Don't give away all of your Kit Kat!

My daughter, K, is 8 years old.  She has always been boy crazy.  She gets that from her mother.  I had crushes on boys for as long as I can remember.  It was in 3rd grade when a boy actually liked me back.  K will be in 3rd grade this fall.  She has had several crushes and a few boys who have crushed on her.  It's cute and fun - as long as it stays that way.  But these kids like to act on these crushes.  Holding hands, cuddling, hugging, even kissing.  It was time to put a stop to it.

So, I took K out to lunch today.  Seth was home sick from work so I left J and A with him.  I asked K if she thought she would be married someday.  She was pretty positive that she would get married and even knew who she would marry.  For the last couple of weeks, she has claimed one of the neighbor boys as her boyfriend.  He initially had no feelings for K whatsoever but it was no secret that she liked him.  He refused to claim her as his girlfriend.  Until, he gave his life to Jesus.  Joy overflowed out of him.  I could see the change in his behavior.  And suddenly, he became very sweet to K.  9 years old or not, he is a very sweet "boyfriend."

I asked K how old she thought she would be when she got married.  Her answer:20.  I told her that was 12 years from now.  How could she possibly know that she would marry this neighbor boy in 12 years?  12 years is a LONG time and who knows what could happen between now, and when K turns 20.  We have been wanting to move out west - Wyoming or Idaho - but the Lord has not yet opened that door.  I told K that if we do move, how would she still stay with this boy.  She was pretty confident that no matter what happened, she was going to marry him.

Well, I couldn't convince her otherwise.  So, I pulled out a King size Kit Kat.  I layed out the 8 pieces and said, "This is you.  When you get married, whether it be this boy or not, you want to be able to give your husband all of you.  What you have is special and the more of yourself you can give to your husband, the more he would appreciate it."  I took a piece of Kit Kat and put it aside.  "This is every time you hold hands with a boy."  I took another piece away.  "This is every time you hug a boy."  I took another piece away.  "This is every time you kiss a boy.  Every time you do something with a boy, you give him part of yourself."  I got down to 3 pieces and handed them to her.  "Do you think your husband would want this?"  She looked down at the 3 pieces and shook her head.  As I took each piece away, I wanted to cry.  I know how so many people give away so much of themselves that they have nothing left for their own spouse.  I did not want my daughter to take these things lightly.  I wanted this conversation to make a lasting impression on her.

I gave her the rest of the pieces I had taken and asked her if she thought she still needed to have a boyfriend at this age.  "No, we can just be friends."  Praise the Lord!!  We enjoyed some Kit Kats and headed home.  This is just a reminder to pray for my children.  They are faced with pressures that I didn't face until I was much older.  And I should pray for their future spouses that they, too, would remain pure and be able to give all of themselves to my children when they get married.

So, save your Kit Kat.  Don't give away too many pieces too soon or your future spouse may get nothing.

A Decade

That's how long I've been a mother. Today, my son J is 10 years old!

After graduating from Emmaus  Bible College in 2000, Seth and I started working for Village Creek Bible Camp in NE Iowa. After a very busy summer, we moved into retreat mode. At that time, 5 couples served as full-time staff. 3 of us were expecting babies.

We told our families at Christmas. J would be the first grandbaby on my side and the 2nd great grandbaby on my mom's side. My cousin was also pregnant but due more than a month before I was.

I continued working at camp every weekend. The camp director's wife gave birth in March. I went to my 5-year high school class reunion in May where my home church threw me a baby shower. Then it was time to get ready for summer camps again. The camp directors moved us into a house in the near-by town. Seth and I had been looking to move. We both traveled to Wichita a couple of times for interviews and apartment searching.

The baby was due July 8, 2001. Seth got a job teaching at Sunrise Christian Academy and we would move in early August. The wrangler's wife  gave birth in June.

