Thursday, June 16, 2011
Good Reading
I have spent the last day and a half reading the new biography of John MacArthur by Iain Murray. As I read, I can't help but thank the Lord for that godly man and the influence he has had in my life. I am even more encouraged and convicted as I read about his personal life and dedication to his calling. When I grow up, I want to be like John MacArthur...in character, love for truth, and absolute unwavering faith in God's word.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Good use of time?
I am often frustrated with the amount of time I spend on the computer...and yet it is also useful and needed. I don't really enjoy it, yet it keeps me there for hours! A puzzling paradox to ponder...
Technology is so useful, makes us feel so connected, but really disconnects us from the people around us, whom Jesus calls our neighbors. If I am to love my neighbor (right now, it's #5, playing in a chair next to me) as myself, is my time really well spent on a blog, posting a homeschooling ad, answering emails, listening to a good sermon, encouraging a friend or two on Facebook? I haven't even made myself "presentable" so I can take my children to piano lessons yet (not to mention to avoid visually offending my family), and it's almost lunch time. My home needs organizing, my children need attention, laundry needs doing, lunch needs making...
I pray for wisdom in this. Not too little connection, Lord, but not too much either!
Technology is so useful, makes us feel so connected, but really disconnects us from the people around us, whom Jesus calls our neighbors. If I am to love my neighbor (right now, it's #5, playing in a chair next to me) as myself, is my time really well spent on a blog, posting a homeschooling ad, answering emails, listening to a good sermon, encouraging a friend or two on Facebook? I haven't even made myself "presentable" so I can take my children to piano lessons yet (not to mention to avoid visually offending my family), and it's almost lunch time. My home needs organizing, my children need attention, laundry needs doing, lunch needs making...
I pray for wisdom in this. Not too little connection, Lord, but not too much either!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Heeeere's Julia!!!!
Julia Marie Lawrence
April 19, 2008
5 lb. 13 oz.
Look what God did!!! Isn't she precious???
She's now two months old, but she was 5 weeks early, so that works out to about...3 1/2 weeks? Anyway, she weighs a hefty 10 lb. 7 oz. now.
We've had a fun week...my aunt and sis were here to spoil everyone. I hadn't seen my aunt for 12 years...since before I got married. We had a wonderful time and I'm so glad she came!!
All the kiddos... (almost)
Leslie got glasses a couple of weeks ago. She looks so grown up...
I hope I can figure out how to post this. I'm blog-illiterate!
We are planning on starting the new school year on Monday! Yes, we're a little crazy. But I'm hoping to be less crazy next year and take Fridays off. Yes, OFF!! Let's go to the library, or on a field trip, or do some art, or piano, or just play some games together!
Hi Lisa, love you!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Something I forgot...
I spent two hours on the phone yesterday with two of my favorite people...my sister Ann, and my mother-in-law Carol. (No wonder I was up late.) There's nothing like true godly fellowship, I can't ever get enough of it. If you want to talk about the Lord and applying the Bible to life, than I'm yours until I drop. What an encouraging evening it was! I love my MIL, I have the best one ever, hands down, no disputing. She's my Mom to me, the godliest example I know, and loves the Lord, me without condition, and is cheerful, self-sacrificing, and able to look at life objectively, which encourages me. I would love to be less subjective. Much less.
Ann I can usually spend hours on the phone with. My only sister (we have an older brother, who's married to the sweetest, funniest sis-in-law ever, who has a great blog of her own) is a God-sent blessing.
I MUST go. I have no idea what my house looks like downstairs after having written this epistle.
Ann I can usually spend hours on the phone with. My only sister (we have an older brother, who's married to the sweetest, funniest sis-in-law ever, who has a great blog of her own) is a God-sent blessing.
I MUST go. I have no idea what my house looks like downstairs after having written this epistle.
Busy Weekend, Yet Full of Grace
Praise God for encouraging believers! This weekend was busy, yet a blessing, even though I start out this morning feeling worn out and crampy. God is good, and His grace will completely suffice today!
