Musings from the Threshold

All posts by Laurel

Happy International Day of the Midwife!

FacebookIDoM_squareMy life has been immeasurably enriched and blessed by an amazing number of wonderful midwives.  I want to take a bit of time to express my thankfulness for them on this special day.

The midwives who helped birth our babies…
Michelle Ruebke, our first midwife, laid a firm foundation of belief in the God-designed process of birth throughout the pregnancies and births of our first four Blessings. Cynthia Bernard helped make our hospital vaginal frank breech possible (and we couldn’t forget Barb Hueffmeier’s fantastic help with that one!).  Kathy Brace and her team assisted in the births of Blessings #6&7 (for which we traveled from MO to KS). And dear Mary Walsh came to bat for the birth of Blessing #8 – at last, a home birth in Missouri, with a team that included several precious friends.

The families who support the midwives…
Our time in Missouri included years of involvement with Friends of Missouri Midwives, a consumer advocacy group that was on the front lines with the Missouri Midwives Association in efforts to legalize independent midwifery in Missouri.  My experience with this diverse-yet-united group of folks was a time of growth and enrichment. These friends, their families, and their stories strengthened my appreciation for the beauty of the birth process and the value of midwives.

The midwives who are helping to birth the midwife…
Along the way in my own birth journey, I realized that I wanted to bless other women by serving them as my midwives had served me.  That dream was conceived around 2001, and so many midwives have invested in it, many without knowing it.  The midwives of the MMA opened my eyes to the sisterhood of midwives, the value of unity and consensus, and so much more.  Midwives I’ve never met have also inspired and encouraged me.
After we moved back to Kansas a couple years ago, I began apprenticing with two wonderful midwife friends, Bethany and Heidi.  I am learning so much from and with them.  I am also learning from and being encouraged by other midwives here in Kansas, and value their investment in me.  In the last few months, I have been blessed to begin studying under Debbie, one of my hero midwives, and a dear friend.

So, to all of these amazing folks – my thanks, love, and admiration.  Happy Midwives Day!

FacebookIDoM

 

Sovereignty, Goodness, and my way

I was out playing taxi driver yesterday, fretting and stewing about some upcoming timing issues, wondering how things would turn out, turning the situations over and over in my mind, trying to find some way to *make* things work out the way I want them.
Suddenly, the words on the radio broke through my worrying…
After all, You are constant  
After all, You are only good  
After all, You are sovereign  
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Oh.
Yes.
I’d lost sight of that.
I wrestle repeatedly with these two truths and how they fit together –
~ God is sovereign and good
~ God doesn’t always give me what I want
I love how this song reminds me of His sovereignty and His goodness in a way that checks my desire for my own way.
Thank You, patient Father. Help me to remember that You are sovereign, that You are good, that those constants never change, regardless of circumstance.  Help me to trust You as much as I long to love You…

Thoughts on Service, Redemption, and Healing

There is a area of my life in which I am recurringly stabbed with a sense of being unappreciated and lacking value.  When I start to think that I’m “over it,” something invariably happens to rip off a scab that should be long healed.

This doesn’t involve anyone in my family or even events/people that I am currently close to, yet it brings me to my knees over and over.  I know that there are still things that my Father longs to teach me through this, and oh, how I long to learn them!  I am obviously missing a piece of the puzzle.

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Some blessings of balm to me today…

*** “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” ~Matthew 10:24-25
Oh, may I be like my Master, willing to serve, to lay down my life, and to entrust myself to Him who judges righteously, instead of looking to people for my “reward.”

*** “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”  ~Kahlil Gibran

*** And this song, Nothing is Wasted, by Jason Gray.  You can listen to it for free at the link, and the lyrics touch me in various areas.  But right now, in this current trial, the first verse and chorus were such a blessing as I listened to them this afternoon.

The hurt that broke your heart
And left you trembling in the dark
Feeling lost and alone
Will tell you hope’s a lie
But what if every tear you cry
Will seed the ground where joy will grow

Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our redeemer
Nothing is wasted

~Jason Gray/Jason Ingram/Doug McKelvey

I am content and thankful this evening, though still a bit heartsore and emotionally weary.  I’m thankful that my loving Father will continue to patiently and tenderly teach this little child to love and serve like He does.

