Things on my heart this summer

Five things on my heart this June and July:

Dreamer riding Tuffy at a show in June

1. Scripture study
2. Horse showing
3. Bible game
4. Surrendering
5. My dad, care center, sharing my faith at work

1. Scripture study
Earlier this spring I was convicted to study the Bible on my own, instead of doing a Beth Moore Bible study or some other person's Bible study. It's been a while since I've done this (a couple years). I have done this in the past with Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 and 2 Peter.  In May I started studying 1 Thessalonians. My method study is usually to read the same chapter in full every day for a week. At the end of the week on a day when I have plenty of time, I take two or three verses and really dig into them. Look for key words, themes, repeated words, and work through the who, what, why, when, where, how questions. Some verses I will look up in the Blue Letter Bible to see the original Greek meanings of words.  My favorite part is looking up reference verses, to see where similar words and themes are found through out the Bible.

The first references I looked up were for 1 Thess 1:9, "you turned from idols to serve the living and true God." I looked up all the references of "living God". I found eleven verses that each gave a different view of God, and taken altogether completely awed me.

These are just a few:

•  1 Sam 17:36 (story of David and Goliath) "who is this Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
• Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 
• Jeremiah 23:36 Every man's own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the word of the living God 
• Hebrews 10:31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God
• Rev 7:2 Then I saw another angel coming from the East, having the seal of the living God

I did the same exercise with 1 Thess 2:13 "you accepted the Word as it actually is: the Word of God which is indeed at work in you" - my Thompson Chain Reference bible linked this to a chain of verses under the heading of the "power of the Word" and it was fantastic reading through dozens of verses about the power of God's Word.

2. Horse showing
We've taken the girls to several horse shows this summer, and to the intense 3 day 4H Horse Camp in Douglas, Wyoming, which was an incredible learning opportunity. Blaze rode Spring, and Dreamer rode Tuffy, and there were four classes in the morning and four in the afternoon: showmanship, trail, equitation, patterns, barrel racing, pole bending, English, ground work (lunging), saddle fitting, first aid for horses, conformation, shoeing and hoof care, knot tying, even sorting cattle!! B. and I took turns going to the classes with Blaze and Dreamer, and the twins climbed over and under every fence, grand stand, pen, etc across the entire facility and actually managed to not get hurt or hurt anyone else (phew!) The third and last day was  a little practice show in the morning, and both Dreamer and Blaze placed about in the middle of the pack (Dreamer is in the Junior division, ages 8-10; there were about 25 kids) and Blaze is in the intermediate division, ages 11-13, about 35 kids).

Of course there were tears and frustration because they wanted to win something, and it wasn't much encouragement to tell them that they were competing from kids from all around the the state of Wyoming, and probably some of the best riders, too, because it takes some serious dedication to get to and through horse camp.

B. and I struggled, too. B's very competitive and I claim I'm not that competitive, but turns out that events like this make me really itch to push the kids. But both B. and I know that pushing the kids is only half of the equation. They also have to really want it and be willing to do the daily practice to get to a competitive level.   I struggle with knowing how to balance it all: how much to push them, how much to let them take their own initiative. And I struggle with my own attitude. It's so hard not to get bitter with the rich families that can afford to buy expensive, well trained horses, and keep them well trained with expensive trainers, and have their kids take $50 an hour lessons. When you are up against those odds, it's so frustrating. It IS possible to compete with people like that, but you have to work twice as hard, and make due with second hand equipment that isn't as flashy and pretty as the rich kids' stuff (at least English equipment is standardized; but Western show clothes and saddles can range from plain jane to all decked out with silver and sparkles; easily costing thousands of dollars). 

When faced with what sometimes feels like a sport dominated by the rich and requires so much money that maybe ought to go more important things like missions and the poor and orphanages and such, I also question what values this is teaching my kids. But on the other hand, learning how to work as a partner with a horse is also an incredible opportunity. It teaches patience, kindness, self control, responsibility, consistency, sensitivity, to name a few... (also physical benefits like balance, coordination, flexibility and quick reaction).

After all the hard work with horses this summer, and seeing my own emotions and my girls' run so high, it was good to go for a walk this morning and talk to God about it.

3. Bible game
Blaze is not as negative as she was at the beginning of the year about church and the Bible, but she still struggles with it - "why can't it be more fun?" She likes to help me in the 3 year old children's church rather than sit through the main service, even though the lessons are way simplified for 3 year olds. Recently I came up with an idea to teach Blaze and my other girls some Bible lessons and important verses through a board game that we all love: "SORRY!" In the regular game, the cards have numbers and instructions on them, like move ahead 7, or move backwards 4, or switch places with an opponent. So I made an identical set of cards but with Bible questions on them like "What is the Gospel?" and verse fill-in-the-blanks like "The ___________ declare the glory of God". This was such a fun project to work on and I can easily add or change out the cards with new ones to expand their Bible learning. The girls like playing it and even B. played it with us, though with him playing the game really slowed down as we got into more discussion (but that's a good thing too!)

4. Surrendering
My theme this year has been Surrender  (NOT surrendering to temptation, but surrendering to God's will). Though I continue to go to Overeaters Anonymous at least 3 times a month and get great encouragement from my accountability team, I haven't lost any weight in over a year. The first 20 pounds was a big step, but more needs to go! Lately I have really been trying to remember surrender DAILY. Faced with a less than healthy food choice - a few times this past week I have remembered to surrender to God and not to the temptation.  My OA buddy C. has also had some success with this in the last week, too, and we are trying to text/email/call daily to keep each other going, and track everything we eat to share with each other for accountability too. I feel like every little effort I put in, even remembering to write down what I ate, or murmuring "surrender" as a reminder, or thanking God for blessings several times a day, gets me a little further away from bad habits and closer to good habits.

5.  My dad, care center, sharing my faith at work
This I almost don't want to mention because I have been a failure in these three things. I had a long weekend taking care of my dad while my mom went to visit her sisters and brothers, and I hoped to talk to him more and share the Word with him. I also can't get it out of my head that I need to volunteer at our local senior care center, even just one hour a week, visiting folks there - but I keep putting it off.  I want to share the Word at work, and that hasn't happened, either, because I'm too afraid, or lazy, or both. But I want to be someone that people would say first of all: "she loves the Lord" rather than just "she's nice" or "she's positive." But even more important, I want to not even think about me and how people perceive me, but be thinking about God first, and others next, before myself.