Saturday morning I had a rehearsal for the Allen Philharmonic's 10th anniversary gala dinner. We played with a fantastic fiddle player, Tom Demer, who was a great guy, humble and funny. I love fiddle music, it's such fun to play, even though I'm terrible at improvisation and don't play much of it. I think it's because everyone who plays it has so much plain fun doing it! If we classical musicians would have more fun and be less straight-laced, it might be more enjoyable for those who attend our performances. (Although it is hard to relax when we're playing something really challenging.) As a Christian, my goal is further to bring God glory in what I play and do, and having a joyful confidence can further that end even as I work hard to be able to play difficult passages.
Boy was that a rabbit trail I didn't mean to go off on.
Saturday afternoon I took Leslie to Wal-Mart for our weekly shopping and we had a fun time together. How blessed to sit back and just enjoy your children once in a while! She's getting more and more a delight, I see fruit in the Lord and it's so encouraging. We got home, she and Kayla helped me put away groceries, and I sat down to cut out coupons. Adam worked in the yard, and went to the hardware store to get some items to work on the free discarded dresser we found on someone's curb last week (God provides!), that we intend to use for the boys' room. He pulled the drawers out, glued the center guide posts, I believe, and sanded the top and some other areas. It was a gorgeous day and we left doors open!
I made breaded chicken strips for dinner and then all cleaned up, relaxed a bit, then I got ready for the symphony bit that evening. It was very fun, but a late evening, as we didn't play until 9:00...Makes for a sluggish Sunday morning, which is hard.
I praise the Lord for our church...He always provides the ability to get there and serve with everyone intact (mostly!) no matter how tired we are. Those faithful believers are so encouraging and challenge my life so wonderfully, I pray that we are at least equally as much a blessing to them! Pat is coming over this morning to spend time with us and help me relax a bit. May God pour His abundant grace upon her! I pray we can all bless her while she is here.
We got home at 2:30 ( a bit later than usual, we were busier than usual fellowshipping) and ate, and rested while watching a little golf. Kayla (my 8 year old) likes to watch golf! Iremember my dad watching golf all the time on Sunday afternoons and being bored out of my skull. My children somehow enjoy it (as I do now) and it's a blessed surprise to hear them get excited about something I used to complain about!
I wasn't planning on coupon shopping this weekend, but felt better after doing very little, so decided to go a little later. Leslie again went with me and I'm so glad we did! (I must brag...er...give praise to the Lord a bit...) We spent $16 at Walgreen's for 2 12-roll packs of Scott's toilet paper (the kind that lasts forever), 2 packs of AA batteries, 2 boxes of cereal, and 2 boxes of Electrosol dishwasher tablets. We spent more at Albertson's, about $36, but got quite a load and some things that weren't even on sale. We got lots of cereal, they're having a great cereal sale right now, and with coupons, that's even better! At Kroger, we spent $20, and got another cartload, even spending $2 exta on bagels (not on the list) and $3.50 for Moose Tracks ice cream...so without that we would have been down to under $15! (At this point I must make mention of how addicted I am to Moose Tracks ice cream...I am even extremely stingy about letting my children have any. That stuff is the best ice cream ever, even when I'm not pregnant!)
When we got home I counted up how many boxes of cereal we have...I think it's 24. I'm so SO grateful to Lisa for introducing me to stockpile shopping. We are spending so much less than before and I believe we spend quite a bit less than the average weekly spending for a family of four...and this is on not only groceries but dry goods as well. God is so gracious. Let us continue to be faithful stewards of His money!
School time, and then on to pick up Pat a little later. She just called...apparently she didn't sleep well last night, and honestly neither did I, so we're in the same boat, working with Paul to "be content in whatever the circumstance" and to "in everything, give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". He gives us all the sleep we need whether we think so or not, and then the grace to deal with what He gives us the next day. What a testimony to His faithfulness.
Pastor Mark preached on James 1:2 yesterday: "Rejoice, my brethren, when you encounter trials of many kinds" (excuse my very imperfect quoting)... so we rejoice in the Lord through our tiredness!
