There are no stupid questions . . .

There is a reason that God made me a teacher.  I love the faces of little (and not so little) people as a difficult concept is explained.  I love the satisfaction of unpacking something seemingly complicated so that it can be simply understood.  What I didn't anticipate was the use of those same skills to explain our little family. 

When Grae came along in an unconventional way, I was excited to share the joys of adoption.  People asked questions out of ignorance, not because they intended to offend and I happily shared the answers.  Questions like:  "Aren't you glad you didn't have to go through labor?  You did it the easy way!" , "Did you adopt because you couldn't have your own?"  , "How could a mother give away her baby?", "Don't you think open adoption with confuse Grae?".  With a smile (sometimes genuine and sometimes plastered)  I answered graciously. We chose to adopt because we think it is a beautiful picture of what the Lord has done in our own lives.  He has made enemies and strangers His own children and He showers us with the inheritance of sons.

It shouldn't have surprised me that people would say some interesting things and have lots of questions about little Knox.  "You chose to parent a baby with down's syndrome and heart defects?", "What was your motivation?",  "He doesn't look 'down's', are you sure?", "I would think you would be crying.  You're handling this surprisingly well", "Can you tell how severe his 'case of down's' is?".  This morning, my doctor made the crying comment.  She asked me why we would adopt a baby with down's syndrome and I simply replied, "Who else was going to love him?"  This seemed to soften her questions.  I am convinced that people are just misinformed.  I used to think people were a little over the top with the "people first language", that I have a baby with down's syndrome and not a down's baby.  Now I understand.  He's a baby.  He's my baby, and just like any other child I would raise as my own, he comes with his own challenges and gifts that God has given him.  I will continue use the loud mouth that God has given me to share what a blessing adoption is and also about my sweet baby who just happens to have a little extra genetic material.  Shane and I aren't some sort of bleeding hearts with a savior complex, we are sinners saved by grace who are depending on our Adopted Father for the strength to deal with any challenges He sends our way.  Our goal is to give him glory with our little patchwork family.

Grae and Grace

My little boy and his little friend Grace on a hayride at Uncle Bobby's farm.  They are thick as thieves and the best of pals!

The Great Physician

We were praying for a little heart miracle and we got one!

We went to Hopkins today with a little fear and a lot of hope that our new little man would not need treatment for the three congenital heart defects found at birth.  Knox was born with a murmur, and two holes in his heart.  Our prayer and the prayer of many others was that the holes would be closed and that Knox would not need more medical intervention.  After an echocardiogram, where Knox proceeded to sleep with both hands behind his head, we were visited by the cardiologist.  Her talk went something like this:

"This little guy is very lucky.  The murmur is not evident, the atrial septal defect is so minor that nothing needs to be done, and here is the interesting thing.  The sizable hole in the septal wall between his ventricles has been closed by an extra piece of tissue from the tricuspid valve.  Work it out however you want, mother nature or God has worked this one out. If anyone deserves an extra hand in life it's this little guy."

As I sat in the chair holding my little bundle of designer genes, I had to wrestle the tears back in their ducts.  I serve a great God who is able to close a big hole in my babies heart with an extra piece of tissue.  Just like that.   Our cardiologist is cautious, which I appreciate, and wants to check in in 3 months.  She doesn't anticipate finding anything has changed.  Shame on me for not believing that my God is able!

Pray for little Knox and his cardiologist appointment at noon. Praying for a little heart miracle!

What a joy watching my big boy as a big brother. He loves to sing to Knox.

New Life

We brought our new little man home yesterday.  He is a treat!  He sleeps all the time, and I'm not even sure what color his eyes are because they are so rarely open.  Grae has been a champ and is very helpful.  He is busy learning the words "gentle" and "slowly" which are not a part of his vocabulary :)  Little Knox grunts like a little gremlin at night, so we spent half the night getting used to his noises.  He also laughs in his sleep.  Too cute!  We are so blessed.  Please pray for us as we adjust to our tiny little bundle of joy!

Ask . . . Seek. . . Knox

Ok, so being married to Shane has brought so many stories, but none like I expect we'll be telling in the near future.  Last Tuesday, we got word that we were on the emergency list at our agency.  This means that if a birthmom decides not to parent post-delivery, the hospital calls local agencies to place the babies.  At Bible study on Thursday, I told everyone I could have a baby in 3 days or in a year.  I was really kidding about the 3 days, but it seems the Lord had different plans :)  I was preparing a devotional for a wedding shower on Saturday.  It seemed that the Lord laid the topic of expectations on my heart.  I was basking in self-righteousness as I prepared.  Surely I had learned this lesson and had lots of wisdom to share . . . and then the phone rang.

