Update on... Me!

Every once in a while people ask what I do outside of taking care of the boys and making sure our home is running efficiently (or running at all even if not efficiently). To answer that, I thought I'd give a little update on what and how I've been doing lately.

For starters, I've finished three books in the last couple of weeks (I started two of them a while ago and have been working on them simultaneously).

• Holiness By Grace by Bryan Chapell
• The Cross Centered Life by CJ Mahaney
• When Sinners Say "I Do" by Dave Harvey

All three were EXCELLENT books, and I highly recommend them, the first two to every person for sure, and the third to any person who is married, or thinks it's a possibility, or knows anyone who's married and ever gives that person advice or a listening ear (pretty much every person, I'd say).

I've also made/constructed a few things in the last couple of months:

• Shelves for Ladan's wall... we rearranged his room and took his actual shelf out to make more floor space, but we still needed some place to put the books. It was a one-day project that required a trip to Lowe's and the use of a drill and hammer, so it was fun for me!
• Neck pillows for the boys when they ride on long road trips. While completing this project, I sewed in something other than a straight line and installed a zipper, both for the first time. I've never had a sewing lesson, but thanks to Robyne (my stepmom), I have a machine and had some instruction about how to thread it and turn it on! :) She also provided an instruction book and lots of little accessories, which have made it pretty easy to figure things out. Anyway, when I made the pillows, I used a light yellow base fabric and stuffed the pillows. Then I made zip-on covers that can be removed and washed or switched out if girlier fabric is required in the future. The entire pillow is machine-washable, so it should be pretty easy to keep them clean. I'm excited to test them when we drive to MO in a couple weeks. Oh, wait! I just remembered that I did actually have a sewing lesson in eighth grade, but I didn't remember a thing except what the tools are used for in general.
• A squash book. This is a little fold-out book that Beth Schakat (our youth pastor's wife) showed us how to make one night when we were hanging out with the teen girls. It was super-easy and super-fun... and a great gift idea. If I think about it, I'll try to find instructions online and post a link. Here is a link to instructions for several types (I did Book 3).

This Saturday, I get to go to the Casting Crowns concert for the second time in less than 4 months! And I'm going with 7 really fun people... Gretchen and the three oldest Wright boys as well as Michele, Caitlin and Chelsea Murray. The Wright boys have decided that we're eating at McAllister's first, which will make it an all-around good night.

Tomorrow will be my last session of SWI (Seminary Wives Institute) class. After class, I have to write a quick 1-2 page review of the course, and I will have completed all the requirements for the SWI certificate. I have learned so much from my classes and feel like I am much better equipped for ministry and to fulfill my roles as wife and mother. I learned a lot about how to divide the Word rightly, how to practically carry out what it says... and I've met some really amazing women who will be fabulous resources even when we're gone from here. I know there are many seminaries that have basic programs for the wives, but this was much more in-depth, intentional, and helpful than any program I've heard of so far. That's not to brag, but rather, to demonstrate a heart of gratitude to the Lord for a husband who saw this as a priority when he chose a school for himself and for the seminary professors and their wives who invest so much time and energy into preparing us.

Right before that class tomorrow, I'm going to hear Elyse Fitzpatrick (author of Idols of the Heart and Love to Eat, Hate to Eat among other things) speak on campus. The title of her talk is Because He Loves Me: How God's Love Transforms Our Identity and Life. I can't wait!

I'm still in the Continuing in Christ (CIC) discipleship group at Clifton. We're finishing our discussion of Holiness by Grace and getting ready to start discussion of Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp. I read that book last year, and it was excellent, so I'm really looking forward to the discussion. As part of CIC, I've memorized some really great scriptures: Colossians 1:15-20, 2:6-14, and 3:1-2 (we'll add chapter 3 verses 3-5 throughout the rest of the semester). That's 20 verses total, which is pretty exciting for me.

Scripture memory is NOT easy for me, but I think I'm finally finding some strategies that are working to help me really store the Word in my heart. I've found it helpful to listen to a sermon or two on each passage to solidify the information, and I also rigged up a fancy scripture-memory holder system in my shower so I could see ALL the verses at once instead of just 1-3 at a time. It's actually not fancy; it's just a couple rows of Ziploc snack bags threaded together and held up with suction cup hooks on the ends. I just insert my 3x5 cards--each one with three verses typed on it--right into the snack bags. I'm excited because I didn't have to spend money to laminate them, and I can switch them around when I move on to other scriptures. I'll just hole-punch these and put them in my little 3x5 inch scripture memory binder so I can easily review them.

I'm about half-way through the Seeking Him study by Tim Grissom and Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I'm just working on this in my personal time and chatting with Amber, my SIL, every once in a while about it. For the first couple of weeks, I wasn't too sure how it would be, but it's getting deeper and deeper every week. It's a study about how to seek personal and corporate revival, so it makes sense that they wouldn't have started out with super-intense study times right from the get-go. If people are struggling to even designate a few minutes per day toward things of the Lord, you don't want to discourage them from the outset. It will be an excellent resource for the future, I think.

I've really been having a great time with the high school girls! Tonight we started our discussion of Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. We had some very good discussion tonight! There are 8 girls total and the two of us adults, so it's really the perfect number for a small group. I've also been able to spend some extra time with one of the girls in particular, which has been a blast for me. Sometimes we have an agenda when we meet, and sometimes we just hang out (like this afternoon when we ran errands and then went to eat a snack at her favorite place). I'm looking forward to the possibility of spending time with more of them individually, especially once SWI and CIC wrap up.

We started the adult small group that's meeting at our house. Our first meeting was this last Sunday. We absolutely LOVED being in the Murrays' small group, so while we were pumped about the idea of opening up another small group, we weren't excited to leave the group we were in. We were praying that the Lord would put together a group of people who would have a variety of experiences but would be able to really open up and share life together, joys and struggles. So far as I can tell, I don't think He could have answered our prayer more thoroughly! We have one single woman, two couples a couple years younger than us, one couple exactly our age, and one couple with kids in college. There are 11 adults in total. Ladan was nearly beside himself when we told him that one of those adults was Mr. Job (Mr. Jove if I say it like Ladan)! So far we haven't started going through material. Our normal schedule will be to eat dinner, then move into our more formal discussion time, then divide into guys/gals groups for prayer. Here at the beginning, we're just sharing our stories with one another so we can be better acquainted. Once we finish that, we'll start going through The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I'm sure Chet will do a great job facilitating discussion as we go through the book!

Sorry that was totally out of order, but that's kind of the way it works around here! Hopefully that answers the question about what I do "outside" of taking care of the boys. It might also explain why I don't really have a concept of how it could possibly be boring to be a "stay-at-home" mom. While there's no clear delineation between family time and "other" time for me, I do get to do lots of things that aren't directly centered around my kids.... But, in the end, I'd like to hope that the Lord will use ALL of these things to make me a better mom, wife, family member, and friend.