Perfect Water

Last year in Maui one night the kids asked me to tell them a story during dinner. (That never happens.) And they wanted it to be one I made up. So I started with no idea where it would go and they liked the finished story so much they told Mom and Dad they had to hear it and then everyone said I needed to write it down. Obviously me writing it down forced me to refine and polish it and the finished product was pretty nice according to all who read it. 

The other night they asked me to tell it again and I thought why not put it on here as well! 

I hope y'all enjoy it! 

(Disclaimer: I don't usually write things very similar to this, it's a pretty different type of story from what I typically compose.)

“There is no stopping now! Besides, why would I want to stop, I’ve worked so hard to get to this place, to become the savior of the world.” 

Neil looked up above him, past the rocky wall of the side of the active volcano, up to the wide open blue sky. Then below him, checking the 75 pound pack on his back and his progress. 

“Hmm, I’d say, in my expert opinion, that I am 83% of the way there.” 

Content with his progress, Neil continued his climb, letting his perfect memory carry him back to a time when he was only 7 years on this suffering earth....

“Mommy, why do people die?” 

“Neil! What makes you ask such a question like that one?”

“Well, mother, I thought if I knew why they died, I could find what would make them live, and then no one would ever die again and I would be the savior of the whole world!” 

“What a smart child I was and at that young age too!” Neil mentally patted himself on the back, all those years of eating his broccoli without complaint sure made for a strong brain. 

“Yes! A+ I deserved nothing less and I now I know for sure that studying does nothing. I knew 6th grade would be easy. Mom, I’m headed to continue researching my project.” 

“Neil, come back in here. I need your help moving this shelf.”

“Sorry, no time to help. Get someone else. Besides, if I moved it I wouldn’t need your help, I would just do it myself. I guess I am stronger than you.” 

“Yup! I was a strong young man, and still am.” Neil smiled down at his ripped arms that were steadily pulling him and his gear up the volcano. 

“I’ve found it! I know what will save mankind! I know how I can save everyone! Pure water, the purest of pure water in the entire world is what will cure all people. It says here that once this water, in the center of the largest volcano in the world, is found and made accessible to all people, it will cure every illness and injury. All the person has to do it drink one mouthful.”

“Yes, I certainly have done it. I have worked hard for 20 years. I have built my physic, I have researched how to enter an active volcano, I know how to get to the very center, I know where the water is, I know how to set up pipes to get the water to all people, I know everything I need to know to be the savior of the world. Today I will do it.” 

Neil pulled himself up the last 2 feet and peered over the edge, taking in the smell of smoke and the swirling scorching red lava. Swinging his muscular legs over the edge, he made ready, took a deep breath, and hurled himself as far as he could to fall straight into the very center of the volcano. Neil knew that if he fell directly into the center, the hot lava would be penetrated and fall away, a solid rock base would appear, and a key hole would be visible. 

Everything happened exactly as he knew it would. 

Squatting down next to the key hole he examined it carefully. Really that wasn’t necessary though, he knew what it would look like already. The hole would be the exact size and shape as his right pinky finger. He was the savior of the world and only the savior of the world could open the door to get to the pure, perfect water. 

Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes tight shut, Neil inserted his pinky and felt it leave his hand. Ignoring the blood he stood quickly to fall into the water in an upright position. The water engulfed him with a delightfully refreshing feel and washed away the blood from his missing finger. All the rock that had been the firm foundation underneath him, separating him and the world from the pure water, had fallen away and all around he was surrounded by the most beautiful water. The sun was shining down through the opening of the volcano and made everything sparkle. “Just like all the diamonds I will be given when I give the world this water.” 

Neil, feeling very pleased with himself, used swift arm strokes to reach a ledge in the rock off to the side. He threw his pack up onto it, then climbed up himself. He was afraid to look at his right hand, he could feel the moisture increasing rapidly and phantom throbbing pains ensued. 

“Ha! But I already had that part figured into my plan as well. I thought of everything. How could the savior and hero of the world not? As soon as I take one sip of this perfect water, my finger will be restored and I will be whole and completely perfect as I was a few minutes before.” Neil smiled at his reflection in the water. He had always thought of himself as good-looking. 

