reflections on the year

relationships

as i gaze into the next year, i definitely feel a year older. a little stiffer from battle scars. walk more gingerly into relationships. my tongue moves a bit slower, and my judgement of others recedes in light of my own shortcomings and failures.

my hearts still breaks over relationships that must span half a continent, and sorrows over relationships set aside in my own city. yet hope springs, for i have found joy in fellowship with some i would have never met, had not some been lost.

dreams

dreams that once dominated my thought life, sit as though they are a plant on my kitchen window sill. wilting slowly until one of my mundane daily rituals brings them into focus. they gently receive a enough sustenance to keep them alive. within hours they perk up, bright and green and glowing. and ever so slowly, they again begin to wilt and the cycle begins all over. i don't have enough energy to do much more than that. perhaps one day, i'll repot those little plants into a big open field where they can grow and spread as far and wide as they can. i will fertilize them and water them and make sure they enjoy time in the warm sun and they will thrive with the care. but for now, they need to sit and survive the winter.

growth

the word "understanding" comes to mind. empathy and compassion are hard to muster up when you have never walked the path of those who are needy of it. pain that can't be spoken, can only be experienced, and solely be eradicated by the HEALER, bears scars that beg to give comfort and encouragement to those in the midst of hurt and suffering.

identity

i have spent lots of time thinking about identity in the last two years as i have experienced so many shifts that i can hardly relate some of the past with the present. i have claimed identity in CHRIST, but in truth, my flesh feels like it need something else. i struggle with this constantly. part of me begs to identify myself AS something, and part of me says, it's all a costume you put on...know your true identity.

kiddos

its probably not a good night to write about those guys. they were sent to bed in frustration and i prayed AT them. i'm sure many of you can relate. "help baylee be nice....etc"

trying to set that aside, here are beautiful things i have noticed developing in them this year.
riley-self motivated and responsible. ever wish you had a kid that you never had to ask, "did you do your homework?" well, i've got one.
rae-hospitable. this girl can out-plan me on a party (including doing all her own baking) and would do it every night if i let her. she makes sure everyone is included and serves for all she's worth until only family members are left in the house.
for lack of time and creativity, let's just say the other two are so sweet...when theyre sleeping.

i know this post probably sounds vague and cryptic and maybe even cynical , but there is still a lot of scabs on my heart that aren't quite done healing. theyre itchy and im not ready to talk about them, not because i don't want to be open, but because i want to say things that build up and not tear down. experience has taught me that there is a time to share and a time keep your mouth shut.

i thank those of you who have loved us unconditionally this year. a good friend once gave me this little thing...and i love it because it's so true. good friends bring great joy.

love, hugs, peace, and bed bugs

Time-management calls

I have recently begun my new job. Having a new job is a little like having a baby. Not nearly as exciting, of course, but after being a stay at home mom for the last 10+ years, I am having to figure out lots of new time management routines. Tasks that are not top priority are put on the back burner for the time being until they become urgent. One of those things that is being laid aside is this blog. I don't want to get rid of it altogether because it is a link to about 250 of you that I don't get to talk to often. I still want to share my life and share in yours, but out of necessity it has to become a lesser priority for the time. Thanks for being interested in the Shackelford family and for your love, support, and prayers during our recent journeys.

A couple of things I want to share before I disappear for a time.

2 little lives have recently been placed on our hearts and minds. Their story is not one of convention and I am unsure where our story will connect with theirs. However, we are taking action steps to help ensure that they will grow up in the best environment possible for them. We will not being using an adoption agency while we work on it, although we are still on hold with America World and their Ethiopia program until we sort through this. The money that had been given to us to do a home study during the spring was used up for living expenses this summer when we didn't have an income, so we will begin fundraising again very soon and will begin a homestudy as soon as we have raised the $1,200 necessary to pay for it. I have a million ideas for fundraising, just not so much time to make them happen anymore.

Kids started school last week. Girls LOVE it. Riley doesn't. Slow to embrace change, he often comes home with a sour face and a list of all the things he didn't like about his day.

Landon will be watched by a close friend this year. Everyone's fine with it except momma. I am having a hard time letting go of my baby. We are best buds and have done everything together the last 4 years. Landon is the most like me of all the kids. Plain and simple, I just enjoy his company and will miss him. We all have undergone alot of change yet again this summer, and are all ready to settle down into a routine long enough to throw a couple of things in an attic. Please continue to pray for us in it all!

