George's Thoughts on the Existence of Santa Claus

****** It's been a while since I've posted anything about Agatha the Gift Bearing Beagle, so if you've forgotten or you need Agatha explained, take a minute to refresh, it will make this post make more sense. ******


Geo has been spending a lot of time reading Calvin and Hobbes.  He likes to read them out loud to us as we're in the car which is rather unfortunate because so much of the comic, like his other favorite, The Far Side, needs to be seen to be fully understood.  But he's reading so we're happy. 

But the real problem with Calvin and Hobbes is that it introduces some pretty big areas of question for his growing mind.  And I'm not referring to communism, capitalism, or the differences between boys and girls- I'm referring to questions about Santa.

So the other day in the ISH and Geo are whispering in the back of the car, and suddenly, in a bit of a panic ISH states: Geo says that Santa's not real!

Me: Geo?  Did you tell him that?

Geo: Yes.

Me: Why?

Geo: Because he's not.

Me: Oh? Where did you hear that?

ISH: So he is real? (and he turns to give a smug look to his brother)

Me: I'm didn't say that, I'm just asking who told him that.

Geo: No one.  I just figured it out by myself.

Me: So you're saying there's no such thing as Santa or Agatha or.....

Geo: Oh no!  Agatha's real.  It's just Santa who's made up.


 

The 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

One of the realities of raising boys in this sex-crazed-soft-porn-is-acceptable little world is the difficultly that it is to protect the boys of having such images burned into their little brains at an early age.

 I remember reading a story somewhere or hearing advice once about a mom who avoided the check out lines with magazines to protect her children from the sexualization displayed on the covers, opting to have a battle over candy bars now rather than facing other more subliminally ingrained battles later.

I remember there was a time I took that advice to heart, but somewhere along the way I forgot it.

Until today.

Today ISH and I were on our regular Monday grocery run and, after scoping outing which line was the shortest, I pulled into lane 8. And what should be there as a last ditch effort for an impulse buy but this season's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

"Ugh!" I thought.  "Lord please protect my boys."

And as the words were going from my mind to the Father ISH says "Oh."

"Oh?" I replied

"Oh, that-" he said pointing to the SI cover.

"Oh :( " I thought

"-that is really inappropriate." ISH said with as much disdain as can come from a six-year-old lisp-y little mouth.

"Yes. It is." I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why do they want to put that on the cover?" ISH asked me.

"Because some men like her and some women want to be her and they think it's a good way to sell magazines."

"Well I don't."  (Lord keep this innocence about him)

"Me neither buddy." I said as I started to put my groceries on the checkout line belt feeling as though I had somehow avoided a storm.

"Now that-" he said with his eyes getting bigger, pointing the Food Network Magazine cover of a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese tart, "that's what they need to have on the cover.  That's what they need more of."

I giggled.

"Yes buddy, I agree."

 

Clarification- I've Never Lived in Mexico

While riding in the car on the way home from Sonshine School is begins to divulge what he told the lady who drives the pick up van.

"I told her we use to live in Mexico." He said quite proud of himself.

"ISH! You can't tell people that." I replied

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, it's not true."

He sat there looking a bit puzzled.  So I tried to explain a little better why this might become complicated in case the whole fiction-reality thing wasn't enough for him.

"What if one of the teachers comes to ask me why we lived in Mexico or what about this or that about Mexico. I wouldn't know what to say because we have never. live. in. Mexico."

"Oh don't worry about that." He assured me.  "I listened very well in my World Explorers class when we studied about Mexico. I told her all she'd ever need to know.  There won't be a need to ask you questions about anything."

Soccer

ISH has decided to take a break from karate to try his hand at soccer.

To help get him ready for "clump ball"* LK went and got him a ball and they spent time on Saturday practicing kicking and scoring into an old soccer net the previous owners left with the house.

Today ISH asked if I wanted to come and practice.  My job was to try and kick it into the net because, he explained, he enjoyed being goalie best.

But, every time I kicked it towards him he'd shreeeeeeeek and fall to the ground.

"ISH," I said as kindly and as supportive as I could, "I don't think the job of the goalie to scream and fall to the ground every time the ball comes near him."

