Zadie Marie: A Salvation Story

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
-III John 1:4


Both of our older boys prayed to accept Jesus as their Savior when they were quite young. They were 4 and 3 1/2 years old. But that has been 4 years ago, since Jacob made the decision! So it seems like this announcement is a long time coming.
Last Sunday, Zadie made the decision to trust Christ as her Savior!
This event has brought me so much joy and relief. Even though we read the Bible with our kids nightly, Zadie has shown very little interest in spiritual matters. Even over the last year, since she's been in Cubbies at Awana, we have tried to have intentional conversations with her about sin and why Jesus had to die, and she would usually change the subject. If I could engage her into conversation, the conversation would end in her refusing to admit she had ever sinned. The few times she would admit sin (usually after being caught in a lie), when we would go over the conversation about sin and Christ, she would say she didn't want to pray for forgiveness. It was becoming obvious that she knew all the pieces, but it was willful refusal to open up to God. Others would encourage me that she was still young (she's almost 5), but the hardening of her little heart was still concerning. And i was questioning myself whether we were being diligent enough in discipleship and training. Obviously I don't have as much time now to talk and teach one on one like I did with Nathan and Jacob, now that we have 5 kids.
Last Sunday, our Bible study met and since it was our first meeting since the holidays, we didn't have a study set. Someone asked, "What should we read?" And Paul jokingly said, "Jonah!" This is the answer our children always choose when given a choice of what Bible study to read in the children's Bible, so we had a good laugh. But we did study Jonah, and had good conversations about it.
When we came home and were putting the children to bed, Paul took Zadie upstairs to read the Bible in her bed. (On late nights, we'll read the children's story Bible to Zadie and Gideon alone, rather than reading as a family in the living room.) Paul asked Zadie what she wanted to read, and of course the answer was, "Jonah!"
In light of the good conversations we'd had at Bible study, Paul talked to her about why the people of Ninevah were in trouble with God, and that led to a conversation about sin, and on to talking about the fact that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins so we can go to Heaven.
I wasn't upstairs, but I could hear that they were having a conversation. After a while, Paul came to the to of the stairs, and said, "Rachel, could you come up here?" My heart filled with hope.
I went to her room, and Paul filled me in on what they'd talked about. He asked Zadie if she wanted to pray with Mommy about Jesus talking her sins away. She said yes!
I could sense a different spirit about her. Usually she had a kind of flippant attitude when you try to be serious with her. But she was very quiet and contrite as she lay there on her bed. I knelt by her bedside and asked her some more questions. She answered all of them with assurance. Then I asked her if she wanted to pray. She nodded.
I guided her in a simple prayer to confess that she had sinned, and asking Jesus to forgive her and thanking Him for dying to pay for the bad things she'd done. When we were finished, she had a big smile on her face, and i felt like my heart was about to burst with happiness!
The next morning I asked her what she had done, and she quickly and confidently answered, "I asked Jesus to take all my bad sins away so I can go to Heaven!" I feel certain she understood and fully accepted what had happened the night before.
Paul and I noticed an almost immediate change in her, which I believe I'd evidence of the Holy Spirit now living within her. She accidentally hurt Gideon. I had her apologize, which she did, but then several minutes later, she came to him and asked him if he would forgive her. She told me when she was outside, she was singing "new songs" about Jesus dying on the cross. Instead of playing with dolls or other toys, she say quietly and listened attentively when we read the Bible the next night (and every night since). She has told most of her friends about what she did.
It is such a joy to know that one more of our children will be joining us in eternity! And the fact that i got to be with her when she made that decision makes my joy complete!

I'm Still Here!

I do think about blogging, a lot.  But I just keep not doing it.  I'm wondering about the future of my blog.  I do love keeping my "journal" online, but I'm getting it done less and less often.  I know I don't have a readership, and I don't want to acquire readers.  I do this for myself.  We'll see how it goes this summer.  I've got my laptop fixed, and found the power cord.  It's been missing for several months, but was pretty low on my list of important things, since we have the big computer and a smart phone for internet.  (By the way, the cord was in the dvd cabinet the whole time.  I kept searching the computer cabinet and box.)
How is life?  Good!
Elsa is sleeping most of the night now.  She backed her go-to-sleep time from 11 to 9, and moved forward her waking time.  She usually sleeps at least 6 hours, but earlier this week slept 10 hours! If she wakes, it's usually just once, and she finally will go back to sleep in her own bed, without being swaddled.  We still have absolutely no daytime schedule.  She likes to be held and to nurse a lot of the day.  (My milk production is still struggling, so I think she nurses more often than is typical.)  She will lay on her blanket or in her bouncy chair, but prefers to be able to see and hear me.  So it's really hard to get anything done.  But I just try to peck away on projects whenever I have 5 minutes.
My body is feeling (and looking!) all of it's 33 (almost 34) years.  I don't know if it was all brought on by this last pregnancy and childbirth, but I feel old!  I have an outrageous amount of gray hair falling out during my post-baby molt.  People claim they can't see gray in my hair, but I say bull.  My skin has been going crazy with extreme dryness and what I have self-diagnosed as rosacea.  I switched soap and moisturizer to an all-natural approach, and it seems to have helped a lot.  I'm doing the oil cleansing method and moisturizing with a mix of jojoba, coconut, sunflower, avacado, and rose hip seed oil, along with some essential oils.  (By the way, I've become a bona fide hippie in the last year.)  My metabolism has flat-lined, and I've only lost 10 lbs of baby weight.  My varicose veins are better than they were during pregnancy, but are still pretty bad.  (My first appointment to repair is next week.)  My back has been hurting for 3 weeks, with no known cause.  It's getting better slowly (no more stabbing pains), but I'd prefer it be fixed NOW.  And there's other hormonal things....  To sum it up, I'd rather just take naps every day. :)
We finished school, for-real-but-not-really, the first week of May.  The boys finished their math before Elsa arrived, and were basically done with new material in Language Arts (phonics, spelling, reading, language, poetry, etc), so I let them skip the lessons and just finish their worksheets and readers.  The lure of finishing early wasn't enough to make them do 3 days at a time, but they finally got it all done.  Summer schedule is reading a story or two, and math flashcards every day, so I am making them do "school" during the summer.  I had backed Nathan up a year to 2nd grade Language Arts and he made a HUGE leap (from Kindergarten reading level, to a normal 3rd grade boy level), so we're going to try jumping ahead to 4th grade (where he should be) Language next year.
The boys LOVE being outside.  They are constantly out there building (or destroying) things, digging in the dirt, or helping do anything.  I am so glad they have the opportunity to just "be boys."  Nathan can run the lawnmower, and we recently acquired a pushmower, and Jacob begs to mow with it.  If Paul asks them for help doing a project, they leap to join him.  I really appreciate their helpfulness, and hope they keep that quality throughout their life.  God knows the house would have completely fallen apart had they not been doing the bulk of the cleaning lately.
Zadie starts school this fall also, and she's excited and ready.  (She turned 4 last month.)  She wants to write her name, and has finally mostly got her colors sorted out.  She's such a big girl (literally, and as an expression)!  She loves her little sister and is always trying to mother her and snuggle.  She keeps telling me about, "when I'm a mommy."  I love that she's identified with me.  Whereas, I don't think that all women should only be stay-at-home moms, I will encourage her to dream about being a mommy as much as I'd encourage her to be an astronaut, if that's what she wants to do.  I think that being a mom is just as important, if not more important, than being a doctor or teacher.  She's figured out how to ride her bike, and can actually ride without training wheels, but can't launch or stop, so we keep them on for now.
Gideon is..... a two year old.  He amazes us with his vocabulary and ability to communicate (our last two were just starting to use words at his age), but he is a pill.  He is a bully and will hit other kids when they don't do what he wants.  We've been having a trial with screaming "NO!" tantrums.  It's really pleasant at 4 AM, let me tell you.  I know it's "just a stage" but.... Oh my.  It takes everything I have to stay on him.  (And he has figured out the "Mommy is nursing and can't do anything right now.")  Not to mention the little bugger can do anything he sets his mind to, even if it could potentially kill him.
We have had basically nonstop rain this month.  The garden has only been dry enough to work in for a few days, and that was at the beginning of the month.  It now has algae growing in it (future fertilizer?), and standing water in several places.  The only way I can see where the peas are, is because they're turning yellow among all the weeds.  I complain like a city person, but I think even the farmers are ready for it to end for a while.  I know quite a few still haven't gotten all their crops in.  When I look at the weather map, there are flood warnings along rivers from Wyoming to Texas to Missouri.  It makes me wonder what the rest of the summer will be like.
Well, even though I opened with bragging about Elsa's nighttime sleep schedule, she is thinking about waking up, so I need to get my lap empty and ready for her.
Hopefully I'll be here again soon, blogging about more randomness and discoveries!