A Word for 2013

I was deeply challenged yesterday by what Willie shared during the teaching meeting.  The main text was Colossians 3.1-17, with an emphasis on verse 16 –

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

What hit me was that to live out the Biblical injunction to encourage other believers, I *must* be letting the word of Christ dwell in me.

Willie told a story of when he worked in construction with another believer, who would daily share with him what the Lord was teaching him from the Word, and would ask what he was learning.  Willie began to not only read the Word regularly, but to meditate and think on it, in part so that he would have something to share when his friend would ask.  Gradually, he realized that this really thinking on the Word (letting it dwell in him richly) was changing his life.

So it’s a win-win, is it not?  If we are letting the Word dwell in us, we are being changed and blessed.  And if we are faithful in lifting up others with what we are learning, then they are being blessed as well.

Why is it easier for me to feel motivated to “dwell” for someone else’s benefit, even though I know that my own need is so deep?  Only the Lord knows, and He also knew that I needed this challenge and encouragement.

A few ways in which I would like to be changed by this challenge…

To regularly let the Word dwell in me richly

I began this morning by starting to re-read Matthew, and read/meditated on the first chapter.  What stood out to me was Immanuel, God with us (oh, look, another “dwelling” concept!), and that all these things happened so that what was written might be fulfilled.  Our Father has gone to such lengths to demonstrate His redemptive plan throughout history.  The Blessings and I read the second chapter of I John in our morning reading.  So much about abiding in this chapter!  Abiding in Him, letting His Word abide (dwell) in me.  This will change me (I will obey His commandments, His love will be perfected in me), will give me confidence before Him, and so much more.  I have been seeking through the day to continue to let His Word dwell in me and permeate my thoughts.

To actively seek to be an encouragement to others

I have been feeling convicted about how much time I piddle away on Facebook in particular.  In the midst of Willie’s message yesterday, the thought came to me that I should try limiting my FB time to 15 minutes per day, for at least a week, and see what effect it has on my days/life.  I also want to be more deliberate in using FB, and my blog, to be a blessing and encouragement.

To sing and share songs, hymns, and spiritual songs on a regular basis
Here is one that has been on my mind today!

To daily write down at least three gifts (thankfulness in my heart)

The habit of gratitude is a life-changer, and I have sadly let it slip.  Ann Voskamp has lovely printables for a each month of the year, to take the joy-dare with a jumping-off-point for counting gifts.  Find them here!

So, a month in, I feel that the Lord has given me a word for 2013.
Dwell.
Let His Word dwell in me richly.
Dwell in Him.
Dwell.

A New Tool… Or Is It a Toy?

A big family Christmas gift to us from Papa and Mama Byrd was a pressure cooker/canner.  I have yearned for a pressure canner for several years, and while I might be more excited about it than anyone else in our family, the benefits will definitely come to the whole clan.
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So far on the “cooker” side of things, I’ve cooked a chicken & potatoes meal (that certainly showed my learning curve!), some oh-mercy-delicious soups, and some dried beans for using in a casserole.  It seems like that list should be longer, but it’s all I can remember at present.  There are things for which I am really going to like pressure cooking.

Ah, but the dream for years has been to be able to pressure can, because with a pressure canner, you can can foods that will not preserve properly in a water-bath canner.  When I saw turkeys on sale for .50 a pound in early January, I was thrilled to buy a couple.  And after I got them home, I remembered… I can can these!!  There was much rejoicing.
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A good bit of canned turkey broth/stock/meat has passed through our canner since then, and the process has reinforced my need for a means to better track my canning efforts.  You see in the above picture (lower right lid) the remnants of my old “method” of tracking the details of my canning… trying to cram all the info onto the top of the lid.  Not so tidy or effective. So I purchased a notebook just for my Canning Stuff.  Isn’t she purdy?
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The second section has my initial inventory.  This includes the unopened jars of stuff I’ve canned that are still around.  I’d like to add pages with a brief numbers account of each canning session/season/year.
2013-01-23 CanningNotebook_Start 001
The first section is for canning notes.  Things like what I actually put into the peach butter I made last summer:
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And detailed information about purchased food for canning, what went into each batch, how I canned it, etc:
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The above picture doesn’t include all the info I actually want to include on these pages.  I will be redoing it in more of a chart form, I think.  Date, size of jar, method with times/psi, ingredients, etc. I am a do-things-on-the-computer person.  But it just does not work well for keeping track of my canning, esp. not for what goes in to each batch.  And canning is such a wonderfully down-home skill, I find it fitting to be hand-writing my notes about it.

