So apparently I decided to take a two-week vacay from blogging.
What HAVE I been doing, you ask?
(Okay, so I realize you didn't ask, but I'm going to pretend that you actually DID ask, m-kay?)
Here's what i've been doing. Obviously, I've been taking care of the kids and being wife-y. That's just a given. I obviously celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with family (more details on our other blog, coming soon).
I've been making my best attempts at teaching...
I went Christmas shopping all day with just my husband, which was Fabulous with a capital F.
I've been online Christmas shopping for nearly everything on the kids' gift lists because that seems to be where the best prices can be found, at least in our case.
I've been working on some orders...
I've been planning Pierce's 7th birthday party, which means that I've been a full-time stay-at-home-mom for almost SEVEN years. Not possible.
I gradually got caught up on the laundry pile that seemed to morph into a monstrosity overnight, every night. At this very moment, the dirty laundry bins contain only a few items each, but not enough for a full load. And this is all I have left to fold and put away:
I've been on The Great Mouse Hunt 2009, which I will share more about later.
I've been playing the keyboard that we recently bought so we can start the kids on piano lessons.
I really kind of stink a lot but I have high hopes for myself. I've been practicing a particularly hard piece (at least it's hard for me), and my goal is to eventually be able to play it at the recommended tempo (which is slighty less than the speed of light, in my inexperienced opinion). It's truly a pipe dream, but a girl can dream nonetheless. This is the piece I've been working on. I love it.
And here's where I get excited. I've been playing around with my new cell phone. It's a bona-fide, NON prepaid cell phone that has text messaging (we get 250 outgoing texts per month between Chris and I, which we thought would be plenty, but we're slightly addicted and may need intervention). My phone even has the QWERTY keyboard thingy. It's no Blackberry but all those fancy schmancy phones required subscription to internet. Um, no thanks. Give me a phone with internet access and you might as well deem me useless. Anyway, here's my fancy-to-me phone that is so fun to play with:
And here's where I get even more excited. I've also been spending some time yesterday and today reading this:
It came with my new camera! I'd take a picture of it, but that would require using my old Kodak, and I can't do that because that camera is dead to me now. I'm officially a Canon Rebel owner! And I'm totally clueless. But it's still fun to play with and learn about. All the photos in this post were taken with my new Rebel, and while they're not the greatest photos, it's still fun to see what this thing can do!
For quite some time now I've been wanting a Digital SLR. I keep catching myself saying, "Ooooh...that would make such a great picture" and then realize that my point-and-shoot (which has honestly served me SO well) can't do what I want it to do in many cases. My point-and-shoot won't let me manually focus, won't show depth of field, doesn't handle flash suppression very well, among other things. But my Canon does!
Enough about my camera.
Because here's where I totally change the topic and get into some heavy stuff.
It's hard to describe why I feel this way, but I've been feeling like I'm under attack from the Enemy. I can't put my finger on it, but I'm very aware of it. And unfortunately, I haven't been very good at resisting him. I've been so rotten to the core that I can't even stand to be around myself half of the time. I've been asking God to show me how to overcome this, and each time He reminds me of
this post that spoke directly to my heart.
I think God has been trying to tell me that even though I think it's enough to "just" read the Bible in the mornings, He doesn't think it is enough. He wants me to be in the Word by myself each morning (or each night if the morning doesn't allow it), and He wants me to be in the Word with my kids several times a day. God's Word is the Bread of Life, and we need its nourishment even more than we need food.
And what's more is that He wants me to hide His Word in my heart. I've known this for a long time, but it wasn't until recently that my eyes have truly been opened to the importance of memorizing scripture. Ann Voskamp at
A Holy Experience wrote
this post that competely reiterated everything that I had been feeling God was telling me. These words in particular moved my very soul:
...when men etch Words into cells, orbits shift and when men meet and speak God-words, the demons flee because what else is a double edge sword and who is a warrior who doesn't wield the Word and I know why I bear gaping wounds.
So, I've been trying to find quiet amidst the chaos so I can learn more from this amazing Book...
...and I've been putting my pen to paper, writing down the words that God provides to me.
Words that show how much He loves me. Words that teach. Words that heal. Words that calm my fears.
Words for fighting the Devil.
Because I can't resist the Enemy on my own. Can't. So I'm hiding God's words in my heart so they can be at the ready when the Enemy comes to attack. I'm meditating on them throughout the day, and watching as God reveals new Truths to me at just the right time.
And really, isn't it always the right time to learn His Truths?
