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

I was awake early this morning before the rest of the household began to stir....except for Claire who had just left at 6am for early dance team practice.  I sat in the silence of my morning and began to pray for my children by name, and my husband, and our home, and whatever else came to mind:  friends, family, relationships, activities........and then the household of humans and dogs began to move around.  Lights came on....showers started.....talking.....singing....and some crying.  Mondays are always hard.  Precious, especially, woke up on the wrong side of her brain again today and it was pretty nasty here this morning, trying to get her regulated and to school on time.  I'm so glad I started with prayer before she woke up.  Note to self.......do this again tomorrow. After feeding the nest of birds here and taking Grace to the bus stop, Josiah to daycare, Precious to school because she decided last minute she couldn't ride the bus, and wishing ...

I took this photo in Washington at the bible camp.  It was early morning on the day we would leave the reunion.  I took some time with my cup of coffee and my camera and my Lord and prayed my walk around the beautiful gardens.....There was the entrance gate, shrouded with leaves and vines....and the stone path, and the 2-person swing in the distance and it was as if the Lord Himself was saying something like this. "Come through this narrow gate and walk this path and when you see a place to rest, sit with me.  Rock and sway and breathe deeply and notice the beauty all around you....feel the warmth of the sunrise and the wet dew on the grass....hear the birdsong and the laughter of family.....smell the amazing flowers.....see the beauty of my world....taste the wonder of this created world and the anticipation of more wonderful things to come..... Today, I'm not at the bible camp in Washington.  I'm home with my busy family and my job and my home.....and still....

Sometimes parenting is a crap shoot.  I've never actually participated in a crap shoot, but I think it means something like shooting blind, a shot in the dark......etc.  You get the point. Last night, Isaac came to my bedroom long after dark and said, "can I talk to you mom?"....and he began to cry.  He doesn't yet read the blog, so please don't tell him I told you (all).....he wanted to quit football.  After 2 days.  He hated it....it was too hard.....he was slow and the coach made everyone run more because he wasn't keeping up......etc.  Isaac has always loved football.  He is good at football.  I didn't know what to say.  I held him and stroked his head and tried to brainstorm ideas that would help but after he had cried out his frustration I just told him to crawl in bed with me and Joe Joe.....and sleep.  He did.  At 4:30am, Precious came in because she had peed the bed and needed help.  I don't exactly know where Roger...

Today was a rather long day.  It was supposed to be, I guess, since it was the official last day of summer vacation for the kids.  Tomorrow they go to school.  I am so ready to have them back in school again!  I feel as if tomorrow, I get my house back.....and sort of....get my life back.  I was very intentional this summer to be home and present as much as possible and work as little as possible so I could savor these long, lazy days of summer.  I think I did a great job......at my own expense.  I am back-logged at work like crazy.  My carpets are in desperate need of cleaning......and I am really tired of going for groceries every other day. I am in a moral conflict tonight.  I see all these other moms who are my friends and they are just aching and sad about summer being over and having to send their kids to school......that's what good moms should feel, right?  I really do think I'm a good mom.  I cannot wait for tomorrow! ...

Yesterday when Claire got off work, she and a friend went to a nail salon to get manicures.  There is an energy among us this week, to do some special things to declare the end of summer and beginning of a school year.....Roger took the boys to get a new outfit for school and out for dinner and laser tag last night for that same purpose.....and Precious is getting invited to play with lots of friends this weekend.  Grace is waking up from jet lag....and feeling the same energy.  Claire showed her the mani when we were fixing dinner last night and Grace oohed and aahed.....and asked if she could paint her nails.  Claire gave her the basket of supplies we have here and Grace sat at the dining room table after dinner looking over her options. I have mentioned before that I wish my dining room table could talk.  If I ever write a book it may be about what this table would say.....but for tonight.....the blog will have to do.  Grace tested out a dozen differe...

I collected change this summer for my friends in India at Sarah's Covenant Homes.  Lots of friends and family gave me baggies and jars and cups of change to send and this morning we finally sent the check.  $500.00!  My first collection was $300....and the second was $400.....and even a month ago, there was $500 in the account but I was just busy and didn't get a check to the bank until today when Roger helped me do it online.  Thank you so much to everyone who is contributing to this effort!  It is a quiet little ministry here in Iowa.....but when I send a check to India.....sometimes it pays for part of a medical bill for a child who was previously orphaned but now has a home at SCH.  Sometimes it pays a school bill.  Sometimes it pays for food.  Yes.  Food.  Pennies can do that.   God watched me begin the process to adopt our first non-bio child 7 years ago and while we were praying and planning and preparing for her, He le...

