God's plans

"I woke up this morning feeling a bit like my 5 days with my husband were already over before they began. I had to remind myself that it is important to make each moment count. So instead of thinking of it as 5 days that have already passed, I will be concentrating on the 120 hours I have left!"

This was my morning update on Facebook today. I was asked by a friend if seeing the positive in things and remaining calm during such uncertain times is a learned response or if I was raised that way. I had to answer that because of God's continuing faithfulness to me, I have no reason to doubt. There is no need to fret or worry about what will happen tomorrow for I have no control over that.

In my younger married days, I remember as a mother and as a wife trying to control every little detail to make sure that everything turned out the way I wanted it to. Somewhere between then and now I have learned a few things. First, when things turn out contrary to how I would have envisioned, more often than not it is much better than I could have planned. What a pleasant surprise to realize that other people have great ideas, too, and that I'm not the only one who can be right. Second, God works all things together for good to those who are the called (Romans 8:28) so I don't need to take care of God's work. Life is much more peaceful when we trust in Him, have faith that He is working in His time for our good and accept the gifts He gives us. I believe that to include going where He wants us to go and accepting whatever He gives us to deal with (knowing that He is with us along the way).

For me, that means a temporary separation from my husband and two oldest boys. I don't know why things have worked out like they have, but it is not my place to question God. It is only for me to have faith that He is working out the details for my good. I know that He is with each of us during these difficult weeks and months.

Bloom where you are planted.

This saying is such a beautiful reminder to "give thanks in all things". It is a practical way to live out this biblical truth. No matter where we are, no matter what the circumstance, we need to make the best of it and look for ways to bless others.

This phrase has become a new favorite of mine for several reasons.
#1. We are not to worry and fret about tomorrow because the Lord takes care of our provisions. We are to concern ourselves with today. What can we do that says, "God, thank you for what you have given me today." Instead of saying, "I hate the snow. Spring can't come soon enough." Why not remember that it is only for a season, snow is great for sledding, skiing and building snowmen and go enjoy it? Children will emulate what they see you doing. We want thankful children, not children prone to grumbling and disputing. So whip out the hot chocolate and the marshmallows and enjoy the snow.

#2. I see so many people that put their hope in finding the right job, moving to the right city, making enough money....if only, if only, if only. It is sad to watch them rely on these outward things. God takes care of those details, we need only to focus on our daily walk, in faithfulness. He wants us, right where we are, right now, to use our gifts and talents to bless those around us. If we are so focused on doing God's job, we won't have time for the tasks He has given us to do.

#3. There is a lot of symbolism that can be drawn from this small command. Flowers bloom, and in doing so, bless many others. Nobody can deny how pleasant the fragrant aroma from a garden can be. Blooms are beautiful to the eye. I so enjoy a bouquet of fresh flowers on my dining room table, or bouquets of wild flowers on our patio table. Blooms also bless the bees and so many other other things. When we bloom, rather than sulk or remain drawn inward, we are able to bless others. Most of the time, we won't even know we have done it, and that's a good thing.

We need to walk in obedience in this simple command. The blessings are enormous. In all things we are to give thanks. Make the very most of each thing God has given you. How will you bloom where you are planted today?

The Fruits of Training

As has been the custom for the past 10 years, Saturday is our cleaning day. This doesn't mean that we don't clean the rest of the week, because with 13 people in the house we do a fair amount of cleaning every day. It refers more to the once a week, every room gets a thorough once over type of cleaning. We vacuum the carpet and stairs, sweep and mop the hardwood floors, scrub down the bathrooms, dust, tidy up the garage, pull out the laundry hampers and clean up all of the lint that has glued itself to the laundry room floor, and spot clean any other area that needs it. (How do the fingerprints get up there?)

As a child, I remember cleaning the house before Grandma would come to visit. The list included the basics, vacuuming, washing the dining room floor and dusting. That was it for my list. It was 3 small rooms, no bathrooms and I remember the feeling of utter doom. Surely it was going to take me aaaall daaaaay! Instead of approaching the task with joy at being able to serve, I was overwhelmed with thoughts of selfishness. I would drag my feet, do as little as possible and whine incessantly when asked to go back and complete the task properly. Ugh! (I have apologized to my mother a plethora of times for my behavior.)

