UGH... Really?!

Yet another Christian leader has taken a fall. Only this one fell a little closer to home.
My heart hurts and I feel sick.
And quite frankly, I'm a little pissed off!
UGH... Really?!
I mean seriously guys*. And I'm speaking especially of the Christian "leaders"...
Pastors. Elders. Teachers. Husbands. Fathers. 
You knew what you were going to be fighting against and be tempted with.
And not only did you know... but you knew because someone else warned you; because you had studied it many times I'm sure, maybe even given sermons on it.
It is NOT complicated... all it really boils down to is this...

Keep your pants on!

DO NOT allow yourself to be in a position where you could be tempted beyond what you alone are capable of handling.

(and yes there is A LOT of scripture to back that up and you know that too!)

Adultery hurts more than two people.

It really hurts an unmeasurable amount of people in different ways.

And temptation DOES.NOT.DISCRIMINATE.
Do not be under the delusion that you or anyone else is immune to giving in to temptation!**

*And all of this applies to you women as well!
**I am not judging anyone. Just disappointed I guess. Just reminded myself to be humble about the exact same thing.

                                                                                                                                          

But let me remind us of WHO does NOT discriminate,

God. 

His laws.

His judgements.

His forgiveness.

His grace.

His mercy.

His love. 

Healing can take place after adultery.

Relationships can be restored.

Foundations can be rebuilt.

But NOTHING will be the same.

And all of the above can be true for an organization also.

However, it can't be easy. It won't be easy.

We are praying for the unmeasurable amount of people who will no doubt be affected by this latest fall.

 

 

Tornado in January!

I couldn't hardly believe it either.
It was so early in the morning. Hubby and I were awakened by one of the kids yelling for us. We were walking around a little dazed and confused. He was cleaning up what appeared to be an egg mess from the kitchen floor so I could get in there and get to our lifeline of meds. Nearly all of the kids were clinging to us... crying, whining, complaining.
I just stood there looking around. Finally I realized that the tornado had only struck our house...
the inside of it!
The piles of clean laundry, that have been there for days. The piles of dirty laundry that keep growing.
I don't think we have a clean dish in the house.
There is even trash in the midst of the blankets laying all over the living room...
empty gatorade bottles, sticky pedialyte popsicle wrappers, the paper towel roll that the puppy chewed up.

*SIGH*

It all just happened so fast.

On Saturday Davis said he didn't feel good.

Sunday he had a fever. AND Amelleah started digging at ears and obviously not feeling well.

Monday we spent the morning at the clinic.

Positive Influenza. AND double ear infection. Off to the pharmacy!

Our pharmacy (that has a drive thru) was out of the pediatric doses of tamiflu. So I had to go INTO another store to get the meds for the 3 youngest. And then I figured out that we didn't have anything for Sydni. 

Ahhhh.... you can see how the rest of the day went.

By the end of Monday Andrew and Amelleah had fevers and didn't feel good.

Yesterday the Hubby had a horrible day at work. He was delivering a few hours away after an overnighter, feeling terrible. Lincoln and I joined the list by last night.

At this point I think Sydni is a walking miracle.

She is currently at school. Not one symptom of anything other than impending puberty and teenage years.

*BIG SIGH*

I don't feel good and I want my Mommy!
If we survive the flu, we might be consumed by the house!
Just when I'm feeling sorry for myself (a few minutes ago) there was a knock at the door. An angel bearing movies appeared!
Maybe there is hope!

Oh yeah, and the Puppy learned how to climb over the baby gate that was keeping her in the dining room when needed. If it wasn't so cute and funny I'd be mad about it.

2013

Seriously?! 2013... TWO thousand THIRTEEN!!
I was born in the 70's... that seems like a loooong time ago.
I "graduated" high school in the 90's... that still seems like such a long time ago. (and by "graduated" I mean, I finally got sick of changing high schools so when  I turned 17 I took the California High School Proficiency Exam. It's serves the same purpose as a GED but you have to be 18 years old to get a GED)
I got married in 2000... which is still quite awhile ago!
First baby in 2001... last baby in 2010.
And here we are... 2013! Just like that.
With so many milestones that seem to be SO long ago, there are also a lot of memories that seem like they happened just yesterday. It is crazy how time flies and yet stands still at the same time.

If you are my 3 1/2 year old son, EVERYTHING either happened yesterday or is going to happen tomorrow.

For Andrew, EVERYTHING 
TAKES 
FOREVER!

If you have a pre-teen (or possibly older?! oh please let it be a stage!) in your house then you know that they usually could care less what time it is.

And then there is that 10 year old boy of mine... he OBVIOUSLY inherited some serious genes from my dad and I. He is a planner. He knows what time it is. He knows what day it is. He knows what is happening on certain days and he wants to know the PLAN for everything! He is also the most sentimental kid and the one who frequently tells "remember when" stories or says things like he said last week. He and I were standing next to our truck (really just a big SUV) and he was looking at the tire. He says "WHOA! One of those rocks could be from Wyoming!" He's right! We had been to Wyoming for Thanksgiving.

Even newborns have a sense of time. They thrive on routine.

