Day 3

Days without my husband are long, rewarding and exhausting. I have noticed the kids sure get to eat a lot more sweets. (Overcompensating for Daddy's absence perhaps?) In my mind I have begun a series of without you phrases.

For instance:

Without you, the bed is ridiculously cold.

Without you, coffee isn't so great.

Without you, I am the only one laughing at the kids. (You heard me right, at the kids.)

Without you, I am not really motivated to cook gourmet meals.

Without you, there is no evening expectation.

Without you, .......

I am sure I will think of more in the remaining day and night to come. All of this got me to thinking of marriage and how it represents Christ and the Bride.

Without Christ, the Bride is cold.

Without Christ, the Bride loses meaning in menial tasks.

Without Christ, there is no joy within the Bride.

Without Christ, there is no hope or desire to live a life of excellance.

Without Christ, there is no long expected return of the King.

Without Christ,.......

How would you fill in the blank?

Side note: I just realized that "evening expectation" could be taken differently than I intended. I meant the portion of the evening after the kids are in bed and we can enjoy each other's company and talk.

Day 1

Dustin left for his annual missions trip to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway today. I am always so excited for him even thought t means a grueling 5 days solo with the kids for me. It is not grueling because I have the kids to my self since I absolutely adore being with them but it is hard to sleep alone and I am not as rough and tumble as Daddy which can cause some craziness late afternoon. In any case, I am especially exited for Dustin this year because I am expecting God to do something wonderful. I have never seen Dustin so prepared on a spiritual level. The man was prayed up! So if you think of it, please pray for the team: Dustin, Tim, Bud, Samantha and Tom. I can't wait to see what wonders God does.

Castle

We recently read a couple of Magic Tree House books that had castles in it and then we read the study guide that depicts life in the Medieval Ages so the kids decided to build our own castle out of blocks. Here are the results.
I was very impressed. We just need a moat and it would have been perfect.

The book shows our "blueprint."

The aerial shot shows the people in the courtyard.

Dancing like David

So I had to write about the book I mentioned earlier (Dancing With My Father by Sally Clarkson). I am still digesting and going through it slowly but I was so excited to be reading about David and the way he dance before the Lord that I had to stop and write.

I don't know if it is my baptist upbringing that causes me to stifle myself but I so want to be like David! I want to dance with joy before the Lord. Often times I feel like I am in an iPod commercial. Remember the one where people are casually walking down the street with earplugs on but their shadow are fully dancing and rocking out? That is how I feel. My heart soars at the greatness of my God. My shadow jumps and leaps, bows down low and lifts up out-stretched arms freely. My shadow sings out with all my strength and tears flow out of pure joy. My shadow does not care who is around or what a fool I look like. The only thing my shadow cares about is expressing my adoration, love and joy for my King. Oh, to allow myself to be like that in real life: unhindered.

Sally wrote: "I believe that David saw in God great freedom- that his God created pleasure, color, beauty, food, love, sound, taste, and deep happiness. David was not tied up in knots of religion and rules, pretense and performance. Instead, he enjoyed and delighted in the God whom he knew to be his close friend and Lord. his dancing was a genuine expression of what he felt in his heart for his most beloved and intimate companion."

Oh, how I pray I can learn to be like David and allow my shadow to come into the light and rejoice in my most precious treasure.

The Power of Conviction

The other morning Josiah and Naomi were doing their normal pretend play after breakfast and I heard Josiah speak a bit crossly to Naomi. As I stood washing the dishes, Naomi ran into the kitchen and buried her face in my leg whimpering that Josiah hurt her feelings and said mean things to her. Right behind her came Josiah declaring his innocence. I sighed and looked them both in the eyes. I had heard what Josiah said and he did not say anything wrong but the tone was displeasing to me nonetheless. I simply reminded him that even though his words were not mean, the way in which he spoke was hurtful. I hugged Naomi and reminded her that she controls whether she lets her feelings be hurt or not. And there was no need for her to be so dramatic. (which has been a theme for the last couple of weeks.) Off they went and that was that.

