For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:- Prov. 23:7

The night grows long. Eyes heavy but sleep eludes. Breath eases to tighten again. Thoughts wander. But where do they go. For wandering without purpose can lead one to being lost. 

A conscious choice to paths of glory- His glory. Did He not tell us so.

Phillippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

To renew the mind, deny the exhaustion of the spirit. I purpose my thoughts.

Truth

Psalms 36: 6,7

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.  

How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.  

I trust His path. I shelter under His wings.

Honest

Proverbs 26:12

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him

Set to do it on my strength- telling myself I was depending on His strength. Such self deceit to cover the sin of pride. Now I dwell on thankfulness for the honest, loving rebuke of friends.  I praise Him for His forgiveness that covers all sin.

Just

A sermon that requires thoughtful meditation, contradictions that are not contradictions at all, and the apostle Paul.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/let-god-be-true-though-every-man-a-liar

Lovely

So many lovely thoughts. This takes no effort at all. They flow gently and endlessly.

The smile of my husband that shows nothing but love despite the trials.

A text- "NO! We have got it covered!"

A fridge full up with tangible love

Get well cards handmade

My own bed and sheets for another night

Piles of books surrounding me

Unexpected news that brings joy

Online sermons

A Mother's hug

Modern meds that ease tight breaths

Friends of the heart

 

Good Report

Lessons that speak truth, delivered gently, lovingly, beautifully. Two of many...

http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/post/The-Value-of-Spiritual-Simplicity.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sovereigngraceministries%2FCJMBlog+%28C.J.+Mahaney%27s+view+from+the+cheap+seats+%26+other+stuff%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

Especially Easter- Chapter 9 of Noel Piper's book- Treasuring God in Our Traditions

Centering. This flow of thoughts interrupted by spaces of rest to awake to breath free again.  Thoughts over hours that lead me to more hours of thoughts. And how better to rest if not able to in sleep than in thoughts of Him. A spirit remains refreshed. The body to follow in His time.

Lonely but for His Beauty. Lonely but for His Gifts

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

I Chronicles 29:11

¹¹Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

 ¹²Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

 

I Taught Myself To Live Simply by Anna Akhmatova

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening
to tire my superfluous worries.
When the burdocks rustle in the ravine
and the yellow-red rowanberry cluster droops
I compose happy verses
about life's decay, decay and beauty.
I come back. The fluffy cat
licks my palm, purrs so sweetly
and the fire flares bright
on the saw-mill turret by the lake.
Only the cry of a stork landing on the roof
occasionally breaks the silence.
If you knock on my door
I may not even hear.

 

II Cor. 1:12

For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

His Majesty shown in the call of the bird,             the creak of the house in wind, 

spring seeds sifted,               the kiss of an infant,        my hand cradled tender by his strong warm hand,

              the giggle of a girl                   Four simple words said softly.. I missed you, Mommy                

With this beauty with these gifts how can one entertain loneliness. His grace given by death on a tree. How can one substain sadness.

The Gift of Aged Love

Valentine's Day is fast approaching.  Minds work feverishly pondering what to give each other, how to celebrate, or for some an effort to ignore this obviously commercial day.

But I like to use it as a time to evaluate my marriage or rather the only thing I can truly evaluate- my heart.  Am I giving myself completely to my husband?  Does he occupy my mind throughout the day?  Does a smile alight my face at the thought of his presence? Does each decision I make seek to bless him as his wife?  Let me put this in perspective.   Not as idolatry.  Nothing should be placed before my heavenly Father.  But rather as obeying the commandments He has given me as wife.

Many go into Valentines Day with high expectations.  They seek to have their heart leap at his presence, to have goosebumps form when he touches your hand, to have the feeling of passion overwhelming everything else.  They think the perfect place to eat, the perfect gift, the perfect dress if enough thought is put into it will make it all just as they imagine. And often it falls short of expectations. In short they desire new love again. Forgetting that like an aged wine love while different in taste and body only grows sweeter.


I have felt this in times past. The desire for our love to be as all consuming as it was those days of dating, those first years of marriage. But then what would I be giving up.  What do I have now- a slow steady burn, a joy in my heart that it always there, the knowledge of absolute trust that comes from years of being held in strong arms, a merging of our lives that make it such that I can't tell where we are apart anymore.  What one often takes for boredom is simply security.  What one often takes as nothing to talk about is simply becoming one, knowing each other in and out.  And what one often takes as the loss of passion is often- well let us face it one's own fault.


Let's think about what brought about that burning desire.  How often was he in your thoughts during those days? How often was what you wore, where you went, what you said all for the purpose of making yourself more desirable in his eyes?  How often would you give a horror filled rebuke if someone spoke negatively of your love- his good SO out weighs his bad. Now evaluate yourself present time.  What occupies your thoughts- for me often it is the school that has to be done, the kids schedule, whether I will get the time to read that book  I really want to read, the messy house.  My decisions based on what will enable me to save the most time not what will inflame my husband or even just bring a smile to his face.  Instead of running to the door at the sound of his foot hitting the entrance of our home  I glance at the time in horror thinking that much time could not have possibly gone by already!!!! And how often now is the litany in your head about your husband filled with his faults instead of his goodness.  And don't pat oneself on the back if the litany is only in your head not gossip filled talk with girlfriends.  Negativity both internal and external only brings challenges and problems to your marriage. 


