My Day Job

My full-time job title is Mother. I love and care for my husband of course, but the majority of my waking hours are spent tending to Philip and Braewyn. I try my best as this is more than just keeping them occupied and out of harm's way. God has blessed Matthew and I with two unique, incredible, little (for now) people who are very impressionable at this stage. Lori recommended a book last Thanksgiving which I bought a few weeks later. Unfortunately, I started and stopped reading it twice since then, getting side tracked with other things. A few friends keep a running list of the books they are reading on their sidebars. I'm starting my list with this book, "The Ministry of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson, as it really is a great book. Also seeing the cover on my blog will inspire me to read it completely through this time as I'm not removing it from the blog until I finish it.

Knowing that it was the Lord who entrusted Matthew and I with the kids, I desire to raise them as He wants. A paragraph from page 3 sums up my thoughts on the subject which Clarkson expresses more percisely than I could.

"They don't need the sweet platitudes of faith that will momentarily placate their emotions. They need the authentic strength that comes from the true foundation of a biblical-worldview and a proper understanding of the real Christ who is worthy of their worship. They need an unwavering, internal moral and spiritual compass that will help them weather today's storms and tomorrow's and will guide them for the rest of their lives. They also need to see what real faith looks like when lived day in, day out, so they will have a pattern to follow."

I pray to minister to the people in my own house, those people who need me the most.

Our Day

Today Philip began swimming lessons. He's on the far right and his best buddy Nic is on the far left. He is taking lessons at the same location and from the same teacher he did last summer. He seemed to have a great time even though he said he didn't remember when we asked him how it went. I hope I won't be hearing that answer for years to come.

Also both kids have new looks these days. On Saturday I took Philip for a hair cut. When Darlene, our hairdresser, asked if I just wanted her to trim it up like always, I first said yes. Then I said how everyone told me summer was the time to try a buzz if Philip wanted one. She said she could do it but would leave it a little longer so as not to have him looking scalped. It's a cute look for him, but I'm wondering how a buzz grows out to his original hairstyle if we want that again.



Braewyn is occasionally letting me put her hair up in pigtails. She would rather just run around with wild hair, but it adds to her cuteness when I do get a rubber band up in those locks. Here she is after dinner tonight, but before our walk.


Here she is after our walk and after hitting the pavement hard just 50 feet from our front yard. Thankfully it was just as we were returning home from a 2 mile walk and not as we were starting out.

First Half of June

This month is flying by. The first week was spent at Science Camp. Philip attended the Preschool Camp at our local science center. He had a blast learning about bones on Monday, rocks and soil on Tuesday, electricity and lasers on Wednesday, stars and constellations on Thursday, and snakes on Friday. Braewyn and I enjoyed time together wandering around outside or in the other museums for the hour Philip was at camp. The second week was spent getting ready for VBS. I did take the kids for a walk one morning to check a friend's mail and we made ourselves at home playing in her kids' wooden play house. Tonight is the last night of VBS and Philip and I have had a wonderful time. I'm helping with the rising-5th graders who are a lot of fun but have a lot of energy. If we give them even a minute of unscheduled time, the room becomes quite noisy. Philip has enjoyed his Pre-K class and I cannot wait to see his group sing tonight at the Family Night program. Not sure if I'll have to be on stage with my group or not. I've learned the motions and kind of know the words to the songs. Not sure if I can do both at the same time!

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VBS Prep Work

Our church is having Vacation Bible School next week. I'm really excited to be teaching the rising 5th grade boys and girls. However it seems that I didn't begin preparing early enough as Philip, Braewyn and I spent the last two hours hunting down a few last items. On our list was a boomerang, cotton balls, sandpaper, construction paper, bottled water, laundry bags with drawstrings and Chenille Craft Stems (a.k.a. pipe cleaners; guess the Lifeway company who prints our VBS material is steering away from tobacco product paraphenalia!). After scouring Big Lots, Maxway and Dollar General, I found cottonballs, construction paper and bottled water. Those stores sell everything under the sun EXCEPT what you are looking for. I headed there first as the prices are dirt cheap and they do carry the most random items. However the aisles are so narrow and the abundance of things make it a nightmare to find one simple item, such as a boomerang. I'm starting to wonder if boomerangs are sold in this town. Would that be considered a sporting good item, or maybe a self-defense tool? Anyhow, the hunt was made all that more eventful with needing to keep track of Philip and Braewyn who can be lost in three seconds flat in those type stores. Braewyn is a wonderful, caring child but her strong temper will definitely keep me on my discipling toes. She had a full breakdown in Big Lots when I put her in the cart. Philip never cried but repeatedly kept trying to make me think I had forgetten the objective of our trip. In his mind, it was to buy him a toy. I enjoy spending time with my little ones and watching them grow. However, next year I'll make plans to do my VBS item shopping in the evening while Matthew plays with Philip and Braewyn at home.

Update on House Selling Process

Well, things are going very well considering the market. We had four showings last week and one scheduled for tomorrow night. All that being said, and now without complaining but just stating the facts, it is hard work keeping our house in perfect "show condition". I suppose I added a degree of work to myself by enrolling Philip in science camp this week. He's attended it each morning this week from 10-11am and has had a blast (post with photos to come). This just means that I've gotten the three of us fed and dressed plus scurried around putting EVERYTHING in its designated place each day this week. Selfishly I'm praying (that is an oxymoron!) that our house will be sold in the next two weeks as the last two weeks of June, Philip attends swimming lessons -- that will be 8 days of scurrying!! The light I've found in this situation is a renewed gratefulness for being a stay-at-home mom of preschoolers instead of a woman hurrying out the door EVERY morning to work or even to drop kids off at school. Next week we might not go anywhere!

Prayers for the Gosselins

As I just returned home from Walmart and there glanced casually at the covers of the tabloids, I am again feeling led to ask others to join me in praying for Jon and Kate Gosselin and their family. Yes, I'm concerned for them even though I don't know them, but my main reasoning is for God to be glorified in their situation. No I'm not going to start praying for any and all celebrity couples who face divorce as that would take up my whole day. My thinking here is that the Gosselins are known Christians. They have spoken at churches and moreso, having read their book, "Multiple Blessings", they publicly claim Christ as Savior. My God who made the heavens and the earth is capable to do ALL things. I fully believe that if He chooses to soften their hearts toward each other and back to Him, they would give Him the glory as any Christian couple would. Marriage is hard work, i.e. the divorce rate being over 50% in America. As a wife who is a Christian, I cannot imagine making it work without having Christ in our lives. That's about all I wanted to say. It's not in the Lord's plans to earn popularity for popularity's sake, however we should pray for His name to be glorified in a way that those who do not know Him as Savior would desire to make that decision. Reconciling a marriage which has sunk to the level of the tabloids' descriptions (true or not) would be impossible in human ability alone. Let's pray, believing God is able, and just wait and see what He plans to do. I would be perfectly fine if the Gosselins somehow miraculously disappeared from public view and 20 years from now we hear that they have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary giving God all the glory for it.