Moments

Well…sickness has again come to the Buttram house.  We don’t seem to be sick very often…which is a blessing.  It also strikes me odd that we ALL don’t get sick.  You would think with a house of 8 people…when one gets sick, we all do.  BUT that just doesn’t happen…usually only a couple of us get the same thing…another blessing to be sure.

Jessica woke up in the middle of the night just to tell me that she is really sick.  I never doubt Jessica’s mid-night revelations…they are usually true.  She woke up once again this morning (she was sleeping late…not a good sign in my house), she sat up in bed and preceded to tell me again she was very sick, needed a stool beside her bed with a cup of tea, and the cup needed a lid and a straw.  She laid back down and fell asleep.  Such clarity of thought!  I am convinced Jessica could supervise almost anything under any stress…it’s a gift.  I wonder if they could use a 4-year old as a platoon leader in battle?

Jessica finally awoke at 8:30am to vomit.  No fever.  She handles it all in stride.  She went to sleep for another half hour before repeating the event.  Then she told me she needed me to fix her a bed on the couch so she could watch Playhouse Disney.  She has vomited on schedule every half hour.  I think she makes her body wait for  commercial breaks.  She hasn’t eaten anything yet and still has no fever.  She really is a easy sick person to take care of.

Joshua on the other hand gets the sick person award in our house.  He actually has medaled in quite a few categories:  Most likely to vomit when not sick.  Most likely to gag at any sight, smell, or thought.  Most likely to take all day to vomit (after all he doesn’t want to throw up.  This logic always seems to bother me…who WANTS to throw up?).  Most likely to not make it to the bathroom to vomit (After all he is trying really hard not to throw up because he doesn’t want to).  I would say he is most likely to be sick the longest, but I think I get that award.  We are blessed that Josh doesn’t really get sick often.

So I guess some sort of stomach virus has made it into our house.  Who will get it next?  You will have to check back later to find out.

The table beside my bed is filled with books I have just read, I am reading, and I want to read.  Some are Bible studies like “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World” by Joanna Weaver.  Other books are for training such as “Children’s Ministry Leadership:  The You-Can-Do-It Guide” by Jim Wideman.  I love to read.

I just finished a book that I cannot help but tell you about.  It’s titled “The Unexpected Journey: Converstaions With People Who Turned From Other Beliefs to Jesus”  by Thom S. Rainer.  Donald passed this book on to me after he read it for a seminary class.  It contains interviews with people from various different belief systems that came to a relationship with Jesus.  They are amazing testimonies that God is able to change the “unchangeable”…those we would easily give up on. 

This little book offers great insight into how to reach people of all different faiths with the message of salvation.  One passage that stood out to me…

Nine interviews had taken place.  Nellie Jo and I agreed that two powerful truths has emerged.  First, the power of Christian love was a story line in most of our interviews.  In one way or another, the theme of love was sounded with clarity.

Second, my wife and I had become convicted that we should never assume that any person is too difficult to reach…We were discovering that spiritual hunger for truth was persuasive, even in the lives of people who seemed, on the surface, to have no interest in spiritual matters.  (The Unexpected Journey, p. 154)

This book also shows how the acts of unloving Christians hindered earlier searches for truth in many of these people’s lives.  It is quite convicting. 

Give it a read.  I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

I am part of the Ladies Bible Study and we are reading “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World”.  Sherry encouraged each of us to identify one area of our Christian walk that we need to work on and right it in the cover of our book.  Then at the end of the study, we will look at it again and see what God has done in that area of our lives during our study.

Immediately the area I thought of was the area of prayer.  I’ve been reading “Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions” by George Barna (excellent book) and I was convicted that I am not more intentional in my prayers.  Now I pray.  If someone ask me to pray for them, I do it right away.  If I feel a burden for someone, I will pray for them.  I tend to carry on-going conversations with God off and on throughout the day.  BUT do I intentionally pray for each child in our church by name?  Do I lift up each family in our church in prayer?  No.  I don’t have a system in place that helps make sure I am lifting up family and friends in prayer on a regular basis.

