Category Archives: Sacred Mundane

Summer is here!!! 

My favorite things about summer: Oregon strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cherries (are you noticing a theme?), fresh salads, dinner from the garden, early morning sunrises and late night sunsets, and of course–summer reading.

Summer is the time when I stack up on my nightstand all the books I have neglected during the busy year, and dig in like the ravenous bibliophile that I am. A good book, ice cold lemonade, and a lounge chair are all that I need. Of course with two littles I may only make it 1/4 way through my list, but that’s ok. I’ll take what I can get and read the rest someday when they can no longer sit on my lap …

On my nightstand for this summer:

• Love Has a Face by Michele Perry (1/2 way through: Wow!)
• One Million Arrows by Julie Ferwerda
• The Missional Mom by Helen Lee
• From Eternity to Here by Frank Viola (1/2 way through: Great!)
• The Lost Art of Listening by Michael Nichols (1/2 way through:  Very helpful!)
• The Waiting Place by Eileen Button
• Forty Thousand to One by Ben Petrick
• Live Beyond Organic by Jordan Rubin (1/2 way through: Awesome!)
• The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin
• Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney
• A Way With Words by Christin Ditchfield
• Bringing Up Girls by James Dobson
• Love-Powered Parenting by Tom & Chaundel Holladay

(Ok, ok, this list may be a bit long and I have two small children. This may be my Summer Reading List from now until they are graduated from high school….)

Looking for ideas? Might I suggest these must-reads?

• No Longer a Slumdog
• The Hole in our Gospel
• Half the Sky
• One Thousand Gifts

Now, onto the “bite”: The purpose of this particular bite is to downsize. For those of you who know us well you are laughing out loud. We have books. Lots of books. Thousands of books. We both love books and so people give us books and somehow I think our home is a breeding ground for books. That said, we’re learning to purge. We will still keep our well-loved and trusted volumes, and although Tsh says to switch to Kindle … I cannot. At least not now. I love real pages too much. But I’m tossing those that I don’t love. Only the gold nuggets remain. In fact, the back of our car is already packed with 5 boxes of sub-par books headed for the Goodwill truck. We’re on our way!

*THIS JUST IN: just had a great idea from a reader: Check out PaperBackSwap.com and you can swap those mediocre books (in your opinion) for some gems, for free! (Not just paperbacks, any books!) I just signed up and I’m so excited. Check it out!

Finally, just for fun, let’s do a little Summer Reading Giveaway! Here’s the deal:

• Leave a comment sharing 1-3 of your all-time favorite books.
• Toss 5 mediocre books from your house. (recycle or Goodwill or whatever)

So, what’s on your Summer Reading List this year? Do you have some “must-read” suggestions? Please share! I might as well start my 2013 list as well… Thanks for reading!

The sun was shining as I maneuvered my SUV up the winding road lined with lush, green trees. The kids were chatting happily in the backseat as I turned left and followed the signs: DOERNBECHER CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. We pulled under the massive white arch and pulled into a parking space marked with a smiling child’s face: Patients & Visitors Parking.

I couldn’t help but remember the last time I visited this place, and how I had arrived not in my own car but in an ambulance.  Heidi had quit breathing and we’d dialed 911. They’d whisked us off in an ambulance for the 30-minute drive to this hospital where she received the best of care, and was pronounced absolutely fine, just a little more faint-hearted and breathless than most. (Hereditary?)

Though this visit involved a much more serious situation, our visit was fun and light-hearted. A dear friend’s infant son was having surgery on his skull, and we joined them in the waiting room, Dutch & Heidi providing some comic relief in the midst of their long wait.

As we sat around and chatted we couldn’t help but be reminded how blessed we are to have such tremendous medical care. In developing countries, my friend’s son wouldn’t have the luxury of this surgery, he would instead grow up with severe disabilities.  I too thought of all the children in that place, receiving the finest of care. Though I’m sure there are heart-breaking tragedies every day within those walls, what a remarkable gift that such medical care is even available. We left our visit there rejoicing, and later received a text that the infant-boy was out of surgery and all had gone perfectly. Praise God. 

