Big Ouchies

Our house has been buzzing all afternoon. The kids were out of school at noon because of testing. I used to love those days! We had friends over this afternoon, and all of the boys went down in the creek and were building. Digging. Having a blast in the mud. I was sitting in the kitchen with a friend, enjoying the beautiful sunny afternoon as we listened to the kids outside playing and getting filthy. I've heard so many versions of this story so I'll have to give you several different angles. First from Shea.
Shea: Mom, Brayden just walked over to us and said (she mimmicked him- straight-faced, matter of fact approach), "if you want to see a lot of blood, go look at Reilly's hand."
I don't remember who came into the house with the news, but no one seemed really shaken up. I caught a bit of someone's words though, and realized that Reilly had cut his hand. He was slowly making his way over to the house.
Anyway, I don't need to make a short story really long, so I'll cut to the chase. He had been digging in the creek, and came upon a large piece of glass that did some significant damage to the palm of his hand near his pinky. It wasn't even bothering him that much. By the time he got to me, I could see the blood, but not a tear or even a hint of one. I had to coax him to let me look at it.
"Come here, Reilly." I brought a clean rag with me. The skin had sort of flapped back over the cut, so it was a little hard to see how bad it was. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it a little to see the damage. YUCK. It was deep, and bleeding a lot now.
Anyway, I had to throw him in the shower (he had mud dried in his eyebrows and everywhere else) and then dress him since he couldn't do it himself. Kurt came home and I took him to see our kind doctor (who opened his office after hours to serve us!!). Shea wanted to come with. So we got situated in the office and Dr. Glenn began to check it out. He was talking about the needle for numbing, the stitches, etc. Shea was very fascinated and interested. She was standing and watching him clean it out, when something I was NOT expecting happened.
"Mom, I can't really see anything." I turned to Shea, and she wasn't looking too good. I kept watching her for a moment, and she said, "Mom, I don't feeeeeeeeeeeel too goooooooo..." she sort of trailed off in slurred speach as I grabbed her and moved her backward to the chair. I still wasn't sure what was happening, because it happened so quick, but her head leaned back and her eyes rolled back into her head...I put my arm behind her head as the doctor suggested we lay her down across the two chairs. We got her laid down, and he picked up her legs to get the blood flowing back to her head. She quickly snapped back with it, and looked like a deer in the headlights. She had NO idea what was going on. I couldn't help but laugh out loud and attempt to take pictures with my phone!! She was still unable to recognize what was happening, but soon came to enough to realize that she had "passed out"! I had no idea that an eight year old could even do that!
Anyway, Reilly is doing well with his six stitches and hand wrapped neatly up in gauze. He's excited that he doesn't have to write tomorrow at school and I have a feeling he's going to milk this as much as he can! He's such a stud! He didn't even flinch or cry at all (okay, maybe one cringe when the doc hit a spot that didn't numb). We're so proud of him!!
Shea is so excited to tell her friends that she passed out! I just couldn't believe how pale she looked. Her lips really turned blue and she did not feel good at all- thankfully that only lasted for a couple of minutes!
Speaking of medical matters... Kurt is doing better with his back. He saw a doctor today, and since he seems to be feeling better, there is still no surgery in the immediate future. His foot is regaining feeling (though it fluctuates), and he is feeling stronger. If you're not on facebook, you may not have heard that Kurt ruptured a disk in his back recently and has been battling with that. Anyway, he's seeming to be on the mend! I did take pictures of Reilly's hand, but am not sure how to get them to the blog. Check out facebook.

Stupid Cat

Lost Kitty!!
Buddy is a friendly Kitty who loves to run into your home…
He loves to eat pacifiers…
He loves to climb on your table…
He loves to climb trees…
We miss Buddy! If you have seen him, please call Reilly, Shea, McKinley, Camdyn, Macy or Dax. They miss him dearly!!
1(800)lost-kitty
Kurt and Julie sort of miss him too. Before you send him home, please train him not to eat pacifiers.
Thank you!

Kurt wanted me to post this on the blog...this is the flyer Reilly and his buddy posted around the neighborhood when "Buddy" wasn't seen for over 24 hours. Just before the boys left the house with their backpack, tape and flyers, Reilly said, "Wouldn't it be funny if we put up all of the flyers and then he was home when we got here..." And yep, you guessed it, when they returned on their bikes, they found Buddy in the driveway under our car...

California Trip

Just like back in the good old days. Josh Crooch always keeps us laughing...