"Oh," ISH stated rather of mater-of-factly, "apparently it is."

This coach is going to have his work cut out for him that's for sure.


*for all you non-children homes out there clump ball is the act of small children clumping around a soccer ball and following it around the field instead of playing actual positions. For example

This Time Last Year

This time last year I was way better at blogging then I am now. But then this last year wasn't exactly what I had expected it to be. ... But I guess to understand what I expected from 2011, you have to understand 2010.

The beginning of 2010 found me in a "me" period. While I was still working and growing my business, and while I was still a full time mom and wife and involved in church ministries, the beginning of 2010 came with lots of extra time. Maybe it was that I had reached that lovely age with my children where they could get Pop Tarts on Saturday and hang out with cartoons by themselves, that age where they could dress themselves and help out around the house -- leaving a little more time for me each day.

Or maybe it was like a mentor of mine once told me that these times are gifts from God- periods of peace that he gives us before "it" comes. And while we can't ever know what "it" will be- she once encouraged me to use these times and enjoy the gift.

And so I started to learn guitar. I began taking classes in aerial silks. I started cooking more and hosting more friends in our home. I spent two weeks traveling in South East Asia … It was an enjoyable time of peace.

But while talking with my dad one day he said the words that would forever change it all. He said he was glad I was having all this time on my hands and glad that I'm enjoying it. After all, he is a strong believer that God wants us to enjoy what he give us. But then he encouraged me to ask God if perhaps there is more he would also like me to be doing with this time.

And so I did.

And soon God began to stir within me the desire to have more children in my life. But strangely, he didn't simultaneously stir the desire for them to be biologically mine. This desire for children clearly came with a lack of wanting to carry or deliver anything.

In June we sat in church holding a friend's one year old little girl. And from out of nowhere, I commented to LK, "well, you know, we could always adopt." With this comment, this one little phrase, a deeper conversation began between LK and me. Would we not take a child if someone left it on our door? Yes! And in that we realized there hundreds children waiting to be taken- they just don't know where our door is.

Within a week we were on the phone with Christian Services. We decided that perhaps jumping head first into adoption might be a bit much, but fostering, and interim fostering- the people who care for babies that are in the phase of no longer being with their biological family but not yet with their forever family- that would be the best way to test the waters.

Then a foster family told us that their foster child would soon be available for adoption and that because the child was going to have to be placed with a sibling, they could not do it.  Yet again, another phrase that lead to 500 conversations.  Could our home be the place for them? 

These conversations led us to put our house, the house we deeply loved (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) but that would not hold two more children, on the market and move in to a house that would better suit the growing family we felt we could soon have.

The entire process with these children was a difficult situation and our lack of having any say in anything that happened stirred up within me the need for control I thought I had conquered.  And one day in August as I was ranting to God asking why on earth would he put this desire in my heart only to have me not get to do ANY OF IT!  I felt him call me to a time with him.

I can't explain it in words that don't sound like some crazy out of body experience- but I know, in that moment, the God who Sees, was asking me to ask him- seek him.  And so on August 3 I committed to the Lord to have 40 days of prayer with him.  To wake up early and spend 30 minutes in the morning seeking him and asking for his direction.

There were several stops and starts.  Surely God would understand that I am tired, that I am traveling, that I was up late with a sick kids, etc. Surely he's okay with me sleeping in today.

November 1, 2010 the gloves came off and I decided for real this time- no excuses- I needed to carry out my commitment to the Lord.  And so for 40 days I got up early and spent time with the Lord.  Asking him to show me what he see for me this all of this.   I began with a study of Ecclesiastes then Proverbs, and ending my 40 days in Job, asking that I can know the Lord, and be known by him.

As I ended my 40 days we had moved into a new house, but still had the old one and the sale of it was quickly falling apart.  Four days after I ended it the contract fell apart.  And we were left with two house, 10 days before Christmas.  One staged with all of our furniture and the other with card tables and blow up mattresses.

Twelve days after I finished my 40 days, I received an email about a teenage girl who had no where to go and said the one thing she wanted in life was to have a family.

LK looked at me and said- we need to do this.

