Mommy Brain

My husband Kevin was the last one to fall to this nasty virus this week. He spent most of the weekend in bed or playing on his computer with the basement heat cranked way up. Then last night Noah woke up with a fever and earache. I took him in to the doctor this afternoon, and sure enough, ear infections in both ears. AAAAAAARGH! I’m tired of being sick and tired of being patient with sick cranky kids and husbands!
On a totally different topic, my husband and I watched the movie “The Forgotten” Friday night. Good movie, and I don’t want to give anything away — the plot has some good twists. But at the beginning the main character, a Mom whose child has died, is shown grieving over him constantly. Watching videos, looking at pictures, anything that will keep her connected to her son. I can imagine doing the same things if it was me. But my husband said something that made me think. He said, “That must be what it’s like to lose someone when you don’t have any hope of heaven.” She was more than just grief-stricken, she was full of utter despair and hopelessness. How horrible to think that your child is gone and you will NEVER see him or her again. Thank God that believers have a promise that they will see their loved ones again. Without that, I think the grief would be enough to kill you.
Don’t want to end on a totally sad note, so I’ll throw in this week’s Monday Madness. Hopefully this week will get back to normal and I’ll be able to start posting every day.
Carrie
DVD’s
1. Are you more likely to rent or buy DVD’s (VHS’s)? Why? definitely rent first unless I’ve seen it in a theater and know I want it. Always DVDs now — so much easier to store.
2. If you rent DVD’s, do you bother viewing the ‘Behind the Scenes’ or watching the entire movie again with commentary on? Since I’m a movie/entertainment nut, I almost always watch the behind the scenes and special features. I don’t re-watch the movie with the commentary on, though.
3. Do you think these features warrant the extra cost for DVD? (Afterall, we were able to buy new release VHS for $9.99 prior to DVD). I’m willing to pay more for DVDs cause they take up so much less space to store.
4. What’s your favorite DVD (or VHS) in:*Drama*Comedy*Action*Suspense/Thriller*Horror too many to name — I’m not into Horror at all, but some of my favorites are Gladiator, Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, Shrek, and it goes on and on.

I heard the song Letters From War by Mark Schultz today. I can’t hear this song without crying and thinking of my friend Terry whose son is stationed in Iraq. We’ve cried and prayed together so many times. She’s afraid for his safety and for the things he’s seen. Worried about how he and his wife will fit back together after he returns in March. And also scared because there’s no guarantee he won’t be going back again. But through all of our conversations, she says, “I know God is faithful, even if He doesn’t keep Will safe. I can’t think that just because I’m praying, everything will turn out the way I want it to. There have been many men killed and I’m sure many of their parents were praying, too. I have to know that my hope lies in God, not in the outcome that I want.” That is faith. Her faith is being refined by fire in a way many people will never know. I pray if the time comes that I am tested that way, that my faith will come through strong and unwavering.

Letters From War

She walked to the mailbox
On that bright summer’s day
Found a letter from her son
In a war far away
He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he’d made
Said I’ve been thinking ’bout Dad
And the life that he had
That’s why I’m here today
And then at the end he said
You are what I’m fighting for
It was the first of his letters from war

She started writing you’re good
And you’re brave
What a father that you’ll be someday
Make it home make it safe
She wrote ev’ry night as she prayed

And late in December
A day she’ll not forget
Oh her tears stained the paper
With ev’ry word that she read
It said I was up on a hill
I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out
And bombs were exploding
That’s when I saw him
He came back for me
And though he was captured
A man set me free
And that man was your son
He asked me to write to you
I told him I would oh I swore
It was the last of the letters from war
And she prayed he was living
Kept on believing
And wrote ev’ry night just to say

You are good
And you’re brave
What a father that you’ll be someday
Make it home make it safe
Still she kept writing each day

And then two years later
Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand
He said Mom I’m following orders
From all of your letters
And I’ve come home again
He ran in to hold her
And dropped all his bags on the floor
Holding all of her letters from war

Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home

By Cindy Morgan and Mark Schultz
© 2003 Word Music, Inc.

