Changed By Love

Changed By Love

Following the Lamb wherever he goes… Revelation 14:4

Pastels by Twins and Getting Our Family Together Again

After they finished their schoolwork today, the twins wanted to use pastels. It has been a while since they’ve used them. We looked through the Pastel Tutorials on Hodge Podge Mom’s blog and chose the Beach Umbrella picture in honor of our trip to South Carolina last summer when we went to visit Daddy and Patrick.

Gary is still there. He has been there for a year now, and we are very ready for him to come back to us. What began as a 3-month contract has turned into a whole year, but it was only renewed for 3 months at a time every 4 months. We never knew when they might lay him off during the duration of that job. So we didn’t feel that it would be wise to move everyone down there when he might be losing that job at any time. And we didn’t hear the Lord telling us all to move there. Moving a family this size is difficult and expensive. And we’ve moved three times since Abby was born. And she’s only three years old!

The project he was working on appears to be over. It’s not finished, but it’s over. He is looking for another job, has had several interviews and will probably have another job in the next couple of weeks. We are praying about every opportunity and asking God if it’s the one He has for us. So far, the interviews have gone well, but the companies haven’t offered enough money for us to move there. But he had an interview today for a job that looks promising. We may be moving to Sealy, Texas near Houston, if this is the job that God has for Gary. It is only supposed to be for 6 months at a time, but if God wants us there, we will go.

Fiona made a picture of Three Beach Umbrellas based on this lesson on Hodge Podge Mom’s blog – Nana’s pastel lesson.

She was happy with her work. I thought it was beautiful!

We looked at Hodge Podge Mom’s blog again and noticed the dolphin fins that her daughter added. So Fiona decided to add a dolphin fin and a shark fin to her picture.

Garrett needed a little help from me. He had to cover up some things he did that were not what I asked him to do. He stuck with it and ended up with a nice looking picture.

I was proud of them and their persistence and very pleased with the results of their work.

This was a nice way to memorialize our trip to South Carolina, and I pray that Gary will be able to leave South Carolina now and take us all with him to a new place where we can all live together.

The Tomb is Empty and Where is Jesus?

I saw a post about this project on Facebook about a month before Easter. I shared the photo, and lots of other people “liked” it. I decided I would make this for our Easter centerpiece. It looked easy and very eye-catching. So I got some soil at Walmart and grass seed and the clay pot and saucer.

Then I put them all together, building a mound of dirt over the clay pot and planting grass seed on it. Then I asked Fiona to find some sticks and build some crosses for it. She did a good job with her assignment. She also found lots of little rocks, much to my surprise, since everything is paved around here. I walked by our flower bed and happened to find a big rock just the right size for covering the entrance to our “tomb”.

It was fun watching our grass grow. Pretty soon it grew so tall we had to cut it!

I let Garrett have the privilege of mowing Golgotha.

Fiona had been telling me her idea of putting Jesus in the tomb and then taking him out on Easter morning. I looked for a Jesus figure as I did our Easter shopping, but sadly, I couldn’t find anything about Jesus among all of the Easter decorations and candy. So I asked her to make a paper doll of Jesus for our activity. She struggled with it for several hours. I kept asking how she was doing, and she said she couldn’t do it. She makes lots of things out of paper and she’s very artistic and creative, so I was surprised that she was having a hard time with this. When I went to bed, she still hadn’t made a figure of Jesus to put in the tomb.

I woke up early Easter morning and looked for a picture of Jesus on the computer that I could print out. I finally found one I liked and printed it out and took it downstairs. I thought I would surprise the kids when they got up. When I rolled away the stone to put my picture of Jesus in the tomb, this is what I found!

She surprised me instead! She had figured out how to make Him and she put Him in the tomb. I stood Him up in the entrance of the tomb to show that He had risen.

Then I put my picture of the triumphant Jesus standing over the top of the tomb.

The tomb is empty, praise be to God!

I hid the figure of Jesus in the living room, planning to have the kids go on a big hunt for Jesus. I thought I would have to give them lots of hints and tell them when they were hot and cold. Hiding Jesus was Fiona’s idea, too. I thought that was neat to go along with the disciples not knowing Him when they first saw Him after the Resurrection. I told them that a figure of Jesus was hidden somewhere in the living room, and I described how Fiona had drawn him. Kelsey walked straight over to the bookcase and lifted Him out of the Bible I had placed Him in with part of Him sticking out. So much for the BIG hunt! But they had fun, and I think they got a lot out of the activity.

Fiona really thought a lot about the story of the Resurrection and came up with a neat activity for us to do to commemorate the event. Garrett also enjoyed it a lot and acted out the whole story several times using our centerpiece. He did it for my parents while they were here. They were very impressed. It was a great activity to help them learn more about the Resurrection of Jesus.

Kelsey Makes Dinner – Yum!

I’ve been extra busy and extra tired lately.

It has been hard to get everything done that I need to do. When you wake up tired, it makes for a long day. I’m taking several supplements to try to get my thyroid working better, along with my Juice Plus that I always take.

Some nights it’s very difficult for me to fix dinner. We go to the YMCA on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights. I have to do all of the driving and grocery shopping and errands since Gary is not here right now. It seems to be catching up with me. The vertigo is much better, especially the last couple of days. Praise the Lord! But I have been falling asleep in the middle of the day and not having enough energy to do what needs to be done.

One day, Kelsey said that she wanted to try to make a pot pie or shepherd’s pie and asked if we had a recipe for it. She looked in my cookbook and found a recipe for it. She also had a recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli (which she renamed Pumpkin Delight) that she wanted to try. So she made our dinner and dessert that night, and they were delicious! She did it all by herself, and I was so grateful! We all were.

I’m so thankful for the help that my children are giving me as I strive to come back to full health and energy. I’m still believing that God will heal me completely. Right now, the dizziness is much less. The biggest problem I have is balance. I still feel off-balance on my left side. But God is leading me into my healing.

I have to make sure I get plenty of sleep. Which means I need to say good night right now and go to bed.

Good night!

Grandparents’ Visit and Anna’s Birthday Party

Garrett got to light the candles for the first time.

Anna’s cake reflects her personality and likes. It’s an ice cream cake, colored blue and green with musical notes all over it. All it needs is a pair of running shoes. Oh yeah, and an iPod.

Fiona loved hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. My mom and dad still have it!

I bought candles that have a flame that looks the same color as the candle. The only problem was that you can’t see the flame unless it’s dark. We had her party in the middle of the day, which was very unusual for us, and you couldn’t even tell that the candles were lit. Kind of defeats the purpose!

Anna still managed to blow them all out.

Got a good, candid shot when she wasn’t looking, so she wasn’t able to make a goofy or disapproving face at me.

Dad likes to wear shirts that have funny sayings on them. He doesn’t talk much. He lets his shirts do the talking for him.

Mom always wears shirts that tell about how wonderful it is to be a Grandma.

Abby goes until she can go no more.

Emma Clowning Around

I was a clown once. They called me Cabeza de Lapiz (Pencil Head). I was a clown during my summer mission trip to Mexico City. I was not a funny clown. I was more of a loving clown. I hugged the children in the streets, and they kissed my makeup off.

Emma found my clown suit. She looked so cute and funny. She would make a much funnier, better clown than I did. Her pictures here are funnier than any I ever took in that suit. Maybe she will get a chance to entertain and love on the children of some poor country some day. Until then, I will teach her about Jesus and about the children in other countries who don’t know Him or His power. I’ll let God lead her in the way that she should go. And water her future with my prayers.