We were certified interim-foster-parents but no children had been in need yet.  And while our heart was still pulling towards the sibling pair, that situation wasn't moving at all.  And so we made the call- and learned that if she could come, it would at the end of January.

As we learned more, I began to pray.  I first began to pray that God help our house sell.  I told the Lord I can't have DHS come into a home with no furniture and try to convince them this is a suitable place for anyone to live.

Our house went back on the market right before Christmas, the time when no one looks at let alone buys a house.  Between Christmas and New Year we had one showing if not more almost every day and the Monday after New Years we had three offers on the table all eager to have our house.  In a down market, in the winter the Lord delivered full price, no closing costs and close at the end of the month.  He had kept his end of the bargain and now it was my turn to keep mine.  And so my prayers became:

"Lord! We may have a [teenager] come to live with us.  Be with her.  Thank you Father for all the situations in my life that you have given me up to know that have me fully capable to minister to someone like her.  Be with her and bless her."

"Lord, I see clearly how all that happened before can be of good use now.  In ALL THINGS.  Thank you for times of trial.  Thank you for redeeming me when I've fallen so I can show the same love and redemption to another."

Our furniture arrived January 26.  C moved in January 28.  And through God's power she was baptized on March 23.  Fully becoming a member of the family of God.
 
And I would love to stop here and tell you everything since then has been wonderful.  But that's not life.

Throughout the remainder of 2011 we pushed for the siblings only loose them over the summer... as if they were ever really ours.

And in September, C moved out- deciding she no longer wanted the life we were offering.

It felt confusing and sad.

But I believe God had us in the lives of the sibling set in a way that is hard to explain in a venue like this.  But trust me, things happened, God and moved.  And while we showed up thinking we knew how God was moving-- he ... well to quote a good friend of mine... he said "Gee.  Thanks for showing up.  Now, let me try to explain what I'm really trying to do here."

And I believe that God sees C.  That he has his spirit in her life now and if she was with us for no other reason than that, I am thankful for the role we could play.  And I know he is still interweaving her story in with others.  I know he is there for her, should she want to accept that.

The day C moved out we received a call about a two-year-old girl who needed a foster home.

C being with us allowed us to move quickly into full on DHS foster care and so, C moved out on Friday and A moved in on Saturday.

She stayed for four days when DHS called and said she was moving to a kinship home and oh by the way could be take a six-day-old.  S moved in as they were picking A up.

S lived with us two and a half days before moving on to her kinship home.  (And on my but that is a blog post in itself.  God was so visibly at work there and it was beautiful).

We had what ISH would call "our four-person family" from Saturday to Tuesday and then R (age 4) and J (13 months) moved in.

From there the months blur- by Friday my grandmother was dying and within 10 days of R and J coming, we had closed our home to DHS and R and J were being placed elsewhere so that I could be with my family following my grandmother's passing.

I know- it doesn't make sense and believe me it didn't really then either.  But it- them being with us- foster care- all of it.  It wasn't right.  In a way I couldn't put my finger on at the time, but it. just. wasn't. right.

Again I stood there confused.  What did God want from me?  I asked him what he wanted me to be doing with all of this time and I felt the call of more children.  I felt the call that my family wasn't yet "done."  And there was interim care... but that wasn't the answer.  And there were the siblings... but that wasn't the answer.  And there was C... but that wasn't the answer.  And there was DHS foster care... but that didn't seem like answer either.  And now 18 months removed from that prayer I was more upside down in what I was "suppose" to be doing than ever before.

I tried to make myself want to get pregnant.  That would be the easiest answer (well easy in one sense at least).  But, well to keep from getting to medical, let's just say that in 2009 certain steps were taken to make that not really something that could just "happen" like it had with the boys, and when I thought about having to undo that.  And when I thought about being pregnant and giving birth and the biological aspect of it all... I just really didn't want to be pregnant.

And so by the end of October I looked at my dad and said- I don't get it.  I prayed and I feel lost.  I feel like I am in a fog.

"Ah" he said.  "Maybe that's where God wanted you.  Maybe now he can lead."

And so one year later and several hundred blogs short of 2010, I can't really say where the next year is going.  In some ways I feel like I'm seeing some sort of a path through the fog.  In some ways it seems like the path of formal adoption is opening for us-- but so much of that remains out of our control.

