Rule of Life

Although the following quote is meant for wives, it can be applied to anyone at any stage of life.

Debi Pearl wrote in Created to be His Help Meet,

"This, then, is the rule of life for wives: Live with thanksgiving, forgiveness, and joy and enjoy all your moments as if they were your last. Someday, soon enough, they will be."

I would dare say that 90% of the time when we hold bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts, the only person we are really hurting is ourselves. Live with forgiveness and thank God for those hard to love people (because you are learning something from them!) and you will have joy. Wouldn't you feel terrible if the last words you spoke to someone was in anger, bitterness or with unforgiveness? We never know when we will breath our last and for some of us, the last time spent with someone may come way too soon. Even if the other person doesn't accept your forgiveness, you should let them know how you feel. It is very therapeutic to "clear the air" even if that person chooses not to accept. You have done your part and can stop feeling guilty. You might have to be the first person to drop your pride and offer forgiveness, but it is amazing how humbling yourself can make a world of difference!

Make the choice to forgive. Make the choice to be thankful. Fill your life with joy and spread that joy to others through your forgiveness and thankfulness.

Joy

I borrowed a book from a friend about a month ago. I wasnt' finding the time to read it, but after hearing it recommended numerous times from an on-line group I am a part of, I figured I better make time to read it. I might only read a page a day, but I am enjoying the book. It is called Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl.

I wanted to share something I read today from Chapter 3.

"Joy begins with thankfulness. Quite often our attitudes hang in the balance; by making a conscious choice, we can tip our souls into dark moods of complaining, or into thankfulness and praise. It is amazing how much your mouth controls your soul. You can smile with your mouth and say, "Thank you, God; thank you, husband; thank you, children," and your spirit is directed into gratitude with joy following. Thankfulness is how you think; joy is the abundance it produces."

This made me think back and realize that the most joyful times in my life are when I am thankful. It just goes to show that God knew what He was doing when He told us to count our blessings. To have "joy down in the depths of our hearts", we need to be thankful to our core.

Count your blessings today and share your thankfulness with those you are thankful for. Tell your husband you are thankful for something he does. Tell your children that you are thankful when they are obedient or do something nice. Tell your friend that you are thankful they lend a listening ear when you need it. Tell the waitress you are thankful for kind service. Where ever you are today, be thankful and express that thankfulness and see what joy it brings to your life.

• I am thankful that Christ died on the cross for my sins so that I can have eternal life with Him!
• I am thankful for a husband that loves God, loves me, loves our children and works hard to take care of us!
• I am thankful for seven, beautiful, healthy little girls!
• I am thankful for a roof over our heads, clothes on our bodies, and food in our bellies (and freezer and pantry!)!
• I am thankful for extended family and their love!
• I am thankful for my church family for support and friendship!
• I am thankful that I am able to read my Bible daily without fear of persecution!
• I am thankful that I have the ability and freedom to teach my children at home!
• I am thankful for friends who love us, pray for us, and support us when it seems the world is trying to drag us down!
• I am thankful for the kindness of strangers!
• I am thankful the Lord puts people in my life who cause me to learn to love better (and more)!
• I am thankful for the hard times in life which cause me to grow closer to God and my family!
• I am thankful I can be a help to others by sharing the abundance that God has given us!
• I am thankful for so many more things. Praise God, I could go on forever!

A Very Veggie Birthday to Cora!

Cora turns two, today! She will be going for her Daddy/Daughter date tonight with Chad. He says he plans on taking her to the new Toy store downtown Cadillac. I am sure she'll come home with something special!

We celebrated her birthday yesterday with both sets of grandparents. Since Cora really likes Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales, we had a 'Bob' birthday party! Cora had lots of fun! I made her a "dress". I found a Bob t-shirt for only $5, but it was a couple sizes too big. I added a ruffle on the bottom to make it into a dress. It still was a little too big, but she looked adorable in it!

