He calls me Fred...

Don't you love how kids often "hear" the lyrics to songs differently then the rest of us? Today we were driving listening to KLOVE, when my son starts laughing.
"That song is so funny!" he says.
The song was Friend of God by Phillips Craig and Dean.
Well, I didn't think it was that funny..... until Alex started singing along.
"I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me FRED!!!

I'm back...

not sure where I went, or why...but I'm back...I think. I really don't know what happened! Summer flew by, while I obsessed about curriculum. The kids had a fun filled week at day camp, while I obsessed about decluttering. We started back at school in late August. After all that obsessing about curriculum, I couldn't wait to start. We're off to a great start. The calendar is quickly filling up. Who says homeschoolers don't get out enough? Are you kidding! Take a look at my calendar. I think we actually get out too much! But that's life with three kids. Ballet, soccer, theater, iceskating, girl scouts...you get the picture...and that doesn't count all the homeschool get togethers we enjoy. Somehow I'm managing to be out and about, and still educate the kids. I've had to let go of some things. Like my deep desire to be done with school everyday by noon. Some (most) days that's just not possible. I thought we'd just get an early start, but I forgot we're not morning people. So I just let it go...somedays we're still doing school when the buses roll by...but that's ok. It usually means we spent the better part of the day having fun!
Well, I hope to be more consistent with posting. I realized I was talking to myself way too much...time to start blogging again. At least here I can delude myself into thinking I'm not just talking to myself!

This is a test...

It has come to my attention that my BFF, of 25 years mind you, does not read my blog. Now I know, I haven't been too consistent in posting lately. But we're talking about months and months. In fact, I believe she's only read it once. She then bookmarked the page and never returned!!! She claims she doesn't have time! Time to click on a favorites..what's that 3 seconds? I don't expect her to check everyday, but is every 2 or 3 weeks too much to ask? I think not! She claims to have repented of this grievous oversight. I guess we'll see. So BFF, (you know who you are) if you're reading this, say 3 months from now, please leave a comment to prove you still exist! Love you!

Love this song...and the next one too!

I Know You're There

On being 40...

On June 9th, it happened. I reached the milestone of being alive for 40 full years. In other words, I'm now working on my 5th decade of life. As much as I should be depressed by this fact, for some odd reason, I find it quite empowering. 20 is so overrated. Sure, I miss my cute butt, and I've gained 20 pounds in the last 2 decades, but 40 really is so much better than 20. And here are a few reasons why: (humor me, here)
- When I was 20, I knew very little, and thought I knew everything. At 40, I know a lot more, yet realize I still have a lot to learn.
- I didn't have a house when I was 20. Heck, I didn't even have a car when I was 20. So what I'm getting at is I have a lot more stuff now. (Thus the constant need to declutter)
- At 20, I was just beginning to realize how much my parents had done for me. Now at 40, I totally appreciate them.
- At 20, I dreamed of a family and children. Of course in my dream, it was a lot less work. Today at 40, I'm living the dream. Despite the work, I know how blessed I am.
- When I was 20, I didn't even know what a church family was...now, I know, and thank God everyday for mine.
- At 20, I knew about Jesus...but I didn't know Him. At 40, I'm getting to know Him more and more everyday, and He never ceases to amaze me.

Yes, 40 is definitely better than 20...except for those funny, little hairs that keep popping up on my chin. (What's up with that???) I honestly think I'd rather be forty than twenty, despite the chin hair. Now if I could only find a way to freeze the hands of time and stay 40 forever.

The last three weeks

I would apologize for my poor blogging record, but I know you've heard that song before...so I'll just try to quickly recap the past few weeks.

- The last weekend in May was girl's weekend in Boston. I got together with 9 ladies- no husbands, no kids. It was a reunion of my friends from our college days. Freshman year we all ended up on the same floor in BU's Towers. We called it Seventh Heaven- everyone else just called it 7 west. We had a great time! Amazing that 10 moms could manage to get away for a weekend. We must have awesome husbands...poor guys...we had so much fun we decided to do it every year, instead of every 18 years!

- When I got home, I got to packing. We left on a vacation/field trip on the first Tuesday in June. We spent 3 nights in Williamsburg, VA. Then we headed up to DC for 4 more nights. We had a great time, except for the ridiculous heat. Pictures to follow- at some point.

- While in DC, I turned 40!!! Wow, am I old, or what? I guess it's official- I'm a grown-up! More on the wonders of being 40 in a future post.

- Returned to battle my nemesis- laundry. Yeah, I know, you've heard that song before too. But I really, really hate laundry!

