Why "Nothing Ever Happens Around Here" Is Never on My Lips

I cannot count the number of times I have thought, "Wow, life is busy!  But as soon as _________* is over, the pace will slow down; and I'll have plenty of time to catch up on the things that have been slipping through the cracks while I've been going hither and yon doing this and that."

* could be anything, like swimming lessons, gymnastics, violin lessons, choir practice, regular school year, etc.

I'm sloooooooowly learning to not believe myself when I say that, because apparently it's never true.  You see, just as soon as _________* is over, along comes some other event or activity; and off we go to that.  And when we do have open space on the calendar, we sometimes seize the chance to do the really important things.

Which is what we did today.

For a while now, we've been wanting to go to my mother's nursing home and have a mini-concert for her and the other residents--nothing formal, just Josiah and David playing their violins while I accompany them on the piano.  A few times we had planned to do this, but for one reason or another (i.e. the nursing home planned an outing for the residents, my kids had colds and we didn't want to pass germs to my mother, etc.) it hadn't worked out.

But it did today.  :)

I'm not sure what the audience enjoyed most: listening to the music my older two sons performed, or watching my younger three kids meander around.  Maybe their favorite was when Moriah came over to the piano when I was playing, climbed up on the piano bench, and started playing some notes, too!  A little dissonance adds a lot to a Bach minuet, right?  ;-)

Or maybe it was the snuggles with Shav and Tobin.  I've noticed that hugs are a pretty big hit in a nursing home.  :)

We didn't play for a very long time; but we did some of the standard Suzuki repetoire, especially the pieces Josiah and David had performed very recently in the group concert held at the beginning of May.  In addition, Josiah performed a movement from a Vivaldi concerto; and David performed Humoresque by Dvorak.

After the music ended, we went out on the patio and sat in rocking chairs and visited.  Well, that's what I did: the kids, meanwhile, ran back and forth on the patio, then enjoyed lemonade and a snack that the staff was more than happy to give them.  

As we left, we came to two conclusions: 1) it was a really good way to spend our morning, and 2) we should do it again very soon!

And if we play the same pieces the next time, no one will care--it is an Alzheimer's unit, after all.  ;-)

Nine Reasons I Don't Want My Mother's Stuff

Two evenings ago, I had the honor and pleasure of speaking to a group of women at a ladies' tea at a nearby church; and the whole evening was delightful.  But one incident in particular is sticking out in my memory and forcing me to consider it in greater depth!

At my table sat an older lady whom I had never met before.  I got a kick out of her when she glanced tenderly at my expansive midsection and asked, "Is this your first?"  Her eyes couldn't help but widen a little when I cheerily announced, "No, this is my sixth!"  :)

But later in the conversation, as we ate a delicious dinner together, the talk turned to other things; and she confided to us that her daughter (who happens to be in the same general life category as I am, since she too is a homeschooling mother with young children) isn't interested in someday acquiring the things that her mother has taken such joy in collecting through the years--things like Hummel figurines, for example.  This lady remembers well when Hummels were all the rage and were, in fact, quite valuable; but now their value has apparently come down--not only in the world of collectors but also, and more significantly, in her daughter's mind.

She leaned across the table towards me and asked pointedly, "Do you want your mother's stuff?"

A little caught off-guard by her directness, I thought for a few seconds about how I should answer.  Deciding that honesty was perhaps the best policy ;-) and hoping that my directness in return would not seem insensitive, I answered her.  "No," I said, "I really don't want her stuff."

If she was taken aback, she didn't let on; and I hoped that my further explanation would help to clarify my reasoning--and who knows, perhaps she would understand her own daughter's thinking a little better, too.  In that conversation, I didn't have time to tell her all my thoughts about this subject; but I did at least touch on reasons 2, 3, 4, and 5 that I list below.  Since then, I have continued to ponder this topic and have returned to the same conclusion.  No, I really don't want my mother's stuff.  But why?

Before I dive into my reasons, I will mention that as a child, I was very much into stuff; and my dad (who will probably be one of the first people to read this post, early riser that he is!) can attest to how much junk I accumulated in a short amount of time!  I had a desk that had a top that lifted so items could be placed inside; and as the days went by, I would find more and more things that I "needed" to keep in that desk.  The pile of contents would grow so high that eventually the lid wouldn't even shut and I would be forced to sort through the pile, discard most of it, and once again have a neat pile of only the really important stuff in my desk.

