It's amazing to me how things can get so turned around. Plans change, things go wrong, it's just a fact of life. People wonder why I plan things last minute and this trip's planning catastrophe is just one of the many reasons why.
Scott and I have been planning a trip to South Carolina for this week since October. We missed an opportunity to come up in October due to my pregnancy with Lilly and decided to replan it for this week. When the Lord told us that we would be moving here, our plans seemed to fit right in line with his timetable! It was the perfect opportunity to bring some of our "stuff" up before the move to save time and space later on. We would have a peaceful mini-vacation before the stress of a move set in. Long story short - we just arrived in South Carolina with 5 children, 4 suitcases, 3 adults, 2 guitars, 1 PS3, and thankful hearts that we even made it.
My sister closest to myself in age, Kayla, and her 2 children, Cameron and Cayden, joined us. That in itself is an adventure. With her children, the trip now had a 5yr, 3yr, 2yr, 1yr, and 1mo old on board. Like I said, an adventure.
Then there was my husbands 1991 Crown Victoria. I don't know that they make cars like that anymore. That wonderful car has held on for dear life - only two windows work, the lock is broke on one of the doors, the real leather seats are cracked and peeling, and the AC doesn't work (in Florida that's a big deal, especially when the windows don't roll down). This vehicle's primary objective in life is to get Scott from home to work and back again. It's not used for anything else as our family does all of our errands together whenever possible. But, we had decided to bring it up to SC and leave it. I wasn't sure it would make the trip! It has a tendency to overheat, but it did alright since it's the middle of winter and not the Florida summer.
I should have figured how the trip would go when we woke up an hour and half late on the morning we were to leave. Then the car seat I was to use for one of the children was missing the straps. After a search, we decided it would have to work with a simple seat belt over the front. The kids had to be buckled in and the rest of the luggage loaded. After it all, we left at about 8:00am (we had planned to leave at 5:00am). We got about 30 min from the house, when the traffic came to a complete standstill - just 1.2 miles from our exit. It took us 45min to get to the exit and ALL traffic was being detoured onto that exit. I got out an old-school map and found a route around the traffic. It took us out of our way, but it was faster than waiting in traffic.
On the round-about route, I was coming around a corner and a dog ran out in the road in front of me! Almost threw me into the ditch. When we got to our turn off I missed the first exit and stopped at the next turn off to check the map. Scott didn't see me stop and almost plowed into my rear. Smoke was flying out from the back tires because he hit the brakes so hard. We finally got back onto the highway by 11:30am and were only about 2 hrs north of home. Scott had worked till midnight the night before we left and didn't get much sleep. I was driving in the center lane of a three lane highway and got into the fast lane to pass the vehicle in front of me. I looked in my rear view mirror to see if Scott would follow and managed to look just in time to see his head fall back on the seat and his car to veer over both lanes of traffic and into the grass. Kayla, who was in his car, must have screamed pretty loud, because he awoke just in time to swerve the car back onto the highway before hitting the wall of the overpass.
To say our drive up here was eventful is an understatement. Besides the afore said, we had to stop every two hours for potty & breastfeeding breaks. The 8hr trip had turned into a 12hr trip by the time we arrived last night at 8:00pm.
This morning was interesting as well! With my three youngest siblings (10, 8, & 4yrs) still living at home, the total at breakfast this morning was 8 children and 5 adults. Not to mention that all children are age 10 and younger, can you imagine the scene?
Things Lost
"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it?" -Luke 15:8
This became tangible in our house this week. My husband, who NEVER looses anything, lost his wallet. We had been out all day on errands & he had used it at about every place we had been. However, the last place we'd been was Zaxby's (one of the best chicken restaurants EVER) drive thru & he had used his wallet there & we came strait home.
We knew it was either in the car or in the house. You'd think that would have made it easier, but it just made it more frustrating. We looked high & low for about 2 hours. My sister had come over & helped. We spent so long looking for it that she eventually had to leave because she was past her curfew!
My husband & I are very similar in that we both have a tendency to obsess over things that we can't find. Since it wasn't my wallet & I'd looked in every place twice that I could think of, I went to bed with the baby while Scott kept on lookin.
