Hospital gowns, IVs, and Beds on Wheels

It started on Monday afternoon, a small pain in my lower abdomen.  Nothing significant I thought.  There was so much going on to really stop and take notice at the time.  My parents had arrived for a short visit and we were also in the process of preparing to visit Brad and our new church family in Illinois the day after they left.  My “To Do” list was long and time was running short.  We had a few miscellaneous things to finish for school Monday afternoon, and then we all loaded up in Grandpa’s van for our annual outing to Goebel Tree and Pumpkin Farm.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and we had such a lovely time.  Later that night the pain seemed a little worse but I could handle it.  Had I pulled a muscle?  Well, I’m sure it was nothing and all I needed was a little rest.  So with no other thought, I went to bed.

Fall Fun at the Pumpkin Farm

Tuesday began wonderfully and we enjoyed our time with my parents.  As the school day went on the pain remained.  Was it worse?  Well, I’d keep an eye on it, and when I got home from Illinois I’d call my Dr.  There was still too much to do.  The house needed to be cleaned and I had preparations for our trip.  After all, we had pictorial directory pictures for RCC and I had shopped for some clothes for the kids to wear!   Dad and mom took us out to eat that night so I wouldn’t have to cook and it was such a treat.  We ate a nice dinner, enjoyed good conversation, and returned home.  Soon after arriving home my symptoms worsened, and I texted Brad to let him know I was going to call the Dr. in the morning.  Within a short time, however, I went downhill quickly.  Now I had hot flashes, chills, and nausea, but no fever.  Mom and I managed to get the kids in bed.  Once they were settled I told my parents I needed to go to the ER.  Mom stayed up with the kids and Dad drove me.
 
The staff was wonderful and soon had me checked in and back in a room relaxing in my personal taxi (bed on wheels) with an IV, and a simply gorgeous hospital gown.  I have to say the personal taxi rides to my tests were nice.  A person could get used to being taken from place to place reclining with a nice warm blanket.  The nurse that put the IV in gets the highest praise as I’m an incredibly hard stick and he did it on the first try.  Typically when needles and I get together, I pass out.  His ability to get it in quickly meant I was conscious the entire time.  It was nice to be able to remember the entire visit and know I didn’t mumble anything embarrassing or inappropriate while passing out or coming to.  Hospital gowns have to have multi uses.  I think mine could have doubled as a grill cover but it only had two ties so maybe not.  Even though it was plenty big….it just didn’t close the way it should have to make this self-conscious girl feel comfortable.  I’m sure I had to have flashed several people including my dad and that is just plain wrong. 



On my first trip to the ultrasound lab, I had a few moments alone in a room to actually stop and be still.  I had uninterrupted time to think.  Time to start processing all the things that had happened for the last few days and start to process what was going on with me and my health at the present time.  I began to get teary and I wanted Brad with me but he was in Illinois.  I began to think about the kids and what if what was going on with me was serious.  My mind began going 100 miles an hour.  I didn’t have time for this, you know?  Moms don’t get sick.  We have too much to do, right?  How was I going to drive to Illinois?  What was I going to do in the morning when my parents left?   Yes, I realize now how ridiculous that sounds, but I was still in denial that the plans we had made had changed.

While waiting for all the preliminary tests to come back, my dad joined me in my cozy ER suite and the nurse gave me some REALLY good medication in my IV for nausea and pain.  That warm, tingly, floaty feeling was so weird but it did help me relax.  It was at this time that Dad informed me he and mom would be staying with me until I felt better.  I felt so bad.  They had other plans.  They had reservations in other places later in the week.  They had other things they wanted to do and 40+ years later, they were still being terrific parents and with no second thoughts gave it up to be with me.  I kept thinking about how I had messed up their vacation.

