Perseverance

This summer I read the book entitled, 1776 by David McCullough. I have to admit I love history and enjoy reading nonfiction historical books. Our visit to Boston this past April heightened by interest in the Revolutionary War and the founders (both men and women) of our country. This finished book has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks because I have been wanting to blog about it.

My favorite quote is taken from one of the last pages of this book. It is about George Washington. "He was not a brilliant strategist or tactician, not a gifted orator, not an intellectual. At several crucial moments he had shown marked indecisiveness. He had made serious mistakes in judgment. But experience had been his great teacher from boyhood, and in this his greatest test, he learned steadily from experience. Above all, Washington never forgot what was at stake and he never gave up." (Page 293) Wow, it pays to dig deeper and see what makes a man or woman. This quote is about a man that became our first president, that is honored by a national holiday and was addressed as his excellency, George Washington.

George Washington is proof that the experiences of our life and how we react to them make us who we are and who we will become. It takes a lot of wisdom to learn from ones experiences and how does one truly learn but through experiences. I think at times I am afraid to try something new because of a fear of the process of the experience or fear of failure. This did not seem to stop Washington because he knew what was at stake, the future of our country. What is at stake for a Christian? People who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So we must persevere and not give up serving God nor should we be afraid of the experience he might take us through because of the lives that might be changed because of the experience. Lest we are humans, so we must remember to endeavor not for the glory we might receive but so that God might be glorified through us. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 (One of my all-time favorite verses).

Now I can return this book that I have had all summer back to the library :)

An Affair to Remember

It is a rainy Thursday morning and the girls are back in school so time to get back into blogging :) Side note: mornings are the time I am my most creative and think and process the best.

Our second week of vacation was an affair to remember. I was able to have a week long affair with my husband. We headed out Sunday afternoon as a family for Donnell Lake in Vandalia, MI. The girls were going to spend Sunday night with us because Monday was Hannah's 10th birthday.

Tom, Cindy, and family were at their cozy and inviting lake home when we arrived to give us a tour and show Eric how to use all of the fun water toys. We had a wonderful supper with them before they headed home. The girls were really excited because they got to sleep in bunk beds and had a view of the lake from their room. Second side note: there was an email waiting for us at home from a family in the church whose children had outgrown their bunk bed and they wondered if anyone would like it. Hannah now has a bunk bed, she reminded us that we had prayed for one when we were still living in Bryan, OH. God's timing is perfect.

The weather was excellent lake weather, sunny during the day with cool evenings. After the girls went to bed Eric and I caught some of the Olympics on tv and got to see Michael Phelps and the relay team get a gold medal, so exciting to watch. We turned in shortly after this. I am not sure what fabric softener Cindy uses, but the bed sheets smelled heavenly.

Monday morning we woke to hear the girls giggling from the top bunk. In honor of Hannah's birthday we had homemade cinnamon rolls with ten birthday candles on top. After breakfast we took the smaller motor boat out to explore the lake and go down a channel to another lake. We did spot one turtle and some smaller fish.

After we got back from our little boat excursion we decided it was warm enough to get in the water so we put on our swimsuits and swam out to the trampoline and played around for a while. Abby had trouble just standing on the trampoline, let alone jumping :)
After lunch it was time to get out the fun water toys. Eric took the girls for a ride on the jet ski. Hannah compared it to riding on a motor cycle, could a motor cycle be in Eric's future? I know he had a lot of fun on the jet ski and his goal for the week was to see how fast he could go on it, I think he got it up to 60 mph. I remember riding on my dad's motor cycle as a young girl. We then got out the bigger motor boat and the girls and I were able to go tubing. There was a lot of thumb's pointing up from the girls, the signal to go faster. They probably would have gone even faster if mom (me) would have let them.

After our fun day in the sun we headed in to clean up to meet Eric's parents for dinner to make the H&A exchange. The girls loved being wrapped in the fluffy towels after their shower. We drove to Elkhart, IN (about 20 minutes away) to meet Gary and Diane at the Texas Roadhouse, Hannah's choice for her birthday. It turned out to be an excellent choice as they had a special on kid's meals and there was a balloon artist.

After dinner Eric and I headed back to Vandalia to a quiet house. I felt kind of empty inside without the girls there, it did not take me long to recover, but they are so much a part of my life that I miss them when we are a part. Now my week of true relaxation and my affair with my husband could begin :)

I think all of my favorite vacations have been within eye sight of water; ocean, lake or pool, it does not matter. I am not at all a great swimmer, there is just something about being near the water that is relaxing. I would love to retire to a place near the water. I looked forward to getting up each morning and making a cup of tea and taking my Bible outside to do my devotions. The water is so still, like a sheet of glass in the morning.

