An Earthquake and an Article

Erik and I were just wrapping up our quiet night at home when our bookshelf began to shake and the house shuddered! We just had an earthquake. We are waiting for the internet earthquake site to log it so we can see what magnitude it was. Wow!

Before the earthquake, I was writing this article. Enjoy!

Wanna Be Like You

“Mama, can you show me what color underwear you have on?” Elisa asks, tugging on the waistband of my jeans.

Laughing, I bend down and tussle her hair with my fingers. “Why, honey?”

“’Cause I want to see if we match.”

I kiss my almost three-year-old daughter on the tip of her nose – the nose with the pert little ski jump, so similar to my own – and slide my pants over my hips to reveal pink and white stripes.

“Oh,” she says, disappointed. “Mine are purple.” She frowns, then brightens. “Can I go change, Mama? I have pink ones in my drawer.”

I hesitate, thinking of the added laundry, the wastefulness of changing clothes just so she can match her Mama. “Sure, honey. Go ahead and change.”

She scampers up the stairs, and a moment later, a pair of zebra-spotted purple panties come flying down the laundry chute. As I toss the toddler-sized undies into the washing machine, I smile. Elisa’s eagerness to be “just like Mama” in this small way is revealing. Even more revealing than the slightly tattered, pink and white striped unmentionables!

My daughter looks up to me. I am – for better or worse – her role model. In the small things, and in the big things. From the way I brush my teeth and tie my shoes to the way I love or don’t love others. The way I love – or don’t love – God.

When I sneak a chocolate chip cookie before dinner, she notices. When I retort sassily to something her daddy says, she notices. When I complain or grumble about a mundane task, she notices. She notices when my behavior doesn’t quite match the ideals I try to instill in her. She sees the inconsistencies, the impatience, and the ungratefulness. As I measure detergent and pour it into the rising tide of warm wash water, I am humbled. My daughter wants to be just like me, but I am not always a person I want her to be just like.

And yet, God formed her life within my frail human body. He who knows everything about me, every secret of my still sinful heart, determined that I was the right earthly mama for His precious daughter. He knew she would want to be like me, and still He entrusted her life to my care. He is so full of grace! The roles and responsibilities of motherhood are chisels in the Lord’s hands. Being a parent inspires me to holiness – never more so than on this Tuesday afternoon, as I watch flimsy purple panties swirl through soapy water.

Book List

I love to read, and I am often hearing about or seeing a book that interest me, and then thinking, "I should add that to the list!" Well, I haven't actually had a list, so today I set out to create a 2009 Reading List.

I thought I'd share it in case any one wants to join me on a particular book, or maybe has that book I can borrow!

Life With God - Richard Foster (with Erik)
Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster
Holiness - A Heart God Purifies - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
A Quest For More - Paul David Tripp
Your Life in Christ - George MacDonald
The Reason for God: Belief in an age of skepticism - Tim Keller

Practicing Hospitality - Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock
Heaven at Home - Ginger Plowman
The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Edith Schaeffer
A Woman's Guide to Family Finances - Ellie Kay

The Mission of Motherhood (a reread) - Sally Clarkson
The Heart of Anger - Lou Priolo
Boundaries for Kids - Henry Cloud (with Erik)
Teach them Diligently - Lou Priolo

Chronicles of Narnia series - CS Lewis (with Erik)
The Shack - William Young
Any novels by George MacDonald (whatever our library has)

When Sinners Say I Do - Dave Harvey
The Love Dare

Yeah! I am happy to have it written down and start checking off some of these titles. Let me know if you want to read with me!

Christmastime Adventures

The last few weeks have been filled with family, friends and lots of wet wintertime adventures... I know some of you faithfully check my blog daily or weekly; I am sorry I have not written an update recently! Here are some holiday highlights from the Wachob house.