Love you all!!!! TTYL!

the grass is always greener under the trampoline

so, shackspack's back.

i recently shared Christ with some friends using rob bell's illustration of the trampoline from velvet elvis.

i feel like that's where i'm at right now.

a gentle but strong arm is reaching out inviting me to join back in the fun, adventure, and mission of following Christ.
a gentle but strong voice saying, "stop beating your head against the brick wall! come, jump!"

the grass is always greener under the trampoline.

remember when thumper's mom said, 'if you don't have somethin' nice to say, don't say nothin' at all.'? i sort of felt like that all summer.

it started out hard, but got a lot stinkin worse than i imagined it could or would.

a couple of things that GOD really used to speak to me this summer. these are truths that i clung desperately to:

james 1:2-4 (the message) consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. you know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. SO DON'T TRY TO GET OUT OF ANYTHING PREMATURELY. let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

(haley, a dear friend from our youth group in three lakes, spent the summer with us)

exodus 33:15 if your presence does not go with us, DO NOT send us up from here.

(i painted my entire kitchen in chalkboard paint)

deuteronomy 6:23 but he BROUGHT US OUT FROM THERE TO BRING US IN and give us the land that he promised.

some true friends walked along beside us in this difficult journey. you know who you are, and i thank-you. and i love you.
true friendship is a way of life that i really want to instill in my children, and you, my friends, are my instructors.
you confirmed what i thought God was speaking to me.
you encouraged us to stick with the vision.
you taught me to give when i am able.
you taught me to receive when help is offered.
you showed that david/johnathan relationships are strengthened through difficulty.

though we were without an income for two months, our bank statement never wavered. although our little jar of oil was being poured out, God made sure we were never without. 

that brings me to now, here on the other side. the story is incredible, something neither eli or i could have come up with on our own. i'll share it with you personally if you ask.

a couple of highlights of jumping on this trampoline.

as we were able to visit the body of Christ all over salt lake this summer, we noticed something.
the Spirit is moving.
in towns.
in churches.
in individuals.
and complacency is being set aside.
the time is near.
salt lake is groaning with birthing pains.
THIS is an exciting time to be on mission.
THIS is an exciting time to be called by God to a place that is READY.

                                                 (original artwork painted and edited by riley)

eli is working with K2 as the youth director and director of fusion, the high school ministry. we are loving the people and ministry of k2 and feel refreshed and enthusiastic every time we experience how God is working there. the first time i walked into k2, i turned to eli and said, "this feels like home."

i got a job with granite school district as a preschool teacher. this is the perfect job for me as landon can be in my classroom and i will be working the same hours that the kids are in school.

we are beginning the adoption process again. it is looking a little different than the direction that we first began with and if it continues to go that way, i will share more.

we are working toward the launch of 'the living room' summer of '14. there will be lots more on that in following posts as 'the living room' is the result of the passion God has put in our hearts for salt lake.

(that's for my foodie friends, a somoa from one sweet slice, winner of tlc's cupcake wars. yes, i am trying to entice you to come visit, wisconsin friends)

liberty park, salt lake city

                                                                        butterfield canyon

eli teaching at big canyon camp

GREEN GRASS

chlorophyll

and other words to help remember.

chlorophyll. verdant. lush. dewey. fresh. birds. peaceful. lakes. quiet. calm. moist. soft. mosquitos. june bugs. sunfish. cumulonimbus. bass. lily pads. swing sets. rivers. loons. ducks. red pine. white pine. maples. ant lions. beach. allergies. bunnies. deer. crayfish.

hugs. together. talks. grandparents. time. memories. familiar. easy. simple. relaxed. casual. slow. life. kayaks. friends. lawn chairs. games. poker. sidewalk chalk. bunny traps. face paint. balloons. camper. coffee. sweatshirts. swim. cousins. sleepovers. fishing. wii. mini-golf. sparklers.

savory. full. table. cheese. warm. rich. sausage. tasteful. homecooking. beer. corn. maple syrup. freezer jam. grill. strawberries. chocolate. birthday cake. lickety-splitz. brats. salads. root-beer floats.

remember.

on loss

it has been a hard week.

a hard year.

on january 1st i picked my one word.

it was bridge.

i wanted to be a bridge to people who didn't usually associate with other people.
i wanted to look back on this year and see relationships formed that i had a part in connecting.
i wanted to be a part of connecting people with the one i'm infatuated with, Christ.

you see, i am a peacemaker.
i cannot live without peace.
and i wanted to blanket my surroundings with the same peace that i crave.
in my mind,
bridge
resulted
in
peace.

but as i look back on the last 12 months of my life, if i had to describe it in one word it would be...loss.

loss of my home.
loss of best friends.
loss of family.
loss of church.
loss of position.
loss of recognition.
loss of pride.
loss of hope of adopted child.
loss of job.
loss of income.
loss of security.
loss of trust.
loss of control.

i do not write about those things so you can cry me a river. i've done enough of that for this last week.
i tell you so that you have an appropriate backdrop for what i want to share.

