Author: deepeight

On the Mountaintop

Did I need my pep talk? Yes, I did. I had a mountain of laundry to climb today, probably due to having never caught up last week. And I scaled it, all the way to the top. Well, it isn’t folded yet, but that is downhill work. I did get to the summit and planted my victory flag.

When I went downstairs to start the boys on school, I had to fight the impulse to turn tail and run from the chaos in the basement. Their school stations are inside the door where all winter activity comes and goes. Booted, mittened, snow-panted, muffled, coated, hatted activity flows through that area, and they were sure that they put their stuff on the register to dry, but there it was, muddled on the floor in the worst melee ever. There is no way one could do math in that atmosphere, so we spent a good half hour cleaning up and sorting out. I was exasperated, and I didn’t scale that challenge so well.

Then. Time for school. And I find that the boys had done the last DVD lesson that we had. Apparently the company only sends 2/3 of the lessons at the beginning of the school term, then doesn’t send the last 50 lessons until they receive the first 1/3 back. As the teacher, I should have known this, but I completely forgot. So today I taught the lessons, and I remembered how much I really like to teach. I also realized again that it is quite the dance, looking after tots and teaching. And doing laundry.

Gabe was putting in a ski patrol shift and called to say the snow was fine. Patrollers get paid with passes. Did I want to bring the three oldest children and join him? I had known that he might call, so I had lined up a babysitter for the little girls just in case. I made them eat lunch fast, left all the washing and dishes and leftover school lessons, stuffed everybody into extra layers-hats-gloves-pants-coats-mufflers-boots, sent the little girls to the neighbors, and hauled the crew up the mountain.

I really like adventure. Oh, the thrills I experience at a used book sale! I like finding painted turtles on nature walks and I like wading in shallow creeks. An adrenaline junkie I am not. Today I decided that I am still just like the little girl who used to climb up the hay bales in the barn for a long, thrilling swing ride on a rope hung high on the beams of the hayloft. I would stand there, daring myself to let go, then when the other children got too impatient to wait, I would just get off and let them take turns. After a while I couldn’t stand them having so much fun and would fling caution to the wind and after that I wouldn’t give up my place in the line.

I feel that way about skiing. I stand at the top of the slope, mildly terrified. But there is only one way down, and that is to push off and try. The first run is the worst, trying to get the feel of this thing that I only do once a year. There is a great deal more flailing than finesse for a while, but then I start to feel like I can handle these skis and make them go where I want them to go. Slowly, I have very careful fun. I only fell three times on that first run down.

There was hardly anyone on the slopes for the first two hours. Gabe put Olivia on a tether and showed her the moves. She zipped off like nobody’s business, and I was grateful she was tethered! I was always the last in the line. Then the school busses came and emptied their loads of cocky young snowboarders onto the mountain. I know exactly what they think of the cautious lady V plowing down the steep spots as they flash past in a kaleidoscope of colors. Boarders tend to run in herds so that they can show their stuff to everybody on the jumps and more technical places. And they swoosh past with terrible swiftness. All I can think is, “If their mothers would see them! And where are their helmets? And who goes up to the top of a mountain in 20* weather in only a hoodie?” I wonder if they can guess what I think?

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That is the slope that I am happy to stay on. I have nothing to prove more than staying upright and having fun. The sun went down and the mountain got blitzing cold. Livvy and I took two runs down the easiest slope without the tether. As we were creaking slowly up on the lift, suspended 40 feet in the air with the mountain chuffing and puffing frigid blasts at us, we decided that we had enough.

We left the guys up there, still going strong, and came home for hot drinks and baths. Apparently the water heater isn’t working. So we are really down in the valley again. But at least there is heat even if the views aren’t so grand.

My Pre-Monday-Morning Pep Talk…

… from Oswald Chambers, that is. I certainly have plenty to learn about rising and shining. Today we had lunch with friends at our pastor’s house, and we ladies had a discussion about early risers, night owls, is it inborn or trained into us, etc. All of us admitted to leaning toward one direction or another.

I was amused tonight to read this from Oswald Chambers. He first stated that living beings go through natural cycles of depression and happiness; it is only inanimate stuff that has no soaring and crashing of feelings. While we are in this world, there will always be things that are “of the nature of death” that tend to depress us. Things we won’t have in heaven, like huge piles of laundry and long to-do lists and bed sheets that got wet on and mud could come to mind. (My loose paraphrase. Chamber’s is much more eloquent… and wordy. 🙂 ) Then he goes on to show how God gave so many simple admonitions. Take Elijah, sitting under a tree, wishing he were dead due to his unpopularity with the current king and queen. God’s angel came to him and just told him, “Rise and eat.” No profound revelations just then. Only simple instructions.

