How to Take Control, a.k.a. Let Go of Control

Have you ever felt like things were out of control?  I think we've all been there before.  Lately, it's on my mind, a lot, especially since the sermon we had on Sunday.  Pastor was preaching from Matthew 6:25-34, where it reminds us to not be anxious.  What kinds of things make you anxious or worried?  We had a good discussion about this subject in our small group last night.  We talked about how some people are more predisposed to anxiety, even battling it as a syndrome, requiring medication.

  My take on these verses is that Jesus is reassuring us that we can relax and not worry if we focus on the reality that we have a heavenly Father who knows our needs and who cares about us.  Jesus said that unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven.  So, by being like a little kid, I would say that He wants us to give up control.  That's hard for adults, but not for kids.  Kids just trust their parents to take care of all of their needs.  Well, unfortunately, we know that not all parents are faithful to carry out their parental duties and end up neglecting their children.  But, I'm talking about a normal, healthy family in which the children are cared for by loving moms and dads.  In that atmosphere, kids can sleep peacefully, knowing that they are secure.

You see how they don't need to have things under control?

For some reason, it gets harder as we get older and learn about our adult responsibilities.  That's why Jesus had to remind us that it's all about trusting that He is in control, not us!  So, what is it that you and I CAN control, and what is it that we CANNOT control?  Well, I can make important decisions, on a daily basis, about what goes into my eyes, ears and mouth.  I can decide if I'll choose to exercise or not.  I can decide if I'll tackle that pile of laundry or grading (for homeschooling moms/teachers) that needs to be done.  There are many things that I can say, "Yes," or "no," to.  It's up to me to make the best choices that I can.  However, there are so many things in this world that I have absolutely no control over.  So, why worry about it?!  Isn't that God's job?

Well, one of the areas that I'm trying to learn how to take control over, but not always doing such a good job, is how to keep my everyday life and home organized so that I can take control of my time.  It's not always easy when you're a homeschooling mom and also working another part-time job, outside of the home.  I'm trying to learn about what my trouble areas are.  The two that are most bothering me right now are:  paperwork (mail, magazines, etc.) and my nightstand area of the bedroom.  Those two problem areas often overlap.  So, as I type this up, I'm away from home picturing in my mind that horrible disaster area which I wish I could tackle right now!  Okay, I'm home now, so let me show you the shocking before and after pictures…

Another thing that has seemed out of control is our finances.  We are in deep debt and trying so hard to crawl out, but then more-and-more things keep breaking around our house.  Since Springtime my hubby tells me we've already had to fork out enough money that at least two of us could have taken round-trip tickets to Thailand and back.  The latest thing to go was our garage door opener.  But, we didn't really want the chain breaking and hitting us in the head!  So, I'm trying to do the simple things to take control, like trying my best to not use a credit card to charge things like food and gas.  I'm doing meal planning and happily receiving any kind of free food offers that come my way.  If I run out of bread before my next paycheck, I use the ingredients in my pantry and the bread machine that my mom graciously gave me, to actually make my own bread.

What are some ways that you've cut back and been able to save and simplify your life?  Another thing I've done is to make a pledge not to go into further debt by spending things I can't pay for, related to Penny's senior year.  I've decided to take her to a department store to get some indoor Senior photos taken, for an inexpensive package deal.  And I took the outdoor Senior shots, myself, at the golf course and parks near our home.  Who says you have to hire a professional photographer?  That's one thing I really like about homeschooling.  You already feel like you're doing things out-of-the-norm.  So, the pressure's off!  You're free to do things your own way and don't have to care less what other seniors might be doing.  Someone told me that they had a friend who actually spent $1200 just on senior pictures, alone!  I don't want to go there!!

