shoes

Today our homeschool group made over 1800 sandwiches for the homeless.  A man, Mr. Law, from the organization 363days came and shared how he has given his life to providing food for those in need.  When he spoke -- it was with urgency -- for families desperate for food.  And blankets. And socks.  And hats. And shoes.

Shoes.

It hurt my heart.

Just earlier today I complained that there were too many shoes in our entryway.

Later today I learned how two little girls take turns going to school because they share one pair of shoes.

Tonight I'm grateful for shoes and am determined to give away shoes.

I cannot believe how quickly I complained about too much when there are those around me with so little.  How selfish I've been.

I need to change.
I can change.
I will change.

**********

To learn more about the 363 Project feel free to watch this segment from our newscast.  Mr. Law, the founder, came today -- after being awake all night -- to speak to our families.  He took time to get down on his knee and thank my five year old Caleb for the fourteen cents that Caleb pulled from his pocket and gave to him. "For the little kids," my Caleb said.  This man lives his life serving others -- not for glory or recognition -- but out of love, and concern, and purpose. I need to learn from his example.  And follow it.

bread

Last night our church -- Living Hope -- gathered to make sandwiches.  Pieces of bread, with meat and cheese in the middle.  Over 60 of us worked side by side, for an hour, putting together these sandwiches.  A little over 1200 were made.  All delivered to the homeless in Minneapolis.

It was awesome.

There is a joy in serving that is forgotten in times of not serving.  There was laughter as the sandwiches were moved down the line.  There were stories.  And prayers.

Hannah and Chloe made sandwiches.

And as we were leaving they told me, "I can't wait until we can do it again."

I could teach them about service.  I could tell them how people need these sandwiches.  We could talk all day.  But really understanding service takes doing. It takes giving of one's self, one's time, one's agenda. And that is what we did.

God is good.  He is so, so good.

 picture taken by my friend, Joshua Skogerboe 

Sanity for the vehicle

My family is in the truck many times per week.  Driving to ballet. Driving back.  Driving to homeschool classes, grandmas, or church.  We are moving.

Let me just state this -- it is hard.  Hard to load everyone up (especially in the winter), hard to keep them happy, hard to keep going.  So what keeps me going?

My Car (or truck or van) Sanity Tips

1) A beverage of choice for mom.  Mine would be coffee.  However, many times I'll just take water with.  It helps me think and calm down especially if there is a great deal of NOISE.

I know you've seen this -- but it is so true --coffee helps

2) Books on CD.  Our family's favorite?  Anything narrated by Jim Weiss.  Just today we were listening to tales about giants.  Brennan, my six year old, loves these stories.  His favorite?  A tall tale about Finn McGoul from Ireland.

current choice

3) A clean vehicle.  Seems obvious, but I'll tell you -- if my vehicle is a mess it makes the crabbiness level in me rise several notches.  I've made it a point to clean out the trash whenever I get gas for the truck.  And I try to vacuum it out every two weeks.  Clean truck = happy mom.

4) For really long trips?  The Nintendo DS or a Leapster.  I know, I know, I know.  That advice coming from  me?  But truly, a half hour of media really saves me.  It is just too crowded to have them go hysterical. Or me.

5) My misbehaving trick?  For every minute that I have to use disciplining it equals a minute of sitting with me in the truck when we arrive at our destination.  This truly works.  After all, who wants to arrive at Grandmas, or Dairy Queen, or the park and have to sit in the truck with me?  Not that I'm not great, but you get the picture.

that's Elijah -- not too happy

6) The old classic games.  ABC game (where you find the letters), I Spy, or where we make stories based on where we're driving.


What car tricks do you have?  I'd love to hear.  I'll take any advice. :)

Oh yeah.  One more thing.  I've been known to pull over and pray.  That always helps.  And gets the kids attention.

the real important

Todd's dad with Brennan Summer 2007


Man's days are determined;
       you have decreed the number of his months
       and have set limits he cannot exceed.   (Job 14:5)

After writing the Gratitude Challenge and reading my daughter Hannah's post on puts it into perspective.... I've been convicted of the gift and wise use of time.  It's all to easy to live life thinking and putting off the needs for the day.  And I'm not talking laundry.  Or dishes.  Or a spotless house. I'm talking of -

reading that story to your two year old
hugging your nine year old
telling your fourteen year old that she's beautiful
sitting next to your husband and really listening
calling your parents and telling them you love them
being grateful even though everything isn't perfect
praising for the small things
racing across the back yard with your six year old
teaching your twelve your old how to make dumplings
laughing with your four year old
simply rocking your baby
sitting at the feet of the Father

That's my list of the real important.  It's amazing how quickly I look to the unimportant and make it so vitally important.  Keeping a posture of gratitude for time  shifts my thinking.

