The peace and Slumber of God

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

This verse was Jonathan's testimony Friday night.

Jonathan left Thursday with his high school basketball team for a tournament in Ottawa. Mark left Friday, to go down and cheer them on, staying with relatives of mine who live in the area.

At some time on Friday, an obviously disturbed man set a minimum of 3 fires around Ottawa destroying at least 10 businesses.

I don't have the whole story, but it seems this man later took refuge in an Ottawa hotel. He happened to choose the hotel that my son and his teammates were staying in. If that were not concerning enough, he happened to be assigned the room RIGHT NEXT DOOR to my son.

At some point on Friday night, a number of police as well as medical attendants descended on this very room in order to apprehend the man who had apparently been badly burned in these fires. 

His screams awakened the coaches who were staying farther down the hall.

Thinking it was one of their boys, they raced to try and reach the part of the hall where my son was but were stopped by police.

As you can imagine, this whole episode would have taken quite a bit of time and a great deal of noise...YET, my son and his team mates SLEPT through the entire ordeal.

They never heard or saw a thing and were spared the trauma that could have accompanied witnessing such an event.

That is the peace of God...and as a mother, I am so very, very thankful.

My Steps are Ordered of the Lord

Over the past week, God has been speaking to me about my future and destiny.

Unfortunately, not so much about destinations and goals or really what I do along the way...but about HOW I walk the path.

I have admitted before, there is a tiny perfectionist that lives deep within me, my hubby has referred to this same "quality" (I do choose to see it as a quality), in our youngest child as our "black and white gene".

There are some great aspects to this quality, but I have come to realize, it can be paralizing as well. I have been known to not try something that I felt I could not do well...you can miss out on a lot with that out look.

What God began to speak to me a week ago, had to do with this. He and I both know that my deepest desire is to follow Him, anywhere, anytime, in any way. I really mean that, and always have. I have often said, I will go any where and do anything, I just need to know that it is God.

True.

Here is the problem, what happens in those (sometimes extended) periods, where He is not telling you the next step? 

Have you ever tried to walk in a straight line towards a particular goal off in the distance?

If you focus on your feet and concentrate on your every step, your path could look very much like the picture of the child's steps below:

You might actually get where you were headed, but the path you take may be filled with twists and turns, even some back tracking.

Thankfully, we serve a patient, loving God who has promised and is faithful "to make our path straight".  He will guide us back to where He needs us to go in order to get us to the place that He has planned for us.

There is another way though. It involves a change in focus. My focus has to be taken off my individual steps...my feet, ME; and set on HIM and the goal HE has set before me.

When I stop looking at the steps and set my sights on Him, 

my path looks a lot more like this:

With my eyes set on Him, I may not know exactly where that path will lead, (and that is difficult for that tiny perfectionist in me), but as I look back, I will see that my path was so much more direct and not a single step was missed along the way.

This week, I am learning to refocus.

Smile! Don't Worry!

I am sure most of you have seen or heard this little British singing sensation, Connie Talbot.

She first makes me cry, just because the fastest thing to bring me to tears is children singing, dancing, acting...pretty much anything that shows the beauty that God created in them.

I had to post this latest video of Connie's as it made me smile and laugh and simply not take life too seriously.

No matter what's going on in your life, take to heart Connie's message, It's Jesus' message to us as well:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matt. 6:25

I just loved hearing and seeing it through the children here:

Maria's Intruder

This is the little guy Miss Maria discovered as a "peeping tom" perched on the ceiling as she was taking her shower this morning.

Boy! Can that little girl scream!!

The problem is, she just screams...no words, so you don't know if she is being sucked down the drain, stubbed her toe or in this case, saw a spider.

I was unable to come to her rescue at that moment so she began to holler for Daddy.

There is no way she will deal with these guys on her own....even a little spider sends her into "Damsel in Distress" mode.

I asked her what she was going to do when she was all grown up and had her own place.

"Call Daddy"

"What if he lives like way across town or something?"

"I don't care, I'll call him anyway"

I don't think this little girl should move to Australia, what do you think Karen?

Got to Love a Good Snow Storm

One of the things that I had slated to accomplish this week was the monumental task of cleaning Michael's bedroom. I am in no way exaggerating when I say monumental either.

