Category Archives: Sacred Mundane

“But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;

let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

that those who love Your name may exult in You.

For You bless the righteous, O Lord;

You cover him with favor as with a shield.”

Psalm 5:11-12

Praying this for you today. Today we finish up the {Single-Minded} conference and fly to Glasgow, Scotland to visit missionaries and friends. Thank you for your prayers! Bless your Sunday, and thanks for reading.

• For SLEEP after being awake for 40+ hours traveling to London. Many praises, happy children, safe travel, faithful God. His goodness overflowing and now I must … sleep. Goodnight, and thanks for reading.

• Kids making a feast of mud-and-pebble-pies — the recipe only calls for one ingredient: imagination.
• Visit from my discipler/friend Elisa! Able to show her our “world,” WCC church family, our home, friends. Rich blessing!
• Her homemade potato salad. Who knew potato salad could be so GOOD?!
• Seeing the quick fruit of discipline.
• Exhorted to rest. Receiving it.
• Making a list. Checking it twice.
• Heidi’s first ponytail … my girl is growing up!
• Dutch resting his head on my shoulder.
• New birthday playlist on my ipod–love getting new worship music!
• Singing.
• Quilts.
• Coconut-chicken soup.
• Fresh greens.
• God giving wisdom.
• How God divinely orchestrates meetings, relationships, messages.
• Godly girls seeking Him.
• Surrender.
• Smashing idols.
• Trying to run again.
• West Linn track.
• Nights at home.
• Sick little boy = extra snuggles for mommy.
• On couch with my man, laps topped with screens and keys, studying together. It’s what we’ve been doing together for a decade. We always studied together, even before we were “we” …
• Snuggling on the floor with my girl. Curled up under blanket, camping.
• Crumbling over this post.
• Too many prayer requests to count; abundant opportunities for grace and provision.
• HUGE juicy mangos (at 2/$1, really a gift!).
• Wednesday morning prayer.
• Playing My-Little-Ponies with Heidi. The very same ponies I played with almost 30 years ago.
• Returning from a run with fists full of wildflowers.
• Dutch’s fascination with George Müller.
• London packing list.
• Our ambition of only taking a small carry-on bag. We’ll see how we do.
• Counters lined with fresh organic fruit — gotta love a sale!
• Dutch’s love for tomatoes — eats them like apples.
• Rosemary and eucalyptus essential oils.
• Family night.
• Family walk to sunset park.
• Sweatshirts and socks on cold mornings.
• Nyquil.
• The Message.
• Closed doors.
• Opened doors.
• Three days at Riversong.
• Clear blue sky and sunshine for Jeff’s birthday. All day spent outside, kids splashing in wading pool, making mud pies, tinkering in Papa’s shop.
• New wooden bat for Dutch hand-made by Daddy on the lathe.
• Heidi learning to jump rope just like mommy. Hysterical.
• “Happy birthday Jeff” written in chalk on the driveway. Not by me, but by my dad.
• A humorous common theme among Jeff’s gifts from others: beef jerky, a box of sugary cereal, a canister of peanuts, a box of nerds … what, do you think Jeff’s wife doesn’t let him have those things at home?? 🙂
• Watching people love on my man. He is so loved and I’m so glad.
• Exceeding kindness from a Multnomah professor.
• Studying for London in a lawn chair, stack of commentaries by my side, bottle of water, warm sun.  Pinching myself. Do I really get to do this??
• Kids bouncing on mini-trampoline.
• Pink and blue beach balls chased around the yard.
• Parenting frustration turned to insight — God is brilliant! So thankful He helps us by His spirit.
• Sound of river.
• Prayer.
• Trust.
• Steak dinner. Birthday pie. True Grit. Happy husband.
• A beautiful day.
• Melon shampoo. Two clean delicious children.
• Combing Heidi hair. Wet curls springing up.
• Being tired. The good kind.
• Watching a movie with my favorite men in the world on either side of me. Love my dad, love my man.
• Signing off.
• Psalm 62.

