Getting Ready Ramblings

Wow! The date is approaching fast and there is still so much to do. Today I received the most beautiful little tea set from a dear friend for Miss Emily. Westley unwrapped it for me and didn't seem surprised in the least that a tea set should come for his little sister. We are all getting a bit more used to the idea of girl things and I have to admit feeling a little giddy putting away freshly washed little dresses adorned with flowers and duckies which all had matching little pants to go with them. How fun!

There is a long to do list, however, of things I want to accomplish before she arrives....like update the boys' chores, finalize a summer school plan for everyone and get all the winter clothes folded, labeled, and put away in Grammy's attic for next year. The garden will have to be on hold this summer, although I've been deliberate about filling the deck right outside my room with all my potted plants to keep me company through the summer while I am inside doing baby things! We did purchase some rather large pots at Costco for the tomatoes and peppers which are happily blooming on the sport court, but I have no wild dreams about getting down to the garden this year to plant anything that needs constant vigilance. I did put Wes in charge of the squash plants and Wy in charge of the eggplants, but the plan is really simple. We are trying some new varieties of heirloom plants from Seed Savers, and hoping to save the seeds for subsequent years. The challenge is keeping the seed pure by preventing cross-pollination from another variety. I like the idea, however, of growing a tomato or a potato that has been handed down through generations and has a story...

I've been reading The Discipline Book again and soaking up (again!) the strategies for dealing with tantrums as Mr. Will is in the middle of that phase and, as I told the boys, we don't want to fuel that jet anymore than we have to! It is difficult to teach them how to deal with a toddler; harder than I thought it would be actually. They have many moments when they are quite successful at it, and then other moments when they have had it and end up fueling the fire. I am really trusting God that everything will shake out and fall into place (at some point and in His time!) as the baby arrives and we begin to reorganize life around her. It has been a while since I had a toddler and a baby at the same time.

Spring and Prayer

Spring is finally here! I am surprised at myself each year; how much of a child I am about this season and how much joy I get from the wildflowers and the new green leaves. Everything is brand new and undefiled and there is so much hope. It's so perfect that this is also the season in which we celebrate Easter. The joy of the resurrection is amplified so much in the creation coming alive again when it appeared so dead for several months. It just makes me want to climb a mountain and sing "He Lives" at the top of my lungs. OK....

I was telling the story about Moses to the kids this week and we got to the part where he raises his hands in prayer as the Israelites are in battle. They thought it was crazy that when Moses lowered his hands the enemy started to win, and when he raised them in prayer again the Israelites took the lead again in the fight. It was even more crazy when Aaron and Hur had to help Moses hold his arms up so that the Israelites would win the battle for sure! I just have to chuckle a bit at how great a picture this is for us in regard to spiritual warfare, and a great story for kids to understand prayer far better than from my explanation. There are so many messages for us in this: 1. Pray when the enemy is closing in. 2. Stop everything else and pray. 3. Prayer changes the outcome of things! (don't we doubt this sometimes?) 4. Keep praying 5. Ask for help praying. I love it.

Maybe because this has been such a season of learning these lessons in real life for me. There have been several big areas in my life where the enemy was closing in, or at least throwing some effective punches and in each situation there has been very little I could physically do to change the outcome. In many ways my hands were tied (and my feet for that matter!) I was forced to turn to God and say, "Lord this battle belongs to you....whether the outcome is what I want or not, as long as it is your will I can be OK with that." What peace in that! Of course it is hard to give up the control and the need to DO SOMETHING when a situation is unraveling, but sometimes it is exactly the thing to do. Now I can see amazing things God is doing and has done in each situation...things I could not have seen if I had still been "in the battle" myself, and truthfully the actions I would have taken would have closely resembled thrashing around rather than effective action.

Mr. Clean and Heart Messes

Tonight, as I was unpacking groceries, Wes was cleaning up a spill he had caused of his brother's juice. He replaced the cap to the invaluable Mr. Clean container and paused for a moment, "Mom, you know, Mr. Clean is a little like God isn't he? He cleans up the messes in our hearts." Yes, Wes, I couldn't have said it better. How many times have I sung and pondered the words to that familiar "camp" song, "Create in me a clean heart, O God....and renew a right spirit within me." Because the heart business is a messy business. In a culture where the feelings and whims of the heart are so valued and relied upon, it is painful to note that it is often our hearts which lead us down the wrong path and away from the God we love. How thankful I am tonight that I have a loving Father who is always willing, yet AGAIN, to clean up the mess I make because of my wrong heart attitudes and to let me begin again...with a clean heart. Thank you Lord.