- While on the road to Virginia, I once again reworked next year's curriculum...for the millionth time. This time I'm sticking with it. (Although the new Rainbow Resource catalog just came in the mail- I'm trying to resist the urge to go at it with a highlighter!)

- On Thursday we hit day 180! You know what that means- School's out for summer!! Yay!

- We visited my dad on Friday. He was leaving for vacation on Father's Day, so we celebrated it a little early.

- On Sunday it was so great to be back with my church family. I had missed two Sundays teaching Sunday School, and believe it or not, I really missed it! The kids assured me that they wept and lamented my absence- or not...Then we headed to my in-laws for more Father's Day celebrating.

Well, I guess that about does it. I'll try to have something witty to post about in the future. If not have mercy on me. I am old, after all.

How Great is our God?

Pretty amazing. He literally blows my mind, on a regular basis. As I've mentioned in my last post, I've been writing to a lost teen, who I love very much. God first convicted me to write to him about two months ago. Being me, I had to discuss the point with God. I mean, it seemed kind of weird to write a letter to someone I see on a regular basis. What was I supposed to do, sneak in his house and stick a letter under his pillow? At the same time, I saw his life spiraling out of control. Within days of God telling me to write to him, I discovered he would be away, and my only means of communicating would be via writing. (See how smart God is.) So I set pen to paper and started writing. I felt very convicted to share "God Stories" with him. I wrote about the many ways I've seen God work in both my life and his. Over the course of the last 6 weeks I've told him many stories about God's intervention in his life, and the life of his family. Things he would be aware of, but not necessarily see the God connection. During that period I've received a very positive response from him. He even wrote that he didn't think I was crazy, and it's all starting to make more and more sense. Over the course of the weeks, I've shared the Gospel, and his need for forgiveness, but not in the conventional way. I just told him the stories God put on my heart. So about a week ago, I felt it was time to lay it all out as clearly as possible. I wrote him a letter that spelled out the Gospel. I even included cute little drawings to demonstrate his separation from God. I worried a little that I may have gone too far. I certainly didn't want to overwhelm him, and push him away. But God had it all in His hand! So the other day I got a letter from him. Talk about God's perfect timing. He wrote that right before he got my letter "with the drawings", he had read a little book that a "priest" had given him. He told me the book said that he had a sin problem, and he needed to turn away from his sin, ask Jesus to come into his life, and forgive him. He then wrote that right after he did "it", he received my letter. He was amazed that my letter said he needed to do what he had just done! I'm assuming the "it" he's referring to is receiving Christ as his Savior. So, how wild is that? He told me to write to this boy before I even knew what his circumstance would be. He then lays on my heart stories of His faithfulness and trustworthiness, all to prepare his heart for the best news ever. Coincidence that he received my letter immediately after praying for Jesus to come into his life? Or a "God thing", to confirm to him that he made the right choice? Now that, my friends, is a Great God. What a blessing to serve Him!

Blogger break

Well, it appears I've disappeared from bloggityville. It was not a planned break, just a lot going on. Between sports and the play the girls are in, I've been going non-stop. Also my Grandmother is in the hospital, Mother's Day etc... I've been expending most of my writing energy to correspond with a troubled teen I know and love. Let's just say he's "away", courtesy of the State of RI and his own poor choices. But he's responding well to my letters, so if you can send up a prayer for him, I'd appreciate it. Hopefully I'll be back next week when things slow down.

On assignment for God

This Sunday my church began an adventure called Kingdom Assignments. 30 people or teams of people were given $100 to use to bless people, and further God's Kingdom. In 90 days we report back to the church. This is our second year doing Kingdom Assignments. Last year people did an assortment of tasks from a coffeehouse, to collecting used shoes for disaster relief. I had an idea of a fun assignment, but I was worried that it was my idea, not God's idea. During the service the pastor was teaching about Elijah from 1Kings. Two of the points seemed to confirm that my idea was a God- thing. The first was the truth that God can engineer circumstances and make divine arrangements. The question is whether we trust Him to do so. This seemed to answer one of my concerns. The second point was that God can miraculously multiply limited resources. That pretty much wiped out my second concern. So when the time came, I went forward to recieve the hundred dollar bill, and signed on for a "Kingdom Assignment." So here's what I'm going to do: When going through the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts, I'm going to pay for the customer behind me, and leave a note and a small gift explaining my assignment. The gift will be a small book by Max Lucado. I hope to bless 20 people, but I guess that's up to God. Depending on who He puts behind me, and how much they order, I should be able to meet that goal. I've already ordered the booklets, and can't wait to start blessing people! How fun is that?