She Did It Again

Christmas Day

It is a California Christmas today as the weather is 61 degrees and sunny. It makes for a different feel for Christmas compared to Ohio weather.  But we are soaking in the sun and enjoying our blessings.  We have learned to be flexible....I would say that is the lesson for this season.  Christmas Eve day was supposed to be full of an afternoon at the movies with the girls, dinner out and an evening church service in their pretty dresses.  But because of our illnesses we stayed home all day.  So we had two choices....be upset with our circumstances or enjoy what we have.  Thankfully the whole family chose the latter.  I saw a quote on Facebook today that made me think more about this:

"He who has Christ and everything has no more than he who has Christ alone." ~C.S. Lewis

We have Christ in our family and that is what is important.  As the days went on while everyone was sick, I was so grateful to have the ability to pray.  I prayed and I prayed hard.  I felt comfort.  I have never seen Dan so sick and it was so hard for me.  But I had that bit of confidence that I needed in the Lord to get me through that time.  Caring for my sick kids took a lot out of me, but I had that extra energy that came from the Lord.  Life without Him would be so dull and so hopeless.  In spite of an icky situation our family came out bonded and more in love with each other.  I was so grateful to finally get a squishy hug from Dan today that I have wanted for days.  We avoided each other to keep me from getting sick.  But hugging him today and the kids was a wonderful christmas present.

Finding A Church

I don't think I have shared the story of how we found the church that we attend in Porterville.  It is a fun story!  When we first moved here in June, we attended a very large church, but decided we wanted to look around some more.  Dan looked on the internet and found a church called Calvary Baptist.  We drove by it and by the looks of the church structure we could tell it was very small.  Coming from a large church back home, we were actually intimidated by attending a small church.  So we drove by it a couple more times, contemplated going inside one Sunday and backed out. Finally, on Father's Day, we got brave and went inside the church for a Sunday service. The people were wonderful to us.  Unfortunately, the pastor was not there that Sunday. Guess where he was?  Back with his parents throwing them an anniversary party.....in HAYESVILLE, OHIO of all places.  We couldn't believe he was in Ohio while we were in California....and so close to our home.  We did return the next Sunday and have gone there ever since.  It is a good, bible preaching church and we have enjoyed the fellowship so much.  The picture below is of the pastor holding Chloe..she loves him.  And the picture below that is of Mya and Sara's Sunday school class with their teacher Miss Shirley...who they have decided to call Miss Charley instead.  She loves it!

Christmas Eve

We were blessed with getting the stomach virus the week of Christmas. Sara started with it on Tuesday and we thought we were home free with only her getting sick.  But on Friday afternoon, Mya started complaining of a stomach ache.  I knew when she turned down eating a christmas cookie at lunch that something was wrong.  On our way to pick up Dan from work she threw up all over the car.  We had to turn around, go back home quickly and call Dan to tell him to get a ride home from work.  It was not a fun time trying to get the car cleaned with three kids....one of who desperately needed a shower.  But we managed and were very glad to see Dan come home.  We took care of Mya through the evening and things were going well at bedtime.  We put the kids to bed and settled in to watch a movie.  But Dan started talking about having a stomach ache.  About two hours later he got sick.  I felt so helpless and awful for the family.  Needless to say, it was a very long night.  As of Christmas Eve, Chloe and I have managed to bypass the illness.  I continue to pray for health so I can take care of the family.  Hopefully Christmas Day will be fun filled and we will all get to eat whatever we want. 
Aside from the illnesses, we did have a fun evening watching Home Alone and letting the girls open up one gift....their christmas pajamas. Tomorrow I will post more pictures from Christmas morning with all the wonderful presents the kids have from family members back home.

Christmas Cantata

We had the cantata last night at church and it went well!  Joseph/Dan did great!  He said he didn't get very nervous, he read his lines well and we pray that some hearts in the crowd were touched by the words of the readers as the story unfolded through the evening.  The story of Mary and Joseph is so beautiful and it is always powerful to hear it.  Of course the choir sounded great too.....especially the alto section (ha ha). We pray that some lives were changed last night with the ministry that was provided and Dan and I were honored to be a part of it. 

Ha ha ha

I just have to share that my girls found tampons and are playing with them. I just heard Mya tell Sara, with an excited voice, that it (the tampon) is her flashlight. Sara is using them for money at her pretend store. Love it!

