The littlest one is walking. He has graduated from holding on to furniture and walls, and is instead wobbeling about through the house.
His first few steps looked like the movements of those little green army men when someone is propelling them forward. Now he has the more customary stance of other novice walkers, with the hands held up on either side of the head and a huge grin on his face!
I thought it would be a good idea to get a pair of 'real' shoes for him, since it is winter and he will want to walk outside. We went to the shoe store in bought the standard white, lace up, high top first time walking shoes. I set him on the floor to try them out. He refused to move. He became a wavering statue. No movement of the feet. At all.
Finally, I took his hands and urged him forward. He moved - by lifting each foot as high as possible and shaking it a little before setting it down to lift the other. He took about half a dozen steps this way before taking to the floor in a crawl.
This time of learning to walk is exciting for parent and baby alike. Parents have urged and cheered their baby to this milestone and are thrilled when the little sweet heart has shown mastery of this new skill.
Baby is aware, suddenly, of the many escape routes to freedom. Any door is fair game. Watch how fast they go from those first unstable steps to running at olympic sprinting speeds!
We desire our children to learn the skills to become independant from us. Our hope is that they learn to navigate life without needing to hold our hands at every turn. When they begin to assert their independence, we smile and revel the 'first' moments of pride as the sweet little babies learn forward mobility. Then, after a couple of weeks, when the newness of this skill wears off - no, wears thin - we realize that we battle the desire to scoop them up and cradle them close. To keep them safe and dependent - at least for a little while longer.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Disclaimer...
Of course there are real, honest, God fearing Christians out there in the USA. The church would be non-existent here, otherwise. There are many great men and women building the kingdom here and glorifying God in their work.
There just aren't enough! What are we waiting for? Do we think that there is no place we can serve in our community? Do we misunderstand what a ministry is?
What is your ministry? Does it HAVE to be sanctioned by the church community where you attend on Sundays for it to be a real ministry? Do you count on funds and participation from your fellow church members to keep your ministry going?
Why?
Can't ministry be done independantly, drawing in various people from the community that don't go to your church?
So many questions. I know what my answers are. What are yours?
There just aren't enough! What are we waiting for? Do we think that there is no place we can serve in our community? Do we misunderstand what a ministry is?
What is your ministry? Does it HAVE to be sanctioned by the church community where you attend on Sundays for it to be a real ministry? Do you count on funds and participation from your fellow church members to keep your ministry going?
Why?
Can't ministry be done independantly, drawing in various people from the community that don't go to your church?
So many questions. I know what my answers are. What are yours?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Do Hard Things...
If you follow me on FaceBook, then you know that I have been posting some serious material.
How long can the church of the United States be flaccid? We are a useless, rotten, maggot infested bunch of wussies.
Do we spend too much time trying to convince those in one denomination that they are wrong and should join another when we ought to be suffering for our faith? Why are we not persecuted for our love of God? Why is our most indignant moment as believers a small post in an online publication about a man losing his job at Home Depot for wearing a pin with a religious sentiment?
Why are those passionate for Christ so few here?
Satan has a stronghold on our government, our schools, our churches, our entertainment, our love of comfort.
And we eat it up, get real fat and cozy and sit on our butts proud of ourselves for having the key to heaven.
I am sick of myself for this...
How long can the church of the United States be flaccid? We are a useless, rotten, maggot infested bunch of wussies.
Do we spend too much time trying to convince those in one denomination that they are wrong and should join another when we ought to be suffering for our faith? Why are we not persecuted for our love of God? Why is our most indignant moment as believers a small post in an online publication about a man losing his job at Home Depot for wearing a pin with a religious sentiment?
Why are those passionate for Christ so few here?
Satan has a stronghold on our government, our schools, our churches, our entertainment, our love of comfort.
And we eat it up, get real fat and cozy and sit on our butts proud of ourselves for having the key to heaven.
I am sick of myself for this...
