Mountaintops and Valleys

I've alluded to a particularly difficult situation that Pete and I have been in since mid-July, and while we feel the details aren't appropriate to broadcast to the whole world, I wanted to give an update because I hope it encourages you to trust FULLY in the Lord for whatever you are going through at this very moment.

I was just telling a good friend that the last time I felt this desperate for God to provide and grant us peace was when Natalia was first born, and her health (her life) was completely out of our hands. Let me just say too, that that place is GRACE in disguise. Grace defined as "unmerited favor", and God's kindness to us.

How can I say this? Because I am convinced that God allows trials and challenges to come our way, not in an arbitrary way or because He doesn't care, but because He loves us, desires to grow us, teach us about who He is and who we are; to remind us that He provides for our very breath, wants to bless us, and desires to be our Lord.

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Look at the "titles" I encountered this past week in my quiet time with God, leading up to our big day on Friday. (They come from Charles Spurgeon's, MORNING AND EVENING devotional.)

"Why have you brought this trouble on your servant?" (Numbers 11:11)

"On whom are you depending?" (Isaiah 36:5)

"I will save you from the hands of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel." (Jeremiah 15:21)

"Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven" (Lamentations 3:41)(speaking of prayer)

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Hmmm...I don't count THAT as merely coincidence.


You see, Pete and I were thrust into a situation in which our integrity was called into question.

False claims were made by complete strangers.

We felt under attack.

The possible financial outcomes seemed daunting (and that word doesn't quite capture it!)

We felt a degree of obligation to speak the truth and defend ourselves...but recognized that it might not be enough, and we might have to "compensate" our accusers and trust that God would somehow and in some way provide for us to do so.

AND, in all of this, we felt that God wanted to increase our faith and trust in Him.



Would our reaction/attitude (when we met in person to try to resolve the matter) reflect our faith and trust in Christ to them?

Though we felt completely justified in our stance, would we be faithful to pray for those who were causing our hardship? To pray for their ultimate good?

Despite the blow to our pride, would we focus on how our accusers were defining us, or find rest in our Savior's definition of who we are?


Well, the outcome of Friday's meeting was extremely hard to swallow. We had NO IDEA how we were going to come up with that kind of cash within a month's time. (Especially with what we could sell, cut from our tight budget, and the interest rates banks are offering on loans these days!) ANYWAY, as we were faithful to pray for wisdom and provision (and even when we weren't) God was bringing about a solution. He was blessing our meager and imperfect efforts at faith and trust, and the end result was exponential!

God used a single source we weren't expecting to cover the full amount!
(THANK YOU! You know who you are!)

The significance of this is not lost on us...isn't God good? :o)

Farm Fair Fun

One of the things I can instantly recall each fall just through the sense of smell is the local Farm Show. When the temperatures take a dip and the evenings grow dark earlier and earlier, the air around this area smells different. There's the smell of harvest first of all, the drying corn is cut down and used for silage, the soil is tilled one final time before the first frost. But it's the combination of all of that and...well, the smell of tractor fumes or someone smoking a pipe to bring it all together.


It's Farm Show time folks!


Last night was the annual parade, and it happened to land exactly on my brother Joe's birthday. My cousin Laura and her husband live along the parade route through town and she invited the relatives to camp out on her section of sidewalk.


My family joined the gang after fighting the crowds for some Fair Food. Let me tell you, the milkshakes and french fries are simply divine and worth the wait in line. :o) Then we settled down for the parade...along with homemade cupcakes for the birthday boy. My mom made her favorite white cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles (YUM), and I took the kind that have many names: "black bottom", "yum yum"--whatever you call them they are chocolate with cream cheese and mini chocolate chips inside.

Natalia wasn't too sure about the fire truck sirens at first. There were some tears. But after Mommy persuaded her that they were just saying hello and that they weren't trying to be scary she decided they weren't so bad. She snuggled with me for most of the parade (I was eating it up because she just doesn't sit with me like that anymore!) and had fun waving to everyone who went by. The bands had her clapping and so did the candy being tossed. :o)


Just at the conclusion it started to sprinkle...but since we were at the beginning of the route we were home by 9pm! Laura, you may be seeing us on your front lawn every year!


