My Plans vs. His

My typical day goes like this, when I'm running on my treadmill, racing around getting the kids ready for school-putting one on the bus and driving the other to preschool, then I'm off to the store for groceries, and back in time to pick up my middle boy from school, making lunch, help my preschooler with his homework, doctor appointments, and home in time for my oldest to get off the bus (from early release if it's a Wednesday). Or if we're talking Tuesday/Thursday you can throw a trip to our home church into the mix.
Even when I'm staying busy with kids, laundry, meals, and everything in between little things like buying a house or paying off the last of our debt are constantly on my mind. Always lingering in the background, even when I don't realize it. Most of the time it doesn't bother me because we have a goal and we're working toward that so I'm pretty content but occasionally I'll see one of the houses I particularly liked sell or list for a rather hefty price and it can get discouraging. Driving by houses I like on a regular basis doesn't help much either. haha And even though we're on our way to Debt Free Boulevard sometimes it still feels like we'll be on Renters Drive forever.
Now, if you're a parent like me you want your child's car seat practically welded into the car. And if you're my size you know that God chuckles while he watches you try to push down on the car seat while tightening it to your bench seat in the car. So naturally, it takes me pushing down the seat and my husband pulling the strap to get the seat tight enough for my liking.
So today, while I was waiting for my husband to finish a job and meet up with me to adjust the car seat I wandered into a neighborhood with my two year old. We were cruising around in the car, browsing at all the houses. I'd seen the neighborhood and knew of the nearby school from a superficial perspective but today we decided to trudge through, knee deep in the pine trees and manicured streets. We ended up behind the little school where there was a park, conveniently enough, loaded with playground equipment the perfect size for my little guy so we went to play while we waited for my husband. It got me thinking about how tidy the neighborhood was and how I'd never considered even window shopping for a house in that area. I started imagining our life there...Birthdays in the park, walking my boys to school while they rode their bikes, listening to the noises of the school and all the kids, walking my dog on the little trails.
Here I've been so absorbed with a particular house near our current rental that I've just fallen in love with and, although I'd still love to buy it, I got to thinking about what God has in store for us. I think many times I, personally, wish and hope and pray for something that I want so bad and all the while the Lord is telling me "Just be patient. I have something so wonderful in store for you! Let me bless you! The time is coming." I completely ignore God's plans for me and how they might be so much greater than what I could ever dream up on my own. And now that I've realized that I feel so calm about is to come. It's a fantastic feeling!

The Little Things...

Yesterday was such a busy day...I'd been up off and on all night with our youngest son so I was feeling pretty warn out. I had to clean the house before a ladies' party I was having in the afternoon, our middle son had a birthday party to attend, and my husband had just been called to a job while he was trying to cook us breakfast so we didn't get our usual Sunday morning breakfast together. My frustration from being tired, feeling the time crunch, and my husband having to take a call was bubbling over on me. I stepped away from everything for a few minutes and out of nowhere, I heard two simple, sweet, humbling words...

Be Thankful!

I took a deep breath and felt the calm start to flow over me. Instead of continuing to think of the things that weren't going right and were making me more stressed I began to think of the things that were going right, that I should be thankful for. And you know what, the pros significantly outweighed the cons!

Here's my list...

• We don't have much room in this little house, but at least we aren't homeless.
• We can't always buy fresh produce at the store, but my kids always have full tummies.
• It feels like my husband is always working, but at least he has a job in this economy.
• My kids always want me to play with them, at least they still like having me around!
• We don't have fancy stuff, but we do have luxuries like clean water, heat, electricity, doctors...And let's face it, those aren't things you can get everywhere!
• My relationships with family members aren't always great, but I have family, I know who they are, and at the end of the day I love them no matter what different paths we're on!

