Are you ever looking for something new and adventurous? I know that sometimes it feels like we get stuck doing the same things, over and over. Well, a few years back a dear friend of mine told me about a tradition that she did when her children were little, and now has continued with her young grandchildren. It sounded like such fun and a wonderful way to make memories that we have started having "Surprise Day" at our home as well. It is fun and easy, let me explain.
"Surprise Day" is a day where you take your family on an adventure without them knowing the details. It can be something simple like making a special craft, fun meal and movie night at home (we have done this when the activity we planned was outside and the weather did not cooperate). Or, as extravagant has a weekend in a special cabin with friends. The idea is to make memories and grow as a family. The surprise part just adds to the adventure.
Let's pretend today really is "Surprise Day" at our home. I have typed up a half sheet of paper with things the children need to know and posted them in different places in our home. The list tells them what they need to pack (extra clothes, water bottle, snack, etc), what they need to wear (swimsuit, long pants, tennis shoes, etc), and what is expected of them before we leave (get one chore done, be in the car by 9am, etc). Today's list says: "You need to wear clothes that can get wet or dirty; You need shoes that can get wet or dirty; You need to pack a towel; You need to bring a water bottle; You need a hat and/or sunglasses; You need to get at least one chore done; You need to be in the car at 10:45am." (This only works because we have a buddy system where the big buddy needs to help the little buddy read and pack all their items; I also look out for the little guys but I have my own list to take care of.)
While the children are taking care of the items on their list, I usually have a list of my own. I typically pack the food for lunch and/or dinner, make sure we have tickets and directions (if needed), have the camera and/or video camera and the most important item on my list is not giving hints. :-) Our children are sneaky and ask very tricky questions to try and find out where we are going. I have to work very hard to keep our surprise a surprise.
We try to have one "Surprise Day" a month. It is getting harder as the children grow older because they are adding things like work and sports practices to the family schedule. So, although I desire for the adventure to be a surprise, I do write "Surprise Day" on the calendar so that everyone has advanced notice and can adjust their schedules accordingly. Warning: the earlier you put it on the calendar the longer you have to avoid the tricky questions.
I honestly love "Surprise Day." It has given us an opportunity to try new things, to build controlled situations where we need to depend on each other and has pushed us past our comfort levels. It has also given us a fun way to bring our faith and love for Christ into focus.
For example, our last "Surprise Day" was a canoeing adventure. We were able to get several canoes from a local shop and started paddling down the river. This excursion was suppose to take us 2.5 hours. Well, the wind was very strong and kept blowing us up stream. It took us nearly 2.5 hours to go only half way. There were many times when we wanted to give up, but what are you suppose to do in the middle of a river? You can't just get out and walk away. We all needed to work together and encourage each other to reach the landing half way through. Although it was extremely hard, afterwards we were able to talk to the children about the hard times that they may face in school, in their marriages, in their jobs and in their futures. Sometimes, God is calling us to keep paddling against the wind, striving for the finish line and not desiring for us to give up.......even when it seems too hard to continue. I know that this is a day are children will not soon forget. :-)
If you are looking for a way to build fun and lasting memories with your children, grandchildren and/or family, I highly recommend adopting "Surprise Day." The adventures are waiting right around the corner!
**A little tip: I know that many Surprise Day ideas are going to cost a good deal of money. I look for when "free" days are offered at places like museums and zoos. I also check for discount days at fairs, parks, camps and other adventures. I like to use coupon sites that offer discounts on adventures as well (Groupon and Living Social are two examples). I have found that even with a family our size, we can have surprise days that don't break the bank. It will take some time, but it will be well worth it! Enjoy the adventure and the amazing family God has given you!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
The Fly In The Car
A few months ago some of us were getting in our small car to run an errand. When we got into the car we noticed that two flies had somehow gotten inside. We opened all four doors in hopes that they would go on their way and leave our car. One fly seemed to get the hint and left the car almost immediately. The other fly was a great deal more stubborn. It insisted on trying to fly through the front windshield. It beat its head against the glass repeatedly, I had to use my hand and help direct it out the open door.
Now normal people will have an incident like this and just move on with their day. Not me, I of course need to take this simple situation and see a God lesson in it. Humor me for a minute.
Aren't there times when we are all like the second fly? I know I can look back and see many times in my life where the second fly and I have lots in common. God has opened a door for me, but instead of going through the open door I insist on staying on my current path and beat my head against the glass. When that happens, I wonder if God looks at me the way I looked at the fly? "Over here, silly, there is lots of room for you to soar over here."
What about our children? Are there times when they feel like they are just beating their heads against the glass? Are we praying for guidance to help direct them through the open door that God has provided? Are we giving them opportunities to discover the path God has for them on their own, or our we just pushing them down the path we like the most? Boy, these are all tough questions!
