The Downside of Facebook

My eleven year old remarked the other day that it was sad that no one seemed to be doing the weblogs anymore just Facebook. Many of our friends have been on vacation and we have been busy finishing up the school year. I do love to be able to peruse different weblogs of my friends as well as the creative writing outlet that it affords me. I am thankful, however, that I seem to have hit paydirt when it comes to former team members from YWAM here recently. It is a fun kind of reunion. It also came at a time when I had some time to spend frittering away on the computer. I need to get back to routine in our house though. We Heaths perish without routine or at least would get buried under a pile of laundry. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to recently.

Remember our Brothers and Sisters

Today our family attended a church service. There is growing disgust in the media and in some camps here in our country towards fundamental christians. Still I got up, got everyone ready to go, got myself ready to go and our family toodled down the two miles to our place of worship in our family vehicle. Yes, I have seven children under the age of twelve to get going (we won't mention TODR:). That can have its own challenges that might seem daunting and somedays it is that way for me. When things are put in perspective, however, I am lead to appreciate what I have for whatever amount of time I have it.

World wide we have christian brothers and sisters that face incredible challenges in order to meet together with other believers. They face long hard walks. They face the chance of being arrested and tortured like this man. Many face physical attacks personally or to their family. Many have risked their lives or have been martyred because they choose their christian family over old tribal feuds. The list goes on and on.

I am at the point that if I hear one more lazy christian quote the verse about where two or three are gathered in my name in order to make the point that they do not have to go to church...I am seriously tempted to lay hands on them...you know three ways: hard, fast and continuously. Now I truly understand that is a waste of time and effort in a fruitless way.

Instead I sit here and write. May we all honor our brothers and sisters in Christ that long to meet together with fellow believers as we have the freedom to do. It honors them if we meet together and then remember to pray for them. Let us lift them up before the Lord and let us do it together. Can you imagine one of these dear saints asking you why you didn't go to church? I can and some of my answers are shameful.

Happy Birthday Tiggy!

My Nana wanted a girl born on her birthday. I went into labor today on the 16th, but our Tiggy held out until 10 minutes after midnight to arrive on the 17th. It was a very hard delivery, but she was worth every second. Happy 3rd Birthday Sweetheart.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Woo-hoo!!!!

We did it! We did it! Yes, the Oma's yard is done. There are a few little maintenance things she wants done, but....THE YARD LOOKS GREAT! We finally had enough nice weather on a day we could do it. Everyone is tired and happy. And almost everyone is clean! And almost everyone is ready to crawl into bed! I will try to remember to take pictures tomorrow to post. Now I am headed off for a well-deserved shower and snooze (I mean cuddle time) with my honey.

This thing is so annoying.

The reason it is soooooo annoying is that my children all love it and do a great job of copying it. It sticks in your head. The worst part is that on church on Sunday I found myself walking down the hall singing ding, ding, ding to myself. ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!

If Money was No Object

If money were no object this is what I would like for my birthday. I will be thankful for whatever I get, as long as it isn't fireworks:) It is still nice to dream every once and a while. There is also a cruise that I would get TODR for his birthday, if we had the money as well. It involves a Ligonier Conference and Alaska. Maybe one day we will be able to afford these things. For now I am looking forward to time with TODR-just him-even if we are grocery shopping. My kids can dress up and we will go to The Big Bottom Blast on July 4. I guess I could dress up too. Most folks look at us funny anyway...

NO FEAR

I honestly don't believe NO FEAR is the best. I think we need to fear God and not man (or what man can do to us). I read an interesting article. It definately put some things in perspective if you are feeling slightly worried about the Swine Flu thing. I do not agree with the evolutionary outlook in the latter part of the article, but for the most part it is pretty good. Whether we actually ever see a major epidemic/pandemic or life goes on as usual God is in control. A wise man I know said that if we get the Swine Flu tomorrow we are wasting today by worrying about it (he is cute too:).

Redneck Garage

We don't have a garage or shop. We do have rain. So here is TODR's makeshift shop to keep the bil and himself dry while they fix the brakes on our truck. Woo-hoo. A truck that doesn't have to be stopped a la Flintstone style. Wonderful!

He's Alive

This is dedicated to the Ole Daddy Rabbit. Love you!

A Tidbit for Bucca

I learned a new word today. I love new words! I know Bucca likes new words too so here it is....

Cerebration: (noun) brain action, conscious or unconscious; cerebrating; thinking.

Preparing for......

SUN!!!!!!



Many are familiar with the story told in Facing the Giants about preparing for rain. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are always prepared for rain. The sunshine is iffy. So here we are....

We have a work party we have planned at my mom's house. Hosting it and providing the food is our gift to her for her birthday that was in April (back when it was still SNOWING regularly). The weekend looked promising with the weather. Now we have put out the invitation, folks are planning on helping, plants are purchased and food is planned. The weather is predicting sunny for Friday and partly cloudy for Saturday. We are praying for sun. My faith is kind of shakey at this point. I find myself in that situation again of thinking that God wanted me to do something and now I hear the question: Did God REALLY say?....And my answer is I DON'T KNOW!

