Life is sacred.

Sacred: worthy of respect or dedication

I believe that life is precious. Our nation has treated the unborn casually for too long. True, not all of us, but enough. And what have we done about it?

Pray for the United States. Pray that the Lord will work in the hearts of women and men who feel trapped by situations that seem to spiral out of control.

Currently, we have in place, some laws to help make it more difficult, in an effort to be sure women and men contemplating the end of their son or daughter, would have a little more time.

The pain suffered by women following an abortion can be crippling. I have held too many friends as they mourned their babies' death to be pro-choice. Straight and simple: women and men are not given adequate information to make this decision.

For these reasons and over a million a year more, I oppose the Freedom of Choice Act. I encourage you to got to http://www.fightfoca.com/ to sign your name to a petition. This legislature is expected to be reviewed early 2009. Please help be a voice for Life, ready and poised to respond when it comes to Congress.

My sweet and spunky little girl!

Today, I looked out my window and saw THIS--my little, spunky girl, on TOP of the goat house, looking through binoculars at ME! I got quite a laugh from it. She climbed up, using the window as a step. Did I mention she's smart too?

Please note the sparkly pink shoes! She's one of a kind and I'm so glad she's mine!

Fields of the Fatherless

Heart for the Fatherless

"In this world you are an orphan; eagerly anticipating your adoption as God's child. In this world you are a widow; longing for reunion with your Bridegroom. In this world you are a stranger; a pilgrim waiting to become a citizen of heaven. And in this world, God has called you to care for the orphan, the stranger, and the widow," writes Tom Davis, author Fields of the Fatherless: Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living (David C. Cook).

http://www.amazon.com/Fields-Fatherless-Discover-Compassionate-Living/dp/0781448476/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225249181&sr=8-1

adopting a change of heart

Today I read an article in Homelife, November 2008 issue, by Marie Armenia. An excerpt is below:

Orphans matter to God. What are you doing about it?

In the past several weeks, God has been messing up my paltry little life plans by giving me a writing assignment that's tearing my heart out. Here I am, 'Little Miss Bible Teacher,' and I seem to have overlooked the numerous verses that clearly, emphatically, and repeatedly drive home the truth that God wants me to care about orphans. He does. He really, really does.

and this...

The United Nations estimates that there are 300 million orphans worldwide. Every day 5,760 more children become orphans -- that's 240 children an hour.

Four children every single minute, of every single hour, day and night for every day.

God says...

Defend the poor and fatherless. Psalm 82:3

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:5

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1

From Mrs. Armenia:

"You are a helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully, doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed, so that men of the earth may terrify them no more" (Psalm 10:14b, 17b-18, NIV)."

And this from Jim Daly's article, entitled "Growing up as an orphan" in Focus on the Family...

"In the United States alone, 127,000 kids go to sleep at night dreaming of the day when they might be adopted. They crave real homes where Mom and Dad tuck them into bed and where hugs, laughter and acceptance abound. Although 127,000 is a big number, it's important to note that more than 300,000 churches grace this country. Think about it--that's less than one child for every two churches. One of the best ways God's people can demonstrate Christ's love is by adopting these children.

"'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world' (James 1:27). What does keeping oneself from being 'polluted by the world' have to do with caring for widows and orphans? I think part of the answer lies in the fact that as sinful creatures, we are amazingly selfish. Our American culture embraces a me-first mentality that rejects self-sacrifice. We enjoy limitless opportunities to entertain ourselves with sports, movies, hobbies and an assortment of consumer goods. Those things aren't inherently wrong, but when the pursuit of them distracts us from loving and caring for those who are hurting, we have allowed the world to pollute our core values."

Whew. That is some to reflect upon...

For more information on adoption or caring for orphans in their distress, go to www.icareaboutorphans.org.

A ministry we consider worthwhile to support is All God's Children, International. http://www.allgodschildren.org/ .

Keeping it clean.

I have been wanting to find some "recipes" for safe cleaners for my family. Today, I found this neat list here--
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm

I feel I must add, I have not completely explored this site and cannot vouch for everything there, however, I think I'm going to try some of that "All-Purpose Cleaner"!

My goal.

My aspiration. My desire. My aim.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace that surpasses every thought , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise--dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:4-8

Something to consider.

Also from M. Wayne Hines:

"In the culture that God set aside for His chosen people, all of the celebrations that God established pointed the people to Him. Most of those celebrations have a prophetic significance. When writing to the Colossians, Paul called them shadows of things to come.

