* Getting it under Control

After Judah's last post where he posted pictures I was jealous because I had not done such a thing. I am still a little uneasy about it but wanted to try it myself. I take tons of photos and don't necessarily plan to inundate this blog with pictures. But after my description of my daughters current attempts to come to terms with her teeny tiny little girl emotions I thought I would share an image with you.





I respond so viscerally to her pose. We grown up girls are not allowed to throw ourselves into a fetal position to get ourselves under control. Instead the world says we have to keep a stiff upper lip, grin and bear it, and get over it. Mentally I am throwing myself in a fetal position at times. May you all find a place of comfort and safety that allows for transparent emotions and someone who will pick you up, rub your hair, and allow you to "have a moment" while getting it under control.

* A Belated Farewell to 2008

In my typical listing style I thought I would review the top ten memorable events, changes, what not for 2008. I realize it is a bit late, but I have been quite scattered this January so far. Still painting, but hoping to get the playroom done today. Judah and I are also gearing up to launch a new children's/family ministry initiative with some other folks at church and this has been very time consuming. I am writing this before he gets up this morning because my action item husband has given us some goals for today that did not include blogging. :) These items are in no particular order because my favorite memories are fluid rather than fixed in nature. Therefore I will be using the bullet function rather than the number function. But fear not there will be precisely ten because numbers are still important to me.

• I woke up one morning and was informed we had a blog! This has been an interesting addition to our lives. Not too large, but different. Somewhat similar to the addition of facebook was in 2007.
• 2008 was divided into the first half when Judah was the youth minister and the second half when he was not. We are still here, the teens are still at our house, and we have some college kids as well, but we no longer have an official role now that a permanent minister was hired. This has been challenging, but not unpleasant. We loved our time as youth minister and look forward to the upcoming family/children's initiative.
• Our son lost two teeth! To some this may seem minor but it is yet another symbol of how we are entering another parenting stage. He is in first grade and takes spelling tests and can read books to me. I am so proud of his abilities and amazed at his growing up. I miss my littler guy but adore my little man.
• I went to Africa on a medical mission trip. This was phenomenal in many ways. I am not a big fan of flying( and this is a small exaggeration). My heart has always wanted to go on a medical mission trip. Particularly now that I stay at home - it was awesome to use my profession for God and His people in another world that happens to share this one.
• Judah went to China - A LOT. The previous years he had not gone as much but this year, particularly in the second half , it was more. I believe he was gone nearly four months total, combined over several 2-3 week trips. Blgh. On a high note we have many cool things from the market in Xi'an.
• We planted a garden. This experience was full of lessons. We basically fed all our beans and carrots to the rabbits, the corn to the squirrels, and the pumpkins to the gazillion beetles that showed up to eat them. Eew. We did eat one squash casserole before we lost those too. We are much more prepared this year. (I hope)
• We finally remodeled the down stairs bathroom. This has sparked the radical repainting that is still ongoing. I am so excited to have a bright clean 1/2 bath. The previous owners had cats that apparently used the 1/2 bath for their own. We have had consistent problems with residual smell, regardless of how many times I washed the floor. So we ripped it all out and it is much improved. And we have some adorable homemade artwork in there now, another project that I have wanted to do for a long time.
• My baby girl is gone and has left a little lady in her place, complete with lip gloss, skirts, flip flops, very strong opinions about blue jean color (light only - no dark denim for her, heaven forbid), and emotional turmoil. She truly is a ninja princess. Full of pink fire. She is my constant companion. We entered 2008 with an adorable two year old and left with a much stronger almost four year old. I see the young girl in her how, not a toddler. She cries when her frustrations get the best of her, just like her mom, but she now tries to control it. This leads to some pretty dramatic hurling herself onto the furniture or my leg with her little hands over her face. This is not a temper tantrum, but rather her acknowledgement that crying won't get what she wants, but she can't stop it and is trying to get it under control.
• Our family went on our first mission trip together, a first for Judah and the kids, my first being Africa only a few months before. Truly a year for mission trips. We took the teens to Bayou Labatre, Alabama. A great experience for our family. We particularly loved how much our son wanted to pitch in and work. The only bummer was his febrile seizure on the morning we left, requiring a trip to the ER. A very scary experience, particularly for his dad who woke up next to a shaking little boy.
• This last one if for all the little moments that are so big but just make up the fabric of our lives. Rocking my daughter before her naps, reading with my son, making crafts (and a mess) watching the kids try to use the vacuum independently, dancing with them when the cleaning music is on, swimming in grandma's pool, Thursdays, scrap booking with family and friends (all night sometimes), Saturday morning breakfasts, worship, and family bible study.

2009 looks to be awesome with some new adventures. So look forward to next years post to compare. :)

God Created Snow....

This weekend was yet another chapter in my life. I have been snowboarding for about 15 years now. I would usually snowboard by myself, doing the ramps, or black diamonds, as fast as I possibly could. A previous chapter for me was when I was in Utah a couple of years ago, and broke my back on a jump. Well, it was actually the bad landing that broke my back, not the jump itself. After that, I told myself it was time for a helmet, and to not jump (as big) anymore.