Idols

"Those who regard vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness, (Jonah 2:8 NASB)

Random thought before I get to the deep stuff. I was running today and someone I knew honked at me. Such a strange thing! I have been running in the mornings since we moved here but when you are in a new place you get used to doing these things without having someone recognize you. Like going to the grocery store, I have gotten used to NOT seeing anyone I know. So when I knew the person that honked at me today it felt different. Okay, end of random thought.

Now about the bible verse above. How convicting is it to know that when we put our hope or sole focus on an idol we lose our faithfulness. This is a lesson that is being impressed on both of our hearts. When we first ventured out here last June, we were driven by being debt free. That was our sole purpose for traveling. I would say that we made being debt free an idol. We talked about it a lot, it was the focus of our conversation sometimes....too much of the focus. We have since learned that making that an idol is not good. That might be what drove us to do this experience but it is not all why we are here. It is a perk, yes, but we have to be certain that we are not serving the money but we are fully serving the Lord. That means that when we feel discernment to give money away rather than pay on our mortgage, we best be doing that. Wherever God leads we better be paying attention. And then becoming debt free can be an added bonus. I have found that other idols try to creep in too like the this drive to eat healthy. It is all important and good but I need to make sure that it is God driven. I find myself feeling proud because my kids only drink water or eat my healthy snacks. Bt what is important is teaching my kids why they need to eat healthy and guiding them on making good choices. It is not about their behavior changes, it is about their hearts. When we allow idols to creep in....and that is exactly how they do it....we lose our focus and have difficulty discerning the spirit. And we miss out on so many things. Aside from eliminating debt, God has so many other plans for us with traveling.

At MOPS this week we were challenged to think about contentment and blessings as the holidays are approaching. We were given a notebook to write down at least 100 blessings that we have in our life. When I got the notebook, I was so excited because I knew exactly what to do with it. Dan and I are not getting each other Christmas gifts this year, but I am making a home made one for him. In the notebook I am filling each page with 100 reasons why I respect him. Talk about taking your focus off of idols or anything negative. This has been a process to fill the notebook but I am being taught to focus on all the blessings and treasures that I find in our relationship. You become thankful instead of focused on idols or worldly things. I challenge any of you to do something similar, at least the 100 things you are thankful for. It is a very neat process for the soul.

Health

Well, we finished week 1 of eliminating some ingredients from our diet. Wow! We already notice a difference on some things. The biggest difference has been our hunger. We are just not as hungry anymore....especially at night. Our night snacking came to a halt. Taking out high fructose corn syrup, which supposedly makes you more hungry, was the trick. We saved on our grocery bill this week. I did not come home with any processed snack foods like Graham crackers, Teddy Grahams, chips or fruity snacks. None of it and not one complaint from the family. I make our granola bars and I make breakfast for the family. If I don't have time to make breakfast then we will have plain Cheerios or oatmeal. Those are actually fun because I let them choose what can go in it like a bit of honey, dried fruit, or some brown sugar. These are real good changes for us. Now the next hurdle is switching to whole wheat everything. I like my white flour, bagels, white rice and pasta, etc. This will be a gradual change but I think we can do it. Go Donatini family!

Prayer

At dinner last night Mya asked if she could pray. Dan told her to go ahead so we all bowed our heads and closed our eyes (even little Chloe....for a split second). This was Mya's prayer:

"Thank you God for Sara, Chloe, Mommy and Daddy. Thank you for our food. And God, thank you for school work every once in a while. I just love doing school work! And thank you that we can have sugar in our bodies only just sometimes because it isn't good for our bodies you know. Thank you for mommy and daddy and for Daddy's job so that he can go get money to buy our house. I love you!"

Her prayers tend to be a bit long winded but so honest and sweet.

