One of the things I've discovered work best for me as far as keeping "in touch" with God all during the day are what I've seen described as "breath prayers." These are just a few words at a time that you say in prayer... duh. They're pretty self-explanatory, huh?
Anyway, lately one of my breath prayers has been "God, help us with our finances." We've known for a couple months that the amount we'd be able to set aside for healthcare vs. the amount healthcare would actually cost did not match up. So I've been praying that God would provide. And today, he did. For the first time in a few months my hubby's work received a bonus. It meant we could cover the discrepancy in healthcare costs, AND buy Sarah's school supplies, AND even have a little left over for a night out. So God is taking care of our needs and even providing for our desires.
My breath prayer has changed! Now it's "Thank you for caring for us, Daddy God." :) I love my Abba, I just gotta say.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A Hair-Pulling Day
Oh, man today was a frustrating day. I hope I'm not the only mom who has days like today! There was much screaming and arguing and just many many difficulties today.
So to relieve frustrations I went for a four mile bike ride. I just pedaled as hard as I could, especially on the couple small hills, and tried to leave my anger on the road. I'm praying it stays out there, because I don't need any more days like today. I know life isn't perfect and days like today happen sometimes, but the fewer, the better.
I've actually been really, really proud of my girls this summer. Part of their VBS program this summer is to memorize two scripture passages every two weeks all summer. Plus, S can memorize all 66 books of the bible, and A can memorize the names of the 12 disciple for an extra treat at the end of the summer. The director mentioned to me that it might be something like a gift certificate to a local ice cream shop or something.
Anyway, they've been really good at the verses. We work on one each week and then say them to the volunteers every other Sunday. For the first couple days I say it and they repeat it to me. Even little C lisps out entire verses! They usually have them pretty much down pat by Wednesday. I hope it gives them an enthusiasm for reading the bible. It has helped us start a morning bible study, too.
So to relieve frustrations I went for a four mile bike ride. I just pedaled as hard as I could, especially on the couple small hills, and tried to leave my anger on the road. I'm praying it stays out there, because I don't need any more days like today. I know life isn't perfect and days like today happen sometimes, but the fewer, the better.
I've actually been really, really proud of my girls this summer. Part of their VBS program this summer is to memorize two scripture passages every two weeks all summer. Plus, S can memorize all 66 books of the bible, and A can memorize the names of the 12 disciple for an extra treat at the end of the summer. The director mentioned to me that it might be something like a gift certificate to a local ice cream shop or something.
Anyway, they've been really good at the verses. We work on one each week and then say them to the volunteers every other Sunday. For the first couple days I say it and they repeat it to me. Even little C lisps out entire verses! They usually have them pretty much down pat by Wednesday. I hope it gives them an enthusiasm for reading the bible. It has helped us start a morning bible study, too.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Insanity
They (whoever 'they' are...) say that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome. Turns out, that is also the definition of a two-year-old.
My particular two-year-old was riding her tricycle this afternoon. She happened to get a wheel of the trike stuck on the tire of the van when she was riding the trike in and out of the garage. So her solution was to drive the trike forward about a foot, and then back it up straight back where it was! It just made me giggle to watch her. She did it about 4 times before she finally got frustrated enough to ask for help.
No, I don't think C is insane, but that she hasn't developed any common sense! And she sure was cute!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Some Thoughts
Because of God's justice he cannot dismiss your sin, but because of his love he cannot dismiss you. So, in an act which stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins. God's justice and love are equally honored. ~Max Lucado
I'm reading The Great House of God by Max Lucado right now. The book is full of amazing things to think about. The above quote is so far my favorite. I've never been able to really express, even to myself, why God did what He did. To me, this quote takes everything I believe as one who follows Christ and makes it palatable. God is just, but God is loving. In order to honor both of his attributes, he offered himself up for our sins.
Last week, my pastor put it this way. God is a Merciful-Consuming Fire. He is Just. He is Holy. He wants us to be holy. But He is Merciful. And because He is merciful, He is willing to give us a million chances to be Holy as He is Holy. And through Christ he gave us a means to claim those million chances. We have only to believe that Christ died to take away our sins, to confess our sins, and God adopts us into his family and forgives everything we confess. Amazing.
I'm reading The Great House of God by Max Lucado right now. The book is full of amazing things to think about. The above quote is so far my favorite. I've never been able to really express, even to myself, why God did what He did. To me, this quote takes everything I believe as one who follows Christ and makes it palatable. God is just, but God is loving. In order to honor both of his attributes, he offered himself up for our sins.