GOD has put a hope and desire in eli and my heart. yes, as i think about it, it's in my children's hearts too. (check out riley's picture on the link and you will see it.)
if you have ever spent time with us, in the past couple of years, you certainly know what i'm referring to.

we hear, "that's not going to work here in the valley, we have the only way that works."
but THAT is not what GOD has put in our hearts.

and.
it is hard to have your hopes and dreams put down by others.
really hard.
especially when you feel like GOD, HIMSELF, put them inside you.
naturally, you call GOD into question.

in my discouragement i pray, "if this is something that YOU are doing, 'bringing us out, to bring us in,' then i need to see it confirmed EVERYDAY.
'if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here!' 
we can't do it on our own.
because i'm not sure.
i'm scared. 
others who seem to know better tell us that it won't work."
(duet. 6:23, ex 33:15)

and friends, 
my prayer is answered EVERYDAY. 

yesterday, it was my dental hygienist.  i could say NOTHING with her hands in my mouth. but i didn't need to say ANYTHING. GOD was saying it.

BRIDGE, lindsay. 

i can look back at the lindsay from 12 months ago, who said, "life is easy," and smile and shake my head.
"LIFE is not easy." i respond. "but, LIFE is worth it.
LIFE contains loss.
perhaps, the loss is what makes LIFE worth it.
you were wrong to assume life was easy.
you were wrong to assume that bridge equated peace, lindsay.
it doesn't."

if allowed:

loss establishes faith.
loss builds gratitude.
loss facilitates hope.
loss directs future.
loss dreams constructively.
loss relies purposely.
loss provides a new perspective.
loss builds a BRIDGE.

i am certain, that our loss will provide the FOUNDATION and MOTIVATION for a bridge that could NOT have built without it.
loss is hard.
but sometimes it is NECESSARY.

someone shared this song by aaron keyes with me last week, and i'm sure that i've double the times on youtube that it's been viewed since then.  it has brought healing to my mangled heart.

There is strength within the sorrow, There is beauty in our tears
You meet us in our mourning, With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting, Sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding, You're teaching us to trust

CHORUS
Your plans are still to prosper, You have not forgotten us
You're with us in the fire and the flood
Faithful forever, Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us

V2 
You are wisdom unimagined, Who could understand your ways
Reigning high above the heavens, Reaching down in endless grace
Youʼre the Lifter of the lowly, Compassionate and kind
You surround and You uphold me, Your promises are my delight

BR 
Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good, You turn it for our good and for your glory
Even in the valley You are faithful
Youʼre working for our good, Youʼre working for our good and for your glory

some of my favorite fellow bridge builders.

Age Appropriate Chore System

I'm going to deviate from my regular type of post today to share my chore system that has been in process for a long time now. I have researched these types of systems for years and have experimented with them in our own home. I want to make this a resource for any parents that are scrambling for more structure in their home before school gets out.

The reason I like this system is that is combines aspects of being a member of our family, personal responsibility, and creating a discipline system in a simple way.

This is a system using marbles and jars/buckets with each child name on it. I give a quarter per year (Example: Riley is 9 so he gets the sum of 9 quarters) and then divide the total by 15 for each unit that I give or take. That way each child starts with the same number of marbles in his jar but gets an age appropriate amount of money if he chooses and allowance. Each unit is a marble and can be used to get money each week for an allowance or used for a "special." If this sounds like Greek right now or seems too complicated, I can assure you once it is up and going it will simplify your life.

Family Rules

1. Obey the first time
2. Say only what is kind AND true
3. Be responsible
4. Have a good attitude

The Marble System

Name Total       Give/Take

Riley         $4.50 $.30
Raelyn $4.00 $.25
Baylee $3.00 $.20
Landon         $2.00 $.15

You will each start with your total money as a marble for each give/take unit (15) for the week on Sunday afternoon. You can choose to collect your money each Sunday or you can keep your marbles to add to each week if you are saving up for a "special." If you do family chores you can earn marbles. You can also earn marbles by doing extra kind or loving things for each other. Marbles will be taken away for not doing personal chores or for breaking rules.

