November 19, 2009

Dear Ginger

You asked to be notified of VOM Meetings in your area. A new meeting has been scheduled.

Meeting Details

Friendship Baptist Church
Speaker	Robert Brock
Location	3310 Old Niles Ferry Rd Maryville, TN 37804
Date	November 22, 2009 at 09:15 AM

For more information about this meeting, including a description and driving instructions, please click here.

We may actually have our home improvement projects done before Thanksgiving.  We now have space to homeschool, not to mention EAT. 

The stove was moved back and plugged in none too soon. Recent deaths in our church family meant serving food for the bereaved. Handsome Hubby just informed me that the Deacons will be cooking dinners for the widows of our church in a couple of weeks [so I'll try to have a backup meal ready to thaw and serve in case they burn the Fellowship Hall down--just kidding, sweetie!].  My pal Kasey is famous for saying: "A Baptist meets all catastrophes with  Scripture, prayer, and casseroles." 

The office, kitchen, and two of the bedrooms are painted leaving only the dining room. The floor in the kitchen is absolutely MAAHH-velous, and almost complete.  And the stuff we've gotten rid of! Yikes! Who knew that there was a whole 'nother house hiding in the mess of the one we now dwell? That's how it felt, going through all the clutter. Space and order is so refreshing.

 In family devotional time last night, I had to confess that my attitude stunk during the remodel [as though the family didn't already guess that about two months ago!]

The Family LIfe broadcast yesterday with Nancy Leigh DeMoss focused on being grateful. How convicting! Here God's blessing us to improve our home and fussing about the inconvenience and disorder.  What was really a blessing, I treated as a burden. The end of this messy process will yield beauty, comfort, and order for our family. But I was stubbornly holding an  "I can't stand the mess RIGHT NOW" attitude. Once again, something small became a teaching moment from God. This little lesson in patience and gratefulness is easy to hear and to give lip-service to, but  hard to put into  practice. 

So, gentle reader, we are getting it altogether again in so many ways.  If I can actually take a picture that isn't fuzzy, I might post some when we are all finished.

The whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth as it awaits its final redemption from the effects of the fall. ~Romans 8:22

As my grandma lay dying a year and a half ago, I was struck by how her suffering reflected the pains of childbirth. I felt as I watched that she was somehow being "born" ino heaven, passing out of the pain of this world to be caught up in the loving arms of her Savior on the other side, as all the angels stood by watching in joyful anticipation. I even had this Norman Rockwellish image in my head of the whole event. While it was very sad for all of us, there was a certain beauty in the process.

Yesterday, this thought came back into my head as I was reading from a book called Blessing Your Husband by Debra Evans. After quoting Romans 8:22, Mrs. Evans goes on to say, "Though it is easy on difficult days to forget our ulimate goal, our labor and groans are deeply productive where God's eternal purpose for us is concerned.  'For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18' "

Not much is said about the symbolism of childbirth in the Bible, but there it is, an answer to the question of suffering and a picture of our salvation, put into words that only a mother could fully understand. That's just an awsome thought, isn't it, that God is speaking specifically to us who have gone through the pains of childbirth? Just picture the whole of creation groaning in the midst of labor, and then that final moment when the child arrives and there is instant and complete relief, and overwhelming joy. Our labors are over, our sinful natures are gone, along with all the pain that accompanies them. Amazing! And not just us, but someday "the whole of creation" will feel that relief. Don't you long for that day?

We are in the middle of a remodeling project. Or perhaps I should say "projects."  The kitchen floor has been mostly ripped up, we have trim stacked in the foyer for the cabinets, new wood flooring stacked in the dining room for the kitchen, tile for the bathrooms and laundry stacked in the garage. The garage and shed need siding up before the really bad weather sets in. And, yes, we are hoping to re-do the "dining room of many colors"  so it is all one harmonious hue instead of the patchwork of paint samples that we about which we were undecided.

In the middle of this mess, it is just too distracting to do school. Since we are doing very well with our days and our assignments, we are taking off a few days. The kids could use a break, and I need time to clear out some clutter and take stock of where we are academically. I also need to make a LOT of copies of certain things and my printer has died an unnatural death. Chalk up a day out to town for a Xerox run.

Tonight we're having microwaved burritos and putting down the new kitchen floor. I can't cook homemade meals right now because the stove has been moved.

It's been an eventful day already. The children and I have  rearranged furniture, done some yard work, and  tossed some unnecessary books.  Boy, that hurt to type. It goes against my grain to call any children's books unnecessary. My friends that know what a book-nerd I am will be shocked to read that. I may bring them to Jen's get-together this Friday so I can make sure they find good homes.

I'm almost ready to let go of children's clothes, too. Notice I said almost.  Every article of clothing my children have worn has been carefully stored for future use. We weren't sure how many blessings the Lord would give us, so I kept all the clothes to save money.  Now that we know there probably won't be any more little ones around here, it's time to start letting some things go. Ouch. That hurt to type, too.

All in all, we need some time to regroup, catch up on home stuff, get ready for winter, and make more detailed lesson plans. We have a small time window before Dad starts his next several surgeries. I plan to make a little time to find out what it is like to sit down for a while and relax, too. With a cup of tea that Pat sent me this week. Ahh! Things are shaping up nicely already.

I just got this in my email today and HAD to share--I've already downloaded my copy. Thank you, TOS!

It's your FREE gift . . .

Get ready to . . .
Wrap your family in a ribbon of thankfulness and joy and
season your holiday with laughter, love, and togetherness.
Start planning now for a wondrous holiday season with . . .
 

The TOS 2009 Digital Holiday Supplement

WOW . . . a gorgeous Holiday/Christmas Digital Magazine filled with a fabulous lineup of planning, recipe, gift, and craft ideas you'll love. 

“This is TOS’s gift to the homeschooling community, and anyone is welcome to it. The 2009 Digital Holiday Supplement will fulfill your yearnings for fresh and original additions to your long-treasured, family customs, and maintain Christ’s honored position first, and foremost, in your celebrations.”

—Gena Suarez, publisher of The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine

I am so pleased to announce and invite Doehill readers to our church  Sunday,  November 22, to hear a Voice of the Martyrs speaker who has ministered in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East.  

He will be speaking to the entire church during the Sunday School hour. This special event begins at 9:15 a.m.. If you are going to be in the area [possibly vacationing at the Smokies?] , please feel free to come be with us.  If you've never gotten to hear about their amazing work, I hope you'll come be with us, or at the very least, go visit their website at www.persecution.com .

Once again, we are blessed to have the opportunity to hear about, pray for, and actively help the persecuted Church through this organization. VOM has been to our church before for  two different ladies' mission conferences [here, here, and here] , but this is the first church-wide meeting. ALL AGES ARE WELCOME! Two staffed nurseries are provided.

Please visit out church's website [ www.fbcmaryville.net ] for directions! And come back here for more info as we get closer to the event! in Christ, Gin