A cool thing happened this week...

I've mentioned before that I'm part of a Moms in Touch group--moms who meet to pray for our kids and their school. It happens that for the second year now I lead this group.

I am a reluctant leader. I was not looking forward to making sure I was prepared for 9:00 on Monday morning. Yes, I have a resource notebook. Yes, I have my Bible. But no, on a Monday morning, I don't always have my act together. At all.

Here's what I love. I've discovered that I can bring pretty much any truth or Bible passage that I've encountered or studied since we last met, and it makes a beautiful springboard for prayer. I really can hardly go wrong, because when we open ourselves to him, God speaks.

I was thinking about that and about the blessing this role has been to me, and I decided to focus our session this week around that fact that God speaks. As we began our time of prayer requests, several people shared that after conferences last week, they needed some very specific wisdom about what direction to take with a particular child. One said, "We need to know whether to go this way or that way or what?"

Listen to this passage that I had planned to share:

"How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it.'" Isaiah 30:19b-21

How great is that! Sometimes all the planning and structure and preparation and general "having my act together" in the world cannot begin to compare to simply listening when God speaks. May I be quick to listen, and when He speaks, may I also be quick to respond with my full attention and cooperation.

Today.

Today

when I least expected it

my kids somehow grew up

before my very eyes.

I thought I would try letting them

cut out their own pumpkin tops

(after I had drawn the line to follow)

and they just kept going

without looking back

to find out what to do next.

Ben even remembered to tell us that

you have to scoop it out good

just like Jesus cleans all the sin out of us.

Apparently they HAVE been watching and listening.

I never touched Ben's pumpkin.

He was all business

and not to be interrupted.

I did help Bethany just a tad,

(and it was a VERY small tad!)

but the plan was all hers.

Really, who knew that Ben could cut out letters like this...freehand?

Bethany carefully drew and executed her plan.

She cut out her whole cat

all by herself.

And when I was amazed

she gave me a giant hug.

She had also amazed herself.

I did not cry the day my baby went off to first grade.

I did not cry when they were baptized

or when they sang their first solos in children's choir.

But today, as they carved their own pumpkins

and talked about who they wanted to go trick-or-treating with

and did not mention their parents' names

I was tempted. Very tempted.

I took pictures instead.

Because they are still

just as delightful

as when they were really little.

I want to savor the growing up, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Feline Fascination

More Cheese, Please!

Yesterday Joy commented on my post about how to get your kids to smile. She wondered if that strategy would work on her husband. I'm not really sure I want to try it, but I have another one that works for my husband. Observe.

Lee and Ben took a break in the action at the zoo in a spot with a great background, and some beautiful indirect light. They were playing a little game while I went to work. Lee was obviously sticking with his own game and not planning on playing along with mine.

So I took the pressure attention off him and turned to my boy, who was completely and utterly ignoring me. Perpetual motion, this boy.

Then I got Lee back in the frame, and he had obviously figured out that I wasn't going away anytime soon. Maybe if he just humored me for a sec.

I wouldn't be pacified that easily, but I had found my crack in the facade. Now it was a head on contest.

When he starts scrunching up his face, that's when I know I'm going to win. Because it makes me laugh, and when I laugh...

...he laughs.

Say Cheese!

Well, who knew? I found the perfect way to get your kids to smile for the camera...start posting pictures of other peoples' kids! In my last post I was working with the photo they gave me at I Heart Faces, and Bethany was just a little bent out of joint by seeing that adorable STRANGER's face on her my blog.

So today we went to the zoo, and the kids were all, "Mom, take a picture of this!"

Try it! It just might work. ;-)

Fix-it Friday: iPhoto (updated with a little Photoshop Elements)

Today I'm participating in I Heart Faces Fix-It Friday. Every week they post a photo and ask participants to give "recipes" for bringing out the best in it. I just couldn't resist this little guy. Plus, I have been working hard at just the issue this photo has--an underexposed subject.

