God's To-Do list for YOU!

Day 3:

Today, we finally got some good time in our school room to read books.  Our day started with language tutoring (when I read this back to myself I thought I had written "language torturing" and almost had a cat), then lunch, then Doug went to pick up food for bible study tonight.

Lunch at 39 Baht Steak, we eat here a lot.  The food is about $1 a plate. Doug's food is pictured, it's Pat Prick Paow.

While Doug was gone and the kids and I were doing school work, I discovered a fabulous thing!  I recorded myself reading a few of Kees's favorite stories on the Voxer app and included a picture from each one, so Kees could select the one he wanted.  This is one of the better ideas I've had, especially when I have two kids who would very much like to have ALL my time and attention.  So, I'd read Kees a book (and record it), then he'd listen to it again, while I read Kora one of her books.  I was even able to run into the house to put my bread in the oven (Here is the recipe) and got some clothes hung out to dry.  It's a whole new world!  Of course, I'd never stop reading to my kids live and in person, no matter how much Kees loves using the ipod for story time, because that's when Momma gets her snuggles!

I even mixed up the dry ingredients for the next few times I want to make bread!

In our school room, Kees was hot from playing outside and said, "I'm gonna read in front of this fan!"

After school time was over (Kora needed a nap and Kees was starving), we came back over to the house.  Kora took a short nap, then woke up and we had another snack.  We eat a lot at our house.  I have an ever present panic brewing beneath the surface that if I don't eat soon I will starve.  I'm convinced I'm Super Mom and my kryptonite is not eating often enough. So, every couple hours, we're snacking.  The second snack we had was pineapple and watermelon.  Another awesome feature about Thailand, cheap fruit.  We pay about 10 baht (around 35 cents) for a bag of fruit already cut up and it usually lasts a couple of snack breaks for the whole family.

Kees was excited about the fruit, Kora shoveled that fruit in so fast, it makes me think I've passed on my fear of impending starvation.

As the kids were finishing up their snack, I decided to make some "Malt Ball" since we ran out this morning.  "Malt Ball" is an institution in our house.  If there is no "Malt Ball" for breakfast, the people will riot, and the world might come to an end.  "Malt Ball" is how Kees used to say "Oat Balls" which was the shortened version of "Oatmeal Powerballs", the original name of the recipe.  It's 4 ingredients: peanut butter, honey, oats, and chocolate.  Kees eats it every morning for breakfast and so do I.  It's amazing to eat with plain yogurt.  You can find the recipe here. (P.S. I cut the chocolate in half, and I've even used the unsweetened cocoa mass in place of chocolate chips to make it sugar-free).

Making "Malt Balls", Kees usually helps make it, while Kora helps by "re-arranging" the kitchen. She found some jello mix today and started gnawing the corners.  Mark my words, next week I'll be blogging saying there is a mouse gnawing on stuff in our kitchen cause I'll forget it was actually Kora.  If and when that happens, please, someone, correct me! Oh and technically I think you are supposed to spoon out the "malt ball" stuff and eat it like balls, but we're lazy and just keep it in a giant jar and spoon it out as needed.  So there you go!

Tonight we were able to host cell group at our place.  We started off with songs.  Kora, of course, loved the music and danced for all of us. We sang Easter songs, so I recognized the tunes.

Singing AND Dancing!

Doug shared his testimony IN THAI, and guess what, I can understand his Thai so much better than actual Thai people (too bad that's not the goal).  And if you know Doug, you know he's not very chatty.  I was so proud of him for talking so long, it was at least 10 minutes.    I am so incredibly blessed by his example.  Hoping and praying that someday I will be able to share as well as he did. 

Doug sharing his testimony, I took this picture right after the really good part, where he CRIED...Doug never cries, he started laughing when he realized I had the camera out.  I love this picture because you can see the tear and that smile is worth a million bucks!