About an hour later, we were making a fruit smoothie. Whenever the blender goes on, the kids cover their ears and stare at the swirling fruit become pulverized. Thirty seconds after the blender began Josiah starts to yell above the blender motor, "Can you stop it?! Mom! Can you stop the blender?!" And then I saw it. A wash of conviction had fallen over his face. I had already forgotten about the morning's first infraction but as soon as I saw his face, I knew what was going on within him. It is that subtle nagging within your spirit that even though unintended, you hurt the feelings of someone you love. And you cannot rest until you make emends even though the offended party has moved on and even though you did not really "do' anything wrong. Yet there still remains unfinished business and your conscience will not let it go until you make it right.

He took a deep breathe and looked at Naomi and said, "Naomi, I am sorry I spoke harshly to you earlier." Naomi, who I am sure had forgotten all about it until he brought it up again, beamed at him and quickly retorted, "That's okay. I mean, I forgive you, Josiah." And she reached up and gave him a huge hug. Josiah cupped his chubby hands over his ears, looked at me and said, "Okay Mom. We're ready." I smiled and turned the blender on again. I think my heart was whirling with pride faster than the fruit smoothie concoction spinning before me.

Dancing with my Father preview

I received a copy of Dancing With My Father by Sally Clarkson with the agreement that I would review it and share my thoughts with my friends and hopefully get the word out on Sally's latest book. I assumed that I would be able to plow through it so I could get a review out as soon as possible and then re-read it so that I could let her sage wisdom seep into my psyche and catch anything I may have missed. I didn't even get into the first chapter before I realized that this book review is going to be quite different.

This book has been like a sucker punch to the stomach for me. (in a good way) Sally begins by writing the reasoning for writing about joy and for her personal journey of questioning God about joy and why she so lacked it in her life and what does God really mean when He says that we are to live abundant lives. Reading her questions was like hearing my own thoughts. Oh how I have struggled with joy over the last several years. I often feel like the sour puss in the crowd or negative Nelly. It is not who I want to be nor is it what I believe God wants for me. So after the first chapter, I had to put the book down because I was in such turmoil. I needed to take it all to the Lord and confess that my attitudes and my countenance do not reflect my great God when I am unable to genuinely produce joy. So this book review will no be more like a book journey. I am excited to see what God will show me but also a tad hesitant to see what He might unearth.

Catching up.... sorta.

It has been quite a while since I have had the opportunity to sit down and share the happenings with the Rogers household. Even now, I have dinner cooking and trying to use a few minutes to write before I serve everyone and the rest of the night continues. We spent the day with my brother's daughter and her family so that the "cousins" could hang out. We were fortunate to be able to meet halfway at the Long Beach Aquarium. The kids are exactly one year apart so it is quite fun to listen to their conversations and watch the shenanigans. Josiah (7), Renate (6) and Naomi (5).

My generous parents bought us a Wii last week so we have all been obsessed with playing. I have decided the Wii Tennis is my nemesis. I really stink at it. Naomi is an excellent bowler and Josiah does well with baseball. Daddy is good at every sport, of course!

I have been reading homeschooling books out the ying yang besides the biblical studies that I am currently in. The hardest part of homeschooling is picking curriculum for my kids rather than myself. So I once again am pouring through catalogs and websites. We have been using My Father's World which works well for Josiah but is not challenging enough for Naomi. The other area that I have been researching is dyslexia as Josiah is really struggling with reading and it was one of the things a specialist had mentioned the last time we talked. I actually think he s more of a right brain thinker and would possibly benefit with whole language reading instead of phonics. (Another area I will have to research.)

One cool thing is that we fund some things swimming in the water on top of our pool cover. We were excited because we thought it was dragonfly babies but after researching we identified them as Anopheles; common name, mosquito. But it was cool to find the eggs, larva and pupa. That was science for the day.

My duties await so I will have to write more later.