Counting Gifts

Months ago, I shared about the book 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It has been on the New York Times bestseller list often, so I am guessing many of you have also read it, and been so blessed by her call to radical thankfulness. I am rereading it right now. I am forgetful; I need reminders often!

In the months since reading the book, I have been challenged to constantly seek joy and thankfulness in ALL things -- no matter what I am doing or what the circumstances are. I am not faithful to record gifts daily, but I do write in my journal several times a week -- counting God's graces in the form of all the daily "messes and miracles."

It is amazing how the constant posture of thankfulness changes your outlook on the "grind" of motherhood. I am finding myself filled with simple, overwhelming pleasure in the beauty of small tasks... in things like warm laundry to fold, and dishes to scour in sudsy water, in rubbing the small of Raina's back as she tries to relax and go pee-pee in the potty, in measuring out Robitussin to soothe a little one's nighttime cough, in stirring cookie dough and setting out fancy dishes for mid-morning tea, in helping small hands make beds, or reminding a child that the fork goes on the left side of the plate.

Dishes washed and laid to dry
Chore charts to help little ones remember to take joy in their daily tasks, too!
Learning together - even when it's messy!
A washer and dryer constantly in motion
Fresh chocolate chip cookies. Actually Erik made these. :)


The other night the house was quiet. Erik was working on taxes upstairs, and I found myself cleaning the kitchen in nighttime stillness. Hands immersed in soapy water, a broom swept across a crumb-strewn floor, the hum of the dryer tossing its last load. And I just reveled in that! And then to remember moments from a busy day -- listening to my daughter read, doing a joyous "potty-dance," dancing with little girls to loud music...

The act of counting God's gifts really does make thankfulness your first response. I struggle. Of course. I get impatient, or annoyed, and I forget to be thankful for a smoothie that tumbled to the carpet, or a child squabbling - again - over something that so doesn't matter, or the girls destroying their bedroom for the third time in a day, or the pee-pee that didn't go in the potty, or the child that won't go to sleep, or, or, or....

but I am so thankful for the reminder to be thankful and how that is changing my work into worship. If you haven't read the book --- read it! :)

Potty Training Take 3

I have been told that potty training should get easier with each child because they watch and observe the older ones. You know what? It's not true. For our family, each child's initial training has been much more challenging than the last... simply because Mommy is not un-distracted. And neither is the child. :) With Elisa, Sadie was only two months old, and she was angel during the first intense days of training. Elisa, on the other hand, was keenly interested and involved in Sadie's training... until she got bored and decided she needed Mom's attention elsewhere. :) With Raina, this pregnant mama has been juggling morning school, discipline, cleaning, chores, and a four-week long respiratory virus along with potty training. Days 1 and 2 were virtually failures. : ) The older kids were frustrated with her lack of progress, and annoyed because we couldn't leave the house for two days! They started out so excited, but their patience waned quickly. We started late last week, and Raina is now going potty about 1/2 to 2/3 of the time without a dribble in her undies first. God is giving me grace to be patient with the slowness of it, to lower my expectations a bit, to be thankful for a dozen pairs of little undies and a wonderful sanitizing washing machine, and to cheer for all the little victories while handing out the requisite M&Ms.

I think she'll get the hang of it. :)

Growth in Grace

The other night, I wrote about Elisa's sixth birthday and tried to share a bit about who our oldest daughter is...
I want to always speak kindly of my little ones and be careful not to present them negatively. But I also want to be honest, to show you who they are -- successes and sweetness, struggles and sin. And I want anyone who reads my blog to know that our family is not perfect. :) I don't want you to feel the way I do after I read a stack of Christmas letters... that our family is lacking, that we are the only ones with sinful children, that we are under-achievers in every way. :) So hopefully, you get my uncensored but loving portrayal of our family's life and learning.

One of the things I have prayed through often in the last year is that both our older daughters have "asked Jesus into their hearts." Erik and I have been cautious about this -- not assuming their salvation because of that. We know that saving faith requires genuine repentance, and that true faith manifests itself in a desire to please God. To be honest, we haven't seen that heart change in our sweet little girls. So they take communion as believers, and we speak to them about the Holy Spirit living in their hearts. But, we are careful to also teach them the Gospel over and over and to wait for fruit in their lives.

I feel like lately I am seeing fruit in the heart of my oldest. Last night, we ice skated together as a family, and Elisa grinned happily, twirling around with an old skating dress of mama's OVER the top of her bulging snow pants and coat. She had a terrific attitude. She dropped something on the way inside the house and called over her shoulder, "Mom, can you get that?" Seeing my hands were full, she said, "Oh, I'll get it. Your hands are already too full!" She then hung up all her snow clothes unprompted, and went to change clothes. This morning, Raina-bean was snuggling in our bed (all three girls were) when Raina gagged on snot and threw up all over Erik. (I know, gross!) Elisa went to get her clean jammies, a doll, and a blanket. She entertained her in the steam shower I gave her to help with the mucous, and then made a nest for her on the floor so that Raina could lay comfortably while Elisa made a brown bag puppet for her to play with.

Little things, but I am beginning to see kindness, mercy, and compassion more often. A willingness to serve and help without reward or nagging. Sometimes we see the opposite, too... stomping around while emptying the dishwasher, or complaining about a small task. Yesterday I made her copy Ephesians 6:1 twice in her copybook. She needed the reminder. :)

But I am thankful to see growth in grace in my little ones. That's precious!

And Six!

I realized the "six" on my previous post could also have been the title for this one. :)
Our family of five is soon to become a family of six, as we welcome a new little one at the end of July. We are thrilled.

