exciting times

So Easter was fun. 

This past weekend Jeremy and I attended our first home school convention. As parents anyhow. We traveled up to Massachusetts with Jeremy's sister Shawna and our dear friend Terry early Friday and Saturday morning. Two full days of really good stuff.

 Without question my favorite speaker was Dianna Warring, whose History curriculum I have loved and learned from for over a decade. It was really very cool to be able to shake this woman's hand and tell her in person what a blessing she has been in my life.

About a dozen years ago I was one of the teenagers working the Children's Institute in Dallas, Texas. We were lucky enough to have Larry Guthrie joining the traveling leadership team that week, and not only was he a fantastic addition to story time for the kids, he actually instructed us team leaders during teacher training on how to tell a really good story. It was good stuff. Training I have applied in VBS, camp counseling, Sunday School, etc. ever since.

I also got to shake his hand and say thank you.

Jeremy was almost more excited about this conference than I was. He was fascinated  with the scientist there from ICR, and visibly impacted by many of the sessions he attended on leadership, discipleship, etc. 


Somewhat simultaneously we were clued into a new documentary the rest of our church watched when Jeremy was at his last drill weekend. Then in the curriculum hall at the convention we came across a really cool Bible training program we ordered for Sunday school (fyi: we're the joint superintendents and teachers of our church's Sunday school program...otherwise we would have just been sharing a flyer with somebody). Ideas have been swirling about between us ever since. God is moving in our hearts. Digging deeper has suddenly become compulsive. It's an exciting time in our relationship with Jesus. 

For instance, last night just as I was turning out the lights in the kids room, Jeremy scooted in past me and took a few minutes to do a devotion with the kids. The first verse that came to mind was “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph 4:32) so he shared it with them and talked about it for a few minutes before saying good night. I had no idea this had happened.

Reuben was the first one up this morning, came down, snuggled up in a blanket on the couch and to wait for breakfast. I paused my morning routine to snuggle with him for a minute, talked about what we should have for breakfast, and then said,

“Reuben, I have a Bible verse for you to think about today.”

And you’ll never guess the verse that I felt impressed to share with him. After quoting it from memory (not necessarily word for word), I put out some scenarios, like what he should do if his sisters make him mad.

“Like if they mess up my tower when I’m building with blocks? ‘Cause that makes me feel mad”

“Exactly like that! What does the Bible say you should do?”

(Thoughtfully, but without pause) “Forgive.”

“That’s exactly right.”

You can imagine my feeling of wonder when Jeremy told me, not five minutes later, about the devotion he’d done with the kids the night before.

One of the very cool thing about this convention was the reassurance I received that I am on the right track in our pre-school/kindergarten education around here. Much of the reading I have done, and the educational philosophy I have adopted is somewhat counter-cultural. Let children have LOTS of real world experience, be patient, have fun, let them discover the world for themselves, and whatever you do don't force academics on them before you're sure they're mentally ready for it. As convinced as I am this is the right approach, there's still the temptation to freak out because none of my children can count to ten or know the whole alphabet. 

It's only been recently they have shown any interest in numbers and letters. Learning about animals is their undying fascination though. They know hundreds of animals and interesting science facts. This picture was taken at the end of one of our little "science classes" where we talked about what is the same and what is different between us and other mammals, or as Reuben and Anna say it "maminals". Tails are, of course, one of the main differences, so we made some horsey tails with yarn and paper clips, just for fun. 

So we play lots of fun learning games together, and I watch carefully for readiness before introducing new skills. And I always feel a little afraid somebody will ask my kid if they know the alphabet, 'cause if they do, suddenly my kid will look really dumb, and I will look like a bad parent. So hearing a lot of scientific type stuff reminding me that this really is the best, and we really will make up ground in the coming years, and really will avoid unnecessary frustration...that was good.

As you may recall, back in December I had a little scare and went to the ER thinking I'd suffered a mild heart attack. Many tests later we know for sure I did not have a heart attack, but no one has the slightest clue what is wrong. The chest pain, shortness of breath, and general weakness gradually subsided so that, by mid January I was functioning rather normally. By April I'd gone weeks at a time without any symptoms at all.

But then the symptoms have gradually returned. It started back in earnest after a leisurely Saturday morning jog about a month ago. And it felt so good at the time too!

After a long tiring weekend, it's been a few pretty rough days. After helping the kids pick up the basement, which took maybe 20 minutes and was not at all strenuous, my whole chest was aching, and I felt so weak and woosie I was afraid to try the stairs before I'd had a good rest. Yesterday it was all I could do to get through the day, and I collapsed into bed and was out cold only moments after the kids bedtime. By 2pm today I already felt totally spent. 

This is obviously very frustrating in the short term, but it is also very concerning to me long term. I'm not willing to live the rest of my life this way, not if I have a choice that is. And these are odd symptoms for a 28-year-old other-wise healthy woman. I feel an urgency that if I don't deal with this wisely now, I am headed for serious trouble. 

The doctors don't seem to have any answers for me, but something clearly is not right. I don't know what else to do but radically change my diet for awhile so that my body can heal itself. 

Back in December my friend Sandy sent me a few messages with ideas about juicing. My initially reaction was, "Oh you're so sweet! But juicing?...heh...yeah, I don't see that happening."

Then a while later, when my symptoms had all but disappeared, I was looking for a documentary to keep my brain fed while I was doing housework and ended up picking one about juicing. It was a "Wow, that's really neat. I'm so glad that worked for him" reaction at the time.

But as my symptoms have come back, and continue to get worse, I've spent more and more time looking into juicers. At the moment I'm really liking one of the omega juicers, and plotting to squeeze it into the budget somehow. 

There's some prayerful consideration yet to do though. Even after investing in the juicer itself, buying all the produce adds up pretty quick. And what if, while really good for, well, all of us, it doesn't actually help resolve my mysterious issues? Would it still be worth the investment then? And will I be able to do the juicing treatment my body needs and still function as a Mom? Because that is a pretty important consideration! ;)

In other news, business is going better than ever, for both of us actually! But we cry out for wisdom all the time, and still feel like we're just barely beginning to figure this stuff out. We want so badly to see God bless this year, make some serious headway digging out of last years hole, and go into this next winter with a savings account (savings account?! whaaaat!?). 

The kids continue to be amazing and adorable. Levi is growing before our very eyes, and we like him quite a lot now. He has the greatest belly laugh. Laura is speaking English better and better every day. Anna has begun to stutter, and make great strides in school simultaneously. We're surmising that her brain has gotten faster than her tongue all of a sudden. And Reuben amazes me every day with how grown up he is. He loves it when Daddy teaches him cool stuff, and can't wait to be a grown up man so he can go to work with Daddy. He's had some bad days recently, behavior wise, but a lot of really good days in between the bad ones. 

Ok. Quick funny story before I end this. Jeremy went up to help Anna change out of her wet pajamas yesterday morning. She was chattering away about "I need help to put on my shirt. ....And I need help to put on my panties." etc. Then without missing a beat she says, "I wanted to have a butterfly dream. (then totally dissapointed sounding) But I didn't." Jeremy came down stairs cracking up to tell me this. He was followed a few minutes later by a tearful Anna, very upset that her Daddy was laughing at her. It was all I could do to stop laughing myself and try to convince her that Daddy was only laughing because he likes her so much, and she makes him feel so happy.