Hosanna

Does your chin ever start trembling right before you laugh or cry? Yesterday at church we were singing the Hillsong version of “Hosanna” and mine started up. Hosanna is a such a beautiful word and usually translated to mean “save us.”

I can remember waiting with anticipation during services at The Church of the Resurrection in high school until we sang the part of the liturgy that included this word.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts:

heaven & earth are full of thy glory:

Hosanna, in the highest.

Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord:

Glory to thee, O lord in the highest.

Hosanna, in the highest.

Now that we attend a church that does not use tradition liturgy, I find myself longing for some of those lost words – like Hosanna and Kyrie Eleison. How about you? Are you a wordy too? Got any favorites?

New Normal

My blog just informed me it has been 5 weeks since my last post. I do not doubt that for a moment. In 5 weeks I have started a new job as a preschool aid, started up my piano studio (YEAH), joined the worship team at church, (but quit my beloved choir because it had a weekly commitment which is a no-no in our new “working mom” life), the kids started soccer, swimming, viola, choir, and kept horsebackriding on the list of must-dos, Ben started up the ministry at NIU and began Bible studies, Nav Nite, leadership team, and last but not least – the GOING ALL THE WAY TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP INTERMURAL FLAGFOOTBALL TEAM.

Phew. We are busy!

Some of the new normals in my life are a little tough – like grocery shopping or cooking dinner on my lunch hour, but the majority of the new normals are blessings indeed.

1. 3 years olds. I had forgotten how much I love this age. They make me smile everyday and even when they spill their milk or squirm during calender time, they still win my heart.

2. Ultra-organization-woman. This is probably some sort of disease, but when I am free to structure my own day I’m pretty terrible at it. All summer I struggled to keep us in clean underwear and was running to the store daily for some forgotten item. Now that nearly every weekday moment must be used well, some extra hormone or protein (or maybe I’m really lucky and it’s like fat cells melting away) has kicked in and suddenly we are more organized than ever before. With all my heart, I humbly ask God to allow this to continue, or it may be another 5 weeks until my next blog post which will be entitled, “Pride Goeth Beforeth the Terrible Train Wreck called The Dager Family.”

3. Meals together and weekends rock. We are genuinely so happy to sit down for meals together now there is very little bickering or talking over each other. The weekends have also been super relaxing even with soccer games and church. I almost feel like the clock literally slows down and those days creep along at just the right speed.

4. I still get to pick the kids up every day from school, which is a priceless treasure to me. It makes me feel that even with my new responsibilities, they still come first.

Hope your last 5 weeks had been as sweet as mine!

Home Life

Last night was a little rough. The kids had played well all day, but during dinner all the positive energy was gone and spats broke out. At one point my youngest was hissing like a snake and recounting the horrors of being shoved and “almost murdered” by an older sibling.  The stir-fry was pronounced “Smooshy Nastiness” and I said, “Sit down and eat, Pu-leeeazzzze,” around 70 times. “Consequences” were being thrown at everything from rolling eyes to “accidental” Indian-burn giving.

To top it all off, an alumni is staying with us, helping with the Welcome Week preparations for NIU. I’m sure he has decided once and for all to not only never get married, but never, ever, ever, have children.

(oh, yeah…and later on that night there was a big hullabaloo in the upstairs bathroom because Tim was feeling sick and I was in there trying to comfort him while Haven pounded on the door accusing me of keeping Tim’s illness a secret and making her stressed because she didn’t know all the details. Oh dear…)

Upon reflection this morning, I understand something a little better. My kids feel perfectly comfortable around anyone in our home. We’ve had so many guests for dinner, to stay, to live, to linger, for meetings, for counseling, for playdates, etc. that their “Visitors are here” sensors are long gone. Their set of  “special occasion” manners are lost. Frantic and hushed requests for them to please remember we have guests elicits very little response.

I can just see them telling the president of the United States about the time I wigged out in a grocery store and left a completely full cart in isle 5.

Just a few weeks ago one brought down their used dental floss for us all to examine.

And there is the fact that my 5-year-old came downstairs to say goodnight to near strangers the other evening in her undies.

So, that’s the downside.

The upside? Well, let me think.