Specials

Cupcake date with mom at one sweet slice.  (20 marbles)
Movie at dollar theater with dad. (20 marbles)
For popcorn on movie date (add 5 marbles)
Make Play-do date with mom (20 marbles)
Shopping for clothes at Savers or Kid-to-kid with mom (20 marbles)
Dimecade date with dad at Classic Fun (20 marbles)
Bike ride with dad (10 marbles)
Nerf gun war with mom or dad (10 marbles)
Park date with mom or dad (10 marbles)
Bake a dessert with mom (10 marbles)
Home Manicure and Pedicure with mom (10 marbles)
Host a sleepover (10 marbles)
For an ice-cream sundae at your sleepover (add 5 marbles)
A half hour of parent approved media (tv, computer, wii, DS) (2 marbles)

We also have one whole family special...meaning each kid has to work towards it at the same time. 

Classic Fun Center with whole family and 2 activities (dimecade, rollerskating, lazer tag, jungle gymn) (20 marbles each)

Personal Chores

Personal Chores are part of being in this family and learning to take care of yourself. Doing these things are your RESPONSIBILITY and do not result in an allowance. If you do not complete these tasks each day, you will lose part of your allowance.

Landon (4):

⦁ Get dressed 

⦁ Make bed every day

⦁ Bring your things from the car to the house

⦁ Take your dishes from the table to the counter

⦁ Put dirty clothes in laundry room

⦁ Put shoes and coat away

⦁ Clean up after activities or project

Baylee (6):

⦁ Make their bed every day

⦁ Bring your things from the car to the house

⦁ Take your dishes from the table to the counter

⦁ Brush teeth

⦁ Comb hair

⦁ Choose the day's outfit and get dressed

⦁ Write thank you notes with supervision

⦁ Put dirty clothes in laundry room

⦁ Clean room every night before bed

⦁ Put shoes and coat away

⦁ Clean up after activities or projectclean up after activities or project

Raelyn and Riley (8/9):

⦁ Take care of personal hygiene

1. Get dressed

2. comb hair

3. brush teeth

4. shower monday, thursday, saturday

⦁ Clean bedroom every night before bed

⦁ Be responsible for homework

⦁ Be responsible for belongings 

1. Hang up backpack

2. Pack and unpack lunchbox

3. take belongings in from the car

4. put shoes and coats away

5. Put clothes you take off downstairs on the stairs to put away when you go up

6. put dirty clothes in laundry

7. put away toothbrush and hair stuff

8. take dishes from table, rinse, and put in dishwasher

9. clean up after activities or project

⦁ Write thank you notes for gifts

Family Chores

Family chores help the family and teach you things you need to know when you have your own house someday. Doing these chores will result in allowance. I will choose chores that you can do each day and earn an extra marble. The chores will be posted on your refrigerator sheet.

Landon (4):

⦁ Set the table with supervision

⦁ Clear the table with supervision

⦁ Help a parent prepare food

⦁ Help a parent carry in the lighter groceries

⦁ Match socks in the laundry

⦁ Answer the phone with parental assistance

⦁ Be responsible for Lentil's food bowl

⦁ Be responsible for Grace's food bowl

⦁ Hang up towels in the bathroom

⦁ Clean floors with a dry mop

Baylee (6):

⦁ Be responsible for Lentil's water

⦁ Be responsible to Grace's water

⦁ Vacuum individual rooms

⦁ Wet mop individual rooms

⦁ Fold laundry with supervision

⦁ Put their laundry in their drawers and closets

⦁ Put away the kid dishes from the dishwasher

⦁ Help prepare food with supervision

⦁ Empty indoor trash cans

⦁ Answer the phone with supervision

⦁ Set table

Riley and Raelyn (8/9):

⦁ Wash dishes

⦁ Put away dishes from the dishwasher

⦁ Take Lentil on a walk

⦁ Clean the fish tank/Grace's cage

⦁ Empty trash and put new bags in tash cans

⦁ Wash the car with supervision

⦁ Prepare a few easy meals on their own

⦁ Clean the bathroom with supervision

⦁ Rake leaves

⦁ Learn to use the washer and dryer

⦁ Fold laundry with supervision

⦁ Put all laundry away with supervision

⦁ Clean the bathrooms with supervision

⦁ Take the trash can to the curb for pick up

⦁ Wet mop the kitchen and bathrooms

⦁ Vacuum individual rooms

⦁ Clean Grace's cage

⦁ Screen phone calls using caller ID and answer when appropriate

This is Baylee's sheet. I purchased these magnetic sheets at Target. The paper clipped page is her personal chores, which we plan to go over every day until she knows what is expected of her every day. The smaller things are magnets that I made. I printed out a list of her Family chores and then cut and pasted them onto scrapbook paper, laminated them and put a magnet on the back. Yah, it was a lot of initial work. When she completes them, she can take them off of her page and put them on the refrigerator. 