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Kids Riding Bikes
When two of the older children (8 and 6) are out front riding bikes or, whatever, they are responsible to keep on eye on a younger brother (2). They just need to watch and let me know if there is a problem with where he is going or what he is doing. Their boundaries are clear and over the summer this has worked out quite well.
Today, the Biggers went out to play, and about 30 minutes later, one of them came in to tell me that they couldn't find the Little.
"Oh, honey" I calmly reply "he's napping."
"well, the boys and a neighbor are out looking for him and I was told to tell you to call 911"
"It's okay, we'll just let the neighbor know that Little is napping and everything is fine"
---boys walk in the door---
"Bigger," I say " Please let neighbor know that Little is home safe napping and that we don't need the police."
---off he goes---
---back he comes, mission accomplished---
---15 minutes later, County Sherrif is knocking on the door. The dog is in the house and barking furiously. I am asking the children, loudly, to put the dog in the back yard. Officer knocks even more loudly, on the window. I say, "just a moment!" He knocks again on the door - HARD! "just a moment were putting the dog out!"
I open the door. He askes if my kiddos are all safe and sound. yes, they're fine. He is getting messages over the radio about bad stuff happening. and takes my name address and phone number. It'll prob'ly be in the police blotter of the local paper.
What an exciting afternoon...
Today, the Biggers went out to play, and about 30 minutes later, one of them came in to tell me that they couldn't find the Little.
"Oh, honey" I calmly reply "he's napping."
"well, the boys and a neighbor are out looking for him and I was told to tell you to call 911"
"It's okay, we'll just let the neighbor know that Little is napping and everything is fine"
---boys walk in the door---
"Bigger," I say " Please let neighbor know that Little is home safe napping and that we don't need the police."
---off he goes---
---back he comes, mission accomplished---
---15 minutes later, County Sherrif is knocking on the door. The dog is in the house and barking furiously. I am asking the children, loudly, to put the dog in the back yard. Officer knocks even more loudly, on the window. I say, "just a moment!" He knocks again on the door - HARD! "just a moment were putting the dog out!"
I open the door. He askes if my kiddos are all safe and sound. yes, they're fine. He is getting messages over the radio about bad stuff happening. and takes my name address and phone number. It'll prob'ly be in the police blotter of the local paper.
What an exciting afternoon...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Major Life Change
My oldest has gone to live with her father.
*sigh*
There are so many good reasons (for a 13 yo girl) for her to be there. There are so many good reasons for her father to have a hand at raising her.
There are so many more good reasons for her to have stayed here.
I am glad that I was able to raise her to the point where she makes her own decisions with a base of everything that she learned in my home. I pray daily, and more fervently than ever before, that she will continue to live according to the virtues and values that she learned with me.
I love and miss my baby girl. I don't have any great lessons learned from this experience except this: If this is how much it hurts when my children leave my home, even for good reasons, that I have much heartache in my future...
*sigh*
There are so many good reasons (for a 13 yo girl) for her to be there. There are so many good reasons for her father to have a hand at raising her.
There are so many more good reasons for her to have stayed here.
I am glad that I was able to raise her to the point where she makes her own decisions with a base of everything that she learned in my home. I pray daily, and more fervently than ever before, that she will continue to live according to the virtues and values that she learned with me.
I love and miss my baby girl. I don't have any great lessons learned from this experience except this: If this is how much it hurts when my children leave my home, even for good reasons, that I have much heartache in my future...
Monday, July 27, 2009
The HagenZoo Embarks on a Large, Accidental Adventure.
"Hey Kiddos!, jump in the van! It's time to get Marli!" Shouts of excitment ring through the air. Their older sister has been gone for over a week and they Hagen kids are ready to have her home. We choose the van because, while it doesn't have a radio, it DOES have air conditioning. Uneventful ride to Totem Lake, and Marli is now picked up.
