How often do you find yourself reading something on the Internet and say “Oh, that’s interesting!” or “I never knew that!” and then have the urge to immediately share it with others?

Do you find that your mind is easily “tickled” with new information, articles or videos on a variety of topics?

We live in an age where information often comes to us in clips, in the form of short articles, blog posts, or videos. It’s very easy to share these tidbits of information with others through mediums such as Facebook, Twitter or email. So, when we read or hear something interesting, it’s natural to want to pass it along to others. Many times the information is actually useful and could be of some benefit to someone else. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?

I’ve been thinking recently about my reading habits. I don’t know how many times I’ve read something that I’ve come across on my own, or that someone has “shared” with me and thought “Wow, this is so interesting/important/fascinating”, only to forget about it a few hours or days or weeks later. Like the old saying goes, “In one ear, out the other”, except for in this case, it’s “In one eye…”

I often find myself really fascinated by a short article or new thought, but it’s for only a fleeting period of time. It’s as though there is a steady stream of information that is flowing in one side of my brain and out the other. It’s rare that I find myself taking information that was passed along to me and dwelling on it for any length of time.

I sometimes remind myself of the scripture in Acts that says:

 ”…For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”  - Acts 17:21

I have to ask myself, am I actually retaining anything that I’m reading? And if not, what’s the point of me reading it at all? I really want what I read and/or hear to actually sink in and have an impact on me for more than a few minutes or days. But how to accomplish this?

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I heard a message a few weeks ago about the use of the word “meditate” in the Bible. In the Old Testament, the word can mean:

to murmer, utter, ponder, roar, speak, talk, study, converse (with oneself), reflect 

Many of these words are talking about someone who is verbalizing (out loud).

So, when David talks about meditating on God’s laws, precepts, and statutes, he is referring to speaking them aloud.

“My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments,
         Which I love, 
         And I will meditate [muse, complain, talk] on Your statutes.”

Another example is in Joshua 1:8:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate [mutter, ponder, devise] in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

It would seem that meditating would be a good way of keeping something in remembrance and also, a way to understand and apply deeper meaning to the things that may seem insignificant on the surface.

Speaking God’s Word aloud through the day and pondering it deeply is not something that I do on a regular basis. Part of the reason for this is that I can’t always have my Bible in hand throughout my busy day. Memorization is one way to overcome this obstacle. I have committed many individual Scriptures to memory over the years, but I’ve never attempted to memorize longer passages.

I was inspired by a fellow blogger with the idea of memorizing Scripture not verse by verse, but book by book. I put this off for a long time, because I didn’t think that I would be able to actually do it. This year, however, I’ve decided to try it and I’m using this guide to help me get into the practice of it:

An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture

The author of the article uses Ephesians as the example and that happens to be the book that I had already decided to memorize before I read his paper, so it will be even more useful for me! The guide offers reasons for memorizing large passages of scripture, ways to go about it, how to break a book down into “bite-size” chunks, and the importance of daily review. I highly recommend it!

I am hopeful that I will be successful in this endeavor and that it will give me more to meditate on as I go through my full days. I’ll plan to update my progress here on the blog so that I can be sure to keep up with it as time goes on. This week, I’ll be working on committing Ephesians 1:1-1:6 to memory.

Are you working on memorizing any scripture right now?  It doesn’t matter as much whether you are memorizing single verses or longer passages, but that you are putting God’s Word into your mind and heart and keeping it there. Let me know so that I encourage you along your way!

Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

– Psalm 119:11

A child obstinately refuses to obey, then wails when extra chores are added for the offense…

A piano student tries to listen while I explain new scales and chords, as a baby screams in my arms and a toddler dumps out two 100-piece puzzles into one pile at my feet and then starts throwing them across the room…

A shrill beep lets me know that another mountain of laundry is ready for me…

A calculating, planning husband asks my opinion about the R-value of window shades and shades of paint for the library and I honestly don’t care and he keeps asking and we bicker…

A rush of angry words is heard above me on the balcony as two children try to “tell” each other how a game is supposed to be played…

The baby cries and cries…

And I flee to my room, to my knees near the chair by the crying baby and I cry, too.

An oft-repeated prayer that many mothers before me have surely cried, escapes my lips:

“I can’t do this! I just can’t handle all of this! Please help me – I just don’t know what to do!”

And the two words that flood my mind – Be thankful.

“What? Be thankful? For what? No one understands how much difficulty I’m having right now!”

Be thankful.

Nothing comes.

