Oil Lamps

Our spring cleaning is still underway. 

Today, one task was to wash the oil lamps that are scattered throughout the house,

trim the wicks, and refill the lamp with fresh oil.

Even people that live off grid have power outages. 

Once in a while, the inverter for the generator will decide to hiccup,

and if my husband is not home, 

I am not capable yet to problem solve the situation and get the lights back up. 

Once we ran low on diesel, and when we needed to use the generator on a stormy day when there was not much solar power drawn in to charge up our batteries,  we quickly ran out of fuel, 

so we were *oil lamps only* for a few hours. 

Sometimes we light them just for fun, being the romantic hicks we are.

  My daughter Rose shared with me her daily devotional (one of those Holy coincidences)

from "Small Acts of Grace"by Alice Gray this timely story:

"There were two vintage oil lamps. 

One lamp had only a little oil in the base-too little for the wick to reach, so the wick was stiff and dry.  The other lamp was nearly full, with the wick totally saturated in the oil. 

Both lamps were beautiful, with ribbed pedestals, elegant clear glass fonts, and fluted chimneys. 

But when it came to actually shining, they couldn't have been more different. 

It was difficult to light the dry wick, 

and when it finally did catch, there was no flame,

only a bit of glow that lasted for  a few minutes at the most. 

The wick with the oil, on the other hand, caught the flame immediately

and continued to burn brightly.

Too many missed days without an intimate time with the Lord, 

and we are like the lamp with the dry wick.  

We need to be saturated in the oil of His word and soaked in His love

so the Lord can cause our lives to shine.

I love Psalm 18:28 because it makes the point so clear: 

"For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine;  the lord my God illumines my darkness."

Spring Cleaning

It is April first, which, at our house, means we are spending the day spring cleaning. 

Actually, it will take more than a day. 

My bi-annual tradition of taking all the winter things and putting them away,

getting mud boots and jackets for spring out is always a joy, whether there is still snow or not, 

because the HOPE of spring just around the corner is abundant.  

Besides the winter things, it is time to vacuum and wash the logs in the house,

do some deep cleaning, such as the stove and the cupboards. 

Thankfully, I have a good work crew right at my fingertips, and many hands make light work. 

We listen to music or a sermon while we work.

  We take turns with the small children, but they (except Olivia) like to get in on the helping too. 

It is really amazing how well a two year old can wash a cupboard door!

At the end of the day, although the house may look a wreck, 

and the cleaning we have done is not terribly obvious,

we are satisfied and content, and tired! 

It is a good tired that makes one rest well.

Tomorrow we will tackle the upstairs and the yard , if it is not raining.

  It is a good thing I have my motivating red shoes!

Life With Boys

 Life with boys is always interesting, 

mostly messy and involving dirt,

and often times what my husband calls a "character building opportunity." 

Whether I am doing dishes and find a T-Rex in the suds, 

or getting in bed only to discover an army

of tiny plastic soldiers poking me everywhere, 

or getting a drink and nearly swallowing a lego man in my water,

life with boys (mostly) makes me smile.

Most of the wounds in our home have been on the boys. 

Today we are dressing a 3rd degree burn on Ben's hand from touching the wood stove

and doctoring a "cold sore" on Gabe's finger..an ugly mess. 

I think first aid training should be a prerequisite for having a boy.

  Long ago we realized the need to have a good medical kit on hand

to glue them up and send them back into battle.

  We purchased a burn kit, thank heavens, which we have used several times,

I highly recommend it.. especially if you have boys.

The sore on Gabe's finger is healing nicely with goldenseal powder and open air,

rather than covered. 

Raising 5 boys has been the single biggest factor to becoming a woman of prayer.

  Really. 

Not only do I pray their protection from themselves,

but that God would use them to build His kingdom.

  Our purpose, to raise a godly generation, keeps me praying, praying, praying for their souls,

their character, and their mother.

  As our entire society slides into Gomorrah, the need for godly,

intelligent men of honor and integrity is vast. 

Who else will lead the next generation if we are not faithful with our little men now,

today, this hour? 

Most young men in our culture are not growing up. 

Idle, playing video games more hours than they work or read or do anything productive,

they are soft, unwilling to suffer, afraid to lead, and given to indulge their passions. 

Ultimately, our purpose and prayer is that we raise up these boys spotless in purity,

rich in grace, full of good character and well rounded, 

thoughtful, tenacious, and most importantly, to be apt to deny themselves. 

My daughter recently asked several men what they thought the most important quality 

a young man should attain,
every one said: self discipline. 

Young men should learn to give up their own wishes for the sakes of others,

to do without, to sacrifice for a good cause.
It will be a hard task to raise such men, but then, nothing worth doing was ever easy.

These boys are arrows, a heritage from the Lord, given to carry the gospel on to the next generation.

Therefore my prayer is this:

"Lord give me wisdom to raise each one with the knowledge of a loving Savior. 
Guide me, O Lord, that my boys may know your saving grace and the power of the Resurrection.  Protect each one and keep them from harm. 
Give me the wisdom to make the right choices that will glorify You and develop solid values for the rest of their lives. 
And Father, let my life be an example of unconditional love that only you can give."
-An invitation to Prayer for Mothers, by Jack Countryman

If you don't hear from me for a few days you will know where I am. 

I have 5 boys to raise, so there is much work to be done. 

Thankfully, the Lord is merciful and gracious,

and will strengthen us for the task.

Day Journal 7

Today, and every Friday,

my daughters remind us to wear RED, to remember our soldiers.

They actually spent hours the other day making cute outfits with red to wear on Fridays.

Yesterday Anna was making cookies to take to some friends she is visiting this weekend. 

The children ate so many of the first batch of chocolate chip that she had to make another batch.  Then, when her big brother walked by, several more disappeared.

 Olivia is growing, finally. 

She still weighs less than 12 lbs at 3 1/2 months, making her quite petite.

She is definitely a people person...she loves to "talk" with her goos and aahhs.

Every baby surprises me anew at how remarkably expressive they are at such a young age,

or how a baby will look you intently in the eye for long lengths of time.

I never cease to be amazed at how magnificently we are made,

especially when watching a baby grow and learn and develop.

She rolled over for the first time today.

John put up the trampoline for the children. 

They have already been out bouncing on it for hours. 

Gabe chimes in, not wanting to be left out of anything the bigger children are doing...

"ME!  DUMP (jump) TOO!!"  

All this sunshine, intermittent with showers of rain and snow, or hail,

have me thinking of our garden,

planting, putting up the greenhouse frame, pouring over the Gurney's catalog

and planning on all the yummy things I'ld like to grow this year. 

God is so good and loving to have created all the wonderfully delicious foods

for our enjoyment and nourishment. 

He does love each of us so much more than we can possibly imagine.

I heard a man say that he used to think that our goal in raising children should be that they grow up loving and serving God, but now he has come to believe that our goal ought to be to instruct them to know how very much God loves them.

I think that may be. 

I would add, that His love is not as we love, or as we know of love, but it is supreme. 

He loves us..  Vastly.  Incomprehensively.  Unconditionally.

We can spend so much of our lives DOING,

that we miss the *being* with our Great Heavenly Father.  

When, if we spent more time being with Him, we wouldn't struggle so much with the doing, 

striving to get it all right.

"And I pray that you...may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness of God."  Eph. 3:18

Blessings to you this weekend. 

May it be filled with the awe of God's love for you.