Cambodia Bound

Our plane heads out at noon today! It is finally here! Below you will find the church blog address where we as a team will be posted updates and specific prayer needs. Talk to you soon!

121 Community Church Mission Blog

Golden Goodness

The Chronicles of Narnia movies are some of our favorites around here. We've seen each one numerous times, sometimes daily! :) The kids enjoy the story, the characters and the animals. Alf and I enjoy those things too, however, we are in love with the story of Jesus Christ (as Aslan the Lion) that is told through each one.

Once we decided to homeschool, I KNEW these books were first on our reading list! We are on book 2 of 6 right now. Trey and I are enjoying reading through these together. He is always quick to point out where the book and the movie don't match up! :) I told him that they can't always do everything the book says or else the movie would be WAY too long. Luckily, that answer was sufficient! The awesome thing about reading these books out loud to each other (besides the obvious reading practice) is that we can talk through it together. Even more importantly I can explain why some passages stick out to me or make me cry when I read them. Because the stories are ultimately pointing to Jesus, I've had more than a few emotional reading sessions. I've included one section below that really struck my heart:

"Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

The Magician's Nephew (Book 1) by C.S. Lewis

Trey looked concerned as tears rolled down my face as I read this section to him a few weeks ago.

"Are you sad?" Trey asked.

I said, "No sweetie. These words struck me because this is how I feel about Jesus. I am nothing without Him. There is no good in me without Him. From the second I asked Him into my heart many years ago, He has never left me...and He never will."

It was such a sweet time with my son! I love sharing these times with him!

What a Day!!!

Man. Am I glad today's school day is over? YES I AM!! Today was one of those days when I seriously began to doubt our decision to homeschool this year. I knew these days would come. I was warned these days would come. At least I know we are on the right track! :)

Last week, my best friend Amanda and I were discussing our curriculum choices for this year. We were about to begin our 3rd full week and we weren't totally confident in what we had originally chosen for a few of our subjects. Our boys are both in the 2nd grade and similar in a lot of ways. We decided to take that 3rd week to really pray about what was best for our boys, give our current curriculum one more week, then make a decision over the weekend.

The "test" week came and went and we both made our decisions. I decided to stay with what I had chosen for Grammar, while choosing to change our Spelling/Vocabulary. So on Friday I packed up the kids and headed to Mardel to pick up our new curriculum. Trey and I sat in the middle of the aisle looking at all of our options. In the end, we went with a more challenging curriculum but I KNEW he could handle it. I had NO DOUBT! Now I just had to convince Trey that he could do it...

Today was the first day of the new Spelling/Vocabulary curriculum. It did not go well at all! There were tears. Lots of tears. I mean the big, honkin' tears. Tears that stained his paper. And did I mention that he was MAD? Really mad. He told me over and over how mad he was that I chose this HARD stuff for him to do. He threatened to tear up the paper. He threatened to mark all over it so he couldn't finish it. Although this is hard for me to write about, is he really any different from any of us adults? When we encounter HARD stuff, are we any more mature than this? Don't we throw tantrums? Don't we threaten God with all sorts of things? Don't we just want to quit? I know I do!

Another teachable moment laid before us. I got to talk him through his emotions. I got to tell him that it is okay to be angry and mad, however, it is not okay to hurt or destroy things in our anger.

In your anger do not sin.

Ephesians 4:26

I love that verse. I love it because it tells me that it's okay to have emotions. Another version says, "WHEN angry, do not sin." The anger/emotion isn't the issue, it's what I do IN the emotion that I have to be careful of.

While Trey was struggling through his lesson, I walked over and put my arm around him. I gave him a big hug and kiss and reassured him that he could do what we had chosen. I reassured him that I wasn't being hard on him to be mean. I reassured him that I loved him and that I was very proud of him for pushing through. He looked up at me with huge tears in his eyes again and said, "I know you love me mom. I just don't like hard things. I just don't like it when people push me." Again, my heart was plucked. Again, I was reassured that he really is my son! :) He is me in a little boy body!

Personally, I am in the midst of some hard things right now. In less than 3 weeks I will be around the world in Cambodia playing a small role in God's plan of justice against child sex trafficking and bonded slavery. Can I just let you in on a little secret? I am scared. I am nervous. I am totally out of my comfort zone. And I just said those exact same words to God last night that my sweet boy expressed to me today.

"God, I know you love me. You have me going to a hard place. You have me doing some hard things. I don't like it when you push me."

And do you know what He did this morning in my time with Him?

While I was struggling, He leaned down through His Word and put His arm around me. He gave me a big hug and kiss and reassured me that WE could do what He had chosen for me...together. He reassured me that He wasn't being hard on me to be mean...but for preparation. He reassured me that He loves me and that He is very proud of me for pushing through.

Man. What a day.

A Musical Pick-Me-Up

I heard this song by Stellar Kart earlier this week. Usually I'm a talk radio kind of gal, but the other day I really needed to hear some music. This was the perfect song for me at the perfect time!

