I just sat down for a minute in the quiet to check my e-mail and my reader and I got stopped. The Desiring God post, "Jay and Katrina Didn't Waste Their Lives" stopped me in my tracks. Please read the article.
I felt like I had a lot to say, but really, I just want to be fully alive like these two Jesus followers were. I just don't want to waste my life. Jesus...protect my heart from the lies of this world and help me to fully live, where I am, that I may shine like the stars in the universe.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Kitchen is Flooding
We came home from church and the kitchen was flooded. "Well, I'm glad we came home before we went to Mom's." Mike put his swimming trucks on and headed to the roof to clean the gutters. That probably would have been easier in the sunshine...but wouldn't everything? Sometimes it just rains. We piled the towels on the floor, grabbed what we needed for a drop-in reception and dinner at Mom's. Somehow we weren't all that flustered. We just did it. We just kept moving...even in the rain.
It felt like a really long day. By 8:30 after some snuggling and reading the kids were finally in bed. Although Mike and I liken bedtime to trying to keep lightening bugs in an open bucket! (That's what our crazy kids do!) We bellied up to the table for our favorite summer past time...games and the Reba McEntire station on Pandora. Country just feels good in the summer. All the oldies rush back...George Strait (LOVE HIM), Tracy Lawrence (Loved him briefly) some Reba (Fancy don't let me down!)...maybe some Travis Tritt...good stuff! So, I dragged myself from my comfy chair (here's George Strait now...dancing in my chair...he's got a fool-hearted memory) to the kitchen chair and remembered I never wiped up the floor where Big C ate...and then deposited all of her unwanted food onto the floor. Unfortunately my dog doesn't eat his veggies either! "UGGGG I never wiped that up." This won't last forever.
Yesterday I caught up with my friend Hazel from up the street. I've mentioned her before and I always leave her porch with new and refreshing perspective. She raised 3 kids in her little house, buried her husband 25 years ago, and always has time for us to sit on her porch. Listening to Hazel talk about her children's children gives me that dose of "all life is a vapor" that I need. She's the one that told me when I was pregnant with Ella that "the Lord always makes room for more children." How right she was. We are trying to remove those things that are taking up too much space and bring some order and beauty to our little abode, and it's exciting and daunting. Mike has a HUGE task for the summer, building shelving for our living room (which is really our house) and it keeps raining. I don't feel like it's going to stop, and we sort of need the sunshine. But, what are we to do? In the south when it rains this is what everyone says, "Whew, would you look at that rain. Well, we sure needed it." We always do. We always need the rain, but it sure makes the sunshine brighter!
So, to keep from rambling...sometimes it just rains. We have to just keep moving. This is a tough time of parenting. The constant training and teaching, but then I look at my older children who are growing and changing and becoming such cool people to be with and I see the Son-shine. The wonderful thing is that He sends the rain because we need it. We need the rain to water our ground so that all that is green can survive. He is planting things in our lives that will not survive without the rain. So, we keep moving and growing and thriving and enjoying our baby and growing children amidst the mess and chaos and noise because the rain is just as much of a blessing as the sun.
Isa 45:8 -
"You heavens above, rain down
righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let
salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with
it; I, the LORD, have created it.
Ho 6:3 - We sang this verse in Africa, and I have always loved it!
Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge
him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the
winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
It felt like a really long day. By 8:30 after some snuggling and reading the kids were finally in bed. Although Mike and I liken bedtime to trying to keep lightening bugs in an open bucket! (That's what our crazy kids do!) We bellied up to the table for our favorite summer past time...games and the Reba McEntire station on Pandora. Country just feels good in the summer. All the oldies rush back...George Strait (LOVE HIM), Tracy Lawrence (Loved him briefly) some Reba (Fancy don't let me down!)...maybe some Travis Tritt...good stuff! So, I dragged myself from my comfy chair (here's George Strait now...dancing in my chair...he's got a fool-hearted memory) to the kitchen chair and remembered I never wiped up the floor where Big C ate...and then deposited all of her unwanted food onto the floor. Unfortunately my dog doesn't eat his veggies either! "UGGGG I never wiped that up." This won't last forever.
Yesterday I caught up with my friend Hazel from up the street. I've mentioned her before and I always leave her porch with new and refreshing perspective. She raised 3 kids in her little house, buried her husband 25 years ago, and always has time for us to sit on her porch. Listening to Hazel talk about her children's children gives me that dose of "all life is a vapor" that I need. She's the one that told me when I was pregnant with Ella that "the Lord always makes room for more children." How right she was. We are trying to remove those things that are taking up too much space and bring some order and beauty to our little abode, and it's exciting and daunting. Mike has a HUGE task for the summer, building shelving for our living room (which is really our house) and it keeps raining. I don't feel like it's going to stop, and we sort of need the sunshine. But, what are we to do? In the south when it rains this is what everyone says, "Whew, would you look at that rain. Well, we sure needed it." We always do. We always need the rain, but it sure makes the sunshine brighter!
So, to keep from rambling...sometimes it just rains. We have to just keep moving. This is a tough time of parenting. The constant training and teaching, but then I look at my older children who are growing and changing and becoming such cool people to be with and I see the Son-shine. The wonderful thing is that He sends the rain because we need it. We need the rain to water our ground so that all that is green can survive. He is planting things in our lives that will not survive without the rain. So, we keep moving and growing and thriving and enjoying our baby and growing children amidst the mess and chaos and noise because the rain is just as much of a blessing as the sun.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
It is HIS Name!!!!!