"Hey hon, I have some killer news.  Take 3 guesses."

As he giddily tortured me for 2 minutes, he finally spilled the news.  Our agency called to say that there was a baby for us . . . a little boy . . . 10 days old . . . with downs.  Upon swallowing the last piece of information, my heart wedged itself somewhere between my sternum and my throat.  I honestly shouted "NOOO" in my head.  All of the what-ifs cluttered my brain.   All of my best laid plans were changed.  My very comfortable and routine life was about to change.  Before you scold me for my lack of trust in the Lord, I should tell you that this is how I react to all change.  I just don't like it.  Soon after I was reminded of how God was preparing us for this for a long time.  We have 2 dear friends that have just given birth to their own children with DS.  We have two families at church that are transparently raising and enjoying their boys with DS.  Shane just went to Nebraska to lace up shoes at the Special Olympics for 3 days.

I was also reminded of how much of a joy our friend Daniel is and how many stories of how these "genetically enhanced" kids have been a blessing to their families.  I couldn't think of one good reason to say no, and then my Savior reminded me that I am not my own and neither are the children that He has called to me mine.  They belong to him.  It's never been about my strength, but about His.  I am so excited.

Pray for us.  We could take placement this week.  My little overwhelmed mind is not the best at getting motivated when there is lots to do.  Where to start?  I look forward to sharing the journey with you!

P.S.  We plan on torturing the child with another Gaelic and challenging name for spelling :)  His name will be Ciaran (Keeran) Aaron (birthname) Knox.  We'll call him Knox.

The Button Jar

Those of you that know me well, know I have a strange obsession with buttons.  When asked what I would like to jump into a swimming pool filled with, other people listed food items, but I promptly replied buttons.  My mom had a little Fleishman's yeast bottle filled with buttons and as a child, I loved the sound that the lid made when I opened the jar.  I would pour out the buttons and sort through them.  I still find buttons fascinating.  I would make a terrible Amish person. 

A friend once gave me a plaque that I hang in the loo.  It reads, "Good friends are like buttons, you collect them one at a time."  In the past few weeks,  the lives of several of my friends have gone through difficult and even tragic turns.  One dear friend in the Lord lost her husband tragically, several friends are looking for jobs to no avail, a friend from our college group is deployed and lonely, several friends are pregnant, and my husband and I have started a journey in ministry.  I struggle with following through with praying for these things.  I get lost in the Martha of the day and forget to be a Mary; sitting at the feet of Jesus lifting up supplication for these dear people. 

What does this have to do with buttons, you may ask?  I decided to use my obsession as a reminder to pray.  I selected a button for each of these people as they came to mind and wrote their name on each.  I dropped them into a jar that sits on a window above my sink.  I can put my hand in the jar, grab a handful of buttons, and pray for those dear ones.  Do you want to be a part of my button jar?  I'd love to add you to my amazing collection.  Message me and I'll send you my address so that you can send me your button along with a list of prayer requests. 

A Season of Change

In this season of busy, this was a refreshing reminder. Fullness - Valley of Vision Heavenly Father Thou hast revealed to me myself             as a mass of sin,    and thyself as the fullness of goodness,      with strength enough to succour me,      wisdom enough to guide me,      mercy enough to quicken me,      love enough to satisfy me. Thou hast shown me that because thou art mine      I can live by thy life,      be strong in thy strength,      be guided by thy wisdom;    and so I can pitch my thoughts and heart in thee. This is the exchange of wonderful love –    for me to have thee for myself,    and for thee to have me, and to give me thyself. There is in thee all fullness of the good I need,    and the fullness of all grace to draw me to thyself,    who, else, could never have come. But having come, I must cleave to thee,    be knit to thee,    always seek thee. There is none all good as thou art: With thee I can live without other things,    for thou art God all-sufficient,    and the glory, peace, rest, joy of the world      is a creaturely, perishing thing        in comparison with thee. Help me to know that he who hopes for nothing      but thee,    and for all things only for thee, hopes truly,    and that I must place all my happiness in holiness,      if I hope to be filled with all grace. Convince me that I can have no peace at death,    nor hope that I should go to Christ,      unless I intend to do his will    and have his fullness while I live.

Easy Listening

I turn on the radio . . .