Eric and I usually excised each morning. One morning we went to a nearby wooded park, he ran while I walked :) I saw an owl and some deer. It was nice to get outside the home to exercise, I usually exercise by DVD at home while the girls are still in bed. No girls this week that need me near. I then spent some time scrapbooking while Eric read. I worked on a scrapbook of pictures of clothes I have made for my family with copies of the pattern and swatches of the fabric. Third side note: the smell of the basement where I did my scrapbooking reminded me of my Great-Grandmothers home. Isn't funny how smells can bring back memories? I probably have not been in my great-grandmothers home since I was nine or ten. The afternoons were spent in the water, on the jet ski, or reading with a couple of movies thrown in. It was so nice not to be on a schedule and have children asking can I have snack, what is for supper, what can I do? It is good to have a reprieve and it is hard to have that affair if children are near by.

Wednesday afternoon was a little cloudy and rainy so we went into Three Rivers, MI to two used book stores, a favorite activity of both of ours. We made some great purchases. If you are ever in Three Rivers, I recommend the Stray Dog Bookshop, very well organized with framed quotes on the wall. I am going to have to use this decorating technique sometime. I picked up a biography on Bess Truman and a book by Edith Schaeffer entitled, Common Sense Christian Living. Edith is one of my favorite authors, I think we are kindred spirits :)

Thursday morning we headed out to golf at Garver Lake Golf Course, a nine hole course in Edwardsburg,

MI. We did not even keep score for me, but it was a fun activity to do together. We went out to Red Lobster in Elkhart with good lunch conversation before heading back to Donnell Lake. Late that afternoon we watched a great Cary Grant movie, Talk of the Town.

Friday we spent enjoying our last full day at the lake. We took the jet ski out together and then Eric went around again to see how fast he could go. Eric also had fun using Tom's restored 1980's John Deere tractor to haul the gas cans down to the lake to refill the jet skis and boat. We were a little out of sorts Friday evening, I think it was because we were realizing our wonderful relaxing week was coming to an end. Saturday morning we were off to Angola, IN to have a family fun day celebrating birthdays and reuniting with the girls.

Thanks Tom and Cindy for a great week!

Hannah Turns Ten 30's Style

Hannah turns ten this coming Monday, August 11th. We celebrated one week early with her friends with an American Girl Kit Mystery Party. I found the mystery party game for half off on the American Girl site. I love bargains! It came with invitations, character cards, name tags, scripts, and clues. We just had to come up with costumes and snacks.

Hannah picked out some green floral material that is similar to Kit's birthday dress from the books. We also found a pattern similar to the dresses they wore in the 1930's at JoAnn's. I found a dress and a pair of shoes at thrift store for $3 that would work well for the part of Mrs. Kittredge, Kit's mom. Probably pretty close to the 1930's price :) I just added a apron that belonged to my grandma. Abby wore a pink flower skirt and white top to be our photographer for the party. Eric played the part of Will, a hobo, so Hannah suggested he wear his denim overalls and a white t-shirt.

The girls and I had fun researching the 1930's to see what was popular. We discovered that Hershey miniature chocolates came out as well at tootsie roll pops, so we included those in the girls treat bags. We also learned that the games of Monopoly, Sorry, and Scrabble were invented.

The game also included some snack ideas as did the American Girl Kit Kittredge website. We had carrot slices, oatmeal cookies, and cream cheese and jam sandwiches set out during the game. After the mystery was solved we had chocolate roll birthday cake filled with vanilla ice cream and fruit fizz (juice from oranges, lemon, maraschino cherries, and pineapple mixed with sparkling grape juice).

"Have an affair with your wife"

I bet this title got your attention, interesting concept isn't it? Today I am dedicating this blog to my husband, my friend, and lover of 13 years today.

A book that I enjoyed reading this past Spring was From This Day Forward by Cokie and Steve Roberts. It journals the path of their marriage and how they handled their relationship, family relationships, and their careers. Early in their marriage they lived in California for a few years. One day Cokie was at the park pushing her children on the swings when the person next to her began talking about her affairs. Cokie found it very shocking and frightening, and wondered, could it happen to our marriage? This is when she instituted what she called a "have an affair with your wife" program, where every so often just the two of them would go off together for a night or two and not call each other "Mommy" or "Daddy" the whole time.