So there it is, part of my list. I could go on and on about the pros & cons of life but I don't have all day to sit at the computer and you get the idea, right? I wanted to share my list with you. Not to gloat but to encourage you to do the same. Life is busy, people get stressed. Our priorities change and sometimes we worry about what we don't have more than what we do. I'm certainly guilty of it! So here's to wanting what we have, not having what we want! And when the enemy starts whispering in our ear like the friend who "comforts us in a tough time" by reminding us just what's troubling us, we should turn to him and say..."Look at everything I have! Who do you think gave me all that?!"

Meals Ministry

Recently I signed up for a new ministry. I've done a couple different ministries before and although I did enjoy them, they just didn't seem like the right fit for me. Well, I was looking over the available listings at church one day and saw Meals Ministries. I thought "I love spoiling people with food! I'll be great at this!" And I signed up. Well, I got my first opportunity to help through an email I received over the weekend. A woman just lost her husband on New Year's Day to cancer. How devastating to go through something like that, especially at the start of the New Year when everything is supposed to begin, not end. Well, I felt really compelled to bring her a meal but Monday was the only night I was available to do so. I wrote to our team leader and told them that I was available and was very surprised to learn that all the other days had been filled except for Monday, the only day I was available.
How fantastic is that? I was meant to bring her a meal that night! So Jason and the boys went with me and we took her some lasagna, salad, french bread, and homemade (by my very own little guys here) chocolate chip cookies. Seb took the food in with me. She invited us inside and hugged me and shook Seb's hand. She was very sweet. She thanked us for the food and said what a relief it was not to have to worry about cooking for herself but my heart just ached for her when she told me that it was going to be an adjustment to learn to cook just for one now. I told her we'd be praying for and we said goodbye and left her. The entire drive home my eyes were watering, thinking about her.
Tonight when we sat down to pray over our own dinner Seb said a blessing and asked God to just bless this sweet woman and be with her during this difficult time. It was a perfect prayer and I'm so thankful for sweet little God guys who understand what's really important and who slow down with me long enough to reach out to help someone else in their time of need. I'm so glad that I joined this ministry. It's not always going to be easy, I know that, but it's very rewarding and I'm so touched and humbled to be part of it.

Heaven

The last few weeks at church we've been discussing the topic of Heaven. I don't think I've really ever given a ton of thought to some of the things we've been talking about. What will Heaven be like? What will God be like? What will we do when we get to Heaven? We also learned some of the most popular misconceptions about Heaven vs. Hell.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed to learn that reincarnation just isn't in the cards for us believes but today learned that if God created us and all the animals and the entire universe then there's still hope that he could create other things...So does this mean we might have a chance to come back and do this life thing again, even at the risk of never seeing the same people or knowing the same thing? A do-over we're not aware is our second chance to get things right?

I must admit this series couldn't have come at a better time, since I've been thinking back to my past and have been living with some exhausting and sometimes all-consuming guilt over the choices I've made. I am definitely far from perfect but this series and my latest Bible study have been a great relief that God still forgives if we're truly sorry and I have a second chance, and a third, a fourth, and so on...Granted I know I'll be judged, and it might be a harsh punishment in my opinion, because I did many things, that I knew were wrong, after I came to know Christ.

I've never thought that Heaven would be boring, that there would be nothing to do. I've never wondered whether my pets would be there with me or if my family members would greet me when I got there or maybe I'd greet them, but now I've come to fear something more...What if I don't get there? I've learned that "good people don't go to Heaven, forgiven people go to Heaven".

That brings up something else, and maybe I'm the only one who's ever thought it but here goes...I can say from the bottom of my heart that I'd never wish for someone not to make it to Heaven, buuuuutttt...I can definitely say that my little sinning Christian heart has certainly wished that should we all make it to Heaven that I might be fortunate enough to never run into those people that annoy me here on Earth. The "porcupine people". How would I treat them in Heaven? Or would we get along? I mean, there are those who've treated me pretty badly at times or done things I've thought were just lousy in general, so the idea that they will receive blessings too is sometimes a little frustrating and always a little humbling.