I challenged a friend a few months ago who came to me asking for prayer and advice about the lack of spark in their marriage lately.  And I told her simply this: replace each negative thought with a positive, embrace him at every opportunity, think about him with excitement throughout the day, prepare for him!  Let self fade into the background and place him first. So simple, so easy to do in the beginning.  But like many things familiarity brings carelessness even with those people we love the most.  TREASURE the gift of love that grows finer with each day.

So I challenge myself as the day of love draws near to spend time in prayer and in His Word.  Search again the commandments of the Word to the wife.  Pray for the Lord to show me distractions that take time from my husband, hidden pains that I may have buried that hinder our relationship, and attitudes I need to confess and change with our Lord's help.  Will you join me?

Nerf Wars- 2011

Birthdays are true celebrations at the Woodpile. Special consideration is given each child on that day they entered into our life.  Carl and I spend a lot of personal time with them that day.  Seeking to make sure they know from the toes to the crown of their sweet head how joyful their presence makes us.  They were a gift from God. They each have a purpose.  The purpose- to serve and glorify their Creator.   

The Birthday Choices

Choice 1-  How to spend their day with Daddy and Mommy

The exact day of their birth if possible is one continuous celebration of a life.  A GIFT!!!  One we take seriously, and one we rejoice in.  We often stay up late the night before decorating the kitchen.  And wake the siblings early, so that when the birthday child comes down he or she is greeted with an outburst of love, song, and hugs. In the morning, I fix their favorite breakfast treat.  Easy at this stage as it is donuts one and all. Yes, I am thankful!!! The morning is spent doing whatever it is that day usually entails- you know cleaning, school, FB, cleaning, school, cleaning.  Then when afternoon rolls around and the babysitter arrives we embark on our birthday adventure.  We try not to spend too much money going to movie theaters.  Both of us think there are better ways to spend a quick $50 bucks. But each child on their birthday gets a choice of going to a movie.  Most of the time they choose to go. Afterward usually is an activity of choice such as rock climbing (a favorite of Andrew's) or window shopping at the Disney store (favorite of the girls). Then we are off to dinner at their favorite restaurant.  This is my most precious birthday time as we talk about the year past.  Encouragement for them to express their feelings, thoughts is given. We encourage the child as maturity enables them too to express where they succeeded in the Lord, and where they need to improve. We talk about changes in discipline they would like to see, how we are doing in their eyes,  added responsibilities, bigger expectations.  And Carl and I are open in our assessment, liberal with our love, and generous with our praise. Each child looks forward to their birthday dates. This does not have to be expensive though. A walk in the park and the same talk at a fast food place will accomplish just as much. The purpose is that special time where they have BOTH parents full attention for more than 20 minutes. We do individual times with each child - Dad with son while Mom is at home with the others or Mom with Fudge Brownie per-say . But this is our time with them alone.

Choice 2- Gifts or Birthday Party

Each child gets the choice of a special planned party with their friends or more gifts. Christmas we feel we should emphasize Christ's gift to us and giving to others. Personal gifts are minuscule. On their birthday we try to have a few special things we have observed them liking but amount depends on their choice of party or choice of same amount spent on gifts only. Each child always chooses a party with friends. Choosing instead to share with others the joy of the day. We put work into the planning and implementation to make it special. Quizzing them on what they want, who they want there, what their expectations of a perfect party for this year looks like. Then the planning begins. We do a lot of creative crafting to keep the cost down. And utilize Oriental Trading!

 

Andrew's 10th Birthday- Nerf Wars

This year our Buddy decided on a Nerf theme.  Here is the result.

Invites

A simple e-vite invitation.  I have made it easier and cheaper through the years. Gotta to do what a mother has got to do!

Decor

This one was difficult this year. There was no way I could turn my house into a training facility. No! no, no naysayers. If you think differently keep it to yourself. So again I kept it simple using simple camo paper products, balloons in black, brown, and green, and liberal use of a plastic roll of black tablecloth (on sale yay).

I also turned the kitchen into a snack "Mess Hall" with bowls of raisins, nuts, and M&M,  Crunchy Cheetos, organic fruit jerky, and drinks.

Games

As they came in they became proper Nerf Strike Team cadets. All cadets must look the part of course.  They got their dog tags (Party City), camo grease paint, and team bandannas. I also supplied each child with a notebook to keep a record of their achievements at the Woodpile Nerf Strike Training Facility. (again Party City)

ATTENTION, cadets! Head up, chest out!

Next we assessed physical conditioning. Each team (there were two- blue and yellow) squared off in a push-up war. It reminded me a little of a fight scene though. With each team gathered around with the battlers in the middle amidst loud cheering and jeering. They loved it of course. The cutest was Cupcake and my good friend Bev's youngest in friendly competition. TOO adorable.



Sar wanted to be Andrew's battle partner!!