When I look at our children, they are all so different. They have different talents, different gifts, different interests and different passions. It is hard to imagine where God might be leading them, or what situation God is going to use to direct them.
Currently, our oldest daughter is looking at colleges and universities. She has been looking at career choices and narrowing the list of jobs she might like and might not like. It is an overwhelming task at times, there are more universities than either of us ever imagined, and even more career choices. These are some big decisions we are asking a young person to make. It is certainly important for them to be looking to God for guidance.
Our daughter is a good athlete. Playing ball is one of her passions and one thing she is considering when looking at schools. So, a few months ago when she tore her meniscus her world seemed to be turned upside down. Typically a torn meniscus means surgery and sitting out her sport for four to six months, sometimes longer. There is not a time of year when she could sit for even four months and not miss either her high school season or her club season. So, we were anxiously waiting for the test results and the doctor's recommendations.
When we went to the doctor to discuss the test results and our options, we had already spent many days in prayer and had several discussion about what we thought some of our choices might be. However, we were surprised by his evaluation. She had only a partial tear of her meniscus and the tear happened to be located in the back of her knee. By God's great design, this area of the knee is the only area of the knee where the meniscus receives enough blood flow that it could possibly heal itself. Yes, heal itself, without surgery. He was however, very cautious, using the words "possibly" and "maybe" and "closely monitor. "
She was put on some detailed restrictions and enrolled in physical therapy. We went back to the doctor after 2 weeks, than 4 more weeks, than 6 more weeks, each time the restrictions became lighter, she was getting stronger, working harder and was able to start playing ball with a brace after only being off for a very short time. By the 6 week visit she was told that everything looked great and she had worked hard enough to earn full clearance to play. Praise God!
Now you might be wondering what this has to do with the fly? Well, although I would not wish a torn meniscus on anyone, this experience has given our daughter clear direction to where God is calling her and is excited about the future. God used a potentially horrible and scary situation to guide her through the open door that He had provided. She no longer needed to "beat her head" against the glass trying to create her own path. It is a beautiful thing.
Let me encourage you to step back and take a look at your circumstances. Is there a place in your life or in your children's lives where you are try to "go through the glass in the window" instead of "flying out through the open door?" Are there situations that seem to be devastating or extremely difficult right now that God could be using to direct your path? The scriptures are filled with people who were facing extremely hard times and God used them for His glory....Joseph, Daniel, Moses, Mary, the Maccabees, Matthew and on and on.
To be a competitive athlete and told that you have torn your meniscus can truly be devastating. However, when we remain faithful and trust God to lead us through our difficult circumstances we may see the great plans that He has and how He can take seemingly bad times and turn them into good. May God bless you and give you strength to see His hand guiding you through, especially in the hard times!
Now normal people will have an incident like this and just move on with their day. Not me, I of course need to take this simple situation and see a God lesson in it. Humor me for a minute.
Aren't there times when we are all like the second fly? I know I can look back and see many times in my life where the second fly and I have lots in common. God has opened a door for me, but instead of going through the open door I insist on staying on my current path and beat my head against the glass. When that happens, I wonder if God looks at me the way I looked at the fly? "Over here, silly, there is lots of room for you to soar over here."
What about our children? Are there times when they feel like they are just beating their heads against the glass? Are we praying for guidance to help direct them through the open door that God has provided? Are we giving them opportunities to discover the path God has for them on their own, or our we just pushing them down the path we like the most? Boy, these are all tough questions!
When I look at our children, they are all so different. They have different talents, different gifts, different interests and different passions. It is hard to imagine where God might be leading them, or what situation God is going to use to direct them.
Currently, our oldest daughter is looking at colleges and universities. She has been looking at career choices and narrowing the list of jobs she might like and might not like. It is an overwhelming task at times, there are more universities than either of us ever imagined, and even more career choices. These are some big decisions we are asking a young person to make. It is certainly important for them to be looking to God for guidance.
Our daughter is a good athlete. Playing ball is one of her passions and one thing she is considering when looking at schools. So, a few months ago when she tore her meniscus her world seemed to be turned upside down. Typically a torn meniscus means surgery and sitting out her sport for four to six months, sometimes longer. There is not a time of year when she could sit for even four months and not miss either her high school season or her club season. So, we were anxiously waiting for the test results and the doctor's recommendations.
When we went to the doctor to discuss the test results and our options, we had already spent many days in prayer and had several discussion about what we thought some of our choices might be. However, we were surprised by his evaluation. She had only a partial tear of her meniscus and the tear happened to be located in the back of her knee. By God's great design, this area of the knee is the only area of the knee where the meniscus receives enough blood flow that it could possibly heal itself. Yes, heal itself, without surgery. He was however, very cautious, using the words "possibly" and "maybe" and "closely monitor. "
She was put on some detailed restrictions and enrolled in physical therapy. We went back to the doctor after 2 weeks, than 4 more weeks, than 6 more weeks, each time the restrictions became lighter, she was getting stronger, working harder and was able to start playing ball with a brace after only being off for a very short time. By the 6 week visit she was told that everything looked great and she had worked hard enough to earn full clearance to play. Praise God!
