Love Makes the World Go 'Round

Yesterday we attended a gathering with church members, and the topic was "what helps or hurts human relationships?" Many people gave very helpful information, and I thought I'll share it, as a reminder to us how important our actions, words, and even "Christian image" are when we relate to others in the Christian and secular world. The first thing is of course, the Golden Rule. Do to others as you would have them do to you. This is our best way of healthy relationships. Along with that is putting the best construction on others, and assuming the best of them, rather than assuming the worst, getting our feelings hurt and stewing about our hurts to everyone except the person who (perhaps unintentionally) hurt us. The next is, if we have a problem with someone, or something someone said, we need to pray for them for love and forgiveness, and then either go to them and seek to make things right, or let it go and forgive them. (it's hard to stay mad/hurt when you instead spend that time in prayer) Being aware of what we say is also important. I've found that moving to a new place has really caused me to watch my words, because I often say things that are misinterpreted because people don't know when I'm kidding, being sarcastic or serious. This has caused confusion for me, because I'm just being me, but have hurt people unintentionally in the process. The last thing I can remember from the discussion is to love each other unconditionally as Christ loved us. Love those who are not easy to love, love those who have caused you pain, treat everyone with love even though you may not want to. "Love covers a multitude of sins", as we all desire to be loved, no matter of our past or present sins. One more thing...give compliments. They make everyone feel better and a meaningful compliment goes a long way... as I stated in my "Country Village lady" blog.

The Pleasure of Soup

While we still lived in Arizona, and I was dragging my feet to move up here due to the long dreary winters, Greg reminded me that one plus would be the amount of days that I could make soup. He loves to eat it, and I love to make and eat it, so it all works out for us. So, we moved up here, and I started exploring the options of soup. In Arizona you make chili, maybe once a year (it just isn't the same on a warm day), and the opportunities for experiementing just didn't happen. I didn't really cook much in my life before then, although Alberta and Alaska would have been perfect for soup too. Today as I was heating up leftover soup for lunch, I again (as I do everytime I eat soup) pondered what makes it so wonderful. Leftover soup has the added benefit of the blending of flavors, and the heat just seems to warm your soul right down to the core. There are so many types of soup, that I love experimenting with each style and it seems you just can never go wrong, no matter how many things you add or subtract (within reason of course). Soup is also often cheap to make, and the smell as it simmers in the slow cooker all day can't be beat. It makes it taste all the better at supper time. Homemade bread is best with it, but usually I don't have any so biscuits suffice well. Everytime I try I new soup, I declare it my favorite (this week it's Kendra's bean soup in the Kurtti cookbook, with my own garden veggies added) and then the next time I try another new one, it becomes my favorite. So, despite the coming of the rain this season, I look forward to hundreds of heartwarming bowls of soup, each one special in it's own way.

The Country Village Lady

Due to my youngest sons itching, sleep issues, allergies, etc., I've had to visit our local health food store, The Country Village, alot more often than I have wanted to admit this past year. Trying to find foods he could eat (wheat free teething biscuits, anyone?), things to make his eczema go away, things to help him sleep, things to help his digestion, etc. Every time I'd go in, I'd skeptically try to find something new to try in hopes that it would help. And pretty much every time I went, there was this clerk named Patty who would comment on how good the boys were, how cute they were, what good helpers they were, and so on. I never thought about it until much later, but it really gave me a boost to hear those things, as it was a long depressing winter with a sleepless baby and a Mom who didn't know what to do. The pediatrician was of no help, and most advice given was meant to be helpful but didn't help. The Mommy guilt of a having a baby who itched most of the time, and woke up usually 10 times a night (at least) had taken it's toll and I think that's where much of my prayer skeptism came in, because nothing seemed to help or make anything better. Anyways, just this week I was in Country Village again, and the boys each had a bottle they were carrying for me to the checkout, when Patty again commented on what good helpers they are, and how wonderful it is to let them help, and how she loves it when we come in the store as it really brightens her day. I finally had a chance to tell her it was she who brightened my days last winter (and I ended up crying as I was telling her that), as I usually ended up in the store in a last ditch effort to try something new this time. When she would say nice things to me, it made me feel like "yes, I can do it" rather than being downhearted because nothing ever seemed to be looking up. I have a calendar and it says on it "Never underestimate the power of a kind word". That totally sums up Patty at the Country Village. I am thankful to report that the last treatment plan with James is working, and he is almost itch-free and is sleeping through the night (most of the time).

