Numbness to Thanksgiving that Preceeds the Miracle

Numbness to Thanksgiving that Preceeds the Miracle.  Those are the thoughts that have been pondered long and deep in my soul of late.  In her book, 1,000 Gifts:  A Dare to Live Fully Alive, Ann Voskamp places the following quote on page 41 (or location 543 on your Kindle)

  "When one is thirsty one quenches one's thirst by drinking, not by reading books which treat of this condition.  If we are dying of thirst, passively reading books about water quenches little; the only way to quench the arched mouth is to close the book and dip the hand into water and bring it to the lips.  If we thirst, we'll have to drink." 

Most certainly I now understand the idea of silence accompanied by numbness.  Both induced by the most powerful pain in my mother's heart. 

As events have unfolded since our move to Va, I've been grateful to have the Word and His Word alone to stand on.  I've not had shelves of self help books which clog up the mind and soul seeking freedom and light.  Yet now, I've been brought to deeper works of godly literature that have helped to draw me nearer to His side than ever before.  1000 Gifts is one of those books. 

I have been so thirst for God's Word, Promises and Provision in our lives.  I remain grateful for the Bible studies and long morning quiet times that have helped me to work through the numbness and silence.

Next in her book, Ann visits the story of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus in Luke 17:17-19.

10 came to Him.  They asked for healing.  It was given.  10 went on their way.  Then, 1 returned and thanked the Lord for His healing of his body.  Christ says in Vs 18-19  "  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"  " Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well."

At that moment, a great miracle occured in the man's life.  He was saved....to the uttermost, by his faith.  His humility of going back, saying thankyou to the Savior, saved his soul.

Thanksgiving Preceeded the Miracle.

I've realized since reading these lines, that I have a great deal to be thankful for as it relates to our circumstances here.

Thankyou Lord, for my marriage that has endured, for friends who hold my daugther far away from home, for prayers whispered on our behalf that I don't even know about, for emotional protection of my children, for tearstained pillows of griefly prayers that the Holy Spirit took to Your mighty ears to hear.  All of those things and many more have allowed me to awaken from numbness to witness so many miracles.

16-34
Slight Orange in the sunrise

getting smoked after E-4 promotion  (so long ago!)

early morning good bye kisses

the chance to apologize

exhilariting emails

Emergency Room touches

preschool talk

Kids playing spider on the swing

exploring great art with my kids

cupcake tasting

viewing Peter Paul Reuben's Daniel in the Lions Den

left over pizza

loving a sad heart

nurse talk

scrapbooking memories

giggling sleepovers

beds made by 9yo boys

"cuz were big now and can handle it"

It hurts, it's a bit hard honestly....but I am choosing to live:  FULLY ALIVE!

A 1,000 ways He shows He loves me

Daring to live fully alive!

Choosing to SEE!

Resting at the Pool of Siloam!

Digging out of the Pit- TO STAY!

In the picture and story of the Prodigal Son, we find ourselves as all 3 men. 

These are some of the mantras from books I've read and am reading since Christmas. 

Books that every woman should eventually have on her shelves are:

Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman
Get out of that Pit by Beth Moore
The Psalms of the Ascents Bible Study by Beth Moore
The Return of the Prodigal Son, a Meditation on Fathers, Brothers and Sons by Henri Nouwen
One Thousand Gifts: Dare to Live Fully Alive by Ann Voscamp

Here's my start on 1000 things:

1.  Surprise Lunch dates for my children
2.  Ringing phones with John on the other end
3.  Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries in February
4.  Kids who finally 'get it' in school work.
5.  Pumpkin Spice Candles
6.  first coffee in the morning
7.  cozy jammies
8.  laughter at the dinner table
9.  whipping, wild, wind
10.  Red Cars- always make me smile!
11.  Passover
12.  fresh bread in the bread maker
13.  grinding wheat, spelt, barley and lentils for bread as the Isrealites did
14.  traveling buddies

That's my start!  What ways has God shown you His FULLY ALIVE way He loves YOU?!

For more on Daring to Live Fully Alive go Here:  http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Countdown to Kuwait and January Pictures

I can't believe a whole month has gone by since I've posted.  Boy, have we been busy!

After lots of prayer and counseling with our Pastor, John decided we should go ahead with the move to Kuwait and continue his career.  Boy, have the days been whirling by ever since.  As soon as the decision was made, we both felt huge weights lift from our hearts and received a great deal of peace.  We are both very grateful.  Of couse, right after that Satan has tried to get the upper hand again by attacking.  The Enemy is so clever.  But he does truly need to go find elsewhere.  We have work to do and aren't letting the attacks interfer with the Mission we've been given.  We expect to fly mid June. 