And maybe being "out of my control" is just where God wants me to be.

The Season of Giving

ISH: Mommy, today in Bible class we talked about how there are some people in the world that don't have as much as we do and it's hard for them especially at Christmas. And so I was thinking, maybe I can go through my toys and get out the ones I don't play with much any more and we can give them to kids who don't have a lot of toys.

Me (feeling proud of the spiritual height he has reached at such a young age): Sure buddy. That would be a great thing to do.

ISH: Like maybe I can give them my broken slinky.

FOOD FIGHT!

Today is C's 100th day with us! What blessing to have her with us... though after today ... she might be having second thoughts.

But then... what else is there to do on a sunny Saturday in May but have a food fight.  Yes, you heard right.  Food. Fight (and yes, I questioned my sanity going into this whole thing).

But it all came together as a result of the seed the Diary of a Whimpy Kid books planted in Geo's mind.  And so I went with it.

A full on ...

Baked beans and chocolate sauce ...

Whipped cream and mustard....

Flour and tomato sauce ...

Mashed potatoes, strawberry syrup, and cereal FOOD FIGHT!

And in the end, we had a group of very messy people...

And one excited boy, ready to mark "Have a food fight" off his list of things to do before he's old.

Click here to check out all 151 photos (we put the camera on a timer and went to town)

WHAT?

I was cleaning out the garage yesterday - moving things from place to place trying to clean up the aftermath of our half-year-back move.  While I'm working ISH looks at me from his spot on the floor where he had spent the last half-hour coloring.  "Wow Mommy.  You've moved a lot of stuff.  That's some hard work .... (wait for it)... for a woman."

WHAT?

So I'm not sure who of you out there taught him this or thinks it's funny. ... But I have my guesses .... and you're all in trouble!

Random Thought Thursday: Earth Day

What time is it: 625P

Where am I: OK Gold Gymnatics. Squeezing 30 minutes of watching Geo in before running to pick up C ... I am officially a "stay-in-the-car-mom". What would that be? SITCM?

Last ate: Home-made chicken and rice soup. I'd planned on chicken salad but the cold front required an audible.

Listening to: the hum of parents comparing children and lives as they, like me, "watch" their children

Thoughts: Tomorrow is Earth Day. I can perfectly remember Earth Day of my 5th grade year. I am standing by the water fountain ... The night before I hadn't put away my shoes and thus couldn't find them in time for school ... Mom was not happy... Sent me to school wearing the first pair of shoes she could find.... So, I'm wearing one size too big, bright blue rain boots ... Paired nicely with dark leggings and an oversized, long sleeved white shirt ... It has a duck or some strange cartoon creature on the front ... Standing their wishing I could spend the day in the bathroom (yes, even I can actually be embarrassed by "fashion"). ... But you know ... I don't remember losing my shoes again after that.

Happy Earth Day

Random Thought Thursday: Gifts

What time is it: 1007A

Where am I: standing at the kitchen counter, trying to fit a blog post in at least once this week

Last ate: Hmm... I think I ate breakfast. That or the Altoid is holding me over well. So let's go with breakfast

Listening to: the electricians in the dining room-- new dining room light goes up today!

Thoughts: ISH is a very thoughtful child. Should he choose to marry, he will certainly be a good catch one day.

 Why is this? He knows the way to a woman's heart is thoughtful gifts. He's forever brining me treasures from the outside to brighten my day.

"I brought you this leaf because it has some black on and and I know black is your favorite color."

So sweet.

However.... last night's gift left on my bedside table might need a Mulligan.

Thanks for the effort though little one.

Transitions

Pardon my last few weeks of silence.  I have, in some ways, felt as though I've been standing on quick sand lately.  Moments of ever shifting, readjusting, trying to keep from sinking deep.  But the transitions are worth it for moments like the one I overheard yesterday as I was out with C and ISH.

ISH (to the kid playing with toys next to him): See that girl over there .... she's my sister.

What time is it: 1039P

Where am I: my bed. I love that my bed is actually in New House! Though it was a weird feeling to be closer to the ceiling than my month and a half on the air mattress provided.

