Merry Christmas From the Kislings!

How I love this time of year! I love the sparkling lights on houses, twinkling Christmas trees in the windows around the neighborhood, Nativity sets, my Christmas mug collection, making Christmas cookies, gift giving, Christmas music and spending time with family. But most of all, I love the month long reminder that we have a Savior, who came as a tiny baby, born in humble circumstances, who later died a terrible death and rose again, that we might spend eternity with Him. Now THAT is the ultimate Christmas gift.

As I reflect on the past year, it mostly seems like a blur with a few highlights! Time seems to go faster and faster as the kids get older. We had quite an eventful summer. We had the amazing opportunity to take our whole family on a mission trip to Haiti! We went with a group from our church—9 kids and 6 adults led a vacation Bible school for 300 kids up in the mountains near a town called Saut d' Eau. All the kids did an outstanding job, and came away with new perspectives and changed hearts. I'm so thankful to the Lord, and to all who helped either through prayer or financial support, for the chance to serve in that capacity as a family, and with the people from our church. I hope we will get to do it again someday. 36 hours after returning home from Haiti, we left on a road trip to Colorado and Wyoming. In Colorado, we picked up a tent trailer that friends of Reid generously donated to ARM Ministries, in our care, for us to use personally as well as in any way for the ministry. What a blessing! We then met in the mountains of Wyoming with Reid's brother Craig and his family and camped and fished for a few days. It was such fun! And SOOO beautiful! It was a welcome respite after our trip to Haiti. Later in the summer, we took our "new to us" tent trailer to Crescent Lake for our annual family camping trip. And of course that was relaxing and fun. My brother Kevin joined us. He's always a lot of fun to have around. :)

Reid has been working at Western Seminary for a year and a half now. He is continually reminded of what a blessing it is to be there. The atmosphere and the people he works with are pretty wonderful. He continues to be involved with ARM Ministries missions organization, and works quite a bit with Pastor Riccardo in Haiti. In his free time (which isn't much!) he enjoys working with our tilapia farm. Yep, I said tilapia farm. :) It's in our garage and is a very small operation, only fingerlings (babies :) ) at this point, but believe it or not, people do buy tilapia fingerlings in bulk. Here in the Northwest, people use tilapia for aquaponics (think, backyard chickens)—growing fish (aquatics) and plants in water (hydroponics) together. The fish waste is fertilizer for the plants that clean the water to go back into the fish tank. It's the ultimate in sustainability and just fits our Oregon location. ;) He's working to build a website for the business called backyardfishfarm.com.

Cameron is a senior this year! I don't even really want to think about it in some ways, but in other ways it's so exciting to see him grow into the wonderful young man God created him to be. He works hard at school, and if all those AP credits work out, will be a sophomore when he enters college next year. Water polo season was awesome this year! The boys team was undefeated in their league and won the state championship! What a way for Cameron to end his high school water polo career! Cameron is involved in two youth groups and co-leads a Bible study/prayer time before school every day. It's swim team season right now, and in the spring, he will be back at playing water polo. He works as a life guard at our local pool, and in his free time enjoys spending time with his wonderful group of friends.

Katie is a sophomore now. She too is a water polo player. The girls team worked very hard this year and did well. Next year they will be a force to be reckoned with as they will have 9 seniors on their team, and several strong younger players as well. Katie is doing swim team and will play spring water polo as well. She plays the oboe in band. She is in her second year of painting class at school and is quite an artist. I'd post one of her paintings, but that is strictly forbidden. :) In her free time, Katie enjoys youth group, likes to read and of course loves to spend time with her friends—one wonderful young man in particular, if you catch my drift ;).

Rosalie is in 7th grade. She is thriving and growing into a confident, though quiet young lady. Playing clarinet in the band is lots of fun for her. The middle school band teacher is a favorite of all, and makes it so much fun for the kids! Rosalie is in her second year of 4-H cooking class, which she loves. It's such a great experience! When Rosalie is not doing homework, drawing or reading a book, she can be found playing with Natalie, or spending time with one of her good friends. She also enjoys youth group at our church.

