Staying Warm as a Family

The weather here, as in many other places in the USA, has been COLD!! I have not felt air this cold since I lived in North Dakota (and I have found myself missing the winters there!).



On Thursday and Friday all the schools in our area canceled school because of the cold. (Something that does NOT happen in North Dakota!). Being that we homeschool, we do not have to cancel school. However, on Thursday, I gave in and took the day off of school - at least with the little ones. Rachel, the driven one, did school anyway. She hates to miss school - seriously!



So, what do you do when it is too cold to go out and you have 5 kids sitting inside the house? Well, we made bread - 6 loaves. Made a loaf of banana bread - because the bananas needed to get used up - SOON. Then we snuggled under the blankets in the front room and read The Long Winter. We found ourselves shivering as we read of Laura's long winter. We also found we have NOTHING to complain about, and we put in loads of laundry every 45 minutes into the story. It was a wonderful way to pass a cold winter day. In the evening Rob and I practiced some music for our upcoming meeting next week. It was great to be together, while the older kids played a game at the kitchen table, and the younger ones played under our feet in the piano room.



Today, I am finishing up laundry and taking care of a sick baby - seems she found a cold somewhere. UG. It has been nice being home - snuggled in close and enjoying each other's company. Trust you are staying warm with your family - and getting in some good reading to boot. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings,

~Martie

Wilder on the Economy

I was reading the journals of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Thought I would share this excerpt:

Money hasn't any value of its own; it represents the stored-up energy of men and omen and is really just someone's promise to pay a certain amount of that energy.

It is the promise that has the real value. If no dependence can be put on the promises of a nation, then the currency of that nation, which is its promise to pay, is worthless.

I wonder, if she were still alive, what she would think of the economy. I would love to hear her thoughts on the bailout money being handed over.

Trust you are staying warm. The temps here are well below zero and the wind makes it even worse. Thanks so much for stopping by, I am glad you did.

Blessings,

~Martie

Allowing Him to Walk - His Way

We sit in church and he sings - not like everyone around him - he sings his way - with his whole body taking in the music. It looks different - people notice and I want to make him stop - to be like all those around him. But he is not like everyone around him - he looks different then them, he talks different then them and he processes different then them. I wonder if people think it wrong to let him sing - his way.

He says "hi" to absolutely everyone he meets. It wearies me at times. Then I look, they are smiling. He notices those who are unnoticed. He talks to them. He asks them questions - he is interested. He loves - it's his way.





So many times I want to make him like everyone else. Yet, to put him into a mold that God has not designed for him - is that not wrong on my part? God has a purpose for him - I remind myself of that on the bad days. There is a reason for his life. I must allow him to walk the path God has for him.



It is not a path of self indulgent behaviour or self focus - for that is never the path God desires for us - whether we are challenged or "normal". It is a path however, that allows him to touch a world that he does not understand; and in turn, to allow that world to be touched by him. The two often meet - the two need to meet.




It becomes my responsibility to prepare him for his path. To teach him to love, to care, to think of others; so, when the paths intersects - he will engage. I must address his unique behaviour - pull him outside of himself and cause him to see others; all the while embracing and accepting him - unconditionally. A concept we humans as a whole need to embrace more.

So I teach, I train - I do my best to prepare him for his purpose. I pray for wisdom - so much I do not understand. Then, I watch as he interacts with a world he so vaguely understands. It is never 'normal' - but it is always engaging.

Are there those who do not understand? often.

Are there those who judge? - yes.

But I choose to focus on the face of a person with whom he comes in contact. I focus on the smile on their lips. I choose to focus on the fact that he loves Pastors and Missionaries and talks about them in his sleep. They are his heroes.

He probably will never stand behind a pulpit and preach a three point outline; but he has a message. As I journey with him I realize how much about life I am learning through him. He lives each day to it's fullest. He loves to the deepest. Often, I am left to wonder - which of the two of us has a firmer grasp on reality. So I am off today to help him learn to walk in his path - and in the process - I am learning more about the important things of life.

The Popcorn Watchers

The little kids were mesmerized by the popping corn. I think Abbey was taken with the baby she was holding. Love and popcorn - sounds like a family night!

Blessings,

~Martie

My Heart's Desire and Prayer...

For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to the Jewish people group. God's chosen people. I had the privilege to work at a Jewish hospital as a volunteer throughout my Jr High and Sr High years. I look back on those years with fond memories.

How much the Jewish nation has endured through the years. So much of their history is told to us through the Bible. I have known of them since I was a child; and in my heart I have loved them for almost as long. I have read of their wanderings through the wilderness. I have read of the miracles they witnessed as they claimed their promised land. I have cheered for them when Esther the Queen took it upon herself to fulfill her purpose in life and save her people. I have wondered how a man could hate a group of people so much, that his goal in life was complete inhalation of those he hated.

Later in life I have studied Jewish history. I have read in horror of the sufferings of this people group, as years later, Hitler, filled with hate from the devil himself, did his best to destroy this people group. I again, have wondered how someone can hate that much; and to this day complete answers evade me. The chronicles of such suffering and pain have caused my heart to cry out for them - to whisper through my tears, my apologies for all they had to endure.

Through reading of their diaries, journals and news reports my love for the Jewish nation has grown. I have wept in sorrow as free country's borders were closed to Jews so desperately in need. I have cheered from deep within me, as Israel was made a nation again - many years even, before I was born.

I have sat with Jewish people who have recounted for me their sufferings. How much I did not understand. How much I learned. How greatly time spent with them impacted my heart with a love for the Jewish people. I have watched as they participated in Passover. I have been instructed and understood, in a small way, of their ways. I have desired to know more. More of their culture, their foods, their traditions, their faith.

I am watching them now again as this people - God's people - are engaged in war. I watch, and I pray for peace in Israel. I watch - and wonder, how much of Biblical prophecy this could be fulfilling. I think how we are in the end of the end times; and I pray more fervently for the peace of Israel. I think of their physical safety and I pray. Yet I find my heart dwelling upon their spiritual need and I pray - for peace of Israel. Not the peace that can been seen with the eye, or written in pen by the signing of yet another peace treaty. I pray for the peace of Christ - their Messiah to be written upon their hearts. This is the peace of Israel so desperately needed in every Jewish heart.

Tonight my heart in drawn towards Jerusalem. I pray for peace. Eternal peace.

"For He shall save His people from their sins..."

AN APPLE A DAY

Happy New Year - 2009

From our family to yours - Happy New Year.

We are just thankful to be ringing in the New Year all together as a family!

Trust you are enjoying your family - this New Year's Day!

Blessings,

~Martie