Here is what I want to say:
1. Have you met my husband? I just can’t keep my hands off him.
2. I am planning to take over the world and am raising them as my minions.
3. I hate housework. I keep having kids so that they can do all the chores.
4. Home security.
5. I am trying to raise the IQ in my home state.
6. They are my body guards. We spend a lot of money on martial art and gun training.
7. I am raising warriors for the Lord. If the church isn’t growing, it won’t be because I did not do my part!
8. Are these MY children? I was wondering why they kept following me asking for food.
9. We are going to keep trying until we get a perfect child (just for the record, Rebecca seems pretty perfect so far, so we may have a jackpot).
10. We get bored, so we have another baby.
11. My husband makes far too much money. I need a way to spend it all before we die.
12. I like 15 passenger vans. I think they are super-cool. You should see the radio I have in that thing!
13. I have an excess of energy. Since I have so much, I have to have lots of littles to keep me busy.
14. I like having a whole row in church. It makes me feel presidential.
15. I like a good challenge now and then.
16. I like experimenting on them to see which theories are true. I have a minor in psychology, you know.
But the real answer is:
God said children are a blessing, and like everything he says, it is 100% true. I love these children, young and old, and cannot imagine life without them. Each day I feel blessed to be married to Duncan Russell and to share these blessings with him. My children are wonderful, witty, intelligent, funny, and a delight. They also challenge me in ways that only children can do- helping me grow in faith and Christ-likeness.

Sometimes life is really hard, and it is hard to discuss.  Sometimes it is hard to discuss with even your spouse.  And sometimes social media seems so shallow.

For example, I have a hard time posting that the kids and I just went to Graeter’s for ice cream, when an hour before my daughter calls me crying, from work, to tell me her husband demanded a divorce.  It is hard to share pics of the baby learning to crawl and roll over when we spend some time every day discussing heroin, and what it does to families and why their sister’s husband is missing again.

It is hard to post that we have switched to all “real foods” because after spending agonizing hours discussing one child’s behavior and the effects of the foods on his body were causing him to have behavior that caused him to be rejected, and sometimes disliked by his peers.  I mean, I know others want to switch to real foods, too, and I want to be their cheerleader- or the one that might make them think “If SHE can do it, I CAN TOO!” but it is just painful.

It’s hard to post about a field trip to the aquarium because in my mind, I am worried about my mama getting ready to undergo dialysis, and my father getting ready to retire, and my father-in-law with blurred vision and dizziness.  Right now, I don’t even want to post about church- because our beloved pastor announced he is moving on to another area of ministry, and our family is mourning that, too.

But this week, I decided to go ahead and post what happens, while it is happening, and hope that in some small way, part of my story can encourage you and yours.

You see, in the midst of all these trials, there are a couple of constants.  My heavenly father is gracious beyond belief and gives me generously everything I need.  I have discovered I need precious little, and have much more than I need in my life.  Second, my husband.  We talk.  We really communicate, and when the going gets tough, I can share my heart with him, my sinful struggles, my desires for righteous ways of thinking, and he understands.  He knows.  He listens, and he loves.  Next, for now, I have the children who are right here with me nearly every moment, often reminding me of what God’s word says, right in the midst of these struggles.  And I have my parents.  The ones who love me no matter what, and always have.

Also, in the midst is LOTS and LOTS of joy.  We laugh a lot, we play a lot, even while we pray a lot.  Life is not all serious and gloomy, but then again, if my life is full of ups and downs, probably then, so is yours.  Let’s keep posting- the truth.  The good, the bad, the ugly so that we may encourage one another- friend, you are not alone.  And neither am I.

Only let me be the glue, if you, Lord, are my tether.

If I am the glue, then let me be the kind that points to you

Give me strength for every moment, give me grace anew.

I see my children, Lord, each day as they work and grow

Help me to cheer them on the way, and make sure it’s You they know.

