June 30, 2012

"Behind the scenes" at our Backyard Bible Club


This past week has been one of the busiest weeks of my life.  Our family hosted a "Backyard Bible Club", a ministry through our church.  Each evening, Monday through Friday, we had anywhere from 30 to 50 kids not only in our backyard, but using our bathroom (thanks for being an escort Sanna we couldn't have done it without you!) and riding to and from club in our 12 passenger "bus" (as well as in several other "club helper" vehicles). 

As I sit here thinking it over, I realize that there are so many directions I could take you in this post.  I could tell you about what an awesome privilege it is to have the life-giving message of the gospel being shared in your backyard every night of the week.  I could tell you about praying for God to work because you know that their lives could be forever changed by responding to its message.  

I could tell you about the high energy fun and excitement we had during the games.  Dozens of children smiling their biggest smiles and screaming their happiest screams.  On some nights it must have sounded like we had an amusement park in our backyard.  

Dear neighbors, we do apologize...especially for giving them whistles as prizes...trust us, we regretted that!  Lesson learned.  ;)

I could also tell you about all the fellowship we had with each other here and there.  We had time to just encourage each other and talk about our day...or share how we came to know Christ.  The moments we shared when we laughed hard or when we felt sad about a situation with one of the children.  We learned to work together as a team and look out for each others needs.

But I could also share with you the challenges that we faced.  The way that I described it to my husband is that I felt like we just brought a new baby home.   Everything seemed to be shaken up and turned upside down.  My schedule?  Ha!  It was completely unraveled.  Staying up later than usual (because you want some time together as a family after everyone goes home) and sleeping in (because you are flat out exhausted!) definitely took its toll.  

The first night, we barely managed to scarf down a peanut butter sandwich because I failed to time things well and suddenly it was time to leave and pick up children.  We timed things better on the other nights...but I just have to say I don't know what I would have done if a dear family from church had not brought us those meals!  It made life so much easier for us.  

Every day of the week was busy and active...just preparing to not have the evening available as we typically do.  All the children's baths had to be taken earlier...more cleaning and tidying than usual...and all after getting a late start to the day.  We tried to take relaxing breaks here and there to do things we enjoy....but not for too long!  I had the pressure of pacing myself.  

"Let's make sure the laundry is done!  Clean your rooms!  Vacuum the carpet!  People are coming over tonight!"  Go go go go go!  

You know how you feel when someone is coming over...you do your best to put everything in its place.  Well it was like that for five days in a row!  We all have a certain pace that we are accustomed to and this week increased our pace considerably.

That said, we enjoyed it.  We enjoyed all the excitement and fun.  We rejoice that a sweet girl trusted in Christ for salvation from her sin.  She was very eager to learn about God and we are so thankful for God's work in her heart.  

As for our son Javi, there are more words to say than I can say here now.  But suffice it to say, that after many months of him hearing the gospel and asking questions, he sat down next to me on the couch and told me that he asked God to forgive him for his sins.  He seems to understand the basic gist of the gospel (simple enough even for a child) and we are simply taking him at his word.  It is difficult to tell just how much he is wanting to gain our approval.  We are not backing our kids into a corner, we simply teach, share and wait on God to do the work.  We assure them that we love them no matter what and it's not like we treat them as more special if they profess to have faith in Christ.  So we will just continue to put the gospel before all of our children and pray for God to do the work in their hearts.  Only he truly knows what is inside.

So many memories were made this week.  I wouldn't trade it for the world.
....................................................................................................................................................

I shared a bunch of pictures each night on Facebook.  I decided to pick a few favorites to share here on my blog.  

my husband showing and telling the kids how to play a game

Manny gets tickled by his big sis Amera

during song time


intensity!

The kids had fun playing while all the other club kids were being taken home.

a sweet moment as we tried to get Manny to smile for the camera

love this one of Joelle


She is my sunshine!  But not the only one!

This photo gives you at least some idea of what it was like on "Water Day"!  Ha!


It's amazing how much fun you can have with a hose and spray nozzle!

My sweet little boy...love him!

Lots of laughs during the puppet show/memory verse time

Sweet!

"Aaaaaargh yah maytees!"  Isabel certainly gave us a good chuckle!

Without a doubt, I'd do it again!















June 25, 2012

New Beginnings {Writing Prompt}



I watched the video presentation in church yesterday.  I didn't realize that there are hundreds of people without a single copy of the Bible in their own language.  A brother in Christ spoke of his desire to change that.  He spoke of God using ordinary, unremarkable people to accomplish his purposes.  

