Praise Him, Sun!

This is my favorite way to start my day:

(and by "start my day," I really mean "what I do after I get home from dropping kids off at school.")

In Like A Lion

When they say March always comes in like a lion or a lamb, I know they are usually talking about weather; but somehow, it seems appropriate to say our schedule has come in like a lion as we have been really busy.

The last day of February, Will had a field trip to the art museum because one of the projects the school was doing combined art, math, and language arts. There was a tour of the current exhibit, and the kids learned about impressionistic art -- landscapes and portraits, then they did a quick art project that reinforced some of the lessons they learned on the tour.

Friday, March 1st, Will had a presentation day at school for science. The assigned project was to design an exhibit for Discovery Science Place (the local children's science museum) that uses simple machines. Usually his project teams are made up of the third- and fourth-graders in his class, but this time was a bit different. Every team had four people, with at least one each from third, fourth, and fifth grades. At first, Will wasn't crazy about being the youngest in his group, but it wasn't long until he was boasting about how much fun it was to work with this team and how well they worked together. On presentation day, parents were able to see all the exhibits "in motion," and the science museum sent representatives to select seven (from Will's campus) to actually be displayed at the museum one weekend. Will was a bit upset his team's project wasn't selected, but he had enough fun with the project to make up for any disappointment.

Friday night, our family and a friend of Will's (who might as well be considered family by now) went to see the a musical production of The Jungle Book. It was fun for all of us, but the kids loved it! Afterwards, we stopped for a sweet frozen treat.

Our weekend was a flurry of home-bound busyness as we were scrambling to get all the things done we haven't had a chance to do: cleaning, laundry, sorting through all the kids' and adults' clothes, mowing and yard work, refilling bird feeders and baths, putting up another bluebird house, and getting ready for the rest of March since it will be so busy.

Monday morning, I took the younger kids to school while Allen took Will and Kaleb. Then I headed to Will's school to help set up for another presentation day. The school kids were all really excited to show the projects that combined art with math. In math, the third and fourth graders were studying geometry (shapes, symmetry, angles, and patterns.) This was also the first art project that the kids got to decide what they wanted to make -- that is what I think they LOVED about the art. They did some drawings in math, and in language arts, they've been working on essays describing why arts are important in schools. The prompt they were given was something along the lines of "many schools are cutting funding for the arts because they feel like math, reading, writing, and science are much more important. Do you feel this is a good idea or not? Why?" Though I haven't seen the finished essay yet, the kids had posted some poems about shapes and angles, and Will has been talking with me a lot about why art is an important part of education.

Will's group made a model of the Titanic. I was fascinated with the details he shared with me the last few weeks as they have been working on this at school. One day, he explained their team was disappointed that they didn't estimate the size of part of the ship correctly. The Titanic had four smoke stacks and they only had room for three. He further explained that the real ship only had three working stacks and the fourth was for decoration -- to make the ship look more powerful that it really was. He continued to explain details that I never knew (which isn't saying much, since all I know was that it was a big ship that wasn't supposed to sink-- I didn't even watch the movie.) When I asked how he knew all this, he looked at me like I was silly and told me that of course, their team looked it all up.... just because. His art teacher later explained that the kids really wanted the inside to be accurate and tried to construct part of it correctly even though it wouldn't be seen. These kids had big smiles when they told passers-by about their Titanic and the angles and shapes and lines of symmetry. They were quite proud and had reason to be. At the end, the teacher asked to keep their project (other groups decided someone would take the projects home) and I think the plan is for her to help them submit it to an arts festival later this year.

Here are a few other sculptures I really enjoyed (each scale on the snake is a separate origami triangle! and the guitar-thingy is made mostly of crushed aluminum foil):

Sweet Caroline

I don't care if the world thinks I'm weird for naming the birds, they end up being such a sweet part of my day, that I enjoy making it a bit more personal.

This sweet bird is a Carolina wren who greets every sunrise with a cheerful song -- oh, what I could learn from its attitude! When I come in to the kitchen to make my coffee, it is already at the fence singing loudly as if the dawning sun and frosted pink clouds are the audience for its aria. I wonder if it knows how long I sit and listen as it sings the same tune over and over again...

I took this photo when the day could've blown the little brown bird away, yet it just sang and sang as its feathers were being rumpled. This one I'm naming Caroline... Sweet Caroline!

Seven: Excess Stuff

I can't believe tomorrow is March! I didn't expect February to be too hard for me, and that's how it turned out. Except for a bit of time-juggling with laundry loads (having to fit it in the part of the day that I could get away with wearing just a towel), it was pretty easy for me. I survived on just three shirts (even though there were two weeks that one of them was what I slept in), two pair of pants, two pair of shoes (could've made it with just one, but I didn't want to wear tennies to church on Sundays), a jacket and heavy coat (I am SO glad I had the coat the last three days!) I did two loads of whites this month for Allen's and my socks (since they weren't counted as part of the seven).