Last ate: LK's and mine nightly hot drink, but if you don't count apple cider as "eaten" then dinner I guess.

Listening to: The Colbert Report

Thoughts: I have tons to finish between now and this time tomorrow. I must go to bed. So unfortunately there's not time or energy to go into the thoughts I have rattling around in my head. Thoughts about the absurdity of OK weather (it was 8 last week and 80 today). Thoughts this blog post put in my mind about the beauty of floating.  Thoughts on Geo's questions about death and "the box" (I didn't tell him mommy has no plans for the box- this body's going to science baby!). Thoughts on me trying to get back into a regular routine following the move here, C's move in, and the two weeks of snow.  Reflections on ISH's thoughts from today on super heros v Star Wars and his plan on how to passively fight "bad guys." Thoughts on how the last week has gone as we've enacted mandatory 5:30 news watching.

So instead, I'll leave you with this thought- I am very certain that at least once today each one of my children tried to talk while I was in the bathroom.  I guess the secret of that being mom's only alone time was a lie.

RTT: Mercy

At least I think it's Thursday.  It's been almost 2 weeks that kids have more or less been out of school and church has been canceled due to Snowklahoma that I can't really remember what day it is now.

What time is it: 851A

Where am I: in the lovely light-filled dining room that is now complete with FURNITURE!

Listening to: Johnny Test on the TV in the living room and Isa's toenails tapping on the window sill as she nervously surveys the comings and goings of squirrels.

Thoughts: We're settling in here with our new family dynamics, though we thought that two weeks in we'd have more school under our belt (than ZERO days) and a bit more of a routine together. However, C reminded me the other day that everything happens for a reason. And I think she's right because some good learning moments for all have come from hours upon hours of forced togetherness.

I'm immensely grateful to all of you who have texted, emailed, and called to give words of encouragement.  I cannot express how much that has meant to me.

We watched the Blind Side last night, C, LK and myself. It was everything I could do to not boo hoo my way through that one. Especially now.

I drove past a church on Tuesday whose sign read:

Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy

And I smiled.  But it wasn't so much because I think that through my actions here I will be racking up some extra karma for the times when I'm unbearable.  And while I believe in some very real ways we will be shown mercy through some of what we're doing here, I think the main point of this is that because I have been shown mercy, I can't not be merciful.

C asked me once why we're doing this.  Why her, why now.

"Because I have God that has redeemed me, picked me up, and given me second chances," I said.

In other words, because I've been shown mercy.

RTT: Truly Random

What time is it: 936p

Where am I: at the new kitchen table at New House. HORRAY!

Listening to: LK clean up from dinner (I married a great man!)

Last ate: Hearty Beef Stew with warm rolls, but I'm contemplating trying out the pumpkin cream cheese muffins Flower brought over tonight.

Thoughts: I think it's been a month since I officially did a RTT. It's hard to describe the last month except the say that after the contract went bust, we still decided to mostly move and have been living with borrowed furniture and sleeping on air mattresses. But it's not as bad as it sounds. How great is it to be able to fold up your dining room table and chairs when not in use ... we really need to have a bowling contest in there before the real table comes. And as I've been saying, nothing shows how much a man loves his wife as when he inflates her bed for her in the evening. And I say her bed because yes, we are on separate twin air mattresses. Just call us Ozzie and Harriet.

I picked up a paint brush for the first time in a month today. Something about that dining room ceiling- it's the one thing that needs to be done before the large furniture arrives and the one thing I can't get motivated to finish. But T- 6 days til move in so I best get after it.

ISH and I had the best belly laugh tonight as I was trying to get him ready for bed. It was in no uncertain terms completely unproductive for bed-time readiness but it was equally in no uncertain terms one of those moments I wanted to freeze frame forever. Click.

LK is now off to play a game of "old men basketball." My parting words to him before such games: remember your insurance card. Yup, not as cool for sure.

Not As Cool As I Think I Am

Geo to me: Sometimes you say something to Daddy and you both laugh like Ha Ha Ha Ha. But what you said, it's really not funny.

Thanks buddy.

Wailing in the New Year

Here's to hoping the wailing that is coming from my youngest's bedroom is not indicative of the year to come.

