Six, Six

Six years ago today my whole world changed. And isn't that just like kids? They mess you up, don't they? These little people squeeze their way into our lives (literally) and we are forever changed.

But twins.... ah. They're something different all together. When we found out we were having twins, I sobbed. NOT out of joy, either. Stupid, I know.

Each day I have with these two I am reminded how much I am totally dependent on the Lord. Not for the physical strength (although, that too!) but for the emotional, spiritual and mental strength it takes to lead their hearts to the Throne of Grace.

Two times the challenges but an infinite amount of blessings.





It's hard for me to imagine either of these two not being a twin. They annoy the snot out of each other one minute, then they're best buddys the next. I think the concept of being a twin is lost on anyone who is not a twin. In fact, I'm sure of it.
Sometimes, Elizabeth and I just look at them and shake our heads. We just don't get the twin thing, I'm afraid. Oh but these two do.
Lucas loves his sister with ferocity. Ashlee adores her brother with a love/hate affection reserved only for him. And can they ever make each other laugh.

It cracks me up to sit back and listen to them interact. Lucas acts so cool, calm and collected. Ashlee is the forever goofball. Like in the picture below. My instruction was, "Stand beside each other and just hold hands. Now, look at me."

I had released the shutter on my camera several times before I realized exactly what was going on.

Being totally cool, calm and collected, Lucas was squeezing the crap out of his sisters hand. All the while maintaining a nice, normal stance just like I instructed. Ashlee, however... not so much. Giggles abounded as I asked them to love each other, just for a second please.

Silly faces and wrestling matches began.

And I realized my efforts for a nice, normal picture of the two of them were futile. But then again, I guess that this is their normal.

My Ashlee girl is silly, affectionate, a math whiz, eager to please, slow to anger, quick to forgive and totally and 100% in love with her siblings, especially her baby sisters. It doesn't take much to work a giggle out of her.

Lean and lanky she's well into a size 6x in length but is often found wearing her younger sisters' 2T/3T clothes. I mean, after all, "They fit just fine Mom!" Scrawny little thing, she is. She's the fastest runner in the house and maintains the title of best cuddler. She's easily entertained and swings on a quick pendulum of enjoying time alone and being the family clown. She's the family peace maker. And I adore how she loves other people.

Lucas is 1,000% boy. His newest obsession? STAR WARS. He's training to be a Jedi and trying to use the force to overcome the evils of the Dark Side. Or, to distract his sisters from their Polly Pockets. Either one.

Notice how Ashlee is not even phased at the louder than life yelling in her ear. Somethings you just get used to, I guess.

He's a risk taker, determined to test the limits of his body and my good sense. But he's also quick to shower on compliments and even faster to tell you he loves you. Which melts my heart each and every time.

He eats more than I could ever think possible, which makes me even more glad that we're moving to the land of rice and beans. Rice swells and beans are cheap. Both will be necessary to fill up this bottomless pit of a boy, I'm sure.

He's already missing 2 teeth, one of which he ripped from his head a mere 2 days ago. I'm not even sure it was wiggly for more than 2 hours. The threshold he has for pain is remarkable.

Words cannot express how much I love these two people. I've heard people say that bad things come in sets of 3's. I don't know about the truth in that but I can assure you that one of the best gifts I've ever received came in twos.

A six year old princess.

A six year old warrior.

A batch of silliness,

mixed with courage and valor.

I'm quite sure that these two couldn't have come any other way, than in a double dose.

Thank you God for this blessing of six and six. Six glorious years that went by in the blink of an eye. Six, six. Unique. Special. Doubled.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

Happy Birthday Ashlee!

Click here to see their 5th, 4th, 3rd and 2nd birthday posts.

Carolina, Callie and the Stink Eye

I'd like you to meet my daughters, Carolina and Callie.

Originally Olivia was Callie but then she changed her name to Carolina so Ella took up Callie where Carolina left off.

Confused yet? Welcome to my world.

Callie has always been a popular name in our house. I'm not sure why because we only know one person named Callie and our kids are hardly ever around her.

When Elizabeth was about Ella's age (2 years) she had several baby dolls all named Callie. One baby had pants that wouldn't come off so she was "Callie Pants." She had another that had a blue dress so she was "Callie Blue."

You get the idea.

My favorite things about the video below:

1) When I confirm that Ella's new name is Callie and she says, "What?" Like I was calling her name.