I'm Still Here.

Okay, so it has been pointed out to me (Ahem, Carlsie....) that I am not doing a lot on my blog lately.  A myriad of reasons, really.
Even though our family life has not been crazy, my personal non-mommy obligations have been on overdrive, it seems, ever since the first of the year.  I can't tell you what all it has been, exactly, but it seems like every time I'm on the computer I'm working on something else.
And then we have the fact that I have cut my recreational computer time, drastically.  I wasn't doing a lot already, but basically I check my email and that's it.  No blog (obviously), no reading other blogs, no Facebook stalking through Paul's account.  No useless Yahoo news.  I didn't really resolve to cut those things out, it just happened.  Lack of blogging is also due to the fact that most of the stuff I want to write about requires pictures, and I have a lack of motivation and time for finding and uploading them.
I have really, really been making a concentrated effort to keep the house clean.  Today, it's still reeling from the crazy week we've had this week, and I can't quite motivate myself to do the stack of pans on the counter.  But for the first time in months, perhaps years, there's not a box full of unorganized crap sitting somewhere.  I went through every box and basket and got it put away, thrown away, or filed.  That's a good feeling.  And I am trying not to let it happen again.  Inevitably, a box or pile gets stacked together when we're having people over and I haven't gotten the table cleaned off, but I usually am getting through it in a day or two.  And why is cleaning off the table of clutter so hard???  Is it just me??
Recent projects completed (mostly) include both decks getting finished, finally finishing the basement floor, grinding and staining my parents' back porch floor, and getting my front flower bed planted (phase 1, anyhow).  In-the-near-future projects include painting both rooms in the basement next week, and moving the boys to their new room in the basement soon after.  We also need to stain the back deck, if it ever stops raining.  And we have started ripping up the linoleum to finally tile the front room. 
It has rained SO MUCH in the last month.  Seriously.  I think there were 5 days or less that it didn't rain in all of May, and maybe one day so far in June.  My garden is a complete wreck.  A lot of stuff is yellow, some has died, and the weeds are flourishing, so much that there are a few rows I can't even distinguish among the weeds.  I tried to step out there once and sank up to my shins.
Paul's parents celebrated their 40th Anniversary last Sunday.  Paul, Elizabeth, and I threw them a surprise dinner and reception, and nearly 100 people showed up to bless them. 
I guess also, a reason for not blogging is my discovery of Downton Abbey.  I'm a bit late to jump on the bandwagon, but I love that show.  It's not without it's faults, but they are much fewer than many shows - no nudity or crudity, and zero language.  I have even gotten Paul to watch it with me, not just here and there, but every episode.  We just finished Season 5, and I have to say, that was the BEST season finale of any show I have ever watched.  Since Season 6 is not on DVD yet, my evening free time should be a little free-er.  :)
We are about a week away from finishing school for the summer.  (It seems late, but let me remind you we didn't start til late October due to the house project.)  Close to finishing the seatwork, anyhow.  I'm still not sure what we're going to do with Nathan's reading over the summer.  I really would like him to do a full phonics/reading course so he can catch up, but I think getting him to do seatwork will be like trying to give him an appendectomy with no anesthesia.  And about as pleasant for me, too.  We'll figure it out.  Just daily practice will go a long ways.
Anyhow.  That's a bit about what's going on.  Now to find the girl-child and put her in bed for a nap.  She skipped her nap yesterday, and I now know what the term "hot mess" is all about.  That was her by 8 PM.  So today the nap is non-negotiable.