And then, all of the sudden, it hits me strong out of nowhere.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) 

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 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

 But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103: 8-18 (NIV)

I can feel my attitude change from complete frustration and anger to thankfulness.

Only thankfulness, because knowing this, how can I stay in that place?

Because He loves me – with all of my faults and fallibility, my foibles and frustrations – I have the courage to love them with theirs.

Because He has mercy on me – I have the understanding of how freeing it feels to have the chance to start over and want to share that with them.

Because He shows compassion in my weakness – I can show compassion and understanding to the other people in my home.

Because He chastens me to teach me – so I must discipline and teach in a loving way.

Because He encourages me – how can I hold back encouragement from others?

Because He strengthens me – I can continue on in good works. 

So I find that I’m able to stand and face those problems outside my bedroom door with more mercy and more love.

And this is possible today because of the practice of thankfulness.

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Continuing to count the precious gifts right here in my home…

And adding these to my list of One Thousand Gifts…

#481. Being together by the fire every evening 

#482. Small hands kneading and shaping healthy bread loaves

#483. Getting to know Daddy

#484. Big sister love

#485. Daddy-daughter dances

#486. A pile of kids

#487. “Fishy” faces

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Dan and Jonathan working on the plumbing

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Father and Son

by Edgar Guest

Be more than his dad,
Be a chum to the lad;
Be a part of his life
Every hour of the day;
Find time to talk with him,
Take time to walk with him,
Share in his studies
And share in his play.

Take him to places,
To ball games and races,
Teach him the things
That you want him to know;
Don’t live apart from him,
Don’t keep your heart from him,
Be his best comrade,
He’s needing you so!

Never neglect him,
Though young, still respect him,
Hear his opinions
With patience and pride;
Show him his error,
But be not a terror,
Grim-visaged and fearful,
When he’s at your side.

Know what his thoughts are,
Know what his sports are,
Know all his playmates,
It’s easy to learn to;
Be such a father
That when troubles gather
You’ll be the first one
For counsel, he’ll turn to.

You can inspire him
With courage, and fire him
Hot with ambition
For deeds that are good;
He’ll not betray you
Nor ill repay you
If you have taught him
The things that you should.

Father and son
Must in all things be one –
Partners in trouble
And comrades in joy.

More than a dad
Was the best pal you had;
Be such a chum
As you knew, to your boy.

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

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Each and every one of our babies have been fussy in the evenings for the first several months of life. The time in between the last nap and bedtime has just seemed to be set aside for screaming and fussing each night. It always starts around 6-7pm and continues on until bedtime. This period of time used to stress me out so much. I would get so frustrated with not being able sit at the table and finish my dinner with the rest of the family, or clean up the kitchen after dinner, or do anything that I wanted to do in the evening for months on end. I would try so hard to get each baby off to sleep on their own, only to have them start screaming as soon as I attempted to put him or her down. And so I would constantly feel as though I was being thwarted in my evening plans and it annoyed me to no end.

I would spend the evening alone in the baby’s room or another quiet room wrangling with the grumpy baby while the rest of my family continued on with the evening’s activities without me. I would feel sorry for myself and wonder “why me?”

Now that I’m in the midst of caring for my fifth newborn, I think I’ve finally figured it out.

I have mentally given in to the fact that my evenings are not my own right now and will probably not be for a few months.

And you know what? I’ve been enjoying my evenings much more because of it.

I’ve actually been enjoying the rocking and singing and hushing and swinging that goes along with that time of day right now. I’ve ceased to look at it as an inconvenience and have appreciated the extra snuggling time. I’ve left behind all expectations for that portion of the day. Dan takes care of the rest of the family in his own way (which is usually different from my way) and that’s O.K. Even if he doesn’t wipe the kitchen counters down when he’s done with the dishes.

I know that this probably sounds strange, but I finally feel like I’m starting to “get” being a mother. I feel as though I’ve broken through a wall of sorts. You wouldn’t think that it would take 5 children for me to get to this point, but for me, it has. (Maybe I’m just really slow.) I’m taking things more in stride and not worrying as much. I’m speaking more slowly and learning that sternness needs to be coupled with gentleness.

I’m so thankful that my heavenly Father is so loving and patient with me and has given me the opportunity to experience life with 5 children. It was something that I never knew that I actually needed. I can already tell that this year I will begin to understand love more deeply – and in turn, will be better able to understand God’s love for us, His own children.

