4 Months?!

Wow... So I'm not the best blogger.

It has been a long and arduous 4 months! But we've made it so far and I anticipate that we will continue to survive!

Matrim made it through a summer of recovery. He broke his elbow 4 days after getting home from the hospital. So physical therapy and Dr. appointments filled our days.

The boys are in school again. Rand has started football. I can't wait for his first game on Monday!!

Chris is starting a new job tomorrow. The sad part is that he won't be working from home anymore and I will miss him, but he will be hands on again instead of doing sales and he is happy about that.

I'm hoping to start school soon... of course I think I've been saying that for a couple years now. But our church offers a 2 year course called Vineyard Leadership Institute that I am hoping to start.

Gotta go for now... Hopefully it won't be another 4 months!!

Diabetes

So I have on occasion talked about my diabetes on here. Today I spent some time on dLife, a website that is devoted to diabetes and everything that comes along with it and one of the articles that I read was a humorous one about the diabetes-slang that has come to be. One was particularly funny to me so... here it is:

Regan-Rage – Term comes from the little girl in The Exorcist. Describes the behavior some people with diabetes exhibit when having a low bloodsugar. Regan-rage behaviors include swearing, screaming, spitting of juice, and stretching body parts in unnatural ways.

*Does not include levitating. If your diabetic friend/partner/child should levitate, it is probably not caused by low bloodsugar.

7th grade relationships

So... my oldest is in 7th grade now and there is a nice young girl who seems to be interested in him. She is sweet and I know that it is only a matter of time before he realizes that maybe he would like to be more than "just friends" with a girl. So today I asked him about it. He said that they were just friends and that wasn't going to change because "7th grade relationships last about 2 weeks." So, he wants to keep his friendship with her. That is good. I tell him that is a wise choice. But does that mean that he really likes her and doesn't want to mess things up? Or does it mean that he still just isn't ready for that type of relationship? Or does it mean something completely different? Who knows. I just hope that when he does start having "relationships" he tells me. If he's 20 and as far as I know still hasn't had a girlfriend... I'll know I've been duped.

Friendship

I have had the opportunity to see so many of my friends this weekend! On Friday night I got to go to Julie's house and hang out with her and Carolyn during Kaylin's birthday party. Later, Mike (Julie's husband) got home and then later than that, Chris came over and we got to sit around laughing for a while.
Saturday afternoon we got to see Andy briefly, Thomas stayed over for the afternoon while Peggy and Jim with Jeremy, Michael and Katie, and Kelly Lewis with Nathan, Issac, and Joseph all came over for lunch and conversation.
Saturday night we went to dinner with Paula, Teri Sue, Jason, Linda, Chad, Amy, Jeff, Annetta and Barnabas... oh, and we met Corey too. We had a very spendy, but very fun night, not to mention finding a new drink. It was called a Flirtini and had Raspberries which had been marinating in vodka. Very Yummy!
On Sunday I got to go to a Baby Shower for Tina, who I haven't seen for months. There were several friends who were there, a few of whom I haven't seen in years. It was really nice.

So, to all of my friends, I LOVE YOU! And while I don't get to see all of you as often as I wish, I do think of you often. It was great getting to see you this weekend!

Long time!

Wow... what a long winter this has been! The longest sick season my family has ever had. I can't wait for summer. I can't wait until all of the kids are healthy. I can't wait to sit by the pool in the heat and the sun watching my kids play.

What I don't understand is why everyone in my family was so sick. Especially Matrim has been sick. He actually got Whooping Cough and now Pertussis. What I forgot to ask the Dr. about is how Matrim got Whooping Cough in the first place. I know that Pertussis is included in the immunizations that are given to little ones.

There are a lot of theories that immunizations have something to do with the increase in Autism. Matrim did have a bad reaction to one of his immunizations. And he has been labeled with Asbergers by the school system. We have not pursued a medical diagnosis because we have not seen a reason to. But now that he has been sick with something that he was supposed to be immunized for the questions of what has happened with him race through my mind. I am sad that he has been ill and that perhaps there is something that I should have done differently.

I know that I have always done what I thought was best at the time, and there is no way to go back and change decisions that we have made. I will not allow myself to beat myself up for the unknown of what-ifs. But is there something that I can do to help others make a more informed decision? I do believe that immunizations are good. My understanding is that without them children would have more illnesses and shorter lives. But why do I believe that? And does that mean that something doesn't need to be changed?

Lots to ponder...