"I wrote all of this to encourage you to be sure that your focus with your family stays on the things of God. Don't spend all of your time and money trying to convince your children that a fat elf in a red suit knows all about them and will reward their good behavior - eventually they will find out. When they do, will they believe you when you tell them that an unseen God knows all about them, loves them and has a perfect plan for their life? Play games with your children, but make certain they realize it is only a game. The integrity of your witness is crucial, don't waste it on candy canes, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and certainly not on witches, ghosts, and goblins."

Sad Stats.

The following is an excerpt from the November 2008 letter from M. Wayne Hines, of Lanexa, Virginia.

"It is early October and stores are decorated for Halloween. Churches are planning "Fall Festivals" to provide Christians with an alternative to the ancient pagan celebrations that also figure prominently in Satanism. Millions of Americans are spending money on decorations, candy, and costumes. Retail experts are estimating sales in excess of 5 billion dollars. Only Santa Claus spending surpasses Halloween. The Easter Bunny's candy only reaches about 1.6 billion per year. What amazes me is that only about 1.2 billion is spent by evangelicals on missions. The vast percentage of Christianity's financial resources are in the hands of American Christians. how does God view our stewardship of the blessings He has rained down upon us?"

Anna in her new glasses!

Glasses for Anna

I have noticed Anna squinting some. Thinking I would do a simple vision screening at home, I kept my eye on her. At the start of September, my mother asked about it. I downplayed it, but became more attentive to her vision. Sunday, the 28th, we were at church together and Anna couldn't read the screen with the scripture reference on it.

Tuesday, we were at the optometrist's office. I was astonished by how little my Anna could see! Yes, my daughter needed glasses. She was elated! I suppose, for girls in particular, glasses are more of an accessory! She has been such a good steward of them, taking great care to keep them clean and safe.

If your child is a friend of Anna's, she would appreciate you not showing him/her this picture or telling them about her new specs!

She loves them!

We are experiencing trouble loading photos at this time. Please check back later to see Anna in her new glasses. Thank you.

Book it!

Our family enjoys Pizza Hut's Book it! program. I love that they are willing for homeschoolers to participate too! October is the first month for this school year.

So...what do I chose for my fifth grader? I want to challenge her, but it needs to be realistic, achievable, if you will. She loves to read. She reads every possible moment! She does not enjoy reading aloud, though she is so expressive when she

reads. She is able to read much faster silently, of course. The goal I set for her is to complete the book Midnight in the Dollhouse, read aloud to her sister. She wasn't thrilled with the idea initially, but she has found it a delight! What fun!

Sarah, who is still in the early stages of reading, has resented her sister's love for reading, wishing her to play imaginative games and stories instead.

Midnight in the Dollhouse is a wonderful story of imagination! http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Dollhouse-Apple-Marjorie-Stover/dp/0590449249

I did pre-read it and found a few references to voodoo. As they were unnecessary to the plot or the rest of the story, I covered these small sections (maybe 4?) with Sticky Post-Its and they are ready to go!

I suspect this project will result in good fruit for sisters and reading alike!

Nearing September's End...

Is it just me? Or is life sailing at immeasurable speed?

Yesterday, I had a three year old and a baby... Now, my daughters are ten and seven. How does this happen? Time passing like water through my fingers, and I am powerless to stop it...

We have had a busy summer. Our remodel is complete. I have enjoyed going from 13 1/2 square feet of counter space to 43 1/2 square feet! It has provided me an amazing amount of space to stack more things upon! And a dishwasher! Oh, what a help that is in keeping a tidy kitchen!

Anna has become a regular book worm! Last fall, she still struggled terribly with reading. For Christmas last year, we gave her some young fiction, from the Cul De Sac Kids. She devoured them, and in her a switch was flipped! This summer, she completed her goal of reading more than 2,500 pages. You can imagine how pleased she is to have this new past time. Now, I hear "I don't have anything good to read!" Right now, she sits beside me begrudgingly reading a book, "even though I've read it before!" She was reading and re-reading books, of varying degrees of difficulty. I started to feel a bit insecure about it all, as it was all she seemed to want to do for a while. And then she started to write her book. I was shocked at the maturity in her writing style! As my friend, Tracy, said, "I guess you know what she was doing now! She was taking writing lessons!" Indeed! Be on the look out for The Chicken Pox Mystery, which is expected to be completed by the year's end.

Last night, she tickled us all with many jokes at a bon fire with friends. Some, we had never heard her tell. She is growing into a beautiful young woman.

Sarah is... How do I describe Sarah?

She is a burst of bright energy, going full speed ahead nearly the day long. She is often up and going strong long before she is required to rise in the morning and thrashing in her bed, trying to wind down at the day's end. Once she is still, it's usually just a few moments before she is fast asleep.

