When God Chooses to be Silent

Each day when I go for my hour walk I try to spend the quiet time in prayer, in mentally preparing for my day, thinking about the needful things of my family and just plain ole contemplating my life and my daily and long term goals.

Vance and I have been praying over a personal issue now for about 2 years and from what it seems God is being silent on the issue.  Or is He?  Could it be that we just think He is being silent and not answering our prayers because the answer we are looking for isn't exactly the one He is giving us.  I think it is easy to think we are being ignored, forgotten, or simply that our prayers aren't 'big' enough for Him to even take the time to deal with.  I think one of the reasons it is easy to think He is not listening is because when our prayers are answered the way we want then we are all happy, thankful, and filled with faith and hope for the future.  But what are our thoughts when the answers don't come?  Are we to assume He is silent and hasn't heard our pleas?  

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me justice against my adversary."  For some time he refused.  But finally he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"  And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will He keep putting them off?  I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

So, as I ponder these scriptures I will continue in prayer knowing that my prayers are heard and believe that no matter how silent God seems to be, I know through my faith that He is working.  All I need to do is look around and I know He is not silent.  Everything and everyone bare testimony that He lives and I will wait on Him knowing that whatever answer I receive will be perfect in Him because He is perfect.

Pies and Technology Naturally Go Together!!!

Christie making her famous cherry pie along with favorite singer

 Josh Groban.  "They" did an awesome job too!  Everything was made by 

Christie from top to bottom.  She prepared and canned the pie filling in the

 fall and the whole wheat pie crust is her own recipe too.  

What would 'any' holiday be without Robyn's very fattening and yummy

 whipped cream peanut butter pie.  She made 2 of them, had half of one for

 breakfast the next day and called home from work to make sure no one

 finished off the rest because she had dibbs on it!!

She's not sharing her pie making with Josh Groban but she's got someone on the 

line with her!!  I ran out of the ability to multi-task like that a long time ago!!

It wasn't enough just whipping up the pie, she threw on some delicious

 Reese Peanut butter cups broken up.  Talk about major temptation!!

Pocket Change for Little Readers!!

I found a creative way for the kids to earn a little of that extra pocket change and have them learn at the same time. They do very well (most of the time) keeping up on their daily jobs and with so many children around most of the jobs are pretty well covered. (for free!) There have been times though when I will offer them a "pay book." Usually amounts to a couple bucks here and there. But with so many 'eager' readers all wanting a piece of that pocket change I decided to do stories. Here is how it works. I got a couple of "big" books off the shelf and sat them down. Of course when they saw the big books I got a few gasps until I told them what we will do. Right now the littler kids are reading from Window on the World, Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories For Children, and The Lilac Fairy Book. For each story read they can earn anywhere from .02 to .25 depending on the length of the story. They love it. They don't feel too over burdened with a huge book and so they get excited to sit and read for a bit and earn cash for it. They like to exchange names with each other at Christmas and buy a present for their special someone so they love it when they can earn a few dollars.

My Heart ACHES To See These Yummy Kids

juli mckendrick photography

juli mckendrick photography

But not just to see them. To plant tons of hugs and kisses on their little cheeks!! To hold them, caress their precious heads, look into their little eyes, tell them I love them and I think about them every day. Our married children recently made posts on their blogs with recent photos of the grand kids. I MISS them so much. While photos are great, and I love to see them and how they are growing, I still can't feel fully satisfied. We are planning a road trip out west this spring to see them and I can hardly wait. The first picture is Gemma. She will be a year old in January and next June will get a new brother or sister!! The one in the middle is Aubryn, who will also have a birthday in January. She will be 5 already. And the last one is of Aubryn's little brother Beckham who will be turning 3 in April.

World's Greatest Library

We have a very cool library here in our BIG town of 700 people!! Seriously though, they have tons of huge and small puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, puppets, games, educational kits, felt kits, Laurie puzzles and accessories, computer games, and so much more. The building itself can't be any bigger than a 2 car garage but they certainly know how to organize. And of course we can't forget the internet library loan. It may be small but we lack for nothing. Plus, ALL the ladies who work there are great. They know everyone by name and if ever you forget your library card, (which I always do) no problem, because they "know where you live!" We have often had library fines waived, just because!! And let me tell you we can work up some big ones with as many people that we have in our family.

E-Z Meal Ideas

I hope you didn't pop over here to my blog in the hope of joining my EZ meal club, because if you did then you will be greatly disappointed in me because I have NO imagination in that department. My family loves meals such as this but they come few and far between because I get a brain freeze every time the dinner hour arrives. So if YOU have any great EZ meals in your head feel free to send some my way.