Am I the only one who thinks like that? I understand that we'll all be held accountable for our actions according to what we know and whether we're believers or not, which frankly scares me a little (for my own sake). And I just kind of expect people who aren't believers to be more relaxed about things, you know the "oops, was that really a bad idea" kind of thing. But I just don't like when people who are Christ followers, knowing every single scripture in the Bible, maybe they even go to your church, but they turn their back on you when you need help the most or they actually have the nerve to scowl at you behind the scenes or spread rumors about you to people you greatly respect.

Honestly, I don't think they deserve the same blessings other people are getting. Not that I think I deserve them, but if we're supposed to be following the words in the Bible and living a life like Christ then how are these behaviors acceptable? If we are sorry for our actions we should repent (truly meaning it) and move on but don't keep repeating the same crummy acts you've been doing all along. I guess we just won't know until we get there, right?

Easter

Sometimes when I'm talking to my kids about something I wonder to myself "are they even listening?". But then they do something really great, possibly weeks after the fact, that let me know I'm actually doing an okay job as a mom.

The other day my oldest son brought home his latest publishing project from school. It was titled Easter and he started off reading about an egg hunt and finding lots of candy. But then he switched over to talking about how Easter isn't about candy or some magical bunny but actually about Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us.

I was so impressed! Not only does he know the story but he's not embarrassed or afraid to write about it, write about it, or just admit it. I'm so proud of him for being strong about it. It might seem like just some ordinary thing to most people but I think in our society talking about religious or God can be a frightening thing for some. These days when people say they're a Christian they had some kind of disclaimer to the end. Do you know what I mean? The ol' "I'm a Christian, but you know..." routine. I mean, just because we're Christians doesn't mean we're weird, or boring, or extremists. We just believe in something and we're proud of it. And I'm really glad my son is showing that kind of strength.

To See or Not To See...

Recently my 7 1/2 year old son was looking for one of his toys in my bedroom and came across a small jar of his baby teeth. As I explained to him that I'm his tooth fairy he looked up at me with this sweet innocent face and asked me "does Dad know?" You can read more about that in my personal blog here: http://courtneyb11.blogspot.com. It was all very sweet and I felt sad that that "magic" of the tooth fairy and Santa and all those fantastic fictional characters is supposed to last a long time. I felt bad for him, like I had been tricking him all along...In a way I had, but only with the intentions of making something ordinary into something special. After we talked I told him he's now part of the "secret society" so to speak, he's part of making that magic now...For his little brothers and little cousins. And although he still believes in Santa and even little Leprechauns, it won't be long before he realizes that they too are legendary characters made up from actions of real people long long ago.

However, something else came to mind that is now somewhat worrisome to me. If all the things he's learned about but couldn't see these past few years, what will he think about Jesus Christ? I mean, chances are he won't even think of it that way since he's grown up with the foundation of the Lord in his life but what if he starts to question things and I don't have all the answers? I will be excited when he begins to have questions about the story of Jesus and start his own personal journey of discovery but I can only hope that in his heart he will hear the Lord and know the truth.

I ♥ Central Oregon

This year the Heart Campaign decided to rally all the volunteers they could get and go out to love on our communities all in one day. So on Saturday, September 25, more than 2,500 volunteers from over 100 different churches and community organizations joined together to serve in 15 different local communities!

We decided to help set up the expo center this year. So Jason & I and all three boys headed out to Redmond to set up chairs with all the other volunteers. We only made it about five minutes before Lucas decided that sitting in his stroller just wasn't "involved" enough for him, so Jason put him in the snuggly and he got to be in on all the action. We set up and dusted chairs, measured rows and isles, met some great new people, and visiting with some familiar ones.

The Expo Center set up before the event.(Photo courtesy of IHCO)

And this was the result:(Photo courtesy of IHCO)

Over 8,000 people attended to see the band Elliot perform and a special appearance by Nick Vujicic, who also set a Guinness Book world record with a total of 1, 749 hugs in 60 minutes, which I got to be part of too!

His story is amazing and so is he! I've never been so inspired by another person in my entire life! To learn more about his miraculous story or the amazing work that he does, which will just bring you to tears, visit his website at http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/