Our fall soccer season has come to an end. We had another wonderful season with some good life lessons along the way.
The girls had a great end to their season. They won the championship. It was even better because Brooks was their coach.
Here's the team giving high 5 after a goal:
We had an amazing goalie, Hannah.
Here's the whole team with their championship trophies:
And my girls --
Bekah was feeling really good and had asked Brooks if she could play. He told her that he would put her in toward the end of the game. She can run and play but she is supposed to avoid falling. Not too long into the game, one of our players got hurt so Bekah went in and played the whole game. She was out of shape from no activity since the end of August but she did a great job and the girls really enjoyed playing the final game of the season together.
Mark had a great last game. Here he is with his buddy, Jackson:
And Mark and Brooks:
Sam's team almost made it to the championship game. They lost in a shoot out in Friday night's game. Sam's coach said a small little something about each player as he gave the trophy. When the coach gave Sam his trophy he said "Sam I can play any position (last name)" Here is Sam receiving his trophy:
We have a couple of months of no soccer. Sam will play indoor winter soccer and that begins in January.
This old geranium belonged to my grandpa who is now in a nursing home. I could not bare to toss it out when we cleared out their place. I remember him being so proud of this spindly thing. He'd take me aside and show it to me when we'd visit. He'd remark how he only gave it rain water he collected. Somehow, I just need to keep this little plant going. It spent the summer outside. Now it is getting some sunshine from the inside.
~Jenn
** Update, my mom told me last night that Grandpa has to see an oncologist today. He's had a fever and his blood work came back suggesting something is up. I am asking for prayers. Thank you.
~Answered prayer...I have been praying about something for a long time. This weekend I finally got the fact that I was standing in the way of God answering my prayer in His way. I kept trying to fix/solve the problem. Within hours of surrendering it to the Lord, He answered my prayer in a great way.
~Great husbands.....my is the best!
~Grandparents....We had a fun time with Grandparents at our Keeper's Grandparents luncheon.
~My dog Belle....She is such a great dog and she likes me best!
In a former life that I now dimly remember, I occasionally got free music as a sales associate for The Ark Bookstore in Denver. Normally, the samples were of new, relatively unknown groups that their label was trying to push. There was the rare exception, however, and those were moments that made the low wages and long hours almost worth it. Chief among those moments was when our Sparrow representative stopped by with a pre-release copy of Steve Taylor's 1993 album, Squint. It was the last—so far—studio album that Taylor would release, capping a decade-long career in the Christian music industry. Most folks don't know who Steve Taylor is. However, most Christians have likely heard the Newsboys' song, Shine, which Steve produced and wrote the lyrics to. In fact, Steve's partnership with the Newsboys is what most credit them for their success.
Steve's music has had a huge impact on my life. Songs like Hero, Meltdown, On The Fritz and so many others fed my spirit when I faced religious hypocrisy and pretentious spirituality at a young age where I needed truth and solidarity. Truth confronts, but it also comforts. One of the best examples is in the song, "Curses," where the chorus (echoing Psalm 37:25) repeats,
Never have I seen the righteous forsaken
Never abandoned in the floodlands
Never have I seen their children out begging
Never have I seen them slip through your hands
This simple refrain would echo in my mind every time I faced worries about making mortgage or buying groceries. It remains a reminder that not only is God faithful, but that I am not the first of his children to encounter financial difficulty.
There is something else about the chorus. In this modern,"lower-middle class" lifestyle, I tend to forget the meaning of floodlands. Today, modern civilization has flood control. Rivers that used to rage and ravage towns and cities are now harnessed and regulated by dams and reservoirs. The floodlands were areas that were normally dry but prone to extensive inundation. As a result, no one who could afford to build would build in such an area. They tended to be vast areas with thick undergrowth crisscrossed by a myriad of foot trails. The only inhabitants were the poorest of the poor, vagrants living a nomadic lifestyle and eating hand-to-mouth. If a river were to flood, they would be among the first victims, sometimes the only victims. Being abandoned in the floodlands would never be by choice. It would be the last stop before dying.
God is always mindful of our situation. He never lets us slip through His hands. We make mistakes, but He never does. Also, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that we would never see the floodlands, or walk through them. He may have us pass through the floodlands for any number of reasons, not the least of which would be to reach out to those are also in desperate need. Yet here is the one thing that brings me such comfort: we will never be abandoned! We have a God who carries us through the fiercest storms and the highest waves. Most importantly, when it's all over, we get to go home with Him. That's worth any trek we might face here on earth.
