Family Flicks

Monday night Jeff and I took the kids to the Glen Oak Park Pavillion to watch "Shrek" projected on the amphitheater. It was a little rainy off and on so there wasn't much of a crowd. We had a great time, spreading our blankets on the ground and enjoying the cool summer breeze while watching a family movie.

Some families got a little restless because the movie didn't start until 9pm...it's supposed to start at dusk, which is around 8:30...but oh well. It's only 25 cents a person to go and it was a nice night. I'm posting the summer family flicks schedule below in case anyone is interested. It shows on Monday nights from June 9-August 4.
June 9:Shrek
June 16: Are We Done Yet?
June 23: Happily Never After
July 7: Back to the Future
July 14: Shrek the 3rd
July 21: The Bee Movie
July 28:Open Season
August 4: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Keep the Change

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." 2 Corinthians 4:15

Our church is kicking off the beginning of our transition from our current building on Terra Vista Drive to the former Leath furniture building. Our pastor recently launched into a sermon series on change to facilitate this process and I find it especially relevant to my life.
Today I scurried around the house and scooped up all the loose change I could find that weighed down my purses, boxes in the basement, and my car. There's nothing that aggravates me more than loose change. I'm always tempted to tell the cashier, "Keep the change!" It dirties my designer bags and weighs me down. (I hate shoving change in my Kate Spade wallet because I don't want to stretch it out...but then I end up leaving it at the bottom of my purse which soils the bottom of my nice bags, too).
I took a ziplock bag full of change to the bank and it totaled a whopping $81.41.
Small change adds up and often amounts to something big. Our pastor said he was moved by reading a memoir called "Now and Then" about a professor who gave up his career to transition to full-time writing. The process brought about incredible loneliness in his life as he missed the camaraderie of his colleagues, he lived in fear of being a failure if he didn't succeed, and this led to physical symptoms of depression. He was in a funk. That about sums up my first six months of marriage!
Yet, he reflected many years later, life went on all over the place...small things became big blessings, like taking the kids to school in the morning...In hindsight he realized some of the greatest moments of his life happened in the midst of bemoaning the darkness.
The same holds true for myself. For several months after I married Jeff, I tortured myself with questions of whether I did the right thing. My career prospects tanked and despite my aggressive efforts, nothing materialized for me job-wise. But looking back, it was such a blessing. While I was crying about why I wasn't marketable in the workforce, I failed to see the Lord provided the perfect situation for me: I left a highly stressful and borderline abusive workplace in favor of the stress-free life-style of writing articles from home with the occasional commute. Sure, it was a step-down financially, but as Jeff pointed out, if I kept my on-air job I would've gone crazy transitioning to life as a step-mom. I devoted the extra time to learn to cook and clean, invest in the children, spend quality time with my husband, and volunteer at church. And while I may not be making as much money as I did in the past, my income still allowed us to start a savings plan to support our future family and to pay for our travel expenses to Hawaii for the next few years.
We often miss the blessings of today because we look back at what we missed and don't allow the Lord to change our inner reality.
I heard a statistic that 9 times of out of 10 people choose the security of a bad past over a healthy future because they're insecure of what the unexpected holds.
I hope that I have the confidence to lean into the Lord in the days ahead to embrace an eternal perspective so that I welcome positive change and don't miss out on the present because I'm blinded by glamorizing the past. I pray for myself and my husband that we see God working in the midst of everything, no matter the circumstance.

Mackinaw Music Festival

"For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops." Leviticus 25:3

The Bible constantly references vineyards in parables...the first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine...I'm not a drinker of alcohol myself but I love some of the associations with wine--leisurely times with family and friends, a fancy feast, unwinding at the end of the day.

This weekend Jeff and I had the pleasure of enjoying the beauty of the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard...from its veranda you can see a 30-mile stretch of the Illinois Countryside. We strolled around the lake, listened to live music...and of course, Jeff sampled two kinds of beer.