A Long While

Oh my goodness, how long has it been since I actually posted an update?
It was just a bit busy during February and the beginning of March.  Now life has slowed down, and the weather has warmed up, and we are doing good.
I don't even know where to begin. 
The reason I was so busy in February was that I helped plan and put on our church's main (only?) event for women.  We have an annual one-day "mini-retreat."  This year,  we called it "A Season for Everything" and I have to say, I think it was the best yet.  We had 5 women talk about the different seasons of life that they are in or have been in, and what got them through it.  It was amazing how God tied everything together.  We didn't really know any of what the others would talk about, but yet the theme, the ideas, and the Scripture all pointed back to the same things.
We also did an Awana Grand Prix workshop the last weekend of February, followed by the Grand Prix event the first weekend of March.
The second weekend of March I went with nearly 30 women from the Ottawa area to Women's Encounter.  I didn't personally have any friends going as attendees, but I think God knew that I needed this time for ME.  It has been a long two years since the last time I went.  With nursing, not sleeping, and trying to live in it while finishing the projects..... Even though all of those things are getting better, I needed this rejuvination.  I got to give a gospel presentation to 267 women.  And I got to spend the weekend serving with 6 awesome women that have done so much to challenge and encourage and inspire me (my mom and sister included).  It was a great time to realize how much I appreciate the ladies that God has placed in my life. 
Paul and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on March 20.  We went out for BBQ and rented a couple movies.  (Loved Fury, a movie about a tank crew in WWII.  The newest Hunger Games installment, Mockingjay, was a snoozer.)  Every anniversary gets more and more low key, but I am perfectly fine with that.  I love loving my husband!  I'm so thankful for our marriage and the strength and commitment my husband has.... Even on days that I'm not very friendly.
As for the kids....
Gideon has been sleeping through the night ever since I weaned him in December.  He went from waking up 2-4 times a night while nursing, to a solid 8-12 hours.  I got used to that REAL fast, but I still feel like I'm catching up from last year.  The last couple days he's been a bit fussy and grumpy.  I think it's more teeth, even though all 16 are broken through.  It doesn't seem like Gideon eats more than 2 bites at meals.  Even at snacks, he very rarely eats more then a few bites.  The only thing he'll chow down is bananas.  He loves to play "I'm gonna get you!" and will run through the house squealing with laughter as someone chases him.  The older boys love playing this game with him.  He's not talking yet (surprise, surprise).  He nods and shakes his head - not always the right motion for the answer he's trying to give, but it's a step!  And he has one-syllable sounds for some words, like please and thank you and milk.  I was hoping he would be different than the last two, but he's shaping up to be silent til he's 2, just like they were.  (He's almost 16 months.)  He's still pretty high-maintenence when it comes to needing entertained.  He wants to be held most of the time when I'm around.
Zadie is.... Zadie!  That's all I can say, and for anyone that knows her, that says it all!  She's such a little boss.  She is so different than the boys!  She talks to her toys, and her toys talk to each other.  The other day, her hot dog and her toy girl were having a conversation about a toy pteredactyl!  She is really into clothes, but not in a prissy way.  She wants a pretty dress, but then she'll go out and dig in the dirt and climb trees.  Lately, she's been wanting me to braid her hair all the time, which really helps with the tangle situation - if we can get past the drama of brushing it out.  I'm sure our neighbors (who live a quarter mile away!) can hear her screaming like she's being skinned alive!  Some days I just don't want to deal with that.  She still loves her babies, and talks about being a mommy.  The other day she showed me that she was nursing her baby.  Paul wasn't sure what to think, but I think it's great that she has a concept of what's natural.  She also has wanted to start doing "school."  This consists on flashcards to teach her colors, and a calendar like the boys' that she gets to draw on.  Her 3rd birthday is in a couple weeks.  And we're FINALLY POTTY TRAINED!!!!  We still have an accident occasionally, but it is SO nice to have her using the potty on her own.
Jacob has really picked up on reading.  He blasted through all the short vowels and consanants.  He's stuck on long vowels, but I think it's because it requires effort and thought.  He is totally my child when it comes to that.  "I'll do it if it's easy."  But he's also figured out that if he just DOES his school, instead of whining and wandering off, he can get it done SO FAST.  Like seriously, two hours tops.  He's only got about a dozen math lessons left for Kindergarten.  I'm not sure what we're going to do for a stopping place on reading, since we're not really using a curriculum at this point.  I know we'll do some type of reading through the summer, just not sure what yet.
School is getting better with Nathan, most days.  Part of it is I've made a concious effort to change my attitude.  He reflects my attitude.  Some days it's hard.  But I offer grace, again and again (just like God does for us).  I discipline him when he needs it, but show excitement and give enthusiastic praise for good work minutes later, so he can see I'm not holding his bad attitude against him if he will choose to change it.  He's come a long way in his reading.  He's still behind what our curriculum says he should be (probably reading at a 1st grade level according to their standards), but I'm not too worried about it, since he's interested in it and making effort.  We will probably do full reading/phonics curriculum over the summer to try to catch him up.  Jacob is close to catching Nathan, but a lot of that is because it's come very naturally to Jacob (how I was as a child), whereas Nathan really had to think about it at first.  Math is definitely the subject that takes the most time in his school, as he has a math lesson (where I teach new concepts), a time test, a two-sided worksheet (one is supposed to be homework, but that never happens if we try to do it later), plus counting, time, and money questions.  I haven't done as well at drilling the math tables as I should have, but he at least has the skills to figure them out if he can't recall them by rote memorization.  I would prefer he doesn't have to use fingers, but sometimes I still do!
We're finishing up on the house projects.  The electricity in the boys' rooms (play room and bed room) is done, so Paul is finishing putting up sheet rock (right at this moment, actually!).  He finished the sheetrock in the main stairway as well, so now all we have to do is paint.  Paint..... So much of that to do, and I don't even want to think about it.  It's kind of an overwhelming thought, mostly because I know that every aspect of life otherwise will have to come to a standstill to get those projects done, so I am not looking forward to it.  (But I priced hiring it out, and NO WAY.)  Paul got the small deck on the east side of the house put back on - CHANGED MY LIFE.  It is so nice to be able to walk across a porch to access the house, rather than having the all the dirt from the yard applied directly to my floors.  (We have no grass for about 20 feet in any direction from the house.)  We got 3 beautiful solid-wood doors, for the two new bathrooms and the boys' bedrooms.  So the back bathroom is fully funcional and private (previously just had a curtain).  Paul got the toilet installed in the downstairs bathroom, but we're a while out from getting the shower put in.  I told him that the back deck is higher on my priority list.  Having a bathroom downstairs is really going to mess up the boys' school routine - their favorite trick to try is the "I need to go poop!" excuse, and then they promptly disappear for a half an hour.  Going to look for the missing truant means the remaining boy will escape or become totally distracted.  So having toilet and sink down there solves all excuses!
Warm weather means we're planning a garden and flower beds.  My main flower bed got completely torn out, so all there is is bare dirt at the front of our house between the house and the driveway.  I'm excited to start from scratch, but also overwhelmed at the options for such a huge amount of square footage.  I'm also looking forward to replenishing the vegetable supply.  This having to buy produce is crap.  And no one likes the frozen store veggies, so other than salads, we haven't been doing too well on healthy eating!
Anyhow.  That's a glimpse of life lately.  I'll try to put up pictures soon.

Overheard:

"Zadie, you're a turd."
"No!  I not a turd.  You a turd.  I'm a girl!"

It's Been Four Years Since Our Miscarriage

Zadie was "helping" me get dressed for church yesterday, so I asked her what shirt I should wear.  Of course, she chose the only article of clothing I have that has sparkly "bling" on it.
Which brought to mind how long I've had it - and my train of thought went something like this:  Oh, I bought this to wear to the David Garrett concert in Omaha.... That was also in February..... And I miscarried that night.....  What day is it?
Yesterday was four years to the day since we found out our precious Angel wasn't going to be born.  I know death and sorrow are never part of God's plan, but He can use those awful things we go through to make beautiful things.  I wonder why we had to lose a baby, but then I realize, if Angel had been born, we wouldn't have this beautiful ragamuffin to love, who brings such joy to us every day.

There is beauty in the brokenness.

God always knows His purposes.