We begin our catching up conversation and round the corner to get on the I405. "um, Mom? Did the van just quit?" asks Marli. "Why yes, I believe it has." replies Mom, cool and calm. We coast to a stop on the shoulder of the on-ramp and I activate the hazard lights. Good. Now, to call Jerry. "Hon, the van has stopped, it won't restart and we are on an on ramp to 405." Jerry replies "Oh. Wow! That's a problem. That's, um, okay. I'll get the suburban and come get you guys." I can tell he is trying not to sound worried and a little panicky. It's not working. I can still hear it, and I am glad he loves us enough to be worried!
We sit there for about 15 minutes. The van warms up. considerably. I roll down windows. The temperature inside the van is rising. This isn't good. Not good at all. think, think, think. What to do?
"Hey Kiddos! let's get out of the van! We're going for a walk!" What??!?!?" they ask? "ON THE FREEWAY?!?!?!? Is that even legal??!?!?!" (you can guess who said that! Yep, J.J.) "No, son, it isn't legal. But it is a superior action to the one that leaves you all cooking in the van, don't you think?" J.J.'s reply, "We could get cooked in the van? Really?" As J.J. is contemplating whether it would be more cool to find out if someone could actually get cooked in the van, or experience probable impending doom on the freeway, we are searching the van for the shoes that Andrew has removed. I realize, with chagrin, that the stroller is at home. Benjamin, whom you all have prayed for, had trouble putting on weight and not losing any. Not any more. He weighs about 19 lbs. That plus the 40 lb infant seat (it's an exaggeration, but not much...) are now hanging on my right arm, the purse and diaper bag on my left. We hop over the guard rail because it looks like there is a gravel pathway that might allow us to get down to the arterial road without having to walk on the shoulder. Not so much. Back up the gravel pathway, back over the guard rail.
I give explicit instructions to "Walk with your left hand ON the guard rail. NO EXCEPTIONS! Do not wiggle, do not jump or stretch. Do not run. Do not SNEEZE!" At this point my children are more afraid of death by Mom's voice than death by vehicular homicide.
We are walking, single file, down the on ramp. I count 20 vehicles go by us. Each on slowed, gave a wide arc around us and the faces they made were priceless! I wish I had a camera for each one! I had a couple of "What a terrible mother" looks, a few "Oh How awful! I wonder what happened" looks and at least one or two "What an inconvenience, get out of the road!" looks. Not one person stopped or bothered to ask if we needed help. One woman, six kids. Really? Not one? If you EVER see any thing like this. STOP AND ASK!!!!!
We make it to the intersection and are faced with a decision. Which way to go? We decide on Denny's. Air conditioned, notoriously slow service, and we have lots of time to kill. "No? You don't take checks? Oh....kay. We'll have three grand slam breakfasts." I carry cash for gas and grocery shopping. When I am not doing one of the two, I don't generally have much cash with me. It works. There's a lot of food on a Grand Slam break fast plate. It worked out beautifully. Our waitress was wonderful. She decorated four of the pancakes for the kids with strawberry syrup and checked on us often. We left her a good tip and left the restauraunt. Now what? I call Jerry. "Hi! How long?" "Well, I am going to see if I can borrow the Bentley's tow dolly!" "okay, hon! bye" Going to see. That means we have more time to use. What to do?
"Hey kiddos! We are going for another walk!" We walk across the street to the Totem Lake Mall, which closes at six pm on Sundays. It was 7:30 pm. We took over the covered entry and the sidewalk for 20 feet in either direction. We sat on the ground, layed on the ground, ran around and around and around on the ground, the children played, swung and hung on the bike rack. They sang and danced and played tag and I LET THEM.
"Mom, I'm thirsty." O Great. "I don't have any thing for you. Dad and Mr. Mark will be here soon." "Mom, I'm thirsty." So, four of the children repeat this refrain. One can't speak and the oldest knows better. The oldest is sent to the nearby Chevron for cold bottles of water. As she leaves, Jerry and Mr. Mark arrive. Halleluja!!!! We pile in, pick Marli up and head over to the on ramp to load the van on to the dolly. Backing down an on ramp, even on the shoulder, about as legal as walking around on the freeway - okay, we weren't hitch hiking.
