Too Much Stimuli

As Americans, it's part of our culture to be busy. It's our national virtue. We work more hours than any other culture in the world. We are taught at a very early age that it's our job to be productive. We fill up most of our life with tasks that need to be accomplished. We give our kids chore charts, we make lists, we carry planners, and when we have conversations with people and they ask what we've been up to lately we lament, "Oh, I've been SO busy!"

But who made us busy? Did we somehow allow everyone around us to decide for us how to spend our time? Maybe sometimes that's the case, but most of us make that decision for ourselves. For most of us, the first question we ask ourselves when we finish a task is "What's next?"

The problem with this culture of busyness is that it doesn't allow for down time. It values a person for how much they can get done in one day instead of how much time we spend with our loved ones or how much time we spend on reflection.

Here at our house, we have been sick for nearly a week. Each family member has taken turns with the stomach flu. It was terrible, except for one thing. We had lots of time. We could easily say no to outside interference, and say yes to doing nothing. It gave me a lot of time to think and read.

I made it through two books about home schooling: Christian Unschooling by Teri J. Brown and School Starts at Home by Cheri Fuller. Both emphasize a need to "unplug" from electronic stimuli AND a strict busy schedule in order for natural learning opportunities to occur. Children have less motivation to turn to reading, pretend play, or educational activities if they are constantly being entertained by television, computers, electronic toys, OR extracurricular activities.

Having grown up in a house with a mother who HATED television, this concept is nothing new to me. But what struck me as "new" while reading these books is that it's not just the kids who can be effected by too much stimulation, I am just as vulnerable. I am just as likely to turn to Facebook or browsing the internet during a down moment rather than doing something that would be more nourishing to my mind and spirit. Instead of writing on my blog, which is an excellent outlet for me because it requires thought and contemplation, I play Sims. Instead of spending time in prayer, or doing personal devotions, I watch TV. Instead of reading a book, I... well, you get the point. I expend so much head space on things that have no value, and avoid the things that do with the thought, "I'll do that when I have more time." When exactly will that happen?

In one part of "Christian Unschooling" a mom struggling with scheduling commented on praying over her day planner. Specifically, she prayed that God would lead them throughout the day and that He would guide her children to whatever He wanted them to learn that day. I thought that was such a beautiful thought, because ultimately we as parent's control only a tiny amount of what our children need to learn. Praying, and recognizing, that God is the one who controls these things helps put our anxieties at ease. It allows us as parents to share the burden of raising our children with God, rather than try to carry that yoke on our own (and it's a very heavy yoke at that!). It's something that I need to do more of. As always: a little more You, and a little less me.

The Birds of the Air

Today my yard is flush with fledgling birds. I feel a kinship with their parents, each with a squawking baby to feed. Often there is only one parent (I can only assume it's the mother) with two or three little ones following behind, each with their mouths open demanding their next meal. "Feed me! Feed me!," they say with gusto.

And then I inspected my freshly planted garden, and sure enough, they had already snacked on my bean sprouts. I growled as I tried to salvage the few with roots, carefully poking them back into the dirt.

Obviously, I'm just an instrument of God for their survival. Doing my part to feed the starling population. Begrudgingly.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:26-27

Soul Comfort

"As the deer pants for water so my soul longs for you O, God." Psalms 42:1

Thanks to Amy Grant and Summer Bible School, it was one of the first verses I learned as a child. Repeat it, sing it, enough times and it tends to loose some of it's meaning. That as we have a need for water, the beverage that sustains life in all living creatures, we have an equally strong need for God. Without Him, we would die. And spiritually speaking, as we stray we experience spiritual and emotional death.

