As you can see by the weather report- it’s far too pretty to be sitting inside at my computer. Consistent temperatures like these in western Washington are nothing short of a phenomenon! I’m on an article deadline so I’m trying to finish so I can play at the beach with a clear conscience hahahah…all prayers are welcome 
As you can see I’m surrounded by my stuff and swimming in paperwork as I tackle a deadline for a magazine article. I told my husband I’ll be in my cave this week until the words are ’singing’ – right now I’m not hearing any music :-0 but I do think the instruments are tuning up…all prayers are welcome! Enjoy your week…
…..It’s been a whirlwind week-ette since returning from the CHOIS educator’s Convention and now I’ve dashed off to Seattle for ministry and the BIG BONUS of having some hang time with my grown sons and wives – yes, a party waitin’ to happen! Daddy’s home with the teens and having way too much fun already without me, their resident health food freak and dietitian (think In-N-Out Burger!)…and, this very moment I’m sipping Seattle’s best hot drink – a perfect double espresso Americano with room and a dash of half n’ half…talk soon and thanks so much for all those kind words of encouragement coming in from my new Idaho friends…keep ‘fighting the good fight!’
Seeing that today is the fifth of May and we are absolutely crazy about Mexican food, it seemed entirely appropriate to make a feast of beef carne’ asada (grilled outside by Daddy), carmelized sweet peppers and onions, freshly cooked tortillas, guacomole’, sour cream, chopped lettuce, black olives, whole and refried pinto and black beans, grated cheese, 2 kinds of salsa…hungry yet? Better than any restaurant in town and that is the TRUTH - OLE’!
P.S. Daddy washed the pots, God bless him!
…Cristin, Nicole and Morgan – the 3 brave souls who joyfully assisted me all weekend at the CHEA Bay Area Convention for home educators. These gals were champions – carrying all the weight of managing my booth and helping customers while I was busy presenting workshops on all sorts of parenting and leadership topics. God was so good to provide these lovely ladies-and several folks commented on what a blessing they were! If you’ve kept up with my blog, you’ll know that Cindy, my treasured assistant since 2001, was just married 2 weeks ago to her Prince Charming and departed for South Africa today, where she will reside at her new address on the South Coast. She will still assist me via cyberspace, but cyberhugs will have to do for the time being 
until we meet again…CHEA was a marvelous time of connecting with like-minded folks who are endeavoring to raise kingdom kids and build kingdom homes for the glory of God. Idaho State is coming up in mid-June…more on that to come, but for now I’ve got to unpack!
…after our big weekend away for Cindy-Lee’s wedding along with a time of ministry on Sunday. (I snapped this shot of our three girls with the glowing bride hiding away just before the ceremony on Saturday.) God kissed EVERY day with sunshine (in Washington State, mind you!) and joy, and friendship and yummy food and anointing and everything else our hearts could possibly desire…
Thank you to those of you who have written me special emails in the past couple of weeks – I make every effort to reply to personal messages, but it’s currently a crazy-busy time. Thank you for understanding. As soon as I UNpack, I’ll REpack for a conference this weekend in the Bay Area. More details to come soon….
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…heading out in the wee hours for…drum roll please: my assistant’s wedding (crashing symbols, trumpets blaring, people cheering “HURRAH!!!” loudly), a time of ministry and lots of family FUN this weekend. The only hitch – (oops a pun) – is I don’t yet know what I’m wearing to the wedding…can you believe it?!?!? Well, I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’ve got two huge conference commitments coming up in the next 6 weeks and as I said my assistant is getting married so that means that every little thing she always did to keep my life sane, NOW I’M DOING BY MYSELF – (LOUD SHRIEKING).
I’m better now, thanks. I’ve stuffed a few different things in my suitcase and my big girls in WA are gonna help me sort it all out-they promise it’s going to be just fine…they have about 2 days to work their magic . I’ll keep you, uh, posted…yeah, another pun…I am just full of it tonight. Probably delirious.
…(and anyone else who cares to join us ) this weekend in beautiful Fort Myers, Florida. Michael and Vickie Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) will also be speaking at this event and I’m so looking forward to seeing them again! The primary purpose of the gathering, beginning Friday evening and ending Saturday afternoon, is to strengthen, equip and encourage families who home school or are thinking about home schooling their children. I LOVE these events because I get to connect with parents who are passionate about raising NO ORDINARY CHILDREN! If you’d like more information, check out the links below. If you think about us, please pray for the best of everything for everyone there and I’ll keep you ‘posted’ ha! on how things go…
I was just making myself a cup of afternoon coffee, pulled out a piece of scrumptious shortbread to go with it and realized I have now polished off 2 boxes of my favorite cookies (with a little help from my friends) thus consuming the tools of evangelism I had purchased! For the last several weeks I’ve had really good intentions to visit some new neighbors, so I bought them a little welcome gift to break the ice when I knock on their door. (I always include a note card with my contact information in case they need something in the future.) Every time I walk by their house, their blinds are shut, so I figure they’re at work and before you know it I’ve run out of coffee treats at my house and dared to open their box instead! (I can blame the opening of the second box on my husband, but he’s only eaten 1 cookie!) I’m feeling a little guilty and now I have to buy another box. Won’t I have a funny story to tell the mysterious neighbors when I do get to meet them….
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…even if nobody remembers it’s February 14th and you get absolutely nothing for Valentine’s Day. You are a precious treasure to your heavenly Father, a VIP to the King of Kings and priceless to those you’re investing your life into.
My hubby is out of town this weekend. The last time he was away, it was my birthday weekend. I pulled back the bed spread to tuck in for the night and found a perfectly poignant, creative, romantic, loving (can you tell I liked it?!) surprise card on my pillow. He’d thoughtfully signed it (signing cards can be a painful exercise for a man, so I always consider it a treat to receive his thoughts on paper) and for the next 2 days, he texted me photos of his moments with friends and family as he carried out his days away. You can only appreciate this fully if you know how much my husband doesn’t enjoy stopping to take pictures. He’d made such an effort to bless me because he knows how much I love all the details – nothing’s better than a photo if I can’t actually be there! I’d be working around the house, off to a basketball game, preparing a meal and suddenly *BING* and I’d have a new picture to delight in! What a lift that was. He’d organized some gifts and helped the boys to have something special for me. I drank in the pleasure of being remembered and honored. Actually I’m still reveling in it – he got a lot of mileage out of that one! I’m not expecting a thing tomorrow, and I’m not bothered about it.
The ebb and flow of life isn’t like the movies. So much of the time we don’t get goose bumps. (Unless you live in Minnesota ). I hope I don’t sound like a party-pooper because I love romance and surprises and fancy dinners and getting all gussied up to be with my man, but real life is so much toil and responsibility. Especially when you’re not living for yourself and for the pleasure of this temporal existence. Real life can be overwhelming, not even counting the ‘extras’. Sometimes I can’t see past my to-do list of basic operations for life in the Mira household. When happy and frivolous surprises do come my way, they are such a treat.
I want it to be my habit to be content with what I have. Never satisfied to remain in my current condition of course, but at peace and joyful with my ‘lot’ at the moment. If your ‘lot’ this Valentine’s Day includes roses, chocolates and candlelight – drink it in and love every minute!!!!! But if not, join me in finding HIM, drinking in the beauty of my Savior, finding His Word as sweet as Belgian truffles and trusting Him to make all my dreams come true in His time.
Big hugs your way!
