Wednesdays in the Word

Remember kaleidoscopes and how fun they are to look through?

I was recently given one in a Bible class and reminded that God takes the broken, shattered pieces of our lives and turns them into something beautiful for His glory. Amen!

"I am called, as God's child, to believe by faith that (all the disjointed fragments) add up. That in some way every single scrap of my life, every step and every struggle, is in the process of being fitted together into God's huge and perfect pattern for good." ~Claire Cloninger
So glad that He transforms "the disorder into beauty and symmetry" when He shines His light through it all!

~Becky

Driver's Ed and dread

I'm teaching two teens to drive this summer.
Oh my stars.
It is not on my list of favorite things to do.
I soooo wish a driving school or at least the car they use were in my budget, because, how nice would it be to have my own steering wheel and brake pedal.
As it is, I push my imaginary brake pedal with my foot constantly and have been known to grab a driver's arm, which is not a good idea under any circumstances. 
Maybe I should just break into a chorus of 'Jesus Take the Wheel' next time. ; )
 It may help!

~Becky

Waving herbs and eating dirt

My dear, sweet Hubby injured his knee at work a few weeks ago and then, somehow in overcompensating to help it, he sprained the ankle on his other leg!
Bless his heart!
It has been a rough couple of weeks!
Thankfully, God is using our chiropractor to do amazing things to help with both his knee and ankle. He walks into the office limping and comes out walking! Hooray! I'm guessing, he's not your run-of-the-mill chiropractor since yesterday he waved some bad smelling burning Chinese herbs over Hubby's ankle.
(that's a little weird, huh?)
And maybe weirder still, is the fact that to help Hubby's joints, we've both started eating DIRT or to be more exact Diatomaceous earth! (not that me taking it will help him in any way)  ; )
All I could think of when the lady at the health food store suggested he start taking it (and some other herbs) for his knee, was Gen. 3:18
 "...For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." LOL! So, I guess we might as well eat it! But technically DE is the "fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae." So, not really dirt, I guess.
I can't say that I felt completely comfortable buying something to swallow that is sold in an unmarked container in the pet and garden section of the store! Really weird! Or maybe not, since it can be used as an insecticide!
But if you take it orally in slow doses over many, many weeks, the silica in it will help with pain in your joints,  grow your hair and nails and take away acne. It will also lower blood pressure and cholesterol, cleanse your colon and rid your body of toxins and parasites of all kinds. It also eliminates heavy metals and yeast from your body and helps with symptoms of menopause and gives you more energy. (those are the biggies that I remember but if you do your own research, you'll find even more benefits to taking it than these. You start to wonder what it doesn't do?)

And speaking of dirt ; )
Joy just grew her first jalapeno which was promptly diced up and thrown in the crock pot with tonight's dinner. We just got back from Home Depot where they were having a sale on 1 gallon veggie plants. Literally it was only a dollar more to buy the plants than a pack of seeds. Hallelujah for a head start! : )
She wanted a habanero pepper plant (she takes after Dad and likes all things spicy) and a tomato plant. She loves to spend time gardening every day. Her Grandmum would be proud. (and come to think of it, if she would have been totally down with the crazy waving of the burning Chinese herbs) LOL

~Becky
*Edited to Note: this is food grade Diatomaceous Earth : ) 

Wednesdays in the Word

Jesus "learned obedience by the things which He suffered."

When He prayed "He was heard because of His godly fear."

He was "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." 

He "the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever..."

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul."

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." 

"Let us hold fast to our confession." 

Because "we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God."

"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must all give account."

He "became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him..." 

"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God."


(verses taken from Hebrews chapters 4, 5 & 6)

Have a great day!

~Becky

Sharing Bonhoeffer

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a German woman who was 6 years old and living in Berlin when Hitler took over. (that sentence right there, still amazes me)

She shared a few of her (heartbreaking) memories of that time with our high school girls' Bible class and then told us how she came to know the Lord while living in America when she was in her 20's. I wasn't able to attend the first time she spoke to our class, (in December) but that was literally the first time she ever spoke of those memories to anyone. Ever. This woman is such a treasure and I'm sure God will continue to use her story as she shares it. -One of the moms told me what a life changing impact this talk had on her daughter and that she talked about her for days afterwards. 

