Shannon Yee

Caring for orphans and widows is a very clear command in the Bible. There is simply no excuse for not helping those who need it, and the benefits are many. A simple way to care for orphans, without adopting or fostering them, is to support those who do. Here’s a link to one family that is selling shirts to raise funds to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Go. Buy. Love.

With all the rain we’ve been getting, I’ve been doing a lot of baking. Yesterday, the kids and I made some bread and crescent rolls (at Eila’s request, but she didn’t like them). Monday, we made corn dogs (at Josiah’s request, which he loved) and today we made Snickerdoodles (per Joe’s wish). We also made a yummy lentil dish.

Everyone loved the lentils with chicken and rice. Here’s the recipe:
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T. spices (oregano, basil, rosemary, marjoram, parsley, thyme)
1.5 cups lentils
4 cups chicken broth
lemon juice
balsamic vinegar
asiago cheese

Saute the onion, carrot, and garlic in olive oil. Add spices. Dump this mixture into rice cooker and add lentils and chicken broth. When tender, add a couple splashed of lemon juice and a splash of vinegar. Serve with rice and leftover chicken and top with grated cheese.

In Search of the Source A First Encounter with God’s Word by Neil Anderson with Hyatt Moore is a phenomenal book. A dear friend of mine lent me this non-fiction story about translating the Bible for the Folopa people in PNG, knowing that my dream job would be doing that very thing. It is a quick, easy read filled with interesting adventures of a missionary family in a very unfamiliar place. I especially appreciated the (limited) discussion of techniques for developing the written word, teaching literacy and then the work of translation itself. More than just an enjoyable read, there is also an element of spiritual challenge contained herein as the Folopa come to understand that God knew them and has always been at work in their lives even when they didn’t know Him.

Stay-At-Home-Mom. I sometimes feel like this is the wrong title for the position that I’m in. First off, I rarely stay at home. Being a mom sort of requires that you not stay anywhere for very long. If we don’t have errands, classes, meetings, appointments, etc. then we have grass, trees, flowers, bugs, etc. to explore. Even if we are at home all day, we are pretending to be somewhere else, doing something else.

I also feel like SAHM implies one who is not working, but in fact the opposite is quite true, as I find that this is much more exhausting and demanding work than any other that I’ve done – emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I, of course, had a busy (very fun) day not staying at home as a mom. Maybe, I’m just feeling a bit like going out and being the kid and regretting the title that says I’m not…

Last week, I was the speaker for the MOPS group that I attend. The topic I was asked to speak on was Healthy Living, which is something that I’m fairly passionate about. I was hesitant to commit for several reasons: Thaddeus had not made it through an entire MOPS meeting without needing me, I enjoy learning about healthy living, but am no expert nor do I want others to think I am (and hold me to some sort of standard), I hadn’t spoken in front of or taught a large group in many years and was frankly a little scared at the prospect of “teaching” my peers, I was a little concerned about when and how I would prepare for a talk as I can barely keep up with the laundry and the daily tasks involved in caring for three children, helping my hubby and keeping house, and the list goes on.

Yesterday, the speaker at the women’s retreat I attended shared a quote from Henry Blackaby, “I have come to the place in my life that, if the assignment I sense God is giving me is something that I know I can handle, I know it probably is not from God. The kind of assignments God gives in the Bible are always God-sized.” I don’t know if I agree with this statement for myself, but I do know that the MOPS speaking thing was something that I really couldn’t do on my own and yet I sensed clearly that God was asking this of me. So, I did it. It was a lot of work: 18-20 hours of total prep and practicing (and I know it didn’t have to be so much, but I am what some call an overachiever or perfectionist and don’t know how to stop!) But, truth be told, I really enjoyed it (aside from knowing that Thad had cried for an hour before he collapsed into a weary sleep).

However, I don’t think I’m ready to do anymore for a while and I’ll be returning to my little bubble at home focusing on the little ones I’ve been called to cuddle, correct, and otherwise care for…

I mostly love having boys, but sometimes the fascination with gross stuff is more than I enjoy. I know that my boys are still really young and this is only the beginning, but today was about my limit of bugs and boogers.

Thaddeus is teething or has a cold or both and has a constant stream of snot that stretches out from anything he touches, including me. You should be thanking me that I decided not to post the picture I considered. I used less than 25 words to describe it to you, imagine what the picture would’ve said…

Very early this morning, as I am getting out of bed, Josiah starts talking: Mom, I just saw a spider ant.
M: Where?
J: Right here, but he went away. He’ll be right back. He just went to get dressed.
M: Ok. (leaving to go to the kitchen)

A few minutes later…
J: He’s dressed. There’s the ant spider!
M: What?
J: Come see. Look!
M: (coming and seeing that it’s a centipede, then grabbing the nearest book and smashing this bug.) Oh!
J: What’s that? Oh, he pooped. That’s him poop.

Later in the day, Josiah and Eila are on the porch letting ants tickle their arms.
They open the door and come running in.
Josiah, proudly announces: An ant went up my nose!
M: What!?!
J: It crawled right up here. (sticking his finger in his nose)
M: Did it come out?
J: Yeah!
M: Good. How did it feel?
J: Tickles. Him was trying to eat all the boogers.

Not too long ago, I cleaned the windows – inside and out. I know, I know, this isn’t really blogworthy info, but I’ve never actually cleaned all the windows before, so this is big news. And, I didn’t even do most of it. I had my kids do it. Well, actually they were begging me to clean them, so I finally gave in.

They sprayed my mixture of white vinegar and water in a dollar store spray bottle all over and mostly rubbed it clean. It only took about 30 minutes and now we’re all set for the next eight years.

Systems of organization used to be my forte, but now I feel like I’m in a perpetual whirlwind of piles and things to do. And yet, I choose not to do most of those things piled up and waiting to be done…

Today, my excuse was that the weather was too nice, so we had to go outside and play. The same will be true tomorrow. We are playing and growing and learning and sometimes doing the other stuff.

I like to think that I’ve changed in some way and matured – choosing to do the important over the urgent, but I still like to control everything and one day I hope that I’ll have it all under control too without doing any of the work…

I must have spring fever. I am making plans to garden and have even been thinking about building my own raised garden bed. I do NOT have a green thumb and our current garden area has been reclaimed by weeds and grass. But, in my free time now, I’m researching seeds and plants and when to grow them and how and ideal locations… hoping that one day, the ground won’t be frozen and maybe something green and delicious will grow out of it. Care to dream with me? What will you plant this year?

I talk about sharing a lot during my day. For the most part, we all share pretty well. But, the kids apparently are no good at not sharing.

Eila got a stomach bug last Wednesday and by Sunday afternoon our house was a hazardous waste zone. All five of us were sick and feeling lousy. Unfortunately, Josiah got a nasty cold at the same time so he was coughing and running a fever in addition to his stomach flu. The next day, TJ had a fever and lots of cold symptoms and of course, the following day, Eila joined her brothers with a cold virus. Eila found it very funny to cough on my head. She was cracking herself up until she saw that I was not laughing…