That afternoon I curled up with a book that painted an entirely different scene. No Longer a Slumdog depicts the reality that hundreds of millions of children wake up to every single day. You’ve probably seen the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, which gives a powerful insight into this atrocity, and in this book KP Yohannan and Francis Chan expand on this to help us understand the reality that millions of children face right now, this very minute:

• 150 million children aged 4-14 are forced to work as child laborers.
• Every year an estimated 1.2 million children become victims of trafficking.
• Nepali women and girls, some as young as 9 years old, are sold into India’s red-light district — 10,000 to 15,000 per year.
• Sri Lanka is touted as pedophile’s paradise, with up to 40,000 child prostitutes–mostly boys–trafficked to serve tourists.
• 250 million people are Dalits in India, below all castes and considered less valuable than animals. Another 500 milion people in India suffer from need and abuse as members of the “Other Backward Castes” (OBCs).
• Together, Dalits and OBCs make up more than 60% of India’s population, representing a population that is well over twice that of the entire United States. In fact, more than 1 out of every 10 people on the planet today is either a Dalit or an OBC. 

So excited to join SimpleHomeschool today! Will you head over there with me? Our topic applies to every area of life…

I am a homeschooling beginner. My only claim to expert knowledge is the fact that I was homeschooled thirty years ago, was raised by a precious homeschool pioneer, and sat clutching my doll at 5 years of age while The Teaching Home magazine snapped our photo for its cover.

I know, hardly expert status. With just two young pupils of my own, I am very much a beginner. Yes, I’ve read books. I’ve learned from Jamie and many others with more experience. My son reads and writes and we practice life curriculum every day. But one of my greatest homeschooling goals is to remain a beginner and help my children do the same.

Instead of raising experts, I hope to raise beginners.

Why? Am I celebrating mediocrity? Encouraging ignorance? … (Read the rest here; Thanks!)

I had just received the email from my agent: She had sent over the book proposal to Moody Press and they were interested. It sounded promising. Chances were they were just receiving it and perusing, perhaps googling my name to figure out who this no-name blueberry-girl was. I clicked down to my next email, from a reader: “Your site hasn’t been working all day…”

What? I click over to here to see. Nothing.

What?! The site is down? I email Jeff. He’s busy, in a meeting. Though I know it’s ridiculous, I feel panicky. We finally have a lead with a publisher and now in the very same hour my site is gone? What on earth?

I begin to pray. And pray. Keep clicking. Still not working. Finally I practice what I preach and go into my bedroom and lower down on my face. Flat.

And remember who He is and who I am.

As clear as an audible voice I hear,

“Everything I have done, I have done in spite of you.”

Three clear pictures come to mind. It’s true:

When I was a Senior in high school I had an interview for the full-ride Ford Foundation Scholarship. Though I was an organized person, I forgot about the interview. The day of I was tooling around the house, when I suddenly realized with horror that my interview was scheduled for that very moment. I threw on clothes, cried my way through the hour drive into downtown Portland, drove the wrong way down a 1-way street, and ran in a dead sprint down the sidewalk in high heels. The scholarship committee had waited an hour past the time they were supposed to leave for the day.  I had spent zero time preparing and apologized a hundred times for being late. In spite of my failure, God gracious gave me the scholarship which paid for my entire undergrad and seminary education. Amazing grace.

When I was 22 and God had broken my heart, I had forgotten about Jeff and was convinced no man would ever love me so why try. I was down, discouraged, depressed. I certainly wasn’t doing anything to “get” a guy, in fact if I were a guy I certainly wouldn’t have wanted me! And it was at that lowest point, when I felt ugly, unwanted, and unloved, and God swooped in brought Jeff to me. At the exact moment I felt most unworthy, He showered me with my husband’s love. Amazing grace.

When we were selling our dream home, and I had worked so hard for almost a year trying to sell it, there came the weekend when I hosted a girl’s retreat, and left the house a mess. Jeff had been home with kids and had scurried out the door for church with the house in complete disarray. After 90+ showings of the house being perfect, it was this day that our house sold. It was this day, when our house was most imperfect, that the perfect buyer came and made us an offer. In spite of our mess, our weakness, our imperfections. Amazing grace. 