Life Lessons from Frog & Toad

Trey and I went to the library a few weeks ago to choose some good books to read. At that time we were still waiting for our curriculum to arrive in the mail, so we read, read, read and then read some more. We walked the aisles of the readers, pondering all of the many options. My eyes instantly fixed on the green binding of this book:

The Frog and Toad books were some of my absolute favorites as a child! So I did what any good mother would do...I got them ALL! :) Trey wasn't too thrilled at my choice initially. The first thing he said was, "Mom, those pictures are not colorful at all!" I asked him to trust me. He said he would and we were on our way. But not before he picked out this one:

At first I protested. Riddled with first time homeschooling doubt I thought, "He can't read THAT! THAT isn't good enough for our reading time! He needs to be reading better things!" I felt a quiet nudge in my heart to ease up and find some freedom in our new adventure. Let me just assure you that he's had his nose in that book READING for about 4 weeks straight now!

I apologize for the rabbit trail...let's get back to Frog and Toad. :)

The very first story in the book is called "Tomorrow." The crux of the story is that Toad wakes up one morning and instantly begins to make a mental list of all the things he need to accomplish that day. He decides he would rather wait until tomorrow to tackle his chores. As he lays in bed, he instantly begins to feel overwhelmed.

"Blah," said Toad. "I feel down in the dumps."

"Why?" asked Frog.

"I am thinking about tomorrow," said Toad. "I am thinking about all the many things that I will have to do."

I can't tell you how many times I have felt this exact same way...completely overwhelmed with tasks, worry and anxiety! As Trey and I read this story together, we had a great teachable moment. Not only did I get to share my own struggles with him, but I also got a chance to share TRUTH with him.

So do not worry about tomorrow;

for tomorrow will care for itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

As we school at home this year, we not only working on academics. We are working on character. We are working on making wise choices. We are working on pushing through the hard stuff. And most importantly, we are seeing that God is everywhere and totally applicable in ALL areas of our life.

I get to watch the light bulbs switch on!

The 40 Day Challenge

Exactly 4o days ago my husband challenged me, really us, to drink water as our only beverage for 40 days. This may not be a big deal to you, but to me it meant no more daily (sometimes hourly) doses of this...my FAVORITE DRINK:

or this

That's right friends! ONLY THIS:

In the days leading up to our conversation, I had begun to notice that I was depending more and more on the caffeine to get me through the day. I had also begun to notice that my memory was slowly getting a bit fuzzy. After some research, I found studies that link Diet Coke's key ingredient, Aspartame, to memory loss. So needless to say, by the time Alf threw down the gauntlet, I was totally up to the challenge!

Let me be completely honest and confess that those first few days were BAD! REALLY BAD! I was SO CRANKY! So much so that Alf gave me an instant out if I wanted it! HA! Nope! I knew it would pass in a few days...and it did.

There were definitely days when it would have been easier to grab that "quick fix". However, I was determined to actually finish something. No matter how insignificant only drinking water is in the grand scheme of things, this goal was a big deal to me. I don't think I've ever done anything outside of my roles of wife and mother for 40 days straight. It was time to push myself. I felt and feel great! We spent less money the few times we went out to eat. This may just be something that I continue with or without another challenge.

So today marks day 41. The challenge is over.

We sat down to eat lunch after church and my mouth began to "water" for that cold Dr. Pepper that I knew was in the "man fridge" outside. My family watched intently as I gingerly poured the sweet nectar into my glass. I took that initial sip and fully expected angels to sing! You know what...it didn't taste good! Not one bit! I was SO disappointed yet excited in a way. My body doesn't need it anymore. My body doesn't like it anymore. So as I sit here typing, with a HUGE HEADACHE, I think I may just go back to this:

No more of this:

or this

I need a nap. And an Alieve!!

Dance & Gymnastics

The kids began their "fall sports" last week at the local rec center. Trey told me he wasn't all that into sports, that he prefers to play with Legos, but he would give gymnastics a try again. He is a funny kid and turns out that he's pretty darn good at gymnastics to boot! Shaefer, on the other hand, has been talking about taking a dance class for AT LEAST 6 months. She is taking ballet and tap and is BEYOND excited to wear her "tappy-tap" shoes!

Trey just got these sunglasses and flip-flops from one of our friends and was determined to wear them to his first class. For some reason he feels the need to flash the peace sign in all of his pictures! :)

I'm pretty sure there is nothing cuter than a 3 year old in her first leotard & dance tights!

Shaefer gave me very specific instructions: "Mommy, take my picture! I'm a dancing princess!"

I'm not sure why I torture myself with attempting to get a decent picture of them together! I think it's every mom's dream! HA!

Even though they were being crazy, this is one of my FAVS of them! That is a sister that LOVES her bubba! I can still hear that laugh...

On the balance beam...

Dismount!

This kid has SO MUCH energy! Love him!

I know you are wondering where the pictures are from Shaefer's class. I was shocked (and sad!) to find out that her class is closed to the parents. We peeked in the little window at her...she was doing GREAT! You better believe I will be snapping pictures like crazy come recital time!