A Beautiful Challenge

If someone would have told me that a little over a year ago I would completely act out of character by answering my front door with dripping wet, straight out of the shower hair only to find a woman asking me to participate in a foreign exchange student program.... I would have laughed. Hard.

We had done this before. It had been a very long time, but it had been horrible! Both J and I agreed that it would take a serious miracle for us to EVER say "yes" to another stranger coming into our house and lives for an extended period of time.

On a typical summer day last year, God saw fit to perform that miracle as I told this woman at my door that I would talk to my husband and that "Yes, we would like to consider hosting this young man from France." Our lives have been forever changed since that day.

Clement left our home for the second time yesterday. This time he took his mother, father and younger brother with him. We had an incredible time! Clement was here for almost two weeks before his family came to join him. Everyone here picked up exactly where we left off last year. A true sign that we are much more than friends... We are family. After he had been here for a couple of days, he mentioned to us that he would like to bring his family to church while they were here. He wasn't sure they would be open to this idea though. I immediately started to pray about that, and asked that a few others pray about it also. When his family arrived, I just knew that they would be sitting in church with us on Sunday.... And that they did.

After they left yesterday, J and I sat and talked through my tears once again. This boy from France feels like one of my own. It is always hard to see him go, but this time it was easier because I know he will be back. The idea that I will someday get to go see him in his home is something to get excited about also! J told me that unusual circumstances led him to us and us to him.... For very specific reasons. A seed was planted in Clement's heart last summer, and that very same seed I believe was planted in the hearts of his family yesterday. Clement's mother sat at my dining room table Saturday night and explained that they don't attend church in France. Not only do they find their "inherited catholic religion" boring, but the church in France is dying. She told me that more and more churches are closing due to lack of priests and ministers. She shared with me how Clement has talked about "American church" ever since he was here last summer. It was such a sweet and encouraging conversation. I knew that between my prayers and Clement's testimony, the Lord had already began His work in laying the foundation for this family as they attended church the next day. Today I continue to pray that they are taking many thoughts, prayers and words back with them to France as Clement did last year.

Unusual circumstances led us to being gifted with this extended family in France. What would have happened if we would have said "No"? We would have stayed within our comfort zone and missed out on something so extraordinary!! I have witnessed myself, my husband and my children all want to stay within our own comfort zones and push away anything that looks different, hard or intimidating. It's easy to do! There must be balance, because we cannot say yes to everything, but saying yes to something big and unfamiliar, I have learned is something to experience. We will be blessed and others will be blessed too!

As we start another school year this week, I am praying for my family. I am praying that we will all have not only the ability, but the boldness in saying "YES" to something we might not expect ourselves to this year. I am praying that we will be prayerful about what that something is, and then that the blessings will flow... Just as they do between my home and a special home in France.

So Much to Write, But so Little Time... For Now

There is much on my mind.

We just returned from a week's vacation up through Oregon, Washington and into Canada.

Exactly six days before we left, we moved.

Tomorrow we leave for San Francisco for a baseball game and to pick up Clement, our french exchange student that stayed with us last summer. He's coming for another visit, and his parents and younger brother are coming out to meet us in a couple of weeks.

Life is moving along here. It feels like summer just started, and yet it's ending (only officially, because school starts again INSANELY early)!

We are soaking up the moments. Trying not to let the smiles and laughter go un-noticed as we flow through each of these summer days.

I will write specifics later. I thought it might be easier if I leave a note to self about what I want to write about. You know, that's how a forty-something Mama of three boys operates... Lots of notes to self. :)

1. The move!

2. Vacation

3. More gratitude (always more)

4. The view from here

It could be a few days until I get around to undisturbed intimacy with my lap top. That's okay though.... The important thing for me is to have AS MANY undisturbed and intimate moments with my family.

I'll be back!

Preparation

, a photo by Zoomama3 on Flickr.

