the view from where you are

241. smell of freshly mown grass
242. a husband who does not give up
243. reminders to push through the hard places, glorifying Him
244. bird shell bits on the sidewalk
245. bat commandos devouring mosquitoes

We dined at my favorite place, Louisiana Gumbo Cafe, and caught the bat show at the same time. 

Now that would freak out some of y'all, but I LOVE bats.  These guys kept coming, for a good 15-20 minutes, thousands of them. 

They live under the bridges.  Austin actually built a bat cave into the new construction of the Congress Street Bridge; how yummy is that!  The absence of mosquitoes is highly noticeable to us Northwest natives.

246. friends who don't mind the dog hair

247. the view from my kitchen sink

Tender, aka EQ, was practicing spelling on spelling city; Yo was copying from work that I printed out over at http://shipfullofpirates.com/

Wanted - A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight...it goes on to desribe many fine attributes of what we value in our boys.

Copy work is wonderful; it teaches spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and wise work can impart wisdom as well.  Tender is copying the beatitudes.  Quality is far more important than quantity. 

Man sets a fine example for our boys, but examples can be subtle and subtle is lost on some of my kids.  I don't know if it's a cultural thing, or if my boys were too hungry to pick up on examples; or perhaps examples were lacking in Addis Ababa. 

We then turned to art, Native American art.  First we read creation stories from various tribes and compared those to our Story of Creation; Yo was amazed by the  many similarities, this lead to pondering how they came to believe what they believed? 

This site has great Haida art, the tribe who's art we were interested in:
http://artfromthetribe.com/

We really have artistic boys.  Notice the fish sketch below my coffee mug?  Number One drew that; it's awesome.  Grandparents will be getting copies. 

The finale was dinner, this was given rave reviews, accompanied by I Love Yous!  The pic isn't that great, I need a new camera, or I guess I want a new camera, not a need, just a want...

BREAKFAST FLOPOVER

12 eggs beaten

1 or 2 lbs sausage

1 1/2 cup grated cheese

refrigerator biscuits

Heat oven to 375.  Grease 3 qt. casserole.

Cook meat, remove, scramble eggs.  Put meat into casserole, add the cheese in a layer, top with cooked eggs.  Separate the biscuits and put on top of the casserole.  Bake 15 minutes or until the biscuits are done.  Dump onto a serving plate.   Serves 7-8 easily.

why do i teach my children?

239. golden curls

Proverbs 22:6
Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.


Psalm 78:4-8
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.


For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel. 
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them- even the children not yet born-and they in turn will teach their own children.


So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.


Then they will not be like their ancestors-stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.


Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and again the same in 11:19
And you must love the Lord your God with all you heart,
all your soul,
and all your strength. 


And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 


Repeat them again and again to your children. 


Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road,
when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.


Is He really talking about me, the parent doing these things?  Many of us certainly hope not. 


How much easier to send them to school for 7 to 8 hours each day, then perhaps on to after school "care". 


Then come Sunday we put them into groups with same age peers to be taught by other adults.  Then we're back to Monday again and it's off to school.


But I do teach my kids....when is that?  You find the time to dedicate yourself to their training when exactly?  At home, on the road, going to bed and getting up?


I have some of my children at home and some at school.  I see the difference.  I know they need to be at home.  I can't keep them safe at school from all that public school is, and honestly .... it is mostly bad. 


The thought of 5 at home overwhelms me, and then I remember that when I am overwhelmed He steps in, my Superhero, and He makes it all happen. 


Next year I will have three at home; this summer I will prayerfully ask Him to guide me, do they all need to be home now?  Or if I wait and bring another home the following year will that be okay, Lord?


Why does God command me to teach my children?  The written thoughts of author Israel Wayne resonate deep with me:


To refine me in the trial of the homeschool.  Me, refine me.  The hard place of homeschool is a fire for me and separates out the dross in me as I teach them about Him. 


I never thought about what teaching does for me.  But in reflecting I can see my own growth, I can see the trail of ick left behind in this trial of teaching. 


