Trees in the forest

Remarkable Day

2010-09-04T14:55:00.001-07:00

Friday is my day off, and during the school year I find myself without children. Usually I stay home and clean the house, do laundry, and all the glamorous stuff that keeps life sane the rest of the week. I always figured when I got caught up on work stuff and home stuff that I would use the day to do something meaningful and fun- just by myself. This week I did it! I loved it. For some reason the uneasiness and impatience to get back my business as usual was completely absent from my day and my experience. For that I am so grateful.

After I did one thing I HAD to do (getting a tire on the car replaced) I headed to the San Antonio Museum of Art. I walked around looking at everything with my own eyes, not through the eyes of someone else or through the lens of what I'm supposed to see or even through the lens of how do I explain this to my kids and help them enjoy this experience. It was just lovely.

There were several things that I enjoyed, I always love the Chihuly piece between the buildings. Colored glass above my head in many shapes and sizes and all reflecting different glints of light. I also loved the painting of the shepherd with his sheep. I don't remember the name, but it says so many things to my soul AND it reminds me of Christmas. The crazy connection is to the music of Handel's Messiah-"All we, like sheep. . ." I think it's funny to say we like sheep- but on the more respectable side we are like sheep, and I'm so glad we have such a Shepherd as our Lord. And I think perhaps the favorite experience was the elevator ride. The elevator is three walls of glass and a mirrored door that lifts through the center of exhibit rooms on all four floors. As you rise in silent glass you observe slices of time as the exhibits are passing by. When I described it to Luke he said,"like a time machine" Yes. A lovely time machine.

And then to finish it off, I went to the museum cafe and sat on the outdoor patio above the river and ate all by my ONE. I felt like a mysterious girl from a book who is perfectly content to find herself with only the company of her thoughts. It's second Spring here in Texas, and I loved the sweet smell of flowering vines along the river. And then I took a picture of myself and sent my gratitude and the photo to my friend and lifelong love to let him know how grateful I was for a lovely day that was afforded by his graciousness and generosity. This would have been enough . . . but there was certainly more to this day which I will save for another post because I'm not sure how to do justice to the lovely things which occurred later that day.

In the pictures below see a certainly wonderful tree. Loved looking through it's branches to the sky. Then there's the dagger I would carry if it was ever necessary. And the last is the shepherd with his sheep.

Little Miss

2009-08-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

She meets me out in the garden and giggles, and I know why. She's wearing my shoes. Last week she told me she's been wanting to try on my hoop earrings, and did I mind if she tried? She wore them all afternoon of course waiting til the man of the house was home to see her with the large silver loops on either side of a pair of smiling cheeks.

She still holds my hand, but I can see her reaching for the future . . .

For now she is lovely young. She loves beauty and that is wonderful.

A pan?

2009-08-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Church camp. That's where I heard it. For real - an audible voice. In the midst of a beautiful thing that is a worship service at youth camp, I heard God's voice. I don't remember the song we were singing or the band or who the preacher was, but I remember that the voice said, " April, I have a plan for you." Really not earth shattering news. I mean, doesn't God have a plan for everyone? In my heart I believed that I was called as much as anyone who is a follower of Christ, that I was also a minister of the gospel purely by the fact that I've been grafted into the holy priesthood and all that good stuff. So I figured the best in store for me was to be Christ to others as I went and as for an official calling . . . well we'd see.

Years later, I'm wondering if my calling is just to be a mom and a wife - which i really do well - if you don't count that laundry over there. Or is there more? I really want to live a life that makes a difference, to have given all I can. Otherwise, what's the point? Is it enough to make an impact in the life of my family and maybe a few friends or is my reach even farther than that?

Not sure. But Jeff, God love him, had an answer for me. Maybe I misheard. Maybe he didn't say plan, maybe it was pan.

reverse card

2009-04-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, I recant requesting a folding machine. I am grateful that I'm not using a washboard or even better - washing my clothes in the river. Had a dream about Morocco the other night . . . I saw women carrying their laundry to wash in the river, the river that kinda looked muddy. That was in real life, not the dream. The dream just reminded me of that. And even in Europe they hardly have dryers. So I'm done with that wish, and thankful I can fold the clothes.

Bah! I still think it would be a cool invention. After the man to the moon and all that.

another improvement for my day

2009-03-05T10:35:00.000-08:00

Washing machines and dryers are fantastic. Best thing since sliced bread. They wash and dry our clothes for us in record time. I love and appreciate the work they do for me. This year we needed to replace our dryer . . . 12 years of work and all, it was ready to retire. There were beautiful new models of the dryer and washers, too, but basically the improvements to the older models is very little more than aesthetics, and I'm thinking, instead of wasting time on designing new washing machines and dryers that already do a great job . . . how about a whole nother machine. That's right, something that takes it to a whole nother level. What I'd like to see the next time I'm shopping for home appliances is a folding machine. That would be truly miraculous. Can I get an Amen?