We got to spend some time with Chad and Carly Brannon and their two little boys, along with Matt and Jenny Poladian. So good to see long-time good friends!!

We spent an afternoon with Midori...what a treat. She had thoughtful goodies for each of us and we had such a blessed time of fellowship with her!

It was great to visit with Grandma and Grandpa (the Gigis!). We surprised poor grandma with all of the kids, and she cried happy tears when she saw all of them. So sweet. I happened to have no shoes other than the bright salmon colored fuzzy slipper flip-flops, and although grandpa doesn't talk much anymore, when I first went in and hugged him, one word came out of his mouth in a sort of exclamation..."Shoes!" Yes, grandpa, you're right.

It was so much fun to see Wendy and to let the kids run around the park together! Wendy and I played volleyball together in college and when we get together we pretty much revert to acting like college students. It's always fun to hang out with her and take a mental break from real life. I love Wendy!

Well, it's about time that I do a little updating with some pictures from our adventure to California. We stayed for two weeks and crammed as much as we could into that time! I'll probably attempt to throw up a few pictures a day for a while to stay on track.

Marriage Advice from an Eight Year-Old

So today at lunch we were having a little family discussion and some encouragement from poppa. We were sitting around the table and Kurt launched into a little "thankful for my wife" moment. He looked at Reilly and said, "Reilly, if you want to have a productive life on earth, you need to follow Christ with all of your might and find and marry someone like your mom." I thought I'd add my two cents. "Reilly, you should not look for the prettiest girl." Shea felt moved to add her two cents at this point. "Yeah, or a Goth." ................................................................................................................................ Goth??? First of all, where in the world had she heard that term? Second of all, was she making the link that "Goth" girls were attractive? Because they're not. Third of all, WHAT IN THE WORLD?? Okay, it was a little strange, but she was very serious with her advice. It was precious, especially when she elaborated. "Yeah. She would lead you down a bad path. Because they have their belly buttons pierced, they have lots of tattoos, they wear black clothes and sometimes have their noses pierced." He listened intently, and I'm confident he's taking that advice to the bank.

Wishes Come True

Well, we returned from our awesome trip to California with six completely exhausted but happy kids (it's 11:30 a.m. and Macy is still sleeping, 2 days after our return!). We had a great time! I'd have to say that one of the highlights happened at a pretty random moment. We were leaving Disneyland, and had parked in a far off lot which meant a late evening stroll through Downtown Disney. The kids were in relatively good spirits after three days of Disney thrills. Kurt led the pack with the double stroller, and the rest of us trailed behind. Downtown Disney was relatively quiet, being midweek, though there are always kids and parents around. Kurt approached a small round two-tiered fountain and in usual "Kurt" fashion, began to circle the fountain again and again (as he does the round-about at the front of our housing development, much to the kids' delight). The kids happily followed, and I eventually reached the fountain. As I approached, the kids were beginning to slow down in their circling, and they were gazing into the fountain with fixed eyes. I leaned over to see what the deal was, and realized that the fountain was dried out (for the most part), and there were glittering coins at the bottom, nearly within the kids' reach... I glanced at Reilly as I felt his gaze turn to me. He had the ten-year-old "wow" eyes, and I also picked up on his thought pattern that was so clearly displayed by his expression. I knew exactly what he was thinking. It went something like this. "Mom, I know this is probably imprudent of me to even think of this, but I would really like to see if I can't extend my reach into that fountain and grab a few coins??" I'm not sure what came over me, but with three pairs of eyes now looking at me, I took two seconds to think about it. Kurt had walked a few feet away by this point, so the decision was mine. Here's my thought pattern. "Hmmm. It's not stealing. There's not too many people around. I think they'd remember this the rest of their lives. I wish I got to do this when I was a kid. This opportunity will likely never present itself again. And, the final thought that sealed the deal was this: Susie Muxlow would certainly have let her kids do it!!" Decision made. "GO FOR IT!!" (I really said it??) They were so stunned they didn't move. I actually had to repeat myself. "GO FOR IT! GET THE MONEY!" Without further ado, three pairs of hands reached as far as they could, and three pairs of feet came off the ground and into the air as they teetered with their hips on the edge of the fountain. The three big kids frantically scooped up as much coins as their hands could hold, then started dumping into their pockets. I think I was having more fun watching than they were having actually doing it! What happened next will forever be etched in my mind. All of the sudden, a fourth pair of small hands and feet joined in the madness. However, this prudent parent couldn't handle the fun...as I stood and watched (and listened), the mother grabbed the back of the kids sweatshirt and tugged him out of the fountain. "Honey! Honey! You can't take those!" She was sort-of "shout-whispering" as she leaned in close to him. "Honey, you can't take those. Those are people's wishes!" After I got over the moment of slight embarrassment over my kids' silly and excited display (and after that sweet mother was out of range to hear me!), I nearly cried tears with laughter!! Kurt stopped the kids after a minute or two (when the fountain was a little less glittery) and as the kids were counting their money, we just had the best laugh over it!! Wishes do come true at Disneyland!!!