He finally found it. Just like the lady in the bible with the lost coin, he was so happy that he came in at 1am & woke me up to tell me that he'd found it in the car under the seat. He was happy as a lark & almost jumping for joy.
This became tangible in our house this week. My husband, who NEVER looses anything, lost his wallet. We had been out all day on errands & he had used it at about every place we had been. However, the last place we'd been was Zaxby's (one of the best chicken restaurants EVER) drive thru & he had used his wallet there & we came strait home.
We knew it was either in the car or in the house. You'd think that would have made it easier, but it just made it more frustrating. We looked high & low for about 2 hours. My sister had come over & helped. We spent so long looking for it that she eventually had to leave because she was past her curfew!
My husband & I are very similar in that we both have a tendency to obsess over things that we can't find. Since it wasn't my wallet & I'd looked in every place twice that I could think of, I went to bed with the baby while Scott kept on lookin.
He finally found it. Just like the lady in the bible with the lost coin, he was so happy that he came in at 1am & woke me up to tell me that he'd found it in the car under the seat. He was happy as a lark & almost jumping for joy.
Tonight at 20Twenty
I've moved with my parents time and time again - from church family to church family. I always thought it was just par for course in a pastor's life. I never thought about how hard it must have been for my father to leave the "flock" he had led, fed, & comforted...until tonite.
Scott and I have been fasting and praying during these 21 days of Awakening and have felt that the Lord wants us to move on. He had to tell his youth group tonight. He had such a difficult time telling them - he had to take a minute to compose himself before his announcement.
These are OUR teens - OUR kids. We love them so much. We pray for them, councel them, praise them, teach them, love them. Scott and I know that when God moves one shepherd, he sends another. He never leaves the sheep to fend for themselves. We know that ultimately our teens are really GOD'S. We are leaving this ministry trusting God to provide and protect this ministry.
Sometimes following where God leads is difficult, but it is always rewarding.
So what's next for us? We will be moving to South Carolina sometime around Valentine's Day. We will be moving closer to my parents and helping them grow their ministry there. We are convinced that God is moving us and has great plans for us there.
Scott and I have been fasting and praying during these 21 days of Awakening and have felt that the Lord wants us to move on. He had to tell his youth group tonight. He had such a difficult time telling them - he had to take a minute to compose himself before his announcement.
These are OUR teens - OUR kids. We love them so much. We pray for them, councel them, praise them, teach them, love them. Scott and I know that when God moves one shepherd, he sends another. He never leaves the sheep to fend for themselves. We know that ultimately our teens are really GOD'S. We are leaving this ministry trusting God to provide and protect this ministry.
Sometimes following where God leads is difficult, but it is always rewarding.
So what's next for us? We will be moving to South Carolina sometime around Valentine's Day. We will be moving closer to my parents and helping them grow their ministry there. We are convinced that God is moving us and has great plans for us there.
Give your breakfast a cookie?
Well, Mom has finally found the time to put her two cents in on this family and learning and passing stuff down. I realized after breakfast this morning that Rachael is so scattered in what she does due to following SO closely after her mother's example!
Do you remember the childrens book, If you give a Mouse a Cookie? Well I decided that I gave breakfast a cookie and then my day a cookie. You ask, "What do you mean Lenora?" Well it went something a little like this . . . I went to make a cup of hot tea to start my day. I started the coffee pot with water and saw the oranges we need to use up. So, I decided to cut up about 6 oranges to go with our big Tuesaday morning breakfast. After cutting those up, I remembered the tea and put a bag in my cup of hot water. That is when I decided to start making the pancake batter. I got out the bowl and my NEW Church Cookbook. Oh, but I remembered the tea and went to take a drink and it was too hot, so I went for a piece of ice. I remembered while I was there that I wanted to fix bacon from the freezer to go with our big breakfast. After getting out the bacon, I needed to find the gridle to cook all this on. Oh Yes, it is under the washer in it's box. When I got there, I saw the laundry needed changing and a new load started. What about that cup of tea??? It is probably cool enough now to drink. When I got the bacon started, I saw the bowl and the cookbook and again started the pancakes. I needed eggs to finish the batter and had none in the fridge. So I had to go out to the garage fridge to get some. As I passed the laundry, I noticed they were ready for another change from washer to dryer. I got the eggs, finished the pancake batter, and relized my tea was now too cold to drink so, I put it in the microwave to warm it up. And again it was to hot to drink.
