Priority Concern

I have recently discovered that a baseball card sold for approximately $2.35 million. Yep. For a baseball card. Don't believe me? Check this out. It's a 1909 Honus Wagner. Described as the "Holy Grail" of baseball cards.

Why does this bother me at all? It's the buyer's money, right? It's his interest, obviously -- his passion. After all, baseball is the American pastime. It's healthy (if you ignore the steroids). My own children play baseball at our local park. I have nothing at all against baseball. And I have an attic full of baseball cards -- my husband collected them like mad as a child. So, I have nothing against baseball cards. I just think that this shows how out of whack our American priorities are.

Why? Well, let's have a little history lesson. The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. It was actually signed on July 2, not July 4, FYI. We've been celebrating the wrong date for 231 years. John Quincy Adams was one of its biggest supporters. In 1820, this venerable man became distressed at how quickly the original Declaration was deteriorating, due to handling and exposure to the elements during viewing. He had issued 200 authorized copies issued, so that the original could be preserved. Thirty-one copies are known to still exist. A copy came to light earlier this week. Its estimated value? $250,000.

Our priorities are off.

Another year

Well, it's time for another birthday ode. My biggest little man, Joshua, turned seven years old today.

I struggled with being a mom when Josh was first born. (See here for some background.) It was not an easy time for me, for Nate, or for Josh. But today, as I looked at that little boy -- who is not so little anymore -- I have never been more grateful to have him in my life.

Josh, you are my serious, even-tempered little man. I can always count on you to help me, to be responsible and mature. You are seven, going on fifteen.

But you are also mischievous, and you love to jump out from behind the door and scare me. You tell me all your secrets, and your daddy and I are your favorite people in the whole world. You are never embarrassed or ashamed to tell someone I am your mama, and you love me.

You are growing up so fast, Josh. I can't believe you're seven. I must admit, tonight I am a little teary-eyed to think of how quickly today has come, and how much more quickly tomorrow gets here every day. But now, in this medium, with the only words I have, I want to tell you this: I love you, little man. I love your smile, your heart, your beautiful blue eyes. Never, ever doubt for one minute that your mama loves you, and that I thank God for you every, single day.

Happy Birthday.

Love,

Mommy

A rare moment of prudence

Blaine: You know, Mama, maybe I shouldn't try to do jumping jacks while I'm standing on this chair.

Good plan, son. Good plan.

The death of a church

I am sad tonight. A church I know and love (not the one I attend, but the one we used to) is dying. They have rejected the truth, they have rejected a Godly pastor, and they are hell-bent on having things their way. Not everyone in the church has this heart, of course. There are good and Godly people who call this church their home. However, they are out-maneuvered, out-powered and out-voted (congregational rule sucks) by those who insist it is "their" church. Christ is not going to argue with them about that. They want it to be "their" church, and the Lord has willingly left them to it. You walk in the building, and it's cold. There is no love, there is no friendship. There is only who said what to whom and about whom. There is only who is sitting in whose pew; who sits where in the choir loft; who leads what committee.

My heart breaks for the good people -- for my mom and dad, who still attend; for Nate's dad and step-mom; for the few other families I have known all my life who love the Lord and want to do His will. My heart breaks for Randy and his wife Lisa, his mom Dolly, his girls Abby and Becca. They uprooted their entire family and moved here from Kentucky under false pretenses. They were called to pastor, when this group of people only wanted a preacher. They wanted things their way, but to have someone to give the sermon on Sunday mornings so they could say they "did church."

I believe that the Lord has shown me the future of this church. No, I am not going crazy or new-age. But I believe that the doors of this church will close in the future. I don't know when, but I know it is going to happen. And it breaks my heart. However, the Church is the body of Christ, the people in whose hearts Christ resides -- and they are leaving that building in droves already.

We're baaa-aack

Watch out, everyone, the Rexrode boys are back in town!! And so am I, by default. I tend to go where they go. Damage control, I suppose.

