Feb. 5, 2010
Weekly Wrapup: Is Alaska our next step of the near future?
From the Heart:
You might want to hold onto your seat before you read what you are about to read. It may come as a surprise. I haven't shared the specifics of our changing plans on here before now because we hadn't spoken to anyone here locally. Now that the news is out, I will share with you what has been happening here.
This afternoon I had an interview with an organization in Soldotna, Alaska to fill a position as a physician assistant in their community health clinic. It went well. Next week, if they choose me, they will call and let me know, and then they will fly Tim and I out there for a formal interview. We are so excited.
That said, I must also admit that I've been doing a lot of grieving this week also. You all know that my heart's desire is to be home with my children. That dream and heart's desire was granted to me for the past almost six years. I praise God for this gift that was given me. It looks that my time as full-time mom is coming to a close soon. At least for awhile. The Lord is opening some doors, it seems, to another dream Tim and I have had for a long time. The location is perfect. Tim can pursue further education to find the skills he needs to find gainful employment that will support us in the future. For the rest of the year, once I start working, he will take over the homeschooling. We will see what will happen next year based on how this year finishes up.
Soldotna is an amazing location. Google it and see! The clinic is an amazing workplace with great people to work with and great pay. You can see three active volcanos nearby, or watch beluga whales in the Cook Inlet. There are state parks and the Kenai River nearby with King Salmon runs.
On the Home Front:
I guess I need to start thinking about packing and moving. We've got a lot of stuff. Too much stuff. Being in one location with four kids, stuff accumulates. I imagine we'll be even getting rid of a lot of our furniture which is hardly worth moving so far. It will be like going on the mission field...which it really is for me.
In the School Room:
The bigger girls and I are almost finished with World War I. We finished our unit on light and color - very fun, by the way! They made great progress with their research papers, which will probably need another few days to finish. Mountain Princess still struggles along with her math, but continues to work hard. Snow Crystal is getting more independent in that area. We finished our 23rd week this week, so we have only 13 to go.
Little Critter learned "K" with his older sister, and both made a letter page for their ABC notebook. Bubbies continues to learn about the human body. I didn't get to all of our school work with her today because the group in Soldotna called me an hour early!!! Yikes! Talk about mad scramble for getting the kids a babysitter in a five minute time-frame. Thank God for good friends who will help in less than a moment's notice!
In the Way of Parenting:
This week we had some great times talking with the kids, praying with them regarding potential upcoming changes. This is drawing us all closer together in an amazing way.
On the Mission Field:
Our team in India is on their last two weeks of service before coming home. Pray for them.
If you've been watching the news, you've seen something about bombings in Pakistan involving American soldiers. This is the first time any Americans have been harmed in their civil fighting going on. We were amazed to realize that all of our friends who were over there are out of the country or on their way out at the time. This is God's providence in action.
In the Literary Scene:
I started Second Touch of the AD Chronicles by the Thoenes. I also started a new Bible study on Wednesday nights with the women here on the mountain. It is the Esther study by Beth Moore. I loved the first night! Can't wait to do it. Hopefully I can get it done before we move.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
It is hard to really say what is on my heart since my mind is being transformed from day to day. At least that is what I hope it is all about. I hope that the Lord is just working on helping me to see His bigger picture. I constantly have to give my plans to the Lord, so that He can guide my steps. Somethings He takes, some things He gives, but I choose to continue to seek His path even if it seems foggy lately.
I do have a miracle to report. I was supposed to renew my PA license by this Sunday in the state of Colorado. I went on line yesterday to see what it would cost ($202 that I didn't have). I was amazed to see that someone else had already done it for me last November! The official page said that it was renewed until 2012! After that little miracle, I decided to relook at whether or not God wanted me to give up being a PA. Now I have a few more weeks to figure it out before my license goes "inactive" sometime in March (if I don't find another physician to supervise me).
On the Home Front:
I was on crew this week, which means that I did a lot of snow shoveling, dishes and deep cleaning. Only two more days of being on crew to go!
In the School Room:
We are making our way through World War I with the older girls, and reading a lot of missionary type stories with Bubbies in history. The older girls are starting to learn about magnets, light and color, while Bubbies, 5, finished up studying plants and moved on to the human body. (We do still have some beans growing in our living room, regarding which Little Critter, 3, likes to tell everyone "Look we're growing food!") Bubbies added the letter N to her list of letters this year (review for her), and they all learned the Hebrew letter Lamed. The older girls are working on their state research report, which is going much easier for Mountain Princess (12) than Snow Crystal (10), but I am proud of both of them for sticking with it and pushing through. The older girls are taking their piano a little more seriously now that I have them play 2-4 songs for me to hear each Friday.