Isn’t that the beauty of the gospel? God loves to do His work in spite of us. On the day we feel most unworthy, in the midst of a situation we’ve thoroughly botched, when failure is the only emotion we feel, in a way that leaves no shadow of a doubt that He is God and we are not, that all glory and honor belong to Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, for the glory of His name.

Everything He has done, He has done despite us.

Rest in that today, dear friends. He does it all despite us.

~

(No, I haven’t heard from Moody yet… keep praying? Thanks for reading.}

We’re at the end! (Aren’t those gals cute up there?) I so hope and pray that when I’m precious and saggy like that I still have my best girlfriends by my side. Oh God, help me love to the end.   Now, while I can’t say that I’ve done every single one of these every single day, I will say that it has helped renew my focus on relationships. Anyone else out there a do-er? Doing stuff is always my default, relationships rarely are. But this has helped to make people a priority and remember that all our “ministry” and “good works” are nothing if they are not rooted in relationship. As I read this week about a woman who moved from her “successful” life into a selfless and humbling place of serving the poorest of the poor: “He sent me into a world that could care less about my writing ability, my prestigious resume, or my so-called success. The only thing in which they were remotely interested was the answer to one question: Do you really love me?”

Isn’t that the same question everyone around us asking. Really asking? Beneath it all, isn’t that what the world around us wonders. Is there a Savior who really loves? Do you really care? It is overwhelming to think of living from this place of selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love, but it is the only place to experience the living, powerful, life-changing power and presence of God. We love because He first loved us, and when we begin to dig down deep into this love everything changes. Priorities change. Concerns change. Families change. Finances change. The gospel of grace is the gospel of love. A relentless Father seeking His children, a heavenly Lover seeking His Bride, a passionate God seeking His people.

I pray you are completely overwhelmed and enveloped in the love of God this week. That everything you do flows out of a place of love. That all your One Anothers come from a genuine love that the Holy Spirit is working in your heart. This challenge has made me see how far I have to go! But let’s continue to grow together, amen? Thanks so much for doing this with me… And thanks for reading.

~

Monday, June 18: Hebrews 10:24: “Spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

Remember how we spur one another on? By encouragement, and by a few loving sticks, pokes, and irritations. Will you revisit this with me here? 

Tuesday, June 19: Romans 15:1-2: Don’t please yourself but please others

Martin Luther King Jr. said about the story of the Good Samaritan: “The first question that the priest … and the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the Good Samaritan … reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him.”

It’s so basic it seems childish, but simply pausing long enough to think, “How does this affect someone else? What would they want most right now? What would please them? Serve them? Help them?” Then do it. 

Wednesday, June 20: Galatians 5:13: “Serve one another.”

We’ll finish here because this sums up all the One Anothers: “Through love serve One Another.” There it is. The whole of the Christian faith. The law and the prophets. We are to use our freedom, the free grace gift of the gospel, to the end that we love and serve one another. That is greatness. That is success. 

Thanks for growing alongside me in this adventure of learning to love One Another each day. I pray we continue …

I recently sat down across a small starbucks table from a woman. She related the desperate struggle she was seeing in someone she loves dearly. It was something I could relate to. Had been through.

“What happened?” She asked. “How did you change? What did it for you?”

Although of course God’s grace  is always the ultimate answer, He uses various channels, or conduits of that grace. I knew the answer, have always known it:

“Jeff.”

What happened was I married the most selfless man I have ever met. A man who daily chooses me, chooses our children, chooses others above himself. A man who isn’t driven by preferences but by conviction and selflessness, by an others-centered love and faithfulness I’ve never seen to such an extent. That’s what happened to me. 

My life was changed by his love.

Where I was insecure, he wrapped me closely in this love.

Where I was beaten down, he lifted me up with this love.

Where I was believing lies, he whispered to me this love.

Where I saw myself through the enemy’s lens, he gave me new glasses–made of this love–and enabled me to see myself the way he–and Christ–see me.

That’s what happened to me. 

Jeff.

