Validation

Those Israelites. I spoke too soon when I said in my last post, that they seemed like they had stopped complaining. In my last readings in Numbers, that's all they did!! Whine, whine, whine. And, this time God got ticked. He really started wiping some people out in this part of the book of Numbers. Rightly so. I mean, here they had seen God show his power and love to them in a variety of hugely miraculous events, and then they forget all about it, and complain about water and food. Please! This morning, I was thinking about life application regarding this portion of Numbers. Don't we all do the whining thing? I think we do. I think we forget about the things God has done in our lives, and what we have seen Him do in others' lives, and we start to complain when things aren't going well. I've done the "why me" thing more than once. We would probably do well to remember the power and love of God shown throughout the Bible. He's the same Go...

Here are a few pics of the book I made in my paper crafting class! You can see how the edges are antiqued with the Tim Holtz distress ink pads. The ink can be smudged on with your finger, brushed on and sprayed with water! I love it. Each page was folded in such a way, that there was a little "peechee" to hold things. You can see a decorated tag poking out of this page. I spelled out the word "PEACE" on five pages of this book. This is a top view of the book. Each page is folded from an 8 1/2 X 11 page of cardstock. Then, the pages are connected with ribbons and fibers. There are extra fibers tied all over the top, so they stick up and then fall down in between the pages. So fun. These are the tags I made, that fit inside the peechees in the book.....You can see the crocheted lace that has been antiqued, using stamp pad re-inker. The buttons are even antiqued. To make the tags, we crumpled the paper, and flattened it out again. Then, using the Tim Holtz...

A little blurry-I couldn't use my flash.... Isn't her dress gorgeous and sparkly? Costume change for the Disney montage.....See their tiaras? There was a beautiful harp duet.... Every year, my daughter participates in her violin teacher's formal recital. Each student must qualify for the recital and wear tuxes and floor-length gowns. The recital is 2 1/2 to 3 hours long, and is quite wonderful. The students range from junior high to college age. There is usually a theme, and little drama. This year, there were two ballet dancers, dancing to a Carmen piece. Each student is accompanied on the grand piano. Afterwards, there is a lavish reception, with various artwork by each student displayed. Any graduating seniors set up a display of their school and music careers, as well as the college they will be attending. The three seniors displayed this year, will be attending U of Washington, Stanford and Harvard!!!

These are pictures of Ben's "teddy bear picnic" at his school. Everyone made the cute visors they are wearing that have faces of teddy bears on them. They also did teddy bear activities. The day finished out with an outdoor picnic with their bears. Here are some pics of his kindergarten awards/diploma assembly. Ben received his diploma, as well as a participation award for being in the Missoula Children's Theater play this year.

Do you ever have a day that is more like two days? Yesterday, my oldest got her wisdom teeth removed in the morning. It only took an hour, but I left the office to kill some time. There wasn't anything open at 9 AM, except Target. Oh, and of course, Starbucks. But, it seemed like the hour took two. After I got back to the office, I waited for her to become more alert, and we got her to the truck. Once home, taking care of my daughter pretty much consumed my day. Not to mention, my other teen daughter had a fever and was sick. Then, my son was feeling neglected, and bugging me to watch him ride his bike. My husband works nights, so he was sleeping most of the day. It was just a long day! Maybe it seemed long, because I was writing down the times I administered my daughter's meds, so I wouldn't mess up. Plus, going up and down the stairs checking on her, making sure she wasn't in pain or nauseous. Then, I got up at 3 AM to give her more pain meds, so she wo...

My oldest is having her wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. I think she's a little stressed about it, because she is very quiet and has gone to bed. I can't say that I want to be her right now. I had it done when I was her age, and it's just not a fun thing you have to do. We went to the store today and got some DVD's for her, as well as some special things to eat during her recovery. We got milkshakes, pudding, ice cream, flavored waters, etc. I also have on hand, a bunch of stuff for making smoothies...... Speaking of smoothies, I like to make fun things to drink in the summer, so we've been making fruit smoothies. I found umpteen recipes on the internet. Ben and I had a yummy blueberry one this morning. We also like to do root beer floats in these cool glasses we chill in the freezer. I finished Leviticus today. I can't believe I'm actually reading this much of the Bible right now. And, it's not very hard at all to do! I don't have much to ...

OK. So, about Exodus. This book proves that God cares about small details in our lives, that's for sure. Exodus goes on and on and on (yawn) about the specifics of how God wants the people to build the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, etc., etc. God even talks about what the priests are to wear, down to the color of the threads and decorations of their garments. He picks a craftsman named Bezelel (you'll never forget his name after reading Exodus) who is filled with the Spirit, and a gifted craftsman to do the work. (I love that God values designing and crafting skills). Anyway, Exodus isn't exactly an exciting read, unless you really love details and picturing what the tabernacle and curtains and arc of the covenant looked like (which I kind of did) . It doesn't miss a beat in the descriptions, down to the finest detail. (Don't read it if you're tired). It is interesting, but I find the people stories more interesting. Take Aaron. God chose him and his so...