''Tieland"

Here is the setting: Walker(5) and Christian(3) admiring each others ties. I lay out their clothes for church the night before. Today they were going to be wearing short sleeve button up shirts, so no tie, per my fashion sense. They begged to differ and went and got themselves a tie out of their drawer and put it on themselves. Another important point to conversation that followed is that you need to know that our church talks about 'Thailand' often. We support missionaries to go there each year and even have had a few dozen refuges from there coming to our church the last few months. So, this far off place is a place they hear of often.

Walker: Christian, why aren't you wearing your yellow tie?
Christian: Umm....it is dirty.
Walker: Why didn't you wash it?
Christian: Well, I am going to go to Tieland and get another yellow one.
Walker: You are going to Thailand on a missions trip for a tie?
Christian: (With a big grin and so absolutely sure of his response) Yeah!

I was cracking up. I never thought of the possibility of them sitting in church thinking that Thailand was actually a land you go to get ties from. They are such a hoot!

Dear Diary,

There is a much needed entry I have to write, but I am going to go spend some time with my Timmy. New meds, a new procedure performed today, and lots of praying that one of these will work...I will write soon.

However, we are holding onto Jeremiah 29:11 with all our hearts: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Please continue to pray...your prayers are not in vain and God's Word never returns void. What comfort!

Abc's and 123's???

I have been concerned that Walker is bored with the phonics lessons. It has been going slower than I expected. He is so smart, but not too impressed with the actual 'school part'. I realized yesterday, then again this morning, that he is learning things far more valuable than his abc's and 123's. He is etching God's Word on his heart. He is learning the importance of prayer and spending time with the Lord.

For example: Yesterday I took the kids to go play at a local park. One of the kids on the playground started to tease Walker and Walker told me that he shared this with that little boy:

"You should treat others like you want to be treated."

This is found in Matthew 7:12. I was so proud of him. He could have walked away upset and done nothing about it or he could have teased the boy back. However, taking the time to teach him about the Word of God and learn to apply it to his life became foremost for him and he took the opportunity to share God with someone. He said the little boy did not say anything back to him after that, but Walker left feeling like he had done the right thing. I am so blessed!

Then this afternoon we were talking about what he thought his future wife might look like. "She will have short hair, Mom." Was his first comment. The next comment was, "But, I will love her no matter what she looks like because she will be from God." Then I reminded him that he should continually pray for his wife. That he pray that she love the Lord with all her heart and that the Lord protect her. He said he will start praying for her every day. I offered to pray with him at that moment, but he said he was going to do it in private. He proceeded to tell me that he talks to God all the time and that it is important to spend alone time with God. He said that this morning before he even put his feet on the ground he spent some alone time with God. That he prayed for that little boy that had teased him the day before. What an amazing testimony that this ARROW is hitting that target! It is not the good grades that tell me I am doing a good job as mommy (although it is part of it), it is these moments that remind me that our little ones are watching us. They mimic us. They are learning from us.

I thank Jesus for allowing me to have this moment with my little man, with all my arrows. They each bless me in abundance daily. Miguel is my right-hand man. He can fix anything you put in front of him. He is willing to do anything to please his parents. Karizma is my left-hand lady. I am left handed, so this is a very important hand. The boys love her and she is their second mama. Plus, her graceful character is always reminding me to be a Godly example to her. Christian lets me love him like he is a newborn. He fills a special place in my heart. He has the heart and soul of a lion and is fearless, but still is the first to seek his mother's arms. Zack is my sweet blue eyed angel. He has grown me as a mother. I have learned more about being a mom through him, then all of the other 4 put together. Watching this little guy pray before his meals without even being reminded is amazing to me. I must add that this is not to my credit, but absolutely and only due to the grace of God. He blessed me with these gifts and I am so thankful.

Hopefully The Last We Will See Of The Cane

This was taken 1.5 weeks ago...3 days before Tim became cane free...he also became beard free that day! Praising God for both things being a thing of the past...although the 5 o'clock shadow is nice the first couple of days.

