Getting Caught Up-- Movie requests?

Hi everyone!

I miss you all very much!  I am hoping to do some posting soon on school stuff.

Can you believe we are in Week 21?

It hasn't been terribly exciting.  Instead, we have just been steadfast on completing our tasks each day and really enjoying the things we are learning.

We are thrilled to be in the Middle Ages with knights, swords, and castles!  It is the time period/ setting of the new screenplay Leisl (Abby) is working on so she has already done an incredible amount of research and is very helpful explaining terms. etc... to the rest of us.

Speaking of Abby and movies, I finally, finallly went through my inbox and mailed the DVD copies of the movie to those who asked.  But, I wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone I missed.

Copies went out yesterday to:
• Bailey Family
• Ballada Family
• Drews Family
• Memmlers Family

(Klusewitz fam--- I need a bigger package.  It's coming!)

If there is anyone I missed that wanted a copy of Pirates in the Suburbs, shoot me an email with your address and I'll get a copy out to you.

Whew!  It feels good to have empty inboxes!

So, how have YOU guys been doing??  What have you been up to since I stepped away? Anything fun?  Are you taking Spring Break?

Lord bless you all and I hope to "see" you soon :)

What Does It Mean To "Take Up Your Cross"

(Originally from Miscel-Lainie-ous)

Mark 8:34 [Jesus speaking]
"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

There are three main components to this verse. I am a Bible marker-upper and mine looks like this (only not as neat :)

"Whosoever will come after me, let him #1 deny himself, and #2 take up his cross, and #3 follow Me.

Now although #1 "deny himself" is often difficult and requires effort to live out, it is pretty easy to understand. Simply stated it means to give up your "rights" to have what you want when you want it and to give up your right to live any which way you're inclined at the moment.

It speaks of purposeful living and relies upon those biblical promises that when we choose to live according to God's commands it will bless us and life will have depth and meaning in a way we couldn't even imagine.

Even #3 "follow Me" is simple. We all learned (hopefully) to follow since our days on the playground playing "Follow the Leader." To follow Jesus is to be willing to be led by Him and to go down a path of His choosing. Knowing He is good makes trusting His lead easier even when it doesn't look like a logical choice to our earthly thinking.

Ah, but #2 "take up his cross." What in the world does that mean?! I mean really. This is one of those verses that just make you scratch your head. You kinda know but it's hard to explain and whew, boy, trying to live it out...well (pause) yeah.

But tonight at church, since we go verse-by-verse through the Bible, we had to cover this verse. I am so grateful Pastor Jim didn't give us a head scratch and move on.

What follows is a culmination of what he taught and my thoughts on the verses he shared. I asked him if I could steal it and he asked, "Would you like my notes?" (smile)
I love our church body. Anyway, I assured him I took pretty good notes and now I'm gonna share 'em with you.

I definitely feel the need to share his disclaimer that what follows is really just scratching the surface but I thought it was a very good start.

So, in answer to the question, "What does it mean for a believing Christian to "take up his cross" and what could that possibly look like for us today?"

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying,
"O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You [will].
Matthew 26:39

(a) Our "cross" is something we don't want naturally and requires a submission of our will to the will of the Father.

And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him,

put His [own] clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

Matthew 27:31

(b) Our "cross" will often involve mockery and/or exposure.

...they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.

But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

Matthew 27:34

(c) Our "cross" is often something we want to anesthetize, numb, or otherwise distract from. The options are limitless to accomplish this.

We can actually use drugs or drink. Business or just plain busyness. Sleeping or shopping. Television or tabloids. Computers or cardio. Isolation or ice cream.

He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him;
for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
Matthew 27:43

(d) Our "cross" will often appear to others as a circumstance God is not in. Critics (perhaps yourself being the biggest of them all) will question why you aren't being delivered from your circumstance. Our "cross" will cause you or others to doubt the power and character of God.

This usually sets up our next point...

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is,
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Matthew 27:46

(e) We ourselves, during our "cross" may feel we have been forsaken by God.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Matthew 27:50

(f) Taking up our "cross" will at times involve a yielding up of our spirit, a being tamed by a loving Master. Like a wild horse being "broken" so that he is obedient and useful, we too need our wild wills lovingly broken to be useful to others and the kingdom of God.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;
and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Matthew 27:51

(g) When the "cross" is present there is a shattering of the earth at times. Not necessarily literal, although with the recent flooding here in Oregon many families are experiencing a very real shattering of their world as homes slide down hillsides.

But during our "cross" times there is that feeling of our world being turned upside down, of not being in control and of feeling like nothing will ever be the same again.

But did you notice what happened at that moment of chaos? The veil which separated man from God was torn. Man had access to God.

In our most chaotic of circumstances there is intimacy available with the Lord that is often not present when things are going well.

Our "cross" situations create in us desperation. And in our desperation we seek Him and He is found. He is found available, loving, patient and faithful.

And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said,
"You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."
But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying."
And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
Mark 14:67-68

(h) When we are picking up our "cross" sometimes those closest to us will abandon or disappoint us at our very hour of need.

Or in the most intense time of our "taking up" is when we ourselves want to abandon Him, deny our Lord and walk away from our faith.

I am so grateful He restored Peter and then used him greatly. There is hope for us even in the midst of our greatest spiritual "failures."

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
Mark 15:32

(i) During our "cross" times, outsiders, mockers or even we tempt to give God ultimatums.
"If God really loved you(me) then ..."

They (or we) want God to act according to our expectations and desires. And when He doesn't we try to convince ourselves either He isn't real or He doesn't care.

In our finite wisdom, life appears to not make sense a lot of the time.

But when we know and trust who God is we can be confident that we will know all the "whys" and will declare, "True and righteous are Your judgments Lord God Almighty."

Then Pilate, when he had called together
the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

said to them,
"You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.
And indeed, having examined Him in your presence,
I have found no fault in this Man concerning
those things of which you accuse Him;

Luke 23: 13-14

(j) Here's a tough one. Often taking up our "cross" will involve false accusations. It is a very hard thing to be accused of something you know to be innocent of and yet, how often do we falsely accuse ourselves against of truth of what the Scriptures says we are?

You know, things like beloved, victorious, fearfully and wonderfully made...

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Luke 23:34

(k) This is the most beautiful part of taking up our "cross." Here in our "cross" is a place to demonstrate forgiveness, God's forgiveness, to others.

It's a place to intercede on other people's behalf.

It's a place to grow in grace.

We grow in grace when we do as Jesus, there on The Cross, did as He prayed, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

If you find it crazy or impossible to forgive those responsible for your current "cross" I point you to Jesus who forgave me and you while we were still His enemies.

Make no mistake about it Beloved, the wrongs we have committed against a just and holy God should result in our death but instead He offers us life through the voluntary substitution of Jesus on our behalf.

GRACE

God's Riches At Christ Expense

Any wrong a person commits against you pales in comparison to our debt of sin we owed to Him.

We forgive, sometimes heartbreakingly, painfully so. But we forgive because we ourselves have been forgiven so very much.

And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
Luke 23:43

(l) The "cross" is the place to either take your thoughts or help another to take their thoughts to the reality and permanence of Heaven.

Our circumstances will not always be what they are right now. And even if they are difficult for your entire earthly life, if you are a confessor of Christ you can know without a shadow of a doubt that you will live in the very presence of God who is good and right and true.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
John 19:28

(m) Enduring our "cross" creates in us a thirst that cannot be quenched by anything except the Living Water. Anything but Jesus in the midst of your "cross" is like a badly dehydrated person drinking salt water--certain death.

Only the pure water of Christ and His Word will satisfy.

...He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
John 19:30

(n) The "crosses" we take up in our journey here on earth are all temporary and help to purify us. The "crosses" we bare are not crosses to earn us salvation.

The bearer of The Cross, the cross of Calvary, Jesus, declared, "It is finished!"

What was finished? Our debt was stamped, once and for all, "Paid In Full."

Jesus accomplished what we could never-- He redeemed us, He bought us back and He restored us with God the Father who sent Him to do that very work.

Valentine History

I did some research on Valentine's Day two years ago and this is what I learned.

Valentine from the Latin Valentinus from Valens and valere meaning to be strong.
(Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary)

Saint Valentine or Saint Valentinus refers to one or more martyred saints of ancient Rome.

The feast of Saint Valentine was formerly celebrated on February 14 by the Roman Catholic Church until the revised calendar 1969.

His birth date and birthplace are unknown. Valentine's name does not occur in the earliest list of Roman martyrs, which was compiled by the Chronographer of 354.

The feast of St. Valentine was first decreed in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."

As Gelasius implied, nothing is known about the lives of any of these martyrs.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the saint whose feast was celebrated on the day now known as St. Valentine's Day was possibly one of three martyred men named Valentinus who lived in the late third century, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (died 270):



**************
The Saints Valentine were strong in their faith in that they were willing to give up their earthly lives for the name of Christ.

As we exchange valentines to each other to show our love or fondness for each other it is a great time to remember that the best valentine or declaration of love has already been given to us.



God's perfect, holy Word is a love letter to us and shows us that He had and continues to have a plan for us to no longer be separated from Him. Jesus was "valentine" or strong in His determination to carry out God's will even when it was very painful and difficult to do so.

Another definition of valentine is "worthy of praise" (Merriam-Webster online).

Because of God's great love for us and Jesus' willingness to buy us back from the bonds of sin, They are worthy of our praise. 1 Chronicles 16:25a says.

"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised."

And Psalm 63:3 says
" Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise Thee." 
(both scriptures from the NASB)

Last year I had the kids tie small, written expressions of praise or love for the Lord to latex balloons and release them outside. The weather was a little uncooperative for one of our balloons which got struck in a tree. But we tried again and it finally went up.

I plan on having them do that again and thought I would share before rather than after in case anyone wanted to do this too. :)



***Slightly modified from Feb 12, 2009 post.

An Invitation

This is one of the reasons my plate has been so full.

I wanted a special place for this part of my life and it is simply just too busy on Mishmash.

Things are settling down now and I feel like I can breathe again.

Even if textiles don't excite you, I hope you'll come take a peek and say, "Hi."

It's kinda like me enjoying Serious Cakes videos even though I'm not a caker.
And enjoy her videos I do!

Oh my, where was I?

Oh yes, I wanted it to be somewhat established before I let the "cat out of the bag" so to speak.
But it is still a brand-new thing and I'm not even sure what I'm doing. I'm sure it will go through lots of changes over the next few months.

I'll stop babbling now... (hee hee)... I can't believe I'm nervous... Here we go--

Here it is, the "cat" in the bag--

red Lamb

Time to Batten Down the Hatches

I have been feeling very "stretched" lately... like my time and attention are in too many places.

It has been very unsatisfying to be busy, yet lack any real sense of accomplishment.

You know that spinning wheel feeling? Yeah, recently I have felt like that too much and too often.

I have been doing much praying about priorities and what the Lord would have me do in this busy season I find myself in...

In a lot of ways, this year of home schooling is harder and busier than our first year.

Having a seventh grader doing a new math program, new science program, new literary assignments... etc. has required adjustments to our schedule, as well as a new level of stamina to accomplish all our requirements each day.

But the Lord is also doing things in my life outside of homeschooling.

(Yes, there is more to life than home school :)

The girls, Nana, and I are doing a study of the Book of Revelation.

Leisl and I have done the study before. But recently Brigitta asked to learn more about Revelation and Nana wanted to test the waters in a formal bible study.

I'm also thrilled to be doing a Precepts study of the Book of Hebrews with an amazing group of women on Monday nights.

In addition to our school studies and our bible studies, there is the ongoing, changing, and challenging adventure of helping two girls navigate their changing world and bodies and grow into godly women.

It would seem hormones and hearts can only be safely ministered to in the late hours of the night :)

I cherish this time and season of life, even if it does make a momma a little tired.

I've always had a rule that I cannot take on "outside" ministries if things at home aren't in order.

Although things have gotten better now that the bulk of DVDs are burnt, I still feel very behind in house work and I feel a lack of general sense of order in our home.

Actually, I feel like we've been running at Mach 5 since July and are only now coming into any sense of routine.

Leisl and I have talked at length how surprised we were at how much the movie took out of us emotionally.

We definitely don't regret that we did it, but we've had to learn so much the long way 'round.

And we are still learning and are still amazed at how God is blessing our meager efforts of time and talent.

Our local library called us to ask if they could include a short blurb about PITS in their Spring newsletter.

We said yes and were totally humbled when they asked for two copies to be donated to the library so patrons could check them out.

Imagine that, in this day, two copies of a movie, which unashamedly shares the gospel message, being invited to be included in a public library.

Isn't the Lord so good?

So, what does this have to do with all of you?

I'm sure you know where this is headed.

I need every drop of energy to school the kiddos and take care of my home.

My mind wants to share all the things we're learning and doing but somewhere between my brain and my fingers the momentum is lost.

As a result I've felt burdened by this blog and all that I'm not doing on it.

Karl and I both have peace and agreement that now would be a good time to step back, take a break, and re-evaluate what we are doing, why we do it, and whom we are doing it for.

Not just for blogging, but for all our activities.

I do hope to come back. The blogosphere has been a wonderful place for me. I've met some awesome women through Mishmash, both online and in person.

But I honestly don't know if I will.

I hope all of you know that I don't write this easily and that much thought and prayer have gone into this decision.

I just didn't want to leave you all hanging and wondering.

I will visit all of you when I can, but I can see myself spending more and more time away from the computer during this time of seeking the Lord.

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, And a time to die;

A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill, And a time to heal;

A time to break down, And a time to build up;

A time to weep, And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain, And a time to lose;

A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

A time to tear, And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

A time to love, And a time to hate;

A time of war, And a time of peace.

What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,

and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor--it [is] the gift of God.

know that whatever God does, It shall be forever...

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14a

Basic Medical Abbreviations

I was cleaning out a cabinet and discovered my old Medical Abbreviations book from back in the day. (I used to work in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit).

The following list is a few basic medical abbreviations and common medical terms that are helpful to know.

At some point, either for ourselves, our children, or our aging parents, we will have direct interaction with the medical community.

For some people, hospitals, healthcare workers, and foreign medical terminology add to already stressful circumstances.

My hope is that being familiar with some medical terminology before crisis occurs will help navigation through the medical community a little bit easier.

Most abbreviations can have multiple meanings. I listed the ones I thought were the most common.

• ABG- Arterial Blood Gas- when blood is drawn for testing from an artery instead of, the more common, vein.

• Abd- Abdomen

• AKA- All Known Allergies (NKA- No Known Allergies or NKDA- No Known Drug Allergies)

• APPY- appendectomy

• BID- twice daily (often seen on prescriptions)

• BM- Bowel Movement (very important)

• BP- Blood Pressure

• CABS- Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

• CATH- catheter or catheterization

• CM- cardiac monitor

• CT- chest tube (CT scan - computed tomography)

• CVA- cerebrovascular accident ( stroke)

• DOT- date of transfer

• ECHO- echocardiogram

• EPI- epinephrine

• ETOH- Alcohol

• F/U- follow-up

• HG or Hgb- hemoglobin

• ICE- ice, compression, and elevation

• I & O- intake and output

• LDR- labor, delivery, and recovery

• LIQ- liquid

• MED- medicine

• NV- nausea and vomiting

• OT- occupational therapy

• PFT- Pulmonary Function Test

• PRN- as occasion requires

• q- every

• RBC- red blood cell

• RSR- regular sinus rhythm

• Rx- prescription/drug

• SAT- saturated (often referring to level of oxygen saturation)

• SUX- suction

• T & P- temperature and pulse

• TV- television (just checking to see if you're paying attention)

• Tyl- Tylenol

• UA-urinalysis

• UAC- upper airway congestion

• VBG- venous blood gas

• WBC- white blood cell

• XGP- xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis ( I couldn't do this list and not put a big mouthful of a word on here :) I think it's chronic kidney infection but don't quote me.

• YTD- year to date

• YTDY- yesterday

All the Z ones were strange so I'll stop here.

This has to be the most random post ever.

Ah, but at least it was educational.

Heard around our house and Life with Nana

Yesterday, Leisl was making lunch and randomly exclaimed, to no one in particular,

"I love the dictionary!"

To which Brigitta replied,

"I don't. There are too many words all in the same place!"

Alrighty then... moving on to Kurt.

Kurt, because of his ocular motor dysfunction, has a tendency to get very bad headaches. He will often get migraines.

Once, when he was starting to get a headache, he held his head and said,

"Mommy, my brains are too big in my head!"

Poor thing... I know just how he feels :/

And of course, we always have life with Nana :)

I often forget to lower the blinds in our front room after the sun goes down.

With the lights on, our whole front room is visible from the street outside.

Nana will come over and immediately start lowering our shades while muttering something under her breath.

Then she'll walk into our kitchen where our pantry door (which houses our dishes, etc...) is always open and she'll close it and continue to mutter.

I asked her what she was saying once and she said,

"Salido todol bituka!"

Okay...

"Well what in the world does that mean Nana?"

"It means, "Your intestines are showing!"

Oh dear.

That can't be good.

:)