Well done, good and faithful servant

A girl I know died recently. I didn't know her very well, but I knew of her fairly well. She died of ovarian cancer at a very young age. (30? 31? My mom would know.) It came on quite suddenly, and progressed rather quickly. She continued to teach art in a public school in North Carolina, loving on and ministering to children for as long as her body allowed her to.

She was an amazing witness for Christ to all she came into contact with. She lived her life for Christ, and she died a slow death for Him.

I was thinking the other day how certain I am of the fact that when she arrived in Heaven, and got to meet her Creator and Savior face to face He said "well done, good and faithful servant." I firmly believe that she was a good steward with what she had been given, and lived even the last few, painful months, for His glory, and to His honor.

Which makes me wonder... will I hear that phrase when I get to heaven? See, I don't think that just because you're a Christian, and you go to heaven, that you are automatically a good and faithful servant. While I realize that no one is perfect, some Christians run the race harder, with more focus.

It is easy to forget that just because we're saved doesn't mean we get to do nothing and watch our lives go by. Another verse that I like, and I think ties in here, is "To whom much is given, much will be required." We who are Christians have been given not only the gift of eternal life, but the mandate to share the news of that gift, to impact our world for Christ, and- dare I quote both Mark Driscoll and John Piper?- not waste our lives.

Pastor Mark Driscoll pointed out in a recent sermon that "worse than death is a wasted life."

Are you wasting your life? Am I? When you die, what will you hear? What will I hear?

Contentment Part 1

So, the whole minimalism thing got me thinking a lot about contentment. What does it really mean? What does it entail? Am I content?

The Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:11-13 that: ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Dictionary.com defines "content" as: "satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else."

I realized that I/we (the Kolbes) don't actually NEED anything other than what we have. Instead of focusing on what we have, I had been focusing on what we DON'T have, and what I'd LIKE to have.

At the same time I was thinking through all of this, I also realized that I've been lax in memorizing Scripture, so I wrote part of that Philippians passage on the bottom the menu/calendar sheet on the fridge. So every time I checked the sheet, or even went to open the fridge, I'd see it and read it.

A few nights after THAT, I was walking somewhere, and saw a minivan go by- the same make and model that we were blessed to be able to use during our time in the states (Matt and Fred, y'all ROCK!!!). So my first thought was "ooohhhhh I would love to be driving that right now. How much easier would my life be?" Then I was like, wait! I'm memorizing Scripture on being CONTENT. So maybe what I should do is whenever discontented thoughts pop up, I should quote those verses back to myself. Heh heh. Take THAT discontent. It worked. God is awesome. =)

Stay tuned for more on this....

Goofiness

Well, that went well.

We made it a full 5 days without TV! Almost 6, actually. It got turned on for a short bit Saturday and Sunday evenings. Max asked MAYBE once a day for TV, but didn't ask again after I told her we weren't watching TV that day. I am quite proud of this accomplishment.

Monday and Tuesday were again no TV days, but then Tuesday night Max's left eardrum ruptured, so she did watch some TV yesterday. In between napping and visiting the doctor. And then last night (Wednesday) Elisha spent most of the night screaming, and on into the morning. He is running a fever and super cranky and clingy. So yeah, we're watching TV today.

On another note, on Saturday we discovered an Auntie Anne's pretzels in a city a few stops on the train north of us. The pretzel stand could have a been there a while, but I think I would have remembered seeing it. It brought great happiness and joy to the people. (The Kolbe people, anyway.)

No Tigger or Winnie Wuh Pooh?!?

Today was the 2nd day in a row that the kidlets have gone without TV. It started out as me being tired of Max watching TV, and Elisha at times, too, (although to be fair, she doesn't watch TONS) but now... well, I was thinking last night about WHY I let them watch TV.

I can honestly remember the very first time I turned the TV on specifically for Max. It was a few months after she was born and I really really needed to get a load of laundry hung up. In retrospect (like, 3 seconds ago) I don't know why I didn't take her in her bouncy seat outside to watch me hang up laundry... I just didn't think of it, I guess. Or maybe the mosquitoes were bad that morning. Either way, I turned something on for her, went out to the carport (in full view of the living room, the screen door was closed, the wooden one open), and hung laundry.

I can remember it so well because I always SWORE I would NOT be one of THOSE parents who let their kids watch TV, and esp. wouldn't use it as a baby-sitter. Yet another example of why people without kids really shouldn't be making "I'll NEVER" statements.

Okay, so, why do I let my kids watch TV? Why do I turn it on just for them? Well, I think that, for me, it's out of selfishness and/or desperation. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, occasionally both. However, I realized last night, after a full day without it on, that it was actually MORE freeing to have it off. Huh? That doesn't seem to make any sense, does it?

