Until we meet again Thomas

My youth pastor committed suicide.


Let it sink in.


My.
Youth.
Pastor.
Committed.
Suicide.


He was my youth pastor in junior high, then an intern came in and took over and they Young's left shortly after.  At least this is how I remember it, but I could have some dates/times a bit cloudy.  We were all so happy for Thomas Young and his family.  They were the nicest, sweetest, people I'd ever met at a church and I remember Erin had really long hair and was soft spoken.  I also remember thinking that 'church people' at this church were really nice and I wanted to come back.  The Young's were the first Christian couple I'd ever witnessed as putting the words "Christian" and "couple" to.  So this is what Christian marriages look like.  Hmmm... 


Thomas (and I still refer to him as Thomas because that's what I knew him by) was so loud and outspoken.  He would get loud and excited on Wednesday night's youth group and was totally on fire for God.  This guy, was, like, super duper Godly.  Those are technical junior high words for you.


I contribute a majority of my 'baby Christian' days to the initial 'church people' I knew.  I only knew VBS people, then I knew the Young's, then I started coming on Sunday mornings.  From there, I grew in my walk with Christ exponentially and I sought the wisdom of my teachers.  Basically, forget the kids, I want to hang out with these grown ups because they seem to have it together. (Ps: my high school Sunday school teacher reads my blog) :).


I remember when the Young's left I totally had a wall built up to 'the new guy'.  He was a total dude and was single.  Bor-ing. 

About three years ago I tried to look up the Young family and sent his ministry an email saying thank you for being such an amazing role model and I look forward to seeing them again if our lives should ever cross paths.  I never did receive a reply or acknowledgement that it was forwarded onto Thomas.


Recently, when Kendall and I moved our family to Texas last winter I met up with people from way back and asked about the Young's.  It was a somber moment and I later read an article about it on Thomas' website.

But, I thought Christian's don't take their own lives.  Isn't that a huge sin (a sin is a sin, is a sin, no worse than stealing a ballpoint pen)?  I've heard suicide means you go straight to hell (not true).

I think my dear friend, after losing her brother, says it so well:
The devil is such a thief.

I think about his wife and children from time to time, such at moments like these.  All things work for the glory of God, right?  Man oh man it's a hard one to swallow sometimes.  My heart breaks for them. 

Where the sky turns green

I am still trying to understand Minnesota's weather.  And not in the "Haha, so am I!  And I'm from Minnesota!" kind of way.  In Texas, I knew it would be storming when it was extra smoldering hot the day before.  Then a release-type feeling would come in the air and the next day it'd be cooler and raining.  The nights were cool and humid every night without fail.  The Easter lilies would bloom right at Easter every year, it wasn't hit or miss.  The pecan trees will grow baby pecans at the same time every year and you could tell if we had a good rain or not by the amount of fruit the tree put on.

Things were the same.  Dependable.  Unusual weather wasn't common, the weather was steady.

In Minnesota, the sky turns green when it's hot.  I cannot make this up folks.

I was coming home from an evening MOPS meeting and when I steped out of church, the sky was warm in the lower 80's (wow, I can't believe I said the 80's were warm) and the wind had died down to a slight breeze.  Up in the skys, the clouds were rolling in and there was thunder and lightening in every direction.

The sky was greenish, like this picture.  Where I come from, the sky doesn't turn no stinkin' green.

To the north, the sky was three shades lighter than black.  To the south, a light gray cloud waltzed on by, oblivious it's cousin's Vinny and Micheal were making heads roll in the next town over.

I floored all six cylinders of my bad boy Town and Country and headed over to Kim's house.  We were planning on having a garage sale bright and early the next morning, several piles of our beloved junk was sitting outside.  I rang her bell and said "The sky is scary looking, what does that mean (pointing to the north)?  Come on, you're from Iowa.  That's, like, south Minnesota right?"  Anyway, we brought our junk in for fear it would litter the streets and get completely ruined thus taking away it's fifty-cent value. 

Driving the four blocks home from her house I saw many men standing outside looking up at the sky, several were pointing.  Geez, that can't be good.

"Kendall!  It's hot outside, but the wind has died down, but the clouds are moving super fast, but I think they're kinda low, but some of the clouds are gray, but those over there are black, but look the sky is blue over there, have you looked at the radar?  Is there are red line near us?  Or is it white?  Wait, what color means snow and which means rain?  Or does red mean snow in winter and rain in summer?  BUT IT SNOWS IN THE SUMMER HERE!"