On Christmas Eve, we put the littles in their jammies and drove through a snowstorm to the candlelight service. As always, the carols, soft-lighting, and hushed reverence brought a quiet expectancy to our hearts. Erik and I stayed up late... I had to toss my first Poteca bread and start over at 9:30 PM, which meant I pulled it from the oven just before midnight. :) Christmas morning came and the snow continued as we opened stockings and shared breakfast of Poteca bread and grapefruit (combining our family traditions). It was fun to watch the girls open gifts. We loved receiving so many thoughtful handmade items - a skirt sewn by my mom, aprons from Aunt Fay, a tablecloth from Amy... many of my family were participating in Advent Conspiracy with their churches, and it was neat to see the fruits of that.

Snow, snow and more snow! Our plow truck came at noon, and we shared cookies with him (poor guy). Snow at an inch an hour made a mess of the mountain traverses, meaning Erik's family could not arrive as scheduled. His parents would up flying into Bozeman, MT, and driving to meet Adam and Kristen in Idaho Falls where the four of them were then stranded until midday on the 26th. We ended up having a quiet Christmas Day at home, then being spontaneously invited to share dinner with friends the Willcoxes.

When our eagerly anticipated guests arrived, we shared a delicious meal - my first solo efforts at a holiday dinner. I used a recipe Mom learned in a long-ago cooking class, one that included lighting brandy on fire! :) The pork-loin turned out really well, and it was such a blessing to relax and celebrate Christmas with our family. We instituted a new tradition for us - a family time of worship and singing after dinner. That was probably one of my favorite memories of the week.

On Saturday, Kristen and Becky came with me to pick up Michelle from the airport in IF. Then, because all of us enjoy Thai food, we picked up take-out from the three local Thai restaurants and conducted a very serious taste test. The winner: ?? I can't remember. I think the chilled Henry Weinhardts was actually the top-rated food item. :)

Sunday we enjoyed a sleigh ride on the Elk Refuge. The horse drawn sleighs take you right into the middle of the grazing elk herds. Doug is a wildlife biologist, and it was particularly fun to hear his insights. Sadie slept snuggled on my chest as the wind howled around us.



Erik - pulling babies on skis! Both girls are fast asleep in this picture.

We are laying the snow. Sadie loves the Baby Beco carrier we bought to replace our worn-out Snuggli. She sleeps like a champ and stays so warm and cozy!

Michelle, flopping in the snow!

Adam and Erik - skate skiing with Elisa

Grandpa Doug taking his turn carrying the munchkin

On board the sleigh at the Elk Refuge

Peek-a-boo! I'm cute and I know it!

Our tree on Christmas morning

Snow angels


Sledding adventures with Daddy

Monday took us by snowmobile and ski to Granite Hot Springs. Michelle wrote a terrific post about this trip on her blog, so I won't duplicate it. But such a fun and memorable day. The kids were amazing troopers - sleeping in baby carriers, coping with layers and layers of clothes....

We spent the next couple days quietly recuperating and giving Doug and Becky a chance to visit with friends. We all collaborated on a New Year's Eve coconut shrimp feast and rang in the New Year by actually staying up until midnight!

Doug and Becky returned to Alaska on Thursday. :( Michelle and I took the girls snow-shoeing on Friday, and on Saturday we all went cross-country skiing in the park.... testing out our wonderful new Chariot transport system.

What a wonderful week of memories. We just wish we could have somehow transported Mom, Amy, Forrest, Ephraim, and Ryan here, as well. You were missed, guys! As Elisa said, "I'm so sad. No one is here now!"

O Christmas Tree

It has been a long while since I updated our blog; I am sorry! Christmas projects, stories, and clean-up are my excuses. :) Here a few pictures of the girls and of our Christmas tree hunt. Merry Christmas!

