In the Basket

It has been kind of crazy here at the Basket lately. We have upped the number of Basket dwellers by four and none of our occupants currently is employed. Five of our number are under ten years of age and five are young adults. Two are just old. This can be cause for some TENSION. But I am glad to report that everyone is intact and relatively sane. Big families are wonderful but they are a lot of work and sacrifice.
When God takes us through difficult times either as discipline or because of our ignorant choices, it is painful. Yesterday in my devotion time I thought this , " We don't ever want to suffer need , even when we need to suffer."
I know all the platitudes about God is with you ..footprints in the sand and all that but in truth you still have to go through it. What I tend to do in times like these is worry. But it came to me this time of difficulty that worry is dishonoring to God. Read Jeremiah 29:11,12 If I believe He is bigger than my "issues" then I must believe that I am walking under His protection and it is not trusting to worry. So, when I feel worry creeping up my back I say to the Lord of Hosts "Hey, can you take care of that?"
Good news yesterday He provided Don with the job we were hoping for. He will be working in HVAC maintenance at the local junior college. There are many benefits to this job but more pay is not one of them. So, once again I am trusting God to carry me in my concern about making ends meet . I am so thankful for the opportunity Don is getting with this job. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.
Dianna

Things I shouldn't have had to tell you

This post is for my children. It is not a completely original idea see http://heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com/.



This is my list of things I don't think I should have had to say to my children:



#1 Dropping kittens from the second floor stairs is not good for the kittens or the van they land on.



#2 Leaning over the washer while sitting on the dryer can get you very wet and scare your mother.



#3 Do not take your three year old brother to play in the bean field even if I said to. That was sarcasm.



#4 Laundry baskets are not cars for riding down a flight of stairs to hit the door at the bottom.



#5 If you get something caught in a tree, having your sister throw a rock at it and while you stand under the same tree is a good way to get a hole in your head but not a good way to get your nunchucks back.



#6 Baby kittens do not like to be carried several at a time in a book bag.



#7 Holding your siblings by their feet over the stairs is not a good way to get them to cooperate with you.



#8 Burying your sister in the playground rocks can result in a doctors visit for removal of said rocks from her ear.



#9 If you speed while driving you will get caught.



#10 If you get arrested you will get out the same way you got in. (But I love you just the same)





Names were withheld because you know who you are.



Mom

Things I like Thursday

Well, here I go joining a bandwagon. You know what I mean .. the Fabulous Father Friday, Super Sistat Saturday, the Marvelous Mother-in-Law Monday ...whatever. Don't get the idea there will be a new "thing I like" next week. I am just not that reliable. With no further ado.....


I LOVE coffee!! But I also really like these cups from Wal-Mart for $1. Very retro..esp the green one I have.













I love chocolate chip cookies. But these are extra special because I didn't have to bake them. Morgan baked like a gazillion.































I really like brand new white tennis shoes. They are so white for about a half and hour before I spill the coffee that I also like so well. I bought three pair of these. And ,yes, my kids did ask why I was taking pictures of my feet. lol





Dianna

What kids learn

I have come to realize recently that what children learn is sometimes very different from how they act or what they do. For those of you who don't know, I am mother to 8 children ages 21-6. I love them each and everyone ....but ( you knew that but was coming) they have all made me crazy with their actions in one way or another over the years. And I have wondered why they still do wrong when I have so clearly pointed out the right way to them and most of the time shown them by example. Sometimes the example is by me doing the right thing and sometimes it is from me making a poor choice and receiving the consequence.
Take as an example a hot iron. I myself remember clearly being cautioned by my Grandma as a child "Don't touch the iron . It is hot. " probably she added something like "Burny" to this advice as is her way. And I remember clearly touching the iron and realizing that it was very hot. Ouch!! I have seen all of my children do this same thing or a variation of it after receiving the same warning. Recently, I had the privilege of caring for my grand daughters. I had some napkins to iron and when I was done I admonished KayLynn " Don't touch the iron . It is hot.", whereupon she walked across the room and did the very thing. Well, so much for getting smarter through the generations.
Chores are another example I bring forth for your consideration. When I give any of my children a new chore I explain or an older wiser sibling explains how the chore is expected to be done. You know you have to have a standard. Inevitably after doing the chore right for maybe a week it then becomes sloppy. I then trot out the hated axiom "When you work , work with your might . Things half done are never done right." This too was a gift from my Grandma who used it so frequently that it plays on a loop in my head as I work. My variation on it is " When you work, work with your might . Things half done are done over again".
So, some days I wonder "What am I doing here? I should really get a different job! Maybe something with a paycheck and a vending machine." But what I am coming to see is that just because they do not always do what I have taught them does not mean they do not know. Can they get my voice out of their heads? Can you get your Mom's voice to stop playing when you least want it but maybe most need it? Occasionally, I hear one of my children say something or maybe do something I know I did or said and then I know that I am not speaking to hear myself talk. It is the long term experience of parenting that shows what you have done not an instant when you may doubt your ability. I am responsible for what I teach them not what they do with it. So, I think I will keep this job for awhile and remember this lesson when the day is difficult and I start dreaming of vacation pay and sick days.

Dianna

Philippians 4:8

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. "


These may seem like strange pictures to use as part of a blog about Philippians 4:8 but these are all photos of situations or people that help me follow the advice in the verse. I have a lot of difficult days. Days where nothing goes right or it seems like I get nothing done. I tend to look at life like a "to do" list instead of a journey. On the journey God has included many true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, praise worthy and things of good repute. But I get too busy looking at the laundry piling up in the basement or my disobiedent child to see how cute my six year old is with his dimple and crooked front tooth. Really he is adorable even with the hateful look on his face. God wants me to dwell on the beauty He has put in my life because He knows that will make me strong to face the difficult.