Okay, so the other day I said a Bible verse as I was talking to the kids and they said something to the effect of ... yeah, Mom, we hear that alllll the time! Well, then...
We started thinking of the top verses that are repeated around our house:
Seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14
Encourage one another and build each other up. Eph 4:29
Let your words be sweet like honeycomb. Prov 16:24
A friend loves at all times. Prov 17:17
Do to others what you want them to do to you... Matt 7:12
Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2
Fear not. (all over the Bible!) Isaiah 41:10 is a good one...
God always loves you and will never leave you (I guess it's not a direct quote in one verse but...)
You are fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139
God has good plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11
Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. James 1:19
Do everything without complaining so that you shine like stars... Phil 1:15
These are some of our top verses to live by right now in the Crawford house! :)
~Crazy Crawfords~ Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Embracing Crazy...
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Johny Apple Seed
Well, surprise, surprise: We're pregnant! :) We knew that maybe someday we'd have another one this way, but we really thought it'd be a few months down the road! God had better plans! We're due January 18, 2012, Elijah's 7th birthday!
It's really early and the last thing I read said that the baby is now the size of an apple seed! So small and such a miracle. I told the kids... you were all once tiny apple seeds! :)
The kids are all pumped! Elijah told us that the Lord has answered his prayers! They think eight months is far too long to wait. Some hope it's a boy, some hope it's a girl... guess which ones wish which? :) Lijah's already talked to my tummy! We're all thinking about good baby names! Hannie called that she gets the car seat by the baby! Exciting times at the Crawford house.
When we were in Armenia, we started to realize that God might not send us back overseas for ministry!? At least not right away. And we started praying, What is it You'd have us to do? Where do you want us? What have you placed in our hearts that we can use for Your glory. We kept coming back to: we love kids! And: Kev loves to teach and write. Well, here we are. Kev's teaching Bible and we're on our way to a bigger family. I guess since God's opened those doors, we'll happily walk through them! Kev's doing something meaningful at work as well as at home! God has plans! Of course I'm excited to be doing something meaningful at home, too! God's tug on my heart for kids started out when I was just a kid myself! I thought I'd end up teaching preschool (and I still might!) but right now, home is where I get to stay! Excited to see where God will take us. Following close to Him!
It's such a fine line between, this is what I want and HE is what I want. We always want to lean way more heavily to the You-are-all-I-want side. Can't go wrong with your eyes fixed on Him! Then the rest will be added, right? So as we pursue what we think He wants, we keep our eyes open and fixed on Him more than on the plan.
We will continue to pursue adoption and to pray for a bigger house (and possibly a bigger van?)!
And we will rejoice in the blessing of NEW LIFE growing as we wait for more open doors!!
Trusting the Lord is exciting! A little crazy and wild, too!!
Came across this last week and LOVED it! :)
Anyone who works with small children has the same opportunity as a foreign missionary -- to tell someone about Jesus for the first time.
Also came across this this week in the book Crazy Love:
"Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers." (and sometimes even believers?)
a few pages later... "This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning..."
It's really early and the last thing I read said that the baby is now the size of an apple seed! So small and such a miracle. I told the kids... you were all once tiny apple seeds! :)
The kids are all pumped! Elijah told us that the Lord has answered his prayers! They think eight months is far too long to wait. Some hope it's a boy, some hope it's a girl... guess which ones wish which? :) Lijah's already talked to my tummy! We're all thinking about good baby names! Hannie called that she gets the car seat by the baby! Exciting times at the Crawford house.When we were in Armenia, we started to realize that God might not send us back overseas for ministry!? At least not right away. And we started praying, What is it You'd have us to do? Where do you want us? What have you placed in our hearts that we can use for Your glory. We kept coming back to: we love kids! And: Kev loves to teach and write. Well, here we are. Kev's teaching Bible and we're on our way to a bigger family. I guess since God's opened those doors, we'll happily walk through them! Kev's doing something meaningful at work as well as at home! God has plans! Of course I'm excited to be doing something meaningful at home, too! God's tug on my heart for kids started out when I was just a kid myself! I thought I'd end up teaching preschool (and I still might!) but right now, home is where I get to stay! Excited to see where God will take us. Following close to Him!
It's such a fine line between, this is what I want and HE is what I want. We always want to lean way more heavily to the You-are-all-I-want side. Can't go wrong with your eyes fixed on Him! Then the rest will be added, right? So as we pursue what we think He wants, we keep our eyes open and fixed on Him more than on the plan.
We will continue to pursue adoption and to pray for a bigger house (and possibly a bigger van?)!
And we will rejoice in the blessing of NEW LIFE growing as we wait for more open doors!!
Trusting the Lord is exciting! A little crazy and wild, too!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anyone who works with small children has the same opportunity as a foreign missionary -- to tell someone about Jesus for the first time.
Also came across this this week in the book Crazy Love:
"Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers." (and sometimes even believers?)
a few pages later... "This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning..."
Social Worker
I called a social worker last week. We wanted to ask a few starter questions about adopting.
First of all, since Kevin is working as a teacher now it is pretty obvious that we won't be making the needed $40,000ish a year to meet the minimum requirements for us to adopt from overseas. So. What's it like to adopt from the states? There isn't the same income requirement. That's cool.