Here's why: when I would turn it on, there was first Max making a request, and then changing her mind at LEAST twice before something actually started. Then came Elisha standing in front of it so she couldn't see. And he would turn the TV off. Or the xBox. Or the DVD player. Or one of them would get ahold of the TV remote or xBox controller and mess around with it enough to make it impossible for them to watch whatever it was that they had been watching. And let's not forget Max deciding a few minutes into whatever it is that she changed her mind AGAIN, taking the DVD out, bringing it to me, and asking for a different one.

All of the above would require something from me- turning it back on, stopping Elisha, cleaning the disc so it would work again, stopping Elisha, hitting play once the disc got to the main menu, stopping Elisha... you get the idea. And, more often than not, one or both of them would end up back wherever I was.

I HAD been doing it to buy some time- wash dishes, get dressed, put on make-up, prep dinner... but with the interruptions and them coming back out to see what I was doing or "help" me, it actually wasn't helping at all. In fact, thinking over the last two days, it has helped MORE to have it off. The kids have been fighting less, we've been playing more together, they're using their imaginations more, playing with their toys more, and I've STILL been able to get everything done that I'd like to do. Sweet!!

I'm not saying they'll never watch TV again. Or that the no-TV thing will end on a certain date. But for now, they're doing just fine without it, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! (Can you believe that "ain't" didn't get that red squiggly line under to indicate that it was a misspelled word??? I'm APPALLED!)

The exception has been youtube music videos. Esp. since BOTH kids are totally hooked on this one:

Max and E's favorite song... at the moment...

How can you say no to THAT?!?!

Proof that there is a God and that He does, indeed, love us

And no, it is not, as Ben Franklin put it- evidenced by beer. (Fun little fact: beer smells gross. I've never tasted it. Smelled it, and was done. BLECH.) Moving on. Yes, God DOES exist and He is actively involved in our lives AND He loves us. Us. Messed up, selfish, sinful, short-term memoried humans.

How do I know that He exists, is involved, and loves us?

This:
Hmmmm... it's not showing up as well I would hope. The little red and white sign says WARUNG.

What is THAT? -some of you may be wondering. Others of you know what THAT is. Or, at least what it means. (Because yes, THAT is a sign. But what does it mean? What does it say??) What in the world is a Warung?

Well, loosely translated (or until I am informed otherwise by those more knowledgeable than I) it means food stand/place. In Indonesian. Garuda I knew from it being the name of the Indonesian/muslim TV station in Suriname.

Are things becoming clearer?

As soon I saw that sign, and it registered what it said, Max and I RAN up the three flights of steps to check it out. I was not disappointed. In fact, I read the menu, looked around at the stuff they had for sale (two walls of Indonesian food items), and cried. Yes. I cried. Max thought I was crazy and walked out of the restaurant.

We went and got Ryan and Elisha, and returned for lunch.

Sadly, most of the food was not up to my Suriname standards of Indonesian food, however we did purchase several of the food things from their selection. I'm super excited about those!

Now, you may be wondering what all this has to do with God and His loving us and all. Well, I'll tell you.

We headed down to Pyeongtaek this morning, hoping to ride a faster train up to Yongsan/Seoul. Well, they were all full, so we asked for tickets on a fastish train to wherever the next one was going. We got tickets on a small commuter train to city further south, and headed out. A little while in, yours truly started getting motion sick. As it just got worse and worse, we got off a few stops before our tickets were actually for.

Headed out of the train station into what was a decent city- we were quite impressed! We asked Max to pick a street -out of three- to go down and explore. She pointed left, so off we went. Lots of fun Western stores, and then... lo and beyond... what light through yonder window breaks... a WARUNG.

Word.

Of all the stops to get off at. On all the trains to ride. Of the streets to pick.

There is a God. And He loves us.

Don't try this at home!

Today I attempted to make peanut butter cookies with my 2 1/2 year old. And my one year old thrown in for good measure, about half way through.

Do I need to go on, or do you already know where this is going?

Well, for those of you who haven't interacted with a toddler lately, I'll continue. The rest of you can just continue laughing at me and close the tab.

She did great helping turn the mixer on and off, adding ingredients, etc. Except that she thought the shortening must taste similar to peanut butter since it was in a similar container. The main job I gave her, however, was to roll the dough balls in sugar. Easy enough. Simple. And she did it, very well, I might add. The trouble started when she 1) discovered how good the dough tasted; and 2)when she decided she didn't like the feeling of the sugar on her fingers between rollings. Sooooooo to fix number one, she started pinching off bits of dough to eat. And to fix number two she would stick her whole hand in her mouth to suck all the sugar off.

Yeah.... we won't be sharing these cookies with friends and neighbors.