During hard times it's easy to forget. It's so easy to get caught up in routine. To rely on our own efforts to succeed (whatever that means). To accomplish items on our 'to do' lists, and then sit back and think, "Look what I did! I'm not doing half bad. In fact, look at all the stuff I got done today. I'm pretty awesome! Yay me!" Or just the opposite, to give up because we think we're not good enough. That it's better to avoid failure and just not try at all. Either way what we're really saying is, "Thanks God, but no thanks. I'll just take it from here. I've made it this far without your help, and I'm sure I'll make it through tomorrow just fine too."

Except, that God doesn't want us to be "just fine". He wants us to be MAGNIFICENT! And being magnificent requires us to rely on Him rather than our own efforts. Such magnificence requires just one thing, regular drinks of Living Water.

As most of you know, we've been going through a hard time. A very discouraging time. Every day passes, while we wait for miracles. So far, we haven't received any definitive answers, so we wait. And wait some more. Most of the time we spend trying to distract ourselves from all this waiting. We watch TV, we play computer games, we scour the internet for useless tidbits of info, and lately since the weather has been nice I've been outside gardening. But it's really just to forget. To pretend that what's happening isn't really happening.

And today something interesting happened...

I was thinking about back when I was in high school choir, so I did some searches on YouTube looking for songs we used to sing. Seems pretty harmless, right? Well, obviously God can work even within our time wasting because I came across one of my favorites, Sicut cervus by Palestrina. Within the first few bars I had a huge lump in my throat, and by the end I had tears. It's so hauntingly beautiful, the notes so beautifully express such longing. It aches with love. And so I wondered, because 14 years post high school I certainly don't remember, what does it mean? So I did another search and found this. "As the deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you O, God."

Thank you, God. For speaking love into my life when I least expect it. For reminding me that you didn't design us to make it on our own, but to rely instead on Your strength and Your ability. I praise you Father, for caring for me. For lifting my burden. For filling me up to the brim with your Water. Amen!

Against Principalities and Powers

This is a very difficult time for a lot of people. A time of year when memory seems to be amplified, when lost traditions are remembered, when loved ones are missed, when we're constantly reminded of what really matters in life and often feel like our own lives fall short.

I've written before about some of the difficulties my own family has had this year. But I know we're not the only ones. And I know many people with much worse problems. People who thought they had it all together are now loosing their homes to foreclosure. People are worried about our nation. They're worrying about health care and hand gun reform, and whether or not Obama deserves the Peace Prize. People are going through divorces at an alarming rate. People are dealing with sick loved ones, or the death of someone close. It's a terrible world. And if you look at the Bible it says things are only going to get worse before Christ's return.

When I was thinking about all of this today, I was struck suddenly by a verse. I could only remember that it had something to do with Principalities and Powers. That our battle is against the spiritual realm. A little google search later and I found it:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Ephesians 6:12-13

We are in a huge spiritual battle. And Satan is having his hay day. And we need to be prepared. How do we do that? We put on our armor.

"Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with a breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to this,
take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Ephesians 6:14-17

In order to have access to this powerful set of armor, it requires discipline and study. This is not the easiest thing to do, especially when you're already in the middle of a great battle, as many of us currently are. But it only takes a minute or two to open the Word, put your finger on a passage, and arm yourself. I know one lady who reads 3 chapters of the Bible a day, it usually takes her 5-10 minutes. And seriously, this is something I need to do! I'm preaching to myself as I write this!!!

And sorry to jump around, but here's my thought. It's almost Christmas. The holiday that is supposed to be about the birth of Jesus. And yet our society (and let's face it, the forces of evil) have twisted it into something it's not. Into a holiday about Santa and retail marketing, and stress. Let's not forget the stress. Because spending great deals of time thinking about what you should get for various family members can be stressful. Worrying about your credit card bill because you spent too much on gifts is stressful. And for many, thinking about what won't be under the tree for you children is... heartbreakingly stressful.

We've taken the gift of Christ, which was meant to SAVE us, and turned it into a total fiasco. Just try to tell me Satan didn't have something to do with that!

Yes folks, we are fighting against the spiritual world here. And this time of year, the battle is ON! Big time! So we need to focus on our armor and prepare ourselves for attack, because by now it should be obvious that it's coming, if not already here.