What would make my day better

2009-02-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Desperately wanting a decent pencil sharpener. I can't even describe the lame attempts made by my electric pencil sharpener to sharpen pencils. Please, someone give me a good reccomendation. This could solve my [children's] academic crisis. If I can't equip them with excellent tools in usable condition, then all hope is lost . . .

what in the world!

2008-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we were driving through the Texas Hill Country and we came upon a small homemade museum that featured dinosaur tracks. We had to stop and check them out. CRAZY! What in the world! It seems like a fairy tale. It really doesn't seem real. And all I want to know is, "God, why did you make dinosaurs?"

how

2008-07-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sharing Christ with others is a weight on my heart. Here are my two interesting opportunities, and I'm praying for others.
1. Neighbors:
So we've recently moved to a very rural area outside of San Antonio. It's an actual neighborhood with an HOA and eveything, but you get the feeling that these people are out here to get away from people. The lots are 2 to 5 acres with horses, heavily wooded and . . . gates. So going over to someones house to say borrow an egg, although a believable excuse to get to your neighbors front door as the grocery store is over 20 miutes away, doesn't seem exactly inviting- nevermind the barking dogs. So despite the unwelcoming gates and the closed curtains, I've decided that this week I'll make cookies and use the cute kids as a way of getting in to my neighbors' homes. Should be interesting, and I'm praying for people to be home and me not to chicken out.
2. Opportunities to socialize
so Jeff had a great scooter that allowed him to socialize with scooter people. That also allowed me to socialize with scooter people. Subcultures are so fun. So I've been on one outing with the scooter people (all males, and none with off spring) accompanied by Jeff and the kids. And here's the thing I've been thinking about . . . One of the guys told a great story about how he'd been riding and his cargo flew off the back of his bike. The camera and phone that were inside his cargo bag flew out of their bags and onto the asphalt. He didn't realize this until he was a few miles away, and when he went back to find them they were all still there and virtually unharmed in the middle of a busy road! His comment was "That's karma!" in retrospect I feel that this was my in. That was the opportunity that I could have begun a conversation that included the possibility that karma was not in control of his life, but perhaps there was something more and Divine in nature. I'm not saying it was the moment to reveal all mysteries of salvation, but it could have been more, and I completely missed it . . and maybe for eternity because now Jeff has gotten rid of the scooter so we may no longer qualify to hang with those nice folks. Anywho, I'm currious if anyone is reading this, what would be your response, how would you use the opportunity?

Food from Heaven

2008-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Last night our family went to a favorite Asian restaurant in San Antonio. It was wonderful. In many ways. We ordered new dishes and enjoyed the fresh fare set before us. The company was also a delight. When it came time to pay the bill, the waitress told us that the bill was paid and we owed nothing! Someone else had paid our bill. Jeff asked who we needed to thank, but she would not reveal the benefactor. The fun part is that I saw the man do it! shortly after we were seated at our table a single older gentleman, bespectacled and full bearded, sporting a hat was seated at a nearby table. In passing glances I observed his interest in our table. I wasn't sure if it was the food that interested him, the conversation or the dear faces of the people around the table. In any case I saw him ask for a check as soon as his meal was set on his table. I instinctively had a feeling that he had just picked up our check. (FYI: it is almost impossible to surprise a Brinegar girl) And when the waitress confirmed it, I knew that what I suspected was true. As we left the restaurant he hid his face under the brim of his hat as we passed by him. I have no idea what made that man decide to pay for our meal, but it certainly was a beautiful and kind thing to do. The kindness of this stranger reminded me of these precious words found in Hosea 11:4

I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.

And although it was the act of a man that fed our family last night, I know that truly God does bend down and feed us.

the game of life

2008-06-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

I never really liked games that much when I was a kid. I don't know if I was just a poor loser or I didn't care for the randomness of rolling dice and drawing the wrong card that all of a sudden made you a loser- probably both. A few days ago I felt like we rolled the dice and all of a sudden things were on a losing path. Now I realize that in real life being a "loser" is a little more subjective, but all of a sudden I felt like instead of being on the path that leads to comfort and American equivalent of happiness I was on the path that takes me to a less desirable existence. You know something akin to being on your way to the lollipop wonderland and then all of a sudden you've been thrown back into stuck in the sludge of sticky taffy and everyone is laffy but you.
But then I remembered that on a board game we are all afforded only one winning option!
I also remembered that the Supreme Being (thank you Stevie Wonder) takes us on different journeys and that while I like it to be easy, that's totally not what it's about. The hard choices and even hard paths that we don't choose grow us into the beautiful people that makes the heart of a Father smile. That is ultimately the goal of this game.
. . . still, I do wish it didn't have to be so hard sometimes.

