Mama loves her some movies

Have you ever entered into the "quantity vs. quality time" debate?   Do you want lots of time with your friend or more meaningful time, but less of it?


I have four amazing children.  I also get to homeschool them.  And I get to be a full-time parent while our favorite husband & father is overseas.  I think that I've got the "quantity" part of the equation down.


However, I really admire Mamas who spend "quality time" with their kids.  You know, purposed, intentional time.  Time focused on an individual child for a specific purpose.  


That sounds so cool to me.


But when push comes to shove, spending a couple hours with my feet up in front of a good movie sounds better.  Yeah, it's my quest for sanity and survival that wins out every time.


This year, I decided to embrace my screen time and invite my children into some "quality" time with Mama.  


We've started "Movies with Mama" where each child gets to watch a movie with me once or twice a week (depending on my surgery schedule, we might bump that up to three times a week! )

John Z. and I have finished the Back to the Future series and are starting in on Indiana Jones.

Daniel and I are making our way through superhero movies... first stop: Superman with Christopher Reeve.  We think he rocks!

Josiah and I kick back with some Rocky & Bullwinkle.  I figure that a 52 episode DVD set will keep us busy for a few months (thank you Uncle Dante).

JoyAnna is eager for some girl shows- Angelina Ballerina is currently on our docket.  

Okay, so my growing up family is probably shocked beyond reason.  India thinks movies are quality time...whaaatt?!?  Lemmie tell ya, wonders never cease.  It's a fun ride!

It's APRIL!!

Happy April to you!  

Happy end of Rice & Beans Month to us!!

We've all agreed to pass up pranks and jokes for a eagerly awaited celebration weekend!

This weekend we are staying in a local hotel and eating lots of our favorite foods.  

(sausage biscuits, lunch wraps, Chipotle, chocolate, popcorn, soda and tortilla chips are on our list for today!)

We made a little sacrifice for a lot of joy.  It was SO worth it!

4 days left and wondering...

Daily JoyAnna (4) asks "How many days until Rice & Beans Month?"  What she really wants to know is how many days until R&B month is over.  I smile every time she asks it.  Today we're down to four more days!


This week I've been wondering too.  We're nearing the end of this journey and I've been looking at what's before me and wondering...


On Friday, I asked a friend to join me for coffee.  Then I began to wonder.  Should I spend money on the coffee?  Coffee isn't really necessary for the joy of meeting and visiting.  Should I sip water instead?  I  decided to order a coffee.  The guy asked if I wanted anything else.  Nope.  Then he gave the coffee to me for free.  Free.  No money. 


Big deal, right?  We've all gotten something unexpectedly free.  It's cool, but nothing to sing over.   But I was pretty excited.  


On Friday, a friend offered to go to the grocery store for me.  Sweet!  I was compiling my list and came to a note to buy eggs.  Eggs.  Hmmm... Since the discovery of R&B flour, we've used nearly a dozen eggs.  It sure would be nice to have a new supply. I began to wonder.  Should we spend money on the eggs?  Did we really need them?  Only one week left, could we go without?  I didn't get the eggs.


On Saturday, we received a flyer in the mail with this:

I must have read the thing 10 times before it really settled in on me.  Eggs.  Free eggs for us!


I'm not going to take this too far over the edge, but I must say that I thank God for being the Giver of all good things. 


We have chosen to join a global community in eating rice & beans for the month of March. Naturally, this chosen fast makes us more sensitive to food provisions.  


I'm so thankful that ultimately food is not the fast that God desires.  He's going for our hearts.  And in this journey of heart-change, God is pleased to DELIGHT me with His extravagant love and kindness... and some yummy treats!

8 days to go...

Last week, I read about putting dry rice & dry beans into a coffee grinder to make flour.  

Do you realize how cool that is?  

Do you want to hear something a little crazy?

I have a grain mill.  We bought it in 2004 and have been milling away ever since.  However, it didn't even occur to me to put rice & beans into it. Rice & beans into a grain mill.  My life has changed forever.

It's flour, friends.  

Flour during Rice & Beans month is a beautiful thing.  Beautiful.

JoyAnna has been singing about the flour.  Really, we're very excited about it.

That's when St. Patrick's met Rice & Beans Month. We made green(ish) hummus with rice & bean discs for dipping.  Yay!  And then spinach salad & rice balls for supper. 

 It's a good life here on Main St. 

When Mama Cries & God Sings

"The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17 

Meet Carol & Gary.  

They brought us an abundant and amazing dinner on Monday night.  

We've never met them.  

They didn't know about Bryan's deployment or my surgery. They didn't even know we had kids.  They just heard that there was a need and they came to meet it.

They left... and I cried.

God is so very kind to us.

We are in the midst of "Rice & Beans Month" and have embraced these extra meal gifts as "Celebration Meals" for which we are very thankful.

Today we had rice & beans for breakfast and again at lunch.  The food is sufficient, but simple and not quite as satisfying or lasting.  By supper, our bellies were rumbling.

At 6PM, one of our amazing neighbors brought us dinner.

It was a dinner that brought big smiles, huge "hoorays" and absolute delight.  

15 minutes into the meal, our neighbor surprised us with dessert pizza.  

It just blew my mind.

I told the kids that God is always providing for us.  They agreed.

Then we talked about the great love of a Father who delights in gifting His kids.  The "pressed down, shaken together, running over" kind of giving. The "exceeding abundant" kind of giving.

That's when John Z. showed me that the dessert pizza has stuffed-with-chocolate- crust

Friends, tonight we heard God singing over us.

Recovering

Today it was 65 glorious degrees in our little world.  It has been wonderful!  My blood pressure has remained a little too low since surgery, so I'm spending a lot of time horizontal.

Friends, this life isn't so bad, really. 

I've read some great books, have had meaningful conversations (and some just plain silly), and enjoyed good down time with my kids.  

 C'mon over and sit awhile.  Life is beautiful in slow-motion. 

Fasting and Feasting!

We have joined a global community eating rice & beans for the month of March.


Our friends created a devotional with daily readings  to encourage us through the month.


Today we read about the great feast that we will have in the New Jerusalem.  

“In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven's Armies will spread

a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will

be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and

choice meat. There he will remove the cloud of gloom,

the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will

swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe

away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and

mockery against his land and people. The Lord has

spoken!” Isaiah 25:6-8 (NLT)

Today we talked about all the people from across the world that will be joining us.  We talked about all the GREAT food that we will enjoy:


"I think it's weird to think about Vegetarians being there. I mean with all that meat."  - John Z. (9)


"There will be WINE!  I'm a kid and there will be WINE!" - Daniel (8)

Our depiction of the Great Feast!

Later we watched a video about the impact that our participation in R&B has had on our friends in East Africa.  


During March we're fasting from the freedom to eat whatever we want, whenever we want so that we can send the  money that we save to our friends who daily live with less.


But do you wanna hear something wonderful?  God isn't limited by our intent.  We intend to sacrifice so that we can share.


However this March, God is inviting our little family to experience His beautiful circle of sharing.


Bryan is deployed and I've been sick with severe abdominal pain. Tomorrow I will have surgery to remove my gallbladder.


Everyday our table has been filled with generous provisions from someone else's sacrifice.  Everyday we have seen fingerprints from another's labor, another's generosity and God's abundant care for us through His people!


This March we are on an exciting journey of sharing... and receiving... and worshiping a God who loves us extravagantly!  


It's a wonderful ride, please join us!