Family Friday - Flip the breaker with us!

We have entered a fantastic but extremely different season.  Our oldest leaves for several months of work in Belize in just a few short days.  Our oldest son just got his driving permit and between Driver's Ed, Biology, Search and Rescue, Trap and Skeet Club, church and skiing the guy will have all the drive hours he needs within about three weeks.  Our Samarah Jo just got a phone so she can talk to her big sis in Belize and Corban just received the surprise of his life - a 6 week old Brittany Spaniel puppy just in time for Christmas morning!

I am sure the pace sounds familiar to many....but sometimes it feels like too much of a good thing!

A few days ago, during a winter storm, we lost power for a couple of hours.  The sound of nothing at all was incredibly peaceful and refreshing.  We sat around as a family and just talked in the warm glow of the wood stove.

We used to gather around with all the busy little bodies in this house and read chapter books.  We read over 125 of them when the kids were growing.....one hundred and twenty-five!  We used to read the Picture Bible every single night and then tuck littles into bed with a kiss and some prayers.  We used to sit around every evening to a hot dinner prepared by mom with the kids helping whenever possible.

Lately, we find it a rare moment when we are all under one roof with all of our different schedules.  We find ourselves eating dinner at different times, with different preferences, in different locations and we really have to work for unity.  We struggle to stay up long enough to tuck the youngest in since we have raised a pile of night owls.  We have been trying to get through the last chapter book for an entire year - one whole year.  At that rate, it would take us over a century to read the amount of books we read in the past 12 years...depressing to say the least.

Through many circumstances lately, I am amazed again at the redeeming and restoring plans of God.  He has our best in mind though we often don't see it clearly.  So, I have been asking God how to redeem our family moments knowing that they can never look like they did when we had sleeper-clad, chubby-cheeked cherubs running through the halls.  By God's grace we are going to aim for some focused family time - Givens style.

Family Friday Nights will begin January 8th and we are going to do our best to make them happen for an entire year.  In trying to recreate the relaxed feeling of the unexpected power outage, we will be flipping the breaker for two hours.  When the weather turns warm again we will aim for the outdoors for sure!

We are planning finger food dinners, favorite cheeses and summer sausage, maybe little sandwiches and apple cider.  We are planning to just talk, laugh and catch up from a busy week.  We are planning to read - maybe we will be able to get through more than one chapter book this year.  We will end our Family Friday night by flipping the breaker back on, playing great music and games or watching a favorite movie.  Want to join us in this Family Friday challenge.  Let's make lasting memories and have the kids look back on the year that we flipped the breaker ever Friday night :-)

7300 Days

How can I even begin to accurately acknowledge God's grace of 7300 days - 20 years!!

Twenty years ago today, Jordan and I stood before over 400 of our dear friends and family and pledged our commitment to each other.

 As I have been thinking about these past two decades, there is a theme that keeps running through my mind ~ prayer.  My husband has faithfully followed in the prayer warrior footsteps of his grandparents and parents and for that I am overwhelmed with thankfulness! 

 Jordan has prayed with and for me every single morning before he begins his shift.  It is always dark when he leaves for work and I wake to Jordan praying over our family before the back door closes and he heads to the the fire station.

 He has prayed over our babies - even before they were born.

I recall one evening in Ellensburg almost 18 years ago.....

Moriah Noel was due to arrive soon and that little sweetheart was breech.  Jordan placed his hands on me and prayed for our little one.  He prayed that she would "turn around", that she would love Jesus and that she would someday have a godly spouse. That little one turned as Jordan was praying over her!

Those of you who know my praying man can probably recall meals together where the subject of prayer as we gathered was every child in the room...

Can you hear him?

"Lord we pray that you would give us wisdom in raising these children"

"Lord we pray that you would provide godly husbands for our girls"

"Lord we pray that you would provide godly wives for our boys"

"God give us wisdom to be good stewards of our time and our resources"

As we celebrate 20 year today we are reminded of God's faithfulness, his provision, his guidance and his love for us.  Praying for many more years together!

No Greater Joy

I have written a thousand posts in my head and heart in the nine months since the last post.  Nine months.  That number represents growth, life and launch.  By definition launch means to send something out, to release, to set on a course.  It's one thing to understand the meaning of a significant phase in family life and another thing entirely to live in the moment of that phase.  God is so gracious to give enough grace for every day.  There have been more than a few handfuls of days that the tears tracked down my face watching my oldest drive away to college every morning.  Dear friends have prayed me through some really rough moments of wishing I could rewind the years.  Sleep came sparingly and God came near in the middle of so many nights this past year as I sat up and prayed for this next chapter for my children.  He is faithful - oh so faithful!  Each step of this mom walk the Lord has been gently preparing my mind and heart for what needs to come next.  This season feels like the one where hair is flying wildly in every direction as the helicopter takes off from the launching pad of our home.

 Each child has made big strides in the direction that the Lord is calling them and I stand intensely thankful and nearly blown away by launching winds.  Our oldest works full time at the Plain Hardware using the gifts and skills she has collected during our many family house building adventures.

 She recently returned from a few weeks of touring and ministry in Belize and is planning another several month internship trip after Christmas this year.  

Our tallest son just received a product he has created from his international supplier.  

This young man man shipped boxes of Keyrings around the country last week to stock Amazon warehouses. 

 Our gypsy girl just picked up a third stringed instrument, set up a music studio over in the upstairs of the barn and is beginning to work on the song list for an album she wants to record this year.  She is our boot wearing, animal loving farmer.  The one who can be seen dancing in the yard with her rabbit on a leash so it can loose a couple ounces for better health or labeling a picture of the rabbit heart just because it's fun!