Saturday morning I had a rehearsal for the Allen Philharmonic's 10th anniversary gala dinner. We played with a fantastic fiddle player, Tom Demer, who was a great guy, humble and funny. I love fiddle music, it's such fun to play, even though I'm terrible at improvisation and don't play much of it. I think it's because everyone who plays it has so much plain fun doing it! If we classical musicians would have more fun and be less straight-laced, it might be more enjoyable for those who attend our performances. (Although it is hard to relax when we're playing something really challenging.) As a Christian, my goal is further to bring God glory in what I play and do, and having a joyful confidence can further that end even as I work hard to be able to play difficult passages.
Boy was that a rabbit trail I didn't mean to go off on.
Saturday afternoon I took Leslie to Wal-Mart for our weekly shopping and we had a fun time together. How blessed to sit back and just enjoy your children once in a while! She's getting more and more a delight, I see fruit in the Lord and it's so encouraging. We got home, she and Kayla helped me put away groceries, and I sat down to cut out coupons. Adam worked in the yard, and went to the hardware store to get some items to work on the free discarded dresser we found on someone's curb last week (God provides!), that we intend to use for the boys' room. He pulled the drawers out, glued the center guide posts, I believe, and sanded the top and some other areas. It was a gorgeous day and we left doors open!
I made breaded chicken strips for dinner and then all cleaned up, relaxed a bit, then I got ready for the symphony bit that evening. It was very fun, but a late evening, as we didn't play until 9:00...Makes for a sluggish Sunday morning, which is hard.
I praise the Lord for our church...He always provides the ability to get there and serve with everyone intact (mostly!) no matter how tired we are. Those faithful believers are so encouraging and challenge my life so wonderfully, I pray that we are at least equally as much a blessing to them! Pat is coming over this morning to spend time with us and help me relax a bit. May God pour His abundant grace upon her! I pray we can all bless her while she is here.
We got home at 2:30 ( a bit later than usual, we were busier than usual fellowshipping) and ate, and rested while watching a little golf. Kayla (my 8 year old) likes to watch golf! Iremember my dad watching golf all the time on Sunday afternoons and being bored out of my skull. My children somehow enjoy it (as I do now) and it's a blessed surprise to hear them get excited about something I used to complain about!
I wasn't planning on coupon shopping this weekend, but felt better after doing very little, so decided to go a little later. Leslie again went with me and I'm so glad we did! (I must brag...er...give praise to the Lord a bit...) We spent $16 at Walgreen's for 2 12-roll packs of Scott's toilet paper (the kind that lasts forever), 2 packs of AA batteries, 2 boxes of cereal, and 2 boxes of Electrosol dishwasher tablets. We spent more at Albertson's, about $36, but got quite a load and some things that weren't even on sale. We got lots of cereal, they're having a great cereal sale right now, and with coupons, that's even better! At Kroger, we spent $20, and got another cartload, even spending $2 exta on bagels (not on the list) and $3.50 for Moose Tracks ice cream...so without that we would have been down to under $15! (At this point I must make mention of how addicted I am to Moose Tracks ice cream...I am even extremely stingy about letting my children have any. That stuff is the best ice cream ever, even when I'm not pregnant!)
When we got home I counted up how many boxes of cereal we have...I think it's 24. I'm so SO grateful to Lisa for introducing me to stockpile shopping. We are spending so much less than before and I believe we spend quite a bit less than the average weekly spending for a family of four...and this is on not only groceries but dry goods as well. God is so gracious. Let us continue to be faithful stewards of His money!
School time, and then on to pick up Pat a little later. She just called...apparently she didn't sleep well last night, and honestly neither did I, so we're in the same boat, working with Paul to "be content in whatever the circumstance" and to "in everything, give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". He gives us all the sleep we need whether we think so or not, and then the grace to deal with what He gives us the next day. What a testimony to His faithfulness.
Pastor Mark preached on James 1:2 yesterday: "Rejoice, my brethren, when you encounter trials of many kinds" (excuse my very imperfect quoting)... so we rejoice in the Lord through our tiredness!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Once a year is fine, isn't it?