I keep trying to make March’s 7 project harder. I’ve thought about trying to find more ways to give, but since 7 is supposed to be about eliminating excess and it started to seem like I was just looking for a way to add to my to-do list, I am taking Ema's advice and keeping it simple. This month, I will choose seven items daily to give to someone who needs them. I will not be driving somewhere new each day, but by the end of this month all 217 items will have new homes. Since I will be gone for a week, I plan to work ahead and get my daily average up this week so that by the end of March, I've shared 217 things. Some of my piles will be easy to purge, some will be harder. I am also using this month as a reason to purge some things to the garage sale my friends and I are having to help raise money for my Uganda trip, but I do not plan to count the garage sale items as my give-aways unless that is actually what I do with them.

In the book, Jen Hatmaker dared herself to give all her items to “real people”, rather than leaving them anonymously at Good Will. That part will be a little bit of a challenge for me, but Allen suggested something that should work for me. If I donate to a group, rather than an individual or family, I will volunteer there so that I can see the needs and see how my excess can help real people. For instance, I will likely donate some clothes and pantry items to St. Paul; even though I may not personally meet the person who chooses my red blouse, I am still talking with someone who might and I’m there while they are choosing someone’s blouse. Though I may not put my kids’extra books in the hands of a particular child who needs it, I am filling a kids’ shelf for the Literacy Council's bookshelf and saying, “good morning” to children who are choosing books from that shelf. There are some things I know I can share with the people who can use them, and I’m looking forward to being able to bless others.

 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ~ Matthew 6:19-20

Guess Who's Coming

Ben lost tooth #3 today. It has been loose for a while, but brotherly wresting took it out the rest of the way. Very little blood, but some tears until he realized it would be worth some money. Now, we are planning for the tooth fairy to visit tonight.

Introducing Cookie and Cream

Lately, my point-and-shoot pocket-sized camera has not been working right. When I take pictures, there is a 50% chance that the photo will be a bunch of digital noise instead of the picture I really wanted, so I asked for a new camera for my birthday. After reading reviews, I ended up choosing a different brand than what I've had for many years, and now I'm having to learn how to use the new one. Bear with me as I learn how to use it.... I know many of my pictures won't be great, but they are still able to show our family stories.

These are our new friends: a pair of Carolina chickadees that Ben named Cookie and Cream. We can't tell which is which, so they will both just be called Cookie-&-Cream. These two cheerful birds are supposed to be a bit more afraid of me than they seem to be. When I come check their nest in the birdhouse, they often watch and chatter at me. Allen thinks they might be saying, "Leave us alone you big thing," but to me it sounds a lot more like, "good morning, Sarah! Isn't it a beautiful day." Strange as it seems to me, when I'm sitting in the chair in the garden (with camera ready, of course) those two will come sit on the fence and chatter, come a bit closer and sit in the tree and chatter, then even go into the birdhouse -- with me just a few feet away. They continue to carry in grass bits, and bright green moss, and fuzz from cottonwoods or dog hair to build their nest. They will eat at the feeder, sip at the birdbath, and continue to sing at me, and I am looking forward to learning more about these sweet little birds.

My Next Big Adventure

Parental CareMinistries (PCM) exists to help poor and orphaned children of Uganda by meeting their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs in Christian schools. Currently, PCM has six school campuses in southwest Uganda, and they also equip 50+ pastors to spread the Gospel throughout Uganda.

I first learned of Parental Care Ministries at a Mothers of Preschoolers meeting when they came to speak about their ministry. Our group and my family donated to some of PCM’s projects, and we financially contributed to a friend joining PCM on a mission trip. A bit more than a year ago, Will wrote a letter asking Santa Claus to deliver chickens to orphans in Uganda. When PCM sent my son photos of the children in Uganda receiving chickens, I was ecastatic! Soon after that, our family decided to sponsor 13-year old Ssalli, one of the students at a PCM campus. Our experiences with PCM continued to be positive, so when I realized God was prompting me to apply for a mission trip, PCM was one of the first groups I approached.

I will be part of a team of 20-25 people going to Uganda, June 16^th through 27^th, this summer. On this trip, PCM will be partnering with Children’s Emergency Relief International (CERI), a health and human services organization dedicated to the long-term care of orphans, vulnerable children, youth and their families in crisis throughout the world. CERI will be bringing its shoe mission expertise to all six PCM campuses. Children in this impoverished area desperately need shoes to prevent foot disease and injury. I am excited to be part of the team that will travel to each school and minister to each individual child while sizing their feet and placing new socks and shoes on each of the 1500+ PCM school children.  

There are several ways for you to help our team. First, and foremost, please pray for our team. Pray for all the details to come together, pray that we can share God’s love with the children in Uganda, pray for our families who will be without us for twelve days (that is a long time for my husband and four young children), pray for our safety and health as we travel to, and in, a third-world country, and pray that our stories reach the hearts of others.

I am also seeking financial contributions for the hundreds of pairs of shoes ($25 per pair) and for my travel expenses (approximately $3000). If you are interested in contributing to either, please make a check out to Parental Care Ministries, put the purpose (shoes/travel) in the memo section, and send the check directly to me. PCM is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your contribution is tax deductible, and PCM sends yearly contribution statements each January. If you would like to learn more about PCM, visit the website and blog at www.pcmonline.org. To learn more about CERI, visit www.CERIkids.org.

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