4

The Little Man turned 4 yesterday.

Wow.

How did that happen?

He of course got his Scooby Doo cake (which he has been requesting for a year)

And he got his Daniel Boone "skin shirt" & "skin pants".  And a rifle. And a pistol. (cap shooting only ;) )

And a new coonskin cap. And his brother made him a wooden knife with a leather sheath and a leather pouch.

It was a good birthday for a 4 year old :)

Sorry for the measly 2 pics but the camera is MIA. Cell phone to the rescue.

(And I mean, I gotta show off the cake right? ;) )

Blessings.

 

Wedding Feast

I.

Am.

Tired.

A couple from church are getting married tomorrow.

There was a minor (hah!) snafu in the wedding preparations & a few other ladies & I found ourselves in charge of the food.

So Wednesday we hit the stores with the bride-to-be.

It was my 3^rd visit to a Costco.

I have to say, that is a nifty store.

I’m thinking we need a membership ;)

We had a $600 hundred dollar budget & we came in $100 under :)

Today was the big prep day.

We started at 11am & we chopped & sliced & minced & (melon) balled until almost 5pm :P

We have pasta salad, fruit salad, strawberry shortcake—complete with freshly whipped cream—salami sandwiches, ham & cheese sandwiches & turkey sandwiches & I am sure I am forgetting something.

But it is done!

And it should feed all 120 of the expected guests.

And, more importantly, make the bride happy :)

It was long & tiring but fun.

We laughed & we shared & I learned bunches about my new friends.

It was awesome.

And thru it all, I just have to say, that being “the pastor’s wife’ is just the weirdest ;)

But with ladies like these to fellowship with I think I’ll adjust :)

So tomorrow is the big day.

And I better see people with full plates…

:)

Blessings.

FYI

We don't have any internet at our current domicile :(

So, when I get the uncontrollable urge to blog about something, I write it all out & save it.

The next time I get somewhere with internet I can post it.

That way I don't forget all of those worthwhile thoughts I feel I MUST share ;)

So, if you don't here from me for days & days & days & then I post 5 new entries at once...

that's why :)

Blessings

Happy Christians?

We went shopping today.

While we perused the unfamiliar aisles we ‘people watched.’

It’s like bird watching onlymore interesting :).

We saw a couple, obviously ‘modest’ families with several children while we were there.

People like us. :)

We don’t often see that so we tend to notice.

One family was a young couple with 3 children & 1 on the way.

The mom & the little girl were wearing t-shirts & jean skirts. They had longish hair. And they were smiling. She looked very happy to be with her children & they looked happy to be with her.

The other family was Mennonite in dress but they had no head coverings. It was a mom , teenage daughter, 6 or 7ish daughter & a 9 or 10ish little boy. They didn’t seem so happy.

They weren’t very smiley.

We were in line behind them & the older girl had a bag of live fish. My 3 year old very loudly started talking about the fish & none of them ever turned to smile at him.

Now I am not trying to judge them or say they were bad or mean. Just commenting that they didn’t seem very happy.

And it made me think.

For people who intentionally dress differently, like the Mennonites or even those of us who choose to dress more modestly , especially when it is an outward sign of our faith shouldn’t we try to look joyful?

Shouldn’t we, as ambassadors of Christ, try to embody the joy of Christ?

Now I know we all have bad days but it is kind of like putting a ‘fish’ on your car.

That is an outward, public symbol declaring yourself a Christian.

Should you really be making that declaration if you speed & cut people off & make obscene gestures?

I’m gonna say “NO.”

I do have a fish on my car. And I am conscious of the fact that people are going to be watching me to see what “the Christian” does.

I feel the same when I am out with my kids.

I want people to see a joyful mother. A joyful family that is glad  to be together.

I want people to see a happy family. I want people to feel joy watching us.

So I try to be happy. I try to consciously smile & catch peoples eye & say “hi.”

I want them to see us as approachable.

And most importantly I don’t want it to be an act we put on in public.

I want it to be real.

I want my children to remember joy in their childhoods. Laughter.  Fun.

