Where Have I Been?

A view from our veranda.

Where have I been?  I finally return to blogging, blog twice and then disappear again!

Well, I've been on the other side of the planet...literally, I've been on the other side of the planet. 

On October 28th my husband and I boarded a British Airways flight and began a 10,000 mile journey to Ug@nda, Afric@.  Twenty-eight hours later we landed and began a 6 week odyssey to obtain legal guardianship of our third child, a little girl.  She is officially eight years old and I will call her Bouncy here in my blog. 

Right now I am not ready to delve into a lot of the details of our trip.  It really does take a while to process all that I've seen and experienced.  We were in a totally different world from our everyday world.  We were challenged in ways we had never been challenged before.  We grew in ways we never knew we could or would.  And now we have a precious little girl that has joined our family.  And we are being challenged in all kinds of new ways!

As time goes on I hope to share some of what we experienced and some of the things God is teaching us in this new world of adoption.  Truly I never thought it would be something that we would do but God had other plans.  Adoption is what He does everyday with each of us and now He is letting us in on that, and showing us His heart.

Well, I really am here today just to check in.  I hope and pray each of you are enjoying your Christmas and looking forward to the New Year ahead!

Ordinariness

~The true test of a person's spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exiting happening.  ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Ordinariness is where life is lived. It is the day to day of life. It is the getting up each morning, doing one's loving duty and the sweetness of the evening with those we love. 

There are always events in life in which one's character is revealed.  We (I) often think that it's the big events of life that test our (my) character, but I think maybe not always.  Might it be that the true testing is in the day to day of life?  In the ordinary times?

An event, good or bad, may be the beginning of a time of trial and testing, but I think that it's not the event that is the test.

Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

In my own walk with the Lord it has been the day to day of life after an "event" where I am tested.  Can I still get up in the morning?  Can I still make the bed?  Can I still do the laundry, the dishes, prepare meals, teach my children, love my husband, clean the bathroom, vacuum the floor, do the grocery shopping, teach my children and love my husband?

It is in the ordinariness of life that I lean on Jesus because I have learned that in my own strength I can not carry on.  In the ordinariness of life I learn that God is to be trusted and that His burden is light.  In the ordinariness of life I learn to walk with God. 

And in the ordinariness of life God transforms me (Romans 12:2).

Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest (October 12th),  [God] has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways.   It was said of Jesus - "He will not fail nor be discouraged..." (Isaiah 42:4) because He never worked from His own individual standpoint, but always worked from the standpoint of His Father.  And we must learn to do the same.  Spiritual truth is learned through the atmosphere that surrounds us, not through intellectual reasoning.  It is God's Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible."

It is in the day to day things of life that God begins and continues to work in me through His Holy Spirit, changing the atmosphere of my heart and mind, renewing and transforming me.  Changing my "me" centeredness to Him centeredness.  Changing my dependence on myself to dependence on Him, ultimately leading me to hope in Him, joy in spite of circumstances and a peace that passes understanding.

Hello Again

After a long time away from blogging I have decided to give it a try again. Before I began though I did some hard thinking about what kind of atmosphere I wanted to create here at Walking Faithfully.

I decided I want it to be a warm, loving and encouraging place to come to. I don't want to spend a lot of time on analyzing or discussing the state of affairs in the world, unless, of course, it is in the course of bringing encouragement and glorifying God. There are plenty of blogs out there that do that sort of thing and do it in a much better way than I ever can. I tend to just get up on a soap box and rant. That is not very warm, loving or encouraging.

Like any place one has been away from for awhile a little dusting and sweeping are required in order to get things liveable again. That's what I've been doing here today. I uploaded a new background and header (which were fun to find and make!) and deleted some old posts that were not in keeping with my new direction in blogging.

I also don't intend to spend a lot of time on the blogging thing. I mainly want to write. I have been in dire need of a creative outlet. At my current season in life I don't really have the time or energy to drag out sewing projects, crocheting projects or any other project for that matter. Blogging is one of those things I can do that does not create a mess or take up space that I will need later so that we can have dinner at the table.

I am also still homeschooling our two children. Legoman, our 15 soon to be 16 year old son, is now in high school and keeping up with his education is a bit of a challenge for me. I also probably worry a little about how well we are doing in covering all the bases for him, yet at the same time I know we will get there and have a sense of accomplishment for a job well done.

Sweetpea, our 10 year old, is an amazing joy! She genuinely loves to learn. She doesn't always love the tasks it may involve but she loves learning! She especially loves her science. We are currently doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. Today she made a model of her blood using Karo Syrup, Red Hots, sprinkles and one white Jelly Belly. Our little two year old friend came over today, saw the canning jar full of sugary goodness(?) and wanted to eat it. All I could say to him was, "Yucky!"

'Cuz I'm sure it is...yucky I mean.

We also have some amazing and wonderful things coming up for our family that I hope to share in the not to distant future. For now though they will have to remain a mystery to you dear reader. But if you do think of me and feel led I would surely appreciate your prayers on our family's behalf.

So that is my "hello again". I hope you will come and visit again. Please comment and let me know you stopped by!

Blessings!