Ummm….I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

 

 

Let’s Get Practical

I can barely put two coherent sentences together these days. That partially explains why I had to scrap my last attempt at a post about something meaningful.

However, I did spend the weekend helping folks from church move, reigniting my passion for all things organizational! So how about a post on something purely practical – MOVING!

We have moved in as many forms as you can imagine – partially, temporarily, entirely, and we have owned homes, rented homes, and borrowed homes. I have had my household split between owned homes and rented homes, storage units, friends, and cars parked across the US. I have had to purge and organize my household so often that something inside me starts the process again every couple of months even without any plans to move.

So, I’d like to offer you my best tips for moving or whole house purging and organizing – which I suggest doing every couple of years even if you don’t move. It just feels good.

1-3 Months Out

Clean out your garage

• Find disposal sites for all the strange chemicals, old paint, oils, etc. you have lying around. It’s stressful to have a pile of strange things you can’t put in the trash or leave for the next owner as you are trying to drive off.
• Find all the paint colors you have in your home for touch-ups.
• Clean out any storage cabinets, organize tools, and create as much space as you can for boxes. As you pack up other rooms, you can carry boxes out to the garage. This keeps rooms uncluttered if you are showing your home. It also cuts down on the chaos inside the house in general.

Clean out all your closets

• Make up boxes for items you can donate, and boxes or bags for trash. If you come across an item you know you won’t need until after the move, box it up. It’s nice to create space in your closets if you are selling your home, but also to stack boxes in as they get packed.

Clean out all drawers, desks, bookshelves, and cabinets

• Again, make up boxes for items to donate, and for trash. Box up things you won’t need until after the move, and wipe down surfaces. Drop off all your goodwill stuff so it’s not hanging around. When you finish this process, all your cabinets are organized, cleaned, and purged of items that could slow down your final packing process or clog up your next place.  The few days before the move is not the time to try to decide if you want to keep or pitch something.

Take down pictures and do any touch-up painting

• If you leave this until the last-minute, you may be surprised at how much there is to do. That’s a nasty surprise to have to attend to later on.

Start eating out of your freezer.

• Give away food you can’t use. It’s best to empty it now and start using your fridge freezer until after the move.

1-2 Weeks Out

Deep clean the stove and refrigerator/freezer.

• This means not only the inside, but pulling these away from the wall (YIKES) and cleaning the walls and floor behind them.  A lot of people don’t do this until much later, but I like to do it in advance so that my final cleaning is really just a final wipe down. A major cleaning is the last thing I want to do when I’m in the final days of moving.

Wash down all the baseboards, window wells, and air vents/registers.

Thoroughly dust all your furniture

Wash your windows

Vacuum the edges of all your rooms and ceiling corners with your attachments.

Clean out couches and chairs (nothing like your friends picking up your couch and 5 years of crap falling out!)

Pack a few days clothes and toiletries for each member of the family in luggage.

• Also create an overnight bag labeled “Important Docs, etc.” That’s where you’ll tuck all those last-minute items you don’t want to lose track of – cell phone chargers, bills to pay, moving and utility company phone numbers, keys, etc.
• If you have kids, pack the DVD player and some movies in luggage too. That way, when you get to your new place and you need a few hours right away to unpack, you can find the TV, plug in the DVD player and put in a movie easily.

So, the gist for me is  – do as much as you can before-hand. It really makes the move and more importantly – the unpacking – so much easier. It also serves the people who are helping you move because the boxes are all ready and the major cleaning is already done.

If you aren’t moving, but just want to do a household purge/clean – I follow the same order. Garage, closets, drawers, cabinets, and then deep clean. You will be amazed at how much junk you have accumulated! You will decrease your clutter and have much less to keep up with! A week of intense cleaning translates into time saved throughout the year!

Feeling overwhelmed? Give me a call. I can come to your house and help you map out a plan! (Offer me some chocolate and I’ll stay and do it for you!)

Irony

I just spent an hour trying to express that I’m fed up with fake, meaningless, Christian-slang, that undermines real faith and has nothing to do with real life. The irony is, after reading the post, I found it was filled with the same kind of ideological “bla-bla-bla” that I was trying to blast.