But remember, there is light at the end of this tunnel. Jesus came to save the lost. He came for you, for me, for your neighbor, your uncle Frank, your cousin Shelly, your neighbor across the street, your co-worker who drives you nuts. He came for ALL of us!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. - Hebrews 3:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7

Amen!

Who Is My Neighbor?

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan. A man is hijacked by bandits in the middle of nowhere and badly beaten. On several occasions others walk by on the road, each pretending not to see. But finally a Samaritan (a detested class among Jews) came by, and chose to help the man. To take him to safety, to make sure his injuries were attended to and to make sure his basic needs were paid for. After Jesus tells this story he asks:

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?"

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

So who are our neighbors? Sometimes it's hard to see. Sometimes it's easier not to. I know I'm certainly guilty of turning the blind eye to someone in need, or simply becoming so wrapped up in my own life that I just don't have time or energy to pay attention to those around me. We're all unfinished projects in the eyes of God, all of us have room for improvement. But as Christians, our goal should be to become more Christ-like. To see with His eyes, look at the world around us, and have compassion.

Sometimes it's easier to look afar to find those in need (our distant "neighbors"). It's easy to look to the third world and see poverty, hunger, sickness, and war. But one of the greatest lessons I learned during my visit to Honduras when I was in college was that we are all most effective in our own home towns. During that week of rebuilding a damaged Church it became obvious that sure, we brought money and college student man-power, but it was really the Nationals who contributed the most. Why? Obviously because they had a vested interest in the result. The same is true for us. We have a vested interest in what goes on in our own neighborhoods/towns/cities/states/country. I'm not saying that missionaries shouldn't go to the third world, in fact I think more should go. But that's not everyone's calling. However, everyone CAN look around and find those in need wherever they are.

Need some ideas of who you can help? First, PRAY! And then pray some more! I fully believe that if you ask God to show you who needs your help that opportunities will practically fall into your lap.

Second, try asking yourself the question, "Who would Jesus hang out with if He lived where I live?" Jesus hung out with some pretty unsavory individuals. Tax collectors, lepers, invalids, poor, hungry, disadvantaged, you name it. So who are the lepers of your home town? Who are the people who no one else wants to deal with? Who are the ones that get the cold shoulder? What group would most of us prefer to ignore? Or wish would go away? I believe that in every place there are people who live in the edge who are not accepted by the whole. And I think that if Jesus lived where you live, those are the people He'd want to help. In Matthew 9:12 it says, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

It's very easy to say that Jesus lived long ago, before there were guns, drugs, etc. True. And I don't think that Jesus wants you to get yourself into a dangerous situation and get yourself killed. Remember, He said mercy, not sacrifice. So be safe about it. He gave us reason for a reason. Use it. It's likely that for every group that needs help there's a non-profit of some sort already established. Work with them, ask what's needed, donate items, time, money, etc. Look at your own family situation and figure out what you are able to do. For us, I don't have a lot of time on my hands, and the time I do have I'm usually stuck at the house with sleeping toddlers. So volunteering somewhere is generally not possible for me, unless there's a way I can bring my kids along. But I certainly can clean out my closet/pantry and give what I can. Other mom's in my position who are crafty might spend nap time knitting hats for preemies in the hospital, or using whatever abilities they have to give to others in need. I've already decided that if I have a surplus of produce from my garden that I intend to give it to the local homeless shelter, which I'm sure they'll appreciate since fresh produce is getting expensive.

I also give to Kiva.org. It's a non-profit that lends money to business owners all over the world. You make a micro-loan (for as little as $25) via their website and choose where your money goes. And then over time as they repay your loan you receive Kiva Credit which you can either cash out or re-lend. I've used Kiva to make loans for 2 years now, and during that time I've helped finance 7 loans. Two of them were unable to pay back due to a war in their home country, but everyone else has. The ones that didn't repay? Frankly, I just hope they're still alive, who cares about the cash! For me this is an easy way for me to give and benefit lots of people over time for a very small contribution on my part. I help the business owner expand and earn a better living, which in turn gives a better life to his/her family, which in turn helps the local economy. I really don't see the downside to that!

