ValenBirthday

Nathan's Birthday happens to fall on Valentine's day.  So, we get to celebrate two things at once. :)
Actually, I'm not a huge Valentine's day fan so it has worked out fairly well.  This year, Nathan and I went out to eat at Basta O'Neil's on Wednesday evening as our Valentine's night out. 

On the day, Nathan and I went to the jail for church services with Randy and Evie. It was our first experience going, and it was a good one. We are both looking forward to going more regularly. 

That evening, we celebrated at home. 
Nathan did good.

flowers, chocolates, pina colada mix, and a wood burner :)

Yes, I now have my own wood burner to start trying cool pinterest projects with. 

roses. eeee :)

table set for two

Lasagna, Nathan's favorite.

Nathan's cake.

Another hobby I'm attempting to pick up.

Aside: Nathan has hobbies. I don't. So, when Nathan does his hobbies, I'm bored.  In an attempt to remedy the situation I got cake decorating gadgets, wedding cake recipes, and frosting recipes from Nathan's aunts for Christmas. I'm trying to take up wood burning. And, if those don't pan out, I'm going to try candle or soap making.  

Anyway, Valentine's day was nice and  Nathan liked his presents and the lasagna.

I decided to at least get a little festive. I have a small chalk board, on which I like to write seasonal statements or spiritual war cries.  I went for more festive this time.

There are as many loves as there are hearts. ~ Leo Tolstoy

:) I thoroughly enjoy this quote. Maybe one of the best examples of why I don't completely buy the whole 'five love languages' thing. 

On a thought provoking note, in my job, at the jail, and in mainstream media we see the effects of people seeking love.  The man who is beating the woman, the woman who is being beaten, the women who have children too young, the sex offender, the drug addict, the person who can't afford the many pets, etc. They all are seeking for, begging for, tearing their life apart for LOVE.  Unconditional, unending, all surrounding, infinite love, that can only come from Love Himself, that can only come from the Father.  Instead they find mock love. Lust, acceptance, the dependence of a child or pet, and desire. Or, they just turn to something to dull the pain, the void of love, so they feel nothing at all.  

It gives me even more reason to share and teach God's love.

 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ~1 John 3:16  

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. ...  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 4:8, 11 

In Christ

~Michelle

these winter days

The end of January, beginning of February, has been rather uneventful.  We've had lots of quite evenings staying home and out of the cold.  Work has been crazy, I wouldn't even know where to begin to explain, so I've enjoyed the quiet evenings  and Saturdays. 

I finally found some fabric I like for some of my windows. So, I spent an evening sewing. :) I'm not good at it by any means but the results are passable I think. 

My Brother sewing machine doing a wonderful job.

my kitchen window. 

One of the office windows. Oh, and we got a treadmill. 

In an attempt to be healthier (see treadmill above) we are trying to eat more veggies and such. So, I pushed myself the other night and tried  two new things: Asparagus and Fish.  I've never liked either, but I tend to like food better when I cook it, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It was so amazing. 

I officially like asparagus and fish. :)

Last Friday night, I had the Wyss cousin's over for a brownie night.  I think it should become a tradition, because it was awesome. 

Everyone brought some sort of a topping.

This happened. 

This happened

Mmm. and this happened. 

This one happened too. 

Oh! yah. This happened as well.

It was fantabulous. 

Last Saturday, we went to the Goodfield spaghetti supper at the Goodfield grade school.  It was awkward. There was such a strange mix of people and lots of kids I went to school with that looked so different.  And, sorry, but when it was the Chili and Oyster supper (the Chili) it was so much better.  :) It was fun to be back in my old grade school for a little bit. 

Last Sunday, Church was canceled due to the weather. I got a little stir crazy and invited Lena and her sister Emily to go on a walk with me. It ended with us building the cutest snow-woman ever. She's French. 

Do you wanna build a snow man?

That evening, the winds picked up again. But, we braved the terrible roads to go have supper at my parents. Who says no to free food and a chance to get out of the house? :)

we couldn't see much

Our house looks pretty in the snow.

  

Other than that, life around the house has been dull. Work, however...yikes. I think I may save that until I can wrap my own brain around it all. :)

In Christ
~Michelle. 