Eli and I do not maintain a very relaxed home life, but we recognized that some of our children thrive better in a structured environment. We also have been trying to take our kids on "dates," but often fail to schedule the time to do it. This system helps combine our desire with their responsibility. Once some of them earn a "special" of their choice we will not have a moments peace until we do our part. It works out great for all of us. 

We also take away the marbles if they don't obey the family rules. For example, if I ask Baylee to get her shoes on and she continues to do whatever it is that she is busy with, I respond, "Baylee, go get a marble out of your bucket and then go get your shoes." They hate loosing their marbles!!! So do I!

Hope there's some ideas you can use!

Turn Your Face To Me

13 years ago...

i stood trembling before a young man
we vowed words of love, promises, and hopes
how little we understood what a lifetime meant
we closed the pages of our childhood

do our lives look the way we expected?
would 20 year old Eli and Lindsay be surprised 
at who 33 year old Eli and Lindsay have become?
would they be happy with what is?

things and people and places that were so important then
are now gone
replaced with things and people and places that are important
now

the old has died
the new is come

often we map out what we want our life will look like
but it hardly happens the way we plan
but we must lay down our maps and hopes
to pick up new ones 

graduation weekend

the first time in 9 years that we don't have a party to attend
a celebration of life left for someone else to frequent
instead Eli flies to Kansas
to say goodbye 
to grandparents
that have seen generations come and go
the grandfather that stood before us on our wedding day
to pronounce us "man and wife"

with something new 
comes the loss of something else
a seed dies
to spring up in life
the fall of man
has brought on this loss
we cannot imagine a way with out the lapse
a list of pros without the cons

memorial day

we honor the memory of those who have died 
to give us what we enjoy
death
for life

we forsake the past 
to move into the present
but it cannot be without pain

The fall, the fall, oh God, the fall of man
The fruit is found in every eye and every hand
Nothing there is nothing yet in truest form
We walk like ghosts upon the earth
The ground it groans

How long, how long will you wait
How long, how long till you save us all, save us all

Turn your face to me

The light, the light
The morning light is gone
And all that's left is fragile breath in failing lungs
The night, the night
The guiding night has come
Uniting lover with his bride
More precious than the dawn

How long must we wait

Turn your face to me

--Gungor

I Dreamed a Dream

I had received a bag in the mail which partnered the post office with the local food bank. On the bag were instructions for leaving canned food in the bag by our post box for the post man to pick up.

I rummaged through our food and starting pulling green beans and pineapple to throw in the bag because these two canned items my children refuse to eat. 

As I took the bag outside hundreds of little African children with bare torsos and feet started swarming me asking if they could eat some of the food. I went back inside to get a can opener. I opened the cans and the children ate the food out of them using their fingers and telling me "Thank-you! Green beans and pineapple are my favorite!"

I told them to come to our church because I had a sermon I was going to preach. "The church" was a shabby looking building at the end of our dirt road but it had beautifully padded seats for everyone to sit on. When the children were sitting quietly, I got up on the stage and began my sermon from John 10.

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.^[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

As I tried to read this passage, I kept getting tongue-tied over and over and giggling about it. All the children would laugh with me as if I was telling funny jokes the whole time. 

Good preacher that I was, I had planned an illustration and on cue a little boy brought a lamb on stage. The little lamb was supposed to follow the boy back and forth behind me, but when the children saw the lamb they flooded the stage and the little distracted lamb didn't follow the boy around at all. He bounded from child to child much like a puppy would in that situation. The children laughed in delight.

(That's me with Lamby. I told you before that my totally awesome mom let us get a wide variety of pets and this was one of them.)

Frustrated and trying to bring my sermon to a close, I yelled above the noise, "We are like this little lamb!"

Oblivious to the lesson I had just tried to teach, the children whooped when they realized I was done talking and began clamoring all around me, "Do you have more green beans and pineapple?"

I went back to my pantry and pulled out all the food that they would be able to eat without any prep. There was alot.

I brought it outside and watched them eat until they were full and they settled in around me, laughing and playing with each other. My heart was filled with joy seeing hundreds of children's bellies satisfied.

