Saturday, February 27, 2010

Our House


I remember a popular song from my childhood in the 70's called Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. It went something like..."Our house is a very very very fine house, with two cats in the yard"..... not deep, but sweet. That song is running through my mind this morning as I sit in our new house with boxes scattered everywhere. Our new house is a gift from God.

We left Montana in 2007 and headed for Alaska. I loved my house in Montana. It was ours, all 25 acres had our imprint on it. It was a gift to our family. But an opportunity in Alaska came our way. Kip my adventurer wanted to head for Alaska. Next thing I knew, I found myself in a blue house we "borrowed" from the clinic where he worked. It was God's provision for us. It was alot like us - in need of an overhaul. It kept us warm (well, sort of), but was less than beautiful. The Lord did some work in my blue heart about that blue house. Until finally He gave me fortitude to fix it up. Off we drove to Home Depot which was only a four hour drive! We bought paint, ordered carpet, and began the tedious face lift. Since we were to be in Glennallen, AK for only two years I decided to look upon it as a ministry not only to my family, but to the next medical worker living in the "blue house".

Home is where I've poured my heart. I take the admonition of Titus 2:2-4 seriously -that the young women be encouraged to "love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers..." I love working in my home. Leaving my palace is hard because that is where my life is.

Back to the needy "blue House". We scrubbed, painted, carpeted, and generally gave it a face lift until one day I said, "O.K. this will do fine." Then, we just lived there happily for the 2 years we were to be in Glennallen, AK.

Now, we are in Texas. We fearfully add the words "to stay". Kip and I are hoping this is our last move. We want to give our children and grandchildren a place to call "home". We want them to have a place to go where they are welcome and loved beyond measure. Our moves have been enriching experiences for them. Each one possesses dear remnants in their hearts of a culture they would know nothing about had they not had the experience in that particular place. But, now...if the good Lord wills it, we stop.

To our children and children's children...this is your house. Come and find solace. Come and grow. Come and find Jesus. Come and have your wounds soothed. Come and pray. Come and find rest. Come and find laughter. Come and find love.

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

What's For Dinner?

Our family is in transition at the moment, excitedly anticipating moving into a new home at the end of February.

My menu planning was taking a dive downward as I tried to juggle all the duties a cross country move entailed. That is until I stumbled upon an old fashioned idea worth bringing out again.

Each night of the week has a name. Of course, you would want to vary this according to your family's favorites.

Monday is Mexican Night
Tuesday is Pasta Night
Wednesday is Soup Night
Thursday is Chicken or Fish Night
Friday is Pizza Night
Saturday is Crock Pot Night
Sunday is Grilled Meat Night

I've been at it for 2 weeks now, and the ease with which I plan the weekly shopping list is amazing. Now I can group all my wonderful Italian pasta dishes for use on Tuesdays. I can collect the tasty soups I've tried for Wednesday. If I want to make fresh bread during the week...I can easily see which recipes it would be most helpful with.

Just an idea, and I'm sure wouldn't work for everyone. It's predictable, yes. But it doesn't seem to be boring because with a myriad of recipes the family hasn't even noticed.

Not true exactly...they noticed pizza night!