I recently read the book of Job in the Bible.  God allowed Satan to do horrible things to Job.  Satan took not one, but all 10 of Job's children, in addition to all of his possessions and physical health.  Satan was sure he would win in Job's life, causing Job to hate and curse God.  God knew Job could handle it, so he allowed Satan to test Job.

But Job didn't curse God.  He questioned why, but he realized God's sovereignty.  And God blessed Job with twice as much as he had before.  

And I hope that the reason that God let us go through that loss was because He knew we could handle it.  We didn't know we could handle it, but we came through it praising Him, and He has blessed us with so much since then.

Blessed be His name.

Rhodes Report 2014

This is my annual letter - "Christmas letter," if you will - that I send out after the first of the year.  This years was record length, I think.

As I was reflecting on the start of the New Year, and looking back on the past year, the words to one of our family’s favorite songs kept going through my head:

The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning; It's time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, Let me be singing when the evening comes.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul!  Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, O my soul!  I’ll worship Your holy name.

--“10,000 Reasons” by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin

I can’t think of a better thought to begin the New Year – WHATEVER happens – BLESS THE LORD!

This has been a year of “whatever” – and what a year it has been!

We opened 2014 more exhausted than ever before in our life.  Our newest, Gideon (born December 2013), refused to sleep at night.  One or both of us spent every night rocking, walking, holding, and praying for him to sleep.  The good news is, it got better.  The bad news is, it took several months for him to start sleeping on his own at night (and he didn’t sleep through the night –at all- ‘til after he turned 1).  But now all of that is behind us, and Gideon is a happy, active 1-year-old who walks (runs), climbs, wrestles, and explores.  He has 12 (!) teeth and the most adorable smile.  He nods and shakes his head when you ask him questions, and has the most infectious laugh. 

Zadie turned 2 in April.  Even though she jabbered constantly, she didn’t start talking intelligibly until late summer.  In the months since then, her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds, and we can understand almost every word now.  She is a little mother, constantly bossing the household around.  She is also a girly-girl.  Everything pink, sparkly, fluffy, and otherwise fancy she loves.  She adores jewelry and is obsessed with shoes.  She constantly asks to have her fingernails painted.  Thankfully, she also loves being a “Mommy” and playing with her babies and cooking in her kitchen.  She has recently decided she’s going to use the potty.  That can’t happen soon enough; I am SO done with having two in diapers.

Jacob turned 5 in October.  We started Kindergarten with him this fall.   He seems to pick things up very quickly.  Some of it may be “spillover” from being present as Nathan learned these things, but he just seems to have a very quick mind in remembering things.  Math he’s breezing through, doing several lessons a day, and even though reading is a bit more work for him, but he’s still doing great for a 5-year-old!  He enjoys Legos, kitties, outdoors, and dinosaurs.  He’s always willing to help, whether it be sweeping the floor at home, or doing chores at Grammy and Pa-Pa’s.  In December, Jacob had surgery to repair a small hernia above his belly button – the hereditary weak spot – and it didn’t slow him down one bit.

Nathan turned 7 in September.  He’s in 2^nd grade at home.  We are still behind in reading, but made a huge turn this summer when he finally decided that reading might be useful, and stopped arguing and started trying.  He’s making good progress and can read simple books.  We have a deal made for his time tests in Math – if he can complete it in less than 2 minutes, he gets a dollar toward buying a watch.  He always scores 100, but the higher addition tables take a while for him to figure in his head.  Nathan enjoys anything army, camouflage, or gun-related – so of course, Duck Dynasty!  He spends hours playing with his Legos and drawing or acting out army scenes.  He is very helpful with projects, doing a lot of work on the house this year (installing sheetrock and flooring), side-by-side with his dad or Grandpa.

Paul and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in March.  It’s been pretty close to a “perfect 10”, and we couldn’t be happier.  We love loving each other, and are truly thrilled to be best friends.  Paul just completed his 15^th year at AGC (6^th as a supervisor).  I am so proud of him.  I still “just” stay home.  In July, I had a [repeat] hernia surgery (same spot as Jacob’s).  Hopefully we are done with that issue.

To explain our crazy summer, I have to first start with last spring.  Paul and I wanted to do some updates and improvements to the house.  We knew our floors weren’t level (by several inches), so before replacing doors and windows, we wanted to see what we could do about leveling up the house.  It turns out that our floors weren’t level because two of our rock foundation walls were collapsing.  After having 3 companies come and give us inspections and estimates, and much prayer, we made the decision to completely tear out our stone cellar and foundation…… And replace it with a full concrete basement.  So now we have level floors – and twice as much living space as a year ago! 

We could not live in the house while work was being done – no water or gas, plus the fact that the whole thing was up on jacks!  We spent 12 weeks living in Williamsburg with Paul’s parents.  We so appreciate all of their help and generosity.  We moved back in the first week of October.  Paul has 3 months down on finishing this project….  And 20 years to go!  We tore off our old back porch/laundry room/utility room/disaster area (which would not have stayed attached to the house had we tried to jack it up with the rest of it), and replaced it with a new, taller, brighter back porch/mud room, with a half bath.  We moved the laundry, freezers, and hot water tank to the basement.  We will add a full bath in the basement (at some point), and this summer we will complete a bedroom for the older boys (eventually all 3).  The schoolroom is also downstairs – bliss! the dining room table is clean! – along with plenty of space to play.  With all new plumbing and ductwork – plus no wind howling through cracks in the rock foundation – our house is much warmer and draft free (and no frozen pipes!).

We can’t talk about the basement project without giving glory to God!  It was obvious from start to finish that this was God and He was blessing us in outrageous ways.  From the huge things – like providing the money – to the small – like our freezers were empty when we had to move them to the shop – we have felt His guidance every step.  We are overjoyed that He saw fit to give us this blessing.

Homeschool was an adventure this year.  The combination of a nursing baby, a demanding toddler, and an incredibly tired mommy made for lots of days of doing the bare minimum.  I think we took 3 spring breaks, so we weren’t done with school yet when we moved out in July.  The boys finally finished up in August while we were living at Grandpa & Grandma’s, and we didn’t start up again until October when we moved back home.  That’s the beauty of homeschooling!  We took a break from music lessons this year.  My lack of sleep for six months and our insane summer, combined with daily whining and arguing about practicing, made this one thing that became not important to me at this point.  Life has settled down now and we hope to take that task back up sometime soon.

Last year when I wrote this letter, my little sister was recently home from her two years in Africa with the Peace Corps.  In March, her boyfriend that she had met while living in Zambia came to visit.  In June, he went back home……. As her husband!  Carlsie and Jono now live in Zimbabwe, which is where Jono grew up.  Jono works as Chief Agronomist for Green Fuel, a huge farm that grown sugar cane for ethanol production.  We are thrilled to add Jono to our family!

