Our Journey to the Center of the Earth- Israel

Tuesday, March 2- Depart Los Angeles for Frankfurt.

Wednesday, March 3- Depart Frankfurt, Germany for Tel Aviv, Israel.  Meet our Israeli tour guide.  Visit Jaffa beofre proceeding to Herzelya.

Thursday, March 4- Caesarea, Megiddo, Tiberias
     Today we pass through the fast growing towns and farms of the Plain of Sharon enroute to Caesarea, site of major events in the lives of Peter and Paul.  It's on to Megiddo, inspiration for James Michener's "The Source", and prophesied site of Armageddon.  Archeological digs reveal 20 layers of civilization, including fortifications of King Solomon and the water tunnel of King Ahab.  Megiddo provides a magnificent view of the fertile Jezreel Valey, at the crossroads of the ancient Via Maris.  We'll drive through the Jezreel Valley to Sepphoris, the former Roman capital of the Galilee and the famous seat of the Sanhedrin, the ancient Jewish ruling council, in the second centruy AD.  Sepphoris is comprised of a Crusader forttress, a Roman amphitheater and numerous impressive mosaics. Then through the rolling hills of the Galilee to Nazareth.  Nazareth Village brings to life a farm and Galilean village, recreating Nazareth as it was 2000 years ago.  It is a window into the life  of Jesus, the city's most famous citizen.  Overnight in Tiberias.

Friday, March 5- Sea of Galilee
   We will visit an ancient boat believed to be from Jesus' time found in the Sea of Galilee in 1986.  We walk into Old Capernaum with the ancient synagogue; on to the site of the Mulitiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (Tabgha), the Sermon on the Mount and the Mount of Beatitudes.  In the afternoon we  wil journey north to Caeserea Phillipi (Banias Spring) where Peter confessed "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" (Matthew 16:16)

Saturday, March 6- Northern Galilee
   Today we will journey to Hazor originally conquered by Joshua in 1300 BC.  King Solomon began reconstruction here and King Ahab erected a magnificent palace here as well.  Later we visit  Bethsaida.  We will now be literally walking in the footsteps of Jesus.  We will take a most memorable boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, in a replica of the ancient wooden boat used in Jesus' day. 

Sunday, March 7 (Paul's Birthday!) - Jordan Valley, Jerusalem
    This morning we will visit the Jordan River and I will be baptized by water in the Jordan river.  Maybe Paul too, although he's already been baptized.  We will drive along tte Jordan Valley to Beit She'an to see the expansive excavations taking place at this ancient Roman Decapolis City.  We'll stop at Gideon's Spring where Gideon selected his soldiers to do battle against the Midianites.  Then we'll go up to Jerusalem.  We will enter the city as pilgrims did since ancient times to fulfill the words of the prophet "I was glad when they said unto me 'Our feet shall stand within thy Gates, O Jerusalem' " (Psalms 122:1-2)

Monday, March 8- Jerusalem, Bethlehem
   Start the day at the top of the Mt. of Olives.  Take the "Palm Sunday Walk" to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations and drive across the Kidron Valley.  Enter the Old City through St. Stephens Gate (Lions' Gate) to the Muslim Quarter, visit the beautiful Church of St. Anne and the Pool of Bethesda, Pilate's Judgment Hall, and the Ecce Homo Arch.  Walk along the Via Dolorosa, into the Christian Quarter, and see the Stations of the Cross.  Drive to Mt. Zion to see the House of Caiaphas and the Upper Room of the Last Supper.  We will visit Bethlehem and see Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity, and view Shepherd's Fields and the Fields of Boaz and Ruth.

Tuesday, March 9- Masada, Dead Sea, Qumran
    Depart to Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on Earth, where we ascend by cable car to visit the remnants of Herod's Palace and where in 73 AD the Zealots made their last stand against the might of Rome.  Visit to Ein Gedi, fabled Spring of David, and proceed to Qummran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.  We will go for a swim, rather a "float", in the salted waters of the Dead Sea. 