This song called "I Won't Give Up On Us"....has been my theme song for my relationship with Precious Maryn for a few years now.  I sometimes play it when we have had a hard day....but today it was her birthday and I heard it playing on the speakers at the mall.  We were in the restroom and she had her friends out for her birthday and we were all laughing and talking and they all had their bears from the Build A Bear store..... I said to her, "listen, Precious.....this is our song!"  and she very dramatically mouthed the words.....she's heard me play it a few times. Today was such a great day.....we celebrated Precious all day long with friends and family and food and gifts and fun.....

This feisty little girl has a birthday tomorrow.  She cannot wait.  Turning 6 is a really big deal.  She's not a baby any more....she grows more complex and sophisticated and interesting with every year she lives.  I cannot fathom life without this child.  She replaced anything empty or meaningless in my life  with a yearning and seeking and loving I would have never known without her.  Cannot wait to celebrate her life tomorrow on her special day......hope you find it to be a happy, happy birthday Precious Maryn Kredit.  I love you more than any words I can ever find to write.  Enjoy sleeping downstairs with the boys tonight.  It was good of them to say "yes" to your request.  Hopefully I can find something to wrap your gifts in before you wake up.  I could have sworn I had a roll of happy birthday wrapping paper in the hall closet.....but no.  such.  luck.  Anyway.  Tomorrow's gonna be great cuz its al...

This little buddy is just my heart's greatest joy.  He really is....and when he is mad or sad or hurting I wish I could just take it all away from him and put it on me.  Anything.  Anything for that sweet cuddly smile.  Last Saturday evening, Josiah stepped on a small bit of broken glass that we missed after cleaning up a broken casserole dish.  He yelped and screamed and cried and bled.  I treated his sore foot and we went to bed.  Sunday he couldn't wear a shoe or stand on the foot so I carried him around all day because only mom will do when a little 2 year old is hurting....and he even asked for motrin about every 4 hours.  This from the boy who hates medicine.  Monday he could walk on tip toes without pain relief so we tried some home remedies.....I made a doctor appt and then cancelled it.....Tuesday he went to daycare and happily played.....on tip toes.  Wednesday, the same.  This morning he woke up and his bandage was stil...

Oh boy.....there could be trouble.  Grace came late wednesday night and suffered through really nasty jet lag from Korea to Iowa....and started coming out of the funk by about Sunday.....I introduced her to a yummy coffee latte and tylenol PM.....and its like an American switch flipped on.....and now she likes chips with her coffee for breakfast (thank you Precious....and Niki) and she discovered Law and Order on Netflix.....thank you......Kredit kids.....and oh, oh, oh....the final insult.  She found an Ipad game and even admitted she is addicted to it.  It's called Temple Run.  And now Precious wants it on a second Ipad.  Oh goodness.....my sweet, innocent, studious Korean daughter has been tainted by american children's luxury (and me). But that's not the worst of it. Today, she was working on something at the table so I asked her what she was doing.  She was working on her school schedule for fall/spring and trying to schedule classes that would be...

wow.....we have had an awesome summer.  It's been a long, full, warm, beautiful season....and I am grateful for it, and give homage to it.....and bless it.  We grilled alot and swam alot and went to parks. We did alot of baseball.  We had an amazing vacation....we are tanned and we are relaxed and we are restored.  Our family had a great summer. I savored every taste of summer as if it was Christmas dinner.  Every day that we slept in and ate hot dogs and chips for lunch, every bonfire, every evening we stayed up late....felt summer-worthy.  ..I worked as little as possible to still keep my job and I enjoyed sunshine and children and ham sandwiches on bleachers at baseball.....and lots of lemonade......I tried hard to have hugs and eye contact and meaningful conversation with each of my children and a few extras and my husband as many days as I could....and I think I did pretty well. Again....as I write every 3 months......the season is changing......a...

3 weeks ago we were in this beautiful church, in Mendocino, California with my sis in law and her hubby.  She had offered to just do church at home in case we were too tired of travelling....but Claire insisted we should go to church and worship.  She happened to have a few new outfits along she had not gotten a chance to wear.....(she is an amazing and very spiritual girl, but I think this was more about wardrobe and experience this time.  We all gut up and dressed and were early to church even.  We got to meet their new pastor, a young guy from the east coast who challenged us to dare to wonder at the imagination of God as well as the power of God as we consider His ability to amaze and challenge us......and Claire went to teen church and met a cute surfer dude named Tyler.....and they swapped phone numbers.  Cuz.  That's vacation, ya know?  After church, we girls went out for lunch and a bit of shopping and they guys went to scope out the beaches ...