"Hon?" Jerry replies "yes?" "Um, one of the kids had my keys over at the mall and I am sure they are laying on the pavement over there." "Oh. Really?" "um, yeah." "okay." Off we go. We pull over, Jerry wants to do a torque check, and I think He's really hungry. Mr. Mark takes me back to the mall to get my keys. There they lay, undisturbed on the sidewalk. We get back to the freeway. Mark says, Jerry's probably left there by now, you think?" I thought I was thinking when I replies "Yes, I'm sure he is." So...Mark brought me home. About 2 miles from home, my phone rang. "Mom?" "yes?" "Did you find your keys?" "yes!" "Good. Are you almost here?" "Um, almost home?" No, here" "Where are you?" At the parking lot." "Really?" "yes!" (Babies screaming in the background. Really, truly, screaming.) "Uh, tell Dad to head home. I am almost home." "uh, okay. Bye"
There you have it. A large, accidental adventure. I Wonder what tomorrow will bring...
We begin our catching up conversation and round the corner to get on the I405. "um, Mom? Did the van just quit?" asks Marli. "Why yes, I believe it has." replies Mom, cool and calm. We coast to a stop on the shoulder of the on-ramp and I activate the hazard lights. Good. Now, to call Jerry. "Hon, the van has stopped, it won't restart and we are on an on ramp to 405." Jerry replies "Oh. Wow! That's a problem. That's, um, okay. I'll get the suburban and come get you guys." I can tell he is trying not to sound worried and a little panicky. It's not working. I can still hear it, and I am glad he loves us enough to be worried!
We sit there for about 15 minutes. The van warms up. considerably. I roll down windows. The temperature inside the van is rising. This isn't good. Not good at all. think, think, think. What to do?
"Hey Kiddos! let's get out of the van! We're going for a walk!" What??!?!?" they ask? "ON THE FREEWAY?!?!?!? Is that even legal??!?!?!" (you can guess who said that! Yep, J.J.) "No, son, it isn't legal. But it is a superior action to the one that leaves you all cooking in the van, don't you think?" J.J.'s reply, "We could get cooked in the van? Really?" As J.J. is contemplating whether it would be more cool to find out if someone could actually get cooked in the van, or experience probable impending doom on the freeway, we are searching the van for the shoes that Andrew has removed. I realize, with chagrin, that the stroller is at home. Benjamin, whom you all have prayed for, had trouble putting on weight and not losing any. Not any more. He weighs about 19 lbs. That plus the 40 lb infant seat (it's an exaggeration, but not much...) are now hanging on my right arm, the purse and diaper bag on my left. We hop over the guard rail because it looks like there is a gravel pathway that might allow us to get down to the arterial road without having to walk on the shoulder. Not so much. Back up the gravel pathway, back over the guard rail.
I give explicit instructions to "Walk with your left hand ON the guard rail. NO EXCEPTIONS! Do not wiggle, do not jump or stretch. Do not run. Do not SNEEZE!" At this point my children are more afraid of death by Mom's voice than death by vehicular homicide.
We are walking, single file, down the on ramp. I count 20 vehicles go by us. Each on slowed, gave a wide arc around us and the faces they made were priceless! I wish I had a camera for each one! I had a couple of "What a terrible mother" looks, a few "Oh How awful! I wonder what happened" looks and at least one or two "What an inconvenience, get out of the road!" looks. Not one person stopped or bothered to ask if we needed help. One woman, six kids. Really? Not one? If you EVER see any thing like this. STOP AND ASK!!!!!