Just in case one thinks I'm blowing smoke, I'll offer a subjective proof, one of many small miracles God has done for me and my family. Two weeks ago, my mind turned to Christmas. It dawned on me that we might not make mortgage, let alone have the ability to purchase gifts this year for my children. Rather than fret, I told God about it and asked Him to please provide Christmas gifts for my kids. Later that week, I got a call from our church saying that a family wanted to bless a family in need with Christmas presents and asked if I would be interested. "Are you kidding? I was just praying about that this week!" I told them. Needless to say, everyone was blessed at how God worked the whole thing. He usually isn't so blatant and obvious. God uses subtle and practical ways for us most of the time. But once in awhile he offers us unmistakable signs that He's there. With God, we are never abandoned.
To enter just tell me about your favorite pet!
Was it a dog, cat, horse, hamster?
Do you still have her/him?
Entries taken until Wednesday night and I'll announce the winner on Thursday.
Please leave me a way to get in touch with you if you win.
Our sweet little kitty, Raider, is now living in NC with my best friend. She has a new name, Bella.
We miss her a lot. I want to know what she is doing and if she misses us.
HI RAIDER, I MEAN BELLA!!
I hope you live 20 long years and give my favorite friend lots of love and company.
WE MISS YOU!
My wife came up and told me that Sesame Street had done another spoof. This time it was a skit called "Desperate Horse-wives." I got a groan when I asked if the characters were less than neigh-borly.
In all seriousness, I'm not that thrilled with how the folks at Sesame Street parody network TV shows. While I am sure that the creators mean simple and innocent fun with their skits, I believe it also sends the message that the shows they represent are normal and acceptable in normal households. I'm not sure how normal we are, but Desperate Housewives is a show that we do not let in our house. My children know that when Extreme Makeover Home Edition is over and they hear, "Previously on Desperate Housewives..." power to the television is to be immediately terminated. It's almost comical how they scramble to turn it off, as if they were diving on a live grenade.
While it may not be a grenade, many TV shows are painfully difficult for us to watch these days. Some of the shows are so corrosive, I wonder how anyone can possibly watch them. Consequently, some nights we simply don't turn on the television set. Instead, we will read a good book or play a game together, if we don't split up to do separate things. We avoid the shows not because we like feeling superior or cerebral, but because we've found that these shows actively interfere with our hearts and minds.
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8, The Message)
I can't come out with a list of TV shows that I think are bad or good. The verse above should be more than enough for the average Christian, especially when it's paired with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Each person is responsible only to God for decisions like these. However, Jesus did give us a special charge with children.
"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. Mark 9:42 (NIV)
To me this verse means that God takes the destruction of children's innocence very seriously. This is why the Sesame Street skits irritate me. It feels like they're playing with fire. Look smart all you want, but I would prefer if they would just stick with "C is for cookie," and the yip-yip monsters.
What? You've never heard of the yip-yip monsters? Yip Yip
Your kids have had the flu for what seems like months now. Your routines lay shattered around you. Your heart is sinking with the mess all around you. Anyone relate? If you are not there, you will be at one point this winter. So what are we to do when those dulldroms come?
The greatest gift we posses as homeschoolers is our opportunity to change. We can change things up when school starts to get us down. Change the location where you do school. Change the books you are reading for awhile. Change your attitude!
Remember that quote from Charles Swindoll I posted the other day? Attitude is in our power to control. Are you going to see the negatives only? Or are you going to see what treasures you have laying all around you? It's up to us, Moms. We set the tone of our homes.
I delared this week to be "Serve Others Week" at our home. We made dinner for friends with a new baby. We babysat for friends. We visited our elderly grandparents in a nursing home. We wrote thank you notes to others who have been kind to us.
I tell you these things not to brag or make you feel bad about yourself. I tell them to you because I want you to be encouraged. The antedote to feeling blah is to serve others and to be thankful for all you have. It is really that simple. How that looks in your world will be different from how it looks in mine.
"You live more fully once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted."
~Ruth E. Renki
"Happiness is contagious. Be a carrier. "
~Robert Orben
"What the mind dwells on, expands."
~Norman Vincent Peale
I challenge you to find ways to shake things up next week in your studies if you are feeling blah, take a walk in the fall sunshine, rake leaves together, write letters to others, visit a shut-in, whatever that is for you, just do it!
Welcome to my place to ramble, witness, and vent (occasionally). Hopefully you'll enjoy yourself while you're here. I believe we need to seize the moments that God gives us. We never know which ones will be our last.
