Sintayehu's Picture

Sintayehu

That's the name of a boy. 

And now my world has changed and grown and it's beyond anything I've ever imagined. He is in 3rd grade. He lives in Ethiopia. He has no idea who I am but I love him already. And here he is....

I don't know how to pronounce his name. I don't know where Ethiopia actually is. I don't know how old he is, what his parental status is, or if I will ever get to meet him. 

I do know that sometimes when you dig your feet in and avoid change at all costs...it happens anyway.  

You can read some books and blogs about changing the world and sit back, thankful that someone else feels called to do that so you don't have to. You can be supportive of people that have a world view even though you don't understand how they can see outside of their home much less their community. You can even tell your children that you only give money to your local church because "that's where you feel God wants you to tithe and the only place you've felt led to give money".

I don't want to be stretched and moved. I don't want to leave my safe life-bubble with eyes that see how broken the world is. I will buy the books (Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker, Chasing God by Angie Smith) and collect them like a good Jesus-loving girl but never crack them open...in case I'm moved and stretched by the words. I'm not ready for that. I can barely keep my kids bathed and dressed (thank you handsome for keeping us fed...). I like my size and scope and feel really at peace that my "mission field" is right here where I can see. 

And then you can haphazardly read blogs like www.rageagainsttheminivan.com or www.jenhatmaker.com/blog/ and think how cool it is that they are out changing the world. 

But what if you change the world. What if you scroll through the pictures at www.helponenow.org/kids and something in your heart stirs. 

I looked at the blogs and the kids. I looked through superficially and noticed the "cute" ones and decided that I had no business sponsoring....because I'm obviously not mature enough for that. Who looks for the cute one?? Seriously? I decided that it wasn't for me. I even prayed for God to open my eyes to one for our family if that's what he wants...but I continued to see "cuteness"... Clearly a sign! 

....right....

Then my sponsor BFF (sorry Michelle, we are in this for life now) mentioned casually as I closed my browser that she wanted to maybe sponsor a kid. Oooookay.  That's clear. 

His name is Sintayehu. And we love him. We love his toes and his snappy red pants. 

I can't wait to write him and find out how my family can love him and pray for him. And I'm so thankful for the stretching that I didn't even know I needed. 

Stay tuned for more... This handsome boy has a story to tell. 

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff

Forever

The song we are singing at church Sunday has blessed me beyond measure today and I wanted to share it with you. It's a video on you tube. (It's really long but worth every second) 

Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/huFra1mnIVE

Here are the words to the song and then the words that the guy speaks. 

Forever by Kari Jobe

The moon and the stars they wept

The morning sun was dead

The savior of the world was fallen

His body on the cross

His blood poured out for us

The weight of every curse upon him

One final breath he gave

As heaven looked away

The son of God was laid in darkness

A battle in the grave

The war on death was waged

The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake

The stone was rolled away

His perfect love could not be overcome

Now death where is your sting

Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated

Forever He is glorified

Forever He is lifted high

Forever He is risen 

He is alive

He is alive

We sing hallelujah 

We sing hallelujah 

We sing hallelujah 

The Lamb has overcome

(Spoken words)

If there are words for Him then I don't have them

You see my brain has not yet reached a point where it could form a thought that could

Adequately describe the greatness of my God

And my lungs have not yet developed the ability 

To release the breath with enough agility

To breath out the greatness of His love

And my voice, you see, my voice is so inhibited

Restrained by human limits

That its hard to even send a praise up

You see if there are words for Him, then I don't have them 

My God. 

His grace is remarkable 

Mercies are innumerable 

Strength is impenetrable

He is honorable, accountable, favorable

His is unsearchable, yet knowable

Indefinable yet approachable

Indescribable yet personal

He is beyond comprehension

Further than imagination

Constant through generation 

King of every nation 

But if there are words for Him then I don't have them

See my words are few

And to try and capture the one true God using my vocabulary will never do 

But I use words as an expression 

An expression of worship to a Savior

A Savior who is both worthy and deserving of my praise 

So I use words. 

