If You Say So....Luke 5:4-7 (NASB)

I was the obnoxious, frustrating kid who used to get into all the Christmas presents in my parents deep closet to the left of their bed next to their porch doors. I was much younger when I got into all the gifts my Mom carefully wrapped and hid. I don't remember too many of them, except for the robe one year and the wooden instruments another year, and the books and art supplies the following year. Something like that - I guess I remember more than I thought. One Christmas when I was older, though, my Mom got me. She asked me to store this big, wide, nondescript cardboard box in my bedroom. She told me that it was a gift for my uncle. Over the weeks during December my clothes, shoes, books, and general teen clutter amassed on the top of this box. Perhaps it was so overcome with my junk that I forgot about it, but on Christmas morning after all the gifts were opened my Mom told me to get the box from my room. I proceeded to follow her directions and was informed that this was my Chr...

I don't stress over Christmas. Christmas should be enjoyed, but I don't get overly sentimental about it. However, I was thinking recently about how profound it is that God chose to reveal himself to the world as a baby. He actually had to be born-through a birth canal, no less. Jesus was considerate enough not to need a c-section; he wouldn't do that to Mary!(And I'm sure he didn't get stuck, either!) Besides, they didn't do c-sections back then and Joseph was a carpenter, not a surgeon. Birth was especially dangerous in those times, and yet God saw to every detail, even a warm, safe place for Jesus to be born. Apparently, the Inn was an open-air, very exposed place. The stable was much preferred for a laboring woman. Joseph, the unsung hero in Jesus' early life, actually delivered the Savior. This is quite astonishing if you think about it. I bet Mary got skin-to-skin contact right away and bonding with Jesus, with the sheep and cattle mooing and "lowi...

As I was getting dressed for another wearying day of washing laundry and combing my girls' lice-infested hair out this morning I asked God for wisdom about this daunting, seemingly unending situation I was facing. "Is there a better way to do this God?" I queried the Almighty. He made head lice (or was that the Devil?!!)and he knows the number of hairs on our heads (and so do I after combing each of my children's hair and checking every strand for nits dozens of times!), surely there might be a better way to go about this situation. Later that morning the school secretary called to inform me that Chloe and Leanne's school work was ready to pick up in the office. As I arrive in the office they inform me that now I'll need a doctor's note because the girls have missed so much school. "Huh?" I say. "I'll go talk to the school nurse." "We've just been talking about you," the school nurse tells me after I introduce mys...

Warning: gross post ahead. So, we all start scratching our heads on Sunday and I'm thinking "Oh, no...perhaps it's dry scalp? Oh, please God, let it be dry scalp - really dry!" as I'm seeing Leanne scratch and scratch and Chloe and me and Elena scratch, itch, itch....Are you feeling itchy yet? By Monday afternoon Elena says again "Mom, I'm really itching!" I had already checked their necks at the base of their scalp to see if I could identify any critters, but I didn't. I checked the top of her head, the crown, and sure enough this nasty, ugly little louse was crawling around. So, I put in a second call to my friend who's dealt with several bouts of it. As we're talking I'm realizing that yes, we all have head lice. I say to her "Hold on a sec" as I breathe in deeply and try not to scream. I'm totally grossed out and horrified at the prospect. I inform Tim and thus begins loads and loads and loads of laundry, special lic...

I can't believe it's been several weeks since I've written on my blog. My computer was down for a week or so and I've been fasting and keeping a "fast journal." This outlet for writing has satisfied my need to express myself, but I would like to update my blog with other things that could be made more public. However, now that I'm sitting here I can't think of anything to write about. Thanksgiving is this week and I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll be with my Dad and Stepmom and sisters and one stepsister, Camie. Our kids get along very well together and Camie is just as sweet and funny as can be. I like Thanksgiving. It's always been one of our favorite family holidays growing up. I remember the Thanksgiving when my brother, an older teenager at the time, came in to the dining room from the kitchen and sat down with the rest of us to finish eating. We said: "Michael, you've been picking at the chocolate cake." To which ...

It's Monday and Daisy and I just returned from Target. I have nothing interesting to write about. I saw a movie yesterday afternoon: The Secret Life of Bees. It was good. I like Queen Latifah and she did a good job in this movie. Dakota Fanning's performance was excellent, too. I read the book about a year ago and it was good. I thought the movie did a great job of captivating the look and feel of the book and I recall the book events were closely followed. They didn't captivate the sweltering, suffocating, humidity of the South like the book did. Also, most of the women seemed younger in the movie than they were in the book. It was still excellent but it didn't really grab at my emotions like I was hoping for. I was hoping to really escape for the afternoon. I didn't. The thoughts and feelings I was hoping to take a break from never really left me thoughout the whole movie. Oh well....back to reality. One thing I realized this morning is that when I'm tempted t...

I don't have much to write about tonight, just random thoughts. I was thinking the other day how many times people ask me how I manage six kids or "I don't know how you do it" comments. I must field those comments and questions several times a week. Quite frankly, I don't think six kids is that big of a family. Although, there are times when I think, "I have six kids! How did this happen?!" Anyway, I've learned that the best answer is to say, "We laugh a lot. We don't take ourselves that seriously. And I say 'no' a lot, too. I'm rather unpopular at any given time with friends, family, and neighbors." I have learned that this seems to be the secret to enjoying my larger size family. I don't have lots of expectations for myself or my kids other than the basics of dishes, laundry,general neatness, healthy meals, and kindness and patience. To achieve all of this even one day a week is an astonishing, sound-the-trumpets (do y...