Baby, baby, baby, ohh - switch
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn - switch
Fernando - switch
I wanna be a billionaire -  switch

And lest you say that I should just turn on the local Christian radio station, I will tell you that I am frustrated with the repetitiveness, lack of depth, and frankly, bad theology of half of those songs.  Just my opinion :)  I was asked to help choose music for our Junior Church program, and I found some of the most listenable music.  It's not geared to children, specifically, but it is very family friendly.  The music is put out by Seeds Family Worship.  The first two volumes are "Seeds of Courage"  and "Seeds of Faith".   The songs are essentially Bible verses set to contemporary music.  I find myself listening to it when Grae isn't in the car!  :)

The cds can be found at www.seedsfamilyworship.net

Passionate Puritans

When I was in public high school, we studied puritan literature.  The standard piece was "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", which if you read in its entirety, is a beautiful sermon.  Frankly, Puritans get a bad rap.  Most of us imagine a Puritan in black clothes with a sour expression.  This morning I read from The Valley of Vision, a collection of puritan prayers.  This is some of the most passionate and honest writing. 

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

   hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold

   thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

   that the way down is the way up,

   that to be low is to be high,

   that the broken heart is the healed heart,

   that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

   that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

   that to have nothing is to possess all,

   that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

   that to give is to receive,

   that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

   deepest wells,

   and the deeper the wells the brighter

   thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

   Thy life in my death,

   that every good work or thought found in me

   thy joy in my sorrow,

   thy grace in my sin,

   thy riches in my poverty

   thy glory in my valley.

Breakfast table observations

"Mommy, it's a really pretty day outside.  The bees live outside.  That's where they play with their friends, and they play with their toys, and then later they take a nappy."

King of the Hill

For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. -Galatians 5:13-15

During Adult Sunday School, we have been watching a video series about redeeming marriage called "What Did You Expect?" by Paul David Tripp.  This has been the best and most helpful tool I have ever seen for getting to the heart of marital conflict.  I was struck by some of his points today and thought I would share them.

• "Marriage is flawed person, married to a flawed person, in a fallen world, but with a faithful God."

• "Happiness is not to be the end result of marriage;  rather, marriage is the process by which we grow to be more like Christ. " Marriage is a pivotal tool in our sanctification.
• "True righteousness only ever begins when you come to the end of yourself."
• "There will be some lasting legacy that you will produce from your influence in the life of your spouse."   Am I saying or doing things to my spouse that I never would have considered during courtship?
• When we live in the Kingdom of Self, we live under the lordship of "my desires" We manipulate to get what we want.
• My problem isn't that I don't love my spouse enough, it's that I don't love God enough.  If I am attempting to be king, I am lacking love for the KING.

These are a few of the helpful concepts that I encountered in the last lesson.  The idea of addressing my relationship with God before trying to fix my marriage, is much more authentic and helpful.  It gets to the heart of the matter.  

It's a man's world

I am in the land of testosterone now.  Grae is so interested in little boy stuff:  monster trucks crushing cars, cutting the grass, riding his big wheel as fast as he can down the steep incline in front of our house.  I know that psychologists say this is conditioned behavior, but I don't buy it.  It seems like he was just made for this stuff.  I'm guessing that God gave me this little man as a reminder to relax and breathe, and to master the art of applying Spider Man band-aids. 

The Cure for the Boo-Boo Blues

The tears stream down his little face as he comes running to me for comfort.  He's got a boo-boo.  

This time it's one of those red welty ones that come from a good fight between his forehead and the sidewalk.  After hugs and some ice, I always try a trick that my South African friend Mariza taught me.  This amazing cure all can be found in my kitchen cupboard. . . vanilla extract.  

Whenever Grae get's one of those ugly welty bumps, I apply a little vanilla extract to the bruise.  Be careful not to use this on open scrapes, the alcohol will burn.  The amazing thing is that the vanilla seems to reduce swelling and bruising.  It's like magic and it makes my already delicious little boy smell like a sugar cookie :)

An Open Letter

Dear Mr. Robertson,

Please retire.  Please stop saying ugly, thoughtless things in the name of Christ.  You are giving us a bad name.  Those of us that adopt don't do it to create some sort of Utopian family.  We do it because we believe Jesus cares about little white boys from Annapolis, and beautiful brown girls from Ethiopia, and especially those with an extra chromosome or a cleft lip.  If He cares about precious ones languishing in the foster care system, in impoverished countries, or with birthparents who chose adoption over abortion, shouldn't we?

In Christ,
Wendy 

Orphans' Matchbox report on Pat Robertson's Adoption Comments

The 80/20 Rule

Last night, in a Bible Study of the wives of leadership last night, I was struck and convicted by a quote by Lars Gren, husband of Elizabeth Elliot.

