He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

This is a photo from last summer and unfortunately not a winter beach destination as so many others are showing pictures of this month! It is uncle Dale Leister and Precious taking a maiden dip in the northern pacific ocean.  It was freezing cold but P didn't care.  The next day uncle Dale got her a wet suit too but for the purpose of this post, enjoy this photo with me.   What if we didn't know these two people......we could make up stories about father/daughter, teacher/student, allegories about man leading child into the big deep scary world,  etc.  Lots of stories could be told.   Today the photo is my visual lesson of this truth, spoken by God to me today.  Today I was able to have a little baby in my home for awhile.  Her mama was exhausted and done and needed sleep.  She allowed me to pack up her little girl and take her to my quiet, child-free home and just snuggle, and rock, and sing and be together.  She was trying to go to sleep, fighting it as babies sometim

Last night, Roger and I attended the Winter Pops Concert at Claire and Grace's Christian High School.  It was a fun even that celebrated the decades of music from the 1920's to the present...and the kids dressed up......band, orchestra, choir.....it was such a great concert.  We are so unbelievably blessed to have commitment to fine arts as well as sports in our little rural community.  My mom came to care for the rest of the kiddos so that Roger and I could actually sit and experience the show.  Thanks, Nana.  I would never want to live somewhere you are not...... One of the soloists of the night had his moment to shine, and perform.....in costume, and did a great job.  I know this boy.....I've known him for a long time.  He is a hard-worker and his are as well......he works at a local fast food place and manages being super smart and talented with making money at a minimum wage, teen ager job.....he is a very respectable kid.  As I watched him perform, my mind drifted

Ok folks.  I'm fuming a bit here.....Can you hear the hiss?  Can you see the steam coming from my ears?  Righteous indignation has visited my Wednesday.  Let me explain.  Tonight, Roger took the majority of the Kredit clan to church and typically, on Wednesday evenings Grace and Josiah and I hang out for a couple of hours in a quieter space.  He eats whatever sounds good for supper....I munch....and Grace makes Korean food that satisfies her body and soul.....and sometimes the house gets rather aromatic and that's ok.....but the other Kredits aren't used to the strong smells of garlic, sesame and fish and so I diffuse oils, clean up and smile as she eats the things she loves.  I am happy to accommodate her with food and try to find local things that she can make that are familiar. Tonight I commented on her very Asian dish she prepared and she said that she knows many, many students around the country who live with host families as she does.  Often, the students are not

My friend Liza has a great blog/website called One Word Life.  You should check it out.  She has been writing and looking at the world Perseverance.  This morning she asked for some ideas from moms about what perseverance looks like in parenting. My answer was that God gives me the love I need to feel and show every day to my children....in my own power, I would just be selfish and crabby and resentful most of the time.  God's love helps me persevere every single day as a mother. Love. Additionally, the affection we share here helps me to persevere.  Often in the mornings we are flying around trying to get out the door on time.  In the midst of the chaos, Jeremiah will come for a morning mama hug, even if I'm at the kitchen cooking eggs or in the bathroom brushing my teeth.  He loves morning hugs.  Isaac prefers them late afternoon, after his day away.  He will find me in the kitchen as I prepare dinner, heave a big 13 year old sigh and ask what's for dinner.  Then he

The journey

Life is full of so much hardship.  Regularly, I am asked to pray for families in marriage crisis, struggling with a decision about adoption, personal issues......and as a nurse I am technically a fixer.  God has shown me over time that it is my duty to walk beside people on their journey and not worry about fixing.......which is such a powerful gift of wisdom. This week alone I was hit hard by situations that are hard, painful, desperate.  My response again and again is this:  Turn to Jesus.  Fix your eyes on Him.  Find Him in your journey and let Him direct your path.  This takes time and emotional fortitude.  We must silence the other thoughts in our heads that seem to direct us and move us to decisions.....and we need to learn to sit in the quiet place of the moment and let God move....or shift.....or speak.....or just Be with us. Life as we know it is only a journey, nothing more.  We journey to our distiny in Jesus name and plan, and then we do the hard work of living that de

A common greeting seems to be this:  "Hi.  How are you?"  We answer one of two ways, typically.  Either we lie and say "good...and you?"  or we say "not great actually......" or something similar.  If we answer the second way, we need to weigh out whether the person greeting us really wants to hear how we are doing, or if they were just saying "hi".  Ya know? ok, ok.  Go ahead and ask.  Several people today greeted me with"hi!  how are you?"  I'll be honest I did a bit of each today.  Oh.  so you are asking?  Well.  Let me just tell you how I am......... Roger is out of town for work.  Both little kids slept with me and Josiah insisted (twice) to sleep between my legs.  I know, I know.  Why?!  It's his favorite spot.  It insures that Precious can not weasel her way between us.  The trouble is, he keeps the covers down there so I spend the night cold if I can't find a different blanket.  Precious was slammed up against