Tea Party

Those of you who do not know Robin Jones Gunn's stories will not enjoy this entry as much as those who do.... but my sister Michelle and I attended an online tea party tonight that was launching her newest novel. She had three giveaways during the evening and we won two of them! Michelle won the trivia contest, and I won the photo contest for this picture of a tea party. So silly, and yet, we are both thrilled. We have loved her stories for years, and both of us can recount snippets of her writing that have been integral in our spiritual walks.... fiction that has spoken to our hearts deeply. Anyway, it was fun to win a contest - even more fun to do it together!

Birthdays, Homecomings and a few quick updates

Quickly, because it is late... here a couple of photos. We just celebrated Sadie's birthday last week... a small party, some carrot and pumpkin cupcakes, and lots of sweet, happy smiles. She is a charmer. She is 31 inches by my measurement, and weighs about 21.5 pounds. She has about ten words or so... most of them only recognizable by mama. She cruises all over and loves outside! ("Aussh!")


Sadie in a pile of leaves

Elisa on the mound of grass and leaf clippings

Family photo

Check out Craig and Valerie's blog some time and read about the homecoming of their miracle baby boy, Ethan. We are overjoyed with them that he is in their home. What a Thanksgiving miracle for this beautiful family.

Thanksgiving Musings

This afternoon, the girls and I retrieved a large package from the post office. When we returned to the house, we eagerly opened the box to discover mounds of new clothes, socks, and a beautiful handmade quilt. Erik and I are immensely blessed by all of our parents. They are God-loving, wise, and gracious. And they love to lavish good gifts on their grandchildren. I was flabbergasted and thankful for the new winter clothes for Elisa and Sadie (Elisa is rapidly moving beyond 2T size.) And the intricate, pink quilt represents many loving hours of patient stitching and (if I know my perfectionist mother-in-law) seam ripping. A labor of tender love for her one year-old grandbaby. We receive these beautiful gifts with deeply thankful hearts and an awareness of how blessed we are - materially and relationally - by our amazing parents.

Tonight, Elisa struggled with the gratefulness part. Erik and I want with all of our hearts to instill in our sweet daughters a sense of abiding contentment, and a constant gratitude for each gift handed to them from the Father of lights. We want them to live in humble thankfulness - not to feel that they are in any way entitled to any of it, but that all this abundant goodness is a gift from the One who made them. We want them to give generously to others, to understand that wants are not needs, that others live in situations far different than their own middle-class American luxury.

Elisa hurriedly tried on a pair of oh-so-soft brown jammies. For a few minutes she enjoyed them, and we talked about how she would sleep so well in her new, well-fitting, warm pajamas. Then we sat down to eat our dinner, and she snapped. She began to throw one of the worst fits I have seen to date (and we have seen some whoppers from our headstrong toddler!). She screamed that she did not like the brown ones, they were yucky. She wanted to change into some of her other new clothes. She wailed and ranted, and I held her tightly on my lap for nearly 30 minutes as she kicked and fought me. She never ate dinner, and we headed up stairs - still in the brown jammies - for bed.

My little girl's temper tantrum broke my heart tonight. I know she is two, and she is learning. She gets excited, and self-control is a battle she often loses during those moments. If she had graciously said, "Mom, when dinner is over, could I try on some of my other new clothes?" I would have said, "Sure, honey. Finish your rice, and we'll see how the blue ones fit." But, sadly, that wasn't how it went tonight.

How do you teach your children gratefulness when they live in a land of abundance? How do you teach them others-focus when the world is self-absorbed? (And so are we, if we are honest, a great deal of the time!)

My mail today also included a plea from Compassion for donations to their Unsponsored Childrens' Fund. The stories and faces of those precious little ones make me weep. We support a girl named Eri in Peru, and I cannot wait until Elisa is old enough to correspond with our "sponsored child" and learn about Eri's way of life, learn to love her and pray for her. Tomorrow for our preschool time, I am planning to show Elisa those pictures and read about each of those little children. I know she won't understand it all. But maybe, before she puts on one of her fuzzy new sweatsuits, she will thank Jesus for His good gifts.