Hope when hurting

This morning I was surfing through Facebook, as I do probably too often and I was stuck by the amount of hurt and pain that was on there. I have friends who are sick, have financial troubles, are going through divorce, suffering from a miscarriage, moving, dealing with the death of loved ones and the list goes on and on. As I was thinking on these things I remembered the devotional I had read to the kids a few nights ago. One verse really resonated with me. It hit me so hard I read it out loud multiple times to the kids, I did NOT want them to miss this promise! Then I made them each go grab their Bible and mark it in their Bible, so they would remember this promise.

To my friends out there who are suffering, no matter what you are going through, here is the promise I want you to take and claim for your own:

Isaiah 41:13:

"For I am the Lord, you God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

Did you catch that??????????? He holds our hand and He WILL help us! Nowhere in the Bible does it say we will not have sorrow, suffering, sicknesses, death, financial ruin, heartache, but, grab that promise, He will help us through it!!!! Doesn't that just make your heart sing for joy??? I know it did mine. I really needed that promise.

I also came across this verse today from Ecclesiastes 7:14:

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future."

I know I am guilty of grumbling and complaining when things are not good and not going my way. I forget that their is someone there who wants to help me!!! I also am guilty of thinking why should I have to go through this. But, God grows us through each and every thing that happens in our life, good and bad. We do have a choice how we react to these circumstances. I am going to try harder to choose joy and hang on to the promise that the One who never sleeps and slumbers, does not grow weary, is going to help ME. How awesome is that??

War Museum

A few weeks ago we took a field trip to the War Museum. It was quite a bit bigger than I expected it to be. It was 4 floors and had so much to see (if you are into war stuff!). Here are some pictures from our trip. Elijah's favorite part was the planes and cannons. Kayla's favorite part was carrying around our friends' one and a half year old!

A promise

I am having one of those days. Again. You know the kind. The kid or kids get up too early. You get news you did not want to hear. You are drying your hair with a hairdryer, the same as you do every day, but, on this day, you nail yourself in the forehead, bruising on contact. By this time you realize you are tired, and getting grumpy. Then an alarm in the house starts beeping. Thankfully husband had only gotten to the ground floor and hadn't left the building yet, so he comes back up to fix the alarm. I knew it would put my right over the edge to have to listen to that incessant beeping all day. Then a child throws a small fit. You try to teach school, but you keep getting interrupted, making your already short patience, shorter. Before very much longer you are a huge bundle of frustration, knowing your head is going to explode any second. You feel like you just need a good cry, but the tears just won't come.

Well, as soon as I could I decided to go and spend a little time by in my room by myself. I came across something I had cut out of a magazine a long time ago. It said 30 days of Do Not Fear verses. Well, I wasn't fearful, just super frustrated and tired and cranky.... But, I decided to go through the verses. I got to the last one and found this promise:

"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear: I will help you." Isaiah 41:13 (emphasis mine)

I tell you, I need help. On so many levels. As I am typing this my kids are playing Legoes, quite loudly, in their pretend voices and one of them is singing Christmas carols! I may not be the only one who needs help!!!

Looking in my study Bible, it says this in relation to the verse listed above: "To strengthen them and keep them from stumbling. Do not fear." I don't know if that resonates with you like it does with me. But, I circled this verse in my Bible. I am holding onto the promise that "I will help you." "Strengthen them." "Keep them from stumbling."

If you need a little encouragement today, no matter what you are going through, or how trivial (yes, I know most of what I listed above is trivial and there are people in the world who are facing serious crisis')know that God will help you. I also encourage you to open your Bible and read the few verses above it as well, Isaiah 41:10-13.

Dreaming of snails and puppy dog tails

Okay, not really. Or, at least I am not dreaming of snails, that would be pretty disgusting. I am however dreaming of puppy dog tails. You see, the other day I opened my big fat mouth and promised not one, but both of my children puppies when we finally get back to the states or wherever we end up from here and we are settled. Why did I do this??? I have no idea!! I think I was having a total mental lapse. I should have started the conversation like this "I, Cindy, being of UNSOUND mind and body do solemnly swear to break this promise of buying you both expensive, not shedding dogs..." However, that's not what I said and both kids are super excited about these puppies. Elijah found the exact one online that he wanted and Kayla has visions of hers and they have both already named them. I think I should go ahead and be committed now, because the last thing I want is two puppies. 