My heart extols The Lord

Blesses His name forever

He has won my heart

Captured my mind

And has bound them both together

He has defeated my rebellion

Conquered me in my sin

He has welcomed me into his prayer

Completely invited me in

He has made himself the object of my sight

Flooding me with mercies in the morning

Drowning me with grace in the night

But if there are words for Him then I don't have them

But what I do have is good news

For my God knew that man-made words would never do

For Words are just told that we use to point to the truth

So He sent His son

Jesus Christ is the word

Living proof

He is the image if the invisible God

The firstborn of all creation

For by him all things were created

Giving nothingness formation

And by his words he sustains 

In the power of his name

For he is before all things and over all things

Holy is his name

So praise him for his life

The way he preserved his strife

The humble son of God becoming the perfect sacrifice 

Praise Him for his death

That he willingly stood in our place

That he lovingly endured the grave

That he battled our enemy

And on the third day he rose in victory

He is everything that was promised

Praise him as the risen king

Lift your voice and sing

For one day he will return for us

And he will finally be

United with our savior for eternity, eternity

So it's not just words that I proclaim

For my words point to The word

And the word has a name

Hope has a name

Joy has a name

Peace has a name

Love has a name

And that name is Jesus Christ

Praise His name forever!!!

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff

Deficient

Turns out I have a carb problem. At least my body thinks so. Day two of trying a new way of eating that will be better for my body and all my insides want is a cracker. 

I'm assuming (blaming) my pissiness on this. It may or my not be true. I've been mean and short today. My poor children are beginning to feel the lack of carbs from the ugly words that keep brimming to the surface. How can I teach them to be kind when I can't find it in myself?

And just when it seems this day will be one that is recounted with a therapist in the future, I find grace. 

"Turns out, I'm not defined by my mothering skills or my name on a business card. I'm not defined by what I accomplished today, or whether or not I lost my temper. I'm not defined by my jeans that I wish were a different size, or by my kids when they won't obey. I'm not defined by my wrinkles or tired eyes.

I am, however, defined by the God who knows me by name ... by the God who promises that nothing I do or don't do can separate me from His love that is in Christ Jesus."

This encouraged me and made we want to be nice. So I thought is share. 

I am no alone (or ruining their lives today).

Joyfully full of "it",

Tiff

Planting....just a planting

This is year 13 of the Lewis Garden. It moves, it weeds, it's unsuccessful every single time. But I try. A lot in the beginning. And today was planting day.




Shoes to PROVE I was working the dirt.


This is where the magic will hopefully happen.


I did not grow this. Handsome gave me this for v-day. I hope I don't kill it.

Spring. Time for renewal and beautiful weather. The compound will be flowered this year. That's my goal. Are you planting and growing? Are you feeding your family with the fruits of your labor?

How do you celebrate spring? We celebrate with dirt and water.

I hope you enjoyed the day and are reminded of beautiful newness for the spring.

Joyfully full of it.
Tifff


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Swinging... Just a Swinging

New rope swing. Handsome rocks again.

















Welcome to the Lewis Compound. We have a rope swing.

Joyfully full of it.

Tifff


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Thankless

Dear mom that worked all day in or out of the home,

Thank you from your people.

Thank you for waking us this morning and making sure we ate something before we started our day.

Thank you for fixing our lunch or paying for lunch or making sure that the school would feed us while we were away from you.

Thank you for working so hard today and for pushing through the money's when you just feel defeated and want to crawl into a small space.

Thank you for making me wear my coat today.

Thank you for picking me up from school/Bgc/daycare/grandma's.

Thank you for feeding me "gourmet" cheese pizza for dinner and for folding my clothes.

Thank you for making me put away my clothes and teaching me responsibility.

You are a rock star every day to me.