Second, what do we need to have in place to do a homestudy? Right now we're living in my grandma's little two bedroom, one bathroom house. The kids are in bunk beds in the same room and we take turns in the bathroom! :) We're thankful to have a home right now in Williston, ND. Housing is crazy here with the big oil boom! So, yeah, housing is a problem for us to adopt. The social worker told us that we should have space for two children in each room. Okay, so as it is we'd need to be in a three bedroom house, and if we want to adopt we'd at least have to have a four (five??) bedroom house to put the additional kids in!
Then, I asked if we should start the paperwork process now or wait until we have the bigger house? She said we should wait so that we won't have to pay again to have things redone or renewed. She also said I should contact AASK, Adults Adopting Special Kids, because they might have a waiting list that's up to a year. We could at least get on that. So hopefully I'll find a quiet minute or two to do that tomorrow?
So there's our prayer request as of right now. We need a miracle of a big house, for little money! (Remember, Kev's job as a teacher...)
We saw God direct and open the doors for Kev to get this job. He's been feeling more and more like he is a teacher and obviously he loves to study the Bible (just check out his 100+ page thesis on Luke/Acts)... then this job opens up in front of us and there he is, a Bible teacher. So we're thankful and feel like God has him where he wants him.
We also have seen doors start to open up for us to adopt. One of those doors is that we both feel strongly about it! (Comon couples, you know that's huge!) And we've been given over $6000 toward adopting. Waiting for the next open door so that we can use it! It seems like adoption pops out to us everywhere. Books, TV, sermons... hello!
Our hearts are to be a family for a lonely orphan(s) who needs a home. Psalm 68:6
God knows our hearts and our situation.
His heart is also for the orphan.
He is huge and nothing is impossible for Him.
We wait in expectation as we thankfully lay our requests before Him.
First of all, since Kevin is working as a teacher now it is pretty obvious that we won't be making the needed $40,000ish a year to meet the minimum requirements for us to adopt from overseas. So. What's it like to adopt from the states? There isn't the same income requirement. That's cool.
Second, what do we need to have in place to do a homestudy? Right now we're living in my grandma's little two bedroom, one bathroom house. The kids are in bunk beds in the same room and we take turns in the bathroom! :) We're thankful to have a home right now in Williston, ND. Housing is crazy here with the big oil boom! So, yeah, housing is a problem for us to adopt. The social worker told us that we should have space for two children in each room. Okay, so as it is we'd need to be in a three bedroom house, and if we want to adopt we'd at least have to have a four (five??) bedroom house to put the additional kids in!Then, I asked if we should start the paperwork process now or wait until we have the bigger house? She said we should wait so that we won't have to pay again to have things redone or renewed. She also said I should contact AASK, Adults Adopting Special Kids, because they might have a waiting list that's up to a year. We could at least get on that. So hopefully I'll find a quiet minute or two to do that tomorrow?
So there's our prayer request as of right now. We need a miracle of a big house, for little money! (Remember, Kev's job as a teacher...)
We saw God direct and open the doors for Kev to get this job. He's been feeling more and more like he is a teacher and obviously he loves to study the Bible (just check out his 100+ page thesis on Luke/Acts)... then this job opens up in front of us and there he is, a Bible teacher. So we're thankful and feel like God has him where he wants him.
We also have seen doors start to open up for us to adopt. One of those doors is that we both feel strongly about it! (Comon couples, you know that's huge!) And we've been given over $6000 toward adopting. Waiting for the next open door so that we can use it! It seems like adoption pops out to us everywhere. Books, TV, sermons... hello!
Our hearts are to be a family for a lonely orphan(s) who needs a home. Psalm 68:6
God knows our hearts and our situation.
His heart is also for the orphan.
He is huge and nothing is impossible for Him.
We wait in expectation as we thankfully lay our requests before Him.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Two special Birthday kids...
I was planning to update this in April... before it was too late!! Heh! Two of our beautiful babies were born in March. Ruth was born on March 5th and Benjamin on March 31st. Benjamin was due in April and I was sure Ruth would come a little early and be born in February... Nope, they both came in March. :) And we're glad they did! Our two red haired blessings!
Benjamin is in his last year before being a teenager! So crazy. Our baby! We see him growing fast but he's still likes to sit close and snuggle a little bit once in a while. I'm enjoying it while it lasts! He's funny, and clever, and smart. He knows his Bible, loves facts, and has a great memory. He's still into sports and likes basketball and baseball. When we thank the Lord for things, Benjamin usually thanks Him for books and technology!
Ruthie is still our spunky girl. She just turned eight years old! She keeps us on our toes! She loves music and dancing. She really loves moving of any kind! This spring, after three years away from bikes, she pulled out a two wheeler and started riding it! Before we went overseas she had only ridden her little bike with training wheels. Now we're back and she's off! (Check out the previous blog about her bike/rock adventure!) Everyday when we thank the Lord for something, she usually picks "nature"! She likes being outside digging up worms or catching ladybugs.
There's my two March sweeties! I'm so glad God's given them life and purpose and put them in our care!
