Motherly Greatness

I have been really enjoying reading Womanly Dominion [more than a gentle and quiet spirit] by Mark Chanski. I commented to my mom tonight that I think it would be so beneficial for me to read at least one book on biblical womanhood each year or so. If I go too long without a biblical reminder and encouragement for the role of women, the weeds of my heart and culture slowly and surely gain ground without me even knowing, and I start to not only believe lies but act on them. Chanski has been a breath of fresh air, reviving my desire to walk in the role of a godly woman. Practically, I have seen an increase in faith for tackling my everyday tasks at my job, allowed my desire to be a wife and mother be fed and grow in new ways, and increasingly grown much in appreciation for my own mom. I want to share an excerpt from chapter 7 that describes sooo well my mom, and what our family is like because of her. She really is the “soul of our home,” and the “hub” from where all the spokes come and go. Reading Chanski’s description of his wife helped me realize that the fruit that I see God bringing from my family is a direct result of my mom’s full-time commitment to us. It’s almost hysterical how closely he describes our family and mom! I am so grateful for how my mom stayed at home, not only while we were all little and homeschooled, but also throughout our teen years and mixed schooling experiences (home, private, public, cyber, college, you name it!)

Memories of His Faithfulness

Today I spent a few hours driving around Lancaster county, for several different errands during work and after. The drive was a mix of relaxation, conversation (cell phone), getting lost, being late in traffic, getting directions about 4 times from my dad to avoid rush hour traffic, and almost crashing into a car.
As I was driving home, I could reflect on each place and remember different seasons of my life. The result was that my heart was filled with awe at how undeservingly faithful God has been to me. This was His kindness to my heart, to keep me from simple sentimental nostalgia and instead to captivate my thoughts with His greatness in the working of His hand on my life.

Here is a smattering of places and memories that I traveled to this afternoon:

Lititz pike, driving past the home I knew for almost all of my first 10 years of life. It was for sale. This may have been one of the first times that I could drive by that house without at least some tears (I don't go that way often!)

SKH on Lititz pike - free doughnuts with Grandma on the way to her house, back when she kept us for one day a month to give our mom a break. But we only got the doughnuts if we left early enough!

Lititz, along with it's park, train tracks, and Wilbur Chocolate factory. Feeding the ducks with Grandma Sensenig, or going on family walks with Mom and Dad. Book-it pizza at Pizza Hut. School work in the car as Mom did errands. Piano lessons with Mrs. Wittenburg.

Happy Birthday Margaret!

Margaret's 12th birthday was this past Wednesday, September 23. She had Hannah and Hope over for dinner, cake, and a trip to the Lampeter fair. Then yesterday we celebrated it again, since the whole family could be together (plus both grandparents and aunt Beth).

I particularly love the part of the "party" when Dad has us share memories and encouragement.

We are so blessed to have this girl in our family. She's already 12; that is crazy! Soon she'll be a teenager, in youth group, driving, graduating high school . . . oh my, I sound like a mom!

* * * * *

I've really enjoyed how the age gap is decreasing between myself and my sisters. The last photo is from a starbucks trip with Margaret and her friends. I appreciate how our relationship gets to grow and mature as time goes on. I can't wait to see what God has in store for Margaret this next year!

A bit to honor my Dad

I really want to honor my dad for how he served this weekend. He took photos for an event called OneSingleDay put on by our church for singles. He was working on taking and going through photos the entire day, morning to evening. Where the sacrifically serving really came in was that Saturday night when he stayed up until 4:30 am to finish the slideshow so that we could view it at our church meeting on Sunday. I can only imagine the humility and grace it must have required of my dad when he found out that, due to technical difficulty, they could not show it that morning. He had sacrificed so much sleep and poured so much of his energy into preparing the slideshow for that exact time, only to have his plans and services thwarted. And I did not see one display of anger/frustration or self pity, although I know it must have been a battle in his heart. This is the grace of God at work in my dad.

Thank you Dad! I love you so much. You are a wonderful example of a humble servant.

Here is the slideshow. It was a most beneficial day to my soul.

My Talented Brother

I've noticed how our blog has been missing photos. Just tonight, I asked Erin if he could add a verse to a photo I took and use as my desktop background at work. He did it, and some! Here's a sample of the product (even though I took the photos, I believe he enhanced them):

Soaked Through

Melanie Millen, and I (Margaret) sat on her steps and wrote a list of ideas for our "Survivor" camp out.

