Posts Tagged ‘life’

God is in the business of changing me to make me more like Himself. Romans 12:2 says to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind”. He wants to change my thinking, my perspective, the way I look at my life and the world around me.

I recently read a post, Why I Find Myself Staring at Jars of Yogurt, that spoke of this very thing from the perspective of a mother with young children.

Sharon, my cousin, writes…

Although I’ve been working from 5:00 am until long after dark, I find it hard to point back to any physical evidence of the things I’ve poured myself into.

How do I measure what I do every day? If I spend an hour making “cakes” and pizzas” with my boys, in the end we squish it all up and put the play dough back in their tubs. And although you can’t tell when you walk in the door, I actually did spend an hour picking up toys and strewn laundry and even did a spot of cleaning today! I made three square meals from “scratch” and even a batch of cookies but you won’t find the results stacked in my fridge, freezer, or pantry. Somehow… mysteriously…they are already gone! And how do you really measure all the patience it took to brush the teeth of a two-year-old who thinks he can do everything himself, or answer a four-year-old’s question (for the fifth time that day) about why it rains, or spoon feed a babbling, daydreaming ten-month-old baby a mashed banana as she occasionally swats at the food?

I was encouraged to hear Sharon’s heart because I could completely relate, being that I have two boys of my own. God is continually teaching me that it’s not about finishing off my “To Do List” but rather about accomplishing what He has for me each day.

Front view of damaged Buick Angle view of damaged Buick

While driving by Allan Park (corner of 2nd SDR Conc and Allan Park Rd in West Grey, Ontario), a van pulled out without looking in front of Karl as he was approaching the intersection. This caused an accident sending him (he was alone in the car) through a fence and down a fifteen to twenty foot drop off.

Fortunately, Karl was going well below the posted speed limit and didn’t injure the driver of the van (who was ticketed for failing to yield) or the young passenger in the front seat.

Soon after visiting the emergency room, Karl was released with orders to “take it easy”. He received a mild concussion and injuries to his neck when his head hit the steering wheel… other than that his chest hurts a little bit from the seat belt restraining him, and his knees are aching, we assume from the dashboard.

The accident could have been much worse. We are so glad that Karl is going to be all right and that we had a spare vehicle to use as backup transportation. We have so much to be thankful for!

Buckled Wrist
Dec 14

chesley-broken-wrist castOn Friday morning Denise took Chesley to the hospital. Chesley had fallen off the bunk bed and was complaining about pain near his hand. They did x-rays and determined that Chesley had a buckled wrist. One hour later Chesley had a plaster cast on his arm and was proudly showing it off.

You might be asking, “What is a buckled wrist?” A post I read explained it this way…

“In children, at the end of the bone is a growth center that consists of several layers of growing bone. The force of the impact from a traumatic injury or fall that compresses this area can cause the area around it to buckle outward.”

We Made It
Sep 28

herricks-and-trailer truck-trailer karl-opening-trailer

After a long day on Friday packing up our remaining stuff into boxes, loading two trucks and trailers, cleaning our apartment, and then finally handing in our keys we were ready to go. On Saturday we made the drive to Durham, Ontario with the help of Mom and Dad Haynes. We have unloaded all of our stuff and are now settling into our new home.

Thank you so much for all your prayers as we made this move!

Packing
Sep 21

packing-banana-boxes

With just 5 days left until we move to Canada there is lots of work to be done. This week we’ll be busy packing, running last minute errands, and saying goodbyes.

Our trip to Washington was a relaxing time of fellowship with my brother’s family, as well as a good time to share about our vision as missionaries with New Tribes Mission. We were able to see the dual nature of the state (arid vs. forest) as well as the culture of the various areas…

Getting back home was the craziest and started out at 5:00AM PST. The first part of the adventure, from Washington to Minnesota was the most normal part of it all. Minnesota to Chicago… easy as well. However, once we landed in Chicago things got exciting.

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