WWJD

So a while back I made the decision to ask myself "What Would Jesus Do?" before doing anything. Mostly this was brought on by reading the book In His Steps. I have forgotten about that recently. I don't know what I may have done differently over the last month if I had been remembering to ask myself that question regularly, but I want to get back to it. I think that one area where I really want to focus on God's direction is in my spending habits. I don't think I spend money wisely. I know that is a hard area for many people; it has certainly been an area of struggle for me. But perhaps, if I approach it from the perspective of "What does God want me to do with my money?" I will do better.

Spring Break!

Well, Teri Sue got married on Monday! Yeah!
And I got through the school activities this week!
And now it is Spring Break! Yeah!

I'm hoping to find some fun things to do with the kids. Swimming and rock climbing for sure. Haven't figured out what else yet. Chris is gone for part of the week in New Orleans... poor Chris. And then I'm leaving for a Chicago-area Women's Conference! I'm so excited! Lots of the women from church are going and we'll get to spend a lot of time in the van together.

We get to have a few friends over on Sunday for Easter. I'm excited about that too. It will be the first Easter that we haven't spent with my parents in as long as I can remember! They planned a trip to California, not realizing that it had them gone over Easter.

I hope that you all have a great Easter and have had or will have a great spring break!

OH!

So I didn't realize that you couldn't see all of the stuff onj my calendar... Hmmm... Gonna have to invest some time into that.

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. I'm thinking that it might slow down after TS gets married! Maybe... :)

So much going on in life right now... So tired... I don't think I could put togeher a coherant post right now.

Love ya all
Rennie

New Element

Well, for those of you who like to know where I am and what I'm doing... I have added my calendar to the bottom of this page.

Flu

Boy! We just can't get healthy! It started with me this last December. I was sick for a good three weeks and then CJ got sick. He missed two full weeks of school and was coughing for another week and a half. Then Matrim got sick and missed a week of school. Went back for three days and missed another day. Went back to school today, and has a fever again tonight! And last Friday, Rand got a fever and has the cough too now. And last night he passed out on us from dehydration. It was scary.

I think we are really going to enjoy this summer! Not only has it been a very cold winter, but having someone constantly be sick is waring on us.

Boys' Room

So the boys (Matrim and CJ) have decided to put their beds into one room and their toys into the other room. Which means that there is a lot of work for me to do! I have also wanted to paint their rooms for quite a while and this will give me the opportunity to do that. I started emptying CJ's room today... and filling the dining room! I'm excited to get this project done. I think it will be good.

Hopefully Chris won't get too frustrated before I get things put back together. :)

Problem posting...

Chris, for some reason I couldn't get the window to respond to your blog to work. So here's my response:

I am curious... It appears that your choosing criteria changed with this 5th year choice. Previously you have been choosing songs which spoke to your life at the time. But this time you seemed to choose songs that you knew later in life but were released that year. Were you watching Grease at 5? And Billy Joel?

Did you decide to change it up a bit, or do these songs speak to your life at that time? If they do, How do they speak to your life?

The song you chose was The Gambler. I really don't think you can define an entire music genre by the fact that you don't listen to it. I'm pretty sure Kenny Rogers was Country. So... YOU listened to country music. It's ok. It wasn't your fault! You didn't know better. How could you know better at that age? No one taught you to shun all things country. ;)

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out my husband's blog. The link is on the right titled "My Chris' Blog"

Who am I a slave to?

So I was studying Galations and one of the key points is that we are slaves to something. Either we are in slavery to this world and our sinful nature, or we are slaves to God, and His will. Then I think it was Luke where Jesus says that anyone who sins is in slavery to sin. Well, I may be working really hard to do what I think God wants me to do, I may ask myself, WWJD, and I may strive to follow His will, but I will never reach a point where I do not sin. I don't think that is possible in this life. So what does that mean?

I want to be a slave for Christ. I want my life to be ruled by Him.

Another way to look at it is, What is my driving motivation? What is my perspective on life? Am I approaching life with the desire to please myself or God? I think it is John that is talking to those who have been converted to Christianity and says to them, "If you are a slave... do everything as unto the Lord." So in my every action and reaction, I need to keep in mind that I am acting as unto the Lord...

Everything I do is a reflection of my beliefs. Everything I do speaks the truth of who I am. If I say that I love God, and yet do not do as He wills me to do, then what good is my love for Him? When I ask my children to do something and they are obedient, especially when it is something that they would not want to do, it shows me that they love me and respect me. I need to do the same for God, my heavenly Father.

My thoughts seem a little disorganized here... but these are my thoughts the last few days. Thought I'd share them with you.

Our Velentine's Day

Last night Chris and I went to dinner with Teri Sue and Jason at Enjoy! We sat down and Chris pulled a jewelry box out of his coat pocket. Inside was a beautiful ruby necklace! Then, he pulled another box out of his pocket. It had earrings to match!