I didn't learn the joy of cleaning, or how to do it completely and efficiently. I was left to learn these lessons with small children in the home, at the same time I was learning how to be a mother, how to be a biblical wife, how to cook and how to manage my home.

I want something better for my kids. I want household tasks and efficiency to be the least of their concerns when they have little ones to care for. With this in mind, we started teaching our children how to cook, clean and take care of things around the house. For our Saturday cleaning, we have 6 different tasks for the children to choose from. Each of the children, starting at the age of 9, take a task. Often times two will work together to increase efficiency. The younger children, 3-7, follow along and help where they can. For example, they help whoever is vacuuming by moving objects in the way. Some children sing while they work, some children listen to music on an iPod, and some quietly work while listening to the noise around them. However it is accomplished, I remind them that God wants us to serve cheerfully. He is not interested in outward obedience with inner grumbling. To Him that is not serving nor obeying.

When Sunday comes around, we can enjoy our sabbath rest, knowing that each of us has contributed to the order, peace and cleanliness of our home. This is just one of the fruits of faithful training.

Packing

We are getting ready to go away for a few days. In preparation, today is packing day. It is also, vacuum out the van day, cook food for the trip day, wash the laundry so we can pack it day, print out the maps day and miscellaneous other labels. We are used to all of the activity it takes to get 13 people ready for a small trip. Knowing that most of you out there reading this blog are not from a family of this size, we thought maybe you would be interested to know how we do it.

#1. There is a family meeting, usually the night before, detailing what clothing items need to be set out and what time they are expected to be ready for inspection.

#2. A list is made of every task that needs to be completed, and in what order, so that they can be assigned. Nothing is crossed off of this list without the work being checked.

#3. Clothes are ironed and placed on hangers with the necessary accessories. For the boys, their church clothes are layered on a hanger with their pants, t-shirt, dress shirt, blazer, belt and tie. Tucked inside their shoes are their socks. For the girls, their dresses are ironed if necessary and layered with their sweaters, or blouses. For trips with multiple dress outfits, the tights (or socks) belonging to each outfit are placed in a small ziploc bag and affixed to the hanger.

#4. Clothes are inspected for appropriateness, cleanliness, completeness and grouped together by room. For example, when camping, all of the campers in a tent will have their clothes in the same suitcase. When staying in a hotel, all of the children in the same room will have their clothes in the same suitcase. When staying with another family, the children staying in the same house will have their clothing in the same suitcase. Once filled, the suitcases are labeled with the day and the names of the children. Because this trip is short, there will only be one suitcase per group for the entire trip. The little boys (ages 10 -1) will have their clothes together, the little girls (7-5) will have their clothes together, etc. The bathroom bags are packed in the same way to ensure that the necessary items are with the right children. The hair brush for the little girls won't do us any good if it is in a bag with the older girls in another house.

#5. When packed, the suitcases are taken to a central location for loading.

#6. In the morning, before we leave, the pillows, blankets and other personal things are loaded up into the van. The water bottles are loaded as well as the food. For most trips, we pack sandwich fixings and stop along the way to make our lunch. For a snack we pack pretzels, veggies and dip, string cheese, etc.



Right now we have most of the clothes ironed, some set out, some still washing, the van is already vacuumed and ready, and the bread is baking. The plans have already been made and the maps are being printed. The rest of the day will be filled with waiting for the last few items to be ready to pack, last minute tasks that need to be done, taking care of forgotten details, etc.

When I look over the pictures from the last few years of our travels, I remember all of the memories we made, the people and places we were able to visit and the laughter that we shared. Never once do I think about all of the hours of preparation that went into each trip.

Where will your travels be taking you?

Sledding 2-7-11

Oh yes. The kids take their sledding seriously. We have received several feet of snow over the past few days and few things take advantage of the fresh snow like sledding. It only took a few minutes to get geared up and they were off.

There is a look of doom on one little girl's face. This is from prior sledding experiences where she fell off and landed face first into the snow. It was time for her to go with Dad and get back on the horse, so to speak. We try to teach our children to overcome their fear of such things. After much encouragement, praise and loads of fun, she is now an experienced sledder and looking forward to the next trip.