The pain in his hand brought him back to the reason he needed this water himself. Leaning over, Neil cupped his hand and brought it to his lips. He expected the water to be cool, sweet, and refreshing, this was, after all, the most pure, perfect water on earth. But is was not. 

The liquid burned his lips, it scorched his teeth, rushing down his throat it gave him internal knife like pains, finally it hit his stomach and felt like an explosion inside of him. Neil let out a scream and crumpled dead on the rock. 

The perfect, purest of pure water had killed him, because being an imperfect man, he could not drink perfect water and live. 

To Maui, Group 1

To start things off...*drums roll*...here is a family photo from Sunday! *Trumpets sound* *Cymbols clash* *All the readers begin to do something...but I'm not coming up with anything clever because it is late and it's been a long day and so this is all about to be crossed out.*

The family photo you probably already forgot about. 

Monday morning, I knew I would need serious motivation to actually get out of bed at 6:00 am, so Chloe, Christian, and I went with Christian's friend, who lives down the street, to run at the school track. 

Early? I think, yes. But SO worth it to see this!

I burned up my knees not literally in the first 15 minutes of actual running, so we ended up doing more of a power-walk-while-we-talk type thing. 

Mom's main focus for that day was to get completely packed for the trip. 

I did school and a ton of other stuff. As did Chloe and Christian, I'm pretty sure. 

That night I got to go babysit for the small group one last time before the trip. There were 4 babies there I got to love on, and then 7 kids. I enjoyed as many sweet snuggles as I could. 

Tuesday was like the day where every single possible thing that could ever get put on the schedule during a week got dumped "fully booked." 

The roofers started. 

The trim guys came.

Dad had work.

Christian and Ava had orthodontist appointments.

I had coffee with a friend.

Mom and I had haircuts.

Mom and Dad had a dentist meeting.

AND we had small group at our house.

AND it was the day before Mom and the littles flight to Maui.

The work of the trim guys.

This is why we like to call Maui our "second home."

So Mom and the littles were suppose to fly out at 2:00 pm Wednesday afternoon. 

At 4:00 am Dad walked into my room. 

The flight had been canceled a looooooooong time ago, but we never got contacted. Mom and Dad found that out about 10:45 pm Tuesday night, and were on the phone until 1:00 am figuring out what flight they were now on. That flight was to leave at 7:00 am, so Mom never got to sleep, and Dad got about 45 minutes in. 

We all got up to say good-bye at o-dark:30 and then went back to bed. 

When they arrived at the airport, they found out they had been put on a flight that would leave them stranded in Phoenix. They were moved again to a 9:00 am flight that would take them all the way to Honolulu and then they would do an "island hop" (aka, take a small plane over to Maui). 

Everyone else slept in some and I got up at 6:30 am to go to an new nanny job. 

The clouds were AMAZING!! 

(Those are all our cars, should you be wondering.) 

Okay, so he was up to say goodbye. 

When I got home, I caught up with Dad and then a few minutes later Kate arrived for a couple hours. Hands down, leaving her is one of the worst things about going to Maui. If I could take her with me, I probably would. No joke. 

As soon as she left, and I finished sobbing Christian, Chloe, and I ran- er - drove to Target and then picked up Chick-fil-a to take home. After I drove us to the completely wrong side of town. Okay, not like there were a bunch of creepy people and stuff, but just not the side of town where we were needing to get stuff from, we were able to run our errands and go home. Someone with the initials "Christian" managed to only spill one entire cup of root beer in the car. And we got to practice all our lines. 

At home we watched "Iron Man 2" while eating dinner. And Dad exercised. 

Mom and the littles arrived safely in Maui, with everything except their checked bags... But by the time they got dinner and settled into the condo, the bags had been retrieved and delivered. 

Thursday, we woke up to the sound of people on our roof stomping and shooting guns, which would have been creepy except for the fact that they were replacing our damaged roof. 

My main focus was packing to leave in the morning.

Dad had a meeting.

Chloe and Christian did school.

At 2:30 pm we left to meet Dad at Speech and Debate.

During Speech time we broke up and where lectured to about specific speeches we are interested in doing.

Then Chloe and I were able to get some personalized help from a coach for a duo we have been working on.

I left to come home and finish things up while the others got to watch a debate.

Mom and the littles were able to sleep until 7:00 am Maui time despite the 5 hour time difference. They got breakfast at Island Vintage Coffee and then went to the beach. Dinner was in Lahaina after resting in the afternoon.

