Here am i

7/3/13

A Drinking Binge, and Canada Day

We're pretty boring with our beverages around here (at least as far as the kids go). My kids get a bit of milk and a lot of water. You won't find juice or soda in our fridge...unless it's some unusual occasion. In the summer I go hog wild and put lemon slices in the water pitcher. My kids think it's lemonade. Seriously.

In the summer we also pull out the juicer, not that we couldn't in the winter too, but it's just more fun (and affordable) when fresh produce is more readily available, or free from the garden.

Two of these children pictured above are my pickiest eaters, and most resistant to suspicious substances that could possibly be toxic waste (because I've been known to serve up toxic goo for dinner). It's always a toss up whether they'll be adventurous enough to consume the juice we create.

So far so good though. This summer Silas is my biggest juicing fan and is always eager to make juice. I think he just like shoving the produce in the noisy machine. Whatever works.

This is the pile of fruit and vegi's consumed by these three kids at mid morning snack time. We've been experimenting with all kinds of combinations of various fruits and vegis to find things that are somewhat kid approved.

I'm a little more hard core and I like throw back some straight mean green juice with lots of spicy fresh ginger. Right now my garden is packed with all kinds of various greenery... fresh kale, swiss chard, spinach, baby beet greens, cilantro, and various lettuces. Stocking up on colour before the long anaemic winter returns.

Juice is way more fun when you can make it yourself.

Elijah wasn't so sure, but after seeing the other two down their glasses he gave it a go. He's a great eater though so I'm not too worried about getting nutrition into him via juice. He likes to eat his greens. I've been making a consistent effort to combat the malnutrition/ anaemia that he had developed. It seems to be working, he's growing lots, and has had only one short lived cold in 5 months.

On July 1st we celebrated Canada Day.

We went over to our new neighbours to invite them over for a Weiner roast, but instead they were already cooking up a storm making food for us. Our new neighbours are several guys fresh from the Philipines, brought over to work at a local manufacturing business. They live in a "camp" down the road from us and they all have wives and kids back in the Philipines waiting to come over.

Those home made spring roles were delish.

I was super impressed...not bad for a bachelor pad feast.

We spent most of the afternoon hanging out, it was good fun.

I'm thankful that we have some new faces, and new friends, in Hickville.

It was a great way to spend Canada Day.

In other news....

my summer house guests will be arriving Monday! My bestest friend and sister in law, and her son are coming for their 4th annual Canadian summer. July is going to be a busy whirlwind...lots to fit in when we only get about a month and a half of summer (before harvest starts). So if I don't blog much you can assume I've either been sucked dry by a raging swarm of Saskatchewan mosquitos, or am just having too much fun to turn on the computer.

Soli Deo Gloria,

6/28/13

Life

Today I was home with just my three littlest.

It felt like a day to do little kid's stuff, and the weather was perfect.

Who knew an old baby bathtub could be turned into a tiny splash pool, or water gun reloading station?

Elijah LOVES water. He calls the sprinkler "rain" and it's pure joy.

It's the simple things.

Letting my anemic winter hardened soul soak up the colour and warmth.

We've had so much rain this summer that our grass is a gorgeous green, it was only mowed a few days ago and it already needs it again!

It really is amazing how much fun little kids can have with a hose and a couple containers to fill. It's a good thing we don't pay for our water though.

I've been thinking a lot lately about life, and how many lies we, as a society in general believe about it.

I don't have time or brain function right now to express in detail how callously our world views children, how narcissistic we are, or how tragic I think that is...but here are a few rambling thoughts on the topic.

Just this week I watched America cheer and make a hero out of a woman who is championing barbaric late term abortions. Justified by the god of "choice" and exploiting stories about children who would have been born disabled, or with with some other imperfection. We applaud these eugenics killings like they are a courageous, merciful and harrowing decision a mother must make, when in reality it's profound selfishness and discrimination at it's worst. But that's the thing, the world is blind...and only God can make the blind see.

So here is my little blog, my little family, and my little story to stand as witness.

No doctor, no parent, no politician, and no media personality can predict the quality of another persons life, or arrogantly assume that they know what that even means.