We read in the manual that the machine is called a Yonanas Ice Cream Treat Maker and it’s supposed to make a soft-serve frozen treat that has the consistency of ice cream. The base of every Yonana treat consists of bananas and you can make your own infinite combinations by adding different kinds of fruits, vegetables (like pumpkin) or even chocolate! (Yum)

I had never heard of this little appliance because I think it is an “As Seen on TV” product, but I can definitely see us using it quite a bit, especially in the summer!

To make Yonanas, you freeze your over-ripe bananas for 24 hours.
Then you take them out to thaw for a few minutes…

Then you push the bananas and other stuff through the machine…

And out comes the dessert!

The kids love it and I have to admit, it does have a great consistency!

Thanks, Aunt Shirley!

What better time of the year to cozy up and read a book than in the frosty months of January and February? Although we are having a bit of a warm spell right now where we live, soon we’ll be back into our normal cold and blowing. Our seasonal book basket is overflowing with these winter favorites. Perhaps you’ll find a new-to-you book to add to your stack for cozy afternoon reading. Don’t forget your cup of hot chocolate!

For the very young:

The First Snowfall
by Anne & Harlow Rockwell

Anne Rockwell’s books for toddlers are always loved in our home. She has a way of telling about things without making it too “cutesy” but keeping it interesting at the same time. Grace loves this book right now.

The Big Snow
by Berta and Elmer Hader

This book teaches as well as entertains. We learn all about what different types of animals do as they sense winter approaching and what happens when winter comes a bit earlier than expected.

The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats

A wonderfully simple story for a 2-3 year old about what a snowy day feels, looks and sounds like.

The Hat
by Jan Brett

Although I’m sure that you’ve already heard of this book, I had to list it anyway. This silly story is often one that my young children return to because of all of the extra illustrations along the side that encourage the reader to guess what will happen next.

In the Snow: Who’s Been Here?
by Lindsay Barrett George

Ms. George has created wonderful nature books for the youngest listener with her “Who’s Been Here?” series of books. This one, which takes place in the winter, encourages the reader to guess which animal has been there by looking around at the clues in the environment. Jonathan loves this one right now.

Owl at Home
by Arnold Lobel

The perfect cozy read for a snowy afternoon! The illustrations for this book just make me want to cuddle up under a blanket with Grace and read it again and again. Owl’s small adventures and Lobel’s fun illustrations have made this a long-time favorite in our house.

Katy and the Big Snow
by Virginia Lee Burton

A classic favorite about how Katy the snow shovel saves the day for the town of Geoppolis.

Stranger in the Woods
by Carl R. Sams II & Jean Stoick

My young ones love this book that is made up of photographs of real animals coming to investigate a snowman that the author has built in his yard.

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Elementary:

Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen

The perfect winter book to finish off the day with, this one tells about a girl and her father going “owling” in the moonlit night.

Snowflake Bentley
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

This book is a short biography of Wilson Bentley, the first person to photograph snow crystals. We all cheer along with Mr. Bentley as he is finally successful in his attempts to show the world what he has seen in the snow.

The Thirteen Moons: The Moon of the Owl
by Jean Craighead George

Each of the “moon” books covers a different period of the year – this one occurring in January. It covers the owl’s antics and adventures during the wintery nights. This is a wonderful living science book!

Winter Poems
Selected by Barbara Rogasky

This book gets pulled out every winter and we delight in enjoying the wide variety of poems all over again.

Walk with a Wolf
by Janni Howker

A realistic look at the daily life of a wolf that my children find fascinating. Beautiful illustrations, too!

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Written by Robert Frost
Illustrated by Susan Jeffers

We are memorizing this poem this term and the lovely illustrations by Ms. Jeffers make Robert Frost’s poem come alive!

The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail by Debbie S. Miller

An exciting story about the first run on the Iditarod Trail in 1925, when dog sled teams relayed across Alaska in subzero temperatures carrying a serum that would save the townspeople of Nome. My children were on the edge of their seats throughout this story.

John Muir and Stickeen
by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff

Read Elise’s review HERE.

North Country Night
by Daniel San Souci

Beautiful realistic illustrations accompany the text that teaches about what the animals do during a winter night.

T*t for Tat
By Dorothy Van Woerkom

I have no picture for this out-of-print book, but if you find that your library carries it, I know that you will agree that it is a gem!
This old folktale tells the story of a rich man and a poor woman who, after being visited one cold, wintery night by a stranger, find the true meaning of sharing with others. This was one of my favorite books growing up and I was so happy to finally find a used copy for my children. I’m afraid that because of the title it will never be reprinted. Anyhow, this book is a treasure.