The Darjeeling Limited

2008-05-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

I honestly empathize a little with Dr. Frankenstein (FRAHNK-EN-SHTEEEEEN!). All I tried to do was make a PC that would meet a few requirements and it took me weeks. Can you imagine trying to build a person? It would take forever just to get the hardware to fit together, not to mention all the programming!!!

It started with good intentions. An old computer had been doing some HTPC functions for us, but none of them well, and frankly I was happy that it baked itself to death. I promised my son I'd get it fixed quickly so he and I could watch Bugs Bunny together (best thing in the world - laughing at him giggle/chuckle/chortle at the Road Runner and Coyote). Fastest repair job would just be to replace the motherboard and call it a day, right? So I get on newegg, read some reviews, and decide on a motherboard/CPU/ram combo that is a little more than I need, but should last me for the next several years. And, plus, it has HDMI out, so if I ever get that flat screen I've been dreaming about for a couple years we'll be set. I guess I forgot to check if it has S-Video out... because it doesn't. (SO! stupid! stupid! stupid!) And I gave away my monitor because I hadn't used it in forever, so I couldn't even use the VGA port.

You know what I say to myself, let's just go ahead and get that TV. Bugs would want me to. So I did. And it works great. No story there. Best TV I ever bought (only one too...)

Ok I hook everything up, reinstall XP, the thing runs like it just got a new heart. Now if I only had some high-def content to watch. Hmm... I have that old ATI HDTV card in the back of my closet that I couldn't get working before. Maybe if I give it another shot... so I give it another shot, and another, and another. I just cannot get the stupid thing to work. So I uninstall all the drivers on the machine and uninstall all the programs except the most basic, and reinstall just the ATI drivers. Still doesn't work. Argh. Ok, well I'll just go back to the old TV card. Aw crap. Yeah. Doesn't fit.

I'll worry about that later... just going to watch this Netflix that just came. Shoot. Error no decoder. Well, I uninstalled PowerDVD but that shouldn't matter. No problem I'll just reinstall from the disc. Except that I threw the disc away just two weeks earlier because I didn't realize it was my decoder... I thought it was just bloatware. (you EEEDiot)

At this point I could just order PowerDVD online and be done with it... but that's what, $50 or something? For that I could get a better DVD drive and get the software for free. Well, you know, if I'm thinking about a DVD drive, for a little more I could get a Blu-ray drive! So I get a drive from Liteon. Hook it up. Install ALL the software this time. Play a DVD, works fine. Play a Blu-ray disc, doesn't work. Hrmm... well... let's read the reviews ah dangit it won't work with XP dang it dang it dang it. Oh well, that's fine. All I really was trying to do was to play DVDs anyway.

Let's see... what was I doing? Oh right trying to get my DVR/HTPC box working. That means I need to get a new TV card that'll fit. Go to best buy just to get something adequate. Spend hours trying to figure it out, doesn't work, take it back. Fine. I'm gonna just order the HDTV card on newegg that gets great reviews. Does it work with XP MCE? Check. Right size? Check. Um... anything else... standard antennae? Check. Good reviews? Check. Ok, deep breath. Bang, ordered. A couple days later it shows up. Beautiful! HDTV paused / rewound / inside out right? "Uhhhh, only works with XP when you use the proprietary software," says the MANUAL INSIDE THE BOX. "And, by the way, the remote doesn't work with the included software, only with MCE." SUCK!!!

Deep breaths. Fine. I thought I could avoid Vista until the Lord comes back, but. Here goes. I download and install Vista and you know what? It's actually pretty rockin for a Media Center PC. I haven't played with it much, but honestly nothing there to complain about so far. And my HDTV card... WORKS... SO... WELL... never has American Idol been this large and this surround-soundy in my loft room. (Seriously, I had no idea that some programs are actually broadcast with surround sound... I can hear the audience clapping in my surrounds).

A point of note here. I am not now, nor have I ever been, down with American Idol. HOWEVER, if David Archiletta wins, I *will* have to go outside and crush something.

Let's see what haven't I tried yet??? OH! My Blu-ray! Yes, let's rent The Prestige and watch it in HIGH DEFINITION SHALL WE??? WON'T THIS BE GRAND??? SORRY, the on-motherboard HDMI video module can't decode the video fast enough to render it without the actors looking like they were performing at my eighth grade talent show. (oh right you weren't there. we had strobe lights, and gymnasts, and ... uh oh yeah my best friend breakdanced to thriller).