I said all that to say I CAN BE VERY distracted with the cares of the day! I sure am glad my kids came down to breakfast and pitched in to finish it and had our Tuesday family devotions with breakfast! We also spent some time talking about being to distracted and that it KEEPS US from feeling complete! I did finaly get that WARM cup of tea, BUT I realized many times throughout my day how much I GIVE THE HOUSE A CLEANING! Just like the cookie and mouse story, it does finally get around to the beginning again but it is a long drawn out process if I do it with distractions and a lack of focus! How many times do I MISS GOD's best for me due to this same process in the other areas of my life? WOW, this is definately something I want to chnge in 2012!! I think I might....NO! I CAN do it with Holy Spirit reminding me, "Do you want a cookie Lenora?" This is compounded by the fact I'm on a fast and can't even have a cookie!! That really makes you smile and say "NO, GOD I WANT YOU and your way!!"
Do you remember the childrens book, If you give a Mouse a Cookie? Well I decided that I gave breakfast a cookie and then my day a cookie. You ask, "What do you mean Lenora?" Well it went something a little like this . . . I went to make a cup of hot tea to start my day. I started the coffee pot with water and saw the oranges we need to use up. So, I decided to cut up about 6 oranges to go with our big Tuesaday morning breakfast. After cutting those up, I remembered the tea and put a bag in my cup of hot water. That is when I decided to start making the pancake batter. I got out the bowl and my NEW Church Cookbook. Oh, but I remembered the tea and went to take a drink and it was too hot, so I went for a piece of ice. I remembered while I was there that I wanted to fix bacon from the freezer to go with our big breakfast. After getting out the bacon, I needed to find the gridle to cook all this on. Oh Yes, it is under the washer in it's box. When I got there, I saw the laundry needed changing and a new load started. What about that cup of tea??? It is probably cool enough now to drink. When I got the bacon started, I saw the bowl and the cookbook and again started the pancakes. I needed eggs to finish the batter and had none in the fridge. So I had to go out to the garage fridge to get some. As I passed the laundry, I noticed they were ready for another change from washer to dryer. I got the eggs, finished the pancake batter, and relized my tea was now too cold to drink so, I put it in the microwave to warm it up. And again it was to hot to drink.
I said all that to say I CAN BE VERY distracted with the cares of the day! I sure am glad my kids came down to breakfast and pitched in to finish it and had our Tuesday family devotions with breakfast! We also spent some time talking about being to distracted and that it KEEPS US from feeling complete! I did finaly get that WARM cup of tea, BUT I realized many times throughout my day how much I GIVE THE HOUSE A CLEANING! Just like the cookie and mouse story, it does finally get around to the beginning again but it is a long drawn out process if I do it with distractions and a lack of focus! How many times do I MISS GOD's best for me due to this same process in the other areas of my life? WOW, this is definately something I want to chnge in 2012!! I think I might....NO! I CAN do it with Holy Spirit reminding me, "Do you want a cookie Lenora?" This is compounded by the fact I'm on a fast and can't even have a cookie!! That really makes you smile and say "NO, GOD I WANT YOU and your way!!"
Traits Inherited
There are quite a few traits in our family that are passed down through the generations. Yesterday I posted about creativity and that is definitely one of them, however there are lots more. One of the not-so-favorable ones is misspelling.
My mother is notorious for misspelling words as was her mother before her! Part of the adventure of our many moves was trying to discern what mom had written on the sides of the boxes, where she had attempted to explain the contents. Nana almost always was around to help pack and that made the adventure twice ascomplicated fun!
I have always prided myself on being able to spell, but as the Scriptures say, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov16:18). Today I realized that since I started this blog, I've been spelling "Shepherd" as "Shephard". So, I have spent most of the morning fixing my mistake.
The most humbling part about this mistake is that my mother told me the correct way to spell it when I called her to tell her I had created the blog. I had "corrected" her and explained that, "No, mom, you spell it 'shephard'". Bless her heart, she didn't argue with me at the time. But, today I had to call her and tell her that she was right and I had been wrong.