"Near panic" is an understatment.

My sweet heroic husband stared blankly back at me and replied, "Whoa.  You are talking way too fast."  He was being way too mellow.  The clouds look like they have the flu and he's calmly watching Breakfast at Tiffany's downstairs. 

He meanders outside and says "Oh yeah, looks pretty bad.  Hmm, well, if a tornado's coming I want to be able to see where it's coming from." Just then the tornado alarms go off and I about pass out. 

"All the men I drove by were pointing to the sky in the north.  The north.  So, I say we listen to them and go in the bathroom and make sure the kids have shoes on."

Ok folks.  Here we go.  This is what Crystal crams into our 6x4 bathroom when there's a storm brewing:

two mega flashlights
size 5 diapers
size 2 diapers
wipes
two sippy cups (Ethan and Ernest sized)
a box of cheerios
one pair of close toes shoes for each kid
our safe
my purse
a gallon of water
a juice container (whatever's in the fridge)
every comforter not currently being used (I invision falling debris)
socks for everyone
car keys
extra clothes (usually just the diaper bag will do for the diapers, wipes, clothes, baby stuff)

Kendall could barely go in the bathroom to see what I had crammed in there.

Here's my thought- if our house gets blown away, I have three small children who are going to have specific needs immediately.  Having your house blown away doesn't keep Eleanor from filling her diaper or Ernest from being thirsty.  I bring socks and shoes in there because I have noticed the ickiest (is that word?) weather happens in the evening when my kids are in bed.  Footie pajamas won't work on glass, so everyone gets proper footwear.  My most important information is in my purse/diaper bag along wiht my car keys. 

Oh, and when I just had Ethan and Kendall was at work, I'll admit I put the toddler mattress in our old apartments bathroom.  We were on the second floor!  It seemed reasonable at the time.

The storm did eventually pass over us.  And the apple juice did make it back into the fridge.  Kendall chuckled at me and said he'd never think of any of those supplies.  Three small children.  Three!  I need to be prepared.  And after seeing what tornadoes have done in the south, I'm not taking any chances. 

Our family is still praying for the Lee family after losing their husband/dad in the Alabama tornado.  And our Generation Cedar family. 

I pray the sky doesn't turn green again for a long long time.

Strong Stock

A complete stranger referenced to me by a cattle term.  It's as simple as that.

Ernest was ten days old and our sweet little family of four decided to go on a walk.  A new neighbor in our area was outside taking care of the lawn and started up a conversation with Kendall.  I remember the lawn had tremendous potential but had been denied any love due to the property being in foreclosure.  It was a gorgeous June evening, warm and just right for being outside.

The man then noticed that Ernest wasn't just an infant but a brand spankin' new newborn to the world.

"Oh, you have quite the little one there.  How old?"

"He's ten days today!"
He looks at Ernest, looks up at me in bewilderment, then looks over at Kendall.

"Strong stock."

These are the words he says while nodding his head in my direction.


Can I just say it is the only time a reference to cattle can be made in which I'll take it as a compliment?


Between the three kids, I've not had a real problem bouncing back.  Being able to birth these babies without any type of medical intervention is gift from God. 

The Very Blessed Garage Sale Ladies

Audra is having her first ever garage sale this week and invited us to partake in the garage sale festivities.  Ever the garage sale-oholics, we said yes and stopped on by. She lives off of a particularly busy road connecting many teeny tiny backwoods communities.  On our way to her home I counted four sales, tis the season for many yard sales!

Kendall has not been called in to work lately because both the distyllery and the plastics factory have been slow, so he was our "muscles" for all of the heavier items.  Let's face it, it's nice to play the part of a girl and let the man carry the heaviest tote of garage sale junk.

On our way out to Audra's today we stopped at a few sales to see if there was any 'meat left on the bones' of their junk.  By Friday afternoon, the people who want to be done say "make me an offer" and you can get the best of deals.  Since it's the eve of Memorial weekend we figured there had to be someone who was going to be traveling this weekend and wanted to be done with their sale, so sure enough we found a great sale along the busiest road in town!

Three sweet women and their elderly mother were clearing out the house of priceless momentos because the mother's house was for sale.  I stayed in the car with the kids while Kendall jumped out to see what was new.  Ethan and I took the quiet time together while the two little ones napped to do some school work out of a workbook while daddy did the diggin'.  After a few minutes, Kendall waved me over to come in the garage.  Sounded like he scored a big one so I hussled in on the double.  Sure enough, the ladies said everything was half priced (their prices were fifty cents to two dollars to begin with so half of it was almost in the free-zone!).  Kendall was able to pick up some Tupperware containers (because our plastics from the dollar store are sorely missing lids and most are so warped they don't stay locked), a fan ("It's hardly been used!  FOR A DOLLAR!" he was really excited), and some other items for around the house. 