• Afternoon on back deck, kids splashing in sprinkler, mommy laughing, watching, sneaking a few pages of reading in here and there.
• Day of tilling, hoeing, raking. Sweat and sunshine, ice water and ice cream.
• Eighty-four degrees!
• A hint of sunburn.
• Sunday morning worship with my WCC fam.
• Kids bursting through church doors and running free in the field. I remember that feeling.
• Coffee.
• Walk to the park, perfectly timed to include neighbor-friend.
• Arrival at park — surprise! — house showing in less than an hour. In a bind. Friends come through. Watch kids at part for me, lend me a car to zip home and clean the house. Forty-five sweaty minutes later house is ready, back with kids. So thankful for grace.
• NOT getting pulled over by the police officer who followed oh-so-close as I was racing home in my friend’s car, without a license. Haven’t prayed that hard in a long time.
• Visit with new friend.
• Visit with old friend.
• Answers to prayer in tangible ways.
• Little boy running around in Lightening McQueen underwear.
• Afternoon sunshine.
• Hum of dryer.
• Scent of eucalyptus.
• Creativity.
• Creative cloth diapers when I ran out of plastic. Necessity remains the mother of invention.
• Funny Community Group video.
• All of our miniature diaper-clad “contributors” to small group discussion.
• My favorite frugal dinner: Lentil skillet.
• Green tea.
• Flowers all abloom, finally happy.
• Last minute Pump-It-Up playdate.
• An amazing reader who chose to generously share her life and belongings with us. Heidi-boo is blessed indeed.
• So many prayer requests: Opportunities for God to flex His muscles on our behalf.
• Words of wisdom from a beautiful mom here.
• Generous link from Jamie Martin of Simple Homeschool.
• Circle of Moms.
• Toy lawnmower, happy boy.
• Early morning birthday run and coffee date with friend. Her gift of presence, love, words. It felt like the best birthday ever before 8am!
• Embrace and smile from my man.
• Kids sleeping in — long, hot shower.
• Washing my hair for the first time in…hm… can’t remember when! 🙂
• Kind kind words and birthday wishes on facebook.
• Many house showings, keeping me on my toes!
• Amazing weather for my birthday — a true sunkiss from God.
• Walk to the park in the morning sun.
• A practical WCC reunion at the park–so many wonderful ladies converge in that place. So thankful to be surrounded by such joy, friendship, love.
• Starbucks, nail polish, Plato’s Closet GC. 🙂
• A huge beautiful bouquet waiting on my doorstep. Little angels all around me.
• Birkenstocks arriving. Ok, these things are way bigger, wider, and bulkier than I had imagined. Kind of feel like I’m wearing snowshoes…but they are comfortable and that is a gift!
• Beautiful hand-made necklace, perfect for a date with my man.
• A little friend over for the afternoon with Dutch. She and Dutch are the best little buds and she has such a calming effect on Dutch! Can I arrange a marriage??
• Dutch spontaneously breaking into the Happy Birthday song.
• Little 3-year-old Brendan singing to me at the park.
• Fountain! Kids love water!
• Heidi playing with the big girls. She’s quite the soccer player!
• Birthday dinner out with my man at Seasons and Regions. Oregonians are so blessed with delicious local food!
• Afternoon spent with Caila from California — amazing disciple/friend/sister-in-Christ.
• Datenight with Cody Paskins. He whooped me at Candyland. 🙂
• Handmade notecards.
• Flora & Fauna stickers!
• Body butter.
• Handmade summer dress for Heidi from LittleBooBoutique.
• Too tired to write more gifts…but there are so many more!
• Strength to bow.
• Eyes to see.
• Grace to rise.
• Hands to raise.
• Praise.

• Hike up the Molalla River Corridor with my man. Hardy Creek washes up memories of four-years-ago, when we lived in another world and did that all the time. Mud squishes beneath our feet and trees tower above our heads.
• Gift of sunshine that lasts just long enough.
• Clean home.
• Day of rest with Papa & Oma.
• Fresh salmon dinner.
• Delicious new salad dressing, inexpensive and healthy: drizzle olive oil and white vinegar over salad, then sprinkle with seasoned salt. YUM.
• Fifteen pounds of organic carrots. Thanks, Dani!

• Eating our way through thirty pounds of organic Fuji apples. So delicious!
• Fitness finally.
• Both kids peeing on the side of the road. You gotta do what you gotta do. (It was in the country!)
• Dutch: “Mommy, who am I going to marry?”
• Dutch: “Mommy, I’m going to help you learn about God. God loves you. Sometimes you forget that, but you need to know that.”
• Battlefield of the Mind.
• I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper. (Not as bad as it sounds!)
• Watching a dear family in church. History paints beauty.
• A well-timed message: learning to abide in the stillness.
• Single-Minded Conference. Getting so excited!

