Katie the Maid

I love my daughter's creativity! She comes up with ideas that entertain her brother and his friends! Sometimes, however, she regrets her great ideas. Today was one of those days. But she is such a trooper. She goes ahead and finishes what she starts and makes good on her promises!

Today Eli's best buddy Levi is over to play. They were getting bored since it's too cold to play outside. Katie made up the game of you be the messy kids and I clean up and be the maid. So, she let them mess up her room while she cleaned Eli's and then they messed up Eli's while she cleaned up hers. This was fun until the 3rd or 4th time. But she did it one more time then she told them the maid is gone home for the night!

Now she has them playing hide and go seek. Although I'm not sure she's seeking those lost boys! GREAT THINKING THIS TIME KATIE!!!

No Self Confidence Here

Yesterday Eli got a haircut. He told the lady he wanted it to be short and look good like daddy's. Then he sat quietly while she cut. She kept commenting on how well behaved he was. He looked up and said "well, I am a good boy!" After the haircut he looked in the mirror and said "I look handsome". I guess he is fully self confident. No need to build his self esteem!

Christmas Letter 2009

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas. It has been an interesting year in the Riggan household. Each family member has had points of seeing God clearly. Let us explain:

Rick: After being an employee of the Siemens’ Corporation for 14 years the company decided to downsize significantly. Rick was laid off in July this year. Rick sent out dozens and dozens of resumes and began networking on several websites and seeking the Lord diligently. Finally, in October, after several interviews, he was hired at Platronics in Santa Cruz, California (www.plantronics.com). It is a good company that has been in existence since the 1960’s when Neil Armstrong wore a Platronics headset on the moon! The Lord taught Rick many things during this waiting period; probably the most important one is God is the Mighty God!

Mendy: This year has been a challenge for me physically as well as maternally. My fibromyalgia has been getting worse. As a result, I have had to slow down and reevaluate what is most important; being a wife and mother! So, I have stepped down from many activities and chosen to be home more. I have also had two urgent care visits (one with each child) that have stretched my faith. God has made Himself known to me in these difficult times; He is my Prince of Peace!

Katie (8): Last spring Katie was playing at the park with a friend and fell off the monkey bars. I took her straight to the urgent care knowing she’d be coming out of there with a cast. And sure enough she broke her elbow and got a blue cast. This was one week before Easter. So she wore a blue and white dress to match her blue cast on Easter Sunday! We have also decided to home school Katie this year. She is in second grade and doing great. We have always said we would take each year as it comes. She, however, has decided she wants to home school until she goes to college! We’ll see. This year, I’d say, the Lord is teaching Katie that He is her Wonderful Counselor!

Eli (3): Eli is always full of energy and surprises. He is quite the comedian. This year his big excitement was nearly cutting his finger off. He didn’t get all the way through the finger so we were able to save it! He had finger surgery and is now doing great. We’re hoping his nail is back by Christmas! Eli has learned that God is the Eternal Father!

We do hope this little update finds you well and at peace with God.

God Bless,

The Riggan Family

Clean...

Some days as a mom and housewife I feel like all I do is clean...laundry, dishes, floors, baby bums, etc. Today was no exception. Dishes were piled, laundry was flowing onto the floor. I thought, "man, does the cleaning up ever stop...every time I clean this there's another mess" Then I had a thought. Does the Lord ever get tired of cleaning me? I mean, He sent His one and only Son to clean me and I seen to get myself all messed up again. Does He ever think "good grief Mendy, when are you going to get your act together and stay clean?" No, I don't think so. God loves all the time without hesitation. He willingly cleans me every time I make a mess. Oh, if I could only be like Him and love my family, mess and all!

Merry Christmas Bell!