The church I attended while at camp along with the camp director's wife threw me a surprise baby shower. I had no idea - and I was being very stubborn to not attend this church activity as I had camp responsibilities. But the camp director's wife worked all that out, Seth even said he would be busy, and it seemed everyone really wanted me to go. So I went - having no idea it was a surprise for me. :)

Then the day came - 2 weeks early. I was up timing contractions during the night. Seth thought I was just being a bit anxious and told me to try to sleep. I fell asleep. Seth went on in to camp to work. I woke up, still having contractions, and feeling like my water was leaking. I called the Dr. and he said to come in. I called the camp. No one could get a hold of Seth. I waited for several minutes. Finally, Seth called back and I told him we needed to go to the hospital.

After we arrived, things were progressing slowly but with my water leaking, something had to be done. The Dr. put me on putocin (sp?) which certainly made my contractions more intense. The camp director's wife came and relieved Seth for a few hours. She walked with me up and down the hallways, rubbed my back, and just kept me company. Seth returned and the day was about to end.

I'm not sure of the order of events - it was 10 year ago - but at some point the Dr. broke my water. It was then that my contractions brought me to tears. I finally accepted some pain medication - but no epidural. I insisted on doing it as naturally as possible (besides the fact that I was terrified of the epidrual). I woke up several times during the night with contractions. The Dr. tried 3 different pain meds. He and Seth massaged and rubbed me to get me to relax.

Finally at around 6:45am, it was time to push. By then, all the pain medications had worn off and I was giving birth completely naturally, just as I had wanted. At 7:29am, J was born. "It's a boy!" the Dr. said and then placed him on my stomach.

I was a mom. I had a son. I have watched him grow and learn for the last 10 years. He has always been excited about learning new things. He gave his life to Jesus when he was 3 or 4 years old and was baptized when he was 8. He continues to love and serve the Lord.

Happy birthday, J!! I love you!!!

My Cinderella Sister

I was able to get away last weekend for a fun girls' weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.  I have 2 sisters who live in my hometown and 1 sister who lives in the Wichita area with me.  Every year, we plan a weekend together with my mom and grandma and usually we meet in Kansas City.  But this year is different.  This year is extra special.

I have 3 sisters and no brothers.  I am sister number 2.  Sister number 3 is Amanda.  She's always been known as the cute one.  She's the one who always had the dream of becoming a mom.  She's the one who was still single on her 30th birthday while the rest of us are all married with our own families, even the baby sister.

But, that's all about to change.  This last weekend we stayed in Des Moines for some wedding planning and dress shopping for Amanda's wedding!  Yes, it's happening and we are all excited.  In the past, our grandma made our wedding dresses, but she doesn't feel like she is able to make Amanda's this year so we went to a bridal shop and watched Amanda try on dress after dress after dress.  It was actually pretty fun since I had never gotten to do that myself or with anyone else's wedding.  We all gave our opinions about each dress.  What we liked, what we didn't.

And then the moment came.  You always hear how you'll just know when it's the right dress.  Amanda came out of the changing room, we all ooohed and awwwed.  That was the one.  We all agreed that this was the perfect dress and Amanda was moved to tears.  Just like you hear about happening or see on TV or in the movies.

What a fairytale moment.  Just like Amanda.  Her life is a fairytale.  Not that she was a slave to a wicked stepmother and stepsisters.  Not that she had to live with 7 little men (although she does run her own daycare in her home which of course includes at least 7 little children).  She is making her life her own fairytale.  She has found her prince charming whom we all love and she is watching her own fairytale unfold before her eyes.

It was such a fun weekend.  Such a special weekend.  And I'm proud to be Amanda's sister and to be a part of her real-life fairytale.

We're still in Kansas, Toto

I was very worn out yesterday so supper was a bit late.  My husband got home pretty late too.  I finally got supper ready and we sat down to eat.  A storm was coming.  In fact we were already in a tornado warning but the storms seemed to be headed north of us and we were mostly out of harm's way.

