Tidbits

After watching "A Great Awakening," I was looking for an accessible book about Whitefield.  I asked one of our pastors, and his reply was not encouraging: 

"Boy, an “accessible” bio on Whitefield, not sure it exists. I have three more scholarly works on him in my library plus Dallimore’s two volume massive work. This latter one is excellent, but it is very long."

Then I was purging some of our books to donate and spied this one on our shelves! Looks similar to the movie.

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In cleaning off my many piles on the dining room table, I found my favorite CD (Embrace the Cross by Chuck Swindoll).  I've been listening to it while I work on said piles of paperwork. :) 

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After weeks of being greeted with the message "Sorry you can't access YouTube with your account," I finally figured out the problem. BK was signed into his school gmail account on my phone. At least we know the limits were working!

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I learned this week that a missionary who stayed in my childhood home back in the 80s (and whom none of us have seen since then) is good friends with Jim's brother & his wife!

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The best way to keep your dishes always clean is to have an ant infestation and watch each and every dish by hand the moment it touches food!

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Not everyone likes rhubarb, so find yourself a friend with a patch! A friend mentioned on the local town FB page that she had some for sale.  I purchased a small amount. Later when I ran into her in the library I asked if she had sold it all, and she said I was the only one, so I purchased some more! ($1/4 stalks)

Once and done

I often think of the adoption information meeting I attended one Saturday afternoon years ago in a city near us.  I mistakenly thought it was about adoption in general, but it was about adopting from China. I decided to stay, since I had driven all the way there, especially since there was only one other couple in attendance.  And I figured I would probably learn something.   

The presenter explained the definition of special needs adoption as being on a spectrum from medically fragile to hearing loss, and added, "If the child has hearing loss, you get hearing aids, and it's once and done." 

I am here to say respectfully that there is nothing once and done about it.  Infants require new molds to be made frequently for new ear molds. (And then when the mold is returned from the factory, it requires an appointment with audiology to fit the mold to the hearing aids.) The mold tubing can break.  The child's hearing can change, so there are frequent hearing tests to stay on top of that.  

BK was always good at letting us know when a battery died, and by the time he was 3 1/2, he was changing his own batteries (with supervision). 

He graduated to rechargeable hearing aids just after he turned 6, and started keeping them in his room, putting them in his charger at night and in his ears in the morning. 

(He also had 6 or 7 years of speech therapy and he - and we - had 3 years of commuting 70 miles to school.)

At 9 he graduated to hearing aids with domes instead of molds (this is the more invisible type).  But with technology comes technological glitches. 

When we travel, I take a hearing aid troubleshooting bag along with our first aid bag. 

I cannot count the number of times I have shipped a hearing aid to the pediatric audiology clinic to be repaired or (more frequently) to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

One was in for repairs for a few weeks, and then we were gone 10 days.  When we got it back, we discovered it needs to be reprogrammed. We attempted a remote programming appointment, but the app wasn't working.  That required a 70 mile (one-way) trip for an appointment in-person.  

Hearing loss is not once and done. It's a lifetime of appointments, strategies, and potentially anxiety.  One morning in church, BK said he wished there were a laser pointer so he would know what words the congregation is singing at that moment. :( 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #84

811.  our small group, our adult Sunday School class, our church, our pastor, our church's leadership

812.  another week of the Lord's watchcare over us, protection on the roads (550 miles for me last week), protection in the fields & with the equipment, etc.

813.  regular reports that my mom is thriving!

814.  a few hours of relaxing in front of a (very difficult) 1000-piece puzzle at Jim's dad's on Saturday afternoon

815.  speech therapists, tutor, swim team coaches, post office workers, librarians - just some of the people that serve us so well

816.  6th grade boys stopping by ... to be 6th grade boys :) 

817.  another year of life for Jim!

818.  aunt, uncle, cousin, & grandparents to keep BK &/or LM when we go to small group or take another child to an appointment

819.  our summer calendar is filled in (and by filled in I mean both decided & registered and also FULL!)

820.  we serve a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God!

Opening Exercises

I was thinking recently about Sunday School opening exercises. I think it's a thing of the past.

In my childhood church, during the first 10 minutes or so of Sunday school, before the children's classes were dismissed, all the children sat in the pews on the right side of the sanctuary.  The adults sat on the left. 

The single school teacher whom we all adored led the opening exercises. There were multiple components including offering, prayer, birthday recognition, etc., but the one most memorable to me was the singing. 

She held up visual songs. Some were purchased from CEF, and she turned the pages of the oversized booklets. Others were ones which she had handwritten (in her perfect teacher writing) on poster board. Some were laminated at her school.  She tried to add cut out pictures from Sunday School papers on each side, to add interest. It took real talent to flip the poster boards so that the right side was showing (especially if a song took the front & back of two poster boards, and she had to return to the chorus)! 

Some of my favorite childhood memories involved these songs! Do you know any of them? 

Stop and let me tell you

Why worry, when you can pray?

28.30

 

 I sing the mighty power of God

Did you ever talk to God above

 

I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God 

God's power (The illustrated song which she held up had a photo of a wave on the front.)

"My God is bigger than I am

Strongest of all

He is able to make

The summer turn into fall

He controls all that happens

His power is plain to see

And I know I can trust Him

For with His power

He cares for me.

God speaks to me in the Bible

Shows me His love

He tells how the Lord Jesus

came to earth from above

He tells how I can please Him 

and teaches me His ways.

Yes, the Bible will guide me

and give me strength for all my days."