Now you might be wondering what this has to do with the fly? Well, although I would not wish a torn meniscus on anyone, this experience has given our daughter clear direction to where God is calling her and is excited about the future. God used a potentially horrible and scary situation to guide her through the open door that He had provided. She no longer needed to "beat her head" against the glass trying to create her own path. It is a beautiful thing.
Let me encourage you to step back and take a look at your circumstances. Is there a place in your life or in your children's lives where you are try to "go through the glass in the window" instead of "flying out through the open door?" Are there situations that seem to be devastating or extremely difficult right now that God could be using to direct your path? The scriptures are filled with people who were facing extremely hard times and God used them for His glory....Joseph, Daniel, Moses, Mary, the Maccabees, Matthew and on and on.
To be a competitive athlete and told that you have torn your meniscus can truly be devastating. However, when we remain faithful and trust God to lead us through our difficult circumstances we may see the great plans that He has and how He can take seemingly bad times and turn them into good. May God bless you and give you strength to see His hand guiding you through, especially in the hard times!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
First, Read The Book
Disclaimer- I am uncertain when this idea occurred to me; I honestly believe it was my own, but truly apologize if I falsely take credit for one of my friends ideas :-)
"First, read the book." This is a phrase heard on occasion in our home, but more during the summer months when we have more unscheduled time. It seems that in the summers we have more time to make trips to the movie theaters or to borrow movies from the library. There are so many movies available, it is often difficult to curb a child's appetite for the latest and greatest adventure.
I wasn't a reader when I was young. I didn't grow up in a home where we read books each night or made weekly trips to the library. To be honest, I didn't even read most of the books that the teachers asked me to read in school. There was no passion for reading in our home and I had no idea that there was another way to live.
In high school, I read a few of the school novels and found that I actually enjoyed them. However, that did not lead to a new found passion for reading. Then in college, I was working hard and read what my teachers asked, but discovered that there was more. I was missing out on so much. You see I was studying to be an middle school teacher. In one of my literature courses they were talking about all these books that "everyone" had read in school. I seriously was the only one in the room that hadn't read most of these books. So I took the list and started my reading adventure.
Wow, there are some great books out there! I found that almost every book became my new favorite. I fell in love with Heidi; with the Rats of Nimh; and the adventures on the Side of the Mountain. I had no idea that reading could be so much fun!
I still wouldn't classify myself as a reader. Especially now that life is so busy, I read very little for pleasure. Most of what I read are devotion books and curriculum guides. But, I have learned the importance of reading, loving to read and loving the adventure that comes with reading. And this is something I desire to pass along to our children. I want them to have a passion for reading.
As a whole, our children are good readers. They read for enjoyment, not just for school. They enjoy our trips to the library and the new adventures that those trips can bring. However, what I found is that our children were getting into "reading ruts." For example, our oldest daughter has read the entire Nancy Drew serious. The entire thing, starting with book one and even moving into some of the newest versions. It is awesome, but she was reading very little of anything else.
This is when we started the rule: If you want to see the movie, you have to read the book. I have found that the books are almost always ten times better than the movies and if you see the movie first, it ruins the book. So, you need to read the book. Narnia movie, read the book....Ramona and Beezus movie, read the book....The BFG movie, read the book.... etc. Now sometimes I fail! Because I wasn't a reader as a child, sometimes I have no idea that there was even a book first, but we watch the movie together and the children really enjoy the fact that I let them watch a movie before they read the book. Live and learn. :-)
We have seen some great blessings from this rule. Aside from our children reading a larger variety of books, they are reading together so they can see the movie together. The older children are reading to the younger ones so they can see the movie too. It warms my heart! Now it is not all smiles and roses, but I have an easy answer for why we can't spend our entire summer at the theater and a great suggestion for when the boredom bug sneaks in. This is truly one of my favorite "rules."
What are some rules or guidelines that bless your family?
I pray that you might find this idea helpful and that your family will be blessed by many years of adventures in reading!
As a side note, I do not make them read the book if the movie was made first.
"First, read the book." This is a phrase heard on occasion in our home, but more during the summer months when we have more unscheduled time. It seems that in the summers we have more time to make trips to the movie theaters or to borrow movies from the library. There are so many movies available, it is often difficult to curb a child's appetite for the latest and greatest adventure.
I wasn't a reader when I was young. I didn't grow up in a home where we read books each night or made weekly trips to the library. To be honest, I didn't even read most of the books that the teachers asked me to read in school. There was no passion for reading in our home and I had no idea that there was another way to live.