Now my man’s not perfect, that’s not what this post is about. He has a rare genetic condition where he is incapable of picking clothes up off the floor. But oh, my man loves me, and I will pick up dirty socks and throw away the empty bag of chips that’s left in the pantry and clean those whiskers out of the sink for as many glorious years God gives us in this life. Gladly! Jeff is my man and he’s my home, he’s where I belong. He’s changed my life.

And today is his birthday. Yes, his birthday and Father’s day together, and this is as close as I can come to shouting from the rooftops that I love my man and I’m eternally grateful for his love.

Thank you, babe. And Happy Birthday.

~

{Thanks, all, for giving me a few moments to shout about my man. Bless your Father’s Day, and thanks for reading.}

• Heidi-so-silly.
• Love Has a Face. 
• No Longer a Slumdog.
• Simplicity.
• Picking strawberries.
• Flats lined on the countertop; the whole kitchen smelling of fresh berries.
• Family day.
• Doing everything together.
• Dying to self.
• Finding life.
• His joy, His love, His grace.
• Forgiving.
• Friends who care so much.
• Impromptu visits.
• Sunshine!
• Listening to the kids’ delightful and never-ending stories.
• Hearing them talk on the phone.
• Bible ‘tudy every morning with Heidi. An early riser like her mama.
• Baseball T and balls left out in the yard. Evidence of fun.
• Visiting neighbors with strawberries in hand.
• Rhubarb.
• Steaks from a friend for Jeff’s birthday. Really, steaks?!
• That God always provides.
• Growing in love.
• Wanting to love more.
• Tears.
• Him here, so real.
• Blueberry muffins.
• Coffee.
• Strawberry lemonade on the back deck with my man.
• A hundred kisses on the dirty cheeks of my favorite miniature cowboy.
• Heidi sweaty and sleepy-eyed after her nap. Cannot get enough of that girl.
• A new perspective.
• Loving life.
• Receiving a gift of grace.

Happy weekend! Thanks for reading.

Yesterday was one of my all-time favorite days with the kids. As soon as we finished our breakfast we piled into the car and drove to South Barlow Berry Farm to pick Strawberries.

So. Fun.

It was cool, low 70s, only a few other people there. The kids ran and picked and laughed and had so much fun. When we started getting hungry we quit and took our buckets and boxes over to weigh:

31 lbs.

Not bad! The best part? 31 lbs. only cost $31 and these strawberries are melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  There’s probably only 20 lbs left today …

So there’s obviously lots more to eating whole foods on a budget, and for those of you who know me well I’m pretty passionate about this, so we’re not taking much time for it today because and we’ll talk more about it (lots more about it) later and … well, because last night I was too busy freezing berries to write much more on this post. 😉 BUT, we’re over at Frugal Living NW talking about Making Summer Last by taking advantage of these fresh fruit deals and freezing them for later months. Enjoy! Read the rest here…

*Also: Check out the Resources for You tab at the top for more information on healthy frugal living, whole foods, grocery lists, menus, recipes, and lots more. Check it out!

I am honored to have a few friends the age of my mom. Four in particular stand out to me, and they have come to be real, true friends in every sense. We pray together, talk together, and learn from each other. The other day one of these sister-mother-friends wrote me an email in response to one of my posts and shared a little story. I’d like to share it with you …

It reminds me of the time I was learning to scuba dive.  My dear man, Damon, was my master diver instructor, so I trusted him with my life.  One time he put me in the middle of a small lake that was muddy and had poor visibility.  It was used for teaching rescue/recovery techniques, so there was a submerged car and an airplane at the bottom of the lake.  He told me to sit on the wing of the airplane and stay there until he came back for me.  Then he left, disappearing into the murky water.  He was gone for awhile, and so I just sat there, listening to myself breath, since I couldn’t see anything further than a foot away.  And then I saw the dark shadow moving near me, and he appeared and motioned for me surface.  He told me that he was so proud of me to sticking it out and not panicking, as he had actually seen grown men do.

But I’m sure the difference is that I knew whom I trusted.  I knew he would not put me in danger.  

