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Loads and Loads of Argggh!

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  My quiver is full and so are my closets. After several years of only having one or two of my adult children living in my home at different times, things are getting ready to change. All of my adult children will be living in my house, at same time! One of my daughters had been living in the mobile home of my late mother-in-law while my two sons were dwelling in the mobile home of my late father-in-law. After much thought and rising lot fees, we bought eleven beautiful acres in the country for both mobile homes. I had no idea how much went into moving mobile homes. The whole process will take at least a month of drilling a well, putting in a sewer, and preparing foundations. During the next month or so, all of my children will move back into our home until their homes are ready.  The side effect of all the packing is that laundry was piling up for my sons. I volunteered to catch the boys laundry up, so their move could have a literal clean start. After the ninth load, I reme...
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Your Identity

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Being a mother can become your identity. Before I had children, I ate hot food, finished everything on my plate, and had full nights of sleep. There was something about that moment when you bring your first child home from the hospital. You are holding this tiny human being in your arms, and the thought goes through your head. "I have no idea what I'm doing." That's when mom instincts kick in. A simple whimper wakes you from a sound sleep. Suddenly, feeding your child comes before you  eating. And, yes, your child can have your piece of cake. Before you know it, you can no longer remember a time before having the little ones for whom you would lay down your life. Your whole life evolves around the children God entrusted to you. Here's the struggle. What happens when the children are grown and go their own way? As women, we need to remember our identity is not just being a mother. Even though you'll always take care of your children, they will become self-suf...
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Small, but Powerful

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  My husband, daughter, and I had the honor of attending a rural church pastor's meeting this weekend. It was in an unfamiliar area for us, and we arrived with minutes to spare. The parking lot was packed.  I was a little amazed because huge crowds usually didn't attend this type of event. As we rushed in a group of teens were handing out programs. I just thought this was a really organized event until my daughter caught my attention. As I glanced at the program, I realized we had crashed a preschool graduation. I'm sure we confused the teenager's by grabbing programs and walking out. I was so embarrassed that I didn't even return the programs, so now I have a program for a bunch of preschoolers I don't even know! We got back in the car and regrouped. Obviously, a preschool graduation was not the rural church meeting. We rechecked the website and confirmed the meeting was at this church. We drove to the side and saw a gym with a door open and a basement door o...
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Dog Tired

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  One of the fun things I get to do as grandma for my granddogs is babysit. When my son is on shift as a firefighter, I watch his dog. His dog is a very large boxer that loves to cuddle all night. It's difficult to sleep well when he wiggles so much. One weekend, I had boxer duty and my daughter asked me to watch her Australian Shepherd. His quirk was waking up around four in the morning to take a potty break. This weekend, however, he decided to wake up at 3:30 in the morning. After already tossing and turning with the big dog, I stumbled out of my bedroom, down the stairs, and out into the dark of early morning. After both dogs finished their business, I stumbled up the stairs, shutting off the lights as I went. As I flipped off the last light, I watched my daughter's dog go back to the room, then I pushed my son's dog through the door. I decided to let the Australian Shepherd sleep out of the kennel for the rest of the morning. He was quiet as a mouse, and we all quickly...
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Sensitive and Stuck

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  My daughter is getting married in June. She works as a special education paraprofessional. Because of this, she is often outdoors with her students for recess. Her twin sister began to joke with her about the lack of tan where her glasses reside. It would make interesting wedding pictures. My daughter solved this by switching to contacts. Everything was great until she had her nails done. She has always preferred short fingernails. The man giving her a manicure did not agree. You may think this is not a big deal; however, it's a huge deal when you use contacts. She came to me panicking because her contact was stuck. She couldn't remove it due to the longer nails getting in the way.  I tried to help her. Here's the problem. Anytime someone tries to touch your eyeball, you squint, panick, and pull away. Do you feel stuck spiritually? Maybe you've opened yourself up to allowing God to direct your choices and your life. But life has become hard and  complicated. As the ...
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That Kind of Family

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  I spent the weekend with an amazing group of women at the women's retreat at Rockhaven Bible Camp.  I shared about letting our words that we speak be pleasing to God. You can't have freedom if you speak chains over your life! It was a fun time. I made sure to clean my whole house so that when I made it home, it would be clean. The men in my home also went to a men's weekend. When I got home, guy stuff was everywhere! Of course, God was giving me the perfect opportunity to practice what I preach. I smiled, greeted my granddogs, and straightened up my house. My husband rewarded this by saying, "Do you feel like cooking?" My response was a resounding no. He agreed and off the whole family was to a restaurant for dinner. Keep in mind that I have four adult children. When they were young children, we were on a tight budget. We would have a conversation about what they could order before we entered the restaurant. Ordering water was a given. As my family entered the...
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The Stench is Gone

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  There has been a stench outside my house. We looked everywhere to determine where the smell originated. Did the cat bring us  a lizard or small animal gift? No. Was my son's old lunch in his ice chest the cause? No. I know this because I carried to the outer perimeter of our property. I looked under the porch. Nothing. Maybe one of our chickens died. No. No matter how much I looked, I could not find the source of the deathly stench. But I knew it was there. It was the kind of smell that clung to your clothes. I resigned myself that, like that insurance commercial, this smell would become a part of our lives. What's for dinner? Stench. How do you like my perfume? It smells like stench. How's my candle? Is it stench-scented? However, a few hours later, the smell magically disappeared. How could something so bad just dissappear? This is what Jesus Christ did for you. The stench of your and my sin draped us. Death was the clear ending. However, God made a way, my friend, o...
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