Guitar Praise

One year at Pine Cove Family Camp the theme night was "What you want to be when you grow up". Caleb chose "Astare". Here is a picture of a future Pine Cove staffer!

Summer Camp

On Sunday I had the joy of dropping off two of my boys at a summer camp. We have attended family camp for the past seven years, but with our move family camp was impossible.

Benjamin & Josiah were thrilled to be able to attend camp and I was excited that they could be in the same cabin. They are not only great brothers they are also great friends.

I'm glad I gave all the instructions to them before we left home. Once we got there we were busy with registration and meeting new people. When it was time for the rest of us to leave I barely got a hug from them. They were ready for camp!

I have been praying for them a lot this week and I can't wait to hear all about their adventures when I pick them up on Friday. Camp is a great time for them to grow up a little bit and a great time for me to let go a little bit more and trust them to the Father's care.

A Birthday Scavenger Hunt

For Josiah's 10th Birthday I decided to have him hunt for his present. All he wanted for his birthday was a drum set. I found one at a yard sale one Saturday morning several weeks ago and I had all the parts hidden in the storage room. This is how it went...

Clue #1
You are such fun, such a real treat. We thought you'd like to search and find for something real neat...be careful where you look so you don't ruin the surprise...for your first visit you must look outside.

Clue #2
What is this for? What good are these? To find out why you must search in games please.

Clue #3
Whooaah! The surprise is growing, what is next...to find out more please check your floor.

Clue #4
This is where it will be but there is stuff missing...where should you look now? How about a towel?

Clue #5
Put it in the room with the rest of your stuff. Now I am tired, but we're not done yet. Maybe I should go on a ride, but I'll need something first, always wear a helmet, so your head won't burst.

Clue #6

On Saturday mornings someone's a sleepy head...it is such fun to wake the parents instead.

Clue #7
Time is a wasting, tomorrow is the 4th, there will be fireworks and loud clashing of course. We can't set off our own, but we have a great view. Hopefully the trees won't mind bending a few.

Clue #8
We are almost done, but don't give up hope. You'll find the rest with not even a joke. Where would you look for someone so sleepy? If you are the Dwarfs her name is Sleepy.

Clue #9
I hope you've had fun, we've had a great time. Happy Birthday dear Josiah, we'll hear from you in time!

The Joy of a Lost Tooth

For two weeks Whitney has endured a loose tooth. It has wiggled. It has hurt. It has changed her eating habits, until...it fell out when she was sitting on the couch. What a surprise and what a joy! Now she looks forward to drinking through a straw through the hole where her tooth once was!

I don't usually find joy in the things that I lose...car keys, a child's shoe, etc. Those items bring frustration, not joy when they are lost.

There are other things however, that would bring great joy to lose...anger, a word spoke too harshly, a critical spirit. I have noticed these things are not easily lost, they must be uprooted and the soil replanted with the qualities that come from time in the word and time with God.

In Colossians 3:5 God tells us to "put to death, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" and then later in the chapter He tells us what to "put on"...

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly love, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

It takes time and intention to make these changes...I'm ready for a few things to be lost! How about you?

Letters & Ribbon

While Tom & Courtney have been in Guatemala, I've been busy getting creative! A few months ago I spray painted letters to put in Whitney's & MaryElise's room, but I never hung them up. I knew I wouldn't be able to get them all straight without Tom's help...then I had a brainstorm. I glued polka-dotted ribbon to the backs of the letters and staggered them on the wall. They look adorable and the girls love them too.

Father's Day Craft Idea

Tile Coasters

I saw this idea for a Father's Day Gift on the Frugal Family Fun Blog. She made coasters using tiles and tissue paper. I thought it was a great idea but decided to add pictures...because I love decorating with photos. So here is how we did it...

First, we gathered all the supplies:

• tiles
  
• Mod Podge
• foam paint brushes
• assorted colors of tissue paper cut into squares
• family snapshots (I used wallet-sized photos that can easily fit on a tile. I ordered my photos through Wal-Mart and got 2 wallet-sized photo on one sheet)
• wax paper (to put down on the table underneath the tiles)
• sealer or glaze
• felt protective circles for the back of the tile (to keep the tile from scratching surfaces)
  

Next, the children chose the pictures they wanted to use.The next step was to place a layer of mod podge on the tile, followed by a layer of tissue paper.After the tissue paper was placed on the tile and covered with another layer of mod podge the picture was placed on the tile and another layer of mod podge was added.

The finished product was beautiful!
We made enough coasters for Dad and both Grandpas!

The kids had lots of fun too!

Mom, Shouldn't You Ask Me to Forgive You?

It had been a rough day. One of my kids had been disobedient and in trouble all day long. Another bad choice by this child caused me to unleash words that were supposed to be of correction, but they were spoken in anger. I was furious. Didn't he get it? In exasperation I walked out of the room. I don't know how he found the courage to do it...but he followed me into the next room.

His next words cut through the hardness of my heart, "Mom, shouldn't you ask me to forgive you?" Ouch. He was right. The words I had spoken were not out of love but out of frustration. They may have been justified but they were not righteous. I wanted to say, "You deserved it" but I couldn't. I had been wrong and I had been teaching my children that when they made a mistake and hurt someone else they needed to ask for forgiveness.

God brought me back to the cross at that very moment. As Jesus hung on the cross, dying for my sins and for yours, He said, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

I immediately got down on my knees and asked my son to forgive me. He quickly said yes and we hugged and then prayed together, with me asking God to forgive me for my harshness and asking him to help me be gentle and kind.

I am not perfect, nor will I ever be. But God is a loving parent who is gently teaching me, and so often it is through the eyes of my children.