I looked down at my lovely Bible with the flowers etched into the cover.  I thought about what it would be like if I only had one chapter of the gospel according to John...I thought of how much some people across the globe treasure the little bits and pieces they have of God's precious word and I wonder "How thankful am I?"  I have the entire copy!  I have the very words of God himself, recorded and sitting there on my lap.  Have I "treasured them more than my necessary food" lately?  (Job 23:12)  I mean, sure I've been spending time in it...I love it...but thinking about having only one chapter or not even having it at all really struck a cord with me.

I thought of my seven children whom God has given to my charge.  Have I been doing all I can to point them to Christ, to instruct them in the words of life, to pray with them?  If I am honest with myself, I know that I have been doing some things.  But as I look back over the recent past I feel a sense of dissatisfaction with my efforts.  I have been too relaxed about it.  I know I need to be even more intentional.  I am very intentional about physical nourishment...how much more should I be intentional about spiritual nourishment?  The fire within me has been stoked and my passion to be consistent every day has been renewed.  I want to do more than just make sure that all my readers read their Bibles.  I want to do more than help my non-reader work on her memory verse for the program at church.  I want to do more than the occasional Bible story and the once in a while missionary biography.  

I just want more.

What more can I give them?

This is the question that filled my mind yesterday and I'm still asking it this morning.  This is the beginning of a new week.  There are so many ways that I can fill my time...some days I will be exhausted from taking care of my children and my home...but I want to be intentional.  This is the mission that God has given me to do.  I  want to do it well. I want to live my life with no regrets.


Oh, and did I mention that I have a neighbor that I really want to share the gospel with?




June 23, 2012

The Birds [a story by Javi]


As I mentioned in another post, my son loves to write and illustrate books.
I thought this one was really cute and we even colored it together!



I love that he wrote the words on the tree.
I  love the way he spelled "cract".
And it just tickles my funny bone when I read "1,2,3 they were hungry".
He's very straight and to the point!


Not quite sure why they wanted to play hide and seek while being so hungry?!


I think Javi does very well drawing the facial expressions.  
The mommy bird looks a bit perplexed.



Awww...look at that tear...such a sad face.


Yay!!  Daddy saves the day!  See the worms he's holding with the tip of his wing?




Wow, that's all it took to live happily ever after?  ;)


This is Javi's "signature" ending to all of his stories.  Just like this...with a "d" under the "En-"
I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.  :)

Have a beautiful Saturday!











June 22, 2012

when things get messy


In my best moments I am a person who likes to clean house.  Though sometimes I wish I could just snap my fingers like Mary Poppins and make the mess go away.  

Every day, I tell one of my children to put on some music and I announce "clean up party!"  We tidy up after breakfast, then before lunch and again before dinner.  Sort of a "work so you can eat" philosophy.  I feel the daily pressure of staying on top of mess so that it doesn't overwhelm us.

My husband used to joke that I am a lot like the "Tazmanian Devil" going around the house, from one room to another at lightning speed, cleaning up and putting things away.  I feel a great sense of satisfaction when everything is in it's proper place.

Imagine how I felt as I breezed past this room (sometime after aforementioned "clean up party") and saw what you see in the picture above.  My heart instantly sank.  I thrive on functionality and order and this is NOT order.  I want the recliner closed, the books put where they belong and the blanket folded and put away!

Calm down Marisha.

It's a tent that one of the children built (probably Brienne!) and it is something that they really enjoy...sigh...deep breath...


Look at this little place!  What a fun little tent to play under!  

Sometimes I feel like my children pick the worst possible time to build these things.  Like when company is coming over, or when we have to be going somewhere in an hour or so.  And I feel like all this tent making is working against me and my program.  You know...my program to fight the mess!

Just when I started to feel agitated about it, Manny came running up to me. 
"Mommy! Mommy!!  Did you see the tent?!  
He ran over to it and crawled underneath it's canopy.
"Look mommy!  It's really cool!!"

His little two year old voice just melted my heart.
I crawled in there with him to enjoy it for a few minutes and I felt like a kid again.


I decided the tent could stay for a while...let it be thoroughly enjoyed.  
Then I "spinned" off to the living room to tackle something else...the ever-present laundry!
Singing along with the music made the work go faster.  The goodness of God overwhelmed me.

"Thank you, Lord for my family, for my home and for the joy you give as I serve you here.
It's all for you."

June 21, 2012

Taking the opportunity to teach selflessness


My mom gave us one of those "make your own popsicle" things.  I made some lemonade and decided to make some popsicles with it.  The kids were all excited about it. 

"Are they frozen yet?!" ...the freezer was opened to check...
"Who wants a popsicle?!"  
"Meeeeeee!!!"

All the children went running to the kitchen to get one.  Then they hurried out to the backyard, to walk around on green grass in the sunshine, all while enjoying cool refreshment.  I love these fun summer days!

About ten minutes later I heard crying.  Loud, terrified, crying that I knew had resulted from physical pain.  Immediately, Brienne yells out "Mom, Clara fell on the sidewalk!!"