We make it to the intersection and are faced with a decision. Which way to go? We decide on Denny's. Air conditioned, notoriously slow service, and we have lots of time to kill. "No? You don't take checks? Oh....kay. We'll have three grand slam breakfasts." I carry cash for gas and grocery shopping. When I am not doing one of the two, I don't generally have much cash with me. It works. There's a lot of food on a Grand Slam break fast plate. It worked out beautifully. Our waitress was wonderful. She decorated four of the pancakes for the kids with strawberry syrup and checked on us often. We left her a good tip and left the restauraunt. Now what? I call Jerry. "Hi! How long?" "Well, I am going to see if I can borrow the Bentley's tow dolly!" "okay, hon! bye" Going to see. That means we have more time to use. What to do?
"Hey kiddos! We are going for another walk!" We walk across the street to the Totem Lake Mall, which closes at six pm on Sundays. It was 7:30 pm. We took over the covered entry and the sidewalk for 20 feet in either direction. We sat on the ground, layed on the ground, ran around and around and around on the ground, the children played, swung and hung on the bike rack. They sang and danced and played tag and I LET THEM.
"Mom, I'm thirsty." O Great. "I don't have any thing for you. Dad and Mr. Mark will be here soon." "Mom, I'm thirsty." So, four of the children repeat this refrain. One can't speak and the oldest knows better. The oldest is sent to the nearby Chevron for cold bottles of water. As she leaves, Jerry and Mr. Mark arrive. Halleluja!!!! We pile in, pick Marli up and head over to the on ramp to load the van on to the dolly. Backing down an on ramp, even on the shoulder, about as legal as walking around on the freeway - okay, we weren't hitch hiking.
"Hon?" Jerry replies "yes?" "Um, one of the kids had my keys over at the mall and I am sure they are laying on the pavement over there." "Oh. Really?" "um, yeah." "okay." Off we go. We pull over, Jerry wants to do a torque check, and I think He's really hungry. Mr. Mark takes me back to the mall to get my keys. There they lay, undisturbed on the sidewalk. We get back to the freeway. Mark says, Jerry's probably left there by now, you think?" I thought I was thinking when I replies "Yes, I'm sure he is." So...Mark brought me home. About 2 miles from home, my phone rang. "Mom?" "yes?" "Did you find your keys?" "yes!" "Good. Are you almost here?" "Um, almost home?" No, here" "Where are you?" At the parking lot." "Really?" "yes!" (Babies screaming in the background. Really, truly, screaming.) "Uh, tell Dad to head home. I am almost home." "uh, okay. Bye"
There you have it. A large, accidental adventure. I Wonder what tomorrow will bring...
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Thoughts on Food
A good friend and I were having a conversation in which the subject arose of 'feeding the whole neighborhood'. Children from other families are playing at or near our house, and it is snack time. My children come in with 3-7 (usually) others asking for a snack. 'Wow.' I'm thinkging. 'How'm I gonna feed all of these kids?'. Do I tell the others that they need to go home and get a snack? Here's what I am finding out: Some of the children either don't get a snack at home, or get some kind of sugary snack. They get cold, fresh fruit, cheese, nuts, crackers and popcicles at my house. This can get expensive just for my family!
Have you ever had your mind blasted with a Holy Spirit Meteor? It happens to me once in while. this Holy Spirit Mind Blast reminded me who provides the food. God does. Does He provide food to my family because He is obligated? I think not. He provides food to my family so that we will responsibly fuel our human bodies to continue building His Kingdom here on earth. He provides food to my family because He enjoys sharing good things with us. He provides food to my family so that we will share his blessing.
I won't be stingy with snacks anymore, and I'll be working on responsible fueling...
Have you ever had your mind blasted with a Holy Spirit Meteor? It happens to me once in while. this Holy Spirit Mind Blast reminded me who provides the food. God does. Does He provide food to my family because He is obligated? I think not. He provides food to my family so that we will responsibly fuel our human bodies to continue building His Kingdom here on earth. He provides food to my family because He enjoys sharing good things with us. He provides food to my family so that we will share his blessing.
I won't be stingy with snacks anymore, and I'll be working on responsible fueling...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)