When your heart is open to serving it's amazing what opportunities will present themselves. So pray, and listen to that "still small voice". Pay attention to those around you. Is someone you know on bedrest? Do you know someone who's unemployed? These are tough times and there are possibly more people hurting around us than there ever will be during our lifetime. Keep an open heart and open mind, be receptive to what God's leading you to do.

Prayer Answered!

Thank you so much to those of you who prayed for my Dad yesterday! I went to the hospital last night to spend some time with my Mom and see how Dad was doing. He came out of surgery just shortly after I got there, and after about an hour in recovery he was moved to his room and we were able to see him. He looked GOOD! Seriously good! He was pretty funny on drugs though. He made a comment about the clock being upside down and he said, "Amy! You're here!" three times, but he quickly became more lucid and was soon begging for ice cream and candy. That's my dad! lol The doctor talked to my mom and said that they would have him up on his feet sometime before midnight last night, and that he'd most likely go home late this afternoon.

National Day of Prayer

Hello there! I'm Amy, and these are my fraternal twin daughters, Ziva & Anya. They're 22 months old and exploring new territory every day!

I'll get into my original blog plan for today in just a moment (the National Day of Prayer). But I'm hoping some of you who are reading this are visiting my blog for the very first time! That's right, I'm the featured blogger today over at Multiples... and More! I'm so excited!!! I've never been a featured blogger before so I really don't know what to do! I'm not sure what will be posted over at MaM about me, I sent them a pretty huge long list of links and pictures that they might wanna use. In true Amy fashion I couldn't decide which ones were good! And then when I went back to read some of my old stuff... well, I liked all of it so I sent them all of my best entries. Not hard to do since I've only truly been blogging for 5 months.

So for those of you who are interested in what's happened in my life over the past 5 months, here are some of my BEST posts! I thought about doing a Top 10 sort of dealie but that would require some actual decision making on my part...

Recipes:
Introduction to Mystery Spice Monday
Lemon Chicken & Artichokes with Dill Sauce
Heavenly Pork Roast
Cook Once, Eat Twice! aka Taco Dip & Italian Turkey Meatballs
Totally Yummy Brownies

My Girls:
Tiptoe... Through the Tulips...
Twin Expectations
Our Birth Story
Picking an Unusual Name for Your Baby(ies)
A Day in the Life
Mother of Multiples Groups

The Infamous Other:
Beautiful Like Me
The Boys
This Morning a Year Ago
My Bissell Steam Mop
Looking for an affordable house??? READ THIS!!!

Like I said... indecisive! I hope that doesn't scare you away from my blog forever. :) You will come back and see me again won't ya?!

Anyhoo...

So back to my original plan for today's post. The National Day of Prayer. If you are a church going sort at all you'll know that today's the day to pray! (Ok, I realize we're supposed to pray every day!) Specifically I think it's important to pray for our country, for our leaders that they make wise decisions, for our economy, for our soldiers, and of course for our friends and families who are going through tough times.

I thought it might be fun to do something a little interactive today, especially since hopefully more people will visit here today than usual. If you have a prayer request, about ANYTHING going on in your life, or even going on with someone you know and care about, please share it with us. Just post a comment, you can do it anonymously if you like. And then if you have any time today, please read other's comments and pray for them. Lift each other up in prayer. And pray for those who visit this blog for the first time today, that they will be encouraged and blessed.