When I woke up, I wanted to slip back into my dream. I wanted to keep experiencing the joy I had in fulfilling the real needs of these children. I can't seem to shake it either.

I keep going back to the passage of scripture in my dream because I keep wondering who I am in that passage. Am I a thief? Am I a wolf? Am I a gatekeeper? Am I the hired hand? Am I a stranger? Am I a sheep? Am I a sheep in the other pen?

Sometimes it feels like it is hard in this country to meet real needs of people. But when I am truly aware, I see need all around me. 

The young mom who just had a baby but also has two toddlers that want to play outside. 

The young mom who is painting her new home and needs a third hand to hold her fussy one. 

The little girls next door, that want to talk about their day at school but their mom is still working. 

The little boy down the street who buries his face between his knees after his best friend told him he was not going to play with him ever again.

 The girl up the road that screams "You're stupid!" to my daughter and her friends as they walk past. 

The teacher that could use some encouragement after a hard day in the classroom. 

Our elderly neighbor, whose small plot of grass could use a quick mow.

You see, I don't think we need to be extraordinary to be part of the kingdom of God. We don't have to be able to preach wonderful sermons. Or sing like an angel. We don't even need to bag up our rejected can goods to give to the hungry. It's all around us.

Often, all it would take to meet a need is a sacrifice of a few minutes of our time. But we hold onto our time and schedules as though tomorrow won't happen if we aren't able to cross off everything on our to-do list.  I'm not pointing fingers. I failed miserably at this very concept yesterday right after I dreamed this dream. 

(This picture makes me laugh. That's me that just got pounded in the face while my brother and sister stand by and laugh. But it kinda reminds me of myself right now. Getting pounded in the face by my dream. And you're probably standing by laughing.)

I am one of the sheep. I know who my shepherd is. But I often play a secondary role in this story. Sometimes I control the gate. At times I open it eagerly for the shepherd to be with his sheep. But other times, I slam the gate shut and yell, "Stay put, I'm too busy to deal with you now. Somebody else can open the gate when the shepherd gets here!" not realizing the shepherd is standing right behind me. 

Here is a link to Eli's most recent sermon, which may be what inspired this dream. 

Odds and Ends

Answered Prayer

This is the part I've been so excited to write about.

My last blog post was about adoption. I shared my need for you to pray for our family through this process and our need for financial support. 

Well, God answers prayers! When I wrote last time, were unable to move forward with our home study because of a financial deficit, and now we have enough for this next step. This is an exciting journey that God is taking us on! This God that we honor, he answers prayers. In the words of Beth Moore, "You can take that to the bank." 

James 5:13-16

"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. (Woot! Woot!) Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they ave sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. "

Teacher Appreciation

I recently overheard someone talking about public school to someone who worked in a private school.

The comment was, "They're (the students) probably not a number in your school like they are in the public school."

What?! What?!

Rip-roaring WRONG!

I challenge any of you that think that to go visit a public school.  There may be some where students are just a number, but in my experience, my children are LOVED by their teachers. And, their teachers are so fun and creative that you will want to go back. I promise.

I'm not saying that private school teachers don't. In fact, I'm sure they do. I'm just saying that the public school teachers that I have interacted with in the last 5 years have been incredible role models for my children and would be tremendously hurt to hear someone say that in their presence. Not only have each of them tenderly taught my kids for a year of their life, but nearly all of them have kept up with our family even across states, even when they no longer teach my children. Even though their time in a classroom is done or nearly done, I truly believe they want my children to succeed in life.

As it is National Teacher Appreciation Week, I want to thank all you teachers and educators that love our kids like they're own. Thank-you for spending each day of your week helping make our children's future a success. Thank-you for the time you put into research, planning, creativity. I can honestly say that my kid's classroom are one of my favorite places to spend my time and I know my kids feel the same way. Landon can't wait to join you!

I am proud to call you my friends!

The Big Guy

Mom and Jamie, this is for you. Landon has been begging me to send you this clip for a month now, so here it is.

SPRING

Can I be a songbird for a minute?

I LOVE SPRING!
I love the flowers.
I love the grass.
I love the leaves.
I love the trampoline.
Whoops! Guess the songbird wouldn't probably say that.

Here was my yard yesterday. Yep. Not much fun.

                                     

Here is my yard today. Even the sun was happy about it.

That's how we roll here in Utah. No grass today. Green lawn tomorrow. 

We don't have many overcast days.  Yesterday was one of them, but the view at the soccer fields was extra beautiful, being able to see it rain/snow in the mountains.