And now, Jay is trying to figure out if there is a way that he can get his health under control.  He made a decision over the past weekend that he's really going to make an effort to make healthier choices.  Part of it was prompted by the fact that he fights daily pain in so many different parts of his body.  Lately, he's been hit by headaches, that he thinks are called, "cluster headaches".  We read up on it and found that one healthy remedy is supposedly calcium and magnesium supplements, along with CoQ 10 enzymes.  We're going to give that a chance, along with eating more foods rich in magnesium, like green leafy veggies and almonds.  Now I told Jay he can't complain anymore when I feed him broccoli.

Another way in which I've tried to cut back, is by spending as little money as possible with homeschooling.  I'm finding that I can get much of my curriculum for at least half the price if I buy it on E-bay.  I'm also trying to sell more things on E-bay, as well.  And I get a lot of the material I use for either free or very little price on the internet.  My latest favorite discovery was mathpapa.com!  What a lifesaver!  And we LOVE the library!

I'm trying to teach Penny the value of saving money and utilizing the library.  Apparently, it's paying off.  When we went to the HUGE and amazing bookstore the other day, she was tempted to beg for every book that her heart desired.  But, she didn't!  She asked me for a piece of paper and started writing down all of the titles of the books that interested her.  I told her that I would buy her one book, only.  And she was content with that.  She even found the same book in audio version, at the library, and put it on hold as soon as we came home.  Since she got those, she's been having so much fun listening/reading that book all on her own.

That's a great step for her!  When she first started high school she still hated reading. But, she's now learned to love reading and how to put books on hold, on her own.  It's actually become a good problem that I can hardly pull her away from reading, now.  And she's learned to choose books that are real classics, too.

 Most of all, it makes me so glad to know that she is loving God's word.  In fact, we were both thrilled to receive free Gideon New Testaments at the Gideon Pastor Appreciation Meeting, for which Jay sang the solo, "How Great Thou Art".  That was a good reminder to us, in this world filled with so many things that we can't control, that God is still in control and is ALWAYS great, no matter what!  We can trust Him!

Fun Mother/Daughter Field Trip

Penny and I took a field trip on Monday, just the two of us, since Jay had to work.  I actually took the day off from my part-time job just so that we could take part in this field trip. The main intent of the field trip was to go the Botanic Gardens, which we did and loved! 

 

But, when I researched how to get there from our house (yes, I still have to use google maps to find my way around the big city, even though we've now lived in the Denver area for two years); I discovered that there is a large bookstore nearby the Botanic Gardens.  It had the same name as a famous bookstore I had heard about, located in downtown Denver, which I had always wanted to visit, but never had, yet.  So, I thought that this might be a good opportunity now that they had another one near to the Botanic Gardens.  This ended up being Penny's very favorite part of our field trip.  We discovered, upon entering that it was HUGE and located inside an old theatre.

  It was so fun to actually still be able to see the top of the curtain and to see a special nook for reading, which was once an orchestra pit.  When going down the stairs we actually saw pictures of actors/actresses who had once performed at that theatre.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone who even has a slight interest in books.  And if you love books, you'll be flabbergasted.  It's called, "The Tattered Cover".  This particular one opened up in 2006 and now Penny is begging to go back again, someday.  Too bad it isn't closer to our home.  She did talk me into buying at least one book for her.  And she wrote down several titles of books that she'd like to look for at our local library, as well.
  Next, we drove the few blocks over to the Botanic Gardens.

 It was a group event, through our homeschool network.  But, to be honest, I only saw a few people whom I knew.  Mostly, it was just a very fun bonding time.  When we first got there, it was still rather chilly, so I was often asking Penny to remove her hood for pictures.

The special exhibit that was going on, while we were there, was by the artist, Dale Chihuly.  To be honest, when I first heard about it, I thought I wouldn't like it, because I don't usually generally like modern art.  However, his glass sculptures really sparkled in the sun and added great color, especially during this season, when the flowers are starting to wane, due to a few early frosts.  Penny really enjoyed all of the vibrant colors.

We enjoyed the water lilies, because they reminded us of Thailand.

We stopped at a bench in the sunshine to eat a snack where I also sketched a scene of an English-style garden with the mountains in the background.

