Mornings Alone

It is tough to get up in the morning, when you have four children demanding breakfast, entertainment, and attention. So today, I refused to let this summer get any more chaotic, and I got up early to my own breakfast, my own entertainment (quiet time, blogging, email, editing my book), and paid attention to nobody. The house was quiet, the kids were sleeping soundly.

AHHHHHH...I always say I am not a morning person, but I really am. And I am a night owl...so I guess God created me without the pressing desire to sleep. If there was one thing I could cut out of my daily routine...it would be sleep. :)

Happy Summer!

Summer Un-fun

Summer crept up and bit me! I usually look forward to it, and have at least a week of bliss. But chaos has officially become a permanent family member. Having all four kids home all day has been quite a transition. The boys have the energy of an entire high school football team. They have given profound meaning to the term "Being pecked to death!" I send them outside when they get too crazy, and then I forfeit a decent energy bill because they come in and out every five minutes. No exaggerating!
My only idea to lessen the pecking...is to get a big sun tea jug of water with three cups, and set it out on the patio each morning, so at least they don't have to come inside every time they want a drink. I will also load up on water guns, water shooters, and any other fun things to have outside in the heat. It is kind of nice not living in the desert, like we did before. Anyway, we'll see if life goes a little smoother. If I could buy listening ears, it would be excellent!

Do you have any suggestions on how to entertain your kids during the summer? (Something EASY, not complicated...I have a two month old too. :) )

I have to include the girl in my heading picture...that will come soon!

Renig on The School Thing!

There are few times in my marriage where my husband and I sit together and are on the same page without convincing one another, or compromising. One time was when both our hearts were led to have a fourth child, regardless if it was another boy or a baby girl. I remember that vividly.
Just last week, we sat together and I found out he was unsettled about our school decision for the boys, just like me. Everything I posted about it is truth, and I know that we must have faith that God will take care of our kids. But what about Him taking care of our finances?
The whole thing showed us where we were lacking as Christian parents, and it reminded us of our how important our roles are in their lives. But whether it was God or coincidence, our boys came home each day after we made the decision to go public next year, singing praise songs, critically thinking about God in everyday life, and quoting scripture! Maybe they have done this before our decision, but the influence of a God-centered education was banging us in the heads these past few weeks!
I still believe that our kids need to be in diverse environments, around believers and non-believers, and I certainly don't want them in a bubble. And that again, goes to us as parents, giving them the opportunities they need to learn from.
Certainly, their hearts will ultimately be changed by God, not school, church, or us...but for now, our boys are going to continue to go to private school, with Mama and Daddy keeping our commitment to teach at home, and praying that God will continue to provide financially.

Society's Mouth

Have you seen the NBA commercial sponsored by GLSEN? Basically, it is geared to stop people using the word “gay” when they are cutting someone down on the basketball court. I always cringe when I hear that word used that way, and this group is trying to end it as a slang term in our culture.
There is another ill-used word in our culture that offends a greater amount of people...but nobody is trying to end it, no network would probably allow a commercial to air that says, “Don't use this, because it offends people”...
The term is “Jesus Christ” as a curse word. It's all over Hollywood movies, in our every day work lives, and used carelessly in front of Christians who actually revere the name. It is an offensive term to millions of people in this world, so why don't we have a commercial to end it?
We see minority organizations like GLSEN taking a stance to end biases in our society, but those of us who believe in the God of the Universe allow our doctrine and Savior to be exploited and spat out in anger every day.
Some might say, well saying "you're so gay" promotes bullying...and I agree, there is no excuse for bullying...and I think that has a lot to do with GLSEN's motivation.
Yet, Christians face much adversity, many being killed for their belief all over the world. So there is no excuse for our lack of proactive attempts to end offensive terms in everyday language.
And then we have Harold Camping, who took that doctrine and diluted it in the eyes of the world, making it seem false and ridiculous...and THAT makes big time headlines.
Is it the media, not allowing positive Christian influences to appear on our networks, or is it Christians, not making the effort to end society's biases against us?

A Little Boy's Tears

My little boy broke my heart today...several times. And it wasn't something he did to me. He broke my heart by revealing how broken his own heart was, over and over.
Yesterday was his last day of preschool. His class of seven have become such good friends over the past months. And, you can't pull one over my four year old...he knew the last day of school meant bye bye friends!

So as he anticipated his "graduation" this evening, he would all of a sudden get really quiet and say, "Mom, I want stay with my class." and "I miss my teacher..." and "I don't want my friends to go to a different school" (some are going to kindergarten).
 And then...
                ...the worst part...
                                         ...big ol' crocodile tears poured down his face.
 They poured down as we got ready to go to graduation, they poured down as we walked through the parking lot to graduation, and then he got choked up walking down the hall to his class. And at the end, as he looked around his classroom, he broke down again!!!

And the normally happy, silly boy showed up during the songs, the ceremony...but then when he came and sat with us to watch the class DVD, he leaned into me, buried his face in my shirt, and mumbled, "I don't want to leave my class" and then a sob caught in his throat! He cried through the whole DVD.

My heart is in tiny little pieces in the pit of my stomach right now!

He even cried most of the way home, and then at bedtime.

Dramatic? Well, yes...but from the mouth and heart of a mostly happy four year old, it was just down right SAD.

I went to ten different schools growing up, and I remember the sadness I felt when I left my best friends my 6th grade year, and then my close buddies at my college graduation--just an overwhelming swell of resisting the inevitable goodbyes. I saw myself in my little boy today...how can a four year old handle all that emotion?? UGH!

I finally got him to sleep by agreeing to have all his friends over for a playdate. Let's hope they can come! I know it's part of life and he'll probably be over it in a few days...well, a few weeks...but it's given me a deeper peek into his heart and character. He may not look anything like me, but he is as emotionally invested in his peeps as his mama, and he doesn't like change either!