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| playing some ball for his birthday! |
Ruthie is still our spunky girl. She just turned eight years old! She keeps us on our toes! She loves music and dancing. She really loves moving of any kind! This spring, after three years away from bikes, she pulled out a two wheeler and started riding it! Before we went overseas she had only ridden her little bike with training wheels. Now we're back and she's off! (Check out the previous blog about her bike/rock adventure!) Everyday when we thank the Lord for something, she usually picks "nature"! She likes being outside digging up worms or catching ladybugs.
There's my two March sweeties! I'm so glad God's given them life and purpose and put them in our care!
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| Roo!! :) |
Friday, April 15, 2011
things are always changing but don't be sad and blue...
We found this Sesame Street video before we moved overseas to Armenia two/three years ago and thought that it was appropriate for the kids. Big changes are a comin'. We went and came back and things have changed a lot, several times! Coming back to the US was also a big change! Settling down, new place, new friends... After two years we had settled in pretty well, just in time to move back to the states! Heh.
Well now this mama had this song come to mind and I was thinking as much as me as I was of the kids. We started homeschooling just before we left and have continued through until now. We've got about a month left of school this year and that will mark three years of homeschooling for the Crawford family! We'd planned to homeschool while we were overseas and then go back to a Christian school in the states. But we all ended up liking schooling together that after two years we thought maybe we'd keep it up for a while after we got back... Now that we're here the kids are all leaning toward heading back to school! Kev is teaching at the Christian school here in town so we've already been around the school and are getting comfortable with the place... Hum...
So now I'm thinking, next fall, it might just be lil' old me at home while all my babies are off! Even little Elijah will be in first grade! Six years old... Crazy! The other day I told Kevin I wonder if I'll freak out or just enjoy a little bit of quiet? Both? It'll be a huge change... for me! :) For three years I've had four little chickadees stuck to my side coming and going. In a few months, I could have no one by my side for a large part of the day?! Strange. Wonder what God has in store next?!
Things are always changing...
Ruth's Rock
Ruth is learning to ride a bike and she's doing great! When we went to Armenia two years ago she just rode with training wheels and while we were there we didn't have any bikes! We pulled some bikes out of the garage and off she went! Crazy! We're so proud of her! We all went for a family ride and she just had to practice stopping and turning but she can ride straight pretty easily!
The next morning the kids wanted to ride again at recess time... Lijah and I were slow to get out and just as I was about to head out in came Ruth holding her hand and crying. She fell off the bike! After trying to get her cleaned up, I realized I wasn't going to get the rock out so I called Kev. He took her to the Walk-In clinic... they tried and took an X-ray...
Then they sent us to Minot to the doctors there! They were worried about the bone and tendens/blood vessels! We drove 2 hours and waited some more... did all the needles and shots for the numbing. The first nurse/doctor didn't get it out, either... the next doctor came and tried to get it, push it, pull it, turn it... in the end he had to cut a little and dig a little! Finally... it's out! He said he just delivered a rock! Heh.
Ruth screamed and kicked and said she'd never ride a bike again and that rocks shouldn't be anywhere... When the rock finally came out she said she didn't even want to LOOK at it... The next day she was already talking about riding the bike and looking at the rock... :)
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| this is her hand making the OK sign... the rock is on the left below her thumb... |
Then they sent us to Minot to the doctors there! They were worried about the bone and tendens/blood vessels! We drove 2 hours and waited some more... did all the needles and shots for the numbing. The first nurse/doctor didn't get it out, either... the next doctor came and tried to get it, push it, pull it, turn it... in the end he had to cut a little and dig a little! Finally... it's out! He said he just delivered a rock! Heh.
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| It's OUT! |
What a day!
Ruth screamed and kicked and said she'd never ride a bike again and that rocks shouldn't be anywhere... When the rock finally came out she said she didn't even want to LOOK at it... The next day she was already talking about riding the bike and looking at the rock... :)
Locks of Love
Hannie grew her hair out and this month she was ready for the chop!
She had 10/11 inches that she's ready to donate to Locks of Love...
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| before |
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| After |
Such a sweetie!
books
I think out of these books to your left, I enjoyed the Silent Governess by Klassen and the Marta books by Rivers best! But the were all good... Right now I'm reading one by Susan Meissner. She wrote The Shape of Mercy and I read that one before we went to Armenia... she weaves the past and the present together... kind cool!
Alrighty! I'm off to finish schooling stuff! But maybe I'll try to read a page or two, first... ;) Happy reading!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Christmas in March?
I was just looking back through my blog... and realized I hadn't even written about Christmas this year?! Crazy. I guess I wrote about Bestamor instead?? But we were so glad to be home with family for Christmas.
Last year in Armenia was our first year to not see any family for Christmas. We still had a lovely Christmas together as a family. It was really laid back and quiet and we hung out together playing and reading and enjoying Christmas time. We even saw a shepherd by our house, tending his flock! Later, for the Armenian Christmas (Jan 6th), we went out to celebrate with some friends. This year we jumped back into our old routine of trying to see every member of our family and driving for a few days to do it. It was busy and a little crazy and we were pooped, but we are thankful for the family God's given us and the chance to celebrate and laugh with them! Let me share just a couple pictures...