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Late elementary:

Blizzard!
by Jim Murphy

Abigail thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about the great blizzard of 1888. Although it’s listed for grades 5-9, anyone would enjoy reading the exciting account and looking through the many photographs. The story is told from the perspective of several different people so you get a good picture of how the blizzard affected the many people living in those northeastern states at the time.

The Long Winter
by Laura Ingalls Wilder

You can read my review HERE.

Challenge of Ice: Real Life Stories of Polar Explorers
by Robert N. Webb

This chapter book is full of short stories about all different types of adventures by polar explorers.

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Nature Books:

Backyard Birds of Winter
by Carol Lerner

This book is essentially a field guide for young children, with lovely illustrations and plenty of information about the birds that they are most likely to see at their feeders in the winter. It has just the right amount of information without being overwhelming, so that young children can identify the birds with confidence.

A Guide to Nature Winter
by Donald Stokes

One of our favorite winter books! Anything that you can see outside in the winter you will most likely be able to find in this book. Learn to identify trees, wildflowers, wildlife, birds, etc. as they look during the winter. This is a great book for those of us who choose to venture outside in the winter.

Weeds in Winter
by Lauren Brown

Another great book for winter outdoor exploring.

Winter Across America
by Seymour Simon

Beautiful photographs accompany this informative book.

Happy winter reading!

While we waited for them to arrive, Dan read words of truth to me between contractions, among them these:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)

By the time Eileen and Heather arrived, I was finally certain that my labor would not stop this time. I was right. Three hours later, Emma was born.

The mental game that I had been playing with myself vanished once my labor really kicked in. Giving birth at home didn’t seem to be a concern at that point. My main concern was delivering that baby!

There were so many things that Eileen did differently than any other midwife that I’d had previously. Because of her knowledge and skill, the actual birth experience was much more calm and joyful than any of the others. (But yes, it did still hurt!)

Some of the things that were different:

~ I was able to labor in my own quiet and dark room. I had a 25-watt lamp in my room and that was it. No machinery beeping every few seconds, no glaring lights, etc. I had soft music playing and my essential oil diffuser was filling the room with lavender. I was able to just move around where I pleased during the labor. I had one of those huge exercise balls that I sat and rocked on for some of the contractions and some of the time I was in my bed.

~ I was encouraged to eat and drink during the labor. Eileen was concerned that I have enough energy to deliver after having been up for almost 24 hours already.

~ I was not strapped to a fetal monitor for any portion of the labor. Eileen checked the baby’s heartbeat with a stethoscope every 15 minutes at first and then closer together as we got near the end. She maneuvered into whatever position she needed to in order to get that heartbeat, without making me change my position. She told me where in my body she was hearing the heartbeat, so that as the baby descended down farther into the pelvis, I could tell how much progress I was making.

~ Eileen did not check me during the labor and announce how many (or how few) centimeters I was dilated. This was extremely helpful to me, because in previous births, I tend to not dilate until right at the very end and when the midwives would tell me about my lack of progress, it would discourage and frustrate me to exhaustion. Instead, Eileen told me that there are many other physical and emotional signs that she takes note of to tell when a woman is about to enter transition.

~ When I was having very hard contractions near the end, both Eileen and Heather would each grab a part of my body (my heel, my leg, etc.) and squeeze as hard as they could through the contraction. This helped spread the pain out so that my mind could not focus as much on the contraction. It really made a difference for me! When I was going through a contraction standing up, as I often did, Eileen would come up from behind, place her hands on both of my hips and press together really hard. Again, this eased the pain of the contraction considerably. At one point, when she was doing this, she mentioned to Heather and Dan that she could feel the baby’s head through my lower back/tailbone area and called them over to feel it. That gave me encouragement as I knew I was almost there.

~ As I was going into transition with extremely painful contractions, Eileen, knowing that I am a Christian, began to speak comforting and encouraging words of scripture.

~ When I was crowning, Eileen used hot compresses and olive oil to make the process less painful. In between pushing, I wondered to myself, “Why hasn’t anyone used these things on me before?!?!?!”

~ After the birth, Emma was given to me and covered with a blanket and there she stayed. After confirming that she was indeed breathing and had all of her legs, arms, etc, they didn’t do any checks on her until quite a while after she was born. I was able to just hold her while we waited for the cord to stop pulsating and then I was able to nurse her as long as I liked.

~ About an hour after the delivery, I was given a herbal bath to soak in. Dan had prepared the infusion of the different herbs for healing while I was in labor so it was all ready for me at the right time.

