It's been a while... Again

One day I'm going to get consistent with.... something.

It's been over a year since my last entries and here I am again.

My main goal in this blog is the have a place that these memories are stored up and an outlet to save my assembled words.

I have several draft posts I meant to finish and share last year,  but looking at them now,  the subject matter is either now old news,  or about projects I haven't even  completed yet.

I'll just leave this here to remind me that my life is amazing

even if it's not published in detail on a regular basis

A mom. A broom. A trash bag. A mission.

An "I spy" bottle full of colord rice and various small objects was dumped all over one of my daughters' beds this afternoon.

 I sent them out of the room, shut the door, and  forbid them from entering it till i could address the situation.

While everyone else ate supper I took a trash bag and a broom to their room.

 Mom with a trash bag and a broom means whole room is getting  swept and reordered.

Once I started I decided one of their beds needed a new location to keep it from getting so much "lost" underneath (she squirrels things away)...so the whole thing is in a mess right now and they will be getting to stay up a bit later tonight for me to fix it.

Also...I've told them they will not be allowed back in their room after they get up in the morning without my permission. Let me enjoy the clean room for a few hours.

Have you ever grounded your kids out of their room?

Campbelltown, Hamburg, Hammonds Ferry, Hampton Terrace, North Augusta

I've been taking in a lot of North Augusta area history recently....through searches online.
Tonight, however, we were able to  watch a set of historical talks about who began the town called Hamburg, how the railroad came to the area, the rise and fall of the Hampton Terrace Hotel, who settled here before this area was ever dreamed of as North Augusta and what they did, how they traded, how they traveled.

These were lectures which someone had videoed and then copied to dvd from vhs by the Nancy  Carson  Library (North Augusta's public library)...which i happened to see on the shelf while avoiding the downpouring lightning storm this afternoon.

I'm so glad to have the resources we do to feed my curiosity about bricks and streets and the really old homes scattered among the midcentury neighborhoods. It really is helping put all these pieces  together to understand the land we live on...and how very different it could have been if events had played out differently...

I'd post some links to sites I've looked at for tales of these places, but I'm not certain of each story tellers validity,  so I'll let you Google those yourself.

I'm thankful for my daughter's food allergies

Six months ago I could not say this. Six months ago I was deeply stressed by any event involving food. Grocery shopping litterally left me in tears and social gatherings made me feel so very on-edge.

Early this year we confirmed that our three and a half year old daughter has a list of foods she should not eat. She has never had a true anaphylactic reaction, though she has had multiple symptoms pop up at once...for which I probably should had used her epipen and made a hospital trip. Thankfully, she did not progress to worse in that instance. I know that she can either get progressively worse, or lesser reactions as she is exposed and either becomes less allergic or more.

Why would I ever say I'm thankful for this?

I'm thankful that she has the allergies she does, and not the ones she doesn't.

I have learned that, unlike peanut allergies, we shouldn't have to worry as much with exposure to others eating her allergens nearby...as long as she doesnt eat them herself.

I've learned to bake food that feels good to know how to bake. Homemade yeast bread. Fresh pizza, simple tomato sauce, foods that taste good with only a handful of ingredients .... that I can cheaply make the old fashioned way instead of having to rely on expensive specialty products or flour blends.

I'm thankful that it is a very good accountability partner in keeping our budget down. I cannot just grab a meal. I'm required to plan ahead. I think way more than twice before getting food from the one restaurant I trust with her allergies (yes....really...one restaurant)

I'm thankful for the families I can better serve in the future from the things I'm learning now. I'm thankful for the training I am gaining to help me better care for children in our community who may have similar restrictions. I'm thankful for the moms and dads I can stand with in solidarity and compassion as we face these awful mysteries.

I'm thankful that we are avoiding a whole lot of additives in our home...even though it is infuriating that the labeling can legally be so vague as to not actually disclose all of the things on her list....at least we can take comfort in simplicity.

I'm thankful that one day I won't have to read everything my child eats because one day she will be made whole. I'm trusting that one day the Lord will remove this affliction in His perfect kingdom.

 I'm thankful that as long as we dwell on this broken earth, food allergies and so many other illnesses and afflictions remind us that we need Him. We need His perfection. We are completely dependant on His restoration.

  I'm thankful for knowing our brokenness and knowing his mercy.

Praise God, our provider!

 I've been scrambling all over the internet for a few weeks for money saving and money making ideas. Weighing work at home or local part time job options and trying to come up with *anything* to fill in the gaps in our budget. Dreading time-wasting internet surveys and minimum-wage job interviews.

But God, ya'll.

God placed one long-time friend on my mind. I sent her a message asking if she would keep me in mind, should she ever need an assistant for her business. Her response was that she had just *that night* said to her husband  that she needed someone else to help her with a small area of her business....but that it was an area she needed someone she trusted.

I met with her tonight to go over the details and I am just in awe at the way God drew us together to help both of our families at just the right time.

It's not even the first time that God has blown me away by his timing and orchestration with this exact friend. Our God is so amazing!

I still covet your prayers for Mike and I to grow together in budgeting better...we have a long way to go....

but I am so thankful for a Father who doesn't leave us in the dark. He doesn't  just provide our needs...but provides them wrapped in His love through our community of friendship!