We were able to take a small trip to Silver Dollar City in October.  We planned it in January, before we’d even imagined the basement project.  We were only home for two weeks before we left again, but it was a great time.  We had a “family reunion” of sorts, which included Paul’s parents , his sister, his aunt and her husband, and his cousin and her husband and their 3 kids.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed their time together, as did the grown-ups.  It was a nice time to just relax and enjoy fun together.

We are still blessed to be part of the family at Ottawa Bible.  We are involved in Awana, and a weekly small group that meets at the church.  The older boys and I helped out with our 14^th annual Bethlehem experience, which they loved.  We had over 1200 guests come through this year.  We have also gone several times to local nursing homes to do some music ministry.  Paul is still very involved with Men’s Encounter, and we both look forward to serving at several Encounters again this year.

Obviously, our lives are full and busy.  We are truly blessed, and we count you each as a blessing, that you are our family and friends.  We hope the New Year finds you happy and hopeful as you look to the future.  We may never know what the future holds, but we know the One who holds the future, so we can find peace in trusting in Him.

Love to all,

Paul & Rachel

Nathan, Jacob, Zadie, and Gideon

Overheard:

We are in the middle of potty training with Zadie.  She's about 90% pee-trained, but about zero percent poop-trained.  Gross.
She escaped naked from the bathroom after an epic poop clean-up:

"Zadie, what happened to your underpants??"
"They died."






Yep, pretty much.

Life..... Beyond the Home Improvements

So there is more to life than our home improvements.  And I haven't talked about it in a while.
Where to begin?
I mentioned a month or so back about Gideon's sleep schedule.  Well, apparently that week was a fluke.  He's probably only slept two nights through in all the time since.  We just finished weaning, and I think we have finally (finally - finally - FINALLY!) established a daytime schedule, but I have had to fight tooth and nail (and other pertinent body parts) for it.  Tough love, lots of clinging, crying, and screaming.  (And not all of that coming from Gideon! :) )  He gets up in the morning about 8, goes down for a nap at 1, sleeps for 2-4 hours (oh how I wish 4 was the norm!), and then goes to bed at 8.  We're past the point that I have to deliberately keep him awake, but not to the point that he can entertain himself.  He still wants me to carry him everywhere.  So even though the rest of my body has gone to flab, I have some pretty serious biceps.
We wrapped up weaning right as he turned a year.  At 24 pounds, and 30 inches tall, he was definitely getting too big.  Not to mention he had started doing "baby yoga" positions - while nursing.  There was more yanking and biting going on than actual nursing.  However, switching him over to "real food" wasn't easy.  He just didn't want to eat.  He'd spit it out or slap away my hand with the spoon....  Let me tell ya how that went over!  But as I figured, once he got hungry enough, he began eating real meals.  Although I have to watch, because his appetite now exceeds his concentration level for feeding himself.  So he'll stop eating what's in front of him, but can eat two or three more servings if someone feeds it to him.
The best, most glorious thing about Gideon having a sleep schedule is that it exactly coincides with Zadie's.  I put him down for nap at 1, and come down and put her to nap within 15 minutes usually.  (She sleeps in our room, since naptime is too precious for me to risk having one wake up the other prematurely.)  Then I do school with the boys.  I would prefer to get it over with in the morning, but I guess the good thing is that by afternoon, the boys have had their time to go outside, play with Legos, do whatever, so this is their "bored time" and I give them something to do.
Whereas fights with Nathan last year were daily, if not hourly, this year they are much fewer.  Math is still reviewing (remember, we couldn't start school til October when we moved back home), so it's easy for him and he loves it when he already knows what he's being taught.  (We're still working on patience and the concept that "practice makes perfect.")  He's figured out that reading might be helpful - aided, I think, by the fact that all of his friends are now reading well - so he wants to try at it.  I did spend a chunk of money on supplemental materials for him - flashcards, phonics work pages, etc - and the new things really piqued his interest.  Not to mention we now have 5 different methods for going over the same material every day, but since it's all different, he doesn't get so bored or frustrated.  He can sound out most short-vowel words, but he is still very slow to put them together.
Jacob has got the school thing figured out.  Sit down, get it done quickly, then get back to playing!  His school is still pretty easy.  He knows a lot of the stuff already from Nathan learning them.  So some days in math we can do 3 or 4 lessons.  He is eager to please with his reading, although he gets bored if he thinks it's taking too long.  Frequently he'll ask to go get a drink, then just disappear until I hunt him down.
We took a break from music over the summer and haven't started up again.  Part of it is the craziness of life lately.  The other part is it's not worth it for me.  I'm not going to beg and plead and barter and fight with my son to play an instrument.  I have too many things to do to waste time arguing with him over every little thing.  When he decides he wants to play and practice the way it's supposed to be done, we'll take it up again.  And we're getting close.  He got his violin out this week and found all his music and set up his stand.  And when the holidays are over, I will press him a little more.  It's something we can do in the morning while the little ones are awake.
As for Zadie...... Oh, Zadie!  She is such a handful.  My brother has a phrase he uses, "a swirling vortex of drama."  And that pretty much describes her.  She is happy and carefree, but she can turn on the screaming screeching in an instant - and then go back again!  Oh, my goodness.  If this is what all girls are like, it's a good thing we only have one!  She is all girl.  Everything pink, sparkly, and girly is HERS.  She loves clothes, jewelry, shoes, and dolls and babies.  She's such a little mother.  At the beginning of summer, we were probably only understanding 10% of what she said, and I'd say now we can understand 90%, now that we've figured out her annunciations.  She has not what I'd call a lisp, but she mis-pronounces certain letters.  She jabbers constantly to us, to her toys, to herself.
I had surgery in August to repair a hernia.  I had the same surgery two years ago, but they didn't put in a big enough patch, and it tore another weak spot.  The hernia was about the size of my fist - disgusting.  I am the proud bearer of a 4-inch mesh patch holding in my insides.  Recovery took longer - I'd say 10 days - before I felt on top of things, and a month before I was back to normal.
Jacob inherited the same weak belly genes.  He's had a tiny hernia since he was a baby, but it has always "reduced" (gone back in).  This autumn, I noticed it pooching out more often, so finally checked it and it wouldn't push back in.  Even though it wasn't an emergency, we made the decision to get it fixed now so it can be well-healed and strong by the time he's a teenager.  Hopefully it's the last we'll have to deal with hernias in our family.
I finally got on top of the house.  I have conquered 4 "baskets-o-crap" and have two left.  (In case you're not familiar with the term, a "basket-o-crap" is what you get when you're in the middle of cleaning and sorting and you need the table.  All of that gets shoved into a box or basket to be dealt with later.  Sometimes it's a month later.....)  I kind of laid it down to everyone about pulling their weight around here.  We all live here, we all keep it clean.
So life is returned to normal.  I'm looking forward to the youngest being a little less "baby" so I can do a little more without him on my arm.  But we are happy, healthy, and growing closer with each other and God, so life is good!

Kids at Church

I am revisiting my views on children in the worship service.  I was challenged on this by Rob Reinow, the speaker at last year's Awana conference in our area.