Late addition: how could I forget to mention writing? I've have my query and sample pages out to seven agents. So far one rejection but rejection is part of the game. I have seven more agents I'm getting ready to query, too, but then I read this amazing book, Writing Twenty First Century Fiction, by Donald Maass, and it gave a whole list of ideas for how to make my story stronger. So am I working on these "enrichments" and will query more agents after the edits. The thing that I loved especially about Maass' writing advice is that he really pushes you to work timeless questions or mysteries of life into your stories; to use your writing to impact readers with significance and meaning.  This is  my main motivation in writing (besides the great sense of adventure and fulfillment it brings me): to convey the glory of God and the mysterious ways he works in our lives... but this books shows you practical ways to accomplish this: to be high impact without overbearing.

Mom, I don't want to go to church

After posting on my "theme for 2014: surrender" in January, I have some follow up observations.

This is how I ended the post: "right away I was faced with having to Surrender something to God - or otherwise fret over it and try to control it.  My 12 year old daughter has developed a bad attitude about going to church with us, and when I questioned her more about it, she said she has no interest in the Bible or learning more about God or Jesus."

This is my struggle: facing a bad attitude every Sunday when I tell her it's time to get ready to go to church. She's bored there; she wants the time to pursue her own interests instead. I tell her that sometimes I don't like going to church either, and I try to be honest with God about that.  I admit to him, okay, I'm bored at church, but I don't want to be; give me a heart for worshipping you; give me a heart to look to your people today instead of myself and what I want.  I believe we should give a special time to God for worshiping him and learning about him with other believers. God gives us so much, I believe it's not too much to ask to give him and his people a couple hours of our undivided attention.

She's not impressed by my thoughts on this. Lately I've just wanted to give in, let her stay home. It's hard to face arguments about it every week; it threatens to drain my own enjoyment and worship at church. I don't like conflict. I'm not even going to try to talk about the difficulty of doing Bible study as part of our home school.

Why not just give up the fight? Why not let her go, stop controlling her? Completely surrender her?

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

I think there's an important balance here, in this verse. We can't just give up having them do certain things because they don't like it, just like we don't let them stop going to school. God says its important to discipline and instruct them in His ways, which includes gathering with other believers.

But the other side of it is, don't exasperate them, don't provoke them.  I know I get exasperated when I feel like I'm being ignored. So I've been praying for patience to listen to my daughter and her complaints and her arguments.

Sometimes I even remember to use the powerful communication tool of repeating back her words, e.g. "so what I hear you saying is....[rephrase her arguments]... did I get that right? I want to understand your point of view." Even though she still has to go to church, I think it helps her frame of mind to know that I'm listening and valuing her frustrations about it.

But while I'm trying to patient and understanding on the outside, on the inside I'm fretting and crying with frustration. I've shared this frustration with my prayer group and I am strengthened and encouraged by their prayers, and also relieved when the older ladies share their own struggles with their children... I'm not alone. My husband also stands firm with me on this issue. It doesn't bother him like it does me; I'm more prone to fret on this than he is (he frets about other things, like the kids' safety).

So what it really boils down to is, fretting.

And God tells us not to fret... not to be anxious. To cast all our cares upon him. To surrender our fears to him. Ah yes, that theme of surrender, again.  Truly it is a daily thing.

Here are three things that help me keep my perspective (along with prayer, of course).

1) Remembering that I was adamantly opposed to the Bible and church for many years.  I resented when others tried to force their beliefs on me. I still remember how it feels. I still remember how I respected the Christians who were firm in their belief, and accepted me just as I was even though I disagreed with their beliefs. I will always, absolutely, accept and respect and love my daughter no matter if our beliefs remain different the rest of our lives.

2) The second thing is from Mere Christianity, where C.S. Lewis talks about the importance of church:

Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our conceit and laziness and intellectual snobbery. I know someone will ask me, "Do you really mean, at this time of day, to reintroduce our old friend the devil—hoofs and horns and all?" Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is "Yes, I do." 

3) And the third is this blog post I found,  http://adammclane.com/2010/10/18/when-your-kids-hate-church. I am cutting and pasting it on this blog to have a copy in case this post ever disappears (because that has happened before - I've gone back to find encouragement from an old post and the link leads nowhere!).  Attribution and full credit to Adam McClane.

My kids don’t get excited about going to church most Sundays. That’s putting a nice bow on it, isn’t it?
Let’s take the pretty bow off for the sake of this post.

They hate going to church.

Yesterday, I sat in the car with a child who refused to participate. Not all Sunday’ are like that. But sometimes the feet literally stop moving and the tears start flowing. It’s hard to look in your child’s eyes and see them tearfully say “please don’t make me go,” and then force them to go.
I can’t stomach it. That is, clearly, not the type of relational connection I want my children to have with Jesus.
To my dismissive friends– it’s not just our church. It’s pretty much any church we’ve tried out. Trust me, we tried to blame the churches we attended. It’s not their fault. And it’s been going on for a very long time. Yeah, they even hated churches I worked at.
I don’t know any other way to say it. They hate going to church.
[Insert our painfully banging of heads against the wall.]

As a parent I could get lost in the emotions of this. I mean, how is it that mom and dad can have a first love… Jesus and his church… and our kids aren’t loving what we love?
This is where the rational side of our brains takes over and comforts us.

• We don’t want them to fake it for our sake.
• We want to raise independent, critical thinkers. That includes giving them the freedom to question us within the boundaries of our authority over them.
• We believe Jesus wants to capture their heart, not their body. It’s OK if that takes time. Jesus’ offer to love the church stands the test of time, he is patient.
• We recognize that there is a difference between rejecting Jesus and not liking the action of going to church. They don’t hate Jesus, they hate going to church.
• We believe ultimately that it’s more important that the kids go to a church their parents love than one that the kids love and the parents tolerate. I find church strategies that try to hook parents with a McDonald’s approach to kids ministry often have equally crappy methodology elsewhere.
• We recognize that some of the reason they don’t like church is that daddy used to work at one, like 60+ hours a week. And repairing the equation that church equals dad loving other people’s kids and making other people’s kids a priority over them will take years to repair.
• We are willing to find expressions of church they might love. We’ve introduced Awana on Wednesday nights. It is is so developmentally appropriate for them that they are really digging it.....And this summer they will go to camp.
• We are willing to look in the mirror enough to recognize that being compliant at church does not equate to loving church. When I went to church as a child, I hated it and swore that I’d hate it forever.
• We aren’t going to give up simply because they don’t count down the days until Sunday. Their attitude towards church doesn’t drive us to make stupid decisions as parents. So it’s not like we’re going to stop going to church as a family.
• We are willing to lose the occasional battle for the sake of hopefully one day winning the war. That’s a crude way of saying we don’t force them to participate. We expect that they will, but allow them some ability to say no.

