Thoughts on Halloween

OK call me the scrooge of October. I don’t scrounge for the latest and cutest costume. The exterior of my home does not resemble a graveyard. I did not pick up our pumpkins until today, Halloween. Well, that I really should have done weeks ago, but I just didn’t. Somehow, despite all that, I truly do not feel that my kids feel deprived.

We did make a special dinner, calzones. Our new bread maker worked its magic this afternoon preparing two batches of dough, and we worked together to make our meal which turned out delicious, I must say.

Our small pumpkins look adorable (all seven of them) sitting on the family room mantle. My little one had a blast designing her happy faced, crooked smile pumpkin and helping her daddy to cut it out. My little man went at it by himself and was proud of the results. Princess went to work with a sharpie and made the most adorable faces for our babies’ pumpkins as well as her own. I am not so sure where Angel was hiding. During all this, my sweetie found “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on Hulu. You know, the 1966 classic.

Throughout the evening, we entertained goblins and ghosts, pirates and princesses at the front door. Some were a tad scary, so scary that my babies would not cross the line into the hallway. At the sight of one monster, my little girl jumped on the table into Princess’s arms. It took awhile to convince them that the scary monsters had gone away.

We enjoy sharing candy with kids from the neighborhood. We just don’t take the so called holiday outside our home. It isn’t for any Biblical conviction. Our family has made a decision to not take part wholly in what our culture is building to be a holiday on par with Christmas. We do not make a big deal of it with our kids. The fact that we didn’t get our candy until yesterday and our pumpkins until today says we really do not put a high priority on Halloween.

What we do like to do is spend time together with our kids. I love to be creative with them. I enjoy their smiles, their pride in their work, and their attitude of sharing with others. It is not that our kids do not like to dress up. On the contrary. Princess had our little girl in a tutu and our little boy in a borrowed soccer uniform complete with shin guards and over-sized cleats. It did not matter to him that he had to keep pulling up his too big shorts. Our little baby sported a pumpkin bib as well. Not that he really cared. He spent most of the time asleep. My little one enjoyed floating around in her own world dressed as a lady bug. My little man outdid them all. He said he wanted to dress up for Halloween so he donned dress pants, a belt, a dress shirt with tie, and snazzy new dress shoes. Way to go!

The porch light is off. The candy bucket is sufficiently filled to satisfy our family’s sweet tooth for awhile. The babies are in bed hopefully dreaming sweet dreams, not ones with scary monsters.

I kind of like enjoying today with my kids without getting too overwhelmed with what culture dictates as Halloween.

Gratitude

"Let the peace of God rule in your heart." God's Word pierces through the chaos of life and the questions of uncertainty.

Baseball is not my forte. I watch because my family watches. I often hear comments about the umps and their calls, how they make the worst calls, how their strike zone is inconsistent. Yet, without these umps, the game would be chaos. Umpires hold a level of authority whether you like their calls or not.

God's peace needs to be the umpire that rules in my heart, keeping in check the two opposing voices sitting on my shoulders. Do I choose right, speak truth, worry unnecessarily, live peacefully? I need His peace to rule – no complaining, no arguing. Choosing gratitude is choosing peace. Being thankful means letting God make the calls.

I am thankful –

For God's forgiveness that makes forgiving possible

For second opinions even if it means more testing

For early Christmas presents

For a bread machine that allows me to bless my family with fresh bread

For my precious mom who reads between the lines of my emotions and comes to do my laundry

For baby smiles, toddler hugs, and big kid chats

For time to read Grace for the Good Girl

For freedom to teach with flexibility

For prayer time during midnight feedings

 

 

