When it rains it pours.

When it rains it pours.
Yet, God remains faithful.

This past week has been a trying on in the Keethler home as it feels like we are hemorrhaging money.
I needed a new dishwasher. The other mostly worked, but our dishes were not getting clean and the tines on the racks were rusted out and broken. So naturally after 4 years we finally bit the bullet and picked out a new one.
She is pretty.

However, after a long ordeal just to get her installed last Saturday our good friend BW and Chad got her up and running. We leave for church {yes on Saturday} at 1ish to get my kids to my parents so Chad and I could serve all  5 services. I sing, he does tech. We didn't get home until 830p-ish that evening and as soon as I walked in I commented how hot it was in our house.

If momma is hot, it is hot. I looked at our thermostat it is reading 81*, well no wonder--I started to walk away and then I realized wait! That isn't right, it should have NEVER gone about 78*. Period. I mean it is the end of September, not July when it is 100*+ and leaving a door open for 2 seconds would cause that sort of jump.

Yup. The AC was broken.

I do what I do best google search and watch youtube videos on what could be wrong and Chad does what he does best and watches Top Gear and says he will call the repair people on Monday.

Thankfully, it is September/October and temps aren't too bad. Matter of fact the last few days this week have been downright perfect. I even woke up freezing. HA! So we had some wiggle room. PRAISE.

One company came out and thought it was a bad fuse. Nope.
The next said we need a whole new unit. That is stressful because AC units aren't cheap. But God worked in some details that are making it less expensive. Still expensive, but slightly less. PRAISE.

We still don't have AC yet, but at this point I don't care. We may not turn it on once we do if the weather keeps up like this. Hello Fall!!

Oh, and did I mention in all of this mess Tucker our first fur baby had to have eyelid surgery for some janky growth on his eyelid. I have been putting that off for 2 months to see if it would get bigger {like the assured me it would}. It did and it was time to get that taken care of.

Poor baby--Post op {bandage was from the IV}

So good times, but again that bill ended up being nearly a $100 less than we were told and well I am going to Praise God for that too.

In full disclosure I have had several meltdown moments over all of this hitting at once. However, one evening my son told me his Bible verse he learned this past month in church. Phil 4:19. "MY GOD will meet ALL YOUR NEEDS." In his cute little boy voice. It just struck me that we have never gone without. God has always provided. And in the most unexpected ways, which He likes to do to make sure you know it was Him.

So while it is hard right now, these present sufferings are nothing in the grand scheme of life. {Rom 8:18} God has always been faithful and that is all we can rest in right now.

I do pray we are on to sunnier times, but if we aren't we will just dance in the rain.

{Via}

Rewind {August}

Hey Michele welcome back to blogging.
I really {believe} I mean it this time. I am about 78% confident I am going to start blogging on the regular again.
Honestly, I have contemplated doing vlogs {video blogs--in case you don't know} just so I can talk to a camera and get it done quickly. Because I am a way faster talker than typer. However, not having it written out freaks me out a bit AND let's face it I can run photoshop like a wizard, but I don't have a clue when it comes to video editing. That is Chad's department. So we shall see.

So here is a peek into what has been going on this past August.

Up first praise team.
You guys you have no idea the joy being on praise team brings me. none. I would do it every weekend if they would let me. It blesses me beyond measure and I pray that through our worship we bless those and prepare their hearts for God's word. And that is a privilege to be apart of.

 Then there is this.
Please note this is no ordinary swimming photo. This is MW in the SHALLOW end. Not on the steps, but the shallow end. Say it with me the SHALLOW END! Praise hands. He has spent the ENTIRE summer on the steps--having a blast mind you but nonetheless on the steps. I begged, I bribed, I tossed him in even, nope nada. Not getting off those steps. Then one day we finally coerced him off the steps {on one of the last days of summer} and the rest is history. That boy goes running for the water whenever we get a chance to go, which is getting fewer and farther between due to school and crazy weather patterns. Anyway, summer goal completed!

A trip to the zoo. I think this was right before school started. It was a nice family day. We struggle with family time due to polar opposite work schedules, so when we can all be together we so enjoy it!

 I have to include this.
Lo has a heart like her daddy. She loves to write notes and give gifts. Mommy bought diet oreos {aka the regular stuff kind and not the double stuff} there was only one double stuffed left and Lo saved it for Chad and wrote this note and placed it lovingly on his pillow. She is so sweet it hurts. She does stuff for me like this all the time. Such a giver.