Survivor List

1. People: Melanie, Abigail & Margaret

2. Food: - Supper: Hot dogs- Breakfast: Cereal- Lunch: Sandwiches.
3. Shelter: Tent- Millen’s tent to sleep in, Sensenig’s tent for storage.
4. Fun!: Tv & Movies, Books, games, ect.
5. Personal things: like tooth paste and tooth brushes, clothes.
6. What for: To celebrate all 3 girl's birthdays.

We had been planing it for a long time and we finally got a date for it so I felt happy because it was not just a small idea that was never going to happen, (like most of my 1,000 ideas) but it was really, truly, actually going to happen!

HACC Days....Again

This is my second day at HACC this semester. I am sort of looking forward to having a routine again, but at the same time I am sort of dreading the work load. I am still gathering my supplies for my classes. My Micro Biology book has still not arrived yet, and I have the first 2 hour and forty minute class this afternoon. I am looking forward to hanging out with Liz Wenger and possibly Laura Wenger, Zach Millen, Catherine Davis, and Alyssa Driedger.

Yesterday Catherine had called to see if I had any books that she could use for her English Comp 1 class. While talking about it we found out that she is having the same professor that I had for that class and that I did have a book that she could use. After our conversation I looked for the book that I said I had, and I could not find it. I was a little frantic because I told Catherine that I would bring it today and I knew I still had it somewhere but I just could not find it anywhere. After coming home from work that evening and watching two episodes of the BBC series Cranford, that we borrowed from the Borghis, with my family, I found the book wrapped under a blanket in my room. I was thoroughly relieved and grateful to God for allowing me to find the book. I am now at the HACC library after my Pre Calc class waiting for Catherine to come so I can give her the book that I had promised to lend her.

A little while ago Sarah had said that I should write something on the blog. I replied that I would when I had something to write about. I now realize that you can write about anything, It does not have to be a big thing that happened, it can be small every day occurrences. I now think that I may actually write a good amount of post during the school year, for I am stuck at HACC for a long period of time in which I will have time to spare. Well I guess I will stop writing now because I am stating to ramble, or at least I feel as though I am rambling. I just had the thought that I am so glad that mom made me practice typing, because I would not be able to write such a post when my mind went ten times faster than the speed of my fingers. Thanks mom! :)

I sat there in the dark...waiting.

One night when my parents had care group, Joy, Erin, and I (Margaret) where at the Millen's house because they had care group too, and we were playing with them. Any way, around the end of the time we were there, we were playing a game called "The Family Game"

(I think.) We had played one round of it and were starting the next. Did I forget to mention that it was storming out? Well, it was. So we were playing when all of a sudden everything got completely dark! You could not even see your hand in front of your face! And it looked the same with your eyes opened or if they were closed! "Just wait, it'll come back on soon." one of the Millen kids said. I got up and started to walk around, but then I decided to just sit where I was and wait. I sat there in the dark waiting when all of a sudden I saw a light! One of the parents was coming down with a cell phone light on. It was just a little bit of light so we could leave. We where saved! Upstairs looked completely different because they had put some candles up and had flashlights. Earlier that morning Zachary and Vinson (My brother) trashed out a home. And they had found glow sticks like things that have plastic stick like things that light up! We all got some and it lit up the place! Then after a little bit people began to leave. But we could not go home because we would have to walk in the storm. So we just stayed there for a little bit. Then later my dad came down to get us. When we got home it was so cosy because there was candles everywhere! Then in just a couple minutes the electricity came back on! We dozed off to sleep by the sound of thunder and the flash of lighting!

More Mountains

Here are some more photos from our family vacation "at the mountains" in July.

Cheryl's Kitchen

Well Karla and I have just returned from a week in Charlotte NC. We were visiting Karla's sister, Cheryl, for a working vacation. We took a week to install the new kitchen I built for Cheryl. It turned out VERY nice. What a difference from her old kitchen. Cheryl and Karla did the back splash tile, it was a lot of work but well worth it. Cheryl was extremely pleased with it all and we had a great time in hot steamy Charlotte! I have posted a few of the pictures here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/GeoffSensenig/CLandisBeforeAndAfter#slideshow/5368881105995518754

Enjoy!
Geoff