A List

1. I haven’t blogged in a while but there hasn’t been too much to blog about. I realized (too late) that my most recent blog post was entitled “The past few days”, but it was actually only about one day. I *meant* to include Saturday stuff in that, but I didn’t. I haven’t had a chance to edit last Saturday’s soccer photos. The short version of last Saturday’s soccer is: we lost. Becca lost. Bethany lost. The shortened version of the long version of Bethany’s game is that the other team was made up of giant 10 year old girls. Mean, giant 10 year old girls, as a matter of fact. Our girls got pinched and shoved and tripped. It was not pretty.

2. Sunday was Mother’s Day. The girls gave me lovely cards and artwork and Ed gave me a CD I had been wanting. We had a yummy lunch at my parents and then came home and I took a nap in my lounge chair on the patio in the sun. Very nice.

3. Monday night was my GEMS Counselor party. I spent most of the day shopping and baking and prepping for that. I LOVE that evening. It is such fun to give my counselors the gift of a girls’ night out and to love on them for a while. It’s also the “Secret Sister Reveal”, so there are additional women there who have been praying for our counselors all year long and they reveal their identity at that event. So. much. fun.

4. Tuesday was my scrapbooking day during which I worked on The Booklet. That phrase will (hopefully) soon no longer be part of our vocabulary.

5. I did also have the chance to go to a local nursery and purchase a beautiful hanging basket for my front porch. I’ll take a picture someday.

6. Oh yes, and my camera. It is not working properly. It’s a focus issue. I hope to take it in next Tuesday.

7. My last Coffee Break was Wednesday. I love Coffee Break. I’d go all summer if I could. I will miss it.

8. Sarah left on Wednesday morning for Outdoor Education. This is a 3-day trip for sixth graders to a camp up near the mountain. She was SOOOOOO excited. As we drove to school with all her stuff that morning she said, “I’m excited and nervous all at the same time! It feels like the first day of school!” Only she said it in about 1/10 of a second she was talking so fast and excitedly! We are so thankful that they are having good weather while they are up there! What a blessing. They will truly get to relish God’s beautiful creation. I am just praying she doesn’t get sick, lost, or poison ivy. Or any of the other many things that mothers worry about.

9. Today I took hot lunch to Bethany and then Ed & I had a lovely dinner out tonight with two couples from church. We’ve only been trying to find a date that worked for about two months. Finally! It happened. We didn’t get to play Settlers, as it’s a school night and we had to get the kids home and to bed (they were at one of the other couples’ homes, since Sarah isn’t around to babysit). Even so, it was a fun evening out and the food (well, at least mine) was yummy!

10. Tomorrow will involve visiting a friend on bed rest, picking up Sarah (yay!), and another dinner out with some Logos friends. Saturday will involve at least two soccer games, some work on The Booklet, probably mowing the lawn, and countless other things. Sure am looking forward to that day of rest on Sunday!

11. Yesterday morning all of a sudden Becca started crying and showed me her front tooth, which is permanent, and which is chipped. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t know what she had done. Apparently it happened the day before at school on the bars, but she was afraid to tell us because she doesn’t want to go to the dentist. I had to comfort her by telling her the story of how her uncle and I were fighting when we were little and he tried to hit me, I ducked, and hit the counter and chipped my tooth. There’s a chip in the formica to this day. So, next Tuesday I have to bring her to the dentist to have the tooth fixed. Poor thing.

12. There have been a number of hard things going on with people I know & love and that’s been consuming much of my thoughts and prayers lately. God brought to my mind a song from long ago, from our days with only one child, in our previous church, called “Be Not Afraid” by Craig Courtney a couple of days ago. It is based on Isaiah 43:1-3, which says: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” If you ever have the chance to hear that song, take it. It’s beautiful. It’s based on a beautiful passage, and the song itself is memorable.

13. Another verse that I came to cling to (because I’m a mom and I worry and fear everything) over the course of the year in my Coffee Break group is from Isaiah 46:16: "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Beth Moore explained this by describing how when we hold something tightly, it makes an imprint on the palm of our hand. God holds us so tightly that we are engraved on the palms of His hands. A friend reminded me of that verse again recently and I said “Yes! Thank you, Lord for your promises of walking with us and holding us tightly.”