Anywhoooooooo. Back to best buy to get an adequate card. Ok fine ATI whatever I'm not a hater. [insert annoying Lucille Ball crying here] It doesn't work with Vista, Ricky! Go back to the worst place in the world and, to make myself feel a little better, I pick up The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack. And it does, my dear friends. It does.

Back to the PC - I ended up getting a different card with a different chipset from newegg and it's great - no fan, big ol' heat sink. And by now I've failed enough times that I know all the things to check on the specs page. Get home, plug it in, and before the kids are done eating their buttermilk pancakes and canteloupe for dinner, Enchanted is playing on the TV YEAH! Ok, so one minor complaint - Vista Media Center doesn't play Blu-ray because it's not programmed to detect your HDMI connection. Why? I dunno. Seems pretty danged stupid of Microsoft. No biggie... I'm around 99% of the time that we're going to watch a real movie. Yeah, I think Enchanted is a real movie, so what???

I think that's all, friend. Here's what I ended up with and I recommend that if you're going to do it, you don't stray... or you too will be making that sad Charlie Brown walk back to best buy as I once did.

Motherboard:
ASUS P5E-VM HDMI LGA 775 Intel G35 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6550 - Retail

Memory:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4 - Retail

HDTV Tuner:
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM TV Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail

Blu-ray:
LITE-ON Black SATA Blu-ray DVD-ROM Drive Model DH-4O1S-11 - OEM

Video:
MSI NX8500GT-MTD256EH GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Silent Heatsink Video Card - Retail

Operating System:
Legal Micro-stinkin-soft Vista Premium 32 bit - Downloaded

TV:
Samsung 330 LCD

Power:
Seasonic

Case:
Silverstone

Receiver:
Old Onkyo DTS 5.1 Refurb

Any questions - I'll be happy to answer... like... do I really expect anyone to read all this? No, actually I don't. Maybe it's for posterity. No, not that either. I was just bored and April and the kids weren't home yet.

A new forest

2008-05-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month now in our new place. In the old forest there were paved trails and the grocery store was 5 minutes away, the stars were . . . well those were actually airplanes heading for the IAH. Here we'll need to blaze new trails, the grocery store is 25 minutes away, and all those stars. . . wow. It's a new adventure that I'm already loving.
Did I mention that I can now see, and it's not just because we're away from the smog! Jeff gave me lasik for my birthday! It's super. Like supercalafragalisticexpialadocious!

2008-04-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hey does anyone else use:

flickr (jefftherhino or photos/therhino)
netflix (jeff rhines)
linkedin (rhinesj)
friendfeed (rhinesj)
stumbleupon (jefftherhino)

If so, shout out. Web 2.0 is tasty!

Also, how cool is this. I'm sitting in my hammock browsing the web in ADKINS, TX. I know it's not the beach or anything but it's pretty danged cool to be 20 miles from the nearest centers of civilization (seriously - three diff HEBs in three different directions), and still have web connectivity. It's like Christmas in late April. Especially since we had Christmas weather last night! Chilly, right? We actually got to use the hot tub!

2008-04-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, a month already?

So we have a contract on the house and close on the 18th (w00t!). Which means April and I will be moving in together on the 16th. Also, I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing at work so I kind of just try to find stuff to keep myself busy. Unsuccessfully. If any one has any ideas, I'm all ears.

Also:

http://twitter.com/rhinesj

I'd love it if anyone that uses or plans on using or wonders about twitter would D rhinesj so i can follow ya.

CONFESSION: or why you should not dispense medicine before cofffee

2008-03-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

I am a bad mother. Officially.
So we were rushing out the door to get the kids to school when I remember that Luke must take his allergy medicine before he relapses into snot slog. So I run in and grab the nasal spray and what I thought was his singulair. As I pass the medicine back to the cutie in the back seat I wonder why the pill is now purple instead of pink like it was last week. First CLUE! Then Luke also wonders aloud the same thing . . BEEP BEEP BEEP! DO NOT IGNORE THE FLASHING WARNINGS. . . oh well I guess they changed the color, it was a new bottle of the stuff. Now we're turning the corner about to pull into the drop off lane. From the back seat, "OUWIE, my mouth is burning! IT"S ON FIRE!" hmmmm
so I gave my kid a naproxen sodium tablet instead of his regular chewable singulair, and yes he chewed it up.
Jeff, can you ever forgive me?

2008-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

I move myself back to San Antonio on Sunday night, taking my good clothes, a toothbrush, razor, and my mom's 34 year old Framus. I'm hoping the guitar can teach me how to play it. Anyone have any pointers on coaxing happy music out of it after all these years? I picked up Guitar for Dummies a while back and was going to use that unless someone has a better idea.