All of a sudden, we were hit with heavy winds and rain.  It was very green outside indicating tornadic weather.  My husband said, "Get to the basement, NOW!"  I grabbed a couple of things of importance and we all headed downstairs.  My husband tuned into the radio on his iphone and we all listened in.  My daughter was very concerned about her pet rabbit who was sitting outside in her cage.  A little bit later we decided the worst had passed and we headed back upstairs.

I grabbed another helping of supper and we continued to eat again.  My husband kept the radio on.  The storm trackers were starting to discuss dangerous-looking clouds, some in rotation, just a mile or 2 from where we lived.  It was still very green outside and still raining pretty hard.  So, back downstairs we went.

We huddled together on my younger daughter's bed and listened to the radio.  The storm trackers continued to watch the clouds near us.  Then everything went black.  Our power went out.  The kids were holding up ok.  Little A really didn't know what was going on.  K was crying for her rabbit who was out enduring this storm.  J was hiding under the blankets.  Soon we could hear the hail on the one tiny window in the room.  It was much brighter outside than it was in the house.  We could see the green color through the curtain.

The tornado warning was supposed to end at 8:30, but it sure didn't sound over when 8:30 finally came around.  We sat and waited while my husband had to wait for the signal to reach his phone since our wireless was now down.  After a bit, he asked me to go upstairs to check things out.  Actually, he asked if I wanted to or if I wanted him to go.  I love the excitement of thunderstorms and tornadoes so I gladly volunteered to see what it was like outside.

The green just glowed outside.  Clouds were a light gray.  The rain wasn't very hard any more.  I walked to the front windows and could see small patches of blue sky.  I went back down to report.  We listened in on what radio signal we could get and finally decided it was safe to go back upstairs.

As the sun finally set, the house became pitch black.  My husband grabbed a couple of flashlights and we lit a candle.  We finished our supper, which was now cold and we had no power to use the microwave.  My husband's phone was about to die so he "plugged" it in to his mini laptop hoping whatever juice it had in the battery would charge his phone.

10:00 came so we sent the kids to bed.  My daughter didn't like the idea of going to bed without a nightlight.  Well, it's about time she learned!  :)  Since my husband was the on-call plumber, he had to go to work for a couple of emergency calls.  I blew out the candle and got myself and my younger daughter ready for bed.  I let her sleep in my bed since my husband wasn't home.

I was jolted awake at around 1:00am by lights, fans, and the AC turning back on.  I moved my daughter to her bed, walked around the house and turned off the lights.  My husband still wasn't home.  I prayed for the Lord to keep him safe and that He would protect everyone through this storm.  Finally, I could hear my husband come through the front door around 1:30.  Everyone was home.  We were all safe.  Even the rabbit.

Late night thinking

I spend a lot of my creative thinking in bed while I'm trying to fall asleep.  Last night I thought of 2 blogs I could write.  But do I remember them this morning?  NOOOO!  I don't have a clue what they were about.  That's pretty normal for me.  As I lie there, waiting for sleep to come, my creative brain goes on active mode.  I often come up with songs, blogs, skits, books, sitcoms, movies and then rarely have any clue what they were the following morning.

When it comes to songwriting though, I take those ideas a little more seriously because that is what I enjoy most in my creative thinking.  When I was in high school, I would actually get up out of bed, go to my closet (so I didn't disturb my sister with whom I shared a room), and write down the lyrics so I wouldn't forget them.  Then I hum or sing the song in my head over and over so I don't forget the melody.  Nowadays, I just pray, "Lord, if this is a song you want me to write, help me to remember it until I am able to write it down."  As a mother of 3, I would rather sleep than get up and write a song.  Hahaha.  Songs come to me in different ways.  Sometimes I come up with a topic and go from there.  Other times, the chorus pops in my head.  The hard ones are when I get a verse or part of a verse and then I'm stuck.  I can be stuck there for months before I figure out the rest of it.  But, the best ones are when I get the entire song - lyrics, melody, harmonies, everything - in one shot.  Those are the ones I can most easily remember and write down as soon as I get the chance and can't wait to record it.  However, recording is not possible right now since my computer that I had the recording software on died a year or so ago.  My husband and I looking around for some new recording equipment because I am going crazy without the ability to record all these songs that have flowed out of me!  lol