The Herd: Quoted

"Chloe was pointing out that people might want to eat today..." -Mom

"You've got me trapped!" -Mia playing checkers with Chloe.
"Oh, yeah, I do, don't I?" -Chloe
"Hey, you wanna deal with these?" -Mia holding up her fists.

"Do you need ice cream?" -Dad
"Yes, the answer is always, yes." -Me

"I'm running a cold." -Mia

"I got a hair cut, can you tell?" -Me

"I'm going to quote you, Mia." -Me
"Oh great." -Mia

"Maybe I'm sick because it has been so long since my body has been in salt water." -Mia

"I am trying to get to the bathroom without tripping in this pitch-black hallway!" -Gabe

"Here, take a picture with me." -Me
"Hold on, I have to fix my hair!" -Christian

"Yikes! We have to leave in 20 minutes!" -Me
"Ah, I have to go do the dogs and fix my hair!" -Christian
"Oh! The chickens need to be done and I have to get ready to go!" -Chloe
"I still need to put makeup on and curl my hair!" -Me
"Somebody put the food away too!" -Chloe
*And we all scatter*

"Coming home." -Dad via text.
"Okay, I'll stop singing at the top of my lungs now." -Me

Watched Pots

Monday was a little different, as I had Kate that day instead of Tuesday. She arrived sleepy again so we both got a nap from 6:15-7:00. *pumps fist*

Other than that, it was a full day caring for her, doing school work, laundry, a few projects, blogging, etc. Everyone else was home too.

Dad had a meeting at our house, it started with a tour of our home and our family's life story as told by Mia.

Then I had babysitting for small group that night. This time, there were 10 kids between the ages of 2 and 5, plus 5 infants. Thankfully I had parental help. I admit it though, it did wear me out.

When I got home at 8:30 pm, everyone was still up running around the house doing stuff. (Usually everyone is at least in their room resting before bed.) Chloe decided to bake a bunch of stuff just because, Mom and Dad had been putting together furniture, and everyone else was playing! I headed to bed as soon as I could. So two hours later.

Tuesday, I went to my nanny job because I did not have Kate. 

Then I went to Denton to by jeans and a dress for pictures in Hawaii. For once in my life, I planned extra time and finished sooner than I excepted to. That was nice! Mom is the best one about accurate, realistic planning. Dad and I on the other hand always think we will be able to accomplish way more in the time we have than we actually ever can. 

That night we had small group at our home. During the sharing time (while the kids played outside) all the couples went around and shared praises, prayer requests, and things they do to keep their marriage healthy. The ones I remember were reading marriage books together each year, going to a marriage conference every year or two, having open communication, always having in mind the best interests of the other person, and that if you are having an argument or disagreement you might be pregnant. 

Wednesday afternoon after work, Chloe and I worked on writing the rough draft of our Speech Duo Interpretation. That was pretty fun! When the two of us get something going there are so many ways it could turn and with our opposite personalities... *Smiles* 

(Editorial note: We found out later that we can't actually write our entire duo from scratch, it has to come from a book.)

I babysat again that night while the others had dinner and a game night. Out of my whole summer, this week I have had the most things going on. BUT I have been making it a point to get enough sleep, and that's been going well! 

Another book recommendation- I've been reading "Christy" the past *ducks* two months *smiles sheepishly* (it took awhile...) and it was very good! A couple years ago Mom, Chloe, and I watched the tv series that was made based on the book as a special "big girl" activity in the evenings. Ever since then, I've wanted to read the book, and I'm really glad I did. I loved how it was all definitely a story, but the author wove in things to get the reader thinking, and conversations that would explain different issues or show things from a different angle. She had very strong characters, and so many different processes of growing, learning, and redemption. 

The Herd: Quoted 

“I’m just waiting for the water to boil.” -Chloe

“You know, a watched pot never boils.” -Mom

“I know, that’s why I’m not looking at it." -Chloe 

"I feel like baking cookies, that ok?" -Chloe  

"Are you okay? I thought I heard groaning." -Dad to Chloe while she was doing school.  

