Thoughts

Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be please with it and be glorified," says the Lord. "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the Lord of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.
-Haggai 1:7-9 (great book of the Bible, BTW)

Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."
-Isaiah 29:13-14 (also quoted partially in Matthew 15:8-9)

Mrs. Clean

I'm a funny cleaner...not like I make people chuckle when I clean, but I'm quirky. I attribute this to getting married and having kids. When I was a kid I spent hours organizing my room...a place for everything and everything in its place. But my kids and husband don't seem to be wired that way...and since I love them more than I do a perfect house I've fallen into some interesting middle ground. That means I love it when the house is clean, but it may take 2 weeks to get that way if other family/life things take priority.



This gets even weirder because I clean houses as a side job. I'm really good at it and I think it's a good outlet for my neat side. Hmm, maybe my house would be cleaner if I didn't get my jollies cleaning other houses??



Anyway, my system is simple: start on the highest surface and work my way down to the floor. I also do tile floors before carpet so that I can vacuum while the tile's drying. I'm the worst at windows and mirrors...why can't they come with built in wipers?!



My cleaning advice is this: clean when you can, but make sure it doesn't own you!



This post was written for the weekly Blog Blast for the Parent Bloggers Network who is teaming up with Pledge this week to ask bloggers how they deal with cleaning! Go check it out and write your own post for a chance to win a prize!

A Castle Without Its King

Two days...two days until my husband ought to be back in Colorado. I'm tired...this trip has been hard for me.
I want him here with me.
I don't like single parenting.
I don't like him not being near the internet and phone.
How in the world did missionary wives manage when their spouse would leave on a boat for a year with a sporadic letter?! Argh!
My son is going through a phase of lying and I hate being the stern one. Jason is much better at it than I am.
I do get extra lovings from both kids though since they only have one parent to dole it out to.
You know you love your husband when a friend describes an argument she had with her hubby and you wish your hubby were hear to fight with!

Where's the Snow???

Greetings from quasi-snowy Denver. Just once I'd like the weather people to get it right. They predicted a couple of feet of snow by today. BUT they didn't account for the wetness of said snow. It's been raining for half the 2 day snow and the accumulation is disappointing and soaking. Good for the ground, bad for playing.
I can't complain too much because my hubby was able to fly out for Uganda today since the weather wasn't back. I'm a little nervous about this trip because the area he'll be in will be so remote. I won't hear from him much (if at all) between now and next Friday.
Pray for my sanity this week...I expect it go well though since I have the church Women's Retreat to look forward to next weekend.

How are you??

Home, A Day Late & a Couple Hundred Dollars Short

Sorry I haven't updated you on our travels...lots of laundry and catching up on life has kept me hopping. The title of this post sums up the end of our trip.

The flights into Denver were full, so we bid the team a fond goodbye in Atlanta and flew to my in-law's house in Nashville. This actually made for a very enjoyable detour and we made it home the next day with no incidence... hence, the day late part of the post.

And now, the part where God displays His infinite wisdom and ability to be over all. We mailed the rent check in hoping they wouldn't deposit it before we got home because we weren't even close to having enough to cover it. When we stopped at my in-laws I checked the account and they'd deposited it! Thanks be to the Author, the bank took the check!!! We owed the bank a small overdraw fee, but it was an answer to not getting evicted. God also provided all the money we needed for rent this week and to be back on the positive side of our bank balance.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about yourl life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink: nor for your body as to what you will put on. Is not life more that food, and the body more than clothing? ... for your heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matt. 6:25, 32b-33

Update

We are 3 days into being with our friends in Nicaragua...my kids are learning a lot:

-how to make sure a high boy doesn't invade their bubble

-how to still love said high boys and let him get hugs sometimes

-how to walk all day and still have energy for running around in the evening.

-how to (ever so slightly) expand their eating horizons

-how to sleep in the same twin bed and enjoy cold showers. 

It's been great to be able to give our friend's 4 kids some playmates. I truly think that may be the predominant reason that I'm here. Also, I feel pretty cool because this is the only language that I have kicked butt in. It's nice to see my hubby be the one to smile and nod while I translate. hee hee! Gracias Senora P y Senora from Brazil who taught me everything I know.

Now to update you on what God's doing for provision. The project will continue to run as long as there's funds and it's looking like the church might pull through on that front. We called my sis and told her to mail in the rent check...we still don't have it, but the worst that can happen is that we'll be evicted. I'm prepared for whatever may come. I admittedly panicked for an hour today before my brain convinced my emotions of the truth: I have no control over what happens, my job is simply to lean into the one who lifts up mountains and causes countries to diminish.