One of our favorite parts were the beautiful colors in the Monet pond.

And, of course, I LOVED the Japanese garden, because a big part of my heart still resides in Japan, having lived there for six-and-a-half years.

It was really clever at how they managed to incorporate the Chihuly glass sculptures into the Japanese gardens in a way that enhanced the gardens, rather than distracting you from the beauty that was already there.  They were really beautiful, floating in the water, and sparkling in the sunshine.

By the time that we reached the South African and Chinese gardens my daughter's stomach was crying out for food, so we rushed rather quickly through the last portion of the Gardens.  Here are just a few shots from the latter part.

As we neared the exit, we got to see some very exquisite works of Chihuly glass sculptures.

You can tell, from our happy faces, that we really enjoyed our bonding time together.

Beauty & Tragedy

It seems like life has been full of such extreme juxtapositions lately.  We've been experiencing such beauty and hearing of extreme tragedy and loss.  As you know, recently we went on a day trip to see the beautiful fall colors in the mountains.

What I hadn't mentioned, was that the night before a terrible accident occurred just blocks away from our home.  Jay was outside, watering the lawn, when he heard a terrible SCREECH of brakes going down the hill a block away, down Hackberry Hill.  Then he heard the terrible bang that sounded almost like a cannon exploding and he knew it was going to be BAD.  So, out of curiosity he drove over to where many neighbors had already gathered.  There were already several emergency vehicles within just 4 minutes.  When Jay arrived on the scene he saw two cars that had been smashed in the front and which were now both facing the same direction.  They were just pulling one girl, who was screaming in pain, out of one car.  They had already put the man in the truck into the ambulance.  What we learned later, was that they ended up putting a sheet over the red car with the girl in it, because there was another passenger, who did not make it through the accident.  What was even more sad, was that we learned, too, that the man in the truck had been driving drunk, speeding down the hill and then swerved into the oncoming traffic.  So, the poor teenage girls really had no chance to avoid this head-on collision. This catastrophic event hit us especially hard, as it was a girl about Penny's age, who was also a senior in high school.  And this happened at our corner where we turn onto the main thoroughfare out of our neighborhood.  

This awful, fatal accident was certainly a reminder that life is precious and we should be relishing every moment that God has given to us here on this earth and be prepared for whenever He calls us home.

What was sad, was that just about a week after that horrible car crash, we discovered another car wreck occurred in virtually the same spot.  Only this time a car veered off of the road and plowed first into a street light, knocking it down, over the bike trail,

and then into a backyard of someone in our neighborhood, completely obliterating their back fence.

This happened right nextdoor to the home where Penny has sometimes babysat.  How scary for that family, since they have small children who play in their backyard, next to that busy street!  Once again, we said a prayer of thanks for ourselves and this time that there were no reports of someone losing their life in this accident.

While, these kinds of terrible things are occurring and worse things around our world, we don't want to bury our heads and moan as if we have no hope.  We are trying to keep our minds focused on the One who gives us peace and joy.  We want to take pleasure in the beauty of His creation.  We see so many wonderful reminders that He is the great Creator and He cares about us.

This was one of those visual reminders that we took in right outside our front door.  Penny said, "Mom, you should take a picture of the sunset, so that I can paint it!"  Lately, she's learning and growing so much in her understanding of and fascination with art.  She had never ever done a self-portrait before.  But, I'm very proud of her with her very first ever version of herself, which she did in oil pastels.

Notice how far her skills progressed from her first sketch until her final product, in just one week's time.  While she wasn't satisfied that it didn't really look like her, I encouraged her to know that almost every artist never thinks that they have completely reached a work of perfection.  Perhaps because there's that God-given feeling, deep inside of us, that there must be something out there even better.

So, we wait, with expectation, for the day when we will meet the greatest artist, ever; who created this whole entire universe and who is Perfection, Himself.  He will make all things new and then we'll truly find the epitome of pure beauty in our Maker, who loves us so much more than we can even imagine!