But did I ever keep it that way--neat and clean with all the essentials?  I did not.  It didn't take long before I would stick something "important" in there, and the cycle would start all over again.

When I was a newlywed and first learned about the five love languages, I knew right away that the language of gifts was a big one for me.  It wasn't that I was such an awful, greedy person; it was simply that things were so much more than things!  Each item was a memory, often an expression of love or perhaps a remembrance of a joyful time.  Everything in my house had a story; and if anyone had time to listen, I could tell them about the person who gave me the blue teapot...and when I received that particular cookbook...and the significance of the plates we used at dinner...and which aunt gave me the blanket on our bed and which one gave me the sheets.  Nobody ever had the patience to inquire about all of those; but if they had, I could have told them!!  ;-)

A few days ago, my 10-year-old son David wanted to get some chewing gum out of the gum box we have in the cupboard; and I "encouraged" (read: forced) him to finally chew the last little bit of gum in the Bubble Tape package that had been rolling around in the gum box ever since David got it months ago.  David agreed to chew that gum; and as soon as he had put it in his mouth, he started heading upstairs with the package in his hand.  Josiah, instantly discerning the intentions of the brother with whom he shares a room, stopped him in his tracks by saying, "You are NOT going to keep that, David!"  :)

Well, of course, David very much wanted to keep it; and he appealed to his big brother's emotions and intellect by explaining how it was the very first Bubble Tape package he had ever had and how it could come in handy for storing something and so forth.  At that point, I intervened and "encouraged" David to be willing to throw away the package; and he then did so.  But the whole time, I was seeing myself in his shoes.  That's EXACTLY what I would have done when I was his age!

Somewhere along the line, I changed.  When I wonder why, these nine reasons come to mind.

1. When Jeff and I met as students in Israel, my parents were not immediately thrilled with the idea of me beginning a romantic relationship with him.  (As soon as he came to visit us in Virginia a few months later, they were then immediately thrilled, but not while he was still some strange California dude wooing me in Jerusalem!)  :)  When they saw my heart being drawn towards him, they urged me to not accept any goodbye gifts from him because at that point, they thought it best if he quickly and quietly slipped from my mind when I returned to Virginia (and returned to my senses, it would seem), and a treasured item from him might be a snare that continued to trap me.  :)  As it turned out, Jeff abided by their wishes and gave me no farewell gifts (although the flowers he picked for me during field trips in the countryside of Israel remained in my Bible and other books where I had pressed them).  :)  But he did give me memories.  From him, I learned that experiences can be more valuable than physical gifts.  Our dinner at an Argentinian steakhouse (an extravagant expense for someone on a limited student budget), our walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel (because he couldn't fathom me leaving Israel without having experienced that), our retracing of Jesus's footsteps from the Old City out to the Mount of Olives on the night of Passover, our late-night talk in the garden of the school we were attending--none of these left me with a physical souvenir to take with me back to the States, but oh, how they all filled my mind and heart with the wonder of being someone special to Jeff Fisher!!!  :)  That was, I suppose, the beginning of my breaking away from the power of possessions, but I still had a long way to go.