BUT when I think about long sessions of prayer (I had a friend who was a mother of 6 boys and she would pray an hour each day before her kids woke up), it feels more like a burden than a pleasure to me.   Several years ago, we went through “Power of a Praying Parent” in our study and trying to pray through every aspect of our child’s life felt more like a burden and a guilt trip then a loving, freeing experience with God.  I know people who have powerful prayer lives and it brings them such joy and satisfaction and I think…what’s wrong with me?

As I was pondering these things on the way home last night, a verse from our study came to mind.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:38-30

Now I’m a server.  My spiritual gift is the gift of service.  I love to serve others.  Over the years I cannot tell you the number of times people have said to me “You do too much.  You need to cut back on the areas you serve in”  or “If Kristie is doing all of this, then I need to do more too.”  I have tried to tell people that I wouldn’t be happy doing less.  I don’t serve because I am trying to earn something or because I feel guilty.  I serve because it is my spiritual gift and using my gift brings me joy, satisfaction, and a sense of purpose. 

“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  I feel like when I serve, I am picking up the yoke Jesus has given me instead of the one I try to create for myself.  It seems like too much work to others around me, but to me it is not a burden at all.  I have found the place Jesus wants me to be and that has made all the difference.

So intercessory prayer may be like that.  For some it is a spiritual gift God has given them and it brings them a joy and satisfaction that I could not experience if I tried to do what they were doing.  That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t pray just as it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t serve.  I do believe I need to strengthen my prayer life and focus on it.  God wants us to pray and there is power in prayer.  What should my prayer life look like? 

As I shared all this with my husband, his immediate response was “You need to read Philip Yancey’s book Prayer:  Does It Make Any Difference?“  Donald said the book covers all those questions I have.  So I am starting to read it and looking forward to finding out what perspective Yancey has on the discipline of prayer. 

Pray for me as I journey to discover what God wants from my personal prayer life.

My friend, Deanna, introduced me to a new CD a few weeks ago.  It’s called “Glory Revealed” by various artist (Mac Powell, Steven Curtis Chapman, David Crowder, Michael W Smith, Mark Hall, and more).  The songs are all Scripture set to folksy music.  It’s very relaxing and uplifting. 

I’ve been playing it in my kitchen CD player while I go about my day.  I was going to recommend my favorite, but when I think of them, I like them all.

You can check out Glory Revealed for yourself.  Let me know if you like it.

There is a sign above my front door that reads “Welcome to the Zoo”…that is often an acurate description of our household.  Except for the constant mess, I love it that way!

Joshua had his 12th birthday a week ago.  After he opened his presents, he had a small rectangular box one of his gifts came in.  Like all good 12 year old boys, he knew just what to do with it…he handed it to Jessica (our 4 year old) and said, “Here’s a coffin for your Barbie”  (only 12 year old boys think of great uses for boxes like that).  Jessica was thrilled to have the box so she quickly said “Thank you.”  Then with out missing a beat, she opened the box and “coughed” in it.  I don’t think she quite understood the coffin remark, so she just made it fit what she thought it meant.  We all cried, we laughed so hard.  Jessica thought this was great, so she spent the rest of the night “coughing” in her box.

Speaking of Jessica, she has officially changed her last name.  She told me that she should now be called Jessica Teenager.  For several days now, if you address her as Jessica she corrects you and says, “You mean Jessica Teenager.”  I’m not quite ready for Jessica Teenager yet…or maybe ever.

We bought a Keurig machine and we LOVE it.  We bought the basic B40 model since I didn’t want to spend an extra $30 on a digital display.  It’s so easy to use and NO mess.  We do find ourselves making more coffee though.

Donald bought the kids ROCK BAND for PS2 last night.  We finally broke down and got it…our kids were so thrilled UNTIL they tried to play it.  Suddenly our PS2 isn’t reading discs anymore.  It was fine when the kids used it earlier that day, but now it’s broken.  Donald and the kids spent several hours trying to fix it, but it’s still broken.  My poor kids, they were so disappointed.