The ride home tells of an afternoon well spent.
Hot chocolate with marshmallows of course.

The best of friends. What a blessing.

Devils Tower - July 2010

Last year we took several trips back to North Dakota, one for a wedding and one for a class reunion. This was the final leg home after the last trip with a stop overnight at Devils Tower. Even though the crew was a little road weary we had a great time. We made some amazing memories. We watched a movie on a big screen TV outside on the movie deck. It started to get
cold so a few of us went back to the camp site. The die hard viewers stayed through the cold and watched the last few minutes huddled with other campers under the umbrellas after it started to rain.

In the morning, this was our view of Devils Tower from our cabin. God's blessings are everywhere!

(l-r) Adam, Sabrina, Ruth - Nicholas is in the background

Back at the cabin, the kids enjoyed the swing and time to run around enjoying the sunshine, the grass and a book or two.


Back row (l-r) Ellie, Matthew, Joseph, Nicholas
Middle row (l-r) Maria, Mom (with Hezekiah), Brian, Ruth, Thomas
From row (l-r) Sabrina, Adam

This was from our day hike at Devils Tower.

Welcome Back!

The title refers more to me, than to any of you. I'm not sure if any of you "left". My guess is that after two years of posting nothing new you simply stopped checking back. After I joined the ranks of Facebook, I spent less time blogging here. The simplicity of uploading pictures once to Facebook was appealing, so I quit doing that here.

Regardless of my excuses, I am trying to make this blog a habit. I have often stated that I wish I had kept a daily or weekly journal when I had nothing but wee little youngsters. Those days were filled with so many blessings but were definitely a struggle. Days tended to run into weeks and into years and I don't remember so many of the details that I wish I had logged. Even though it is 10 years too late, I hope to keep track of some of the daily things we learn, God's blessings all along the way, and some of the craziness that is our daily life. So I say, "welcome back"!

Christmas pictures of the Pedersons.

We had a few pictures taken by a photographer and they turned out beautifully, except for the family picture. It was hard squeezing all 12 of us into the picture and they aren't as nice as I had hoped. Anyway, the dark image on the bottom left is Ruth who you will see in other pictures. Brian is directly to my right and is actually 14, although his placement makes him as small as Sabrina who is only 5!! I will try to write and catch up on our life later, but for now the pictures will have to suffice. Love to you all! ~Amy & co.
Look at this handsome crew! Obviously Larry and I are in the middle. We will start at the top and work ourselves around clockwise. The top two girls are Ellie and Maria, then Brian, Sabrina, Adam, Joseph, Matthew, Nicholas, Ruth and Thomas.

Can you believe almost 17 years we have been married? I still remember the day we got married.

Here are my girls and young ladies. Top left is Maria 12, top right is Ellie 16. Bottom left is Sabrina 5, and bottom right is Ruth 3.

The boys. Top left is Thomas 16, then top middle is Brian 14, top right is Nicholas 10. Larry is holding Adam 1, bottom middle is Joseph 6 and bottom right is Matthew 8.

All of my 10 children. Nicholas, top left, was relaxing his face in between all of the smiling and he was captured here doing just that. This is such a true picture of all of the kids. 10 arrows in our quiver that we are sharpening and honing for the Lord's service. Praise the Lord for them all!

Sabrina turns 5 and the big party.

This would normally be the place where pictures would appear, but alas, there are no pictures to post. The day was filled with talking, eating, talking, more talking and more eating. It was a fabulous day of fellowship, fun, laughter and basking in the friendships that the Lord has blessed us with. To all that came, thank you for blessing us. I wish there were pictures to post, but I never got around to finding the camera.

The pinata was a smashing success, the banana splits (with homemade strawberry and vanilla ice cream, homemade caramel sauce, crushed pineapple, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and banans) were fantastic, as were the root beer floats and all of the delicious food that was brought to share.

You will have to imagine the rest. We haven't had the family celebration of her birthday yet, so she has yet to open the family's gifts for her. I will try to get pictures of that. :)

Elkhead reservoir.

