A I Thessalonians 5:24 kind of Evening

   I did a lot of laundry today, along with banana bread baking, a haircut in the kitchen for my oldest boy, shucking corn with my littlest boy.

   We grilled steak and ate on the deck, lingering in the beautiful evening, reluctant to let the summer go.  As it slips away into the night, I am preparing to send another child out tomorrow--out from MY comfort zone and into "the world".   I am surprisingly at peace this evening before another new beginning.  This was NOT the case a few short months ago when I nearly panicked at the thought.

   I had taken my daughters to the year end speech awards night at the high school.  There were lengthy speeches (and I DO mean lengthy) given by the departing seniors of how much Speech had meant to them.  ( I was like: Speech?  Really??  But that's another post.)  Somewhere in the midst of these speeches filled with good and bad, reminiscing and advice, I became utterly filled with fear.  I suddenly could not picture putting my son into this realm. For some reason, it seemed so much more scary putting a boy into that atmosphere than it had a girl (and I had been plenty scared then).  I was afraid to the point of wanting out--out of Silverton, out of our small church and back--back to the safety and cleanliness and godliness of living that our former Christian school and large church community offered.

   I went home that night and poured out my gut-wrenching fears to my husband.  He, as usual, calmed me down and told me all would be well.  He reassured me that our boy would be just fine, that he had a good head on his shoulders and that God would take care of him.

   Well, since I had come to the end of my math expertise, and there were no available Christian schools nearby, and my son would have been devastated to spend another year in the dull-drums of being tied to my apron strings; and since my husband seemed to be so confident, I had no choice but to take a deep breath and pray.

   Somehow, between now and then, God has given me peace.  I've seen godly maturity developing, and I've seen his excitement unfolding at this new adventure.  It helps to have his big sister there looking out for him.  And I'm sure having an insanely busy summer has helped redirect my energies as well.  I've seen God's faithfulness to my daughter.  And I've observed that God has used her to be a light to a dark world.  Such great joy I have when I hear of how she's been able to share about God's plan of salvation with a friend, or how a teacher is blessed by her attitude.  And imagine the puzzlement they all experience when they hear why we've moved here to begin with!  So strange!

   Well, the hour is late and tomorrow will be here too soon.  These are just some reflections from a proud, scared, and blessed mom.  It's a good evening to remember I Thessalonians 5:24.

" The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

 

This Probably Explains My Annoying Passion A Bit

 Back in the day, when I was about 11 years old, I watched my first political convention.   It was not my choice by any means.  But my parents wanted to see what was going on, so we gathered around our 13 inch black and white and watched Ronald Reagan accept the nomination for president.  Of course, back then you were at the mercy of the main stream media to tell you how things went and what everything really meant.   That really irked my dad, I learned.

That was the same summer we gathered around that  little TV to watch May Lou Retton win gold for the USA in gymnastics.   I remember both events.  I remember both as being important and exciting to me.  But only one of those events really has impacted my life and ultimately the lives of my children and the world.  

As I had fair and balanced parents, we also watched the Democratic National Convention that year.    I still remember listening with interest as Geraldine Ferraro gave her acceptance speech as the first woman vice presidential candidate.   I gathered some basic knowledge of who the Kennedy's were and others like Tip O'Neal--whom I would see at the State-Of-The-Union addresses that I also got to take in every winter. (Oh, Little House on the Prairie, how I longed for you then!)  

I didn't understand much of either party's rhetoric back then, but I did learn from my parents' response.   I gained an interest in the future of my country and the type of leadership we hoped for.  And, as it turned out, I took in some pretty awesome history too.

Finally Exhaling

Phew!  I'm glad to have that behind me!  As I come to the last leg of summer, I feel I can finally take a deep breath and look back at the past few months.  It's been a while since I've written anything and that is, for various reasons, but mainly, it's just been too busy around here.  As I've thought over my summer, I've found myself thinking things like: "It was a horrendous summer."   Or "It was the summer from Hades". (My husband says I can tend to be negative--I've no idea why.)  But even I know that I am being over dramatic and negative when I think these things because in all truth, God has blessed us beyond measure and it wasn't that bad because He provided the strength.  Here is a rundown of the previous 3-4 months. (Please beware that I deleted the word "quick" before "rundown".)