"Babe, what are you going to do? Are you going to have them copy the map on paper or trace it? Do you have a song for that memory work? I'm just saying...people are paying for this and they have expectations!"
Last week was our Classical Conversations Parent Practicum. Mike was asked to teach the GeoArt camp and he happily accepted. I happily went to work micromanaging my perfectly capable husband. I wrote the lesson plans, made the copies, checked out books...I was going to be sure the week was a success and one more teeny tiny thing...make sure that I looked good. Yikes! My flesh is nasty, but as usual, I learned a little something.
At the end of the week the camps come in to give a quick sampling of all they have learned. Mike's group was going to do their chant of the highest peaks on each continent (do you know them?). So, he walked up and a few friends looked at me and grinned. I was excited. So they did their little thing and they really did a fantastic job. It was great! My one friend commented on how he had to live up to the name and I laughed and responded, "Yeah, I told him, I've made a name for us...you better not let the Wessner name down!" HAHAHA I also muttered something about having "pumps to fill" even though I don't often wear pumps. Anyway...they did a great job and he didn't let the Wessner name down.
Here's why he didn't let the name down...it's his name too! In fact, now that I think about it, it was his name first!!! Jiminey Christmas! He's been a Wessner a lot longer than I have been. He knew Ruth and Arthur, those brave souls that raised 5 boys in a Pennsylvania row home. He knew the Wessner's that I named my children after, and never met. He was raised a Wessner. He has Wessner ears and brains. He knows the name.
I've carried the name for almost 12 years. I carried another name. I know the power of a name. I know that when you have a good name it's worth far more than riches. I know that if you do something good folks remember your name. I know if you do something horrible...folks will never forget your name. I carry the Wessner name, and I also carry someone else's name.
Every time I mention Him, I am claiming His name. I find myself telling Him what I told my husband. "Don't screw up. People are watching you. I've made a good name for you, don't you go messing it up by not showing up and showing off!" I love the Lord, He says the same thing, "Ali, sweetheart, it was my name first." HE is the One that has made a name for himself. He should be telling me not to screw things up or He'll look like an idiot...not the other way around. Still, I count my awesomeness as so helpful to God. He totally needs me and is so glad to have me on His team. Really? Nah...He LETS me play on His team. He is glad to have me...but only because of Christ. Not because I really bring a bunch to the table, in fact, if I bring ANYTHING it's because He gave it to give. So, as we've struggled with our house (not selling) and figuring out what we're supposed to do, I return to His Name. His Name above all names. The Name that saves and spares and redeems and refreshes. The Name that was and is and is to come. The Name that was the same yesterday, today and forever. The Name that I carry. The Name that was sealed in me through the Spirit poured out on me guaranteeing my inheritance.
So, I rest. Rest in the fact that His Name hems me in behind and before. I rest knowing that His Name will be exalted above all other names. I rest that I carry that name and because of Him I can't screw anything up. His Name is sovereign, not mine.
Last week was our Classical Conversations Parent Practicum. Mike was asked to teach the GeoArt camp and he happily accepted. I happily went to work micromanaging my perfectly capable husband. I wrote the lesson plans, made the copies, checked out books...I was going to be sure the week was a success and one more teeny tiny thing...make sure that I looked good. Yikes! My flesh is nasty, but as usual, I learned a little something.
At the end of the week the camps come in to give a quick sampling of all they have learned. Mike's group was going to do their chant of the highest peaks on each continent (do you know them?). So, he walked up and a few friends looked at me and grinned. I was excited. So they did their little thing and they really did a fantastic job. It was great! My one friend commented on how he had to live up to the name and I laughed and responded, "Yeah, I told him, I've made a name for us...you better not let the Wessner name down!" HAHAHA I also muttered something about having "pumps to fill" even though I don't often wear pumps. Anyway...they did a great job and he didn't let the Wessner name down.
Here's why he didn't let the name down...it's his name too! In fact, now that I think about it, it was his name first!!! Jiminey Christmas! He's been a Wessner a lot longer than I have been. He knew Ruth and Arthur, those brave souls that raised 5 boys in a Pennsylvania row home. He knew the Wessner's that I named my children after, and never met. He was raised a Wessner. He has Wessner ears and brains. He knows the name.
I've carried the name for almost 12 years. I carried another name. I know the power of a name. I know that when you have a good name it's worth far more than riches. I know that if you do something good folks remember your name. I know if you do something horrible...folks will never forget your name. I carry the Wessner name, and I also carry someone else's name.
Every time I mention Him, I am claiming His name. I find myself telling Him what I told my husband. "Don't screw up. People are watching you. I've made a good name for you, don't you go messing it up by not showing up and showing off!" I love the Lord, He says the same thing, "Ali, sweetheart, it was my name first." HE is the One that has made a name for himself. He should be telling me not to screw things up or He'll look like an idiot...not the other way around. Still, I count my awesomeness as so helpful to God. He totally needs me and is so glad to have me on His team. Really? Nah...He LETS me play on His team. He is glad to have me...but only because of Christ. Not because I really bring a bunch to the table, in fact, if I bring ANYTHING it's because He gave it to give. So, as we've struggled with our house (not selling) and figuring out what we're supposed to do, I return to His Name. His Name above all names. The Name that saves and spares and redeems and refreshes. The Name that was and is and is to come. The Name that was the same yesterday, today and forever. The Name that I carry. The Name that was sealed in me through the Spirit poured out on me guaranteeing my inheritance.
So, I rest. Rest in the fact that His Name hems me in behind and before. I rest knowing that His Name will be exalted above all other names. I rest that I carry that name and because of Him I can't screw anything up. His Name is sovereign, not mine.
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