~ Two hours after delivery, once everything was all cleaned up,  I was instructed to take both mine and Emma’s vitals four times a day for the first 24 hours and record them. Then Eileen and Heather left and I was able to lay in my clean bed and watch the morning birds on the feeder outside my window. It was awesome to just be able to relax with my new baby.

~ It was awesome for the children to be able to come and see us so soon after Emma was born!

Overall, I would definitely say that our home birth experience was a positive one. If we are ever blessed with another child, we will probably choose to go this route again. Some parts of it were more challenging for me personally, while other aspects of it were much better than I thought they would be.

Wherever Emma ended up being delivered was not as important as her safe arrival here, though. We’re so thankful to have her here as a part of our family!

(As with any birth story, any men reading this are forewarned that descriptions may be more than what you wanted to hear.)

My labor with Emma was different than with any of my other children.

This unnerved me quite a bit.

Because my other labors had followed almost exactly the same pattern, I was counting on this one to be predictably the same so I wouldn’t any cause for extra worry. Instead, things started out very differently. First of all, on Friday (Dec. 23rd)  I started having contractions in a regular pattern (which was normal for me) along with other early labor symptoms. However, instead of progressing they stopped overnight.

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The next day (Saturday), they started back up again in the early evening and by this point, I was bleeding and had the early labor anxiousness that I usually get. Since bleeding in early labor had never happened to me before, I was sure that the time would be very soon. I called my parents to come and prepared the children to sleep in the carriage house for the night. By the time we got everyone settled in, it was near 10:00pm and the regular contractions were still going strong. I went to bed to get my rest.

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Sunday morning dawned with my still being pregnant. My contractions had petered out again, although I was still bleeding some. My midwife said that it could be due to my low-lying placenta, so she wanted to come out to my home and check me anyway. She found nothing “wrong”, so she just left me to wait for the labor to pick back up on its own.

Sunday night, the regular strong contractions started back up again in the late evening. However, by this point, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to pack the children up again so we just went to bed.

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The same thing happened on Monday morning as it had on Sunday. Nothing. And so Monday passed by with periods of early labor symptoms, although the bleeding had stopped by then.

By Monday night, I was having even stronger regular contractions, but went to bed anyway. Are you getting tired of reading this yet? I was sure tired of the contractions!

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On Tuesday morning, I woke up around 4:30am when my water partially broke with strong contractions coming every 6 minutes. I waited until 6:00am to call Eileen, my midwife. Because I had always tested positive with Group B strep before, I knew that the chance of infection was higher if I didn’t deliver within 24 hours. She assured me that I would most likely deliver before then, so I shouldn’t worry.

I called my mom right after I spoke to Eileen and she got out of her bed and came right away.

I spent the entire day Tuesday in regular contractions that ranged from 6 to 10 minutes apart at various times during the day. I was getting very exhausted by this point from the regular contractions that did not seem to be progressing.  All the time, I was losing amniotic fluid and had started bleeding again. I began to seriously worry about not actually being able to deliver “in time”.

I began to doubt our decision to have a home birth. I feared the unknown.

My train of thought went like this: If my labor didn’t progress within 24 hours, I would have to go to the hospital to get antibiotics. I was pretty sure that a hospital would not induce me, as I have had a previous c-section. I began remembering the horrible recovery process that I went through with the surgery, and I started to mildly freak out as I thought about going through that again. As the day went on, my worry took over my exhaustion, as I wanted to make the best choice for my baby and the best choice for me.

I didn’t like the feeling that I was in control of the decision to go into the hospital or not. It was my decision. What if I made a wrong choice? Dan encouraged me by reminding me that ultimately, God is sovereign over what happens. Times like these are the ones that we have the opportunity to really exercise faith.

My midwife and her student Heather came out around 8:30pm because they were pretty sure that it was time. We had sent the children to bed out in the carriage house (again) with Mom. By the time they arrived, I didn’t feel any more in labor than I had at 6:00am that morning. Eileen checked me and found that I was only 2 cm dilated. I convinced them that it wasn’t time yet and they turned around and went back home (which was an hour’s drive away).

As soon as they left the house, my contractions picked up in intensity and frequency, but I went to bed anyway.

This time I couldn’t sleep through the contractions.

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At 1:38am, I told Dan that I was going to call Eileen back because it couldn’t be much longer. The roads were icy and she didn’t arrive until 3:00am….

Emma Diane

Born on December 28, 2011 at 6:14 AM

8 pounds, 5 ounces

21 ½ inches long

Emma was followed less than 24 hours later by her cousin’s exciting entry to the world.

I’ll share more about our home birth soon, but for now you can visit my album on Facebook.