A "good" cat story

Just this afternoon, Greg and I were talking of how we are to assist keep a conversation going this evening between 2 people that don't know each other. Concluding that we need to find things these 2 have in common would be very helpful and the thought came that a cat story usually is a great ice breaker and I thought I'd share my few with you. (they are true, morbid, and a bit gory...I wish I had loving kind ones, but unfortunately those times with cats usually get forgotten, and these awful ones get remembered). The first is about our childhood cat MewMew (this would be Amy's story). She was a kitten when we got her, and Amy played with her constantly. Dressing her up in doll clothes, feeding her with a bottle, the works. She was a favorite kitten and coincidentally she met her fate just as we were about to go on our first camping trip with our new travel trailer. We were all so excited to get going, as we hadn't been camping in years, and were all loaded up ready to go. As my Dad started the car, we heard a yowl from under the hood, and yes, MewMew had gotten caught in the fan belt and was all mangled up. Now what to do....we're ready to go camping, and not to the vet at such a time. So, she seemed fairly 'stable' but unable to walk. We put her in our dog house (the safest place we could think of) with food and water and blankets and regretfully left on our trip. It was not an enjoyable trip. All of us kids tried to have fun, but all I remember of the trip was laying awake in my sleeping bag for hours praying that MewMew would be alright. Well, when we got home she was gone. We looked all over for her, thinking a coyote probably got her, but finally found her curled up behind the deep freeze staying warm. We're not sure how she dragged herself across the yard, but somehow she did. What a trooper. I do believe we had to put her down then, because of her leg injuries were too much. And that was the end of MewMew. The next cat story is mine. I was about 6 and on the farm my Dad had given us kids instructions to knock down any barn swallow nests we saw, to keep the birds from building nests under the eaves of the house/shop/barn. So, one day I diligently was following instructions and got a long broom, knocked down the nest and it was full of baby birds. There they lay on the ground wriggling about and I had no idea what to do. This was not anticipated. As I stood there wondering what to do, our cat came along and gobbled them all up. Well, problem solved. But, just then, Mom called us in to dinner. I went in as I was told, but didn't have the heart to tell anyone that I was a baby bird murderer, nor explain why my appetite had suddenly left. (It was actually years before I had the nerve to tell anyone what I had done.) The last story belonged to my cousin Susan. She loved to tell this story to embarass her dad and humiliate her mom in front of company, especially at the dinner table. The story goes that one cold snowy night, their family was late for the Christmas program and her dad went careening out of the driveway only to drive over their beloved cat. In his haste, he didn't stop and when the program was over and they came back home, there was their cat, flattened and frozen solidly to the driveway...a real challenge to deal with now. I actually do recall many good memories of having cats, since we always did (Priscilla was our favorite we had her for many years), but somehow life for cats on the farm is quite risky and these stories tell of it. So, that's the end of this lengthy, uplifting saga from my childhood. I don't think I'll share those stories at dinner tonight....

Prayer update

I brought up my concerns with prayer at Bible Study last night, and was overwhelmed by the response I received (for the good). We discussed it at great length, since we are studying the 23rd Psalm, and are on the first verse "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." The best response I got though was that often it's our attitude that needs to change, and then our prayers will change and be more effective. Meaning, if we pray more that God would show us His will, give us His heart, love like He loves, forgive like He forgives...then our prayers will be answered more since we are more in tune with our Father in heaven. I have a tendency to pray for more specific circumstantial things, and then get discouraged when I can't "do anything" about them. I know if my attitude was more to love, forgive, encourage and be patient and let God do His perfect work in the situations, they will all turn out for the better. I guess we humans always want to help God, and think that we know what is best (and we use prayer as a means to have Him do what we want), but instead we need to trust Him more, rely on His perfect ways more, forgive more, be more longsuffering, etc. I hope this makes sense, as I do believe this advice was just what I needed to hear. (not exactly what I wanted though, as I really like to be in control and help God do His job of running the world)