"I wish I could go and see what you would do..." -Chloe 

"You could turn into a fly on the wall and watch me, but I would probably smack you because I don't like flies." -Me

"Well thanks I see how it is!" -Chloe

"That sounded a lot badder than I meant it to." -Me

"Yeah, I've got guns, see those are 22's!" -Christian flexing. 

"No, you have water guns." -Chloe 

Because I'm a Blonde

Saturday morning looked something like this for Mia, Dad, Gabe, Chloe, and Christian. 

They worked on repainting our breakfast area the same soft grey that is in our schoolroom. The most time-consuming part of that project was taping around all those amazing windows. 

Mom and Ava went out for breakfast with some friends and then did some shopping. I actually didn't notice Ava was gone for a long time. She is so quiet! 

My Saturday morning looked something like this... 

And it was wonderful. 

I also finished this book. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it in a post a long time ago. Because I have been reading this for several months...I read slowly. But I still HIGHLY recommend it! I would read this again and again just for myself because it was SO good. He outlines everything with basic stories and examples. So many things I simply had not thought of in the way he lays it out. (And for most people it probably wouldn't take as long to read as it did me.) 

When we go to Hawaii we always make it a point to get family pictures taken. Usually we all wear white and khaki clothing. That afternoon we worked on pulling everyone's outfits together. 

In the car on the way to church Mia wanted to have "girl time" with me. She read me the story she is writing and we took serious pictures. 

Sort of. 

Sunday we ate a quick breakfast and, as fast as we were ready, left to swim at Gramma's. So an hour later... We only have a few more weekends to do this! Mom stayed home and did a few things in between doing a lot of nothing.

Because of the cold-snap we had earlier in the week the water was actually pretty cool. If it had been the beginning of Summer we totally would have turned on the heater. But it was plenty hot outside to make it feel really nice. 

We did a lot of nothing for awhile, then after lunch played games, jumped off the diving board all different ways, and did gymnastics in the grass. For the first time we decided to take pictures.

Let me take my hair out of it's braid because I definitely want it to be super tangled. 

Ava doing the Karate-Jump. 

Christian always does the best ones. 

Preparing to do the Karate-Jump. 

Until Dad does something cooler.

Ava can touch her toes! Almost!

So close... 

What do you know, water!

As I gracefully step down.

I can fly, I can fly, I can fly.

So can I.

Dad and Ava also did cartwheels with us. But I don't have pictures. 

Christian and I doing handstands. 

I have never been able to do one in my life.

When Ava takes a picture.

Sisters.

At home we showered and Dad and Chloe worked on dinner-

french toast, skillet vegetables, and sausage. 

When she doesn't have a book.

Even though Chloe and I aren't in the same room any more, we still manage to talk a lot at night. 

The Herd: Quoted 

"I can do a jack-knife, I do that every time!" -Christian

"I have never seen you do a jack-knife." -Dad 

"Do a cartwheel." -Dad telling me what to do off the diving board.

"Somehow that doesn't seem like a good idea." -Me

*I do it*

"Yeah, that hurt." -Me 

"Writing helps me process my day and is very important to me. I really like this couch in here!" -Me  

*Chloe laughs*

"What?" -Me 

"That was so random!" -Chloe 

"I'm really glad God put you in this family because I don't know what we would do without a blonde person to laugh at." -Chloe 

Heritage Family Church

The long-promised post!

First, our church journey. When my parents first got married, up until I was about 6 years old, we attended a church that I don't remember the name of. Our family then went through something very painful and though it had nothing to do with a problem with the church or the people in it, Mom and Dad felt like they needed to go somewhere else to help them move on some and heal. (We also moved houses.)

We attended Heritage Family Church for 2 or 3 years after that, but did not fully plug-in. We knew a lot of people there (it was much larger at that time), but we weren't all-in, so to speak, yet.

In conjunction with a house move again, we began visiting and then joined Bear Creek Bible Church until I was about 11, I believe. That was a very good thing. We met a lot of sweet people and that's where I first connected with one of my best friends. For a while we were a part of a small group, etc. In the midst of our time there we moved out to where we live now and that meant our drive to church became very long, especially for an 8:00 am service.

Trying to plug in somewhere closer to home we went to First Baptist Church of Justin. Again we plugged into small groups and Sunday School. I attended youth for a couple years there and we were blessed to meet many good friends, our most precious one being "Aunt" Cendei. Eventually somethings began shifting at that church and we became uncomfortable with a few ideas. It was a difficult decision, but the Lord was very clear with my parents that we needed to leave.