The girls found out on Christmas morning when Elisa unwrapped a note that read, "New baby brother or sister coming in July!" The announcement got a bit lost in the shuffle of gifts, but once it sank in, they were so excited. Someone is always hugging my belly, kissing the barely notice-able 14-week bump, or talking about "when the new baby comes." I am only worried that they won't share with me once he or she arrives -- and I like holding my own babies. :)

Six!

Last week, Elisa turned six! As cliche as it is, it is certainly true that "they grow up fast!"

We celebrated by playing hooky from school (you can do that when you homeschool) and spending the morning playing in new-fallen snow, eating apple fritters for breakfast, skiing with Grandma, getting her very own library card, and eating ice cream sundaes. On Friday, the day after her "real" birthday, we had a small tea party. She loved being princess for the day and reminding her younger guests to use their proper manners and not slurp or snort like dragons. :)

I love Elisa. She is my wild child, my shy child, my tender and compassionate child, and my sometimes mean child. She is a mix of bright leadership and zest for life combined with her mama's reserve and and hints of quiet thoughtfulness. She is insightful and smart and she can be stubborn and selfish. (I think all children have those traits to some degree, don't they?)

She can be so very grown up at times in her mannerisms and speech that it boggles my mind. She can also run around yelling her head off with her sisters and jabber nonsense, or occasionally throw a tantrum that leaves me wondering if she ever grew out of the twos?

Elisa is physically very strong and capable. She skis so well, and we are trying to make sure that it is still fun and invigorating for her, not just hard exercise and work. :) It's easy for Erik and I to pull the other two behind us and let Elisa just keep up - because she CAN.

She is doing well in school. I think every homeschool mom will tell you that school times magnify all of the behavior challenges and discipline issues you encounter in daily life. There are definite challenges, and I am so thankful to be at home, shepherding her through challenges we might not face if I sent her off to school every day. That said, she really is learning! She can read nearly anything now; we are learning some of the more complicated phonics
rules (like all the many sounds of ough!) and multi-syllable words can be hard, but there is a confident fluency to much of her reading now and it so wonderful! She finished K-level math and spelling, so I had to adjust the budget and purchase the next level up. Thanks, Wachob grandparents, for helping with some of those purchases!

Elisa loves playing dolls, doing craft projects (today she made a centerpiece for the table with flowers from construction paper), reading together, dancing, playing games (as long as Raina is far away! :)) and having elegant tea parties with real black tea (decaf. only). She likes helping make cookies, and she likes planning the next day... she always wants to know what is on the agenda for tomorrow before she falls asleep.

She loves AWANA - especially the games, and she takes pride in memorizing verses and earning her jewels. Last week she memorized the 27 books of the NT. It was not easy -- but she did it!

Happy Birthday little girl!
Ice cream sundae!


The snow fall on her birthday.


Skiing with a smile.
The Princess at her party. She decorated the crown cake with half a bottle of princess sprinkles.

Two Quilts

Both Erik's mother and mine recently gifted us with a beautiful quilt.
My mom sewed a beautiful memory quilt for each Forbes child this Christmas, cutting my dad's shirts into quilt pieces and creating one-of-a-kind, priceless works of heart-warming art. I bawled when I opened it on Christmas morning and it is a treasure to wrap myself in sweet memories of my daddy.




Becky's quilt is sure to be an award winner next summer when we strip it off the bed and enter it in the county fair. She worked on it for about a year, and the pieces that make up the design were so tiny! It was definitely a long labor of love and it is beautiful!

Thank you, Moms!

Clutter

If you know me very well... or even a little bit... you know that I don't do well with clutter. :) I like things tidy. Neat. Simple. I always have. As a little girl, I dreamed of having a house that looked a bit like Marilla Cuthbert's or maybe the Ingalls family. You know, plain and bare with maybe just a few knick-knacks on a shelf and a pitcher of water in a bowl on a side table for washing up in. A trunk in the corner and blankets neatly folded on the bed. I can be ruthless about throwing or giving away things around the house. Clothes that haven't been worn recently, toys that haven't been played with (or that are plastic, and use batteries :)), little bits of junk. I have one manila envelope filled with favorite drawings the kids have made, but I usually toss their projects, too, after a week or so. This is a horrible thing to admit, but I have even thought at times that it wouldn't be so bad if all our belongings burned in a fire. I mean, we would have no clutter! And I would buy everyone three nice sturdy outfits, and a stack of good books, and a cast iron skillet, and we would be fine!

Now, that is not to say that there aren't pockets of clutter in our big old house. We have a closet filled with things I don't know what to do with, and drawers in the kitchen that have all kinds of unidentifiable junk. And I am horrible at keeping dresser drawers tidy, so my clothes are in a wrinkled mess within my neatly shut drawers. (The same is true for the kitchen cabinets. Just can't keep them straightened!) Under the sinks isn't terribly organized, either. But -- I always have a plan for when I am going to declutter the next thing.

I was thinking about that today -- about my passion for simplicity and organization in my home. And it made me wonder if I have that same passion for decluttering the hidden messes of my heart. Or if maybe I should. Messes in my house are tangible - and I can be driven to eradicate them. But what pockets of hidden sin clutter are lurking in my heart? Am I driven to clear those? Do I deal with sin like I deal with clutter, or do I stuff it further into the "junk drawer?" There are so many areas where I know I need to allow the Lord to work in me. Kindness. Patience. Forebearance. Fearing Him, instead of fearing man. Loving. Not judging. Being centered on bringing Him glory instead of being self-centered in my motives. Being slow to anger - especially with my kids. And you know what? Especially when it comes to my kids' messes! :) Hungering for God's Word. Longing to share His Gospel with others (that is so hard for me!). Caring about people the way He does.

It was a good reminder to me today as I surveyed one physical pocket of clutter. Some "cleaning out" is more important than others.