A Moment I Will Never Forget....

Someone recently asked about the title of my blog, so I thought that I would write a little bit about it. My Blog Title, "In Moments Like These" was inspired by a song I heard in college, a reminder that every moment that we have is special and unique, a gift from God to be cherished and treasured and remembered. The second part of the title "living every moment for Christ, no regrets" was inspired by a bumper sticker that I used to have on my sweet, run-down little Ford Escort that was my very first car. That bumper sticker pretty much sums up what I would like to say about my life. I'm sold out for Jesus....and I don't regret it. I probably haven't done the most excellent job of "living EVERY moment" for Him, but I do my best.

My husband and I this past weekend, got to experience an unforgettable moment, that came in the form of a concert . A very special concert. For those that know me best, they know that I have been a Michael W. Smith fan since the age of 15. For you math wizards out there....that's 20 years, folks. Dang, I'm getting old....but um....his music isn't. A few months ago, I had the rare treat to share a MWS concert with my mother in her home church. And I didn't think that it could get any better than having front row seats, which is where my mom and I sat that night.

Until last Saturday.Somehow....and I'm still not exactly sure how, we ended up in the pit at the 2010 Make a Difference Tour with MWJ, Toby Mac, Jason Gray, and Third Day at the Cajundome. I remember purchasing the tickets to the show online the day that they went up for sale, and clicked the "Best Available" option within a certain price range (it wasn't the upper end price range either) and paying for the tickets that day. Then the tickets layed on my desk for the next 2 months.

The night of the show...we hired a sitter, and having never ever left The Little Apple to be put to bed by someone other than a blood relative, we headed out the door. You can imagine the surprise on my face as we kept moving further and further forward into the Dome, and still not finding our seats. We finally asked someone for help finding our seats. He responded, "The reason you can't find your seats is because you don't have seats. You're in the pit. Here's your bracelets."

Um....excuse me? In the pit? Sir....I'm like 35 years old....I really don't think I belong in the pit at a Christian Rock Concert.

It was really an awesome concert....it might have even knocked about 10 years off my age. Maybe 20. Because I sure felt like 15 again dancing in the pit. Actually, he performed a song from about that long ago, too.

This guy only had to show up once to our section of the pit......I can't imagine why. But I had to take his picture anyway.

And I got to shake the hand of the guy that wrote and performed the songs that helped me through the darkest and brightest moments of my life.

And it's the Moments Like These that I never ever want to forget.

It's that time again.....

Just when I begin to feel at home somewhere, set down my roots, find good friends, and really start to sit back and enjoy my surroundings......

This comes.
The List.

And somehow, my husband and I are supposed to look at and prioritize this list of locations, and fill out a dream sheet. Yeah, this is how the Coast Guard helps you feel like you are in control of your own destiny....by letting you choose from a list and selecting where you want to go...when in actually, it's the Coast Guard that has the final say so. We HAVE TO go where they tell us to.

It seems so surreal.....3 little sheets of paper representing an entire uprooting of a family, packing up of boxes, and relocating to an entirely different part of the country. It's so difficult to look at a couple of sheets of paper, and know absolutely nothing about a place...you don't know anything about the people, the churches, the climate, the shopping, the homeschool groups, or what the future holds for you....yet you have to look at this list and go "Uh....yeah....that place looks good. Lets go there!"

If history repeats itself, we won't get most of these locations on this list. During our last transfer, none of our picks were a match for the detailer, so the detailer issued us a secondary list, and we put this place at the very bottom. Louisiana was the last place on earth that we wanted to go. Yet we ended up here anyhow. It's a good thing that God was looking out for our best interest and He knew exactly where to send us....otherwise, we would have ended up....well, anywhere but here!

I wish we could just fast forward to God's selection and just know where we were going.

Maybe if I post the list on a dart board and throw darts at it.....

Inuit carving....

Every other week in My Father's World, we explore a new country. We have already studied the United States and Mexico. This week, we are discovering Canada. And as lovely as it would be to just hop in a car and drive to Canada, like we used to do when we lived in Minnesota, that simply cannot happen. So, we are left exploring these places by book and by project.

This week's project is from Global Art and we did Inuit Carvings. The Inuit live in within and near the Arctic, stretching from the northeastern tip of Russia, across Alaska and Northern Canada, to Greenland. The Inuit carve in materials they find in their own environment such as wood, bone, animal teeth, and Ivory. Today, we carved in soap...because, well, I love elephants and wouldn't want to de-tusk one for a homeschool project. So we picked Ivory soap...

The Big Apple chose to make a seal.She drew a picture on her soap with a pencil, took her soap out on the back patio and carefully started carving her piece.
It took several tries and several bars of soap to get a feel for how the soap was going to be carved. More than once she mentioned that her soap carving didn't look anything like a seal. But finally, she fashioned something that she was happy with.

Then, she used some water so smooth out some of the wrinkled bumpy parts. Then she presented me with the finished product and asked me to blog about it.
Isn't it cute?

Middle Apple on two wheels.....

In another attempt to update everyone with our lives great events, I couldn't possibly leave out this HUGE accomplishment.

The Middle Apple has finally abandoned her training wheels and has learned to ride a 2 wheeler.Those that know my daughter best, know that this is not just any ordinary task for her. For her whole life, The Middle Apple has struggled with processing issues and multitasking. She will continue to have to struggle with these issues for the rest of her life, actually. The process of riding a bicycle involves so many different components....balance, visual processing, concentration, gross motor, not to mention her total fear of scraped knees and her very literal mind. A friend of hers had made the mistake of telling her that she had better watch out, or her brains would splat all over the street. For The Middle Apple, everything is very black and white.....there is no gray. If you tell her her brains will splat all over the street, she doesn't think you are joking.....she really visualizes her brains scattered all over the road.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband arrived home with a new bike for the Big Apple, and remarked to the Middle Apple that she would get a brand new bike as soon as she learned to ride on 2 wheels. That statement was just what she needed to hear to put her fears aside and put a look of determination on her face.She grabbed her bike, drug it out to the curb. I asked her if she wanted help. She said, "Just hold the bike up so I can get on it. Then let go."

I did just as she asked. I helped her arrange the pedals, then she got on and pushed off. She made it all the way to the stop sign before she realized that I wasn't holding the bike. And that I wasn't chasing her either. I was too busy standing there wiping the tears out of my eyes. It was indeed, a priceless moment that I had prayed for quite some time. I couldn't be more proud.

A few days later, my husband kept true to his promise. He woke The Middle Apple up and told her to get dressed. He told her that just the two of them were going out on a date. First they would go out for a special celebration breakfast, and then he would take her to town to buy that new bike he had promised her. I swear, the child's feet weren't touching the ground as she skipped out of the house holding her Daddy's hand, and wearing whatever clothes came out of the drawer first.

She came home with a shiny purple, black, and white bike. And her favorite part....she proudly proclaimed, "Mama! It has a kick stand....and NO TRAINING WHEELS"

So proud of my girl.