Her current favorite song is "I'll Fly Away", which she loves to sing at very top volume for anyone who will listen. She is adamant that she knows how to sing "opera" and does so at glass shattering pitches and sound!

She loves to dress up with all the prissy, girly things she can find. It is not unusual to find a trail of clothes in the house, where she has changed and changed and changed, in the course of, oh, say, a half hour time span!

Watch her with her skirt and glitter shoes, as she chases a toad in the back yard, which she calls her "Boy". She squeezes him with great affection until I expect to see his "innerds", as my mother calls them, become "out-erds"!

We have seen significant growth in her sense of responsibility. Now, if Steve is running late, we can ask Sarah to tend to the animals, with full confidence she will do it well. We have seen good growth in our animals this year, too!

In July, we welcomed goat twins to Mama Goat, Annie. Spots and Socks are strong and healthy. The "he-goat", Spots is the black one and he seems to be interested in all the things one would expect a "he-goat" to be interested in. Enough said!

Socks, our "she-goat", is gentle and very tame. She is dear and follows Steve all around. They have grown considerably this summer and we rarely see them nurse any more. We had discovered that their mama is not interested in being milked! Also, she has gained significant skills in jumping away! Suffice it to say our hopes of milking her this fall are dwindling!

Steve is enjoying his animals greatly. We currently have a dog, 2 cats, 2 baby goats, 2 adult female goats, 1 adult male goat, four ducks, 3 laying hens, 2 roosters, a slew of maturing hens, and an undisclosed number of baby chicks waiting to hatch in the next week!

This week, Steve is on vacation and we are so excited to have some extra "Daddy-time"! Our current theme at church has been...

Psalm 84

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you. Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;

listen to me, O God of Jacob. Selah

We are praying for revival in our hearts, home, our church and our nation. On October 5, our church will begin revival services and we pray the Lord will meet us there.

Stepping closer...

Today, my grandmother continues to linger, breathing the breath of life, little by little.

At one point, her eyes opened and looked around. My uncle asked if she wanted anything. She struggled to say no, but shook her head.

He wondered if hearing my father's voice would help her let go. My father, her firstborn son, called on the phone. He told her of his love for her and encouraged her to rest.

Last night, I found my daughter distraught...agonizing over her great-grandmother's lingering. She sobbed in my arms. Why? Why do people have to die?

Why do some people live so long and some people die so young? Why?

Why couldn't God have created us to choose only to serve Him? Why didn't He make us without the choice to sin? Why?

Can we go see her tonight? Can we go in the morning? Why?

We decided that if she is still earthside on Monday, we will discuss going to see her again. And yet, how do we decide? It was hard to go Tuesday, while she lay, looking for the words to say...

How do you say thank you? How can you thank someone for that which words cannot convey? How do you communicate a love that is such a part of who you are? How do you say good-bye until eternity?

I told her of my love. I told her of my gratitude. I used simple statements, hoping she would hear them and know. I kissed her. I rubbed her arm. I stroked her hair. I whispered the request I've longed to give to one so near to heaven...

kiss my baby for me.

I cannot fathom how she feels right now... so long without something to drink... does each breath bring pain?

is she full of longing for it to be finished? is she remembering years gone by? is she already in His light? does she feel His presence? several times I thought I heard her say light. was it His light already? can she see the angels, waiting to take her hand? is there something that holds her here? does she have a worry? does she have unfinished business with the Father? can her soul commune with His even now?

Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

Job 5:26

My Grandmother

Tonight, in a small town a couple hours south of here, my grandmother is hovering between this life and the next. It seems the angels await... and yet, for some reason she lingers...

One of earliest memories of Grandma is of Christmas presents, "wrapped" in printed boxes--very practical, of course! And a small table top tree. That seemed just absurd to me!

I remember summers in their little quaint town, exploring the house while she worked in her beauty shop. Her beauty shop was in the front room of her home. I vaguely remember a time when she had someone else working with her, but mostly I remember her little lady friends coming and going, with hair of varying shades of white and purple. Often they left her shop looking nearly the same as when they came.

When we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, she would wash our hair in her beauty shop sink. I can remember her pointing out the areas that I needed to care to clean well when shampooing. I think of that each time I shampoo my daughter's hair. I can still remember watching the top of her aging arm sway back and forth as she scrubbed my head and hair. And I mean scrubbed! If soap got too close to my eyes, she would reach and wipe it with her forearm. I think of that every single time I do the same for one of my daughters.