Wednesday, March 10- Jerusalem
    Today, we investigate the excavations at the Western Wall Tunnel.  Visit to the reconstructed Jewish Quartter, walk through the Cardo, the orginal Roman street and see the amazing remains of the massive wall built by King Hezekiah.  See the important excavations taking place at the Western Wall and the Southern Temple Staircase.  On the Temple Mount, where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac.  See the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque that now stand there.   Visit the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed and the recently opened Bible Lands Museum.  End the afternoon at Golgotha and the empty Garden Tomb.   Special time is planned for worship, communion, meditation and inspiration.  Paul and I are also bringing prayers from our people to put in the Wailing Wall, the foundation of the Temple.

Thursday, March 11-  Jerusalem, Petra
   This morning we leave Jerusalem and head to Petra, Jordon.  (Jordon is a country where you most definately MUST behave yourself.)  Before we cross the Arava Bridge into Jordan, we visit the Timna Tabernacle. 

Friday, March 12- Petra
    This morning we tour the city of Petra, lost to the world for centuries, the "Rose-Red City Half as Old as Time" lay hidden in the mountains of southern Jordan.  It had been a stronghold and capital for the Nabateans.  It had a fatally vulnerable fault:  its water came by aqueduct from nearby Wadi Musa.  When the secret was discovered and the aqueduct cut, it fell to Rome in AD 106. When Rome entered, already there were Nabatean tombs, temples and monuments cut directly out of the red rock.  This afternoon we travel part of the way on horseback and the rest on foot through the deep and narrow passages which occur naturally, carved millions of years ago be erosion.  The Treasury finally appears magnificently and immediately in front of us after we emerge from what seems like a hundred turns in the ravine.  Now we'll begin our exploration of what both the Nabateans and Romans left or us to witness.  The most adventurous (yep, that'll be Paul and I for sure!) will be invited to hike up to the spiritual "High Place", site of the sacrificial alter and offering a spectacular view of teh ancient city.

Saturday, March 13- Petra, Mt. Nebo, Amman
   Today we start our journey north to Amman.  En route visit Machaerus it is the place where Salmon danced in exchange for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.  Proceed to the city of Madaba.  It is well known for its outstanding Byzantine mosaics.  We will see St. George's Cathedral, including the earliest surviving original map of the Holy Land in a mosaic floor dating to AD 560.  Continue on to visit Mt. Nebo which is reputed to be the burial place of Moses.  Visit the recently opened Lot's Museum. Lastly, we will see Jerash, a very famous Roman ruins site.

Sunday, March 14- Begin our journey home.


*I keep thinking of Matthew 2:28- " a voice is heard in the desert...  Rachel weeping for her children..." .  That will be me in Israel (ha!ha!)    Missing my children and soooo wishing they could experience this with us.  Poor Paul will be getting an awful lot of attention seeing as I will need to put my mothering energy somewhere!  I don't think he'll mind though.

Paul's sister and her daughter are coming from Michigan to care for the children while we're gone. (I am so grateful!)  The kids are SOOO excited.  They are wanting us to leave. They love their Aunt and Cousin.  And Paul and I can really enjoy ourselves because we know they are in loving and capable hands.  I just hope the kids aren't too upset when we come back. (ha!ha!)

We feel so blessed to be able to go.  Thank you, Lord!

Update, Scrapbooking and Japanese Girl

Well, I'm so thankful to be feeling back to normal again.  I got caught up on a lot yesterday, thanks to my dear hubby who watched the kids for me while I ran 7 errands in 80 minutes, including vacuuming and washing the car.   (I was pretending to be in an Olympic sport)   We are desperately trying to squeeze so many things in before we leave for 16 days! 

I will be heading into the Corps with the girls to catch up there too. 

Then company this afternoon, then back to the grindingstone.

Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks:

We've started a new project around here and the kids are loving it.

