What To Do...

Cardboard boxes have a plethora of aftermarket uses.  Most people mindlessly skip over the obvious and run straight for the exotic, like:

1. Burn barrel starter material.
2. Garage floor covering for oil spills.
3. Packing material for shipping your friends presents.
4. Makeshift dust pans for large floor junk in the garage.
5. Storm window coverings.
6. Broken car window replacements.
7. Coloring material for the kids.
8. Project material for the kids and their friends and their friends...
9. Backing for paper note pads.
10. Garage notes for measuring, drawing or figuring something so you don't have to back into the house to find a note pad and pencil.
11. To use for your outside burn barrel cover, to set on the grass so the hot lid won't burn the grass.
12. Patterns for things.
13. Garage trash holders.
14. Use extra 123's to hold your movies in,
15. Use them for bookshelves or CD holders.
16. Sock drawer separator walls.
17. Place-mats for the table when kids are doing home projects.
18. Fan to restart your burn barrel fire.
19. Computer mouse pads.
20. Wind protector for the beach.
21. Cut & line with foil and create a sun tan shield for your face.
22. Inside cupboard lining.
23. Silverware drawer separators.
24. Mudroom flooring.
25. Recycle.
26. Kids play houses.
27. Play houses for your cats.
28. Tear up for a compost pile or a worm bed.
29. Donate to a local cardboard drive.

But there are some cardboard boxes whose destinies are as clear the nose on the end of your face.  Some boxes were born to be forts.

In this case, a gigantic 3 piece box which originally carried five foot round tables is now being employeed as a luxurious 19.6 square foot condo in Natalie's playroom.

The Storybook, Prayer & Storms

As a family, we are on our third time reading through the Jesus Storybook Bible.  It's a fantastic children's Bible put out by Zondervan.  It's a very poetic paraphrase of stories throughout the Scriptures.  The part I enjoy the most is that every story told points to Jesus.  It is a wonderful tool for reading the Bible with Natalie.

I was quite surprised the other night (because Natalie is a stickler for routine) when after we got done reading, she asked, "Can pray the prayer they did?"  She was referring to Jesus' prayer in Matthew chapter 6.  "Of course", I replied, and went on to explain that lots of people for a very long time have been praying that same prayer.  In fact, many people pray it several times a day, everyday.  So, for the past few nights we have been praying that very same prayer.  It has been a great blessing to have a mini-praying the hours with Natalie.  Here it is from the Jesus Storybook Bible:

“Hello Daddy!

We want to know you.

And be close to you.

Please show us how.

Make everything in the world right again.

And in our hearts, too.

Do what is best – just like you do in heaven,

And please do it down here, too.

Please give us everything we need today.

Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you.

Forgive us just as we forgive other people

When they hurt us.

Rescue us! We need you.

We don’t want to keep running away

And hiding from you.

Keep us safe from our enemies.

You’re strong, God.

You can do whatever you ant.

You are in charge.

Now and forever and for always!

We think you’re great!

Amen!

Yes we do!

Tonight we read about Jesus and his disciples when they were sailing across the lake and they got caught in a terrible storm.  Jesus' disciples were experienced fisherman, but they had never seen a storm like this one.  No matter what they did the "storm was too big for them.  But the storm wasn't too big for Jesus."  The disciples yelled for help, "'Rescue us!  Save us!' they shrieked. 'Don't you care?' (Of course Jesus cared, and this was the very reason he had come -- to rescue them and to save them.)  Jesus stood up and spoke to the storm.  'Hush!' he said.  That's all.  And the strangest thing happened... The wind and the waves recognized Jesus' voice... Immediately the wind stopped.  The water calmed down.  It glittered innocently in the moonlight and lapped quietly against the side of the boat, as if nothing had happened." It seems impossible, but the disciples were so focused on the storm that they forgot he (JESUS!) was in the boat with them.  "They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, then they had nothing to be afraid of.  No matter how small their boat -- or how big the storm.