2. A huge advancement in the journey of minimizing the value I placed on stuff occurred during a three-step process before and during our years in Israel as a married couple.  The first step came when we were asked to move to Israel, with the understanding that we were only allowed to take two suitcases each.  To reduce our possessions from a townhouse with all the "necessary" things a couple and their baby needed to two suitcases each was a daunting task, to say the least; but we were so very excited to be moving to Israel that we tackled the project with a great deal of enthusiasm, giving away a lot of stuff, selling some, throwing away some, keeping some in a storage unit, and storing a few very treasured things at Jeff's sister's house.  I'm sure I probably congratulated myself on how spiritually mature I was because I could take the Two Suitcase Challenge and was therefore obviously free from the love of material possessions!  :)  But that first step wasn't the last one.  While we were in Israel, a season of worse-than-normal wildfires hit southern California; and not only was Jeff's parents' home in Big Bear in danger, so was his sister's home (where our grand piano Jeff gave me for our wedding, my cedar chest made from trees that grew on my grandparents' farm, etc. was stored), and so was the storage unit--not all from the same wildfire, but all of them from fires in their respective areas.  I remember thinking, "Lord, haven't I given up enough?  Isn't it sufficient that I got rid of so much stuff and was able to bring very little with me to Israel?  Are you really going to test me yet again to see if my heart is fully committed to you in this area?"  I didn't realize another test was ahead.  After we had been in Israel for a while, we decided that when we returned to the States, we would plan to settle in Virginia to be close to my parents who didn't have a child close by to care for them as they got older (in contrast to Jeff's mom who was living with his sister and was well taken care of).  Jeff's mom generously offered to pay for the cost of moving our stuff across the country to Virginia, and so the arrangements were made.  The truck was loaded with the possessions we had deemed Very Most Important when we had moved to Israel (because everything unimportant was gotten rid of), and a date was set for when it was supposed to arrive in Virginia.  Except, it didn't arrive.  As it turned out, the moving company was a fraud; and we might still be waiting for our stuff except that one of Jeff's brothers had his company's lawyer threaten to sue the moving company, and then eventually our stuff showed up in Virginia.  During the anxious days when we were in Israel, way too far away to do anything about the situation and not even sure what state that moving truck was in and whether it would ever show up, I had a few conversations with the Lord that went something like this, "Really, God???  Weren't Round One and Round Two sufficient to convince You that I indeed love You more than I love my stuff?  I mean, c'mon, even ol' Abraham only had to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah once before You and he and everyone else was convinced that You were really the first place in his heart.  But You make me endure this test three times?  Is that really necessary???"  I can smile about it now, but I wasn't doing much smiling then, I can assure you!  Well, needless to say, after three rounds of the always entertaining challenging game Say Goodbye to Your Stuff, I think I learned the lesson God was trying to teach me, and I'm pretty sure I've held more lightly to my possessions ever since.  :)

3. When you have stuff, you have to dust/move/vacuum around/otherwise maintain it.  Who wants to waste time dusting a shelf full of knickknacks anyway?  :)

4. When both sets of my grandparents died, my parents happened to be in a position where they lived closest or were most available or were for some reason given the responsibility to oversee the dividing of the estate; and I, being 14 years old when my dad did that for his parents and 23 when my mom did that for her parents, had a front row seat to watch the process.  Here's what stood out to me most: they and their siblings did not argue about who got what.  I had heard of other families that were torn apart, sometimes forever, by fights over the division of the stuff; but I watched my parents and aunts and uncles peacefully and unselfishly decide who got each item; and that made a huge impression on me.  I learned from that to never argue with a sibling about an item from my parents because relationships are more important than stuff.  I cannot think of a single item in my parents' house right now that I would lay any claim to if I knew my sister or brothers wanted it.  Not a single thing!

5. Since I am still very much in the stage of having young children who seem to be accompanied by lots and lots and LOTS of stuff, I'm constantly feeling like I'm on the verge of drowning in things anyway.  Why would I want to add to that?  I'm interested in getting rid of stuff, not accumulating it!

6. I'm no expert in social science or cultural trends, but I think there's been a significant shift from the days of the generation raised by those who experienced the Great Depression (and as a result, learned to "never throw anything away because it might come in handy someday!", the motto of twist-tie-saving women all over America) til now when an interest in and desire to embrace minimalism has become widespread enough to hardly be revolutionary anymore (think how quickly the tiny house movement is spreading!).  Maybe because all our lives, we've had an abundance of stuff and have never truly known want, we feel free to get rid of stuff, being confident that we can replace it if necessary.  I'm not saying that we're wiser than our elders, but we have been shaped by different influences in a very different world than they grew up in.  We read Becoming Minimalist and use words like "declutter."  Meanwhile, we still have a hundred times more possessions than most of our fellow citizens on planet earth!  (Check out the book Material World by Peter Menzel to be utterly convicted of the excess of our American lifestyle.)

