Today I will write several things that have been on my mind to put down on "paper" but just haven't gotten to it. I guess I am still having trouble with that New Year's Resolution to slow down. Some friends and I were trying to find a time that we could all get together and it was into June before we might possibly be able to. How did this happen? Anyway... The bluebirds didn't hatch. We waited past the due date, not being sure when they had been laid, but they were evidently duds. There had been 5 eggs and one day there were suddenly 2 missing and the parents didn't come back. So maybe the parents took 2 eggs somewhere where they wouldn't be checked so often by humans. My sons enjoyed holding the eggs that were left, but I strongly enforced the rule that they remain outside. I took the old nest out as was suggested and the next day a new bluebird was there building a nest. I haven't seen any eggs yet, but maybe we will get a chance to see babies after all. The garden is growing well now. We finally have been getting some rain. We have been in drought conditions most of the winter. I was thinking this morning that it is amazing that I can try to make the garden grow by watering it myself, but when the real rain falls it takes off as if I had been doing nothing. Sort of like trying to grow as a christian can be done only so long without God and then He has to take over for real growth to happen. A girl that studied the Bible with my husband when we lived in TX called a week or so ago. Her family is Hindi and she had never committed to Christ before we left. She called to say she was baptized last September and she is preparing to go to seminary to become a christian counselor. Her family is not allowed to speak to her, though her mother and brother do on the sly. She has given up much more than I to follow the Savior. The following 2 prayers have been my devotional prayer the last several months.

• Grant us grace, O Father, not to pass by suffering or joy without eyes to see. Give us understanding and sympathy, and guard us from selfishness, that we may enter into the joys and sufferings of others. Use us to gladden and strengthen those who are weak and suffering; that by our lives we may help others to believe and serve thee, and shed forth thy light which is the light of life. -H.R.L. Sheppherd
• O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others; open my ears that I may hear their cries; open my heart that they need not be without succor; let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show me where love, and faith, and hope are needed, and use me to bring them to those places. And so open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee. Amen. -Alan Paton

Another answered prayer: Monday we woke so very tired, my husband and I. It had been a busy week and we weren't looking forward to beginning yet another. So during my morning prayer time, I asked God to somehow give us rest that particular day. 2 of my 3 children that I care for were sick and didn't come. So it was a slower day for me that included a nap when the little one napped. My husband had a meeting cancelled and got to come home for a nap. God is so generous.

I forgot this treasure from my 7 year old. Coming home from Easter lunch he asked, "What is a new gli gee?" A eulogy? I tried to decipher. "New gli gee" Neurology? Use it in a sentence. "You look ravishing in that skimpy negligee." Immediately shock and hilarity ran through my mind. "Where did you hear that?" "It was in Calvin and Hobbes." My husband collects those. I told him this was all his fault, but he reminded me that I bought some of them for him. That was before I was the mother of two sons!! I will have to find a way to hide those books; they're learning too much!

Well, the Easter candy has a big dent in it, but there is still a lot left. I think the Easter Bunny had better not shop at Sam's Club any more! My husband did the shopping this year. I just didn't at all feel like it was Easter and couldn't get in the mood for it. He even gave me some peanutbutter eggs and a new candy by Junior Mints that are caramel, Mmmm. Honestly, baskets and candy had not even entered my mind last week. So we didn't have a home cooked meal with pies for dessert. I have been working so hard on other things, I just couldn't find the energy to do a big meal too. We went to Golden Corral, where we were sure to have limas ( a must for Easter in my husband's mind) and home made rolls. We took a woman from church who would have been alone otherwise. Fairly uneventful, if I say so myself. However, two things made it a memorable Easter. First, I have waited many, many years for my children to wake in the morning and secret themselves out to the baskets (or Christmas tree) and check out the loot. My children have often had to be awakened and reminded of the goodies that await them. I had so looked forward as a mother to the holiday morning excitement and had been so disappointed. THIS year, the younger son rewarded me. He sneaked out to the baskets and then raced back to wake his brother. "Wake up! Wake up! The Easter Bunny came last night! He even brought us a present and yours is too big to fit in your basket and I won't tell you what it is but you are going to love it HURRY UP!" excitedly whispered in one long breath. That was truly a Mom Moment. The second was also provided by the younger son. We were on our way to church and discussing that this was the best day in the history of the world. "Do you know what happened on Easter?" asked Mom. "Yeah, Jesus rose from the dead." said in a monotone voice of a preacher's kid who has heard this once too often. "And what is so wonderful about that? What happens because of it?" Mom continued. Here is where the excitement entered his voice, "No school!" I suppose when you are 7 ressurrection and eternal life just can't compare to a holiday.

