A Hairy Mess

This is not a bird's nest--it's a picture of about 3 pounds of hair I removed from my head today. Let me explain:
This morning I woke up with a bona fide migraine. I was so desperate to relieve the pain, I took two Excedrin Migraine tablets and flipped open the yellow pages to find a hairdresser. I was born with a full head of hair (when Jeff saw my baby pictures, he swore I was wearing a wig!) and I haven't gotten my hair cut in months. When I've got a headache I feel every ounce of hair on my head and it drives me crazy. I'm used to getting my hair done every 8 weeks at least but have really let myself go since I've been married. For one thing my husband has reigned in our budget like mad! That's when I realized, since we're trying to save money anyway, I might as well cut my hair myself. So I did. I took Jeff's shears out of the box and went to town. I lopped off 3 inches in length and thinned my hair as much as I could underneath. It was kind of fun and such a relief to get rid of so much weight! Thankfully my hair has lots of volume--the lighter it is, the higher it gets--so mistakes are easily concealed by the bigness of my hair. Anyway, that's my story for the day. You've gotta save $$$ where you can! Speaking of which, here's a picture of a gas station at sunset in Champaign...my relatives in Hawaii always ask what gas prices are here: $3.76 on average. It's harder and harder to raise kids when everything is so expensive!

S-U-R-R-E-N-D-E-R

On Sunday my father-in-law, Randy Hopkins, brought down the house and brought tears to me eyes as he preached a sermon entitled "SURRENDER: Okay, I Give Up!"--a message delivered straight from his heart to the congregation of Trinity Mennonite Church. I'll just summarize some of his points below although I wish I could streamline the sermon in a podcast form for you to hear. He really should preach every Sunday. Sorry, Dad, if I butcher some of your words to rehash your points! I did my best to take notes...


Salvation is the start of surrendering. (John 12:23-26).
Unpack struggles in your life that lead to stress. (We need to get deeper to the root of our problems and resist being band-aid Christians).
Release unrealistic expectations. (He never heard the words, "I love you" from his father even though he desperately wanted to but he had to let go of that expectation from ever happening, forgive, and move on).
Relinquish control of your life. (Dad spoke of IMPACT moments in his life, one of which recently occurred during a family member's funeral. Mom's niece in Michigan suffered the death of her baby and while Dad's mind was preoccupied with the practical hindrances of traveling there to attend the funeral (gas $$$, time, etc.), Mom wanted to go. Upon arrival, they realized the baby's father was not even present, but Mom's niece approached her and said, "Of all people, I knew you'd be here." At that moment Dad realized her niece saw Jesus in Mom and any thoughts of practical hindrances washed away.
Enlist scriptures to your mind. (The enemy isn't stupid and he'll put defeatist repetitions in your mind if it's not wall-papered with scripture. Boy do I know how true that is!)
Never trust in your own gifting.
Dare to believe God will take care of you.
Endure the hardships.
Responsibility for who we are. (Dad shared a story of meeting Franklin Graham and asking him to pray for him. Graham instructed him to surrender his requests to the Lord instead of having another person pray for his needs).

After the service, the kids and I talked about Dad's sermon. Laney said, "I'm surprised Grandpa would do that since he's kind of shy." I said, "Yeah, he's a lot like your Daddy." Laney responded, "No, Daddy is really talkative. He just talks, talks, and talks." I exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? I think your Daddy is definitely shy and not talkative." Laney said, "Trust me. I've been living with my Daddy for 9 years. I know he's a talker."
Well, I guess everything is a matter of perspective. Case in point: Max piped up, "I would hate to live in the middle of nowhere." I about died of laughter (as we passed a cornfield to drive to Monical's Pizza). I said, "Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but we do live in the middle of nowhere!" Too funny! I've got to take these kids to a city!

Baby Love

My heart about burst out of my chest this weekend as I held my beloved niece, Ali, for the first time since the 4th of July! I love this girl! She is beautiful...and brilliant. I promise you, it would not surprise me one bit if she opened her mouth said, "Pass the peas" over the dinner table. We played with her toy phone and as it rung, I swear Ali yelled, "I'll get it!" Amazing. Unbelievable. My arms ache to hold her when she is away.

My scrumptious niece, Brielle, is also a butter-ball of love. A cupcake. An absolute girly-girl of joyous proportions. I adore Brielle. My belle. Her uncle Jeff terrorized her as she tried to tolerate his loud noises. Jeff likes to be typically rough and tumble with babies. Ali squeals with joy when he makes Scooby-Doo noises at her but Brielle is terrified. I'll bet Brielle will grow into being a gracious and calm young lady. I hope my baby will be as good of a sleeper as she is.

Laney is in absolute love with her cousins. She would pull Ali around in her toy car until her arms fell off if it made her baby cousin happy. Laney is a very good nurturer and will be the best baby-sitter as she gets older. It's always sweet to watch Max and Laney interact with Brielle and Ali. They love their cousins so much and I think it'll be good for them to be surrounded by the love of their expanding family over the years.

Wedding Bliss

This weekend my dear friend, Harold, married his sweetheart, Amy in a simple yet elegant ceremony celebrating their love for one another. I'm so glad my favorite guy friend of all time found such a sweet and beautiful woman to share his life with. Harold has been known to rescue me from a couple of relationships gone sour and has always been the best "big brother" and buddy a gal could ask for. He's the most loyal guy in my life, a quality his best man toasted as we raised our glasses to honor him and his new wife.

The wedding feast was scrumptious as you can tell from this glorious creation of a cake. The colors were so vibrant...the wedding reception was romantic and nostalgic in tone as pictures flashed of the happy couple on a projector and love songs played softly in the background. Jeff & I unfortunately left as couples started taking to the dance floor since his family was in from out of town...but I'm so happy I got to celebrate with Harold. The lucky guy is now in Greece for the next two weeks with his bride.