7. Some years ago, I was faithfully reading FlyLady emails and following (well, trying to) her methods for keeping house and being happy all at the same time.  :)  I believe it was in one of those emails that I read about a lady who, at the time of her death, could fit all that she owned in the trunk of her car.  She didn't need any more than that and had successfully downsized through the years, keeping only the barest of essentials.  "What a gift!" a generation of people who have needed to clean out their parents' houses (and barns, like my mother did after her parents died) would exclaim.  "How wonderful for the person himself or herself to be able to make the choices about how to best deal with all the stuff!  What a blessing for the children to not have to make those decisions!"  I obviously haven't whittled down my possessions to only what can fit in my car.  ;-)  But my parents have done a tremendous job of downsizing, and I am so grateful for their efforts.  Even now, my dad continues the process of getting rid of what is unimportant--for example, shredding medical charts that are so old that they're no longer needed.  We use some of that shredded paper as mulch on the garden under leaves or grass clippings, and I love knowing that I won't have to someday deal with piles and piles and piles of medical charts!  :)

8. Technology has changed the world so much that it seems less important to keep actual things because we can electronically store the important stuff--photos and stories, mostly.  My dad has scanned a large number of family photos into the computer which not only will save me hours of time someday but also is preferable to me doing it because he actually knows who is in the photos!  :)  I won't need to clear a shelf off for photo albums from my grandparents, for example, because he has already done the time-consuming work of using technology to store them.  Another example: my mother loved Grace Livingston Hill books and has quite a collection of them; but since they are available on the Kindle (most, if not all of them, for free), I don't need to keep the actual books.

9. Lastly, Jeff and I and our children have had the benefit of an especially close relationship with my parents during the past decade; and as a result, I don't feel like I need any particular item to remember my mother by because we've made so many memories together.  Maybe I would feel differently if I had lived farther away and didn't have such a close connection at this stage of life; maybe then I would think, "Yes, I do need my mother's pearl earrings to feel close to her," or "Seeing her butter churn in my kitchen would really warm my heart after she's gone."  But my mother is in my heart, and so is my dad.  Moments like this trip with my mother about a week and a half ago to a delicious local ice cream shop fill my heart and my memory, and that is far more important than any physical item from her could be.  Besides, as I have taken over some practical tasks through the years (cooking supper, for example), I have received things from my parents: my mother's extra 9x13 pans, her pressure canner, her pan for angel food cake, etc.  Those practical items have been much appreciated because they're useful--not clutter!  :)

Do I want my mother's stuff?  I do not.  Oh, if the red bowl with the clear lid that she always used for cranberry salad ever comes to me, I'll use it when I make cranberry salad for the family at Thanksgiving and Christmas and for other special occasions.  But if someone else in the family wants it, by all means, let him or her take it!  It's just stuff!

The more important question is this: do I want to keep spending time with my mom and my dad until God calls them home.  I do!  Of course I do!  Because when it comes to stuff, you can't take it with you, after all; but the people--oh, the people are what matters!  The soul stretches into eternity; and in the end, it is only our relationships with God and with each other that matter.

And I'm pretty sure you can't tuck a Hummel figurine into the pocket of your bathrobe when you float up to heaven.  ;-)

The Sweetest Affirmation

When I evaluate myself as a mother, I often end up with a feeling of regret, rather than an exultant pat on the back.  "I should have done this differently," I tell myself.  "I shouldn't have said that.  Why couldn't I have been more patient?  Why didn't I use a kinder tone of voice?  When will I ever become the mother that I want to be?"

But recently I've been encouraged by an unexpected source of affirmation: Moriah and her doll.

First thing this morning, as soon as Moriah was dressed and hair pinned back out of her face, we came downstairs and I gave her a cup of milk to drink.  She perched on the bench in the kitchen and held her doll ("Baby" is as original a name as we've been able to come up with for it) on her lap.  And then she started crooning to it and comforting it and telling me that Baby was sad because she hurt her head and so on.  The compassion that oozed out and the love she lavished on Baby--not just this morning, but all the time--was so sweet to see.

And then it dawned on me: Moriah learned how to be a mother from watching me.  She is such a mirror: I often catch her imitating things that I never consciously taught her, but she's picked them up simply from observing.  And that is how she's learned to mother her dolls.

If Moriah learned to be such a caring, careful mother from me, maybe I'm not failing after all?

Which is not to say that I can now relax, pat myself on the back for the next 20 years, and think I have it made.  I don't.  I still have SO MANY areas in which to grow--as a woman, a wife, a mother, etc.  