And if you think about it, I have my own prayer request today. My dad has stage 3 prostate cancer and he's going in for surgery to remove his prostate today. Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that such an event is taking place on the National Day of Prayer. Everyone I have talked to about my dad's surgery has told me that they knew of someone who had the same surgery (apparently 3 out of 4 men end up with prostate cancer at some point in their life) and it completely cured their cancer. So I'm feeling pretty certain that my dad will be ok. However, I saw him yesterday, and I could tell he was worried. So pray for peace for my dad. That his nerves are calmed, that everything goes smoothly and according to plan, that God guides the surgeon's scalpel and that my dad will make a quick recovery. Amen!

If you would like to post on your own blog about your prayer request, or to encourage others to participate in the National Day of Prayer, please feel free to link up!

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds Away

Again, I've been lacking in my blog updating... But I have several perfectly good excuses along with a prayer request!

First the prayer request:

Hubs has a very badly injured shoulder. He's been off work for the past 3 weeks, and will be off for at least 2 more. He was injured during a self-defense training class that he had to take for work. Most of the instructors of said class were great, but there was one guy who really got off on hurting the participants and Hubs was unfortunately one of his victims. Don't believe me? Two other guys from his work were also badly injured. One with a broken nose which will require surgery, and the other with several broken ribs. I cannot even begin to tell you how angry I am at this particular trainer, because Hubs was perfectly fine going into this class, and now he has very limited mobility of his right arm. And guess what, he's right handed. Which means I have had to pick up the slack and do practically everything that he would normally do. As if I don't have enough to do already!!! I guess the good news is that I have learned a new appreciation for the things Hubs normally does around the house: the diapers he changes, the trash he takes out, the picking things up and organizing he normally takes care of. Plus there have been lots of extra forms to fill out which I need to do because he can't write more than his signature without being in serious pain. He's really in a bad way.

Having had my own shoulder injury to deal with over the past 10+ years I know what it's like to some extent, except that I think his shoulder is much worse than mine ever was which worries me... a LOT! At this stage in the game the Dr.'s suspect that his shoulder is separated and they're talking about referring him to a specialist. I'm actually really thankful that they're sending him to someone else because I think that up to this point he hasn't been receiving the proper care... it's been 3 weeks of him being at nearly the same level of pain and not improving at all. And the amount of pain meds they're giving him is a little scary in my opinion. I tend to lean towards the more holistic approach of medicine, and the fact that nothing has really changed in 3 weeks means to me that the problem is really not being addressed or treated. And that makes me really angry too!

Mostly, I want my husband back! I want him to be well and healthy and pain free!!! I know there are people with bigger problems in this world so I feel kind of lame talking/complaining about our little problem, but I don't have many ways to vent my frustrations... so there you have it. lol


ANYWAY....

On to a BRIGHTER topic!!!

Another reason I haven't been blogging much lately is our weather here has been FANTASTIC! I mean, seriously gorgeous! And if you also live in the Pacific Northwest you know that when the sun comes after 9 months of absence there's really only one thing to do. GET OUTSIDE and ENJOY it WHILE YOU CAN because we all know that this is yet a temporary reprieve from the rain. Proof? Forecast predicts rain tomorrow. I'm totally not thrilled about that. But very thankful that I was able to enjoy the sun for the past few days. Especially considering what was going on inside my house... sigh...

I decided that this last weekend was THE weekend for getting my garden beds put in. Since Hubs has his shoulder situation the garden has been put off and put off weekend after weekend. But this last weekend I said NO MORE and just decided it would get done without him. And much like any project I tackle, I want it done NOW! All at once! No step by step process, just one BIG step. Honestly, I tend to thrive during such big projects and get a rush from seeing large things accomplished.

So after many phone calls recruiting help from my parents, ordering soil, hiring our lawn guys to fill the beds etc... I pretty much had it all handled and in place to ALL occur on Saturday.

My parents came over early Saturday morning. Mom watched the girls while me and Dad put the beds together. After some time passed Mom decided to bring the girls outside with us, which kinda freaked me out at first, but it turned out ok. And the girls really enjoyed being outside "helping". Plus it gave us an excuse to take lots of pictures.

