I just got back from eight fun-filled days in Springfield, Missouri. Woohoo, right? Seriously. The kids and I went to visit Amy and her kids for a week or so. The ten hour trip there was uneventful. The kids were great. They’re awesome travelers. We made it there by one thirty central time. We left at five a.m., and we only had to stop three times.

Most of our days were pretty low key, but we had tons of fun being together. It’s always interesting to see how our kids are going to react to each other. In the past, Jeremiah and Kyra have played together more than any of them. This time, however, Jeremiah and Elijah decided to be best buddies. They spent the whole time locking the girls out of their “Elijah and Jeremiah Club”. It was nice to see them actually getting along with each other. They slept in Jer’s top bunk most every night, and were usually still awake talking when the rest of us went to bed.

The girls didn’t get along quite as well, but they did have their moments of playing well together.

On, I think, the second day we were there, we went grocery shopping and to Target. Why am I telling you this? Because it was fun, and we have pictures.

That’s a cartload of babies, huh?

Our friend, Aimee met us at Target, and then we went home and made quesadillas.

Aimee and Amy cooking and talking. I don’t remember what they were talking about, but I love the look on Aimee’s face.

Our friend, Joy, came over, too. The kids all love Joy, but I think Kyra is especially enamored with her.

We sat around the kitchen table talking till after midnight. It was really nice. I wish I lived closer. I could get used to hanging out with friends.

Amy had class on Monday morning and all day Tuesday, and her kids had school all week. So, a lot of my time was spent taking and picking up kids from school, cleaning up their messes, and fixing a bajillion cups of chocolate milk. Five kids go through a lot of milk. I was really happy to actually get to be of practical help to Amy…watching Sarah and taking her to school when the babysitter unexpectedly couldn’t, etc. Living so far away, I can never do the kind of things that best friends do. I wish I could be helpful more often.

We had a donut party one day, but other than this one photo…I’m going to make a new post later with all our donut pics and video. They’re really cute.

We were supposed to leave on Friday morning, but we hit a little hangup. The night before, on the way to Bible study, my tire was low. We aired it up, and were going to check it in the morning. So, Friday morning, I was gonna leave at six, but I ended up sleeping later and getting up at six. I went outside in the freezing cold to check my tire, and it looked like it could be a tad low but not much. So, I got ready, packed up our stuff, and went to load the van. When I went out there, at about nine, the tire was completely flat. I had to call a tow service to come change my tire for me, and then we took it to the tire store to get it fixed. It had a nail in it. It was the grace of God, though, that I slept later, and we weren’t on the road when the tire went flat. That would have really rained on my parade. Especially if it blew out on me.

These are some pictures from our wait at the tire shop. They’re fun.

Hugging my boy.

Biting my boy.

My bitten boy.

Our beautiful girls, waiting patiently.

After we go the tire fixed, we went out for pizza for lunch, and decided it was too late to head to Tennessee, so we were staying another night. We then picked Jeremiah up from school, went to Honey Heaven (a honey store that had a hive of real bees that we looked at and honey sticks that we ate), and went to the Army Surplus store. We were looking for an old school Army pt jacket. Chris lost his, and I wanted one. Amy had one that used to be Joel’s that I was coveting. Anyway, while we were there, we had fun trying on silly hats.

I think we’ll all agree on who was the cutest.

After the crazy Army Surplus fun, we went to get Andy’s Frozen Custard. Apparently, it’s a must if you’re in Springfield. It was delicious. After that, we ordered sushi. I wasn’t the only one who tried sushi for the first time.

Sushi is good. I think it’s my new favorite. Seriously. I had it for dinner last night, and then ate it for breakfast at four thirty this morning, and then I had some more on the drive home since my amazing friend packed me a little cooler of it. She really does make my life better…breakfast burritos and sushi are enough to warrant a lifelong friendship, no?

I so enjoyed my trip. It’s always good to be with my friend. To go to church and worship with her, to sing along to the song playing while we wait to pick up a kid from school, to eat sushi in her living room floor…no matter what we’re doing, it’s fun. I treasure each moment that I get to spend with Amy and her kids.

She made me laugh right before she took the picture.

Craziness. We have so much fun together.

I don’t look so great in this photo, but Amy looks so pretty I had to post it.

I love my friend. I miss her already.

Here’s to hoping that our next visit is just as awesome as this one was.