Scrapbooking! 

When the Back To School Supplies were on sale last fall, I stocked up on 10 cent

spiral notebooks. 

Then I've been grabbing magazines from the free shelves at the Library.

Some glue sticks and scissors, wa-la.

Cheap, easy, fun.

The kids pull it out any time and work on them.  They'll sit there for an hour creating.  It is a God-send for sure during these winter months of being cooped up inside.  

Ann's

Elijah's

David's

Hannah mostly sticks to drawing "Space-Ships" (her new thing) on the cover and inside pages.

I've even started one.  I find it quite relaxing and decompressing.

I'm going to pull together the supplies to make this available to our Church Game Room children in the summer too.  I think they will enjoy it as much as we have.

 

A couple weeks ago when Paul flew down to El Paso, I stuck a couple of chopsticks in Ann's bun (from ballet) and she suddenly became a very serious "Japanese Girl".  Then she and Elijah and Hannah used her easy bake oven because she wanted to make a Japanese Girl dinner.  Before I knew it, we were all involved and I tried to make it special by eating at the coffee table and drinking our last bottle of sparkling cider in my most precious teacups, meant for precious people.

And then there's Mary. 

I had to strap her down in her high chair because she kept tyring to pull all the food and dishes off the coffee table and the kids were losing their patience with her.  She was content in her chair while she watched me fold laundry, visit with one of my ladies on the phone,  and co-ordinate the special Japanese Girl dinner. 

I am thankful that David still enjoys these simple things. 

I know he is getting older and I will have to step-it-up so that he can have as much fun as everyone else.  Too many boys his age just turn to the TV or video games, and believe me he tries sometimes,

but I'm not selling out.

He has an amazing mind, what child doesn't? 

Thank you, Lord, for giving us a mind that creates and imagines!

Us Sickies

All us girls in the house are major sickies.  Baaad stomach virus. Paul had to take Mary and Hannah to the ER on Monday night, Ann and I woke up with it Tuesday morning.  We've just been laying around in a stupor, with our handy barf bowls (aka the popcorn bowls).    You should see the laundry, or maybe not ;) 

Paul has his game on, I think he likes taking care of us sickies, which is so not my forte.  

It's killing me that I'm not able to get things done at home and at the Corps to be ready for our big trip!  

I know we're getting better though.  I am just praying that my energy comes back in full swing soon!

Several people at the Corps(church) have it too.  The Dr. said it's going around. 
I hope we didn't start it.

Mother Is Not Maid

When I was  in the dentist's office the other day, I got a chance to catch up on all the celebrity magazines.  I would've never thought that admist all that entertaining trash I would find an epiphany-a-ha-click-lightbulb- went-off moment for myself, but God is infamous for turning garbage into gem!  Here's what I found.........

"Mother is not maid."

-Jonas Brother's Mom

You know when I am most frustrated with motherhood is if I'm not actually engaged in it.  I get most frustrated when I feel like I've just been cleaning up, shuttling kids around, and feeding everyone all day.

Yes, those are all parts of motherhood, but it is NOT the definition of motherhood.   I think in a lot of ways the pattern of this world says... "do not over-mother", "let the village raise the child", "don't cram things down the kids' throat", "you're just a mom, you're not capable of what the professionals are" and on and on.  On the inside I am not duped into believing these things. God is transforming me by the  renewing of my mind.  But I have to admit that there are many times when I will just nodd my head and agree so as not to look "over-bearing" and so that I will not look "foolish" because I consider being a mother the most important-eternal-world changing- legacy leaving thing I will ever do.  I have 5 little disciples 24/7.  

So I have been really pondering lately my role as Mother in my children's lives,

 how am I and will I be actively engaged in raising my children?

