This Little Light of Mine......

I thought about titling this post, "Why Do I Attract These People?"  I decided against it for fear someone would read the post and think they recognized someone.  I do not live in a huge city, so there is a chance of this occuring.  Then, it felt as if the Lord was asking me, "What do I look like to people? What do people see in you?" Hopefully they see Jesus?

It all started Friday with an unusually early an unexpected arrival of a repairman.  He was supposed to have shown up a week ago, but in his usually BUSY schedule he had not been able to get by here.  I was still in my pj's, hair uncombed, drinking my coffee while listening to the conversations, laughter, and excitement of my kids.  So when the doorbell rang, I sent my oldest son to the door, while I made a super mad dash up the stairs to try to look presentable in 0.3 seconds.  Upon coming back down the stairs, I launched into a picking fuss with this good natured repairman for showing up without calling me.  Since we have known him for awhile, we chatted about family, adoption, church, and finding your place in ministry.  After he finished his repairs, he leaned up against the counter in the kitchen and his first reaction was "What in the world?"  The counter top and cabinets were hot to the touch.  The dishwasher has been having problems, like parts flying off at me, but now the heating element had not turned off the night before.  It was still heating and becoming a fire hazard.  So, he unhooked it for me, and it was the hand of the Lord that he had been to busy to come by last week.

About two hours later, a repairman for a local appliance store showed up unannounced to work on the "fire hazard" dishwasher.  He proved to be a know-it-all ex church member that not only criticized our church, but several others in the area, in front of my kids.  I had tried to be nice when he showed up and was  really taken off guard at his response.  At that point, I realized that anything I said was the wrong thing, so I stopped talking to him and only answered him in one word answers.  He prattled on and on about different topics and his resentment and bitterness kept showing through.  Thankfully my sweet husband showed up part of the way through this man's repair job, and his demeanor changed drastically.  I let hubby deal with him, but the sad news is it will be December before I have a working dishwasher again.  Even sadder is that this man is carrying baggage around with him that is eating away at his spirit.

Three hours later the third repairman of the day arrived.  His was a scheduled visit, so I was expecting his interruption.  He was very nice, but proved just as interesting.  He was also a talker, and in the fifteen minutes he was here, I learned that he was a fan on one of our pastors, what he thought about homeschooling, his thoughts on adoption, was an ex church member, wanted to know about making bread (he heard the bread machine going), told me where and all about the church he goes to now (2 1/2 hours away), caught up on how everyone was doing that he knows in our church, and told me where he lived.

Maybe I should have been a counselor or interrogator, since I can get a life story from someone in 15 minutes.   Why do people feel the need to automatically start asking about church or church related topics when they enter my home?  Do they feel something when they come around that makes them desire to have more of Him?  I do not want to be like repairman #2....where my "light" is one of bitterness and pain.   I am hoping that they see Him working in me.  That my "light" shines and points them toward Him. I want to be a witness of His good works and let His "light" shine into the lives of others.

 "You are the light that gives light to the world.  A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lamp stand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see good things you do and will praise you Father in heaven."  Matthew 5:14-16  (New Century Version)

As a mom, there are days I am so busy that I do not realize how my "light" looks to others.  Sometimes it takes three repairmen and a random Friday to remind me.

A Trip to the Farm

We love field trips!  Love the getting out and learning new things without realizing that we are learning.  Today we packed a lunch and headed 1 hr. 15 min. away to visit a farm with a lot of activities.  They had a huge pillow jump, wagon ride, tractor train, petting zoo, corn maze, and more.   The 9 and 6 year old had a ball, but the two oldest were not as impressed.  Seems that I am having a harder time finding things that fit the interests of everyone.  It wasn't a total loss, because the oldest did seem to enjoy the tether ball and just being outside.  

 Kensli on the tractor train.

My Bunch and friends acting silly before heading home.

Are They Trying to Kill Me?

It is still quiet this morning.  Except for the occasional bump from upstairs where hubby is getting dressed or the sound of my son sweeping around the backdoor, all are still snoozing.  I have such good intentions of rising early, waking my children, and getting our mornings started before 8 am.  I read other mom's blogs that really pull that off and I always wonder how.  Oh, we occasionally surprise even me, but that is rare.  I guess I should just realize we are not morning people, except for the hubby, which really makes me not like him much before coffee in the mornings.  Cue "morning person" talking on his phone while coming down the stairs....come on, the baby is still asleep.

Last night was one of those nights where I ended up sandwiched between two little girls, while my darling husband slept soundly snoring in happy bliss.  By 3:30 am, I had had enough of the snoring, kicking, squashing me and went and got in Kensli's bed.  I laid there forever, praying and hoping it would lull me back to sleep.  At 5 something I gave up and got up.  I sometimes wonder if they are conspiring to wipe me out by sleep deprivation.