Donald takes his test for Master Sgt. today.  He’s been studying so hard.  Yesterday he had the day off work to study one last day.  After several hours, he decided he just needed to relax.  He and I went out for a nice quiet Chinese dinner.  After dinner, we both opened our fortune cookies.  Donald’s fortune read “You are next in line for promotion at your firm.”  We almost died…how funny is that!  We had a good laugh.

Emily turned 17!  I can’t believe my daughter is seventeen.  She had a friend over.  They went ice skating and to the Marine Corps Museum.  We had Chinese take-out for dinner.  She got texting back on her cell phone…she’s happy about that.  I think she had a fun day.

Never a dull moment at our house.  I’m so glad that along with all the daily drudge (housework, cooking, planning, etc) that my husband and my kids help me laugh at least once every day.  What a joy!

Daniel has been going to “big” church since last September.   It has been fun to watch him adjust to sitting through service.  

His initial impression was that it was boring, unless they showed a video.  Now I’ve been in boring churches and our church does not fit that description at all, but if you can’t read the words to sing the songs or follow the notes, then I could see how it might be boring to just try and sit still for that long.

Then when Daniel got use to the routine of being in church, he moved into his interactive stage.  If Pastor Steve asked a question, Daniel wanted to give his answer out loud, right then.  Daniel also thought it was okay to add comments (out loud, of course) as Pastor Steve would preach.  This was a fun stage for me…NOT!

Then two weeks ago, he made a break through and started “taking notes” on his pad of paper.  It was the story of creation and Daniel wrote on one piece of paper “God did it.”  He heard Pastor Steve say those words and he knew how to spell them, so he wrote them down.  Then he flipped to the next page and wrote “I am free to run.”  That was a line from the song we sang earlier.  I was so excited, because he WAS actually listening to what was going on.

 This past Sunday he didn’t take notes,but he got tickled at the title “The Blame Game”.  We’ve been working on long vowel sounds with a silent e and he was so excited he could read those words.  He thought it was the funniest title and he couldn’t stop giggling about it.

Church with Daniel is an adventure for sure, but it is fun to watch him learn about what is going on and start participating.  By the time he has this all down, Jessica will be joining “big” church and we will start all over again.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, M.D. is a small, but powerful little tale about two mice and two little men who find themselves searching for cheese in a maze.  When their cheese is moved, how do each of them deal with the change? 

Donald and I discover the book over a year ago and love it.  We bought it and so with all the coming change in my life (see last two posts) I decided it was a good time to pick it up and read it again.  It’s only 93 pages with large print, so it’s a easy nap time read.

The great thing about this book is that it applies to so many areas of my life.  All of us go through change…it is inevitable, but we don’t always deal with it well.  If we can put change into perspective and learn to handle it correctly, we would save ourselves a lot of stress and wasted time.

In my last post, I shared with you the coming changes to our household.  So change is coming, what’s next?  Planning.   Knowing how much there will be to decide…curriculum to buy, schedules to make out, lessons to create…planning early will be a key to having a good year.

I’ve been reading Isaiah in the Message.  (Yes, I am still reading the Message.  I have missed countless days in my pursuit, but I will not give up!)  In Isaiah 22, it is speaking of a coming attack on Jerusalem.  The city is seen making plans to fortify themselves the best they can.

You assessed your defenses that Day, inspected your arsenal of weapons in the Forest Armory. You found the weak places in the city walls that needed repair. You secured the water supply at the Lower Pool. You took an inventory of the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some to get bricks to fortify the city wall. You built a large cistern to ensure plenty of water. 

These all were good and logical plans.  They assessed what they had, strengthened weak areas, and secured necessities.  But God was not pleased.  Why?  The answer is found in the next verse…

You looked and looked and looked, but you never looked to him who gave you this city, never once consulted the One who has long had plans for this city.

Their fault…they didn’t turned to God for help.  They didn’t consult the One with the master plan.  They relied on what seemed best without seeking God first. 