Prayer

The past few days I have been analyzing prayer. It seems that I have a difficult time "praying believing", as my skeptical side always throws in it's opinion. And then when a prayer isn't answered the way I want, I say to myself "well, what was the point in praying anyways?" The Bible has much information on prayer, and the passages indicate we are to pray "without ceasing" "confidently" "fervently" and so on. I seem to pray half heartedly and really wonder how to improve my confidence in the power of prayer (besides praying for it!). Deep down I know that God is going to do what's best for me, so why ask Him? (Because He told us to!) And doesn't He get sick of some of the repetition? (No, He doesn't). God sees the big picture, which I don't, and I do wholeheartedly trust He is going to teach me what He needs. I know that mostly the problem is the devil just trying to dissuade me, but I guess I wish I could learn how I can pray more effectively and not just let things happen as they are going to anyways. Any thoughts??

A pickle of a situation

So, last week in the midst of my making pickles, I happened to have one of those 'mom moments' where you must multi-task but the results ended up less than satisfactory. I was busy heating up my syrup to make the spicy pickles (8 cups apple cider vinegar, 16 cups sugar, 1 cup very coarse pickling spices) and was waiting endlessly for this big pot to boil. So, I stirred, waited, stirred, waited and of course (the big no-no) cranked up the heat to make it happen sooner. Well, what do you know, but after about 1/2 hour of this I was getting rather bored of waiting and then suddenly Luke needed my assistance "right away" so I ran to his aid, only to come back and my big pot had boiled over. Half of the contents were everywhere. So, not only did it smell quite pungent, but that much sugar made it a very sticky situation. It spilled under 2 burners, down the vent into the bottom of the oven (which of course I had just cleaned last week), under the stove, under the fridge, in the drawer and all the pans under the stove, and all over the floor. The spices in it also made a very interesting mess to clean up as they got stuck on everything. I've washed my floor (and more) numerous times, but it still squeaks a bit when you walk around the stove and I am still getting sticky drips coming out from here and there, when I thought there could be no more places for this stuff to hide. Ahh! At least I could've turned down the burner before leaving it unattended. Hopefully this is a lesson learned. It was quite a chore that I didn't really need added to my day that day, but I have to say it wasn't quite as messy as the one time my chicken enchiladas exploded (pan and all) in the oven. Now that- was a mess!

Raising Boys

Although my boys are only 3 and 1, and only the eldest is talking, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of boy talk and stuff my life contains. Mostly due to the fact that I don't have answers to the million technical questions that a 3 year old boy comes up with. Also, because on any given day, my life is filled with questions and comments that surround every aspect of machinery, aircraft, railroad, wildlife and just general car/truck information. On a regular trip to town, the one sided conversation goes something like this: (as in one big runon sentence that doesn't end) "Mommy, why is there no deer on the road today? When are we going to see a raccoon? What type of car was that that just went by? Are we going to atama-washington? What's in that dump truck? There's a big ship, what is on it? Where is it going? Why does the Amtrak go so fast? Can we ride the Amtrak someday? Where are the freight trains today? Where do they get their diesel from? Is that a flatbed or a tractor-trailer truck? Where is it's hitch? Where is it going? Can we stop at the park? (as we near the exit to the park) Why are there so many boats in the water? What are they fishing for? What type of salmon are they catching? Can we go fishing for salmon too?" You get the picture. As all parents likely know, you can't just answer each question with a "hmm" or "uh-huh", but must give an in depth detailed answer or else the question gets asked again and again until a satisfactory answer is given. I find it quite humorous that this has gone on for many months and last winter while our son was still in speech therapy, they suggested putting him in a special class to get him to talk more. I said, "well, I think he talks quite alot when he's in a comfortable situation" meaning that he didn't care for their in-your-face-funniest-loudest-person around attitude that scares more kids than it ever entices. So, I'm wondering...do girls talk about these same things, or what do they endlessly chatter about at age 3, since I have no experience in that area? And I can tell there's much more to come! The questions just probably get harder to answer though, right?