The student takes on the teacher!



Cuteness reign supreme! Squeezableness!!!

   

From there where to go but target practice. We retrieved two guns from the armory (the side table ;-) and showed them the point system. Carl had drawn targets on our family room windows in a grid system. Points value being 5-15. Again we paired up the teams in a friendly challenge placing them against each other via size and age. .

Ready, Aim, Fire!

Seriously we get to shoot the WINDOWS. Can't. Contain. Excitement!!

Next was Rapid Fire.  Targeting again but well... rapidly. A line of Nerf targets and empty cans were set up on our fireplace mantel. Each child got 7 shots with two from each opposing team at the same time again.  However once a target was knocked down they were out of the running.  So each team member had to not only shoot accurately but also beat the other team to it. All good except for our clock. It got shot multiple times and was quite ticked. (hahahahaha I know, I know!)

Mr Clock is NOT a target. Shooting #11 does not gain you 11 points!!

Hogan's Alley- Now I wish I could say the set up was a true Hogan's Alley.  But alas we had to be inventive. Carl printed out hero's and villains from comic book series and cartoon video games (we wanted to keep this unrealistic) Each team member set up to fire. When the cardboard cutouts went up (manned by Carl)  they shot. Once a villain was shot he was down and out. A hero shot was a point taken away. They adored this game. It turned out to be quite challenging.

Halo works itself in somewhere! But of COURSE!!

The final Nerf game was what else but Capture the Flag.  They could NOT get enough of this.  They did not want to go in to eat pizza. They did not want to go home.  They begged for more, more, MORE! I decided we will have to do this again sometime in the summer.  Maybe add glow in the dark bullets, flares, and dog tags and make it Night Nerf Wars. But I am getting off track.  The game. Carl set up various "unnatural" hideaways made from boxes, old playhouses, yes even the hot tub lid. Whatever you have on hand, right? These allowed the kids to hide and evade.  Each end of the yard was set up a "fort"- blue on left and yellow on right. The goal of course to steal the other teams flag before all your team members are Nerf tagged out. We made it interesting by leaving things periodically in the hideouts to be found such as automatic Nerf weapons.  It was a resounding success.

Sneak attack!

A good offense is a good defense

 

We are sweet little harmless girls. Please don't shoot us! As they pull guns from behind back!

Final "game" was the very end game- a tank pinata. This will have to be reevaluated in the future. The kids always put a pinata on their list. The problem was the stampede that happened despite repeated warnings given prior to. All in all it was only bumps and bruises, but my heart went out of my chest there for a second or two. We filled it with the bday boys faves- Starburst, Sweet Tarts, Butterfingers, gum, and Airheads.

Rations

As mentioned above we had the "Mess Hall" to keep active boys satisfied.

Pizza and breadsticks were the main rations that evening.

Who is having fun was the question asked just prior to snapping picture!

And the birthaday cake was a  Butterfinger homemade ice cream cake and an Oreo ice cream cake as the birthday boy does not like traditional cake.



4 + 3 tanks + 3 stars = 10 years of blessings



Recipe as requested

I started with a base of ice cream sandwiches enough to cover the bottom of a 9x11 pan. That was approx. 11 total

From there I made a homemade chocolate ganache/hot fudge sauce from milk chocolate chips, heavy cream, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk. Uhmm measurements unknown as I did it by taste. This sauce was spread thickly over the sandwiches.

Next was a layer of softened Butterfinger ice cream for the Butterfinger cake/ Cookies and Cream for the Oreo cake. If you would like to lighten it you can mix the ice cream with say Cool Whip. I did not as Andrew does not like Cool Whip.

Another layer of ice cream sandwiches for the Butterfinger cake. For the Oreo cake I switched it up a little here and used a layer of Oreos.

A final layer of hot fudge sauce.

Crushed Butterfinger bars or Oreo cookies to top.

Favors

Each boy went home with a small Nerf gun (team pack of 8's are available at Toys R Us or online), a camo favor bag with a camo ball, pencil, their notebook, and their candy.


The People Who I Could NOT Have Done It Without!!

The Commander otherwise known as the Amazing Dad/Hubby

My dear friend, Bev, who will no longer be my friend once she sees this. :-)

Dearest Martina who has been by my side for many birthday parties. Probably more than the fingers on both hands. ;-)

And because our much beloved Mariucci's were not there their WONDERFUL mom/grandma filled in to my utter gratitude. Love you, Mrs. Bradley!

The FABULOUS Danielle who is here in word only because she would not let me take her picture!!!

Sergeant at Arms Megan!!

Official Lil Man Watcher Ashley!

Birthday Boy's Verdict

"I wish the day would never end!!"

All in all a success!!  We had 24 kids total. 20 of them boys whom Andrew had grown close to over the years. The problem is that he is always making new "good" friends. But each boy remembers if they are not invited. Trust me I know this from hard experience, and I don't want to ever see that look on a little boys face again. Carl says we are going to have to downsize as it is getting crazy . But that can wait until next year! ;-)  For now I am made happy by the smiles on the boys as they left. And the joy that filled my son's face.