Do you ever feel on the verge of something BIG? Maybe not something that you can actually put a finger on.... But something BIG?

Today I woke up with a heart that told me that more change is taking place. The change is beneath the surface though(at least for now it is). This change has a lot to do with preparation!

God is preparing us... He has allowed and then used disappointments and trials as tools to sow our hearts for what is to come. Disappointment is never any easy thing, but when you can see the purpose in it, it changes everything. Our oldest has demonstrated this beautifully this week. He has taught his Mama some very fine lessons and brought me to my knees with a desire to honor my Father and the will that He has for my children.

Lucas has shown me what rising above looks like. God has shown me that there is much to be done... Lots of preparing to do.

So full of gratitude today.

What I Have Learned

This morning I woke up to a very quiet and still house. It was very early, and I embraced the time to just lie still in bed and think. The very first thoughts that came to my mind were about this house we have been living in.

We have spent almost six months here. In that time, I have spent a lot of time complaining about this place. I have taken every opportunity even remotely given to gripe about something related to this house! Truth is, I have learned a lot here.

I have learned more about each one of our boys. There's not a whole lot of space here, so we are forced to be right on top of each other. It's like they have been under a microscope for me to see. I have seen a lot of good, but I have also seen areas that as parents, we have neglected. We have been able to get down to the nitty gritty on several occasions.

This house has taught me more about my relationship with my husband. It has shown me what husband and wife are capable of when there is discontentment. I have seen things happen in my marriage that I have prayed about for many years. We are a team... Ready to live strong and fight to the finish.

In keeping with a policy of honesty though, I have to say that I have learned mostly about myself. I am not as flexible as I thought I was. Despite my desire NOT to be, I am a person who isn't easy to satisfy. Largely, I haven't felt satisfied here. It's hard to pin point where that comes from too. I don't know if it's necessarily the size of the home, or that because of it's many broken things I could never make it feel like home. J and I were never too interested in fixing what has been broken, but neither has our landlord. Thus, the desire to stay never really happened. Sure, we had decided to stay out of obedience, but our true heart feelings were never there. Looking back, I wish that I had prayed more about a different attitude though. I wish that I would have been a better example of humility and flexibility for my children.

Lesson learned.

This journey is far from over still. We have another two years of renting to do. God has done and He will continue to do what He finds necessary in our lives. Because of what I have learned in this little place that has been home to us for the past six months, I have the capability of being a better wife, mom and person. I pray that I won't lose sight of these lessons and that they remain fresh for a long time.

I pray that the same microscope that has been over my boys will be over MYSELF and that I wouldn't be negligent, but that I would always be getting down to the nitty gritty with me.

I'm so grateful for what I have learned here. He continues to show me.... There is purpose in everything.

The Story Continues

I have been withholding information.

A couple of months ago, we were informed of a house in our area that would soon be vacant. It is currently being lived in. Some friends from church have made it their home for a couple of years now. On a Saturday morning awhile back, this friend called me to tell me that they would be moving. I quickly responded with specific prayers that we would be offering during their moving process. About mid-conversation, he asked me, "Wait, aren't you guys looking for another house to rent?" I told him that we were, but that God had put it on our hearts to stay put and get comfortable. I told him about the fact that even as we spoke on the phone in that moment, my boys were busy moving furniture and clothing from room to room as we had decided to make things a little more comfy for all of them. This friend (I'll refer to him as 'G') told me that we should consider renting the house that they had been living in when they moved in July. Hmmm.... Our lease in this house is officially up in July. Was this something we were supposed to look at, even after we thought we had heard it so clearly from the God that we should stay? I told G that I would talk to Hubby and we would pray.

Fast forward about two months.

We are moving in to this home in two weeks. Of course, it wouldn't be ours if not for the story attached, so grab your cup of coffee and read on....