I have been mulling over this concept of having an affair with your spouse. I can not think of a better way to keep the home fires burning then to keep the passion alive in a marriage by having an affair with your spouse. Let's think about it, how does an affair happen? I believe one way is that, let's say the husband is being shown respect and admiration outside the home that he might not be getting at home. This respect may be somewhat superficial; nevertheless, a need is being fulfilled. The wife may be just taking him for granted at home. The wife may genuinely love her husband but if she is not physically and verbally expressing it, he is going to begin to look else where to meet his need. I for one, do not want this to happen to my marriage. So after thirteen years I intend to continue to keep our marriage pure by being the one having an affair with my husband.

More blogs to come on my ponderings about marriage :)

Vacation in Your Own Backyard Part Two

Wednesday dawned cool and sunny with a brilliant blue sky and puffy white clouds. In the morning the girls and I did some errands and picked up some treats at Trader Joes for our picnic concert at Millennium Park. Eric enjoyed the morning by putting the finishing touches on his work bench that his dad helped him get started in February for his birthday.

In the afternoon we headed to the pool for swimming lessons for Hannah and Abby. We have been blessed by Christine Kirshner, a student at Wheaton home for the summer. She is a lifeguard with the Park Ridge Park District. She and her family attend South Park Church. She volunteered to give the girls swim lessons for no charge. The girls have really improved and gained confidence since beginning lessons a few weeks ago.

One of the highlights of our week took place Wednesday evening. We packed a picnic and headed into Chicago to Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park to listen to Tchaikovsky's 6th presented by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Again, another free event, except for the parking. We enjoyed our turkey croissant sandwiches, salt & pepper potato chips, sparkling lemonade and chunky chocolate chip cookies sitting on our wedding quilt while enjoying the beautiful music. That is until the Chorus began to sing in Polish. Hannah enjoys classical music, just has not acquired a taste for opera music yet. When the chorus began to sing, she said, "that just ruins it." Abby discovered that she reads better and faster while listening to music.

After the concert we walked around Millennium Park looking at the Cloud Gate and letting the girls wade in the Crown Fountain. Around 9 we walked out to the lake to watch the fireworks shoot off the end of Navy Pier. The bugs were a little bothersome but worth it to watch the fireworks go off over Lake Michigan.

Thursday morning Eric took Abby to Skokie on a date to Putt-putt. They stopped at Dairy Queen on their way home to share a Root Beer Float. While they were gone Hannah and I rode our bikes to Uptown Park Ridge to check out the sidewalk days. No major purchase made, but it was fun to look around. We relaxed in the afternoon before driving into Chicago to the Art Institute, free on Thursday evenings :) It was raining on the way in so the drive took quite a while. Thankfully, eating some pb and j sandwiches and listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society help us endure the ride. We planned to walk to Garrett Popcorn after our visit to the Institute, but since it was raining, we decided we better get it before we went to the Institute. So Eric dropped me off and drove around the block while I picked up some Carmel Crisp and Cheese Popcorn mix to enjoy on our drive home.

We enjoyed our visit to the Institute. In one of the galleries each of us girls drew our interpretation of a Five Story Budhist Pagoda and Eric drew A Pair of Buddhist Monks. After this, Eric and Hannah headed to the Egyptian section while Abby and I spent some time in the Children's Section. Hannah's favorite painting was entitled Interrupted Reading by Camille Corot. Thankfully, the drive home went much quicker. Another day enjoying each other's company.

Friday promised to be a sunny and hot day, perfect to visit Mystic Waters, a water park in nearby Des Plaines. We spent the afternoon here enjoying the slides and lazy river. Abby even braved the long water slides. Way to go Abby, made her dad proud!

As the week began to wind down, Saturday was a relaxing day. After lunch we went to Half Price Books and exchanged some books which enabled us to each pick out a book to take back home. Eric picked out Portraits in Courage by JFK, I picked out an early American craft book, Hannah picked Falling Up by Shel Silverstein, and Abby picked out Molly Takes Flight . The girls had finished the reading program through Barnes and Noble so we went there next to pick out their free books. In the afternoon, Eric took the girls to the youth house to enjoy the Wii. I spent some relaxing moments in a comfy chair in the sunroom reading 1776.

