Chick Pea Pasta by Mcabe

Sautee olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, 2 drained cans of garbanzo beans/chick peas.

Add 6 diced tomatoes.

Toss over pasta. Garnish with basil (or in this case...celery leaves because there is no basil.)

When He Loves Us Through Others

Brad, for yesterday...today's sudden, painfully long, silent car ride...and tomorrow. Bria, for the tight, extended hugs and the call to prayer. Mcabe, for your text message today and for reminding me that the Lord has a reason for everything. Galilee, for allowing me to see your broken heart and for the immediate intercession on my behalf. Jemima, for revealing your fears even though that wasn't the easiest thing to do... and for being the little servant the Lord has gifted you to be. Zion, for being nervous for me and for caring so much about me. Dad and Mom, for the instant help and your never-ending presence. Mom, for being in the er. Dad, for holding my shoulder at the blood lab because my hand was too sore to hold. Cate...for overseas prayers and everything. Sean, I'll never forget your slow motion, relieved, drop to the floor. Jana, Jules, Deb, Kimberly, Ginger, Susan. Ed, for the pureness and sweetness of your obvious concern. Sheena, for that smile and those tears.

Life is not always fun..................... but He is always on the throne.

The Family Bed

We're one of those "family bed" types of families.

Bria slept between us until Mcabe was born and Mcabe was with us until he was three...sadly kicked out before he was ready to go. He transferred down to the "Big Boys" bedroom traumatically...much like the way he handled those cruel preschool "drop offs" at the gate. I have no idea why we were pressured at the time to move him out...but I do know now that it wasn't necessary.

Last night, without warning...our baby Zion grew up all by herself. She declared that she wanted to sleep downstairs with the girls. The trundle was prepared...lights out and...lo and behold...contrary to her parents predictions....she accomplished her mission. Brad checked on her halfway through the night and she was out like a light. And early this morning...she was the first Gregg awake...watching a Sewing show on television....paper and crayons scattered about on the coffee table... doing "homework" all by herself in the den. "Look, Dad...I can make an "A"....she mentioned nonchalantly. She did the same thing when she decided diapers were a thing of the past. One day she said I want to go on the big potty and she did and never looked back. When she is ready to do something she just does it...no drama...simple and easy.

I know many people do not understand our choice to sleep with our kids in between us or near us...but I must say...it's been an enormous blessing. It's also one of the things I grieve over when I think of Galilee and Jemima during those long, lonely first years of their lives...us not having them to comfort or them not having us to provide comfort and security. Galilee was 4.5 when she came home...and fiercly independant. I slept with her in her bed for a few weeks...but to be honest...it wasn't natural. Then she slept on the floor by our bed for a while...as things started to settle in. Jemima was 3.5 when she came home. She was equally independant and had no need to cuddle in bed. It broke my heart as she pushed me away. I had lost so much time with them. We would not be able to bond in this one particular way...one of the ways that came naturally to a nursing mother...or to a father whose breath rises and falls in unison with the sleeping infant's on his chest.

As time went on...I realized that the Lord had a purpose in His timing and that I needed to find different ways of bonding.... and those ways were graciously and tenderly provided. Over the years...as the girls hearts were knitted to ours and ours to theirs...they wanted to sleep upstairs with us...on the floor in our room. Beds are now occasionally made with cozy blankets and pillows and it is like a big pajama party at the Gregg home. It has been a tool the Lord has used to strengthen our bonds and draw us closer into intimacy.

Just last week, Bria had a blood blister that he picked and it wouldn't stop bleeding. Eventually.... after about an hour and a midnight contact to the doctor on call... it did, but I made him sleep upstairs anyway. He thought I was nuts...but honored me :) "just in case Mom wanted to check in on him a few times during the wee hours."

When Bria went to camp...guess who bunked with us? Mcabe. Three nights with our 13 year old close by. Who on earth could not love that?

Call us crazy, but I am convinced our family bed communicates love to our kids.

And as far as Bradley and I are concerned...the Lord knew what He was doing when He made us creative types :)

Zion Plus Three Water Balloons Equals........

..........quite the little mommy to be :)

Director: Mcabe Justus Gregg

Mcabe at work on Final Cut Pro...editing his "Skate" video...while cinematographer, Jemima.......and production assistant, Zion...watch on.

Ozzie Wisdom

"Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go." It's only because He loves us so passionately that He is jealous for our affections. Oh, to truly comprehend the depths of His love for us!

"Suppose God has brought you up to a crisis and you nearly go through but not quite. He will engineer the crisis again, but it will not be so keen as it were before. There will be less discernment of God and more humiliation at not having obeyed; and if you go on grieving the Holy Spirit, there will come a time where that crisis cannot be repeated, you have grieved Him away,"

Brad Having Fun with Rooney

Hint: Hit Pause Button (far left) on Music Player before pressing Start.

More Photos

Yesterday, Mcabe entered the room and announced......"I've decided I'm going to major in Photography."

Iron Chef AZ

Lunch Salad Challenge....Jemima vs. Mcabe.

Bible Camp

Lord, help us give them roots...and wings.

Tooooooooooo Cute

I yell down to Brad, "How do you spell sufficient?" And Zion yells up without missing a beat, "A.....B...A....G!"

Out of the Box

On our first day at home... I had the kids stand up straight, place their hands over their hearts, and pledge allegiance to a small flag I had propped in the corner by the television. Then, we all sang "My Country Tis Of Thee" together. A pretty funny sight...looking back on it...two red-headed boys... free from uniforms for the first time in their young academic lives...their misty-eyed mother...and a daughter newly home from a foreign country...just getting the hang of the language... having no idea what on earth any of this rigmarole meant at all. The following year...another daughter joins us from overseas...and our patriotic morning ritual slowly fades away. Then the baby is on the way...and I am nesting... and the flag comes down cobwebs and all....labeled a "dust collector."