I can't believe it's been a year since I first (and last) wrote! Much is going on here...
Expecting #6 sometime around May 27th, joining three other May birthdays in our little zoo, an increasingly independent and strong-willed almost-two-year-old (who is also a joy!), an almost-five-year-old who is recovered (mostly) from surgery on her skull for craniosynostosis, an almost-six-year-old who is working through kindergarden, v e r y s l o w l y, an almost-nine-year old whom we are trying to teach how to be more careful and neat in all she does, and a ten year old who just happens to be my right arm. Sometimes she thinks she's all of me, which can be a problem, but mostly she is a blessing from the Lord, I don't know what I'd do without her.
Anyway, even though it really is all about Him (the Lord God Almighty, and His Son, God incarnate, Jesus Christ, and His honor and glory) ( I need to get that straight before talking about me) I'll say a bit about myself. God saved me from my sins through Christ when I was about 14 years old, and that is ( or ought to be, I fight my selfish sin nature all the time) the focus of my life--to serve Him and bring Him glory. I've been married for eleven years (12 in July) to Adam, an engineer, the perfect complement to my serious, emotional self. God is so wise! We have five (going on six) children, age 10 and down, whom I've already mentioned, two sons and almost four daughters, Leslie, Kayla, David, Brooke & Ethan. (We aren't telling the new one's name, it's a surprise!) Don't ask me if we're having any more, because I don't know!
We home school, three right now, four next year. I started out not knowing anything and God has been so faithful and patient with me, teaching me through other wise and godly women and faithful friends as well as His Word and my husband, what to do!!! I'm relaxing more every year, by that I mean not stressing out. I love studying the Bible and reading books about the Bible and Bible topics, and am in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), in my second year, which I enjoy hugely. We go to a wonderful church where the Word of God is faithfully taught, and we are all growing because of it. Besides that, in my "free" time (hah!) I am a violinist for a symphony in the area (we live in the Dallas area) and enjoy practicing, sometimes, and others I just have to do it. I enjoy projects around the house, and crafts, mostly cross stitching and paint-by-number, I'm not a very good artist but have designed a few cross stitch things in the last few years. I love to read, and it can be a snare for me and my time, so I try to stick to books that take a lot of thinking and I don't read much fiction. If I do, I tend to get sucked in and do nothing else until the book is read!
I love to read aloud to my children and spend time talking with them, they are precious. I also love to bake and cook and, since last June, save money on groceries with coupons. (Thanks, Lisa!) That's all I have time for, and sometimes not even that, so that's it. (At least, I can't think of anything else at the moment.)
I need to get going on laundry today, and math with the girls. I need to practice today, the APSO has a performance (of sorts) tomorrow and I haven't looked through my music yet! Say it, say it..."I must learn to be more responsible and not procrastinate"?!?! I also smell an icky diaper and was just thinking yesterday about how I've changed diapers every single day for the last 10 and 1/2 years (with probably a few exceptions). I'm sure there are many out there who've done it longer than that, I'm not even trying to claim sympathy, it was just an interesting thought that popped into my head.
I also need to revise my schedule, as I almost went crazy this week trying to implement the one I had...
May the God of peace be honored in you today!
Expecting #6 sometime around May 27th, joining three other May birthdays in our little zoo, an increasingly independent and strong-willed almost-two-year-old (who is also a joy!), an almost-five-year-old who is recovered (mostly) from surgery on her skull for craniosynostosis, an almost-six-year-old who is working through kindergarden, v e r y s l o w l y, an almost-nine-year old whom we are trying to teach how to be more careful and neat in all she does, and a ten year old who just happens to be my right arm. Sometimes she thinks she's all of me, which can be a problem, but mostly she is a blessing from the Lord, I don't know what I'd do without her.
