Perspective is EVERYTHING

Recently someone made the comment to me that health is everything. Though health is VERY important, I really don't think I agree.

Health can easily be taken for granted. I do, often. Unless I am sick or something that normally works a certain way all of a sudden isn't working, I don't really think about being healthy. You could easily say I don't appreciate it. Perspective is what makes me apprecaite my health; perspective that I usually get when I'm not healthy.

Recently, I've had multiple opportunities to get perspective. If I've learned anything, it is how very much perspective impacts attitude. I think it makes all the difference in the world. I've been pregnant 11 times, but I don't have 11 children; I only have six. Five different times the hearts of little blessings I'll never hold stopped beating only weeks after they'd begun. It is a painful thing, and because I believe life begins at conception, I've grieved five times. Recently, though, God gave me a dose of perspective. I've been pregnant 11 times! I have six healthy children. How many women have never been able to get pregnant?! How many women dreamed of having a family, only to have their hopes dashed on the hard rocks of infertility? Though I get tired, there is always month left at the end of the money, and raising six children is a HUGE amount of work, it is good to be reminded just how blessed I am. I have what some women can only dream about.

Sometimes I dream about a bigger house. A house where only two children have to share a room, instead of four; where lines can form outside two (or more) bathrooms and where we actually fit into the dining room even if we have guests. I'd love a house big enough to have a guest room and a place dedicated to homeschooling. Oh, and I'd absolutely love a big gourmet kitchen with enough space for all my daughters to cook with me comfortably. It would be wonderful. But, I've been looking at bigger houses and I've gotten a huge dose of perspective. First, I love where we live. I love the park we have in the back yard, with mature fruit trees and lots of room to run. I love being in a rural area with most of the conveniences of a more urban neighborhood. So we don't have Costco or Wal-Mart. I don't really care! All of a sudden, where I live seems like a castle.

After spending a good deal of time thinking about the conversation with my friend and my experiences of the last several weeks, I've come to a conclusion. Health isn't everything. You can have it and not appreciate it, and it will go away. Money is the same way. Honestly, almost everything in life is fleeting. What is really worthwhile is terribly undervalued. Perspective, on the other hand, is what helps determine value. No, health isn't everything. Perspective is.

A new definition for faith

I have been, for the past several months, learning more about sacrifice than I ever dreamed possible. The lessons have not been, thankfully, terribly painful. More it has been a constant chipping away that over time has stripped away much that I believed to be true. As a child, I had my life planned out; I was going to be a missionary nurse, living my days out in some foreign hospital, tending physical and spiritual wounds of the people whose country I'd adopted. Knowing my call, I gladly committed to go wherever God wanted me to go and to do whatever God wanted me to do.

Unfortunately, it has taken me the better part of two decades to figure out where God was calling me to go and what He was calling me to do. Instead of being called to go to the uttermost, as I expected, and instead of being called to serve as a nurse, as I expected, I've been called to be the homeschooling mother of many. In some ways, it is a much more difficult task. Without question, it is one that showcases my weaknesses.

Being a homeschooling mother of many, and educating four different children in four different grades this year, I see my weaknesses more clearly than ever before. As I've wrestled with accepting God's call to live in the US and be a mother to many, I've been learning all over again what it means to live by faith. The process has been, at times, painful, but mostly God has been gentle and gracious.

Recently I heard someone say that faith is choosing to live as though God's word is true regardless of my circumstances, emotions, or cultural trends. In embracing my new call, I've had many opportunities to put this new definition to the test. Actually, I flat out told God I needed help, and something a little more specific than the whole Bible - it is rather broad. And, God answered my prayer. He has given me specific passages.

Lately, the passages that I'm living out are from 2 Corinthians. The first one is in 2 Corinthians 12:9. It says (in Marchauna's improvised version) that God's grace is sufficient for me, for His strength or power is made perfect in weakness. The apostle Paul, who wrote the verse, said that because Jesus' power was made perfect in his weakness, he'd boast in his weakness, so that God might be more glorified! It is difficult to truthfully embrace such a concept; I don't want to boast in my weaknesses. I want to hide them, even from myself if at all possible! In doing so, I doom myself to repeating the same mistakes I've made in the past. So, I'm choosing to live as though 2 Corinthians 12:9 is true. That is part of the reason for this post.

2 Corinthians 2:14 is another verse I'm choosing to live as though is true. It says (once again in Marchauna's improvised version) that God always leads me in triumphal procession and makes me the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. Now, many days I feel anything BUT triumphant, and when all I do is stay at home caring for my children all day, I can't imagine how God is making me the fragrance of Himself ANYWHERE. But, by choosing to live as though that verse is true, I'm seeing triumph where failure has always reigned. God Himself has been showing me how He makes me His fragrance in places I never could have imagined. And, though I'd never thought of it before, He is using me to be the fragrance of the knowledge of Himself to my own children.

It is not easy, walking by faith. Choosing to live as though the Bible is true, regardless of anything, can be very difficult. Emotions can seem so real. Circumstances can seem so reasonable. Cultural trends are tough to go against. How thankful I am to not have to walk this road alone. Jesus has been keeping His promise to demonstrate His power through my weaknesses. It is not easy, and I don't have this whole thing figured out, but I really like the new definition for faith that I've learned. By God's grace, I will choose to live as though the Bible is true, regardless!

