In a couple of months (well, 99 days, according to the counter on her blog), my youngest turns 18. We've "rushed" things a bit, she dropped out of public school in order to "homeschool" - which means she's taking college classes as a "senior" in high school.

My dearest friend tells me that I'm going to be the empty-nester to end all empty nesters. Yeah. I miss my son and he still lives here! Our schedules are not meshing very well and I just don't get to see him much.

But, there is a beauty in growing up - I may soon be coming to the end of my role as a parent to these two young people and they're my report card as a parent.

My kids are growing up. They both go to college and they both have jobs.

Tom laughs at me laughing at him. We had some really rough years; Tom figuring out how to be a man without a man in his life was hard. But he's becoming grown to be a man and my prayer is that he'll find the right young woman and be the right man and Godly leader.

He seldom goes to church with me on Sunday mornings; his job keeps him up very late at night and he's very (VERY) faithful about meeting with his college group on Tuesday evenings. I think that next semester he'll be able to back off on hours at work and be more regular at church. But I like that he's faithful about the Christian group that he has committed to.
And then there's Manda...also looking for a way to be "Manda". She wants to be a youth leader...or maybe work with animals...or maybe...

Amanda is "interesting"...and my prayer for her is that she find a Godly leader who will take care of her and who will let her take care of him.

I guess the best way to describe it is that I like my kids. Not just "love" them (although I do love them beyond words). I really like them.

There is a beauty to seeing them grow up, even if it means the ending of my "nest".

The first "order of business" - for the first time in quite a while, I sat in a choir.  It's been a long time since I've done any sight-reading and I think I need to sandwich myself in between a couple of altos (and not next to a soprano).

(this is the second one of these devotionals that I've posted, if you'd like to get these in your inbox, there's a link at the bottom)

Author: Woodrow Kroll
Joshua 24:13

"I [God] have given you a land for which you did
not labor, and cities which you did not build,
and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards
and olive groves which you did not plant."

Not for Sale

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton,
the founder of the Red Cross, was working in
Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to
her and offered to buy food for some of his sick
and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell
him what he wanted. Roosevelt could not
understand. He cared about his men, and he was
willing to pay for the supplies out of his own
funds. So he went to the surgeon in charge, who
said to him, "Colonel, just ask for it!" A smile
broke over Roosevelt's face. Now he
understood--the provisions were not for sale. "I
will ask for it," he said, and when he did, he
got the food at once.

Joshua reminded the people that all they
possessed--their land, their cities and their
vineyards--were not the result of their own
efforts. Certainly they had confronted the enemy.
Obviously they had engaged in many dangerous and
bloody battles. But those victories were not the
ultimate source of their possessions. Instead,
all that they owned was a gift from God.

God is not in the retail business. All of our
good deeds, our generous gifts, our religious
activities could not begin to buy our salvation.
But God is willing to give it to us. When we
receive Christ as our Savior, all that God has is
ours for the asking.

Enjoy God's gracious gifts today. Thank Him for
providing them without price and without cost.
They are yours not because you buy them, but
because God gives them.

God's gifts are free, but they are not cheap.
____________________________________________________________

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Since I spent last weekend on the farm I grew up on, my "food" hunt (except for one photo) shows food a little earlier in the consumption process...

and last (but not least), when my brother cooks...

...continue reading →

I start in a new position on September 25 (the start of a pay period).  Same school district, same pay scale, different "title".

I will be an "employment training specialist" - and it's just like it sounds.  I'll be working with impaired people, helping prepare them for jobs.  The age range is upper high school age up to age 26, although I've been told that I'll be working with mostly 16-21 year olds.

I've done something very similar to this before and I really enjoyed it.  The new school is "off campus" (the main building shares a parking lot with the school I'm currently at, but the new job site is away from campus and closer to bus lines, jobs and recreation opportunities.

The new job site is also four or five minutes away from my house.

I'm really torn because I love the placement I'm currently at...but I think I'll love the new one even more.

😉

Uh...my son went to his class Wednesday afternoon.  My daughter went to her class Wednesday afternoon.

It's the same class.

😉

Then there's Manda's art class.  She loves to draw, but has always had this narrow little set of things that she likes to draw and hasn't broadened her horizons.  Until she signed up for this drawing class.  They focus a lot on techniques and the professor said that most of the students come into the class with years of high school art behind them and that she recommended that Manda take the class as an "audit" (not for a grade), rather than miss deadlines and fall behind.

I'd like her to be challenged, but not to the point where she gets frustrated with something she loves.  We talked about it and came up with this:  she doesn't have to declare for an audit class until October 2 - at that point she'll talk to the professor again and see how she's doing.  If she's "average", she'll go for the grade, but if the professor still thinks she'd be better off auditing, we'll go for that.

