McCain-Palin

A great day to be a Republican!

here a dragon, there a dragon...

Micah's life verse is apparently true, since Josiah's new favorite song is "Puff the Magic Dragon," and tonight Micah and Rachel came up with their own new line of Webkinz, called Draginz. But wait, that means...I am a mother to dragons. Yikes! And all this time I thought my own life verse was hidden somewhere around 2 Cor. 12:9. I'd better spend more time in Job...

Check back later for a less crazy post.

lofty goal

Micah has an autobiography project due at school in mid-October. It is fairly extensive for a 4th grader, and has several requirements, so we are already talking it over and looking at projects done by kids who have gone ahead of him. One of the things the teacher asks is that the students choose a life verse. Micah brought me his tonight, as quoted on the dedication page of his book The Dragon Prince. It is from Job 30:29 "I am a brother to dragons..."

an invitation

Bible Study Fellowship is an international, interdenominational Bible study. There are 3 classes in Bloomington-Normal that meet on Monday night and Tuesday morning. The classes include a preschool children's program (ages 2-kindergarten) during the day and a school age program (grades 1-12) at night. The kids learn and/or study the same material as the adults!! This year the class will be studying the life of Moses, covering Exodus through Deuteronomy. Classes begin on Sept. 8 and 9. You can look at their website http://www.bsfinternational.org/ to find a class near you.

first day of school!!!

Micah bounced out of bed this morning, excited to start 4th grade. Last night we went to open house where he met his teacher Mrs. Hodge and got his binder for the year. Inside are spelling words and a list of projects for the year. Fourth grade looks to be a big change! Lots of new things this year like oral and written book reports and projects to go with them, an autobiography (I can't wait to help him with this!), science experiments, sentence diagramming...how do they pack this much learning into one year? Micah is anticipating homework and took time this morning to spruce up his new desk so it would be all ready.
Micah moved down the hall and acquired a bigger locker. His verse is from Micah 6:8.
Rachel is excited to start the year with Mrs. Heidebrink. The theme for her class is "Survivor." The classroom reminds me of the inside of a grass hut!! The teacher gave each child a bandana filled with items they will need to survive (and thrive!) in 2nd grade. Rachel's assignment for today was to bring back her bandana and say good morning to Mrs. Heidebrink before Mrs. Heidebrink could say good morning to her. Rachel practiced all evening and morning, and then caught her teacher off guard and before her first cup of coffee. She was beaming with self-confidence as we parted, glad to finally be a second grader.
After sending two kids off to school, I know well that all too soon, these precious preschool days will be over. I cherish these quiet moments with the baby of the family. Today I discovered he knows how to use scissors! Why should this surprise me? (All my kids have loved playdoh but Josiah has a special place in his heart for it. I get the sense that he more hangs out with it than plays with it. And then he gives it kisses when it's time to clean up.)

adieu to summer

It's our last full week of summer. Eric took two days off work and we took the kids on a trip to the zoo, where Micah got to hold a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. We learned that they hiss by forcing air out of their bodies when they feel threatened. Micah must have seem pretty benign because we didn't hear any hissing...
He passed on the opportunity to hold the walking stick. I guess this bug can get pinchy!

Our dynamic duo! Josiah was along, too, and you can see him in the sidebar under our new "Rhodes Under Construction" photo.

We ended our morning with a trip to an authentic Mexican restaurant. For some reason, we thought this would be a fun family outing. Micah gave it a thumbs up, but Rachel and Josiah would have preferred some golden arches with chicken nuggets and french fries.

Next we left the kids with Nana and Papa while Eric and I escaped to a bed and breakfast near Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Park. This was a belated way of celebrating our 14th wedding anniverary (in July). We came home with our batteries recharged. It's hard not to when you can sit quietly for half an hour with your spouse and take in scenes like the one above...

Thanks for watching the kids, Mom and Dad!! I'm not sure who had more fun...the grandparents, the kids, or the parents. The time away was much needed and we appreciate it more than we can say.

organizing prayer requests

Thou art coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring;

For His grace and power are such,

None can ever ask too much.

-John Newton from the hymn "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare"

I remember once seeing a cartoon of a man walking through church. A good friend approaches him, and he begins to think, "Oh, there's Harold! I told him I'd pray for him. 'Dear Lord, would you please bless Harold and help him with...' Hi, Harold! I want you to know I've been praying for you."

Have you ever been there? I have tried for years with some success and some failure to lift up requests and burdens before the Lord in prayer. All I can say is the persistence does pay off, and encourage anyone (including myself) to never give up! I found a great help to organizing my prayer life this summer and share it with others in hopes it may be a help to them as well.

