Another portion of my life...BOOKS!

Over the years, I have had quite a few things as foci in my life.
I have 6 children who call me mom.
I have an amazing husband.
I have been a pastor's wife.
I have been a Navy wife.
I have focussed on childbirth, child rearing, child abuse, child growth and development, nursing advocacy, immunization education, homeschooling, missions, and church ministries.
I have worked in retail, construction, medical transcription, and medical supplies.
I have volunteered as a ministry leader with women, with children, with military families.
I have a degree in Bible, and a degree in Counseling.

If you come into my house, you will see books EVERYWHERE.

Kids' books. And globe. 

Overflowing bookshelves.
With a LARGE variety of books.
Fiction.
Non-fiction.
Kids' books.
Counseling books.
Theology books (Jason has two degrees in theology).

Yes, that is a dog leash on the top...

Books by Jason's favorite author (Chuck Swindoll!)
Books I PLAN to read.
Books I already read.
Books I have kept for reference.
Books I want to pass on to my children.
Books I keep for others to read.

This shelf includes women's
devotionals, birth, vaccine,
women's health, children's
health, yearbooks, theology,
hymnals, a few counseling
books, some self-help...

Books are a weakness of mine.
Books are what I buy when Jason is deployed.
(Well, I also buy itty-bitty dogs...)
I have a love-affair with books.
(BTW, this is less than half of the books in my house!)










Getting rid of books is painful.  They are friends.  Companions.  Co-workers.  Frankly, I struggle with feeling more attached to some of my books than I do to people I have had in my life for years.  So, as we start getting ready for another move (Thank you, US Navy!), I find myself going through the painful process of pruning books from my library.

Maybe (hopefully!!) someday I will have a room devoted to being my library.  Meanwhile, I am trying to rehome as many of my much-loved books as I can bear to part with....

Things I miss about Blogging

I have done a terrible job over the past few years of keeping my blog up-to-date.  Being a full-time student, mom, military wife, pastor's wife, and working part-time have all played a part in my lapse.  In addition, writing for ME and for others to read has not been as high of a priority as writing for grades in school has been much more pressing.  

I miss writing.  

I miss seeing words on paper.

I miss creative expression of my thoughts.  

I miss interacting with others over the thoughts coming out of my head.  

I miss the processing that happens as the words trip over themselves to make their way onto the page.  

I miss being able to go back and read what was going on in my head during those times when the words force their way out.  

So, I am trying to release the dammed-up words.  

I am attempting to get back into the habit of weekly and perhaps sometimes daily interactions here.  

I look forward to the way letting the words out helps to shape more words as they make their way out of my head.  

I FINISHED!!!

I am SO VERY HAPPY to have finished with my Master's Degree!  Now on to other things...like finding a job, and getting licensed, and paying bills, and cleaning my house.

Another Milestone

My life has for many years revolved around my children's milestones.  

Birth.

Rolling over.

Crawling.

Walking. 

Running.

Teething.

Teeth coming out. 

Learning to read.

Learning about friends.

First boyfriend/girlfriend.

First breakup.

Graduation.

College.  

Exhaustion. For me.  

Now Jason and I are hitting some milestones of our own.  

Coming up in May I graduate with a Masters in Counseling...and maybe at that point I can get back to having a life outside of the textbooks.  Hopefully.  

Because I'm exhausted.  And life doesn't slow down so I can sleep....

Hoping for a nap soon....

 

He's still workin' on me...

...to make me what I ought to be.

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,

the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and patient He must be!

He's still workin' on me.



There really ought to be a sign upon my heart, "don't judge me yet, there's an unfinished part."

But I'll be perfect just according to His plan, fashioned by the Master's loving hand!





In the mirror of His Word reflections that I see
Make me wonder why He never gave up on me.
He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He's the Potter, I'm the clay.

By Joel Hemphill

This little song that many of us remember from childhood really expresses where I am today.  At forty-something, I am STILL a work-in-progress.  I still have my issues, my foibles, my broken parts, hurts old and new...and God IS still working on me.  For this I am grateful.
.

Movie Night

Tonight was movie night in the Paxton home.  EVERY Friday night is movie night.  Lately, we have been on an old-movie-kick, and this week was no exception.  We had the chance to introduce a friend to the classic (30 years old is Classic?!?) War Games.  We got to listen to our children critique the 1980s version of computers (seriously, my iPhone has more computing power than that whole room....), and eat yummy pizza from Papa Murphy's.  And now the kids are headed to bed, and we are sitting up watching The Legend of Zorro, and waiting for Jon to get home from the Friday night football game.

G'night, all!

A L-O-O-O-N-G time has passed....

When life gets busy, some things fall by the wayside.  And life sure has been busy around here.

Jason graduated with his MDiv...for which we are very VERY happy.  Still waiting to hear back from the framer that they have finished with it, so we can get it up on the wall.  Now he is working on his Chaplaincy package.  Who knew this thing was so complicated?  Definitely NOT this girl.

Meanwhile, Frances is back in school...a Sophomore in college, no less.
Jon is a Junior in high school, and involved in drama and marching band.


Heather is a Sophomore in high school, and doing color guard this year, as well as working with the wrestling team.
Justin is in 8th grade, and trying out for everything he can think of trying...doing band, tried out for robotics, and trying out for baseball.

Leah is in 6th grade, and adjusting well to a new school...and has joined a book club, the Opera club, the flag twirlers (color guard), and is singing in chorus.



Katherine is in 4th grade, and is doing well.  She is a student counsel representative again this year, and is excited to get to spend time with her friends again.

And I'm still a full-time student.  I am trying to finish up, but it just seems to drag on and on, and I am READY to be finished.  I am doing my internship, and have 4 classes to be finished.  I can't wait...

In the midst of it all, God has always been faithful, holding us together, and keeping us all on short leashes.  Today, I am grateful that He does that!