Here we are not impressed with dinner. Oh, and you should always wear swim goggles to the table.

 This was another family day right before school kicked off. Bowling! They love going and we had a ball. {get it...?! :) }

 Last swim of the summer {before school started}.
This is the Fat Sheep gang. I am not entirely sure why they call themselves this, but they did and it stuck. Next year MW and Jayne will start school too. Tear.

This is how mommy and MW spent day 1 of school! At the park...and being silly.

 Chad now works at our church and is gone all weekend. So we chillax on Sundays, in our undies, on the table, watching Tarzan and playing transformers. Yeah, it is awesome.

 One evening we took a walk and the horses up near where we live were  out and walking towards us. The kids beg to pet them, so we did. Thatcher not a fan. This horse was so nice.

And that concludes this installment of Rewind. We did a few more things, but I thought separate posts would work better for those things.

Chele

Your Cross Demands My Life...

There is this song "God Be Praised" sung by Gateway Worship.
You know how songs can just breathe into your soul the way nothing else can. Nothing.
That is why worship music in particular is so powerful.
For me worship songs get into the nooks and crannies no other light can and for just those moments I am free and Jesus has absolutely all of me. That's why leading worship has always been such a powerful tool in my life. I want others to have that too. Just that one moment.

This song. It's not new, but man every time I hear it I just get it. I get what Christ did for me, for you, for all of us.

Today I decided to make a printable of my favorite line. The one that makes you stop and realize I, I deserved that cross. I deserved to suffer and die, I still do; but God He said "no." He said I love you THIS MUCH and His son spread out His arms and died for me, for you, for us. His GRACE is my anthem, your anthem, our anthem.

That is what Easter is about. He died and 3 days later walked out of the grave conquering death and offering me the gift of life with Him forever. Offering you the gift, we just have to accept it.  So my soul can't help but sing Hallelujah.

You saved my life from death
When I was all defeated
You spoke Your promises
And brought life to my weakness
Came as a conquering King
And You warred for my freedom
My soul can’t help but sing
Hallelujah

You opened up my eyes
For the first time I saw You
Your love commanding life
And deserving devotion
You told me who I am
Now in faith I believe it
My soul can’t help but sing
Hallelujah

You’ve made a place for me
Silenced all my accusers
Leading me forth with peace
Filled with joy I will follow
Your cross demands my life
Now Your grace is my anthem
My soul can’t help but sing
Hallelujah

Hallelujah, we’re redeemed and made free
By the blood of the Lamb We have won
Hallelujah, we will sing victory
Jesus conquered the grave
God be praised

Thoughts on Christmas

Let's talk about Christmas.
Christmas is such a magical time, it seems to bring out the best in most people. I am so excited to see my kids' expressions Christmas morning and then some as we go from grandparents house to grandparents house.

I also am enjoying the build to Christmas morning. We have been doing fun things like Izzy the Elf {on a shelf}, the hay in the manger, the advent calendar and tomorrow we go and visit Santa.
The other day I read a well written blog post on why they don't do Santa as believers in Christ. I thought her points were well stated and not offensive to those of us Christians that choose to do the whole Santa thing. It got me thinking about why we do choose to do Santa. I am not sure I have ever read the other side of the "argument" in the past, so I thought self, why not write one if for no other reason than for your kids to know where you came from.

So here it goes:
I grew up in a very legalistic Christian bubble--due to my HS not my parents and Santa was always a taboo subject. Most often the bullet point I would hear the most was it is a LIE.
Yes, it is.
But flip the script from the point of view of the child from to the point of view of the parent. You the parent are in control of the "lie." You KNOW Santa isn't real you are "In" on the secret. And that is what it is--a secret, more-so than a lie. The truth always always comes out around age 9ish.
Riddle me this; as a parent you have never "lied" to your kids about anything?!

Mom, can we go to Chick Fil A?
No.
Why?
Because they are closed. {It isn't Sunday; they aren't closed.}

Mom, can I have another cookie?
No.
Why?
Because you already had one.
I want another one...pALEASE {rinse and repeat at least 6x}
Ok fine, oops sorry honey they are all gone. ;)