For our church, I am in charge of coming up with the skits for our VBS.  From April to July every year, I am in VBS mode.  Year after year, the skits become more and more challenging and this year, I nearly backed out and said I couldn't do it.  But as I did my research on our theme - Pilgrim's Progress - the ideas started coming.  And, yes, many ideas came to me at night while I was in bed trying to sleep.  :)  This will be my 7th year writing the skits for VBS and everyone seems to enjoy them.  I am often surprised at how quickly I put the skits together considering all the personalities I have in my cast and they can only come from God.  He does most of the writing.  I can say the same for my songs too.

My creativity comes from God.  I give all credit to Him.  So, if you think of it, please pray for our church and our communities as we plan and prepare for this year's VBS.  To God be the glory.

A day to celebrate

8 years ago, I went to the hospital to give birth to my second child.  I did not know the gender, but for the previous 3 weeks, its head was in position and ready to go.  However, as I was watching some TV the night before, there was A LOT of movement.  So when I arrived at the hospital, it was discovered that the baby's toes were headed into the birth canal.

I needed an emergency C-section.  I was so ready for a natural childbirth and the last thing I wanted was an epidural so the thought about that needle going into my back brought me to tears.  The baby was on its way out so everyone quickly got together and worked to get the baby out safely.

They pulled the baby out, having to pulling its leg out of the birth canal which caused some bruising.  Waiting in anticipation for whether or not it was a boy or a girl, the Drs. had a hard time figuring it out.  The baby had come bum up and the Drs. had a hard time turning the baby over to tell me what it was.  lol  Finally, "It's a...it's a....it's a...GIRL!!!"  We now had a boy and girl.  We already had a name picked out.

As we waited for the baby to get cleaned up and me to get stitched up, we heard they needed help resuscitating.  Our hearts dropped.  For 30 long seconds, we prayed that our baby girl would be ok.  Finally, we heard her cry.  What a precious sound!!!  Praise the Lord that she was alright.

Today, that little miracle baby is 8 years old.  She's spunky....as I mentioned in my last post.  She has such a big heart for those who do not know Jesus.  She's not afraid to share her faith with people.  She's always singing....especially in public bathrooms.  :)  I love her to death and I'm excited to celebrate her 8th birthday today.

I did it

I created a blog.  Sometimes I just get in the mood to write something that deserves more than a Facebook status.  So, here we go.

First, I just want to introduce myself.  I grew up in Iowa, met my husband at Emmaus Bible College, and we moved to Kansas where we are raising our 3 children.  I just finished my second year of homeschooling and it was quite the challenge.  But we persevered and made it through.  We've learned some lessons and hopefully we'll make some improvements so that next fall won't be quite as difficult.  :)

J is our oldest.  He was born in Iowa but we moved to Kansas when he was only 6 weeks old so Kansas is all he's really known.  K is number 2.  She is our spunky child who dresses like Punky Brewster or Blossom, a style all her own.  A is the baby, although she's not really a baby any more.  She's not quite in school yet but she enjoys learning and is able to get online for educational games.

My husband is a plumber from Idaho.  We were married in 1998 but it hasn't always been wedded bliss.  We've had our ups and downs and even some very low downs but we've stuck through and fought for our marriage.  We love the Lord and pray that our children will give their lives to Him as well.  2 have proclaimed their faith in Jesus and were baptized.

Obviously, we are a Christian family.  I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He came to earth as a man and died for my sins.  He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and is alive today.  I believe the Bible is God's Word, 100% true and accurate.  I believe that without Christ's death and resurrection, I would be headed to hell.  I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Well, that about sums it up.  I hope you enjoy whatever may flow out of my head into my blogs.  :)