Maybe I’m not supposed to talk about this? Maybe writing this makes me look bad? Or maybe, just maybe, my kids are normal?

I am so thankful Adam took the time to write about this... and was willing to be transparent about his heartbreak and concern.

My theme for 2014: Surrender

In 2012  my theme for the year was Seeking God; in 2013 my theme was Prayer. As I shared last year about this time, I've always failed miserably with resolutions, but this idea of choosing just one thing as my theme for the year has had more results - especially since I started picking godly things for my theme.


Prayer has never been my strong point. I love studying the Bible and memorizing verses, but I would love to also be a prayer warrior, not a prayer weakling. I'm still on again, off again with prayer but having this as my theme last year did help significantly - as well as several really hard twists in our lives (in March, in April, and in June) that left me with no option except to pray. I kept up with it not quite daily but at least several times a week until I got ultra busy in the fall with home school.

Some major things from 2013:

1) My dad's Parkinsons disease taking over more and more and B.'s mom's cancer taking over more and more. God gave me an amazing witnessing opportunity with both my dad and mom, but I still don't have the fellowship with them as believers that I long for. Same with B's parents.

2) In 2012 I learned how freeing it is to not try to control people - namely my husband and teen stepdaughter, even a few situations with my younger daughters. 2013 really, REALLY challenged me again in this area.

3) Thanks to working the 12 steps and support of Overeaters Anonymous I lost 10 pounds in 2012 and another 10 pounds in 2013! - and kept it off! (though I confess Thanksgiving and Christmas I did slip up and regained 5 pounds; I've lost 3 pounds again so far in January).

4) Rediscovering an unresolved issue going all the way back to my teen years helped me identify and start working on a big issue I struggle with currently, having to do with honesty. Going through the 12 steps in OA meetings this year  helped me figure all this out, but interestingly, it was starting home schooling that indirectly helped curtail the problem.

5) Insecurity at church and work. The insecurity at work was also indirectly helped by homeschooling... too long of an explanation to share right now. The other insecurity still looms. It's not really church persay, but connecting with people there. A small revelation was "forced" upon me in June that I've been mulling over but not yet really acting on.

6)  I stayed depression-free! (two years now depression free). Thank you, vitamin D pills, but more importantly, thank you God for this great, great gift.

7) After years of debate, I started home schooling and discovered I loved it! (not sure if my girls quite "love it", but they're going along with it and I'm loving the extra time with them.

So now I come to my theme for 2014. Last month I started thinking about this and I think God impressed on me to choose Surrender (also, Humility. They're sort of related). I struggle with control, and I struggle with giving up my time, and I still struggle with eating when  I shouldn't  and what I shouldn't... all things that have to do with my will. This year I want to focus on surrendering my will to God's.

I feel like Surrender also encompasses my earlier themes of Prayer and Seeking God, too. 

No surprise, barely a week into the new year, I right away was faced with a tough situation I wasn't expecting... and was faced with having to Surrender something to God - or otherwise fret over it and try to control it.  My 12 year old daughter Blaze has developed a bad attitude about going to church with us, and when I questioned her more about it, she said she has no interest in the Bible, or in God or Jesus.

This is still so raw it's hard to write about it. I wanted to jump all over her and shake her and.... sigh... still can't write about this, except to say - Oh Lord! I surrender her to You.

One month into homeschooling

In November last year, I felt I got a direct nudge (even a bit of lecture) from God about how He wanted me to home-school. I've been talking about it for years, and my oldest daughter is already 12, and starting 6th grade this fall. She was required to switch schools this year (as her grade school only goes through 5th grade), so it seemed like a good time to start. Besides that, I knew God wanted me to try this.  It's been just amazing to see how since that first big nudge he gave me last November, He's taken me on this twisty path (including an offer of a full time job, and then that same job being given to someone else), finally bringing me here to home schooling.

I knew it would be a hard adjustment for all of us. I was warned there would be many days I'd want to quit, the girls would want to quit, even my husband might want me to quit.

Oh, so true! And I had no idea just how exhausting and consuming home-school would be, even with just my two older girls (Blaze, 12 and Dreamer, 9 - their screen names).  My six year old twins are still going to public school.

But I also knew there would be blessings. Oh, so true! 

For the first three weeks we pretty much had this pattern: a bad day where Blaze complained and whined, but Dreamer was willing; then the next day where Blaze was okay but Dreamer got frustrated with something and would cry. There's been many days where I felt stymied at every turn and would finally just sit at the table with the girls silently praying - God, you need to intervene here. I'm completely stuck. 

Mixed in with this mess of whining, balking and crying have been some beautiful moments. Excitement about learning. Good discussions. Wonderful surprises.

And by the fourth week, I was really starting to see some overall improvement - the girls and I gradually getting adjusted to the new routine. Less whining, less tears. Recognizing when something was going to switch from frustrating to a real fretting, and being able to switch to another task before hitting the meltdown point.

This is a huge adventure we are on together and despite the hard times, I love it!

Here are some of things I've learned on this first month our adventure together.

1) You never know when something is going spark interest
  I was going over the discussion questions after Blaze's required reading, which was a short story called Three Copper Pennies. The conclusion of this story was "true happiness is found from within, not in things or wishes coming true."  I challenged Blaze to think about what the Bible says true happiness comes from.  I shared how  I'm currently learning in my Bible study, one of the things that brings us joy is thankfulness. Suddenly Blaze got all excited and told me about a book she'd read last year, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Thrilled to see her excited about something, I let her tell me the whole plot of the story... it took some time. But hey, she's excited about this, so I tried not to let the itch to get back to the curriculum make me rush her through her story. A king is searching for true happiness in this story, and he sees a poor peasant that has happiness and asks him what the secret is... the peasant gives him a paper with the answer but the paper's blown away... much more happens that I don't remember but finally the King discovers what was written on the paper was thankfulness, thankfulness, thankfulness...

