"technically" unnecessary (part 2 of 3)

I want to preface this post by saying that it is not my intention to brag.  
Quite the opposite - I am confident that we would have very little of the "unnecessary" things we have had we not been relying upon God's provision.

So...it's not me, it's not us, it's God.
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I think I'd be correct in stating that Tim and I try to live on a modest budget. 
And though we don't have an overabundance, but we are still able to put dollars and cents towards events or possessions that we truly care about. 

In this particular instance, to lead off this particular post - I want to say that we truly cared about getting a trampoline for our family.
...We've got so many little bodies around here, pumped with all sorts of adrenaline - just itching to be used.  And despite our urging, they never seemed very motivated when we tell them to "go outside and run around." :)

Enter trampoline.
Who DOESN'T like to bounce? :)
I looked at Craigslist, Ebay and clearance sites for all the main stores - nothing I'd consider as a fair deal. The 'price tags' on even these used items were much too close to new....and they didn't look new.
Pass.
Maybe this WAS something we'd have to really save for...

I switched gears.
You see, I had a promise under 'lock and key' from my husband saying that as soon as we moved to a place that allowed a fire pit...we could get one.
*triumphant whoop*
Sugary treats give the opposite of an energy outlet, but s'mores are so good!!  And gathering around the fire equals family togetherness, and lets face it - fun.

I could not, however, find a clearance fire pit. And 'used' was more of a joke than the trampoline.
But all in all the new pit price was doable.
So we decided.
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It was a Monday morning and Cale and I were going to a dentist appointment.  If he was good, he could help me pick out a pit afterwards.
But we didn't make it to the store that day, because the hope of buying anything unnecessary was no longer on the radar.

I dread going to the dentist.
I never walk out of there and call Tim with good news.  "Guess what honey?  They found gold in my mouth!"
No...I brace myself for bad news.  Because as it is, I've inherited my dad's problematic teeth.

No lie, when I was a kid - I had a tooth growing from the roof of my mouth.
The roof of it - you know where your tongue touches?  Yep, there.
I can remember feeling it and saying "Hey Mommy, I think there's a rock in my mouth..."
No rock - an extra tooth to be extracted.
In fact, extraction was a fairly normal occurrence for me when I visited the dentist.
Our childhood dentist, Dr. Smiley (no joke) was always sending me home with one less tooth in my mouth.
He pulled my last baby tooth in 8th grade.  8TH!!
It didn't grow back until I was 14!!
I got hit in the face in a basketball, resulting in a root canal at age 17.
Just this past year I had a cyst removed from my upper gum-line.
And I've had more cavities and fillings than my kids have had stinky diapers (...jk).
All that to say, "problematic" may be an understatement....

But, like I said, I was prepared for the bad news - and asked for the damage (literally and figure-wise).
My mind fuzzed as she told me I needed 3 crowns, and at least 3 small cavities filled....
Total estimated cost?
About $3500.

We wanted to stretch ourselves with this pledge - we didn't want to bail just when it got started up...but options looked limited.
Renege on our commitment, or watch my teeth fall out.
I'm pretty sure I cried a little bit. And we prayed for God's guidance.

I didn't know what to do - I felt like this was ultimately my decision - Tim wasn't going to make me get the work done, and he wasn't going to make me wait for 3 years...

So, I did what any frustrated person would do - I told Facebook.
I put one statement as my "status update:"
Dentist bill: $3500, I'm still laughing.....

And as I assumed, I got some jeers and condolences...but unexpectedly, I also got a glimmer of hope.
God works in all situations. 
He can even use a Facebook pity party.

I have a relative that is a dentist. And via Facebook, she offered her assistance.
I figured if nothing else I could ask her just exactly which of these things needed to be done...and if I could get away with saving some money by opting for large fillings instead of the crowns...
I knew she would be able to tell me the truth and steer me in the right direction...