In Momtime a lot of days last forever! 
In Wifetime most days aren't long enough! 
In Friendtime there is never enough time!


 So a new year is fully underway (including loads of laundry and dishes, vacuuming, wiping a kid's butt, cleaning up puppy training accidents) and I can't help but think about times past and times to come, probably like most of you. With my Biblical worldview filter in place, all I can think about regarding this present time is how miniscule my little life (of hopefully 80-ish years) really is. On the timeline of all of history, my little spec on it cannot be that important.
Or can it?!

Happy New Year!
How will you spend the time God has given you?

To Blog or Not to Blog?

That is the question!
When I (we) started THIS blog a LONG time ago it was mainly to keep family & friends up to date with what was going on with our family as we headed off to Bible school. Well.... it has dwindled down to a select few (who refuse to get on board with Facebook??!!)! I (we) love you all but it really is a pain in the rear end to do this AND facebook, when nearly the same stuff is posted.
HOWEVER...
Sometimes Facebook just doesn't provide enough space for what I'd LIKE to write...
That is why I started the other blog Life Outside of the Bubble a few years ago. It mostly began because of spiritual things that I (sometimes we) ran into that of course didn't fit into the "Christian Bubble" way of life.
I haven't written there in a long time and maybe I'm out of my spiritual ranting phase.... or not...
I feel like most of my postings would be about this crazy life that I live... wife of the ever-so-outgoing- normal-everyday-Joe (ooops, I mean Miles)-evangelist, mother of 5, 1 dog, 1 puppy, 2 cats, a snake, with weird health issues, living on a street full of amazing, yet very spiritually needy kids, attender of a great small church that makes a BIG impact on the people it touches, who is just trying to live in this crazy world like everyone else....
but surely there is some great material there?! In fact, I think about it all the time.... what I would write down if I took the time to.
So what do you think?
Don't comment here.... come message me on Facebook if we are not "friends" already!
So the question is... To Blog or NOT to Blog??? If so, then blog here or there or start something new????

Finally some pics nearly a month later!

We've had some computer & phone issues so a lot of my pics (like Christmas) were on the old computer and also Facebook, but not sure I can get them copied and posted here... anyway...

Let's start with February

Now that is a life sized balloon for a 3 year old!

March

I forgot to tell you that we got another dog... Meet Cali!

 She quickly became part of the family

And then there was that little sewer backup!

 Lincoln was upset about tearing the carpet up in his room, 

but he enjoyed the hotel room we stayed in!

 Of course we had to replace the carpet...

 Then we decided it would be good timing to add the walls

in the basement to make 2 more bedrooms

 I will have to post finished pics when it's... well...

finished! :)

drywall up, no doors yet, finishing up electrical

At least I got to go out of town for 2 days the day after all this started

Amelleah & Xaris

 there is just something about babies that babies love

 Lincoln & Caleb, getting SO big!

April

 The drive-in opened so got to try out the mini van

 Amelleah did NOT enjoy it... she wanted to be at home in bed

while Lincoln tried to make a bed

 April showers? April downpours!

but it was fun to watch!

 this is the alley/creek behind our house... it is usually DRY

we thought maybe there was about 2-3 feet of water

 Passover and Easter

were 

amazing!

Everyone in our family got to experience a traditional Passover Meal.

 the lamb

 Apparently this is what 3 year olds do at Passover

Easter fun after church

 He was really excited about his super hero underwear!

Having a completely potty-trained 3 year old is just amazing!

And she was really fun this day.

 not only downpours but tornadoes... it is Kansas afterall

this is near where Davis used to have track practice about 5 or 6 miles from our house

We were taking shelter at a friend's house but a small area of Wichita was hit pretty hard.

 It is actually one of the communities that Miles takes the Mobile Clinic to once a week. 

So he got to witness things way worse than this and also had the opportunity to 

provide some help & prayer to those affected.

 BIG power lines down

The power line cut right through the roof of that house

a whole "row"... a good city block length for sure

May

This month has been crazy busy and full of sickness

we've had allergies, hand-foot-mouth disease, some weird virus, lots of snot & coughing

and a serious lack of rest! 

Sydni & Davis went on their overnight field trip

Davis' class getting ready 

 lots of stuff for 3rd graders

 the buses were late so they had to wait some more

Andrew had his first program

 He was a puppy

 And here is what the pre-teen does when she gets a hold of the camera!

 Mother's Day... the holiday I don't like anymore...

well, it was low key & sweet.

I think I kind of liked it :)

 Amelleah is getting so big... her personality is growing too.

She is forever trying to keep up the big kids.

 I found her like this... she got up there and got the crayons out all by herself

And then she made this!!!

 Just Kidding! Andrew & I made this for his teacher

 Sydni & her bestie Liv!

Track!

 1st sunny, hot, sweaty meet of the season

 

 trying to rest in the shade

 Part of Davis' team

 

 Tonight was a fun, cool, Spring evening spent at the track

A nice way to end this crazy month

and this is what Amelleah thought about the evening track meet.

June is looking like it will be pretty busy too... hoping for some good pics during some great times!