Your people love you. Even on days that are hard.

Even on days when you are annoyed. Even if you have to grab a bid knife to open the stupid box of Tide so you can wash ANOTHER load of clothes.

Be blessed momma.
Be joyful momma.
Be thank-
filled momma.

Joyfully full of it,
Tiff




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Favorite Things

Do you ever have recurring themes or things that repeat? Do you ever learn a new word and then hear it used on the news or on Facebook and think.... What did I think they were saying before? Or does the world revolve around my new word? (Much like every one shows up at Walmart when I just need a few things)

My recurring themes recently are "favorite things" and "craving something else".

So my favorite things (because I know you must be dying to know)....

1. The Following (on Fox). I rarely follow shows but this one sucked me in last year and its starting again. Besides... Kevin Bacon... The hero from footloose...

2. Clean eating. Not really my favorite but I'm trying to pretend like it is. (Truth: when I typed "pretend" and looked up to watch tv, the iPad replaced pretend with pretentious... How does it know? Ha ha )

3. The Big Mama blog. Especially on fashion Fridays. It's a terrible guilty pleasure. She (Melanie Shankle) is excellent during the week but Fridays are the best. Her taste is divine and expensive. But it gives me something to search on eBay.

4. Sciatica homeopathic remedy. I bought these homeopathic sublingual pills for my lower back pain...then went to my doctor and got muscle relaxers. Well, I've had terrible pain the last few days and took them last night out of desperation...and the pain was dulled, then gone today. I'm telling you, there is something to herbs... ;)

5. Apron back tankini. I want one. I can't find one. I need a white or navy blue top because I have excellent swim bottoms and just "need" a new top for our vacation. Google it. So cute and never in navy blue.

So the other theme... It's a little more difficult. It's a total work in progress.

I'm reading Made To Crave by the amazing Lysa Terkerust. She is the author of Unglued. And she speaks like she is my friend. I'm not very far into the book but it is speaking to me.

So basically, i had a nutrition counseling session. The gist.... I should be eating food that can be found the way God made them. Not packaged in cardboard or chemically modified to taste good. Easy to understand. Hard to stick to in real life. All the things that are found on the perimeter of the grocery store.

Then I found another book: Take Charge of your health; A Biblical Perspective.

It's good. Quick read. Written like a long infomercial. bUT. Same theme. Gods eating plan. The way he created it.

I agree...He created me. No matter how wrong I think he got some things (thighs...ghetto booty) He made me.. Perfect. I trust Him to lead me on how to live and be a good mother and wife. I believe all the instructions were written and given to me. Doesn't it make sense that he would provide the same type of instructions for taking care of my body, the holy spirits temple?

I'm working on it. And struggling with it. And hungry, if you want me to be honest.

I thought I'd share. This journey is difficult. It's a total beat down sometimes. But maybe there's actual strength in numbers. Join me in struggling though life!

Joyfully full of it,

Tiff


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A Freezing Start

It's flipping cold. Ridiculous. Not fun. I don't have the right clothes for this type of weather. So, to celebrate my disdain for this cold weather, we made a winter wonderland in the back yard again.




This is the best way to celebrate the weather and prepare for school starting tomorrow.

Handsome is always ready for the cold weather and sets this winter wonderland up for the babies at the mention of an overnight freeze. He's been doing it for years.

See.... http://www.mykidsmakemesmile.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

(Insert commentary... So I couldn't find this blogging app since its been so long since I blogged.... I also am unclear on how the link function works... And we had a beautiful Christmas with my family.... I plan on blogging "more"... Stay tuned.)

Our own little WW.



Isn't it wonderful.


And cold....


Happy 2014 from the Lewis Family.

Let me share this in lieu of a family Christmas card...



If that doesn't drip Peace and Blessings....I don't know what does!

So, to you for 2014....

The Lord Bless you and keep you
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

Joyfully full of it!

Tiff




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