Anyway, even though it really is all about Him (the Lord God Almighty, and His Son, God incarnate, Jesus Christ, and His honor and glory) ( I need to get that straight before talking about me) I'll say a bit about myself. God saved me from my sins through Christ when I was about 14 years old, and that is ( or ought to be, I fight my selfish sin nature all the time) the focus of my life--to serve Him and bring Him glory. I've been married for eleven years (12 in July) to Adam, an engineer, the perfect complement to my serious, emotional self. God is so wise! We have five (going on six) children, age 10 and down, whom I've already mentioned, two sons and almost four daughters, Leslie, Kayla, David, Brooke & Ethan. (We aren't telling the new one's name, it's a surprise!) Don't ask me if we're having any more, because I don't know!
We home school, three right now, four next year. I started out not knowing anything and God has been so faithful and patient with me, teaching me through other wise and godly women and faithful friends as well as His Word and my husband, what to do!!! I'm relaxing more every year, by that I mean not stressing out. I love studying the Bible and reading books about the Bible and Bible topics, and am in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), in my second year, which I enjoy hugely. We go to a wonderful church where the Word of God is faithfully taught, and we are all growing because of it. Besides that, in my "free" time (hah!) I am a violinist for a symphony in the area (we live in the Dallas area) and enjoy practicing, sometimes, and others I just have to do it. I enjoy projects around the house, and crafts, mostly cross stitching and paint-by-number, I'm not a very good artist but have designed a few cross stitch things in the last few years. I love to read, and it can be a snare for me and my time, so I try to stick to books that take a lot of thinking and I don't read much fiction. If I do, I tend to get sucked in and do nothing else until the book is read!
I love to read aloud to my children and spend time talking with them, they are precious. I also love to bake and cook and, since last June, save money on groceries with coupons. (Thanks, Lisa!) That's all I have time for, and sometimes not even that, so that's it. (At least, I can't think of anything else at the moment.)
I need to get going on laundry today, and math with the girls. I need to practice today, the APSO has a performance (of sorts) tomorrow and I haven't looked through my music yet! Say it, say it..."I must learn to be more responsible and not procrastinate"?!?! I also smell an icky diaper and was just thinking yesterday about how I've changed diapers every single day for the last 10 and 1/2 years (with probably a few exceptions). I'm sure there are many out there who've done it longer than that, I'm not even trying to claim sympathy, it was just an interesting thought that popped into my head.
I also need to revise my schedule, as I almost went crazy this week trying to implement the one I had...
May the God of peace be honored in you today!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I never thought I'd do this...
I always thought blogging was a waste of precious time that could be spent more profitably elsewhere, and maybe that is true, sometimes. But it is also true that a record of what I do and say and think can encourage myself and, if God uses it, others, to spiritual growth and to realize that I am not staying in the same place in my life.
So, here goes, and I don't know how faithful I will be. This is really primarily for myself, to get my thoughts out and concretely arranged somewhere. I have a busy life (as we all do) and I don't consider this a priority...God has given me many more things to do that I believe hold a far greater value, and, besides that, take a lot of time. For instance, I ought to be practicing for the 5th grade children's concert we are having next week...we are playing the final movement of the Prokofiev "Classical" symphony which is rather....(hard, don't tell anyone.)
Not to mention, and much more importantly, 3 out of 5 precious children are downstairs, two doing school work and one learning for the first time how to draw and needing his mom to ooh and aah over his artwork.
See what I mean? I've already been on here twenty minutes and can't get off!
So, here goes, and I don't know how faithful I will be. This is really primarily for myself, to get my thoughts out and concretely arranged somewhere. I have a busy life (as we all do) and I don't consider this a priority...God has given me many more things to do that I believe hold a far greater value, and, besides that, take a lot of time. For instance, I ought to be practicing for the 5th grade children's concert we are having next week...we are playing the final movement of the Prokofiev "Classical" symphony which is rather....(hard, don't tell anyone.)
Not to mention, and much more importantly, 3 out of 5 precious children are downstairs, two doing school work and one learning for the first time how to draw and needing his mom to ooh and aah over his artwork.
See what I mean? I've already been on here twenty minutes and can't get off!
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