All this to say:
My mother is notorious for misspelling words as was her mother before her! Part of the adventure of our many moves was trying to discern what mom had written on the sides of the boxes, where she had attempted to explain the contents. Nana almost always was around to help pack and that made the adventure twice as
I have always prided myself on being able to spell, but as the Scriptures say, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov16:18). Today I realized that since I started this blog, I've been spelling "Shepherd" as "Shephard". So, I have spent most of the morning fixing my mistake.
The most humbling part about this mistake is that my mother told me the correct way to spell it when I called her to tell her I had created the blog. I had "corrected" her and explained that, "No, mom, you spell it 'shephard'". Bless her heart, she didn't argue with me at the time. But, today I had to call her and tell her that she was right and I had been wrong.
All this to say:
- I'm sorry for any confusion it may have caused to those of you who had saved "Life with a ShephArd" in your favorites and will now have to delete it and save "Life with a ShephErd"
. - Listen to your mom - even if you think you know better. At least double check your spelling.
Creativity as a Neccessity
As I was growing up, Creativity wasn't just a characteristic. Creativity was a necessity. Pastor's aren't usually named as the top producer's economically, therefore much creativity is involved in so many aspects - cooking, cleaning, gift-giving, and lots more.
Thank God that my Nana had a natural creative talent that she developed into my Mother's character. Nana came up with things like "Spaghetti Lasagna" - she had run out of lasagna noodles and substituted spaghetti noodles instead. She always has come up with neat and creative ways to do things.
Once, while visiting with my kids, she offered to make us chicken stir fry. I assure you that Nana's stir fry isn't the same as your accustomed to. It is simply chicken and broccoli normandy put into a frying pan and cooked with a little oil. Well, when she served it to us it was purple-pink! Out of respect for her, I didn't ask or complain, but I guess my face said it all. She explained that she couldn't find BBQ sauce and that raspberry vinaigrette worked just as well. It did!! It was great and definitely something I never would have tried had it not been for my respect for Nana.
Other times, things that she's tried just haven't worked so well. She once decided to make chili for dinner. She didn't have any dried beans and only a limited supply of canned beans. She made what she could with what she had and decided that maybe she would add just one can of hot beans to the mix (someone had given a couple cans to her and she was looking for a way to get rid of them anyway). She left it to cook on the stove and continued with her daily chores. Papa came into the kitchen and decided he would help her bean "dilemma" by adding just one can of hot beans to the mix. He also left it to cook and decided he would keep his good deed to himself. Aunt Honey, who lives across the street, decided she would stop by to see how Nana's chili was coming along. Nana didn't answer when she called to her, so she just checked for herself. Well, maybe she could help by adding just one can of the hot beans. That should be just enough, lol. Yep - you guessed it - when dinner finally got into the mouths of those three, they ALL knew something had gone wrong! All three wondered why the one can of hot beans they had added had made it too hot. The truth finally got out when Nana asked the question out loud. They all had a good laugh and a couple trips to the bathroom. I have to say that maybe this one would have turned out alright if it hadn't been for all the "help", lol.
Anyway, my mother has inherited this creativity. It is a good thing, cause it is a necessary trait to have in any Pastor's family. Money isn't something that Pastor's are known for having. We homemade most of our gifts each Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Come to think of it, she even was creative with her discipline. There was many a time that she couldn't reach us or the wooden spoon - she just threw whatever was closest. Most of the time she didn't hit us, but we got the point. I remember once complaining, "Mom! I do everything around here! I don't want to...." I must have been only 5 or 6 at the time, but she literally made me do everything for the rest of the day. I vacuumed, washed, dried, folded, and put away laundry, made sandwiches for lunch, swept and mopped the floor - all under the watchful, but unhelpful eye of my mother. I'm sure I didn't really do everything, but to a 5 or 6 year old it seemed like everything! And, I sure never said that again - from then on I had a reality check as to what "everything" really meant. I also remember her grounding me to my bed until I could finish a whole chapter book - and the book was the ONLY thing I was allowed to have on my bed.
I find myself being creative with my own family. I can tell my husband, creatively, where to go and how to get there!
Thank God that my Nana had a natural creative talent that she developed into my Mother's character. Nana came up with things like "Spaghetti Lasagna" - she had run out of lasagna noodles and substituted spaghetti noodles instead. She always has come up with neat and creative ways to do things.
