Senior Trip 2020 Coronacation Style 1

Day 1...Sunday services online

                                                                    Puppy cuddles

                                                                     Dairy Twist run

The Senior Year...interrupted...2020

With life put on hold, we have lost track of time!  Here we are looking at the upcoming month of May...which means graduation for our girl!  Even though the daily-ness of life has changed drastically...Alisa is still moving forward!  I am encouraged and challenged by her perspective through and in the corona virus scare.  She has accepted this time in her life as God appointed.  She is tired of people telling her how sorry they are that her senior year hasn't been filled with the normal things.  "I don't want people thinking that I am moping around depressed by how things have gone!  I am totally ok with it all!  I like being home.  I am working on all my school work and finishing my two college courses.  I am ready to be done with high school and move on to new things!"

GRATEFULNESS     JOY    PEACE   PERSPECTIVE

When you have a selfish view of life...changes cripple you.  

Alisa has been a testimony of God's grace in her life.  I did not say it has been perfect.  She has had to deal with some difficult things.  She has felt the hurt and yet still gives.  She has been disappointed so many times.  She faithfully keeps on giving and helping.  I have been convicted watching her.  

I have been scrolling back through hundreds of pictures the last two days.  Oh how fast the years have gone by for our family!  I am so very glad that I am a picture taker...even when I am made fun of by my loves.  They appreciate the look back too!  

One thing that has jumped off each picture...Alisa's smile!  

Every picture I looked at...she is smiling...usually grinning from ear to ear...unprovoked.  Her smile makes her eyes sparkle.  Her laugh is infectious.  Her giggle ever ready. 

When God takes you through trials and tests in your life, you are a changed person!  

When you submit to His working...even though it is not easy...you can find peace and joy. 

Ten years ago...God took Alisa through a scary storm.  She learned that God loved her and cared for her.  Each year, we look back and remember what God has done.  March and April of 2010 shaped Alisa's life and touched our whole family.  We know the peace that God gives in the storms of life!  So this whole corona virus scare has not bothered us.  We do what we need to do and we trust God.

We know God is always at work in the big things and the small things.

Alisa is at peace with how her senior year is ending!

She is looking forward to going to Crown College to pursue an education degree in order to move into the certification process for being a Child Life Specialist.  She has plans to follow through on what God put on her heart back in 2010.  We are thrilled to watch her take steps of faith to see what God will do with her life.  He has a special plan for her...for all of us.

We are celebrating this week of the "cancelled senior trip" with all sorts of special fun...and everyone is willingly participating and planning.

MI moments during lockdown 2020

 My girls bought me a treat...a fun coffee cup!

 And a treat to go with the treat!

We still do not appreciate our governor.  She has showed her true colors throughout this lockdown...destroying our state.  I am greatly concerned at the lack of outrage as she furthers the agenda that supports murder.  Why are more people not speaking up?  Fear!  Fear has crippled our nation for the last month and the agenda pushers have been quietly hard at work behind the scenes.  Satan is having a "hay day"!

 Puppy patrol...taking a break and looking all cute in her shagginess.

 Can you guess who gives little yummy morsels to these furry friends?

Baking addiction #93,786...apple pie.

April 22, 2020

As a family, we are going through a class about the Constitution of the United States.  As I put our flag out this morning, my heart is filled with gratefulness for the wisdom and planning of men who knew we needed an organized country with limits for our leaders.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Lockdown likes

Freshly washed laundry...

folded up nicely to be put away...all except the fitted sheet...wadded up...because truthfully...who knows to fold it correctly!  And does it really even matter?

Home-cooked, from scratch meals

 Grilled pizza...made to each individual taste.

 12 to 16 hour bread...fresh baked this morning.

 Roasting chickens for dinner today and leftovers to make other meals this week.

Yummy apple muffins with or without nuts baked by Alisa.  MMMM!

Thankful for the quiet moments!

Finding blessings in the daily activities of life during the coronavirus lockdown of 2020!

 Baking up new found recipes...and finding them delicious!  Smores brownies!

 Call with my little K5 friends...

 Kiddos who are willing to go through the freezer for mom!

 Cuddles with the puppies are never ending!

 A small jar of strawberry freezer jam at the bottom of the freezer...What a treat!