I quickly darted toward the back door.  I mentally prepared myself to see something tragic.  In a flash, I envisioned my little girl's face covered in bright red blood.  

Much to my relief, no blood was shed.  Only a painful looking scratch on her forehead and close to her hairline.  Clara whimpered and held onto my leg.  She stared at her half-eaten popsicle lying on the sidewalk, and broken into a few pieces. Clara was mostly recovered at this point.  She had calmed down considerably so it was time for me to go back into the house to finish what I was doing before.


All the children stood near us, some with about half of their popsicles left.
As I walked past one of them, I leaned in and whispered into their ear...


"Offer Clara the rest of your popsicle."

My child looked at me with slight reluctance.  But I just knew that God wanted me to take this opportunity to teach my children about sacrificial love and selflessness.  My hope is that someday they will have the mind of Christ and be compelled to do these things on their own.  But for now, I offer guidance. And hopefully, as God gives me opportunities, I will be an example too.

I stepped up onto the back porch and Clara was still a bit upset, her face looked sad and was wet with tears.  As she looked over at her popsicle on the siedewalk, she despairingly asked "Mommy, what popsicle could I eat now?"

I turned to look at the child I had whispered to.  We locked eyes for a moment.  My eyes must have had a pleading look...I'm not sure, but I hoped beyond hopes that my child would show Christ in this very moment.  The tension was mounting...then finally...


"Clara, would you like my popsicle?"  Clara smiled and happily accepted.


I don't know about you, but showing love like that toward a sister and bringing glory to Christ is a joy that far surpasses the enjoyment you'd get from eating a popsicle.  This is eternal treasure laid up in heaven.  I know my child may have only done it because I told them to...but hopefully someday they will do it on their own.  Isn't that how it is for all disciples?

Things like this happen from time to time.  And it's not always the same result or the same form of teaching.  Sometimes I focus on having the child deal with the loss and to grow in their maturity that way.  But I do believe if we are focused on teaching our children what modeling Christ looks like...God will lead us.  And he will give us soooo many opportunities.  It really is in the everyday moments.


Are you learning from Christ's example and demonstrating this to your children?

Are you teaching your kids how to respond in a Christ-like manner, especially in difficult situations?





June 20, 2012

The difficulty of not getting what you expected


Without a doubt, we are relational beings.  We need relationship, though sometimes we live in denial of this.  Especially when we feel hurt by someone else.  Our reaction to being hurt can often be to develop a rough exterior.  "Who needs them anyway?"  "How could she do that to me?"  "Why do I even care?"  Have you ever   thought or said these things?  I have lived much of my life with an "I can easily do without you" attitude.  I know what it's like to have the mentality of not wanting to show that I really do care, because I don't want to feel like I am weak or able to be hurt by someone else.

The Lord is bringing some issues in my heart to the surface lately.  I think they are natural responses that I have long carried with me, and I say "carried" purposefully.  Because they are indeed a burden.  As I carefully evaluate it, I can see that my natural response has often brought me down and made me miserable.  You may be wondering what on earth I am talking about...allow me to try and explain it.

Think about a time when you set out to do something special for someone else.  I mean you really wanted to bless them!  Think about the emotions that you felt when you were preparing to do this thing...do you imagine how the person will respond?  You think "Oh!  She's going to love this!"  or maybe you're not certain she'll like it, but you imagine that this gesture will form a tighter bond in your relationship.

What about the simplest of gestures... like just saying hello in passing?.  Some people don't even respond to that!  How should we respond when people don't do what we wish they would?  What should our motivation be for reaching out to them anyway?  These are the hard questions I have been struggling with in my own life.


When I don't get noticed, when I don't feel loved and appreciated my natural response is to point the finger at the other person and how wrong they are.  I am beginning to realize that I am not walking in the Spirit when I feel angry, jealous or resentful.  I should respond with compassion, I should hope for the best and not think evil of them.  If they have intentionally done wrong, I should be willing to forgive.  I should not judge their motives, in other words, assume that they are careless and think nothing of me.  Even if they do think nothing of me I should be more concerned about their relationship with Christ than how that makes me feel. 


Are we praying for the people that we feel hurt or slighted by?  Do we have love and compassion even for those that failed to notice us or failed to love us?  God wants so much to help us as we depend on him for grace to be compassionate and forgiving.  As we choose to think his way about things, we can avoid that sinking down feeling that threatens to overcome us.  We can actually be joyful in the Lord in spite of our circumstances.  I want more of that, don't you?




June 19, 2012

Remembering the weekend with gratitude










My heart is full of gratitude as I reflect on this past weekend.  To begin with, on Saturday morning we had our "Backyard Bible Club" team over to our house.  The children were so excited to have the house full of guests and we were excited too.  