2) I have to be flexible with what I plan to accomplish, because when something sparks my girls' interest (like above), I need to let them run with it for a while, even if it gets "off schedule".  That's the beauty about home school, we can take unexpected detours, where as in tightly scheduled regular school you can't take these exciting detours.

3) It's really easy to get behind schedule. Especially with the K12 curriculum I chose. I picked this path because I wanted all the free support, including a teacher, you get with this program. The program does allow some flexibility, but not as much as I'd like. It's very much a public school program very focused on testing.  Next semester I may try to switch to a Christian curriculum but initially I was too overwhelmed by all the choices with Christian curriculums... and their prices.

4) It's tempting to skip starting off in the Word and in Bible study, because I look at everything we need to accomplish at school (and stuff I also need to accomplish with my part time job) and I think we just don't have time for anything "extra".  But being in the Word is not "extra." I have to keep reminding myself that... and the time we give God, He can give back to us.

5) It's really hard to prepare for things ahead of time, but it actually saves me time if I do some planning.

6) Mondays are especially hard starting back to school after the freedom of the weekend.

7) Sometimes it's okay to start the day in bed. Seriously. I'll get Blaze and Dreamer to crawl in my big bed with me as we start Bible study. Or sometimes I'll bring their materials to them in their beds if they really want that.

8) It helps to include uplifting music when our spirits are down... or when we're sluggish in the morning. My current go-to song is Lord, I Need You, Matt Maher's version.

9) Home school often means a messy house. Stuff everywhere. Sand on the floor (science experiment). It doesn't have to get cleaned up immediately... And the occasional misplaced book will eventually get found.

10) I love how being involved in my kids' learning allow me to point things out we've learned through out the day, not just when it's official school time. Like the night we were watching PBS' Nature at Grandma and Grandpa's and they showed lines of latitude and longitude on the globe and I pointed it out and the girls remembered which lines were lat and which were longs. Or when we went up to Vedauwoo for a "field trip" and I could point out (and they were interested in) signs of weathering and erosion that we'd learned about in science.

And here are some of the blessings and fun moments I've had with the girls. These will eventually get numbered with my 1000 gifts, but I'm so far behind getting all my gifts from this summer typed up!

688. Advice for teaching resistant learners. 
A list of links N.L.W. sent me about suggestions for kids that are resistant to home schooling (like Blaze was, initially). The timing of her sharing these links with me was perfect because I was so discouraged, but reading these gave me hope and determination again.

http://www.littlenaturalcottage.com/homeschooling-the-strong-willed-child/
http://www.successful-homeschooling-blog.com/2011/03/homeschooling-the-difficult-child-part-2-passive-resisters/
http://www.familyministries.com/homeschool.html

689.  My kids starting their own gift lists.
They started making their lists on the tablet. One day I checked the lists, and discovered both had added things to them without me reminding them.

690. My kids starting a goals list, too. 
Blaze came up with the idea of in addition to her gifts list, starting a goals list. I'm so proud of the goals she picked! I'd love to share them but I better check with her first.

691. Compiled all my bible study resources and found some great ideas to do with the girls
Including sharing our family tree and talking about one of my favorite ancestors, my great-great-grandmother Mary Letitia Richey and the difficulties she faced in her life... and tying this into Jesus' family tree, how Ruth and Rahab were part of his lineage and the trials they faced that grew their faith. So many more ideas too.

692. Dreamer's cheerful way of saying "Sure!" when I ask her to do something. 
She struggles sometimes with all the changes, but she is always willing to try. When she's having a good day she'll say "I'm so glad I'm not having a struggling day."

693. Tying lessons to maps (I love maps!) 
One thing I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE about the K12 curriculum is almost every lesson seems to tie into a map. They're constantly making us use maps, asking us where things are, and since I'm a geographer and a map-maker, I LOVE it and I think the girls like it, too. Blaze blew me away one day when she wanted to use Google maps to find something that we weren't even asked to find, and then she showed me how you can get to Streetmap from Google Maps, and we ended up wasting an hour (but what a great waste) using StreetMap to travel down a real road in Kentucky to the opening of Mammoth Cave... and later we used it to "drive by" my old house where I grew up in Buffalo, New York.

694. Getting to share some of things from my own gifts list with the girls
Things they've done or we've done together that I was thankful for - going back 4 years ago. Also I shared with them a neat thing I just learned from the book, A Thousand Gifts: when Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes, he gave thanks and then there was enough bread for everyone. The miracle occurred when he gave thanks.

695. Fun doing our first science experiment together. 
A couple cups of sand, pipecleaners, toothpicks and craft sticks, and a hair blow dryer (testing different methods of stabilizing sand dunes to prevent the spread of deserts into arable land). Blaze loves hands on things like this! It was interesting even for me to see which method worked best and then making a graph comparing results. Made remember why I fell in love science and wanted a career in it, so so many years ago.

1000 gifts: learning from aftershocks

Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey. I write these down on my calendar, and when I get a chance I add them here to my blog. These are all blessings from April, 2013.

609. Revelations from God at their brightest when times are the darkest
I wrote a separate post to share more details about this gift. It gives me shivers just thinking what God has shown me in the past two months, even though we've gone through some really rough times.

610. Unleashing the power of love
Not long after the revelation I wrote about in #609, God gave me yet another stunning insight. That day, my pastor preached on 1 Peter 1:22, "Since you were saved, fervently love one another"  - how we can be unbeatable in spirit when we are soaked in God's love and pouring it out on others.

Later in the evening as I was fretting over how hard it is to deal with attitude from my kids, how it brings out the worst in me and worrying about how I will ever be able to manage four girls going through the teenage attitude stage, God answered my thoughts with this: in the face of their attitude, I will pour My love through you, and you will be so full of grace it will conquer any desire to lash back at attitude; indeed it will even conquer their attitude. Instead of pushing my hurt and anger buttons, they will unleash the very love of God upon themselves. What a promise He made me that evening: I will believe that He will fulfill that promise to me!

611. Learning from aftershocks
Beginning with a terrible family blow-up at the end of the March, the next three weeks of April were one of constant emotional turmoil for B. and I. God taught me so much from it (as I've listed in gifts 609 and 610) and another blessing I've learned that when God takes the pressure off - when you sigh with relief - that the lesson isn't over yet! There are aftershocks! They come to remind you to not stop clinging to God when the pressure's off, after He's answered your prayers. This latter half of April, while my emotional turmoil was over, I found myself over-eating again, binging with relief. At first I couldn't figure out, after 3 solid months of good eating habits, life-changing new habits, I'm suddenly stumbling in this area again - not during the hard trials, but after them... but that's often when we are most vulnerable, spiritually, when we sight with relief and let our guard down.