Jesus is caring for you

(Verse 1) Don't be afraid Jesus is watching you. In the dark night He is protecting you. Talk to the Lord; Ask Him to make you brave; Jesus will hear when you pray.

(Chorus) Jesus is caring for you; Jesus is helping you too.
Jesus is always there keeping you, for He loves you. (Repeat chorus.)

(Verse 2) You're not alone, Jesus is there with you. He can't be seen, but He is there, it's true. He is your friend. He'll keep you in His care He goes with you everywhere.

(Chorus) Jesus is caring for you; Jesus is helping you too.
Jesus is always there keeping you, for He loves you. (Repeat chorus.)

O-b-e-d-i-e-n-c-e

Happiness is the Lord

34.30

  

My favorite "national holiday"

Every spring my sister-in-law and I usually go garage-saling in a certain small town about 15-20 minutes away. 68 garage sales in a town of 2300 people! My family has many useful items in our home which I have purchased over the years from those townwide garage sales. One year we ran into her friend who had taken a day off work, claiming it's a "national holiday!"

When you have babies and toddlers, garage sales are the best. And you buy things you didn't even know you "needed." Books, toys, puzzles, snow suits, and more, so much more!  Now, we're more in the purging era, and tweens and pre-tweens don't grow as quickly as newborns.

Now I try to have a list and I pray. In fact, the morning of the townwides, when Jim asked us each what our prayer request was, I said, "That I'll find things we need at the garage sale - shoes & jeans for BK, a bicycle for LM, and work clothes for Jim." When I picked LM up from school her first (& very enthusiastic) words were, "Did you find a bike for me?" Alas, no.

But I did (amazingly) find jeans for BK!!

Last year I only found one pair of jeans for him. American Eagle Outfitters. And they were marked $10. I hesitated, but they have been his only pair of jeans this past year.  He is definitely at the age where it's tough to find any clothes at garage sales.  But! But the Lord provided 3 or 4 pairs of the same style jeans (at $3 to $5/each!!).  

You can see all my finds below ...

• 2 pairs of shoes for BK
• 1 pair of shoes for LM
• jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and two long-sleeve shirts for BK (all good quality)
• 5 pair of work pants for Jim (Haggar $2/each; nice enough he could wear to church if he preferred)
• several nice shirts for BK & Jim
• new with tags Eddie Bauer wind jacket & fleece for LM to grow into
• a puzzle for Grandpa
• a Tervis cup
• a gluten-free cookbook (it may end up in the donate pile, but for $1 it's worth it)
• roll-up crayon pouch for LM's church bag
• a garden flag

• two clipboards for the van bag to replace ones that have broken on road trips
• Usborne telling time flashcards
• a desk organizer
• a fun sweatshirt for LM
• a nice fleece for BK

and some fun purchases for Mom: 

• some Rae Dunn items (mug, Christmas candle for my windowsill, and a "Blessed" pillow cover for fall)
• a Kate Spade purse (for $15) - that had been on my Christmas list last year, and I had suggested Jim look at Clothes Mentor, but when I looked, the prices were too high for me to swallow
• a Vera Bradley backpack-style purse  

Oh, and a half-empty can of Bar Keepers Friend. I have one in my Walmart cart, but they were giving half-empty cleaning products away at an estate sale. The Lord provides!

All in all, I am very pleased with this year's "national holiday!" To be able to outfit my children and husband for such little money, and also to get some extras (that will add beauty to our life) for pennies on the dollar is such a generous gift from our loving Father.

Have you been garage-saling this spring? 

On growing up

::From the archives - January 2019::

Glad I fell into bed (& sound asleep) last night in between putting the children to bed... as one Little Miss awoke before 6 AM this morning, ready to party!!

At what age do children put themselves to bed?  Little Guy did so unintentionally last night.

At what age do children give themselves baths?

At what age do children cease to be traumatized by well visits at the pediatrician?  At what age does the mom cease to be traumatized? (Good news!!  No shots from 4-12, unless we travel out of country!!)

By mid-day yesterday, LG was begging to go back to school.  I was ready, too.  Hoping we make it through this day.  It's looking doubtful that one or two of us will be healthy enough to go to church Sunday, so the possibility of a break is fading fast ... {Sigh}

Well, seven years later, I am still asking some of these same questions...

We have conquered the bath/shower question (albeit within the past month!).

Many nights I spend 30 minutes or more in LM's bed to help her fall asleep. 

I am still falling asleep after putting LM to bed, but before BK goes to bed.  (But he usually wakes me up so I can at least go in and say, "Good night.")

Medical trauma is still real.  

And now LM is the one who is at the stage where she begs to go to school, and misses it horribly if it's a day off or she has to miss for some reason. 

Last Long Weekend of 25-26 School Year

Monday was our last day off school in the 25-26 school year. I can't even count how many long weekends we had. A LOT! 

LM slept until 10.30, so I had a good chunk of time to work on my to-do list without being interrupted (or ignoring her). 

I had a long boring to-do list with the stuff of life:

• sweep kitchen 
• change the battery for my van fob
• change the battery for an air tag
• update a medical provider
• call the pharmacy to renew a prescription
• answer an email re my mom
• mail a birthday card
• call the bank
• email someone else
• cancel a Subscribe & Save order I had for my mom

It felt good to get things done, and to pack a lunch for BK (who spent the day working at Grandpa's and on the farm). 

Around 2, LM & I set out on our errands ... post office, library, drive to town, pick up eyeglasses, speech clinic, Aldi. We were home by 5.15, and I was tired. 

Did I feed my family well today? Not really. 

Did I do laundry? No.

Did I do dishes? Yes.  

Did I love God & the people in my life? I hope so.