Grandma and Grandpa Carmichael got her a learning bus. It even came with a remote control to drive it around (although she doesn't quite understand how the remote works!). We had a hard time getting her to open up her other gifts because she just kept wanting to play with that! She also was very particular about getting all the wrapping paper off of it before she would even open the box. It was so funny!

Grandpa and Grandma Smith got her the new Veggie Tale movie, a "Happy Veggie Birthday to You" book and a fun packet of activities to go with the movie. Of course, we had to watch the movie yesterday.

Her sisters got her some Bob bubbles, a Bob plush toy, and a Veggie Tales coloring book. She loved the bubbles! They danced around trying to pop the bubbles that Chad blew into the air. She even had fun blowing bubbles as Papa held the wand for her. When Papa told her to turn around so she wouldn't blow them into his face, she started turning around in circles! Kids are so darn cute!

Bib Exchange

I am involved in a Bib Exchange with the twins group I am involved with on-line (remember the onesie exchange a few months ago?). Well, the girls received their bibs today! They are really cute and the lady sent a bonus surprise gift--a reversible hat! Aren't they just adorable (the girls and gifts!)!

Some of my girls!

Here are just a couple of pictures I have taken the past couple of days that I thought were worthy of sharing.

School!

We have gone back to home schooling this year. I home schooled Dara for Kindergarten, but sent her to public for first grade because I was due with Cora in September. We went Dara and Eva last year to public again because we had a good experience with Dara in first grade. Things didn't go as well last year. Although the girls had great teachers who were willing to work with us, we do not agree with the curriculum the school has adopted. We also don't like that the kids need to be in bed by 8 pm to get up at 6:30 in the morning. They would spend over 2 hours on the bus a day and by the time they get home, do their homework, and eat dinner, there isn't much time left before they have to go to bed. They also heard some disturbing things on the bus and playground. All this is in addition to feeling God calling us to home school. This is not a decision we made lightly.

The girls are loving school. They are eager every morning to get the table cleared off so they can get started at 9 am. We work until noon when we break for lunch (of course Sabra and Allyn are done first). Cora usually "works" by coloring in a color book although I don't require her to stay at the table. After lunch, we will finish up with history (reading/discussing/learning from Anne of Green Gables). We are going to start science and Bible next week. My plan is to do science with Daddy after dinner, but I don't know if that will work or not. We will just have to roll with the punches!

Same Outfit, Different Girl

I have had each of the girls' pictures taken while wearing this outfit. Martha doesn't quite fit into yet, but she will soon. I am going to try to find the pictures of each of them and post them all together when Martha fits into it. They are usually 6 months old while wearing it (its a 6-9 m outfit), but Allyn was only 3 months old when she wore it.

Scripture/Thought of the Day

I actually wanted to add this scripture yesterday, but didn't get a change to post it. I guess it was a good thing, because a quote I read today goes along well with it.

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men" --1 Timothy 2:1

I was reminded that we need to pray for EVERYONE! It doesn't matter whether or not we like the person or not. It doesn't matter whether we know the person or not. It doesn't matter if we know exactly why we are praying or not. If we feel the Holy Spirit calling us to pray, then we need to pray. If we are feeling ill will towards someone, we need to pray for them as well as a change of heart in ourselves. If we are harboring anger, resentment, or jealousy against a person, we need to pray for them as well as ourselves. It is amazing how much it changes us to pray for someone else. Quit worrying about your own needs and focus on the needs of others. God will take care of us, if we follow His will and pray for others.

Pasty Clairmont once said, "God oftentimes asks of us the very thing we don't want to do, and when we do it, we find greater liberty than we'd ever known before." This is so true with praying for good things for our "enemies". When we forget about how much they've hurt us and just start praying for their souls, or they troubles, or their needs, we are liberated from our feelings of anger and aching.

In Proverbs 25:21-22 it says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you." It is the same with praying for your enemy. They won't know what to do if they find out you are praying for them.