“A wife, if she is very generous, may allow that her husband lives up to
perhaps eighty percent of her expectations. There is always the other twenty
percent that she would like to change, and she may chip away at it for the
whole of their married life without reducing it by very much. She may, on the
other hand, simply decide to enjoy the eighty percent, and both of them will
be happy.”

Here is my challenge to all of the wives out there:  meditate on the 80%.  Most of the time we focus so much on what our husbands are not doing or what we'd like to change, that we miss the 80%.  We married them for the 80%.  Let celebrate that. 

In the spirit of this challenge, I'd like to list some of Shane's 80%:

• He wakes up each morning and fixes us breakfast.
• He is an amazingly talented lyricist.
• He has an incredible voice ( I forget this because I hear it so much)
• He has a smile or laugh for every mood.
• He has a brilliant mind, but he is one of the most approachable and unpretentious people I know
• He has hands that are more like paws :)
• He helps with the laundry and dishes without being asked
• He loves to read
• He's an amazing father
• He has a heart to disciple others
• He has gray-blue eyes
• He looks awesome in a kilt
• Most of all, He loves Jesus and desires to grow as a Christian

I could ramble on.  Take the challenge!  Fell free to post your man's 80% and I'll post it for the world to see!

My little gardener

My Little Garden

I have a little garden in front of my house.  Over the years I have added a few things.  I am no gardener.  My Grandma Cramer, now she was a gardener.  When she left her home in her mid 80's, she still had a plant that my father's cubscout troop had given her 50 years ago.  What made her an excellent gardener?  My grandma was one of the most patient people I ever met and frankly, she spent lots of time caring for those plants.  Gardening is hard.  Not only do you have to plant the seeds, but you have to weed, and prune, and feed those plants. You have to get dirty.

I can see two parallels in my own life.  My spiritual life is like a garden.  God ultimately is the gardener, the one who planted the seed of faith and causes it to grow.  He has also made me a steward.  I am to do the hard work as a tender of my own little patch.  I have to go in and root out, with the Lord's help, those sins that would so easily choke out my garden.  I have to be fed by His Word and that means actually spending time each day with the Lord.

My little man is also a garden that I am to tend as a parent.  I have to give him good food from God's Word and help to guide and grow him into a godly young man by training him as well. This is messy work, but so fruitful!

Gardening is hard work, but the rewards are great.  What a blessing that God allows us to participate in displaying His beauty to the world!

Life is like a bowl of . . .

So I have this brass bowl. I've always loved it but I don't know what to do with it. For a while it sat collecting counter top clutter. I'm in Spring Cleaning mode, which means I have the urge to re purpose things. I'd love to display this bowl. Any ideas?

Wisdom from Charles Spurgeon

In a devotional taken from the Treasury of David by Spurgeon, I found this quote:

To be assured that our sighs and songs shall both have free access to our glorious Lord is to have reason for hope in the most deplorable condition.

I am thankful that this season of life is one of song, but I am thankful that the Lord hears my sighs as well. What a comfort!

Go to the ant . . .

The dreaded springtime battle has begun.

"Mommy LOOOK! Theys a lot'a bugs. I gone get dose ants."

It seems that we are neighbors with a few of the little insects with six legs. Every time it rains in the spring, "The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah." I am hardly cheering. Though these little black creations are an Biblical example of diligence, I wish they would be diligent somewhere else.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6: 6-8

I'd welcome any insight from you about how to convince my little neighbors that the Lankford home is not nearly as comfy as their hill outside.

He's all mine . . .

Who is this man, you may ask? He's my hubby. My fun loving, smart, super-talented rock star hubby. This picture captures so much of who he is. I love it.

We have a family of friends that we love dearly. Heather is the daughter of our friends Lori and Tim and an amazing photographer. She took this picture for a magazine shoot for a double page spread on Orphan Project in a UK rock magazine called Fireworks. She is amazing. Check out her other work at http://heathergracephotography.blogspot.com

Bless this nest

I found the cutest and easiest craft for spring: birds' nests. All you need are 2 ingredients and you have an adorable and edible craft. Buy a bag of chow mein noodles (mine was $1.65) and a bag of morsels. I used milk chocolate.

1. Melt the morsels in a double boiler or a metal bowl on top of a saucepan filled with boiling water.

2. Mix the chocolate with the chow mein noodles.

3. Let cool a bit and then get messy! Put a blob on a sheet of wax paper or a plate. Let the little one push down the center to make a place for the eggs.

4. Let cool and harden. Add some jellybean "eggs" or other treat. Add a marshmallow peep (if you have one).

Super cute, fast, cheap, and easy! The best part is licking their fingers when they are done!