Duh.

On the farm

All is well here in Sycamore, IL. The heat wave continues to pound down on us but in a stroke of pure genius, Hunky Hubby and I remembered that there is a such thing as , get this, a window-air conditioning-unit. We are a little slow around here. We had this miraculous thought 2.1 hours before the heat wave landed here and had to search high and low for a store that still had one in stock. Thank you Menards!!!

We did lose 3 chickens yesterday to the heat. Even with water, shade, and an occasional hosing off, they died in the dead of night. Yuck. No one in the family shed even one tear.

In other animal news, our lovely neighbors whose 3 adorable cows we enjoyed in our back yard for 2 years, brought over some of those cows wrapped up in butcher paper yesterday. Haven – no surprise will not eat it.  It does not make any sense to her that I would much rather eat a cow I knew and loved than some anonymous cow. And as an ex-vegetarian, I totally understand how she feels – and yet – those cows taste GOOOOOOD!

And finally, the mid-summer blues struck yesterday. The summer is flying by so quickly and my children despite all my planning, nagging, and bribing – still do not enjoy the chores I am forcing them to do every day this summer.  I had visions of them rolling out of bed singing, “Whistle While We Work” and flying through the house leaving trails of sparkly cleanliness and joy. This is when being an idealist really hurts.

God’s Provision

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while as it includes a bit of information I’ve been keeping close and on the down low for several months. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but it is something I’ve had to digest and re-digest over and over again until God’s peace finally came. To put it simply I’ve decided to try to find a full-time job for the coming academic year.

OK. I told you. That wasn’t so bad.

You all know we lost lots and lots of money in our transition to Sycamore. Selling a house we purchased at the top of the housing bubble and sold at the very bottom was painful. But, very mercifully – God settled us in a rental home we adore and could never ever afford to buy, with so many of  the luxury items that were on our wish list – in the country, huge yard, charming interior, 2 baths, an office for Ben, high ceilings, best friends for everyone right across the street, and more.

We are happily settled, save one thing. We still owe money on our home in Madison. We are very slowly paying it down, but not nearly fast enough for our liking – hence my looking for a job.

I’ve struggled with this decision on so many different levels. I’ve worried about my changing identity as a “Nav-wife”, my desire to remain at home with the kids, feelings of shame at having to scale back my ministry commitments, fear that God is punishing us, shame over having debt, feelings of inadequacy as I try to put together some sort of resume… You name it, I’ve probably lain awake struggling with it.

But, we’ve also been dreaming and laying our hearts desires before the Lord and asking Him to provide. We’ve been dreaming of writing the check to pay off the last little bit of debt, of owning a home again, and of adopting some more kiddos to bring into the family. We sense God has provided – through time and flexibility. (Although large checks from Oprah or Anonymous Gazillionaires would still be very welcome. Ha Ha!)

God has provided additional time in my life as all the kids will attend school this year all day. Certainly I had planned on using those hours for other pursuits, and laying those aside was not easy, but I believe I will be serving our family in the area where we need it most for a short season. God has also provided a lot of flexibility in Ben’s schedule, making it possible for him to care for the kids after school until I get home from whatever job I find. That is a huge relief to me!! Lastly, God has given us both peace in moving in this direction.

Would you guys mind praying that God will provide a good job for me? My highest value is that it be local. I don’t want to tack on additional time away from the family with a commute. Would you also pray that our family would transition well?

Thank you!!

I’m back!!

It’s been 5 weeks since my last entry. Holy Cow. Where did the time go… Oh yeah – it went to Indiana, Tennessee, back to Indiana, back to Tennessee, farther west in Tennessee, home, to the UP of Michigan and home again. Phew.

There were two significant highlights for me.  The first is how refreshing and fun it is to “go a visitin.’” Part of our ministry calling is to stay connected to our partnering families. For us, their prayer and financial support is huge, but their friendship and interest in our family and work is another component that is a true support to us. We got to visit a few of those families on our trip.  Despite the weariness travel brings, we always return from our “visitin’” refreshed and grateful. Thanks to those of you who spent time with us over these last few weeks. We feel blessed to know you!!

