I Was Just Thinking...........

I love watching my kids grow and mature. I love hearing their conversations with each other and their questions. I love being able to watch their faces light up as they finally grasp the meaning of something. I love watching them interact with other kids and adults. They are like blank canvases, and as they grow God brushes a beautiful stroke of his handiwork on his masterpieces creating beautiful works!

I’m a very artsie person, and I’ve raised a couple of artsie kids. While on vacation last week we visited a couple of art galleries. They loved it! They even commented on use of color and technique at times. I smiled. One gallery displayed the pieces of artwork from 27 different artists and all of them had prices listed for them.

I think it took a few days for all of it to really sink in, because a couple of nights ago, Tristan, who is eight, asked, “can you get money for paintings"? “Yeah, if you’re really good", I replied. “That’s what I want to do", he said. Then he very thoughtfully began to explain his idea of a series he would like to do. And how he was going to sketch his ideas out and save every drawing, so when he’s famous those could be displayed too. He has it all planned out. Again I smiled.

I don’t know what either of my kids will be when they become adults. Kaitlyn wants to be teacher or zoologist. Tristan, now wants to be a painter, but wanted to be a policeman, fireman, and well…….a fashion designer (too much project runway). But what I do know for certain, the Master holds the brush and I pray my kids will follow his direction and let him paint a beautiful future for them. For he knows what the finished canvas should look like. Each one being unique, beautiful, and for his glory and purpose.

I listened to this a lot while traveling all those miles last week! It’s Give Me Jesus, by Jeremy Camp.

I LOVE this song!!!!!

We’ve been on vacation, thus the lack of new blog posts. We drove 2,500 miles in eight days. That’s a lot of car time. Our first destination was near Minot, North Dakota, where we had a great visit with Chris’s Dad, his stepmom and her kids and grandkids! Then we packed the ole van back up and headed to Rapid City, S.D. to see Mount Rushmore and surrounding attractions for a couple of days.

Needless to say, I’m a bit tired, but we had a wonderful time! There will be more posts about the trip, and pictures too!

………now I have lots of laundry and house cleaning to do!

How was your week?

Peacemaker. That seems to be one of the biggest roles I play in our house. We were only a couple of hours into summer vacation when the kids began to fight. Something insignificant that Tristan did and then Kaitlyn found it necessary to retaliate. And from there it escalated into a full blown yelling match, where accusations were slung and tears flowed….not from the kids, but from me! Okay not really, but I did think what a long three months I have awaiting me.

So I began trying to incorporate this lesson (again) into our house to make it a more peaceful summer for everyone.

Lesson #1: No matter what he or she does to you, don’t do it back or anything else that crosses your mind to retaliate! Never! Walk away before it intensifies. Then I instructed further if it’s really bad, come tell me and let me handle it. And I followed up with a scripture to support what God thinks of vengeance.

Romans 12:17-19
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord.

……and for the name calling, that frequently starts, I added this verse.

1 Peter 2:23
23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

I think it’s our human nature to always want to seek justice for wrongs done to us. God thinks differently though. We are instructed to be peacemakers. And while we should be able to walk away and work out small conflicts, when we don’t feel we can, we should go to Him, our Creator, and let Him handle it.

I would like to introduce you to the new addition to our family!

His name is Jake and he is a four year old Chesepeake Bay Retriever. We rescued this little (huge) guy from the animal shelter.

He’s a really sweet dog, great with kids, loves to play and take walks. He retrieves and swims well. And has quite a fascination with birds.

He doesn’t seem to have much interest in our cats other than to play with them. Which they are not willing participants! Those of you who know me or have been following my blog for a while know that I’m a cat lover. My poor cats’ world has been turned upside down! I know they will get used to him though. It’s an adjustment for me too since I’m a cat person, but he’s quite a loveable dog! And he’ll encourage me to exercise by taking him for walks!

So there you go! Our new 100 lb. baby!