Tomorrow is the "official" tax date, although we get a break this year and next since the 15th falls on a weekend. Monday will likely find long lines at the P.O. and this holiday weekend may not be so restful to those procrastinators! I wanted to share another of God's little miracles in my life. Every time we move, the first year is difficult financially because of new surroundings and costs, unexpected happenings, and because we are unsure of local tax policies. This move was no exception. We have paid our quarterly taxes, giving to Caesar what is Caesar's, but it has drained us and we have tightened the belt a few notches at times. The last several months have found me praying, "God, we just need 6 or 7,000 more to make it." I had no idea how to get it. I knew God had always provided every need and many desires so I put my trust in him and went on. Well, guess what! Our refund this year is $7,000! We were drastically overpaying and the money was there all the time, but the fabulous thing is that God provided what I needed before I ever asked or even knew that I needed it. He so very specifically answered my request that it could only be his reassuring voice, "Your Father knows that you need these things. Only seek His Kingdom and all these shall be taken care of." (My interpretation/translation.) Praise to our Generous and Abundant Lord!

My spiritual discipline this week has been to start each day with 10 minutes of good thoughts- taken from Philippians 4:8. It seemed like wasting time at first, but it does put your mind on the right track for the day. Sometimes it starts slowly, how many times can you think the same good thought?, but then I start to think of new things and the wonder and wonderfulness of my Lord make the 10 minutes suddenly fly. The other activity for the week has actually been on my "to do" list for 3 weeks now. If I hadn't done it by tomorrow night's group meeting I think they would have strung me up by my toenails! I was to bless each room in my home. That doesn't sound too hard, walk through your house and pray, but it is hard to find time alone when I am still energetic enough to talk to God about things. So on this, my night off, I had my husband and sons leave so I could have some quiet time alone at home. I did bless the house and all of those who live in it or pass through its doors. What an amazing way to see the Lord's Hand of Blessing in my life. The friends, the memories, the quiet times with my lover, the cozy times with my children, the abundance of food and clothing, the blessing of land and animals...taste and see that the Lord is good. Try it yourself this week and see what a generous Lord we serve. ------------- Also as I walked about asking God to bless everything, I passed the bluebird box. I peeked in to see the same eggs, but also to hear a slight rustling and moving. I imagine they will be hatched tomorrow! May God bless that little family as abundantly as He has mine.

Once last summer I was working on a project at the house and a friend commented that I must work really slowly; it was taking a long time to get done. Yesterday I hired a kid to help me finish preparing the garden and get a fence around it so that I could get some plants and seeds into the ground soon. I felt a little badly hiring help when I am a stay-at-home mom, but as the afternoon went on I felt like it was justified. Child #2 had a stomach virus. Child #5 got a splinter the size of a tree. Child #4 had to tell me several times about #5's splinter. # 4-5 wanted a snack. #3 wanted a snack. #1-2 wanted gum, then #3 wanted candy. #5 needed a diaper change. #4 continued to tell me of the need for a diaper change as well as updates on the splinter. I cleaned up #4-5 since they were "helping" in the garden and got them down for a nap, along with a clean diaper and band-aid on the splintered finger. #1 had finished mowing the yard and was about to start helping to hoe when #2 came out to find me and threw up all over the yard. The rooster charged #3 and sent him into tears. If I hadn't had a helper for the afternoon I would still be out there clearing the weeds. As it is, the garden was cleared and nearly fenced by the time my helper left. I was able to finish the fencing and today got in strawberries, onions, peas, beans, spinach, lettuce, and tomatoes. Next time someone says I work slowly I will send them to this post!!