As a family to seek first Matthew 6:33
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. 
All, everything you need, even academics.  Seeking Him first, all that we need will be found.


What we know is insignificant compared to what we believe. 


Nothing is more important than our relationship with God and each other, not chemistry, not algebra, not even early reading. 


God has good plans for our kids, they will have success as a natural result of obedience to God.


Give them tools.  Teach them how to learn, how to research, how to dig....Trust them.


Is what you are doing right now drawing you and your children closer to God or just frustrating you?


240. boys who love water

Let there be water!



Bring it on.



what are we up to?

This past week we have been learning about cave paintings.  You can take a tour of some amazing caves in France at:
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/fr/00.xml

The writing is in French, best of luck to you on that.  Click visite de la grotte to enter the cave tour.  When you see text boxes come up you can click on them and it will zoom you to that picture, on some you can click again and get even closer.

We talked about what we saw, the colors, the shapes, the animals.  Then Yo and EQ drew their own cave pictures on brown packing paper, using oil pastels.  Then they wrote stories telling about the event portrayed in their pictures.  

What do you do with the art your kids make?  We keep much of it; it adorns our walls and shelves.

Easy to follow drawing instructions can be found at:
http://www.dragoart.com/

We have a new favorite breakfast, Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal.  It can easily be made gluten free, dairy free, and possibly egg free.  I found this version at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures.

Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal  (you could use almond butter)
3 cups quick cooking oats (GF if needed)
1/2 cup brown sugar (I use about 1/3 cup)
1 cup milk (can use rice milk, or whatever)
2 Tablespoons butter melted (can use coconut oil)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
Mix all ingredients, stir.  Spread into greased 9x13 dish.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  You can pour a little milk over each serving if you like.

My kids like it if I add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to whole mix.  Granted, this is kind of cookieish (new word), but it's filling and sorta healthy. 

It doesn't take a day

I slip into selfish time management, telling myself that these five of mine need too much of me.  but that is not true, it is an untruth, i dare to even call it a lie of mine. 

These five, each one is happy with a little.  Five minutes of focused attention, listen and hear my child; that makes the difference.  Especially with Gifted; he is giddy with just 5 minutes.  5 minutes for 5 boys, that's only 25, who doesn't have 25 to spare?  and for my own children I should easily find room to double it. 

236. kids who grow on 5
237. a God who has all the time in the world for each one of us
238. broken hearing aid, still under warranty, thank You

Thoughtfilled words inspired by Ann at a holy experience. 

A family fed and raised on literature moves slow and thought filled.  Grows outside of the need for instant, brain - overloading, visual excess.
This family learns to feed off words, The Word, flesh on paper.  What more is needed?

You can read great literature to your kids, you can rent audio cd's from your library to listen to, you can play it for free from
http://librivox.org/
In short, it is easy to fill them up with good words to grow on.  And don't forget yourself.

We are seeds planted in the dirt, mixed up, strewn on varied soil.  The dirt of this earth, desert Sudan, swampy bayou, cold artic, Andes altitude; a little or a lot sprinkled to the ends of the earth.

Fighting with strangling weeds, struggle to reach the light, planted every which way, but we reach up, sending down roots.  Some get watered, some don't.  Eat the Word, it is life to your bones.

We take after our own.  My children will be like me.  Parent like me.  The seed of me sets the seeds of them and so on down the generations.  I impact generations of children yet known, or never to be known.  I don't think my parenting books were very clear on that point.  If I don't pray and seek God's help I will surely screw this up.  It is good to know that He can redeem all things, my past mistakes can be fixed; but I'd better shape up from here on out.

That weight is heavy.  Remember to count the joy, focus on pleasant things.  Lighten up. 

Seeds under the Heavens.  I am a seed.  I will not realized my potential until my Saviour comes again and I am Home.  Not until then will the light fully shine on me, only then will I shed this darkness, pull my roots up and run. 