But today, I'm giving thanks for the tender encouragement God gave my heart, and the fact that He chose to do it through this Little Mama makes me feel all gooshy inside.  :)

 We acquired this doll, by the way, from a thrift store back in January when the whole family went to Goodwill one night so I could get a few things I needed before my Canada trip.  Jeff was in charge of the kids while I did my shopping, and I think he let each one choose something to bring home.  This was Moriah's choice.  This all happened shortly after we had given her a big, soft doll for Christmas (and a doll bed and stroller); she liked the doll we gave her (and still plays with sometimes), but she LOVES this one.  I have now concluded that it's useless for me to buy any more dolls for Moriah because inevitably she prefers ones that other people have given her...or, as I now know, ones that cost about 50 cents at a thrift store.  I give up!  ;-)

 The doll has never had pants, but Moriah doesn't seem to care or even notice; the soft brown body is good enough for her.  And with the pretty pink shirt, no one notices the fact that the doll is pants-less, right?  ;-)  It wasn't until after I took these photos that I realized that today, Moriah and the doll matched.  Except, Moriah was indeed wearing pants.  It's a good thing.  :)

The doll didn't come with pants but did come with this pacifier that has a little magnet in it that helps it stay on the doll's mouth (if it's not bumped too hard).  Moriah inexplicably calls it her "gas," and when she says things like, "Baby wants her gas," I nearly die laughing.  Maybe to Moriah, it looks somewhat like a nozzle we use to put gas in the car??

The 16-Week Project {Week One}

The goal: every room in the house clean and organized.

The last time I actually accomplished this: umm...never?  ;-)

The plan: in the 17 and a half weeks I have from now until my due date, use 16 of those weeks to specifically focus on my house, room by room.

The confession: I don't actually have 16 rooms in my house (there are 13 by my counting), but I figure there are going to be a few weeks in there that I don't ever get around to getting even a single room cleaned and organized.  ;-)

The additional challenge: keep the rooms that I've already focused on relatively neat and organized.  What's the point of getting each room in great shape if I let the ones I've already done slip back into chaos?  (And I speak from experience because I've done that more times than I'd like to admit!)  ;-)

The help: my boys.  As I evaluate each room, I want to come up with a workable plan for keeping it neat and clean; and already I've seen some tasks with new eyes.  My kids are more capable than I previously thought, whaddya know?  ;-)

The opportunity: right now.  Last Saturday, we officially/unofficially finished our main schoolwork (although we're continuing with some additional educational stuff that I'm really excited about, but hopefully I'll get to write more about that later).  Our extracurricular activities are virtually finished.  The garden hasn't yet started producing anything that needs canned or frozen (although we are enjoying plenty of fresh lettuce and a few other goodies).  This is my WOO.

The reality: like always when I set a goal, I'll fall short.  Baby's due date will come, and there will still be messes in my house, cupboards that didn't get cleaned out, new job responsibilities that are still not a habit for my sons, clutter that didn't get shooed out the door, possibly entire rooms that didn't get dealt with at all, etc.  I know that.  But you know what?  It's OK.  It's OK to set a high goal, knowing that I'll fall short of that mark but hoping that I'll end up further down the path to a clean and organized home than I am now!  :)

The first room: the cellar, a room that is loved by Jeff because of the sense of security he gets from looking at the food we have ;-) and appreciated by me, especially when I remember the challenge of finding room for food storage in the small apartments we lived in before moving to Virginia.  It is SO NICE to have a room like this!  :)

When my parents were designing this house, they did a very smart thing by including this cellar off the laundry room.  It's underground enough to stay fairly cool in the summer and fairly warm in the winter; I don't have to worry about things freezing in this room.

And best of all, there is space--glorious SPACE!--for jars that are full of food and those that are empty, awaiting the summer's harvest.

Organizing this room was a project that I had been longing to do for quite a while; and now that school is out (sort of), I felt perfectly fine about devoting some time to this.

It's a great project to tackle for Week One of my challenge because it's a small room and doesn't take forever and a day to organize--and even more importantly, it's relatively easy for me to keep it neat since I'm basically the only one who does much in this room.  

Well, Jeff contributes to this room, too, I'll admit...by doing things like canning hot peppers that I have to find room for.  There is a whole LONG shelf full of jars of peppers, and I didn't can any of them (and won't eat them either!).  ;-)

But generally speaking, I'm the boss in this room and don't have to worry too much about people coming along behind me and messing up the order I've created.  ;-)

We use this room from the floor to the ceiling--potatoes, for example, in a wire basket on the floor (we ran out of our own potatoes this year for the first time in a number of years and actually had to buy some to eat; but Jeff was able to plant the old, small, shriveled ones our garden produced last year, so we didn't have to buy seed potatoes) all the way to baskets hanging from the ceiling.