A Mother nurtures and takes responsbility for her offspring.    A Mother trains, guides and protects her children.  She does what she knows to be best for them.  She does not just wish, or churn things over in her mind, or simply sit in thoughtful prayer; she puts her love into action, she takes a stand, and she takes full responsibilty for being the only mother that God has given  her children.  She is fierce, but gentle.  She has her mind made up, but is open to Heavenly Father and earthly father  directed change.  She is steadfast, but knows when to take a break.   She respects her children, but is not afraid of them.  She is head over heals in love, but sensible. She is friend and foe, depending on the the child's perception! 

And more precisely:        

A mother meets the need of her child according to what he/she cannot do for themselves (much like ministry!)    A mother selflessly serves, teaches, demonstrates and helps her child do for themselves what they cannot do until they can.  Oh, how tender God has made our hearts!  How He has put these special abilities in the hands of Woman for all the world to benefit and see His glory and grace. 

Not what they won't do for themselves.

A mother uses discipline, routine, natural consequences, and sometimes punishment so that the child will eventually do for themselves what they won't do.    THIS is where it counts.  It is my intention to raise men and women, not helpless children in an adult body.  I must constantly be on my toes in this area- praying for discernment so that I will know the difference between cannot and will not.  For example:  My 3 yod, Hannah, is in the mostly "cannot" area when it comes too cleaning up her room perfectly, but my 10 yod, David, absolutley can, and perfectly at that.  My 10 month old, Mary, can not possibly make her own bowl of Cheerios, but my 8 yod, Elijah, sure can.  This also applies to heart areas.  I expect my older children to be more in control of their emotions than my little ones.  Sometimes I need to physically hold a child until their temper cools but I expect an older child to hold themselves.

What does a "will not" look like?  Hear me----it is very rarely in the form of open defiance!!   It comes more in  forms of     laziness, "not hearing", denial, moodiness, divertion, lying, sneakiness, self-justification, blame, forgetfulness, selfish acts, and more.  These  are the areas that require the heart of a mother to tend after.  Others would want to expose these sins to make themselves look better and feel better about themselves (that's my conclusion of why we pick out others' sins),   but a mother does it with un-conditional love, acceptance,  and perfect hope for the path that her child will be on.  A mother is on her child's side, not against.   

She pours her energy into the character of her child before she pours it into anything else. 

She is far more Mother than Maid!

A Week in Progress

Monday- We went to the Portland Zoo, using our membership.  Fuuuun!  The weather was just right, it was not overly crowded (I expected worse with President's Day and all) and we all really enjoyed ourselves.  Hannah was more into it than ever.  The Zoo is one of my favorite places to be.  I love being outside and I love animals.  David's favorite are the snakes, Elijah's favorite are the giraffes, Ann's favorite are the elephants, Hannahs favorite is the bobcat , Paul's favorite is me.  Then, we're all looking at the bats, and of course, we run into another family we know from The Dalles.  Small world! On the way home, we wanted to eat at a mongolian grill called Chang's (the kids call it the noodle place) but it was closed.  We don't know the area real well, but ran across an Outback.  Okay, let's give it a try.  I'm thinking big bucks here, but... as we all gathered around the table, the waiter told us it was Kid's Eat FREE Monday! SCORE! 

Tuesday- Office, Errands, Office, Errands, Errands, Chores,  BEAUTIFUL weather and we all played outside at dinner time so I just heated up some HotPockets and Sliced up some apples for dinner.

Wednesday- Office, Home League, Office, Chores, Haircuts for the boys and a trip to Walgreens to buy a new chess game because the chess pieces from the old one keep vanishing, Chores, and some Olympic watching.  Then after the kids went to bed, I stayed up late to do a crash course in finishing my CBS lesson. 