This is the dirt, this life.  It is only a mere fraction, the beginning, full life is yet to come.  Until then, Shalom

A Peace Disturbed

Lou Engle states in the opening scene of the documentary Justice Waiting:

“When you have set your face to go after God, He will disturb your peace. And if you’re willing to follow Him, the voice will come and the voice will mess up your materialistic dreams, the security of your home.

He will send you on circuitous paths that you don’t understand; people will not understand you. You’ll have to make decisions to leave the familiar to go to a land that is totally unknown.

But if you take the risk, you’ll find that God is on the other side of that still small voice telling you to step out into the world of crazy.”

Lou describes my current path much better than I can; so good to know I'm not the only disturbed person. 

Today I made a prayer book, copied from Tonia over at Study in Brown:
prayer book by Tonia
Hers is much prettier than mine.  I tend to rush for good enough, or it'll do. 

I'm not good at prayer.  Honestly?  I forget.  How awful is that.  I have gotten better, but only in comparison to how badly I stunk before. 

Now I have a handy book, it will even fit into my smallish purse! 

As I navigate this new world of crazy I need to prayerfully consider my steps.  When I followed along the path of most other folks, it seemed to have curbs, narrow, keep you from straying curbs; I didn't wonder or wander much. 

Now that I've told my Creator "break my heart for what breaks Yours", "my little life is Yours, nothing You ask is too crazy!" "i lay it all down for You" - umm that opens up all kinds of possibilities.  Uganda? sure. 11 kids? sure. stay home and love your neighbors? sure, you bet God. 

And He gives me gifts when I need them, when I look, they are there.

He knows I love flowers, I find them everywhere; they brighten my days. 

a concert for us

Mother's day, a day for confusing my Man.  A day just for mothers, special for me and my calling; it feels wrong. 

I approach the day thinking I want nothing.  I am nothing.  I am not good at what I do.  It is only Grace that gets me out of bed, and certainly not I that makes it through these days strung in a row, sometimes circling back and repeating boredom.  Not by my power, but by His.

But when the day arrives I do want.  I want a break.  I want 'thanks'.  Last minute demands on Man, 'i know i said i didn't want, but now i find i do'.  It's not an intentional trick. 

234. a man who can rise to the occasion at short notice

At least this year I did know something that I wanted.  A concert invitation in my inbox, to support some women going out from our Church to love on Muslim refugees in London; I love Muslims, London not so much, but that's ok.  Can we go, all seven of us? Okay...

It was great.  Backyard setting in old Austin hood, artists loving their Creator.  It was intimate, like breakfast.

Matt McCloskey was a new artist to us.  Local Austin Jesus Dude; really great.  And he sells in vinyl!  Yes, as in a record!  You can find him at http://listentomatt.com/

Aaron Ivey is a worship leader at our awesome Church, and he and his wife have adopted kids, love that.  He rocks.  Take a listen

My Man and boys agree that Jason Poe was a new favorite, again, please enjoy

Our boys were so good.  Three hours on the grass, just listening, reflecting.  I was proud of them.   Thank you Man and boys; it was a good weekend, a good gift for counting.

235. pre-mother's day concert on the lawn

the intimacy of breakfast

227.  breakfast, especially if I don't have to cook it

John chapters 18-21

The first meal of the day, it breaks your fasting, gets you off and running.  How many people do you share breakfast with?  When you meet a person you may have coffee, or maybe lunch, eventually dinner, but breakfast is not for new friends.  Breakfast is intimate. 

Jesus made breakfast, on the beach, and fed his disciples bread and fish.  I love this.  As many times as I've read the first four books of the New T. I have glossed right over the fact and missed this beauty.   And Peter, oh Peter.

That rooster crowed and you were shamed, broken, guilt fell down on you and you ran.  Your friend, your Salvation, needed you and you denied three times your love of him.   Left Him alone.  My empathy sticks in my throat. 