Please I can not be the only parent that has these conversations with my kids? Right?!
So I look at the Santa "lie" the same way. I am creating a memory and magic for Christmas.
Also, because I am in control of the lie, I decide what information to disseminate. For instance most of what your kids learn about Santa, the elves and the reindeer is from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and Ruldolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer movie. I know I did. My mom didn't tell me stories of Santa, she let me "lie" to myself about the whole thing. She just nodded and smiled. I even remember asking if Santa were real and she said
"Well, baby what do you think? If you believe he is real well then he must be." 
Talk about psychology 101. Get the questioner to answer their own question. You just neither confirm or deny and boom once again they talked themselves into it. So the way I see it I was never lied to. When I was 10ish I finally asked my mom point blank and she knew it was time to actually answer the question and she did in a loving way. I never felt jipped, betrayed, or lied to. It all made sense. Shoot she even pointed out that all the songs gave me the truth, but I couldn't handle the truth {name that movie}. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause...duh because it's daddy. "He knows if you been bad or good" and "sees me when I am sleeping?!" OBVIOUSLY, because mommy and daddy check on me at night. Geez ::insert smack my head::
You see I choose what I wanted to believe. It had nothing to do with my parents bold face lying to me. All they did was say  "this gift is from Santa" and away I went with the idea.

A sub point of the "lie" bullet point is this blurs the line between fact {Jesus and all the Bible stories are real} vs. Fiction {Santa and the elves aren't real and don't even get me started on flying reindeer thing}. My only real thought is really?! Again, are your children watching television or reading books? Unless it is solely documentaries and biographies pretty sure some fantasy sneaked in there, just saying. And let's not forget pretend play that all kids do. So I really feel like this one is splitting hairs a bit. The Bible is proven and authenticated for anyone who wants to actually do research on it, so I am not worried that my kids can't comprehend the difference there.


Another big bullet point is the true meaning of Christmas...is lost.
Who can compete with the big man in the red suit that gives out presents?!
Actually Jesus can.
Now when I was growing up I will be honest I knew Christmas was about Jesus' Birthday, but it wasn't overly drilled into my head. Nor was the whole Santa thing. Honestly, growing up Christmas meant one thing to me---PRESENTS!!! Now, unless you get rid of the whole gift giving thing at Christmas you are still working hard to teach your kids the true meaning of Christmas with or without Santa. Kids love gifts period. Even after I got in on the secret of Santa, still only cared about the gifts and time off school. Santa didn't effect that.
Now that I am a mom, things are different. It took me a long time to see the value of a relationship with Christ and to honor, cherish and respect what took place on that first Christmas morning and that dark Good Friday and the awesomeness of the Resurrection and what that truly meant. Chad and I both pray and hope that our kids get there faster, but sometimes it is just a journey. With all that said we do want to, for lack of a better word, drill into their heads the importance of what Christmas is and means.  We have chosen to incorporate other traditions on top of Santa to bring Christmas full circle.

An example is the Hay in the Manger. A close friend of mine shared this idea with me and I have loved it ever since. We made a manger and it sits on the fireplace. Next to it is a bag of "straw." Whenever our kids display kindness, a servants heart, patience or any other fruit of the spirit-esque behavior they are rewarded by putting a bit of straw into the manger. The "goal" if you will is to acquire enough straw/hay for baby Jesus to arrive on Christmas morning. {He always arrives}.

I have made it very clear to my kids that mommy and daddy put baby Jesus in that manger. Jesus isn't "magical" but this is a moment to reflect on Jesus' birth and the mission he came to do. We also write gifts to give Jesus over the next year, like praying more, being more of a servant etc, and then lay those on the manger on Christmas Eve.
Then on Christmas morning BEFORE any Santa shenanigans or gifts we all gather around the manger which is in the center of the room and sing Happy Birthday Jesus. We thank him for coming, living and ultimately dying for us-for being the ULTIMATE gift, so we can one day join Him in Heaven. It has become a very special tradition for us and my kids love seeing baby Jesus and kissing Him and rocking Him in the morning. Sometimes they ignore their gifts completely just to play Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus.

And that right there let's me know I did it right. It always makes me think of my mom's creche where she has a kneeling Santa. EVEN Santa knows that this holiday is about the birth of our Lord and Savior, even Santa stops to kneel before the babe and maybe that is why I think we can handle both.

We also read the Nativity story as we set up the Manger scene, we do a manger scene advent calendar and we fight over who gets to put up the baby Jesus at the end. My kids love Jesus so much. I wish I could take most of the credit for that, and I don't know maybe I should, but our church has done a fantastic job of getting the message across to our kids and giving us parents the tools to help re-iterate it at home.

Even with Izzy the Elf {on a shelf} he incorporates into his shenanigans times with Jesus. He rocks baby Jesus, or sits in the manger scene reading the Christmas story and Izzy always makes a cake/cookie for Jesus' Birthday on his last day.

