Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Ray!
Hope it’s a great one. I love you!

I want it all!

I want the tree down and the decorations put away (the presents are already done). I want the chaos and confusion here to end and life to feel normal again. I want the rocking chair in the living room put back to where it belongs once the tree is gone.

But I want to maintain the peaceful cozy feeling that comes at Christmas time. And since, I’m the wife and Mommy and “general cozy feeling keeper” here, I can do it! The peace and happiness that comes with the Christmas season isn’t something that has to go away with the tree and decorations. I’m not usually one for new years resolutions, I always just feel that I’m setting myself up for failure (and with that attitude, I really am). But this year, I have determined in my heart to try to dgyalways maintain a cozy, peaceful feeling around my home (and trust me, it isn’t always that way!) I need to start with my attitude and how I look at this little family of mine. I have this little ploy I use with the kids, when they’re having one of those days when they’re really not getting along, I tell them to pretend that they’re friends instead of brothers and sisters. And you know, it really works (for a while, anyway!) My job is to treat these kids as though they are someone really special in my home (which I do now, but I think I need to step it up a little.) Happy, content kids will lead to a more peaceful family home, and a more content and less-stressful Mommy and Daddy. And of course, relying on God for my strength to maintain a peaceful home is what will make all the difference!

So here’s to a happy, peaceful, completely family-focused new year in the Wade household!

And then there were three….

Found out today that Mackenzie is asthmatic. I just knew that cough sounded familiar (unfortunately). She is thrilled with her new puffers and aero-chamber. I am not so thrilled. Doc said it may be from the Christmas tree, but probably not. Of course, if this all goes away after the tree is gone, we’ll know to go artificial next year.

At least this time I know all the signs and symptoms to look for, and I know when to make a trip to the ER in the middle of the night. Doc let me listen to her chest with the stethoscope. Definitely lots of crackles going on there.

So now three out of five of us have it. Darian thinks he should stay away from Daddy, Travis and Mackenzie so he doesn’t catch it. I guess “contagious” is not a completely grasped word! Of course, if staying away would put an end to some of the sibling “fighting” that’s been going on here lately….

Although, when controlled, asthma is not that hard to deal with. Could be lots worse. And me being completely exhausted from listening to kids coughing all night….? There’s a couple of verses in Philippians to help me deal with that.

“Do all things without murmuring and disputing.” Philippians 2:14

“All things” includes managing my home and looking after my kids needs, even when I’m exhausted.

And one of my favorites.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

“All things” Two little words that remind me to do everything without complaining and that Christ gives me the strength to do it.

All things! And suddenly the road seems easier!

Welcome!

Maybe I’m a follower. But so far, I’m loving WordPress. Lots of features, lots of options!

My past blogging experience was starting to deteriorate and quickly. I was losing my enthusiasm because so often it wasn’t working for me. Well, I’m ready to start again! Welcome to my new blog, Pressing on toward the goal!

My title comes from Philippians 4:13, and the goal is of course, Heaven somday! The term pressing makes me think of something difficult, but God never said that it was going to be easy to be a believer in this crazy world. So come along with me as I press on. Some days are going to be harder than others. But God is always in control. And I know what the goal is!

Mackenzie’s wisdom

Mackenzie was playing “Bepleham” with the nativity set the other day. This is what I heard as she was bringing the shepherds in to see Baby Jesus:

“Stay with Baby Jesus, boys, and you’ll be good, you’ll be safe.”

Isn’t that the truth!

Water Water Everywhere!

It’s been one of those days!