Consider the lillies of the fields....or the hydrangeas.....and how the Lord pays attention to them and how much more He cares for us......Grace is here and Precious is following her around like a groupie to a rock star....Grace is trying to fight thru jet lag and get acclimated to this busy house.....and I just know that its gonna be ok.  We have a few more busy days of extra kids before school starts and things calm down at Kredit Lodge.  Hang in there Grace....and mama.....only about a week left of summer and we can switch to the school/structured/less lazy/less indulgent/less impulsive way of life....summer is lovely, but structure is also awesome.  No more ipads at the table.  No more sleeping til noon.  No more late nights......and.... Flowers this beautiful deserve a post, I think.  

Summer nights.....feeling the "dusk" of summer tonight.  Roger took the boys to a late night movie as a reward for their work cleaning out vehicles yesterday.....we can do the late movie because "school night" hasn't yet begun!  Claire has friends over tonight for a swim and bonfire.....on a Tuesday because indulgently, it is still summer.....if only for a few more days. In the spring, when school ends and nights get longer and warmer, we make big plans for the 3 months of summer.  In mid-August we know that its almost done again.....for another year......and so we try to make significant things happen.  Memories.  Experience.  Appreciation.  Bonfires.  Grilled food.  Sun.  music.  laughter......deep breaths.  I can say with assurance that we have had a great summer. Next comes football practice and dance team rehearsal and bedtime schedules (woot woot!) and less swimming and more reading.....planning things with school ...

Expectation....

I'm sure many of you are choking on your tongue or raising your eyebrows in disbelief......what are they thinking?!  Is it another dog?  Is it another adoption......oh for the love of pete.....is she.....pregnant?!   Take a deep breath everyone.  No, no, no.  but.....we are adding someone to the family. Grace. She flies in tomorrow night from Korea.  Her real name is Hechoon but she goes by Grace in America....and how appropriate is that?  Grace comes tomorrow.  She will live with us until May when she graduates from Unity Christian High School.......When our high school emailed last year asking for host families for International students, we discussed it and replied.....and she chose us.  We are nervous and excited......and I'm sure she is as well! Grace will be a senior in high school and hopes to score well on her college placement exams and get to stay for college in America.  Our task is to help her meet that goal and also g...

These two......my monkeys in the middle.  They are the best of friends and the worst of enemies.....all day long.  So much the same, but also so different.  They amaze me in their togetherness and their individuality.....Tonight, a summer storm rolled in.  It was dark so I tried to turn on lamps in the family room and one wouldn't work.  The bulb was gone.  I replaced the bulb....it still didn't work.  I determined it had been knocked over by.....hm.....wonder who?  or whose friends?  or on whose watch?!  I calmly replaced the lamp with yet another second-hand lamp that my dad in law continues to bring home from the second hand store in Arizona where he volunteers.......and replaced yet one more bulb to get 4 working lamps in the room.  I finally,    FINALLY,     sat down in an easy chair to take a break and enjoy the storm......and turned to the lamp and saw that a hurricane vase that I have had for at least 1...

Friday equals exhausted.

On vacation.....travelling around the country in a motor home, we ate alot of junk food.  We had chex mix and chips and candy and sodas and processed things I cannot even admit to.....at the reunion the food was amazing.....at Lois and Dale's we ate healthy, whole foods like shrimp and salmon straight from the freakin ocean 5 miles away.....but in between those stops it was alot of crunch and munch.  No one (and I mean.....no one......) complained.  This week at home, Roger was gone for work and kids were busy and I had extra daycare kids so I cannot say that we totally fixed the problem.....but we are in the process of fixing this problem.  Tonight, we are grilling chicken that is not breaded....with fresh lime and jalepino pepper and honey and garlic.......and I did a rice that was white and brown together (entering into healthy eating slowly)......with sauteed fresh zucchini, tomato, onion and pepper......and I'm sipping California wine.....we still have Barq ro...

Gosh.....what's not to love about this photo?!  I mean.....seriously......in Yellowstone National Park at some steamy geyser with a funky name.....I love these kids so much. Every day, I go to exhaustion for the daily care and raising and formation of these 5 people.....and I hope and pray that God, in His Mercy, will help me know what they need to fulfil their destinies in this world.  It's a weighty thing to parent. Someday, they will all be grown up and some if not all of them will marry and some if not all of them will become parents......and I will get to be a grandma who loves and sends home, who blesses but doesn't have to agonize about decisions...... Tonight, I got a small taste of what that will be like.  This summer, I've been watching some extra kiddos to help pay some bills, and to help out some friends who needed childcare for summer.  One little girl, Jerzi, is just a few months older than Josiah.  After being gone for a long vacation I w...