So, why did I commit to this insane promise? Well, Matt and I were looking at puppies and discussing them and Elijah happened to ask us what we were doing. I tend not to lie to the kids, so I told him exactly what we were thinking about. I never dreamed they would get so excited or committed to it. But, they did. (I think I should have been a salesman, I sold this one pretty good)

I think the reason I have this dream is because what I really long for is to be settled. I think it's what we are all longing for, to be settled, nestled in, snug as a bug in a rug, snuggling with cute little puppies, cleaning up their little doggy do (oops, reality creeping in here). But, seriously, we are so ready to be away from here. I can't say it enough, unfortunately; that it's not been a great experience for us.

However, I do feel like we've turned the corner (again). I no longer feel the need to cry every day. I would say I am completely over my depression, but I'm just not sure I can say that yet. The kids are okay, but I am sure they are not over theirs either.

The biggest reason I want a puppy is because I know it will help Elijah with his anxiety issues. I also know it will help us all with depression issues. Not to say that when we move again we will be depressed, because hopefully we won't be. But, I think if we had had a puppy here, we would have been less depressed or less likely to get depressed. We would to have had to (or would have to) get out more to walk the dog. It would have ensured that we got out more and that we got more exercise. I am not saying that a dog is a cure all. I said after I got that last puppy that I would NEVER do it again. And, less than 2 years later I am thinking about it again. But, I learned a few things from that disastrous experience and plan to do it right the next time. Starting with getting a puppy around summer time so we have time to train it and care for it, without feeling like it is constantly interrupting our school day or feeling like we are getting nothing else done. 

Now, before any well meaning person decides to pawn a dog off on us, please understand that we are not ready for, nor do we want one now. And, we want a specific type of NON-shedding dog. Not asking for much here, am I? Maybe you should start praying for me now, that I find my mental facilities before we reach this point :)

Earth Science

So, today in Science we started a unit on Earth Science. We started by talking about what we know about Earth Science, what we wanted to know and will end the unit with what we have learned. 
When you start a unit on Earth, the first thing you need to do, is examine the layers, or what makes up the earth. 
Who needs a projector when you have a window? If you need a laugh, try to explain to your kids what an overhead projector is! I know mine have seen them, but it has been so long since they have, that they don't remember what they look like.  Anyway, after discussing the layers of Earth, which include the inner and outer core, lower mantle, upper mantle,and the crust, we made a model, painting the layers, which Kayla and Elijah really enjoyed doing.  
This project got me to thinking. If someone peeled off our layers, what would they find at the core? I know a lot of people like to say "what you see is what you get." Just like that's not true with the earth (we can't see all the layers), it's not true with people either. We are many layers. You have the first layer, which you see in the mirror. But, it's different from the image that others see when they look at us. We are so much more critical when we look at our outer layer, than others are (typically!). Then you have the layer that your family sees, which is a very different picture from what your friends and strangers see. How many layers do we have? I don't know, but I hope that if I was to be taken apart, layer by layer, that at my very core, people would find a heart that longs to be like Jesus. I know I am not perfect, I am a sinner, saved by grace. I stumble each and every day, but I would hope that my core would show how much I am trying to do everything right. I would like to say what you see is what you get, but we are so complex, what is at your core? Have you ever thought about it? What are you striving to be?  "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

 

Temple of Zeus

So, last weekend we went to the Temple of Zeus. It is one of the easier sites to see and also one of the quicker. We wanted to get out for a little bit before it rained and do something easy, and this fit the bill. I think I have said before, there are so many historical sites here, I think  we could live here forever and not see it all.
I halfway kind of wonder too, with so much history, from wars, temples and Greek gods, if that helps contribute to the depression we find ourselves in. Just a random thought, not really looking for guidance on it, it just happens to be one I have been wondering about recently. Anyway, enjoy the pictures. We really enjoyed walking around the large, green space and seeing all the columns and stuff.