I Encourage You...

I do not consider myself a deep thinker, but occasionally I have a thought that will just not leave me alone. Does that happen to anyone else? Do you ever have thoughts that just go around in your head for hours at a time? Sometimes even days?
Here is what is in my brain today:
Have you ever thought about the word "encourage"? It means "to infuse with courage". As I thought about the definition I wondered: "when did we start defining it as 'to tell someone to have a happy day?' ". Don't you like the first definition better? Don't you want to be that kind of an encourager... I do. And I want it for myself too... I'm desperate for it actually.
So now I'm wondering what it would look like... to "infuse with courage".
I'm still pondering it... any practical ideas?

Brotherly Love

I was in the kitchen making lunch and I had to open the oven door. Maarti was standing next to me and I'm nervous about opening the oven with her there so I decided the easiest way to get her away from the heat was to send her on a mission. "Maarti... go give your brother a kiss". As soon as I said it a voice from the livingroom said "I don't need a kiss right now; thank you though." So much for my great idea!

Isn't it amazing...

that one so small, and so cute, is so efficient at completely destroying the house in a matter of minutes?! She's a pro at emptying things... today it was her dresser drawers, the toy box, a bag full of diapers and the garbage. The other amazing thing is that, even on days like today, I'm totally crazy about her.

Sermon Illustration

Confession: Quiet, shy me has a dream to one day preach! Where that comes from I'm not sure since public speaking is terrifying. My brother is a pastor and I occasionally live vicariously through him. I have called him countless times with sermon ideas. Sometimes he even uses them.
If I ever get the chance to preach I certainly have a good line up of sermon illustrations thanks to the kids. For instance:
I'm a big Beth Moore fan and over the summer have been going through "Believing God". In it she drills home the "Five Statements of Faith":
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do What he says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
5. God's Word is alive and active in me.
and then you end it by saying "I'm believing God!"
Anyway... since Sam has such a sharp memory I decided to teach it to him as well. I say the first part and then he finishes off each statement. We do it everyday so he knows it well. One day I guess he was feeling silly and when we got to #4 I said "I can do..." and he finished by saying "it by myself!". I laughed at him, but I as I thought about it more I realized that sadly that is often my truth. I have it so easy sometimes that I often don't invite God to be a part of my daily life and I certainly don't access the power that is available to me. As Beth Moore would say "We need our reality to merge with our theology." I wonder what that would look like... if we lived like we really did believe what we say we believe?

Thoughts and Happenings of the Week

1. Last night the neighbor's dog barked and barked... needless to say I'm very tired today. When my Mother-in-Law called wanting to take the kids to the park I was pretty relieved. When I hung up the phone I'm pretty sure that I could hear the angels singing the "Hallelujah Chorus" Can anyone confirm?
2. For awhile now I've been pretty sure that playdates were more for the moms than the kids. I now have no doubt. I called a girlfriend earlier in the week and the first words out of her mouth were "Please tell me you are still coming for a playdate this morning!". In cases like this I have learned that the best course of action is to get the kids in the car as soon as possible and don't show up without coffee... not regular coffee... the specialty, candy kind.
3. I freaked out at my first born - at a family dinner no less. I felt kinda dumb, but it was well deserved and I think I got the point across... Don't mess with the Mama!! We may not be invited back until the kids are in high school.
4. School started this week in BC and I've already started mourning the fact that Sam has to go soon. And... (can I rant?) when he starts all districts will probably have gone to full time kindergarten!! I think 5 is way too young to be in school full time! With the Province complaining about the tough financial times I don't know why they would implement this. I didn't even go to kindergarten and I think I turned out fine.
5. My Dad was at a tractor show in Iowa last week and he came back with engineer hats for the kids... a blue one and a pink one. Too Cute!
6. This week for the first time when Sam prayed at dinner he said more than "Dear Jesus Thank you for food. Amen". He looked around the table and was thankful for everyone there. I used to be able to say that if you are hungry get Sam to pray. It's not a guarantee anymore.
7. I wish I could explain just how cute it is to get a kiss from Maarti. She leans her blond curly head toward you and says "Mmmm - ah".
I love my life.

The Truth Hurts

Me: "Sam pick up your toys."

Sam: "Who's coming over Mommy?"

Diet Plan

"Trust in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truely you shall be fed."
Psalm 37:3

Feed on His faithfulness... how's that for a diet plan?! I've been doing a Beth Moore Bible study this summer and this verse popped up in my homework. I love the word picture. Today I am feeling anxious so I'm choosing to meditate on this verse.