On another front I am looking at the reality of camping with our family this summer. Due to past issues (read bad attitudes on the part of many) I am seriously torn. I remember camping as a child. It was one of those rare and happy memories for me. I also remember the "camp conditions" of my mission teams and the happy comraderie that those times forged in us. I know there have been many changes for the good in everyone in our house. There are just some fronts that I am not willing to give up on. And I just don't know if those are hills to die on or my sinful selfishness taking over and they need need to die....I JUST DON'T KNOW. We need to get some more things for camping. We have some basics, but we need some more decent sleeping bags and cots/mattresses/soft things for kiddos to sleep in. We have one air mattress and 4 real sleeping bags. That is real as compared to the $14.00 ones we purchased a few years ago not at CABELA'S. The supposed down is now in horrible clumps in non-warming areas of the bag. They make great tents in the living room though. We do have friends that are "serious as a heart-attack" to help us get going camping since our kids absolutely love it.

I am trying to prepare for the sun. I just don't WANNA. So if you WANNA...be praying for sun.

A Deliberate Family

I was reading an article written by a very gracious lady. She talked about becoming a "deliberate family." That struck my husband and me. The dictionary defines deliberate in three ways; Planned or intended, careful and slow, or (as a verb) to consider something carefully. In this day and age family is under attack more and more.

I don't think it matters if you come from a "traditional," home or a "fractured" one, or some where in between. We all feel the tug to be selfish. We are reminded daily, in our culture, that it is all about YOU. The wise pastor that did our premarital counseling said that he believed 95% of divorce and marital problems stemmed from selfishness. (You might ask what the 5% was...good question...I don't remember.) He also said that if marriage didn't bring your selfishness to the surface, children would! How true!

Gary Ezzo said, "In our home, family ties were never optional for our children. They were a mandate based on God's genius...Each member knows the team is counting on all the others to stay committed to the code of ethics that represents the family."

It is amazing how much a family is like a military unit. The hard part is changing our mind set from civilian to military thinking. Do you remember that children's song? I may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, shoot the artillery. I may never fly over the enemy, but I'm in the Lord's army-yes, SIR! There is some great doctrine in some of those oldies (Jesus Loves Me is another example).

The captain of the Heath family is deliberately leading us to be a deliberate family. The funny thing is...I don't really remember what it was like to be a civilian.

May God bless us with wisdom to be a deliberate family. It makes me question; Where am I being selfish? How am I not deliberately following where the Lord would have me go? Unfortunately, the answers are very obvious. Maybe it is a blessing that they are obvious. It means He is working. What is God asking you to deliberate on doing deliberately?

Some Men Are Their Jobs

My husband has many interests from theology to mountains, but may we never forget that he works at a STUD mill! We are thankful that he does still have a job. I am thankful to be married to this wonderful man. We have much to be thankful for.

A Few LIttle Tidbits

-It was finally warm enough for some water sporting at our house. The second son washed Oma's car and the girls found a hole in the hose. They all put on their bathing suits and danced and ran through the water, even the smallest fry. Here is a picture of our bathing beauties.
-Number 2 son has decided to study Greek. He has me making worksheets for him and he has been wandering around singing the Greek alphabet song. He is a funny duck, but very fun.
-Our pastor was making a point Sunday. The point was being sold out completely to God and not "trying God" like He was some kind of a shoe to try on. The pastor remarked that he was going to get arrested at Walmart one day because he had a razor blade and he was going to take those "Try God" bumper stickers off of folks' cars. He said he would leave all the other stickers there. Now most of us knew he was not serious, but our oldest boy obviously didn't. He offered to go with him when he did it. Now I am not too sure if we should be proud that our son is on board enough to back his pastor's play or if we have some talking to be doing:)
We Heaths may be strange, but we have never been accused of being boring.

Random

Here is just a random post. Short, sweet and to the point. The sun is shining, my house is relatively clean and we are actively working together. So there it is. Praise God for today for it is a new day full of promise with no mistakes in it.