I said I'm the only one who does much in this room, but I should have mentioned that Moriah also enjoys this room.  :)  When I'm doing laundry, she will sometimes sit in this extra booster seat and will play with a truck in the gravel; sometimes Shav still likes to drive cars and trucks around in this gravel floor, too.  :)

A few days before I finished organizing the cellar, I had done the even quicker job of organizing the two freezers we have in our garage--a perfect task for a warm spring day when I wanted to keep an eye on Moriah while she played outside but also craved the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing something!

Having our long-term food storage organized--both in the cellar and in these freezers--is such a good feeling.  As a bonus, it inspires me in my cooking because I discover food items that I didn't even remember we had.  ;-)

Now the big question: which room should I tackle next??  :)

* a note about the photos: neither the laundry room nor the cellar gets natural light, so pictures taken there are always a little (or a lot!) off to my eye...for example, in the first photo in this post, the walls of the laundry room look extremely bright...I can assure you that in real life, the yellow is not quite that blinding...and now that you know that, I can sleep better tonight  ;-)

Wordless Wednesday {Josiah Bought Face Paint, and Then...}

Surrounded by Generosity

"I have several boxes here, some clothing, and some home school stuff," she wrote in an email.  A little later in the email, she wrote, "I would love to bring everything out and have you look through it at your leisure."

That Becky!!  It's not the first time she's gone above and beyond to bless the socks off me (to see just one another example, click here).  As a matter of fact, I can't even count how many times she has served and given and shown great kindness and generosity, way beyond my ability to ever return to her.  She's just that kind of person.

From her, I've learned an important life lesson: it's OK to accept help from those whom you will never be able to repay.  

This was a hard one for me.  I was used to the normal give-and-take of friendships, where each of the parties in the relationship does nice things for each other from time to time and are roughly "equal."  But with Becky, she's so far beyond me that I'll never be able to give back to her like she's given to me.  Practically speaking, she has babysat my children (her children are older and don't need me to babysit them), she has given me hand-me-down clothing from her sons (I can't hand down anything her children need), she has passed along school supplies (her kids wouldn't be interested in the board books and preschool activities I might be getting rid of in a few years), she has painted in my house (I can guarantee Becky won't be calling me for painting help in her house!) ;-), she has brought meals when I've had a baby (I don't *think* she'll be having more babies, so I guess I can't take a meal to her in that situation) ;-), and so forth.  

"What can I give her?" I used to ask myself.  "How can I repay this debt of kindness?"

"You can't," my soul answered me.  "But you CAN pass along the kindness and generosity to others.  You don't necessarily need to repay those who give to you in the same way that they've given.  But keep the ball of love and service rolling to those who can truly benefit from you; and in that way, the 'debt' of caring is paid."

Well, let me tell you, I have a LONG way to go until I get anywhere CLOSE to giving of myself the way Becky does.  But someday, when my own little ones aren't as little and as needy, I hope to imitate Becky's manner of pouring out of herself in service to others.  

Back to the boxes of clothing and home school stuff Becky gave us!  :)  One of the things that most delighted me was a collection of DVDs that will be fun and educational and will give me a break during the rest of this pregnancy and after the baby is born; the kids can still be learning, but I won't have to be teaching in those moments.  :)  

One of the things that most delighted my kids was this!  :)

 A large dry-erase board that has already provided hours of entertainment for my little artists.  :)

 I believe it was David's idea--and he was insistent--that they write a thank-you note for Becky on the board she gave us...

 ...and then I would post the pictures on the blog so she could see them.  I was happy to agree!  :)

 Doodling on this board is now one of their favorite activities to do while I'm reading aloud to them...

 ...and we take frequent breaks to admire and sometimes laugh as they explain what they've drawn.  :)

I don't know if Becky had any idea how much my kids would enjoy this.  It doesn't seem like enough to say "thank you," but we certainly are grateful!!!!!  :)

Besides Becky's generosity, we have been the recipients of gifts from so many other people recently; and each gift--whether large or small--is so appreciated.  Let me see if I can remember all the unexpected blessings that have come our way...

