Peace Beyond Understanding

In order to keep this post encouraging and up-beat (which is my intention), I'm going to spare a lot of knitty-gritty details of what's been going on these past couple of weeks. But I must say that these past couple of weeks have been physically and emotionally challenging for me. Friday was a very hard day for me to smile because I felt like I was up against the world and completely helpless, but as the weekend progressed God reminded me of a few things that I'd like to share. All of these verses were little nuggets of truth that God placed in my path over the past three days to uplift by soul. Some of them came to me through my Bible study, others through songs that I heard while driving in the car, and others through words that friends said to me. These words are just the things God knew I needed to hear to calm my frantic mind and soul...

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.

John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

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.

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Matthew 7:7-8
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 62:1-2
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Luke 24:36
...Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

I know some of the trials we are currently facing are not over, but I am confident that God will do just as He promised in His word and provide the strength and peace we need.

Early Valentine

My mom was kind enough to watch our sick babies for us tonight so that we could go to our church's valentine banquet. The girls are still not 100% but they are feeling a little better! They had fun with their Nana (of course) and they loved the new valentine jammies she got them!


Joel and I had a good time too. The food at the banquet was delicious and the entertainment was fun. Here's our sweetheart picture from the banquet.

Happy Valentine's Day!

'Tis The Season

'Tis the season to be sickly
Fa la la la la la la la la
Both my girls are feeling icky
Fa la la la la la la la la
Breathing treatments and humidifiers
Fa la la la la la la la la
Zora's lungs feel like they're on fire
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Fever, headaches, chest congestion
Fa la la la la la la la la
Both of them have ear infections
Fa la la la la la la la la
My kitchen counter resembles a pharmacy
Fa la la la la la la la la
Please take your medicine - Open up for me!
Fa la la la la la la la la!

Valentine Party

We were supposed to attend three different Valentine parties this week, but because my kids are sick we were only able to make it to one. On Wednesday we met with one of our homeschool groups and the girls had a blast. Here is the whole group...

They girls enjoyed some of the yummy snacks...


Lily also actually opened up out of her shell and made a new friend this week - another Lily who is just as shy as she is! They had a lot of fun together :-)
Here are the kids at the end of the party rolling up the mat. Hooray for teamwork! We had a lot of fun. The kids in that group play really well together and all of them were not happy when it was time to go! Thanks TIE for a fun time :-)

Extracurricular FUN!!!

We're still clipping right along with our schoolwork, but we've really been enjoying some extracurricular activities as well.

The girls are still both in gymnastics and loving every minute of it. Lily is still in the same class, but Zora got to move up to an older class in the BIG gym.

Handstand

Tippy-toes!

On the balance beam

Forward rolls

And of course I have to include Lily :-) Sorry it's sideways!

Since the girls were born they've both loved music. They love to sing and they love to dance. We always keep plenty of musical instruments around for them to play with. Lily has really been into the "kitar" (guitar) lately. Here she is serenading me with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

I promised Lily that I will pay for her to have lessons when she is a little older! Until then, she can just pluck along :-)

Zora has been begging me since she was 3 to teach her how to play the piano. I've hesitated for two reasons...

1. I didn't want her to be doing it just because I play. I want her to pursue something she will love, not just something I love.
2. She was too young as far as I was concerned to really learn the theory behind it and to be able to practice enough every day.
   

I've always let her play on my keyboard, but lately she has really been on me about teaching her. Last week I broke down and we bought some beginner books for her and started learning. Today she played her very first song. Here is her debut!

I always prayed when I was pregnant that they would be born with their Dad's sweet, tender, loving heart and my love for music. God answers even the little prayers!

A Matter of Perspective

What do you see in the picture below?

There are actually two answers... a fair maiden or a witch. Maybe you can only see one, or maybe you see both.

It's a matter of perspective.

Life can be the same way. We are all dealt our share of troubles, hardships, and circumstances in life. It's the perspective that we choose that can make the difference. Even the little things in life that are part of our daily routine can affect us either positively or negatively depending on the perspective we take.

Lately I've realized that I need to change my perspective in all areas of life. I often find myself griping and complaining about how things aren't going my way - just being pessimistic - I only see the "witch". I'm not proud of that.

I don't believe that I've always been pessimistic. As a child I always looked for the good, but it seems like now I expect the worst. I'm not sure what reprogrammed my mind over the years - maybe just the realities of life - but I'm praying that God will help me reprogram my mind to what it used to be - a mind of optimism and hope.

The other day I was in one of my "sour" moods and God brought two different scriptures to my mind.

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will."

Did you get the last part of that verse?!?! If our mind is not renewed and reprogrammed, then we will not be able to discern God's will for our lives! Ouch.

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

This verse is all about attitude. My attitude is going to be determined by the things I choose to think about. Hmmmm.

Reprogramming the mind and attitude is a hard thing, but I've realized it's all in the perspective I choose in every situation. Here's a few examples of how I'm trying to change my perspective in life...

Old Perspective: It's already time to get out of bed??? (sigh, moan)
New Perspective: Thank you, Lord, for another day of life.