After that Sunday rising up, glory, Mary running with the Good News, the men were ecstatic, and that is understating it.  But not Peter, Peter went fishing.  Not out of disrespect, but guilt and shame.  I imagine he did not eat, did not sleep, had hollows under his eyes.  His friends, despite their excitement, recognized his great pain and went with him, perhaps fearing for his life. 

And I AM came to them and stood on the beach.  Within the boat John called to Peter "it is the Lord".   And Peter jumps in and swims to his Savior, his Friend.  I imagine tears. 

Jesus does not condemn.  He does not even bring to mind the three times and the rooster's crow.  He has breakfast waiting for His friends, and serves them bread and fish. 

After breakfast Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him.  I see my Savior's humor; Peter looks daft, gets irritated by the third time.  I wonder if he ever connects the three denials with Jesus' request that he declare his love three times. 

Grace.  That is what it looks like.  Defined as getting what you do not deserve.  Mercy, not getting what you do deserve. 

Mercy and Grace.  Do I show these to my family?  Can my boys look to me and see the attributes of Christ in my mercy and grace to them.  I am afraid not.  I have much work to do. 

228. His mercies are new every morning

229. a Monday to show grace and many opportunities to practice

230. things of beauty in each day, that I can count, redirect my selfish eyes

 231. a bobwhite named bob

 232. solitude

233. a computer full of photos from the past that I can reflect upon and remember blessings not counted

Chase Him with reckless abandon, get out of the boat today.

News of New Life

222. owl sightings

Last night on our way home from soccer we saw an owl perched up in an old dead tree.  I turned the car around and we pulled into a wide spot, got out and walked along the country lane for a better look.  I didn't have my camera, hard to believe.  This picture is from National Geographic.

The owl was full of flier's confidence, she let us get a good look at her tufted ears, eyes with golden rays, layers of brown feathers.  She then flew to another, living, tree, we followed, she flew back to the dead tree; then her mate, a slightly smaller version of herself, flew into the living tree.   The pair are Great Horned Owls, the females are larger than the males. 

They were beautiful.  The sun set behind us, the crickets were chirping. 

Our wonderful town in Texas is embarking on its first year of having a community garden.  We are so excited to have a plot in this garden set on an old dairy farm property, a short 5 minute walk from our home.

223. blanket flowers going to seed - cycle of life

224. pink beauty, growing along the street, traveler's gift

225. the wonder of putting seed in dirt and having plants come up

Such a great place for kids to learn; gardening always reminds me of my Aunt Reita.   No longer on this earth, I imagine that some day I will see her gardens in Heaven, and be able to tell her that her green thumb made an impression on me.

226. a new baby expected in my extended family

So many ways a family can be torn and ripped, bled dry.  Cancer.  Just the word catches one's breath, "not me" we hope.  Youngish woman in my family, death came too soon if you ask me.  Red hair, teacher, mother, wife, niece, daughter, so many places left empty by her passing. 

Dementia, more ways than one.  That falling back in time, loss, but somehow taking a different route backward than forward.  Bits of memory cast out, recall the mailbox, but who's face is this before me?

Then news of new life comes.  Slips in quietly, sleeps the night away in my computer. 

New Life - the trumpets call out.  baby. wow.  what wonder. 




Congratulations to my family from the East coast to the West coast. 

Our hearts are where we put our money

What would you do with $20,000?  When people look at your life what will they assume your love is?

When we chose to adopt I know there were people who wondered at the expense.  Thought perhaps that the money could be better spent by giving it to a reputable charity, in Ethiopia, helping more kids.

The problem is too big for a fast fix; kids are aging out.  Kids who wait and wait and watch the babies go home with new families overflowing with love, and they wonder....why not me?

Do we leave all 153,000,000 orphaned children on a sinking ship? 

This little girl was waiting, wanting a family, when Brian was at the orphanage in 2009; she had her prayers answered last year.

Some may ask how God can allow this?  YOU are God's answer to this tragedy.  You.  If you can't adopt, then help someone who can.