Don’t you love God’s timing?  Yes, I have a lot of planning to do, but there is a lesson here is for me.   I need to go to God first and make sure I consult Him each step of the way.  I will not make the same mistake Judah made because I know the One with the master plan and I will look to Him first. 

 Just when you think you have everything figured out, that’s when it happens…things change. 

It seems now that we are going to bring our boys (Joshua and IV) back home to homeschool again next year.  I started homeschooling when Emily was in 2nd grade and she homeschooled until 9th grade.  She spent one year in a private Christian school and has been in public school ever since.  IV was homeschooled until 8th grade when he entered the public school system.  Joshua was homeschooled until this year when he entered 6th grade at Graham Park Middle.

This year has been starting all over again for me.  Emily, IV, and Joshua all in public school, I just had Daniel in kindergarten for homeschooling.  Jessica and Chloe are both doing some preschool curriculum. 

Last week Donald asked me what I thought about bringing both the boys back to homeschooling next year.  As soon as he said it out loud…we both kinda new this was what we were suppose to do.  They’ve done well in public school, but they get frustrated about the amount of “fluff” time in each school day.  They’ve had both good and bad teachers.  There are things they like about public school, but overall there’s more they miss about homeschooling than what they like at public school.

But when I think about what my responsibilities will be next year, it is a bit overwhelming…

Emily - a senior in public school…college applications, financial aid deadlines, senior pictures, prom, graduation. 

IV - homeschooling 10th grade…Algebra II (I didn’t do so well in Algebra II in high school, but that was because I didn’t do my homework and I was always turned around talking to the cute guy behind me.  Wonder who that could be?  :-)), English papers, Biology, etc..

Joshua - homeschooling 7th grade.

Daniel - homeschooling 1st grade.

Jessica - homeschooling kindergarten and continuing speech therapy.

Chloe - most likely will be tagging along learning everything Jessica does.

Then I just have my part-time job with the church and my Sunday school class to teach.  It can all be overwhelming to think about.  But I can already start counting my blessings…

Emily is very organized with her school work, and her senior year should be pretty easy academically.  IV will be thrilled to be back homeschooling and I think both he and Joshua will be ready now that they know the grass is not greener on the other side.  We will be in a better financial state by the fall so we can take advantage of more sports and programs for the kids.  Many hands make light work!  IV, Josh, and I will make a good team and help each other out.  I have a close friend who has kids similar ages and  homeschools them , so I won’t be alone and will have support.  I already have the homeschooling experience so it’s not like I am starting from scratch. 

It’s going to take a lot of organizing and planning, but change is good.

This morning I was telling Daniel it was time to start his school work.  Daniel would rather spend time on the computer than do school work, so he had an idea.  He told me he would just do his schoolwork online instead.  I told him his school work wasn’t online…it was sitting on the kitchen table and we needed to get started.  Daniel asked me to just try www.sixyearoldschoolonthecomputer.com  I tried it just to show him it wasn’t there.  In Daniel’s world, everything is at www.com you just have to type it in.

It’s amazing how different the world is than when I was a kid.  My kids are use to pausing live TV and watching their favorite kids shows OnDemand.  When my kids are playing and one of them needs to get something or has to go to the bathroom…they yell “pause” and everyone stops playing till they return.  They “pause” their real-life play just like TV and movies. 

While listening to Christmas music on the radio station, Jessica’s favorite singers came on…Alvin and the Chipmunks…she thinks they are a riot!  But when the song ended, she was very frustrated that I wouldn’t “go back” to that song again.  She didn’t understand the concept of the radio.  In her 4 year old world, all music can be skipped ahead or jumped back to the song you want to listen to.

For my little ones…all cameras let you see the picture as soon as you take it, watching videos made on your cell phone is the norm, and everything is accessible through www.com.  They don’t understand planning your week around the one showing of Charlie Brown Christmas special each year.  They don’t know what it is like to wait a week or more to see if your photos turned out.  They have no concept of dialing a rotary phone and how that might work.  We live in a instant world!  It makes me feel old, but it hasn’t really been that many years.  It truly makes me wonder what the world will be like 10 years from now.