After singing and Doug's testimony, we had a time of prayer.  I snuck into the kitchen to warm up the hot dog thingys that go with the Vietnamese food, and I didn't even blow a fuse this time. (Last time we hosted, the electricity went out because I can't run too many appliances at once.)  When the meeting was over, we sat on the floor and ate yummy food.  It was around 9 pm by the time we ate.  I mentioned earlier that we eat a lot around here, and I was NOT exaggerating (although I've been told I'm prone to doing that, so you gotta watch me).  Earlier, around 5, Doug came into the dining room, where the kids and I were already eating a snack and said, "So, you weren't planning on eating anything else between now and cell group tonight, were you?"  He acts like we had an arranged marriage and just met yesterday, of course I'm planning to eat between now and then, are you kidding me?  I think I said, "Yeah, I'm gonna eat!"  So I made cheesy eggs, rice, and cucumber with a side of fresh salsa.  Doug didn't eat, he's so anti-social, or dieting or some nonsense like that.  After dinner I went ahead and got the kids showered and jammied, so they'd be ready for nigh-nigh when everyone left.  Sometimes I'm so smart, it's scary.

Eating Vietnamese food.

Which brings me to my good word of the day.  Since we ate around 7 times today, I felt like I swept the dining room and wiped the table about 49 times.  Which made me think of how a mother's work is never done.  I have the tendency to get a little over the top or slightly obsessive when it comes to certain things, like the laundry.  It drives me bananas to have dirty clothes in the hamper, I blame my dad.  He was always swooping up dirty clothes and returning them to you folded neatly before you even realized you'd changed clothes.  He probably blames the military...but that's another story, for another day.  So, even when I just have two white shirts, it KILLS me to wait for a load.  I just want it all to be done, like RIGHT NOW!  As I was washing dishes for the 73rd time, it struck me that our Christian life is like that too.  It's never done, until you're dead.  God has something for us to do, every single day.  And there are no excuses or days off.  As believers, we absolutely have an impact on people, good or bad, and we can't just take a day off either.  Not gonna lie, that makes me a little cranky.  I'm already so obsessive about housework and my kids being clean, now my brain has added being a super Christian all the time. That's a lot of stinkin' pressure. Sometimes, I just want a whole day to myself to watch tv, read a book, eat a pile of chocolate frosting stashed from a grossified cake, and maybe be really opinionated on facebook and bless everyone with my REAL opinions on things.  But my outlook is wrong, isn't it?  When I start thinking about what I should have, and how I want things to be, I neglect to seek the holy spirit and what he'd have me do.  And I will say, when we walk in the spirit and truly seek God's plan for our day, the rewards are far greater than "letting loose".  Those things would be so rewarding in the moment, but the consequences wouldn't be as great.  Let's face it, I've already got about 3 chins, and if I eat much more frosting this week, that number may double.  So, it takes self-discipline, but it also takes a little bit of resting in Christ.  Because it's not all about checking things off the list or having a completely empty hamper or acting a certain way to appear holy.  It's more about nurturing our relationship with Jesus, so he can show us what he wants from us today, not tomorrow, today.  So there it is, what would God have you do today, what would he have you say? Where has your focus been this morning (or evening), does it honor our father in heaven?  Will it draw others to HIM?  The bible says, "they will know we are Christians by our love".  And that's what I strive for.  Not to love people in my limited understanding of the word, but to allow Christ to reign freely, so his love will also rain freely.  (Did you like that, reign/rain?  I think my sister will enjoy that one!)  I guess what I'm trying to say, somewhat unsuccessfully, is that, "Whether it's housework or God's work, it's never done, so don't rush it!  Do what's right in front of you and rest in Christ.  Those details really aren't as important as we make them out to be.  Sometimes what we think is so urgent, doesn't even rank on God's "to-do" list for our day, so let's trust him, with ALL of it!" (Probably should block this blog, because Doug's gonna quote me tomorrow when I get all over the top about something...)

Okay, this is a random picture from today, Kees came into the house and said, "Momma, Kora's on the table!"  So, now I moved the chairs and bench away from the table, so she can't do this anymore.

Just remembered this, earlier today, I had just sent my kids out to play and kicked my feet up to do my Thai listening collection, and wouldn't you know, our neighbor lady showed up.  That's right, I'm the fat falong sittin' in my house ignoring my kids, listening to who knows what (at least Kora wasn't sitting on top of the table when she showed up).  I was kind of annoyed, but for once, I actually just got up, did my best to talk to her and reminded myself, that I am in fact a good mother most of the time.  I didn't let it get to me.  It meant I only got about 5 minutes of language listening, but I got to practice my Thai with her, and guess what, I listened to Thai later in the day (like right now while I'm blogging) and I still got plenty of study time.  So, flexibility is something I'm still learning, even at the OLD age of 30.  I'm thankful God keeps allowing interruptions to my well thought out plans because it reminds me that my plans should always be in line with HIS.