Have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry

Today is one of those days. I had a plan today. I had errands to run. I had a tight but workable time frame. I was reminded again that God gave me a toddler to teach me patience in it all. Between the jammed and complicated copy machine, the malfunctioning panic button on my truck, and Grae's strange encounter with his nose and forehead and the church office chair we have had an adventurous early afternoon. And that was just one hour. I was feeling the frustration boil up like an angry teakettle. This afternoon was no mistake. I am learning hard lessons slowly. Thankfully God promises that I will bear fruit in the end.

Ecclesiastes 7:8

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Let your light so shine . . .

There are no coincidences.  We have been working through My ABC Bible Verses with Grae and it never fails to amaze me that the verse we have each week seems to directly correspond to something we are working on or wrestling with.  This week's verse is:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

Last night at the end of our annual missions conference, we had 3 awesome speakers come from New Song Community Church in Sandtown.  I must confess that just the words Sandtown gave me pause.  I remembered a youth group missions project when we worked for Habitat in the 90's and where I, a naive and very suburban girl, worked in a neighborhood where I felt very white and very uncomfortable.  This is an area that I would not purposely drive through and where I would feel compelled to wind up my windows and lock the doors.  Sandtown is a hopeless place, right?

As usual, God uncovered my hidden sin and confronted me with my own misconceptions.  Sandtown is a growing thriving community.  Why did I assume that God couldn't do a work there?  God surely loves people, and there are lots of them in that community.  Pastor Thurman Williams confronted us by saying, "Sandtown ain't no Ninevah"  Shame on me for my arrogant ideas.  The speakers didn't deny that there was crime in Sandtown, but they reminded us that there are people there that are made in the image of God and that He loves very much.  Why am I more open to foreign missions than that of a vibrant outreach, not 20 miles from my home?

This experience reminded me that I need to pray.  These awesome men and women are living and reaching out with the love of Christ to their neighbors.  I need to pray for that work in Baltimore.  I also need to pray about how I can reach out in my neighborhood with the love of Christ.  God can save even the drug dealer on my court and the young urban professionals with their fancy cars.  I am reminded of the great grace that He extended to me, a great sinner.

Check out this awesome work:  http://www.nsc-church.org/

Creamy Tomato Soup

I was browsing one of my favorite new sites, A Virtuous Woman, when I came across this delicious recipe.  I had a can of crushed tomatoes that I needed to use.  I made a few adaptations, but I didn't alter much.  Here it is:




5 TBS butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 TBS flour

4 cups milk

1/2 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp sugar (I omitted)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda (adding baking soda keeps the milk from curdling)


3 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used a large can of crushed tomatoes, but next time I will also add diced tomatoes)

1 tsp of Garlic salt

1/4 cup parmesan cheese




Melt butter in a soup pot.  Add the onion and cook over med. heat until onion is soft, not brown.  Sprinkle flour over butter mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, sugar, and salt and continue to cook until slightly thickened.  Stir the baking soda into the tomatoes.  Add the tomatoes to the milk and bring to a simmer.  Taste and correct seasonings.

Slurp down on a nice rainy cold spring day! This soup is delicious with open faced grilled cheese!

The Laundry War

How is it possible?  It shouts again from the foot of my bed, threatening my sanity and slowly consuming my room, one fabric softened t-shirt, one hangerless pair of pants at a time.  The . . .  (insert terrifying B horror movie theme here) Laundry Monster.

It seems that time for a few things eludes me:  bathroom floors, exercise, and folding laundry.  I'm really spoiled.  I have a wonderful husband who lends two strong and tattooed arms to drag the piles of laundry to the basement.  Not only does he carry it down, but he has become an expert in the science of laundry.  Even in my best Donna Reed moments, laundry just doesn't appeal.  Don't get me wrong, the sorting of mismatched socks does reach down to some primal place for me, but that task is always the last in the process of sorting and folding laundry. BTW - we call our mismatched sock basket Sock Heaven -probably better named sock purgatory.  Every month I try to reconcile sock heaven and the endorphins released by finding a pair in the pile of lonely socks is sublime. But I digress . . .

Why do I avoid this task? 

Am I lazy?      Probably

Am I too busy?  Probably not

Upon dissecting my aversion, I realized that I don't value the job enough.  The world has told me for years that laundry is for the poor trapped housewife.  That is garbage.   A dear friend encouraged me today to see those small jobs as high callings.   I know that some of you are rolling your eyes.  Well, roll away.  God has blessed me with the opportunity to bless and enjoy my family by being a homemaker.  I have such valuable time to love on my men and invest in the littlest one.  Can't folding laundry be a holy occupation?  One that gives God as much glory as when I was teaching 6th graders to write essays?  I think so. 

