Back to Scrapbooking!

Mondays are usually a day where we are home all day.  We get TONS of school done on those days. 

That is super important right now as we’ve used most of our vacation time for the year.  That is the wonderful privilege of home schooling.  Sometimes our priorities are not multiplication tables or biology experiments.  So we rearranged our schedule because the lesson that people are more important than school a priority.

I mentioned last week how we have a new normal.  Well in the old normal I was a pretty organized person.  The kids had assigned chores, did laundry on certain days & regularly cooked & helped with dishes. 

We still get all almost all that done now but it is not organized.  I am okay with that.  That is one more lesson that God has taught me as we go through cancer with my mom.  He doesn’t care if my floors are mopped(they aren’t) but he does care if I’ve taken the time to call or stop by.

Needless to say that my extra time is not devoted to my favorite hobby.  I usually sleep, snuggle with kids or do laundry(never done).  I haven’t touched my scrapbooking since October when I went on a weekend getaway with friends.  BUT I did get my stuff out of the closet this weekend.

Now if I can just sneak away for a few minutes to journal or work on a layout.  So thankful I had time for the first step to getting some time to indulge in my hobby.

How to wear a lei in your hair!

We have been blessed to participate in a wonderful program for girls called Far Above Rubies.  A sweet Christian woman organizes one afternoon a week for girls in our area.  She keeps them busy with skits, songs, lessons, & snacks.  They learn scripture & hear about missionaries. 

It started small with just a few girls and now there are almost 100 that are involved. 

Elizabeth is a leader of one of the sub groups and Megan is a helper in another group.

Last weeks theme was Tropical Tuesday.  One year after the blizzard that swept through the mid-west! 

We actually joke that it is guaranteed to snow on Tropical Tuesday and it usually does!

Megan wanted to do something new this year with her outfit. 

Its hard to find tropical stuff in January!

We have a collection of hawaiian type shirts & a few leis.  The girls also take a beach towel to sit on at class.

Megan declared she wanted flowers in her hair so she made it work to have a lei headband.

A clip helps hold it in place.  Megan’s hair has gotten really long so her flowers fit right in with her flowing mane!  Looks great Megan!  Don’t forget your flip flops!

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New normal

One question I ask myself a lot lately is “What is normal?”  I think normal is what we expect to happen.

Why do we do that to ourselves?  Nothing we expect to happen ever goes the way we think it will.

I expected my parents to grow old together & putter around doing old people things until God called one or both of them home.  Sounds silly doesn’t it?

Needless to say that hasn’t happened.  My new normal is that my mom is living with us off and on. 

She needs more care than my dad can do by himself.  He worries about how she’s doing.  Then he can’t sleep.

My new normal(for several weeks) was to wake up and have a phone call early in the morning(usually on Monday) every few days with a new crisis.  Too much medicine, exhaustion, broken trust, sharp words.  All these things can alone cause problems but when you combine them it can be a crisis.

Sometimes you have to head off a crisis before it happens.  To help my dad not worry we rearranged our home for a while.  We don’t have a guest room but our basement has two new bedrooms in it now

Mom has a room to come and stay in right around chemo.  She has a counter in the kitchen and space in the bathroom.  She comes and we give her some extra TLC before & after chemo.  Dad sleeps & gets his rest.  Everyone benefits.

Sometimes you have to think out of the box.  I am glad that my parents are comfortable in my home.  Dad even invaded the kitchen to make gravy!

Love for someone isn’t about what they give you or how they make you feel.  It is laying aside your desires and plans to help them.  I never thought that I would be walking this path but I wouldn’t trade the privilege of being Jesus’s hands and feet for my mom and dad at this time in their lives.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.     John 5:13

Not a minute too late . . or soon

Feeling weak & unable to move a muscle is a familiar feeling by the end of my days.  I am giving everything I have to just keep my house running, support my parents in their struggles, keep my sibling informed and love on my kids & husband. 

When I get out of bed, I don’t know exactly what my day is going to look like.  I pray that God guides me to the most important things & that I can ignore all the rest that is clamoring my name.

The lesson that has hit me over and over recently is that God gives me exactly what I need when I need it.

-A friend emailed me with encouragement while she is going through a horrible time of her own but she took the time to speak words of wisdom to me.

-My husbands co-worker unexpectedly provided us with a meal on a day I wasn’t free to make food.

-Great children who keep working on their school work even when I am in the midst of caring for my mom.

-Another friend texted me a scripture one day & the next I looked it up.  God used it to help me encourage my mom. 

While I might be impatient for things to change or get frustrated that I can’t in my own strength make things here all better, I feel so loved and cared for as God guides me and provides what I need.  There is so much to be grateful for in the midst of our struggles.