. We have been told he needs to have tubes put in and that he will probably need his tonsils and adenoids out. Our thoughts immediately went to the possibility of finding a nearby hospital or urgent care facility. The house we were in had a dedicated prayer room across the hall from where the kids were sleeping. Caleb went in, threw himself down on the altar and cried out, "Jesus I love you! I have faith! Please heal me! Amen!" I was standing in the doorway with tears streaming down my face as I watched this. Precious. Within ten minutes all of his pain was gone and he slept peacefully through the night. Our God is awesome. Our God is powerful. Our God cares.

Super Saturday #6

AAAARRRGGGHHH Mateys! Today we are pirates! The buccaneers built their very own pirate ships out of legos. They also designed their own pirate flags and drew pictures of what they'd look like as pirates.

We played cannonball pop (with balloons), musical islands (variation of musical chairs), and two versions of Attack! In one version each kid has their own pirate ship (an area marked out on the floor) and the other two pirates try to throw cannonballs (wadded up paper) onto the ship. Version two finds us under attack by stuffed pirates and we must defeat them (knock them over) with the cannonballs!

Of course there was a treasure hunt! Captain Mommy found a treasure map and the buccaneers and Captain Daddy followed it. X marks the spot! This was their favorite and when they found the treasure...well, I didn't know pirates could squeal like that! The treasure had a few coins and some pirate fruit snacks.

We ended the day with a trip to Pirate Cove(our local library has a pirate section) where the buccaneers relaxed in their hideout after a long day! G'night Mateys!

Super Saturday #5

Well, after a month long hiatus, Super Saturday is back! We had taken a break to pack, move, and unpack! Now we are happily settled in to our new home, new church, new life, and are slowly easing back into a routine!

Today we went on a jungle safari! I hid small jungle animals throughout the apartment and the kids had to find them and photograph them. We also set up a jungle obstacle course: A blanket as quicksand they had to jump over. Another blanket thrown over some chairs became a bat cave. Green yarn taped in doorways were poisonous vines. Hungry creatures (stuffed animals) also needed to be avoided! At the end of the course they rescued a cute pink baby doll. We played jungle charades and Snakeball (think basketball with a toy snake and a plastic bowl). We also visited "The Wild", that's the name of a children's bookstore downtown! Each kid was able to pick out a new book. Capped off the day with some ice cream which I know has nothing to do with the jungle but it was yummy!

I am having difficulty processing the fact that summer break is almost over. Two more weeks and my boys will be heading to their new school! My mission these next two weeks is to savor every second.

Super Saturday #4

Put on your swimsuit and come to the beach party! We played lots of games at this party:
*Fish-Fish-Shark: A beached up version of duck-duck-goose.
*Beach Bingo
*Musical towels: A beached up version of musical chairs!
*And, of course, we did the Limbo! This was a big hit and we played it for a very long time! It was hilarious watching the different ways they tried to "go low!"

Activities included beach color-by-number pages, a beach word search, a beach word scramble and a design your own surfboard contest! I also pulled out some old school fun in the form of paper dolls. I was surprised how much they enjoyed dressing them up in different summer ensembles. The boys also made their own surfboards out of legos.

We ate some goldfish crackers, lots of fresh fruit, and popsicles! Of course no day at the beach is complete without some actual water so we ended the day at a local spray park. We splashed and played and shot each other with water guns until we were completely drenched! Unfortunately, we had to leave a little sooner than expected. Poor Caleb slipped, fell, and ripped off his entire toenail from his little toe! There were lots of tears and quite a bit of blood. He's fine now after a prescription of mommy cuddles, neosporin, and a CARS band-aid!