Started this morning when I dragged myself out of bed feeling more tired that when I went to bed last night. Which was probably from listening to Mackenzie cough all night. She’s either allergic to our Christams tree, or she may be developing asthma. Could be a cold coming on, but it doesn’t sound like a normal “cold cough” Sounds more like asthma. And trust me, I know the sound of that cough. I’ve been there. I’ve done the emergency room runs in the middle of the night. I’ve done the trips to the family doctor the next day because the emerg doc didn’t think it was an asthma attack, but it really was. (Done that scenario a few times–never any fun.) Travis has not had an asthma attack in over a year, and I’m really hoping that that is the end to the middle of the night asthma trips for us. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Then I dicovered that the kitten had peed on the mat in the porch in the night. Decided to wash the mat in the washer. Had never washed this particular mat that way before. Probably shouldn’t have done it that way today. For whatever reason, the washer plugged up–wouldn’t drain at all. And I had a lot of laundry to do today. Oh well, couldn’t do anything until Ray got home. When he got home to fix it, he couldn’t find the problem. Took the hoses off. Of course, when he took off the hose, the water in it went all over the porch floor. What’s a little mess like that, right? He brought the hose into the kitchen sink to run water through it. Which of course, went on the kitchen floor. Put the washer back together and it worked! We still have no idea what the problem was. I suspect it had gotten plugged but just moving it out to take it apart jiggled loose whatever it was. Ray left to do some work for Keith. I started to clean up the porch floor. And I’m sure you all know what it’s like when you pull an appliance out from the wall. Perfect oppotunity to clean under it. Got the porch all cleaned up. Came in to start on the kitchen. Discovered that Mackenzie had decided to feed the cats. Cat food all over the kitchen floor. Dish was over-flowing and there was a trail from the dish to the bag with probably another dish full on the floor by the dish. Not a big deal, but not what I wanted to find. I then realized that the boys had been in the bath for quite a while. Went in to check on them. I discovered that they had taken Ray’s brand new bottle of body wash and washed themselves with it. The entire bottle! There were suds everywhere and the bathroom floor was soaked. The only way to get them rinsed off was to turn on the shower and when I went to pull the shower curtain closed, it ripped. Can anything else go wrong? (I should know better than to ask that question!)

Mackenzie is now in bed, sound asleep, and so far no coughing.
Both boys are to bed, smelling very clean, I might add!
The porch is all cleaned, and the second load of laundry is in my now-working washer.
The bathroom is cleaned, especially the floor! (It wasn’t on my to-do list for tonight, but now it’s not on my list for tomorrow either!)
The cat food is all swept into one pile by the cats dish.
The kithen floor has not been tackled yet, but that’s my next thing to do.
The wrapping and Philippians review that I had planned to do tonight did not and will not get done tonight.

And tomorrow’s a new day! (And I won’t have to clean the bathroom or the porch or the kitchen flooor tomorrow!)

Christmas Hearts

I have a favorite book that I read every year in the last 2 weeks before Christmas. It’s called Christmas Hearts by Tim Roehl. “Images of Immanuel through the Eyes of Those Who Saw Him First”.

It tells twelve stories of the first Christmas, stories that maybe we don’t always think about, or just miss in our anxiousness to get to the “good stuff-the meat and potatoes of the nativity story”. I read one story every night. Yesterday, I read about Zechariah. If you’re a “church girl” like me ( I grew up in the church, and am now raising my own kids the same way), sometimes it’s easy to take the stories in the Bible for granted. I’ve heard them so many times, and could pretty much recite them all, so sometimes it becomes hard to remember that even in these well-loved stories that I’ve read so many times, there can still be something new to learn.

So that is the heart that I’m reading with this year–that there is something new to learn from these stories, and I’m praying that God will show me what it is that He wants me to learn.

Last night was Zechariah (I’m also reading this book to the boys this year. Travis was a bit squirmy, but Darian was listening intently and was full of questions during and after.)
I was reminded of three things while reading the story of Zechariah.

1. That God’s timing is always perfect. Zechariah was an old man when John the Baptist was born, so was his wife Elizabeth. (Not an old man, just old!) They had given up hope on ever having a baby. So when the angel came to tell Zechariah that he would have a son, he doubted and needed a sign. The sign, of course, was that he would not be able to speak until this prophesy was fulfilled. How easy it is to plan our own lives while forgetting that our timing is not God’s timing, and that His timing is best.

2. When Zechariah wrote down that he wanted to call his son John (remember, he still could not talk at this point), his family members objected. There was no one in their family with that name, shouldn’t they call the baby Zechariah? But he and Elizabeth stood firm and named their baby John, just as God had told them to. We live in a world where so many people do not believe and therefore do not understand the decisions that we make based on what God would have us to do. As Christians we meet a lot of opposition from those who are not raising their children in the same way that we are. We need to be God-pleasers and not man-pleasers. Sometimes others will not agree with us, but we need to stand firm and raise our kids (and make all our decisions) based on what God would want us to do. It may be hard sometimes but His way is always best!