~ One evening we sat down to eat supper, and I realized that the salmon we were having was given to us by Kevin the Painter, the asparagus was from my neighbor Wilma's garden, and the spicy dill beans were from Jennifer, one of Jeff's co-workers.  I think the only thing I contributed to that particular meal was applesauce I canned last fall!  :)  (And by the way, neither salmon nor asparagus would ever rank high on my list of foods I would choose; but Jeff fixed them both in a way that was truly, truly tasty.  He made a sauce that he learned from a Japanese friend of ours in San Diego; and it was so good!)  :)

~ Another time, Wilma gave us an asparagus casserole that was really yummy!  (You could barely taste the asparagus, since there was so much other good stuff with it; that's why I liked it.)  ;-)

~ This past Saturday, Sally gave us a bunch of homemade cinnamon rolls which is always a huge treat!

~ From time to time, she drops by and has one of her kids run up to my front door with a loaf of homemade bread for us.  SUCH a treat for a non-bread-baker like me!  :)

~ A week ago, one of Jeff's customers hauled out to our house a trailer load of cut grass from his yard so we could use it to mulch our garden.  (We usually use leaves, but they tend to blow away; cut grass is easier to work with because of that.)

~ A while back, another of Jeff's customers gave us some computer speakers; and they have been SO helpful this year as Josiah and David have done more of their schoolwork on the computer and as we've used some YouTube videos to learn memory verses.  Before the new speakers, we could barely hear what was being amplified through the built-in speakers of the computer.  After Jeff attached the new speakers, we could turn the volume way up and blast our fun memory verse songs!  ;-)

~ Pam, one of Jeff's co-workers, has two boys that regularly outgrow their clothes (funny how that happens!).  ;-)  When she sorts through their too-small clothes, she hands them over to us; because of that, we RARELY have to buy clothes for the boys.  Starla, another co-worker, and Nancy, yet another co-worker, give us hand-me-downs from time to time, too.

~ Speaking of clothes, Sally occasionally gives us pants that her son Paul doesn't need for our younger boys to wear.

~ And speaking even more of clothes, I was blown away this spring by the kindness of a family that we originally met through the Suzuki program our boys have taken violin lessons through.  This family has two girls, and I had accompanied the older one in a recital one year.  Before that, the mom and I had emailed back and forth a little, working out the details of when and where we would meet to practice, etc.  We would see them from time to time at Suzuki events, group lessons, and so forth, but really didn't know them well.  When Josiah and David started swimming lessons a few months ago, this family was there, too; and we were glad to see each other, exchanging smiles and "hello's" and chatting a little while we waited for the kids to finish.  And then one day, Wendy asked me if I would like some hand-me-downs from her daughters for Moriah to use.  Oh my goodness, would I???  ;-)  A couple of weeks later, Wendy's husband handed off several boxes packed full of lots of clothes and some shoes and a little sleeping bag/blanket and a backpack.  I could hardly believe the bounty as I gleefully took each item out of the boxes that night.  I felt more elated than a pirate finding a treasure chest!!  ;-)  Because of those things from Wendy and because of some other clothes I had gotten second-hand for Moriah, she is basically set, as far as her wardrobe for the next year goes.  I did have to buy her some socks--one of the few new things she's gotten.  ;-)  Oh, I also got a couple white shirts to go under jumpers and summer sundresses and  things like that.  But her wardrobe is basically complete for a long time (and much more extensive than mine!) ;-), thanks in large part to Wendy's surprising generosity!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something and someone that I really should mention here; I'll probably remember when I lie down to sleep!  ;-)  But let me conclude by saying this: I am genuinely astonished by the largess of others.  It is continually humbling to be given so much!

But behind it all, behind all the kindness of each individual mentioned here (and the others that I will likely remember as soon as I hit "publish"!) stands a powerful reminder for me: God is Jehovah Jireh!  And many, many times, he uses people to meet our needs--and sometimes, our wants.  ;-)

We are surrounded by a group of very generous friends!!

On Mother's Day, We Ran Away :)

Take one known-for-his-spontaneity husband who randomly suggests things at the last minute, one holiday in which a mother can feel like she can express her wishes and do what she wants, one family that hadn't been on any trips--long or short--for quite a long time, one gorgeous Sunday with perfect weather, one pastor who is understanding of a family's need for time together, and what do you get?

Well, this.  :)

 A "wouldn't it be great if we could," "hey, maybe we can!", tossed-around-the-idea-of-on-Saturday, executed-on-Sunday, one-day Fisher family get-away to Blackwater Falls in West Virginia!  :)  And so, my Mother's Day was spent doing this...  :)

 Jeff cooked bacon for us at home in the morning; and that, combined with delicious cinnamon buns from my kind friend Sally, made a scrumptious breakfast for us.  We packed a picnic lunch to take along and then set off, headed west through the mountains in search of beautiful scenery, a splendid waterfall, and most of all, family memories in the making.

