Rocks In My Dryer

Just a bit of what I'm thankful for...

In random order….

--That feeling of going into the library and realizing I will never, in my lifetime, be able to read all the books I want to read.
--The smell of fabric softener.
--The sound of my kids laughing together in the next room, when they don’t know I’m listening.
--Stephen’s big, lost-tooth grin.
--The sight of my dog and my son, sleeping peacefully together.
--When my kids use adverbs correctly.
--The smile that Corrie reserves for me alone.
--The Psalms.
--Getting a real-life, honest-to-gosh, letter in the mailbox.
--Old friends.
--New friends.
--Disposable diapers.
--Hearing Adam suggest that we pray.
--My dishwasher. The front is about to fall off of it, but by gosh, it works.
--My parents’ health.
--The sound of the garage door going up and knowing that my Marc will be walking through the door any second.
--Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
--Joseph’s insistence that I’m the “best mommy in the whole live world”.
--The sewing projects I have stacked up next to my sewing machine.
--My snooze button.
--My kids' funny jokes…and the not-so-funny ones.
--My random assortment of CDs.
--“The breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ.

Trusting through tragedy

Last night I received the heart-wrenching news that a college friend of mine, Cheryl, died suddenly Tuesday evening. She leaves behind a husband and three little girls, ages 6 ½, 3 ½ and 2. She had no known health problem—she was simply jogging, and she collapsed. She never woke up. Cheryl was one of the most life-embracing people I’ve ever known—in every memory I have of her, she was laughing.

The magnitude of such a tragedy is hard to take in. Thinking of those little girls is more than I can bear. The two younger ones will likely never remember their mother.

Years ago, I would’ve struggled with the “why” of this. But I’ve grappled enough with the hard spiritual questions in life to know that the “why” is simply beyond my comprehension. God had a reason to call this young mother home, and that statement will sound like an empty platitude to some people. I can accept that—years ago I would’ve thought the same thing. But life experience and faith—not logic—have taught me that our sovereign God is a good God. When I can’t understand His working, I just have to trust what I know about His heart.

All that’s left for me to do is to grieve, and to pray my heart out for this precious family. I’ll pray that those girls are surrounded by people who love them and who can tell them how wonderful their mother was. I’ll pray that Cheryl’s husband will somehow find the strength to put one foot in front of the other. Most of all, I’ll pray that as this family finds itself in life’s darkest valley, they will feel God’s presence, for it is surely there.

Say it ain't so, Dr. Ferber!

Dr. Richard Ferber, author of Solve Your Child's Problems, and I swear the man single-handedly responsible for my happy marriage (sleeping babies=alone time for parents=well, you get it...) was on NBC Nightly News last night. You've probably heard of him...he's the guys that helps parents teach their kids to sleep by crying it out at 5, 10 and 15-minute intervals. And it's a method that has worked like magic with all four of my babies. I mean, I love this man--I have been a Dr. Ferber evangelist for the last 8 years. I have written him fan mail--and no, I'm not kidding. Evidently his time-tested, world-renowned "sleep method" is being revised. "Wow," methought to myself when I heard the promo for this, "If Dr. Ferber, King of Rested Babies, is revising his book and being featured on national news, this must be some earth-shattering Baby Sleep Revelation!" I Tivoed the news in case my kids were being too noisy for me to watch it (usually a safe assumption). Later I eagerly fast-forwarded to his part of the program, leaned in when I saw his kind face appear, and listened raptly when he explained that his revision was based on the fact that....[drumroll here]...."all babies are different."

Um, yes...so, your revelation then would be...

That's it. "All babies are different," so you have to keep this in mind and adjust his program accordingly.

Oh, for Pete's sake, Dr. Ferber, please don't tell me you've fallen into the world of gurus who re-publish their work every 20 years with *Brand New [worthless] Information* designed to sell books.

And anyway, isn't that a little insulting to tell us that "all babies are different"? ANY mother could tell you that, without spending 12.99 at Amazon.com. We know they're all different, and we're perfectly capable, thank you very much, of making adjustments to your program with our little babies--we've been doing it all along. How did this make the national news?

What a letdown. But my babies sleep well, Dr. Ferber, so I forgive you. I'm not buying your new book, but I forgive you.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

Calm in the storm

Psalms 55:8: "I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

In the middle of the night, a powerful clap of thunder awakened my husband and me--it shook our house. We sat in bed, groggily counting the seconds until we knew we'd hear the pat, pat, pat of little feet sprinting to our room. As expected, then three-year-old Joseph sailed down the hall while the storm grew louder and louder outside. In one big motion, and clearly moving in his sleep, Joseph leapt into our bed, crawled between us, burrowed under the covers and collapsed back into a sound sleep. More loud thunder shook our house, and lightning brightened our room, but Joseph was at perfect peace. Even in his subconscious, sleepy state, he intutively knew that the safest place to be was next to his parents. And once he arrived there, no storm could disturb him. His circumstances hadn't changed--the storm still raged wildly. But his heart had changed, because he knew where to go to find safety and rest.

Am I this trusting of my Father? Do I go to Him as my first impulse, and can I find true rest with Him while the storm still churns? Do I demand that He stop the thunder instead of waiting quietly for His peace? Lord, teach me to trust you as my child trusts me.

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

The best thing about being a mom?

My new friend Rachel asked me a thought-provoking question the other day: "What do you like best about being a mom?" I had to think about that one for a minute. Of course, there are many things I love about motherhood (and, let's face it, a few things I really don't like--most of them involve bodily fluids of some variety). But the best thing? After some thought, I found my answer.

Mothering four children requires that the majority of my time is spent "handling" my kids one way or another--changing a diaper, signing a permission slip, removing a splinter, breaking up a fight, wiping a nose, etc., etc. But every now and then, a moment appears where I can stop being a mom with them, and just be a person with them. No instructing, no shushing, no planning, no directing....just being. Maybe something funny happens and we laugh together. Or they ask me a question that stumps me, and we have to find the answer together. Whatever the situation, the moment will appear, and for just a second we stop being mother-and-child --we're person-and-person.

This probably makes me sound like a rigid, legalistic mother, that such moments would be in such stark contrast to our daily lives. Really, I'm not rigid or harsh. But I'm practical, and that requires that I spend most of my time "on my game" as their mom. It's just part of the job. But when we all step out of our roles for just a second, it's like I catch a little glimpse into their souls, and they into mine.

And THAT's my favorite part of being a mom. Thanks for reminding me, Rachel.

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4-year-old logic

Proving that we still have a ways to go in the stranger-danger department….this afternoon Joseph wanted to play in the front yard alone, and he was arguing with me when I wouldn’t let him. Finally I said, “Joseph, what if a bad guy comes to get you?” He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Mom, there aren’t any bad guys when it’s sunny!”

*NOTE:  This post was imported from my original Blogger.com blog.  Comments could not be imported and are no longer available.*

A wonderful thing to do with your kids at Christmas

Ever heard of a Jesse Tree? This web site explains it much better than I could.

http://www.rca.org/worship/material/advent/jessetree.html

Our family will be doing it this Christmas season! I'm having such fun getting all the ornaments together. I'm buying as many as I can find, and then making the rest.