This week I had a couple days home during the week.  I got socked by a 24 hour flu bug and just layed on the couch for a day or two.  I watched daytime television which I NEVER do because I am either working or the kids have command of the remote.  Often, the tv is just not on in our home.  I am always drawn to the cooking shows, like Rachel Ray and the Pioneer Woman, and I found one that had cooks and home decorators and fashion experts on it.  I can't remember the name....The Chew maybe?  Anyway, I was all in on the food part, I was interested in the up and coming spring clothing fashions, and then the home interior guy came on.  He was talking about the challenge of post-Christmas interior decor.  I actually agree with this, even though I don't have the time or talent or money to spend on home decorating. I recently took down all the Christmas cards from friends and family.  I packed away the collection of Nativity scenes I put out first and keep out the longest in the Ch

The internet's definition says that the BBC Religion page describes Ash Wednesday and Lent as:  .....the beginning of Lent for Western Christian churches.  It's a day of penitence to clean the soul before the Lent fast........which is 46 days (minus the 6 Sundays) before Easter.  I am not a bible scholar but from what I understand it is more Christian tradition and religion than biblical law..... For a few years and seasons of my life, I made a list of 6 different comforts and took a week to live with out one at a time, and spent more time in prayer and communion with the Lord, preparing for Easter.  I remember specific and significant growth in my faith through this discipline.....fasting is an important Spiritual Discipline.  For me, if God asks me to fast, it is effective and I am successful.  A few years ago, I tried my "lenton fast" routine and failed miserably and was feeling ashamed and weak and pathetic and dumb.  I saught the Lord in my failure and clearly

I listened to this group daily as I drove to nursing school classes every day in the mid 1990s.....and I learned good scripture from them.  Thinking of this today as I rest......

Matthew 11:28 says this.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  I love this verse.  Christian mothers and fathers everywhere love this verse.  The Lord says, "come" and "rest" and we don't hear that from spouses or children or careers.  We hear this from the Heavenly Father who loves us....... "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Today, for me, that means a sick day.  Yesterday I worked all day, cared for my family, and came home.  At 5pm I hit a brick wall of fatigue and cold.  I had been out in the frigid post-blizzard Iowa winter all day, in and out of my car, in and out of homes and the office and clinic.  My feet were cold, my fingers were cold, my back ached.  I layed down and set my alarm for a 30 minute nap.  I don't typically nap.  I woke up feeling worse.....achy, chilly, exhausted.  We had a leftover dinner and then went to Isaac's Jr. High co

It's almost 11:30pm.  I want to go to bed but still need to get some moisturizer into Precious Maryn's hair.  That sounds crazy.  I understand.  We are hopefully going to have our friend Winnie put in fresh braids tomorrow after church.  She needs to confirm....and Precious needs to consent.  Tenuous. Our last braids have stayed in for 3 months.  They needed to come out....but when I take them out it sets the course for a difficult series of events.  It takes a couple hours to take them out....then there is the conditioning of natural hair, then a good washing....then setting up for having braids put back in which usually takes around 4 hours....and P has to agree to all of it....and she is usually, mostly, oppositional.  Until she will sit and let me fix and care for her hair on a daily basis, we have to do this regimen instead.  It is costly both in time and money......black hair is a big deal. Today, we got Isaac to his basketball tournament, Grace to viola lessons, mom

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When Claire was a baby, she woke up like clock work at 10pm, 2am and 6am.  I fed her, rocked her and she went back to sleep.  I learned to pray through my list of intercession during the night when I was awake. When Isaac was a baby, he was awake every hour all night long.  He wanted to nurse and he was fretful and uncomfortable.  I didn't have the gumption to pray through my list.....I learned to sleep with him on my chest..... When Jeremiah was a baby, he had nights where he just couldn't stay asleep.  He would cry, fret, fuss......and eventually I would take him to the couch and put on a movie and prop him up behind me....and try to sleep.  His favorite movie was called"  Because of Winn Dixie"....and I haven't watched that movie for almost a decade.  I miss it....and I almost miss those middle of the night dates with this sweet boy who is now almost a teen. When Precious was a baby, she was awake almost every hour, she only slept on my chest or in

We were using this term before we knew that it was common language with kids from hard places.  Meltdowns.  They have set the tone of our home for 6 years now, ever since Precious Maryn decided to start communicating with us.  Meltdowns are mysterious, dramatic, and surprising.  Every time.  Sometimes there are multiple meltdowns  throughout the day.  Meltdowns are exhausting.  Meltdowns happen without warning and are little explosions in the home that upset.....well....almost everything.....and almost everyone.  Meltdowns cannot be prevented. Maybe it is my lack of expertise or training or whatever....but for today......I am sticking with my statement.  Meltdowns cannot be prevented.  A meltdown may come because there are no buns in the house for a ham/pickle/chip sandwich.....or that the wrong kind of chips are in the cupboard......or that she woke up in the wrong bed.....or that someone else was on my lap.....or that the schedule changed because of weather or illness......or that