Hoping the noise makers at your new year's party a less organic than mine.

Agatha Explained

In more than one post I've referenced Agatha the Gift-bearing Beagle and if you've spent much time around my children it's likely that they've asked you if you've ever heard of her.  So here it is, Agatha explained.

When LK and I moved to Memphis for his graduate work we bought a house.  Sure we calculated that 5 years in a house given the down payment we could make would make more financial sense than renting. And sure, we determined we'd be able to house overnight guests better in a house.  But really, I mean really really, we got a house so we could get a dog.

So, less than a week after moving in LK and I were at the pound- believing that we would show our heroic side by rescuing one of their caged pets.  We chose Keebler- a German Shepherd mix who was on death row.  We paid our money and went home with happy expectation that following a routine examine and spaying Keebler would be ours.  We went an even bought toys and a bandana for her to wear. We were excited.

Two days passed and back to the pound we went.

But at the pound the worker, who himself looked like the human version of the unwanted pets he watched over, told us that that dog had parvo and distemper and they'd dun put her down.

You could physically see my heartbreak.

Okay, Okay- we said, so what can we do now?  And we were told we could choose another dog.  So we did.  This time we chose a puppy- sure that a puppy would be healthy enough to survive the two day physical.

Two days had pass, and many phone calls to the pound to make sure the do was okay, and back to the pound we went.  But when we arrived, heartbreak again as we were told that dog had heartworms and they put him down.

No- no! LK told them- you killed our last dog.  This dog you just told us not more than an hour ago was ready to take home.

We couldn't bare the heartbreak of choosing another dog only to have the Memphis pound kill it, so the worker directed us to a "pet store."

We were not only first time home buyers, we were first time pet buyers so we didn't know about the whole puppy mill situation, we just knew that here was a place that would have a dog we could take home that day, and that was good enough for us.

LK told the work about his dream of having a dog that would catch a frisbee off leash at the park the way the dogs did at the beginning of The Flight of the Navigator.

The workers eyes lit up.  If you want a dog you can let off leash, a good dog that doesn't bark or dig and is so easy to train, a dog you can let off leash while you play at the park, a dog that hardly sheds ... you need a beagle.

Clearly "stupid" was tattooed across our forehead.

We paid more than one month's house payment and took the beagle home, naming her Agatha, Greek for a "good thing."

Within one week, after the dog had dug up and eaten flowers out of the backyard, after the dog spent all night barking and baying, after the dog had eaten part of the mask I'd bought in Venice, after the dog defiantly peed on our bed while looking at us, and after the dog had shed balls of hair in every corner of the house and scaled the fence to run away- I looked at LK and told him to take this hellion dog back to that woman and tell her that she LIED!!!!

Overtime Agatha and I would grow to love each other and in December, when LK and I celebrated our first Christmas away from family- I decided Agatha should buy us a gift.  She was well aware of the massive leaf situation we had with all the old trees in our yard and thoughtfully bought us a leaf blower.

Since that year Agatha has brought us presents each year and well before the boys knew that there was a man name Santa, they knew Agatha the Gift Bearing Beagle would bring them presents.

They've even asked if she'll be able to find us at the new house.  And LK assured them that just like when she would run away back in our Memphis days and find her way home, she would find the new house. And she did.

So here is to hoping Agatha brought you all your heart desired.

Genetics

As I'm replacing this and adding trying to make it gluten free for our first new house dinner guests, and I'm realizing I don't have this so I'll just add that .... I suddenly realize that ISH's Mayo Pickle Sandwich must be genetic.

Rewind to two weeks ago:
ISH: Can we make ZaFrank's tea sandwiches?
Me: What do you need to make it
ISH: Cucumbers
Me: I don't have cucumbers.
ISH: ... thinking.... thinking... But we have pickles.
Me: Hmmmm
ISH: And we need cream cheese.
Me: I don't have cream cheese.
ISH:  ... thinking.... thinking... But we have mayonnaise
Me: Ummmmmmm
ISH: And we need crustless white bread
Me: I don't have crustless white bread.
ISH: ... thinking.... thinking... But we have wheat rolls, right?