612. Twalkers 
Blaze says "twalkers" are people who walk and text at the same time. Love it! - been guilty of it a time or two!

613. Designing Maps class
My job paid me to take a two day class on Designing Maps, since part of my work this year is making maps for a new educational atlas of Wyoming. The whole time I was taking this class I kept thinking: "I get paid to learn how to make beautiful maps? This is too cool!" My job isn't always roses, but the fact that I'm still learning new things and loving the work even after 18 years is such a blessing.

614. Shopping spree
B. took me down to Ft. Collins to buy some new clothes and take me out to dinner. I don't think he's ever offered to take me on a shopping spree before! Neither one of us are keen on shopping, but just the fact that he offered was so neat. And of course I took him up on it since I've lost 20 pounds, clothes shopping is actually fun again! I may be too old for the teen-style jeans that are covered with bling like the Miss Me brand, but I bought a pair anyway (a brand not quite as pricey as Miss Me) and I love them!

615. In-laws' 50th wedding anniversary
B.'s parents celebrated this big anniversary on April 21st, with their whole family in attendance at a beautiful lodge on Lewis & Clark Lake, South Dakota. Such a wonderful weekend! Especially so since B's mother has been fighting cancer for a year and a half now. The battle is far from over, but this weekend of celebration still felt like a victory. (Our family is on the far right, B. is the tallest handsomest one! smile! I'm wearing the orange shirt, hanging on to my twin girls, my other girls behind me with their Aunt Monica. Grandma and Grandpa are 7th and 8th from the left, back row, overwhelmed by their family!)

616. A secret place alone with God
When I went to Beth Moore's Living Proof blog on April 15 to enter my next round of verses for her scripture memory challenge, I was doubly blessed not only by the scripture but by her testimony of how God delayed her travel plans - to have an evening of undivided attention and time with her:

Our subject matter in Greensboro had revolved strongly around increasing our time in the “secret place” with Jesus. I had told them that I was exhilarated by the challenge and could not wait to get started into a deeper secrecy with Him. Let me just say, Jesus took me up on it.  Immediately. I had all evening with Him then all the next morning with Him.

Don’t you on occasion find it slack-jawing astonishing that this same Jesus seeks us out and wants to be with us? It’s happened to you just like it’s happened to me. If you’ve known Him long, you’ve unexpectedly found yourself alone and lonely only to realize that He has temporarily isolated you just to be with you. And you realize you’ve never been less alone in your life.

“He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us.” James 4:5

....Sister, Jesus is hemming you in. If He’s backed you into a corner, it’s not to isolate you but to freshly exhilarate you. He loves you. He’s seeking you out. Slow down and let yourself be caught by this holy jealous-for-you love that will not let you go. We are not just tolerated. We didn’t make it in by the skin of our teeth. We have been planned for and pursued. We are the deep desire of Someone’s heart.

 Oh yes God certainly has backed up into a corner last month, and this month too... but it's been worth it. It really has. My memory verses this month:

Isaiah 40: 28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

617. Lyrics from Cannons, by Phil Wickham
We sang this at church and my heart was so full of joy and worship. Sometimes when I raise my hands Blaze will raise her hand and we hold hands together, high, for the Lord.


 It's falling from the clouds, a strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It's ringign in the skies, like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

You are holy, great and mighty
The moon and the stars, declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free, song of galaxies
Reaching far beyond the Milky Way [love this!]
Let's join in with the sound, c'mon lets sing it out
As the music of the universe plays

Singing You are holy, great and mighty
The moon and the stars, declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of You

All glory, honor, power is Yours, Amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours, Amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours, forever Amen

You are holy, great and mighty
The moon and the stars, declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of You

You are holy, great and mighty
The moon and the stars, declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Seven words to change your family

I have been reading so many good books lately, and they deserve some attention here on my blog. Last fall I encountered my first James MacDonald book, "Lord Change My Attitude" through my womens' Bible study, and then this spring we read two more of his, "Seven Words to Change Your Family" and "Gripped by the Greatness of God."

I want to write about all three of them but I'll start with "Seven Words to Change Your Family." I actually finished reading this in February, but this month we ran smack into a big family upheaval, so I figured it would be good to go back and review this and write down some important principles.

There are three healing words: forgiveness, blessing, honor; three building words:  truth, church, commitment  and one transforming word, love.

MacDonald has the gift for getting right to the heart of the matter; and his Bible study is both incisive and yet accessible. Some of his words, like forgiveness and love are obvious; but he pointed out some things about the process of forgiveness that I hadn't realized - it really is an ongoing process, not just a one time event. 

Some of his other words I hadn't really thought about before, like what it means to as an adult to honor our parents, or what it means to bless our children. 

In blessing our children, the author uses the example of Isaac and Jacob blessing their sons, and from other biblical examples he shows how to speak words of affection, words of reconciliation, words of vision "you're going to make a difference in this world", and words of security.

We need to be pouring a spiritual vision into our children. We don't want them to just get by; we want them to be the super conquerors that Christ Jesus has created them to be. A spiritual vision. "You are going to walk with God. You're going to be a godly man or woman. God is going to use your life."

And:

...When the blessing is given, a child emerges into adulthood able to answer to the three most important questions in life: 1. Who am I? (a question of identity) 2. Why am I here? (a question of security) 3. Where am I going? (a question of confidence)

Matt 3:16-17 tells us that the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove. And a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Isn't that great? God the Father Himself modeled the importance of affirmation.

Another part that really struck me; this is from the chapter on truth.

We only get so many words in our families. The older our kids get, the fewer words we have with them. What are you going to spend your words on? "clean up your room!" "I asked you five times to take out the garbage!" Is that how you are going to spend your words? Like that's going to have a big impact! I fear we're wasting our words on issues of little value, and then we're too exhausted to pour into our families the kind of truth that can be fountain of life to them. Instead, let's choose words of truth that build and guide and that establish a foundation of wisdom.