Once, while visiting with my kids, she offered to make us chicken stir fry. I assure you that Nana's stir fry isn't the same as your accustomed to. It is simply chicken and broccoli normandy put into a frying pan and cooked with a little oil. Well, when she served it to us it was purple-pink! Out of respect for her, I didn't ask or complain, but I guess my face said it all. She explained that she couldn't find BBQ sauce and that raspberry vinaigrette worked just as well. It did!! It was great and definitely something I never would have tried had it not been for my respect for Nana.
Other times, things that she's tried just haven't worked so well. She once decided to make chili for dinner. She didn't have any dried beans and only a limited supply of canned beans. She made what she could with what she had and decided that maybe she would add just one can of hot beans to the mix (someone had given a couple cans to her and she was looking for a way to get rid of them anyway). She left it to cook on the stove and continued with her daily chores. Papa came into the kitchen and decided he would help her bean "dilemma" by adding just one can of hot beans to the mix. He also left it to cook and decided he would keep his good deed to himself. Aunt Honey, who lives across the street, decided she would stop by to see how Nana's chili was coming along. Nana didn't answer when she called to her, so she just checked for herself. Well, maybe she could help by adding just one can of the hot beans. That should be just enough, lol. Yep - you guessed it - when dinner finally got into the mouths of those three, they ALL knew something had gone wrong! All three wondered why the one can of hot beans they had added had made it too hot. The truth finally got out when Nana asked the question out loud. They all had a good laugh and a couple trips to the bathroom. I have to say that maybe this one would have turned out alright if it hadn't been for all the "help", lol.
Anyway, my mother has inherited this creativity. It is a good thing, cause it is a necessary trait to have in any Pastor's family. Money isn't something that Pastor's are known for having. We homemade most of our gifts each Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
Come to think of it, she even was creative with her discipline. There was many a time that she couldn't reach us or the wooden spoon - she just threw whatever was closest. Most of the time she didn't hit us, but we got the point. I remember once complaining, "Mom! I do everything around here! I don't want to...." I must have been only 5 or 6 at the time, but she literally made me do everything for the rest of the day. I vacuumed, washed, dried, folded, and put away laundry, made sandwiches for lunch, swept and mopped the floor - all under the watchful, but unhelpful eye of my mother. I'm sure I didn't really do everything, but to a 5 or 6 year old it seemed like everything! And, I sure never said that again - from then on I had a reality check as to what "everything" really meant. I also remember her grounding me to my bed until I could finish a whole chapter book - and the book was the ONLY thing I was allowed to have on my bed.
I find myself being creative with my own family. I can tell my husband, creatively, where to go and how to get there!
5th Grade
To get to our local library from my house you must drive past the elementary school and the high school. Thursday, on our way to "Library School" (preschool time at the library), I noticed the 5th graders outside at PE and it made me think back to my 5th grade year....what a year that was!
I had been attending one of the local elementary schools during my 4th grade year, but my mom could sense a change coming and decided to homeschool me for 5th grade. (When I say "could sense a change" I mean it. In my lifetime I have moved 24 times and I'm only in my 20's now - change happened ALOT in my parents home.)
In November of that year, my parents took a church in Oklahoma and decided to enroll us kids in their local school. The town we moved to had only 500 residents and 250 of them went to the only school there - 250 kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. I think their graduating class that year had 5 students. Not only the school was a big adjustment, but the culture was too. The town was 3 miles off the Muskogee Creek Indian reservation and the majority of the townsfolk were Native American. I myself am Native American, but you wouldn't recognize it in my features unless I told you.
So, this "white" girl was the minority and believe me that everyone reminded me of it. I was teased mercilessly. I even had one older girl pin me up against a locker in the hall and threaten to beat the crap out of me - for no apparent reason. She later confessed that she was jealous of my dad's relationship with me. He came for lunch or recess at least once a week just to hang out with me and my little sister (because the school was so small, every grade had lunch and recess at the same time). Her father had left her mom when the last of her small siblings was born and as soon as she came home each day, her mother would immediately leave - for whatever reason - and she was responsible for all the younger siblings, sometimes for days at a time. The nearest "big" town was about 20 miles away and a lot of the townsfolk had to walk to get there (no exaggeration). So, most just stayed overnight and came home the next day.