Here we are as a living, breathing counter cultural testimony that "quality of life" has nothing to do with wealth. It has nothing to do with being able to give our children every material advantage. It has nothing to do with family size. It has nothing to do with savings accounts, retirement plans, and golf club memberships. It has nothing to do with being born into a picture perfect family lineage. It has nothing to do with positive or negative blood tests. It has nothing to do with years spent in school, or letters behind our names, or qualifications hung on a wall.....but it has everything to do with love, with sacrifice, with surrender, and with living the messy life God gave us for his glory.

Our "quality of life" has everything to do with seeing God's good design and sovereignty even in our weakness, disability, chronic illness and heartache. We fix our eyes on beauty, but we refuse to close our eyes to the pain. We embrace both, trusting the One who sees what we cannot see.

Our society has an illusion of control, and when something happens that it cannot control it rallies, and rages, and rails against it. It exterminates the "problem".

So often the children are seen as the problem...rather than our own quest for perfection and comfort.

I stand here not only as a testament to God's daily grace and His ability to multiply our little loaves and fishes, but to the reality that every life has purpose and value. I use the word "potential" sparingly because it implies that our children's worth is yet to be seen or will come with future accomplishments.

It doesn't matter if a baby is conceived under the worst possible circumstances, or born into a horrible situation, or diagnosed with a disability, or is unplanned for and "unwanted", or is the offspring of a tragic lineage....NO child is a lost cause,

and no child is inherently disposable.

I think my children would agree.

Whether a life lasts for only a few minutes, or for 100 years...there is purpose in that life. Whether a child becomes a neurosurgeon, or is the child that the neurosurgeon cannot fix...

neither are born outside of Imago Dei. None are conceived without the Creators touch, or outside of his Sovereign will.

"Church, please, do not let the language of law or property guide how we think of the children God gives us. Children — all children in every circumstance from every part of the world of every color and ethnicity and physical or cognitive ability — are not chattel. Children are not chattel. They are rewards and blessings from our gracious heavenly Father, for his glory and for our eternal good." John Kinght

I get to witness the beautiful reality of that every single day,

because of that, the enemy's lie, and destructive purpose is so clear.

My heart is torn open by it.

The lie is so pervasive even many who consider themselves part of the "Church" are deceived by the smooth words, and subtle poison. Whole denominations have abandoned the cause of the weak, the voiceless, and the "least of these" among us and traded it for a politicly correct cause that seeks power, control, and sets "self" up as a god as it shouts "It's MY body!"

Blind guides.

Wide is the road that leads to destruction, and that is certainly true when it comes to accepting the destruction of our worlds most vulnerable children.

My body is not my own, it is laid down, used up, and poured out.

"Though a poison should threaten to kill, I know my Savoir reigns

when the breezes of death leave a chill, I've got Jesus' blood in my veins.

So I feel like alive with a life that's not mine and I believe that's your intended design"

6/25/13

I Have a Daddy

Hi, nice to meet you, my name is Elijah.

I have had at least three different names in my life, but this one is my last.

My new Mom and Dad tell me that I am their son, and that's not going to change.

After nearly 5 months, I'm almost starting to believe it.

I like my new name. It means "Yahweh is my God"

My middle name is Li and it means "strength".

Did you know there are a lot of different kinds of strength?

My Mom says I'm really strong, and I can do so many things. She's right, I can.

Do you know who else is really strong? My Dad.

He's a really tall, big muscle kind of guy, I like that...

although it kind of scared me at first.

Now I know that he uses all that strength to love me with, and doesn't use it to hurt me.

I'm really starting to love this guy.

Daddies really come in handy when you need a boost,

or when you're too scared and they tell you "you can do it" and because their voices are so big and they are right there next to you, you can't help but believe it.

Mom's are great for lots of reasons too, for example mine is snugglier, and kissier than Dad is...but Daddy knows how to play better than Mom does.

I really like having my very own Daddy.

Every little boy should have one!

My Daddy took me on our first camping trip as a family of 7 this past weekend. I suspect if it weren't for him we wouldn't have been able to have smores as a snack at 10 in the morning.

Daddy was also strong enough to carry me up all those stairs to the top of the water slide. We went up and down, up and down, up and down all morning. I wasn't tired at all!

My Daddy seems kind of rough sometimes, but I'm learning that's how Daddies like to play. He pretends to fight and wrestle us, but he doesn't actually hurt us, sometimes he even lets me win. That makes me feel really strong.

Yeah, having a Daddy is pretty great.

I know he's strong enough to protect me. That makes me feel good because I know that the world is a big scary place....especially when there are dogs around.

He's kind of like a super hero.