(another new post about Walker and his 1st day of school below)

1st Day Of Kindergarten

Walker started his first day of Kindergarten on the 11th of this month. He was so excited and had been asking when school was going to start all summer. On that morning without my having to remind him, he started to get ready. First he got dressed in his favorite red dino shirt and red soccer socks. He kept on his pajama shorts for some reason, but I didn't want to point it out as I know he was so proud of his choice of outfit. Next he went to do his hair. Hairspray and all. When the boys do their hair, they spray the hairspray on one solid spot, or put a gunk of gel on one spot. It is so cute watching them care so much about how 'cool' they look. Even Zack wants to spray himself everyday.

He loved working in his workbook and on the second day, he snuck his workbook out of his drawer and finished it. It is supposed to be a 3 week book, but he was so anxious to get it done. We are into our 3rd week and are reviewing a lot so he can get a 100% on his first test.

Wow! I can't believe I am in my 10th year of homeschooling. Miguel is doing AWESOME already. He tested in most every subject for the first time yesterday and is already starting with an above 4.0 average (I allow them to be able to earn an extra 5 points for extra credit on their tests) since he got 100's on all tests but one...that one was a 99. Karizma is also doing us proud. She got 100 on one of her tests and a 95 on the other. I think this year is going to be one of the easier ones, even though we have 3 in school as opposed to the 2. It helps that Miguel is so intelligent and needs little instruction. Plus, I don't even touch their math. That is Tim's job. So, we are thanking God for giving us a great start to our school year.

Walker doing his hair for his first ever day of school.



Ready to learn!!



Walker concentrating on his 'homework'.

Just Keeps Getting Better

Tim has gone almost a full week without the cane! What a miracle that is! And to add to my joy, I got a sweet kiss from the Lord this morning. Tim used to make me breakfast before church every Sunday morning. Well, for about 5-6 months now he has been in too much pain in the morning to be able to do that. However, this morning he made me my favorite, sunny side up eggs with a flour tortilla. I praised God for what might seem like a little thing to someone else, was a miracle to me.

A Note From Tim To The Prayer Warriors

All:

First, I want to express not only the undying gratitude, but also the great humility, that I have felt as a result of all of your prayers for me over the months and years. I am completely grateful for the spiritual, emotional, and physical sustenance that God has provided me as a result of your supplications. And I am truly humbled by your faithfulness in this regard, being aware that I am a stranger to, or at most an acquaintance of, many of you (but nonetheless feeling close to you, knowing we are all clinging to the base of the same cross), and standing convicted of my own lack of faithfulness to the Pauline example of continuous and steadfast prayer for my brothers and sisters in Christ.

To illustrate the efficacy of your prayers, I am extremely pleased to announce that my leg pain has been dramatically reduced, and that for the last two days I have been able to walk without a cane, and pretty much with my normal gait. This change begs for a supernatural explanation, as it was just on Sunday and Monday when the leg pain was severe and when I was wondering whether I would ever be able to walk normally or stand without a cane again. Moreover, my doctors had not yet been able to diagnosis the cause of my leg pain, and thus it was not being medically treated (but of course was being treated in a much more powerful manner -- by my Creator, who was pleased with your prayers). So while my leg is not 100% pain and symptom-free yet, it is in significantly better shape than it was during my times of despair. And I have "only" my Lord and your prayers to thank for the remarkable healing that I've experienced in my leg.

So please know that your prayers are not in vain; they do bring about real, positive results in people's lives; and they bring both you (the persons praying) and me (the subject of the prayers) closer to our God (the object of the prayers). I hold your prayers dear, and I thank God that He has such faithful servants praying for my back injury/pain. I look forward to the day when (God willing) I'll be able send you a prayer report regarding the healing of my back. But in any event, I look forward to not only being with you in spirit after our eventual passings (if they be before the Second Coming), but to the day when our souls are actually reunited with our incorruptible, resurrected physical bodies at Christ's return, to spend eternity together exploring the new heaven and the new earth with no more death, crying, sorrow, or pain.

Until then,

In Christ,

Tim

Praise Report

I had to shout it from the mountains because God is so faithful! Just as this week I have been receiving an outpouring of people reminding me they are praying for Tim, we have a wonderful praise report. You all know he has been using his cane everyday for about 2 months now on a daily basis. The past week he was using it anytime he walked. Well, yesterday he woke up with a new bounce to his step. Well maybe not a bounce, but you know what I mean. He took his cane with him just in case, but when he got home he announced so happily that he was able to go the entire day without having to use it once!! Praise God!!! Then his Mom just called me this morning to let me know he forgot it yesterday afternoon at their house. He hasn't even missed it.