Peace,
Carrie

Well, I’m going to try this again. I just spent about an hour posting and then when I hit the Spell Check button, I lost my entire entry due to a database problem at LiveJournal. Guess I learned my lesson – from now one I will write in Word and save first before I try to post. I think I’m finally re-entering the land of the living. At least I don’t feel like I want to crawl under a rock and die any longer. I even managed to homeschool Nan this morning. Noah still isn’t feeling great, so he just laid on the couch and vegged instead.
My weekend was spent resting and doing pretty much nothing. Kevin got up both mornings with the kids so I was able to sleep until the ibuprofen wore off and I was awakened by the pounding in my head and aching in my joints. I did get a good portion of a baby blanket crocheted for a friend of mine. I also finished At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols. All of her books have been very good, but I think this is the best so far.
One of the main questions of the story is “Why?” Why does God allow or cause bad things to happen in our lives? Why doesn’t he stop us from making choices that lead to horrible consequences? Why doesn’t he protect us from all evil? At one point the main character, Annie, is asking God these very questions. Here is what follows:
“And even as she voiced those accusations, the realization began to dawn that there would be no end of these whys. They would reach back generations and eons. Each question would lead to another and another until there was only a man and a woman in a garden and a forbidden tree. That first poisonous choice had led to the next and the next, beginning a cascade of death and sorrow and destruction that continued until now.”
I thought this was especially pertinent since so many people have been asking “Why, God?” about the tsunami. The other book I’m currently reading, Heaven by Randy Alcorn, also addresses this idea. All of creation was affected by man’s decision to sin and the resulting curse. God never intended for earth to experience death and destruction – sin introduced these things into a perfect creation. The awesome thing is that God intends to redeem ALL of creation. I could go on and on about all the things I’m learning from Mr. Alcorn’s book, but I’ll save that for another day! It is definitely a book that all Christians should read.
That’s all for today – I have a ton of laundry and housework to catch up on if I can summon the energy. I will end with Monday Madness, which you can find at http://mmadness.blogspot.com/.
What do you think of when you see the following colors? (You may write as many words as you like.)
1. White: snow, forgiveness, purity, heaven
2. Yellow: sunflowers, daffodils, buttercups, dandelions
3. Blue: baby boys, starry skies, depth, Finding Nemo
4. Black: depression, void, evil
5. Green: growth, vibrancy, new life, jungles
6. Red: we just watched “The Village” last night – it’s the bad color!
7. Purple: humor, creativity, character
8. Pink: my daughter Natalie
9. Brown: earth, fertility
10. Gray: rain, the sky outside right now

Have a good day!Carrie
Current reading: Heaven by Randy Alcorn and Eyes of Elisha by Brandilyn Collins

Well, I’m still feeling pretty rotten, and have no strength to put words down. Instead of a journal entry, I’m going to post a Friday’s Feast from http://fridaysfeast.blogspot.com/.
Appetizer - What is one quality you really admire about yourself?
My compassion and ability to listen.
Soup - What kind of shampoo and conditioner do you use?
Suave Humectant — it’s a fake of a salon shampoo — can’t remember which one — much cheaper and works fine.
Salad - Describe your favorite movie scene. You know, the one that just gets to you every time you watch it.
I was just discussing this with my husband the other night — I’m a sucker for romantic movies. I told him he should make me a DVD with the endings of all the great romances: Richard Gere sweeping Debra Winger off her feet in “An Officer and a Gentleman”, Richard Gere climbing the fire escape to rescue Julia Roberts and she “rescues him right back” in “Pretty Woman”, Adam Sandler singing “I Wanna Be the One Who Grows Old With You” to Drew Barrymore in “The Wedding Singer”, the scene on the Empire State Building in “Sleepless in Seattle” — oh I could go on and on and on….
Main Course - If you were a veggie, which one would you be, and why?
A potato — I know, I know, it’s not really a veggie, but it makes me feel better to believe it is!
Dessert - If you could take a weekend trip within 100 miles of your current residence, where would you like to go?
I’m not sure if it’s within 100 miles, but Nelson, B.C. I live in Northeast Washington State, and people are always telling me how great Nelson is.
Check out the Friday’s Feast website for other people’s answers to these fascinating questions!
Have a great weekend!Carrie