We had a great time. Really. It was fabulous. However, I am seriously in need of a vacation. No one should ever look at a trip to DisneyWorld, complete with 13 hour drive, as a relaxing vacation. The boys were good, really. Well, sort of. Kind of. Okay, not really. The older two were acceptable, but the littlest was -- not. Details will come in a future post (which I have already written in my head), detailing my concerns about this little one, but suffice it to say it was a challenging week, behavior-wise. However, now that we are back home, our life will be settling back into a routine.

I do need to find the boys' floor. They came home with an insane amount of over-priced Disney memorabilia. We are not clutter people; having five people and a dog in approximately 1,000 sq. ft of space tends to make a family stay pretty much to the basics. However, given the circumstances of the payment for this trip, and the instructions of my mother-in-law and Nate's aunt and uncle to make this the trip of a lifetime, we went a bit wild with the toys. We barely fit it all in the car to bring it home, and now I am seriously wondering where it is all going to go.

So, nothing deep or philisophical from me today. I'm too relieved to be home, too appreciative of my regular hum-drum existence, and far too ready for the next women's conference at my church to come up with something profound. For your information, the no children, no husband over-night trip takes place in thirty-one days. And counting.

Dana

Where are we going?

Well, this is an open-ended question. Spiritually, metaphorically speaking, I hope that my family and I are growing toward the Lord. I hope we are moving in a positive direction, and making a real impact.

Physically and in a more literal sense, we are going to DisneyWorld. Apparently, Nate's grandfather had an unexpressed but very intense desire to take Nate to DisneyWorld when he was a child. However, due to his health and his wife's death, he was never able to. So, when he passed away and his estate settled recently, the family decided it would be a fitting use of the estate funds to send us to DisneyWorld. For free. Everything is paid for, and I do mean everything!! Food, tickets, spending $$, gas $$, accommodations. This is a huge gift to our family.

The downside -- three children six and under in a major theme park, and a 13 hour drive. However, given the tremendous opportunity which our wallets would likely never have supported independently, we are going to deal with those negatives and have a fantastic time!!

So, as we are leaving tomorrow, it is highly unlikely I'll be posting until we get back. :)

So, see y'all in a week! I'll post fabulous pictures!!!

Dana

Child Rearing Philosophies

I went to a Super Bowl party last night with a lot of family and friends. We had a really good time, and the boys were very well behaved.

Among the guests at this event were two couples with teeny infants. Aside from the voracious baby lust that someone else's smiling, happy, clean-smelling infant inspires in every female, (and don't even try to deny it), these little ones brought thoughts to my mind of different ways of raising children. Now, these two couples and my husband and I have certain similarities. We are all Christians, and we are raising our children in Christian homes. We are all rabidly Republican, and extraordinarily conservative. Two of the three families have stay at home moms, and the other mom and dad work part-time so their son is only in daycare three days a week -- with me, actually. :)

But there are also extreme differences, as in every family. We talked a little about that last night, about our different child-rearing philosophies. I am a very laid back mom, much more so than these two moms at this point. I must say, however, in my defense, that by the time they have three boys aged 6, 5 and 3 (an impossibility in one case, as they already have a daughter . . .), they will not react to screams and loud thumps as quickly, either.

So, I have decided to set forth some of my child-rearing philosophies:

1) If it is part of a healthy breakfast, it is equally acceptable as part of a healthy dinner.

2) If a child is old enough to take it out, said child is old enough to put it back.

3) Going down the slip and slide can substitute for a bath, when you are running late.

4) Artwork can be thrown away. Really. It's okay. Try not to let the kid see it, and traumatize them, but there is only so much space available.

5) It is perfectly fine for the clothing you choose to get dressed in to be a pair of footie pajamas, if we're not going to town today.

6) If a child is happy in what they are wearing, and it is seasonally appropriate, it is all good. It doesn't matter if it "matches." Who determines what "matches," anyway?

7) There are times when locking children on the back porch to give Mom a minute of peace and quiet is really in their best interests.

8) There is a constitutional amendment needed badly in this country, which would require that every mother be permitted to pee without company at least once per day.

9) Children aren't that fragile, physically. It takes a lot to break a kid -- I haven't broken one yet!!

10) Children are a lot more fragile than you think, emotionally and spiritually. Handle that part with care.