Last week, my pastor put it this way. God is a Merciful-Consuming Fire. He is Just. He is Holy. He wants us to be holy. But He is Merciful. And because He is merciful, He is willing to give us a million chances to be Holy as He is Holy. And through Christ he gave us a means to claim those million chances. We have only to believe that Christ died to take away our sins, to confess our sins, and God adopts us into his family and forgives everything we confess. Amazing.
Friday, July 3, 2009
25 things about me.
I did this first on Facebook, and changed a few things to be more accurate. I like the list, though, so I thought I'd post it here so I can come back to it sometimes.
1) My husband and I are true blue high school sweethearts. We met in high school (band, even, as if we needed proof we are geeks), dated as soon as we both were allowed, and got married directly out of high school.
2) I was born in South Carolina, lived there for a year till my dad got out of the marines, and now I've lived in Michigan my entire life. It was 104 degrees the day I was born, now I sometimes see 30 degrees on my birthday. In May.
3) I played trumpet in high school band.
4) My favorite food is lasagna.
5) I have the craziest, loudest family I have ever met. We used to scare my friends, and now it's a family joke that 'if you can survive the Bouwkamps/Jagers, you're a keeper.'
6) I'm 24 years old. In the 6 1/2 years since high school, I've had 3 kids, owned 2 houses, had 2 rounds of chemo, had one bone marrow transplant, and I'm about to do radiation.
7) I was on the equestrian team in high school even though I've never owned a horse. I borrowed 3 different horses in 4 years on the team. It's a lifelong dream to own a horse someday.
8) I'm a member of 'the Circle' and I've been to 'the Gathering' twice. Sounds cultish, huh? It's actually a website and an event for fans of Ted Dekker. We went the first time to meet friends from the site, and we go back because it was so much fun.
9) We didn't get to go this year, though, due to the dumb economic down-turn and subsequent cutting of Kevin's hours.
10) My favorite song right now is “Lead me to the Cross” by Hillsong United.
11) My favorite books are the Twilight series. Yeah, teen fiction. So what.
12) I worked at two different stores when I was in high school. Both of them have closed.
13) I once owned a dog and a cat named 'Calvin' and 'Hobbes.'
14) I once owned two cats named 'Jack' and 'Russel.' We wanted a dog, you see...
15) I've never smoked a cigarette in my entire life, not even one puff. I didn't hang out with people who were rule-breakers, that's for sure.
16) I'm the shortest adult in my family so far. (I say so far because my siblings aren't married yet.)
17) I owned a convertible in high school.
18) I live in a subdivision in the country. I've had cows walk through my yard. It's an odd mix of rural and suburban life.
19) My favorite movie is P.S. I love you.
20) I've only met two people who spelled their nickname the same way I spell mine (Nicky). One was a guy. I've never met anyone who spelled their full name the same way (Nichola). I've read books with 'Nickys' in them, or seen ads for movies, but they're always guys.
21) I have a teeny tiny tattoo, the size of a fine-point pen mark. It's for my radiation...but getting it has made me consider getting a real one. I just may do it after my treatments are done, to celebrate. Plan is to get it on August 10th.
22) I do laundry twice a week. Is that weird? Oh well, it's better than going naked while trying to cram 8 loads into one day...
23) I live in Michigan and don't own any snowpants. I had to borrow some the last time I went sledding.
24) There are more kids movies on my DVD rack than Grown-up movies.
25) I've been to the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, but never out west. And never to Boston in the fall.
1) My husband and I are true blue high school sweethearts. We met in high school (band, even, as if we needed proof we are geeks), dated as soon as we both were allowed, and got married directly out of high school.
2) I was born in South Carolina, lived there for a year till my dad got out of the marines, and now I've lived in Michigan my entire life. It was 104 degrees the day I was born, now I sometimes see 30 degrees on my birthday. In May.
3) I played trumpet in high school band.
4) My favorite food is lasagna.
5) I have the craziest, loudest family I have ever met. We used to scare my friends, and now it's a family joke that 'if you can survive the Bouwkamps/Jagers, you're a keeper.'
6) I'm 24 years old. In the 6 1/2 years since high school, I've had 3 kids, owned 2 houses, had 2 rounds of chemo, had one bone marrow transplant, and I'm about to do radiation.
7) I was on the equestrian team in high school even though I've never owned a horse. I borrowed 3 different horses in 4 years on the team. It's a lifelong dream to own a horse someday.
8) I'm a member of 'the Circle' and I've been to 'the Gathering' twice. Sounds cultish, huh? It's actually a website and an event for fans of Ted Dekker. We went the first time to meet friends from the site, and we go back because it was so much fun.