Do you can?  How do you keep track of your efforts?

The Beauty Book by Nancy Rue – A Review

The Beauty Book, by Nancy Rue, is a non-fiction book written for girls ages 7-11.  From a no-nonsense, God-doesn’t-make-junk beginning to a fun quiz-style closing inventory of what the reader has learned, Rue seeks to direct the attention of young ladies to the issues that matter most, while giving practical and honest help on issues that seem huge to most preteens.

I found The Beauty Book engaging and practical.  Topics covered include God-confidence, self-talk, shaving, skincare, nails, hair, clothes, caring for your body as the temple of God, respect for parents.  I like the multiple choice mini-quizzes that help the reader to look at their own thoughts and habits, as well as the “Talking to God About It” sections, which give prompts to encourage prayer about the topics.  There is also a “Lily Pad” page at the end of each chapter with space to write about a related question.  These features make the book very interactive, and would be helpful for parents who would like to use the book as a springboard.

On most questions, Rue effectively shares Biblical principles and refers decision-making back to the parents, sharing information that is widely agreed upon.  One disappointment for me was her “there is no such thing as a safe tan. Period. The end.” stance on sun exposure, and her strong endorsement of sunscreen.  Research has shown that regular moderate sun exposure has health benefits, and as a health-conscious mom, I am uncomfortable with the chemicals in sunscreen, so I wish that she had left more room for parental guidance in this area.

Overall, I think The Beauty Book is a great resource for pre-teens and their parents, and I look forward to sharing it with my girls.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a kindle edition of this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

A New Morning Habit

Mornings have long been a frustration to me, in the sense that we’ve struggled to get breakfast done and our day begun.  It’s seemed like we’re very disjointed/disconnected, not very family-ish, and have such a hard time getting to the point where we’re doing anything besides spinning our wheels.

Last month, the Simple Homeschool weekend links included this gem – What’s Working :: 5 Strategies for Right Now, from Amongst Lovely Things, a blog I hadn’t previously read.  Sarah gives some great ideas in a relatively short post, but the one that jumped out at me was #3 – “Start Early. Very Early.”  When I read her description of how her family’s mornings used to be, and I thought she must haved lived at my house!

The whole insistence on being “dressed and ready for the day before starting schoolwork” is really lingering residue from out-of-home education.  But we are not trying to bring into our home what happens in a school building.  No, we are seeking to educate our children at home in the way that best fits them and our family.  And sometimes it is difficult to even spot the things we do as a result of the influence of the school system.

So Sarah describes how they have thrown out the “getting ready” and have begun a habit of just starting the day with reading aloud together.  In her words,

Trust me, getting out of bed is a much more appealing prospect when chores and math aren’t looming directly overhead. My kids wake to the promise of a cozy blanket while mama reads a story. I sip coffee while I read, and before we know it we’ve got 30 minutes of  literature (or history, science, religion, or whatever else we’re reading about that day) under our belts.

Oh, that sounds inviting, doesn’t it?!  It definitely got me thinking.

Then, around New Year’s, I read a terrific article from Thomas Jefferson education about Winter’s Educational Superfood.  More good stuff in there than I can cover in this post, but it was further motivation for me to want to switch things up with our routine!

So last week, as we got back into official school stuff, I started calling the Blessings out to the living room first thing in their morning.  Now, my morning starts long before theirs, as Jonathan leaves for work about 45 minutes before most of them wake.  I use the gap for studying of my own, or a quick nap, or trying to get some of my computer stuff out of the way before they begin their day, or even making breakfast for them!  But when I’m ready for them to begin their day, I call everyone to the living room and we begin.  So for me, starting early is less about time-early and more about first-thing early.

We are reading I John 1 this month, one of them reading it from my Kindle each morning.  By the end of the month, it should be somewhere between very familiar and memorized.  And since there are five chapters in I John, the book will fit in nicely by the end of our “official” school year.