Christ Bell - someone went to a lot of trouble to make this ! THE BELL I KNOW WHO I AM I am God's child (John 1:12) I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 ) I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17) I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20) I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1) I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8) I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14) I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27) I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2) I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20) I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34) I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21) I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18) I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6) I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39) I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 ) I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 ) I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 ) I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 ) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13) I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5) I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10) I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).. I have been justified (Romans 5:1) I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10) I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5) I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5) I belong to God Do you know Who you are?

Things I never Thought I'd Say Part 2

My son is only 3 and a half and I have so many things I never thought I'd say. What will the next 15 years be like?

"Yes. It's a nice pocket, but we probably shouldn't put your batman in there. The pants wont fit over it." (when he discovered the open flap in his underwear).

"Seriously, stop licking the dog. You'll get hair all over your tongue"

"Close your mouth when you kiss people. Open kisses are NOT OK"

"You're Not Fair!!!"

OK. I know I've written a lot today. And I wasn't going to add this, but Rick said it was blog worthy. (He also said we must remember it for future girlfriend stories! Maybe blogging will help.)
Today Eli came in the room and had no pants or underwear. He asked for a soda. I turned around and saw his nakedness. I said, "no you may not have a soda until your pants are on. Go get some pants on now." He said, "Katie got to have one." I said "Katie has pants on. Go get some pants and I'll help you get them on." He threw himself on the floor crying "That's not fair! That's not fair! I want a soda! You're not fair, mama!" He was then sent to his room and told he couldn't come out without pants on. He cried how unfair I was until he fell asleep about 5 minutes later! Guess he was tired! But he did get some pants on before coming out to dinner. No pants no service is my rule! And it's totally fair!

Kid's Spiritual Gifts

One of the things I have enjoyed as a mom is looking for and nourishing my kids' spiritual gifts. As Solomon says in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go..." My job as a mom is to find what the Lord has made my kids to do and be and help them get there.

For a long time I have known that one of Katie's spiritual gifts is the gift of encouragement but recently she demonstrated it beautifully. I was having a hard day. My head was hurting and I didn't really want to do much more than be in bed. She made me cards, came in and rubbed my head and prayed for me. She encouraged me greatly. Yesterday we were at the store and Katie saw someone looking unhappy. She went over to the woman and smiled. She just smiled. The woman told me how wonderful my children are. Her entire face lit up because Katie smiled at her. I was so blessed to have such a daughter.

Today I heard that one friend had fallen and broke her neck. Then I heard that my friend who is waiting for her double lung transplant is not doing well today. I was sad. But Eli showed me his spiritual gift! He began to pray. As he prayed he not only thought of my two friends but he prayed for their families and doctors and everyone around them. This 3 year old, who can barely sit still for anything, prayed for 10 minutes with such power. I was so blessed.

My kids may have more spiritual gifts as they grow up. But God has shown me one in each one of them that is beautiful and can be cultivated right now.

If you are a parent, are you looking for your kids gifts and how to encourage them in it?Do you have friends or family who are young in their faith that can be encouraged in their gifts? I highly recommend that you do encourage them; you will all be blessed!

Idols

On Sunday my pastor taught on idol worship. He mentioned that anything that takes you away from God is an idol. It made me begin thinking of things that could be an idol in my life. He asked some questions. One was what do you talk about, think about, spend time on the most in your life? Another was what would your friends say you talk about, think about, spend the most time on in your life?

Mark Driscol says that idols sometimes are very good things that you have made into God things. As Christians sometimes we make Christianity our idol (worshipping the fact we are Christians rather than the one who bought our salvation). Sometimes it's being a Republican or Democrat or a dog owner or a cat owner or male or female or money or cars or clothes or image or family.

As I began to answer the questions my pastor asked, I began to think that my kids would be the answer to those questions. I am consumed with teaching them, raising them, keeping them alive! So are my children my idols? Well, sometimes I'd have to say yes. I skip my quiet time with God often because the kids need me. I always thought that this is just the season for that and I need to give myself a break. And in someways that is true. But when I go days in a row and never read my Bible but give tons of energy into these kids I have made them my idol.

