Flashback on the 15th - Sledding and Skating Fun

Brad and I have been ever so  s l o w l y  working our way through editing and organizing our 2012 pictures.  We found these ones from February of last year.  

Snow was pretty short to come by last winter.  I remember just having a few days to enjoy the white powder.  One afternoon we headed over to my friend, Liz's house to sled down their small hill in their back yard.  

Sooooo much fun!

Here's Hannah and her "best friend" Aleah.  Aleah is less than 2 months older than Hannah.  

There's always a truck or two in the back of my van.  Caleb can't seem to travel without his favorite one named "Ali".  Caleb let Hannah have a turn with it.  

LOVE this one!  He is such a boy!

I don't give birth to children with any fear of anything.  They will try anything!  Hannah just jumped right in!

LOVE this boy!



Tamera is almost exactly a year younger than Caleb.  They were in a pre-school co-op together in Brainerd.  

Sammy, not wanting to be outdone!

Brainerd's park and rec also flooded several areas at local parks and provided free skates for families.  We had wanted to go ice skating several times, but we only managed to get on the ice once due to abnormally warm weather.  

Brad is trying to teach Sammy...who is not so graceful on ice skates!

Caleb actually did much better on his skates than his older sister. 

And what did Hannah and I do?  Twirl around the ice with her stroller!

This is one of Sammy's more graceful pictures.  She was on her bottom quite a bit!

And when all else fails...and one gets tired of ice skating...

Make an "ice angel!"  

I have the silliest children!

Six things I've learned from our 1st semester of seminary

1. My husband is incredibly hard working.  

I don't know how he did it...16 hours of class, 16 hours of work, 4-5 hours of volunteering (welcome desk, mentoring, etc), 25+ hours of studying...  That's not even including all the many house projects that he worked on in the very, very limited free time he had.  So, did you add that up?  62+ hours in just class, studying, and work. That's crazy.  He's amazes me.

2. My husband does so much more "around the house" than I ever gave him credit for.

When Brad was in full time vocational ministry in Brainerd, I used to complain about how little I felt he did around the house.  I so have had to eat my words...and ask for his forgiveness.  My complaints were not merited.  I have come to realize just how much he did...kids' toys were fixed, garbage was taken out, oil was changed on the vehicles, dishwasher was unloaded...because he is completely unable to do much of it now with his study and work load.  It's just not humanly possible for him or anyone else to study, work, AND help around the house for that matter.  I've come to really be okay with this and fully embrace this "new normal."  

3.  God sustained our physical bodies...even on very little sleep.

I don't know how Brad and I never got seriously sick this past semester.  We had short bouts with a runny nose or a sore throat, but it never turned into a full fledged cold or sickness.  He never missed a day of class or work, and I never had to call friends to help me because I was too sick to take care for our kiddos.  Many nights we wouldn't get to bed until after 1...and between getting up to help Hannah go potty or helping her to find her nuk or going into Caleb's room to rub his legs due to growing pains...we never got more than 4-5 hours of sleep each night.  God truly sustained us.  

4.  God provided all we needed, especially financially.   

I don't know how we're able to pay our bills each month.  I don't know how our savings has not run out.  I don't know how we are able to go to seminary without having to go into debt.  I just don't know.  If you really know Brad and me well, you know that we keep track of everything we spend.  Every. Single. Penny.  I'm not kidding you.  Even though Brad and I both completely know our bills, accounts, etc., I take care of paying all the bills and handle all the finances during this season of our lives.  And I can't explain how we are surviving except by the grace of God.  He has provided for us through human hands as well extra hours at work during his Christmas break.  It truly has humbled us and blown us away by His goodness and provision.  We praise God for His faithfulness!  

5.  Time is much more precious than money.

We learned the very first week or two that we were both going to have to say good-bye to some "time wasters" and "areas of relaxation and escape" because there was just no extra time.  So for the first time (in our marriage and probably his ENTIRE life), Brad gave up watching the Vikings.  This. Is. Huge! He LOVES the Vikings...he loves talking about them with his brothers and he loves listening to Paul Allen on KFAN talk about the Vikings...he is a great fan!  He decided that Sunday had to be a day of rest.  And since he was studying for 5+ hours most Saturdays, Sunday afternoons were precious.  So he filled those afternoons with Lego creating, Wii playing, block building times with the kids, and he never regretted it. And I gave up ALL television.  For the first time in my life, I didn't watch one episode of Survivor or any other TV show.  With all the extra work I had on my plate, it just wasn't possible.  Time became very precious to us, and we didn't have the luxury to waste it.  