“He tells us to do the most ordinary things conceivable. Depression is apt to turn us away from the ordinary commonplace things of God’s creation, but whenever God comes, the inspiration is to do the most natural simple things- the things we would never have imagined God was in, and as we do them we find He is there. The inspiration which comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression; we have to do the next thing and do it in the inspiration of God. .. Immediately we arise and obey, we enter on a higher plane of life.” My Utmost for His Highest, Feb. 17        (and yes, I am aware that I am a few days behind.   🙄 )

Well, so there we have it… the way to soar tomorrow!

The Eyes of the Lord

IMG_0163Gabriel and I have started reading the Bible in different translations, especially the English Standard Version and NIV. If this offends you, I apologize in advance, but we have found it to be very refreshing. Both of us were raised in circumstances where all scripture was read in King James Version. I will go on record as saying that the KJV is beautiful, poetic, authoritative, and deeply meaningful to me. However I found myself with a tendency to read the familiar passages and skip right over some of the most amazing truths, which is why I like to switch it up and spend my devotional reading in a different version.

This morning I started reading some Psalms and after a while I started seeing all the references to the eyes of God. As a child I was taught repeatedly that God sees everything I do, “Be sure your sin will find you out” and that sort of thing. It took all the fun out of doing naughty stuff and probably kept my hand out of the cookie jar more than once. I was also taught that God can see in the dark and I don’t ever need to be afraid because He is with me and by some divine ability will never lose track of me. These are amazing truths that didn’t really sink in, especially over the time period where my brother and I were convinced that a scary person named Viola would come out of the hole in the floor of our room while we were sleeping.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Ps. 32:8, 9

“From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all humankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do”. Ps. 33:13-15

Obviously, this is not a comforting fact for those who really don’t want God to see what they do, but for those who want to be in a relationship with the Most High, it is the solid ground on which they tread: God sees me; He is with me. What I noticed for the first time this morning is the connection between His seeing me and my responsive looking up to Him. Many times this is referred to as guidance. David said, “So don’t be like the horse or mule.” Look up into His face. He can look down on you all the time but it doesn’t make a bit of difference unless you look up and respond. He won’t put a bit and bridle on you. You have a choice about following His guidance.

This is a very apt picture for me just now. I dislike intensely when I am trying to instruct one of my children and they continue what they are doing with only a mumble of assent. It is very frustrating when I ask my child why he didn’t do what I asked and he says, “I didn’t hear you.” I am trying hard to train my children to look at my face, repeat the instruction I gave, or at least make a verbal assent that they heard me. Does anyone else see the parallel here? I see my own mulishness quite clearly. I see that I can require from my children what I myself forget to do for my Lord. Just look up.

Here is what happens when I do this face-to-face, what-do-you-want-to-say-to-me attentive listening.

“I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.  This poor man cried and the Lord heard him; he saved him from all his troubles.” Ps.34:4,5

That radiance comes from seeing the love, the smile in His eyes. You don’t see that with a scurrying lifestyle of mumbling quick assent to what you think He wants you to do. You see it when you really look up and absorb His radiance. Oh, I do so want that!

A Little Something

I have nothing interesting to say, so I will just be kind and post a link to an author who has lots of interesting things to say. I stumbled across Rachel Devenish Ford’s writings a while ago. Our lives are lived on different continents, but she has a string of children and I have a string of children, so it’s not so different. I really enjoy her descriptive writing. And her first book is free for download on Amazon. Happy day!

A Question

I have a son (not mentioning names here or anything) who baffles me and delights me and makes me howl with laughter and irritates me terribly by turns.

How is it that the person who last brushed his teeth “the day after tomorrow” (he was serious) can tell me long involved stories about the digestive processes of owls?

How can a child who forgot every day where his seat was at the table even though it never changed, be able to show me the perfect little chef delineated by Minnesota, Wisconsin, and so on, ending with the Kentucky frying pan where he is making chicken?

And today when I told him to put the gloves away “where they belong”, he said, “I am going to need latitude and longitude for that.” Yet he could quote verbatim a long Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

Can somebody tell me what is up with that?

Can somebody tell me whether I should continually pull him ruthlessly back to reality and the job at hand, or should I laugh and let it go?

A Little Linky Love

When we took our long trip out west last fall, we made sure to have a goodly supply of audiobooks along. We have been collecting them for quite a while, and if you watch what you are doing, you can actually get a lot of them free. We have been favorably impressed with the quality of the recordings on Audible. You get a free month trial right now, which would put you right into March and springtime. How is that for a deal? My highest recommendation from Audible is God’s Smuggler, by Brother Andrew. It is almost 9 hours long, and all of them are worthwhile hours.

