Thursday, April 29, 2010

Slaves

I have never read the Bible through chronologically according to time, so I am starting that project. Found myself stuck on a passage in Exodus.

Ex. 21:20-21
"If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property."

This is in the same chapter where eye for eye, life for life is commanded, except, apparentely when it comes to slaves, since they are "property."

I understand that there are many injustices in the Bible that God did not necessarily endorse, yet still gave laws to keep order in that particular society. Just as in the New Testament it is clear he doesn't prefer divorce, but gives admissions for some.

I know God is a just God, that He has the whole picture and we only see a small quilt square from our limited earthly perspective. This passage doesn't make me doubt my faith or wonder if God is truly benevolent and personal, the Bible is full of compassionate examples. I have also experienced His grace and mercy and lovingkindness myself.

It is just hard to picture a female slave physically BEAT to the point she does not get UP for 2 days, and there being no repercussions for the master. Any thoughts on this?!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Beans

I am so thankful for my family's willingness to eat everything I cook! I have tried to have some sort of cheap healthy meal usually involving beans at least once a week. For health and budget!

I have become quite creative, making tons of soups, beans/pasta dishes, beans and rice. It is like Anne Frank lamented, "Every night it's beans! Beans and rice! Beans and bread. Beans en casserole. Beans with strings. Beans without strings!"

Now I have never made something so distasteful we haven't eaten it. We do discard leftovers occasionally though.

It is almost a game, the reaction I'll get from Jason when he comes home on bean night. He puts on his best face as if he is facing a firing squad but has decided to make the best of it.

Tonight it was split pea soup. Jason worked into the conversation, "is this stuff good for me?" as in, "is there a really good reason to try eating this?!" What I love is more often than not, he likes it and has seconds, like tonight!

Either he is extremely polite, actually likes it, or is famished. I choose to think he is pleasantly surprised by my cooking!

It is not all torture around here. I made fresh bread with dinner tonight, and almost always have cornbread available. Jonas can eat a lot of cornbread if he has to, but even he will eat beans if he is hungry enough!

I know not all husbands are not as agreeable about not getting a slab of meat with every meal. I am very thankful for my Jason, not only taking a monotonous sack lunch every day to save money, but also for NEVER criticizing food put in front of him.

Friday, April 23, 2010

The Little Things

A few of my favorite things about this house:

-2 floors-I can make myself breakfast or do any chores without waking anyone up!

-coat closet (not every house has one!)

-privacy of the backyard. I could probably go naked back there. I haven't yet. But the only neighbor with a view is a single lady who works. The boys definitely use the backyard potty all day.

-dishwasher, and ice maker in the freezer

-spacious pantry!

-laundry chute "hoop" as Caedmon calls it. It is convenient and the boys LOVE it!

-2 bathrooms. can't have one too close with this pregnant mama

-the sun rises behind our trees in the backyard while I do my devotions in the family room with huge windows, and sets in the front behind our "mountain" hill reflecting on our river, about a block away!

-newborn socks. They didn't come with the house but I rediscovered how cute they are, the foot part being about 1 1/2 inches long! I got out all the neutral clothes and realized I would be SO excited to dress another little boy!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Move

No pictures, yet. But the move went well! As expected God showed up in the details!

5 strapping young men from our small group showed up with trucks, trailers, and servant's hearts! Perhaps one of the hardest jobs I've ever done was go to the new house, hold the front door open, and helplessly point where furniture and boxes should go while other people lugged enormous things into our new home. VERY humbling!

For lunch DeAnn from our small group had Subway platters delivered, and my inlaws showed up to help with fresh chocolate chip cookies and lasagna for dinner! Moving day was not hard for me! I managed to eat my normal exorbitant amount of food. Stephanie had brought a big tub of spaghetti so I still haven't had to cook!

We are mostly unpacked except for the garage of "storage" things that need to be sorted. It was great to have Jason's folks for the weekend to help with the kids, prepare meals, do small projects, etc. while I ran back and forth to the old house cleaning. In the evenings we chatted excitedly about the possibilities.

The boys are doing wonderfully! They LOVE the new backyard, the rocks, the basketball court, the stairs, their room with 5 different closet cubbies to hide in.

Jason and I are overwhelmed with all the space! We feel like we could use some more furniture and bigger artwork for the bigger walls. We are so blessed!!!! The neighbors we have met have been very nice and seem to be a close community of people.

