Birthday preparations

Tomorrow, Princess Tigerlily (who has now decided that she's Wendy) will be celebrating her seventh birthday. This week has been a busy one for me as I'm finally rounding the corner from my first trimester sickness and the house was waaaayy behind! So, the house is cleaner, the cupcakes are baked (from scratch - of course :), and the games have been prepared.
The birthday girl has chosen a, you guessed it, Peter Pan theme to her party. So, we'll be playing Pin the Shadow on Peter, Capture the Croc, and Tigerlily's Escape. It should be a fun time. I'll post pics over the weekend.
Tonight, I'll tell my eldest the story of her birth - seven whole years ago. Time goes by so quickly. God is so good.

Treasures

I recently completed reading Edith Schaeffer's "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" for my book club. In it, she often speaks of a mother's need for creativity. She encourages us that we all have the ability to be creative and that it is in the process of being creative that new ideas are born. Being creative in our homes is a blessing to our family in that it makes the home a lively and cheery place where they are free to also be creative!
On that note, I have recently inherited some dear possessions of my great-grandmother's. She passed away when I was only five. My grandmother is in the season of life where she is scaling back on stuff and downsizing her home. So, she has passed many treasures on to me. I have been the recipient of a plethora of wonderful books, mostly on nature as that was my grandmother's favorite subject! She has also passed to me some projects and materials that belonged to her mother. Among them are:

Some complete and incomplete embroidery projects:
As she got older, she was less able to see well enought to complete these.
The one that says 'Wedded' was intended to be a gift to my mother on her wedding day.

Some vintage fabric scraps which I may just have to use to make a few cute hotpads via Anna's instructions:

And, most precious of all, I can sew these things on the very Singer that my great-grandmother used. It still runs beautifully, I might add.

I am blessed to be the covenant daughter of a believing mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and probably even more! It is a privilage to join in with these generations to serve the Lord in my home.

"The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations."
Psalm 33:11

Spring Cheer

I love our homeschooling life. I love that I don't have to wake, feed, and dress all of my children early each morning to rush out the door. I love that my daughter is learning so much about so many subjects. I love that her lessons rarely take more than two hours of her day. I love that she gets plenty of time with her siblings to play. I love that her afternoons are free to splash in mud puddles created by a recent Spring drenching.

Yes, the Robins are here searching the grass for their worms. Their sweet call of "cheerily, cheerily" really does cheer us up. The sun is out, and children make the season all the more sweet.
Wanna come over and splash in the puddles with us?

More on Expanding

If someone had told me 10 years ago that by the time I was 27, I'd be the homeschooling mother of four, I would have laughed. One, because I would never homeschool my kids, homeschoolers are weird. And, two, because there's no way that I would have that many kids by age 27! It's funny how God works, you know:

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9

I think that it's easier to see in retrospect, as an adult. The steps that the Lord has established in my life are pretty far from what my plans were. But, he is so good, and his steps are infinitely more pleasant than my silly plans.

He has used his steps to expand my pleasures. I take pleasure in raising my children and caring for our home. I really never thought that I could be a stay at home Mom, until he directed my steps that way. I am often overwhelmed by how gracious he is to not only direct us, but to move our hearts to actually enjoy it!

Today, I realized that he's added a new pleasure to my life. I have always liked plants, but my thumb has always been purple, and I've hated digging in the dirt. That is, until recently. This week, I added a flower bed to our backyard. I did the clearing, the trenching, the digging - everything. And, I liked it! Here is the fruit of my labor.

It's not much, and I ran out of fencing for the back - I'll have to get another roll tomorrow. But, I love my little flower bed. And, I look forward to watching the plants blossom and expand, just like he has expanded my life.

I also found this cute little pot on sale and I couldn't pass it up for the front porch. I've filled it with some little white Begonias.
So, how has He expanded your life?

The Great Maternity Switch-out

Yes, you know what I'm talking about. Whenever you're about 12 weeks pregnant, you finally believe that you really are having a baby. So, you empty your closet of the clothes that won't be fitting for the next 6 months or so and fill it with more 'generously' sized clothing.

Well, I made the switch today. All of my regular clothes are neatly folded in a big cardboard box. And, my closet is lined with rows of attire eager to accomadate my expanding belly.

Aaaah... glad that's done.

Pluralism and Christianity

Pluralism: The belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life (American Heritage Dictionary)

We are living in a pluralistic society in that there are many different philosophies out there about life and the afterlife. We also live in a time when it is considered quite correct to not only respect these differing views, but to believe that each of them could be quite right. We should look for the good in our neighbor's point of view and lifestyle no matter how much it may differ from our own. Many people who hold this view will call themselves agnostic, or 'open-minded.' It is a nice idea that we would all thoroughly respect one another and have humility when it comes to our own opinions. After all, it does seem rather elitist to state that my way is right and all others are wrong.

Despite all of the potential goodness in this view, I cannot subscribe to it. As a Christian, I certainly believe in having respect for all men as they are created in His image. But, as a Bible-believing Christian, the pluralist view just won't fit. For, if I believe the Bible, then I have to believe that Jesus was speaking truth when he said:

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6 (emphasis mine)

For the Christian, there is but one road, and it is narrow. I may not hold the most popular view, but I am persuaded that it is true.