We went to the property management company and filled out all of the necessary paper work after deciding that this home isn't something we went looking for, it came looking for us. Maybe that's just how the Lord wants it. He wanted to see us surrender our future more and put our trust more in Him. The PMC told us that nothing else could be done until we were thirty days out from our friends' move date. At the time, they would contact the owner and run all of our information by him to get final approval of our moving in. The thirty day mark came.... And it went. Our friends put their final notice in, but the owner took many days to get back to the PMC. After finally contacting them, he informed them that he was talking with realtors now about selling instead of continuing to rent it out. WHAT?? For some reason, we have this incredible history of finding these kinds of scenarios in our area! I lost it.

I have held my cool pretty well in the past when coming across these kinds of disappointments, but not this time. I was angry, and I was hurt. I felt like this carrot had been hung right in front of my nose only to taunt me. I had finally come to understand and accept that this home where we are at now would be home for another two years. I had come up with new ideas to make it home. I was okay with it before the carrot was hung. Now I was just confused on what the purpose in this was.

I went to bible study that night (against my wishes, really). I wasn't going to share with the ladies there because quite frankly, I'm tired of sounding like a discontented whiner. I almost felt foolish for even going forward with the idea of moving again when we already have a home. The palms of my hands became clammy (which ALWAYS means that I'm supposed to share) so I shared. It came out in the form of sobbing really, and then I felt even more stupid! These ladies are quite the saints though. They had just the right things to share, even the hard things that I needed to hear. I went home that night feeling blessed.

The next morning I took the kids to school and came home. I cleaned the house and re-arranged again. I saw that I had e-mail, but I put that off. After awhile, I sat on the couch and fell apart again as I spoke aloud to the Lord. I desperately felt that I needed him to show me what this was all about. After a bit, I went to my e-mail. Waiting for me there was this sweet devotional from one of my friends at bible study the night before. The devotion was about surrender and waiting. Wow... His timing is NEVER off, is it? The devotion used an illustration about the eagle. It told of how the eagle has a long life span, but about half way through it's life, it must go through a process where it literally sits in it's nest and plucks it's feathers, yanks it's talons out and then pecks it's own beak off. It does all of this to experience new growth. Once this I would assume, painful process is finished, it is a new bird that goes on to live the other half of it's very long life. Great story! Apparently, I had some plucking to do. I was immediately thankful for a God who heard me and supplied me with exactly what I needed... The purpose.

Two days later I'm at the dog park with my boys and dogs. My Hubby called while I was there to tell me that the owner changed his mind about selling... The house is ours! At first I don't even know what to feel. In some ways, I feel like I am un-deserving because I threw this little fit like a two year old. In some ways I feel like I don't even believe it. Then, in other ways, I feel and KNOW that God had it planned like this from the beginning. The purpose is still there... To show me where my new growth still needed to take place. As I sit in the PMC office a few days later signing all of the paper work, I look down at the address of my soon to be new home. I had never really looked at it before. The name of the street seemed to just stare me in the face. I couldn't believe it, and my eyes started to get wet. Without putting my exact address on the WWW, I can share with you that the name of the street is Eagles Nest. Did you just get the same goose bumps that I got? God is pretty amazing! No, not really. He is AWESOMELY AMAZING! He gave me my own nest to continue my plucking and pecking. If not for the WHOLE story, there would be none of this. I stand in awe... Truly.

Today I sit here among boxes again. A sight that has become all too familiar, but not without purpose.

The story continues....

Food and baseball.... All they need.

Food and baseball.... All they need., a photo by Zoomama3 on Flickr.

The boys have more boys over tonight hanging out in front of the TV and sleeping in a tent. Tomorrow we go tubing on the lake. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE boys! They are so doggone easy... :)

pS. That's root beer that they are drinking!

Summer time is for remembering....

, a photo by Zoomama3 on Flickr.

Remembering how to live with wreck less abandon in a spirit full of thanksgiving!

Remembering the gifts.

Remembering how to live with my hands open and fingers pointed out.... Not in.

Remembering eucharisteo!