Natalie started middle school this year! (6th grade) After watching her three older siblings reach this milestone, and spending many hours in the middle school for older siblings' events, her transition was very easy and natural. She loves school, and is thriving. She plays the flute in the band. (Finally one who follows in my footsteps! :) ) She joined Rosalie in 4-H cooking class this year and is really enjoying it. She will often wander into the kitchen while I am cooking and offer to help me, which is a blessing and a fun time for both of us. Natalie likes to play with Rosalie and her other friends, practice her flute, and read. And like the others, she attends youth group at our church. In case you haven't picked up on it, all four kids are in the youth group at our church. They all meet on the same night, so that means.... date night for Reid and I! We have enjoyed many coffee dates in the recent months during youth group hours. :)

The pace of my own life has seemed to pick up lately. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm going to survive these busy years with 1 tween and 3 teens! I'm sure many of you can relate! :) I have three little part time jobs that keep me busy—sometimes more than I would like :)—but I am thankful for the opportunities to earn a little extra money, and to spend time with and serve people. I work for ARM Ministries about 20-25 hours a month, processing donations for all the missionaries. I enjoy this and do it from home, which makes it easy and flexible. I have a new little job—I am a substitute for the switchboard at George Fox University (I answer the main phone line and redirect calls). This has been really fun! It is very sporadic, but in December and January both, I will have a full week of work. I also still clean for my aunt Pam twice a month. We enjoy our visits and I am always so encouraged after spending time with her. I have also spent a little bit of time with my aunt Cindy lately. These two sisters of my mom are such a blessing in my life, and help keep mom alive as we reminisce and often laugh at the memories. On the home front, managing six schedules, cooking and baking for our gluten free/dairy free family, and keeping up with all things "hearth and home" more than fill my time. :) And I truly love it! In my free time, I enjoy women's Bible study at church, coffee dates with my dear friends and sitting down with a good book once in a while.

We hope this Christmas season finds you blessed. We know that Christmas can be a difficult time for many- whether grieving the loss of a loved one, or hardship of another variety. But even in the midst of all circumstances, whether joyful or not, God is good, and we have the hope of a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Attitude of Gratitude Part 1

Once upon a few years ago, I read a book called "1,000 Gifts". Well, sort of. You see, I have a confession. It's very difficult for me to finish a nonfiction book. I don't know why. Maybe I need to read a different kind of nonfiction book. But generally speaking, I read enough of the book to get the gist of it, skim the rest, and call it good. So, I only MOSTLY read that book. In it, the author's focus is having a heart of thankfulness, even in the hard places of life, and how that can have such an impact on our attitudes and our very lives.

After reading that book, I kept a  gratitude journal for a while. In fact, I posted two different blog lists of thankfulnesses back in 2011, and if I was computer savvy, I would post the links to those lists right here...... But alas, I lack the skills to accomplish that task, at least until Reid gets home tonight :).

I took a long break from my thankfulness list - for no particular reason that I can think of, but started again a little over a year ago. I love looking back over the list. It brings back special little memories of our everyday life, and in the present, it helps me keep my eyes open for even the smallest blessings that God puts into each day. I'm up to 350, but I won't put them all in this post. Phew! That would be overwhelming! Here goes! The first 100. (Which, if I were to count the old posts from 2011, would actually be 300-400.)

Starting in the summer of 2013......