Today I commend the old(er) ladies

So, I'm wondering...after a day full of making pickles, canning pears and coming up next...tuna...how did those women in the days before ever have time to care for their children? My boys get severely neglected (meaning playing outside on the deck for hours, and they aren't complaining) and I'm wondering how would one do all the work with a baby? I know they didn't have a choice back then, but what happened to the babies if you didn't have older kids or a mother-in-law nearby? I can't imagine canning with a baby in a front pack or nearby anywhere for that matter. And how did they get the produce out of their gardens in the first place. I was fortunate enough to get mine cheaply from various sources, as my garden didn't really produce enough to store away (maybe next year), but I just don't know how one would/could manage it all! Here's a pat on the back to my Grandmas and all the women before them who managed to juggle it all and still keep their babies happy. I am excited for all the produce we've put away so far...it'll make the winter a bit more enticing. (peaches, pears, dill pickles, sweet pickles, 3 kinds of jam, tuna, blueberries, green beans, marionberries...mmmm)

Sunday thoughts

Feeling a bit better today. Am uplifted by encouraging friends and family, as well as spending time at church and hearing an encouraging sermon (despite my boys wiggling and shhhing each other). We sang "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and it reminded me of Dad singing it at our wedding. God is the same each day, His promises are true and His love is all encompassing. Even when we feel inadequate, sinful, tired, bored or whatever...that doesn't mean that God has changed at all. "Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not, Great is thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me." We chose that song at our wedding because we were fully reminded that God orchestrated our relationship, despite both Greg and me doubting that He would ever bring us a Christian spouse (that we actually were attracted to!). God did pull through, much as we doubted His Word. What a loving Father we have. I sure wouldn't want to give such good gifts to my kids if they doubted my direction and guidance that much. It's actually humorous when I think of how we so often think we know what is best and think it's our duty to tell God what we think He should do in every situation. And then we say "Thy will be done" just to give Him some freedom. How small our vision is, and how all encompassing is His. That's all for now...more another day.

A Virtuous Woman??

Proverbs 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
14She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
31Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
King James Version (KJV)

I've been pondering these verses lately, and wondering how I can A) live up to those standards, and B) apply the verses in my own household. It seems that my best efforts are often thrown out the window by actual circumstances, and it seems there is never enough hours in the day nor energy in my body to fulfill all that I need to do. Some wives/mothers have time to read, do crafts, go for coffee, etc. and I just don't know how they fit it in (or have energy when they do). If I have extra time, it seems to be always spent either playing with my kids, or doing chores that have piled up sometime from somewhere or on the rare occasion, take a nap. I have a project list a mile long, but a rare chance to ever get many done. How do I show God, through showing my husband that I'm a virtuous woman when I can't even get the dishes done somedays? Or does God look more at my heart and my intentions and my attitude than what I actually accomplish? My husband thankfully is very loving and patient, and has never complained due to my lacks, but I feel them just the same. My prayer is that my time would be used wisely, my husband would feel our home is a restful haven from work and the world, and that above all, God is glorified through our life. Any ideas or comments are indeed welcome.

Thoughts on Marriage

Yesterday we attended the wedding reception of my uncle Jim and his new wife Hilkka who were married on our 5th anniversary (July 19). They have both lost their spouses to cancer and God brought them together now and what a blessing that is. One thing mentioned at the reception was that they had both told a mutual friend that if they remarried, their main 'attraction' in a spouse would be someone who would help them get to heaven. If only so many others in the world could have that same goal in looking for a spouse, what happy marriages there would be. When God is first and foremost in a marriage, blessings abound in every area. It makes our own wills subside and helps us to look to the greater goal of the family, rather than selfish ones. If we pray together daily, our goals become and remain the same, united with God's will whatever that may be. A strong marriage is so needed in this world today, with so many things threatening its health. Any stresses can get in and destroy (just what the devil wants), so we must be extra vigilant to follow God and not anything/anyone else (even family, jobs, kids, beliefs, whatever) come between husband and wife. Mark 10:9 "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."