April 15, 2020 A day to not forget!

 We matched today...unplanned...but enjoyed!  I went to school...in the basement...and Ted and Teddy headed to Lansing, Michigan, to support the cry of our state, "We want to go back to work!"  #Operation Gridlock was organized for people to have a voice...or rather...a honk...to let our governor know that we know that there is an over-reach in her executive orders that she double-downed on last week (April 9).  The orders for the residents of Michigan go far beyond anything that involves health...which has been the cry since March 12.  There has been more to the COVID-19 virus story...and it is scary what has happened right under our noses in Michigan.

So many things don't make sense to us...to many.  We read the executive orders and try to understand.

 We have families in our church who own small businesses...and have been affected by these orders.  Our church cannot meet.  Our school and daycare has been closed.  We all have complied...but things changed last week when our governor decided to restrict things that don't affect health...and now there is talk of 70 more days of shutdowns.  How does that even make sense?  How can a state survive this?  How will families be able to handle this?

This display of protest was organized and carried out in a peaceful way.  Ted and Teddy were there...in their vehicle with an American flag...to show support for the Constitutional rights that we have and to appeal to the leader of our state.  We pray for her and the leaders to reconsider and rescind these orders as soon as possible.  It was a blessing to see that protesting can be done in a decent and orderly way.  No car accidents.  No one was hurt.  The goal of causing gridlock happened.  Attention was brought to the problem at hand...and now we all wait to see what will happen.

 There is fear in the hearts of all those who live in Michigan.  Some people chose to ignore that this was going on for one reason or another.  We all have to choose.  But one thing we cannot ignore...our freedom is important...and we cannot ignore how that freedom has been restricted.  The cry has been all about the virus...but watching and listening to recent news (on the left and right) there is more to this virus story!  Christians, we must be aware of our country's Constitution and how it impacts us.  It is not wrong to stand up and be counted in protesting and appealing wrong actions of our leaders.  Today, our children saw a moment in history that will affect life in our state...good or bad.  We are asking God to turn the hearts of our leaders...so that we may live a peaceable life.

 God brought our family through 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.  We look back at our lives and we see what we have learned and remembered how we learned it!  We have a testimony before unsaved people...and they are watching us to see what we will do and how we will do it.  We have experienced the greatest freedom ever offered when Christ died on the cross.  Will we be silent as our American freedoms are chipped away?  Will we ignore the loss of our friends and neighbors?  Will we support those continue to work and live as lights in our state?  So many are so focused on the virus part of the story...they are missing the bigger picture.  It makes me sad.  It has been a huge opportunity to teach our children...who will live through this again...sometime.  Freedom isn't free!  We need to go back to the history books and learn about what it looks like to be free!  Freedom is being able to go and get ice cream with your girls...and talk freely about life.  Freedom isn't something we should take for granted!  As a child of God...I am free from sin.  As an American...I am free to share that truth...and I don't want to forget the rights that allow me to that!

This...is why our whole state is shut down...

I am struggling to find sense in all of this.  We have been surrounded by sickness and germs for a very long time...we are in a panic because people don't take care of basic hygiene...really!?!  I work with the nasty every day in the classroom!  I still miss my germy little friends.  I'm frustrated by the ups and downs of emotions and thoughts that crowd into our days.  I'm ready to be able to move about freely.  I'm greatly annoyed by what our governor has done.  I am baffled by the thoughts and actions of Christians.  I don't understand how families and businesses will recover from this.  I'm fearful of what has happened to our rights as American citizens.  I've admitted that I am just done with this whole situation...yet have no power or voice to make any difference.  People who are supposed to be leading...are cowering in fear.  Every day I understand more and more of what I read in the book of Proverbs about wisdom and foolishness.  I know that God is still in control.  I know He knows where I am and what I am thinking...and how often I have to keep surrendering it all to Him.  I'm tired of the hold satan has on this world and how it affects those I love.  I'm tired of it...and what it has done to our state and country.  We have lost our minds over basic things...and our state has been shut down.  I am thankful that God can work in the impossible situations of our life...and after these four...five weeks...I am asking that He will break through all of this that we might see and remember He is always in control...even when we struggle!

Easter 2020