1. Finding a rock in Katie's jeans pocket. :)
2. Otter pops!
3. Folding clothes with Natalie.
4. Rosalie reading voraciously.
5. Cameron's sparkle back in his eyes after being sick.
6. Staying up late reading a good book.
7. The library!
8. Hummingbirds.
9. A juicy peach off of our own tree.
10. Deep red rose
11. Double Delight rose and it's intoxicating aroma.
12. Mail.
13. The quiet of morning.
14. Flexibility of summer.
15. Opportunity to spend time with my cousins.
16. Colors.
17. Blackberries.
18. Blackberry pie.
19. Yuka.
20. Time with the grandparents.
21. A day at the beach.
22. Hermit crabs.
23. Starfish.
24. Sea anenomies.
25. Little kids.
26. New life! (Cousin Lindsay's new baby, Ruby.)
27. Time with Hilary and Wendy. (My cousins)
28. All the little cousin's munchkins.
29. Watching Cam play with little Joe Joe.
30. A dip in Aunt Pam's pool on a hot day.
31. The refuge that Aunt Pam's house/pool is.
32. Family.
33. Time in the Word, worship with 4 church ladies.
34. Spiritual gifts.
35. Pillows - both bed pillows and pretty decorative ones.
36. A fresh new prayer journal.
37. Starting a prayer journal NOT in a crisis! (Means life is mellow at the moment.)
38. Breaks between trials, to build strength and rest.
39. Cameron's job.
40. Opportunities to trust God - for provision- and see Him answer.
41. A trip to Costco with my girlies.
42. Cameron able to drive himself to work.
43. Big stack of papers filed!
44. File boxes cleaned out and organized.
45. Rotisserie chicken from Costco.
46. Reid teaching a class (= income!)
47. Tamales!
48. French braiding Katie's hair.
49. Katie french braiding Natalie's hair.
50. MBTI test and conversation with each child about their temperaments.
51. A Mr. Fix It husband!
52. Working new water heater!
53. No more old water heater in the doorway of the laundry room.
54. A cleaned up, bigger feeling laundry room.
55. Rainbow arch with double rainbow.
56. Beautifully colored pre-storm sky.
57. Tilapia fish.
58. Cam going to Fred Meyer on a candy run. :)
59. Rosie getting to see Percy Jackson movie before the rest of us.
60. A sort of lazy afternoon and evening.
61. The Lord's provision - for our needs and beyond.
62. Juicy, yummy peaches!
63. Processing peaches with my friend, Lisa.
64. Orange sherbet paint!
65. Painting the girls room.
66. A fresh look for the girls room.
67. Replacing dark brown 70's molding with pretty new white molding.
68. Mondays! - Regroup, stay home, do laundry.
69. Rhubarb!
70. The smell of roses in the front yard.
71. The crepe myrtle blooming after 3 years.
72. Naps!
73. REBO Hatian coffee.
74. Reid's beautiful new office at Western Seminary.
75. Hanging pictures in Reid's office.
76. Seeing where Reid works.
77. Pepito's shrimp tacos.
78. A day with the kids.
79. Engine into the white Honda!
80. Again - a hubby who saves us thousands and thousands of dollars by being such a handy guy.
81. 2 kitties sitting by each other in the tree.
82. Cameron driving to school. (Ach! Really?)
83. Because of # 82, I have a few quiet moments with God before Nattie gets up.
84. Colds going a way.
85. Shopping day with Katie.
86. Katie buying a flowered skirt and pink shirt. :)
87. Shopping day with each of my girls by themselves.
88. Fog!
89. Fall weather.
90. Pouring rain.
91. Cozy blankets.
92. Paying off a big bill!! Phew! (Physical Therapy for Cameron's injury.)
93. New hairstyle.
94. Beautiful Fall leaves!
95. Blue skies.
96. Indian summer. (Sunny and 70-ish for weeks!)
97. Little personal notes to me from ARM Ministries donors.
98. Good conference for Nattie.
99. Good conferences with all Rosie's teachers.
100. Rosalie is doing it! Praise the Lord! She has all A's and B's, no missing work, socially doing great! Yay God! (6th grade)

Ramblings

9 months? I haven't "blogged" in 9 months? Sheesh! And so today, I sit down to write, but there is so much swirling around in my head that I don't know where to begin.

I heard on Focus on the Family the other day something that seemed to strike a chord with me. The speaker said something like "It can take up to three years to fully work through a crisis and feel like things are good again." It hit home for me. I had just been sorting through my thoughts and feelings about this very sort of thing. I am beginning to feel as though I/we are in a good, contented place once again. (I hesitate to write that. Does anyone else out there wait for the other shoe to drop when things are going well? I confess, I do. But I do know that life has seasons, and I can trust that whatever the season, God is right beside me, and will walk through whatever lies in my path with me.)

So what crises am I recovering from? Well, 5 1/2 years ago my parents moved to Dundee. It was a dream come true! The week they moved in, we found out mom was very ill with a form of "pre" leukemia, and prospects looked questionable. The next several months were full of chemo, grieving, spending every possible moment with mom, helping dad, trying to manage my own family life, etc. Then in November, pre-leukemia turned into full blown leukemia and Mom didn't qualify for a bone marrow transplant. Mom went home to Jesus on January 12th, 2010. That was close to 4 years ago. And I don't need to go into detail about all that. The purpose of this post is a focus on NOW, not then.

Then, a year later, Reid became a pastor, in January 2011. Then my dad got remarried in May 2011 (A good thing for sure, but still hard in some ways and definitely a transition). Then Reid resigned from his pastor position. All within a year and a half, all the while still reeling from and dealing with the loss of my mom/best friend/wonderful grandma. What a jumble of emotions and transitions and changes. Then Reid spent a year without a steady job, which was a blessing in many ways, and wonderful to see how God provided, but also a challenge and major lesson in trusting God. Things have settled down since then, though we still sometimes face and deal with all kinds of feelings surrounding all of those events. But mostly, we have journeyed through and come out on the other side of that valley. Thank you, Jesus!