2) The Stink Eye

3) The fact that Olivia really responds to the name Carolina. And without hesitation. I sometimes think that I'll call her Carolina and catch her off guard and she won't respond. That's not happened yet and this has been going on for several months.

These kids crack me up, that's for sure.

When I was in elementary school I desperately wanted my name to be Lee Ann. I guess they come by it honest then, huh?

Have you or your kids ever gone by another name?

Objects not obstacles: A mothering confession

In the early hours of Monday morning, my husband returned from a four day trip to Colorado. At which point I droggily blew my stinky morning breath in his face, kissed him somewhere in the vicinity of his lips and then slumped back into my pillow, grateful to have my husband - and subsequently - my normal life back.

He left supremely early Thursday morning to catch at 6am flight. So, with the wonderful help of grandmas, I was a single parent for 4 entire days. It's not a job I'd like to apply for anytime soon.

Typically, when my husband gets an extended break and I do not, I have duel emotions. While I'm thrilled that he's getting some time to recharge, somewhere in the recesses of my selfish heart I face each day with a countdown mentality. Only 92 more hours and then he's back, sort of thing.

But somewhere around Friday morning, amid the chaos and the noise of all of these blessings, I felt myself having a supernatural amount of patience. I'm sure we've all had spurts of that at some point but for me anyway, it has never lasted more than a few hours and then I bottom out like a ship in shallow water at low tide. I ride the waves of selfishness until, finally, I blow up at the kids over something trivial like opening a box of crackers or refilling a sippy cup.

But not this past weekend. Granted, I had much help from my Mom and Grandmother, but even still I felt different. I felt peaceful, patient, kind and even, dare I say, joyful to have all seven kids all by myself.

Trust me when I say that this is not the norm for me, y'all. Sure, I enjoy my kids immensely. I love being home with them all day and schooling them. I love their quirks, the funny things they say and how they give and receive hugs and kisses freely.

But by 5:30pm, I'm ready for my husband to walk through the door.

On Sunday morning, I cheerfully arose early and got all seven kids dressed, fed, hair combed, snacks packed and loaded into the van. Alone. And we got to church early y'all.

Last Sunday is proof that the Lord still works miracles people. Not because we were early for church, per se, but more because I didn't lose my mind (or my religion) before we got there. Sometime on Sunday evening, I sat in bewilderment at how and why I'd had so much patience, joy and cheerfulness over a long four days of what could have been stressful, annoying and down right ugly.

I felt the Lord press on me a truth that nearly knocked me over.

You see your children as an obstacle to your mothering.

Um, excuse me God? What?! How can my kids be an obstacle to my mothering? They're the reason I'm a mother!

He whispered in my soul...

Really? So the frustration at spilled drinks, messes, bottoms to wipe, loud chatter, you don't see those as an obstacle? I think you do.


Yeah. I guess I do. The truth is, instead of expecting my children to be, well, children I expected them to be less hassle. I had this expectation in my mind of what I should look like a mother, what our children should look like and how our days should flow seamlessly and when reality didn't meet my expectations, I lost control.

Yelling, frustration, angry words, unkind redirection, quick to anger, slow to show mercy...that pretty much sums up my mothering over the last several months.

I was seeing our children as an obstacle to my mothering instead of the objects of my motherly love.

The same was true for homeschooling. We use Sonlight curriculum which involves lots of reading on my part, as the teacher. As I would read or teach, the children were constantly stopping me asking questions, making comments and just generally being inquisitive. It frustrated me beyond what it should.

I slowly began to realize that we homeschool so that our children can interrupt the lesson and ask questions and their education can take on a personal form that allows for their interests to be explored.

I was viewing my own children as an obstacle to my homeschooling instead of the object of my teaching.

Then, on Sunday evening I got the heartbreaking news of a dear friend losing her unborn son. As my heart cried out to God on her behalf, I realized even more how much I should be treasuring these children God has given me rather than viewing them as distractions and obstacles.

Truly, my mind has been so focused on accomplishing tasks, getting our schooling done and all the things that come with motherhood that I lost sight of what is really important. Having a large family means that lots of things must work in a specific way for laundry, meals and everyday life to run smoothly. But those specifics should never be exchanged for discipling my kids, in every moment showing love, mercy, compassion and a genuine interest in things they are interested in.

I need to cherish my children and all of the frustrations that come with them.

Are there going to be days ahead where I lose it, get frustrated and make mistakes? Of course. Should I have expectations of my children and set boundaries? Without a doubt! But I was focusing on the tasks and not the people, which should never be the case.