Murphy’s law: the week you are the busiest is the week everyone will get sick. This is what my week was supposed to be like: baby shower Tuesday night, Home Group Wednesday night, Worship practice Thursday night, my friend Heidi’s daughter’s birthday party Friday night, indoor water park in Canada with my husband and kids Saturday, and leading worship for two services Sunday morning. As of yesterday, we bagged the Canada trip, since Noah got sick and this bug seems to last at least a week. I skipped the baby shower Tuesday night cause I knew the rest of the week was going to be crazy. I called my mom this morning, and she graciously agreed to lead worship in my place. This afternoon I will be calling my friend Heidi and asking if her husband could pick up my daughter Natalie for the birthday party, since I won’t be attending for fear of exposing others to this wretched plague! Depressing, huh? I started feeling yucky last night while watching American Idol, and it wasn’t just out of pity for the people who have delusions of talent and have their hopes trounced by Simon, Paula, and Randy. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling achy, sneezy, grumpy — sounds like a scene from Snow White, huh? Anyway, I’m doing nothing today except what I have to do to keep my kids fed and happy. On a positive note, I’ll have lots of time to crochet the baby afghan I’m working on for a friend, to get caught up on the Lost episodes my Dad records for me since we don’t have cable and can only tune in Fox with our antenna, and to read.
Health and Rest, Carrie
Current reading: “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn and “At the Scent of Water” by Linda Nichols

Well, I think this week is pretty much shot for homeschooling. Noah caught the bug last night, and doesn’t feel like doing school. Natalie is probably okay enough to do it, but still very cranky and I’m not sure I want to put myself through that! Because I plan our lessons out weeks in advance, it is actually easier to just switch the dates a week ahead than to try and scoot each day’s lessons a couple ahead, if that makes any sense. Oh, well, Natalie is reading like crazy cause she doesn’t feel like doing anything else, and she wrote a letter to a friend yesterday — that counts as Language, right? Plus we watched “Skylark”, the sequel to “Sarah, Plain and Tall” so that counts as history. Watching the movies has been a reward for Natalie for reading all three books in the trilogy. I’ve found that if she’s seen a movie, she doesn’t want to read the book — which makes me really wish I hadn’t bought “Stuart Little” on DVD for the kids! From now on, we’ll read the book first!
Speaking of books, I just finished “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger, and it was excellent. I was disappointd when I couldn’t find anything else by him listed at Amazon — this must have been his first novel. Here’s an example of his craftsmanship, a description of the main character Reuben, riding horseback with his brother Davy:
“Cresting a long hill we stopped a moment while Fry blew and stooped and clipped at the snow as though for a browse. I let go of Davy to sit straight. I can’t describe what we saw. Here was the whole dizzying sky bowled up over us. We were inside the sky. It didn’t make the stars any closer, only clearer. They burned yellow and white, and some of them changed to a blue or a cold green or orange — Swede should’ve been there, she’d have had words. She’d have known that orange to be volcanic or forgestruck or a pinprick between our blackened world and one the color of sunsets. I thought of God making it all, picking up handfuls of whatever material, iron and other stuff, rolling it in His fingers like nubby wheat. The picture I had was of God taking these rough pellets by the handful and casting them gently, like a man planting. Look at the Milky Way. It has that pattern, doesn’t it, of having been cast there by the back-and-forward sweep of His arm?
“‘Up Fry,’ Davy said. ‘Let’s go. Rube, it’s pretty, isn’t it?’
“I was pleased — it was okay to talk. ‘Do you picture God tossing them out there like that or setting them up one by one?’
“We were heading downslope, a more comfortable job.
“‘Are you waxing poetic on me now?’ Davy said.
“‘No — I don’t think so.’
“‘Well, you’re waxing something.’”
Enger creates pictures with his words — I want to write like that. This book was beautiful and haunting, and I was sad to turn the last page.
Carrie
Current reading: “Mom’s Everything Book For Daughters” by Becky Freeman, and “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn