THANK YOU FOR WALKING WITH US

  

Before I dive in and start to catch up on all that has been going on in our little corner of the world, I want to say, "THANK YOU!"  Thank you to those of you who left sweet comments for me to find when I returned here to blog land and thank you to those of you who sent encouraging emails to check in and make sure we were still here! 

You are exactly the reason I am back.  And I am thankful for you.   

And now I am going to ramble a little.  You have been warned.  :)

Weekend Back Porch Family Times.  One of the highlights of our Summer and Fall.

In my last post I shared our excitement that Faith had completed her film was planning to mail it to the film festival hosted by Vision Forum.  It seemed no sooner had we posted that, the entire ministry had been dissolved and the festival was cancelled.   

Quite honestly, I was a little in shock as I am sure many of you were as well.  And also, quite honestly, I was a little troubled that I would need to break the news to my children, especially Faith.  What was the best way to frame this?  She and her friends had worked so very hard.  We had begun to save money and talk about traveling to the festival.  I imagined that it would be such an encouragement for her to meet other families with similar interests.  And now I wondered how would she would feel about all of her hard work-- and all the time she had spent pursuing a goal that was no longer there?  No longer there because of grievous reasons.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind,

be sober, and rest your hope FULLY

upon the grace that is to be brought

at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:13

Trial has a way of revealing if we are resting our hope FULLY on eternity, or partially on the temporal, doesn't it?  When the temporal world shakes, so often we shake with it.  I know that I do.  Then, as the smoke clears, I find heartache in proportion to how much I had invested hope in something that is fallen.  A man; a ministry or on some expectation of temporal happiness. 

It's all about the S'mores.  Well, being together is best, but the S'mores are pretty great too.

But God.  Only He can work in the heart.  When I went to break the news to Faith, I found a girl who was concerned more for her friend's feelings, but was resting on Christ.

Her response?  "Well, we certainly saw God at work helping us to make this film.  He must have had a reason for it."  

In her mind, this wasn't her film at all.  It was always God's.  Nothing had been taken from her.  She had seen God do the miraculous.  He provided the tools, the costuming, the locations and all that was needed to produce a film on a budget that could be rounded down to zero.  She saw that God was inclining His ear to this project.  It was His movie and He must have His reasons. 

Amen and amen.  We never wish for trial-- especially in our children's lives.  But only trial gives us a true glimpse of the soul.  It's like a progress report to let us know where we are.  And sometimes we are thankful to see it.   
 

Armed and ready for marshmallow roasting!

And so we move on.  Hopefully with renewed determination to rest our hope FULLY on the future grace that will be revealed with Christ and not on our own dreams and expectations.

I do not want to rest even a small measure of hope on something other than eternity today.

My garden was pitiful this year, but the littles enjoyed planting seeds and seeing things grow.

And when I am in the daily grind, I want to remember the lesson we learned from seeing a family broken.

Marriages and families are tied together with precious and invisible strings.  Strings that can easily be broken by selfishness and must continually be repaired.  Let's not break what God has knit.  Because every day and every person God has sovereignly placed in our home is a gift.

May our hearts be engaged at home.  With our eyes on these precious ones and our aim at nothing short of eternity.

     

Yum!  Recently our girls were asked their favorite family activity.  All of them said Back Porch Nights.

I love this reminder by Erma Bombeck.  It's an old column but makes me tear up like a baby whenever I read it.  It may not be an exact picture of our families, but it serves to remind us not to fret the temporal.

        

"One of these days, you'll shout, "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age!"
And they will.

Or, "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do ... and don't slam the door!"

And they won't.

You'll straighten up the boys' bedroom neat and tidy -- bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way."

And it will.

 

It may be the sugar...

You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say, "Now, there's a meal for company."
And you'll eat it alone.

You'll say: "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?" And you'll have it.

No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti.

No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms.

No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps.

No more clothespins under the sofa.

No more playpens to arrange a room around.

No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent.

No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathrooms.

 

Or the laughs over burned marshmallows...

No more iron-on patches, wet, knotted shoestrings, tight boots, or rubber bands for ponytails.
Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby sitter for New Year's Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn't ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.

No PTA meetings.

No car pools.

No blaring radios.

No one washing her hair at 11 o'clock at night.

Having your own roll of Scotch tape.

Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste.

No more sloppy oatmeal kisses.

No more tooth fairy.

No giggles in the dark.

No knees to heal, no responsibility.

Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?"

and the silence echoing, 'I did.' "

Or it may be the fact that we are theirs- distraction free!

Did you follow all that?  It was probably way too much to cram into a single post, but in my mind these thoughts were somehow related. 

1.  I want to remember not to fret the temporal.  Only the souls will last.

2.  I do not want to rest my hope on the temporal.  My hope is better placed in eternity. 

May we hug our families tight this year; smile deep into their hearts and let them know we love them unconditionally.  Then we'll be better able to lead them Home. 

Thank you for walking with us.


Love,

P.S.  There is already a new festival that has sprouted up to take the place of the old for those of you happen to be interested in film making.  :)

    
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Looking for a fantastic Bible study for all ages?  We all love this one.  It covers one character trait at a time and provides application questions that stimulate great discussion.  It is sold here by Grace and Truth books.  We are using it without the flashcards. 

As always, we only promote materials we love!