In high school, I read a few of the school novels and found that I actually enjoyed them. However, that did not lead to a new found passion for reading. Then in college, I was working hard and read what my teachers asked, but discovered that there was more. I was missing out on so much. You see I was studying to be an middle school teacher. In one of my literature courses they were talking about all these books that "everyone" had read in school. I seriously was the only one in the room that hadn't read most of these books. So I took the list and started my reading adventure.
Wow, there are some great books out there! I found that almost every book became my new favorite. I fell in love with Heidi; with the Rats of Nimh; and the adventures on the Side of the Mountain. I had no idea that reading could be so much fun!
I still wouldn't classify myself as a reader. Especially now that life is so busy, I read very little for pleasure. Most of what I read are devotion books and curriculum guides. But, I have learned the importance of reading, loving to read and loving the adventure that comes with reading. And this is something I desire to pass along to our children. I want them to have a passion for reading.
As a whole, our children are good readers. They read for enjoyment, not just for school. They enjoy our trips to the library and the new adventures that those trips can bring. However, what I found is that our children were getting into "reading ruts." For example, our oldest daughter has read the entire Nancy Drew serious. The entire thing, starting with book one and even moving into some of the newest versions. It is awesome, but she was reading very little of anything else.
This is when we started the rule: If you want to see the movie, you have to read the book. I have found that the books are almost always ten times better than the movies and if you see the movie first, it ruins the book. So, you need to read the book. Narnia movie, read the book....Ramona and Beezus movie, read the book....The BFG movie, read the book.... etc. Now sometimes I fail! Because I wasn't a reader as a child, sometimes I have no idea that there was even a book first, but we watch the movie together and the children really enjoy the fact that I let them watch a movie before they read the book. Live and learn. :-)
We have seen some great blessings from this rule. Aside from our children reading a larger variety of books, they are reading together so they can see the movie together. The older children are reading to the younger ones so they can see the movie too. It warms my heart! Now it is not all smiles and roses, but I have an easy answer for why we can't spend our entire summer at the theater and a great suggestion for when the boredom bug sneaks in. This is truly one of my favorite "rules."
What are some rules or guidelines that bless your family?
I pray that you might find this idea helpful and that your family will be blessed by many years of adventures in reading!
As a side note, I do not make them read the book if the movie was made first.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
No, I Had No Idea
Those of you who read this blog regularly, know that about 2 years ago we added two children to our family. We have celebrated, cried, argued and rejoiced for these children. But, today I am here to say that I need to take a moment to be brutally honest. I had NO idea what we were signing up for!
You may have noticed that I haven't written any posts in quite some time. Our family dynamic just got to the point where writing my thoughts was not a priority, or maybe not even a possibility. In my opinion "LIFE" simply consumed me.
I am not going to write specifics about our children, but some general observations about them and others like them that have left me questioning and confessing that "I had NO idea."
It truly boggles my mind to know that there are so many children in the Foster Care system and other systems like it. These children have most likely been bouncing around the government system for a long time. I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around how it must feel to be young and have no permanent home. They need a home. They need to know that someone loves them. They need to know that they are important.
When we were asked to take in these children, our family had several conversations about what might happen and what would be the best choice to make. Do we add two more children to our already seemingly large family? How will this change our immediate family? How will having two additional children impact our extended family and friends? And so on, and so on.
I never once thought, "what if they hate it here?" or "what if they are too difficult to deal with?" After all, I am offering a loving home; a wonderful Christian environment and more opportunities than they have ever seen. Besides, in all the movies and shows we ever see the adoptive or foster children always adjust wonderfully to their new family and grow to be strong loving adults. Everything would be great, what was there to worry about?
We were required to go through the foster parent certification process in order to have the children join our family. During the process, it became abundantly clear that there were going to be some new things happening in our home. The foster parent guidelines specifically speak about children whom still have bathroom accidents into their teen years; children that are years behind in their schooling; children that have consistent nightmares; children that have anxiety induced behavior outbursts for seemingly no reason; children that physically and sexually hurt other children; and many other extremely sad situations. I felt so naive, all I was offering was a loving Christian home.
So, you might be wondering what we were thinking. Why in the world would we bring such potential danger into our home, especially when we have young children of our own? James 1:27. That is really all I can say, James 1:27. There are other verses as well, but God calls us to look after the fatherless. How could we just walk away? What would we be saying to our own children? What would the two foster children think? Just another "parent" that had no interest in taking the time to love them. We couldn't say no. We knew they belonged with us. They ARE our family!
There isn't a day that goes by that we don't have some sort of minor struggle. However, that goes for all of our children. There is always someone who is forgetting to turn off the light, someone who is hurting someone's feelings, someone who isn't doing their best on their homework, someone who is _____ you can fill in the blank, I am sure you have struggles in your home too. Sometimes we have a pretty big struggle, and we find ourselves traveling down extremely unfamiliar paths, but guess what.....God is always with us. Even when I fall flat on my face and handle the situation completely wrong, He is with us. He is clearly providing us the strength that we need to make it to the end of each day with a smile and a bit of hope for tomorrow. He never ceases to amaze me.