Eats

2008-02-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

Triple Grande Latte
Decaf Flavia House Blend Coffee
Steamed Vegetable Dumplings
Bowl Hot and Sour Soup
Decaf Flavia House Blend Coffee
April's Leftover Best Donuts Apple Fritter
Luke's Leftover Banana Bread Slice
Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Cookie Dough
Roger's Blend French Press Coffee
Three Spring Rolls
Bowl of Pho
Luke's Leftover Spring Roll
Luke's Leftover Pho
Lily's Leftover Spring Roll
Century Sundae Ice Cream
Chocolate Chunk Gingerbread Cookie
Fridge Water

Hats

2008-02-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

Aaron - to have a homemade cap while alpine touring
Luke - for the long walk from the family van to the classroom
Archie - to wear while managing "the facilities" for the church
Cora - for Christmas because I wanted to make her happy
Josh - because some day we're going to work together again
Greg - knitted on top of enchanted rock
Mark - to keep the good warm thoughts in
Jason - for sharing his spiritual sack lunch with me
Charlie - bright orange because it suits him like it suits me
Jeff - I wore it on a scooter run through a 39-degree thunderstorm
Ross - a parabolic dish to focus his positive thoughts on his baby
Alex - knitted it while on pain killers

2008-02-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

The most fun I've had on four wheels in a long time -- and she's in my garage!

Three things you may not know about Jeff

2008-01-31T09:38:00.000-08:00

1. Since November 23rd Jeff has taught himself to knit and has made 3 scarfs, 10 hats and 1 amazing purse. . . and he uses the expensive yarn. The ladies at the knitting shops love him. me too.

2. When I married Jeff in 1997 he owned a Porsche 914, an old Ford F150 and he bought me a Nissan Maxima. In the following years Jeff has owned 10 additional cars/vehicles including the following: a VW rabbit, a Ford Contour, a Jeep Wrangler, a gold Mercedes, a white Mercedes, a Stella (scooter), a 65 T-bird, a Ford Mustang, Toyota Corrola and a Nissan Quest.
Amazingly, he has been without a car since May 2007! That's a major fast.

3. Jeff finds great pleasure and rejuvenation in the cutting down and pruning of scrubby cedar trees in the Texas Hill Country.

2008-01-31T06:17:00.000-08:00

Ok - but instead of publishing more about myself, I'm going to tell some things about April.

- She definitely has her own style. She loves funky clothes, but not in a faux 80's punk way. More like what you'd get if you gave a hippie a Nordstrom card. And I love her for that. It's silly, it's fun, it's unique, and it takes thought and intent to be so out-there and still pull it off and look chic.

- When she was a girl, she saw her dog hit by a car in front of her house and killed and then she threw up in the front yard. But when she swung Superman-style into the metal barrel they used to walk around on and broke her arm so she could see the bone pushing out on her skin, she didn't bother to cry.

- She loves me.

2008-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

Today I found out I'm getting a 20% bonus and a 10% raise in Houston.

Then someone called me to talk about an opportunity in Austin.

This after we pretty much decided San Antonio was the place to go.

I've been working since 7:30am and my boss wants to keep working until at least midnight so we can get something done before the users in the UK get to work.

Some decisions are a lot easier than you think they will be at first.

Yum

2008-01-19T18:03:00.001-08:00

Merrilee is a good cook.

2008-01-13T15:51:00.000-08:00

It looks like I'm probably going to go back to work for General Dynamics. All the reasons I left are still there, but they're going to match my wages that I'm making here in Houston, and it's cheaper to live in San Antonio. Even if it wasn't, my family and I *enjoy* San Antonio, whereas we just tolerate Houston, and sometimes like Kingwood (the Florida of East Texas). So, we would appreciate you all (whoever you are - if anyone's there) keeping us in your prayers during our time of transition. It's complicated because we have two houses now that we want to sell - the one in Kingwood (a suburb of Humble (a suburb of Houston) and the one in Adkins (a suburb of Floresville (a suburb of San Antonio)). And we can only afford both if April keeps working. So, we'll be split during the week and she'll be a single working mom. Oh, and I don't have a car. I just have the scooter, which I don't trust to get me back and forth between San Antonio and Houston. So, pray for us :) I think it's the right thing to do, which is crazy, because it's certainly not the easiest thing to do. And most people would say it's not the most responsible. Maybe it's just that it's what we *want* to do. Well, if it isn't what my heavenly father wants us to do, I pray he'll make it obvious to us both.

