Gathering Together

 This little girl loves to be "Cheesy" for pictures.  She loves sitting in her brothers bean bag chairs.

 This past year I have been part of a bible study with several amazing women.  I have appreciated them so much.  Our leader is leaving for 5 years to Mongolia in a few weeks so we had all the families over for a wiener roast last night.  I think with all the kids we had about 30 people here.  Luckily the weather held out for us and we had a fabulous time outside. 

 

 My boys are going to miss this little guy (Corban) and his brother (Mason) beside him. This past year and a half that the Luyendyks have been home we have seen them almost weekly.  It isn't often you have a neighbor in the country that is only a 10 minute walk away that share so many of the same values and that are best friends to both adult and child.  In the spring and summer I get asked daily if we can bike down to Mason and Corbans.  When the 4 boys get together they explore and discover so many things together.  There will definitely be a hole in my boys hearts that is going to be hard to fill when they leave for Mongolia.   

The dads did the cooking for the night!  A game of soccer had all the kids and dads burning their energy.  I realize while I was loading these pictures that I didn't get any of my bible study group.  So my mission before Beth and her family leave is to get a picture of all us together.  

Off To Get Brov!

 

Finally, we are getting some rain.  We would have finished seeding yesterday but the showers started-so I guess we'll finish next week.  These two are quiet the pair when Connor is at school.  Kale is more often trying to take on the big brother role telling me that I can go somewhere and he'll watch Lexi!  On this particular journey down the lane to get Connor our cat Chopper decided to join us.  Lexi was not going to continue down the lane until "kitty" was walking beside her.  Our 4 minute walk turned into about 15 minutes. Kale kept trying to herd her down the lane with his bike - it was too cute.  Lexi loves to stand and watch the school bus go and as it leaves she waves good bye.  

Today I Learned a Lesson from my Boys

Today Granny came out to the farm with several others from Bethany to see the calves.  Of course the elderly love to see family, especially the little ones.  We have a weekly Bible study every Wednesday morning at our church.  The church has provided child care for us moms so we can enjoy the study.  I had to miss last week for a doctors apt and was really looking forward to going today.  The kids love it cuz they get to play with their friends for 2 hours. 

I asked the boys this morning what they would prefer to do: go to Bible study or to go and see Granny on the bus?  Both, without hesitation, said to see Granny.  Instantly my heart melted.  One of the values I pray daily for is that our children would learn is to honor,love and respect the elderly.
That my children will open their hearts to words of wisdom and experience that the elderly share with them. 

Tim was telling me to go to Bible study, as the visit with Granny will be short.  And I almost decided to go but the boys answer kept playing in my head.  It made me turn to 1 Timothy 5 this morning while the kids are out doing chores with their dad. 

1 Timothy 5:² Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.
³ Take care of^[b] any widow who has no one else to care for her. ⁴ But if she has children or grandchildren, their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.

Oh how I pray that as a mother I can teach this passage to my children.  I pray that their answer today will be their answer for all of the tomorrows.  That they will cherish and value their elders even when they go thru their teen years.  Sometimes it is easy to let life distract you from the small but very important things in life - like a short visit to Granny to break her day up.  I know that I often use my children's rowdiness as excuses for not making more regular visits to Granny.  Or I plan other things on our Sundays off not letting us visit Granny as a family.  But my boys taught me today that our widows and elderly -that our Granny- are more important than all that other stuff.