Our first visit to another church was to Heritage Family and we knew that was where we were to be. It was wonderful to see some of the people we had known there before and meet new members. We have been back there for 2 1/2 years now and definitely feel like we are where God wants us.

Earlier this year our senior pastor stepped down to focus on his family and whatever else God would call him to. Since then the elders of our Elder-led church have been focusing in on our mission as a church body and our core values.

The mission of Heritage Family Church is to strengthen, encourage, and equip individuals and families to embrace the Great Commission and the Great Commandment for the glory of God and the benefit of the nations!

Core Values-

1. Expository Gospel Preaching
2. Vital Prayer and Worship
3. Participation in Evangelism
4. Whole Family Integration
5. Church Members Fellowshipping And Caring For Each Other

If you'd like to read the break-down of each of these values or anything else about our church you can go here- Heritage Family Church

Heritage Family Church is a family integrated church. That means that we don't separate children and parents, young and old, etc. We don't have a nursery, or Sunday school, or youth group. This is because we want everyone to learn and grow together. Our pastor's motto was "Better the cry of a baby then the snore of a saint." Babies do cry sometimes during the service and it is not a problem! In fact, most of us don't even notice anymore. If they become too loud, absolutely a parent will take them to the back, but babies and children are not a burden or annoyance to anyone. Please don't think this means the children in our church are perfect and can sit still and quiet. They can't! But they are learning and do well because they have the adults and older children as examples.

We have a couple of small groups (one of which is at our house) and the entire family comes. Chloe and I help with the kids and we all do life together.

Although there is no youth group, one of our elders opens his home once a month to young "adults" (13 ish to 25 ish) and parents. Really, though, it is open to anyone. The meeting is called "World Changers" because each of us will change the world in some way and our mission is to change it for Christ. He shares from his heart whatever God has led him to tell us, we pray for each other, encourage each other, fellowship, and often end it by singing together.

And Now We Hobble

It was wonderful (note the sarcasm) to rise and shine at 5:30 am Tuesday morning knowing the rest of my family had turned off their alarms. (On the one hand I wished I could sleep in too, on the other, I really enjoyed the quiet house all to myself.) 

Kate arrived about 6:15 am as usual. I can hardly believe I've been caring for her for *counts on fingers* *recounts because I was wrong the first time* 6 months! I have loved every day with her and I'm always sad when she leaves (the rest of the day my arms feel empty). Now that she is sitting up and starting to scoot around it's so different. I have to watch her closer, but I also have the option of setting her down to do stuff (like get my food). Regardless, both she and I prefer the times I just hold her. (So all the time.) 

She was a little off on her schedule this time- not eating all that well (no gagging this time though) and she went on a nap-strike. (Once I realized that I gave up on my nap.) Baby tip- if a little one is flapping their arms while looking up at you they want you to pick them up. In my experience, this is a universal sign. It is very likely that at some point in your life it will be helpful to know that. 

Ava and Mia were a big help that day (not that they usually aren't..). 

Christian got his bottom braces on that afternoon and Grandfather was very considerate to take him out for a big burger-lunch before that appointment. Because he hasn't been able to eat since then.

Tuesday night I got inspired at 9:00 pm to start an art journal. Getting started is, believe it or not, the hardest part for me. I'm creative to a certain extent, yes, but having no rules or patterns or anything like that really throws me off. So I just went for it. 

That little book is very intimidating.

An empty page. *Internally screams*

Okay, that didn't turn out too bad...

I actually really like the cover!

Ava was watching me cut out this triangle piece for a pocket and I cut it backwards. 

Brilliant girl suggested I just put it on the back inside cover instead of the front.

I seriously would have never thought of that. 

Gabe and Mom have been having a fabulous time. 

Wednesday I was able to get the day off work so I could finally go to Hurricane Harbor with my family. The goal was to leave at 9:00 am. 

Let's take a silly picture. 

It was hot and crowded most of the day, but we still had a nice time. I kept seeing little girls that looked like Mia from the back! That'll throw you off quick. 

We got our towels and shoes and things set at a table and went to do a slide. My first scream of the day was because water fell right in front of me from a slide above us. From then on everyone wanted to go on rides with me purely so they could see my face. 