So, even if you don't want to, pray for EVERYONE, even your enemies--pray for them even if you don't understand why you are praying for them.

Silver Lake on Labor Day

Chad and I used to go to Silver Lake Sand Dunes a lot when we lived downstate. The last time we went was just after Dara was born in our '75 Bronco. Since our original plans for Labor Day changed, we decided to go to the Dunes. My parents came up with Dara and met us for a picnic on the beach. The girls played in the water and on the beach for a couple of hours. I got quite burned and when we noticed the girls were starting to get burned, we decided that was enough beach time!

Here are pictures of the van (can you see the snorkel Chad added?!).

I took this picture of the kids before my parents go there so Dara isn't in it, but she sits in the way back in a suicide seat. They all loved riding the dunes (except a couple times it was a little rough for Dara in the way back behind Cora's seat). Martha, Jaina, and Cora would squeal with delight. Martha and Jaina we even so comfortable they took naps!

Here is a picture of going through one of the waterholes. Earlier in the day, we went through one that was so deep that water came in!

Manton Harvest Festival

The girls were surprised with the gift of wristbands to the Manton Harvest Festival. Our neighbor came down and wanted to take the girls. Dara was still visiting my parents in Muskegon so she didn't get to go. When I told my friend at church that we would be going that afternoon, she offered to babysit the babies and Cora (since she would be too little for most of the rides and needed a nap). We took Eva, Allyn and Sabra to town and met up with Dale, our neighbor. He paid for the girls to play a fishing game in which they each won a prize (Dale is in the background with a blue shirt on).

Eva picked a twirling baton and Allyn and Sabra each picked a crown.

He bought them all wristbands which allowed them to ride all the rides as much as they wanted. He also surprised them with elephant ears and pop! Although we normally don't allow our kids to eat that kind of stuff or drink pop, we let them for this special occasion (although they had root beer because it doesn't have caffeine). All the girls enjoyed the moon bounce and the giant slides (Sabra went down the slides at least a dozen times!).

Eva and Allyn enjoyed the flying swings and twirl-about (Sabra was too little for those). They all went on the Ferris Wheel as well, but I had to ride with Sabra. She loved being able to see up high!

The girls are so grateful to Dale for his kindness. Thank you, Dale!

Martha & Jaina--6m Update

Can you believe the girls are 6 months old already?! It is amazing how time flies. They are both dealing with teething, although we haven't seen any pop through yet. You can see them under the gums and they chew on whatever they can get their hands on. They are interacting with us and each other more and more everyday. It is so much fun to watch them "talk" to each other and comfort each other when one is fussy. I decided to give the cereal a break as they weren't really caring for it. I plan to try again next week.

Although they turned 6 months old last week, their check-up wasn't until Wednesday so I thought I would wait to post so I could update everyone on weight and height.

Martha made a good jump in weight this month. She is now 12 lbs 12 oz and 24 1/4 inches long. She loves to smile and stick her tongue out. She loves sitting in her Bumbo seat and just watching all the girls play around her and with her. She loves to just observe. She has just started bearing weight on her legs and "standing" up with assistance.

Jaina didn't gain very much this last month, but she is making advances mentally. She weighs 14 lbs 3 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long. She loves to pick things up and put them in her mouth. She is fascinated with people's faces and loves to touch them. She loves to "stand"--in fact she doesn't really care to sit at all! She also "crawled" for the first time when I had them in getting their 6 month pictures taken on Saturday! She was on the table in the portrait studio and up on all fours rocking (we were trying to get a picture of her on her belly) and she plopped herself forward. She got back up and did it again! She still hasn't rolled from her back to her belly, but she is ready to move!

Thought of the Day

IT IS NOT DOING THE THINGS WE LIKE TO DO, BUT LIKING THE THINGS WE HAVE TO DO THAT MAKES LIFE BLESSED.
--GOETHE