Now all that stuff is close to.... you guessed it..... three years past. And I feel at peace. For now. But guess what. Another season of change is in the air. Cameron is a senior. I know my time of respite is brief. I know this is a joyous season, and something to celebrate, but that it will also contain grief and massive change. But I know that my God and my man will walk with me through it, and that in the midst of this season, as in all the others, we will encounter joy and blessings beyond measure mixed in with the challenges, changes and hard things.

A Look Back at 2013

I finally have some time to sit and reflect on 2013, and it seems two main themes followed us closely throughout the year - transitions and God's provision. 2013 was full of both for us!

We started off in January unsure of what our future held. Our church had very generously given Reid a severance package that lasted until December 31st, 2012. So January 1st saw us trusting the Lord for whatever income needs we had. We felt like we had a direction at least. Reid would do consulting and work for ARM Ministries, and whatever other work he could find - adjunct teaching, pulpit supply, and whatever else God provided. Our friend Kim Halstead employed Reid regularly in his plumbing business as an extra hand/ carpenter/ plumber. With several consulting jobs, and the other opportunities, we managed quite well! The Lord took care of us beyond our expectation, and we enjoyed a season where we were well provided for and Reid was home quite a bit.

In June, after months of being asked several times if he would please join their team, Reid took a position as Dean of student development/ Registrar at Western Seminary. He works there 3/4 time and spends the rest of his work week on his ARM Ministries responsibilities. Western is a wonderful place to work! The people there are a blessing for Reid to work with, and he has lots of freedom to use his God given gifts and talents. We are so thankful to God for providing this work for Reid in such an incredible environment.

The commute to Western from here in Dundee is 45-50 minutes, and that has taken some getting used to. It means Reid leaves the house by 6:00 most mornings to avoid the traffic. And that means that for the first time since Cameron started middle school, it is my job to drive the kids to school in the mornings. (Yeah, I know.... they could take the bus. But oh how I love those last few minutes in the car with them before they start their day, and I like knowing that talking with mom or dad and listening to good music is the start of their day instead of sitting squished on a bus full of kids talking about who knows what. :)) Driving them to school sure cuts into my old morning routine. I used to kiss the older ones goodbye and wave them off, then have 1/2 an hour to shower or have a quiet time before the younger ones needed to get up and get ready for school. Now there is no time for that, so any time I have somewhere to be in the mornings, it's a rush to get ready after the last kid is off to school. It has taken me a few months, but I think I'm finally used to it. :) When Reid was local, he was also able to help transport kids in the early evenings after sports practices. I took for granted what a blessing that was! Now that he doesn't usually get into town before 6, I have to figure out how to time dinner prep to fit around pick up schedule. Boy, I can't wait until our 3rd car gets running so Cameron can transport him and Katie! Which brings me to another transition....

Cameron turned 16 in March, and got his license in June, after he attended driver's ed. It has lightened my load considerably to have his help with the taxi-ing! Once we have a 3rd car working (come on Reid and Cam! Almost done rebuilding that engine!), we won't even have driving schedule conflicts and boy will that be amazing! (And I'll get my early mornings back!) Cameron also started working last summer and continues to life guard and teach lessons at our local pool. He enjoys the extra cash, and I enjoy his contribution to our car insurance costs. :)

Cameron is still transitioning/ adjusting to his life with Celiac disease. It's so easy to forget to check something, or for someone to accidentally feed him gluten without meaning to. He has missed 5 weeks of school so far this year due to complications with Celiac. But I think the rest of the year will be better, as Cam (and we who are close to him :) ) is learning to be even more diligent and cautious.