We did all manner of slides, water rides, the lazy river, and the wave pool throughout our time. For the biggest stuff the lines were really long, but we did go on a couple of those. Despite the fact that taking risks, being adventurous, etc, is totally out of character for most of us. 

There was one tube slide that you ride down on a mat and 6 people can go at a time (there are 6 tubes) and race down. We all lined up to go. Dad had to put Mia on her mat and push her then jump on his and go down. Meanwhile the rest of us were all long gone. So the four of the rest of us made it to the bottom and were like "Uh, where are Mia and Dad?" Dad then came flying down and still no Mia. Finally she appeared. She had gotten STUCK in the tube! In her words- 

Well the raft stopped moving and I was going around a corner and thats how it stopped and then the water started to run over my shoulders so I started pushing off the side with my hands. I felt like I had been brave. I said, "That was hard, that was hard, I couldn't have done that if I wasn't as smart as I am." 

Probably the worst part was that the concert concrete was scorching hot. Like lets-walk-on-the-surface-of-a-stove-set-on-super-max-heat-because-we-want-the-pot-of-water-to-boil-in-3-seconds hot. 

Before we left we were able to get Snow Cones with our food passes (we used them to get lunch as well). 

Despite the fact that we'd all basically consumed sugar water, in the car on the way home we all started falling asleep. 

That night in bed some of us heard a couple of gun-shots. Grandfather nailed an armadillo again! Message to all animals digging in our yards: would you pretty please cut it out! 

Thursday morning I woke up and deduced from the fact that the bottoms of my feet were badly burned I probably should hobble around the rest of the day. Also I think my throat was slightly hoarse due to all the screaming I did at Hurricane Harbor. 

After work I had another adventure filling my car with gas it was completely empty because I got sort of lost on Monday, etc, etc, then got to go home and watch Kate again! We had a dance party with her and she took a nap before she left. *Tears* 

Friday Mia and Ava went to work with me because Chloe left for her birthday weekend with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Phil and Dad had a meeting. They were a HUGE help with the kids! 

By the time we got home, though, at least I was wiped out. We all three kind of just crashed on my bed and did nothing until Dad got back. Then we all left to stop real quick by the library and met Aunt Cendei for dinner at Babe's. 

Mom and Gabe's flight home from DC got in late (11:00 pm). And we of course wanted to stay up to see them. 

Christian and I watched a chick flick ("Bride Wars") and I think he may have enjoyed it more than I did! Ava and Mia watched "Happy Feet" and it totally freaked Mia out! This is a kids cartoon and she couldn't handle the fact that the people were called "aliens" by the penguins who didn't know what people were. This girl has NO problem whatsoever with adult movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Phantom of the Opera," and "Les Miserables." And she understands them (sometimes better than I do). She definitely makes us laugh. 

For the second movie, Mia fell asleep on the couch. 

When they pulled into the garage Mom looked at all the fabulous organization that had appeared while she was away and said, "Hey! You took my project for November!" She was very pleased. We have a two car garage but this week was the first time we ever got two cars in there. 

The Herd: Quoted

"How many times did I scream on that ride?" -Me

"You were screaming the entire time." -Christian

"We heard you screaming all the way over there." -Chloe to me.

"I just love Kate so much!" -Mia 

"That got fast really hard." -Christian doing "Just Dance"

"You mean hard fast?" -Me 

"'Cute' means you are small but still look nice." -Mia 

"If you didn't check out our blog you need to, you'll laugh your head off." -Mia 

"You did that like a champ!" -Dad

"Yup, you taught me well!" -Mia 

"Don't say 'green' you can't say it because it's making me think about "Darby O'Gill and the Little People." -Mia 

"It smells like chocolate and coconut mustard." -Mia

"I'm too tired to watch that tonight..." -Me 

"I made up some words today." -Me

"What were they?" -Christian

"I can't remember." -Me

"Way to go Miriam Webster." -Dad

"Oh I know what I was trying to say when I said 'unclimaxical'! Anticlimactic!" -Me 

"What? Come on! They are bringing in another guy with long blonde hair. Can't they just skip that and get married! Oh that was the Beast." -Mia reading Beauty and the Beast. She can't handle all these kid plots.