Exhausted, but Making Progress

Another day spent at our home-to-be. Friends came by and they were such a help and a blessing. The husband removed the broken disposal and put the sink back together. The wife helped remove pictures from frames and swept and mopped. We moved my in-laws old couch to the alley and the old freezer to the garage. We moved my m-i-l's old day bed into the living room. We sorted through and shredded lots of papers. And my sis-in-law took crates of linens and memorabilia and stuff like silver trays, bowls with silver rims, etc., to go through and decide who gets what. We are completely exhausted. Still, hubby keeps going. The "replacement janitor" didn't do the church cleaning this week, so we are trying to do a quick touch-up before church tomorrow.

I sold two items on Half.com so far. Not sure it's really worth the effort. I think my net income was $0.02 for one video. Oh well. At least it's out of my house. I fear much of it will end up in a dumpster. Wish I knew someone that was having a garage or yard sale and had a place to store my for sale items. I just don't have the desire to expend the effort or the space to stage it all.

Still, we're not getting much school done this summer. But the kids are having fun. They're playing in the sprinkler now with some friends. We went to a July 4th cookout, parade and fireworks on Thursday, and another cookout with "unofficial" fireworks able to be viewed from the back yard on Friday. They've gone to the zoo, a ball game, and a movie, as well as swimming several times, and we still have an amusement park trip planned.

Oh yes, and God is good. While cleaning today, we came across a $100 bill that was left in my m-i-l's checkbook. Actually, the old check copies had been put in the shred pile, but our friend's son, who was shredding discovered it when it dropped to the floor. What an unexpected blessing. It paid for the sink repairs and will help pay for the pantry tile, paint and shelving. Thank you, Lord.

Any handy people interested in building a new porch, spackling, laying flooring, painting, whatever . . . we'd love you help! ;-)

In Christ Alone,
Barb

on Service

[Christian faith] opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. A wife...should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works.

-- Martin Luther

Used Book Sale

I have just listed -- at my Half.com account -- a few books I've decided to "discard" instead of box up and move our new home, and we will be listing many more as we continue this process of packing. If you especially like cookbooks, please be patient as "chef hubby" will be weeding through his many, many cookbooks over the next several weeks, choosing which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of. So please check back often.

Whatever doesn't sell by August 23 will likely go in the nearest dumpster.

I hope you find something that might interest you.

In Christ Alone,
Barb

A missing corn snake

So my bro-in-law tells me yesterday that his pet corn snake, which he has been storing in our soon-to-be home, has escaped! I am not thrilled with this news.

In Christ Alone,
Barb

"Equipped to Love"

DH and I are reading this together for our home discipleship class. This really spoke to me:

"Continually pray for grace to receive all things and all people as expressions of God's love for you because God purposely brings them to you to provide opportunities for you to reject the spirit of idolatry and turn to Him for the power to love. To grumble about circumstances or refuse to give thanks to God for people and their weaknesses, regardless of how inconvenient or hurtful, declares our unbelief in Jesus' lordship and sets us in opposition to His sovereign Word."

Wow! There are some people I really have a hard time with. I am definitely not thankful for them when they make my life difficult. But I have the wrong attitude. I'm expecting them to meet my needs -- for smooth sailing, for a stress free life, for peace and quiet. I have turned from expecting God to meet my needs. When they bring chaos into my world, I need to turn to God to meet my needs in spite of circumstances and through it all, to grow me more into the likeness of His Son and use me as an instrument of His love to others.

I'm looking forward to continuing this book.

In Christ Alone,
Barb

"The Road to Unafraid"

If you have GUYS, this would be a great book for them. We are still working on it, but it's been enjoyable for my dh and my 14yods so far.

Captain Jeff Struecker is now an Army Chaplain, but he was in Mogadishu and many other places, and unlike most Army Rangers, admits to being afraid.

Capt. Struecker will be a guest speaker at this year's Father-Son Camp, which my guys are attending, so in advance of that, we're reading the book aloud.

I haven't decided if I want my 14yo to see the movie ("Black Hawk Down"), as it is quite graphic. But the book is a good read.

In Christ Alone,

Barb

The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through Black Hawk Down and Beyond By Captain Jeff Struecker with Dean Merrill / Thomas Nelson Jeff Struecker, eventual winner of the Army's Best Ranger competition, was one of the elite U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 as part of a U.N. peacekeeping operation. Their mission: to break the grip of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in order to quell the civil war and famine that was ravaging the country. Struecker and his fellow Rangers, plus others, fought side by side against overwhelming odds. For eighteen harrowing hours, some of the soldiers remained trapped and wounded in the most hostile district of Mogadishu. A rescue convoy, headed by Struecker, was mounted to retrieve them. He led the convoy back into the hell of battle not once, but twice, determined to rescue downed soldiers, all the while expecting to die himself. In this riveting book, Struecker recounts the stories of his life as a top Ranger, from the frontlines of every U.S. initiative since Panama-moments where God met him and delivered peace in the midst of certain death. He also recounts his journey of becoming a full-time chaplain so he could teach his fellow Rangers how to have the "peace that passes all understanding."

"Passionate Housewives Desperate for God"

Wow! I am truly enjoying this book. I'd love to quote whole portions, but...so let me paraphrase a couple of the points that have really spoken to me:

• I can experience God's presence in my everyday tasks, even changing that diaper.
• My service to my family -- wiping that face, folding those clothes, washing those dishes -- IS my service to God.
• It's not about what I do, but about what God does through me and in spite of my failures.
• My goal is to die to self that Christ may be glorified.

I didn't need to be convinced that what I am doing is of eternal value, but I did need to be reminded that God is glorified even in what I might consider the mundane, in that "dying to self" and in the serving. After all, Christ came to serve. I'm reminded that I have a long way to go before I have developed the heart of Christ. I grow weary of laundry and weary of dishes and weary of cleaning. Yet it is in joyfully performing these acts of service for my family that God will be glorified. And yes, it is even in my failure that He will be glorified.

It is easy to buy into that "success" mentality -- that if I keep a clean house, run everything on a schedule, have well-spoken and well-behaved and well-read children who are above-average academically (and not all are!) -- that I have succeeded as a stay-at-home, homeschool mom. I need to be reminded that, while I may be obedient in some areas, it is God who causes the growth, the success as some would call it. I need to check that pride. And in those areas where I am not obedient (i.e., still a work-in-progress), in need to remember that God can work in spite of my failures, and that it doesn't all depend on me. There is a freedom in realizing that I am not the "make it or break it" factor here! Wow! If I will just remember that, then the burden truly is light and the yoke is easy.

I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and will perhaps comment more as I go through it, but I highly recommend this book.

In Christ Alone,

Barb

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God: Fresh Vision for the Hopeful Homemaker By Jennie Chancey & Stacy McDonald / Vision Forum Filled with encouragement and words of wisdom, Passionate Housewives is written for women who aspire to live in obedience to Christ, but struggle to reconcile society's definition of womanhood with God's Word. Learn why the "desperate housewife" is a myth and discover why women should embrace their god-given role as a homemaker and helpmeet. Stacy McDonald and Jennie Chancey show how you can find true contentment in God's order and discover overwhelming joy by dying to self. 206 pages, paperback.