Grateful for Laughter

The house is quiet now except for the steady hum of the dishwasher. I love modern appliances. I can type this blog while it washes the plates, cups and silverware of 29 of my best buddies. :) Yes, it was Game Night here at the Olsens and what a night!!

Throughout dinner, games with the kiddos, then games for the big folks, I heard laughter. How kind of God to give this gift so freely! I want to publicly thank the Lord for laughter, food, friends (not necessarily in that order... food def goes first LOL *grin*). His Word says, "every good and perfect gift comes from above." (James 1:17) Thanks, Abba. Man... if we can have this much fun here, can you imgine what HEAVEN will be like!??!

Birthday Surprises

I think we should have birthdays at least twice a year! All the calls, emails, facebook posts, cards, surprise packages in the mail (Wow!) and personal visits make the day so fun!! I am so blessed to have you guys for friends!!

Mom doesn't keep special gifts and calls for birthdays. We have "UnBirthdays" all the time! Dad jokes with her that she won't have any inheritance to leave because she's going to spend it all now. I think she's on to something, though. I love giving little "I love yous" now while I can watch everyone enjoy themselves!

Today's picture is with my Birthday Ice Cream Buffet! Stacey was sooo sweet to bring over all these yummy flavors for a fun tasting. What a fun way to spend a few hours with friends!! Thanks, Stacey! You made my Bday special!

The children had made and wrapped special pictures for me, Chris brought home some chocolate dipped fruit (and a pink Guy Harvey shirt!) and the Lord sent a day of perfect weather we all enjoyed outside. That night, Seth came over to hang out with the kiddos while Chris & I ate some yummy dinner out. The gift of time was wonderful! I'm so grateful for birthdays- they're a chance to show love to each other and I definitely experienced this on April 10!!

Locust for my Birthday

Today is my birthday. Yippee! The locust swarms should make today memorable! LOL We went to a Jacksonville Suns baseball game last night, so I didn't have a chance to make the locusts. Soooo... I think it'll be a family project and then we'll let them "swarm" (eeewww)- hopefully they won't eat my Birthday Cake!

Umm... do I *get* a birthday cake if I don't make it?

(p.s. No Birthday Cake, but I did get some incredible Dark Chocolate dipped strawberries & apples and the locusts couldn't find them b/c I kept them hidden in their box in the fridge. I managed to eat almost all of them all by myself... Andrew swiped a bite of apple, but I forgive him. *grin*)

What, the hail?!

Today, we had flies, gnats AND dead animals! We had to combine some days since I didn't start on time. :) Aren't you glad the Lord doesn't slam us like that?! Whew! He never gives more than we can handle but always provides a way of escape. Thank you, Lord!

Tomorrow, the weather looks gorgeous... sunny skies with a 100% chance of hail!! I'm trying to decide whether to actually let the children throw ice at each other or what. I mean, just laying ice all over the windowsills is not enough... but hurling ice at one another could go from fun to overboard veeeery quickly. Maybe we'll go to The Loop for some crushed ice!

How else could we "do" this plague? We could eat all our meals cold... nah! Ideas welcome!

Ribbitt... ribbitt...

"But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs." Exodus 8:2

The water-to-blood plague went well today, except that all day long, Timbo would ask if he could drink some blood, which sounds quite disturbing to outside observers. LOL

Tomorrow, the forecast calls for FROGS... and lots of them. Now, one frog can be cute. Two calls for a frog-race. En masse they are admittedly icky, but cockroaches would be too! So why did Yahweh choose frogs? Check this out:

These critters were associated with the annual inundation of the Nile. So they were associated with fruitfulness, blessedness, with a good harvest and were naturally deified. Their "frog goddess" was goddess of both fertility and resurrection. I want you to remember those two because God really sticks it to this goddess; He really puts her down. Fertility, resurrection. You could not, by the way, kill a frog. They were sacred. In fact, if you intentionally killed a frog, you were put to death. In some cases, if you unintentionally killed a frog, you were put to death. Remember that law in light of what is going to happen here, and you will understand the problem they were facing. They could not kill one single frog. (Peninsula Bible Church)

So God (as in the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, not the false god Egyptians called Pharoah) made the very frogs that Egyptians considered worthy of worship into something detestable to them! He alone deserves our worship.

The PLAGUE! The PLAGUE!

So in spite of my best intentions (read previous blog) I forgot to start the plagues on time! LOL So I'll just end up doubling up on a couple. There are 12 (kidding- 10) plagues and only 7 days till Easter, so we'll just combine a couple. :) Tomorrow, we begin.

Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. ~Exodus 7:20

So the children will wake up on a seemingly normal day to find water cups red, red water in the sink, toilets, etc... anywhere there is water, it'll be (you guessed it!) blood red.

My goal in incorporating the plagues into our Resurrection Celebration is to go beyond the Easter Bunny. Why do most parents say they "do" the Easter Bunny & Santa, etc? Because "we don't want to take away their fun". But in allowing our Holy Days to focus on these fantastical characters, are we taking the emphasis away from holy scripture and THE Fantastic God whom we serve?

I propose that parents can (and should) fill our family life with fun and memorable and magical (though true and historical) events straight from the Word of God. It brings the Word to life. Let's find our fulfillment and joy in Him from the youngest children to the oldest granny. Let's celebrate HIM this season.