Glimpses of Today

• Early morning feedings
• Late morning shower
• Mountains of laundry moved from piles in my bedroom to piles in the laundry room to piles on the couch to most likely piles in the bedroom again
• Three loads of dishes
• One insane trip to the grocery store with three babies in tow
• Pizza lunch date with my sweetie
• Extended drive for my toddler boy in order to get him to sleep
• Trip to the lab to drop off a “specimen” from my toddler girl
• Deep conversations with my big girls in response to unwise decisions involving students in their classes
• Watching my baby stare in awe as he finds his hands for the first time
• Hanging with my family as they watch game two of the World Series
• Sharing excitement with my Angel as she got her SAT scores back which may make her eligible for a scholarship
• Chatted with my brother for a few minutes just to catch up Spent time on school work with the kids
• Changed sheets on three beds
• Climbed into bed with a good book

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Often schooling fits in between driving, dishes, and diapers. My perfect world would leave abundant time for each child for me to dive into every subject with gusto and passion as well as read and cuddle with my babies. My perfect world does not exist. So today, I am grateful for a few quiet moments with my little man. We tackled two themes in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, his literature book for this month: injustice and growing up.

Sixth grade boys find many things to keep them busy. Schoolwork, though, is not a high priority. Keeping my little man involved in a book requires a near intervention of sorts. He has complained for weeks that this book was “boring” so I approached our discussion with a lower expectation than I should have. He pleasantly surprised me. Somehow, he got it. He understood how racial prejudice affected everyone. He read between the lines and saw the injustices and the hurt. He lamented that no person should have to grow up that quickly worrying about their next meal or how they were to protect themselves from angry bullies. Roll of Thunder was not a feel good book, but it certainly was a good book for my little man to read. Listening to his heart today made my day worth any hassle.

Lord, impress on my little man’s heart even more your love for all of us. Give him boldness to fight against any prejudice. Show him how to love and care for others. Thank you helping us to grow up in your perfect time.

Moments Captured

This is a year of both firsts and lasts. I intend to enjoy them both. Cuddling with my little boy while chatting with Angel is a dichotomy blended with a blessing. I would have never imagined that I would be mothering seven children at once, yet here we are. Angel, though, is heading off to college within the year. We find ourselves reminiscing while at the same time anticipating the exciting things awaiting her.

Last weekend Angel had her senior pictures taken. She is an outdoors, casual, no-frills kind of girl. I felt a studio session would not fit her well, so I asked a friend from church to utilize her talent and her DSLR to capture this special time in an outdoors photo session. I followed, smiling, sighing, pushing a stroller as I watched my beautiful daughter pose in her own casual way.

On that gorgeous day in October, I stopped and captured time in a picture. Angel’s life will change. She will meet new people, stretch her brain, and attempt new things. Forever, though, one thing will never change. She will always be my beautiful, firstborn daughter.

Name Them One by One

My little man blessed my heart tonight as he played in a trumpet trio with two other men from our church. They played effortlessly, but with conviction. As much as I enjoy a brass ensemble, I enjoyed the meaning of the song even more. “Count your Blessings,” a traditional hymn, overflows with truth. As the song states, when you begin naming the blessings one by one, you cannot help seeing what God has done. I smiled proudly as my little man stood confidently playing what he had practiced for weeks. I pondered in my heart the truth of the words.

Naming takes thought. When I meet someone new, I have to work hard to remember her name. It frustrates me when I forget. A name gives significance. We named our own children with purpose. I often use their full name, and not only when they are in trouble. Naming each of my children aloud reminds me of how blessed I am as a mother. Naming implies assigning value: not only implicit value but also expressed value.

As I begin to name my blessings, I assign value and significance to what God has done. Naming blessings allows others to peek into my life and either acknowledge or deny God’s presence and activity. We discuss names in our home frequently now, as we desire to adopt three children. Their names will be a constant reminder to us all of how God works in every detail of our lives.

Many days find me naming all the things that annoy me or make me angry. I can name all the reasons why I should not go out for a walk, call a friend, or put the laundry aside to sit and play with a child. When I start naming what I appreciate in my husband or in my children, my attitude changes. When I name all the little things in God’s world that amaze me, my kids get excited. Audibly naming what God has done blesses my heart.

Thank you, Little Man, for blessing my heart tonight.