Obviously I'm not much of a wedding person, having opted to elope myself! I've never been a fan of the trump and circumstance and the huge expense of a single day...But I kind of regret not having a big party to celebrate my marriage. I never look forward to wedding ceremonies but I always look forward to the reception. I told Jeff if we make it to our 10th anniversary, we're throwing a big bash to celebrate! Gosh, with everything we have going against us, it really would be cause for celebration if we made it that far with our love and sanity intact!
Pasted below is the scripture Harold and Amy had read before exchanging vows:

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. --Colossians 3:12-17

Hawaiian Hot Dog

Last night I made the kids Hawaii's favorite snack: Spam Musubi. You can find it in any grocery store, gas station, deli, and most locally-owned fast-food places. Anyone who's grown up on the island should know how to whip up this snack. Jeff and I enjoy eating it every once in a while and he thought the kids would love it since it's basically Hawaii's version of a hot dog, but they absolutely gagged.

To make spam musubi, you need to cook about 3-4 cups of rice. Slice up spam (which is sold in a can in grocery stores) and marinade the sliced luncheon meat in a combination of soy sauce and brown sugar. Pan sear the meat until it's crispy on the edges.

Now comes the tricky part: Lay sheets of seaweed under a spam mold. Put enough rice inside the mold to fill half of it up, then put a slice of spam, then more rice to round it off on top. Release the mold and wrap the seaweed around the whole thing like a sandwich.

Max was absolutely disgusted by the seaweed wrap but he did say, "Well I don't like it. But it's much better than chicken!"

Responsibility & Respect

If you can't see this photo well it's because our camera broke and our flash is malfunctioning. We just purchased a new camera to replace the ancient one and while Jeff adores his new technology toy, I'm still trying to figure it out.
Max and Laney are surrounded by a heap of laundry in this picture because tonight they were assigned the task of folding laundry. "Dad, how do you fold underwear?" Laney kept asking. "I can't make these socks match," complained Max. We've decided to start phasing in chores around the house to teach the kids responsibility...and respect.
Tonight while game-playing, Laney said something to Jeff that he considered disrespectful. So he ordered her to her room. We discussed methods of punishment while she waited upstairs. Jeff suggested giving her the option of no dessert or a spanking. Well, I'm not a fan of physical punishment and I really wanted to make homemade donuts with the kids tonight...But I did recall having to write essays as a kid as punishment so I suggested that...on top of no reading before bedtime. I think kids need to cognitively process why their behavior is considered wrong and why it should be corrected. Laney flew downstairs and exclaimed, "I can't believe I have to write an essay!" to which Jeff replied, "Ok, is this response respectful?" (Oh, living with kids is never boring!). But Laney did a pretty good job and gave me permission to publish her page-long essay here:

Why We Should Respect Our Parents by Delaney Hopkins
We should respect our parents because they love us more than anything. Why should we disrespect them when they love us, respect us, feed us, buy us our needs and more. These are the things you shouldn't do that disrespect them: talk back, hit them, say you hate them, throw tantrums, or be mean to your brother and sister and stress them out. Also if they say not to do something don't do it. Of course everyone has done one of these things. But God doesn't want us to sin. In the Bible, there is a verse that says, "Children obey your parents." We should always obey God. And that is why we shouldn't disrespect our parents.

Living Proof Live

I had the pleasure of participating in Beth Moore's simulcast this weekend. Her message from a host site church in Louiville, Kentucky was beamed to 70,000 women in 49 states throughout America, in addition to a mission site in Guatemala and churches in Japan & Canada. Her theme? "100-Fold Word" based on Luke Ch. 8.

"4-8As they went from town to town, a lot of people joined in and traveled along. He addressed them, using this story: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn't have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop.

"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

9His disciples asked, "Why did you tell this story?"

10He said, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom—you know how it works. There are others who need stories. But even with stories some of them aren't going to get it:

Their eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Their ears are open but don't hear a thing.

11-12"This story is about some of those people. The seed is the Word of God. The seeds on the road are those who hear the Word, but no sooner do they hear it than the Devil snatches it from them so they won't believe and be saved.

Beth felt compelled to emphasize the importance of sowing the Word of God into our hearts, a pretty simple message made powerful given her spit-fire delivery.
Here's a crib sheet of the basic precepts she spelled out in her talk:
1. TREASURE THE WONDER. God's revelation is progressive in nature and His Word is God-breathed and fresh as though it's jumping from the pages into your heart.
2. PROTECT YOUR HEART. The devil will snatch the Word from your heart if you let him. Psalm 119:10-11 says to hide the Word of God in your heart. It's not up for grabs.
3. EXPECT THE TEST. God wants to prove us genuine to burn out the fake in us. When the season of testing exceeds the season of believing, we are heading for a season of falling.
4. DIG THE ROOTS. Take root below, bear fruit above. Live on the Word.
5. STOP THE CHOKE. Anxiety (the fear of losing control) chokes the Word out of us. The curative to anxiety is prayer.
6. RETAIN THE WORD. Sometimes God gives you DESTINY words concerning the path of your life or circumstances. Sometimes God gives you DAY words to sustain you in the morning, noon and night. Hold the Word as a vice grip in your heart.
7. PRESS FORTH TO YOUR 100-FOLD. It takes time to harvest the Word of God in your life. Sometimes we get side-tracked with Spiritual A.D.D. but we're called to press forth and hang in there when we most want to quit.

I was overcome with emotion, knowing that I was praising and praying with 70,000 women across the nation. Our God is amazing and I was grateful to be a part of the experience.