Katie started high school this fall. BIG transition! But she loves it and is thriving. She has changed so much. She is only 1/2 an inch shorter than I am now, and blossoming into a lovely young woman. She was the only freshman on the varsity girls water polo team, is the only oboe player in the freshman band (which makes it fun!), and is now swimming on the HS swim team. Katie had her first surgery in September.  Come to think of it, it was the first surgery any of our family has had other than Reid when he was a kid. She had her appendix taken out. (More on this later.) She was back at school after a week, and back to water polo after two weeks. Kids! Oh to be so resilient! :)

Another BIG transition... Rosalie started middle school! 6th grade is challenging, and involves a lot more homework than elementary school, but Rosie is responsible and a hard worker and is taking it all in stride. She also now plays the clarinet, and (parent opinion of course) is doing quite well with it. Big transition number two for Rosalie is that after 5 years of hard work at the REACH Family Institute, she graduated from their program! She has grown so much, and we credit much of her success to the work Charlie and Conceicao ( and Rosalie, and us at home!) have done with her. Way to go, Rose! :) (The magnitude of what a different child Rosalie is because of this is hard to put into words. Just know. It is HUGE. AMAZING. AWE INSPIRING.)

Transition for Natalie.... well, not much, but she is in her last year of elementary school, which is a pretty big deal. She loves school and loves to volunteer in the Life Skills classroom at her school during lunch recess.

The last big transition for our family is that I started a small part time job - other than cleaning for my parents and my aunt Pam. I now work for ARM Ministries, a small missions organization. I process their donations. It has been a huge learning curve for me! I have had to learn computer programs and lingo that I didn't have a clue about. But I enjoy it a lot! I spend about 3 hours a week at it, with around 6 more hours at the end of each month. I work from home, which is lovely! And I love that I am helping missionaries all around the world! To be honest, this transition has been tough for me in some ways, but good. It has forced me to reevaluate how I spend my time each day, to come up with a new routine for each week, and become more disciplined in order to accomplish all I have on my plate. I also had to quit working at my folks house to allow more time to focus on my family's needs. :( I know.... lots of ladies work full time and have it figured out. Kudos to them! :) Recognizing the challenges working moms face, even just through my adding a few hours of work into my weeks, inspires me to appreciate the blessings of being a "mostly stay at home" mom. :)

As for God's provision, He continues to meet more than our needs. Reid's new salary is significantly lower than what we had become used to, but there again, it causes us to appreciate the resources we do have all the more. (Maybe my theme should included 'appreciating resources - time and money'.) The most AWESOME provision God gave is for Katie's appendectomy bills. We chose an insurance policy that had some fine print we didn't know about or understand properly, resulting in a bill that was basically two months salary. Choke! While we fully take responsibility for that, it was definitely shocking, and we had no idea how we could even make the suggested monthly payments. We prayed. We (or "I") :) worried. We prayed some more. I called to make the first payment. The kind lady on the other end of the line exclaimed surprise at the size of our bill and suggested I apply for a reduction. I was just sure that we wouldn't qualify. After all, we are not destitute. So we went through the process of finding tax records, utility bills, pay stubs, bank statements, etc., filling out paperwork. Guess what. Now that huge nasty giant bill is only about 25% of the original!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise Jesus!!!! Way beyond our expectation! Again, God provides more than we need. It causes me to fall on my face in humble gratitude. Seriously.

I've decided that there are few things in this life that are constant. One of them is change. Change causes transitions. Shucks. I'm not so good at those. Boy, does God know how to stretch me. Pull me out of my comfort zones and it sends me into a tizzy. :) And that is how He gets my attention. And without all these transitions, the constant pull of change, and how God provides for us amidst all the changes, I'm sure I would not as easily be able to see His fingerprints on our lives. So... gulp.... I guess I have to say that change and transitions are good, and that I am thankful for them.

I know this is a long post, and I'm sure threads of it will appear in my (hopefully) soon to be written Christmas New Year's letter, so I apologize to those of you who will catch up on our news twice. :) I guess that's what happens when a blogger doesn't blog for over 6 months. You get a big update. :) Oh, and my last post about using Disney World money to pay taxes? We're using those air miles we had saved up for something different. We're taking the whole family on a mission trip to Haiti this next summer, and those air miles are going to go a long way to getting us there. Huh. God knew all along. I love Him. :)

A Hard Decision

A while back I did a post about how I was saving my cleaning money to take the family to Disney World. I mentioned that I had been saving for 3 years, and that it looked like we were getting close to making the dream a reality. Well, I lied. I did some calendar math, and realized that I have actually only been saving for 2 1/2 years. Just thought I should make that clear.