9) We didn't get to go this year, though, due to the dumb economic down-turn and subsequent cutting of Kevin's hours.
10) My favorite song right now is “Lead me to the Cross” by Hillsong United.
11) My favorite books are the Twilight series. Yeah, teen fiction. So what.
12) I worked at two different stores when I was in high school. Both of them have closed.
13) I once owned a dog and a cat named 'Calvin' and 'Hobbes.'
14) I once owned two cats named 'Jack' and 'Russel.' We wanted a dog, you see...
15) I've never smoked a cigarette in my entire life, not even one puff. I didn't hang out with people who were rule-breakers, that's for sure.
16) I'm the shortest adult in my family so far. (I say so far because my siblings aren't married yet.)
17) I owned a convertible in high school.
18) I live in a subdivision in the country. I've had cows walk through my yard. It's an odd mix of rural and suburban life.
19) My favorite movie is P.S. I love you.
20) I've only met two people who spelled their nickname the same way I spell mine (Nicky). One was a guy. I've never met anyone who spelled their full name the same way (Nichola). I've read books with 'Nickys' in them, or seen ads for movies, but they're always guys.
21) I have a teeny tiny tattoo, the size of a fine-point pen mark. It's for my radiation...but getting it has made me consider getting a real one. I just may do it after my treatments are done, to celebrate. Plan is to get it on August 10th.
22) I do laundry twice a week. Is that weird? Oh well, it's better than going naked while trying to cram 8 loads into one day...
23) I live in Michigan and don't own any snowpants. I had to borrow some the last time I went sledding.
24) There are more kids movies on my DVD rack than Grown-up movies.
25) I've been to the Philippines and the Dominican Republic, but never out west. And never to Boston in the fall.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Farmer's Market
I took the girls to the Farmer's Market in Downtown Holland today. They do a market every Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesdays are kids days, so they had hula hoops and jump ropes and sidewalk chalk out. I think they were doing activities too, but I checked the brochure and it didn't look like anything interesting so we went on. Maybe the next time we go it'll be a more interesting activity and I can let the girls hang out for a while and I'll sit around and watch. Today there was a guy playing a banjo. My kids love to put coins in their open cases when musicians are playing. He was pretty good, too.
I'm once again getting used to having all three of them in tow. During the school year I saved my errands for when the older two were both in school. Having them all along is really not as hard as it used to be, they get better at sticking by me as they get older and I just strap the littlest in the stroller! She can't wander away that way! :)
Anyway, I picked up some strawberries, blueberries and apples. One of my favorite parts of summer is having berries sitting out that everyone can just snack on. Fresh blueberries are my favorite!
I ended up buying too many strawberries, and quite a few of them got smashed on the way home (don't know how that happened, with 3 girls in tow...ha!). So, I looked up an easy, no-pectin (as I didn't have any in the house) strawberry jam recipe. The only problem is that it called for the jam to reach 220 degrees, and I don't have a candy thermometer! So I decided to wing it. I brought it to a rolling boil, like it said, then let it boil until it was going to overflow my pot. Now, we will see how close I got by whether or not the jam sets. It's in the fridge right now but it's still pretty warm. If it doesn't turn into jam, I plan on making a sweet bread I improvised a couple of weeks ago and using the strawberry stuff as a dessert topping. I did dip a finger in it, and it is certainly sweet enough! So either way we'll get a treat.
I'm once again getting used to having all three of them in tow. During the school year I saved my errands for when the older two were both in school. Having them all along is really not as hard as it used to be, they get better at sticking by me as they get older and I just strap the littlest in the stroller! She can't wander away that way! :)
Anyway, I picked up some strawberries, blueberries and apples. One of my favorite parts of summer is having berries sitting out that everyone can just snack on. Fresh blueberries are my favorite!
I ended up buying too many strawberries, and quite a few of them got smashed on the way home (don't know how that happened, with 3 girls in tow...ha!). So, I looked up an easy, no-pectin (as I didn't have any in the house) strawberry jam recipe. The only problem is that it called for the jam to reach 220 degrees, and I don't have a candy thermometer! So I decided to wing it. I brought it to a rolling boil, like it said, then let it boil until it was going to overflow my pot. Now, we will see how close I got by whether or not the jam sets. It's in the fridge right now but it's still pretty warm. If it doesn't turn into jam, I plan on making a sweet bread I improvised a couple of weeks ago and using the strawberry stuff as a dessert topping. I did dip a finger in it, and it is certainly sweet enough! So either way we'll get a treat.
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