I just had to let you all know that our God does hear our cries and that he is faithful to deliver. Thanking God today for your faithfulness to pray and His faithfulness to my Timmy.

Victory On The CA Homeschooling Issue

This was written by my husband Tim. I just wanted to share this awesome victory with everyone. (Thanks, Chris, for posting it on your blog as well.)

Court backs off ruling that restricted home schooling:
Timothy M. White, Esquire - Attorney at law
Subject: Fw: SignOnSanDiego.com News Education -- Court backs off ruling that restricted home schooling

Praise the Lord!! The Court of Appeal that in February ruled that homeschooling was illegal in California unless the parent had a teaching credential just issued a new ruling holding that parents can, indeed, homeschool their children without any type of credential, and that their rights can only be taken away if a child has been removed from his/her house for safety reasons and made a dependent of the state through a juvenile court proceeding (e.g., because of physical or sexual abuse, neglect, etc.), which was the law anyway.

I've read the 40+ page opinion from the Court of Appeal, and, in sum, it held California parents have a legal right to homeschool their children, and it recognized that parents' right to direct the upbringing and education of their children are entitled to the highest protection under law (just like freedom of speech, freedom to exercise one's religion, etc. -- meaning that if any court wants to infringe of those parental rights, it must meet the highest legal standard to do so (which makes it VERY hard for the court to ever infringe). That right can only be suspended or taken away if (as the law has always been) there has been a finding in juvenile Court that the child's safety is in serious jeopardy because of physical or sexual abuse, or severe neglect. Thus, the law is now back to where it was before the same Court issued its foolish, and now superseded, ruling back in February.

Prayer does work! And all of the homeschoolers and homeschooling organizations working together on this one really made a difference. The court relied on legal briefs of HSLDA and other Christian homeschooling groups, Jewish homeschoolers, atheists who homeschool their children for non-religious reasons, and even the very liberal CA Attorney General ("Moonbeam" Jerry Brown), the liberal CA Secretary of Education, and the (now we find out) fairly liberal governor, Arnold. Well-known law professors from the right and the far left, who never agree with one another on anything, actually CO-WROTE briefs together in favor of parents' rights to homeschool their children. God's hand controlled this the entire way. Amen!

In Christ,

Tim

Prayer Warriors

I received two emails this morning that humbled me, blessed me, and reminded me that God will NEVER forsake me. He is with me through this storm and He knows my every thought, my every desire, my every hurt. Watching Tim having a harder and harder time as each day passes is truly breaking me heart. However, God is the Restorer of my soul. He is the Great Comforter. He is the Almighty God. I shall fear nothing! And these emails made me feel like I was just given wings.
One was from a sweet sister in Christ from our church, Bette. She faithfully serves in the prison ministry and emailed to let me know that there are a couple hundred men up in Centinela State Prison praying for my husband. She has told us about what prayer warriors these inmates are, and I am so humbled to hear that God will use anyone for His glory. I am so touched that these men, whom don't know my husband, going through their own trials, are so faithful to pray for my Timmy. Thank you, Jesus for these brothers!
I also received an extremely touching email from my dear friend Kimberly that was confirmation to me that God has not forgotten about me. Kimberly wrote about how God has really put us on her heart. I have gotten several emails like that lately. She is also such a faithful friend and prayer warrior and I am blessed that a busy mom and wife like her would take the time to be so giving to us. I am blessed to have her!
I know that He hears my cry. I know that he will NEVER forsake me. And He is using countless people to remind me daily.

Dear Diary,

It has been a rough couple of months. All the different medications made for a husband that was not quite himself. However, through trial and error, he has decided to have to deal with the pain between his big meds and not take the anti-depressants that were supposed to help with his chronic pain. Although they were given to him in low dosages they still really altered his personality. That was hard, because (and don't tell him I said so) I love his sense of humor and was really beginning to miss his bad jokes. So, he has weaned himself off those and it has been a nice few days getting reacquainted with my sweetheart.