My Testimony

Ha!! I declared it "national share your testimony on facebook" week since I was writing mine out...and I decided to post it here. I am SO thankful for how the Lord has worked in my life and blessed me beyond anything I could've dreamed. He is so kind! I hope I'm blessed reading hundreds of others this week on facebook!
I grew up in a Christian home and attended church every week. My parents sent me to camps as a kid, and I loved going and hearing about the Lord, but as many kids who grow up in the church, I wasn’t saved until a bit later. The first echoes of God’s grace in my life came in my junior high years, but even stronger in my high school years. God’s story in my life really began on a mission trip to Mexico in high school.
Anyway, one warm summer evening in Mexico, I remember being out under the stars debriefing about the day, and being interrupted in that pleasant evening by a glance turned gaze into the evening sky. I remember looking up at the vastness and immensity of the sky- (the small portion that we can actually see!) and feeling so small and insignificant as I recognized the "hugeness" of God. I was horrified in fear and even overcome by it. At different times, maybe even that night, I remember weeping in fear that I didn’t know this God the way I needed to. I remember feeling terrified and traumatized because I knew that I hadn't been reconciled to the God who created the heavens. I knew that I hadn't "come clean" with Him and was deeply troubled by that reality. Romans 1:20 really explains my situation- "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." I could almost "feel" his eternal power and divine nature that night as I looked up in sheer terror of His immensity. I wasn't honoring God with my life, and was beginning to recognize the foolishness of my heart (by His Grace! Romans 1:21ff). God was definitely drawing me at that point, and I didn't want to displease Him (this was my fear), yet I was still clinging to my sin- and was confused and unable to recognize much of it. God was forcing me (in His kindness!!) into doing some soul-searching.
It was fearful to see what turned up in my soul-searching. 2 Timothy 3:2-5, which although is talking about end times, described my state pretty accurately. "For men will be lovers of self (yes!), lovers of money (yes!), boastful (yes, mostly with volleyball, but then again there were lots of other things I would boast about too…), arrogant (oh yes), revilers, disobedient to parents (oh yes, though most of it was subtle, some of it did get pretty ugly), ungrateful (wow, I don’t think I knew of what I should’ve been thankful for!), unholy (yes, very unlike God), unloving (pretty hateful in many ways), irreconcilable, malicious gossips (extremely so), without self-control , brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power..." On the outside, I was pretty "good"- by the standards I gave myself (mostly comparison to others), but when I look back and see the wretchedness of my heart, it saddens me. I really was a lot of those things, and if I wasn't living out those things, I was only proud and self-righteous to not be. Anyway, God pushed me to really wrestle with those things that I was questioning and to search out answers. It was sometime in that time period that I decided I wanted to go to a Christian college. I wanted to know more and "figure things out". I was really turned off and confused by the hypocrisy in our church-which was not unlike many churches. Good and bad churches alike face their share of hypocrisy. That is what God used to challenge me and move me in the direction that He did- which makes me thankful for my church. Though I knew that “no one was perfect”, my conscience said that grave sin should be dealt with in some way in God’s church, rather than ignoring it altogether as our church seemed to do. I wanted something more, and God's grace stretched far to reach me and answer my heart's cry!! Anyway, God graced me through my parents’ sacrifice to attend The Master’s College, which I shamelessly dare say is the greatest Bible teaching college ever. At The Master's College I was struck by the unapologetic and straight-forward teaching of the Word. I was impressed at the way they respectfully and thoroughly taught Scripture, and believed that though God is mysterious in some ways, that His Word is not meant to be so mysterious as to mystify us and leave us wanting for answers. It is intended to be understood (Deut 29:9), and with thorough study and the Holy Spirit, we can understand it. Praise God!! After all, God gave it to us so that we can know Him!! He is able to communicate with us clearly (is He not??) and I was so thankful to gain an understanding of His Word that I had previously never thought possible. I had been blinded to that before, and I would say primarily for two reasons- 1) my slavery to my sin which blinded me, and 2) teaching that didn't exalt the perfect Word of God in its perfection but degraded it to an obscure book that we could never understand. The Bible had been denigrated in my mind because it was disregarded by so many people whose position in the church I respected. In some cases, it was hardly even used. I think in my heart, I even put God at fault for not communicating clearly in the Bible... now that is shameful arrogance and horrifying criticism of the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE!! Praise Him for not striking me dead!