Tattoo (me on you)

2008-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hey - look what i got :)

Glorious Days of Celebrating the Holy

2008-01-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

We will never forget the first year of make your own Christmas. I believe we had reached a maximum exposure to the goods offered each prior year in the mass market. Combined with the sadness that all the "stuff" is afforded at the cost of precious lives in other lands, we were just no longer willing to consume what has been placed on the table as palatable any longer. It's similar to the pretty cakes you see in the grocery store. They are beautiful, and affordable even, but they are gross compared to a cake made by a true artisan. So a month before Christmas Jeff springs the idea of Make your own Christmas. I was pretty sure he wasn't quite serious. He couldn't possible know what he was suggesting. It sounds like a nice idea, but holy cow, that's a lot of work and creativity.

Apparently he was serious. And I love him even more for it.

It's been said of ants, but it's true of Jeff, too. . . AMAZING. I love all the wonderful things he made, and I'm so glad I got to do some creating of my own. The gifts the children made melted our hearts.

It was a little stressful trying to get all the gifts done on time, but also incredibly refreshing as well. I do not enjoy shopping in H-town, and I had been dreading the Christmas crowds. Completely avoiding this madness was a dream come true. Another lovely thing about the make your own, is that the gifts were not carbon copies of what every other person in the United states of America was getting. It's amazing that we are truly a united states in the way that the sweaters and toys and electronics sold on one coast are the exact same as the sweaters, toys and electronics sold on the opposite coast. The search for truly unique gifts and perfect for that special individual had become a joke in the retail/ commercial world of American Christmas. This year we escaped the machine! I feel like we concentrated more on the relationships and the merriment instead of allowing the desire for stuff to steer our season of the Saviour. I love the sweet things our children made and the signs of who they are all over the presents that they gave.

We are already anticipating next Christmas when we will pour ourselves into the gifts we give each other.
It's a good moment to wonder what the next year will bring, and a good time to make note that I hope to be changed in eternal ways.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Favorite Gifts so Far

2007-12-23T20:45:00.000-08:00

My favorite gifts so far!

The glass is a Riedel, and I received it in a pair from my very generous Father- and Mother-in-law yesterday afternoon, after a righteous time of singing carols around the piano and dancing to Feliz Navidad, a lunch of homemade spiral stuffed pork loin, and followed with a dessert of rum-eggnog, rum-cake, and rum-balls! From the time we had, you would have expected the dessert was first!

The wine is an Armenian Pomegranate wine that I very thankfully received from my extremely kind Aunt and Uncle, who visited us today and enjoyed delicious french-pressed black coffee and berry-topped white cake with us for my cousin's birthday. The cake is now gone, the guests have gone home, and the coffee pot, wine bottle, and glass are all empty.

I love Christmas.

Sea monkeys can be two headed too

2007-07-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Or according to Luke and Lily they are dancing together. . .

Sea Monkeys are Surreal

2007-05-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

We have brought new life to the planet. A bunch of tiny little sea monkeys. This is my first experience with the frenetic mini life forms. I have no idea what they are.
Deduction: they hatch from eggs and live in water, so I'm assuming they are from the species of fish.
Their container is very small so I'm guessing they won't get too big, but what fun to imagine if they outgrew their container and spilled over into the living room and continued growing and found solace in my beautiful bathroom shower, and I had to go upstairs and always use the hold the handle down 'til it flushes all the way potty. And now it's no longer fun. I hope they stay small, but I bet they die. Then we'll have to have a burying ceremony.

two headed bugs

2007-05-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

Luke and Lily have been battling the "two headed bugs." For at least a week these "two headed bugs" have been hovering around our backyard. I don't know where they all came from, but we definitely don't need more, which is what looks like is about to happen.

