Ok, So I Failed The Great Experiment!

Wellll...looks like posting everyday is just not in the cards. Here's a quickie update:

Sky is now in a rehab for a few months. We will be able to see him for several hours today--two gifts, no electronics, a big dinner, no church--your basic Rehab Christmas. Sad, but we make the best of it. Two in a row for us. Maybe next year.

Parents are here--had a good drive down. They will watch the kids and the dog (and our df's dog, too!) on Friday while Dh and I are away at the house.

Nature Girl missed the last day of school before vacation due to a cold, but it was one of those Useless Public School days--they showed a video.

Film Buff is eagerly awaiting Christmas Day so he can watch Batman again--yes, he's getting it for Christmas! He can't wait to see all the movies that will be out in the next week or so. We did find out that he has to take the GED--wish we had known earlier. Pray for him to be able to schedule it in time to get his application in.

Have a Merry Christmas! Gotta run to the Dollar Store so NG can buy Grampa a giftie--

Survivor Finale--What did it MEAN?

So we had quite the dilemma last night--to watch the Cowboys beat the Giants, or watch the finale of Survivor. (What does that say about us? lol)

I watched about half the Cowboys game, then went to bed, as I was falling asleep on the couch. I woke up this am to hear that my favorite Survivor, Sugar, did not win, and was the "victim" of some really horrible words said by Corinne, another Survivor contestant.

So I was thinking, what does it take to insult (really, really insult, to the point of cruelty) someone on national television? Corinne had a chance to be nice later, to be repentant, to say she was "caught up in the game," but she didn't. How sad is that?

And why do I care? Survivor has always been a guilty pleasure around here. We talk about how people can lie or act badly under pressure, or how the ends don't really justify the means, but the "World" acts like they do. Survivor has been part of our moral development training around here--not really effective, but sometimes negative examples are a good thing.

Anyway, I wish Sugar had won.

Our Day Today

(Yeah, I've pretty much given up on posting every day--but at least I'm posting more, and getting back into the habit.)

Today Nature Girl has practice for the Nativity Play at our church. She's a sheep, again. Sigh. She could've been a camel (haha "I coulda been a contenda! I coulda been a camel!" in my best Brando voice...), but the Friendly Beast parts are supposed to go to 4th grade and up, and I am a big believer in letting things for older kids be for older kids. No pierced ears yet, for example. Rites of passage are important. So, a sheep it is.

Film Buff is taking the ACT this morning. He was late registering, so he had to pay an extra $40, but I will reimburse him, because it was my idea for him to take the test. His SAT's came back, and he could use the extra score--plus, the ACT is descriptive, not prescriptive (tells what you know, not predicting what you may do in college, necessarily), so it's easier. It's not written by the morons at ETS, either, those cretins. (Letting my Princeton Review training out for a walk here...) I hope he does well, but he's not taking it seriously, he didn't eat before the test (Glucose! Glucose for the Brain, Son!!! You need Glucose! Didn't work.), and basically he doesn't give a crap. He's just waiting for his high school career to be over, and honestly, I can't blame him. Seniorities even hits homeschoolers. He's a good boy, tho, by and large. I think he'll do ok.

Sky is awaiting transfer to the rehab place up the street from us. His disfunction is pretty deep. I'm just waiting and hoping, but I'm not that emotional about it all yet. Christmas is kinda sucky this year. It's not much fun to have your family's rituals and important times destroyed, year after year, by one of your children. He was telling me about a kid in jail with him who has missed 2 Christmases in a row, and will miss this one, too. The kid just keeps messing up around the holidays. I do feel sad for the moms of kids like that. I have to say that Fairfax County Juvenile Detention is really, really good, and they do care about the kids. No one wants to be there, but it's definitely not the horrible place that Arkansas JDC is, that's for sure. Dh will see Sky tonight, I'll see him Sunday, and then his transfer will be good on Tuesday. Nature Girl can see him next Sunday and on Christmas, at the family visitation times. We are glad he's transferring before Christmas.

I've got to clean up today--not fun, but ok. Laundry and floor sweeping, bathrooms and clutter control claim me today.

Hope your day is terrific--Seek the good.

I Will Change Your Name

Oh. (Breathe) Oh.
I found it.
Finally, I found it.

While reading one of my very, very favorite blogs, Ann Voskamp's Holy Experience, I came across a song that is incredibly dear to me. It's a little song called I Will Change Your Name. Listen at youtube here, and know how precious you are to Jesus Christ. There is nothing he cannot fix, even in the depths of your heart.

Oh...
I'm so Glad he led me to discover this again.

I've Got So Much To Do!