I plan on winning the battle of the bulging baskets today . . .

I Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

 

 

Doctor, doctor give me the news . . .

Okay, so many of you know that I'm a little Type A, but I love school.  I have recently found this adorable home preschool curriculum for 2 year olds.  Lest you think I'm pushing Grae, it's a program with lots of art projects, a focus on a theme, and some Scripture memory.  For the next two weeks, our theme is doctor/body.  Some of the ideas include teaching the parts of the body, setting up a doctors office and playing with a medical kit, picking up cottonballs and Qtips with tweezers (fine motor), writing a thank you to our doctor/nurses.  We are having a blast.  We traced Grae's body and labeled all of his parts.  Super cute ideas!    A special thanks to Uncle Gish for the great hospital supplies and to Michelle Hubbard for her great curriculum.  You can find it here http://hubbardscupboard.org/christian_resources.html

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Consider the roses . . .

Anxiety.

This is a word that has plagued me for my whole life.  I have always been a "what if" thinker.  My brain takes possible outcomes to their most ridiculous and irrational conclusions.  God has been working on this in me for a long time.  What I have come to realize about myself is that the recipe for  worry is equal parts  mistrust and pride.

By worrying, what I am essentially saying is, "God, I don't trust the plans that you have for me.  I don't trust that You have my best interest at heart."  My heart is so much like the Israel of the Old Testament.  Despite obvious and amazing provision and protection, they still grumbled.  Parting the Red Sea wasn't enough.  Sending manna from heaven wasn't amazing, it was commonplace.  I have the same story.  The Lankfords have been provided for in amazing ways, as many of you reading can testify.  If you hear me grumbling, just remind me about a certain fall off of a roof, a $16,000 provision for adoption, boxes of formula, boxes of food, $500 from friends to help us during a tight time, $12,000 gift after Shane's fall . . . The list is much longer than this.

The pride enters in when I think I can somehow solve my problems better than God can.  How ridiculous!  As I looked at the lovely roses on my kitchen table, I am reminded of Matthew 6: 25-34:

²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  ³⁴ "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Valentine's Boredom Buster

Heres a cute project that you can make out of 2 hearts:

1.  Cut out a small heart from 4x4 piece of cardstock or construction paper.  I used precut foam hearts.

2.  Cut a smaller heart from a contrasting piece of cardstock 1x1.  Cut down the middle.

3.  Glue the heart halves onto the larger heart as shown.

4.  Connect the sides by gluing the heart ears together. 

5.  Make a tail by inserting a lollipop or use string and fill the mouse's body with small candies.

6.  Add google eyes or draw some on.  Voila! 

You can make the mouse a guinea pig by putting the ears on the other end of the heart.  Grae called his a "bunny pig" .  We did this craft at a little lunch we had for a few friends.   

There's no fun like snow fun!

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Boredom buster #2

Here's an easy craft that you can do if you have washable markers and coffee filters. 

1.  Fold the coffee filter into 4 quarters.  It should make a cone shape.

2.  Color the tip of the cone on both sides with different colored markers. 

3. Dip just the tip of the cone in water.

4.  Watch the colors spread.  This is really fun with black washable markers. 

5.  Make a bouquet!  You can use pipe cleaners or straws for the stems.

Boredom Buster #1

Ok, so I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little stir-crazy in the house because of the SNOWPOCALYPSE . . .as far as I'm concerned its SNOVERKILL.  40+ inches in the past week is enough snow for a few years.  I have been trying to use my creative resources to keep my little on busy.  I think this would be fun for all ages as my picture displays:

Find a large tablecloth or old sheet.  Find a large bin.  Empty all of the half boxes of macaroni, rice, split peas, etc. into the bin.  Put in measuring cups, muffin tins, spoons and you have at least 20 minutes of fun without a messy clean up.  Grae chants the rule "Everything stays on the sheet" and he is occupied for awhile.  If you're feeling stressed, get your hands in there and sift away.  It's almost as fun as a jar of buttons . . .

Love your neighbor . . .

Two of the best days of the week for Grae are Mondays and Thursdays.  On these days the most amazing event happens . . . trash pickup.  Grae sits with rapt attention as the amazing gray Harford Sanitation truck drives by and picks up our trash.  His favorite truck in his vast collection is his trash truck. 