After another test, I discovered I had an irritated digestive tract issue and should be fine over time.  So I was discharged with a couple prescriptions.  I had to give up the hospital gown and bed on wheels.  One was so much easier to give up than the other!  Then I was able to call Brad and talk to him personally and let him know I wasn’t going to be able to make our originally planned trip. We were not going to be able to get our pictures taken.  I was so upset.  Again, somehow I had messed things up.   This was not how it was supposed to be.   I had plans and pictures and I was going to get to hear Brad preach!

In an instant everything changed for me, my parents, my husband, and our children.  All the plans that had been made, all the things on my to do list, all the chores still left to do, it all changed.  I now had to be flexible and there was a new plan.  I do not excel at being flexible and it causes pressure to build up inside of me at times but I’m learning.  Brad ended up coming home to help take care of me and the kids.  It was the best medicine I could have had.   You all can have the Avengers….I have my own set of super heroes here and they are awesome – Brad, my parents, Neil, Madeline, Sarah, and Samuel wore their super hero capes with pride.

It’s been a different kind of a week.  It was nothing like what I had planned.  It was scary at times and full of questions.  It was a week where I experienced the love of my family in a new and different way.  It was a week where God continued to take care of us and our daily needs.  It was a week where I was blessed in ways I would not have imagined.  It was a week of changed plans.  I’m so grateful for good medical staff, my handsome husband guy, wonderful parents,  and terrific kids.  I am so incredibly blessed!!

 

I’m not used to being the one who is being taken care of.  I prefer being the caretaker.  I felt fragile for the first time in a long time and realize even more how precious the time is that God has given us to be upon this earth.  There is still a lot of work to do.  So as I was in the hospital this week, the experience made me reflect on my daily goals and as a list maker, my "To Do" list.  I was reminded that plans change, and sometimes very quickly.  What are the things that really matter?  Do the things on my to do list fulfill His purposes for my life, or my own desires?  Am I living for Him and to please Him or am I just living day to day to please myself and fulfill my own goals?  It is so easy to get caught up in my own agenda and my own plans.  The day to day activities of living life and being a mom and homeschool teacher can crowd out God’s plans for me that day. I am ashamed to say I don’t pray over my list with the right attitude.  Too many times I have made my list and asked Him to bless my day and give me strength to complete my tasks without a second thought to what He might want to do in me or through me that day.  How many opportunities have I missed because of that?

 

Thankfully today is a new day.  I’m not sure what’s ahead, but God does and He promised to go with us and never leave us.  So I continue to rest and heal and look ahead to a new day.  As I make my  to do list for the next week and go over my plans for the week ahead, I’m thinking differently.  I want my life, every part, even small things to honor him.  I want to see His plan for me more than my own plan for my day.  Please keep us in your prayers – prayers for continued healing for me and for the sale of our home. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives. Thank you!

 

 

The Secret Recipe for a Lasting Marriage

September 30, 1962 my parents were married on a Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.  They were married on the half hour so as the minute hand on the clock traveled its path back around it would “catch” all the blessings.  They spent their wedding day doing what I’ve always known them to do on a Sunday.   They spent that morning in worship.  My dad had just started his first full time preaching ministry at Kingman Christian Church in Kingman, Indiana in July of 1962.  He got up and went to worship and preached the Word.  My mom attended Second Church of Christ in Danville, Illinois and so she went to Sunday School and worship there that morning.

It was a simple service and the ladies of the church decorated the reception area so mom didn’t have to worry about any of that.  I found out last weekend that my grandfather Hibbs told my mom if she started crying as he was walking her down the aisle that he would start skipping her down the aisle.  So she didn’t cry because she told me, “He was serious!”  I find that hard to believe because my mom is a very sensitive and emotional being.  Her sensitivity and tenderness are such precious qualities.  In fact, Brad and I sometimes judge a movie by how my mom will react and usually have a few we want to watch with her just to see her reaction!