Sunday we visited The Chapel in Libertyville. Since we were on vacation we decided to visit another church so Eric would officially be "off duty" for the morning. After attending the 11'oclock service we looked for a place to eat lunch and found An Egg Harbor Cafe in Lincolnshire. Eric and I have enjoyed going to the Egg Harbor in Arlington Heights so we decided to eat here. Eric and I had our usual Egg Harbor Chicken Salad sandwich, delicious. Abby got a rainbow pancake with m & m's and Hannah got a breakfast sandwich. We spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the pool. We ended the evening by eating pizza and finishing The Mysterious Benedict Society, 13 hours of story on 11 CD's. There were some surprises at the end.

All-in-all we experienced a great vacation in our own backyard.

Vacation in Your Own Back Yard

Because of some unexpected expenses this past spring we became creative in how we spent one of Eric's vacation weeks this year. Eric used some vacation days July 7th - 13th. This summer's weather has been simply beautiful in the Chicagoland area. God blessed us with some beautiful days to enjoy Eric's vacation.

We began with swimming at Centennial Pool on Sunday afternoon followed with a meal at Wendy's for supper. Side note: Wendy's on Harlem will give 15% of all sales to Montrose Baptist Church on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. We have some friends that minister there. We came home in time for Eric to catch some of the Olympic track trials on tv. Then we spent some time listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society on CD. A great story geared toward 8-12 year olds that Eric and I also enjoyed very much! It tells the story of four gifted children and the grand adventure they go on and how they learn to work as a team. We are looking forward to the next book in this series by Trenton Lee Stewart.

After the girls went to bed Eric and I finished the first DVD of the John Adams story that HBO put out this past Spring. We are drawn to John and Abigail Adams and their commitment to each other and the formation of our great country. Their family paid the price for John's time away though. That part was sad to see.

Monday brought rainy weather perfect for visiting the Chicago History Museum, free on Mondays :) Just had to pay for parking. They have a great kid's section, however small so Abby was hungry and bored by the time we left. What could be better following a trip to a museum but a trip to an used bookstore. We visited Powell's used bookstore a couple of miles from the museum only to realize once we arrived that Abby had left her wallet in the Museum gift shop :( We called and they still had it so we made a quick trip back to the museum. Eric cheered Abby by telling her he has forgotten things as well. Hannah had to list a few off; glasses in Atlanta and suitcase left in Robbie's car in a recent trip to Rockford. I think it made Abby feel better, not sure about Eric :) Since we are tourists this week we had to make a trip to Superdawg on Millwaukee Avenue for supper. The place with giant hotdogs on top of the stand.

Tuesday morning we did a little housework. I was feeling a little blue about being home this week and still having to do some meal preparation and housework even though we were technically on vacation. This is when I remembered the words of a wise friend who spends some time at their lake cottage during the summer. She reminds herself that even though she still needs to prepare meals and do the daily chores, the important thing is that her husband is able to spend some interrupted time with the family. I also realized with the help of Eric that this is a trade off for being a stay-at-home mom. Our vacation in our own backyard enables me to be home with the family throughout the year. Which is what I would most prefer. The time invested in my family on a daily basis is not worth working full-time to take grand vacations. And what is the definition of a grand vacation? I will let you define that for yourself :)

In the afternoon we visited The Grove in Glenview, IL. This included a tour of the historic Kennicott House and a walk through the interpretive center where we saw a very old turtle (150+ years). We also took a walk on a trail through some beautiful wild flowers. Reminded me of my girlhood home in northeast Indiana and spending a lot of time in the woods playing. We had a little time before heading to Muvico to see Kit, the American Girl movie so we stopped at Pesche's garden supply center. One of those spontaneous fun vacation things to do. We walked around picking out all of the flowers that we would like to have in our yard.

Eric was able to find a great movie time at the Muvico in Rosemont that only charges $5 per person, the 5:00 showing. We also had coupons to get a free small popcorn and drink and two hot dogs and a large drink. We were able to make the small popcorn a large for only an additional $1. What a treat, a God thing :) I think we shared the theatre with only five other people. It was interesting watching Kit and comparing her life to life today. A lot of homes are being foreclosed around us in our communities. We also know some families that are experiencing some financial troubles as well.

Well, it is getting late, I will need to conclude our vacation in our own back yard later :) Good night.

