So many Smiths, so much activity!

    ..... or at least a flurry of activities! Our weather has been glorious this week, sunny, warm and not even windy so my priority for the week was to get the "cold weather "veggies planted and to get the garden beds ready for planting. Yesterday while playing with Grandbaby Charlie, I got the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower planted. I would have gotten farther but a phone call from oldest son Joshua took top spot, even on a sunny day. We had a one hour + conversation as I sat in my garden chopping manure into the soil. Our Yellow star flag is going back up in the window, again. Joshua heads out for Afghanistan in three short weeks for the rest of the year. God has kept him safe through 5 years of tours of duty, has sustained my daughter-in-law Diana and grandchildren Emily and Ethan while Joshua has had to be gone and I am beyond words of praise to our Heavenly Father for that!! My uniformed military guys have done their tours and been able to come home for a state side tour. Civilian contractors who do vital jobs for the military do not have that luxury and Joshua has been over seas more than any of our uniformed service guys combined. Please keep them in your prayers when you think of the ongoing War on Terror . The "press" may be tired of writing about the war, but it MATTERS and we have a lot of soldiers and civilians serving in that War. THANKS!!
Our strawberry patch got turned today so that I may plant tomorrow but it sure didn't happen today!!
The milestone of this day was that Sopheak got her learner's permit Driver's Licence!!!!! Malachi is in school all day at OSU so I got to take her for her test and photo and celebrate this occasion with her. WHAT FUN!!!!!A trip to Sonic for late breakfast was the perfect end to that part of our day
.Jael s is an officer in the high school DECA national marketing organization which had its state competition Monday and Tuesday. While she didn't place in the top 3 slots in competitions she did place 4th and earned a slot for the national Convention  and  Competition at Disney World in May! She is so excited about this honor and opportunity which will help her wind down her Senior year !! I am super proud of her!! Her category of competition had a lot of other contestants, more than the other categories she could have chosen so she knew she would have to work extra hard to do well. The migraine meds she is taking have really made life tough for her and she does everything she does around and through headaches and nausea. The black outs seem to have disappeared as quickly as they appeared but the Migraine meds have side effects that may or may not be worse than what they are intended to prevent. Jael continues to keep plugging and excelling !!!
     Charlie may do the final assembling and filing of our family taxes ever year but the "leg work" is up to me. I've been gathering receipts and tallying all of our pertinent categories so that he can plug those numbers in and file our return. HOWEVER... he is gone a lot and Esther and Casey, and Malachi and Sopheak are not so confident in their tax-filing abilities so I have been the TAX GIRL this week for them. Happily, I was able to guide them through the process and get them both good returns as a result.
     Tennis season started last week for Isaac, Noah and Isaiah as did the Junior High traveling basketball league season for Noah . Baseball starts soon for Rachel as drum lessons continue for Leah. My garden is SUCH a blessed side step from all the taking and picking up. It's so fun to watch our sons and daughters in their individual and collective activities and so fun to do our "at home " activities together as well.
      Also on the Grown Smith Kids front, Caleb leaves for Drill Sergeant school this month until late June, Kari will know next Monday if she is pregnant with Baby 4 ( and Baby 5!!) and Gideon is planning to go to Russia to work with Alex Krutov and the staff at The Harbor in St. Petersburg from September to December. THE HARBOR is an incredible organization which while NOT an orphanage, takes in orphans in Russia to teach them a trade, teach literacy, teach the Gospel and help as many at-risk young orphaned youth in Russia to NOT end up as prostitutes, drug addicts and suicide victims through presenting HOPE and a FUTURE to the students who live at The Harbor. Gideon will be teaching carpentry to the young men/boys so that this may be a trade they can be employed with after they graduate from The Harbor. This is a HUGE thing for Gideon who is preparing spiritually, mentally, emotionally and financially for this 4 month mission trip. Gideon was very very touched by the Holy Spirit when Alex came to visit us about a year or so ago, and God has not let Gideon alone about the needs at The Harbor and what he, Gideon might have to offer . He will take university classes through the summer so that he can take the fall semester off for his Russia work and then finish his senior year at OSU when he returns from Russia. It promises to be a challenging and exciting time !!! It is a mission trip requiring MUCH fervent prayer!!!!!!!!
      Daniel is TICKLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes! I discovered when massaging and doing his stretching exercises this week that his ribs are (for now, sometimes) ticklish . When the sensation of being tickled feels good Daniel laughs and laughs with the most melodious sound I think I have EVER heard anywhere, seriously!!! It doesn't' t last very long and he does not always respond favorably to being tickled BUT WHEN HE DOES, IT IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! There have been no hands nearby to pick up a camera and make a photo -op out of Daniel's delightful responses but I have to tell you that my heart soars with a Mamma-delight over his laughter that could not be photographed anyhow. He is an amazing baby! This week I have become aware of his responses to setting up his feeding tube for a meal too. He has shown a definite awareness and approval when I have lifted his shirt to expose the feeding tube and hook him up for a feeding. This is a new response and it too, delights me and gives me much to ponder in my heart and to call other family members to come and observe.He rarely ever expresses an awareness of hunger or that it's time for a feeding, but the approval and pleasure of getting set up for a feeding and the feeling warm liquid food -stuff flowing into his tummy are undeniably obvious!!!
Our scripture study today was in Numbers today and in Psalm 90.   I  so love and appreciate the words of verses 12     "and  So teach us to number our days That we may gain a heart of wisdom. "
  ...17 "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands".
I don't  want any of what I've lived today or what I've shard about my life today to matter... if it is NOT established by the Lord and what HE has put into my/our hands to do and be about the business of tending to. I want for our family that each of us count our days, that we pursue wisdom  as we grow in our faith and relationships with our Heavenly Father. This passage also instructs us to be Holy as God is Holy... a teaching we are studying in 1 Peter  as well on Sunday nights in our small group fellowship. Impossible?  As humans yes it is. As new creatures in Christ who are being  conformed to God's image and renewed by  the tranforming of our minds, YES  I believe  we can be. I am going to be dedicated to  that pursuit of Holiness and to teaching to my children  a life -long hunger for that Holiness .
If  what I  am here on Earth for is not established for my hands  by my Heavenly Father, it won't matter what I try to do or what  I feel I've acomplished. It is the desire of my heart  to be everything in every moment  that my Father wants me to be from gardening to ticklling   and everything in between!!