Mr. and Mrs. Larry McMillan
September 30, 1962

 My mom was originally from Memphis, Tennessee and it was her southern drawl that attracted my dad to her.  My dad’s red Plymouth caught my mom’s eye.  Then they were introduced by a mutual friend but this friend told my mom that Larry wasn’t her type.  Come to find out this friend liked my dad!  Oh we women are something sometimes aren’t we?!  Mom decided she’d like to find that out for herself!  They dated a long time and were engaged two years before a couple of the ladies at church gave them money for a marriage license.  I think my parents were just content knowing they had each other and the ladies of the church were the impatient ones! 

 

 

Over the course of the past 50 years they ministered 10 of those years in Kingman and had three children, Tim, Paul and me.  When I was a year old they moved to Oxford Indiana and started a new ministry at the Oxford Church of Christ where my dad is still ministering at that local congregation of believers.  In my lifetime I have watched them go through good and challenging times together.  I’ve seen good, bad, and ugly.  However, they have stuck together even when things weren’t so rosy.

While I’ve never asked them what the secret is to a lasting marriage, I already know the answer because their actions have always spoken louder than their words.  It’s because of the relationship they each have with the Lord.  I have fond memories of waking early in the mornings and finding my mom in her chair reading her Bible or starting her day in prayer.  I have fond memories of going downstairs to my dad’s office of a morning and finding my dad reclining in his chair with his feet crossed and kicked up on one of the desks in his office with his Bible or devotional on his lap and his eyes closed in prayer.  This relationship has provided a foundation for not only their individual lives but their marriage as well.  It is the rock they cling to in the bad times and rejoice on in the good. 

Larry and Roberta, still precious 50 years later!

This foundation in Christ has taught them that love is not a feeling or emotion but a choice to love for better in the good times and for worse in the bad, during times when money was plentiful and when it wasn’t, the healthy periods of life and now during sickness when my mom and dad deal with diabetes and as my dad deals with asthma.  They try to model a love that will honor, respect, cherish and treasure the other above their own needs or desires.  A love that is patient, kind, unselfish, humble, seeking the good in the other, refusing to speak badly about the other and one that doesn’t keep score or gets angry when things don’t go their own way kind of love. 

Don’t get me wrong.  They struggle at times and fuss at one another and have moments of intense fellowship, but in the end it all comes back to what their marriage is built upon.  Their marriage is built upon the Rock, and during those storms He is faithful and immovable.  When the storms have passed, their marriage has remained intact and their relationship to God and each other has not only endured but become stronger.


Saying their vows to one another again

This past Sunday, September 30, 2012, we had a wonderful celebration for Dad and Mom in honor of their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  My sister-in-law, Sheryl did most of the planning and all I can say is…it was beautiful!  50 years later though,  they were still about the Lords work.  Mom taught in her Sunday School class and Dad was preaching the Word!  After service, we surprised them with a vow renewal ceremony and my dad serenaded my mom with Irving Berlin’s song, Always.  My mom wanted my dad to sing to her at their wedding but he thought he’d be too nervous so he didn’t.  It was so romantic and precious to hear him sing to her Sunday.  Many wet eyes in the sanctuary!  He thought he was going to surprise her at the reception but when he found out about the ceremony he sang it to her there.  There was a luncheon with the church family and then from 1-4 p.m. a reception held that was open to the community.  It was a great day!


I’m so grateful for my parents and their example to me, our family, their grandchildren, and those in the community where they serve the Lord.  I’m so blessed to have them in my life and grateful that God has blessed them to reach this wonderful milestone in their lives this side of eternity.  My prayer for them is that they get to enjoy many, many more Golden Years together as they walk hand in hand with each other and with the Lord!  Congratulations Dad and Mom!  I love you!

They make such a cute couple!