Little Critter learned "N" with his older sister, and both made a letter page for their ABC notebook.
In the Way of Parenting:
My three year old needed lots of training this week, but it is fun how he returns lots of hugs and kisses for it!
I'm continuing to review Raising Godly Tomatoes book so I can remember all the good tips in it.
On the Mission Field:
Today we spent the morning as a staff with some good friends who were sharing about their work in Pakistan. It is very inspiring to listen to others' stories. After listening I, of course, wanted to sign up and head right over there, but, as usual, my dh wasn't interested. (Wasn't he listening to the same stories?) I know he is burnt out. For that reason, I figure our next step will be out of full-time missions, but we'll see. I have been thinking more about my PA work, and when I think of in combined with missions, I get excited. When I think of it as a job, not so much.
Today I thought about putting together a training program much like the Community Health Aide Program in Alaska. They train indigenous people to do primary care in their home areas. I would like to do something like that mixed with a School of Primary Health Care (YWAM), to train people in remote places how to do basic things to take care of themselves. It would be for missionaries, indigenous peoples, etc. It would deal with medical issues, clean water, hygiene, etc. Anyway, those are some of my first thoughts about it. Perhaps going to Alaska and getting my PA skills built back up for a couple of years while developing this program might be a good start...!
In the Literary Scene:
I mostly read First Light of the AD Chronicles by the Thoenes. I like it a lot so far. I'm about halfway done.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
Time is almost up to be included in The Girlhood Home Companion January Giveaway! If you are like us, with one or more girly girls who love all things vintage and appreciate the words and ways of yesteryear with a Christian flavour ~ this magazine is simply a MUST!
Remembrance Press is giving away 3 issues of the 2009 Spring Edition of The Girlhood Home Companion (Make It Lovely Issue) and the Mother/Daughter workshop cd’s that go with them... but you only have until midnight this Sunday to enter.
If you would like to be included, please hop on over to Remembrance Press... I have never read The Girlhood Home Companion but it looks great for any young lady... or young in heart.
I am continuing on my journey to make my walk with the Father deeper and closer. I continue to have quiet times, but don't feel I've made any great strides to hearing Him any better... I feel we are on the right path, because I am not avoiding the issue any longer! I have a great list of books that I found on another blogger's website (can't remember which right now), and I may try to purchase or find at our library one at a time. I think the most important thing is not reading books, but practicing being in His presence and obeying what I know to do. I think I understand that as I do those things, He will also draw near to me.
I thought things were going smoothly this week, but then there was a roadblock that came up. My dh is dealing with some hurts and sometimes his wounds get bumped. Just when I thought that the Lord was telling us that we would be here long-term, I am wondering if I even heard Him about that at all. Since I am doubting that, it makes me doubt whether I am doing the right thing about giving up my PA license, but I don't know what my alternative is right now... Frankly, I don't want to go back to it. I don't love it anymore, and I think that my heart isn't in it any longer. What is God's heart in this? This is what I need to know...
What is my heart's desire? That we would move ahead in missions. I feel we are in a stuck place. Dh isn't happy, I want to do more to help people and to see the world. The children aren't especially happy. They are so isolated here. When I felt that the Lord was telling us we would be here long-term, I started to dream about what we could do to make this work. Then the pot got stirred again, and I feel I am back in the fire again. The decisions I want to make do not make sense to the world, but neither does following Jesus in any whole-hearted sense. Pray that I will hear clearly from God in my times of waiting before Him.
Last weekend I put 25 braids into Mountain Princess's hair for fun. I think it turned out really cute.
On the Home Front:
We've had some issues with our house heaters this week. They still aren't working right, but, fortunately, our wood stove heats most of the house pretty well as long as we keep it going with wood. The mornings can be chilly, but usually nothing that we can't bear.
We got a bunch of new snow this week. There is one young lady on our staff has a history of drawing in the snow. Throughout her DTS whenever she was on crew, it snowed a lot. Other students never had to shovel snow. This year nothing has changed. If she is on crew, it snows a lot! I told her she needs to get paid by the City of Montrose and the western part of our country to be on crew...then they would get all the snow and water they want after the winter is over, and she could get the benefit of the money!
In the School Room:
We got through our week, and had a little fun. I think the girls are starting to struggle with the routine of it, but they are being troopers. Snow Crystal, 10, has begun the habit of working hard to get her workbooks done for the week early in the week so she has more free time as the week goes on. I think this is a good skill to possess, and I see that she is noticing its benefits.