I've tried notebooks and index card files but this little binder from Wal-Mart is what has finally worked for me! The spiral note cards are perfect for memory verses, and loose index cards fit into a pocket at the top. I have several categories (urgent requests, missionaries, ministries, church, family, direction, etc.), one category on each index card, and try to pray through a few each day. Some, like urgent requests, I pray through every day. It's easy to start new cards as needed since they are loose, and I was especially encouraged when I was able to re-write one category of requests because so many had been answered!

Ephesians 6:18 "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

untitled

Because sometimes a picture speaks for itself.

feeling corny?

This weekend we cooked and bagged over 15 dozen ears of sweet corn!! If you are wondering why anyone would be crazy enough to go to that much effort, you've never tried Rader's sweet corn. It's the best!! It helps, of course, that at least 4 of the 5 of us love corn.

Here's how to do it:

Find a free afternoon

Find some really good corn

Have a couple of good sized cooking pots on hand, along with at least 2 bags of ice.

Then...

1. Shuck the corn

2. Get your water boiling.

3. Boil 6 ears at a time for 2 minutes.

4. Immediately cool corn in ice water and then remove.

5. Cut corn off cob.

6. Bag corn and put in the freezer.

It's really not that hard, just time consuming to do a lot. It took us about 4 1/2 hours from start to finish. We had corn for supper, too, though I noticed no one asked for seconds...but now we have enough corn to last until spring!!

Josiah loved helping. He ate two ears while watching us cut corn off the cob!!!

fajita day!!!

I'm getting ready to put one of Micah's favorite recipes in the crockpot. I'm guessing if you are more of a beef fajita fan, substituting steak would work?

Fajitas
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed (or 1/4 t. garlic powder)
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T. lime juice
1 T. oil
10 flour tortillas

Slice chicken into 1/2 inch strips. Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Top with onions and peppers. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, lime juice, and oil. Pour over the onions and peppers.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Using a slotted spoon, serve a few pieces of chicken and vegetables on a flour tortilla. Wrap the tortilla around the contents and serve immediately. Garnish as desired.

The chicken comes out very tender!!!

missing them

The abundance of fruit I bought at the grocery store last week is going bad.
The messes I cleaned up on Sunday evening and Monday morning have stayed cleaned up.
The house is completely quiet when the baby naps.
The van stays parked in the garage more often.
Our cat will not leave me alone.
Every time someone comes to the door, Josiah runs to it saying "Micah? Rachel?"

We can't wait for you to come home from Grandma and Grandpa's house tonight!!

Block Bash

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:8

A big thank you to all who prayed and otherwise played a part in today's Block Bash. God's answers were evident in ways both big and small. (A big thank you to my parents for watching our two youngest children for 5 hours during the event and running Rachel across town to a birthday party!!!) Can I say enough about the weather?!!! Who but God could override the forecast by 10 degrees and send a cool breeze?? We felt His blessing on all that was taking place today.

Eric and Micah had a steady stream of kids line up to play their beanbag toss. I could hear Eric's whoops over the crowd so I think they just might have been having a good time. Their station was right next to some people who were telling Bible stories to kids. Eric said he noticed they didn't have much business at first so he started telling the kids to go there next, and many did. Micah had a great time helping and did so cheerfully.

I was amazed at the number of people who visited our prayer station. We were asking as people walked by if they had anything we could pray about for them, and many stopped and said yes!! It seemed that many health concerns were shared, and I heard one lady ask our pastor to please pray for health and prosperity for her and her family!! Every 15 minutes to half hour our pastor would give away a gospel basketball, which had colors on it to share the story of the Bible. We would go round up the kids and they would listen for 5 minutes and one would get the ball. They apparently loved this and some came back 2 and 3 times to listen, pulling parents along. After the ball give-away everyone would get gospel bracelets and the tract that also told the story. We gave away several Bibles and even more New Testaments, and at least one boy prayed to accept Jesus as his Savior.

About halfway through the afternoon, 2 former NFL players gave their riveting testimony before a small audience. Two girls sitting in front of me went forward with about a dozen others to accept Christ, and I stayed behind with their tearful mother and got her information about churches and a Bible for her and some New Testaments for the girls.

After that the afternoon was a quick blur, but what will stick with me are the three kids that came just as we were getting ready to tear down the prayer station. While one person prayed with their mom, I shared the gospel bracelets with the kids. The oldest, a girl about 12 years old, told me that they had just arrived back in town after being stuck in Chicago for 3 days, and that her brothers had almost been kidnapped. Another adult with them verified this story. My heart aches for the trauma they have been through.

So many precious and hurting people got a glimpse of God's love for them today. Everything offered was free of charge including face painting, school supplies, food, a bounce house for kids, and lots of fun for kids and their families. Please be in prayer that those who came to Christ will be protected from the evil one and begin to grow in Him, that those who were given information or heard any message of the gospel would respond, and that those who follow up will do so in God's power and with His love.

We serve a great and mighty God!!!!