I interviewed for a new job yesterday (and it looks pretty good).  Same school system, same pay scale.  Higher and older students (post-high school) doing job and life skills training.  I would start 15 minutes earlier every day (and end 15 minutes earlier every day.)  This would be helpful, because I discovered Tuesday that half an hour between work and school leaves me a little stressed.

And then there's my classes.  It's either "challenging" or "suicidal".
I'm going to have to be a lot more organized at home than I am - I'm going to try to pack my lunches for the week on Sunday afternoon (except for meat, which can go in the freezer).  Atkins days work best for me, so every lunch will look like this:

• bluebunny carb freedom yogurt
• 1 serving fruit
• vegetable salad
• single serving salad dressing
• 2 string cheese
• 1 packet of crystal light (for bottled water)
• 1 plastic spoon, 1 plastic fork
• meat (tuna or salmon pouches OR deli meat in single portions in the fridge

I can keep a case of soda and water at work so I don't have to remember those every day.

I'm going to try the same thing with clothes - pick up 5 dish tubs and get all my outfits together before the week starts and stack them in the closet.
Anything that cuts down on morning stress is a good thing.

(yes, I'm rambling again; I think I'm putting off biology...)

These are the same tinker toys that my mom and her siblings played with when they were kids.

I spent the weekend at my mom and dad's house (on the other side of the state from me); as usual, good stuff and not so good stuff.  (Mostly good stuff).

Neither my mom or dad are doing so great physically.  They're doing "ok" - Mom is looking forward to two knee replacements (numbers 4 and 5) and my dad is diabetic with heart problems.

Those "little" things aside, they're planning a three day trip to Mackinac, leaving at 7:00 tomorrow morning with my dad's two sisters and my cousin.  They'll be spending Wednesday on the island.  I hope they're planning on renting a carriage (motor vehicles not allowed) - three of the five can't ride bikes and two of them can't walk (at least very far)!  But they will have fun.

Saturday was spent with my sister and brother and their families (along with Mom and Dad).  It was a good day.  I am the farthest removed (geographically) and I can feel cut off from my family; it was good to get together.

It's the "little" things that I remember.  My kids had a "sword fight" with cat tails...all that fuzz...everywhere.  About 100 Canada geese spent the night in the field across the road...and my dad and Manda had to go "visit".  We went to a nearby gravel pit and the kids did some target shooting.

At this point, my kids are used to the city (walking to McDonald's), and get bored in the country (driving 12 miles to get to anywhere).   Work and school start tomorrow and we're (mostly) ready.

For a "Carnival Post", this is less "posty" and more informational.

Last weekend was the last weekend before school starts for real. Life is going to be a little crazy.

I'm not quite sure you can call a blog a "ministry", but I want to be able to share, and my blog truly is a journal of what I'm learning and doing. I've been working on blog posts ahead of time, and "pre-posting" so that blogging doesn't get in the way of life and I'm going to be strict with myself about that. August was the first month ever that this blog had a post every single day! I don't know if I'll keep that up, but I'm going to try to be close. Between photo scavenger hunt (which I really enjoy!) and Wordless Wednesday, I'll have two days of photos! "In Other Words" and "Carnival" will keep me structured. That's four days right there! I'll have a lot of fodder for Thursday Thirteens - five days worth of posts! Together with one theological thought post and a book review (I have lots that I've read), I can be posting pretty regularly; and I may have to recruit some help! (another 😉
This could work! 😉 But the blog is not a "real" priority, it's an outlet.

My two biggest priorities are going to be "fitting in" at a new church and keeping my family on an even keel.

The biggest challenge is to keep my life in sync with my kids. This might be going out for dinner so that we sit and talk without distractions - this MUST be a priority! A dear friend told me, after talking about my classes, that I might end up having to repent to my children for this semester; scheduling "family time" is essential.

I've chosen a new church, but summer time is a difficult time to "get into" it; I purposely scheduled classes to leave Wednesday nights clear. I want to do a "women's study" and just "be". I've been a leader of various kinds of groups and right now, I just want to "be" and to seek God and to make friends. For right now, new friends at a new church seems like a good goal.

About my job: I really like my job, but this year is going to be "challenging". I'm with a different lead teacher and one who is very organized and regimented (that's not a put-down, it's probably exactly what I need!) The students are older and "quieter".

The new room is in a different part of the school, which means that I'll have more contact with a different set of staff - that will be very nice! This room is also already into its schedule; this is good thing.

Every classroom I work in gives me a different insight into the very special children I work with and I don't expect this year will be any different.

This is my "first job".

The second job is the two classes that I have opted to take.

...continue reading →