Here's Ziva, laying in the moss. She decided she really liked the moss and kept trying to kiss/taste it. Very cute, but very messy. lol







Anya was mostly interested in the stuff we had brought out there for the project. I was really surprised with her that day because she actually tried to imitate a lot of the things we were doing. I was VERY proud of her! :)







Yup, that's me with a power tool! I had never used a power tool before Saturday. In fact, I'd never worked on a project like this with my Dad before either! So it was a day of firsts, and I'm very glad that I was able to have such a day! My Dad's quote of the day? "We'll make a real woman outta you yet!" lol



All while Ziva played with the weeds and Anya "helped".



There's me measuring.



And Anya supervising.





Such good little helpers!











Whoops! Looks a little scary, but she was actually laughing while she was in this position. lol



And then we ran into a little road block. Some of our boards had labels on them that didn't come off easily! So we had to stop and scrape/soak/goo gone to get it off on at least the outward facing side.





But then we were finally done!!! We put chicken wire under the beds to prevent moles from digging up into our garden.



And we finished not a moment too soon! Our dirt arrived during lunch time, and the lawn guys showed up to move the soil to the beds just a few minutes after we finished! Perfect timing in my book! Too close to call according to others... lol



Then I made a fabulous recipe for dinner, which I will share with you next week. :)

And we did a little celebrating! We put the bucket seats on our swing set and took the girls out for a swing!







Yup, we NEEDED that sunshine let me tell ya! Feels so good to get my garden beds done, and extra super good to feel the sun on our faces and enjoy it's sweet warmth!

Tomorrow? I'll share pics of our trip to the Tulip Fields... you'll wanna see them, trust me! :)

An Easter YouTube Worth Watching

Tomorrow I'll post about cake pops shaped like chicks and little girls in frilly dresses experiencing their first egg hunt, but this day is really all about Him.

Warning, this one had me in tears after about the first 10 seconds, but in a very good way.

Our Church Hunt

Yup, Hubs and I are in search of a new church home. The church we've been going to for the past 4 years just doesn't seem to be a good fit for us at this stage in our life, which is sad... but after lots of prayer and discussion we've decided that we should check out some other places.

Finding a Church is HARD dang it! I did some searches online yesterday, and it's amazing how some churches have websites.. but don't include a phone number. Word to all pastors out there, please include contact info on your website!

We realize that no church is perfect, but there are some basic things we're looking for:

- Bible believing. Teachings are scripturally based, not just morality lessons.
- Close to home. Because early Sunday morning it's just too easy to think about the drive and decide to skip it. Plus we want to meet people who live in our area.
- Excellent children's programs. For obvious reasons. I'd prefer that all people who work there are given background checks.
- Women's Bible Study is something I'd love to be involved with again.
- Flexible service times. We'd love to find a place that also offers an evening service on the weekend as an alternative. That way if Hubs continues to work nights we're able to have that as an option.

Lately we've been thinking that we'd be very interested in finding a church that meets at a school or some other type of leased/rented space. Our reasoning? Our old church started this huge building project, and subsequently preached a lot of sermons on finances... ugh... This to us just seemed like a big waste. There are so many people in need right now... we'd like to find a church that puts their money towards helping others rather than finance a building project. And a church that PURPOSEFULLY decides to lease/rent rather than build would be totally refreshing.

It's interesting to note how we as Americans go about choosing such a thing as a Church. Our Freedom of Religion is so literal here. And there are SO many options it's crazy... many of which believe basically the same thing. I consider myself to be non-denominational, which to me means that it really doesn't matter which denomination I attend as long as it's protestant and somewhat calvinistic. I think a lot of the lines we as humans draw in the sand mean nothing to God. It's not up to me who gets to heaven and who doesn't, so I try not to pass judgment. I know what I believe, but I'm not foolish enough to say that everyone else is wrong. Those decisions are fully God's, thank goodness.