Last night, I went to a ladies Christmas dinner at church. I was undecided about whether to go or not for several weeks. I wasn’t sure if I would have someone to watch the kids, I was afraid maybe I would end up sitting with people I didn’t know, and I procrastinated paying my part and committing myself to go. After several people encouraged me to come, I decided to go. I’m so glad I did. Not only did I have lots of fun and really enjoy the fellowship with the other ladies, but I was really very blessed by being there.

The special speaker for the evening was Mrs. Paula Hodges. She spoke to us about loving the Lord with all of our hearts. She recounted some of her experiences working on the mission field in the Dominican Republic, and she told of working with children in a Christian school. She told us a story about singing to her class to settle them down for the Bible hour. She said she was singing the lyrics, “I love you, Lord, with all my heart”, and, each time she sang the words, she heard the Lord asking, “Do you really?” As she spoke to us, I heard the Lord asking me, “Do you really?” Mrs. Hodges challenged us to love the Lord with all our hearts. She challenged us to serve him in 2008…to do more for Him than we did this year. She also expressed to us the need to teach our children to love Him. I can’t express to you how much this message gripped my heart. It was for me. If no one else got anything from what she said, I did.

Her text for the night was from Deuteronomy 6:5-7 :

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Friends, my heart is challenged. I want to love the Lord with all of my heart. Mrs. Hodges pointed out that if we truly loved Him with all of our hearts, we would do anything He asked us to do. I want to present myself to God as a holy and acceptable sacrifice. I want to offer myself to Him to use anyway He wants to use me. I want to serve Him because I love Him. I want to love Him more than I do now. I want to teach my children to love Him. I think, a lot of times, we teach them to fear Him, to obey Him, but I don’t know that I’ve been teaching my kids to love Him.

I truly desire to do more for God in 2008. I want to serve Him. I want to love Him with all my heart. I want to teach my children to love Him. He’s so good to me. He has given me an unspeakable treasure in the three beautiful children He’s blessed me with. I don’t want to take that for granted. I want to raise them to be servants of God who follow Him and serve Him out of a passionate love for Him.

I want to love Him with all my heart.

She just turned five, my forever friend. She’s smart and cute and side-splitting funny. She doesn’t like babies, my cooking, or soda, and if ever you yell at her it would break her heart. She meow’s like a kitty, and wears dresses just because she’s a princess. She’s not my daughter or even my niece, but I couldn’t love her more if she was. She calls me Aunt Rachel, and it gets me every time.

Her name is Sarah, or sometimes Daisy…it just depends on which way the sun shines. She’s my best friend’s daughter, and she stole my heart. I talk to her mom a dozen times a day, and she always asks to talk to me when she knows I’m on the phone. Sometimes she tells me stories or what her brother’s doing, and sometimes I just fill her mind with propaganda about how wonderful she is for helping her mom do the dishes. I had to laugh when she fought for the phone with her mom, and she giggled and told me her mom sometimes forgets that Sarah and I are friends forever.

Last night, I called on my way home from school. I talked to my little friend, and she said she had a secret. Her voice was hard to understand in her gaspy, childish whisper. It took two times before I got the message. The secret she shared, well, it broke my heart. “If you talk to my Daddy on the phone, tell him to come home.”

Tell him to come home.

Her daddy’s a soldier, deployed to Afghanistan. So very far from home.

My little friend is five years old. She doesn’t understand war or duty or patriotism. They’re just abstract ideas that mean her daddy’s far away.

I can’t fix her problem, though I wish I could. My heart aches for the sadness she feels. I imagine the call years down the road when I’ll try not to break down and cry. I imagine my friend will be not so little, but still my friend forever, when she says, “If you talk to my Mom on the phone, tell her to come home.”

See, her mom’s a soldier, too. A soon to be chaplain with a burden to tell soldiers about Jesus. A mom who loves her kids more than life itself, asked to leave them for a while to minister to those who need hope. What can I do, but listen and pray? Listen to a mom whose heart breaks over the dad who’s away. Listen to the girl who whispers her secret. Listen and promise that I’ll always be there to listen and pray and be a keeper of secrets.

Pray for this family who does this for you. For freedom and country and each other and you. For God and the Gospel and the knowledge that saves. They’re not nameless faces, but real hearts and tears. They’re not an exception in this military life. It’s par for the course, and it hurts every time.

Do what you can. Help where you can. Most of all pray, because you always can. Pray for my friend, and pray for her man. Pray for her boy. And, please, please, pray for my little forever friend.

As I’ve been watching Owen totter around this week, learning to walk, I’ve been thinking. God has really been working in my heart this week. I’ve began to really see Him as a loving Father.