We then had a delightful dinner, great conversation and yummy dessert. It was the best Valentine's date we've had... maybe ever, maybe its just that it is more current in my mind. But it was wonderful!

I'm so blessed!

Responses

So I have to admit that I haven't felt very motivated to post the last few days. And I have come to the realization that it is because no one ever responds to my posts. I have gotten two responses in the last month, and both have been from my husband! So, this makes me question myself. "Why am I writing this blog? Is it as a form of communication with family and friends? Or is it a record to look back on and remember what was happening at this time in my life?

Would I like to have my friends and family reading and responding on my blog? Yes! Will I continue writing this if they don't? I'm not sure. I have to consider this.

I have wanted to start some discussions and get other ideas in reference to Caucus Night, Ironic, and WWJD posts but didn't get the response I was hoping for.

So... if there is anyone out there reading this (other than my husband, not to devalue your reading of my blog, but I *can* talk with you each night pretty easily) and you have any opinion, let me know.

Thank you!

Themes for firefox

I stumbled upon something kind of campy-Christian tonight. Mozilla Firefox is the Web Browser that I use and after installing an update tonight I decided to browse through the add ons that they have. I found a Christian theme for the browser. Instead an arrow pointing left and right, it has a Christian fish facing right and left for my back and forward, a dove for my refresh, a cross for stop. I know it is silly, and I may grow tired of it within a weeks time, but I thought is was funny.

Caucus Night

What a crazy night!

On our way to our caucus tonight, we saw a line of cars going down 42 and around the corner at the next block for the democratic caucus. When we got to the location for our caucus Chris had to drop me off and go park across the street. When we went in, there was a constant stream of people and we couldn't even get into the auditorium where the meetings were kicked off with some speeches by local representatives. When things did get started in the smaller room for our precinct, there were over 55 people in the room!

I did decide to become a delegate for our precinct. So, I guess I will be going to the next convention on March 8th. That is exciting. It is funny because my mother-in-law asked tonight if either of us were going to do that. "No," I said, "I think we're too busy to do that." Oh well.

In the book I'm reading, In His Steps, some of the people are embarking on entering their local politics because they believe that Jesus would stand up for some changes. I also feel that morality is vital to our countries survival. If I don't stand up for what I believe is right, then how will anything get better?

So, along with the biggest turn out for caucuses I've ever seen, we went too. And signed up to continue. May God bless the upcoming elections and this country.

Quick Check-in

So, Chris is standing at the piano figuring out how to play one of his old camp songs. You know how they are really repetative... You know how they can get really annoying when people sing them? Let me just say that it is a good thing I love my husband so much!

We had Christ Life tonight. It is always so cool to see what people learn about themselves, what God shows us, how we can help each other. I am truly privileged to facilitate CL.

It is late tonight and I don't have much to say, so Sweet Dreams!

Family Update

Well... Where should I start? CJ has been sick and will finally be returning to school after two weeks! He still has a nasty cough, but it is controllable with decongestant. He had a pretty tough go with the flu though.

Matrim went is for a CT Scan on Thursday. He has had headaches every day for years now. Chiropractor, massage therapy, pain killer... nothing has made a difference. So I'm really praying that God will show the doctors exactly how to help him find some relief from pain.

Rand is into full swing of musical practice. He is in the Wild Wild West Show, a spoof on Western Movies. It should be a lot of fun to see this March.

Chris is getting a little busier with work. He has settled into his little "Bat Cave Office" downstairs. I would go crazy if I spent all day in a little room like that with no windows, but he seems to like it.

I have been busy painting Rachel's room, putting a scrapbook together for our recent Associate Pastor, facilitating Christ Life, being Mommy to a sick little boy and all of the other day to day stuff. Its about time to start getting things pulled together for our Feb. Culver's Fundraiser. I am taking some time off of work which will make things a little easier over the next few weeks.

We are starting a new study at church called Naturally Supernatural. I am excited to see what it is going to be like. I really like our small group! It is great to have close friends who share our beliefs and values.

To finish up the family update I should include the animals, huh? Naboo and Amidala are both looking forward to spring. Naboo wants some serious walks and Ami just wants to be able to go outside without freezing. Ella is as quiet and illusive as ever. Geiko is healthy and growing and the fish are swimming in circles as much as always.

There ya go! Everything! Well... not quite.

