Happy Valentine's!

Valentine pretzel treats:  check.  (thanks to Granny and Grandpa)
Chocolate:  check.
Flowers:  check.
Valentine cards:  check.
We've got plenty of red and pink around the house today.
There are more than enough sweets.
And oddly enough, we are getting plenty of school done in the midst of it!
I'd say it's a pretty good Valentine's Day.
Hope you enjoy yours!

Back into the Routine

Just finished two episodes from season 1 of Downton Abbey.  Love it.  I have a friend who bought seasons 1 and 2.  By the end of each episode we are sitting there with our jaws dropped.  Can't wait for the next one.
We are getting back into the swing of things at home.  Partly, at least.  Dentist appointments this morning that turned out just fine.  Jack lost a tooth while the hygienist was flossing his teeth.  Then another one after dinner.  I think he's hoping for big money tonight!
Once we had cleaned up the dishes, Sammy sat next to me on the couch.
Jack needed to give the tooth fairy some instructions.
I loved how he looked at Sam first, then me and winked, before he told us how he wanted his teeth to be left in the box next to his pillow.  I think he likes being in on something.  I also notice more and more in him a sensitivity to the younger ones.  That is answered prayer and a sweet thing to see in my eldest.

Debrief

We are home from assessment and glad to be!
Our kids did great with mom and dad all week.  Maybe I should say mom and dad did great with the kids!  They deserve a shout out- thanks guys!!
We spent a lot of time in "debrief" sessions during the week.
For most of the things we did, there was a debrief session afterward.
I feel like a need a good long debrief from it all now that we are home.  That will probably take a while.
But what I know for sure is:
*my nerves have had a chance to settle down!
*we learned a lot about ourselves and each other
*I really like my husband- even more than before!!
*we learned a lot about the church planting process
*we met a lot of neat people that I hope we can keep up with
*the week was good time away for the two of us
*God was faithful and showed us His kindness over and over again.

Fear and Trembling

Assessment Center.
Church planting.
These words struck fear in me when we were in seminary.  I was thankful that we didn't have to go to the center (it is what it says- a place to be assessed personally in every way), thankful that other people wanted to be church planters.  I was in awe of them to a certain extent.
Haha.
Where are we?  The Assessment Center.
What might we do soon?  Church plant.
I cannot remember a time in my life when I have felt so much fear and trembling:
more nervous lightening bolts shoot through my body and my heart pounding so often over a couple of days.  I don't think my poor nerves can take much more!  :)
I have felt nervous, uncertain, fearful, unsure.
And I can honestly say that God's loving kindness to me has been so evident through it all.
No need to be afraid.
Is there ever?
He's using these few days and these people here as true instruments of His grace to us.
We have been encouraged, challenged, and drawn out of our comfort zones.
We have heard stories of His grace.
We have met some dear people, all of us different, all of us seeking His will.
We have learned a lot about ourselves and each other.
We are not done and I can pretty much count on my nerves being shot again, at least one more time.
Ugh.  :)
But... that's OK.
He is good.  He is faithful.  And He writes the story.

 Hi...lar...i..ous.

Just for comic relief.

Pigtails

She wanted pigtails today!  For 15 minutes then she took them out.  But that was long enough to get a picture.  So cute.

The Light of Men

In ipso vita erat et vita erat lux hominum.

"In Him was life and his life was the light of men."

John 1:4

That is our Latin memory work for this week.

Something about the way it translates from the Latin gets to me.

His life.

Nothing else needed.  Nothing added.  

Just his life.

The light of men.

Pets and Books

Jack and Kayla are outside, digging pet graves before the rain sets in this afternoon.
They each buried a hermit crab over the summer.  Their friend from next door buried her hermit crab along side of ours in the fall.
Today, they're adding fish and one more crab.  No one seems too sad anymore, just eager to get the job done.
My head is spinning a little with everyone's questions and needs.  Nothing bad.  Just could use a little  quiet, and that seems hard to come by today.
I do have a couple of books I'd like to get to.  Maybe I'll do that for a while.
I started All Quiet on the Western Front last night.  The cover says it's "the greatest war novel of all time."  We're getting close to World War I in history so I thought I'd educate myself.  It's not my normal read!
The other is Elyse Fitzpatrick's Idols of the Heart.  Sooo good.
Last thing- we finished Railway Children this morning.  I cried at the end.  A happy cry.  Such a great story.