Today-  CBS (Community Bible Study), I hosted the ladies luncheon for my group at home with baked potato bar (the ladies brought toppings).  I was so glad and excited to do this because in my 5 years of CBS, I've only been able to go to the monthly luncheon 3 times because it is normally scheduled when I have Advisory Board.   Chores (my middle name), an unusual disciplining for poor Ann, who learned a very big lesson today, and bedtime for the kids when I can do my own thing, which will probably be some things toward getting ready for Israel.  Oh me, oh my, it's getting close!   Or hmm... I wonder if The Office is on tonight....  I LOL everytime I watch that show!!! It drives Paul nuts to hear me ga-fa over and over again, but I catch him giggling too from the dining room table.  I open the blinds so that I can watch his reflection in the window, and then I can see if he's looking at the TV or not, but shhhhh....  I don't think he knows!

Tommorow- go to boy's school to watch David anchor the school news, then to the Office to finish getting ready for Sunday and check on Sally (our hamster) and take care of some other things.  I should have an easy afternoon because a visitation cancelled.  I'm looking forward to just puttering around the house with the kids.  I bought a new 1000 piece puzzle that everyone's dying to start.  I might hide a few pieces to make things exciting (jk!).

Saturday David has a chess tournament.  It is SIX hours long.  Ugh!  Paul has already said he would go and just bring some work with him.  God bless that man.  I don't think I could do it (and still keep my sanity!).

Everyday Life Pics

Sunday morning,  heading out the door. 

Notice the girls with their "bump-it" hairdos.

They are so proud with their hair all big.  It's so funny!

Mary and you-know-who.

This is the sort of stuff the kids do while I'm at the Corps (church) working on stuff.

I think I was finishing getting ready for Sunday School or something.

Hannah LOVES this.

Round and round and round we go....

where we stop, nobody knows.

We are so blessed to have a game room.  My kids are always free to run and play and the Corps kids get to use it a lot too.  (I like to use it as a reward in our discipline arsenal!)

Hannah dropping her birthday pennies on the drum with Captain Paul (Daddy!)

Ann and Elijah leading a Sunday School song.

No,we don't only pick our own kids!! ha!ha!

(I'm just not putting up pics of our Corps children who are also eager little helpers.)

The girls like to load up EVERY one of their dollies on Ann's stroller that she got for Christmas.

When they go around the house with it, they literally remind me of the bag lady that used to hang around my home Salvation Army in Vallejo, CA.  

I call Ann and Hannah the bag ladies and they get all mad "NO! We're mommies Mommy!"

This is Mary's first hairdo with a bow.

It' didn't last long and then her hair stuck up funny all day.

 "The chief danger of the 20th century will be

religion without the Holy Ghost,

Christianity without Christ,

forgiveness without repentance,

salvation without regeneration,

politics without God,

and Heaven without Hell."

-William Booth

Chilling words that are still ringing true into the 21st century.

A Happy Valentine's Day

What a week it has been.  All good, but even good can be difficult, which is where I'm finding myself lately.  I have been worked up about an issue and trying  to be careful not to say too much.  I am relying on the Lord to give me a self-controled tongue and patience as I wait on Him.  It's hard when "hurry-up" is my middle name.  I am learning. 

Paul and I had a "Valentines" date on Friday night.  Our good friend, Stacie, babysat for us at the last minute, because we really needed to just go out alone.  We sat in the car for an hour and talked and then went out to dinner at the Baldwin's Saloon which has hands down the BEST french onion soup in the world. 

And so... on with the show...

What a wonderfully lovely Valentines Day we had today.

It started with an early morning for me (thanks a lot, Mary!) and as quiet as I intend to be, my girls always seem to hear me and wake up ready to go.  Ann pounced on me to tell me a Happy Valentine's Day.  Hannah followed.  I have big red mark on my stomach from where I got burnt from my spilled coffee.  Ouch.  Love hurts.

We did our usual Sunday morning routine and then off to the Corps (church).  In Sunday School with the children, I skipped our usual lesson and  I taught about Saint Valentine instead.  We talked about marriage, and the sanctity of it and how the world has always been against it in some form or another.   We also talked about being a martyr and being brave and courageous.   (St. Valentine used to marry people in secret because it was illegal for young men to get married.  He was also a martyr) Then the children made Valentines for the residents at the Veteran's Home that attend our monthly church service.  They did such a good job making them special.