It's partly my own fault...Michael's room is in the basement. Jonathan's is as well, but right at the bottom of the stairs so it is quite easy to see when he has been using his floor as a dumping ground. Mike has had the advantage of being in a back corner. I have tried unsuccessfully to make my children responsible for their own rooms.

Although I will tell Mike to clean up, his idea is similar to the second cartoon and I will admit that my follow up with him has been similar to the first cartoon.

We are making some changes to accommodate each of the children having their own room and Michael is moving upstairs to a much smaller room which I am hoping will enable him to take a little more care. 

Tomorrow, Maria was scheduled to stay home as most of her class was heading on a ski trip that she did not want to to attend. I told her she could stay home with me, provided she was willing to help me with the "Michael Abyss". Maria's bus was cancelled and while I was still asleep, Mark made the decision Jianna and Mike could stay home as well. 

I look at snow days as freebies...so, I recruited

 all hands to tackle the abyss this afternoon. 

It only took us about 4 hours, 4 garbage bags of clothes and I believe we are at 8 bags of garbage...I am NOT KIDDING. Mind you, I did not have time to go through his dresser, so I guess we are not quite done the "MEGA PURGE". 

Mark is going to FLIP when he comes home and sees our recycle and garbage...oh well, that will be his part in all of this.

The silver lining is that Michael has no toys left in his room and only the clothes that he actually wears...all neatly hung up in his closet. WOO HOO!!! You have

 no idea how happy this makes me!

Being the Domestic Diva that I was today, I did take the time to teach the girls to follow in their Down East heritage by making home made bread and rolls to go with the home made spaghetti Jianna has been begging for for weeks.

The sad part is that yes, I can make bread from scratch, but neither of my girls actually remembers eating it...that's how long it has been. 

They will love it just as the men do, and it is good I have work as an excuse not to make it regularly, because there is little better in life than warm homemade bread and butter....and my hips would not be pleased!

Now, if I decide to goof off the whole rest of my week off....I think I have earned it!

Ready to shop Holly?

You Can't Win with this Child

Yesterday, Mark was telling Jianna it was bath night. During the winter, the girls shower every other night unless we feel they need an extra.

Jianna didn't really want to stop playing to have her shower, so began to negotiate and explain why she did not need a shower.

She started out with the fact that she had had 2 showers in a row, therefore, she should be able to skip a night. 

We explained that she could not "bank" her showers.

She did not feel she was dirty as there was no dirt to be seen on her. 

We explained that there were oils from your body and dust that get in your hair and that she did indeed need a shower.

Mark, trying to solidify our argument, brought up the fact that he showered every day.

Without missing a beat, Jianna, seriously as can be says, "Yeah well you are made out of dirt so you need more showers!"

Honestly, the kid's too smart for her own good!

She may be smarter than us, but she did still have her shower, and we laughed our heads off while she did.

The Beginning of a Week of Recuperation

Well, exams are done, and I only came across a couple of girls who completely fell a part in the process. After Tuesday, most of the kids seemed to settle into exams without as much of the craziness...except for the 2 little "hoodlums" who decided to light their notes on fire, in the school, after exams were finished. Thankfully, they were not in the area I was supervising, were quickly caught and swiftly dealt with. 

Given the fact that in my job, I am interacting day in and day out with pretty much the same kids, I am privy to a lot of information another staff member or adult might not be.

After hearing about the many stress relief parties being planned before and after exams, I was once again thankful for my son and the friends he has chosen to hang out with.

One of the VPs walked around with me for a while on Friday and we chatted about her child getting close to the high school age, some of the things we see working in the high school and many of the parties being planned. 

I told her about my son's plans to join a bunch of friends for sledding, Chinese food and later an Xbox/pizza party. That there would be no alcohol and that I trusted him with this group of friends. She was amazed and wanted to know "how I had done that".

I was able to explain that we surrounded our children with like minded kids from like minded families for the most part, and that it has been key in encouraging them to maintain the values that we have instilled in our home. Also, that we have tried to lead by example, we are not out partying with friends, so our kids don't see it as something to aspire to.

As a mom, I have discovered that "positive peer pressure" can be a very good thing!

Thank You to each one of you who have been a part of this surrounding of positive peer pressure and know that your children are a blessing to one another and a light in a world where the norm for high school kids is very different from our kids' reality.

Thanks for doing a great job with your kids!

Now, I get to enjoy a week off for recuperation!!