Kensli seems to be dealing with some separation anxiety again.  It used to be really bad and was accompanied with night terrors, but now it manifests itself by coming and getting in my bed during the night.  I am grateful for what we have overcome, but will be so thankful for the day when she has doesn't have these fears.

So, I am working on my second cup of strong coffee, sitting quietly, trying to muster all the energy I can to get this day going.  We have a missions function at my house tonight.  Thankfully I am a night owl, so I will be catching my stride about the time of the party. (Several cups of coffee should help the situation,too.) Oh, and should the asteroid hit Earth tonight, I will be fully awake to watch, observe, and hopefully get out of the way!

Weekend Wrap-up

IT'S MONDAY!!!!!  I am writing this with a cup of coffee close by!  It may take more than one this morning.  Our weekend was busy and fun with birthday parties, friends, football games, and church.

Friday Night--

Ricky went with a friend and Joseph, an intern from our church, to pass out sleeping bags to the homeless.  When he got home you could tell he felt like he had helped make a difference in the lives of a few people.

The rest of us spent a quiet evening at home, with a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows.  YUM!!!!

Saturday--

•  Kaitlyn volunteered at the local soup kitchen where she helped prepare and serve food to those in need. They served over one hundred people.  There was a couple of Spanish speaking people that came through the line and Kaitlyn tried to talk to them, but she said they didn't seem friendly.  
• I love birthday parties unless they are on a Saturday afternoon at Chuckie Cheese.  Oh, wow, the noise level even bothered my two oldest and youngest.  The other two littles did not seem to mind since they were part of the NOISE.  One of our Spanish families youngest daughter turned 1.  She is so cute and the cake was amazing.  I took pictures for the parents.  
• Got home just in time for the LSU vs Alabama kick-off and hamburgers.  We had a some friends over and they had already started the party, with my husbands help, when I got home.  We had so much fun laughing and talking. 

Sunday--

I am not a great fan of the time change.  I am a warm weather gal and the time changing means the dreaded cold is returning.  Also, the extra hour of sleep means absolutely nothing to me!  

Church was good, though.  We moved Sunday School classrooms, yet again, but this move seems for the better.  It was just a little more chaotic, but next Sunday we should have it all worked out and be back to normal.  

Looking forward to the week and all the blessings that come with it.  

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!! 

New Blog Look

OK, it is blogger template not a fancy designer look, but is works for me at the moment.  I have a hard time not growing bored with what I have, so this might just be the best alternative.  I will not feel that I am wasting money every time I decide I am tired of the look.

I figured out how to add tabs, too.  Not sure about them at this time, but I am working on learning and thinking about what to add to these pages.  I will be adding allergy awareness sites and homeschooling links under their tabs along with things I have discovered and found that works for us.  If I have to, I may just create separate blogs, just not sure how it will work best.

I am checking all links and blogs, that I have linked to my blog, to make sure they are still working.  If I had your blogged linked and it is being updated regularly, I will be adding it back.  If it hasn't been updated in over 6 months, I will keep it under my profile just in case you do post.

I have re-entered the blog world and feel I do have a few experiences to share.  I am ready to write and share our world once more.

Our New Toy

What my kitchen looks like this morning.

Cooking takes up a lot of time lately and making bread has practically take over my kitchen.  We are like mad scientists trying to re-invent our little wheel, due to allergies.  I am grateful for our church that gave our family a bread machine for pastor appreciation.  It has been a lifesaver.  We average making two loaves of bread a day.  That seems like a lot of bread, but we are a family of 7, plus anyone else that happens to drop by during the day.  

This morning I am making cinnamon bread without the bread machine.  It is looking and smelling so good.  I can't wait to sample it with a cup of coffee when it comes out of the oven.  I am sending one of the loaves to Toby's office.  Guess you could call it my good deed for the day.

October 31st

We have never made it a habit to celebrate Halloween, but this year we were invited to a Boo Party and throughly enjoyed ourselves.

We ate, trick-or-treated, made an edible halloween treat, and wrapped it up with our candy and a movie outside.  It reminded me of the carnivals and parties that I attended as a kid.

Kamryn as a Ladybug

The Candy Gang

Off to get our buckets full.

Working on our edible treat.

Kaitlyn joined in making the treats.

 Kaitlyn's treat.

Nicholas' treat started to run.  We laughed at the nose almost falling off.

Kamryn made her rounds trying to get candy out of everyone's bucket.  

They did a good job of helping keep her out of the their candy.

So Kamryn would not feel left out, I had her some organic fruit juice suckers.

She seemed a little more pleased after that.

We had so much fun.  Hope everyone else had a great October 31st.