We did have quite a scare on Monday morning. He drove to work and once he pulled into the parking lot he called me and said he could not feel his upper left leg. It had gone totally numb and whenever he tried to get up or move his leg he would get shooting pains up and down it. He described this pains like something out of a dental visit. He said to imagine having your mouth numb, but then the dentist touches a nerve and it pierces through you so painfully. Ouch. I did not like imagining that and it broke my heart that he was having to endure this, and by himself. Thank God that the hospital is only 2 miles away. He drove himself there. As always, we can count on his parents to be the most devoted people we know and they dropped everything to go be with him. It took forever for him to get seen and of course after a sonogram, MRI, and check-up they sent him home with some medication and no answers. That is sooo frustrating!! When he got home it was incredibly sad to see him getting from the front door to the bedroom (maybe 20 feet and it took him about 5 minutes). He could not straighten his back. It reminded me of some sad and sick looking character out of 'Lord of the Rings' with the cane and how he was hunched over.

He did try to go without the cane yesterday morning but said he almost fell over. So, he is now using it in public. I know that he must be in tremendous pain to have to resort to using the cane all day. He is afraid of becoming dependent on it (we both are), so he tried again this morning. He was able to do pretty ok, but is walking so stiff and so slow. I admire this man so much. He works so hard to provide for his family and this past weekend he said some things to me that (if possible) made me love him more than ever. I will post about that soon, but later, as it is definitely a very important part of our story as a couple and as a family. So, although it breaks my heart to see him having to use the cane, he is looking quite sexy as he also has some 'scruff' going on. For those of you that don't know what scruff is, it is what Karizma lovingly calls it when he lets his 5 o'clock shadow grow out. Every once in awhile, he will grow it out for her, because she begs him. He is letting his face 'rest', he said. I don't tell him how handsome I think he looks with it because his head is having a hard time fitting through the door. He does consider himself quite cute. I will take a picture of him and his scruff and cane and post it later.

Please continue to pray for Timmy as I know that the Lord has great plans for us. Plans to prosper us and not harm us. Plans to give us a hope and a future! (Jer 29:11)

First Field Trip Of The Year

This past Tuesday we got together with our friends from our mommies group and ventured out to the local Souplantation. I was surprised how much fun this turned out to be! Thanks to Katie M. for putting it together!

During the presentation the kids learned about the different food groups. I was so proud how all the kids listened quietly.


To take the kitchen tour the kids, and unfortunately the moms too, had to adorn themselves with aprons and hairnets.


Michelle and I obviously love our children very much...otherwise you wouldn't catch us in this get-up.


The kids were each allowed to choose one veggie topping for their pizza's. Walker, Kelsey, and Isabel shared a pizza. Walker's veggie pick was carrots. Interesting. They also chose to put boiled eggs on their pizza for protein. I definitely would NOT recommend putting boiled eggs on a pizza. However, the carrot/califlower/broccoli pizza they invented turned out really good!


Christian made a pizza with 2 of the older girls in the group. This gave him an advantage as one of them picked tomatoes and the other added bacon for their protein. This pizza was sooo good!

Enjoying the fruits...err, veggies of their labor!

Next field trip is to the local Home Depot. That is going to be so fun!!

Finally, Some Pictures

Zack, 18 months, enjoying an ice cream cone on the way home from McDonald's.


Christian, 3, in his favorite boots and underwear, showing me his new hat....Zack's potty seat.



Walker, just a couple of weeks before his 5th birthday, at Target. He looks so grown up. I see another lawyer in our future!



This is one my favorites. I see Zack looking, acting, and becoming more and more like his Daddy everyday.


All the kids at my Uncle Johnny's ranch in Mexico this past May.


Our dog, Harlan Pepper, 6. We have had lots of fun watching him act like a puppy out at our new place. He has 6 acres to run wild, chase rabbits, dig holes, and howl along with the coyotes.


Coming in August; The kids attend a field trip to Souplantation, my womens retreat with MVCF, first day of school...Walker starts Kindergarten, Karizma starts 8th grade and Miguel starts highschool.

Lots of fun coming around the corner!