Christmas Tree

What is Christmas in California without a christmas tree?  Dan really wanted the girls to have a christmas tree so we went bargain hunting on Friday and found one for a really good deal.  He and the girls put it up and it was fun to watch all of them.  The hardest part has been keeping Chloe from touching it.  It is a training opportunity for her but takes a lot of work.  As of today (Saturday) she has stopped trying to touch it all the time.  Consistency is the key!  The rest of the weekend was very fun.  In the morning I got out all by myself while Dan stayed with the kids and that was wonderful!  Chloe was sick last week so I have been exhausted due to lack of sleep. We went to a birthday party for a neighbor girl on Saturday afternoon at an arcade/pizza place.  The girls and parents had a blast playing the games.  Dan and I got addicted to the jackpot style game where we won the kids lots of tickets.  I made granola this weekend too and it turned out so yummy.  I have made friends with a "health coach" who has great knowledge on what foods to eat.  I have attended two of her cooking workshops.  We are trying to slowly change how we eat.  We are eliminating high fructose corn syrup completely and other not so good ingredients, which affects all of our snacking habits.  So far everyone has a good attitude with the food changes.  This way the girls will get more fruits and vegetables in their diet.  It is good for all!  I am very excited because I also learned how to make "green" smoothies.  When we move back home I will make one for the family every day.  Everyone will definately get a green leafy vegetable in their diet on a daily basis. 

First Hair Trim

Life Lessons

I haven't written a "life lesson" entry in a while, although I am learning things everyday. I am reading a new book called Love and Respect by Dr. Eggerichs. It is one of those books where the concept is SO simple, yet hard to implement. Or even more than that....we forget to implement. The book is based on the passage in Ephesians 5:33 where Paul writes, "Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Women are natural at loving unconditionally. We are built to love. But the scripture doesn't command us to love...it commands us to respect our husbands. The idea of unconditional respect is what is tough, but we are called to do. He talks about how most conflicts can be boiled down to the wife feeling unloved and the husband feeling less respect. The author makes you think about what approach you take when responding to your spouse. I had to chuckle when I came to the chapter of the book that was titled, "And Then I Forgot Her Birthday." The author had my attention, or should I say that God did. The author talked about how he forgot his wife's birthday. That happened to me for the first time in our 7 year marriage (FYI: Dan read this entry before I posted it and gave me permission to share this story). I woke up on my birthday morning to find that it was just an ordinary day. I waited for Dan to say something to me and when he didn't I responded with hurt and frustration. I was devastated. I felt unloved. But after talking to Dan throughout that day I realized how devastated he was for hurting me. He loved me just the same. He was so sorry. I guarantee he won't forget again! But I had to pick myself up, stop misinterpreting his love for me, and show respect to him. We recovered just fine and he worked very hard to make it up to me. Bottom line.....we are always learning new things about each other. But this book helped give me the terminology for what goes on in a Christian marriage. The more I show respect to Dan, the more he shows me love and meets my desires. I just love when he makes me feel like a princess. But that doesn't just happen in a marriage. We have to both work at it...him showing love and me showing respect. I have witnessed how showing respect for Dan has made a great marriage even better. Just the other day we were running errands around town. In between errands we were tending to the laundry at the laundromat. Dan was in the car with the kids while I was switching the laundry from the washer to the dryer. When I came back to the car, he just looked at me and grinned real big. He said, "You are just beautiful! You are so cute and I am so thankful that you would do this traveling thing with me. That you have such a good attitude about it. You have been wonderful to us." WOW! Do you know what those words did to my heart? They certainly communicated love from him. But as I try to work on things I know that he is feeling respect from me. He has also started calling me, "My love" when speaking to me in front of the girls. I love that! When the respect and love cycle are working well it is so amazing to see what God can do in a marriage!

Christmas Dresses #3

Now that the pictures are posted I can give you the story behind the dresses. I had wrestled with whether are not to buy Christmas dresses for the girls this year. Dan and I decided to let it go and have them wear more casual clothes due to the cost of buying dresses or even shipping dresses from storage for all three kids. There is always a battle with things like that as a traveller and as we pay all extra money on the mortgage. But we were at peace with our decision. Then, a woman from church told me a couple weeks ago that she wanted to buy the girls some dresses for Christmas. I wasn't expecting anything elaborate, but was truly grateful for this gesture. So last Sunday at church she gave Dan a large bag filled with new clothes for the girls. Included in the clothes were gorgeous Christmas dresses and sweaters for all three kids. The blessings are abundant and we are overwhelmed. The girls are loved so much by the church members.

Christmas Dresses #2

Christmas Dresses #1

Birthday Cake

I asked the girls the other day if they wanted to have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas. Very enthusiastically, Mya said, "Yes! But how will we get the cake up to heaven?"