Coming home was the other highlight. Driving home from the UP we watched the pine forests of Michigan turn into the rolling hills and dairy farms of Wisconsin and right as we crossed the border into Illinois, the land flattened out and we felt like we could almost see our little yellow farmhouse off in the distance. Our day lilies were blooming, and our pansies had spread out and thrown themselves out of their pots and into the sun. The chickens even seemed glad to have us back.

I cried a little at church on Sunday, just glad to feel “back.” We all feel settled, our friendships are growing, and even though there is some change on the horizon, (more on this later) we know we aren’t going anywhere for a long while yet. Now we can settle into the second half of summer and enjoy “home.”

 

Easy Button

The kids and I leave early Saturday morning to join Ben in Indiana, then on to TN. We could be gone for as long as 3 weeks. Here’s a quick list of items that I need an EASY BUTTON for.

1. Packing

Bedding and linens for camp ground. Clothing for camp environment which may mean cold or sweltering, one fancy wedding and several semi-casual church services, swimming gear, stuff for long car rides, shoes, bibles, books, laundry supplies for at camp, and one mouse and all her gear.

2. Birthday

Haven will turn 9 while we are on the road. I don’t have even one present yet.

3. Yard

I need to mow one last time but it’s 50!!!! today. Tomorrow I’m at field day and a kindergarten graduation party. When???

4. Cell phone

Ben and I have had a very hard time communicating via cell phone over the last few weeks. I know in my heart we still love each other, but I think we need to talk face to face SOON. I promise you – if we both start talking at the same time one more time I’m going to FREAK OUT!!!!

5. Sleep

I need some. Between all the storms nearly missing us, and worrying about other storms hitting friends and loved ones – I’ve not slept well in a while, which makes the prospect of a very long drive on Saturday very yucky.

Remember when Mom used to say…

I mostly don’t like to think about what my kids will remember me saying repeatedly to them, because I catch myself saying some pretty stupid stuff – repeatedly.

If they remember these two phrases however, I’ll be happy.

1. “Don’t be a Tornado.”

I say this one a lot. My kids (and one in particular) tend to come into the home after school and whoosh – 10 minutes later cabinets are open, snack wrappers and paper plates are strewn everywhere, the jelly is left out with the knife still stuck in it, backpacks are creating an obstacle course from the door all the way into the living room – you get the picture.

Since I know they love and cherish me and do not, absolutely DO NOT mean to go around leaving messes they do not intend to clean up themselves, I call it acting like a tornado – randomly and without direction, wreaking havoc and causing destruction. 

So, after they are done completely spacing out after school and they start to realize where they are and who they are, they usually get things picked up. But still, even though I know it’s probably a waste a breath, pretty much every day I tell them before they get out of the car to start the walk up to the back door… “DON’T BE A TORNADO!!!”

May it serve them well in all their future abodes.

2. “Pray and Hope”

Bedtime is sacred time for me. As someone who has fought insomnia head-on ever since I was a child, I have some pretty strict rules for myself and my kids about what is OK to say, think, and do right before sleep. We always read together, then each kid gets in bed and I come around and pray, snuggle, chat a little, scratch backs, etc.

My oldest has just begun to start to wrestle with what I call “Night Time Worry.” Fears about the future, concerns for friends, problems without solutions, unconfessed sin starts pouring out of every little pore. I find myself telling her (and myself) that everything feels worse at night, that she is experiencing “tired feelings” which are frequently unreliable, that it’s not the time to try to make any decisions or consider any situation seriously. We write down things we might forget and we confess quickly anything we are sorry about and then we reserve the moments before sleep for Prayer and Hope.

We think about things we are looking forward to, and pray about things we are thankful for. That is it. Every other thought is ignored and put away until the morning.This really works for me and I can see some good habits forming in my eldest.

And then, let’s just hope they forget all the other mantras around here that are less than wonderful…

“Stop being a Dumb Butt.”

“Dumb Butts are not welcome here.”

“What’s with the Dumb Butt attitude?”

and

“I didn’t raise you to act like a dumb butt.”

I’m not sure why that is my catch-all phrase, but it is.

How about you? What will your kids hear in the back of their minds forever and ever??