And so we made ZaFrank's cucumber, cream cheese, white bread tea sandwiches without the cucumbers, cream cheese or white bread.

Prayer Walk

We're less than 12 hours from the new carpet coming to New House and the over-the-carpet-painting-areas are all done (huge relief!!!).  So tonight I combined the prayer walk idea from Brazil with the draw on the floor idea my mom let us do back when their house was under construction.

We went around to the carpeted rooms with the boys and our Bible, read verses that were related to the activities we anticipate for the rooms, wrote the scripture reference on the floor, and then prayed over the room.

In the pantry area we read:

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who goes to him for safety.

and talked about how blessed we are for the food God gives us.

In my office we read:

Sometimes God gives a man wealth and possessions. He makes it possible for him to enjoy them. He helps him accept the life he has given him. He helps him to be happy in his work. All of those things are gifts from God.

and prayed for my work, my clients, and thanking God that I have a job I enjoy doing.

In the living room we read:

Don't forget to welcome strangers. By doing that, some people have welcomed angels without knowing it.

and talked about how we look forward to having Qgroups, friends, family, neighbors, and more over to our new home.

In the master bed we read:

Here is what Israel should say, suppose the Lord had not been on our side. Suppose the Lord had not been on our side when our enemies attacked us. Suppose he had not been on our side when their anger blazed out against us. Then they would have swallowed us alive. They would have been like a flood that drowned us. They would have swept over us like a rushing river. They would have washed us away like a swollen stream. Give praise to the Lord. He has not let our enemies chew us up. We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help comes from the Lord. He is the Maker of heaven and earth.

which has been a deeply personal selection for our marriage and prayed that like Old House, this place can be a sanctuary and a strengthening place for our relationship.

In the boys room we read:

The integrity of the upright guides them

and talked about integrity and prayed our prayer over the boys- that they would will grow to be men of integrity who know and honor God's word.

In the middle bedroom we read:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

and talked about the foster babies we look forward to having in our family and prayed for them and for us as we minister to them.

And in the hallway- we read:

He will be the firm foundation for their entire lives. He will give them all of the wisdom, knowledge and saving power they will ever need. Respect for the Lord is the key to that treasure

and talked about how just like this concrete is the foundation for our house, God is our foundation for our lives and then we signed and dated the concrete.

The cutest part in signing our names as that I went first and wrote "Mommy" and then my real name under it.  Geo went next and wrote his name in quotes as well "Geo" and then tried to write a description below- he was trying for brother I'm sure but ended up writing bother of ISH.  Priceless for sure.

RTT: The Goodest Word

What time is it: 841A

Where am I: Old House preparing to head to New House for crunch time work

Listening to: the washing machine churn, ISH play Lego Star Wars, and my stomach growl

Last ate: Per statement above- haven't gotten around to eating breakfast yet, so I guess... coffee.

Thoughts: ISH likes to know the rules not so much in the want-to-know-so-can-break-em sort of way but want-to-know-so-I-don't-do-it-wrong sort of a way (I've said it before and will say it again- I have very compliant children. Blessing!). When we give him a new rule, for roughly the next week we will have discussion with ISH as he comes to make sure his foot is not over the perverible line or more to the point to make sure the foot is not even near the line when he does _______ instead of doing what he knows he should not. Yes, I struggle to not be annoyed by the constant questioning of what is in bounds and is it in bounds enough.  I know he does it with a pure heart.  He's a good puritan child.

Our most recent "we don't do that in this family" conversation was when the 5 year old neighbor dropped the F-bomb. Yes, you saw that right FIVE-YEAR-OLD!!!! Since then ISH has been concerned about the word being in his mind and the possibility of accidentally saying it. It's been a good discussion of the junk-in-junk-out rule.

 Through it all I've been trying to help him by saying that God wants us to focus on whatever is good, noble and pure so if he can focus there, the bad will not be as strong in his mind.  Let's focus on the good words I've told him.

Today he came to me and wanted to know if that is a very bad word, what is the "goodest word."

After a moment of thinking I replied, "Well, I guess it's love.  After all, isn't that all we need."

The great Beatles reference was lost on him. But he's young yet and that means we still have time to install the importance of good music.