In April, we got to take a wonderful, family trip to Disneyland.  While there we were notified that our house we were renting was being placed on the market.  I begged for them to hold off another week until I could get home, clean and get things ready to be show-worthy.   They obliged; I cleaned; it went on the market.  The day before our church's ladies retreat, I was up to my neck in food prep and had Costco trophies stashed all over my house as I was in charge of food.  A realtor called wanting to show the house--there was no other time their clients could come--boo hoo.  So they came--and bought the house.

 We were now in need of a house, so we prayed and waited and prayed.  We placed our old Tigard home on the market.  Our renters did not clean.  That house is still for sale.  (I'm not bitter....really.)  But despite that ..or is it "inspite of that"...God made a way for us to purchase a home here while still owning the Tigard home.  We still need that house to sell to really make things work, but it was so clear that this was the way God wanted us to proceed that I have a lot of peace.  We literally had no other place to go--there was not even a rental available.  They accepted our offer and we were able to move in early, before closing and rent free!  God truly provided.

As all of this house hunting/purchasing/moving was going on we had lots of other summer things going on.  Our daughter took a missions trip to the Philippines.  We drove to Seattle to pick her up when she returned.  We had a beach trip with friends in June, and then a camping trip 6 days after moving.  We hosted a gathering 4 days after moving. Our other daughter joined the YMCA swim team with practice every day and a few swim meets thrown in.  There was kids camp for our son to work at and orthodontist appointments to keep.    One of the big highlights (and reasons we were so grateful to have a house to live in) was that my brother and family from Virginia made a much anticipated visit.  We were glad to be able to host a big open house birthday party for him to catch up with Oregon friends and family.  The day after that, we were so blessed to go as a big family to hear my nephew preach at his church in Salem.  That afternoon, we packed up and headed to the beach with our Virginia family and my mom and sister to spend a few days.  The next day we celebrated my daughters 11th birthday--she wanted The Olympics theme--no rest for the weary but it was fun.

After returning home from that trip we packed up the next day to visit Ryan's family in Sun River.  Since we still had family in town on my side, and since we had to close on the new house, we drove back home for a couple of days to say goodbye to family and take care of business.  Then we packed up again and headed back across the mountains to finish out the week at Sun River.   Of course the week after that was filled with more daily appointments, etc getting everybody ready for the school year.   That brings us to this week and today.

Ryan drove into Hillsboro for a long day of meetings, Savannah left on a camping trip with a friend, Reagan went in to take his math placement test for starting high school next week, and I am loving the freedom of being at home today with nothing more on the agenda for a few days and leftovers in the fridge.

As I look back at this past spring, I recall reminding the Lord that we didn't have a house of our own and that the kids were getting so close to leaving home and that I'd really love to have a place of our own before they all graduated.  At that point, I didn't think a house of our own here would be possible.  When our house that we were renting went on the market, I wanted it to either sell quickly so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of showing it over and over, or stay on the market until I could get through the summer.  God knew best and answered.  It sold with the first showing.   And then God closed every door that we thought would be a possibility and  opened just one--one where we would have a house of our own.  Isn't He kind?  Isn't is fickle of me to call this a "horrendous summer"  when God has blessed us so much?

This spring, when we returned from Disneyland and I was cleaning my socks off, I wrote out a portion of a verse on our little chalkboard in the kitchen.  I have purposefully left it there all summer as a reminder.  "I will bless the Lord at all times."  It was a reminder and also a prayer.  A prayer that I would indeed do that.  Of course, I failed.  But He is faithful.

I do bless Him.  I bless Him for providing. I bless Him for Savannah's opportunity to serve over seas. I bless Him for our health. I bless Him that Summer could improve her swimming and make friends. I bless Him for the good times with friends in the midst of the chaos. I bless Him for moments of quiet snatched at a lake or the beach. I bless Him for the laundry that somehow stayed manageable throughout the coming and going.  I bless Him for reconnections with precious family.  I bless Him for the strength to pack and unpack one. more. time. I bless Him for faithful friends and family who graciously bent over backwards to move us one more time.   I bless Him that maybe next summer I won't have to move.  (Can I get an "Amen"?!)    I bless Him for that awesome fridge that came with the house and the volunteer tomatoes and the beautifully prepared garden beds that I inherited.  I bless Him for the opportunity to trust Him with our unsold home.  He is so good---even when all I can dwell on is the negative.  I will bless the Lord at all times.  Lord, let this be true.