Old : Laundry day...ugh. I've got better things to do.
New: Laundry day... I'm so blessed to have a closet full of clothes and the means to keep them clean.

Old: I just got all the toys picked up and now the house is a mess again!
New: I'm blessed to have two precious children.

Old: Time to clean? I wish I could hire a maid to vacuum, dust, mop, clean the toilets...
New: I'm blessed to even have a house full of things to clean and take care of. I could have been born in an impoverished country or could be facing some tragedy like those in Haiti.

Old: It's already time for me to fix dinner? What in the world am I going to fix?
New: I'm blessed to have food on my table each and every day.

Old: It sure would be nice to move to a nicer neighborhood and get a bigger house.
New: I'm blessed to have a roof over my head with more than I need inside to provide for all our needs.

Old: I'm sick of paying bills.
New: I'm blessed to have conveniences like garbage service, running water, electricity, vehicles, cable TV, phones, internet, a home...

Old: I wish I could just get some more sleep. I'm tired of being so busy.
New: I'm blessed to be healthy and able to enjoy so many opportunities in life.

And here's one that has been around a lot this winter! :-)
Old: NOT MORE SNOW!!! ICK! I HATE BEING COLD!
New: I'm blessed to have shelter, food & heat. And it's actually kind of nice to have the pace of life slow down. Everything is canceled, so there's nowhere to be, no appointments to keep, etc. Just time to enjoy the family!

If I had to pick one word to describe my goal for my new perspective on life it would be BLESSED. If I'm focused on my blessings then I will be less apt to complain about the other things. And honestly, usually when I'm complaining, it is over something minor - things that don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. So, with God's help I'm going to practice an ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE.

So today I choose to see the fair maiden... what will you choose?

Trying to catch up!

Most of our Christmas break was spent like this...
...looking out the window at all of the snow. We did take several trips out into the snow to play, but the temperatures were so incredibly cold (in the single digits & teens) that we mostly just stayed inside. The girls built a Lego castle with an animal train and tunnel...

They also worked on some new puzzles they got for Christmas...We were also able to enjoy some time with friends. We made a trip to the Fielden's house and enjoyed 4 wheeler rides in the snow. Here are the girls making snowballs.Addison and Lily loved tubing in the snow!

After the dads took turns pulling the girls in the tube and were worn out, the girls decided it was their turn to pull the dads. Zora and Lily tried to pull Joel, but they had a little trouble :-)
Here's a glimpse into our tubing behind the 4 wheeler!!! I must say that we had a blast!

We also had fun spending some time at the Bowden house with the Bowden and Lowrance families. The adults had a great time playing games and laughing while the girls had a pajama party!

The girls also have really been into photography lately, so Joel and I pulled out our old camera and let them go crazy with it! The world through a child's eye is very interesting! After I download some of their pictures I will post them :-)We were so happy at the end of last week when all of the snow in our yard finally melted and the temperatures were warm enough to actually enjoy all of the fun things they got for Christmas. This week we spent the mornings doing school work, and then after lunch it was out to the backyard for lots of fun until the sun went down. The girls have finished decorating the inside of their playhouse and setting up their homestead. And the trampoline was a constant source of fun with our beautiful weather this week!

The puppies have also enjoyed the beautiful weather this week, and they are finally getting big enough to stay outside the majority of the time. They are usually outside from dawn 'til dusk, and when they come in at night they totally crash. They are both such good little puppies and I'm happy to say that they potty training is going really well! They are fun to watch as they play together, and what's even funnier is their jealousy for attention. They both love to be loved on and they cannot stand it if one is getting more love than the other. Here is a short little video of Zora loving on Shelly and Rosey is NOT happy about it. Shelly begins speaking her mind a little too! (Sorry it's so dark!!!)

We are also getting back into the groove of our schoolwork. Lily continues to love to learn and is so very easy to teach. Zora's favorite subjects are still science and history. She loves to do the science experiments and write the results in her journal. We are working on observing and drawing conclusions in the different areas of science. I want her to learn analytical skills and think critically and creatively, but I'll admit that it's a hard skill to teach... I think it must be an acquired skill that comes with experience and maturity. We've been studying weather, seasons, the water cycle, wind, etc. Here is one of our experiments on wind. The girls had to make a "sail" for a car and see how well it worked. They learned after multiple attempts that the size and shape of the sail in comparison to the vehicle DOES make a difference!

Right now in history we are studying the early civilization of the Americas, and Zora is absolutely fascinated by the early cultures. It's really fun to teach to her because she is so enthralled by what she is learning.

Although the break for Christmas was nice, we are happy to be back into our regular routine. We have completed 2 weeks of our co-op and the kids are really enjoying the classes. This session they are taking two classes: Russian Culture/Literature and Inventions. Zora really had a lot of fun today in the inventions class. Their assignment was to create something out of straws and masking tape. She and her partner, Beth, created a triangular building complete with a ladder...Well, that's what's been going on at our house lately! Check back soon for more updates!