 

A New Name

For the past year, Neil has been asking me about coming up with a new school name for our home school.  At first I didn’t know what to think...what was wrong with Ferris Home School?  I kind of thought he was being his silly self and it would pass. I was wrong.  It didn’t.  He kept asking.  We’ve always taught our children that their identity isn’t found in earthly things or affiliations, but in who they are in Christ.  That’s what makes them significant.   After some thought and discussion, I realized he just wants to have some common ground or an identity on a common level to connect with his peers.  I revisited the reasons we home school and his motives for this requests and realized that by providing these simple things I was not compromising anything we were trying to teach or accomplish here at home.  In fact, it could be an opportunity to enhance those things.  So Brad and I began the process of working on a new name. 

Here is where I have to stop and make a confession to you all.  When we made the decision to homeschool April 2007, we did a lot of investigating and praying and interviewing people over the course of several months.  When it came time to withdraw Neil and Madeline from public school I had downloaded a form from HSLDA and on that form there was a place for the name of our home school.   A name?    Hmmmm.  Well, from some of the research we had done initially, I knew people just took their last name and added home school to it and that was it.  So, I wrote on the line Ferris Home School and with no other thought our school had a name and that was that.  I was really ready to just move onto the more fun part of curriculums and co-ops and lesson planning.

Now six years later, I realize while that was the easy thing to do at the time, it wasn’t necessarily the best thing.  Did their education suffer from that?  No.  They have continued to learn and grow and it’s all been so good.  However, our school name will appear on our children’s transcripts and I want more than anything to create a family bond and a school identity that they can be proud to be a part of.  Brad an I put our heads together and began to brainstorm ideas.  It was actually a very fun process for us and today I’m pleased to reveal to you our new school name.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.

 Psalm 127:3-5

 

The Ferris Home School has become Heritage Day School, home of the Warriors.  Our logo was created by a new friend who is a graphic artist in Illinois using the arrow from the verse.  Now we can print transcipts with our new logo and also print t-shirts and sweatshirts for the children.  Our school colors are red, white, and blue:  red for the blood of Jesus, white for purity, righteousness, and victory, and blue that is associated with God and His Word and service to Him.  I’m excited to have a name that reflects what we hope to accomplish here at home - to raise up godly men and women in service to their King leaving a legacy for generations to come.  Upon graduation we will pull each from the quiver and our prayer is each one will fly straight and true as they follow God’s plan for their lives.   

I am so very, very blessed to have Neil, Madeline, Sarah, and Samuel.  I am doubly blessed to have the opportunity to be their teacher as well.  I cherish them and the time I get to spend with them teaching them about the Lord as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic.  It’s an exciting time in our lives and the life of our school.  God is working and moving and we are so grateful.

Go Warriors! 

What God is doing while we wait....

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)

The countdown has been on here at the Ferris house for about a week.  Madeline was going to have a sleep over with her best friend and it has been one of the longest weeks for her.  Each day she has given us the new countdown:  6 days left, 5 days left, 4 days left…..two hours left, etc…  It just makes me smile!  It’s so hard to be patient when we long for something so much.  Many of you know of our journey to Rochester, Illinois and the holding pattern we are in due to our housing situation.  Waiting has been so difficult, yet I write today to share with you what God has done and is doing in this waiting period.  He has not wasted this time and continues to do amazing things.  He deserves all the glory and praise!

August 3, 2012 on our way to visit Brad, we were caught up in the traffic that was backed up due to the double- decker Megabus crash that took place on I-55.  Both directions of I-55 were closed.  Our four hour trip was extended to a seven hour trip that day.  When I merged onto I-55 that afternoon, Brad called to tell me about the accident and how to get around it.  Unfortunately, traffic was so backed up that we got caught up in it anyway.  I was amazed though at the people around me.  These people had no idea what had happened up ahead and were angry and frustrated.  We watched a UHaul Truck drag a car on the shoulder just so they couldn’t reenter traffic.  I was sure another wreck was going to take place.  People driving down the shoulder of the road zoomed by our van in an attempt to avoid waiting.  I knew what was up ahead so it was easy to wait.  It’s so much easier to wait when we know the reason why or when we know the end is in sight.  However, where’s the faith in that?  God used that day to show me I was just like those around me.  I was being impatient with Him and his plan for us.  Ouch!