Rant on Modesty

There have been so many articles, blog posts, facebook posts, and comments about the topic of modesty.  Very passionate people spewing out their own opinions, some based on the Word, some based purely on opinion, and some based on Feminist ideals. I’m going to join the ranks, as I find myself also a very passionate person with strong opinions. :)

Here it is:

The modesty/lust issue is a big deal and women and men need to realize it.

I don't think you can continually tell women to cover up the next thing that becomes attractive to men. Because, men will always find something else to lust after. For example, during the Regency era ankles became attractive, and were covered up, while the necklines of dresses were still relatively low.  

It becomes a never-ending cycle where women end up covered from head to foot.  But, this does not fix the problem.  Women in cultures where clothing has head to foot coverage, such as the burka, have some of the highest rape rates. Why? Because the problem is not modesty, the problem is rooted in the heart of (hu)man(s). Sin. So, yes, It is the man's job to make sure his heart is right.  And, yes, it is the job of the woman to also see that her heart is right.          

Women still hold some responsibility. We as women need to be aware that our immodesty does affect men, whether it be the god-fearing man who looks away, the collage age boy who openly gawks, or the creepy 70 year old man. 

Maybe, instead of worrying about out brothers in Christ (which we should) we should think about the creepy 70 year old man.  Do we really want an image of our bodies going through his mind? We need to think about those who aren't even struggling with our immodesty. They aren't struggling because they are thoroughly enjoying every bit of your body that you give them! 

And, as Christian women, shouldn’t we love everyone so much so that we desire their soul for God? We should care just as much, or more, about our modesty around unbelievers.  As my wise brother once asked me “do you really want to be the cause of sin that sends a man to hell?” It’s kind of a harsh question, but it does make a point. The unbeliever, more than the Christian man who is correcting himself, will be lead to sin.

We talk about marginalizing women, infringing on our rights, or giving us bad body image and low self esteem.  But, I think it's worse to realize we are allowing ourselves to be sexual objects in the minds of men who don't care about modesty.  Our bodies have worth. That's the point.  We are protecting ourselves, liberating ourselves from being objects -tools- for men. There is far more power for women in modesty then there is in flaunting our 'freedom'. 

Where is the line? That's where it gets tricky.

I don't think there can be an exact list of what is or what isn’t modest. I don't think there should be. Modesty varies from country to country and culture to culture. But, I think some good things to think about when selecting an article of clothing is:

1. What does society think about this piece of clothing? i.e. Most fashion experts gag that leggings are worn as pants. Even they know that it is not acceptable.

or, in India, their most traditional piece of clothing, the Sari, reveals the belly, but covers the legs.  This is considered modest in India, immodest in other cultures.  

2. How is this piece of clothing advertised? i.e. Is the garment advertised on women with seductive body positions, facial expressions etc. 

3.  What is the purpose of the garment? i.e. running tights are for running. If you chose to wear them, wear them for running. 

4. What is your motivation for wearing it?

5. What does your husband/father say?  Really, you cannot go wrong with respecting their opinion, and submitting to it.  It is Biblical and right. 

...There you have it. :) I hope you enjoyed my opinion. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Friends and Family

Two Saturdays ago, I had my high school crew over.  

The table all set for the girls.

Haley, Joy, Emily, and Katy. Katie W.  didn't make the picture, but little Ellis did.

We had a good evening catching up, watching Ellis, and just hanging out.

This past Saturday, the Wyss cousins went skiing.:) It wasn't the best turn out we could have had, but we had fun.

The group. 

We met 5 other skiers on their way to Chestnut too at McDonalds, so we got the group rate. 

After skiing half the day, I decided to challenge myself and learn to snowboard with Lena. 

We spent a lot of time on our rears. 

beautiful views!

It was a great day for skiing and I think everyone had a great time. There were no broken bones. :)  I'm extremely sore though. 

Other than that, I've been busy working and wrecking cars. ;)

In Christ

~Michelle

Huge sigh

Well, the car saga continues.

Last Wednesday, Nathan and I finally got our car back with the side all fixed and lovely.
But. 
The brakes went clear to the floor all the way home.  So, I made an appointment for my car and we took it in Thursday evening.  They replaced all four brakes and did some other mechanic-y things and sent us on our merry way. 

The lovely snowplow-ers of Goodfield plowed in our driveway so I've found my self stuck a few times already.  

But look at how pretty, and shiny, and fixed the car looks!

