Daddy is amazing

Visiting Dad at work (when we miss him too much) does has perks

Isaac visiting Dad at work

Chris is an amazing, diligent, faithful husband and father. He kind of gets the shaft in June because father's day, our anniversary and his birthday are all in the same month. My the end of the month, it's hard to be excited and celebrate him...for the 3rd time.

Though making a special breakfast (above) and getting another Hallmark card (actually, a Dollar Store card or a hand made card/note on a piece of paper) is a challenge by the 30th, there is no shortage of reasons to dote on Chris.

I love him because he is so gracious to me. He is not picky about the house, what I plan, how I feed the family (even tufu), etc. If he wants something else done, he doesn't put it on me, he just does it. If he sees a toilet in need of cleaning, he just does it...without calling any attention to the fact that he did it instead of me. He just started ironing his own shirts. He works so hard but never comes home with the "this is YOUR job" attitude. He is the most wonderful servant. He will have had a long day of meetings, showing homes, emails, calls, running up and down stairs, clients that came to the door just has he was locking up, followed by a long drive home (often getting stuck behind a tractor, see above), and he comes home ready to step in and help me in any way he can. He humbles me!!!

He comes home, will step in to "parent" any issues the kids need Dad to address, he reheats whatever dinner made earlier that evening, wrestles with the kids and does the whole nighttime routine with the kids so I can clean the kitchen and tame a mental mommy break...I know I would fall apart if I didn't have him. God in His sovereignty knew how much I would depend on Chris.

We are all blessed to have him! I am especially thankful this June for the perfect husband/dad for the Koren family.

I LOVE YOU CHRISTOPER WILLIAM!!!

To top it off, he writes notes like this for no reason at all...

FREE Fun, Summer 2013

My dream car at the car show at our church

Listening to the Bible, watching the sunrise as I picked blueberries while the roosters crowed

Free rides at the fair for reading books (followed by watching the airshow practice with our picnic lunch)

We are officially the family that is all the city adds for FREE picnics in the park (we were in all the mailers and the posters). It is fitting because I don't know many who appreciate free as much a the Korens

Over the Hurdle

 

Abigail has conquered more than the balance beam, she overcame her need to be attached at me hip all her waking hours. She went through a few months where she was in fear with tears if she was away from me more than a few minutes, even with other people she loves and feels so comfortable with (which is so uncharacteristic of her).

 

When we signed her up for a week of gymnastics camp, we didn't think through the fact that is was in a place she had never been, with a new teacher and kids she has never met. Did I mention is was 3 hours per day!?!?

 

Praise the Lord, she did so well. She admitted she was nervous, but she didn't shed a tear and had a BLAST! She focused on the fun and remembered that God was with her, and I would be there to pcik her up when she was done. Whatever funk she went through seems to have passed...just in time for kindergarten!!! Hurray.

The day is "Looking UP"

Chris' job is a blessing but can be quite challenging to work around when Chris works weekends and has to work on his "days off." We were all disappointed when Chris had a meeting scheduled on one of his mornings off. We have worked really hard not to grumble about it in front of the children to protect them from missing their dad more than they already do.

 

We drove with Chris to his office and dropped him off at his meeting. We took the opportunity to walk around Portland on a perfectly sunny morning. I was set with a backpack filled with books and snacks. We found a coffee house, had bagels and read together. Because the meeting ran really long, we kept walking. We looked up, literally, and saw the sky tram. We have always wanted to ride it, so we jumped at the chance. The kids were sad that Dad was missing all the fun, but they were happy to have had such a special morning because Dad was working so faithfully hard for our family.

 

Perspective.

When we look up, the day looks bright!!!

Little Getaways

We are so thankful for "weekends" off with dad during the summer. Because he doesn't have the luxury of Saturdays and Sundays off like most, it is rare for him to have a full day off with the kids, let alone two days off together in a row. We try to make the most of the time with little getaways. We stayed in a yurt, camping with friends on the coast in OR and stayed at the coast in WA at out timeshare. A lot of memories can be made in one night.


When we camp, it's nice to "unplug." Fire, marshmallows, and "popcorn" stories where someone starts and passes a turn to someone else to build a story. Isaac ended one where the missing dog in the story was eaten by a bear. I jumped in to save the ending...the bear had been chomping a jelly sandwich and the dog already made it back home. Safe and sound. :)

The timeshares are a different kind of fun. Chris and I get a fix of HGTV. The kids get to put on Disney and eat cereal before we even get up. This year, we all liked laying in bed together watching Chopped on the Food Network (we don't have any channels like that at home, so it's like going out to the movies for us). :) Of course, the super warm pool and bike ride to the icecream shop make Long Beach, WA extra fun!

We had a night camping with the Beane family. I love that the kids don't need toys when they have trees, bikes, and marshmallows to roast. Abigail played with the boys, but really enjoyed talking on the walkie-talkies with Jamie and using the broom every time Rachel had any dirt that needed to be swept on the mat outside their RV.



Nothing like a man making a fire

Beauty in Weeds

"Consider it pure JOY, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face TRIALS of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

 

That is a passage from James that many can quote from the Bible but few really live or feel most on the time, myself included. We cling to it because we know it's true, but we don't REALLY believe it.

 

We don't believe it when we pray to be free from trials (and shake our fist at God with "WHY!" when a trial comes). We don't believe it when protect ourselves (and our children/family/friends) from trials at almost any expense. We don't believe it when we would rather escape a trail than be tested and persevere. We don't believe it when we seek comfort rather that maturity.

 

This came to life for me in a field of weeds at a farm we visited. The kiddos saw the yellow blooming all across the landscape. They RAN to pick enough to make be a bouquet of "flowers." In my heart, I grunted as I collected their stack of weeds piling up in my palms. If these flowers were in my yard, I would dig them up or spray some kind of chemical to kill them off as fast as I could. They are weeds! I want my yard to be weed free all the time. It hit me that my view was tainted by what I was taught and what I have grown to value. The kids saw a field of yellow flowers that were a beautiful gift.

 

When I stepped back, I SAW IT! There was a field filled with lovely yellow blooms that created a beautiful bunch of flowers that brightened my day. I saw the with their eyes. I saw the beauty in the weeds. It was right in front of me the whole time, I just missed seeing it.

 

The truth is...the TRUTH. Trials are a joy. God's Word is true. Trials do grow us. They are beautiful. We are so prone to seeking a life of comfort that we see anything that imposes or disrupts that as something ugly we should escape as fast as we can. We need to see them through the right eyes. God's! Just like weeds, we can see trials as beautiful. We just need to change our view to match His. Thankfully, even that can be accomplished through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.

 

Lord, help me to see the beauty in the trials you give me. Help me to never forget how beautiful the "weeds" can really be.