This meal consisted of~~

avocados

natural cheddar cheese spread

black olives

beef sticks

organic cheddar cheese sticks

Ritz Crackers

Cranberry Kombucha

Kefir Lemonade

Sooooo Humiliating

Man I did it AGAIN.  Here's the story~~~

Once in a while hubby will call from work using his desk phone instead of his cell phone.  I always recognize it is him because of the 721 prefix.   Earlier this morning I had called the Ford dealer to have him help us locate a "monster" van.  But of course I forgot I called him so when the phone rang with a 721 prefix I knew it was obviously my hubby because who else would it be?

Me, answering the phone~~~HEEEELLLLOOOO  BABY  LOVE!!

Guy on the other end of the phone~~~UHHHH, hu, hu, hullo!!

Me again~~~OH, hello!!  Uhhhhh, hi, ummmmm

Other guy~~~wow, what a way to start out the day!!!  that was sure nice of you!!

Me again~~~well, what can I say, I'm just a nice lady.  So um, who are you? [pause]  Oh, yes, the Ford dealer guy, I thought you were someone else.  Sorry about that.

Guy~~~Oh, no, don't apologize, it's not everyday someone answers my phone calls with such an upbeat attitude.

When will I learn????  I've done this twice now.  At least the last time I did it I knew the guy which isn't always a good thing because since I go to church with him I never hear the end of it. If any of you out there have experienced this kind of humiliation I would love to hear about it!!

Cinnamon's Granola

I was over on Cinnamon's blog last night when I found this amazingly simple, no fuss, no mess recipe for granola and this morning we tried it out. It was so very good. I have a feeling we will be making a lot of this. I took her basic recipe and added a few things. Well, okay, maybe a lot of things. Thanks for posting it!! Here is the base recipe from Cinnamon's blog~~

6 Cups oats

1 C honey

I added about 3/4 peanut butter to the honey and let it melt before I added the oats. But that's just because my kids really like peanut butter. That's it. I thought no way, nothing is this easy so I contacted her about it and sure enough I had read it correctly. Melt the honey and mix it with the oats and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I used a glass dish and I turned off the oven at 20 minutes and let it sit in the oven until I was ready to feed the kids. Then the fun began. They drug out dried cranberries, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, and I'm ashamed to say, chocolate chips. Well, there goes the "good for you granola" but they loved it and ate it up. I am about to start another batch. This time I'll make sure I have enough to last a while. I'll probably at least triple it!!!

New Supersize Table and School Room

What is it with big families and big things?  I suppose they just go together like a burger and fries.  My husband and sons just finished our super size table tonight and already we are enjoying it.  It takes 2 large table cloths put on sideways just to cover the top and down the sides a bit.  School time should be much better these days now that the kids have a little bit more elbow room!!!  And I don't have to roam all over the house anymore looking for wayward children since I have moved them all into our living room for school.  Our books and supplies were in there anyway and now that my table is finished I am hoping school days will go smoother. There are just a handful of people sitting at the table in these photos and there is plenty of room to spare for when everyone is seated!  The kids like to hang the Christmas lights inside the house rather than out so they can look at them all the time!!!

Yummy Oatmeal Waffles

One of our favorite meals. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Make lots to toast later.

Recipe goes like this for a large family or if you want lots of leftovers to freeze.

6 C. oatmeal

3 C. buttermilk or sour milk

2-3 C. whole grain flour

Mix and soak this mixture overnight or at least 12 hours. If it is still a bit runny you can add more flour but remember you will be adding eggs later so you don't want it too runny and yet not too thick.

Now add the following~~

2 teas. salt

2 teas. cinnamon

1 C honey or whatever sweetener you desire

6 eggs

3 T. melted butter

Now pour into waffle iron, cook, and enjoy!!

My Sweet Thrift Store Find

I was at Goodwill a couple weeks ago when I found this pile of Abeka Readers. At the time most of them were 4-5 dollars each. No way I thought, I'm not paying THAT price at a thrift store. So a few days ago I was there again and happened to walk by their "clearance" rack of books and you'll never believe what I found on it. The Abeka books. AND, at the big price of .49 each. I grabbed every one they had and didn't notice that for one of them I paid a whopping 1.99. Can't complain too badly can I?? I also found several readers that are used with Sonlight and I snatched them up too!! It's tempting now to go online and try to find the comprehension guides for the Abeka books since I got them for so cheap!!

Big Boy Birthday

Careful now.  Don't blink.  Because this is what happens when you do.  You wake up one day and you have married children.  This has happened twice now.  Makes me sad but yet happy!!  Today is Vance Jr.'s birthday.  He is 26 already.  Here are a few photos I managed to round up and are some of my favorite ones of him.  Happy birthday my love.  We love you tons.

Here he is with his bride Heather.

Oops!!  I blinked again and now he has baby. 

( Gregg said I must have blinked too much because now he is bald too. But at this point it's still a choice!! ) Kind of an intimidating

 picture in full uniform holding his sweet little bundle.  And we just found out 

that next June he will be having another little bundle join his family!!  Boy howdy, 

I've got to stop blinking.

Here he is enjoying a rare moment with his newest little sister!!