In Scripture, the children are present in their times of worship.  He pointed out that in the last century, we have come up with a "better" way of reaching children at church.  But looking at the numbers of teens and young adults walking away from their faith..... Something's not working.

So Paul and I made the decision to be in charge of our children's spiritual growth.  We're not leaving it up to just what they learn in church.  And one of those decisions was keeping our kids with us in the corporate worship service, so we share in that time and can discuss it during the week.

Which is easy when your kids do this during church:

But not so easy when you have a dramatic daughter who always ends up causing a scene when you walk away to do offertory.  

I'm not sure I think that kids should be this involved in the service. :)

I took her to that side of the church to sit with her grandparents (who sit next to the piano), but she followed me up to the bench.  It was easier just to leave her there than cause a scene.  And she did very well!  She only touched the keys once, and when she noticed everyone watching her, she sat very soberly and quietly.

Maybe she can start playing offertory next year. :)

Anyhow.  The top thoughts were just so there was something of substance to post with these pictures.  (Thanks to my sis Carlsie for taking the candid photos!)

Overheard:

(Zadie picks up the box to Emperor's New Groove.)

A llama??
[mumble, mumble, jabber]
Yeah, weird.



I am so proud!

Happy Birthday to Zadie......

......two months later......

Happy Birthday to you!

On a side note:  This year I decided I'm done with traditional birthday cakes.  We don't like cake, apparently.  The boys get all excited about me making one, and then after the party, the rest of it sits on the counter for a week until I throw it out.  What's the point of putting effort into something we don't like?  So Zadie got a raspberry dump cake.  (Which, incidentally, wasn't as awesome as it sounded.  Should have stuck with peach.)

Even Superwoman Can't Do It All

This past weekend, I finished re-finishing a wardrobe, and I canned over 70 pints of jellies (pear honey, plum, and "plumple") from juices in the freezer.  Feats of a Superwoman, am I right?
Or not.
You should see the house.  It is a huge pile, from one end to the other.  Laundry, toys, trash, mail, laundry, fans (it's been cool enough to turn off the a/c), school books, shoes, laundry, cleaning supplies, laundry......
(I may be a bit behind on the laundry......)
But all these Super Heroes have a butler to do their housework, so I don't feel too bad.

Not that I'm an obsessive person (cough, cough), but I got a wardrobe from my parents that they had built for my sister's room.....  20 years ago?  (No way.....)  It has been in their garage for the last 6 or 7 years, and since we'll be losing a closet in our room, we are suddenly needing space for hanging clothes.  We brought it home last Thursday, and I got it sanded down, re-stained, and 2 coats of polyurethane on it in a week.  All I'm needing is some hardware and someone willing to help Paul carry it inside.  (I call pansy on this.  I don't want to be the one responsible for dinging or scratching it.... Much easier to forgive someone else than myself.)  It wasn't even on my radar to do it, but it gave me an excuse to avoid housework, so I've been working on it every free chance I get.
So here's a sneak peek:

Not gonna lie..... Pretty dang pleased with the results.

The weather has been perfect the last few days, so we've enjoyed lots of outside time.  This one got to spend time on the blanket, enjoying the sights and sounds of the outdoors.

And practicing sitting up!

Oh!  My!  Goodness!!!

These three have been eating outside a lot.  Mainly because they can't find the dining room table under the pile.  But I thought they were just too cute all lined up on the bench.

We had a round of illness go through the kids last week.  I took this one because Jacob got red "freckles" from throwing up.  I feel so bad, his face breaks out in these tiny broken blood vessels every time he pukes.
So that was a little gross back story to a picture that will steal your heart.

Can you say "puppy dog eyes"?

Gideon got to taste his first sweet corn.  Even before he had actual baby food.  He got very in to the corn cob......

And look what I taught these guys to do!  I'm looking forward to the day I can get all four of them in there after supper, and then I can just sit on my backside, eat chocolates, and work on my needlepoint.  (Ha ha.)  I did find out that putting on big band swing music is an effective motivator, though.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure this was the last time the kitchen got fully cleaned.

This one steals my heart every day with those big eyes and long eyelashes.  And the pigtails just kill me!

What's that?  You want a pony?  Okay!

Nathan and Zadie are really in to music.  I don't even remember what song was on, but they decided they needed to dance.  Note they even have "dancing shoes" on......

Oh, that's what the living room looks like when it's clean!  I'd forgotten!

Here's a couple of the ten million selfies our oldest has taken of himself.  Every time I go through pictures on the camera or my phone, there's ones of himself and his toys.

This one he requested that I take of him dressed as an "army" (soldier).

Sleeping in just looked like so much fun!

    

 Okay, so I didn't plan on posting all of those pictures, but there you have them.  A little glimpse of our lives and how the kiddos are growing!

I think I might die.

Someone needs to give my kids the memo:  When they're up all night, they're required to sleep in - at LEAST til 9.
Gideon woke up every half hour til 2:30.  Zadie woke up at 2 and wouldn't go back to sleep, so was in our bed 2-4:30.
Meanwhile, I had a splitting headache all night, a back and neck ache, and am coughing up a lung.
Then Gideon wakes up at 6:30, and Zadie at 7:30.
I think I might die.
But at least they woke up happy!

