Please be praying for them!
Adie just now phoned. The doctors had to amputate above the knee, closer to the thigh. Pray that there will be skillful removal of all dead tissue and that there will be no complications.
You probably haven’t noticed the chaos, on the surface I think everything still looked normal, but I am in the middle of a big move here. Moving from a wordpress.com blog to a self hosted one.
In a few days hopefully everything will look completely normal and all addresses will point to the right spot but for now (while I wait on my domain name registrar to get their act together) my2monsters.com will point here where updates won’t really be happening, and my2monsters.org will point to the new home were new posts will be.
So for now be sure to check out my new space and hopefully really soon (with less frustration than today, I hope) it will all be worked out and working properly.
It is a very cool thing when we (bloggers) put our thoughts our into the vast universe that is the internet and we see that people are actually reading them! Even more exciting when people take the time to comment or give you a fun little award!
I have the privilege of knowing Alanna of Selfbinding Retrospect both in person (a little) and online. She is a very clever and witty writer and has a way of adding humour to the simplest things. Her post about not wanting to be pregnant again and high-fiving angels when the test was negative still makes me laugh any time i think about it. Such a great mental picture. So thank you Alanna, I adore your writing and it was so sweet of you to pass this on. The Lovely Blog Award rules stand as follows:
So here are a few of the blogs I love to read:
Those of you who know me personally or have been following my blog for a while may know that I am a bit of an airhead so that is all I can think of right now but I know I will probably be kicking myself later when I remember another blog that I love. (Maybe I will come back and add it then) Have a beautiful day and don’t forget to give your favourite blogs a bit of love. It makes our days! 
I saw a heartbreaking picture on Facebook today. The picture shows an adorable little girl holding a page full of lies.
I felt I just had to respond to it.
Our world is so full of lies about what “religion” says about people. This is what God says:
God says that anyone who harms a child is better off tying a millstone around his neck and jumping into the sea.
He sent his only Son to DIE for us, He made us in His image. He gives us hope for eternity. He hears our prayers, He answers them. He cares about the sparrows. He provides for us. He is our fortress, an ever present help in times of trouble. He is a Father to the fatherless. I could go on and on.
According to “science” i.e. evolution we are just a cosmic accident. We came from animals, we are basically just animals ourselves. We have no soul, no hope, no purpose, no life after death.
Now which is really more damaging?
Hope for Heaven through Christ, or a guarantee of Hell whether you believe in it or not?
Like I said, it breaks my heart.
Dear working mom,
Hi, I’ve been wanting to write you a letter for a while. You see, we stay at home moms (and work from home moms) keep getting letters from you and I thought you deserved a response.
The last letter I read from you was about a week or two ago and it has been on my mind ever since.
Here are a couple things I want you to understand:
1. SAHMs who say inconsiderate things to you like “I could never leave my kids to work” or “how do you do it?” are often feeling very judged by society and their way of trying to compensate sometimes is passing that judgement back to you. No one ever says “oh you are just a nurse?” or “oh…you are an office manager” in those condescending tones used by people when they say “oh you stay at home with your kids?” or “oh ya, that is the hardest job right?”
Yes, you feel judged by us but we also feel extremely judged.
2. I know sometimes it looks like we have it made in the shade but remember when you have your adult conversations at work (even if you feel like your coworkers are children) that we are often longing for an adult to talk to for just a second someone who won’t talk back or hit or whine (although in all honesty a lot of adults do 2 of those three things daily). So when we have play dates or whatever it is often just an attempt at keeping our sanity until bed time.
3. I am not complaining and stay at home moms should never complain because despite the frustrations we may feel, being able to stay at home with our children is a huge privilege that some of you (especially you single moms) do not have. We value that (most days) and even though some of us may make you feel bad we often look up to you.
4. For some of you it isn’t a choice, you have to work. (I am talking mostly about you single moms, or wives of husbands who have been laid off, haven’t been able to find a job or are in ministry or injured or anything like that. ) But some of you do have a choice, you have made the choice that you feel is right for your family. That is the same thing we did.
5. We as moms (all moms) already have so many people judging us. We have judgment coming from almost every direction. “oh you don’t let your kids have sugar? That is stupid and mean.”, “oh you DO let them have sugar, that isn’t healthy!“, “oh you vaccinate?“, “You DON”T vaccinate?” the list goes on and on and on. We don’t need to be judging each other for choosing to stay home or be a working mom.
In the end there is just so many more important things we could be doing that laying guilt trips on each other all the time for making the choices we feel are right for our families. In the end the only person who will answer for our choices is us and if we are focusing on the Lord and keeping him in our decisions then who is another mom to judge you for it?
SO working moms, know that we support you. We appreciate what you do for your children and so do they. We do not judge you, and next time a mom makes you feel judged just keep in mind that she is probably feeling very judged and frazzled herself and is making the mistake of putting that on you. Pray for her and try not to hate her.
All of us, as parents, have the hardest job in the world. We are shaping the world. It is scary and wonderful and we can all use all the support we can get from each other.
Love from,
An at home mom
I am finally trying to get around to posting some of the art we have been working on this year.
This was a fun project. We started with talking about folk art and about pastels and showing some examples. Each student started with a cat since cats are a pretty common theme in folk art and are kind of fun. Everyone designed their own very colourful kitty cat then those who finished moved on and did something else they chose.
There were so many great pieces, I will have to do another post once i take more pictures (i will try for non cell phone ones next time).
My art class this year is very different from last year, the whole feel has changed but although it is MUCH louder and sometimes I want to pull my hair out it is still really fun to look at the amazing stuff these guys come up with. We have started doing warm ups and I can’t wait to post about them because they are so fun so stay tuned!
