House is SOLD!

You are going to love this story. We decided to put our house on the market. No problem right? Well on our 2 streets there are 10 houses for sale every where from 2 yrs old to brand new so it is definitely a BUYERS market right now in L town. The day we listed our house, our realtor got a call from the realtor who is representing the house 3 doors down across the street asking what our listing price was. It turned out it was the exact same price as theirs and that house has been on the market on and off since June so they immediately dropped the price by $15,000. Not only that but there is a brand new house on the other street for only $5,000 higher than ours (bigger and nicer). So here we are in November trying to sell our house having no ministry position to go to just options. A few people come and look at the house but zero offers.

Then one morning Ginny knew some people where going to look at the house. She was tired and didn’t want to clean the house to perfection but she felt God say to her, “Go and clean the house you are going to sell it today.” So instead of going for a nap she cleaned the house and baked cookies (mmm the smell of fresh baked cookies). The people came through and made an offer that day. It was for only $2,000 less than what we were hoping for. Our realtor (who is a Christian) said he felt it was a God thing. We accepted and the subjects came off yesterday. Praise the Lord!

I was thinking about it last night. I have been praying that God would direct us and give us peace about the right church for us. As my thoughts were directed at the selling of our house after only being on the market for a week and a half (the only one to sell so far)…it was like God said, “See I am taking care of you.” I know he’s got a place for us it’s just nice when he speaks and reminds us he’s in total control.

Look What I Can Do!!

Stuart. I’m sure you’ve all heard of him. He’s the funny character who acts on “Mad TV”. His famous line is: “Look what I can do!!” Well, Stuart has arrived at the Kempner household only it sounds something like this:

“Watch! Watch Mommy, Watch!!” this phrase is usually followed by Oakley pushing a car on the coffee table, or waving his arms in the air, or jumping on the spot, or hitting a puck with a hockey stick, etc. He does nothing special. It’s actually quite boring & extremely irritating.

Yesterday after hearing for the One hundredth time, “watch mommy, watch” I finally snapped. I did the unthinkable. I was a horrible mother & said, “Oakley, I really don’t care if you can crash two cars together. I don’t think it’s exciting & I’m tired of you making me watch you do stupid things”.

As soon as I said it the thought came crashing into my brain…. Is this what God thinks of me? How many times has He heard, “Watch God - I’m making dinner for the family down the street” or “Watch God - I’m teaching my kids about you, aren’t I great?” Or how about, “Look at me God - I’m leading worship & it sounds really good – people are even raising their hands!”

What does God think about these “extra special” tasks we think we’re performing? Is that what we’re doing? Are we performing? Am I looking for recognition? Do I want Brownie badges, stars on my sheet, a special scratch ‘n’ sniff sticker that I used to get in Kindergarten for doing a good job?

We all crave attention but making dinners for families in need, teaching my children to know Christ, or using my gifts are what is required of me as a follower of Jesus Christ. These responsibilities don’t call for recognition from God, although honestly, I do crave it.

Thankfully we serve a God who looks at us like I look at Oakley. Deep down inside I am proud of him even if he is irritating. I’m thankful that he loves me & wants me to be proud of him.

Jesus loves me the same way & he responds to me the way I usually respond to Oakley when he asks me to watch:
“Yes, daughter, I see that. Great job! You’re amazing….”


Here's a little update on what Oakley can do:

Look, I can get my hair cut!

Look! I've peed on the potty 3 times now!

Halloween Chaos

Oakley, stop crying & put on your costume. It's Halloween & we're having fun... ...this is a picture of Oakley (the elephant) & his cousin Ryker (the spider) on Halloween. As you can see they were both so excited to wear their costumes. We were able to get this one quick photo before they both fell to the floor screaming "OFF!!!". "If you keep your costumes on we can go get candy!!". My sister & I desperately try to convice the children of the benefits to dressing up. Unfortunately we are both so anal that our kids hardly know what candy is.
All the while sweet little Rebekah sits there with her cute bunny hat posing for pictures.
We eventually did get Oakley outside (Ryker opted to stay home). Once on the street we couldn't get Oakley to come back home. He finally caught the jist of this trick or treat thing. "Oakley - are you ready to go home now?"... "NO!!". Of course it was freezing & windy (Rebekah got wind burn on her little cheeks). Once at home Daddy had the great idea of letting Oakley suck a sucker on my side of the bed. I think the sucker went everywhere except his mouth!

The next morning I woke up soaked from leaking breast milk. I brought Rebekah into bed & she peed through her clothes. I desperately wanted to change our sheets, but had an early morning showing (as our house is for sale), & didn't have the time. I quickly made our bed & left the house thinking I'll have to change them later. That night I crawled into bed at 12am so thankful to finally catch some sleep when I realized I forgot to change the sheets...

"Welcome to motherhood" I thought, I'm sleeping on crusty breast milk, baby pee, & sticky sucker - nice.