Maundy Thursday

My children used to wonder what Monday/Thursday was...
So we did some research...
It comes from the Latin word "Mandatem." We get our English word mandate from it. The term was coined in the early church to refer to the last supper when the Lord modeled communion for us. He gave us an old/new thing to observe. A new mandate, if you will. It was old in that it was from the traditional Passover meal that he drew from to institute communion. It was new because it represents the new covenant in His blood and body.
Our church celebrates communion every Sunday after not celebrating it at all for so long. There was a fear that familiarity might breed contempt or apathy. There is always that factor to consider when we do something often. It has become such a vital part of our church. I saw that the one Sunday our pastor took a much needed rest. We didn't have communion prepared. It was so vital to those there that we all jumped into getting done.
As I raced home to mix up some communion bread I was overwhelmed with the thought of Passover. That is why the Israelites didn't use leaven! It took me 30 minutes from racing home, mixing ingredients and a finished product. If it was "normal" bread it is a 1 and 1/2 to 2 hour process. They were to get ready. They were to eat and go. They were not to leave anything, even burning the leftover meat. They were to use the blood to paint their doorposts so the Angel of Death would PASS OVER them.
Now every communion preperation is not that dramatic. I see the symbolism in marriage though. We are intimate with our spouse on a regular basis. If we aren't we need to address the reasons why. It usually means something is wrong or there are bitter feelings on one or both sides. The same way-we have communion-it is an intimacy with our Bridegroom as well as an intimacy enjoyed with other members of the Bride.
We are coming up on a BIG celebration: RESURRECTION SUNDAY. This Easter we will go to church and enjoy communion as well as a potluck put on by the menfolk (they even have a theme-I am afraid, very afraid:). Just like in our married life we often times make a big deal out of our anniversaries. Just like in our married life we consummate our marriage again. Let us have these temporal things point towards heaven as we taste again the bittersweet beauty of our Lord's death and resurrection on Sunday. We should celebrate it every day, every moment, and every time we get a chance to celebrate our love. It is extra special this Sunday as we remember what Christ did for us. We also may celebrate that this is just the beginning. One day we will feast forever. This is just a foretaste. Let us enjoy every moment of it. I, for one, am looking forward to Sunday with eager anticipation.

Just Us

We took a group picture the other night at church with all the kids. There were 12 children and one adult in the picture. As we were snapping the pix, my dear friend noticed that they were ALL our kids-hers and mine. A couple of hers were missing too. I remember a few years ago when we had a visitor for Vacation Bible School at our church...There were a handful of us pregnant at the same time....He asked if that was the pastor's church growth plan. The answer was, "Yes, it is slow, but effective." How true. Those just happened to be the kiddos at this assembly. We have more than that attend our church. It was quite a "Kodak" moment.

I was so proud

We went for a walk the other day. I even remembered to bring the camera. Our oldest girl patiently helped her two sisters ride her big girl bike home. Here is the picture I snapped of the three girls while they were unsuspecting. Sometimes when they are bickering and fighting I despair, but at times like these I know that they are on the road to true friendship.

Nothin' Like It

I am sure that there is nothing like getting a welcome phone call with good news, no-GREAT NEWS! I am sure we have all experienced those late night phone calls that bring a big sinking feeling to our stomaches. We are glad that we can be the ones folks can count on to call us when in need at those hours... On the other hand it is so much better to get a call announcing something wonderful. To be a person that some one will share their joy with. I got one of those phone calls this morning and I feel so good, great, wonderful. I am sure nothing in comparison to my dear friend that called. I think she feels pretty euphoric!

This dear, sweet friend has been through some heart-rending things. She was due 9 days ago. Yes, I know that feeling. It is no fun. I felt for her. I had been praying for her. I pray for her and her family every day. Last night, though, I was genuinely worried about her and her baby. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit. My sweet, sweet oldest daughter prayed, we prayed as a family and I prayed every time I got up last night. I wondered why my kids all seemed to have problems. I was up several times dealing with nightmares, potty accidents....I prayed every time. I get up earlier than the kids so I can have some time with the Lord in the mornings. I prayed...

Then this morning as I was fixing breakfast I got the wonderful call! That precious BIG baby finally arrived this morning. Everyone is doing well. I am excited. Excited that my friend has a beautiful (I haven't seen him yet, but I know he is) healthy baby. Excited that she is on the other side of labor and doing well. Excited that my children and I got to see God's immediate answer to prayer. Excited that getting up with my children not only spoke to them about God's love for them and His comfort, but was a fruitful time of prayer. I usually can be grumbley (is that a word?) after too many ups in the middle of the night. I am learning to pray when ever I have the opportunity.

What a wonderful, exciting way to start the day. Now I get to call some folks and pass on the blessing:)

Waiting

Patience has never been one of my strong points. I am being constantly amazed, though, at the wisdom of God. I am getting older. It is apparent in the hair on my head and the state of my waistline. I am learning to be less anxious and I think that is a telling sign of age as well. I remember waiting FOREVER for so many things. Now those things have passed and they seem to be FOREVER ago.

Our pastor seems to be stuck in the idea of "all we have is today." It is a good way to live, a good place to be stuck. The Bible tells us that we should be taught to number our days. I am learning more that all I have is now. Do I really want to waste in on busyness with no purpose (yes, that is busy-ness, not business:) ? The idea is not, live life to the hilt fore tomorrow we die. It is to appreciate every season, every moment God has us in. I only have this moment to savor. Everything changes. Yet when we stop and savor we hear the echoes of the future. The future when we will hear the whole compostion instead of just catching strains of it throught the veil.