Tonight, a bit of melancholy snuck in.  It's mid-week and I'm trying hard to get my work done for work....and still unpack the camper.....and tend to the kids...and drive boys to football camp, and get all the schedules ready for the school year.  I'm daily doing laundry and buying food to replenish the fridge and cupboards.....and trying to walk the dogs and be loving and attentive....... At dinner time I kinda exploded in a tantrum.  The kind where you are pulling your hair and saying bad words cuz noone can get the password to work for netflix on the Ipads.....and difficult children are having meltdowns.....and dad is in Kentucky......and vacation is over. I started working on cleaning my bedroom because both littles crashed (fun times in a few hours) and Isaac and Jeremiah promised that they had no recollection of my cursing or my tantrum....and Claire was at work.  As I was picking up, dusting, etc. in my bedroom I saw the little wooden box that I purchased...

On our last beach day in California, I was watching the kids in the ocean.  Uncle Dale, from the shore, said "Is that a sea lion pup?" out in the distant waves.....and I watched it swim closer and closer.  I started pointing at the pup, yelling at my 4 kids in the water so that they would GET OUT!  But they didn't hear me.  Every one on the beach did tho and attracted a crowd.  A genuine creature of the pacific ocean swam to shore right in front of my eyes.....wow.  I went up close and took lots of photos.  The pup was cut up, maybe from a fight with a predator, maybe from crashing into the rocks....but his eyes were big and sad and hurting.....so I stopped taking photos of him.  Someone on the beach  had cell service and called "mammal control".  Seriously...that's a thing on the coast.  Later, we learned from Uncle Dale that if he is surfing where there are sea lions, he usually leaves and finds a new spot because sea lions a...

Prior to vacation, I mentioned that I was hoping to find back my rhythm of prayer on this trip.  As with all vacations, there are great expectations and high hopes and dreams and resolutions....at least its true for me.  Our first vacation day was just plain aweful.  We blew a tire an hour from home....and it took an hour or more to fix it.  I deflected several calls/texts from a client in crisis......then a few hours later the air conditioner in the RV stopped working.....on the hottest day of summer.   We found a place to pull over and get that fixed too, before we even left South Dakota!  A third time, the air quit working and I was rolling a can of chilled pepsi on my neck, laying on the floor of the camper......bouncing around.....thinking to myself, "what have we done?!"   I texted my mom and asked her to pray.  Claire texted her youth group pastor and asked him to pray.  (:))  Roger prayed.  I had a good cry.   Roger f...

It is really great to be home!  The bathroom feels huge....the pool is refreshing....and best of all....we were missed.  Even tho it was only 2 weeks I have received several texts and messages saying how much I was missed and how happy folks are that we are home.  One of Claire's friends gave me a big hug and said, "Mrs. Kredit....I missed you!  I had no where to go while you were gone!"......makes my heart warm and fuzzy to know that I am loved and that my home is a welcome place for kids and grown ups! I didn't expect to feel so exhausted today. I don't think I anticipated how much of a toll this trip took on my body, mind and spirit.  It was awesome and I would do it all over again.....but I'm kinda old.....and I'm worn out!  I spent much of the day doing laundry and packing things away and sorting and unpacking the camper.  Let me just say.....unpacking the camper is a thankless, aweful task.  Blech.  I'm less than half way done with i...

1.  I won't miss having things fall out of the fridge and cupboard every time I open them.  I will miss eating together as a family 3 times a day. 2.  I won't miss the constant rattle and squeak and blowing noise that happen with a 19 year old motor home......I will miss being able to look to the left and to the right and seeing all of my family in one place. 3.  I won't miss spending 10-plus hours a day in a 30 foot box.  I will miss seeing the amazing and ever-changing landscape outside. 4.  I won't miss using a bathroom that is 3 feet square......or pouring cleaning agent into the toilet to neutralize odor, or having to turn on the water pump to flush, or having to sit on the toilet to dig out a cold water bottle from the cooler in the shower......I will miss nothing regarding that. 5.  I won't miss being restricted to one pot cooking and a sub-par microwave.  I will miss grilled frozen pizza. 6.  I won't miss the battle for buying t...