We also like Christian audio, which has a free book featured every month. Sometimes they feature biographies, like Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. We have bought books at both of these places, and have no complaints. Some of the books are on both sites, but this is two ways of getting free ones and deciding whether you want to buy more. 😉

And finally, I have a link for episodes of Adventures in Odyssey. The ones on this site are free samples from their CDs. (Thank-you so much, P.D. and Leeny, for telling us about this. 🙂 ) Our children have listened for hours this winter, and they never tire of them. I want to buy them some of the CDs in time, but for now they are happy with the partial stories.

The time to listen to audios is… anytime. We do it while we cook or while we fold clothes or even while we pick up the stuff around the living room. If the work slows down too much because of how absorbing the story is, I just pause it and everybody jolts right back to reality quickly so that Mama starts the story again. Happy listening!

 

It Got Warm!

I awakened early, saw the time projected onto the ceiling by the nifty alarm clock Gabe’s mom gave us: 5:33. Oops. Gabe was still in bed, and he should have left for work at 5:15. So that was how we hit the day, running. It was 5:38 when he guzzled the shake I had made and headed out the door. I peeked outside, saw the road snow-covered again, the flakes coming down like it was Christmas. Wow! The day could only get better. It did.

We sold our truck today, finally. It has been for sale for over 6 months, and at last it found a good home with a veterinarian. Then we had an appointment in Altoona and took the whole crew. Addy was so excited to wear her purple dress to Africa. What can I say, she doesn’t get out much. We ate at Chipotle for the first time. The children weren’t sure about kid’s meals with black beans and brown rice as sides, but I thought it was amazing. 🙂 They had quesadillas and organic chocolate milk, too, so all was well.

By the time we got back home, the temperature was a balmy 40 degrees. I took a brisk walk, something I  haven’t been able to do in weeks. There was a brilliant orange sunset hovering over the mountain, a clean blue sky etched with pure white jet trails. No grey. Well, there may have been grey in the snowbanks beside the road, but my face was lifted up and I was happy.

The End.

 

Never Relax on a Monday

I was sitting, quite inert this morning at 6:45 when Smallest Thing 1 woke up hopping. She immediately found me in my reading spot (all my children have homing devices to find mama) and admonished, “Mama, don’t reyax. Neveh reyax. Just get up with me.” And that was her chipper advice for me on this Monday.

I didn’t take her advice. It took me all morning to get into gear. Maybe the oatmeal wasn’t energizing enough. (Some of you may actually get the pun intended there.) I know it (the oatmeal, not the pun) reduced Olivia to tears.  Oatmeal makes Gregory cheer and Olivia cry. What is a mother to do?

This morning I pulled out a frozen tater tot casserole after I got the scholars schooling. No cooking today, every scrap of leftovers licked out of the fridge at lunch. My goal is to do Rita’s photo book in February. I am trying. I really am. I messed with it all day. The stuff is all spread out in our reading room, which is now a verboten room for  small children. Stickers, cutters, papers, glue dots, all seem designed to attract little girls with sticky fingers. I am having fun with her book but I can hardly wait to finish it. 🙂

Why did I make two “impossible” goals for February, writing every day and arranging 295 photos in a scrapbook? But I made it half way through both projects and I am not twitching too badly yet. I will “reyax” when I am done.

I Am From

Recently a friend found an old picture of our family and posted it on Facebook, a picture from an era of exceedingly large glasses and hair parted straight down the middle. In the comments my sister mentioned that better haircuts and cuter clothes might have helped, but what can you say, we were secure and happy children. I have been thinking about that and decided to do something I have wanted to do ever since Shari put a link to this template on her blog. I am posting this today in honor of my mom’s birthday! Many happy returns of the day, Mom!

I Am From

I am from a wide, extended table, whistling tea kettle, and chocolate chip cookies.

I am from the teeny yellow cottage by the creek and the square farmhouse in Dutch Corner.

I am from restoring a log cabin on the hill overlooking the sunset.

I am from the ancient apple tree whose brittle limbs threatened to drop us on the ground every time we picked its bounty.

I am from a crackling fireplace and praying every night before bed.

From three siblings and many “adopted” little ones.

I’m from coffee with creamer and dunking donuts and from “hols hocka” which is fried batter in hot salted milk.

I’m from you may not ever pout, we don’t work on Sunday, and it’ll heal before the cat lays an egg.

I’m from Saturday night games of chase and give-away chess.

I’m from Indiana and Ohio blended in Kentucky, from ancestors ages ago in Switzerland,

From homemade scrapple and creamy mac n cheese.

I am from Aunt Ruth’s cherry delight made with lime jello and Uncle Tim eating his noodles.

From The Ten Commandments hung on the living room wall, carven camels from the Holy Land marching in a row, wobbly stacks of books on every nightstand.

I’m from relentless teasing, laughter, and inside jokes.

I am from a secure and happy place.