Last year in Armenia was our first year to not see any family for Christmas. We still had a lovely Christmas together as a family. It was really laid back and quiet and we hung out together playing and reading and enjoying Christmas time. We even saw a shepherd by our house, tending his flock! Later, for the Armenian Christmas (Jan 6th), we went out to celebrate with some friends. This year we jumped back into our old routine of trying to see every member of our family and driving for a few days to do it. It was busy and a little crazy and we were pooped, but we are thankful for the family God's given us and the chance to celebrate and laugh with them! Let me share just a couple pictures...
Friday, March 11, 2011
Word of God Speak
When you need to hear from God, listen.
We're really trying to spend more time reading and applying God's Word to our lives and our situations lately. Something that we should do every day, huh?! We're learning... And we're trying to make more time to pray and be still with the Lord. Kinda hard to do with a tiny house full of kids! But... press on, right?!
Let me share some verses the Lord has put before our eyes the last couple weeks.
Kevin found out about a job teaching Bible at Trinity Christian School here in Williston, ND. He's always loved studying the Word of God and has a mind for theology, etc. As Kev spent some time in prayer and reading, he came across this verse. We read it as a family at bedtime that night.
1 Timothy 4:13-16
My prayers tend to lean heavily toward our family. For Kev to have wisdom as a leader and to be strong and courageous as he follows Christ and leads his family. And for our children... the ones we have and the ones that might be yet to come. Sometimes we really feel like God is pushing us forward to adopt and have more kids and then, when we have no money, we wonder... how will that work? "Lord, what do you have in mind for our family?" I prayed before I read His Word...
Jeremiah 30:19-22
In church recently, I prayed, "Lord, I will give up what you want me to give up and go after what you want me to go after, just tell me! Even if it's hard to let go of my own dreams for Your plans... help me do that!" About 5 minutes later our pastor started talking from the book of Genesis and asked what God's command was? To be fruitful and increase in number! Heh. Sweet.
Even though we don't see the whole picture, it's nice to hear from the Lord once in a while. Love His Word! Word of God speak; open our ears to listen!
Kevin found out about a job teaching Bible at Trinity Christian School here in Williston, ND. He's always loved studying the Word of God and has a mind for theology, etc. As Kev spent some time in prayer and reading, he came across this verse. We read it as a family at bedtime that night.
1 Timothy 4:13-16
14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Kev is teaching at Trinity now and still praying! :)
My prayers tend to lean heavily toward our family. For Kev to have wisdom as a leader and to be strong and courageous as he follows Christ and leads his family. And for our children... the ones we have and the ones that might be yet to come. Sometimes we really feel like God is pushing us forward to adopt and have more kids and then, when we have no money, we wonder... how will that work? "Lord, what do you have in mind for our family?" I prayed before I read His Word...
Jeremiah 30:19-22
19 From them will come songs of thanksgiving
and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
and they will not be disdained.
20 Their children will be as in days of old,
and their community will be established before me;
I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their leader will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
declares the LORD.
22 “‘So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.’”
and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
and they will not be disdained.
20 Their children will be as in days of old,
and their community will be established before me;
I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their leader will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
declares the LORD.
22 “‘So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.’”
In church recently, I prayed, "Lord, I will give up what you want me to give up and go after what you want me to go after, just tell me! Even if it's hard to let go of my own dreams for Your plans... help me do that!" About 5 minutes later our pastor started talking from the book of Genesis and asked what God's command was? To be fruitful and increase in number! Heh. Sweet.
Even though we don't see the whole picture, it's nice to hear from the Lord once in a while. Love His Word! Word of God speak; open our ears to listen!
100 Bible Story
I forgot to share my favorite part of our 100 Day Party... Our Bible time!! :) I thought that there must be a story in the Bible that has to do with 100 of something... what is it? So I searched one hundred on biblegateway.com. There were lots of verses about offering 100 bulls, etc, which I decided not to use. Then I found one in the New Testament that I thought, "Oh, Duh!" This is the perfect Bible story about 100: The shepherd and his 100 sheep... With the one little lost lamb. He leaves 99 behind and goes to find the one that 's lost. When we're "lost" or away from Jesus, He comes looking for us so that we'll be found and safe with Him. He loves us so much that He comes for us.
Perfect story, huh? I had wanted to get a bag of cotton balls and count out 100 of them as an intro to our story, but didn't find any at Walmart the night before... boo! But the story was still a good one even without the cotton balls!! (Then of course, I found some here at our place a week or two after our party! Of course... :) Maybe we'll re-tell the story today!?)
So, if you wonder if Jesus loves you... Know that He does and when you're lost or stuck He's looking for you!
Audio A's Leaving 99
I'm lost and broken all alone on this road
The wheels keep turning but the feeling is gone
when I fear I'm on my own
You remind me i am not alone
when You say..
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
It's dark and lonely and the path is unclear
Can't move my feet because I'm frozen with fear
then you say, my child, my child
i am always here, i'm at your side
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
you're never too far down
I promise you'll be found,
i'll reach into the mud,
the miry clay
pursue you to the end,
like a faithful friend,
nothing in this world,
can keep me away,
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you...
to find you..