Ironic

Because Chris and I watch our TV through the TiVo and skip most commercials, it is rare that I catch a good one. However, I thought this was interesting. Chris and I are sitting in bed watching TV trying to wind down and there is a commercial on that says, "Most great nights don't end with TV." (The commercial is for an upscale SUV and the kids are falling asleep in the back after star gazing with their Dad out in the middle of no where.) But, it's 11:30 at night... and we're watching TV. How do you think our night is going to end?

Recently...

I have been busy. Very busy.

My youngest son has been sick for over a week now. Uhg! Poor Little Guy.

One of the things that I'm working on is painting my good friend's daughter's room! They are in the process of moving and I get the privilege of creating a new place for Rachel. She asked for an underwater room with a squid! What fun! So far I have painted the room light blue. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the darker blue painted on the bottom of the wall and the orangey-yellow of the sand along the baseboard. Then, I'll tackle the animals! I am not above prayers for God's inspiration and skill for that!

Another activity that is taking some time is leading Christ Life at my church. I am facilitating one group alone and co-facilitating another. I am continually amazed by how great God is! He is faithful, when so often we are not. It is such a joy to be able to be present and a part of what God is doing in my groups' lives. If you don't know what Christ Life is, check it out at www.christlifesolution.org.

I must heed my body now and go fall asleep. Goodnight!

WWDJ Update

I found myself in a pickle today. I work at the airport and asked God for the opportunity to share Him with someone today while on my way in to work. And I believe I got that opportunity but failed in my goal. A woman came up to the table and we were chatting about the music. She had decided to wait and not purchase a CD today because she was having a hard time making a decision. She then shared with me that it was because she was here for a funeral. I wanted to ask her if I could pray for her, but I didn't. I wanted to say God bless you, but I didn't. I let my fear keep me from voicing my beliefs to her. What might God have done through me if I had asked. I have been praying for her periodically since then and believe that God can minister to her even when I don't follow through.

What held me back? I was concerned about sharing my beliefs while I was working. I doubt that Jesus would have been held back by that. Does anyone have words of wisdom about being at work and sharing Jesus?

Wouldn't it be nice to work at Northwestern Book Store!

Food Tracking

So, I've learned over and over that tracking the food that you eat is a great way to be healthy and attain your weight goals whether they be to loose, maintain or gain. I don't keep it up for long though. However they have been talking about this website on KTIS recently so I went and checked it out. Here it is: www.dailyplate.com . I thought it looked promising and wanted to share it with any of you who might be interested as well.

Faithfulness

There are so many times that I have had the best of intentions and meant to do something only to be distracted, for it to take longer than I thought, for it to be more involved than I thought it would be or be harder or seemingly impossible and not finish the task or accomplish my goal.

What has been striking me this last week in my prayer time is that God finishes the work that he has started! He knows what is needed, He knows how involved it will be, He does not get distracted, and nothing is hard for Him to do. And He is patient. He will wait through the process and not give up if it doesn't happen quickly. Of course, to God time is insubstantial. What feels an eternity to me is merely a blink of His eye.

I am so thankful that God is faithful. I am so thankful that I can count on Him.

My Matrim

My son mentioned when I congratulated him on a test score yesterday, that getting good grades on his tests was a characteristic of being a nerd. He didn't sound very positive when he said this (which in the past he has seemed to be proud of) so I asked him about it. He has in the past, seemed indifferent to other people's opinions of him and so I was surprised to hear him voice concern over how other people saw him and treated him. Not that I haven't wondered in the past how much of his indifference was for show, his coping mechanism. But it makes me wonder what is happening at school that he is voicing this concern now. How do I respond? Do I talk with his teachers about this? Do I wait and see? Do I start a more concerted effort at teaching him social skills?

Sometimes being a mother is very hard. I don't always know how to balance taking care of and protecting my child with preparing him to face and deal with the world.

John 5:19

We started discussing this verse in small group this last week.

John 5:19 ¹⁹Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does."

I have been pondering and meditating on this verse a lot since then. What would me life look like if I were constantly listening to God about what He wants me to do? I have also started reading the book In His Steps which was written in the 1890s. It is the story that started the WWJD thing. If I stopped and thought before making any decision about what Jesus would do, and consistently listen for God's voice to give me direction, how would my life change?

I like to think that I live a life that is pleasing to God, but I know that there is plenty room for change.

I make a commitment now, here, publicly, to think about what God wants from me and what Jesus would do before I act. I will do my best to live by this commitment and will write about how it is going on here.

As always I welcome your comments.

Back to normalcy

Well, We finally got up to International Falls and back and school started up today. Ahhh... normalcy.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who spent time with us over Christmas, New Year's and Chris' birthday! We have had a wonderful Holiday Season this year!

I will try to get pics posted soon.