I’m a person that likes a neat calendar and to do list to guide each day.  When those details are missing, I tend to struggle.  That’s where I’ve been the last two months.  I’ve been struggling with how things are right now with the separation of our family.  Has God forgotten us here in Newburgh? Everyone else seems to be moving on, but why not us?  Is there a sin I need to repent of?   Has God been listening to our prayers and those offered on our behalf?   Do we need to take a step of faith somewhere?  Is there still work here left for me to do before it’s time to go?  Maybe our house there isn’t ready yet?  Is God protecting us from a bad situation with a different house?  Do we drop the price on the house?  Make more changes or updates to the house to attract sellers?  Do we rent the house??

We want to honor God with our choices and stay within His plan for us.  The Bible is full of stories where people tried to take matters into their own hands to “work” out God’s plan and trouble was the result – Sarah gave Abraham Hagar to fulfill the promise for a child, Saul went ahead with the sacrifice because Samuel was late, Jacob deceived Isaac for the blessing.   Jumping ahead of God or trying to work ahead of God is not a good idea.   It’s so hard to know what to do sometimes because while we need to wait on the Lord, we also need to do our part and be prepared.  As I look back to what has happened these last four months, God has been silent, but He has been extremely busy working things out for our good.  

Brad has been rock steady this whole time and has tried to encourage me by reminding me that God is going to do something great for us.  While I KNOW God has plans for a hope and a future and He can do things beyond our imagination….there are times my feelings don’t line up with what I know.   So when he says that, there is that part of me that wants to just stick my tongue out at him and go, “PTHTHTHTHTTHTHTHTHTH!”   It’s so irritating!  However, that isn’t the mature, respectful or appropriate response because the bottom line is that he is right.   God has a plan and we need to wait on Him.  Waiting on the Lord is hard.

These last few months have made me rely on God in a new way and God has strengthened my heart just as the Scripture above stated.  My faith has been stretched and I’ve been challenged to discover the lessons God may be teaching me during this time and to trust Him even when He is silent.   It’s been an opportunity to teach our children about God’s timing and waiting on God.   God has allowed Brad and me to reconnect in a deeper way than we ever would have otherwise.  We’ve been courting again these past months and have been able to talk about things we never have before in 19 years of marriage and learn and discover new things about each other.  There is a deeper appreciation for Brad has the head of the household from the children, too.  We have learned to treasure our family time and one another.  All things we couldn’t have learned otherwise had we transitioned sooner than later.  God has taken this situation and is working it for good, and we are being blessed through it.

Today God has opened a door for us and we dropped the price on our home again in hopes this will be the step that will bring us a buyer.  Will it?  I don’t know, but He does and that’s enough.  There is a peace in my heart again and so I wait knowing His plan is better than mine.  I will wait when He is silent.  I will wait when it’s hard.  I will wait when I miss Brad and when I am tired and when things break.  I will wait so He can be honored.  I will wait so He can be praised.  I will wait so He gets all the glory!  I will wait on the Lord!

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD ; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.  Micah 7:7

Back to School

Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.
  Lamentations 3:23 NLT

I look forward to the start of each new school year.  A new year.  A fresh start.  A chance to do things better and the opportunity to continue to do the thing I love!  On the family calendar I have it in big letters with a smiley face.  Funny thing is that usually no one else seems to share my excitement!  Madeline even changed my happy face to a sad face last year!  Little stinker!  A typical year starts in July when it’s too hot to go outside anyway.  We get a few weeks under our belts and then take a week off before really settling into the year the first of August.  This year has been different.  We spent our summer travelling to spend time with Brad and our new church family in Rochester, Illinois.  No summer school or even an early start date.  So I have felt behind all this time, but we’re not really.  We’re just not where I’m used to being in our 180 days of school.