Perfect story, huh? I had wanted to get a bag of cotton balls and count out 100 of them as an intro to our story, but didn't find any at Walmart the night before... boo! But the story was still a good one even without the cotton balls!! (Then of course, I found some here at our place a week or two after our party! Of course... :) Maybe we'll re-tell the story today!?)
So, if you wonder if Jesus loves you... Know that He does and when you're lost or stuck He's looking for you!
Audio A's Leaving 99
The wheels keep turning but the feeling is gone
when I fear I'm on my own
You remind me i am not alone
when You say..
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
It's dark and lonely and the path is unclear
Can't move my feet because I'm frozen with fear
then you say, my child, my child
i am always here, i'm at your side
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
you're never too far down
I promise you'll be found,
i'll reach into the mud,
the miry clay
pursue you to the end,
like a faithful friend,
nothing in this world,
can keep me away,
I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you
(For you alone) I'd leave ninety-nine
Leave them all behind
To find you...
to find you..
Sunday, February 27, 2011
One Hundred Day Part-A!
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| one hundred noodle necklace |
 |
| 100 noodle beads |
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| 100 heart stamps |
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| lots of different ways to make 100 cents... |
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| Lijah found a 100 Armenian dram in with our American change! :) |
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| They worked to build a big 100 lego block tower! |
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| 100 puzzle, change, stamps, necklaces |
We finished the sentence: "If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times..." and I was pleasantly surprised to have the second one they thought of was: "I love you!" We also had things like "sit in your chair" "get in and buckle up" "be kind to each other"... you get the idea!
All together we figured out we've done 440 days of homeschooling so far! 70 left for this year! Whoo!! Sandwiched between swimming in the morning and church in the evening, we had ourselves a Part-A!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Mr. Crawford
Kevin found a job! It's kind of unexpected and seemingly perfect at the same time. The Christian school in Williston needs a Bible teacher, in the month of February, right when we are wondering what job would show up for us! It seems like it could really be a God thing?! One thing Kev loves the most is studying, and studying the Bible! And right in front of us is an open door of a job to study the Bible and teach and inspire others! Before we went overseas, Kev was working with the youth group in Grand Forks. He loves those kids. So this looks really hopeful! Kevin is putting on his Mr. Crawford hat and gearing up to teach 7th through 12th graders! Whoo!
We're super pumped and a little confused, still! Super job, but in the end, he'll need to find another job in order to make ends meet. In order to get all our bills paid, it looks like he'll need something more on top of the teaching job. Kind of a bummer. But we've seen God working in us, and for us, and through us this month... so we're still excited to see what's next! What big thing is still yet to come?! Stay tuned!
We're super pumped and a little confused, still! Super job, but in the end, he'll need to find another job in order to make ends meet. In order to get all our bills paid, it looks like he'll need something more on top of the teaching job. Kind of a bummer. But we've seen God working in us, and for us, and through us this month... so we're still excited to see what's next! What big thing is still yet to come?! Stay tuned!
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| outside the door to Kev's classroom |
Never been so broke and so blessed...
Kev and I have never had lots of money. One or both of us have been in college every year up until the time we went overseas. Overseas we didn't have the budget we expected since we were transferred from one country to another in the middle of our itinerating. And we hardly got any help itinerating since we were Missionary Associates and not full-timers. And we didn't get the help we'd been told we'd get paying off the bills from all our itinerating... Bah. We ate eggs almost every day in Armenia to save money and didn't buy any souvenirs until the last month or two when someone sent us money for the purpose of buying souvenirs!! All that to say... we've always been broke, but never as broke as these past couple years!
We planned, along with our leaders, to come home when we did so that we'd receive our last 3 months of paychecks here. The AG gives that to missionaries coming back from the field so that there's time to adjust and find a new job, etc... Well, again, things didn't shake out as planned and we didn't get the last two months of paychecks that we'd planned to get, and we were also told that we wouldn't be reimbursed for all of our trip back home to the states. Whew. Broke. Talk about stressful!
Again, all that to say that we're broker than broke... and we thought we knew broke before!! :)
Lord, what's up? This is not what we planned!! Kev has his Master's Degree, I have a degree, we've been faithful to You. We've always tithed. Kevin is Mr Generous. He gives above and beyond for tips, etc., with the hope to be a light for the Lord. We believe we followed the Lord on the journey overseas and we saw Him grow and stretch us in more ways than we had planned. So now, we're ready to stop stretching a little. But He doesn't seem to be ready to stop stretching yet!? Heh.
So this month, when we found out we wouldn't get our paycheck again, we were kinda worried. To the point of, "How will we feed our kids and pay our bills?" We are completely blessed to be living in my Grandma's house. Our hometown is experiencing a big boom and housing is super expensive. So... blessed! But we still need food, even if we have a warm house! Heh. Kev still hasn't found a job...
Lord? What now?
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| groceries!! |
I taught the story of Daniel to the preschool class this Wednesday. It was on Daniel in the lion's den and how God hears our prayers. The study I'm reading now talked about how Daniel wouldn't have seen the angel holding the lion's mouth shut, unless he was thrown into the den. In the tough places, that's where God has the chance to show up BIG!