After we read our Bible chapter, we read a chapter from a classic.  Right now we are enjoying Little Women.  Not sure what will come next, but I think all the Blessings and I are enjoying it.

While I read, they usually eat breakfast (if something’s ready), or one of the older Blessings quietly fixes something, then they eat.  It seems so much easier to move on to other studying and work after starting our day together with a cozy read.

And, a treasure for you from this morning’s read.  I found this so resonated with me that it was difficult to make it through the paragraph as I read aloud to the Blessings this morning…

If I don’t seem to need help, it is because I have a better friend, even than father, to comfort and sustain me.  My child, the troubles and tempations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavely Father as you do that of your earthly one.  The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom.  His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength.  Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.” ~~ Marmee to Jo in chapter 8 of Little Women, “Jo Meets Apollyon” ~~ Louisa May Alcott

Maybe you’d like to try it?  Maybe you have found something different that is fabulous for your family?  I’d love to hear about what morning routine works for you!

A Thirty-One Party!

James Bloom, a lifelong friend of ours, is headed to Haiti next month to finish a church building project that he helped start last summer. His lovely wife, Eryn, whom I have also known most of her life, is a Sr. Consultant with Thirty-One, a 10 year old Christian company founded with the goal of helping women start their own businesses. They have a great selection of totes, bags, organizational items, and fun gifts, most of which can be personalized.

I’ve seen Eryn use Thirty-One parties before as fundraisers to bless others. A few weeks ago, a mutual friend of ours decided to have one as a fundraiser for James’s trip, and I thought it was such a great idea that I decided to play copy-cat. With many non-mutual friends, I’m hopeful that we’ll both be able to have good success in raising money toward James’s trip. If you’re interested in helping, please let me know and I’ll make sure you have an invite to the FB event (with all the needed info).

I’d like to highlight some of the products that look enticing to me in the catalog, and thought I’d start with one that I own and love.

My Mama brought me a thermal tote (p.2 & p.43 in the spring catalog) when she visited this summer, and it has been such a lovely and practical gift! Mine is purple (big points to begin, for this purple-girl), and I’ve used it for a variety of things. Even though it’s thermal and works great as a cute and classy cooler, the thermal lining is so thin that it’s very usable for other things. It’s 9.5″H x 14″W x 4.5″D, so I’ve toted a change of summer clothes in it, used it for a purse, carried toys in it for Andrew, used it for a mini-diaper bag, and more. The tote also has an exterior pocket, which is nice for tucking in last minute extras.

When Eryn had the thermal totes on special after Thanksgiving, I bought three for three dear ladies in my life, and had them personalized. I loved all the options – for patterns, thread color, and stitching fonts. And their bags look terrific!

So, whatever other goodies you might pick up before this party ends next Sunday (Jan. 20), consider adding a thermal tote to your order. I’m sure you’ll enjoy and appreciate it!
Happy shopping!

Brief Thoughts on the New Year

As I lay in bed early this morning thinking about another year and pondering my “big picture” goals for the year, the words to this dear hymn came to mind –

More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.  

More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love Who died for me.

As I thought of words that might be key for me in 2013, the one that stuck with me was OPEN. The Lord has been teaching me much about being open, and my guess is that these lessons have just begun and will be key in this new year. Open to Him (to Who He is); Open to His leading; Open to His grace and forgiveness; Open to His plans instead of my own; Open to His gifts; Open to my husband; Open to my children; Open to broken people hiding behind polite smiles; Open to how He wants to use me; Open home; Open arms….

Rejoicing in God’s Ruling Hand

I recently re-found this wonderful quote a friend posted from an out-of-print book, The Life and Letters of Janet Erskine Stuart. Says one who was Stuart’s assistant for some years,

“She delighted in seeing her plan upset by unexpected events, saying that it gave her great comfort, and that she looked on such things as an assurance that God was watching over her stewardship, was securing the accomplishment of His will, and working out His own designs. Whether she traced the secondary causes to the prayer of a child, to the imperfection of an individual, to obstacles arising from misunderstandings, or to interference of outside agencies, she was joyfully and graciously ready to recognize the indication of God’s ruling hand, and to allow herself to be guided by it.”

Oh, yes, Lord, may this be true of me!