Unfortunately for myself, my husband, and our children, the whole "bringing the classroom into the living room" mentality stayed with me for our first few years at home. Workbooks needed to be consumed...every page...no matter what...no if's and's or but's. If they weren't... I felt guilty and I'm convinced I made the kids suffer too. Text books were purchased...because even if we didn't use them...we needed to have them on the bookshelf...should we ever find a need...and each year...we locked ourselves away from the outside world for a few days...sharpened a stack of number two pencils, took our standardized tests...mailed them in and waited for our results.

But slowly, tenderly and in His timing, the Lord pried me away from the comfortable...from the familiar...from the box I was living in...and introduced me to a new place...the land of eclectic, Spirit-led home-education...a place where grade levels don't matter all that much anymore and where math problems somehow teach lessons on individuality, comedy, and pride. Braverijah will be turning 16 soon and is entering into his junior year (transcript speaking) ...with a few college courses already under his belt and a whole lot of work experience in his chosen field to add to his portfolio. Mcabe is 13 and has taken every co-op high school tract class since last year. Does that make him a sophomore this year? But...both boys will be in the same math class this year...even though there are 2.6 years separating them age wise... and Bria's already taken his 3 Lab Sciences, Physical, Biology, and Chemistry. Galilee is turning 12 and officially moving into Saxon 6/5. But Saxon is supposed to be a year ahead (of who?@#*?!)? Where does that put her since...as far as math goes...she's a year behind some of her other friends? She's moving into a 6th grade Literature class with a group of 4-8th graders...Jemima being one of the younger students...turning 10 in November. The girls will be studying together from Apologia's Astronomy like they did last year for a Botany course and they are 1.11 years apart. And they will take a writing class together as well... and be in the same Dance class and perform in the same Choral group...and study God's Word...growing in grace alongside one another in the same Keeper's group. Galilee is the best speller in the household...by far...scoring higher than Bria and Mcabe and no doubt... could out spell me most days without thinking twice. Our baby, Zion... is 4.2 and she will be joining the K-3 co-op class this year...gleaning what she can from the great Literature titles presented in the Five in a Row curriculum. If she's already writing her letters and doing "math" and knows her colors and shapes and days of the week and sings her alphabet...is she considered Pre-K or K? She'll most likely cry for a minute when I leave the room to be with the older kids next door...but some kindergartners do that too.

Really, the Lord is so good to me. He is faithful and ever present. Just today, He made His presence known at my kitchen table. Galilee and Miss Jill, her math tutor, were going over some problems. I was standing nearby...listening in while sauteing up some broccoli for lunch...because Miss Jill is new... and nobody knows their children and the tricks they will pull with a new bee better than one's mom:)...so I'm keeping an ear out for nonsense...excuses...justifications etc. Miss Jill had asked for certain steps to be followed in the assignment she had given...and for all work to be shown...and over and over I am hearing that the steps were not followed....and half the work is missing. Each time, a new reason for not following the steps or not showing the work is given. All jibber jabber. Because I have been removed from the box I was living in...I have been shown that the math lesson means diddly squat...if the underlying heart issue here is not being addressed. So, we stop everything and slowly and methodically speak about what was asked. What was done or not done in response to what was asked? We work through owning the fact that what was asked was not done and we get to the bottom of the problem. Pride. Plain and simple. Pride. Galilee did not think she had to show her work even though she was asked to because she knew she could do the work in her head and she just thought that was a ridiculous thing to do. It all boiled down to her thinking she knew better. My broccollini needs to be stirred...I'm paying Miss Jill by the hour to teach Math and I am sitting at the kitchen table discussing the sin of pride and how it manifested itself in this very situation. Miss Jill is patient. Galilee is convicted...or at the very least.... embarrassed. Here's the funny part. I go back to the stove. Miss Jill moves on to a division illustration. "Galilee," she asks..."What's your favorite food? If you had one food to choose...what would your favorite food be?" Galilee thinks pretty long and pretty hard. Finally..."beets"...she says. "Beets?"...Miss Jill asks a bit taken aback. "Yes, beets", Galilee confirms with absolute certainty. "Okaaaayy, let's pretend we have 7 beets in a can and three kids need to share those seven beets...how many would each kid get?" "Oh that's easy", Galilee perks up. "2r1." She has no idea why Miss Jill and I find it funny that she chose beets over let's say.... cotton candy or ice-cream. The Lord was right there reminding me that my daughter is unique...that she is a one-of-a-kind creation, that she is special and that if I think it's about math...I am missing the point entirely. At the end of the session, Galilee is relieved. She thinks about just saying, "Goodbye...see you Thursday"....I can tell....but starts to fill up with tears instead. She follows Miss Jill out to her car and apologizes for dishonoring her by ignoring the steps she had been asked to follow. Miss Jill forgives her... and tonight, I am a home-educating mother who is soaring on the wings of eagles!

Sunday Night

Jemima playing "Dorm Room"

Mcabe and Zion watching a movie.

Bria on X Box

Galilee finishing "Where The Red Fern Grows"

Lessons from today's sermon:
What do we want these children whom we love so deeply to know about the cross?
1. It is a picture of God's holiness.
2. Love requires sacrifice.
3. The cross demands everything.
4. The cross means we are forgiven and live in freedom.
5. It's either history's hinge or history's greatest hoax.
6. It is foolishness to those who are perishing.

An Echo in the Darkness

"If her sorrow is according to the will of God, it will produce a repentance without regret leading to salvation."

Backyard Chalk Art by Mcabe