Cameron's summer job

Cameron has had the opportunity to work with some friends of our in their landscaping business. They are very careful to work him as a 10 year old and watch over him well. He works two days a week cleaning out the shop, cleaning equipment, weeding, etc...and every once in awhile, he gets to join the boys on the work site learning about how to lay a patio, lay water drainage systems and other various exciting things.

The days are long and each morning Cameron whines about going, but every afternoon he comes home happy and with a feeling that he has accomplished something. He loves the guys he works with who are most encouraging to him and he feels a part of the team.

This is has been such a terrific opportunity for Cameron to learn about work, diligence, perseverance and money management! The only downside has been that he cannot drive himself to and from work...thanks guys for letting Cameron be a part of the team!

Update on Mom

My mom had a rough day today. The pain still continues and she has sharp stabbing pain when she tries to put weight on her "new" hip. This is not typical for a hip replacement. They say that after the surgery they should be able to bear weight without pain (even though there will be surgical pain). I am not sure why this is and perhaps we will have some answers tomorrow when the doctors make their rounds. So we wait and just try and keep her comfortable with pain medicine, or in her case, a little knocked out.

A Good Day

There are times in the midst of the race that you look around you and wonder how in the world you ended up here on the track with just a pair of flimsy shorts on and ill-fitting track shoes. You look at the runners and wonder how come they are doing so well and how much more prepared they seem than you. Cameron had that feeling a few times in track last spring and I know my mom is feeling that tonight lying in her hospital bed.

She did really well through the surgery but now that she is on the other side, she is becoming weary in this race. She is tired, anxious and in pain and in nothing but a flimsy hospital gown. I am thankful her surgery went so well, but am having a hard time seeing her raw emotions and fear of more pain.

Thank you for praying for her and if the Lord leads, please continue to pray for a peace of heart and mind and a firm assurance that her life is in his hands and he is the Master of this race. Please pray that she will have peace that passes all understanding and she will find much joy in the midst of the struggle.

And me?? I am feeling a little like Cal in this picture who was too tired to chew the apple in his mouth.

I am drained, but deeply thankful that I can trust my Lord for this race.

Praying for my Mom

My mom never stops smiling....

The are a couple of pictures from Cameron's birthday. She was not able to make him a cake like she wanted so she stuck a candle in a cookie and Cameron was thrilled.

She will be having a total hip replacement done tomorrow morning at 8:00. The surgery will be complicated as she has loss much bone in her hip from the cancer and they are not sure how strong her remaining bone is to attach the new hip.

Please pray for her if the Lord brings her to mind. She is weak and she is nervous, but she is so tired of the pain.

Thanks!

The many faces of Calvin

Silence broken

I just recently talked with a lady at a surprise Anniversary party that said she hates reading people's blogs who always talk about their kids...she didn't care about their kids.

Well, here is my blog where I rarely write and when I do, it is often about my kids....

We have had so much fun with our kids this summer and even if I am only writing to myself as a journal, I enjoy writing about my family as a reminder of what a gift they are!

We have moved!

For all who may want to visit us, we have moved to a duplex in Morton, IL!

While it has been fun setting up house, Jeff and I have both felt a great tension in buying stuff...how much is enough? We realized that you do not have to make a decision to get things ( i.e. the chair now needs a pillow, the pillow needs a matching lamp, the lamp needs a color-coordinated picture, etc...), but rather you need to make a decision not to get carried away with getting things.

Jeff made the statement last night, "We spent the last year in a borrowed home with two of the ugliest couches I have ever seen and we were perfectly happy." And that is really it, isn't it? We want this to be our home for now; we want it to be inviting to all who come through, but Oh Lord, please guard our hearts as we make each decision of what is really necessary! As we heard in a message last Sunday, "Today's comforts become tomorrows necessities"!

I had to write a letter last night to our house help in India explaining to them that we were not coming back in the near future and I realized how much of my heart is still there. India seems very distant from our air-conditioned bedroom, pristine sidewalks and double wide driveway absent of cows and monkey doo-doo.

Lord, keep India fresh on my mind and in my soul, help me to enable my children to continue to passionately pray for this country and for its people...

And...as a side note, my mom really seems to be suffering as of late. How I wish I could take some of the pain for her....thanks to those who are praying for her...it sure has been a terrible thing to watch.