Now we are just waiting on the final person to fill this house. I hope she is a girl since her room is bright pinkish/purple. A boy would have issues with a room like that! :-)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

House

Two more days until we buy this house! God is so faithful to us! I don't know why financial blessings or BIG blessings stick out to us more than the everyday miracles, but I had to write some of the cool things that have happened throughout this process!

Our realtor, Carrie, was recommended from a guy at work, and she pursued us! She is excellent and very efficient!

Our home loan consultant is a Christian recommended to us as well. There were no problems there!

Only this house stood out in our minds. The more we looked, the more we fell in love with this one!

Cheaper houses that we pursued were never "cheaper" in the long run, and didn't have nearly the features that this one does!

The way we bought it and the bank approved our offer in 2 1/2 weeks even though it was a short sale house which usually takes months, was clear confirmation this was a gift from God!

$8,000 tax credit is such a gift, but Michelle our loaner also found an additional grant we qualified for for $4,000!

The timing on this was amazing, moving into a 3 BR before our new baby, and also moving earlier in the pregnancy instead of at 8 months like we had expected!

Within one weekend of telling our landlord we had bought a house, expecting to pay for an additional 2 months rent on our lease, they found new renters for May 1st, saving us $1150!

Moving in early summer is ideal too. Easier to get to know people who are out and about, easier to entertain neighbors grilling, etc.

We had a hitch with State Farm homeowner's insurance, they insisted we sign a contract with a roofing company (we had planned to roof it ourselves) within 60 days or we wouldn't be able to insure it. We called one other insurance company and got a quote for $100 less per year, without having to fix our roof on any time table!

After we had committed to buying it we found a firepit in the backyard! Excited!

This has been a great chance to witness to our realtor, Carrie, who doesn't believe. I am hoping we have planted a seed and will continue to pray God moves her heart to understand we serve and trust a big, benevolent God!

Lastly our parents loaned us their suburban so we can move this weekend. We feel so blessed!

I hope we use our house, God's house, for His glory. I hope we are open to having anyone stay a season with us and be able to bless others around the table sharing meals and time. So thankful!





Monday, April 5, 2010

Baby Anderson

Meet Baby Anderson! It is such a treat to spy on your baby! Our little treasure was docile and sweet as can be, sucking her thumb and stretching so cute. She was so good the tech labeled her Baby of the Year. Since we got all the diagnostic photos quickly, we had extra time and got to peek at her through 3D technology! She wasn't fat enough to get very good pics, but it was breathtaking to see her face. She looks like Caedmon! I still think she's a girl, but Jason isn't giving me any clues. The spine. "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place." Ps. 139:15

Legs. "Your hands shaped me and made me." -Job 10:8


3D left leg. Kinda chubby!

Face. "In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:10


Watching this little one's 4-chambered heart beating alone led me to worship our Creator! At one point the technician turned the technology onto thermal, and I watched my blood flow into this baby through the umbilical cord to sustain her life. I watched blood circulate through her heart. I do not understand how people can believe in chance! Can't wait to meet you in 19 weeks!




Time travel

My sweet Jonas turned 2 today! What joy he has brought us! God knew Caedmon needed a little brother, Jason needed another son, and I needed a precious cuddly boy! His smiles and charm have brightened our lives! I thank God he is still with us after the health scare in November. I truly enjoy each day with him! Here is 2 years ago.








HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAS! May you grow to love God and love others always!








Sunday, April 4, 2010

You'll burn it!

In the whole of our marriage I have set off the fire alarm exactly twice. Both this last week! Once was a harmless enough crime, toaster crumbs scorching in the bottom of the toaster oven.

The other time was the ole broil mistake. You know-when it says broil for 5 minutes and at exactly 5 minutes your food is crusty black and unsalvagable! I had been craving fresh wheat breadsticks, and they looked PERFECT throughout the process until I added cheese on top and tried to broil them. Jason came in from work to find black smoke pouring from the oven just as the fire alarm pierced through the air. Incidentally, I burst into tears for the first time this pregnancy. I just wanted some breadsticks!!!

So anyway tonight I told Caedmon he could play outside for just a couple minutes while I fixed dinner. He said,
"Don't do that, Mom. You'll burn something and go beep beep beep! If you cook you need to be careful because if you're not careful you'll smoke." Then he looked back at me, threw up his hands and said, "I'm going outside!"

I wanted to tell him he could cook the food for the next week!