We actually started the week everyone else did here locally in Indiana.  It had to have been the best start we’ve ever had in our six years of home schooling!  This year, the kids were more than ready to start and were so happy to begin.  I think we all needed that stability of a routine once more.  I was so amazed at how it all came together. Many of my Facebook friends proudly posted first day of school pictures but for whatever reason I was afraid of jinxing the first week.  Sounds silly I know, but nonetheless, we just kept our noses to the grindstone and kept moving.   Now I have guilt and feel like a bad mom.  Shame on me!  So while I didn't necessarily do a "first day of school" photo...I did get some pictures during our first day/week of school.  I am a little late in sharing, but here they are with an update on each child.

Keyboarding class day one of school.  He learned later this lesson his book needed to be on the right side!

Neil started high school this year.  Many of you have asked if we are planning to home school through high school and yes, unless God directs us otherwise, that is the plan.  We enrolled Neil in the A Beka Academy program this year as independent study which means, he watches via internet streaming his classes from an accredited school and accredited teachers.   We had the DVD option, but I could just see us lose the DVDs or someone step on a DVD or the four year old launch the DVD down the stairs.  I just didn’t think that was a good option for us so internet streaming it was.  The independent study means I do the grading instead of sending it off for them to grade and it gives us a little more flexibility.   It’s been a good year.  I have transitioned from his teacher to his tutor.  It’s a role I really enjoy.   The middle of our first week of school he came up to me and wrapped his arms around me and said, “Thanks for being such a great teacher, mom, and getting me ready for high school!  I understand now why you had me do all those things you did.”  He gave me a big hug and a kiss and walked away.  It was awesome!  It’s something I will treasure for always.

Reading History lesson.  She is studying the Middle Ages this year.

Madeline is in sixth grade this year and she has had a fantastic year so far.  Some of her SID issues can be a challenge for us in school, but so far…she is having a great year.  Math is still not her favorite subject, but we do still try to sweeten things up with a treat at that time.  This year she’s switched from M & M’s to Skittles and Starburst.  She thoroughly enjoys Science and Literature and you can almost always find her in a quiet corner reading, reading, reading or learning facts about animals. Our library trips are a highlight of the week for her.

My precious little first grader!

Sarah is our first grader and she is probably my most challenging student so far.  She has been reading for well over two years.  It’s nothing I’ve done and it’s not that she is gifted.  She just figured it out on her own.  She loves Magic Tree House books and any chapter book.  She reads everything out loud all the time.  It drives Madeline crazy (remember…she likes quiet so this causes some tension in the Ferris household) but I find it amusing to hear her say new words and decode them on her own.  At night now instead of me reading to her, we partner read.  I hope she always loves books so.

Sam working on his Scissor Skills paper at his desk!  He felt so grown up!

Samuel officially started preschool this year.  He is the one that cries when school is over or when he realizes it is Saturday and there is no school.  I’m enjoying this for as long as it lasts.  He loves to have that one on one time with just me and to do his work at his own desk.  His favorite thing is dressing weather bear during our calendar time.

This year we pulled out of our co-op and we miss our friends so much but with our current living arrangements we need to be available when Brad comes to Newburgh to visit and to have the flexibility to be able to leave and visit him when the opportunity arises.  We have been able to make some early connections in Illinois with some homeschooling families and look forward to meeting new people and making new friends once we can get settled there together.

It’s hard to believe a month has passed by already!  It’s been a great start.  Thank you, God for such a wonderful beginning to our school year!  Thank you for the structure of a routine!  Thank you for healthy minds and bodies!  Thank you for your faithfulness!  Thank you for your mercies new each morning!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

The sunrise Sunday, August 19th.  Beautiful reminder to me of God's faithfulness after our first week of school.

 

 

Ferris Funnies, Volume 1

SMILE!