Do you ever get that restless feeling, the one that is like an itch you can’t seem to scratch? For me it is a creative itch, a feeling that i should be creating something and no matter what I create it doesn’t seem to satisfy the restlessness.
This isn’t a winter restlessness or a cabin fever feeling I am talking about, this feeling can strike just as easily in the summer.
Am I alone here? Do you know what I am talking about?
I am a fairly creative person so if I am not changing the furniture around, painting the house, working on art or some interesting photography I get bored, but that empty restless feeling is different. It doesn’t feel good. It is an emptiness that no amount of creativity can fill.
I think I have found what causes it. I have noticed recently that when I am ignoring God and not spending time reading the word the feeling comes; If i am spending time in the Word every day then it fades quickly and goes away.
I guess all of those times when i was trying to fill that emptiness with art or words or whatever I was trying to fill what could only be filled by God.
I wonder how many of you feel the same way I do and have found that this is also true in your lives.
I have left my poor blog abandoned once again for far too long.
Here is a a little update on some of what has happened in our lives this past month. (not in order necessarily.)
Aurora got her hair cut. She has been asking to for a while and we finally got around to it. This was he first hair cut at a stylist. She was pretty excited. We do miss her curls but it is still a curly just not as tight. and brushing is easier on her. It took a while to get used to how much older she looks.
This one is from earlier in December so it is old but cute so I wanted to include it. I signed Leo up to get a Heart Hero cape while he was still in the hospital. I didn’t even know they existed until I was looking doing research after the painting I did for him. I thought it was cool so i signed him up and it arrived one day when we happened to be babysitting him. He looks really cute in it. I didn’t get a picture of the back because he was moving too much and the cell phone pictures were blurring. The back is cool though.
We went to Chicago for the big yearly Christmas party we have there. The kids had a great time with their second cousins. They only get to see each other once or twice a year but they sure have a good time together when they are together. 
Gideon is talking so much more. in the last month he has changed a lot. he used full sentences and is as cute as ever. He is growing up WAY too fast.
We have been working on more renovations and continuing the ones we started in the summer. Our furnace died right before the major freeze here. We have been staying warm with heaters but are switching over to gas from oil so it is causing some renovating to happen in the basement.
That is my tiny update for now since I feel another migrain coming on… more to come.
I’ve been thinking yesterday and today about how we, as women, often misrepresent ourselves and and the women around us. We look at the women around us and assume that they have it all put together that they never feel lonely or desperate or discouraged, and put on a face (sometimes on purpose sometimes not) that makes us look that way to other women.
So many of us women spend a lot of our lives lonely and longing for deep friendship with other women. Women were made to need each other, we need other women to push us to godliness, encourage us when we are down, laugh with us and cry with us and sometimes hold up a mirror to show us that we are behaving like selfish spoiled children.
It is easy to look at the women around us and assume that they don’t feel this way even when we do. It is scary to put ourselves out there and ask for friendship, to admit loneliness and show our hearts and risk rejection. It can also be scary to approach someone you think may be lonely and offer your friendship.
I was talking with a friend yesterday and it reminded me of the days when i was in the place, I had just moved up from Chicago and 3-4 years of intense loneliness and pain . In my naivety I assumed that simply moving to where there were a lot of women my age and attending a church full of young couples would change that but I was wrong. For months I spent time watching other friendships and wishing to be part of one and not quite sure how. (I am not a quiet person so don’t assume that just because someone isn’t shy, quiet, introverted or because they always have a smile on their face that they are not desperately lonely.) It wasn’t until I reached the bottom and was *forced* by my mom to call of ladies that things started to change. I started to experienced real friendship again for the first time in a really long time.
It is scary to open ourselves up, friendship is hard, it takes a LOT of work to maintain and our lives are often so busy. Maybe we already have one or two deep friendships and don’t think we need more. But what about those lonely souls around us. The ones who smile at us and make small talk on Sundays. The ones who look like they have it all together. What if you could see past that shell into their desperate hearts? What if they are crying for someone to spend time with them and pray with them and listen to their hopes and fears.
I pray that God would open our eyes and our hearts to those around us who are secretly lonely. That we would either be that friend they so desperately need or that we would pray with them for bravery to seek that friendship.
*To those dear women who have become those friends to me, I cannot thank the Lord enough for you. I am so blessed through you.
*I in no way want to belittle the friendships I had in Chicago with the sweet ladies I worked with, if you girls are reading this know that I love you dearly. And Allison, you were a beautiful light in such a dark time and you will forever be one of the dearest friends I have -despite distance and seeing each other only once a year. And my mom and sister, you have always been there for me and I love you so much.
Today is the big day. The day we all need to use our voices in every way we can to remind those in power that we will not forget about Saeed Abedini like they want us to.
That we won’t forget about his family who is waiting and praying for his return
That we won’t forget about the 1 million Muslim people that Saeed and his wife have been praying for for so long. We will join them and pray for at least 1 million muslims to learn to truth of Christ and to be freed from the prison that they are in. If Saeed hadn’t been imprisoned most of us probably wouldn’t think to pray for Iran and the salvation of as many of it’s people as possible. Without Saeed and Naghmeh’s sacrifice many Iranian’s wouldn’t have already heard the gospel of Jesus and learned the truth about Him that Islam has tried to hide for so long.
Once again persecutors have tried to silence the Word and have instead given it a voice and helped it spread.
So Today let’s praise God for the work he is doing through our dear brother and sister. Let’s pray desperately for them: For Saeed’s health, and for strength and grace for them both and their children; For the people they all come in to contact with who are lost and For Saeed’s release.
#SaveSaeed
#FreeSaeed
#prayforIran
my2monsters 