A few of our people brought Valentines to give out.  One of our younger ladies brought little maze games and lollipops for all of the children.  They were so excited.  I was blessed to see her generosity to 25 children because I know that she doesn't have much.    Another couple of our ladies HAND WROTE 50 Valentines with John 3:16 and a Valentine word acrostic integrated into it.  That was such a special blessing that they would go through all that trouble because they love their church.   I feel like it is such a privelege to know and love these people.  I am always praying that I would be a better leader  for them.  They deserve more than I can offer.

In church, I preached a sermon on Grace and shared a short story to go along. 

After church, Paul and I did our drop-offs.  I heard Ann in the backseat telling a little boy, *A*, all about Mt. Hood and how it's a volcano and how her Grandma told her so and on and on and on.  *A* is such a darling little boy, he just sat there nodding his head with his big brown eyes in a daze.

Then we met at Denny's.  We had a coupon for 25% off.  We had a lot of giggles, did some sorting, patterns, and math problems with our rainbow goldfish, but I got SOOOO embarrassed when one of our children spilled their drink 3 times!!!  I am not an embarrassed type kind of person, but the 3rd time was too much for me!  Afterwards I ran into an acquantice (the kids love it- she has an animal name) and had a couple things I wanted to have a chat with her about.  Paul paid the bill and loaded the kids up in the car and patiently waited for me to finish.  I swear, if I was my wife, I'd kill me.  I finally got out to the car and he's just sitting there, kids buckled, and asks me kindly if I had a nice chat.  Why can't I be that patient????

Paul did church at the Veteran's home in the afternoon.  We usually switch off with the preaching and nursing homes.  I was glad to stay home and use that hour to get some of my reading done on a subject I've been studying.  The boys played dollies...errrr.. "soldier figures" and the girls harrassed poor Mary.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story....

Receiving their Valentine from Paul and I.

This picture turned out bad, but my friend, *J*, who also teaches the church ladies crafts once a month, made this for me a couple years ago.  It is such a neat thing, a long ribbon with patchwork looking fabric hearts slid on.  I love the pretty simplicity of it.

I bought these months ago to give them for Valentines. They are little lock and key diaries with pens. The kids really seemed to like them.

The kids were upset I didn't get Mary anything.  Oopsie!

Ann began writing in her diary right away.  I wrote "Dear Diary," on our dry erase board and she must've sat there and wrote that on 10+  pages.

Elijah mostly enjoyed his lock and key.

I never realized how much everyone would want to feed the baby.  I am working on weaning her (boo, hoo)before we leave for Israel.  I took a picture of Elijah feeding her because I had overheard him singing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" to her. 

My 2 friends gave me this MOST EXCELLENT idea when I was visiting with them the other night.  They are soundproof ear muffs.  David has been quite vocal about his annoyances with lip smacking and chewing at the table, mainly at breakfast time when the younger kids are stuffing their mouth with cereal or oatmeal.  So I told him, he can either get used to it or wear these because they are still learning to eat quietly with their mouths closed every time.    I actually bought two pairs, one for me too!  LOL!!! 

I made giant chocolate cupcakes for....

DINNER!!!!

-BIG Smile-

Thank you Lord, for LOVE! 

Beautiful (Organized!) Woman

I have been reading a most excellent book lately called "The Gentle Ways of The Beautiful Woman- A Practical Guide to Spiritual Beauty"  by Anne Ortlund.  I am really loving it, and learning.
Some things I say, "Thank you Lord for developing that in me", so many other things I say- "Oopsie!  Better get to work on that!"

The book takes you through different areas of your life: attitudes, thinking, beliefs, and allowing the Lord to work in you. It also gives very practical disciplines to incorporate into your daily life for maximum effeceincy.  LOVE IT!  NEED IT!  I have found several ideas that I have begun implementing.  It helps me to accomplish the things that are most important and to do it with grace and joy.  I never want to be that crazy-busy-stressed out woman that I was 10 years ago (and that was with less children!) Not that I never "go there", but at least it is less! ha!ha!