• Beautiful Memorial Day, my man at home. Glimpses of sunshine, working in the yard. Organic heirloom tomato plants planted, lawn aerated, all ready for someone to buy this beautiful place!
• Community Group BBQ. I just love these people … laughter, love, friends new and old. A place to just be.
• Kids playing well together.
• Heidi flirting with Derek. Uh oh.
• Getting re-inspired in the healthy-eating department by this article.
• Foot problems forcing me to buy Birkenstocks!  Uh oh. Composting, gardening, organic food, homemade household products — I’m kind of borderline hippie.  I promise you I will not quit wearing deodorant.  Oh, and I drive an SUV, that disqualifies me for sure.
• Weeping over a blog post. Thank you, Ann.
• My man who listens, really listens.  He is a gift every day.
• This amazing moment listening to children’s worship music, looking over and seeing Dutch & Heidi sitting together reading the Bible. On their own! Sharing, “reading”, turning pages together. I didn’t want to breath for fear of shattering the moment. So precious. I love those bugs.
• Dutch dancing to worship music.
• Dutch announcing, “Mommy, I became a Christian!”  He said he prayed, “Jesus, I give you myself,” when he was in bed all by himself. Don’t know if it’s “real” but it’s pretty precious nonetheless! Will just keep fanning that little flame.
• Sunflower seeds.
• Fruit water.
• Keifer
• End-of-year women’s ministry dinner. Overwhelmed by love. Amazed by grace. Inspired all afresh to do this thing called ministry. Love those women.
• Two kiddos dr. appointments, 5 shots, 3 hours, and a grocery trip later and both kids still smiling. Miracle.
• Cody & Dutch’s theological conversation: “Jesus is God’s MIDDLE name.”
• Trader Joe’s miniature carts.
• Trader Joe’s free coffee samples.
• Crockpot chili.
• Community garden with a friend. So fun!
• Missionaries heading to Papua. Amazed and inspired by them.
• A SUNNY WEEKEND!
• Day in the backyard, playing t-ball with kids.
• Washing windows.
• Cheerful chores.
• Afternoon in the front, my man and I lounging in sunshine with books.
• Neighbors.
• Pulling weeds.
• Slight sunburn.
• Fancy Nancy.
• Warm breeze.
• Re-training my mind.
• Leaning on my man.
• Falling into grace.
• Finding hope in Christ alone.

• Mt. Lakes Bible Camp. Breathtaking wilderness at 5,000 feet. Cool, crisp air and warm sunshine on our faces. God’s faithfulness to us there. So thankful.
• My bed.
• Heat.
• Traveling light.
• Kind words, warm smiles, even warmer hugs.
• Testimonies.
• Spiritual gifts.
• Airplanes!
• God-ordained conversations. Praying for Laura on the airplane.
• Linda Casady reminding me of everyday evangelism. Beautiful words.
• Pastors’ wives.
• Pictures sent via cellphone.
• A husband who’s willing to do daddy duty and pull off a house-showing while fulfilling responsibilities at church. I nominate him man of the year!
• Doors cracking open.
• Letting Dutch sleep in my bed. Just this once…
• Last-minute playdates and picnics at the park. Love it when things all fall into place.
• Heaven is for Real. Amen, Colton Burpo. Amen. Gives me a new excitement for our forever home.
• Riversong. It never ceases to amaze me how magical this place really is.
• Kids in the hot-tub.
• Wonderful long morning with my friend/sister/discipler and her daughter, now a grown woman! Love them so…
• Anticipation of a 3-day weekend!
• Sitting on front porch, sunshine on our faces, happy bees buzzing and trees swaying in warm breeze.
• Kids playing happily in backyard.  Glancing out twenty minutes later and finding they had both taken off every stitch of clothing and were playing happily in the sandbox completely nude. WHAT? My kids are so weird! (Yes, I made them put clothes on!)
• New teapot given to me! (Community Group will appreciate me putting my sad old one to rest.)
• Not having a CD player in the house to play kids’ worship music.  A few days later, one given to me!  A gift! Crazy.
• Not having an ipod because I gave mine away. Husband bought me one while I was at the retreat! What a man. Crazy, this week has been like Christmas. Gifts gifts gifts.
• My husband’s face so happy at his own new toy. Though I inwardly scoff at new technology I am happy he’s so happy.
• This post by Ann Voskamp. Boy can I relate.
• Back in the arms of my man after SIX days apart!  Saying a hundred times that night, “Neither of us are allowed to go away anymore.” 🙂 So thankful we like each other.
• Kids so happy to have daddy home!
• Playing “hide-and-seek” outside church. Doesn’t take much to entertain these kids.
• Holding hands in prayer.
• Discipleship.
• Godly women.
• Greek yogurt. (Not sure how my mind went from godly women to Greek yogurt…)
• Sprouting beans.
• My first laundry day using homemade laundry soap! It works!
• Sorting through husband’s socks, pulling out the ones with holes. Little things, happy heart, many many socks in need!
• Homemade pizza with generous people. Real, loving, refreshing. So encouraged by God’s dear people.
• A Bug’s Life.
• My kids wearing their Thomas & Dora backpacks to a house for dinner.  Ok they were SO CUTE trouncing across the lawn and into the house with their little backpacks. So proud of this little monkeys!
• Laughter.
• Saran Wrap. I mean really, the stuff is in amazing.
• First real run in six months: 5.12 miles–woohoo!
• 30 lbs. of local organic Fuji apples!
• Husband who does dishes.
• Feeling sooooo tired and sleeeepy … so glad it is Friday night and time for bed …
• Aching knees remind me I ran. The good ache.
• Blessed women’s ministry meeting, dear saints who love Jesus and women so much.
• Long weekend.
• No alarm.
• Being with my favorite people in the world.
• Rest.