Anyway, in about January or February, I walked into class that morning to find the principle waiting at the teacher's desk for all students to show up. I thought it a little odd that the teacher was no where to be seen and principle himself there instead of a substitute. The principle gave the explanation when all the students arrived that the teacher had been injured while finishing grading papers at the school late the night before. "Injured" was an understatement. Come to find out sometime later, she had been involved in a drug deal gone bad on school grounds late at night. She had been stabbed in the abdomen with a 3" knife and somehow made it to the hospital in the next "big" town before bleeding to death. Needless to say, she wasn't going to be teaching again at that school - ever. So, a substitute was going to be found soon.
Guess who they picked?? My Dad. Yep. My dad had all the credentials needed to fill in as my 5th grade teacher for the rest of the YEAR. Yes, the rest of the YEAR. If I wasn't being teased enough already that sure made up for it. Anytime I made a good grade on a test, I was teased that it was only because my dad was the teacher. Anytime I made a bad grade on a test, I was teased that I must have done something at home to make him angry.
That year I couldn't get away from my dad. He was filling in for many positions in the church until new workers could be found - so many positions, in fact, that he was almost the only person I ever saw at church! That year, he was my senior pastor, my sunday school teacher, my youth pastor, and my teacher at school! I really love my dad a lot and it was a good thing cause it took a whole lotta love to survive 5th grade.
The other day I posted about God using family to teach us things. I guess I learned a lot other than school stuff in 5th grade.
1) The old saying, "sticks & stones..." just isn't true.
2) Compassion is putting yourself in someone else's situation, then treating them like you would want to be treated.
3) Don't judge a person just by what they've always been and not see what they can be: I learned that my dad can be a jack of all trades!
4) If you get into trouble at school - and your father is your teacher - you can bet that your gonna get it when you get home and that there is no way to twist the truth to make you look better cause your father was there to watch you get into trouble in the first place.
5) Family is forever. No matter how upset you get at them, they aren't going anywhere. Might as well learn how to deal with it, love 'em, and forgive 'em.
I had been attending one of the local elementary schools during my 4th grade year, but my mom could sense a change coming and decided to homeschool me for 5th grade. (When I say "could sense a change" I mean it. In my lifetime I have moved 24 times and I'm only in my 20's now - change happened ALOT in my parents home.)
In November of that year, my parents took a church in Oklahoma and decided to enroll us kids in their local school. The town we moved to had only 500 residents and 250 of them went to the only school there - 250 kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. I think their graduating class that year had 5 students. Not only the school was a big adjustment, but the culture was too. The town was 3 miles off the Muskogee Creek Indian reservation and the majority of the townsfolk were Native American. I myself am Native American, but you wouldn't recognize it in my features unless I told you.
So, this "white" girl was the minority and believe me that everyone reminded me of it. I was teased mercilessly. I even had one older girl pin me up against a locker in the hall and threaten to beat the crap out of me - for no apparent reason. She later confessed that she was jealous of my dad's relationship with me. He came for lunch or recess at least once a week just to hang out with me and my little sister (because the school was so small, every grade had lunch and recess at the same time). Her father had left her mom when the last of her small siblings was born and as soon as she came home each day, her mother would immediately leave - for whatever reason - and she was responsible for all the younger siblings, sometimes for days at a time. The nearest "big" town was about 20 miles away and a lot of the townsfolk had to walk to get there (no exaggeration). So, most just stayed overnight and came home the next day.
Anyway, in about January or February, I walked into class that morning to find the principle waiting at the teacher's desk for all students to show up. I thought it a little odd that the teacher was no where to be seen and principle himself there instead of a substitute. The principle gave the explanation when all the students arrived that the teacher had been injured while finishing grading papers at the school late the night before. "Injured" was an understatement. Come to find out sometime later, she had been involved in a drug deal gone bad on school grounds late at night. She had been stabbed in the abdomen with a 3" knife and somehow made it to the hospital in the next "big" town before bleeding to death. Needless to say, she wasn't going to be teaching again at that school - ever. So, a substitute was going to be found soon.