The vast majority of the participants in Fix-It Fridays use Photoshop, and have lots of fancy actions that make photos gorgeous. I'm totally envious. I use a Mac, and while I do have Photoshop Elements, I confess that I still find it overwhelming, and don't have any desire to start messing with downloaded "actions". My Mac-standard iPhoto software is so simple that it's what I keep coming back to. Let's see how it measures up.

Here is my color version:

My edits were all using the "Adjustments" menu.

1. First to expose the face. I've discovered the treasure of the histogram for dark faces--reduce the midtone levels by dragging the middle arrow to the left. I stopped about 2/3 of the way over. Additionally, I pulled the shadow reduction slider to the right to 5, and reduced the contrast to -40.

2. Once I found the face, I wanted to refine detail: Sharpness 14, De-noise 34

3. After I brought the face into the light, the background was also exposed. I love the black background, so I went back to the histogram and dragged the black point (on the left) over to the right to 13% to darken it back up. That's probably my favorite part about the photo (besides that beautiful face)--I love the contrast and light!

4. To enhance the color, I bumped up the saturation to 57 and warmed it up a bit to +10 on temperature. With iPhoto '09 you can check a box to limit saturation on skin tones, which I did.

5. My overall look was still a little darker than I wanted, so I bumped the exposure up to 0.69. Voila!

And my black and white version:

I took my color edited version, clicked on "Effects", and clicked on B&W. The overexposed part was a little too white, so I clicked twice on edge blur to make it look almost like a special effect. The face was a little too dark again (and still a little darker than I'd like, but to get more light was a quality sacrifice), so I pulled the saturation back down to 50, and increased exposure to 1.02.

I have to say...I really love my iPhoto!

UPDATED!:

I went to see how my edits measured up with my Photoshop counterparts, and one thing glared at me (very literally)--the cheek! So I took my edited version to Elements, and used the clone, eyedropper, airbrush and blur tools to play around with that spot, and then the very dark shadow under the eye. I could never in a million years describe what I did though. Still love my iPhoto. ;-)

Not anymore.

Playing along with Mama Kat today--she's got some awesome Writer's Workshop assignments this week. You should go check it out.

Once upon a time I wasn't a mom. It's hard to imagine. But for quite a long time, I was just me.

Before I was a mom, I was a career woman, immersed in making the world a better place for and through the students who spent their days in my classroom.

Not anymore. Today I am a "stay at home mom" with a class size of two. Except when they're at school. Well, I guess I was at school today. Twice. But that doesn't count because they didn't pay me. Or does it?

Before I was a mom, I had my own agenda, and I followed it.

Not anymore. Today I move about from place to place with my kids and live according to their agenda. Except when they're at school, or busy with their friends, or playing, reading, or watching TV. I hardly ever do what I want. Or do I?

Before I was a mom, I could keep a stiff upper lip.

Not anymore. Today when I see peoples' homes in a pile of rubble from natural disasters on TV, I imagine my own family in their place, and turn into a puddle. But if I was so tough, why did I bother to go to Haiti and the Philippines and Central Asia to help serve others--before I was a mom?

Before I was a mom, I was ultra-competitive, and didn't mind celebrating a little in front of the competition when I won.

Not anymore. Today I am not competitive at all. Nope. I have to consider the tender feelings of my offspring who might be sad if they lost. Well, maybe not today, but at least I did when they were like three.

Before I was a mom, I used to give my husband my undivided attention when we weren't at work. I cooked special things for him, went on dates with him, socialized with other people with him.

Not anymore. Today he has to take a backseat to the kids. He gets the leftovers. No, I mean OUR kids. I had PLENTY of energy for him after spending my days with 25 seven-year-olds. Yeah...plenty...mmm hhmmmm.

Before I was a mom, I was a woman who was passionate about living her purpose in life, whenever, wherever, to whomever God called.

You know, come to think of it, maybe motherhood hasn't changed me so much after all. Maybe I am still...

...just me.