Anyway, there is a big chunk of money in a bank bag tucked away in a safe place, slowly adding up every time I clean, getting us closer and closer to our big trip. Reid has been saving air miles, and has enough now for all six of us to fly free. His family was going to gift us a week at a Worldmark hotel. All we needed was enough for tickets, some meals out + groceries for the meals we would eat in, and tickets into the parks. And we were getting close. But for the last week, that little bank bag has been convicting me every time I open my drawer. I think about it at random times during the day. I'm conflicted. See, for the first time ever, we weren't able to pay all of our taxes. We sent off what we could, but still owe a good sized chunk of money. That was unexpected. We saved what we thought we needed, but somehow miscalculated and ended up owing double what we expected. You know that chunk of money in my drawer? It is enough to just about pay the rest of what we owe on the taxes. Yup.

So I've been wrestling. Is it being a good steward of the money the Lord has provided to let it sit in a drawer while we have a big bill? Is it? Is it? Or does it really matter? Or since I've ear marked that money and it's built up over a long period of time is it OK for me to just keep it, and continue to save for our trip and try to find another way to pay the bill? Isn't it? Please? An even tougher question.... Do I trust God enough to replace the trip money (if He even wants to!) if we use it to pay the taxes? "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's" also runs through my mind - whether in or out of context I don't know. I still don't know if I'm ready to go there - if I'm ready to hand over my little nest egg that I have joyfully worked for, thinking it was for a trip, and instead use it to pay a bill. (I've been asking Reid, and he is so gracious. I think he would go either way for my sake.) But get this....

Because of my inner struggle with this question, I thought I'd bring it up at dinner - as a hypothetical question, of course. So I asked the kids this question..."Hypothetically speaking, say you have a big chunk of money that you've been saving for a long time for a fun vacation, but all of a sudden you have a big bill to pay. What is the right thing to do? Do you keep the money for your trip, or use it to pay the bill?" Cameron said, "This isn't so hypothetical, is it mom?"They were on to me of course, and knew I was asking them a real question. A question about us. All four of them said to pay the bill. Cameron said "Pay the bill. We can save up again. I'll put in the spending portion of what I earn this summer."  Katie said, "Pay the bill and trust God to provide for the trip. Or maybe God doesn't even want us to go to Disney World." Natalie said "I'm sad, but definitely pay the bill." Rosalie said, "Well, at least we HAVE the money to pay the bill!"

I was stunned. I thought there would be such disappointment and discouragement. I thought there might even be tears. Instead I was met with responsible, cheerful responses. Cameron suggested we maybe could take some smaller trips closer to home. Katie encouraged us that we could do it - save up again and try again in a year or so. The younger two were a little quieter. I was the one who ended up in tears of disappointment. I have so been looking forward to this for so long. There I sat crying, while the kids spoke words of cheer and encouragement. (Reid had left for a meeting after dinner.) I'm still teary. Partly out of disappointment, and partly because of the hearts my children displayed tonight at the dinner table. Hearts with a "can do" spirit. Hearts of compassion for their sad mom. Hearts willing to leave things in God's hands. Hearts willing to sacrifice their pleasure for the sake of being responsible. Hearts that can see the bigger picture, and that life isn't just about their pleasure.

And now that they have put in their two cents worth (pun intended! :) ), I guess I know what I have to do. Because, after all they said, how could I hold on to that money and keep it in the drawer for our trip knowing they would know we didn't use it to pay the taxes! It would undo all they said in our conversation! Shoot - maybe I should never have asked them..... :)

Where Did That Come From?

This morning I was listening to the first Carrie Underwood album. OK, yes, it's true. Once in a while I get my country on, turn up the country music, warble at the top of my lungs and dance and clean the house. Usually when no one is home. :) (But sometimes when they are, and then they just shake their heads, roll their eyes, laugh and say "Mo-om!" Or if it's Reid, he just smiles. :) )

But that's not the point of this post. Today I was standing at the sink doing dishes, listening to Miss Underwood, minding my own business, when all of a sudden my throat constricted, my eyes got wet and my lip quivered. What? Where did that come from?