But more than that was done - she offered to do the work for me.
At no cost.
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Praising God is no joke.
It should be done privately and publicly...
Tim was able to share this testimony of God's provision at church the next Sunday.
God provides!  He wants us to trust Him.  He WANTS to provide for us!!
And He does.

To full-circle this event and add icing to the cake - we were actually able to get both the trampoline and the firepit... 
The night I found out about this teeth thing I was struggling.
And while my prayers were for God's help with this decision, I may have slipped in another little request "...and if we could find a free trampoline, that'd be great too." ;)
The very next morning I found 2 free trampolines on Craigslist.  

I also found free firewood for our firepit.
And not long after the trampoline, I found a pit for $30.

It's pure awesomeness, right?!  Still blows me away.


One might tell me that I may have found that stuff without faith.
I suppose I could have...people find good deals all the time....
But I can't discredit God.
He's everywhere, seeing everything, and He's active in our lives - answering prayers...
Sometimes in obvious ways, and sometimes in miracles...............

Which brings us up to speed for the next post.
When the "unanswered" gets answered.

Mothers Day

My charming husband made this video for me.  The intention was to get it to me before Mothers Day, but no matter, I don't mind in the slightest that it came later. 
This is such a heartfelt gift! 
Love the song.
Love the kids.
Love the sender.

God sightings (part 1 of 3)

God is everywhere.
Everywhere.
A concept that is a little bit challenging for Mommy to explain - and for kids to grasp.
"I can't see Him!""

Well, it's not that, is it?
We don't have to see the physical presence of God to know He is there, do we?
Of course you know, when you are looking for God, you "see" him everywhere.

Tim and I see Him in the shining, chubby faces of our children and are so grateful for their health.
We see him in the blessing of our family and friends, our functioning cars, and the fact that both of us have full-time jobs we truly love!

There are times I'll have to admit that those things are somewhat under-appreciated.
Unfortunately, it's not until the technically "unnecessary" happens that I begin to open my mouth in awe.
And I am stunned into praising Him until everyone knows about it!


This past spring our church held a Stewardship Campaign.
((You know - where people give EXTRA money to the church for stuff?))
As soon as those words rolled off the tongue of our pastor I thought, oh boy...how are we gonna get out of giving away too much.....

Not a good initial thought.  Not good at all. 
But, I'll admit I squirmed when Tim directly asked me about it - and what I thought would be a good amount for us to give.
 Um...enough to not make us look bad, but not enough that we will be hurting our regular lifestyles. -We're already a pastor's family on a smaller-sized income, with cutbacks on things that other people have.  We live within our means and I don't complain about it.  I shop at thrift stores, yard sales and clearance racks...I welcome hand-me-downs and pass-alongs.  How much more could we cut? 

I shrugged: "I don't know, what do you think......"

We didn't make our decision that day, so I was able to put away my thoughts and guilty feelings for awhile.
But not for long - each challenge given from our pastors and my own convictions got the best of me.  Well, God got the best of me. 
It's all His anyway....  I mean, he's given me a husband and children that love me - the two things I thought I could never live without, so everything else was technically bonus, right?  


When we moved to this house, I considered it such a great answer to prayer.  Having moved 7 times in 7 years, we lived in all sorts of situations.  Too small, kinda stinky, bad landlords, bad neighbors, bad rent..........
So, like dating in high school, I made the list of things I didn't want, and things I did want (but in a house):

Virtually everything that was on my "check-list."
*4 bedrooms all on the same level! 
*A kitchen with enough cabinet space to hold all my stuff.
*Walls we could paint.
*A size-able backyard where we could lock them outside encourage our children to go out and play!
*A designated "play-room."
*Within our family budget.