Laughter is the best medicine or so they say.  Maybe that is why I prefer a good comedy over an action or drama movie.  Our family enjoys Christian comedians Tim Hawkins, Jeff Allen, John Branyan, and Bob Smiley.  I love Chonda  Pierce, too.  The family favorite however, hands down, is Tim Hawkins.  The children can quote him word for word and are known at the dinner table especially to break out in their favorite Tim Hawkins comedy routine or one of his infamous songs.  Many times we can’t even understand them because they are already laughing too hard and while the rest of us may not understand any of it, we all join in the laughter because their laughter is contagious.  We love to laugh here at the Ferris household.  Frequently though we are the cause of these outbursts.  I thought I’d share a few today to make you smile.

Several of these occurrences have taken place after picking the children up from their classes at church or at church functions.  Sunday at lunch we ask our children what they learned that day.  When asking Madeline when she was little, she very seriously begins to tell me about how baby Jesus was floating down the river in a basket.   My favorite Samuel retelling was when he told us all about the apostle Peter Pan.  At the close of VBS a few years ago, Sarah got up to pray for the closing.  I was running behind that night and when I turned the corner to head for the big room several people stopped me with great big smiles on their faces and asked if I heard Sarah do the closing prayer that night.  No.   Missed it I hate to say.  However, I won’t forget it.  Was one of those, OH NO…she didn’t moments when I found out what she did.  “Dear God, Thank you for this day.  Help us go to Sea World and Disney World.  Amen.”  No thank you for my parents or Jesus.   No I love my mom and dad.  No eloquent prayers for the missionary like the others did.  Nope.  Sea World.  Disney World.   Ahhhh, yes, the preacher’s kid prayed the most secular prayer of the week!

Where is Sam's hat?

The Sunday Brad’s resignation was announced at FCCN, the children and I came home and I put the for sale sign in the yard and sat Sarah and Samuel down upstairs to tell them we were selling our house.  We waited purposefully so they wouldn’t “spill the beans”.  I explained that Daddy had a new job and was going to be teaching the big people about Jesus.  He was going to do this at the church we visited where Grandpa and Grandma Ferris were a few weeks ago.  They seemed great with it until I said we were going to have to sell our house so we could move closer to that new church.  Their faces grew serious.  Sarah asks, “Can we take all our electronics (meaning her leap pad)?”  I assured her when that time came we would pack all our belongings up in boxes and take them with us.  Samuel was very quiet up to this point and then he says, “Can we take Sarah?”  Yep…Sarah, too! J

Our zoo at the zoo!

For one of Brad’s visits to Newburgh, the girls both baked him special treats as a surprise.  We tried to make a big deal about it and it was supposed to be this big secret.  Samuel was aware of all of this and did a great job of not “spilling the beans” as we say around the house.  Sarah was talking to Brad about her surprise and Sam gets very animated and a little upset and says, “Sarah, don’t!  The beans will fall!”

The latest funny was from Neil.  He’s doesn’t provide as many of these comic relief moments as he used to.  I think that comes with maturity.  He has a favorite song on the radio that has a country twang to it.  While we were driving back home from Evansville a few weeks ago, his song came on the radio and he says something about liking its tangy sound.  TANGY?  That’s a sharp sour taste not a sound!  Once he realized what he did he joined me in laughing so that’s been the joke around here…the tangy song!

Monkeying around at the zoo!

I’ll leave you with a Tim Hawkins comedy skit on girls vs. boys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO-QXw4PJ6g and another with Tim Hawkins, Bob Smiley, and John Branyan on teenagers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyOSRTxglA .  The last link is the original Chick fil A song he did that had us hooked!  Hope it brings some laughter to you today!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo

Flip. Flop.

If you look closely you will see the infamous flip flop and the fishing line!