A Good Week

This has been a good week.  Has there still been whining, arguing, and general foolishness?  Yes.  BUT.....
Zadie decided she wanted to try the whole potty training thing again.  She's been in underpants since Monday, and she's had one pee and two poop accidents.  She still isn't telling us she has to go, but she holds it until we take her in, and can hold it several hours at a time.  And whereas she hasn't said "potty" yet, she's using a lot more words - her vocabulary has probably doubled in the last couple weeks.  (She understands everything, but wouldn't talk to you.)  Her [somewhat] intelligible words now include, milk, please, thank you, I love you, baby, more, night night, bye bye, MINE, Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Pa-Pa, and Josh.  (Josh is a friend at church with 3 boys that have adopted her as their little sister.  I think she thinks all of them are named Josh.)
Jacob has had this habit, for a year, of getting up in the middle of the night to potty, then coming to our room to wake me up to take him back upstairs.  If I tell him no (which I have done since he turned 4, and always tell him before bed that I will tell him no), it turns into whining, sobbing, blubbering DRAMA.  I stick to my guns and he goes upstairs and lays in bed and wails, sometimes kicking the walls to get my attention, waking the whole house up.  (Do I need to mention how well that goes over with me?)
Anyhow.  All that to say:  he hasn't done that once this week.  Bliss.
Speaking of night time bliss:  Gideon is sleeping.  I think it's that magical 10 weeks (this week was actually 11, but it started last week).  All the sudden he's been going to bed at night with just a tiny bit of fussing.  He sleeps a solid 6 hour chunk, then I can put him back in his bed (if I haven't been lazy and put him in bed with me).  He cries again when I put him back to bed, but he sleeps til morning and wakes up happy.  I feel like my life has been on hold, waiting for this to start.  The next step will be getting in a predictable daytime nap pattern.
And my oldest..... He wants to read!  I had a feeling the key was finding something he would want to try to read.  I have an old 1949 State of Kansas reader called "Tip" that has lots of repetition.  It's probably a 60 page book of a story about a dog that uses only 20 words over and over.  "Tip.  Tip.  Here, Tip.  Here, Tip.  Tip, Tip.  Come here, Tip."  (It's by Houghton Mifflin, which is the publisher of some readers that my niece uses in her school, which Lurenda passed on to us.  Also similar to the popular "Dick and Jane" readers.)  On Tuesday, Nathan read 25 pages of the "Tip" book, and 4 of the readers from Mackenzie, words only.  (Sometimes I think he's "reading" the pictures, so I typed out just the words.)  That day was the turning point.  He realized - he CAN read!  He's asked to do it every day since, and hasn't argued when I tell him it's time.
He also has learned how to add double-digit numbers.  He hasn't even learned all of his addition tables, but I just put the problems together with ones he does know (doubles, +1, +2).  We showed him how to "carry" and he has that down too!  Really proud of him.
And on that note - I realize there are different ways of learning, but I just don't "get" some of the ways presented in his math curriculum (Saxon).  What's the purpose of measuring something with pennies or linking cubes, instead of with a ruler?  And I get teaching double-digit addition with pennies and dimes, but what purpose is having them "estimate" before they add them up?  They teach +1 as "one more", which makes sense, but they teach +2 as "next even/odd number."  On problems such as 3 + 4, 4 + 5, 5 + 6, they teach it as "double, plus one."  I get it.  But to me, addition tables should be rote memorization, not a process that requires an extra step.  And yes, I'm sure it sets them up for being able to add larger numbers in their head later on, but....  For now, it seems like we're teaching 15 different ways to remember something that is as easy as, well, one plus one equals two.  And Nathan seems to be one that likes memorization, so I think he would do better at memorizing a table.
But on the upside, what I do like about this curriculum is that it covers so many things that I don't think of as being math - at least not at this point.  Calendar, time, right/left, shapes, patterns....  Things that I probably wouldn't think to teach if it weren't in the book.  Also counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, and counting backward.  When I think of math at this age, I think of the tables, but he's getting a well-rounded education of all these things, with daily practice.
Anyhow.  So that's been my good week.  Now to have a good weekend - and get all the crap piled on the dining room table put away!  My life is happier when I get rid of the clutter.

It Hasn't Been a Month. (Barely.)

I guess I haven't blogged lately.
I am getting a bit more sleep.  Gideon is sleeping a 5-hour stretch when we put him down at night.  Unfortunately, he goes to bed early enough that I still don't usually get more than 4 hours in a stretch.  And then he doesn't want to go back to sleep easily.  My sanity couldn't handle the lack of sleep anymore, so at 2 months, I started making him cry it out at bedtime.  And I do it sometimes in the middle of the night, depending on Paul's work (sleep) schedule.  I've decided he's just a baby that has to cry a little before going to sleep.  It's not screaming (usually), but he never goes to sleep without letting us hear him.
Hmmm.....  What else?
Zadie decided to take up potty training again.  She doesn't tell us (at least not in a language we can understand) when she needs to go, but she holds it very well till we take her in.  Still plenty of accidents, but I think it's starting to tip toward more successes than accidents.  She is so proud of herself when she goes.   (I'm sure the candy award at the end helps.)  She makes this hilarious face, surprised and very pleased with herself, whenever she starts going on the potty.  Priceless.
We had a mini spring break this week.  Temps were in the 50s and 60s Monday and Tuesday, so I let the boys PLAY OUTSIDE and skipped school.  We've had long stretches of bitter cold this winter, and cabin fever was definitely setting in.  But that's the beauty of homeschooling - we can do that.
I've been doing better on keeping the house picked up, until the last week or so.  (Sleep begets sleep - I actually am getting some, and that made me realize how much I wanted more!  Naps all around!)  Why is it when you get behind it takes forever to catch up?  I was lazy two weekends ago, and I'm still spinning my wheels.
The laundry situation is another story.  It's never going to be caught up.  I just can't seem to be one of those people that can do a load a day and get it folded.  Our laundry seems to go from not enough for a full load of anything, to OH CRAP in a day, and I need to do 8 loads to catch up.  And we are a family the re-wears clothing several times before washing it, so I don't know why it can pile up so fast!  (Paul says that's because that's the day that we make the boys round up all their socks and clothing they've shed all over the house.)  It seems like it's done this with every kid, too - add one tiny human who wears one tiny outfit a day, and the laundry doubles.  Explain that.
We got a large tax return (which requires a rant blog), so we'll hopefully be doing some home improvements (which I'll address as they happen).  I'm looking forward to it.  We've been here over 8 years - it's time to make it our own. :)
And that's what's going on here, more or less.

Rhodes Report 2013

(Better late than never!)

What a year 2013 was!  There were ups and downs, surprises and blessings, challenges and changes, and through it all – God was, and is, ALWAYS faithful!

Let’s start with what stayed the same:  We still live outside Ottawa.  Paul still works at AGC (just finished his 14^th year!).  I still stay home with the kids.  We still attend Ottawa Bible.  Our parents are at their same homes, and doing well.

Now let’s talk about our biggest change:  We had another baby!  We were very, very surprised to find out in April that I was pregnant.  Zadie wasn’t even a year old yet, and even though we were fairly sure we wanted another baby – we weren’t expecting to have two so close together (20 months)!  But God loves surprises, and we were thrilled to welcome another boy into the world on December 9^th.  We named him Gideon Robert.  Gideon has the eating thing figured out (he’s gaining about a ½ pound a week!), but we’re still trying to establish days and nights.  He sleeps all day – despite the noise and chaos of his brothers and sister – and will sleep at night…..only if he is snuggled with someone.  But he’s been more alert during the day, and I think (fingers crossed!) we may be making headway to him enjoying his space in his own bed at night.  We’re very proud to have another future warrior for God.  (Gideon means “mighty warrior.”)

Zadie continues her reign as princess of the house – like it or not, she IS the princess.  She turned 1 in April, and is a sassy, spirited little girl.  She still doesn’t have a very big vocabulary yet, but she communicates her wishes (demands) very clearly.  Her words usually make no sense to us, but she regularly will walk up to someone and “give them the what-for” – and it’s obvious that, to her, whatever she’s saying makes complete sense.  Zadie adores her baby brother, and is constantly petting on him and mothering him.  (Honestly, we were a bit worried, as she would get jealous whenever I would hold other babies or children.)  She’s a big girl, and holds her own very well with her big brothers.  She’s also a girly-girl (oh my!), and loves clothes, shoes, and jewelry.   We love our beautiful little girl.