We're so thankful we serve a big God and have a big family in Him! Crazy blessed this month. Still, crazy broke, but overwhelmingly blessed at the same time. We trust Him and believe that He is our Provider. He is in control. And He is able.
Elijah's SIX years old!
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| me and my birthday boy |
Elijah is a little love bug. He loves to kiss and snuggle and hug... at night he'll tell me that in the morning, I shouldn't worry, he'll come and snuggle me a long time! Heh. He talks, talks, talks... all the time! He's always asking, "Can I tell you something?" before he actually tells us! I try to be sure to say, "You can tell me anything, baby!" in hopes that he'll always remember that!
Mr. Kindergarten! Lijah is enjoying reading, and cutting, and counting! However, he does not enjoy writing! Boo. :)
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| McDonalds |
I think Elijah has had the hardest time coming back to the US. I forget that it's all new to him. We went to Dairy Queen the other day and he said, "I like THIS place! We should come here again!" Heh... Yup. He's talking more about, "When we go back to Armenia..." and things like that lately, too. But overall, he's doing well and enjoying being back in the states.
For the birthday boy's party, we went to the McDonalds here in Williston with Grandma and Papa. The kids had a great time. Then we came home to have presents and cake and Wii time! He figured it was a pretty good birthday. He got a Superman doll and a Jessie doll, too, from Toy Story! Howdy Partner!!
We love our Superman! So glad we were blessed 6 years ago with another little, beautiful boy!
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| I love my Dad! |
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Dream
We have a dream. It's kinda intimidating. Almost too big to share... Why do we like to keep our dreams to ourselves? Too intimidating, even to us?! Fear of everyone knowing, and then it not coming true? The possibility of it really coming true?! :) Maybe the dream will change. Maybe it will be above and beyond all we can ask or imagine?! Maybe it'll look totally different in the end?
Anyway. We have a dream.... I went back in my blog to February 2010 and saw that I shared some of it then, too! Heh. So here we are, one year later, still dreaming! Hummm... We've taken a few steps forward and maybe a few steps back? But we haven't let go.
Our dream is to adopt and for Kevin to be able to write for his job. So if we could push those two together and see what that could look like... Big house, big yard, lots of kids coming and going, Daddy in his office about to publish his next big work... sounds good, huh?! Kind of a combination between Funny Farm and Cheaper by the Dozen??
My prayer for Kevin for the past year or so is that he'd have a vision, a dream. (Proverbs 29:18 "Where there is no vision, the people perish" right?) He's come to realize that if he could do anything, he'd work from home, spend time with his family, and write. His schedule would be flexible enough for him to be involved in other ministries and opportunities in the church. Awesome. It's exciting to know what you'd love to do! A vision is really a great thing! Now what?! Heh. How do you go about accomplishing that dream?
Well, normally, people don't just fall into writing jobs overnight. So do we wait and try by writing and sending things out? Yeah... Kevin has been writing and his new project is pretty cool. He figured he'd write out his devotions everyday and share them with you! Check it out at http://www.everydaydevotions.com ! Writing is one good step to becoming a writer. But we also could use a little bit of money now... :) So look for a job and write on the side... so we look for a job. And until he's found a job and settled in, we can't really proceed with the adoption/homestudy stuff... Is this what God wants us to do?
Sometimes we think too much. We don't want to just go off in our own way and dream our own dream. Is this what God's plan is? Is this the dream He's given us and put into our hearts. Biblically, who could argue with us wanting to be a home for lonely orphans? Who could disagree with writing to encourage others in the faith? But where's the line between what we want and what He wants? It makes all the difference. If this is His plan, we hang on tight and run forward. If it's our plan, we hold loosely and be prepared to let go. Show us Your way for us, Lord! We want to know it, and pursue it!
So I guess for now we step forward, be prepared for excitement, and... wait. We know God has good plans. Each day we will seek to please Him. And hopefully in the end we'll see the pieces of the bigger picture fall into place.
Ephesians 3:20
"Now to Him who is able to do
Immeasurably More than all we Ask or Imagine,
according to His Power that is at Work within us,
to Him be Glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations
forever and ever! Amen."
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| big ol' family... |
Our dream is to adopt and for Kevin to be able to write for his job. So if we could push those two together and see what that could look like... Big house, big yard, lots of kids coming and going, Daddy in his office about to publish his next big work... sounds good, huh?! Kind of a combination between Funny Farm and Cheaper by the Dozen??
 |
| isn't his office in one of those windows on the second floor behind him? |
Well, normally, people don't just fall into writing jobs overnight. So do we wait and try by writing and sending things out? Yeah... Kevin has been writing and his new project is pretty cool. He figured he'd write out his devotions everyday and share them with you! Check it out at http://www.everydaydevotions.com ! Writing is one good step to becoming a writer. But we also could use a little bit of money now... :) So look for a job and write on the side... so we look for a job. And until he's found a job and settled in, we can't really proceed with the adoption/homestudy stuff... Is this what God wants us to do?