Then came Monday. Oh, fateful day. Oh, day of calamity.  It began by one of the aforementioned snowplow drivers having to push me out of my driveway. It was filled with DCFS taking one of my clients children, her going into the psych ward, housing assistance being denied for one of my clients, and a marathon apartment search for another.

Monday was made complete with the following:

yah. A car ran a red light. I distinctly remember slamming on the breaks and saying "not again not again" over and over before the impact. 

With in minutes fire trucks and police cars swarmed the area checking me and my client (yes I had a client in the car).  They took my blood pressure, 130/90, and my statement and then I sat in my car for a half an hour waiting for the police to complete the report.

It seems crazy that I would laugh. But, I did. It seems crazy that I would be thankful for this. But, I am. Because, in that 30 minutes that I sat in my car, I learned the reason for both accidents.

Accident #1 to teach me that I can live through an accident.

Accident #2 so that I would have a moment, brought on by a sudden shock, that I could talk to my atheist client about hope, about God, about faith, about healing, and about peace.   He couldn't understand why I wasn't afraid or why I wasn't angry.  And, he asked me point blank, how I know God is real. So we talked. I don't remember many of the details, but before I knew, I was driving away a half hour later, crying with joy that the accident made a tiny crack in my client's shell and that God used me to plant a tiny seed. 

It still makes me sad to see my pretty car looking so beaten up. :( But, I think everyone at work thinks I'm nuts because I can't talk about the accident without a dopey grin on my face. 

It's also slightly embarrassing to recognize your insurance adjuster when he comes to look at your car for the second time in a month. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Goodbyes

Goodbyes are hard to say.
I recently said goodbye to my favorite client. (I know, I know, I shouldn't have favorites). 

He was the client who coined my nickname "Amish". He was the client who asked questions about faith.  And, as with each client who leaves, I spent most of my time at work with him in his last month.  In that month I saw miracles happen. 

He was a month away from discharge (aka emancipation/21/leaving the program) and he didn't have a place to live, he didn't have a job, he didn't have any money, and he hadn't graduated from high school.

These are the things we try to work with them on to get in place long before their discharge, but with him it just never came together.

So I pushed and prodded him and prayed for him. And, within the last 30 days he successfully passed the GED, his aunt is letting him live with her until he can move into an apartment, he was approved for $2000 to go towards an apartment, and he got a full time job!

He's the client I've talked about before. We've had so many good discussions about Christ. He's had so many questions and he knows that he needs to repent. So when we met on his last day I decided to give him a Bible. I didn't know  how he would react or what he would say.  I told him I had a gift for him because he asked so many questions. I told he he could now look for himself.   

I'll never forget his reaction when he opened the Bible. He stared at it. And then he asked "is this mine?" I said yes. And he grinned like a child would "I have my own Bible. Thank you."  I nearly cried.   Later, when staff  asked where he got the Bible from, he told them that his best friend gave it to him.    

I think the hardest part is knowing I may never see him again. I may never know if he turns to Christ or not.  Yet, I have faith someday he will. I just wish I could be there to see it.

In Christ

~Michelle

The last few Christmases

I counted it up and we went to a total of seven Christmases.  The small Wyss, our own,  the Braker,  the Martin, the Romersberger, the big Wyss, and the Schlipf. We even skipped out on one or two extended family Christmases.

I don't remember last year being quite so hectic but I'm sure it was.  

To catch up:

We had the Martin (Nathan's mom's family) Christmas on the 27th.

Notice the large and strangely shaped grab gifts in the middle?

 The Martin's enjoy disguising their gifts. 

And, that was in one of the strange packages.:)

On the 28th we hit up two different gatherings.  We started out the evening at the Romersberger Christmas and then ended it hanging out with the old U of I crew. 

The big Wyss was on the 29th.   The big day followed the agenda of most every year. Brunch, games, presents, games, sleeping, supper, and more games. 

Finally they took an adult's picture. :)

They didn't do much better than us kids normally do.

Emmy enjoying Kandace and Carli's gift.

a typical scene

headbands

rook, I believe

Loren and Boden sharing a nap. 

We also played a game of then and now pictures. 

Now

Then

 Now

Then

 Now

Then

Now

Then

Honorable mention:

sadly, the 'now' picture of this was too blurry. 

On January 1st, we had the Schipf Christmas.  It's much more low key and by this time it was refreshing. :) Only the young girls got gifts and we just played games and ate. 

The Christmas season is officially over. I love it, but it is very exhausting. 

In Christ
~Michelle