I watch Owen stand himself up, get his balance, and take a few steps. He’s still learning how to do it. I know he’s going to fall eventually, but, as his parent, I’m just so proud of him for trying. When he falls, I tell him, “Good job, Owen!”, clap my hands to show my pride in him, and then stand him back up. Knowing, all the time, that he’s most likely going to fall this time, too. And I think of my Father, watching me take unsure steps…baby steps…toward Him. If I am proud of Owen, does He not feel the same way about me? Willing to be patient with me while I learn how to walk?
Sometimes, after Owen falls, he wants to just take off crawling. He knows he’s good at that. He’s been doing it for a while. It is comfortable and familiar. I know, though, that if he doesn’t learn to walk, he’ll never experience life the best way he can. Not learning to walk would limit his happiness. So, I stand him up again. I encourage him. When he falls and gets hurt, I comfort him. For he is my child, and I love him.

“Abba. Father.”
What does this mean?
I can’t comprehend,
The love of this thing.
You say that You’ll love me,
And that cannot change.
You say that a plan
For my life’s been arranged.
You say that You’ll help me,
When confusion abounds.
When I lose my direction,
You’ll turn me around.
You say that You’ll keep me,
Even when I ignore You.
You patiently wait.
For my heart to adore you.
When I stamp my feet,
And raise my fist to the sky.
Like a Daddy you wait,
Till the tears are all dry.
Then You offer again,
The words that I need.
You tell me You love me,
I guess that’s what it means.
A loving father.
Patient and kind.
Who knows I’m still growing,
My heart and my mind.
So, Abba…Father,
Show me again.
I know that You love me,
Help me feel it within.

–Rachel

Yes, my beloved is gone. He left at about six a.m. this morning for Fort Jackson. Kyra, Owen, and I saw him off with several hugs and kisses and waves till he was out of sight. Elijah slept. He called once not long before I left for church and said he was in SC.
When I got out of church, I took his broadcast cd’s to the radio station, and my cell phone rang on the way back. I pulled over on the side of the road to talk to him before my signal faded. He told me he was at Fort Jackson, but he had been in an accident on the way there. It was raining, and his car slid as he was getting off the Interstate. He couldn’t stop it and it began to fishtail. He ended up hitting another car. They were all okay, and the only damage was a little bit to Chris’ bumper. After I got off the phone with Chris, I told Kyra what happened. She said that she had prayed for him in Sunday School, and that is why God protected him. Indeed!
I talked to him again this evening. He told me about his apartment and what he had done today. I think he’s really going to enjoy himself. Unfortunately, he forgot his adapter when he packed up his laptop and accessories, so he can’t use his computer. I’m going to try to overnight it to him in the morning, if I can’t send it same day. All of you guys who know Chris and I know that a life without computer service (and speedy internet, at that) is a pained existence. So, hopefully, we can get the adapter to him pretty soon and he will start blogging about Chaplain school.
Tonight, I miss him. My bed won’t be empty, as it is prime real estate even with one family member gone. There’s an empty spot, none the less, though, as half of my heart headed to the Army this morning. Please keep us in your prayers.
On a lighter note, these were made Chris’ last night home. Enjoy!