I know you may find this shocking, but it is clearly one of the greatest, worst, most exciting and scariest decisions we have ever made. None of our lives will ever be the same again. It might be difficult to understand, but it is completely humbling to me to see how God has prepared us and is using His grace and mercy to mold each and every one of us. I still have no idea. No idea what each day will bring, no idea what new joy or struggle is around the corner, no idea where this path is going to take us next. No matter how hard I try, I still have no idea what each day will bring.
I try to be encouraging with my posts, but this is a challenging topic to be overly encouraging with. That said, I would love to encourage you to pray about adding this amazing adventure to your family. There are more than 100,000 foster children in the US alone that are waiting to be adopted. That number only includes children in the foster care system and in the US. There are many more waiting with private ministries and in the impoverished countries around the world. You have no idea what amazing adventure God has in store for you and the children He has prepared for you.
I have no idea, you have no idea, the children have no idea......but God in His infinite wisdom knows exactly what is ahead. I pray that you will embrace James 1:27 and completely rock your current world and the world of some incredible children.
You may have noticed that I haven't written any posts in quite some time. Our family dynamic just got to the point where writing my thoughts was not a priority, or maybe not even a possibility. In my opinion "LIFE" simply consumed me.
I am not going to write specifics about our children, but some general observations about them and others like them that have left me questioning and confessing that "I had NO idea."
It truly boggles my mind to know that there are so many children in the Foster Care system and other systems like it. These children have most likely been bouncing around the government system for a long time. I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around how it must feel to be young and have no permanent home. They need a home. They need to know that someone loves them. They need to know that they are important.
When we were asked to take in these children, our family had several conversations about what might happen and what would be the best choice to make. Do we add two more children to our already seemingly large family? How will this change our immediate family? How will having two additional children impact our extended family and friends? And so on, and so on.
I never once thought, "what if they hate it here?" or "what if they are too difficult to deal with?" After all, I am offering a loving home; a wonderful Christian environment and more opportunities than they have ever seen. Besides, in all the movies and shows we ever see the adoptive or foster children always adjust wonderfully to their new family and grow to be strong loving adults. Everything would be great, what was there to worry about?
We were required to go through the foster parent certification process in order to have the children join our family. During the process, it became abundantly clear that there were going to be some new things happening in our home. The foster parent guidelines specifically speak about children whom still have bathroom accidents into their teen years; children that are years behind in their schooling; children that have consistent nightmares; children that have anxiety induced behavior outbursts for seemingly no reason; children that physically and sexually hurt other children; and many other extremely sad situations. I felt so naive, all I was offering was a loving Christian home.
So, you might be wondering what we were thinking. Why in the world would we bring such potential danger into our home, especially when we have young children of our own? James 1:27. That is really all I can say, James 1:27. There are other verses as well, but God calls us to look after the fatherless. How could we just walk away? What would we be saying to our own children? What would the two foster children think? Just another "parent" that had no interest in taking the time to love them. We couldn't say no. We knew they belonged with us. They ARE our family!
There isn't a day that goes by that we don't have some sort of minor struggle. However, that goes for all of our children. There is always someone who is forgetting to turn off the light, someone who is hurting someone's feelings, someone who isn't doing their best on their homework, someone who is _____ you can fill in the blank, I am sure you have struggles in your home too. Sometimes we have a pretty big struggle, and we find ourselves traveling down extremely unfamiliar paths, but guess what.....God is always with us. Even when I fall flat on my face and handle the situation completely wrong, He is with us. He is clearly providing us the strength that we need to make it to the end of each day with a smile and a bit of hope for tomorrow. He never ceases to amaze me.
I know you may find this shocking, but it is clearly one of the greatest, worst, most exciting and scariest decisions we have ever made. None of our lives will ever be the same again. It might be difficult to understand, but it is completely humbling to me to see how God has prepared us and is using His grace and mercy to mold each and every one of us. I still have no idea. No idea what each day will bring, no idea what new joy or struggle is around the corner, no idea where this path is going to take us next. No matter how hard I try, I still have no idea what each day will bring.
I try to be encouraging with my posts, but this is a challenging topic to be overly encouraging with. That said, I would love to encourage you to pray about adding this amazing adventure to your family. There are more than 100,000 foster children in the US alone that are waiting to be adopted. That number only includes children in the foster care system and in the US. There are many more waiting with private ministries and in the impoverished countries around the world. You have no idea what amazing adventure God has in store for you and the children He has prepared for you.