Here's an update on all of us:

John has started precommand course work which will dominate a great deal of each of our remaining months here in No. Va.   He's been painting the basement, making lists, keeping tabs on life at the office, cooking to relax and still leading Jesse's Scout Den through the whittling chip badge and pinewood derby.  Our pinewood derby days are 5 hrs long.  We have over 100 cars to race to include leader, sibling and open class racing.  John and I took our calendars and planned the move while we waited for our Den to race.  We're starting to get good at this planning a move thing.  But we are both clearly older and it's harder.  The mind is willing but the body is aging!

Kellie is running.  I took it up just before Christmas and have logged 170 miles in 7 weeks on the treadmill.  It keeps the weight down as well as the stress level.  Homeschooling, tutoring at Classical Conversations once a week and now moving errands keep me pretty busy.  I'm also scrapbooking furiously as I try to finish the 2010 album before we move.  As usual, I've picked up a new moving cross stitch project.  They are cheap, take up little room while moving and allow me to focus when the house is a mess with preparations.  I am so excited to find a new girlfriend local to us who's also headed to Kuwait.  The G family will be taking command in July as well.  We'll have 2 years together to be traveling and shopping or BEATING the HEAT buddies.  Pool decks, here we come!  Mrs. G has shared pictures her hubby took a couple of weeks ago and I can say that if our housing looks anything like the pictures I've seen....we are going to live like KINGS!  Talk about pampered.

Lyndsay is a 2nd Semester Junior at ONU.  She finished last semester on the Dean's List and loves her fellow nursing students.  I was thrilled when she went line dancing last week!  She LOVED it, I knew she would.  It's been 2 and a half years since she's danced.  I pray this is the beginning of the door being re-opened to her love affair with the dance floor!!!  Lyndsay will move with us to the Middle East for the summer and then return to ONU for her Sr. Year.  The Kuwaiti government will fly our family back to the USA as far as Chicago once a year for every year we are in Kuwait.  We are so relieved to know the whole family will make her college graduation and nursing pinning!  Go, P!

Emily has a new love affair:  VERA BRADLEY.  It's become the Coombs chicks thing to shop for.  She spots it everywhere.  I think it's time to memorize all the patterns from the last few years so we can start naming them as we see them.  There is no Vera in Kuwait, so we are making sure she is stocked up on necessary pieces before we leave.  (wink!).  Softball will begin for Em in a few weeks and we look forward to evenings on the ballfield again.  She's doing just great in school.  She's on her third spelling level for the year and her 2nd math level for the year.  I can't believe she's a few days away from 12!  Emily will attend the American School of Kuwait in the fall as a 6th grader. 

Jman- total hoot this kid!  Mouthy and very witty.  Total baby of the family.  I'm certain Kevin Lehman wrote the birthorder book after a conversation with our Jesse.  He's a whiz at school, hangs out with the boys, plays video games and lives for man stuff time with his Dad.  Ball season starts for Jesse soon as well.  He did well at the Pine Wood Derby!  Jman's whittling chip car won Best in Show!!!  He was so happy!  Jman will attend ASK with Emily as a 4th grader.

Adam-  Well, it should be clear that his actions have assisted us in our actions.  He is still at Poplar Springs Hospital in Petersburg, Va.  He's working a 12 step program and while making some progress for himself personally, reunification with our family before his 18th birthday appears to be totally out of the picture.  We continue with family therapy each week and truly appreciate his new doctors there.  He is being taught how to take responsibility for his actions and how to not repeat the same patterns in the future.  More than that I can't share due to upcoming court dates. 

Tucker, the new boxer pup is doing well.  He's adjusting to the family, getting paint on his face and bottom as we paint the basement and sleeps in whatever bed is not occupied at the time. 

We are looking forward to celebrating Passover in April and are keeping a calendar of the Hebrew months on our fridge.  The sighting of the new moon was just the other day.  We are in month 12 now of the year 6010.  I'm enjoying learning more about our Messiah and His Father as we read through the Old Testament.  I'm certain that our moving to a culture in the middle east where the lunar cycle is what regulates the local calendar and having Friday and Saturday off as 'weekend' days will help make a more natural transistion to Sabbath worship for us.  This last Friday night was doozy for us commute wise, but we were seated around the table at 7:45 enjoying dinner and having prayer time together.  It was lovely and peaceful.

Well, I think I've cooled down from my morning run.  Time to hit the showers.  Anyone wanna come help me get a garage sale together?  Planning a big one for 1st weekend in April!

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