I'm not feeling quite as overwhelmed as I have the past few months, but still, there's so much to do! Here's my list:

1. Christmas shopping--I love doing this, if I know what I want to buy, and if there's $. Not too bad
this year.
2. Finish things for my classroom at school--there are always games to make, and I have to make
little block people (putting photos of each child on a block and putting them in a nice basket so
they can use them in the unit blocks), block signs, and some writing table items.
3. Clean my bedroom, organizing the books, papers, and clothes that are taking over! AHHH!
4. Clean the rest of the house.
5. Organize Nature Girl's bedroom closet, as well as de-cluttering her room.
6. Finish Film Buff's curriculum planning. I have to figure out what he's doing for Shakespeare--
probably Hamlet and Midsummer, but time is getting away from me!
7. Paper work for Sky, including physician's papers that must be signed and faxed.
8. Other faxes to send including work papers and new job papers (dog sitting may be a reality).
9. Figure out how to celebrate Film Buff's graduation--ordering a diploma, too.

And that's just for starters! What's on your list?

"It feels so good to give"

Today Nature Girl and I sort thru some of her clothes and found some to give to a friend who needs things for her littlest. We relived some memories ("Oh, remember when you wore this?" "This is so cute!" "This is the dress in the picture on Daddy's desk!" and so on), and then decided what to give. We also let go of some of my Discovery Toys samples, and one of my favorite kids' books that I had saved for a long time.

As I was going down to the basement to find another toy or two, my heart just put up a prayer--"Lord, forgive me for hoarding." I have had a hard time letting go of Nature Girl's clothes and of some of the books and toys I've kept way past their usefulness for us. NG has a whole side of her closet taken up with two big boxes of old clothes--it's so time to get rid of them!

It does feel good to give. Let's all remember that this season.

Question from WTM--Parenting and Church Workers

The question was asked on the Well-Trained Mind Forum about how being in the public eye at church changes or influences your parenting--in other words, do your standards change when others are looking? Here's my response (it's rough, because it was spontaneous, but I think it lays out how I feel):

Well, as a priest's wife with the Ultimate Preacher's Kid (mine is in recovery right now), I can say this--

I don't feel my standards for my kids are any different than if we were not a clergy family. I feel the standards for all Christian kids are pretty darn high. Yes, the scripture about the overseer being in charge of his family is a reality (sorry, can't remember what verse), but we are not holding high standards because of being in the public eye or because of a need to be a good example because of Dad's position.

When I feel embarrassed or worried about my kids' behaviour, and I'm aware of my own "looking around to see if anyone noticed," I count it as sin. Yep. Sin. Because I don't want to be a "whitened sepulcher," and I think clergy families who simply must appear perfect are not acting in accordance with scripture. There should be no acting involved, even if the motive for trying to appear to be what you are not is that you don't want to be a stumbling block for someone.

We have got to be real. Real clergy families are just like any other Christian family--we sin, we fall, we do wrong things. We happen to be extra aware of Grace in our family, because we so desperately need it. I'm not a model of perfect parenting, I'm not great with my Quiet Time, I'm cranky sometimes, my house can get messy, and my language can get ugly. I'm human. So are my kids, and so is my husband. What I do try to model is that, in my imperfection, I am not left to myself. I have a Great Big God who loves me as I am but wants me to grow. He works in and thru every one of my carpy decisions, failings and sinful desires. He can take anything and make it part of the beautiful tapestry he is weaving out of this world. I want my life to point to him as the one who is behind everything good and joyful and right in my life.

One of my very favorite authors is Oswald Chambers. In the wonderful devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, he talks about the Christian's life as being a highway for God. No one can stand this unless he has the Holy Spirit's help. Don't be afraid of letting your life become public. Just remember that the standard applies to all Christians, and we all fail to meet it. We are not a group that believes we can do life as it should be without God, because we are never going to reach the standard God sets, but it's ok because Christ reached it, and God sees us clothed with Christ's Righteousness. He is making something beautiful out of all of us.

Extend to others the Grace you need from them. You may get slammed, but be a model, not of perfect behaviour, but of the Perfect Work of God.

Please Pray for Our Family--Tragic Day

We heard today that my husband's brother lost his wife last night in a drunk driving accident. She was driving home from work and was hit by someone running a red light. He apparently got woken up by the police knocking at his door at 3AM this morning.

I did not know Artiffany well, but I do know she was a perfect match in all ways for my brother in law. They shared a love of art, of travel, and of each other, and so much more. She was very kind to my son when he was preparing to travel to Ireland this summer, sharing her travel tips and giving kind encouragement. A gifted, generous and intelligent woman, she loved and laughed and gave of herself to all of our family, and her work as a nurse was just one indication of a compassionate and caring nature.

My husband will go down for her funeral; because of work/school/economics, the rest of us will attend only in spirit. Please pray especially for Tif's parents, siblings, and most of all, for Andy, her husband and kindred soulmate.