What's on your list of important that gets pushed aside?

My Sunday challenge for you?  Read the verse in Job -- take it to heart -- and do the important first.

The real important.

peeling away

worrying

wondering

thinking

pondering

praying

releasing

removing

surrender

praising

worshiping

humility

grateful

indebted

saved

freedom

joy

That's the way thoughts are.  You start with one and it progresses to the next and the next and the next. It's so easy to become stuck at one -- for me it can be worry -- and not continue down the chain.

peeling away

It's like peeling an orange. You have to keep removing the outer layer to get to the fruit.  Those outer layers can have such a tight grip on us -- and many times, instead of working to uncover the deeper meaning or find surrender, those layers are just left.  When I was crabby the other day I could have just defined myself as crabby.  Instead, the truth is, that I was allowing the emotion of crabby to take over.  I  wasn't living by faith, or the truth, or at my best.  Instead I allowed a feeling to lead.  When I examined this emotion it was linked to overwhelm, then anxiety, then worry, then fear.  Yet it came out as crabby.

Because I was trying to judge

-- to figure out the whys --

-- not living in the now --

-- not grateful for the gifts --

Then this morning I read this in Ecclesiastes:

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.  So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 8:14-15

 which will I choose today?

I think I'll go with gladness.

truth

rightly-ordered

I've been pondering the phrase rightly-ordered lately.  Probably because I've been feeling as if there are many facets in my life that are not rightly ordered.  I was introduced to the concept of rightly-ordered years ago at a former church of ours, and I remember being instantly drawn to the truth in those two words.  Rightly- ordered is God ordered, not me-ordered, or earthly-ordered, or society-ordered.  It is order rooted in the absolute truth of God.

And I don't have it.

In fact, as I type this, I know that I am sitting in many challenges that need to be submitted to the authority and power of Christ.  One of them is the general attitude of my home.  Do you ever experience it?  You know, those times when it just feels like everything or everyone is in a funk?  Yet you can't put your finger on what, or who, or why it is?  That's where I am right now.  Where I know it's not right, not rightly-ordered, yet I can't pinpoint the reason.  Or, in all honesty, I avoid looking at the root.

And that root is that once again, I haven't surrendered my day and this home to the Lord.

a nearly empty cup

Just like I wrote yesterday, my measuring cup of the day is filled with things to do, projects, my own self-worth, coffee (in the effect that I look for it for energy and to calm my mind), and NOT Jesus.  Oh, Jesus is there, but I'm not FULL of Him.  And when He's at the bottom of the cup it takes alot to stare through all the other muck that is covering Him, the truth.  Then life, or the home, begins to unravel.  Bit by bit, like a knit scarf being pulled apart.  You can't see it unraveling, and yet it is...and by the time you realize it you've lost rows.  Or in my case, I reach the point where I just pull over the truck (again) and weep.

I can't do this on my own strength.

Yet, I've been trying.  Trying to hold it together, clutching things so tightly so that it looked together.  Maybe today will be better...I'd try to tell myself.  Yet, it wasn't.  There wasn't the rightly-ordered power.  Rightly-ordered means that my cup is full of Christ first.  It means that our day in this home begins and ends with Him.  That no matter what, we let go of the world's agenda to refocus our lives to Him.  Will math wait? Absolutely.  Especially if there is a heart that needs mending, or correcting, or soothing.  A messy floor?  Yes.  Being late to a class?  When it involves redirecting to the truth, then that is first.  100%  And that truth, that rightly-ordered power gives me hope.  Not from me, but hope in Him.  In His plans.  His mercies.

renewed, rededicated

Today I am going to spend some time wandering through my home rededicating it to the Lord.  I will pray that His Spirit fills every crack and crevice, and that His truth radiates from the walls.  I've slacked in that area, and because of that His power and truth faded into the background.  So, once again, I begin.  Humbly, and yet filled with His rightly-ordered power.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning,
great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22-23)