Not so hot wheels

Recently, my husband and I met up with another gentleman for some errands. My mother kept all the kids, so we were able to ride in a much more fuel efficient sedan, leaving our 1993 Suburban parked in a parking lot. Now, this parking lot wasn't necessarily the greatest place to leave a car. Big signs all over the place warned that the business who managed the parking lot was not responsible for lost or stolen items. You were encouraged to take valuables with you and even though you locked your vehicle, not to leave it very long.

Well, I'm sure you know how errands can go. Whatever the reason for your excursion, it always takes a long time. Such was the case for us. After several hours, we finally found ourselves back in the parking lot. Our car was still there. Only after my husband reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys did we realize the horrifying truth: the keys were in the ignition of the Suburban! Our not-so-new and not-so-beautiful Suburban, full of carseats and booster seats and diapers and wipes, was so unattractive to would-be thieves that it sat, with the keys IN THE IGNITION for several hours, AND NO ONE TOOK IT!

Now, you have to understand, we didn't leave the keys on purpose. We didn't want our car to be stolen. But, it was kind of sad to realize that even if a would-be thief was wondering around the parking lot that day, he or should would have been totally not interested in our car. I don't know what that says about our taste in vehicles, or the condition of our vehicle, but either way, you have to admit it is pretty funny. At least I think so. If someone had stolen it, I probably wouldn't be laughing. But, if they did, the joke would definitely have been on them!

Abundant Blessings

If you have ever attended a traditional church or if you are in the least bit religious, then the words to the Doxology will probably be familiar. It starts out, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." It is a song whose history I'm unfamiliar with and not real motivated to investigate, but one I've heard sung more times than I can count, especially growing up going to church. This year, though, as we geared up for winter by digging out the snow clothes, trying on snow pants, jackets, gloves and boots to see who needed what, that song was going through my head.

As a mother of many, managing clothes is a logistical nightmare, especially because my children not only grow quickly, but they are much larger than other children their ages. It is an on-going struggle to make sure everyone has pants or skirts that are long enough, shoes that fit, and a coat that doesn't leave some part of them exposed. More often than not, getting ready for church on Sunday mornings finds at least one person who has something that doesn't fit! Needless to say, trying to take advantage of off-season sales is a bit difficult, because I'm not really sure just what size a kid will be by the time the season for such clothes rolls around.

That is why I was so blessed and had the words of the Doxology running through my mind. Winter clothes I purchased last spring actually fit! Jackets I'd forgotten about fit kids that didn't have jackets. Boots fit kids that needed boots. Our son had already grown into his 3T snowsuit (but it does, by God's grace, have growing room) and one of my daughters is wearing a pair of snowboots I outgrew two years ago!

So, I do praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Not only for the snow clothes that keep my children warm as they play in our white (or almost white) winter wonderland, but all His abundant blessings. At the time of this writing, we've been given two different turkeys (one of which we ate for Thanksgiving), nine grocery bags full of food, including basic staples and supplies for making goodies! It is amazing and I'm in humble awe of God. From Him blessings do flow, and from Him comes all I need for health and godliness.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him above ye heavenly host,

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!

No More Almond Rocca

Having been a mother for more than 12 years, and as the mother of five very energetic girls, you'd think I'd have figured this out by now. Alas, I'm only just beginning, and even so have MUCH to learn. Especially when it comes to caring for my son. This 13 month old bundle of energy has an innate ability to get into things no matter what I do to protect either him or what it is I don't want him in. Case in point; the litter box.

Bootsie has been part of our family for more than nine years. She has survived more trauma than a normal cat should have to endure, and she has done it with grace. We love Bootsie. But, as she gets older, certain parts of her life are becoming worth protecting a little bit more. So, I found a great little box that (in theory) is suppose to be great for cats AND keep little tikes out. Like I said, that is a theory. In reality, it doesn't work!

This morning, as we were taking care of breakfast (leftover pancakes instead of our staple oatmeal) Caleb walked into the kitchen with a knife and a spoon. The knife was immediately deposited in the garbage by my 10 year old daughter. Noticing the swift movement, I inquired as to the reason; little did I know how much I didn't want to find out. "The knife was covered with cat poop so I threw it away," came the animated reply. A quick check of the spoon proved that it, too, had been used for foraging into the previously-assumed-to-be-childproof litter box as well. The evidence was not only on the spoon, but also on clothing and hands. Though it appeared Caleb was chewing something, thorough investigation proved fruitless. Visiting the laundry room, where Bootsie's litter box is, was not so fruitless.

Caleb had, somehow, managed to propel his small body on top of the litter box, after procuring a spoon and knife (from our picnic supplies) and balanced precariously on his belly (with his feet OFF THE FLOOR) while reaching his hands, the knife and the spoon into the deposits left by our cat. YUCK!!!!!!!!! After checking with a doctor friend about the health hazards of consuming cat poop, and having to chuckle with her at the antics of my young son, I was able to clean up the mess and block, for the time being, any pediatric access to the litter box. My friend's parting piece of advice; never give Caleb almond rocca!