Lord, keep me from wasting my words with my kids! Right now they will listen to me when I talk about You - when I talk about anything. When they are older, I know they won't listen or if they do they won't value what I say as much. This something we're we're facing right now:

Then there's the opposition of emotional distance. Perhaps you have teenagers who call you uncool and unloving, and they won't see for many years the values of the truths on which you are building your family and refusing to compromise. I plead with you not to back down, no matter ho many hurtful words they say or rolled eyes you must endure. In the major things, do what's right even if it sets off a war in your home. Draw the line. When your kids become adults and are raising their own kids, they will know that you did what was best for them

Here's a principle I really want to teach my kids:

Every time God says "Don't" - as in "Don't harbor unforgiveness" what He's saying is "Don't hurt yourself." In other words, when you choose to sin, you choose to suffer.

...My capacity to forgive is directly related to my comprehension of how much God loves me. When my concept of God is very small, my capacity to love others is very small as well.... so often I see that the Lord's people need to have a breakthrough in their understanding. God doesn't love like our parents. God doesn't love according to our human experiences. God loves fully and unconditionally. That's what we're after.

...Periodically, I will invite the perfect people in our church to stand, and thus far we have found none. We are all fallen people, not just in principle but in practice (James 3:2 "We all stumble in many ways"

Another thing I want to do in my family, create a poster that hangs in a prominent place in our house, like the author's house,  that displays our 5 most important family principles:

1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind (Matt 22:38)

2) Love your neighbor as yourself  (Matt 22:39) and your closest neighbors are your family. "We are together in this, and we'll get through this together"

3) Work hard, without complaining for the glory of God (Philippians 2:14 and Colossian 3:17)

4) Always tell the truth and seek to learn God's truth (2 Tim 3:16,17)

5) Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)

The section on honoring our parents was unexpectedly heartbreaking. The author shared several letters that brought tears to my eyes, first of callous and neglectful treatment of aging parents by their adult children, and one by a man who took the time to thank his parents and spend extra time with them, and was so thankful he did because his mother died unexpectedly shortly afterward. The book also includes a tribute that James wrote himself to his parents. 

Some more quotes:

You are not standing for the truth unless you are doing so at the specific point where the truth is being resisted.... you can be standing for the truth in fifteen different places, but if you are conceding at the very point of oppositon, you are not building your home on truth. 

...God's Word has never been tried and found lacking. Never! However, it has often been found difficult and therefore not tried. 

... It is absolutely vital for us to understand that truth is most powerfully taught in the context of relationship.

One last excellent thing, this from the chapter on commitment:

Commitment is the defining characteristic of a person's life...there are people who keep their commitments and there are people who don't. It's the watershed issue. Which person are you?

1000 gifts: heading toward home-schooling

Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey. I write these down on my calendar, and when I get a chance I add them here to my blog. These are all blessings are from November, 2012.

540. Conviction during communion to home-school. 
I've been praying about homeschooling for years now. It just never seems like the time is right. God laid such a heavy conviction on me this one Sunday at church, so that every argument I came up with, He seemed to counter with an answer.

Me: Lord, no one thinks I can home-school and still work part time.
His answer: am I not God? If I say you can do it, you can.
Me: my parents are not supportive.
Him: Am I not God?
Me: my husband is not 100% supportive.
Him: Am I not God? I'm working on your husband. Leave him to Me.
Me: my kids are going to miss their school friends and art and gym and...
Him: They will complain, but it will be worth it in the long run. 
Me: As soon as I commit to this, something will change at my job, I'll have to go back to full-time or something else will come along to test me.
Him: Am I not God? Yes, you will be tested. But I want you to teach your children about Me.

541. Pinterest provides inspiration to get me writing
Ah, my favorite time of year - November: NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This is the month of discovering creative depths that never cease to amaze me (and giving God the credit). However, several times I was stuck starting a new scene, wondering when the creative inspiration would arrive. After scrolling through my Pinterest "ideas" folder at lots of landscapes (real and fantasy), architecture and art, I'd come across something that would get me inspired and off I'd go with the writing again.

Bubbles upon Bubbles by wolfepaw on Deviant Art

542. Counting down days
5 year old Serious insisted on knowing how many days left until her birthday. So I showed her the calendar and we counted 12 days. She counted them down everyday after that.

543. Skids are out of kool
This is what I said to a friend one day when I meant to say the "kids are out of school." (I've also sometimes said things like "I'd like a tup of cea" instead of a "cup of tea."  I once heard that these letter mixups are called Spoonerisms and they always make me laugh!

544. Quips in the hospital
Dad was in the hospital for Thanksgiving, but in surprisingly good spirits, joking with the nurses. "I feel like a million bucks, all wrinkled and green."

545. The girls made a "things we are thankful for" poster to hang in Dad's hospital room.
I found pictures on the internet of things the twins love, and the older girls drew pictures. Many things like playgrounds, pumpkins, elk, waterfalls, toys, horses, family, of course.

546. Friends hosting a thanksgiving dinner at church
Thank you Amy and D.J. for organizing this! So nice not to have to cook more than one dish to share. And good fellowship. Rediscovering my love for Scrabble. Blaze discovering Scrabble for the first time.

547. Scriptures in appointment book
A neighbor of ours, R.D.,  showed me the scriptures she keeps in her appointment book. She comes to our church occasionally, but it was wonderful to see her living out her faith this way too.

548. Plowing through distractions
From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young:  "You live in a world that has been rigged to distract you. Each time you plow your way through the massive distractions to communicate with Me, you achieve a victory. Rejoice in these tiny triumphs, and they will increasingly light up your days"

549. Finishing a novel 
On November 30, around 9pm, the last day of NaNoWriMo, I wrote the last words to my novel (started over a year ago, but the idea goes all the way back to when I was 14 years old). This is the third time I have finished a novel, and always the last words carry a weight and joy and bittersweetness about them that is unforgettable.

550. The Word sinking into your heart

Ezekiel  3:10  "Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself."

551. Psalm 104

For many years Psalm 103 has been one of my favorites. How have I missed Psalm 104?
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.

The best 10 moments of my life

A couple weeks ago my stepdaughter and I drove over to Cheyenne to go shopping (much better shops over there than in Laramie). On our way back, I don't know what prompted this, but I mentioned how I took a road trip with my friend after college and it was one of what I called "the top ten things in my life."

One of the less memorable moments of our road trip, when Gracie the Jeep broke down

Stars was curious and asked, what are some other things on your top ten list?