During that first year of college, I believe God saved me from my sin. I think it was then that I even saw clearly my sin for the first time. I had more Bible classes than I could take in, chapel three times a week, and then church on Sundays. With the holiness of God being defined and shown to me, I cowered in fear of His wrath on me. But then the Grace of God in Christ was so lovingly presented to me and explained in such clear terms- my heart exploded with gratitude when I understood what He had done for me!! When I understood the reality of my sin separating me from God (Isaiah 59:1,2), which is what created in me that real sense of distance that I felt- the dots began to connect and I could see and understand the gospel for the first time. It wasn’t HIS inability to communicate through His Word, but rather MY sin that had kept me from a right and close relationship with Him. Previously, I had a shallow understanding of sin. I thought that sin was drinking, doing drugs, using bad language, cheating, and things like that. But I learned that sin was a condition of my heart and that I had been sinning in thought and other ways that were far worse than the above mentioned list. I was hateful, envious, lustful, prideful, and rebellious. I tried to stop doing some of these things at different times, but always in vain. I was a slave to sin as defined so clearly in Romans 6:16-20. "But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." That sums it up in my mind in many ways. For the first time, I was freed from the bonds of my sin, after receiving the clear teaching and becoming committed to it. As I understood my sin and saw it for what it was, I hated it. I longed for cleansing and longed to purge sin from my life and heart. In a word, I had repented of my sin. My heart was drawn to the Word of God and rejoiced when I heard it taught and when I read it myself with the Holy Spirit’s illuminating power. I now saw clearly all that I had to be thankful for! I was overwhelmed with His grace and kindness toward me, an undeserving wretch! I still struggled and struggle with sin, but the direction of my life and heart took a radical turn (2 Corinthians 5:17). I had an insatiable appetite for the Word of God (Psalm 42), unlike anything I had experienced before. A hunger and thirst for truth welled up in me and multiplied the more I was exposed to it. When I recognized what Christ had suffered on my behalf, I wanted to live my life to please Him and bring honor and glory to His Name (1 Corinthians 10:31). I wanted to be done with bringing recognition and praise to my own name. "He must increase, I must decrease" (John 3:30) became a desire I longed to (and still do) impose on my life. I saw His worthiness (Revelation 4:11) presented and saw so many people living to prove that He was worthy. I saw holy lives and struggling believers who desperately wanted to honor the Lord with their lives, and was encouraged by their faith. I joined the “evangelism team” at the college and went to the park, downtown Santa Monica, and other places and told people about Christ.
He has continued to work in my life and purge sin, and yet the more I grow in my relationship with Him (and the more I listen to my husband’s preaching!!), the more I recognize how short I still fall from the grace of God (Romans 3:23). I am so thankful that when God looks at me, He doesn’t see my spots or blemishes, He doesn’t see my wretchedness. Instead, because of what Christ did on the cross, and because I have placed my faith in Him, what God sees when He looks at me, is the perfect righteousness of Christ. What a shame that this truth doesn’t make me strive harder after holiness than I do…but again, praise Him for His abundant grace that covers my sin and weakness!

OCD Cat

Stupid Cat: "I love pacifiers."

Stupid Cat: "I REALLY love pacifiers. Maybe he'll share with me if I'm nice."

Stupid Cat: "Oh that looks so good. I want it. Really."

Dax: "See this?? It's MINE." (A little baby taunting...)

Cat: "Oh how I LOVE silicone...I want it. I want it so badly."

Cat: "I love it. I just love that chewy yummy silicone...or rubber...or whatever that stuff is."

Cat: "If I can just get a little closer...I can smell that yumminess...I want it SO bad!"

Cat: "Please share it with me. I promise I'll be nice. Please just let me have a lick. Chew."

Cat: "I love that thing. I just love the color of it. The smell of it. The texture. I want it."

Cat: "I'll just chill here for a while and maybe I'll get my chance."

NEVER. I'm telling you, this cat has a problem! If anyone has "OCD", it's this cat!! Can we prescribe him something??