The Tree Incident

We are up and running again, thanks to the techno savvy husband (either that or he's just luckier than me!).



So, here we are, living in the land of boyhood again. Benjamin was climbing a tree at preschool last week (on the way out) and he took his first tumble out of a tree. The tree didn't seem to have or to have caused any major damage, but the bush that he landed on didn't fare so well. Neither did our beloved Canada shirt! It has been one of our favorites (thanks Steinke family!) but now has a gaping hole in the back. I'll let Benjamin tell you the rest of the story. . . .

Techno savy. . . . . or crazy!!!!

Okay, so historically John and I haven't been all that behind in the world of technology but sadly that seems to be changing. We use the desktop that we got when I graduated from college (almost 8 years ago and we know how computers are), John's laptop battery lasts a whopping 5 minutes before having to be plugged- thus defeating the entire purpose of the LAPtop, neither of us have joined the so-called "wonderful and exciting" world of Facebook (much to my sister's dismay!), AND to top it all off, I have been wanting to post some exciting pics of my family from this past weekend and the card reader for the camera card won't work and some child lost the USB adapter thingy. Does it get any more crazy making?

Our friends the Rupps!

Just a shout out to an amazing testimony of the grace of the Lord. It may seem small to those of you who don't understand the workings of a sensitive child, but the story that Kayla has to offer about how the Father cares for our children is beautiful. I always knew that she was an amazing writer, but this is wonderful! Read on my friends. . .

The men in my house. . .

(if you can't hear, Samuel is saying cheese instead of jumping!)
Okay, so today I went to work-out (yes, me) and then to the prayer room. Thanks to our dear friend Andrew, I got to do it all alone! You all know the depth of my love for sweet Samuel, but my guess is that unless you have had one like him, you wouldn't understand the importance of leaving him with someone that HE loves. You see, with my eldest, even if he didn't like the situation at first, he adjusted fairly quickly and enjoyed h imself eventually. Samuel however, most times will not adjust himself quite as quickly and sometimes is still upset when I come back for him. To break a mother's heart. . . this is what I lament over. I want to help him grow into this, help him overcome it, and yet, to leave him is pain on my heart and his. Nonetheless, as I came home this morning, I found him running down the hall (he didn't even stop to say hello to me) and into the living room. The boys had set up a lovely assortment of pillows for just this purpose.

On a side note, I have started reading "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. A friend of mine up here, mentioned that as I am married to one and am raising two men, it would be a good read. Well, a chapter in and I am convinced. Not that girls are all weak and shallow and should play tea parties in pretty dresses, or that men are looking wanting to be strong and dominating and shoot things. But I am convinced that in the formation of man and woman things were made differently. And that my boys have a innate desire to explore, conquer, and believe they are a part of something bigger than themselves-- even if it's just a pile of pillows these days. I pray they will know that they are a part of a much bigger picture and the God who made them in His image, also made them to be ready to love deeply an d fight mightily for it. Thank you Jesus!


(Wow, that's a big smile!)

The garden? Again??

Okay, so Katrina and I had a feebled attempt at a garden this year. Due to outside circumstances, we couldn't get the garden in until early June. It wouldn't have been devastating had there not been ant number of animals eating everything in sight. At some point we totally lost hope (and lost the battle) and just gave it over to the deer and the groundhog (or something similar). Today however, the troops were revived! Neither of us had ever planted a fall garden, so we thought, before we try anything too dramatic next summer, we better have one last go at it and see how the enemy fares. We have heard on various occassions that both marigolds and human hair will repel deer. So we have planted lettuce and spinach in the midst of a lovely array of flowers and will round up some hair soon enough. We'll see and maybe come next spring, we'll have have a battle plan that's more successful than this years!
p.s. Though this attempt is in the middle of the other garden, if you look closely to the left you can actually see that the deer even ate the LEAVES on the squash and zucchini! AHHHH! :)

A few thoughts on marriage. . .

When I was growing up my dad would always begin a conversation on marriage saying like the old priest in "The Princess Bride" Mawwiage. . . . I can see him sitting in his office, meeting new couples for pre-marital "mawwiage" counseling, going into some reminiscent of a great movie. Anyway, our friend Rich Stevenson put a wonderful blog today about this great institution and I thought I would pass it along.

Check this out!

Today Show? I think not. . .

As I was driving home last night after picking up a family at the airport (1am) I was praying desperately that my children would sleep well last night. Needless to say, they awoke early, we laid in bed until 7 hoping for a miracle, got up and all I wanted was a bit of good morning show news. I was deterred however when both children, holding drumsticks, placed themselves in front of the TV and requested the following. . . .

P.S. The one from this morning wouldn't upload, but this is relatively close. . . . the one this morning was much louder and much more rambunctious! If anyone knows, I would love to know when I should think about actual drum lessons of some sort. What does that look like? When? Do they make little set for 4 year olds? Anyone?