Lots of smiles, encouraging words and laughter as we spent time together.  Nothing compares to Christian fellowship.  Especially when you're gearing up to serve Christ together.  It's wonderful.

Amera went with Josh and Amanda to invite the "Good News Club" kids, who were very excited to see them come to their houses.  Everyone else went around our neighborhood.  Except for me, a handful of kiddos (the youngest) and a sweet young lady who kept me company in the kitchen.  I baked oatmeal cookies and then overcame my slight intimidation with the charcoal grill and grilled some hot dogs.  It went really well (eventually) and the results were very rewarding. ;)  Nothing like charcoal grilled hot dogs!

We had some time of prayer and a sweet time of practicing our songs as Josh played guitar.  I loved it all!  Ok, maybe not the slightly panicked feelings I had as I questioned if I should have baked the cookies the day before rather than the day of...or when my foil covered grate on our little hibachi kept extinguishing the fire until finally I broke down and scrubbed it to make it fit for use (without foil!)...it all worked out in the end.  Do you ever question your timing on things and get in an internal tizzy?  Yup, I do that.  I'm much more relaxed than I used to be though, so there's always hope for improvement. :)

Father's Day was very basic at our house.  I think we just extended the same love we always do.  It was a busy Sunday following a busy Saturday so I just kept things simple.  We had a very edifying and encouraging time at church.  We enjoyed our new Sunday school class that consisted of an introduction to Philippians.  We look forward to learning more about "thinking spiritually so that we can live in a manner worthy of the gospel".  I put my reading through the Bible on hold for a while so that I can steep in Philippians.  I've been writing things in my journal, making charts and delighting in my happy discoveries of truth that it contains.

Sunday afternoon I shared with my husband and children how much I appreciate their dad.  That I am so thankful that he loves and fears God.  I am also thankful for how much he loves us and cares deeply for the spiritual welfare of our children.  We went around the table expressing our gratitude for him.  I thank God for his work in my husband's heart and life.  And I also thank God for his work in mine...teaching me that I ought to honor my husband more in the small, every day moments of life.  Being more of an encourager than a complainer and choosing to truly love in a godly way, even when it's hard.  

I am definitely learning to not stew so much about all the things I think my husband needs to change to be better.  Consider how much of an encouragement you can be if you look for the good things to praise and just watch how God uses that to encourage them to do better.  I know that often when I receive praise, I'm often thinking of where I need to improve.  It encourages and motivates me.  It's much more encouraging than simple getting a list of all the things I'm doing wrong.  If that's all we do, it can be oppressive.  Let's not forget to encourage our husbands!  


I found this little note stuck underneath a picture frame in the hallway.  
I nearly cried, the thoughtfulness of it just touched my heart so.


June 18, 2012

Our little aspiring writer





I found them on the couch together.  Joelle was enjoying Javi's story called "The King".



It's amazing how a simple gesture can spark a flame.

I bought my son one of those little manuscript books.  The kind with the bold lines and little dashes running through the middle.  It also has a big space at the top for drawing a picture to illustrate the story.  He has loved it from the moment he received it.  He has written many little stories that have amused his parents and siblings alike.  Of course the pictures that he draws add to the amusement.

Writing in that book was only the beginning.  Almost every day now he staples several sheets of paper together to make a book.  And he writes and draws pictures in them.  Sometimes he writes "tragedies" like the one above.  They usually end in death.  Javi writes "he died, the End".  Oh and let's not forget the circled word "ded" with an arrow pointing to the deceased.  That is a common occurrence at the end of his books (as well as food smudges since he writes at the table ;)

It's funny, we don't always know what our kids will love and take off with.  We offer things to them with the hope that they will enjoy it and pursue it, but they are gifted in different ways.  As a mom, I've learned to let their unique gifts come out and to take more cues from them as to what they like and what they don't.  I've also learned to just chill out because all children are different and do not always enjoy the same things.

I still remember when I put my oldest daughter in a karate class at age four.  It didn't last because it turned out it was more what I wanted than what she wanted.  Maybe if I had been more thoughtful about her unique personality I wouldn't have signed her up.  Maybe it was at least worth a try in order to rule it out.  I really don't know.  But I do know that my attitude has changed from "I'm going to make you into something" to "God made you with unique gifts yet to be discovered".  Can you see the difference?  Sometimes it's a fine line.

It's not always easy knowing what to do, because sometimes our children just need a little prodding, teaching and correcting of poor attitudes.  Sometimes they want to quit and just need some encouragement to keep going.  But I'm referring more to those "extra" things that we want them to be able to do.  I don't fret so much anymore if one would rather spend their spare time reading than painting.  Or if one would rather practice design on the computer than bake.  Their gifts become clear in time.  I'm just doing my best to provide the tools so that they can be discovered.  And when they are, what a blessing it is!






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