As I think about teaching my little man about what it means to love, I think one of the most amazing parts of loving one another is service.  After Shane's forklift job, I was more aware of the blue collar jobs which often receive little notice or thanks.  I am especially aware of this as the men drive by each week to pick up our trash.  What a thankless job, but what a necessary one.  Many of them are someone's daddy  and I thought blessing them would be a good lesson for Grae and for me. 

We woke up last Thursday and made banana chocolate chip muffins and Grae drew a card to thank his favorite trash men.  Unfortunately, my muffins were ill-timed and they came out of the oven 2 minutes too late.  I put them in the freezer in hopes that we could give them to the guys this week.  (It was also a lesson for me on motives,  I was more upset about the muffins than about the lost chance to thank the men.)  This morning, after the huge snowfall, the big gray truck pulled into our neighborhood.  With some quick microwave action and the help of daddy's running feet, we delivered our blessing.  Shane said that the men were very touched and they even blew the horn 5 times as Grae looked on!  He was so excited. 

Our challenge to you is to look for a way to bless someone in your life who probably doesn't get thanked very often.  I think this exercise will be as much a blessing to you as to them.

Galatians 5:14   For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:   "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Operation Lovin' Oven

So in the spirit of this month, I'm trying to tackle the most arduous household tasks with a little lovin'.  With the pending snowstorm here and inevitable boredom, why not do something productive?

My range and oven have been invaluable tools in my domestic diva arsenal.  Unfortunately, they often get overlooked in the week-to-week cleaning attack.  I decided to tackle the microwave, oven, and range today.  It is so gross to lift burner plates and find piles of charred food remains.  Yuck.  For this mission I use one of my most trusty cleaning weapons . . . white vinegar. 

 I used to revel in the cleaning aisle at Wal-Mart, trying to find the perfect cleaner for _______________.  What I ended up with was a bucket of chemicals that I rarely used.  My friend Christie told me about the awesome power of vinegar.  Who knew that the stuff of salad dressing could be my best ally in the assault against most household creepiness and its cheap, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly.  Sounds good, right?

Here is a simple recipe for an all-purpose household cleaner. 

1 part white vinegar

1 part water

Mix in spray bottle and apply.  (There is a vinegar smell, but it dissipates quickly)

Here's a cool link with some other homemade solutions:  http://frugalliving.about.com/od/householdsavings/qt/Homemade_Clean.htm

My Beloved

No one told me that when I married him, I would inherit all of the stories.

My husband is a character.  I've never met anyone with so many hilarious and amazing tales to spin (and all of them true).  There are stories about wrenches, and big wheels; stories about falling from ropes attached to trees and falling off roofs onto cement; stories about dog bites and bactine, and door to door sales and vicious marmaduke dogs; about lightbulb sales, and forklift accidents.  Our shared stories include when I called him by the wrong first name when I first told him I loved him, about a bat in our camper, and about overdosing him on Milk of Magnesia after his epic fall off the roof. 

The real story about Shane is the fact that he is one of the most trustworthy, men of integrity I've ever met.  He serves me everyday in little ways like doing the dishes and wrangling Grae so I can have a precious half-hour of uninterupted shower time.  He is a great example of what a man should be and I am continually blessed to be married to my favorite shoelace salesman . . . but that's another story.

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition

Here I stand, looking in the mirror.

It's a painful daily ritual.  I think I expect to look radically different when I wake up.  All that I notice is that 34 doesn't look much like 20 did.  It's the end of January and most of my good intentions for life changing weight loss have not been realized.  It's funny to me how much of my life has been spent lacking contentedness with my appearance.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm under no false impression that an extra 50 lbs of "fluff" is actually healthy.  I know things need to change. 

As I sat down with my friend Charles Spurgeon and the Bible for our not-so-regular coffee date, I was reminded once again of God's perspective on my morning. 

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18   So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self  is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

What a timely reminder.  I spend lots of time obsessing about the outside and not doing much and I have friends that spend hours at the gym, but I was reminded that we are both in error if we forget to invest time in the eternal things.  I am going to make an effort to change the outside so that I can be healthy, but I cannot forget that I have another more important relationship to nurture.   I was also comforted to be reminded that the Holy Spirit is doing His own Extreme Home Makeover on me daily.

On Whiskey . . .

Dear Friend:

  I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun a controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it may be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. Here is how I stand on the question.

  If, when you say whiskey you mean the Devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty … takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacles of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation and despair, shame and helplessness and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it with all of my power.