 The youngest is plowing through his last year of single digits and just announced his strong conviction of faith in Jesus and desire to be baptized next Sunday.  

This final announcement has been my heart cry for summer specifically.  I could literally feel the words of 3 John 3:4 coursing through my soul as I listened to his excitement about his upcoming baptism.  A fixed heart is overwhelming grace...

but a new heart....

 I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the faith.  

That is the bottom line, the true measuring stick, the goal, the only issue that really counts at the end of all days.  If I leave this earth unexpectedly tomorrow, my chief goal as mom of these four dear ones has been met - by God's lavish grace.  The most challenging and yet wonderful part of this goal is that it is not my doing, but God's.  Salvation belongs to our God!  Thankful and very keenly aware that this prayer warrior momma needs to step up the commitment.  It is one thing to proclaim Jesus as Lord and another entirely to live that proclamation out.  So I am praying that these kids would daily lay down their dreams, goals and loves for the only One who can really satisfy.  Christ in us - our only hope of glory.

Almost there....

It's been a quiet summer on the blog front.  The quiet has been purposeful since it has taken some significant preaching to myself through the rough spots.  Reading back over some older blog posts, it seems that there are many posts that should just be posted again since the Lord is teaching the same lesson in another chapter of life.  Open Hands.....hits the mark.  This past year has been harder, better, more exhausting, more rewarding and certainly dirtier than I ever expected.  God is good, and we are thankful to be nearing the end of a very long year.  Thank you so much to all our dear friends who have blessed us during the tired moments with dinner, coffee break snacks, and offers for showers and laundry.  We are looking forward to repaying the favors :-)

More Open Books....A nightstand tour one year later.

About a year ago I did a survey of the nightstands around our home.  I posted some of the current favorites that each member of the family was working on.  I took a little nightstand tour recently and found a wealth of encouragement in seeing the words that were being devoured around the house.  Hoping these pictures spark some interest for you of titles that might entice some good summer reading.

Amber's current collection...

Praying Scripture for your Children

Empty Nest

My old and wearing out Evidences of Grace journal

The Nesting Place

What's Best Next

Moriah's current collection...

Her Bible

Crazy Love

Praying for Your Future Husband

A beginning to wear out journal

Unbroken

...another journal :-)

Jeff's current reads...

Lone Survivor

Bible Charts, Maps and Time Lines

Small Arms

Samarah's collection...

American Girl books

A favorite journal

Her tattered copy of Little House on the Prairie

Jordan's Current book

The Killer Angels

Corban's collection

This little guy has been playing so hard during the

day that the only thing he is reading in the evening

is the back of his eyelids while snuggling "tanner"

Our Current Family Read Aloud

I loved reading books of Historical Fiction by the Thoenes growing up.

This western series is shaping up to be a perfect fit for our family this summer....we just

left off with the key players in the book needing to green break 40 mustangs in less than a month so the army can purchase them.

Resting in the mess of it all ~

"And I didn’t know then what I do know now: that every child of every parent is God’s instrument in the life of his or her parent.

My children have been His chief tool for the shaping of me, shaving off the certainty, molding a softer version, raising up a gumption necessary to face another day.

Evidently, they needed me – who I thought I was and who I’ve become – to mold their beings.

And certainly, I needed them – who they were and weren’t, who they are and aren’t, who they will be and won’t be – to become who I was, am —

and who I will be."

I read this from Ann Voskamp's blog this morning and was so blessed by the perfection of God's timing since this is what I have been dwelling on and wrestling with this week.

Letting go of the control reigns for this type A momma is really hard!  I want it all to look good, taste good, fit good, be good.  Sometimes good is the misfit, the ugly beautiful, the muddy messy floor that has hollering but happy children running all over it.  This year has been so good for my soul in letting go of pretenses, expectations, and standards that I shouldn't have set in the first place. It has brought me to a place of contentment and really seeing priorities like never before.  Looking back, I see where God has brought me from and am excited to dig in for more hard growth so that He can mold me into the momma he wants me to be.

If you had asked me one year ago if I:
 ~ would be shopping for beautiful hard woods with my 13 year old son so that he could start building little boxes for babies that have gone home too early and parents who need a precious reminder of their little ones I would have said "that is too hard to think about, no not us"
~ would be telling my sixteen year old to put the math book where she can't see it for the next few months to rest her heart and brain from the stress of pushing to hard, I would have said "no not us"
~would be researching dreadlocks with my ten year old cause they sound fun to her, daddy said yes and now it is just a matter of when and what kind, I would have said "no not us"

God is helping me see heart issues over what things look like to the outside world...I pray he keeps pushing me to see His heart in all the issues that come my way.

As I look back over the grace gifts journal I have kept these last eight years I see in part some of His purposes.  So I write here, to look back over the graces and growth He is allowing in our lives and so that we can remember again that we serve a faithful God.

Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.  Make them known to your children and your children's children ~

So we count graces weekly with pictures, and write graces in the journal and remember so we can look back and tell our children's children of His faithful grace.

Firm Foundations

So...building on a firm foundation this week and 

it is reminding me of this hymn ~ 

1. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
   Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
   What more can He say than to you He hath said—
   To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
2. “Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
   For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
   I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
   Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.
3. “When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
   The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
   For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
   And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
4. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
   My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
   The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
   Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
5. “The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
   I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
   That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
   I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

...and this from last Sunday because it makes me laugh.