Well the song that was playing was "Don't Forget To Remember Me". The one about when the person in the song (Carrie, I assume) leaves home at 18. And her mom is crying and prolonging the goodbye, giving cash, a map, a Bible. And all of a sudden I saw myself in that position. That's where the wet eyes, tight throat and quivery lip came from. Because I realized that in just two short years my oldest chick will leave the nest. (Unless of course he decides to stay here and go to school locally to save money, which of course is what I have advised him to do. :) )

At first I thought, "How silly of me! That's two years from now!" But then I remembered the same kind of thing happening in my house when I was growing up. I even remember my mom talking about it and feeling a little silly. But here's the deal. As adults, we realize how fast time flies. Especially as our kids get older and life gets busier. And two years seems like just a blink in time. I know it will go by just that fast, and I will be the one prolonging the goodbye, holding back the tears, pride glowing, heart aching, as we leave Cameron at whatever destination the Lord takes him to. Until then, may Reid and I cherish every laugh, hug, tickle fight, and wrestling match; capture the interactions with 'the sisters'; love on him like there's no tomorrow; teach him to be a man of good character; etc. ( and may we do the same with 'the sisters'!)

Keepin' it Real

Maybe I'm alone in this. Maybe not. I have an admission. I lack self- discipline and internal motivation. There. I said it. Like my title. I'm just keepin' it real. Think what you like.

Specifically, I'm referring to housework (Well, and phone calls. I abhor making business type phone calls. Ask Reid. I don't even like to call in for pizza. What's with that?!). We all have it. Housework, that is. Some of us are great at getting it done, some of us enjoy getting it done, some of us hate it, some of us never seem to be able to get it all done. Some of us try self talk like "Do it for the Lord! Do it well! Be thankful that you CAN do housework and have a well working body to do it with! Come on, self! Put on your happy-happy-joy-joy face and just get to it already!" I have friends in all of the above categories. As for me, I think I kind of enjoy HAVING it done, it's just the actual doing that I have a hard time with. And the finished product goes a long way in helping me enjoy it. But I have a hard time getting started. (Can you guess which category I'm in? Yeah, I try the self talk method a lot. Sometimes it works.)

One of the things I really miss about Mom is that she was such a great cheerleader and motivator. She'd call me up and say "Let's play the 10 minute game! Then I'll call you back and we'll talk." We'd pick a chore, work at it for 10 minutes then take a visit break. She used to play all kinds of little games like that. 10 minutes in the kitchen, then a little section in a book. 10 minutes in the laundry room, then polish her nails. 10 minutes dusting and cleaning, then 10 minutes writing letters. Etc. (I need to play more games like that with myself!)

Yesterday, I was telling my friend Jeana about how I missed Mom's help in motivating and cheering me on to get things done. Guess what? She knows about the 10 minute game! She and our friend Becky play the game sometimes when they have a project that needs done and they are having a hard time getting motivated. Sometimes they even take before and after pictures and send them back and forth. How fun is that?!

So when I got home from being with Jeana, I texted her and told her that I was going to play the 15 minute game in my kitchen, which was a disaster. (The fifteen minute game is very similar to the ten minute game. The only difference is that you get 5 extra minutes. :) ) I took a picture, texted it to Jeana, set the timer and went for it. This is what I started with. Remember - I'm keepin' it real. Sometimes, well lots of times, I have a messy kitchen. It drives me nuts, but somehow, it keeps happening.

 Here are the results of 15 minutes of work. Of course my peppy music helped!

Do you see the difference? Isn't it exciting? When I texted this picture to Jeana, she responded with "Wow! I can see a big difference!" That Jeana - she's such an encourager! With the motivation I received from the "Once begun is half done" theory, plus the encouragement from Jeana, I.... WANTED, yes, WANTED! to do another 15 minutes! So I let Jeana know I was going for another goal, set the timer for 15 more minutes, and then.......

Wow! Jeana said she was honored to be my cheerleader, and told me I did a good job. I'm a sucker for praise, so that was really helpful and encouraging. :)

The reason I posted this, and shared my real life messy kitchen, is that I KNOW there are some of you out there like me. I would be happy to play the 10 or 15 minute work game with you anytime. If you have my number, text me. If you're on FB, message me. Or hey - I could always use more cheerleaders - you could just cheer me on, whether you do some work too or not. :) Or maybe it will just give you an idea to try on your own. Do some work, then reward yourself with a SHORT time of something you enjoy. This makes housework fun and motivating, at least for me!

Sorry - I know there wasn't much depth or interesting writing in this post. Just a dose of my reality for ya. And now I'm going to set my timer for 15 minutes to fold clothes and clean up my bedroom (which has lots of clean laundry in it). Then I'll take a break and either read or (ssshhh!) play Candy Crush for a FEW minutes. (Emphasis on few, self.... FEW!) Onward! In honor of Mom and her little game! :)