The first area I've been working at getting a handle on is my nightstand.  That is where the author says we should start restoring beauty to physical surroundings,  and it makes so much sense to me!  It's the first place I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night.  Unfortunately, it tends to be one of the messiest physical areas of my life.  In all my years of marriage, Paul has never complained about my housekeeping, except for the occasional mentioning of my nightstand ;)  Especially when things suddenly come crashing down.  And then I just leave it where it landed until my (maybe)  once a month shoveling out. (I also blame my babies who pull everything down in an effort to bury themselves alive). What's it so full of ?  Books upon books upon books. Bibles. Some magazines like The Officer or Above Rubies or my Human Events newspapers.  Even some cookbooks and sometimes little notes  my children leave me when they feel brave enough to step over the pile (s). 

So, I've been working at it, with my end goal being NOTHING on top of my nightstand except for my alarm clock, lamp, my picture of Paul as a first year Lt., and, as the book suggests, a small glass vase with a flower inside.  I have two drawers in my nightstand and I have cleared out the top one so that I can put my 1-3 books or magazines, Bible, pen, and notebook in.  The rest of my books must make their way downstairs or  to my office which will be their permanent home.  I love waking up in the morning to a nice and neat nightstand and going to sleep at night with at least my nightstand being beautiful.

Dinner tonight- chili bake and fruit

Organizing Meals

Well, what a wonderful couple of days I've had with friends.  Last night on my way out the door to meet up with two friends that I just adore, the kids were asking me "where are you going, what are you doing?".  I told them I was going to play with my friends... I can imagine that they pictured me running around screaming my head off like they do when they're with their friends, but nope..... I sat my rear down and I think we talked for like 4 hours!  We have so much in common, a deep love for the Lord, larger than "normal" families, and just trying hard to do our best at what we do.  I even got a couple of ideas to implement.  (Ear muffs that block the sound for me was one of them! ha!ha!ha!)   Then we got to go over and visit as a family today so that the kids had their turn to play :)  Now it's even. (I'm a twin, I 'heart' even!)

I thought I'd post about meals... but like I say.. I so don't know it all!  And I sure hope I never come across that way... I just like to share ideas because I know when I get a glimpse into other's lives, I get ideas too.  The Bible says "we should be spurring each other on toward good works"  though I think I get spurrred on more than I do the spurring!

Meals are one of the major daily "chores" of life (the other is laundry), especially when you are caring for children (or others) who can't make meals for themselves, or when you are trying to maximize the nourishment for your money or when you are trying to follow a healthful diet or when you are just plain trying to feed someone some grub!

This last month, God caused Paul and I to really go to town on our budget. It seems to have been a theme for us lately, not because of financial crises or anything like that, but in an effort for us to really be aware of where every dime goes. God provides for us and we should have an account of every penney. Sometimes we let things slide and then it's time to reign in again. We decided to spend barely any money in January and it actually got fun doing it.   I know for sure that God caused that because He foresaw our need to come up with the money to fly Paul down to El Paso for his friends funeral at the last minute.

Now, what does that have to do with organizing? The biggest area that we could save money on was groceries. We do like to keep a full pantry and freezer so that we are always prepared for

great meals, company, quick meals, and worst-case scenarios.

We do this by stocking up on our most used items when they go on sale. Like chicken breasts, beans, cereals, frozen berries, canned salmon, toilet paper, soap, etc. Paul is very good at this and even better about organizing our pantry. He organizes it according to expiration dates and then tells me what I should be focused on using. When we're tight on money or just looking to be more frugal, we eat our way through it, supplementing with fresh produce and dairy. Amidst our last run through, I came accross THIS pantry recipe website that I found most useful. You enter what is currently in your pantry and it organizes your food into great recipes. A couple of them I looked at and though "wow! I didn't know I had all the ingredients for that!" It takes a little time to make your entrys (I did it on a Sunday night) , but after that, you can just update here and there.  I also follow a couple of blogs about keeping a deep pantry.  I even get ideas to implement at the Corps(church) in our Social Service pantry.