3. Zechariah and Elizabeth knew that their son was going to be John the Baptist, that he would tell the world of the Messiah. And they raised him accordingly. We have no idea who our kids may grow up to be someday. We need to be raising them today so that they are ready to be whatever God has planned for them. Whether that be a world-known evangelist, who leads many to the Lord, or a milkman who has opportunities every day to tell his customers about God’s love. What we teach them today will impact who they are later. Huge responsibility, but thankfully, we’re not alone. We have God to lead us and to help us.

Tonight, I’ll be reading Mary’s story. Completely familiar, but I can’t wait to see what I can learn from it!

Habakkuk Review (Finally)

I’m late with this. But I’m okay with that. I haven’t been on the computer for any length of time in days. A quick check of the e-mails, every couple of days, and even then, only checking the ones that look important. So no, I haven’t done my Habakkuk rerview yet, but at least I don’t feel guilty this time about spending a lot of time on the computer, and still not doing it.

And I have to be honest again, I didn’t get it read every day last week, but I did read it through a few times, so again, I’m feeling positive about that. At least I didn’t just not read it at all like last time.

There’s a lot about Habakkuk that I don’t understand. And a lot of it sounds really scary.
Btu there’s also a lot of stuff going on in our world today that is really scary. This book was such a wonderful reminder to me that God is in complete control of everything that is going on. I love the last three verses:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19

It doesn’t matter what is going on in my life and in this world, I will rejoice in the Lord, and know that He is in complete control. I will be joyful and know that He is my strength.

Flu Shots

I took the kids to the Doctor’s office last Friday to get our flu shots. Ray was working and couldn’t get away to go with us, so I was on my own with the three kids. Not a big deal, normally, but I was slightly apprehensive that if any of them got out of control due to having a needle (namely Mackenzie!), it was going to make for a “stressful” (frustrating!!) experience for me.

Well, they were all fine. Not a tear shed, not even a whimper. I think though, that Travis wins the bravest Wade award. Before he even had his sleeve pulled up, he told the nurse that he wished he could live at the Doctor’s office. “Why?”, she asked. “Then”, he replied, “I could get a flu shot whenever I wanted one!!”

That’s my boy!!

Christmas Meme

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Both! But only in moderation–I love them both but too much of either makes me queasy.

2.Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wraps presents–but we’re not big on the whole Santa thing. And Santa never signs his name, we just write who it’s to.

3.Coloured lights or white? Definitely white.

4. Do you hang misletoe? Nope! We’ve been married for ten years and still don’t need a reason for a little smooch!

5. When do you decorate for Christmas? Last part of November and into to the early part of December. The tree is usually up by the 10th.

6.What is your favourite holiday dish, excluding dessert? I really kinda prefer the desserts! Other than that, my Mom’s dressing!

7. Favourite holiday memory as a child? So many! But I used to love walking to my Aunt’s on Christmas Eve afternoon. And I’ve always loved the service on Christmas Eve.

8.When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? I was around 8 or so, and it just didn’t make sense anymore. Really, how would that be possible?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I did as a kid, and now my kids do. Usually a game, or something we can all do together before going to bed.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I love white lights, and lots of homemade ornaments. Lots of stuff with meaning. I’m definitely not big on the whole perfectly decorated tree thing, either. It’s always very obvious that ours was decorated by kids, and I love that!

11. Snow – love it or hate it? Neither (or both?) I love the first few snows of the year, and especially love it at Christmas time. But by Feburary, I’m ready for it to be gone.

12. Can you ice skate? I could as a kid. Went out last year for the first time in probably 10 years. I didn’t land on my behind, but was certainly close a few times!

13. Do you remember your favourite gift? So many favorites over the years! Love those little things that the kids pick out on their own!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? I love how excited my kids are, and being able to share with them why we celebrate Christmas. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the excitement, but we defintely love being able to share with the kids the true meaning of Christmas. And I love hearing them ask how many days until Jesus’s Birthday, instead of how many days until Christmas!

15. What is your favourite holiday dessert? Mom’s Jello cake!

16. What is your favourite holiday tradition? Making sugar cookies with the kids. It’s messy and we all end up covered in flour and they never look quite right, but we love it!

17. What tops your tree? A Star

18. What is your favourite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night. It gives me the tingles!

19. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Who doesn’t enjoy the receiving? Who’s going to admit it though?!! I love finding that perfect gift, and giving it!

20. Candy Canes – yum or yuck? Both–I love the first one or two. But I quickly get sick of them!

Play along if you want, but be sure to let me know so I can read your answers!