Sometimes we think too much. We don't want to just go off in our own way and dream our own dream. Is this what God's plan is? Is this the dream He's given us and put into our hearts. Biblically, who could argue with us wanting to be a home for lonely orphans? Who could disagree with writing to encourage others in the faith? But where's the line between what we want and what He wants? It makes all the difference. If this is His plan, we hang on tight and run forward. If it's our plan, we hold loosely and be prepared to let go. Show us Your way for us, Lord! We want to know it, and pursue it!
 |
| Cheaper by the Dozen farmhouse |
Ephesians 3:20
"Now to Him who is able to do
Immeasurably More than all we Ask or Imagine,
according to His Power that is at Work within us,
to Him be Glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations
forever and ever! Amen."
seeing through their eyes
Sometimes I forget that America is the new culture to my kids! Kevin and I have noticed a few differences, but for the most part we feel like we've slid back into US living. We were told sometimes the re-entry can be really tough. Well, finding a job and figuring out what's next is hard for us... But cultural things haven't seemed too wacky for us. Now the kids... They are almost experiencing the US for the first time. Especially Elijah and maybe a little bit for Ruth. Wow. All he knows is Armenia. I think he let most things state-side just slip away from his little memory and embraced life in Yerevan.
It was fun to experience Target with all of them. A little overwhelming for us all! So much stuff. You don't go there to just get a doll... you have to decide between hundred of dolls first! Crazy. Elijah had no idea how big it was. He was just thrilled in the first little corner where all the books are. "Wow!" And, "Look!" Then we went back to the toys where we told them they each had $10 to spend on something they wanted. They ran through the isles and looked and explored. Then it got tough. They had to decide! Whew. Talk about too many choices. The boys ended up with new light sabers and the girls picked a fur real toy dog and a pet vet Barbie. As we were walking out with our goodies, Elijah exclaimed, "This place is a MIRACLE!" The miracle of Target! :)
The cereal aisle! Wow. Again, hundreds of choices. It's been fun to get lots of different cereals to try. Breakfast is exciting around here. When we were at Uncle Scotte's for Christmas, his whole cupboard was full of different cereals! They'll probably remember that until they're old folks reminiscing on the days gone by. I know I still remember how my grandma always had those little boxes of different cereals when we went to visit her. It was a huge treat. And I had lots of cereal at home, too... I hadn't just come from overseas where there were about four choices!
After Christmas, Elijah's little stocking stuffer toy broke. He was so sad but I kept reassuring him that we'd go to Walmart and look for a new one. He kept crying. I kept reassuring him that we'd look at Walmart. Finally he looked up at me and said, "MOM! I don't even know what that IS!?" Oops... How could he know what Walmart was!? I guess the last time he was there was two years ago when he had just turned four years old. "Baby, it's just like Target, the place that was a miracle! Kind of like the big store in Armenia where we went Christmas shopping..." (It's like a warehouse with lots of little shops in one big building.) He was okay then!
When we went to Walmart together, we'd talked in the car about going to the library that day, too. So when we stepped into Walmart Elijah said, "THIS is the Library?!" Heh... "No, baby. This is Walmart!" Walmart wasn't quiet as exciting because we were mostly there to get practical things and a few groceries.
The kids have all loved the library! There is even a picture of Superman flying while reading a book, which Elijah is SURE is the Bible, "because he's a superhero!" I guess the superheros must all read their Bibles, right?! We are planning to go every Friday afternoon and they're enjoying reading, reading, reading. Benjamin checks out big ol' Astronomy and Oceanography books. He brought home one on General Grant, too. We've also read lots of Bearinstine Bears books and brought home a few videos, too. Elijah likes finding the silliest books he can find... last week it was a book about a Grump and this week we read a few books about chickens! I read MaryBeth Chapman's book Choosing to SEE over a weekend! Kev's been reading books about writing! Library's are good. It's funny the things I have to explain to the younger kids, though... "We're not buying these books! We're checking them out just to borrow. You have to give the lady your card and she'll swipe it and then she'll swipe your books. Now she knows who has which books..." I feel like explaining to the moms next to me... we've been overseas! And we always say, as we walk up to the library... "What's the number one rule at the library?? Be Quiet! Whisper!" :)
I love how everything here has to be explained through the eyes of Armenia. We had Mexican food on flat tortilla bread. The kids kept calling it lavash and saying it wasn't as good as Armenia's lavash. "Well, it's like lavash but not quite..." And then when we had lefse, we explained this is a lot like lavash... The lefse was a bigger hit for the kids than the tortillas were! Yum.
Remember in church in Armenia when the kids went to class after the music... they do that here, too! But everyone speaks English! Remember Lover's Park in Armenia... this park is kind of like that one. Remember the fountains at the Republic Square... Kansas City has lots of fountains kind of like that! Remember the kababs... a snack wrap is kind of like that but with chicken. CanadInn, that's like Water World... McDonalds has a playland kind of like Play City... Or, the kids will say things like, "Why don't we just call a taxi?" "Well, they don't really do taxi's here!" Or at church one Sunday someone told us there was coffee after the service. Elijah asked, "What about the TEA?!" Only coffee... good grief! Lijah wants his tea!