I shared a few more things with her, and she shared a few of hers - her top one being when she got her own horse (Callie) and how wonderful it was to cross the road and see her anytime, and just jump up bareback and take off. I could totally relate because my first horse also made my top ten list.

When we got home, and for several days later, I kept thinking, what else is on this supposed top ten list of mine?  I started trying to list them in order, but I really couldn't. So I've just listed them randomly, with the next numbers on my 1000 gifts list. (Which is kind of fitting, because while these are the most memorable gifts God has given me, they are still just a few of many, many, many more - so many I will never remember them all).

478. Holding the twins together for the very first time. 

They were born 2 months early, and for almost a whole week I wasn't allowed to hold them, as they had to stay in isolettes (it was too early even for kangaroo care). So when I was finally allowed to hold them - together - oh my, I have no words for that moment! I have never felt such joy and contentment and wonder as in that moment. I was 36 years old.

My expression here just doesn't do it justice

479. Getting my own horse

This was a dream of mine since I was 8 years old. My parents could afford to get me riding lessons, but never my own horse (we lived in a large city). I was 22 when circumstances finally worked out that I could buy a horse and afford to keep him. Actually, the most incredible moment wasn't when I found Rebel, or when he was delivered to our barn, or even the first time I rode him. It was the day after he was "moved in" - that morning I woke up and my first thought was, "there's a horse in the barn! My own horse!" and I raced down to the barn in my jammies and peered inside and yes, there he was!

A picture of my mom riding Rebel on a S.C. beach - a dream of both of ours, to ride in the ocean!

480. Snorkeling in the Caribbean

This one made my list because it was so surprising. Based on my experience as a kid, I thought snorkeling was pretty lame. You can't see very well and you're always getting water down your pipes. There's not much to see anyway (I snorkeled murky lakes). So when B and I had our honeymoon and went snorkeling for the first time on a deserted (and pristine) reef off St Croix, I was blown away. It was like entering another world. The water was so clear, the coral was so close, and seething with a rainbow of life. I had thought you could only see this sort of thing scuba diving, not just sticking your head underwater! The rest of the day I was in a daze from all the beauty. I was 30 years old.

481. When B asked me to marry him

I forgot what we did that day, but I do remember the date, February 19 1999. We were in my apartment, late at night, and B was talking about how hurt he'd been by his ex, how he'd thought he'd never trust again. But his growing faith in the Lord had shown him it was possible to trust again. Then he looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "will you marry me?"

482. Writing the last words of my first novel 

This is an interesting one, because it happened twice. I'd been working on this novel since 12 or 13 years old but very "on again, off again, let's start over again" kind of thing. I finally finished in 2000, and it was a surreal feeling to have it all printed off and complete (so long it required two large binders). I shared it with my writing buddy N.L., and she told me it needed "a lot of work" (which I pretty much knew already, it was way too long). But still, it was  incredible to have finally finished it, after, um, 17 or 18 years (no, I'm not at all ashamed at how it takes me to write). I began the process of revising to pare it down, and ended up completely re-writing it over the next 9 years. Amazingly, when I finished it the second time, the feeling was just as powerful. I think I cried as I wrote the last words.

483. Walking down the aisle

I had a wonderful wedding, which I completely attribute to my mom and dad, since they did 80-90% of all the planning and details, so I could sit back and relax. (I highly recommend this method. Micro-planning your wedding may end up wearing you out so you barely have strength left to enjoy it). But as it turns out, the wedding and reception, wonderful as they were, didn't make my top ten list. What did make the list was walking down the aisle on my father's arm and seeing the expression on B's face when he saw me.

484. Seeing my first child for the first time. And the second child.

Oh, the anticipation! What will he/she look like? Is this really happening? And then it finally does happen, and you see your baby for the very first time. It's such a miracle. Again, B's expression on his face as he put Blaze (her screen-name) into my arms is another thing I'll never forget. I was 31 years old. Another truly amazing miracle is you get the same feeling with your second child - and the third, and the fourth. Even though you think you know what to expect, you still don't. The miracle is still just as unique as the first time.

485. Hiking in Canyonlands and afterward calling a friend I hadn't talked to in years

My whole post-college road trip was memorable, but this was the highlight of the whole trip. I had never been west of the Mississippi River before in my life, and the further west we went into the vast mountains and deserts, the more awed I became. One particular hike, in Canyonlands National Park, left me so awed that my spirit was humbled. The earth was so huge and grand, so wildly varied, I was blown away. We were so far into the Utah wilderness that there was no phone access, but a few days later when we got back into civilization, I called my friend M.C., whom I had not talked to in 2 or 3 years, due to a bad falling out. After being so humbled and awed, I just had to share my experience with her and start rebuilding our friendship, admitting where I had gone wrong and asking forgiveness. I was 22 years old.We are still close friends, 20 years later.

486.  Realizing God is real.

About a year and a half after that experience in Canyonlands where my spirit felt that mixture of awe and humility, and several more humbling experiences God used to draw me (without me yet understanding anything about him, or even really believing in him), I reached the point where I challenged him to prove Himself to me. Which He did, immediately, just a few hours later as I read the Bible for the first time in years.  He did not speak out loud but I have no doubt that He spoke to me through a very specific word-image in the Bible. I was stunned and at the same time serene, if that makes any sense. It felt like  searching for a needle in a haystack, doubting you'd ever find it. But then suddenly, there it is, so unexpected, and a thousand times more beautiful than what you had ever imagined.

This last of my top ten moments in life didn't come to me right away (not until today, in fact). I found it interesting that the things that were most important and memorable to me did not include my parents at all, or any friends (except for one, indirectly). It did not include anything from my childhood or school years or college years. (I really wished I had thought to put together a top ten list earlier in my life - I wonder what would have been on it back then? It's impossible to reconstruct now with the bias of age).

I kept coming back to my parents. I have the most wonderful parents in the world; I have no bad memories of them. Sure we had some fights and I had some spankings but really, I can't even say those were bad memories because they didn't scar me in anyway, rather they helped me grow. I could think of many wonderful moments with my parents, but nothing compared to the powerful moments with my husband or with my own kids, even my horse! (insert a huff of disgust toward myself). Which really saddened me. I felt like I had lost something. And it was also sad to realize my own kids will someday find their best memories may not include me! But that is exactly when it hit me:

487. When my parents held my first child for the first time.

I have a hard time describing this. For my mom, she barely looked at me when she came into my hospital room. When she picked up my baby, she made some soft noises of wonder, but other than that she was speechless (which is so rare for my mom).  It was the same way with my father, a while later. When he saw her (I have the hardest  time not writing her real name here!), he had to sit down first, and then asked me to hand him the baby. I handed her over all bundled up. He slowly unwrapped her blanket and just sat there staring at her for a long time, speechless, dabbing at tears. My father does not cry easily. 