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul.  You gotta believe

 that's true when you see photos like this!!

Stepping Heavenward

Come join with us as we traverse through the book Stepping Heavenward by Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss.  Mrs. Sharon White has begun a yahoo group just for this study.  She also created a 37 page study program you can print out and use.  Follow the links below to read more about it.  Oh, and note that membership closes on Monday, November 9th.  Daughters are welcome to participate.

The book is found online HERE if you want to check it out.

HERE is the link to the group.

Below is an excerpt from the book:

 Mother keeps saying I spend too much time in brooding over my sorrow. As for her, she seems to live in heaven. Not that she has long prosy talks about it, but little words that she lets drop now and then show where her thoughts are, and where she would like to be. She seems to think everybody is as eager to go there as she is. For my part, I am not eager at all. I can't make myself feel that it will be nice to sit in rows, all the time singing, fond as I am of music. And when I say to myself, "Of course we shall not always sit in rows singing," then I fancy a multitude of shadowy, phantom-like beings, dressed in white, moving to and fro in golden streets, doing nothing in particular, and having a dreary time, without anything to look forward to.

I told mother so. She said earnestly, and yet in her sweetest, tenderest way,

"Oh, my darling Katy! What you need is such a living, personal love to Christ as shall make the thought of being where He is so delightful as to fill your mind with that single thought!"

What is "personal love to Christ?"

Oh, dear, dear! Why need my father have been snatched away from me, when so many other girls have theirs spared to them? He loved me so! He indulged me so much! He was so proud of me! What have I done that I should have this dreadful thing happen to me? I shall never be as happy as I was before. Now I shall always be expecting trouble. Yes, I dare say mother will go next. Why shouldn't I brood over this sorrow? I like to brood over it; I like to think how wretched I am; I like to have long, furious fits of crying, lying on my face on the bed.

If Only They'd Known the Plan!!

You know how those showers can get when it has millions of people using it over time!! The other day Robyn and Emma decided to tackle the walls and the ceiling of our shower putting quite a bit of time and elbow grease into it. It was beautiful when they finished. They were quite proud of all their hard work until dad happened to walk in, inform them what a wonderful job they had done, AND to tell them that he was planning on ripping the whole shower walls out next week and replacing it with a new one.  Don't you just hate that when it happens.  Emma ~~~ You might have told us that before dad!!  Only dad didn't know that they were doing it until they were finished!!

My (the hubby's) Leap of Faith into the Hudson

My husband was challenged by Ruby to give a "guest post" so that he could tell his side of the story relating to my "Loving my Husband Friday post."  His post is below~~~

Link to original post~~~"Loving my Husband Friday"

~~~~~~~~~~

It is funny; in some ways to know that my wife would not leap for me into the Hudson River, or get on a plane, or a ship to be with me. But we have  a lot of fun together and I think she would miss me. I have spent 28 years with this woman. I think she talks tough and she is, but I know her loyalty to me and our family.  I have seen her true colors and they are beautiful. It is hard to sit down and write something special about my wife. Where do I begin? I live with the woman of my dreams and she treats me as I am the man of her dreams. ~~~~~ from the guy drowning in the depths of the Hudson!!

Loving My Husband Friday

I'm so glad I found this little icon on another blog and started making it a point at least once a week to really stop and think about loving my husband. I had already come to the conclusion last Tuesday what I was going to write about and couldn't wait until Friday to do it.

We were watching the movie Kate and Leopold together when it hit me AGAIN how wonderful my hubby is. The part where Kate jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge so she could go back in time to be with Leopold. I though to myself, I would NEVER do that. Not in a million years. Way too scared of heights and unknown water. Then I thought, hmmm, would HE do that for me so I asked him. He said he would do it a million times over. AAAAHHHHHH. How cool is that?! Good thing there isn't a "loving your wife friday" thing!! My hubby probably wouldn't be able to find anything to write about!!

What We Can Learn From the Swiss

Switzerland is in the middle of Europe. Many wars have begun in Europe, but no one has invaded Switzerland in more than 200 years. Why?

Every Swiss household is required to own a gun. Switzerland requires all men from 20 to 50, except convicted criminals, to serve in the militia. It requires militiamen to pass marksmanship tests. Many Swiss women practice marksmanship voluntarily.

Swiss train to be snipers. Colonels, generals and those above them know that they would be prime targets if they invaded Switzerland.

Contrary to what many people would think, there are a few gun accidents in Switzerland. From the time that they are small children, Swiss are taught to respect guns. The crime rate is low. Criminals avoid homes where they know guns are present. 

When a government fears its people, it takes guns from them, as was done in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. A government that is supported by its people does not take away guns because that makes them vulnerable to criminals. The Swiss government trusts its people to support it, and they do.

Again, Switzerland occupies one of the most dangerous locations in the world, but it stayed out of both world wars.

Switzerland doesn’t have an army. Switzerland is an army.

Article link is here.