standing at a crossroads

2007-04-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

I always want to write whenever I'm feeling confused or at a loss for explanation of a situation, so I have to admit that the writing is not fluent or meant to entertain as much as it is cathartic and sorta like mapping out issues for me. Maybe I should become a painter, then I could paint my quandaries and confusions and I would have a great visual that would mark my decision making process. So that's a warning that this possibly will not make any sense at all.
Anywho, here I am standing at a crossroad. It's interesting when you stand at a crossroad that you can look back and see where you chose to go left and not right or to veer here and go up a hill over there. All those journeys are the ones that brought you to this new split. So the time and space have an ordained feeling to them as you can see the hand that led you to this point.
It's a fact, you cannot go both ways, at least if I were standing at a real physical road I would be unable to go both ways. If I took one way and then decided to back track and go the other route, it would not be the same as taking it in the first place. But I wonder sometimes if we can't rise above physical limitations. After all, my spirit man has been made alive, so how much do physical laws really rule over me. Does the freedom that we have in Christ transcend not only our slavery to sin, but also the bounds of physics? Remember, Peter walked on water. I know the laws of this natural world do not allow such defiance. There are always those people who make us step back and say, "Wow! how do they do all that." In my own life I can think of a few people like that. Maybe the explanation is that they are doing what they do in a supernatural way. Christ followers frequently ask for the strength of the Lord, or that he will multiply our time or other things that sound really great in a prayer, but when it comes down to it do I really expect my muscles to grow, or my clock to have more numbers than 12? In truth I am asking for myself to be more self disciplined and use my time more wisely so that I can get everything done that I see as part of God's calling for me. While those are good things to ask for and I'm sure God honors those prayers, I think I need to be more like Peter and say Lord if that is you tell me to walk to you on the water and I will.
I have the same life in me that was in Christ Jesus. He defied the laws of this earth time after time. There was great demand on His time during His earthly ministry. When Jesus needed to be somewhere, like in the middle of the lake he said phooey with the earth bound laws and he went for a stroll on H2O. There are so many times in the Bible when the earthly laws that physics has said are true are completely ignored. Didn't Elijah run faster than a man in a chariot? I know that what seems to be impossible to man is not impossible with God. Remember Virgin birth? So while it seems that two callings collide and that it must be one or the other, I know that God is bigger than that. So Lord if it is you, tell me to come and I will! So I'll just keep moving forward and trusting that God is so much bigger than my finite ways of thinking. I will put on the mind of Christ and humble myself to say I can't but HE can!

smells like spring spirit

2007-03-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

When I went running last night on the trails that wind through our forresty neighborhood I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful sweet smells. It was so fragrant and fresh. Really quite a delight. And I must admit that every now and then I'd pass a house and catch a whiff of laundry. And although it's not quite the natural experience of smelling green things growing, it is not less poetic.

good things

2007-03-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

riding bikes with the family across lake Houston.
grilling burgers with fancy sauce
visiting family
birthing baby goats
sunny days and cold nights

without faith

2007-02-26T14:06:00.000-08:00

This phrase won't leave me alone. "Without faith it is impossible to please God. . ." The phrase is troubling me because I have a bit of trouble with faith. I am lacking. I know it's the reason I get upset with my kids or impatient with Jeff, or put out with anything in my life.
I realized that I had a bit of trouble with faith after I listened to a conference phone call encouraging Sonlight homeschoolers in their homeschool journey. In the course of discussing different strategies and helpful practices a suggestion was made that we should pray at the beginning of each day, not just as a good way to start the day, but asking for God's guidance and ordering of each moment. Willingly committing the day to His precise plan. Sounds great! I'm so into that! Yes! God is good, He'll make my homeschool day great!
So the next day happens to be Friday and on Fridays I get to drop my kids off for THREE AND A HALF HOURS! So exciting! I really love my time with my star pupils, but I also look forward to being exceptionally productive on my own once a week. As I pulled out of the parking lot I remembered the prodding to pray at the beginning of each day and commit to doing exactly what the Lord would require of me. I suddenly felt very conflicted, not to be confused with convicted. I had plans! I had things to accomplish. How am I supposed to be productive if I stop and listen to what God wants me to do with MY time. In this moment I thought, "hmm control freak, me?" Ok, so I was a little stubborn, but I realized that if I committed my next three hours to God, and truly surrendered, it was possible that it would not be required of me to go to Africa and back. It's not like surrendering to an evil slave master, it's much more like accepting an invitation from a lover or fast friend who sharpens you into the best you.
So it goes back to the faith issue. I struggle with trusting that God really does have my best interests at heart. He is faithful to remind us and show us where we are falling, but He is also the gentle teacher who brings us back to where we need to be, always groping and reaching for Him. I knew I had been greatly encouraged recently after reading a book that pointed to scripture for the reasoning behind her methods as a mom. I was reminded that if I want faith, Romans 10:17 says faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God. So, it's back to the Book for me.