After reading this story and praying Jesus' prayer from Matthew 6 we took some time to talk about how our family might feel like we are in a storm when things get difficult and scary.  I tried to make the connection between the disciples needing to trust Jesus because He was with them and we need to trust Him because He is with us.  We also talked about how God is so powerful that He can do anything... even talk to a storm.  Natalie understood the parts of the story we read and our family's story... but she admitted having some difficulty piecing the two together.  This will definitely be a conversation piece at meals and bedtime.

Those Poor NY Kids.

Tuesday morning we woke up to several inches of snow... which accumulated on Tuesday evening to just over 6". It was a wonderful surprise, especially for Natalie. She immediate exclaimed, "Daddy it's snowing, we can go ice skating!" Of course, we didn't find any ice so we settled for building a snowman in the back yard. It was that heavy wet snow too... the kind that makes a massive snowball in less than 10 feet, leaving a trail of exposed grass behind it.

An early morning trip to town on Tuesday allowed me to see just how "weird" our overnight snow storm was. five minutes north of camp on the way to town there was nothing. The ground was just as bear as the day before... just wet now from all the RAIN! I couldn't believe it. A few miles back it was virtually a blizzard with heavy snow and high winds. People were staring at my car which had about three inches of snow glued to it.

From watching the news we found out that PA schools were closed from snow, high winds, fallen trees and downed power lines; while NY school kids braved the rain to get to class. At best it will only amount to a few days of "snow day bragging rights" with temperatures in the high 50's predicted for Friday.

A Fall Day Off

Monday was a great day off after a big weekend with the Shepherds Fall Retreat. We had a great day - hanging out, playing games, sharing all of our meals together. We also went up the road to the local apple farm. Their trees were all picked through but they did have a few bins of apples just outside their store front. Even though we were geared up for walking around picking from trees, picking from bins was an easy change of plans... especially on my day off. After purchasing our apples we poked around looking at their animals (3 goats and a chicken) and playing in their hay maze. It was simple, fun, and FREE. It was stacking up to be a really good day off.

I spent the afternoon reading a book while Natalie napped. Then we busted out the pumpkins for our annual pumpkin carving.

We talked about what kind of faces to draw on our pumpkins, then we tried some designs on paper to figure out exactly what we wanted. As I was drawing the face on the big pumpkin Natalie with a cute smile casually said, "Daddy you can pull out the seeds, I'm not going to put my hand in the pumpkin." Kelly and I looked at each other in amazement. We purposefully hadn't mentioned anything about reaching inside the pumpkin. Last year we had Natalie try it and she absolutely hated the whole experience. Apparently it left a lasting impression.
Natalie did put her hand in the pumpkin to help pull out the seeds and the goo, but now until we gave her a vinyl glove.

Nontheless we had a great time with the pumpkins. I also experimented with a new method of carving. I used my Dewalt 18v roto-zip. It was a little too effective. It made carving extremely easy, but it also liquefied the pumpkin spraying it here and there. All said and done though - we ohhhed and ahhhed at the final products all lit up.

And The TRUTH Shall Set You Free.

Last night as Natalie was getting ready for bed she decided to be disobedient in the process of going from brushing her teeth to sitting on her bed for story time (reading the Bible). Her disobedience immediately led to the consequence of a punishment. Then after some clear instructions, Natalie promptly headed into her room and hopped up on her bed for story time. We sat together as a family, opened up her new Bible and turned to the next story from the book of Genesis. As Natalie squirmed and shifted getting herself into just the right position Kelly and I glanced down at the Bible story and noticed the title.


After a somewhat held-back simultaneous chuckle Kelly read the title aloud, "Disobedience Brings Punishment."

Natalie looked at the Bible Story, looked up at us, and without hesitation said, "Let's not read that."

Now THAT was good for a laugh out loud. I'm sure you will agree, that children are both a blessing and a joy - especially in the unprompted things they say.
It's hard to tell what was going through Natalie's mind. Was she still feeling the effects of the consequences of her disobedience or was it God's Word piercing like a two-edged sword? A little bit of both I suppose.