They are also asked all through out the year really, what is Christmas/or Easter? Why do we celebrate these times? And even at the tender ages of 3 and 5 they get it, sometimes probably better than me and definitely way better than I did at those ages.

So there you have it. I think it is very possible to incorporate both into this Christmas season. I don't think any of us are any worse for the wear one way or the other. Christmas is a magical time no matter how you choose to celebrate it.

Thanksgiving + Deck The Halls + Fa La La La

And boom goes another month. Gone. Just like that.
Here is part 1 of November, although most of it occurred in part 2...don't judge my methods. ;)

So shockingly we got snow one weekend. Snow. In November, not unheard of but not common. Of course the kids were thrilled. And I love having wet soggy clothes and boots on my landing for a week. It is fun though watching the joy it brings, you forget so much about childhood and re-living it with your kids gives it new excitement all over again.

It's no secret that Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. I do love the whole gratitude attitude thing, but November in and of itself is blah and the turkey is extra blah. However, last year we started the Tree of Thanksgiving. Each day {well most days} we all try and write 1 thing we are grateful for and hang the leaf up. MW still doesn't fully grasp the concept as he choose random things to be thankful for--like his truck book, but it is still fun to hear. Lo's heart is very sensitive to needs of others and she really chooses deep things--like clean water. Some days I find it astounding that they came from the same gene pool.

Lo was so ready to set up the tree and decorations this year. And because I find it exhausting we broke it into days. Everything out one day, fluff tree branches the next, wait for our rotating tree base to arrive, put tree up with lights on another day followed by trimming the tree on Thanksgiving day.

This was the year MW could finally put the star on and as soon as daddy tried to lift him, he FREAKED OUT.

So Brave Betsy did it. This girl fear nothing. Makes for a great gymnast.

The aforementioned tree trimming process.

Our tree rotates. I can not tell  you how cool that is. Lo begged for a rotating tree last year, but the tree was already up and I didn't see the point in buying a rotating base. This year I remembered and made sure to order one in time! Fun to see all the ornaments and as Lo says "I won't break my arm again trying to see the ornaments in the back!" {to clarify she only sprained it falling off the couch last year looking at the back of the tree.}

Another little tradition we have is family Thanksgiving Day pictures. Something magical happens on this day each year and we get good photos on a self timer in one take.

MW is just all Chandler Bing when it comes to taking photos...so excuse his random face. But I have learned to just appreciate that as who he is and embrace it. :)

The last tradition is to read the Christmas Nativity story as we put up my beloved manger scene.

I try so hard guys, I do. I want to be laid back but it's hard. Each year my face looks slightly more relaxed than the year before. HA!

A mini tour of the decor.

Ah, and then Izzy the elf has returned with donuts. Lo's face nearly exploded when she saw he was back. Then she yelled Micah come quick Izzy is back! That boy nearly tripped on his own feet {which really isn't all that crazy for him} trying to see Izzy!

And to wrap up this installment of November pt 1 that happened during pt 2.
THE CAR.
Micah and Leighton come on down....you've won a CAAAARRRR!
Not really, but that is what it felt like.
Yesterday I swung by goodwill to look for a mini Christmas tree for MW's room. And what should we see when we walked in, but this car. We meander around goodwill, found a tree and while I was checking out MW hopped in the car and tried to drive out the front door with it. As we left he begged for it. It was only  $60 and we have ALL wanted one of these for years. I told him I wasn't sure, I mean if I bought this thing I want it to be a Christmas gift...so I called daddy. Daddy the gift giving fool of course said YES! So we walked right back in and asked to buy it.

HOWEVER. part of the tag was missing and they refused to sell it to me because they weren't sure it wasn't already sold. They have a-mazing record keeping at goodwill...I mean it gives Hobby Lobby a run for their money.  ::insert SARCASM:: So frustrating. All I could do was come back tomorrow and hope it was still there. MW actually left really well--no fits, crying, whining etc. I was proud.

I told him we need to all take this as an opportunity to trust God. It seems silly, but God does care about little things like this, because they are big things to a little 3yo boy.

So we showed up as soon as they opened today and lo and behold the car was still there! It was ours. MW was thrilled!! He kept patting the car the whole way home. Of course when Lo got home she couldn't believe we got it! I told her to keep her hopes low.

And that is the story of the early Christmas present that is the car. Man the joy these two have, makes it all worth it. Even if it only last 6 months...it was $60 well spent!