I remember getting bathed in her antique bathtub. Yes, bathed. Again, scrubbed. Cashmere Bouquet, to be exact. I think we were all relieved when she accepted that we could bathe ourselves. I remember crisp, white sheets (with little black footprints) on a bed with an iron frame. She made sure we had some 10-0-6 to care for our faces. Don't leave the cap off or it will all evaporate out!

When I lost a tooth at her house, I not only got a quarter, but it was in a pencil sharpener! Whoa! That was exciting!

I remember having my nails done by Grandma in her beauty shop. This was long before there was nail shop on every corner. She had the old fashioned manicure table, complete with the goose necked lamp. I remember her going through the whole routine for us, complete with soaking our nails, trimming, filing, and even painting them. She made us choose conservative colors, based on what she thought our mama would want. I think of that every single time I cut my little girl's nails. "No, hold your thumb just like this..."

My grandma believed in salty, Virginia ham. Old ham, some call it. It wasn't until I was an adult that I developed a taste for it. I never eat without thinking of her.

I remember Angel biscuits. It wasn't until we were adults that someone thought to ask why. Why were they called that? Because she made them for her angels came the stunning reply. She's never been the sappy type, so we were surprised.

Her table was the only I ever saw with ice cubes in the dish with the slices of cucumbers. The only one besides mine, that is. Summer visits meant "cukes", butter beans, corn on the cob, slices of tomato and, of course, ice cream! Grandpa loved ice cream!

And then there was her chocolate chess pie. As a child, I could not appreciate the dark, rich chocolate and preferred my other grandmother's chocolate meringue. And then I grew up. As a young bride, I asked my grandmother about it. She gave me the cookbook, showed me the recipe and then told me how to change it to make it more like hers.

When I was about thirteen, I longed to learn to play the piano. Grandma caught wind of this and offered to pay for my lessons. Recently she told us that she'd told my parents to be sure to find me a good teacher. She wanted me to learn because I wanted to learn. When visiting her in the nursing home, we have enjoyed times of music in the dining room, me playing the piano, her listening. The last time we did this, she announced to everyone there that this was her granddaughter playing the piano. She was proud to be my grandma. I was proud she was too.

I remember her and Grandpa coming to various concerts through my high school years, full of compliments and encouragment.

I remember her frog skirt. I remember her telling us that she wore it especially for us, thinking we would like it. It was blue with bright green frogs all over it. A wrap-around.

I remember her hugging me one day. It was a summer day when I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and she said, patting my arm, "You slap good!" We laughed about that for years.

I remember her insistence at hearing our prayers at meals. Any mumbling or soft prayers would be met with "Little louder." I remember the day I planned my sassy comeback and how she out witted me! I intentionally mumbled softly when praying for our lunch. Grandma, stopped and looked at me and said, "I can't hear a word you are saying!" I said, as planned with my sister, "I wasn't talking to you!" Grandma's quick answer came back, "Well, it's my prayer too! Don't you think I should hear what you say?"

Her notes came faithfully through my college years. Often there was money tucked in to help pay for my education. I remember their pride at my graduation. They valued education highly. When I walked through my commencement exercise, I did so largely for them.

When a few years later, Steve and I went to Texas for his masters degree, she would still occasionally send me a bit of money to help us out. And her sweet notes. Telling me a little bit of what was happening with them.

I have the last letter she wrote to me. It was from early 2004. She had written to congratulate me on expecting our third baby. Grandpa chose the card. It had a harried mother on the front, with children in tow. The caption read, "Life in the fast lane!" You could tell she was tickled by it. I kept it, not only because I thought it was sweet of her to celebrate our baby with us, but because I had made a practice of keeping her letters...lest it be her last.

I think about her tonight... laying so tiny and frail, in a nursing home bed. Her hair, such a beautiful white from a young age, cut short and pressed to her head. How I wished I could do something for her in that way...

I saw her three days ago. When I first came in, her skin was warm...almost too warm. As my time with her passed, I could feel her growing cold... Eventually, she asked if I could help her get her arms warm.

Breathing seemed like a momentous task. For a moment...she stopped.

And then started again.

Today she breathed for a half a minute or so....and then she stopped.

Breathe some more....and then stop.

At some point, breathing will stop. Her lungs will have finished their work, having served her for ninety-one years, four months and sixteen days... and counting. Like King David, she is old and full of days.

The breath of life will no longer be in her... She has used her body to the fullest.

And soon...very soon...she will no longer need it. She, my grandmother, will be present with the Lord. She will be reunited with her husband of over seventy years. She will meet my daughter, whom I did not keep here. And she will see my Lord, her Savior, face to face.

There is a song that has been in my mind for the last few days...just a line really...

"It's like waking up in Glory, and finding it Home."