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the indertance; for you serve the Lord Christ." ~Colossians 3:23-24

Happy Trails

Well, in case you hadn't noticed...I've more or less quit writing this blog. I've found in the last couple of months that I really don't have any desire to write here. I don't have a lot I want to say. And, as evidenced by my last entry, it's not particularly edifying (in the way I would like it to be).

You see, at this season in my life there are people that require a lot of concentrated attention. Most particularly my children. We homeschool them and blogging is a distraction for me in concentrating on their schooling and on their over all upbringing. Raising them is the most important thing I will do in my life. I don't want to screw it up. Getting distracted by blogging or really anything that averts my attention from them....well for me, that would be a screw up. Truth be told...I'm easily distracted, and it requires extra-ordinary discipline on my part to stay focused on what is really important. For me, in the grand scheme of things, blogging isn't all that important. It's not what God has called me to do.

I'm going to leave this blog up for now. I may perhaps come by every now and then and post something.

One thing I do want to do before I disappear into cyberspace is to say thank you to all the really wonderful gals who have commented here. I would venture to name you all but, even though there are not a lot of you, there are enough that I would feel badly if I missed anyone. And while I'm not going to be writing a blog anymore I imagine I will still be reading them occasionally. And I'll likely comment.

So blessings to you all and thank you for coming by and visiting me!

Happy New Year and The Holiday Travel Hangover

Hello everyone!

I'm back...and boy what a Christmas and New Year's we had. We traveled....a. lot. I think that it's quite possible that if we had driven in a strait line we would have driven at least halfway across the United States. Yes...that's how much traveling we did.

And we never left that state we live in...now that's not really saying much as we do live in one of the larger states in the Union. But it did make us decide this was the absolutely last year we are doing this.

Traveling, I mean.

We've been married for eighteen years and for those eighteen years we have lived at least five hours and more away from our immediate families. And for eighteen years we have packed ourselves and our gifts up and traveled to see family.

Now don't get me wrong. We love our family. But friends...I would dearly love to stay home for Christmas. Home. The place where I live. Because after eighteen years home isn't where I or my husband grew up.

I could get all sentimental right now about never being able to go home again, or about home being where the heart is, or home being where my husband and kids are. But this is not a Hallmark moment I'm having. I just don't want to travel that much during the holidays anymore.

And sleep in a variety of beds.

And eat at weird hours.

And eat rich food (which tastes really good but doesn't always settle well).

And go to bed too late.

And get up too early.

Because at forty-three...the recovery time is...errr...shall we say a lot slower than it was at twenty-five.

But having said all that we did have a wonderful time with our families, and were blessed in a myriad of ways, not just with presents. I hope to write a little more about that in the next couple of days...I'm still just letting my thoughts and feelings about our Christmas gel a little before I write about them. God showed me some really neat things this year and I'm still thinking on them and processing them in my heart and mind.

So anyway...Hello again! It's good to be back and I hope everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Day!

I Think I'm Going On Hiatus

Well, as we count down to the big holiday, and Husband, kiddos and I prepare to make our visits to family, I think I am going take a little bloggy break.

I may jump once or twice in the next two weeks to say, "Hi!" if I get the chance.

I hope and pray that you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

Bon Bons and My Lightbulb Moment

So I've gotten my first batch of Bon Bons dipped and ready to go. Unfortunately I think I'm going to have to do another batch. They are the only thing I'm making this year....however, it just occured to me that I could do a batch of fudge in order to supplement goody gifts and that would be a whole lot easier than making another batch of Bon Bons. Yeah, I think I'll do that.

ANYWAY...as I was saying I just finished dipping my Bon Bons and I had some melted chocolate leftover. I hate to let chocolate go to waste(...that's a mortal sin isn't it?) and I was contemplating what to do with it when I had a light bulb experience.

BING!!!

Dip some marshmallows and plop them down on some graham crackers. Wala! S'mores! And happy children and husband. I drizzled some of the last bits of chocolate over the whole thing. They were absolutely yummy!

So if you have some leftover melted chocolate and some marshmallows and graham crackers hanging around...well these take next to no time to make and they make you look like a gourmet extraordinair.

Oh and by the by...if you are feeling ambitious here is my Coconut Bon Bon recipe! Enjoy!

Coconut Bon Bons

1 large bag of Angel Flake Coconut
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 - 2lb. bag of powdered sugar
1 Cup of margarine
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 Cups of chocolate chips ( I use Nestle Semi-Sweet)
1/3 cube of kitchen parafin (The kind used for sealing jelly sometimes. It can usually be found where canning supplies are in your grocery store.)

In a large mixer, cream together milk and margarine. Add vanilla and coconut. Now slowly add powdered sugar (This can be tedious and messy, I frequently end up mixing in the last of the powdered sugar by hand.) When thoroughly mixed together, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

The next day cover some cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper. Form coconut mixture into small walnut sized balls and place on cookie sheets. When finished filling a cookie sheet cover and put back into the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Next comes the dipping. In a double boiler put chocolate chips and parafin. Heat until melted. Prepare surface next to stove top by laying foil or wax paper down. (I use foil.) Now it's time to dip the coconut balls. Plop them gently in the melted chocolate one at a time and use a dinner fork to lift them out and put them on your prepared surface. Allow the bon bons to cool and firm up for several hours. When they are firm, enjoy! Give to your friends to enjoy because this recipe makes about 120 of them!