How much does a new car cost?  a trip to Hawaii? a cruise? a boob job?  cosmetic dental work?

You may ask us adoptive parents why we didn't give the $15-30K to a charity?  How much have you given to charity?  Should I be held to some standard of accountability that you are not holding yourself to?  I must give $20,000, but you can buy a new car?

Have you ever asked the owner of a new car, or someone just back from an overseas vacation,  "Why didn't you donate all of that money to charity?"

Our adoption meant the world to our three, and it opened three beds at the orphanage. 

Why another country, why not adopt kids here at "home".  The world is my home.  There are kids in the USA in need of a forever family, if that's you, get busy.  We knew we needed to adopt desperate kids, kids who don't have medical care, dental care, food,  kids who are not safe.  For the most part in the USA the waiting children are fed, safe and healthy, there are exceptions, but as a rule these kids are cared for.  In our boys' orphanage there was not medical care, food or safety.  Sexual abuse is rampant, hunger is a daily struggle, parasites, dirty water, lack of hygeine...The orphanage is a step up from street life, but not by much.

Pics of the boys at the orphanage when  Man went to bring them home.

Orphanage skinny; too many parasites inside competing for the little nutrition he was given.

Showing off the new clothes and shoes Dad brought.

The shy has been replaced by Spunk!

And our 13 year old deaf son won't age out in Ethiopia to go live on the street next year.  And our grandchildren will have opportunities to give and grow and make a difference.

But first we must make a difference. 

Give until it hurts.

Would we do it again?  Yes!  Will we?  Stay tuned!

Texas trash

214. Texas hot

It is hot here in central Texas, 103 one of the days we were camping!  I really love it, and apparently so do the maggots.

We came home to a hot closed up house.  Next morning I woke up to maggots.  They seemed to pop up everywhere, living room, dining room, hallway, out from under the TV....

At first Yo says "oooh look at the worms, just like I used to have", not quite, his were flat, these are round like rice, you know, maggot shaped.  I pulled out the vacuum so we could just suck them up.  It went on for hours.  I would think we had it and another one would show up.  Freaky.  Yo then suggested that God was giving us a plague of maggots...interesting, I sure hope not.  I explained about open doors, flies come in, flies lay eggs, eggs hatch and wa-la! maggots.  Let's work on keeping the door shut, shall we?

I was repulsed, as I'm sure you are.  Ethan wanted lunch early, all this maggot sucking up with the vacuum gave him a powerful appetite.

I texted Man "What are you doing?  I'm sucking up maggots with the vacuum."  This resulted in an immediate phone call.  He suggested we have rice for lunch.  Ewww

Of course for boys who like creepy crawly things this was no big deal.

215. barn swallows swooping
216. scissor tales dancing
217. red winged blackbirds - a song I know
218. bird that sounds like an alarm clock
219. cardinals

220. spider on a flower

221. plants - armed and dangerous

For what were we created?  Go and do that today.

Boys outside

This weekend we went camping; no small event with 5 boys, two big dogs, bicycles, and food to fill us all. 

It would be easier to stay home.  Easier to subscribe to cable, park the kids in front of the TV, and catch up on blogs.  Easier but not better.  Not even easier in the Long Run.  And we are raising our boys for the long run.  So we take the time.  Time to teach, show, explore. 

Our boys ride bikes fast, swim from sunup to sundown, look for snakes and scorpions.  They get dirty, ask questions, lose stuff, find stuff, eat too much candy and chips - vomiting it up at 2:00am - on the night I had not yet arrived.  Man had to clean up candy/Cheetos puke from sleeping bag, stuffed animals, pajamas...God Bless him. 

210-211. sunset, sunrise

 This is Spunk.

 Number One - above and below

Boys into Men begins with family.  God can redeem my past mistakes, run on mouth, sighs of frustration.  God start today.  Fix the cracks.  Show me how to raise up our boys, putting You first, every day, not just on vacation.

213. dear deer pair

For Mothers raising boys:
http://www.themobsociety.com/

God Bless