I fell in love with a Green Onion cheese that took first prize at the Illinois State Fair. For $8 a block it was worth it! We snacked on it for dinner and enjoyed each other's company on a breezy summer night. It was a wonderful treat.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Jeff and I went to the Farmer's Market at the Riverfront today. It was inspiring to be surrounded by fresh produce. We decided to grow a mini herb garden starting with rosemary and basil. I purchase them at least every other week at the grocery store for $3 at a time...we figured, why not just grow them at home? So that's my new pet project this summer...Tending to my herbs and refraining from over-watering. As Jeff and I got our hands grimy in planting, he kept yelling, "Don't kill the plants!" I accidentally squeezed the roots while situating them in the ground. Hopefully they'll turn out.

Another favorite summer pastime of our family is garage-saleing. Today Jeff and I scored! A church garage sale was having a Saturday special--you buy a bag for $2 and fill it with whatever you want. Jeff found a new rain jacket, work shirt, candlesticks, a rolodex, Christmas decorations, 30 thank-you cards, Spiderman winter boots for Max (hopefully they'll fit!), a game called "Pit", and bookmarks. When you're on a budget, garage sales are the way to go!
As an aside, our small group had a garage sale last Saturday and raised $115 towards the building of our new church!

Congratulations, Jeff!!!

Today Jeff accepted a position as a multimedia designer at WEEK-TV, the NBC affiliate in Peoria. He'll basically be doing the same kind of work for WEEK that he's been doing for WMBD for the past five years...but the station quality and pay is much better.
WEEK-TV has a reputation as being the powerhouse of local news in Central Illinois and is consistently honored by the Illinois Broadcasters Association and Illinois Associated Press as being Station of the Year. Broadcast Magazine named WEEK one of the top news stations in the country during a time when local television is tanking.
So this is a pretty big job promotion for Jeff and I'm so proud of him!!! Of course, we all know he's so talented, any place would be lucky to have him. My job now is to make sure my face is plastered all over his office so that he doesn't forget his wife! The down side to this job is that we'll no longer share lunch breaks. I've got a 12x16 print of my face that will hang on his wall...just to communicate that he is very married! If anyone else would like to chime in with decoration ideas, I'd gladly accept them. I'm no interior designer but I want to make Jeff's office a colorful and cheerful place.

Lazy Laney

The summer kicked off to a lazy start in the Hopkins' household. The sweltering heat and pollen has me sneezing all day--thank goodness for Claritin! Laney is taking a Madame Curie class at Whittier this week. We've spent some good, quality time together after school...eating brownie batter ice cream and popcorn and watching JAWS. I've never seen the Steven Spielberg classic and I found it surprisingly good. Laney rattled off all the different sharks and shark models in the movie. I'm always impressed with her interesting mind. In school, she's learning to make SLIME and wanted to share the recipe:

1. Fill a small cup halfway with half water, half Elmer's glue
2. Add a small amount of Borax dyed with food coloring
3. Stir with a stick for 3 minutes
4. Remove slime from the cup and knead it with your hands for a few minutes

Brielle is Dedicated

This Sunday was a joyous occasion as baby Brielle Elizabeth Hopkins, my niece, was dedicated to the Lord. Her mom and dad stood before their congregation and made a promise to the Lord to do everything within their power to raise Brielle in a godly way. The pastor actually said some touching words about how Brielle is so special to the Lord and His family and she has a bright future ahead of her as an ambassador of God. (I'm just paraphrasing here the gist of what was said but I was really moved and Delaney leaned into me and said, "I think I'm going to cry.")
Of course, dedicating our children to the Lord is scriptural as 1 Samuel 1:11 reads:
"And she (Hannah) made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."
As God answered Hannah's prayer and gave her a son, she remembered her vow and gave him to the Lord.
We love Brielle so dearly and pray the Lord's favor on her for a life full of promise and blessings.