If One Is Good...

Then two are better, and fourteen is - tremendous!  Due to our recent move ( from trailer to trailer), I had to go through a lot of cupboards, drawers, and other storage places.  I was amazed to find that I had fourteen denim skirts!  While that may seem like overkill to some, it is my favorite article of clothing, and I have various styles to accommodate the seasons as well as my personal taste.  I have straight skirts and A-lines, long and short, dark and light, old and new.  I love the variety and the durability of denim, and I think it is the perfect garment for my everyday activities.  So, I am celebrating my denim skirt collection, just because it makes me smile to think of the neatly folded stack of blues on my closet shelf.  What is your private obsession?

With Liberty and Justice for All!

I cannot let the day pass without saying "Happy 235th Birthday, America!"  I am so thankful for the country God has given us, and for the freedoms that we enjoy.  I want to thank all of our military and veterans for the sacrifices they have made and continue to make that we might enjoy a life of freedom.  Their service is not unappreciated - Thank you! 

I had the great chore of ordering my school books today.  I did some figuring this past week and realized that we will be starting school in about five weeks!  NOOOOOOOOO!!!!  Where has the summer gone?  I will have the distinct pleasure of teaching three of my children at home this year.  Josiah will be in fifth grade, Abigail in second (learning cursive), and Esther beginning her educational career in K-5.  Daniel will probably just terrorize us all as usual. 

I also made a wonderful discovery.  For some time, my girls have wanted to get an American Girl Doll, but I really balked at the $100 price tag.  I was doing some research online, and found 18" Madame Alexander dolls that look remarkably like the AG dolls and are of similar construction for only $34 on Amazon.com.  I used some of my amazon gift cards (courtesy of Swagbucks) to buy one for Esther's birthday.  I also found some free patterns to make doll clothes for them, so I was quite pleased!  I know she will be thrilled with her new friend!  Now all I have to do is save enough to get one for Abigail for Christmas!

We participated in a church picnic/barbecue today, and are looking forward to watching the fireworks tonight. They don't start until quite late (11:00p.m.) due to the loooooong days here in ND!  The locals have been shooting fireworks off all weekend, so we have already seen several decent displays, but I know tonight will be spectacular because of the nearby military base. (They always put on a good show.)  The weather here has been very nice, although it was so windy today they couldn't put the volleyball net up on the church lawn.  The water is receding, and things are getting back to normal for a lot of people.  We still have to boil all drinking water, so I am quite glad that we will only be here for a week!  Tomorrow we begin the VBS program, so we are praying that there will be a good turnout of children, and that we will see several saved this week.  Pray with us for souls.

Water, Water, Everywhere...

Minot, ND- Flood of 2011

And not a drop to drink."  That is the phrase that came to my mind as we pulled into Minot, ND yesterday afternoon.  The area has been hit by the worst flood since 1881, surpassing several other major floods in the 1900's.  The water has receded quite a bit in the last few days of good weather, but there are still a lot of areas underwater, and the damage to the residential areas is amazing.  Right now, there is only one north/south road to get into the city, so, as you can imagine, the traffic is, as the old Christmas song states, terrific!  In addition to being flooded, the city has been on water conservation measures, so any unnecessary water use is discouraged - such as washing cars, etc.  There was some water contamination because of the flooding, so all water must be boiled before drinking, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and cooking.  I am very thankful that we have a tank full of Wyoming water in our trailer!  I won't have to worry about boiling all our water for a few days.  They expect that the ban on drinking the water will be lifted in the next few days, since they are testing it several times a day.  The weather is beautiful, and as we anticipate celebrating Independence Day, we can be thankful for the wonderful country God has given us, and the freedom we enjoy.

Confessions of Junior Camper

Three weeks ago, my son boarded a bus and headed off to church camp.  It was a heart-rending moment for me as a mother.  Although it was his second year to attend camp, I was not going to be present for the week as I was last year.  I knew he would have a wonderful time, but I was worried about his health - because of all the allergy issues.  I consoled myself that all would be well since my husband was to be the speaker for the week.  I was almost entirely right, but I would not find this out until he returned home.  It is just as well, I would have been unnecessarily worried about him! :)

As soon as he returned the following Saturday, it was evident that he had enjoyed every moment of camp.  He was more tanned and his face was smeared with dirt and dust.  He began regaling his sisters and me with tales of his adventures almost as soon as he got in the door.  His sisters listened with awe and wonder as he described the chicken wrangling event, the singing contest, and his near-drowning episode (in a shallow water tank).

I took his bag and emptied all the dirty (and was it ever dirty) laundry into the washer.  I was relieved to see that, contrary to my previous experience with junior boy campers, he had actually changed his clothes during the week.  I then asked the following question:
"Did you take a shower this week?"
"Yes," he replied.  "On Tuesday... but I forgot my soap."
"Oh!?" I stifled a grin.
"Well," he continued in a matter of fact way, "Mama, it was so dusty up there that as soon as you took a shower, you got dirty again, so it was kind of a waste of time."
"I see," I replied.  "Did you brush your teeth?"
The only answer I received was a rather sheepish grin, which told me way more than I wanted to know.  Gotta love that boy!

Out of the Old...