6.  While seminary and this season of our life is hard, that doesn't mean it's not good. 

Seminary has been much harder than I ever expected.  I have had to relinquish control and give up comforts and destroy previous held thoughts about how "this" was supposed to be.  It's been hard, really hard at times.  But it has been so very good as well.  I've learned more about savoring my Savior and being fully satisfied in Him than at any other time in my life.  In Him I am able to find fullness of joy and an ability to "bear" all the extra that He has given to me during this time.  We still struggle with finding family and couple time, but we're learning a "new rhythm" with each passing week.    

"This"

"If it matters, you make the time. If it doesn’t, you make excuses." from Ann Voskamp's blog 

Day 2 of a new year...yet all my new ideas and habits didn't go as swimmingly as I had hoped...

Thankful for new mercies and grace every morning!

"Tomorrow, it will descend like a fresh dew, a fresh snow, and it will come again — Fresh grace all over again." - Ann Voskamp


I posted that on my Facebook wall a few days ago as I was struggling with implementing new habits in this new year.  

It's now 5 days later, and things are still not going as planned.  

I realized that no matter how much I love spending time evaluating my shepherding of my children and discovering better ways to manage my home and dissecting my day to determine how I can use my time more wisely and making lists on how to add these positive changes into my life, it's not like there's anything magical that happens when the calendar flips from December to January.  

There's no *POOF* and new habits are miraculously implemented.

At least that hasn't happened to me.  

But what there is...is grace.  

And grace has fallen so sweetly on me this past 6 months.  

So, here I am...on January 7 (and not January 1, like I had hoped) ...finally writing a post...after months of setting my blog aside completely to focus on my family's transition to the Twin Cities and seminary life...and I'm not even writing about what I had intended to! 

Please, someone tell me this doesn't just happen to me!  

So my post on "16 things I've learned during my husband's 1st semester in seminary" and "101 crazy things that Caleb can build with popsicle sticks" and "21 ways to survive on 4-5 hours of sleep per night" will just have to wait.

Because I just can't shake or get out of my mind something that Jason Meyer, Bethlehem Baptist Church's new Pastor of Preaching and Vision, said in his sermon.  

He was sharing a bit about how God led him and many others to believe he would be John Piper's successor.  He shared how he didn't want this path...how this wasn't something he wanted to pursue...how he tried to give every reason why he wasn't the guy for the job...and then he shared what he felt God was saying to him...

"What if this (becoming John Piper's successor) is the way that you will have more of Me?" 

And my mind began to race.  

I began to think of the "this" in my own life. 

Moving. 
Leaving my support system of 8 years.
Leaving the comforts of a regular, steady, and reliable paycheck.
The endless work of a foreclosed home.
The rigor of seminary.
Uncertainties.
Anxiety about finances.
Lack of time for...well...anything. 

And...

...the incredible joy and dependence and satisfaction that can only come from being in the very center of God's will as He leads and provides and continues to make a way when there seems to be only rocky terrain.  

Yes, even though "this" has been a rough and very difficult road at times, "this" has been good.

Very good.  

As the day as progressed, I began to think of the "this" in so many of my dear friend's lives.  

Loneliness.
Depression.
Illness.
Cancer.
Aging parents.

What if we resolved in our hearts and minds that whatever the "this" is for us, that we would fully embrace it because we know that by going through "this" we will have more of Jesus?  

More of His grace and mercy and joy and hope for a future with Him...

I need more of Him.  I've learned very deeply and quite clearly that I need more of Him now than any other time in my life.  

And I've learned that "this" is just the very beginning of truly needing Him.  For what lies ahead of us after this time of training and preparation will be filled with even more hardship and sleepless nights as Brad preaches and leads his congregation and is filled with sorrow for the lost and withstands criticism and hurts by those close to him.  

Because "this" is where God is leading us. 

And I don't want to waste "this". 

Did I truly want or completely embrace this change for me and my family a year ago?  No.  Would I change anything?  Not one, little, seemingly insignificant detail.

For "this" is exactly where I fully desire to be.