WRAD Memories

I didn't cave. I also should have just stayed off of Facebook, but I didn't cave. Last summer I chose NOT send my kids to summer camp- even though, seemingly, ALL their friends were going. The same week. All of them. Well, not really, of course. But honestly, with Facebook status updates coming in fast and furiously- it really did seem like it. And I wondered, 'Am I a bad mom because I didn't send my kids to summer camp with their friends?' At one point, I seriously thought about calling up the camp (after the week had started) and seeing if I couldn't somehow manage to get them in anyway. I let the thought pass- and didn't cave. But I still feel a tinge of guilt about it and I'm dreading the decision about this summer already. Fast forward a few more months- to February 7, 2014 to be exact. Pretty much anyone with even the slightest interest in Lego will know what that date means. The release of their first full-length feature movie....

Just when I think things are getting back on track, they seem to fall apart all over again. Mainly it has to do with my 'to-do' list. Honestly, I wish I could clone 10 of me just so I could do all the things that I want to do as well as all the things I HAVE to do. But I'm realizing that really my problem is that I can't seem to say 'NO', and it's just making things worse. Also tied to that is trying to daily do God's agenda instead of mine. Can I let you in on a little secret? I've sucked at doing that lately. Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23), so I can hit the restart button and try again tomorrow. On the upside, I am trying to be more present with my kids and in everything that we're doing each day. Hormones have subsided (which I'm discovering make me really crazy), I'm hardly yelling at all and I'm slowly trying some new techniques with the kids in order to change some behaviours tha...

It's hard to believe that the summer break is almost done. As I was thinking about getting ready for the new school year, I actually had a fleeting thought that I wished I could send the kids back to public school, just so I could get caught up on all the half-finished projects laying around the house and NOT have to get ready to teach them. Honestly, I had been counting down the years till my youngest entered full-time school so I could do just that- finish all my stuff and clean-up/organize my house. Then I think of James 4:3 where it says, 'you do not get because you ask with wrong motives'.  Ah yes, God. Homeschooling it is, then. Die to self, take up His cross. Repeat. Keeping it real, by the grace of God... Tammy

I always think it's neat when I can see God moving in my life. For me lately, everything I'm reading in my bible (as I attempt to go cover-to-cover in 90 days), all the sermons I'm hearing and the topics from our Friday night bible study group, are all pointing to the same thing. A total, heartfelt obedience to God. Like my blog post  here . This past week, I finally hit that moment of surrender. And was it ever freeing. God gave me such a cool picture to go along with it- but that's just for me and Him for now. But surrender is only the first step- now I need to walk that out. Doing ALL the things He asks me to and NOT doing those things that He says not to. I feel overwhelmed by it all. Where do I start? However, those thoughts are mine, not His. Surrender is listening for the next instruction and then doing it. And then repeating the whole listening/doing thing for the rest of my life. It's laying down my agenda for what I want to do/accompl...

I started a summer project. Oh yes, not like bringing home a puppy wasn't enough craziness for the summer- I've gone and added something else. I set a goal for myself- read through my bible in 90 days. At first I hummed and hawed about doing it. Would I really retain anything to make it worthwhile? Shouldn't I do a slow methodical study to get as much as possible out of it? Blah, blah, blah... Then I figured, anything that gets me at least reading my bible on a regular basis (whatever the outcome) would be a GOOD thing. So I started out with great enthusiasm and even got a day ahead of myself. Now, I'm behind (surprise, surprise). REALLY behind. Out of town visitors and a week of camping will do that, but I'm working on getting caught up again. Until then, I want to share a little nugget that I got from Ex. 36:2. "Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and ...

Today was one of those days. The kids were up later than usual last night and so were cranky this morning. It was special breakfast day (our Saturday tradition), and after sleeping in my husband decided that HE wanted to make breakfast. Knowing that it would take a bit longer than if I did it, I let them each have a bite of left-over Nanaimo Bar to tide them over till the french toast was ready. Any guesses at where this will be going? They're tired and now hyped up on sugar... So, after breakfast we did what any sane parent would do in this type of situation- we took all five of them SHOPPING! To not just one place, mind you- we were going to two places. Oh.My.Goodness! Can we say brain-dead? First, a Marshall's store had recently opened at the new shopping centre being built in town, so my darling hubby wanted to go check it out. Truth be told I was curious as well, so that was our first stop. After the requisite whining about who was going to sit where (which was heigh...