The last few years, our family ski trips consisted of us putting the kids in day care, and Michelle and I hitting the trails for a bit. Michelle, being the awesome wife she is, respected my absolute love for the mountains and would graciously allow me to ski by myself in the afternoon, while the kids (and herself) took naps. After lunch, I would hit every run I could, as fast as I possibly could. I cannot express the sheer enjoyment of carving down a mountain. Last year, however, we taught our son how to ski. He got to spend the morning in the ski school, and then afterwards, we took him out on his first trail run. He wasn't strong enough to stop real good, but he loved every minute of it.

This trip, I hit a turning point. I found myself NOT wanting to ride the black diamonds, or ski off by myself, carving and cruising as fast as I could go. I got a new ski buddy this year. There was nothing cooler than hearing your own son say, "can we do that one again?"

So where did the title of this post come from?

One of the chair lift rides back to the top, my son asked me, "Dad, why did God create snow?" I looked at him and quickly answered, "so that we can ski on it." And his response was just as quick: "that's what I thought."

Proving Science....

One of my pet peeves is when I hear about (or am a participant in) research that is basically proving science. I guess another way way of phrasing it is "re-inventing the wheel". Another phrase may be "studying the obvious". I am sure many of you can come up with numerous stories associated with something like this. Our government tends to feed the academic world with grants and fellowships for things that just make sense, and when we hear about it, we have a tendency to say, "yep, there is science proved once again!"
I guess a more recent example may kind of help shed light on what I am talking about: A research on teenagers playing video games showed they spent less time doing homework. Now that is money well spent....
However, another recent research actually sparked my interest. Recently, research showed that children with strong spiritual beliefs were happier. In short, the more spiritual, or solid belief structure a child had, the happier the child tended to be. Now this is something that is truly interesting.
If you think about it, are we not all happier when we feel God's presence in our life? We have a sense of purpose. We have a feeling that our lives are worth something. I believe children are no different.
I believe we as "adults" or more specifically parents, have a tendency to over look the fact of just how important God is in the lives of children. We underestimate just how much they understand, and so not meaning anything by it, tend to not talk about God to them because we assume it is a topic that is over their head. I believe kids pick up, and are aware, of a lot more than we give them credit for. If you got kids, tell them, as often as possible, how important they are to God. Think about it: God made them specifically. There is no other person on the planet like them. They are unique. And the cool thing about that is, so are we.

*Lacking Inspiration

I am still pulling out of the Christmas holidays and have quite a few things to comment on, but don't seem to have the creative inspiration to do so. I have a 2008 in review concept in my head as well as a Christmas recap but just don't seem to have the needed... whatever... to get those done. It may be because we have been remodeling and the painting fumes took all that away and I am waiting for those brain cells to recuperate. We went back to school this week so we are having to get up early again, blgh. Either of these could be contributing. I expect my brain to be back to normal next week, but then again I am supposed to start painting again, so maybe not. :)

Trying Not to be Something

End of the holidays. Finally. Michelle boxed up the Christmas stuff yesterday, and I(we) put them back up in the attic. Its over. Finally, its over.


Most of you know I am not much on the holidays. Now, granted I have done much better as the years have pasted. I don't loathe them like I used to. This is mainly due to Michelle's family and their love and appreciation of the holidays. Michelle's mom especially does such an amazing job with decorations, music, crafts for the kids, treats, etc. At some point it just kind of rubs off on you I think. Resistance is futile.


Enough about the holidays. These days, people tend to want to look back at the year that was. Did you accomplish what you wanted to accomplish? Did you save(spend) what you wanted to? For me, however, it was one phrase that Michelle said that summed it all up. When we were driving back from somewhere, and I was in a funk about something, and in the middle of the conversation about whatever she turns to me and says, "You have been trying so hard not to be something, that you haven't been able to see anything good that was accomplished."


The conversation was about my dad. I usually get into a funk about this time of year, because it reminds me of the strict way I was raised, mainly due to my dad. At the same time, I have spent years basing a lot of decisions by asking, "I wonder what he would do...", then do the exact opposite. My goal was to NOT be like him as much as possible. This has led me to not even see the good things he has done in this world. True, he has done some amazingly bad things, but he has also done some pretty good things as well. My dad was one of the greatest artists I have ever known. The man could quote scripture like no body's business. He had the ability to just create things. He was a crafter. He was a builder. He was an author. He was an evangelist. I still do not want to be him, but I will no longer bolt if my actions remind me of a positive trait. Good is good regardless of the person.


I spent all my life trying not to be him, that I have been missing out on trying to be something. I couldn't separate the really bad from the really good. All I wanted to do was not be him. That's not at all what I believe God wants from me.


Instead of trying not to be something, I think we should try to be something. For this year, I think that is what I am going to do.