In the Way of Parenting:
I've added a new title here, because this is an area on my heart that I am trying to grow in. It is also an area that I'm struggling with. Someone made a comment this week that he couldn't relate well with our kids because of their lack of parenting. Ouch! We work hard at parenting our kids the best way we know how, and then we still get hit with comments like this. It is hard for us to understand. I see the comment as condemnation, and not from the Lord. I learned once that condemnation is grey...there is no clear picture of what it is that we need to change to make it right. It just tears us down. On the other hand, conviction is clear. God convicts, the enemy condemns. When God convicts us, we clearly see what we need to change. It can build us up. It still hurts to hear things like this, and we need to take them to the Lord and forgive the person and see what truth is in it that we need to work on.
I've gotten back out my Raising Godly Tomatoes book so I can see if the Lord wants to give me any clear words of guidance through it.
On the Mission Field:
I think I shared above what is happening here. We could use a lot of prayer for guidance.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my Bible and school reading, I finished reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I also started reading the AD Chronicles #1 First Light. I think I am going to like it a lot.
Snow Crystal doesn't have long enough hair for braids, so we put hers up in tiny twists.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
This week my challenge has been getting out of bed early in the morning and giving my Lord the best of my day, instead of the leftovers. I have been guilty in the past of not making my time with Him my priority, but trying to squeeze time in with Him after I spend all my free time on computer, playing games with my friends, or reading a book. Sometimes I forgot to spend time with Him throughout my entire day. Now I am working on literally making my time with Him the first and most important time in my day whenever I can. One challenge with this is getting to bed at a decent hour the night before so that I am not too tired the next morning. On the three days that I woke up early for this, the Lord actually woke me up earlier than the time I had set my alarm for. This was nice in that I could lay in bed longer just vegging. One time I actually got up and turned off the alarm so my dh wouldn't be woken up by it.
The down side of my quiet times with the Lord is that there is no place that I can go off by myself that I won't be disturbed by my children when they get up except for in my unheated, unfinished basement. I've been going down to our TV room and wrapping up in an old comforter. I try to stay warm while I journal, pray, and read my Bible or other devotional type of book. The upside of this location is that my children never look for me there and so after I am finished I can allow myself to doze off to sleep until I hear them all thumping around upstairs in full force.
I am still looking for the right things to do during this time to draw me closer to the Lord. I read my Torah portions, parts of Psalms or Proverbs, journal my prayers, or read a book like "Amazing Love" by Francis Chan. There is no magic key to make my times with Him fulfilling to either of us. I am hoping that by my faithfulness, and His faithfulness, the love between us will grow and my love for these times will blossom. My blog friend, Ruth, mentioned recently to me in a letter that we need to keep seeking Him each day with the determination that we won't leave until He has blessed us. She said that the Lord always blessed her when she approached it that way, but sometimes it was a couple hours later and sometimes fifteen minutes. I'm not sure what makes up being blessed, but I think that is what I am looking for. I'm not sure that isn't selfish, so I continue to ask the Lord to make these things clear to me.
Tubing in our back yard!
On the Home Front:
We've begun having a staff potluck in our home one evening a week. Our goal in it is to make a time and place for fellowship and community building outside of working, and to draw us closer together.
In the School Room:
We had a great, productive week this week. The older two girls are learning about World War I and we finally finished our unit on electricity in science. Snow Crystal and I are reading The Wright Brothers together. We started reading Cheaper By the Dozen but it was a yawner and gave it up. This week, one day I took a chapter out of Proverbs and read through it verse by verse discussing what each verse meant. After that we sang some worship songs together and prayed together to start our day. This was a good start to our day, and I hope that we can do this more often as well.
Bubbies, 5, is working on the letter "O" still, and in math she is doing numbers up to 100, counting by twos, fives and tens. She can read her little readers a little easier now too. We continued to read missionary stories, Egermeier's Bible Story Book, and we are reading Doctor Dolittle as an evening read-aloud.