Church #2

2007-01-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

In my examination and evaluation of these churches we are visiting, I have considered using the actual names, but thought perhaps I shouldn't in order to. . . you know. . . protect the innocent blah blah blah. I guess that's my reason for omitting their names, and also to be polite to the ones that I may have a harsher critique of, which I feel a little bad about. I read today about how when the people of Israel started talking badly about Moses and Aaron, God did away with the grumblers. That's pretty serious. I've always been told you don't speak against God's man, and who's the true judge of who "God's man" is. I guess the truth is that we're all called to the holy Priesthood at this point in the grace train. So no bad talking about anyone? Okay, that's fair enough. Thank goodness I have something good to say about this church. It actually was a good experience, and it does make the short list. This Sunday the preacher was speaking about the main purpose of their church and how they carry out their vision. A good day to visit if you want to know what a church is about. It was very clear: The Three Pillars, 1. reaching the lost 2. training the saved and 3. prayer. ( I should add that Jeff had some comment about how maybe three pillars wasn't enough, after all the muslims have seven)
The preacher was challenging the members of the church to come back to these and refresh their dedication to these. These three pillars were derived from the call in the great commisison. I like a church that's not content and challenges me to not be content. Spiritual discontentment is healthy and moves us to grow. It also bugs me. I like to think that I do everything right, and I don't like to be reminded of the way that I don't yield to following God and sometimes that's just what I need. You know, the tension on a rubber band makes it fly etc. The bottom line is it's good not to be comfortable in church and this was definitely that kind of uncomfortable place. The music could be included in that last statement, too. But I guess that's what professionals are for. It wasn't the worst I've ever heard. It all comes down to 2 things: 1 what is the purpose of the church in our lives? and 2. where does God want me?
And so the search continues. . .
A new thing on my list of things to look forward to is camping in our new Casita! We just bought a small 13 foot travel trailer just the perfect size for the Rhines family. I can't wait! We will be camping for Jeff's birthday.

Happy Epiphany!

2007-01-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

Epiphany (feeling), a realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something
Epiphany (Christian), the Christian feast commemorating the revelation of Jesus to humanity, specifically the visit of the Magi

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

The Holy Days have been much fun. It's been exceptionally busy. After moving from San Antonio to Houston on December 1st we have unpacked boxes, observed the regular traditions of the season: looking at lights, singing carols, buying gifts, cutting down the Christmas tree, decking the halls and buying gifts and entertaining guests. My parents, Jeff's parents and great friends Christina and Matthew Eason with their little darlings, Faith and Hannah have all graced our home during this season. On the weekends that we had no guests, we traveled to San Antonio, Austin, and Temple. It has a been a great adventure, and now I feel ready to settle into a new routine in my new home, in my new town.
Things I am looking forward to:
1. Getting back on track with school for Luke and Lily - Math skills will be emphasized as I am pleased with the progress both are making with their reading.
2. Luke and Lily will begin attending a local homeschool ministry on Fridays called Super Friday. This will afford them the opportunity to interact with other homeschooled children as well as pick up some extracurricular activities.
3. Finding a church - what an interesting pursuit. Having been involved in ministries that have been excellent in different areas creates certain expectations in me and makes it difficult to find the familiar comforts in other places. Knowing that people and relationships can not be replicated, I am willing to be open to whatever church that God has for us. With that being said, I am going to try not to be too judgmental as we shop around to find the place for our family. For example, this Sunday we went to KWB. The people seemed nice, genuine in their enjoyment of a safe Christian life. However, not a single individual greeted us or asked us our names. I've heard this can be a huge turn off, and it definitely was the most glaring reason for not returning to worship with these folks. The congregation was not huge, so a visitor in their midst on New Year's Eve should have been noticeable. Also interesting was the lack of a senior pastor. On the Bulletin under staff and next to senior pastor, instead of listing a name it said, "open." I really hope this is not where God wants us, but if God wants to put us in this church, then I know it will be fine, even great. But in the meantime until I get the sign that this is it, we'll be visiting around the area with open hearts.
4. Getting back to running. I've missed running and I can't wait to explore the trails around our neighborhood. I am going to be more purposeful about strength training and stretching as lack of strength and flexibility is what has slowed me down resulting in injuries and pain in the past.
5. A new kitchen! I have the resources and the go ahead from Jeff, I just have to find someone willing to do the work. I cannot wait to have the new Miele ovens and induction range. It will be so great, especially since my 20 year old range only has one small burner working.

I have so much to look forward to, and I love living life with my little family. I want to be a blameless wife and mother who lives humbly before God. I want my heart to be pure and my love for beauty to be true. Praise be to God for His transforming power. He's so gracious that he doesn't leave us the same as He found us.
Love and Joy be to you!

saying yes

2006-12-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

10 years ago today I said,"Yes!" I could never have imagined what I had accepted. What an amazing time I've had. It just gets better every day and each year is sweeter than the last. Being yoked to Jeff has been a major enhancement of my life. Not only do I benefit from walking alongside one of God's most handsome creations, but I am the recipient of such great love! He has been a true friend. Always supportive of any goals or dreams I may have, he has helped me to accomplish things like producing offspring, homeschooling them and even running a 1/2 marathon after all my running buddies had dropped out. He's honest with me about my shortcomings and does not allow me to be less than I should be in terms of how I mother our children. I am a better version of myself because of Jeff. I am eternally grateful for his love and friendship. I'm so glad he asked me to marry him, and I'm so glad I got to say, "yes!"