Nothing is ever dull here at the Ferris house.  This week was no different.  Monday was a horrible, awful, terrible, I’m-so-glad-it’s-over kind of a day.  More of the same frustrations we’ve had ever since we decided to follow God’s call to Rochester….things breaking and puppies eating things they shouldn’t.   It was also a week where Brad got to come back to stay with us a few days.  So while it started out icky, it’s really been a good week.  On Wednesday evening,   Neil came in from the outdoors to announce to us that his flip flop was on the roof.   So we ask him the obvious question, “How did your flip flop get up on the roof?”  Simple answer, “I was trying to flip it off my foot into the garage.”  Oh the things teenagers will do for fun.

Brad and I both were thinking Neil meant his flip flop was on the little overhang above the front porch.  Brad instructs Neil to take his fishing rod and “hook” his shoe and pull it down.  So after supper Neil, thinking this was a great idea, returns outdoors to hook his flip flop.  Several minutes go by and Neil returns very upset at this point.  Not only is his flip flop now on the roof, but his fishing lure is stuck as well.  It was at this point I decide maybe I should go out and assess the situation.   Once outside I realize that Neil’s flip flop is actually on the top of our two story house and his fishing lure is now stuck tight, too.  Not really knowing what to do at this point, I ask him what in the world possessed him to do this foolish thing.  He really couldn’t give me any logical reason why.  Just got that sheepish, boyish grin all males have when they are in a situation as this one.

Neil was in the driveway by the sidewalk.  The garage was his target.  Can you see the flip flop on the roof above the set of windows on the left?

So we got Brad and for the next half hour Brad, Neil and I provided passersby and our neighbors with free entertainment.  I don’t think any of the America’s Got Talent acts could have outdone us.  Howard, Sharon, and Howie wouldn’t have buzzed us with our exciting and dangerous feat and America most definitely would have voted us on through to the semi-finals!  Neil tried flipping the lure loose.  When that didn’t work, Brad and I took the screen out of the second story window just under the location of the stuck fishing lure.  Using another six foot fishing pole, we hung out of the window by our waists trying to reach up towards the roof and snag Neil’s fishing line and flip it up and off.  Thankfully no one driving by was injured in the process of gawking at us, but several cars went by very, very slowly.  Thankfully Brad or I didn’t fall out of the window.  Finally realizing that we lacked the resources, we gave up and cut the line.  So now there is not only a flip flop on the roof, but a fishing bait as well.

The window Brad and I were handing out of.  Oh so close but oh so very far away!

This has been a tough lesson for our teenager as these were his favorite shoes.  However, the more I think about this little event, there’s a lesson/reminder for all of us.  We’re all like Neil, aren’t we?  We all do things periodically that at the time seem like a harmless, fun, great idea – FLIPing our shoe into the garage.  In the end however, we –FLOP and end up on the roof.  A, if I knew then what I know now, moment.  Just another great reminder that we cannot be wise in our own eyes and need to be grounded and rooted in God’s word to gain the wisdom and discernment for life’s decisions.  We need to prayerfully consider our choices first before we “Flip our shoe” into the garage.  Only with Godly wisdom can we ensure we won’t FLOP on the roof or worse. 

As I said earlier, nothing is ever dull here.  God uses these daily adventures to illustrate important truths and lessons to me and my family.  I share this particular one to encourage you in your personal relationship with God.  May the flip flop on our roof be a visual reminder for you of our need for Scripture.  We need Scripture to guide our thoughts, because our thoughts or lack of them determine our actions.  I encourage you to read your Bible daily, spend some time in prayer with God, and some time in worship to God.   It is only through this special time that we gain the wisdom we need to make better choices; choices that honor God.  Proverbs 3:13-26; 4:4-13 are scriptures that talk about gaining Godly wisdom.  There are many more in the book of Proverbs and the rest of Scripture.  If you have a favorite one that has been an encouragement to you and your family, please feel free to share them with me.  While this is the first flip flop on the roof, I have a feeling it won’t be the last!

Great little inspirational thought I found on Pinterest this week.  I found it appropriate.