• So many rallying around to pray for Shawna. We will keep praying. The God who placed planets into motion can heal completely. Believing Him.
  
• Eyes filling up with tears every time I watch the end of Toy Story 3. Sitting next to my boy, smoothing his cowlick with my hand, knowing his day to head off to college will be here before I know it. Every single day is a gift with that boy. Thank you, Jesus.
• Long naps.
• Juanita’s.
• Glimpses of sun. I’ll take glimpses gladly if it’s all I can get.
• Teaching my kids a new mantra: “I’m happy with what I have!”
• Watching all those tiny green shoots continue to grow! It’s like we have a mini-garden right in the house.
• Dutch’s new favorite game: Getting a big box. Then he lies on the floor like a toy, and I say, “Time to take this old toy to the day care!” and I pick him up and toss him in the box and box him up. Then I turn around and he escapes laughing all the way.
• Hearing that a dear friend now has a “crew” — Hallelujah!
• Spelling hallelujah right on the very first try. I’ve never done that in my entire life.
• Kids turning old egg cartons into toys.
• AMAZING answer to one of Dutch’s prayers. Goosebumps down to my toes.
• “Mommy, let’s be amigos!”
• Dutch praying at the breakfast table for Cody to feel better.
• Text from husband. I’m crazy about that man.
• Discovering a blog by a dear 70-year-old man devoted to helping men be godly dads. How cool is that? Way to go, Gary Taylor! There’s a man who has embraced the changing technology and made the most of it in order to share all that God has done in his long life. Love it.
• Little bows in little locks of brown barely shimmering gold.
• Life.
• Breath.
• Every beat of our hearts.
• Orange juice for sick kids.
• Toy Story 3; how would we endure sickness without it??
• Sunny days!
• Neighbors. I love all of our neighbors so much. Perhaps that’s why God isn’t selling our house. He knows we love them so much. (But I’m still praying He sells it!)
• Modoc Southern Oregon women’s retreat this weekend. So happy to be here.
• Finding out that my cabin has a bed–the real kind with sheets and blankets! Ahh…luxury!
• Flying.
• Free Wi-Fi in airports. What a world we live in.
• Generous friends who give rides to.
• Generous new-friends who give rides from.
• Generous dad who created 39 wooded blocks for me as an object lesson. What a dad I have!
• The most supportive husband in the world.
• Nana.
• Laptops.
• Marveling at some beautiful flowers in my yard, then realizing they are weeds.
• Window sills lined with egg cartons, filled with dark earth and green shoots. Someday, tomatoes.
• Comment from a beloved author. Isn’t it an amazing blessing when someone we look up to stoops down and says hello. So cool.
• Little ones in bath.
• Vacant lots with rocks and dirt and weeds galore: Nature’s playground.
• New sand for the sandbox = hours of fun.
• Watching my kids love each other.
• Dutch’s prayer: “Dada God, thank you for Cody’s toys.”
• “Spaghetti casserole.” Kids, “Where are the noodles?” Ha! I guess they did notice…
• “Mommy, do you know about Disney Blu-Ray?” Actually no, I don’t. Should never have let him watch the trailers…
• Afternoon spent reviewing my notes sitting in the sun. Bliss.
• Combing Heidi’s hair. I’m five-years-old again with my doll.
• Oobleck.
• Heidi trying to bend over and look at the bottom of her shoe. Hilarious.
• A bouquet of lilacs from a friend. So fragrant.
• Dutch wondering out loud who Heidi will marry.
• Snuggling.
• Windowsill above the sink.
• Clean sheets waiting.
• Sleep.