Even if it just a trip to Walmart.

So smile.

Wave to the loud little boy who notices your fish. :)

Say ‘hi’ to someone who looks grouchy & give them a reason to smile.

Be a joyful Christian.

Blessings.

VBS

This week we jumped right into Vacation Bible School.

The theme is “Saddle Ridge Ranch.”

It became immediately clear, on the first night, that we aren’t in the High Desert anymore.

We are among the flatlanders.

Don’t get me wrong; this is a small, country community.

But it is a farming community.

We are surrounded by almond orchards & rice fields.

We have always lived in ranching communities.

You know, with ranchers as opposed to farmers.

With cows, horses & hay being your main commodities.

Well.

That ain’t the case here :).

These folks are decidedly NOT cowboys.

We are going thru some serious culture shock.

And when they asked how many people had ever ridden a horse & about 5 hands went up ~WOW~ that was an eye opener.

And things that we take for granted as ‘normal’ are real eye openers for them.

Cowboy preachers preaching from horseback. Church in a barn. Church in the rodeo arena. Wearing boots & jeans & hats as a normal, everyday part of your life.

Using spurs in your decorating :)

It’s just a little odd to be the minority.

But, it’s still fun. And tonight is night 4.

Tomorrow is the last night.

Maybe next year the theme will be about city folks.

What do you think?

Blessings.

Saying Goodbye

Oy.

Today was a long day.

We couldn't quite fit all of the contents of the shop into the U-haul (sigh).

So today we drove up with the stock trailer to get the last of  it.

We loaded it all up.

The house is empty except for dust bunnies & cobwebs.

The barns are empty.

We officially don't live here anymore.

:(

There's nothing left but the dump pile.

Some friends are doing the final clean-up & dump run for us.

We had planned to do it ourselves but it would have required one more trip and that just may have done us in.

We had the trailer all loaded & did a final walk thru of the house.

My 13 yr old started to cry.

So I started to cry.

Even my big, strong husband started to cry.

We stood there, in our empty living room, holding onto each other & crying.

Saying goodbye.

Don't get me wrong.

We are super excited about our new ministry.

We love the people there.

But leaving our homestead is hard.

This is home.

We've been here 6 years.

The longest we have lived in a single place since we've been married.

I've had 3 positive pregnancy tests in this house.

Our youngest was born in this house just 18 months ago.

God has given us much joy here.

And been faithful to us thru the sadness.

He blessed us with this homestead.

I remember when we moved here I said "This is it. They are taking me out of here in a pine box."

Well, God had other plans.

And I am blessed to live them out.

But saying goodbye is hard.

Goodbye High Desert Homestead.

Goodbye.

Blessings.

If you don't have anything nice to say...

don't say anything at all.

Well.

I got on here to give an update to our busy, hectic, drama-laden lives.

I had a post all written out in my head.

But now I am so  stressed I don't even know what I was going to say.

The site had me logged out.

Even though I always check the 'keep me logged in' thingy.

Then it wouldn't recoginize my passsword.

So I tried to get a new password.

FOUR  stinking times before it would give me one & direct me to the right page.

I just find this site & it's user un-friendlyness NO fun.

I don't even want to blog anymore because of all of the hoops I have to jump thru now.

:(

Anyway.

I got on to say we are, hopefully, on the down hill slide of this move.

We had to stop in the middle of it all for my husband to do his first serious pastor work.

A member of our new congegration had a stroke & wasn't expected to live. For 4 days my hubby did the bedside vigil with her husband.

And then...

She decided she wanted to live & she started to fight & to regain her strength.

Praise the Lord!

So, today we are back in Oregon packing up the rest of our dreck & tomorrow we get a big U-Haul truck & hopefully (cross your fingers) it will all fit in & we will be done.

For now.

Because, of course, this is a temporary move until we can find a place.

And we have no internet at our temporary place so I can only get online when I can sneak over to the church.

So. There you have it.

I'm still here. Still plugging along. Still hatin' WordPress ;)

Still praying for a buyer for our Oregon home so that we can start looking for a California home.

I'll be back :)

Blessings.