Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Monday, May 11, 2015

In the great outdoors...a rainy start to the morning, after a very rainy weekend. The swamp is back!!

Within our four walls...clutter and chaos. The clutter is being tackled. But, the chaos is probably here to stay until after we move.

A heart of thanksgiving...for the incredibly supportive and amazing people of Almyra First Baptist Church. Love them!

A heart of prayer...for house hunting success tomorrow. For East End Baptist Church as we make the transition together. We’re looking forward to what God has in store!

For AFBC as they begin to search for a new pastor – there is an amazing amount of growth going on in this church right now, growth you wouldn’t expect in a small rural farming town; praying that God will provide perfect wisdom, as growth like that does require organizational and relational changes. I’m excited to see what happens!

For the Choate family as they settle in and make some decisions about what to tackle and what trips need to be made first. Also for their financial provision as stateside life and Solomon Island life greatly differ financially – not to mention the necessary medical expenses of this trip.

Random observations...e-readers are amazing things. I love physical books, but the kids and I have hundreds of additional books on our Kindles, and Doug has thousands of books in his digital theological resource library. No, digital books will never replace the joy of holding a print copy in our hands. But, they are still a huge blessing!

My awesome daughters...have amazed me over the past six months! In early December, we went to Wilkerson’s, the big jewelry store around here, and my friend Jennifer helped each of the girls pick out their first “real” ring. Olivia had been wanting one for a very long time, and Angela caught the bug, too. They put the rings on layaway for six months. I never dreamed they’d earn all of the money in six months, to be honest, so we had worked out ways that we could pay the remaining balances after the six month period, then let them pay us back. But, nope! Thanks to diligent saving and taking on extra small jobs here and there, they will both get their rings today – fully paid for!

Pictures to come!

Thoughts from the kitchen...fresh eggs. Oh my, how I’ve enjoyed those fresh eggs! I want to fill every recipe and every meal with them. That just might not be the best idea.

On my bookshelf...lots of books that will have to be moved. Yes, that Kindle is very nice.

Projects...remember that purging I’ve been mentioning lately? Yeah…that.

Sounds of the moment...something just went thud. But there were no accompanying screams or cries. So, I’m ignoring it.

From Hibbard Academy...I surrender!

Actually, yesterday afternoon, I looked at the kids and said, “We HAVE to do school this week. We’ve got to be diligent, even with the move.”

Then, last night, Doug and I stopped and took a good look at it together. Angie and Steven are actually at a good stopping point. They are not on a very clear schedule. They’re almost done with language arts books, but just under halfway through their current math level. They’re right in the middle of our core curriculum, and at a very good place to pause.

Meanwhile, Olivia is doing that odd eighth grade stuff. You know, the “done this all before in elementary school and will do it all again in high school…and college” spot. She’s ahead on some things (as in, earning high school credit), and so close to the end on others. So, we’re going to relax...a lot. It’s all good.

  A favorite thing from last week...an unexpected Saturday at home. We were supposed to be on a Scout campout, but more than one of us didn’t feel well, including our young Scout. Meanwhile, a precious couple from East End was getting married Saturday, and we would have loved to have been there celebrating with them. But, since we were under the weather, we decided we needed to stick close to home and get well before Sunday. Yes, a Saturday at home was much needed after a busy week!

The planner...local errands today; house-hunting tomorrow. Oh, and this little exciting thing of getting to hug Choate necks!! I can’t imagine why we’d look forward to that. Yesterday I ran across some adorable pictures from this visit: The Joy of Friendship. They’re pictures that didn’t make the blog post, so I might have to try to get them scanned and shared. They’re too cute!

The rest of the week is pretty normal, I think. Well, as of right now. That can change at any moment!

Because visuals are fun...that’s one pathetic cat!