I eyed the vintage (aka: things that were around when I was a kid) toys and picked up a Vikings helmet with a twenty-five cent sticker on it.  I do my kids birthday present shopping at garage sales.  It's how this family rolls.  Ernest's 2nd birthday is next month, so I was thinking of gifts for him.  One of the ladies asked if I work outside of the home and I said no, day care would cost more than what Kendall and I could bring home, plus I want to raise my kids myself.  She then asked where Kendall worked, well that opened a can of worms!  "Kendall, where do you work?"  I let her know he went to school to be an electrician but for know he works at the two factories in town when they need him. 

Next comes my favorite question: "How do you do it?"

I smile when asked this question simply because I can share my faith with others.   What a great opportunity to tell others of God's provisions!  How do we do it?  We don't, GOD DOES!  We're just along for the ride! 

I do, however, believe that the biggest learning tool has been contention.  Be content!  I've learned to discipline myself mentally and rework out the kinks in my upbringing and worldly ways.  The word "no" is a great tool for grownups as wells as children.  NO you don't need bigger and better.  NO your shoes are just fine stop comparing yourself to others!  NO our family car is paid off, be content! 

Seriously, how do I do it?  I enjoy it.  These children won't be children forever, Eleanor is already feeding herself!  Wasn't I just feeling her kicks and leaps in the womb just last month?  Ethan is learning simple addition, wasn't I rocking him to sleep in the recliner while reading "Brown Bear Brown Bear" just last summer? And I can't believe Ernest will be two soon, I remember walking around Joann fabrics trying to 'walk the baby out' while walking up and down every aisle at 41 weeks.

My husband is my truest friend.  Shouldn't I enjoy his company while the Lord allows me to?  I love this man, I want my focus to be towards him and enriching our marriage.  Too many times negativity and doubt wants to fill my brain on what tomorrow brings but nobody is garunteed tomorrow.  Today is the present.  If I can be in his presence, then I'm going to enjoy it!  Soak it up while it lasts! 

In a nutshell:

Since my husband's been layed off we've paid off our minivan, traveled to Texas and back, birthed two babies, and cut over half of our debt.  God is good and has never left us without the most basic of necessities.  My children see that garage sales and thrift stores have treasures waiting to be found and are content with what we bring home to them.  They appreciate the smallest toys and broken guns because it doesn't need to work in order for it to be an amazing laser gun in their imaginations.  Our family lives in a one bedroom apartment and we would like to some day own property, but it's all in God's timing.  I feel that living in such close quarters has brought my children closer together friendship wise because there aren't too many places to go with an enemy in the house, so you better get along! 

Our life isn't ideal, but by golly it's good.  Living simple means we are able to simply live and enjoy life!

Not tired

Go.  To.  Bed!

This is the apparent party going on in the toddler bed.  I hear the sounds of a motorcycle, a cow mooing, and someone (presumable Ernest) humming the ABC Song.

Good night.

Joyful praises on a park swing

He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips

with shouts of joy.

Job 8:21

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice!

Phililppians 4:4

Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the

trees of the forest rustle with praise

Psalm 96:12

Shout to the LORD, all the earth; break out in praise and

sing for joy!

Psalm 98:4

Let the godly sing for joy to the LORD; it is fitting for the

pure to praise him.

Psalm 33:1

A Fuzzodles Party

Did I even spell that correctly?  Fuzzoodles?  Fuzzodles?  What?

Fuzzoodles

I didn't understand how Fuzzoodles were a new concept.  To me, they were big fuzzy pipe cleaners.  The kind you can buy 20 for about three bucks, but fuzzier.

  The little girls had fun with the extras that came with the kit like the purses, shoes, and eyes.

 And the mom's had fun playing like kids.   

I'll call them... cute.

This scene of Ethan playing with them lasted for about seven minutes.  Then he was begging me to run around and play.  I'm pretty sure that if we were at home without all the friends and commotion, he would have lasted about twelve minutes.

Then the fuzzoodles would have become laser guided bullets followed by the words "POW!!!!".

They're so soft.

Food!  Look at those hungry little boys who needed to recharge their batteries.