I Am Rather Proud "draft #3"

Number three in the draft series...this was last year.

When our daughter was just 3 months old my brother came to live with us.  We opened our home, hubby gave him a job and took a chance.  We wanted Matt to have the relationship we had with Jesus.  We pushed aside all of the what-if's and took that chance.  (My brother was a lost druggie with long hair living in Alaska.)

No one would've ever known he'd be a pastor let alone a missionary on the other side of the world touching people for Jesus.

 Showing some native items.

 My brother's family in native garb.  My family just happened to be in all red.  A few of my sister-in-love's family.  It was hard to say goodbye!

 Love these girls.

Just a funny video.  I thought it was in photo mode and it was in video mode.  Love this little man.

Sisters "Draft" Post #2"

*This was from a year ago..almost to the day.*

While in cali us girls had some free time.  My sister and I did something that we haven't done in years.
I did her hair.
My sister has a ton of hair, thick, curly hair.
Her only request was that it be off of her face.
Here I am trying one of those braids that is like a headband.
It didn't look good.

I ended up curly her whole head!!  It looked so pretty.  I wish I had a picture, but my camera's batteries died.

Spending time with my sister is such a precious treasure.  We are so different and yet so alike.  There is no one like her.  She is truly one of a kind.  God knew what He was doing when He made my little sister.  She is an awesome woman of God.

letting your kids be average

**I went back through my posts and noticed I had a number of drafts.  So, here is number one the the "Draft Series".

look up the word average and you'll see it has a lot to do with math.
listen to any game of baseball and you'll quickly learn it's all about averages.
letting your kids be average is a whole other story.

now i am not against excelling or doing your best.  i am all for that.  while most of us are more than likely average, we strive to make our kids better than average.

take a phone call to a long distant relative or friend.  you know the question is going to be asked..."so, how are the kids doing?"  you're not going to answer, "oh, they are average kids doing average things."  if you're like me sometimes at that particular moment your kids are just average.  they aren't in any special activity.  they aren't winning any big awards, etc.  they are just being average.  why do we feel bad saying not much exciting is happening?

again i am not promoting laziness or free-willing living.  four-wheeling, maybe.  i see this alot amongst homeschoolers.  public schoolers too, just not as much.  take homeschool forums (pet peeve alert), far too many moms signatures will list how many kids they have, their ages, and curriculum they are using.  honestly it does not encourage me one bit to know that your brilliant child is taking chemistry, physics and trig all at the same time.  or that you can teach all ten of your kids who all will end up being doctors or something like that.

again the long distance phone call..."did you know that johnny/juan/maria (whatever names fits) won this award, is the top of her city, got 2nd in the state and 7th in the U.S of A!"  to which you respond, after oh wowing, my johnny didn't fight his sister today. 

now i am not trying to make fun of high achievers; we need them.  but why are we wanting our kids to be the best (or somewhere close) is it for them or to make us look good.  especially if you homeschool.  if they do poor or average in public school you can at least blame the school.  but when you have average kids, that means that you are probably average too.

to me, being average is not a bad thing at all.  if that is who you are, then that is who you are.  be the best average person there is.  i have seen too many parents put all of this unnecessary pressure on the kids to go to the olympics if they're good in sports, become a specialized doctor, etc.  let the kids do their best and to be kids.  far too many kids aren't kids anymore.

okay, i am stepping off my soapbox now.

Prayers Being Answered

Our daughter is courting (more on that in a another post) a wonderful young man.
I for one am very happy for her.
Since our kids were little I have prayed for their future spouses and for them to have biblical "spouse" qualities themselves.

We also prepare them to move out into the big world without us.  All along thinking that we too are being prepared for their departure.  While she may be ready I am not sure that I am.  However...

Our daughter has grown into such a beautiful young lady inside and out.  She is tender hearted, knows what she wants and doesn't back down easily, a passionate person.  She is responsible and compassionate.  She is talented and loves to serve God.  She has a heart for the lost no matter who they are or what they look like.  She has a sort quirkiness (not even sure if that is the right word) about her, which we love.  For her I have prayed for a man who would be easy going and not put demands on her.  Someone who will love her for who she is.  Someone who can communicate with her easily.  There is more but I will save that for a later post.  So far Jonathan is that guy.  They have so much fun together and are so comfortable with one another.  When he is around I watch her relax.  He has already proven protective, caring and a good brother-in-law to our son.  He thinks about the future and has made some sacrifices, that some wouldn't think about, for our daughter and their future.  During the five years that their relationship has been in the making they have kept their focus on God and stayed pure.  We are very proud of them both.  Only good things can come from this beautiful relationship.

Girly Day

 I had three precious girls from church over today.  We played beauty parlor.

 Made oatmeal cookies and had dinner.

 I tried the waterfall braid for the first time.

They even made our kitchen sparkle after!!