Do you see the implication that I am making?  I can draw the parallel, and realize that Jesus would never put me in danger, that I can trust Him with my life, even when the water is murky and I can’t see more than a few inches in front of me.

Oh, by the way, did I tell you, I can’t swim?!  (the secret is in the equipment)

Her simple story brought tears to my eyes that day and it does today as well.

Friends, our beloved Heavenly Husband is our trusted Instructor. And perhaps today He’s called you to sit alone in the midst of dark, murky waters, and sit on the wing of a crashed airplane with no instructions whatsoever except, “Wait for me here.”

That’s it. Just, “Wait for me here.”

What will you do? Panic? Bolt for the surface? Begin a frenzied search for Him? Will you do? What will I do? Will I focus on the blackness, the murkiness, the fact that I can’t swim! Or will I focus on remembering Whom I have trusted? Will I focus on remembering His goodness, His faithfulness, His love. That fact that He can do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine.

I am, by the grace of God, going to sit on that airplane wing today. In the dark and murky waters, alone, and wait for my God.

Because He will show up. That I know.  

Thank you, my mother-sister-friend for sharing your story with me. And thank you all for reading.

Strangely enough, I can still remember asking my mom the question when I was all of 7-years-old:

“Mommy, can I have a report card like the kids at school?”

I can still remember her smile. Her looking down at me. Her reply: “Honey, you are doing great. You work hard, you have a great attitude, and you’re learning lots. I’m so pleased with you. Why do you want a report card?”

Why did I want a report card? I don’t know. I was homeschooled. I didn’t have to have one. But I remember her kindly humoring me and taking a sheet of paper, writing my name, and making a list of A’s down the side with categories such as “cares for others,” “works hard,” and “listens well.” I clutched the hand-written report and beamed.

Now I have to chuckle and shake my head at this story. Partly because I still find myself 25 years later walking around the world and looking for a report card. Please? Or, worse–seeing everything in the world as one giant report card. Each day ends with a giant letter grade scribbled across the page of my life. Have you ever been there?

Sometimes it’s my kids. If we have a smooth day with cheerful attitudes or they sit quietly in church, I have an A. If they’re particularly sour or we had an incident at the store, I’m down to a D- and wish I weren’t even in the class.

Sometimes it’s my husband.  Even though my man is awesome, way too often I have believed the lie that if he’s struggling it’s because I’ve somehow failed on my end. Haven’t submitted enough or been joyful enough or haven’t given him enough lovin’. No matter what the issue is, surely his struggle must indicate my failure. It’s just another unfortunate report card.

Sometimes it’s my writing. Can I just be brutally honest and say that sometimes I hate all the tweets and pins and shares? Can I just say that sometimes, just sometimes, Facebook “likes” can feel like a giant report card? Sometimes, when my eyes are not on Jesus or my heart is in a bad space, it can feel like daily standing naked before an audience and watching a thousand thumbs point up or down. Is it any wonder writer’s block plagues us at times?

Sometimes it’s ministry, friendships, the state of my house or the number on the scale or a whole host of other ridiculous “whatevers” that that particular day might hold. Anything can be taken by the enemy and folded into a nice paper report card, by which my happiness can come …

… and go.

The truth is, whatever the report card of the day might say, if we look to it to find our worth we are well on our way to misery.

The truth is, the world is not your report card. 

The truth is, some days your kids are angels and some days they are … something else. Some days your man will be flourishing and some days he will struggle too … just like you. Some days you will be celebrated and some days you will be forgotten.

Just like Jesus. 

His children misbehave sometimes. His Bride struggles often. His Word usually isn’t “liked” much at all. 

What does that mean?

It means we must remember that our report card was a list of F’s for every category. But there is now, written in His blood, the name JESUS printed across the top, cancelling out every debt, every failure, every shortcoming.

We no longer need a report card. Jesus Christ nailed ours to the cross and told us, once and for all, we are accepted and beloved in Him. My mom’s words, “I”m so pleased with you. Why do you need a report card?”

You’re right, Mom.

I don’t. 

~

{Because Jesus is enough and His blood covers it all. Be free today from the shackles of a report-card existence. I pray blessing for you today … thanks for reading}