We planned a picnic to the local reservoir for Sunday afternoon. We made monster cookies, lots of sandwiches, brought chips and carrots and water and headed out. Not wanting to spend $6 to park on the Lord's Day, we found a pull-off and started eating our lunch. The children of course wanted to walk the steep path down to the water. So, after eating and cleaning up, Dad led the way!
Pictured above, back row l-r: Brian, Maria, Adam, Ellie, Thomas
bottom row l-r: Nicholas, Sabrina, Joseph, Matthew, Ruth

When we got to the bottom, we found a little beach (I mean little) and sat down to enjoy the sun and the water. Adam found a few rocks and decided to taste them. Isn't he just too cute?
Yes, they are quite hard.
"Oh Mom! Don't you just love me?"

"Yes, honey, I do"
The short version is that the kids wanted to swim and we didn't have any swimming suits. The longer version would include things like swimming in their underwear, drying off on rocks, perhaps a 30 second skinny dip (carefully planned in the murky water so nobody was the wiser) and an afternoon of splashing, skipping rocks and gut renching laughter. What a blessing to be able to spend the Lord's Day basking in His sun, splashing in His water and enjoying His creation all around us.

After all the swimming and drying off, the hike back up looked a little daunting (at least for Mom). In my defense, I was also carrying Adam in the carrying pack which added 20 lbs. So up we went. We were breathing pretty heavy when we reached the top and were thankful for the air conditioning and cool water waiting for us. We headed back home and ended the evening with a few games of foosball. Our beds were calling so we retired early. All in all, a fantastic day.

Brian's 14th Birthday (September 12, 2008)

On the right we have a new 14 year old. The day started with breakfast in bed (his favorite--waffles with strawberries and whipped cream) and a rousing verse of Happy Birthday. As expected, he harumphed with a smile on his face when we sang although inside I think he was secretly delighted. Here he is pictured with one of his gifts.
A second gift is pictured below. I couldn't resist buying it for him. He has such a quicky and funny sense of humor and immediately appreciated the fun in it.
Nicholas (fingers only pictured on the left and right) thought the shirt needed a little help, or rather that all of you needed a little help in order to read the entire thing. Thanks Nick! Brian got a kick out of all the comments he received all day. Happy Birthday, dear Brian!

I'm an official soccer mom.

Nicholas decided to try soccer this summer. The family wasn't able to go to every game, but they did attend a few. Mom was at every game, however.
Here are Ruth and Sabrina always have a good time.
Look at those sweet sisters.
Here he comes!
Nicholas is in the bottom row, second from the right.
Here is the whole team pictured after the last game, eating pizza. The coach is top left. What a great group of kids! Nicholas thoroughly enjoyed himself and plans on playing again next year.

Gypsum days parade.

Part of the gypsum days festivities. A helicopter came and did a fly over before the parade started. It made 3 passes total, then parked in an empty parking lot. The children were able to get up close and inspect.

During the parade, a few of the older kiddos rode on the float for the Gun Club. They were up in the log cabin. After the parade, the fire trucks shot out multiple streams of water to shower anybody who wanted to get wet. Now that's a parade!

Above, Joseph peeking out the back window.

Some of the Dade kids and Law kids were also on the float. Some of the pictures are too shaded to see them, but they were there!

Gypsum Days 2008

The following pictures were taken in Gypsum, CO during the Gypsum Days festival. The Law family graciously invited us and the Dades to camp out on their land and enjoy the parade and other events. We are already planning to go back next year!


His hair looks like it's on fire!

Mr and Mrs Law (Jerry and Lara) holding the youngest Dade, Dathan.
Jerry and Lara with Cathy Dade and Dathan.

more trick photography (or should I say lucky photography)

lots of smores were eaten by giddy young ones

fun with fire

Maria's 12th Birthday

Maria did in fact have a birthday party. She wanted to have a water balloon fight, so we tracked down some water balloons, filled the cooler with them and behold, a water balloon fight. It was a nice hot day and the kids had a blast. Okay, bad pun.
Above, Thomas and Maria and other children not looking at the camera.
Above from left to right, Ellie, Thomas, Joseph, Nicholas & Maria.


Thank you for the birthday money!