Living room/dining area

And into the new.  It has been several weeks since I have had internet access, hence the lack of new posts.  Those weeks have been very exciting and eventful ones, so I will try to catch up on all the happenings of the Crow family.  We left the flooded banks of the Mississippi River and headed across the drought-ridden states of Texas and New Mexico.  As we headed out of El Paso, we had an extra day to get to our destination of Silver City, NM.  On a whim, we stopped at an RV dealership to look at a trailer that had caught our eye.  We have been talking of replacing our fifth wheel for some time, but just hadn't found the right one.  The trailer we first saw was not the one for us, but they did have another used fifth wheel that would work very well for our family.  We asked about trading in our original RV, and upon examining it, they told us that it had a serious structural flaw, and said that a large pothole could cause it to crack in two (worst case scenario)!  This was rather disturbing, so we inquired about repairing the damage.  they told us it would probably cost $6,000-10,000 to adequately repair the problem.  After talking it over, we decided that pouring that much money into an RV that our family had outgrown would be a waste.  We prayed about what to do, and ended up signing papers for a "new" RV.

Of course, this development changed a lot of things for us, since we were scheduled to be at camp for the next two weeks.  We told the dealership that we would be back in two weeks to pick up the RV,and headed to Silver City.  I stayed home the first week and packed up our belongings as best I could while Paul and Josiah went to junior camp.  I could not believe how much STUFF we had stowed away in the cupboards!  I took a lot of boxes and bags to the Goodwill and threw even more stuff away. 

The second week, we all went to Gila Christian Ranch.  It was teen camp, so my kids were not involved in the activities, but Paul and I helped with the music and skits and activities.  What an experience it was!  The camp is located in the middle of nowhere - off the grid, as they say.  The only electricity comes from solar power/windmill/generator.  We had a great week, though, and we are looking forward to being there next year as well. If you want a unique church camp experience, I invite you to look into going to Gila Christian Ranch in Silver City, NM. 

After camp, we went back to pick up our RV.  It wasn't ready, having had several things that needed to be done to it, but after three days, we could not delay our schedule any longer.  We "moved" box by box into the new RV, and were done in two and a half days.  We are almost completely settled in now, although I still have a box or two to put away.  We drove to Albuquerque, NM, that first night, and found out that the trailer had some problems we didn't know about.  It was rather discouraging at first, but the Lord put us in the path of some very wonderful and gracious people.  Our truck also had a problem with the throttle positioning sensor.  While the truck was being repaired, our friends helped us fix the trailer slide-out and the closet which had collapsed.  The Lord provided for the truck repairs in a miraculous way, and we left Albuquerque in better shape than we arrived, as far as our equipment was concerned. 

Front bathroom

Kids room

We are on our way to Minot, ND to hold a VBS next week, if the town hasn't totally washed away by then. :) While driving through NM we saw the smoke from those vast fires, and I could not help but be amazed at the vast destruction of our country - on the east by floods, and on the west by drought and fire.  Thank the Lord for the safety He gives!

Chase Away the Blahs

I am sometimes stricken with a severe case of what I call "the blahs."  I suppose it could be described as a bad mix of boredom, tedium, and discontentment with my present state - whatever it happens to be at the time.  I find myself getting restless and irritable for no apparent reason.  Of course, the realization of the problem only makes me frustrated, because there is no sense in it!  Many times I think to myself, "Why am I allowing whatever it is to control my life?  Is not Christ greater than any problem I have?"  I have come to realize that it is all in my attitude... that really is a hard confession to make.  The problem is not what is going on around me, it is my own response.  Having said that, I am recovering from my most recent attack of the blahs.  Praise the Lord that His Word confronts and corrects the problem.  I don't have to live in misery if I will just ask for His help.  And when I think about it, most of the time, the things that bother me the most are trifling matters.  I have seen some tremendous answers to prayer just this week!  The Lord's hand is not slack!  Let's reign in those blahs and chase them away by counting the blessings of answered prayer!

I have been praying for some time that our house in Indiana would sell.  It is on the market with a great agent, but the housing market is really struggling right now in our area.  We are scheduled to have an open house this weekend, provided it doesn't rain, and I am hoping that the right person will see our house and love it - enough to buy it!  Please pray with me about this matter.  We really cannot afford to relocate until our house is sold.  The Lord has done great things for us in the past, and He is quite capable of doing more in the future!

Another Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone, but in reality, every day for me is a mother's day!  My children did not make me breakfast in bed (although this is not necessarily a bad thing) but I did get a lot of hugs and kisses, as well as lots of "I love you's."  I did have a surprise in the afternoon.  I had lain down to take a nap and was awakened by a small voice, "Mama, we have something for you!"  I opened my groggy eyes and there stood my son with a plate laden with something (I didn't have my glasses on, so couldn't tell what it was).  I took the plate, and tipped it up slightly to see what was on it, and was surprised when a wave of water flowed off the plate and all over me!  I shrieked, and sat up, grabbing for my glasses.  Their faces were as astonished as mine was!  It was hilarious!  The kids couldn't figure out where the water had come from, and in the end. our best guess determined that it had been the bottom plate on the stack of clean dishes and therefore had collected the water.  While I did not eat the soggy potato chips, smarties, and raisins, I did thank my children for their thoughtfulness.  Next time, I will check the plate first! :)

Last weekend, I had the opportunity and privilege of speaking at a ladies' banquet.  I am always a bundle of nerves when I have to speak, but the Lord gave me clarity of thought and I was able to share what He had given me.  I spoke on the topic of surrender.  It is so needed in our our lives!  Are we truly surrendered to God's will, no matter what it may be?  I challenge each of you to prayerfully consider your own state of yieldedness to God.  Are you doing and being what He would have you to do and be?  May our Lord find us living in His perfect will.