What are your idols? If you were to honestly answer those questions, what would your say?

Lost and Found

Yesterday we went to the doctor to check Eli's finger. They took the cast off and put on a simple finger splint. I wasn't sure this was adequate for my active boy, but didn't argue. After the appointment we went to Target. All of a sudden Eli yells out, "I think I lost something" and put up his finger without a splint. I was so mad. I looked everywhere for that thing. 45 minutes later as I'm crawling around on the floor of the Target pantie section and I'm about to give up I see the thing laying under a rack. It must have had a great bounce! I get up and put it on when I notice Katie's strange smile. I asked her what was wrong and she says "I was praying you'd find it right when you found it".
I felt horrible and joyful all at the same time. I felt horrible because here I was looking and being mad for 45 minutes and never once thought of asking God for help. What kind of Christian am I? I will be praying through that one for a while! But I also felt such joy. My daughter at 8 years old was given proof that God is real, He does hear, He does answer! God cares even about the small simple things like finding her brother's splint! She will not forget this anytime soon! God is so good.
BTW...Last night we went to the library where that splint fell off a few more times. We went to Walgreen's and I bought tape and that thing is taped to his hand like crazy. He will not loose it anytime soon!

Eli's explanation

On Thanksgiving Eli was talking on the phone to my sister. He was trying to tell her what happened to his finger. His explanation is "a big dinosaur lizard was in our back yard and bit my finger off".
Oh the imagination of a three year old!

Eli's Finger AGAIN!

As many of you know I have spent my fair share of time in the urgent care and orthopedic office at out local clinic. This time it was Eli's turn.

The kids were playing outside when I heard a scream. Eli had dropped a rock or something on his finger. He came in with blood everywhere. There was a bloody hand print on my bedroom door that looked like a serious crime scene. I grabbed him, a kitchen towel, an ice pack and our new insurance cards (that had just come in the mail) and ran to the car. We went straight to the urgent care. They took us right in because the bleeding was so bad they wanted to check his oxygen level. The urgent care doctor said that she could stitch it up but it will be deformed (not the words she used, but the meaning) and may not have feeling. Then she decided to go have a second opinion. That doctor said they should go get a hand surgeon to look at it. When they got downstairs to look for a hand surgeon to come see it they found Dr. Hay and his assistant packing up to go home for the day. They graciously agreed to come up and look at it. They decided they needed to do the surgery themselves. So down to their out patient operating room we went. Eli was numbed from the middle of the hand to the tips of his finger. Once that was done, he sang songs and watched the whole surgery as if it was on someone else. (He has the Mosely medical blood in him!). As he is laying there and the doctor is at work he asked to sing Christmas songs. The doctor said "how about frosty the snow man?" Eli looks at him and said "no. that's not Christmas". Then the doctor said "how about Rudolf the red nosed reindeer". Again Eli says "No, that's not Christmas. Christmas is Jesus." Then he sang Angels We Have Heard On High. It was so funny. When the surgery was done and we got home I realized we had actually had all that happen in just a little over 2 hours.

This was a horrible accident. His finger was actually severed almost completely off his hand. But through it all I can't help but see so many "Praise God" moments. Let me list them...

1. He never lost too much blood. They checked his oxygen several times and he always was at 100%.

2. He missed the bone completely. There was no need for pinning of the finger.

3. Dr. Hay was on his way out. Had we been just 5 minutes later my son would have a deformed finger.

4. Eli, a 3 year old, was able to present the gospel to his doctor and the assistant while he was having surgery.

5. The whole things was done and over in such a short time. We were able to come home and have dinner and it didn't burn while we were gone!

6. I had amazing peace through the whole thing. Usually I have condemnation and fear but this time I knew God had a bigger plan and I just needed to go with it. Who knows, maybe Dr. Hay and his assistant really listened and a seed was planted?!

I'm sure there was more the Lord did. But I can't think of them at the moment!