The Life You've Always Wanted

The ladies at church are doing a six week summer Bible study entitled "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg. Last night in session two we were talking about slowing down and celebrating. We need to avoid getting caught in the trap of "hurry sickness." Hurry sickness can be caused by filling our day so full that we do not take (make) the time to experience what John calls "Dee dah day" moments. "Dee dah day" moments are simply being present at the current moment and experiencing the joy God has given you. Our greatest joy comes from knowing that Jesus has provided us with eternal life through his death on the cross. But "dee dah day" moments can simply be taking the time to enjoy the simple joys of life.

Our study begins with a DVD portion of John teaching and then we break into smaller groups for discussion. In the teaching segment John is in a park with a group of people. They are walking through a fitness circuit talking about some different spiritual disciplines. The importance of practicing spiritual disciplines is to become more like Jesus and experience life to the fullest as Jesus intended. The emphasis last night was the command to slow down and express joy. Philippians 4:4 and I Thessalonians 5:16-18. It is hard to express joy if we don't slow down and be present in the moment.

One thing that stood out to me last night is that God has given us the gift of His creation to enjoy. Summer is a wonderful time to experience His creation. Summer is also a good time to slow down and get outside to notice all the precious details of our environment with all of our senses. The shapes in the big fluffy clouds and the green grass being watered by the sprinklers. The joy that comes from riding bikes through the sprinklers showering over the sidewalk. The smell of neighbors getting ready to grill supper or of newly mown grass or hay. Slow down and breath deeply this summer and experience God's joy!

Finding My Sweet Spot

I have been wondering what my "sweet spot" is and how do I find it? Does one's "sweet spot" have to do with one's personality, ministry gifts, or profession or combination of the three?

Our church is going through a time of transition and one of the transitions that is going to be made is helping the members of the family of God find their area of passion/giftedness and plugging them into it (sweet spot). A baseball bat or golf club has a "sweet spot," the area where the ball makes the correct contact causing it to soar far with not a lot of frustration or effort. It is the same with the family of God and the areas of service and ministry. If a child of God is in their "sweet spot", a lot of ministry will be accomplished without much frustration or effort.

The search for my "sweet spot" began about one year ago. This is when I realized that Abby, our youngest daughter, was moving out of the preschool years and would be attending school all day in the fall. What would then be my role? I have been blessed to be a full time stay-at-home mom/homemaker for the past eight years. My daughters would no longer be in need of my physical presence during the day. Enter into the mix a need to alleviate some of the financial pressures on our family. How was my role as full time wife and mother going to change? A wise woman at church commented that my role should not be defined in simply being a wife or mother, but being a dearly loved daughter of God. Our value does not come from what we "do" but from whose we are. This was and is reassuring, but I still wanted to find my "sweet spot."

The door opened for me to sub earlier this spring. This was a great way to earn a little extra income for the family, but still be available to Eric and the girls when they were home. I cannot say this is something that made me say, "Oh yeah, I get to sub today." So I am not sure if this is my "sweet spot." But in a way, maybe it is. I will tie the previous statement back in :)

Eric made a comment this past Sunday at lunch when we had a young couple over who he is doing some premarital counseling with. The comment had something to do with how I enjoyed cooking. This sparked something within me. Maybe my "sweet spot" is cooking, but not only cooking but everything that has do with the home. I love being a homemaker and caring for and meeting the needs of my husband and daughters. I love making our home, not a castle, but a sanctuary. And finding ways to do this creatively on one income. I love the dynamics of family life and the relationships within. So my willingness to sub this past year was a way to honor my relationship with my husband. Subbing may not have been my "sweet spot" per se, but serving my husband, family, and home is. And subbing was a way to serve my family by earning a little extra income, as will serving as the mission's secretary at church in the coming months.

It has taken me a year to come to this point :) It takes me a while to process things. It is interesting that I would start my blog with such a self-reflective entry since I detest self-reflection.

I am looking forward (and maybe a little scarred) to how God is going to use me in the future to serve in my "sweet spot" outside the home; helping newly married wives love and respect their husbands and set-up a home, helping young mothers love their children and see the positive impact they can have on their children, enhancing friendships over a nice cup of tea.

Let me know when I can have cup of tea with thee :)

My First Blog

Good morning,

This is the last week of school so I thought I would take a free moment to begin the Flood Family Blog. My friend, Alysa, recently began a blog this past year. I have so enjoyed reading about and catching up on the everyday happenings of her life. I do not keep a journal so I thought this would be a great way to record the events, funny sayings, and milestones of my family and I invite you to join me on this adventure.

Love,
Becky