On the Mission Field:
The Lord blessed us this week through an unexpected giver. I am continually amazed at how He provides for us through these kinds of gifts. I had hoped to have done more in the area of fundraising by now, but feel that it is important to wait for my husband to do this wholeheartedly as well. Please pray that we will be able to get over the obstacles that asking for money seems to put up for us, and that we will be able to see our ministry as not only a calling but a way to allow others to be blessed by giving to our ministry.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my Bible and school reading, I'm still been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I have also read 2 chapters from Christianity Reconsidered, a book given to me by my above-mentioned friend, Ruth. It has been interesting reading in that it talks about things that another man, a pastor, has discovered about our faith in a journey very similar to my own regarding Christianity and its Hebrew roots.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
This has been a really good week of making giant strides into doing what is right and drawing closer to the Lord. I have put much of my computer time aside, and I'm still jostling with what is the right amount of time to spend blogging and catching up with online and IRL friends. However, those times I turn to drawing close to the Lord, reading His Word, journaling, worshiping Him have been more than blessed this week. I am looking forward to even more of it this next week.
This is me at our staff Christmas party on December 19. I wasn't served silverware for this course of the meal, so I had to use my pickle to eat my ice cream!
On the Home Front:
Yesterday I spent a little while outside enjoying my husband's handiwork. He has built a tube run in the snow for everyone around here to enjoy. It is a real blast. I had him video me going down it, but he accidentally forgot that he couldn't turn the camera on its side for videos! Oops! You should see my littlest ones going down it...they fly, but they LOVE it!
In the School Room:
This week was very productive with five days of school accomplished. The kids worked hard and even had some free time Friday afternoon to do other fun things that they wanted to get done. I think the older girls are officially half-way done with school now! Yea! Mountain Princess started her Singapore Math 6A which went right into algebra from the get-go. She did well with it. Snow Crystal is just about to finish her Singapore 3B, and she is carrying on like a trooper.
Bubbies, 5, worked on the letter "O", numbers up to 100, directions both N-S-E-W and left, right, forward and back. She is done with 17 weeks of school this year.
On the Mission Field:
I am quite sure the Lord is allowing me to give up my physician assistant license for now, and is releasing me to focus on my family and missions full-time. I have it on my heart to help start up a second level training program here, to help prepare disciples for full-time, long-term missions. This is in the prayer stages. I am also feeling the Lord gave me a clear word that He wants us to stay here long-term. The other dream I had didn't take too much grieving, as what I really wanted was His clear guidance. I have much joy from getting this.
This week the fall DTS came back for two days from New Mexico and their work at the Navajo reservation, and then headed off to India. We really enjoyed their stories while they were here. Keep them in your prayers as they are in a very dark place that is a very tough place to be. They will be there until the end of February when they return to debrief and graduate.
Little Critter, 3, is playing Starfall on computer. I am amazed at how quickly the kids learn to do computer these days!
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my Bible and school reading, I'm still been reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Dh and I got it for Christmas from a woman in our church. I think it is definitely helping me get to where I need to be spiritually again. So far it has reminded me of who God is, in a very finite yet understanding way, that is helping me to fall in love with Him all over again. It has also reminded me what a lukewarm Christian is, and what loving God is. It is just what I need, and I highly recommend it for anyone in a rut in their spiritual lives!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
This week I froze my Fairyland garden and purposely avoided logging into Facebook several times a day as I had been doing. I looked at my spiritual life and found it lacking. I find that if I have a few free minutes, I usually rush to the computer to see what someone posted in their facebook status or what wildlife was found in my garden... I still took time to keep up with my Bible reading, but beyond that, my prayer life and love for spiritual things fizzled to dangerously cool coals. I have been praying that the Lord would reignite this fire, and the first thing He asked of me was to give up Facebook and my desire to run to the computer every free second I have. At first, and even some now, I find a real vacuum from the absence of what used to bring me joy. I don't want that to be my source of joy. I want spending time with God to be my source of joy. So now I am on a journey to find that again, and with God's help, I know I can. The Bible says, "Seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart."
Snow Crystal reading to me as I fold laundry on my bed.
In the School Room:
We got back to doing a full week this week of school. All the girls did a full week's schedule in the four days we had to do school in. The big girls did week 17 of Core 4, and Eliana did week 16 of Core K.
The little ones are learning the letter J. Here Little Critter is "jumping" for a picture for his J page in his alphabet notebook.
One of our favorite books this year is the Usborne Mysteries and Marvels of Science that is a part of Core 4. It is internet linked, although we have rarely gotten to any of the links. The pictures are amazing and beautiful. It is up to date about things that have been discovered since I went to school, and I am learning tons right alongside the girls. This week we learned about sound that we can't hear (ultrasound and infrasound), what heat does to matter and infrared imaging, how life can still exist even when frozen (like a wood frog when it hibernates), the average temperature of the universe (-518.76 F - which is very close to absolute zero -523.67 F), and how some materials become superconductors when they reach -423 F. We also started learning about electricity in this book, which is fine to review, because the other electricity studies we've been doing have left us frustrated.