I have no idea, you have no idea, the children have no idea......but God in His infinite wisdom knows exactly what is ahead. I pray that you will embrace James 1:27 and completely rock your current world and the world of some incredible children.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Fatherless, Moving Forward
This past weekend it was Father's Day here in the United States. It is usually a nice time for us to celebrate the Dads that make a difference in our lives everyday. In our family we usually celebrate by cooking one of my husband's favorite meals, leaving the house so he can take a nap, and giving him a home made spa treatment. The children love getting a chance to pick a simple gift and give dad the special attention he deserves. It is a fun idea.
Although our Father's Day weekend was a time of fun and activities, I have noticed that many are not celebrating this day. It was first brought to my attention in worship. The Pastor was sharing a sermon about fathers and the great influence they have on their children. He was helping us all to see how we have a responsibility to take our faith and knowledge of Christ's amazing love and share it with the children we come in contact with. The sermon had just begun when a gentlemen stood up and walked out of the service declaring, "I didn't have a father." We spoke after the service, and he didn't seem interested in hearing the details of the sermon, he just wanted to keep declaring, "I didn't have a father." In the evening, my social media page was filled with similar statements. Father's Day is a tough day for many.
On one hand, I can completely relate to these sentiments. I have never met my father. He left before I was born and I have no idea where he might be. When I was in college I was able to find his mother, my grandmother. She wrote to me for several months, but then she told me she couldn't write any longer (I think my father told her to stop). I am also assuming that she has passed away because I am not able to find her any longer. It is sad, I wish I had an opportunity to know them both.
This lack of a father in my life has helped to shape who I am. I knew that I did not want my children growing up without a father, so I was very picky about whom I felt God was leading me to marry. I also developed a heart for children that were in the same situation. Children without fathers have many emotional gaps in their lives. This is one reason that we have added two fatherless children to our family. Our desire is to help them see a different definition of family and help them see how they can break the cycle of fatherlessness that they were born from. (They are the 3rd generation in their biological family to have a fatherless home)
However, the fact that I am fatherless does not define who I am! I now have the greatest father ever, the Heavenly Father. He is the most amazing father that anyone could ask for. He created me, He showers me with blessings and He loves me unconditionally. He knows my needs, my secrets, my deepest dreams and He cares for my every need. He is your Heavenly Father too! I encourage you to claim His love if you are struggling with not having an earthly father.
I would also love to encourage you to reach out to others. If your family is blessed to have both a mother and a father, reach out to a family or two who does not. Children NEED to have time with both a mother and a father. Maybe you know a family where the father has died, left or was never involved at all. Take a moment, get to know the family and invest in those children. Maybe they would love to go fishing with you or even just out for ice cream. Fathers don't need to do anything special, it is special just spending time together. I was truly blessed to have a wonderful Grandfather and some fun loving Uncles that invested time in my life; it made an incredible difference for me. You don't need to invest a ton of time, even just three or four times a year will make a wonderful difference.
It is abundantly clear to me, after the reactions from this past weekend that there are many hurting people in our world today. Many of them are hurting because they don't have an earthly father involved in their lives. We can do something about this, let us share the love and knowledge of Christ with those God has placed in our path. There are over 40 verses in the Bible about fatherless people, and almost every verse is telling us that we need to care for them and help them to live their lives to the full potential God has intended for them. I pray that we will all have the courage to start a new relationship with a fatherless child and share God's amazing love with them!
Although our Father's Day weekend was a time of fun and activities, I have noticed that many are not celebrating this day. It was first brought to my attention in worship. The Pastor was sharing a sermon about fathers and the great influence they have on their children. He was helping us all to see how we have a responsibility to take our faith and knowledge of Christ's amazing love and share it with the children we come in contact with. The sermon had just begun when a gentlemen stood up and walked out of the service declaring, "I didn't have a father." We spoke after the service, and he didn't seem interested in hearing the details of the sermon, he just wanted to keep declaring, "I didn't have a father." In the evening, my social media page was filled with similar statements. Father's Day is a tough day for many.
On one hand, I can completely relate to these sentiments. I have never met my father. He left before I was born and I have no idea where he might be. When I was in college I was able to find his mother, my grandmother. She wrote to me for several months, but then she told me she couldn't write any longer (I think my father told her to stop). I am also assuming that she has passed away because I am not able to find her any longer. It is sad, I wish I had an opportunity to know them both.
This lack of a father in my life has helped to shape who I am. I knew that I did not want my children growing up without a father, so I was very picky about whom I felt God was leading me to marry. I also developed a heart for children that were in the same situation. Children without fathers have many emotional gaps in their lives. This is one reason that we have added two fatherless children to our family. Our desire is to help them see a different definition of family and help them see how they can break the cycle of fatherlessness that they were born from. (They are the 3rd generation in their biological family to have a fatherless home)
However, the fact that I am fatherless does not define who I am! I now have the greatest father ever, the Heavenly Father. He is the most amazing father that anyone could ask for. He created me, He showers me with blessings and He loves me unconditionally. He knows my needs, my secrets, my deepest dreams and He cares for my every need. He is your Heavenly Father too! I encourage you to claim His love if you are struggling with not having an earthly father.