 Can you tell that Moriah has it SO rough, being the only girl?  ;-)

 Jeff and I had been to Blackwater Falls, but that was nearly eight years ago when we were celebrating our 10th anniversary.  I was pregnant with Tobin at the time; but other than him, none of our other kids had ever been there (and his recollection was dim, to say the least).  ;-)

 We had mentioned the word "hike" in relation to this adventure, and the boys were prepared.  David, Tobin, and Shav insisted that they each take a backpack, even when we said it really wasn't necessary and the walk to the waterfall wasn't that long.  David even found a nice walking stick to use on the trail.  :)  Later, David confessed that he was somewhat disappointed at the ease of the walk!!  :)

 Moriah had been complaining sporadically about her foot hurting, and I just KNEW she wouldn't want to walk by herself--at least, not for long.  Visions of carrying her in our arms up and down the path haunted me, until I remembered this child carrier we have.  Jeff got the honor ;-) of carrying her in it, and she LOVED it.  She seriously did not want to get out of it, even after our walk was over.  :)

 The way down to the waterfall is the easy part.  It tricks one into thinking, "Oh, this isn't bad at all!"  ;-)

Moriah liked this little stuffed animal that we attached to the carrier many years ago.  

 I'm not entirely sure what the boys chose to carry in their backpacks, but I do know that in Shav's was a Batman costume and mask.  Everybody knows THAT is essential for such an expedition!!  ;-)

 The spectacular waterfall coming into view...

I can't think of any place I would have rather spent this Mother's Day!  :)

 Just being there is magnificent...

...the roar of the water...

 ...the spray in the air...

 ...the view of that much water rushing over the rocks.

 I've been to Niagara Falls; and of course, this doesn't compete in size or volume.  But it's still impressive--to me, at least.  :)

 We talked with a few different friendly folks along the way, including this dog...I mean, a couple who happened to have a dog, a goldendoodle, who instantly became the center of attention for my kids. :)  Even Moriah got to pet him, thanks to a daddy who was willing to lean down and break his back so she could reach the dog.  ;-)

 As we started to go back up the trail, the others had gone ahead of me (surprise, surprise!); and an old man with white hair and beard caught my eye and started telling me about how he used to go in the river and swim at the base of the falls.  He pointed out a large rock that he used to jump into the water from, about 30 or 40 years ago (I wonder if it might not have been longer ago than that!).  ;-) Thanks to safety measures like boarded-in walks and signs urging you to stick to the path, you just can't do that anymore (although my boys would have loved it!).

 As we neared the top, another older man spotted us and began the conversation by saying something like, "Don't tell me all these kids are yours!"  When I smiled big and nodded, he started counting them aloud; and then I chimed in to make sure he knew that #6 was on the way.  What I had originally feared was going to be an unpleasant encounter changed quickly, and he and his wife were very pleasant and complimentary.  We chatted for a minute or two, then they wished me a happy Mother's Day and went on their way.  I've discovered that many times (not at all, but many), if I respond to such queries with joy and gratitude and love for my children overflowing, it transforms the conversation from a "woe art thou, for thou hast so many children" kind of thing into a "wow, you are truly blessed" encounter.  I love letting the love I have for my children shine in obvious ways to others; and I hope that somewhere along the way, others will be inspired to love and appreciate their own children more!  :)

 Tobin and Shav were interested in exploring this "cave" and seeing if there were any bears in it.  There was one, as a matter of fact.  It was a Tobin Bear.  ;-)

Jeff rewarded us all with ice cream at the top; and although the path down to the falls was mostly shady and fairly pleasant, it was hot at the top so we all appreciated the cool refreshment.  :)

Moriah really wanted to stay in the carrier.

 So we let her.  :)

After we looked around in the gift shop and the boys chose some trinkets to buy with their own money, we climbed back into the van and headed east again, over the mountains and through the valleys, admiring the incredible beauty of our neighboring state, and laughing our way across the miles to our own home sweet home.  As we rolled along, Josiah said something to the effect of, "This is the best day trip we've ever had."

I happen to think he just might be right about that.  ;-)