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This morning I took Natalia in again to see the animals. She got to pet some piglets which had her absolutely fascinated.

Here are a few shots of our morning:

I could barely pry her off of the tractors! Yep, there's a little bit of country in that gal!

Look at me Mom! :o)

The Yummiest Carrot Cake Recipe

This recipe comes out of the BLACK ROCK RETREAT COOKBOOK--so moist and delicious! :o)

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together:
½ c. applesauce
½ c. oil
2 c. sugar

Then add to mixture and stir:
4 eggs
3 c. grated carrots

Sift together, then add to mixture and stir:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon

Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes. (Or 325 degrees for 45 mins.)

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Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream together and spread on cooled cake:
1 (8 oz.) box cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. butter

Mom's Pumpkin Bread

Beat together:
1 c. veg. oil
3 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

Add:
1 c. cooked pumpkin
2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 c. warm water
3 c. flour


Put into 2 greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.


***A family favorite served sliced and plain or with a bit of whipped cream cheese spread on top.

Quotable Kiddo, Take 2

Of course I thought of more post-worthy Natalia sayings later on...thus a second post devoted to Our Little Stinker. :o)

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The other day she was about to drive me bonkers with this sweet saying (over and over and OVER again!). "Take your time, Mommy. Take your time." (Huh??? It was so random!)

When Daddy's about to take her for an evening walk to the playground, "No Mommy, you stay here."

When noticing any new person around, "What's that?", and "What are doing?"

Carrying around her baby doll, patting its head and snuggling with it, she's crooning, "You're okay baby, you're okay."

After gathering her purse, cell phone, and her shopping cart, she waves to me and says, "See ya later Mom, I going shopping."

When the 3 of us are sitting down to dinner, "Help yourself." (I guess she's heard me say that when we've had people over for a meal!)

At dinnertime, we've been instructing her on the respectful way to interrupt our conversation. Yesterday, as she and I were sitting upstairs, she was stringing together random phrases and pure babble when suddenly she turned to her baby doll laying beside her, and put her hand out to say, "Just a minute baby, I talking to Mommy." And without skipping a beat, launched right back into her "discussion" with me.

When she sees us getting a cup of coffee or tea, "I want coffee." (To which I respond, "when you're old enough to drive.")

As we're getting ready to leave the house and are sitting down to put on our shoes, "I wanna' go naked." I ask, "you mean barefoot?" She says, "Yeah, I wanna' go boo-foot!" (She'd actually go naked too if that were allowed! :oP)

When driving home from a family get-together or playdate, "I had fun! You have fun, Mom?"

Upon running to greet Pete when he comes home from work, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! You work hard? I helper you your yunch box."

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Such a sweetpea! :o)

Quotable Kiddo

Natalia's newest sayings to date:

(When wrestling with Daddy on the floor) "I stuck! I stuck!"

"No, I'm the mommy and you're the little girl." (Hmmm, gotta' love those endless discipline moments!)

(When we're driving in the car) "Slow down Daddy, slow down."

(To her baby) "Come here baby, I need to change your poopy bapper (diaper). Hold still baby."

(When asked if she needs something) "Ah, no--I okay. I fine."


(When in the car and we've barely left our street) "Are we there yet?" (Good grief! Wasn't it yesterday that I was saying that?!)


(Faithfully between 6:30 and 7am I open my eyes to her little face inches from mine) "Mommy, I all done seeping!"


(Obviously because she's seen me struggling to brush my teeth and avoiding the urge to gag) "Mommy, your belly hurt? You going to fro up? You need to sit for a bit? Take some brefs?"


(The other morning at the crack of dawn our next door neighbor accidently hits the alarm button on her keychain and 2 horn blasts jolt me from my snooze--our windows were open--Natalia runs to our window and yells...) "You scare me! You scare me!" (...to which poor Shannon sheepishly calls out, "Sorry."


(And because our evening entertainment lately has included watching Mommy's belly bounce) "My baby's kicking me."

What a girl! :o)

Sightings

Look what we discovered hanging out on our front porch window yesterday morning!