I would also love to encourage you to reach out to others. If your family is blessed to have both a mother and a father, reach out to a family or two who does not. Children NEED to have time with both a mother and a father. Maybe you know a family where the father has died, left or was never involved at all. Take a moment, get to know the family and invest in those children. Maybe they would love to go fishing with you or even just out for ice cream. Fathers don't need to do anything special, it is special just spending time together. I was truly blessed to have a wonderful Grandfather and some fun loving Uncles that invested time in my life; it made an incredible difference for me. You don't need to invest a ton of time, even just three or four times a year will make a wonderful difference.
It is abundantly clear to me, after the reactions from this past weekend that there are many hurting people in our world today. Many of them are hurting because they don't have an earthly father involved in their lives. We can do something about this, let us share the love and knowledge of Christ with those God has placed in our path. There are over 40 verses in the Bible about fatherless people, and almost every verse is telling us that we need to care for them and help them to live their lives to the full potential God has intended for them. I pray that we will all have the courage to start a new relationship with a fatherless child and share God's amazing love with them!
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Travel Fun
It is summer and a great time for families to travel together on great adventures. There are lots of great places to go: trips to visit family, trips to area attraction or trips to national parks and monuments. I hope you have some fun trips planned for your family.
We recently took a road trip with the whole family. Road trips can be challenging, especially with children. Today, I would like to share with you some fun things that we do on our trips to keep the time moving quickly and the adventures positive. I like to think that our vacation begins the minute we start out of our driveway. I try to plan things that the whole family can be involved in, so we are making great memories together even when we are on the road. We do have a DVD player, but limit the number of movies we watch on each trip. I, of course, did not "invent" all of these ideas on my own, but I am happy to share the wisdom of my friends and our experiences with you.
Activity Bags:
-We have two different types of activity bags. We ask the children to pack their own activity bag (however, now that our family is so large, we ask them to share bags). These bags are filled with books, coloring stuff and other activities that can easily be done in the car. They keep their bags near them in the car and can access them when ever they are feeling bored.
-The second type of activity bags are items I keep with me. I have a few items in large zip lock bags or just in my bag that I pull out when everyone needs a little boost. These would be items the children will not be expecting or are new to them. On this last trip we had new sticker books, glow bracelets, fun snacks, chenille crafts and gel pens.
Audio CDs:
-We take the opportunity to listen to great audio CDs on long trips. We love "Adventures In Odyssey," "Jonathan Park," and classic literature books. We usually get these items from our local library. These are made for children, but are extremely interesting. My husband and I enjoy them just as much as the children. These also usually lead to some great discussions about faith, friendship and character.
Car Games:
-There are tons of car games available these days. It will only take a few moments on the internet and you will have more games then you could possibly need. Some of our favorites are road bingo, the alphabet game and guess the mileage. When discussing games with a friend, I discovered that our family's alphabet game is much different then the one others play, so I am going to share it with you.
Our alphabet game moves around the car and gives each person a chance to share their thoughts. If I start, I would have the letter A. I need to think about the letter A and decide the answer to three questions. Where would I like to go? How do I plan to get there? What am I going to buy? If I have A, I would say something like: I am going to take a trip to Australia, I am going to take an airplane and I am going to buy an apple. The next person now has the letter B. Maybe they will say they are going to Bobby's house, they are going to take a boat, and they are going to buy a ball. Then we move to the next person who has the letter C, and so on. The only rule is that your answers need to start with the letter you have been given. We do make some adaptations for very small children, as a word may sound like it starts with a K when actually it starts with a C; and for the letter X, each answer must have an X in the word, but does not need to start with X. We have a great deal of fun with this game. Try not to get caught up on logistics. It is ok if a child wants to go to Hawaii and get their by horse. They both start with H and the child did a good job to think of them. Some of those types of situations, really help to make the game funny and keeps the game moving.
Trip Tracker:
-This last trip, which was over 29 hours in the car, we used a trip tracker. Great idea! We took some time to look at the route we would be taking and printed the name of a city we would be passing through about every 30 to 45 minutes. One of our daughters took the names and attached a small piece of velcro to the back. She then attached the names of the cities around the top of the inside of the van in the order that we would be passing through or stopping at them. She also printed a picture of a van that looks just like ours. She attached velcro to that as well. The velcro van started under the city of our home town. As we traveled, we would move the van to the next city when we reached it. Each child was given the chance to move the velcro van a few times as it past by the area where they sat. It was great fun! The children new exactly how much farther we needed to go, how long it would be until we stopped and there we no times of asking "are we there yet?" We really love this idea and will certainly be using this activity again.
Every type of travel is an adventure. I pray that you and your family have an amazing time making memories together and making the most of your travel experiences!