  But, if, when you say whiskey, you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman’s step on a frosty morning; if you mean the drink that enables a man to magnify his joy and his happiness and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies, and the heartbreaks and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm, to build highways, hospitals, and schools, then certainly I am in favor of it.

                                                                                                                    -Author Unknown

I apologize to all of my Baptist friends out there, but as a Presbyterian I believe a little whisky can cure a world of ills :)  (everything in moderation of course!)  Here is one of my favorite Whiskey recipes:

Flip Your Kilt Beef Stew  (my own recipe)

Ingredients:

1 lb stew meat (I used an eye round roast from one of Uncle Bobby's cows)

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup diced onion

1 TBS minced dried garlic

1 bay leaf

2 tsp thyme

1/2 cup of Whiskey (I used Glenlivet 12 yr old)

4 cups beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

4 sliced carrots

1 large sliced potato

Cube the beef and toss with a bit of flour to coat.  Put a splash of olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven and turn on medium high heat.  Brown beef and remove.  Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms and saute until onions are translucent. Add whiskey to deglaze the pan.  Add in broth and stew meat.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Cook for 45 minutes.  Bring up to a boil again and add sliced vegetables.  Continue to cook until veg. are soft.  Serve with Sarah Short's fabulous beer bread (click on Short Stop link in my blogroll to find recipe).   

2

Where has the time gone?  It seems like only yesterday that we got the call from Bethany that our little man was born.  It's hard to remember my life B.G.  He's grown from a little bean of a baby that loved to be swaddled, to a little boy whose favorite phrase is, "My do it!"  He is truly a joy and keeps us both laughing out loud and snickering under napkins at the dinner table. 

Uncle Ray - A Tribute

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I always imagined Santa looked like Uncle Ray.  When I was little, my uncle had a soft white beard and the jolly look of the man in red.  I have such fond memories of sitting with Uncle Ray and laughing on my grandmother's couch.  Uncle Ray was a character.  He had lost a few fingers and an eye in a blasting cap incident as a child.  This made the disappearing finger trick a real puzzler for a 5 year old!  I just remember his presence as one of joy.  When visiting my Aunt Violet and Uncle Ray at their home in Pennsylvania (I thought this was where vampires lived and so I was terrified to sleep) I have memories of playing with his giant husky named Yukon and jumping in the biggest pile of leaves.

As I grew older, visits with Uncle Ray were characterized by talks of theology and the Christian faith.  What a blessing to have an older relative who was willing to move past the small talk to the things of real importance!  If you know me at all, you know that I loved these talks.  I remember Shane commenting that he thought Uncle Ray was a great man upon their first meeting.

As Uncle Ray and Aunt Vi grew older, health problems caused a move to live closer to their only daughter and one of my favorite aunts, Nancy.  Aunt Vi was diagnosed with Alzheimers and I saw a picture of a devoted husband as I heard of his care for her throughout that awful disease.

I am sad that we didn't get to visit with Uncle Ray in his last years.  Earth lost one of its great men on New Year's Eve, but Heaven gained a valuable citizen.  It's a comfort to know that I'll see him again one day!

II Timothy 4: 7 

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

A gentle answer . . .

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Let me commend a great little book to the parents out there.  We've just started using a cute little book called My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts by Susan Hunt.  For each letter there is an explanation of a verse beginning with that letter as well as a little story and questions that apply the Scripture.  It's very cute!  We only use the verse and explanation now, but I can see this book becoming a favorite in our rotation for years to come! 

This week our verse is Proverbs 15:1, "A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger."  What a convicting reminder to this grown-up. 

Check the book  out at www.crossway.org

Strength that stoops to conquer

Today I wiped a little red nose and held my little boy as he slept feverishly. 

This little frail bundle reminded me of one of the talks given on our recent College and Career retreat by our dear friend L.B. Graham.  We approached the book of Revelation as a doxology of Christ.  In Revelation 1: 13, John sees an image of the Risen Christ.  He is powerful and terrifying and John falls at the feet of his Savior as if dead.  L.B. reminded us that this was not the pasty pale Jesus that often adorns the walls of our homes or our Sunday school rooms.  This image is one of wisdom, judgment, and exacting strength and yet, Christ reaches down to John and tells him not to fear.

How does this relate to my little sick boy?  This same God, the One who spoke the universe into being, the One who holds the stars in their places, the One who knows how many hairs are on my head was born into filth to an unknown couple in a little town of no reputation.  He wasn't born into a body that was immune to sickness or fever, but a body that could and would die.  What humiliation!

Jesus could have come with eyes blazing and with legions of angels at his beckon, yet he humbled Himself and entered the world as a little child so that we may be God's children.