On New Year's Eve, the YWAM Cimarron hosted a party complete with lots of food, games, and fireworks. You can see the back of my braid here as we play a six-handed game of Hand and Foot.
Another book we are loving is from Bubbies' Core K: I Heard Good News Today by Cornelia Lehn. It is scheduled as part of her history, but we read it with our Bible studies. It is chock full of short stories of early missionaries who worked all over the world. We all love this time to learn of people whose behaviour and lives we want to exemplify.
Mountain Princess, Snow Crystal and Bubbies taught "Grandma" Lil how to play Killer Bunnies. I think it was very confusing for her since she was being taught by a 10 and a 12 year old!
On the Mission Field:
I still haven't heard any more from the Lord regarding my working as a physician assistant again. The Discipleship Training School is wrapping up there time in Navajoland, and will soon be here for a brief transition before heading to India for another 6 weeks or so.
Little Critter enjoyed playing with Tom in the student center on New Year's Eve.
Mountain Princess also made a little money during the party babysitting this little guy while we played cards.
In the Literary Scene:
Besides my Bible and school reading, I've been reading My Law on Your Heart by Arye Powlison, which tells about Jesus's Jewishness, and helps to look at Bible scriptures from a Hebrew point of view. It is interesting reading, but I can only take a little at a time. Yesterday I read Winds of Promise by Brock and Bodie Thoene, written about the California Gold Rush. My newest and most exciting book that I've begun reading is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Dh and I got it for Christmas from a woman in our church. I think it is going to help get me to where I need to be spiritually again. So far it has reminded me of who God is, in a very finite yet understanding way, that is helping me to fall in love with Him all over again. So far, I highly recommend it, and I haven't even finished the first chapter. It is just what I need!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.
Outside My Window...
It is dark, snowy and cold. Fluffy snow is blowing around and creating drifts and powdery piles.
I am thankful...
That we started back to school this week. Too much free time makes the kids forget all their manners and behaviour. It is good to be back on a schedule.
I am thinking... That I will give up my Facebook for awhile to reprioritize my time on the computer and in my home.
From the learning rooms...
School has been full of learning about the late 1800s and about wonderful Christian people who dared to "get out of the boat" and shared Jesus with those around them in amazing selfless deeds.
From the kitchen...
This week no meals are coming out of the YWAM kitchen. I am having to cook all three meals, unless my husband helps out (which he does one meal about every other day). This is challenging me to think ahead and try new recipes. I'm enjoying it for the most part.
I am wearing...
Blue jeans, my down slippers and a long-sleeved tee.
I am remembering...
What it is like to be a school girl in the 70's and 80's in a small town, public school. I have tough memories, but also cherished ones of favorite teachers and caring adults.
I am creating...
A year end newsletter that will wrap up our year here on the mountain within the next two days.
I am going... To help my daughter look for her read-aloud so we can read before her bedtime.
I am reading... Torah Portions, The Law on My Heart, and a book about fundraising.
I am hoping...
That I can find the lost book. I've looked for days for it!
On my mind and heart...
Is giving up Facebook (at least temporarily) and letting the Bible be my first stop when I have a few free minutes.
I am hearing...
Bubbies digging in the closet trying to get a game that is too high for her.
Pondering these words... "I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor principalities can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Around the house...
My big girls are playing in the oldest's bedroom. Little Critter is in bed. Bubbies is playing "River Crossing" on the floor next to me.
One of my favorite things...
Good friends and family to play games with while we eat tasty snacks and drink tea, cocoa or coffee.
A few plans for the rest of the week...
We will finish the week's school tomorrow, start cleaning for the weekend, and celebrate New Year's Eve tomorrow with friends here at the base and new and old friends from nearby.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...
This is a crystal tree that grows the green and white with a special solution added at the bottom in the dish that we got for Christmas.
One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty, the beauty of the Lord. To inquire in His temple, the temple of the Lord.
This is my everyday thoughts about being a mother to three little ladies (12, 10 and 5) and a three year old son. We serve God full-time, and I am a physician assistant. I have the most awesome husband in the world. I am trying to seek and serve God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength.
From the Heart:
I have a great list of books that I found on another blogger's website (can't remember which right now), and I may try to purchase or find at our library one at a time. I think the most important thing is not reading books, but practicing being in His presence and obeying what I know to do. I think I understand that as I do those things, He will also draw near to me. 