There are things about being a parent I know for sure. Some things I’ve learned as an adult. Some things I’ve learned being a kid myself. Here’s one thing I know for sure about parenting. Kids pick up on everything. They pick up on the hateful words you say when someone cuts you off in traffic. They pick up on the tension in the house when Mom and Dad are mad at each other. They pick up on things you wish they wouldn’t. The good news is, they also pick up on the good things. If you consistently show them something, they’re going to pick up on it sooner or later.
Kyra is quickly approaching five years old. She is reaching the place where she is starting to pick up on and understand things that were over her head until recently. For about a year, Kyra has, off and on, asked Chris and I about being saved. Mostly just wanting to know when she will be saved. We want to explain things to her, in a way she can understand, as she asks, but we don’t want to lead her into a repeat a prayer experience that isn’t the real deal. So, when she has asked, I have told her when Jesus comes to speak to her heart, then she can be saved. This has lead into the importance of being quiet and still in church, so that if Jesus wants to speak to her heart then, she’ll be able to hear Him. She’s asked on several occasions, usually wanting a little more information each time. It makes me very aware that she is leaving the “baby” years.
I had an interesting conversation with her a couple of days ago. I had been listening to the song, “Once Again” repeatedly over the course of the week. It’s one of my favorites lately. The songs builds up to a climax where the singer sings the words, “Thank you for the cross! Thank you for the cross, my Friend!”. We were in my room, doing something, and Kyra was singing that part of the song. She sang it a couple of times, and then she asked me, “Mama, who is ‘my friend’, and why do we say thank you for the cross?”. Tears immediately came to my eyes. These are momentous occasions. Opportunity to point my daughter’s eyes toward the One who can save her. I told her that “my friend” was Jesus, and that we thank him for the cross because He took our place. If He hadn’t of died on the cross for our sins, then we would have had to die to pay for them. She asked me, “But why did he take our place?” My voice caught in my throat as I told her, “Because He loves us so much.” Really. Think about it. He loves us so much that he suffered the cross in our stead. With just a few minutes of conversation, Kyra had satisfied her curiosity, and ran off to play, still singing the song to herself.
It’s moments like that…brief conversations with a child…that are like puzzle pieces. I want to make sure that Kyra has all of the pieces so that, when the time comes, she can put them all together to see the whole picture. I can’t wait for the day when she puts the puzzle together, and really, truly understands what Christ has done for us. I hope she will welcome Him into her life.
In the meantime, I want to be the best mother that I can be. It’s such a grave responsibility. These children are given to us with no understanding whatsoever, and it’s our job to teach them. It’s our job to point them to a Saviour. I will continue to take them to church. I will continue to sing the songs. I will continue to give them the puzzle pieces as they come to them. I will do my best, with God’s help, to expose them to Him. I fail so often, but I truly want to do better. Because, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that kids pick up on everything. It’s comforting to know that He is there to help me and guide me.

Thank you for the cross, my Friend!

“The Girl I Used To Be”
~Author Unknown~

She came tonight as I sat alone,
The girl I used to be.
And she gazed at me with her earnest eye
And questioned reproachfully:

Have you forgotten the many plans
And hopes I had for you?
The great career,the splendid fame,
all the wonderful things to do?

Where is the mansion of stately height
With all its gardens rare?
The silken robes that I dreamed for you
And the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad
For I wanted her pleased with me…
This slender girl from the shadowy past
The girl that I used to be.

So gently rising, I took her hand
And guided her up the stairs
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay
Innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems,
And precious they are to me;
That silken robes is my motherhood
Of costly simplicity.

And my mansion of stately height is love,
And the only career I know
Is serving each day in these sheltered walls
For the dear ones who come and go

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest,
She smiled through her tears at me.
And I saw the woman that I am now
Pleased the girl I used to be.

I saw that poem on Military Mommy’s blog, and I wanted to post it, too. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I love it.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my blogging friends. I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families. Happy Mother’s Day to my mother in law, my grandmother in law, my grandmothers, and especially my mom. I hope you all have a great day, and I love you all!

Yesterday, my beloved turned thirty-one years old. He worked most of the day, but he came home to a nice spaghetti supper, a homemade cake, and his mom, grandma, and aunt here to celebrate with him. Kyra helped me make his cake. You can see pictures here. In honor of his birthday, I would like to share with you 31 reasons why I love him.

1. Because he loves me.

2. Because he is a good man.

3. Because when he wants to be, he can be really sweet.

4. Because of his goofy sense of humor.

5. Because of the wonderful way he provides for our family.

6. Because of how incredibly smart he is.

7. Because he’s HOT!

8. Because he stands up for me when people are mean.

9. Because he’s not afraid of anything.

10. Because he can beat up my brothers.

11. Because he is not swayed by other people’s opinions.

12. Because he is an incredibly loving father.

13. Because he loves God.

14. Because he looks really, really good in an Army uniform!

15. Because he is really easy to cook for.

16. Because he likes to do all kinds of adventurous things.

17. Because he’s not a redneck. (I’m just sayin’!)

18. Because he always takes care of me.

19. Because he is a manly man.

20. Because he is so affectionate with the kids.

21. Because I love the way his eyes crinkle up and he gets tears in his eyes when something is really, really funny to him.

22. Because of the goofy songs he makes up when we are driving.

23. Because he doesn’t run around with other guys all the time and leave us at home, but always goes places with us.

24. Because, even though he had never changed a diaper before Kyra was born, he has always helped me change the kids.

25. Because of the times he has stayed behind to clean up puke in public places while I rushed off to the bathroom with the kid who puked.

26. Because we both have the same warped sense of humor.

27. Because he knows all of my secrets.

28. Because he believes in me.

29. Because he has goals in life.

30. Because he can be slightly geeky, just like me.

31. Because he is mine.