I'm sure you can see where this is going right?  Well, we got all those things.
Not only are there 4 bedrooms, they are quite big!!  Even Thad's room, which is the smallest - is still significantly larger than the 2 small kids room we had at our last place.
There are so many cabinets in the kitchen that I actually do not have enough stuff to fill them all!!   We were able to paint the house, provided we re-paint white when we move out (which I hope is NO TIME SOON!).   
And we did not only get a backyard, but a front-yard, and 2 side-yards!  There are trees to climb, and critters to be discovered.  A truly excellent place for little boys.
Our basement is one large open play area.  I'd love to redo the flooring, but even in its ugliness, the  tile allows our boys to ride their trikes and scooters round and round.  It's a kid's palace.
The laundry room is excellent too because it doubles as a storage room.  Right off the playroom where I can work and keep an eye on the munchkins, it's HUGE.  Able to house all our storage junk without breaking our backs digging through a crawl space, or stacking rubbermaid tubs of clothes in the boys closets!
Most importantly of all - this "casa" came at a price we can do.  I was able to talk down the price $200 a month for a 2-year-lease.  They pay for the oil heat and well water and THEY (the church - this is a parsonage) cut the many acres of grass. :)  
I'd say we are more than happy here.

This prayer answered opened my eyes to the realization that God is taking care of us. 
When we moved in, we were without cable/internet for several weeks.  Initially I had so much unpacking to do, it wasn't a bother....I didn't seem to miss watching any of the shows I had regularly recorded.  Tim was able to bring a very-slow-going internet router thing (technical, no?) so I could at least check my email, the weather...update Facebook (you know, the important things. :)...and that, honestly, was fine.
I think I actually brought up the thought.  "Why don't we just cut cable and save that money?"
We knew Comcast would eventually have to succumb to our pleas for connection and come out to help, but I didn't think it would be worth close to $100/month to have that cable back.  We were doing fine without it.  "Let's pledge that money to the church for the stewardship campaign."

I patted myself on the back for the idea. :)

My husband agreed, but felt that perhaps that wasn't enough.
He went on to remind me that the Apostle Paul said we should "give til it hurts."
I wasn't much interested in that....
But I didn't disagree.
You see, (gulp) I don't do any of our bills....  I know.  What kind of wife am I?!  ;)
But, I trust Tim to do them all.  We agreed he would be the best one to keep us out of bankruptcy.  I believe that ultimately he knows what we can afford to give, and I wasn't going to fight him on it.  He was being challenged too.  So I told him I trusted him to make another wise decision.
Stretching of our faith could be fun, right? :)
Well - it has been!!
I didn't know the exact dollar amount until it was already pledged.  I didn't want to try and talk him down....
When I saw it, I was a little apprehensive, but we are both trusting God.
Honestly, it's been nothing but a blessing.
And wouldn't you know? - that was our church's slogan- "Blessed to be a blessing."


I'm gonna stop here, but I want you to stay with me til the end of these 3 posts, because the ultimate blessing we've been given will blow. your. minds! 
Why not tell you now?  
Well, I haven't gone fishing in awhile...but I do remember how to dangle bait.
Stay tuned! :)

these boots are made for walkin....

My boys - ESPECIALLY my Mege - is always wearing boots.
And I think he knows it's hot outside...Cale reminds him it's summertime.
But still, he dons his boots.
Winter boots.
After envisioning how my feet would be sweating in anything other than bare feet or flip flops, I was determined to take away his boots and pack them up.  I didn't want to leave him with nothing though - I understand he doesn't like when his feet are dirty.  But winter boots in 90 degree weather is a little much....
So, I wandered into the mess that is the far half of our laundry room...and purposely dug through the gigantic tub of boys shoes we have saved for future piggies - because I seemed to recall someone recently giving us a pair or two of rain boots....

A size too big doesn't matter - M wears them with pride.
Cale was jealous he didn't have rain boots........so we prayed about it and I'm happy to report that God DOES care about the little things!  I was able to find him an awesome pair at the Goodwill just yesterday for under $3.  ;)
Even still, Cale isn't as attached to his boots as M is.   I think he understands outdoor temperature better....or just sweats more. lol.

Anyway, because I went through the trouble of telling this story, 

I feel compelled to back it up with evidence:

They're crazy, but ya just gotta love 'em!