This and That

I am moving. Don’t get excited. My house didn’t sell. I’m not moving out of this house.

I"m moving my BLOG!! I need more options so follow me over to my new blog address and then bookmark it so you can follow our journey… http://amymomoffive.blogspot.com

Hi. My fam went apple picking this past Sunday. Mike invited my parents to go along as they have never been before and we thought it might be fun. We all had a SUPER time. I took a few pics. The weather was super and the apples were delicious.

Here are the boys- Blake & Ethan

Here are the girls- Alison & Abigail

And Chase sleeping

Here is a pic of the sky

Verse 1

I am sinking in the river that is raging

I am drowning Will I ever, rise to breathe again

I wanna know why I just wanna understand

Will I ever know why? How could this be from Your hand?

/Chorus/

When every little thing that I have dreamed would be just slips away like water through my hands

And when it seems the walls of my beliefs are crashing down like they’re all made of sand

I won’t, let go of You now because I know, oh, You’re not shaken

Verse 2

I am trembling in the darkness of my own fear

All the questions with no answers So grip me while I’m here

And I may never know why Oh I may not understand

But I will lift up my eyes, and trust this is Your plan

Repeat /Chorus/

When I am in the valley of the shadow of death You’re not shaken You’re not shaken

You’re right here beside me and You have never left You’re not shaken You’re not shaken

This has been a long week. Mike has worked every day and every night. He had Wednesday night off but after dinner he went over to his brother’s house to hang out for a bit. Today he is off of work but he is helping his sister move the rest of the stuff out of her apartment. The kids and I are feeling a little sickly. We all have coughs and stuffed up noses. Our throats hurt. Most of us are at least eating. This makes for a long week.

On a good note we are still current in the school planner… minus one day of history which we’ll cover during lunch today. Abigail isn’t struggling with anything so far.

Ethan is starting to fight me on his writing book. He’s learning the writing process this year (pre-writing, sloppy copy, etc.) and he’s not a big fan of writing. He did write a short story yesterday about Alison getting stung by a bee and he got through it pretty quickly with minimal fussing.

Blake is struggling with letter formation. He has 2 issues- he likes to start each letter from the bottom AND he has a tough time fitting letters onto all those lines on the paper. Which letters go in the "upstairs" and which go in the "downstairs" and which parts go down to the "basement." I can see why it would be confusing. I am going to take a break from his handwriting book and we are going to do a few weeks of handwriting without tears. I think this will help out a lot.

I just finished folding 2 loads of laundry and putting out a few fall decorations and sadly it’s time for lunch. I’d really like to just lay but everyone is telling me that their bellies are grumbling. So lunch it is.

Today I’m thankful for cozy rain, hot tea, and comfy clothes.

On Thursday evening we had the missionaries over for dinner. One of the missionaries asked us, "So what do you do??" I assumed he was wanting to know what we do for a living. I said I was a stay-at-home Mom and homeschooled the kids. Mike said that he worked for Continental Office at their warehouse by day and by night he did various home improvement projects on the side for extra money. I thought nothing else of it at that time.

Later that evening while this missionary was speaking to our church the Lord brought his question back to my mind. He said one of the things that discourages him the most is when he comes home on leave he sees so many Christians not "doing" anything. (His question at our dinner table may have been just what I thought it was at the time he asked it… but no matter what he intended by the question the Lord was using the missionary’s words to speak to me.)

That got me thinking. What am I doing????? Yes, being a stay-at-home Mom of 5 children is very busy. Yes, I homeschool. Yes, I do everything at church that can possibly be done. But is that good enough?? How hard am I trying? Don’t get me wrong… these things need done. But working at church is easy and safe. I need to get out into my neighborhood. I need to meet my neighbors. PLEASE be praying for us (Mike & I) as we seek open doors. Pray that we will keep on trying even when we face rejection.

"All believers should build relationships with non-believers because of their need for love, hope, and salvation."

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever- do not abandon the works of your hands. Psalm 138:8

Today I am thankful for our missionary conference, soft rain on the window, and candles.