Before I know it, these treasures of mine will be grown and graduating college and moving out to accomplish the lives and tasks the Lord has set before them. And I will have the joy of watching them from the sidelines as they do wonderful things for the glory of God. Until then, teaching them to love each other, love the Lord, serve Him faithfully, cheerfully and obediently is my goal. I pray that I never again see them as obstacles to my goal but rather, the objects of it.

Better late than never

I know I'm nearly a month late, but this is our family picture from Easter this year. Ashlee's eyes are shut, Lucas is pouting and Aaron and Olivia have clearly been bribed with Easter candy.

But folks, this is reality for us. Crazy, busy, emotional and supremely blessed.

Y'all have a fantastic Friday!

Easter 2012

On being a sender

I've told myself that even short blog posts are worthy of this space. That's true, right?

With that said....

I recognize that not everyone is called to go to a foreign country and be a missionary. Some people cannot because of health reasons. Some can't because of family responsibilities. Some cannot because of situations beyond their control. Some cannot because they are scared to tears of flying.

The point is, not everyone can physically go. But the truth is, everyone can go in some capacity. Romans 10:13-15 is scripture very close to my heart.


For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (ESV, emphasis mine)

You see, we can all go in some capacity. Some of us go physically but the vast majority of people will not go full time. And that's okay. In fact, dare I say, that's how God designed it!

After all, Romans is clear, it takes each step, each person, each team member to get the gospel into all the nations, to the very ends of the Earth.

Some are sent. Some are senders. My dear friends, it is no more important to be one that is sent than it is to be a sender. The truth is, the sent can't go without the senders.

As I sat here tonight figuring up what our monthly and outgoing support needs are, I realized something.

I have around 830 facebook friends. If HALF of the people I'm friends with on facbook committed to partnering with us in the amount equivalent to ONE FAMILY MEAL of fast food per MONTH we'd go from being at 18% to 100% of our monthly support goal!

ONE family meal out per MONTH. One.

And I'm not talking Chick-fil-a. I'm talking McDonald's. For the cost of about 3 value meals per month, pledged by about 400 people we'd be fully funded. Take that down to 200 people and it's becomes the cost of a mediocre sit down meal for your family (or still fast food for a family the size of ours!).

I've heard people say several times, "Oh, we could only give just a tiny bit per month. Not even enough to make a difference."

Can I challenge you on that?

I promise you, every amount makes a difference to the people in Kenya who have NEVER heard the name of Jesus Christ.

Won't you go with us? Even if not in the flesh, will you live out Romans 10:13-15 and be the sender? We'll never get there without you.

If you'd like to go with us, you can start by clicking here.

Busy, Blessed, Active ...Did I mention busy?

My blog has been so silent lately but that's not because my life is that way! Things are busy, busy around here and it doesn't look like a slower pace is anywhere on the horizon.

Luke and I are staying busy with normal work and parenting duties plus we're diligently working on our Bible Training Requirement for Africa Inland Mission. We're also working on filling out all the paperwork that goes along with moving your family of NINE to another country in approximately 8 months. (Yikes!) Tonight, I snapped this picture of Abigail so that we can go apply for her passport soon.

It cracks me up that she'll be four when we come back and yet her passport photo will still look like this. So funny.

Lucas and Ashlee are talking nearly non-stop about their birthday that is in 29 days (but who's counting?), Elizabeth is reading everything she can get her hands on, Aaron is moving from little kid to big kid, ditching naps for good now, staying dry all night long and actually being able to make some jokes. Olivia is busy doing all the things that pesty little sisters do when they are 3.5 years old and at the same time doing all the things amazing big sister helpers do when they're 3.5 years old. Ella is peeing in the potty and wearing undies exclusively during the day (oh YES SHE IS!) and Abigail is busy sleeping and growing and giving her Momma amazingly long stretches of sleep at night (like 4.5 hours!). Did I leave anyone out?

I've been working on a more in depth post about what each of the kids are up to (and I started before Abigail was born) and I'm hoping to have that done soon.

For now, we're pressing ahead with school (only 6 more weeks!), living life at full throttle and soaking up all the smiles, coos and goodness that our sweet, littlest girl is newly offering.

Life is good. Life is busy. Life is sometimes stressful. Life is blessed, indeed.

How are things with you all? I miss reading your blogs! I've got lots to catch up on. Leave me a note and let me know how you are. :) Now, I'm off to bathe, feed and swaddle my littlest love. Ahhh...the smell of a freshly washed baby head. Nothing quite compares, does it?