Guess who they picked?? My Dad. Yep. My dad had all the credentials needed to fill in as my 5th grade teacher for the rest of the YEAR. Yes, the rest of the YEAR. If I wasn't being teased enough already that sure made up for it. Anytime I made a good grade on a test, I was teased that it was only because my dad was the teacher. Anytime I made a bad grade on a test, I was teased that I must have done something at home to make him angry.
That year I couldn't get away from my dad. He was filling in for many positions in the church until new workers could be found - so many positions, in fact, that he was almost the only person I ever saw at church! That year, he was my senior pastor, my sunday school teacher, my youth pastor, and my teacher at school! I really love my dad a lot and it was a good thing cause it took a whole lotta love to survive 5th grade.
The other day I posted about God using family to teach us things. I guess I learned a lot other than school stuff in 5th grade.
1) The old saying, "sticks & stones..." just isn't true.
2) Compassion is putting yourself in someone else's situation, then treating them like you would want to be treated.
3) Don't judge a person just by what they've always been and not see what they can be: I learned that my dad can be a jack of all trades!
4) If you get into trouble at school - and your father is your teacher - you can bet that your gonna get it when you get home and that there is no way to twist the truth to make you look better cause your father was there to watch you get into trouble in the first place.
5) Family is forever. No matter how upset you get at them, they aren't going anywhere. Might as well learn how to deal with it, love 'em, and forgive 'em.
Family - God's teaching tool
I love family. There is just nothing like it. I believe God created family to teach us so many things about life in general. I mean, think about it! There is really no better way to learn diplomacy than from fighting with your siblings or trying to convince your parents about anything!
I had a conversation with a couple of teen girls from our youth group some weeks ago about this very thing. I was explaining how much one can learn about motherhood from family. They were complaining about household responsibilities and how "unfair" it was! I calmly explained that being an adult means doing not only those responsibilities but also everything else!
Lilly turned a month old today - a month of enjoying my sweet baby girl, but also a month of hard work! Bed rest is sometimes more stressful and requires more mental work than being up and going. I've had to be the manager of all things - keeping the peace at times, then kicking butt to motivate at others. I used the down time to read a couple books I've been saving up and to make a new household schedule for the family.
My blessed hubby is so sweet. He has had such a busy schedule since the baby's been born. He's working a full time job as a Certified Nurse's Assistant at a local nursing home, doing courses through a bible college, he's a youth pastor, a dad, and a husband! What a trooper - with me on bedrest he's also had to be mom and housekeeper. I knew that he couldn't keep that up forever, so I came up with a pretty good schedule (if I do say so myself).
I don't think any mom can keep her cool or run even a remotely efficient home without some kind of schedule. When I was a kid, my mom made out a "To Do" list for each of us kids. When the "To Do's" had been done, we could do whatever we pleased (within reason, lol). It taught us responsibility, hard work, and self sufficiency. I think we started our "To Do" lists by the time we were 4 or 5 years old. Never too early to learn!!
I had a conversation with a couple of teen girls from our youth group some weeks ago about this very thing. I was explaining how much one can learn about motherhood from family. They were complaining about household responsibilities and how "unfair" it was! I calmly explained that being an adult means doing not only those responsibilities but also everything else!
Lilly turned a month old today - a month of enjoying my sweet baby girl, but also a month of hard work! Bed rest is sometimes more stressful and requires more mental work than being up and going. I've had to be the manager of all things - keeping the peace at times, then kicking butt to motivate at others. I used the down time to read a couple books I've been saving up and to make a new household schedule for the family.
My blessed hubby is so sweet. He has had such a busy schedule since the baby's been born. He's working a full time job as a Certified Nurse's Assistant at a local nursing home, doing courses through a bible college, he's a youth pastor, a dad, and a husband! What a trooper - with me on bedrest he's also had to be mom and housekeeper. I knew that he couldn't keep that up forever, so I came up with a pretty good schedule (if I do say so myself).
I don't think any mom can keep her cool or run even a remotely efficient home without some kind of schedule. When I was a kid, my mom made out a "To Do" list for each of us kids. When the "To Do's" had been done, we could do whatever we pleased (within reason, lol). It taught us responsibility, hard work, and self sufficiency. I think we started our "To Do" lists by the time we were 4 or 5 years old. Never too early to learn!!
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