I am not sure if we truly ever appreciate our parents, or love them so much as we do the moment we become parents ourselves and see them with our own children.

1000 gifts: an early spring

 Continuing my list of gifts, blessings that I write down to remember all the wonderful things that God gives me along life's journey (from Ann Voskamp's book and her blog, A Holy Experience).

I just love this painting by Michael Parkes.

410. Early spring
It's officially spring now (as of March 21) but usually at our high altitude, 7200 ft, March still means winter. Not this year! Our spring break last week was in the high 60 degrees all week and the kids played outside everyday. Our grass is even starting to green up! (our grass didn't green up until mid-May last year). Of course, the bad weather might very well return in April, but in the meantime we are all wearing short sleeves.(And not feeling a bit jealous of Blaze, my 10 year old daughter spending Spring Break in Hilton Head, SC. My mom treated her to plane tickets to come visit them).

411. Restoring a working relationship
An issue with co-worker has been resolved after many months of uncertainty. I prayed about it a lot and finally worked up the courage to go meet with him and ask if there was anything I could do to restore a good working relationship. He explained his frustrations with how things had gone on our project and then, he even had some encouraging words for me, things he thought I had done well. So thankful!


412.  Donating hair to Locks of Love
Stars had her hair cut and donated, I'm not sure where she got the idea, but it really surprised me -and impressed me. She's always had really long, thick, beautiful hair, and the thought of getting anything more than a trim used to horrify her. Of course her short  bob is cute, too and surprisingly, makes her look older. Now Blaze is trying to grow up her hair to donate it, too.

413. War Horse, Black Beauty and the Black Stallion
In the fourth grade class at school  they've been reading War Horse and my daughter Blaze (nickname) loved the story. But one day she came home from school bawling because one of the horses in the story had been killed. She cried on and off that whole evening, and talked frequently about it for many days after that. I remember being similarly upset with Ginger's death in Black Beauty, when I was about her age. I have a feeling even though I'm in my 40s, War Horse would still make me cry (which is why we decided to wait until the movie comes out on DVD - to keep the sobbing at home and not at the theater).  When she finished reading War Horse, Blaze started the Black Stallion series, another favorite of mine as a child - and fortunately not so heart-wrenching. I love that Blaze is a horse-story-lover like I am - it's also motivated to ride her own horse, Spring, a lot more.


414. Learning not to whine
Speaking of Blaze, earlier this winter she just about had me and B. at our wit's end with her tendency to whine. She whined about everything! I never tolerated it (giving her more chores to do or taking away her allowance or playdates) but nothing seemed to help: she kept right on whining. Then I finally started praying about it. What a difference! More and more I am amazed at the power of prayer. I still catch her whining occasionally, but it's a lot less, and a quick reminder from us usually curbs it right away.

415. Who can snap fingers loudest?
All four daughters got into a "snapping" competition to see who could snap their fingers the loudest. The littlest one, Starlet, turned out the winner! I wish I could have captured on camera her proud flourish every time she snapped her fingers. 


416. Learning to write I Love You
Seven-year-old Dreamer helped the 5 yr old twins write the entire alphabet and even write "love you". Getting through all those letters took a LONG time, and I really admired their patience.


417. Lucid dreams and ideas
When I was younger I used to have these amazing lucid dreams (dreams where you are still partially awake) about story ideas - in fact, these dreams formed the basis three novels I've written. I haven't had a lucid dream in years, though - until recently. Upon waking I quickly wrote down all my ideas. So exciting - I don't get new "big" ideas very often. Unfortunately, I few days later when I reading a writing blog I saw another author had had a similar idea (soon to be published) but I still think, with a bit of twist, that my latest idea could still be original enough.

418. Memory tricks
Dreamer's teacher must be teaching the second grade some tricks to remember their spelling words, because one night when Carey was writing her spelling words, she said, "This is how I remember how to spell 'owl.' The bullies make you go 'ow' and after that comes a straight worm." (lowercase l). Loved it!

419. The truth about ghosts
We watched the movie "Ghost" (an old favorite from my teen years with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore) and it was the girls' first time seeing it. I was a little worried about it scaring them, but all their questions about ghosts and demons was a great opportunity to get them thinking about heaven and hell and reminding them of the assurance they can have about going to heaven - believing that Jesus died for them to pay the penalty of sin.

420. Winter gardens
We are having an early spring (yay!) but a few weeks ago when we still had snow, I found it somewhat cheering to walk by a "winter garden" on my walk to work every morning. The University has lots of rock gardens, with berry bushes and ornamental grasses, which still look lovely even in the winter, especially with a fairy-dusting of snow.

421. School Science Night
All four girls had a blast on science night (and I did too, much to my surprise), turning pennies "silver", floating paperclips, making "elephant" toothpaste, and creating color patterns in trays of milk with food coloring and various hydrophobic materials such as dish-soap. Here's a video showing more details about this fun experiment with milk.

422. Getting a "fev" instead of a fever
Dreamer came home from school one day and told me she had felt a little sick at school so she went to see the nurse. The nurse said she had a "fev" which is a very small fever that you don't have to worry about it. What a creative nurse!

423. Kids in gorilla suits
Blaze and Dreamer really, REALLY wanted me to come to their school performance. I really, REALLY didn't want to go, because you have to sit through all SIX grades (and kindergarten) while they do their songs and skits. I managed to get through it by texting jokes back and forth with my friend M.M. - and being amused by a few of the skits with kids in gorilla suits chasing other kids around. If all else fails to amuse an audience, a gorilla suit can save the day!

424. Dancing the Cotton Eye Joe
Getting the kids to dance this at a school performance also helps! This is the theme dance for our University's  Wyoming Cowboys and you have a fair chance of seeing it at just about any get-together in Laramie. Here's a video of two adults dancing Cotton Eye Joe which was the best example I could find on YouTube, but really when you get a bunch of Wyoming kids doing it its even better!