Family Movie Night

Last night all 5 of us curled up on the couch and watched Charlotte's Web. It was enjoyed by all. One especially enjoyable scene for all was when the baby spiders start to fly away, and say, "weeee". The funniest part for the girls was when the sheep started to walk in a circle saying, "weeee".
After tucking the girls into their nice warm beds:), Suzanne and I watched the movie Smile. It was a touching story. We are looking forward to hopefully seeing Fireproof sometime this week.

What is going on

After fall break was over for Courtney and I on Wednesday, Alyssa had break starting Thursday. The weather turned cool to cold this week. Lows were in the mid 30's, highs in the mid 50's. Today is sunny and it looks like a good day to get some outside work done. We are going to mow the law for the last time (maybe) and then clean out the garage.
The house we are renting has been a wonderful thing while we are here. It is a 1200 square foot ranch, with 3 large bedrooms and an attached 2 car garage. Perfect for our family, and well priced to a PM family. Plenty of yard, and a close walk to everything. And pretty well insulated too. It has been a blessing.
Not too much to report about what we have been upto or what we are going to be doing. Classes, work, school, family time.

Fall Break

Fall break started Thursday at 5pm officially, however I was done by 12:15. It is amazing to think that this semester is half over. It has gone very well. I look forward to more learning in this second semester.
Fall break runs through Tuesday, and we start back on Wednesday again. Unfortunately our schedules don't always mesh. Alyssa does not have off today, and her break is on Thursday and Friday, a day after I go back to school.
Since we are here, Suzanne took a couple extra days of work. Thursday, Friday, and all day Tuesday.
We are also looking forward to spending evenings with the Pattersons and the Lehmans. I hope to get some extra reading done, and finish up my MLI.

Rainy weather

The rain and cold temperatures began late Sunday Night and have continued to this point. It is a bit cooler than we are used to out here. We have been told by many locals that trees out here may change color fall to the ground, but it is nothing like back east, where every woods and street is lit up with reds, yellows, purples, browns, and oranges. All at the same time. I guess you can't have everything. We have really enjoyed the weather for the most part out here. Most of the time if we don't like the weather, we have still liked the people and places that we are:)
Just thinking about being in Ohio for Christmas, seems unfathomable. The people, the places, the landscape, the trees, the snow, the cold, the hills; it has been just long enough that I am beginning to forget what it all looks like. It will be here before we know it!

Past family weekend

We enjoyed a lot of time together this past weekend.

• Friday night found us on the couch eating popcorn and watching Mary Poppins.
• Saturday morning found us in the little town of Yoder, KS. We enjoyed the little shops. A furniture shop that carries Amish made furniture was part of our stops. I asked the salesman where the furniture is made. He said most of the furniture is made in Indiana and Ohio. What do you know? Amish made furniture from Ohio, in Kansas.
• Saturday afternoon found us at Applebees for lunch, and Hobby Lobby for some shopping. My patience grew short during the shopping part. Suzanne could have gone all day. I am sorry.
• Sunday morning found us at church together. 3 of the last 5 Sundays were incomplete. Either Suzanne worked or I was visiting a Beachy Amish church or I was on a silent retreat.
• Sunday afternoon found us playing, laughing, and going on walks together.
• Blessed.
  

3 sweet things

Mondays are our busiest days. Rain makes it crazier. An extra meeting adds to the fun. Alyssa doesn't have school today. I went to my morning classes, chapel, and a luncheon for pastors. Suzanne is at work. I am home with the girls all three. They are building tents with blankets upstairs in their room. They don't always want to share. I am refereeing the fights. All is calm. One is missing. Now she's back. Smiles all around. Loads of imagination are being created and dumped upon the floor. It's raining outside. It has been all morning. Peace has left for a few moments. The tent needs to be repaired. Now there is beautiful singing. Charts rule. It is getting hot under here. A window is opened. Now it's cold. A glorious day in the dark.

They grow up so fast

I was struck yesterday how quickly the girls are growing up. They just do things that they couldn't do a day or two before. Our girls aren't perfect, and possibly far from it, just like their parents. However, often when we come home from somewhere that has been longer and more boring than the usual 3-7 year olds can bear, we tell them how proud we are. They do so well. I love my girls.

In talking to a pastor yesterday, he was talking about his children who are in jr high, high school, and college. They have worked hard to not treat their children like pastor's kids. They even work hard to keep the church from treating them differently. I believe they have been successful in letting their children live fairly normal lives, and make typical childhood and teenager mistakes. The pastor said he never told his children to do or not do something because they are the pastor's kids. If they were going to be told something, it was because their were other better reasons to choose the prefered way. Good advice for all, but hard to live. God give us grace.

Loud silence

If you've ever practiced a silent retreat for any length of time, you will realize how loud it can be. Small noises of insects and wind and maybe even your thoughts can be quite overwhelming for some. As part of the community aspect of the silence we had two meals together. This brought some humorous moments. First off you will realize that there probably isn't any louder meal than hard tacos and cans of pop. By the time the 10th person of about 20 had opened their can of pop, the snickers were starting. A few muffled haha's were heard as people crunched their tacos. Some laughter finally exploded as someone broke their plastic fork trying to cut their taco. I guess you had to be there, it was quite funny.

A neat aspect of Breakfast was that everything was on the table and we needed to be aware of what people needed without them asking. If you saw someone pour a bowl of cereal, it was important to notice, because most likely they would need the milk next; and they couldn't ask for it. I think this practice would help us to develop a deeper awareness of others and not be so self focused. I would love to sit through a silent meal at our house, but alas I don't think it is possible, well maybe with some practice.

Labyrinth reflections

The idea of a labyrinth is kind of like a quest or pilgrimage. I found it to be a helpful tool in a guided way to meet God in prayer. Here is an example of the type that we were able to experience.
As you move towards the center of the labyrinth, the idea is to confess sins and give burdens to God, and generally release the things that are distracting you. A neat part of this particular labyrinth is that about half way in you are on the outside loop farthest from the center. Have you ever experienced that in your walk with God? When you don't have the feelings of closeness and connectedness with God that you desire. I was comforted to realize that in those times of feeling farthest away, you are actually on your way in.

A similar thing happened on the way out. The idea on the way out is that you've had this encounter with God, through removing all the distractions, and now you are receiving what is needed from God as you return to the world and ministries. About half way through on your way out, you all the sudden find yourself back in the center again. I liken this to those moments that you have with God, and as you are coming back to the "reality" of all that is messed up in the world, you are surprised by God's presence. Have you ever had that happen?

Blankness revealed

So what's up with my last post?! I was on a silent retreat from Saturday noon till Sunday noon. No talking to other people. Only talking to God. It was a wonderful experience. A time to present myself to God without time constraints (they took all watches) and without agenda. I was amazed at how quickly God revealed a sin to me. It was within the first 5 minutes. The excruciating part was realizing that I was guilty of this sin at least a dozen times in the hour leading up to the revelation. OUCH! It felt like the Chucky Cheese game of Whack-a-mole!

I tried not to seek forgiveness too soon. I wanted to really experience the sorrow of my sin. I had the opportunity to walk a labyrinth, and was able to go deeper in the remembrance and the sorrow of how this hurts relationships and my compassion for people. I was able to experience forgiveness as I arrived at the center of the labyrinth. More thoughts on the labyrinth on my next post.

Shh!

"This space intentionally left blank."