In The Refiner's Fire

Lilacs and Daffodils from My Backyard A Lovely Candle - in the Middle of my Kitchen Table A Tea Pot - Painted by My Daugher and Me - And Used for Many a Tea Party Lovely New Shoes! My Little Guy and My Mom Washing Dishes Together One Night How very, very blessed am I? Truly, these are a few of my favorite things!

I've written before how difficult this past year has been.  I'm just now realizing what it really was that made this past year so difficult. Betrayal. Lies. Anger. Hurt. And it's the hurt most of all. Last fall we found out that a now former senior staff member at our church lied about us. Repeatedly. Blatantly. To people who have known us for 10+ years.  Those people believed that staff person. And didn't even ask us about the lies. We found out when that staff person left (one of several to leave over the last few years).   And a very dear friends started having 2+2 not equal 4. And that friend came to us with some very serious questions. We chose not to confront the now former staff member - though we could very easily do that.  We know that this behavior is part of a pattern that chased him from congregation to congregation to congregation and will continue to do so.  If anyone asks us about it, we will tell the truth as we ...

Spring is heading into summer here and that means we're shifting gears.  From school and all the craziness that it entails - both on the learning and the teaching ends - to something a little more restful and laid back. Summer will not, however, be as laid back as we'd like. I am going to try to completely knock off this dissertation thing before classes start in the fall. I am transitioning from part time professorship to full time. John is doing a lot more preaching this summer than he has in the past - which means a lot more travel then we have had before. The kids are attending a couple of summer camps that they are really, really, really looking forward to. I am putting together a whole new course - never been taught at our school before - for fall. John is taking 3 intensive courses this summer plus another weekend retreat that is required. We're still doing our annual week-long camping trip and our weekend anniversary get-away this summer. It d...

My goodness, where does the time go? Last week simply flew by.  When I wrote this list I totally forgot that the kids had their spring concert for school last week too (duh - it was on my calendar!), so I didn't get quite as many things crossed off as I had hoped.  Here's the run down from last week: Work: * Continue keeping up my grading (I've actually been able to do this and I'm completely excited about it!)   Done! * Final exam   Done!  * Final grades   Done! * Tidy up my paperwork and notes from the semester * Finish equipment list for fall   Mostly done - need to meet with our lab tech on this one. * Turn in the equipment list for fall (You know, so that I actually have my equipment in the fall!) School: * Meet with my advisor   Done!  * End-of-year paperwork filled out and submitted   Done! * Finish proposal * Submit proposal Jazzercise: * Set for 1st class   Done! * Set for 2nd class  Done!...

After a really, really busy week last week (we had something every single night or day except Friday!), I'm ready for a little quieter week this week. We have one thing this week - a Scout Picnic on Thursday night where Buddy gets to fire off his homemade rocket!  It's pot-luck, but that's only one thing this week as opposed to 6 things (in 7 days) last week.  My parents are still here - and we are so excited to have them here!  The kids love it. John and I love it.  And (hopefully) my parents love it!  So, we're still cooking and eating for 4 adults and 2 seven-year-olds - who can out-eat all four adults when they're in a growth spurt! :) Here's what we're eating: Sunday, May 13th, Mother's Day:      Breakfast: Cereal and Milk      Lunch: Leftover Chinese from Saturday Night      Snack:  Ginger Cookies      Dinner: Out at a Favorite Restaurant Monday, May 14th,...

Nothing like leaving you all hanging 2 weeks go! Sorry about that - I really didn't mean to and I totally dislike this time of year because it just seems like no matter what we do, we're just crazy busy. I actually did very well with my list from 2 weeks ago and the list from last week as well. Here's my list for this week: Work: * Continue keeping up my grading  (I've actually been able to do this and I'm completely excited about it!) * Final exam * Final grades * Tidy up my paperwork and notes from the semester * Finish equipment list for fall * Turn in the equipment list for fall (You know, so that I actually have my equipment in the fall!) School: * Meet with my advisor * End-of-year paperwork filled out and submitted * Finish proposal * Submit proposal Jazzercise: * Set for 1st class * Set for 2nd class * Learn 1 new routine Home: * Tidy sewing area * Bake gingerbread cookies * Go through giant stack of mail in my living room * Go t...

Sorry, no picture today!  My computer has been acting "weird" and I'm posting from a different one - away from my photos. Hopefully my computer will be acting normal again - we're quite sure it's battery issues so we just have to have that replacement arrive! In the meantime, we have company! My parents are here for just over a month staying with us, so right now we're feeding 4 adults and two newly minted 7-year-olds - as of today (May 7th!).  Yes, my munchkins turned 7 today.   Where, oh where, does that time go?  Throw in some crazy-busy 'stuff' this week and we're eating easy! Here's the menu: Sunday, May 6th:     Brunch: Out at a favorite restaurant     Snack: Popcorn     Dinner: Homemade Veggie Pizza with Berry Salad Monday, May 7th:  Buddy and Missy's 7th Birthday!     Breakfast: Pancakes with Strawberries     Lunch: PB&J, Bananas, Yogurt, and Chips (Birthday ...