We've also moved from a huge city of over a million back to our little town of 15,000. When we're going out the door, the kids all think they need to get books and toys for the drive! We tell them, "We'll be there in 5 minutes! You don't need to get prepared for a long trip across town here!" You can pretty much get anywhere in Williston in 5 or maybe 10 minutes. Kev and I timed it when we were dating... it took 6 minutes to get from my house to his and we lived on opposite sides of town then! :)
All in all, the kids are very happy here. We are finally getting off Christmas vacation and settling into our new routines. Homechool has started again. And the kids are pretty content. We're enjoying snow, which we didn't get too much of in Yerevan last year. And we're looking forward to summer and green grass. Lijah is looking forward to eating watermelons... "When the snow has melted off of the little Mt Ararat!" (Or around the Fourth of July...) ;)
It was fun to experience Target with all of them. A little overwhelming for us all! So much stuff. You don't go there to just get a doll... you have to decide between hundred of dolls first! Crazy. Elijah had no idea how big it was. He was just thrilled in the first little corner where all the books are. "Wow!" And, "Look!" Then we went back to the toys where we told them they each had $10 to spend on something they wanted. They ran through the isles and looked and explored. Then it got tough. They had to decide! Whew. Talk about too many choices. The boys ended up with new light sabers and the girls picked a fur real toy dog and a pet vet Barbie. As we were walking out with our goodies, Elijah exclaimed, "This place is a MIRACLE!" The miracle of Target! :)The cereal aisle! Wow. Again, hundreds of choices. It's been fun to get lots of different cereals to try. Breakfast is exciting around here. When we were at Uncle Scotte's for Christmas, his whole cupboard was full of different cereals! They'll probably remember that until they're old folks reminiscing on the days gone by. I know I still remember how my grandma always had those little boxes of different cereals when we went to visit her. It was a huge treat. And I had lots of cereal at home, too... I hadn't just come from overseas where there were about four choices!
After Christmas, Elijah's little stocking stuffer toy broke. He was so sad but I kept reassuring him that we'd go to Walmart and look for a new one. He kept crying. I kept reassuring him that we'd look at Walmart. Finally he looked up at me and said, "MOM! I don't even know what that IS!?" Oops... How could he know what Walmart was!? I guess the last time he was there was two years ago when he had just turned four years old. "Baby, it's just like Target, the place that was a miracle! Kind of like the big store in Armenia where we went Christmas shopping..." (It's like a warehouse with lots of little shops in one big building.) He was okay then!
When we went to Walmart together, we'd talked in the car about going to the library that day, too. So when we stepped into Walmart Elijah said, "THIS is the Library?!" Heh... "No, baby. This is Walmart!" Walmart wasn't quiet as exciting because we were mostly there to get practical things and a few groceries.
 |
| This is the Grand Forks children's library... I still need to upload the pic of him next to Superman here at the Williston library! :) |
I love how everything here has to be explained through the eyes of Armenia. We had Mexican food on flat tortilla bread. The kids kept calling it lavash and saying it wasn't as good as Armenia's lavash. "Well, it's like lavash but not quite..." And then when we had lefse, we explained this is a lot like lavash... The lefse was a bigger hit for the kids than the tortillas were! Yum.
Remember in church in Armenia when the kids went to class after the music... they do that here, too! But everyone speaks English! Remember Lover's Park in Armenia... this park is kind of like that one. Remember the fountains at the Republic Square... Kansas City has lots of fountains kind of like that! Remember the kababs... a snack wrap is kind of like that but with chicken. CanadInn, that's like Water World... McDonalds has a playland kind of like Play City... Or, the kids will say things like, "Why don't we just call a taxi?" "Well, they don't really do taxi's here!" Or at church one Sunday someone told us there was coffee after the service. Elijah asked, "What about the TEA?!" Only coffee... good grief! Lijah wants his tea!
 |
| our kids at the mall in Grand Forks, ND the first few weeks we were back in the US |
All in all, the kids are very happy here. We are finally getting off Christmas vacation and settling into our new routines. Homechool has started again. And the kids are pretty content. We're enjoying snow, which we didn't get too much of in Yerevan last year. And we're looking forward to summer and green grass. Lijah is looking forward to eating watermelons... "When the snow has melted off of the little Mt Ararat!" (Or around the Fourth of July...) ;)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What is Home?
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| the kids built a snowman this week in front of our Williston home |
Benjamin: Home is where you are comfortable and can relax.
Hannah: Home is where your things are and where you can be cozy.
Ruth: It's where you eat and sleep and are safe from storms... it's where you're loved.
Elijah: Home has an oven and a fridge and a bed... *giggling*
I think home is where your family and things are and where you know what to expect. Living overseas, we've had to think about a new culture we've tried to learn how they do things and don't do things. I think each little home is, in a way, it's own little culture. I can remember going to friends' houses and being surprised (pleasantly and not so pleasantly) about what they could do or could not do... how far they could go before their parents had had enough. If they got in trouble right away or not, etc... If we could play loudly or had to play quietly, inside or outside, if messy is acceptable or not... Then, I would try to act accordingly! When you're at your own home, with your own family, you have spent every day of your life learning these things. So it is comfortable, cozy, safe... and usually, it does have a bed and a fridge, too! Hopefully it also has lots of giggles as well!!
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