Busy, busy, that seems to be a way of life anymore, although, it has been a very nice sort of busy. Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 23rd weeding anniversary. I surprised him with a night away at a nice hotel not too far from home. We have not gone anywhere without the children overnight since our honeymoon. It was very good for both of us. I think it might become a new tradition.
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Our rainy season is upon and working wonders on the garden. The corn seemed to shoot up a few inches after Sunday evening's drenching rain. In our dry, arid area, rain is like steroids and very much appreciated. :) My niece and Hannah got up yesterday morning at 5:45am and headed out to the garden to pull weeds as a surprise for me. It was so sweet! I am very blessed to have such great children in my life.
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I have been enjoying Ann Voskamp's blog, Holy Experience for a few years now. I appreciate her candidness and I always leave her blog feeling inspired. I did purchase her book, One Thousand Gifts, but I honestly just have not been able to finish it yet, although, I do plan to. I want to start my own list of one thousand gifts here on my blog. Remembering all that the Lord has blessed us with, big and small, is very powerful. We serve a very big God who cares about all the details of our life. With that, here is the start of my list:



1 twenty-three years of happiness with an amazing man

2 funds to provide a night away with that amazing man :)

3 a steady income from a stable job in uncertain economic times

4 a sweet little girl who travels over a thousand miles to spend the summer with us, and who is blessing us in so many ways

5 girls who wake up early to bless others with surprises

6 sleepy hugs from barely over waist-high boys

7 quiet morning time before the rush begins

Blessings,

Marninah

Discipleship Camp

I am enjoying a quiet moment before the troops awake, enjoying a yummy cup of coffee with coconut milk. The past few weeks have been super busy. Our sweet niece is here with us for the summer. We sure are enjoying her company. She is super helpful and has a great attitude. She doesn't even mind pulling weeds in our huge garden, which is good since that is a daily assignment. :)

Last week, I served at our church's High 5 Discipleship Camp, think VBS just slightly different. Each morning we would greet the kids, listen to memory verses, worship together, listen to anointed in-depth teaching, and then break off into different "camps". I was a leader in the cake decorating camp. There was also a basketball and judo camp. We had so much fun learning to use different decorating tips and made lots and lots of pretty cakes. The amount of frosting we went through for twenty-three girls was incredible. I lost count at 15 gallons!

It was a very blessed time. Halfway through each camp, we broke off into small group discussion times going over the day's lesson. They were some smart girls who really thought through the issues. Some, including myself, realized how important our words are and how we need to change some habits. As with any type of ministry, the Lord always teaches the leaders something important. What He showed me was how pride likes to rear it's ugly head in so many areas of my life. It is not a pleasant thing to realize. But, I sure am thankful. By His grace and mercy, I have been catching my thoughts and "taking them captive to the Lord" as often as possible. It only takes a small match to start a forest fire (something we know all too well in the South West) and so a small negative thought can have the same disastrous effect in our lives if left unchecked.

My son was in the judo camp. His "coach" was an elderly man who was the highest degree black belt in judo and a former national champion. He was a great, big man with a heart that matched his size. He really spoke a lot into the children's lives all week. My son came home the first day and shared with his father how impressed he was that the man said how would have given up all his judo honors to have Jesus. He made sure the kids knew how much he loved the Lord and that it was not about judo, it was about Jesus. Sadly, on the fourth day after praying for the kids, he collapsed from a heart attack and went home to be with his beloved Savior. He will be sadly missed and remembered for a lifetime.

Things like this always cause us to pause and consider our own salvation. Are we ready? Each and every breath we have is a gift from God. May we not take any of it for granted.

Blessings,

Marninah

This and That

Pretty flowers from Tia

 What a sweet morning so far. Isaac, age 9, awoke early and shared a light breakfast of toast and coffee for me, tea for him. Then he finished his math before 7:30, which gives him bragging rights for the rest of the day. We are not done with school for the summer, yet. The way things are looking right now, we may need to go straight through summer with many days off. I keep reminding myself that one of the beauties of homeschooling is that we are not tied to any arbitrary schedule. We can do what works for our family. Great thought in theory, but a bit difficult on warm summer days when kids would much rather be swimming, and mom would rather be reading a good novel.

The lettuce is enjoying our cool Spring weather.

Most of the garden is planted. It has been a very cold Spring with our last freeze a little over a week ago. Sunday night saw a low of 39 deg., very unusual for us. Our potatoes froze twice and now they are covered with weeds. I need to get out there and try to find them. :) This is the first year we planted asparagus. I am really enjoying seeing their little stalks pop up. I can't wait until we can harvest some!

We, like most Americans, are looking for the many ways we can save money. Unfortunately, we have some consumer debt to pay off and every extra penny we can save is going towards that. I have been meticulously turning off every unused light, unplugging anything that is not being used, staying home as much as possible, and hanging clothes on the line to dry. I have to say, that is one of the most enjoyable frugal habits there is. Bright colors blowing in the breeze is a very pretty sight.



We are also gearing up for a visit from our sweet niece. She will be staying with us for the summer. Hannah is beside herself with excitement. I am looking forward to sweet smiles and lots of giggles. The boys are looking forward to the new tricks she will teach them on their scooter. Fun, fun!

Blessings,

Marninah

Of Caves and Gardens

Well, I am off to a slow start here. The weekend was busier than I expected with friends over and lots of fun activities. Our oldest daughter has been courting a young man for the past year, and for lack of better word, we call him her "beau". To call him her boyfriend just goes against they way they are handling their relationship. Her "beau" and a friend of Artsy Girl's spent the day with us on Saturday. We had good food, laughter, and many rounds of my favorite card game, Dutch Blitz. I am very thankful for the men and women, and their respective families, who serve in the military to make our weekend of fun, peaceful and free. Thank you!


The entrance to The Cave.

 

We drove up into the canyon just North of our house and went inside an old mining shaft. My husband and children went into it a few weeks ago, I had lost my courage at the entrance. This time I took a deep breath, convinced myself I was braver than I looked, picked up my very dim flashlight, tightly held my seven year son's hand and carefully tip-toed inside. It was very interesting...damp, eerily dark and a nagging feeling of just what is around the next corner. (The scat on the trail leading up the cave, that husband kept wondering if it belonged to a bear, did not help that feeling go away.) OR, better yet, just what was hanging over your head in the dark?? I could never be a dwarf, caves and I do not mix very well. The children all loved it, though. When I turned back towards the way of escape,  Benjamin went on much further without needing to hold my hand. :)

Inside looking back to the entrace, or more accurately....the way of escape!

On the more brightly lit side of things, we have been steadily working on getting our garden planted. The Spring weather has not been very cooperative, though. It got down to 29 deg. Monday morning and froze some of our plants. The last frost date here is May 15, so that was very unusual. I am hoping things will stay warmer now and we can get the rest of the seeds in the ground. Are you planting a vegetable garden this year?

Blessings,

Marninah