Another couple of things I do to keep the meal part of my life running smoothly is to keep a list of all the meals I can come up with that I could make right now this minute without a trip to the grocery store.  On this list, I also keep Paul's or the children's requests so that I don't forget to make their favorite meal sometimes.  I add my own too ;)  I also will keep a weekly menu because I need to plan for things like crockpot meals for Wednesday church nights or Sunday lunches or an evening activity that requires a packed sandwiches or a trip through the drive-thru.

I also try to freeze a couple of meals a few times a month.  For example, if I'm making a casserole, I will make a huge one and freeze half.  I also started doing this with goodies too, like cookie dough (a great idea from my friend Stacie).  And when I'm cleaning up from dinner I'm getting things ready for dinner the next night, however insignificant it may seem, it is so much easier to go into preparing a meal with some of the tedial stuff done first, like chopping, mixing, measuring.  A lot of that is stuff the kids can be doing too.  They want to do it, it usually means a bit more of a mess for me, but on most days, I don't mind.

I am still trying to come up with a good snack system.  It seems like I am always offering the kids the same kind of things- cheese, fruit, crackers or 2 pieces from their candy stash.     It gets pretty boring and redundant, but I don't want to fork out the money or forgo nutrition for a bunch of pre-packaged foods either.  I could really use a good snack system.

Organizing-

ORGANIZING is one of  my most favorite words ever.  I love organizing:   people, tasks, stuff, areas, anything!  

Some may say... I don't have time to organize.  I say, I don't have time NOT to organize. 

Every one of my days are brimming over with people to care for and things that need to be done. (Thank you, Lord).   I don't have the time to be looking for things or time to waste in unproductive ways.  And I want to fully utilize my time occupying planet earth.

In fact, I even look for ways to make my rest time productive (I'm sure my mother wouldn't be surprised! ha!ha!)   I like to plan and organize how I will take my rest- a Little House and the Prairie episode rewound and ready to go, a cup of tea in the clean cup w/ saucer ready to go, a workout on the treadmill where I can always find my work-out shoes waiting for me right beside it, or some time in the Word with my Bible that is always on top of the schoolwork/art drawers with my notebook and blue smooth writing ballpoint pen. 

My organized life will look quite different than yours.   For example- a person might look at my unevenly  and unalphabitized stack of spice jars, packets and shakers in my  spice cupboard and say "what's up with that?!", but I know that I can reach my hand inside without even looking and grab exactly what I want out of about 25 items.  Everything has it's place. It has the order that I want from it so that it works best for me.  How does your spice cupboard work for you?  Do you waste time and energy digging for something?  Do you buy things you already have because you couldn't find it?  Or, are your spices spread out all over your home- pepper? in the couch.  garlic powder? back porch.  gaucamole seasonings? on top of the dryer.

Here are some words I associate with organizing:

Prepared

Plan

Efficient

Streamline

Integrate

Simplify (a theme running in my life right now)

Purge

God (He is a God of order, not chaos ;) check out Genesis 1)

So, this month I will be peppering my posts with the organizing element of my life.  I am not coming with a lot of formal knowledge in this area but I do know what works for my family and tweak it often to change with our needs for the time or when I get a better idea or new inspiration. I do know what works for me in my responsibilities in the ministry, but that changes too, and I end up looking for new ways to make my tasks most effective.  Maybe you'll find something useful or absurd, who knows.  Maybe you might offer me some advice also. 

A quote from a very good book that I just can't seem to put down----

"Let all things be done decently and in order."

-Bible    (1 Corinthians 14:40)