I just knew I would have to ask her if she's read Eric Metaxes book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy 

because I loved it so much and I was a little obsessed with it last summer.
Bonhoeffer lived in Berlin during that time too. I told my kids that their families could have known each other!!! They told me that kind of reasoning is like traveling to another country and having people ask me if I know Justin Bieber. LOL I didn't embarrass myself by asking if her family knew him, I just asked her if she'd read this book.

She was so sweet. She said that she had not read the book but that she knew of Bonhoeffer and "of his courage to stand against them." (Nazis) And then, this sweet elderly lady, who lived through SO much, told me "I didn't have the courage to stand against them. I tried to be invisible. There is a way to be invisible, you know. You keep your head down and you never make eye contact with anyone." 

Bless her heart! I'm not sure what a child could have done to 'stand against them' in the first place and I reminded her that she was so young. I asked her if she would like to read it because I would love to give her a copy. She said she would very much like to read it and her eyes twinkled.

 (and when I said I would love to give her I copy, it was an  UNDERSTATEMENT!) 

I'm hoping that his story blesses her and heals her and encourages her faith. 

~Becky

It was a Happy Fourth!

 We did Dennis Prager's Fourth of July Declaration again and it was very meaningful. We highly recommend it as a way to remember what made the founding of America so special and why we celebrate it. 

(and it only takes 10 minutes) My hubby did a really great job leading it.

 .

The ceremony is the reason for tiny plates on the table

When it was REALLY time to eat, we used much bigger plates and loaded (and reloaded) them  up.

Then the thirteen of us crowded around the living room to play Pictionary which was a lot of fun. Thankfully the Internet has a Pictionary Word Generator! (who knew?) Awesome! -Otherwise we would have had to pick our own words and they probably would have all been references to the Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. LOL

The photographer (me) was also the score keeper, timer and sometimes official eraser of the white board, so I didn't get many good pictures.

We also played a trivia card game called "Beat the Parents." (the kids got a big kick out of the title) The adults were almost stumped when trying to name the Seven Dwarfs. We also had no idea who Dora the Explorer's pet monkey is or what land Mario Brother's takes place in. Props to Zac who knew that a bunch of crows are called a 'murder.' (I forgot a bunch of ants are called a 'colony') Hubby and I did rock "What was Thomas Edison's middle name?' -Thanks to homeschooling! ; ) Somewhere during the middle of the game, we decided the 'kids' had to get asked the parents questions too, but the 'kids' team still won. ('kids' as in those ages 14 to 20) Any team doing a trivia game that doesn't have Joel on it, is in trouble before they even start. : ) 

Then we were off to the airport to watch fireworks from the top floor of the parking garage. Here's a random picture of how tall it is. Great place for viewing firework shows all over the city.

It was a little rainy and windy up there, and I don't remember ever being cold on the 4th of July before, but it was fun. Great view.

In the midst of all the preparations and the actual fun of the evening, my hubby and I were mindful of the fact that this was the last holiday we'd most likely be spending with some of these dear friends (who are moving next month) and the last holiday with Nathan, probably for awhile. Bittersweet but special.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your hoilday weekend. I think I'm going to rest for the rest of it. ; )
~Becky

Big news!

Our daughter, who was interning at the cafe/bakery got a PAYING job there this week!
 Whoo-hoo!
 -She was hand spinning milkshakes when I came to pick her up. She loves it!
She needs to memorize the menu which is filled with amazing sandwiches and soups so I suggested we 'play restaurant.' ; )  Anyone else do that as a kid? I am from southern CA so I always made mud tacos! I've been placing imaginary orders with her, which makes me hungry, something the dirt tacos never did! LOL

Our son, who was offered a paid position as an intern in a youth ministry in CA, is taking the job and leaving.
Boo-hoo!
We are very happy for him. -Just sad because we will miss him so much. We all feel it is God's will for him. But it is going to be hard on this MOM. I am taking comfort in the fact that he will:
-be near my best friend, who loves him like one of her own kids
-that my oldest friend in the world will be his boss
 -that he won't be more than 2 hours away from our wonderful extended FAMILY
(remind me of these things when I'm bawling my eyes out, OK?) : )

So, the month of August will be a busy one. We'll be launching out our first child into the world and taking another (3 month) turn in care-giving in our home for our relative who is stroke patient.

~Becky