Jacob turned 4 in October.  We started pre-school curriculum with him at home.  He already knew a lot of basics, like colors and shapes and numbers, from learning them alongside Nathan.  He’s coming along with learning his letters, although we had to get creative to entice him to want to learn, which we did by playing matching games with his flash cards.  He is slowly progressing on violin (slow because we aren’t diligent about daily practice); he can now play the first line of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  He started his first “official” year as a Cubbie in Awana this fall.  Our hearts were overjoyed when, in February, he asked Jesus to forgive his sins and come into his heart.  Jacob has a sensitive spirit, yet a stubborn will, which is a unique combination to learn how to parent!  We are very proud to have him as our son.

Nathan turned 6 in September, the same month we started 1^st grade with him at home.  We are minimalistic on our curriculum this year, for two reasons:  1/ We knew that welcoming a new baby in the middle of the school year would take up a lot if my teaching time, and 2/ Nathan has no interest in reading, so I wanted to allow plenty of time to focus on that.  So we are pretty much just doing phonics/reading and math.  Homeschooling a very strong-willed child means daily battles.  If Nathan doesn’t see the point of something, he will argue it to death, or else flat-out refuse to even try.  So progress on reading is slow.  He would rather try to hurry through it by guessing, which makes it take twice as long.  (Try convincing him of that, though!)  He can read simple words and stories, but since it takes effort, he’s not keen on it.  He enjoys math, because it makes sense to him.  He’s working on his addition tables and counting money.  Nathan started his 2^nd year of Sparks in Awana.  He is coming along with his violin, and gets excited when he masters new songs or skills with it (even though, as mentioned earlier, he argues it to death while learning it!).  He has nearly a dozen songs memorized, and is pretty adept at playing by ear.  We’re starting to teach him to read music, and I think his ability will really take off when he figures that out.  He’s lost 7 teeth – but 3 were in accidents, so are slow to come back in. :S  He is a huge help with his little sister and baby brother, and with chores around the house.  We are proud to have Nathan as our oldest son.

More changes: 

Paul’s Grandpa Rhodes passed away in February, at the age of 88.  We took our first long trip in the van to Colorado for the funeral.  It was a wonderful service honoring him and his service to the community and his country as a World War II veteran.  We enjoyed the time with all the relatives together, although sad it had to be under those circumstances.  (Grandpa Rhodes was Paul’s last living grandparent.)

This fall, Paul and I both felt God telling us it was time for us to step down from the praise team at our church.  We felt it separately, and when we talked and realized we both had been feeling it, I wrote a letter of resignation to our Elders.  I have been leading worship weekly for 7 years, but we both have been involved in the worship ministry at church for 13 years, so it felt like a huge decision.  We’re not sure why God called us away from that ministry, but we’re looking forward to seeing what He is going to use us for in the future.

Blessings:

Paul has been very involved with a ministry called Men’s Encounter this year.  It is a weekend event that challenges men to surrender every area of their lives to God.  He, along with my brother JC, has helped organize and “launch” groups from the area to go to four Encounters this year.  They started a men’s Bible study following the first one of the year.  It has just been a blessing to watch these men grow and challenge each other and lead their families.  “As iron sharpens iron….” – being involved in these ministries and studies has made Paul an even better man.  Paul encouraged me to go to the Women’s Encounter in April.  I went, and was blessed and challenged.  Some of the challenges I’m still working on.  I returned in July as a server, and we had 9 other ladies from our area go at the same time.  It was an uncomfortable weekend for me, forcing me out of my comfort zones, but one that ended in uncontainable joy:  to be able to share in the salvation of one of the ladies that went with us.  (To find out more about the Encounter ministries, check out www.EncounterTheCross.com.)

In October, we were able to go on a “mini vacation” to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, with Paul’s parents and sister.  The kids loved it.  It was wonderful to be able to go and spend time as a family, and extended family, and also get some couple time for Paul and me.  And the fact that adults outnumbered children made for a mostly stress-free weekend!

We, along with Paul’s sister, were privileged to provide music at two weddings this year.  We love playing the music to set the atmosphere for these most special of days.  We also were part of two community “worship nights” where we got together with musicians from a couple other churches to provide a night of “just worship” as an outreach and blessing to others, where people can sing their praises and connect with God on their own level.   We look forward to doing a couple more of those this coming year.

My sister Carlsie made it home from Zambia, Africa, after two years there with the Peace Corps.  We are beyond thrilled to have our family complete again.  I’m sure she’s tired of our questions about the experience and culture, but we love hearing about all of it!

And I think that wraps up the big news for the year.  As I said before, GOD IS FAITHFUL.  We are privileged to serve such an awesome God who has all things in control, and who knows our future, and who loves us deeply.  And to think that the God of the universe longs to have us know Him!

In HIM we live and move and have our being,

Paul & Rachel

Nathan, Jacob, Zadie, Gideon

Biased.

I have the most beautiful and perfect little girl in the world.
But, then again, I may be biased.....

Sleep? What's that?

Even as high strung and sassy as our daughter is now, I will freely admit, she was our easiest baby.  She was sleeping through the night by a month old.
I thought our older two boys were bad sleepers.
......Until we had Gideon.
Oh my goodness.  This boy has had days and nights mixed up from the get-go.  His first night, even after the hard work of being born, he was up all night.  And nothing has changed.
Oh, he'll sleep at night.  On me (or Paul).  Or next to me in bed.  Just not in his bed, so I can get some sleep myself.
Now that Paul's back to work, it makes it seem worse because he can't help with night shift most nights.  On his days off, he does make sure I get a nap, but those blissful 2-3 hours aren't the same as hard middle-of-the-night sleep.
My life is kind of on standstill until he sleeps on his own at night.  Because I have no energy or motivation to do anything.
We're trying to keep him awake more during the day.  But even on the few days it seems like he's been awake more, he still doesn't sleep hard at night.
I keep telling myself that Gideon is only 3 weeks old.  He'll figure it out.  So for now, we do the Boppy pillow next to me on the couch (if I put him in it after he's asleep, he still thinks he's being held).  Or co-sleep.  (Despite it's vilification, it's the only thing to do when you're desperate for sleep.)  Last night, I put some rolled up towels under his bassinet mattress so it doesn't lay so flat - maybe that will help - it seemed to for the first 3 hours, after which we were back to the usual routine.  Someday, he'll come to prefer his bed.
Someday......

The Wonderful Zadie of Oz

My sister-in-law found the "ruby slippers" when Zadie was tiny.  So I had to have a Dorothy dress to go with them!  My sister made this dress for her younger daughter, and I was thrilled that both the shoes and the dress fit at the same time!
So of course, we had to take professional pictures......

With the "Cowardly Lion."

Classic Zadie face.

My personal favorite.

Back to this one.... Does anyone else see a bit of Eichenberger here?  Like JC or Carlsie's baby pictures?

Photos by my sister, Lurenda Walter.

http://www.lurendawalterphotography.blogspot.com/