Samuel the Great

So, just a quick note. Samuel has come into himself a bit this past week and I thought I would share with you our newest dilemna. SO, parents near and far, how does one deal with the climbing tendencies of a young one who so very often gets up there and suddenly begins to yelp for help as he is so completely (and obviously) stuck????



I missed the first place he was stuck that afternoon, but several minutes after I took the second shot, his brother had taught him how to get out of the slide predicament. Just go down!! Yeah for big brothers-

Musings from the Prayer Room, Part 1

Okay, so this is now the third series that I have started in the world of blogging. I hope this one has more success than the previous two. I won't go through the messy details, but neither of the first attempts ever made it to part 2. Anyway, I have seen someone else do this and I thought it was a great idea. The thought is that while I am in the prayer room, the Lord is speaking to my heart, showing me things, and moving in me to pray for all kinds of things. I figured what a better way to share about what happens up here, than by sharing some of my heart and experiences.

Picture this, this morning we all headed down the street to the prayer room. Me and the boys, and we took with us Katrina and Kinsey (see this post for sweet Kinsey) and our friend Andrew. Anyway, we all arrived close to 10:30 and stayed until almost 11:30! (a vast improvement from the last trip with both boys and one mommy) Beside the point, as I was watching Benjamin stare at the drums and play along in the air, Samuel fell asleep in my arms and we all headed back to our seats, conveniently located in the back of the room. Benjamin was content to color in his coloring book for a bit, but then wanted to go back up front and see the drums again. Since I was now firmly planted with a child asleep in my lap, I sent him to our dear friend Chad and they watched the drums together.

Two things suddenly happened. First, the worship leader began to sing the following chorus "I put on my garments of vengeance, I wrap myself in zeal as a cloak. I'm going to war. I'm going to war, says the Lord." At first glance, I was upset by this song. This view of the Lord. The picture of the heavenly Father, in all his loving kindness, going to war against humanity. Then like a lightening bolt, it hit me. It is because of his loving kindness that he is going to war. I don't really understand what it looks like for someone to love me enough that they would be willing to fight and die for me. In a generation that has not experienced a "traditional" war, I only see it as a horrible, pride-filled event that causes pain and suffering. But this morning my heart was moved to pray for those I know who long to see Jesus and the Father as ones who will FIGHT for our hearts. We don't really know what it is like to have someone really fight FOR us. Most of the time it is shrouded in some kind of selfish ambition, gain, or world dominion. Not just for us and our hearts. May we know this zeal of the Lord in a new and exciting way.

Secondly, when Benjamin and Chad came back from drum watching, Chad told me that Benjamin had been praying as he was watching when they were talking about East Asia (a specific country that we talk about, but due to the sensitive nature, I can't actually say where). Benjamin told Chad that he was praying for Bright, his friend. You see, our dear friends have left for East Asia this past weekend and we have been talking about where they are and what they are doing. He had heard the people on stage praying for that place and those people, and he in his own way, began to intercede for his friend Bright to be able to share the gospel. The chorus we were singing was, "Open up a door, open up a window. Make a way for your word to go forth." So as we prayed this morning,

"Lord Jesus, hold the Rupp family. Make a door, make a window for the power of the gospel to be spread in East Asia. Use ALL of them to testify to the only Living God, raised from the dead and coming back to fight for his people. That all in your city may know the depth to which we are loved, the width to which you search for us, and the power with which you will save us from all that is evil, all that is pain, and all that is death. May Bright testify to the light of the word. May Daniel and Kayla rest in your plan and your provisi0n, may Zion make his namesake known and may your name be glorified."

We love you Rupps, we are with you and thinking of you- can't wait to hear from you!

IHOP Fun

There are all kinds of things I could complain about when talking about life at IHOP (lack of funding, neighbors who hate us, too far from grandmas, etc,etc,etc). However, this is something I will forever be grateful for. Tonight as Ben and John were putting together the train tracks, Samuel started to "play with them." (messing them up) John and I were asking Benjamin to be patient with his brother and I started to sing the old Psalty song from when we were kids (be patient, be patient, don't be in such a hurry. . . . ) Anyway, he didn't like that too much, so I remembered the last part of this verse that he has been learning in Sunday School. Sadly, I couldn't remember the whole thing, but when I asked him he knew it by heart. Thank you Lord, that despite our shortcomings and failings as parents, you still take our children and mold them. Thank you for putting us in this place where your word is taught so thoroughly.

As a side note, every week they have 4-5 of these verses where Mr. Danny comes to all the classes (1-5 year olds). First they say the verse, then they sing the verse, then they pray the verse. It's intense and really cool at the same time. Love to you all!