We recently took a road trip with the whole family. Road trips can be challenging, especially with children. Today, I would like to share with you some fun things that we do on our trips to keep the time moving quickly and the adventures positive. I like to think that our vacation begins the minute we start out of our driveway. I try to plan things that the whole family can be involved in, so we are making great memories together even when we are on the road. We do have a DVD player, but limit the number of movies we watch on each trip. I, of course, did not "invent" all of these ideas on my own, but I am happy to share the wisdom of my friends and our experiences with you.
Activity Bags:
-We have two different types of activity bags. We ask the children to pack their own activity bag (however, now that our family is so large, we ask them to share bags). These bags are filled with books, coloring stuff and other activities that can easily be done in the car. They keep their bags near them in the car and can access them when ever they are feeling bored.
-The second type of activity bags are items I keep with me. I have a few items in large zip lock bags or just in my bag that I pull out when everyone needs a little boost. These would be items the children will not be expecting or are new to them. On this last trip we had new sticker books, glow bracelets, fun snacks, chenille crafts and gel pens.
Audio CDs:
-We take the opportunity to listen to great audio CDs on long trips. We love "Adventures In Odyssey," "Jonathan Park," and classic literature books. We usually get these items from our local library. These are made for children, but are extremely interesting. My husband and I enjoy them just as much as the children. These also usually lead to some great discussions about faith, friendship and character.
Car Games:
-There are tons of car games available these days. It will only take a few moments on the internet and you will have more games then you could possibly need. Some of our favorites are road bingo, the alphabet game and guess the mileage. When discussing games with a friend, I discovered that our family's alphabet game is much different then the one others play, so I am going to share it with you.
Our alphabet game moves around the car and gives each person a chance to share their thoughts. If I start, I would have the letter A. I need to think about the letter A and decide the answer to three questions. Where would I like to go? How do I plan to get there? What am I going to buy? If I have A, I would say something like: I am going to take a trip to Australia, I am going to take an airplane and I am going to buy an apple. The next person now has the letter B. Maybe they will say they are going to Bobby's house, they are going to take a boat, and they are going to buy a ball. Then we move to the next person who has the letter C, and so on. The only rule is that your answers need to start with the letter you have been given. We do make some adaptations for very small children, as a word may sound like it starts with a K when actually it starts with a C; and for the letter X, each answer must have an X in the word, but does not need to start with X. We have a great deal of fun with this game. Try not to get caught up on logistics. It is ok if a child wants to go to Hawaii and get their by horse. They both start with H and the child did a good job to think of them. Some of those types of situations, really help to make the game funny and keeps the game moving.
Trip Tracker:
-This last trip, which was over 29 hours in the car, we used a trip tracker. Great idea! We took some time to look at the route we would be taking and printed the name of a city we would be passing through about every 30 to 45 minutes. One of our daughters took the names and attached a small piece of velcro to the back. She then attached the names of the cities around the top of the inside of the van in the order that we would be passing through or stopping at them. She also printed a picture of a van that looks just like ours. She attached velcro to that as well. The velcro van started under the city of our home town. As we traveled, we would move the van to the next city when we reached it. Each child was given the chance to move the velcro van a few times as it past by the area where they sat. It was great fun! The children new exactly how much farther we needed to go, how long it would be until we stopped and there we no times of asking "are we there yet?" We really love this idea and will certainly be using this activity again.
Every type of travel is an adventure. I pray that you and your family have an amazing time making memories together and making the most of your travel experiences!
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Deep Roots
An important part of "Raising An Orchard" is having deep roots in God's Word. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us that we need to teach the Word to our children. It tells us to talk to our children when we are at home, at night, in the morning and anywhere you go. Psalms 119:11 tells us to hide God's word in our hearts so that we might not sin against Him.
Last year, we took a challenge as a family to serve more, we met our goal of 52 weeks of blessing. This year we are taking a challenge to memorize God's Word. Our goal was to memorize a Bible verse each week. It is a huge challenge, but one we felt was extremely important. Well, it is about half way through the year, and I need to tell you that we have adjusted our original goal. We started memorizing a verse a week, but changed our plan to a verse every other week.
By taking two weeks to learn each verse we are able to not only learn the words the verse says, but the meaning behind the verse....which after all is the point. The adjustment in the plan has also given us an opportunity to review verses we have already learned. It has been a great journey thus far!
Let me encourage you to start memorizing scriptures with your family. Maybe you can memorize one verse a week or one verse a month, create a schedule that works best for your family. It is a great way to invest in your child's life!
By taking two weeks to learn each verse we are able to not only learn the words the verse says, but the meaning behind the verse....which after all is the point. The adjustment in the plan has also given us an opportunity to review verses we have already learned. It has been a great journey thus far!
Let me encourage you to start memorizing scriptures with your family. Maybe you can memorize one verse a week or one verse a month, create a schedule that works best for your family. It is a great way to invest in your child's life!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)