Let me be the kind of mom who sees the future and smiles

Remind me to be the mom who always walks those second miles.

While I serve my family Lord, help my body to be strong,

And correct me gently, but firmly Lord when I am doing wrong.

On rough days, long days, tiring days, give me kind words to share.

Oh, give me energy and the desire to keep them in your care.

As my patience is tried, Lord, make me more like Job

Remind me that it’s your ring I wear, and your Royal robe.

A daughter of the king walks with strength and dignity

Remind when to stand up Lord, and when to take a knee.

Let your Word be my daily bread as I prepare each meal

Remind me to do the things that are right, regardless of how I feel.

As I change diapers, and dust and sweep, and teach school every day,

Remind me the most important thing I can teach them is The Way.

Now for my husband, Lord, you know my many prayers,

Help him walk with you, Lord and keep him from all snares.

Make me the helpmate I should be, make me his biggest fan,

I am thankful for my best friend and love- a truly Godly man.

As my parents bodies slow, Lord, give them strength to get around

Surround them with their loved ones, Oh let your grace abound.

When they need help, let us be there, to provide all of their needs

Let us show them your untiring love with kind words, support and deeds.

Lord, I am so prone to wander, and try to take the easy way-

Keep me steadfast and strong like glue, to grow like you each day.

I don’t want to let them down, Lord, all those that cling to me,

But lest I make any of them fail, Give give them the victory.

Let their good deeds come from you Lord, let them give you the praise,

Let their struggles be for kingdom building, and never be a waste.

Give them strength for the journey and endurance for the race.

Please make our lives a testimony to your amazing grace.

-Malia Russell of Homemaking 911.com

(c) 2013

A Russell Family Haiku

With six children, we sure generate a lot of laundry.  One area where I found an easy improvement was in the area of bath towels.  It is fine with me for a child to use a bath towel more than once, so rather than having them launder their towels every time they are used, the simply hang them up neatly to dry.  The problem comes when no one really remembers which towel belongs to whom.  So, designate a specific color towel to each family member.  If all your towels match, do not go out and buy new towels.  Find a way to designate the ones you have.  In our house we used an old towel to cut out letters for each person’s initials and sewed them on the towels. These look cute and are easy to keep straight.  It is also easy to tell who left their towel on the floor.

This saves laundry time and time determining who left towels hanging around- since the kids know they are designated as theirs, they take ownership and do put them where they belong. When they do go through the wash, rather than folding them, they are just hung in the bathrooms where they belong.

If you have several children and it is not easy to tell whose pieces and parts belong to whom, we use the dot method.  The youngest kid gets one dot on their uniform pieces. The next kid up the line gets two, and so on.

Also, if you ever find any uniform parts around the house in unusual places, just grab the nearest child and tell them to take it to the uniform basket or laundry. Easy peasy.

For security reasons, it is not a good idea to hang all your car keys right by your front door, but it is a good idea to have them someplace you walk past regularly- so be careful but practical when choosing your keys’ permanent home.

One thing you should know from the very beginning is that the Lord does not give us more to do than he gives us TIME to do.  If you find yourself always unable to complete the tasks you have on hand, it is very likely you may be doing some things the Lord is not calling you to do.  Dear, if He calls you to do it, He will equip you, assuming you are not filling your time with things that are not from him.

This is not to guilt trip you if you are falling behind, but rather to give you a point to pray upon.  If you are constantly overwhelmed, overworked, over-committed, go before the Lord in prayer and ask him how He would have you spend your time, and start systematically eliminating everything else.   This can be painful at the time, but the fruit will be well worth it.

Are you eager to get started changing your habits to save some time?  I know I am!  Let’s go!

Here is the first one: http://www.homemaking911.com/2013/01/19/52-ways-to-save-time-simplify-your-kids-wardrobes/

I decided that since I have a washer and dryer that we use regularly, I could eliminate down to about five outfits per child, plus, a couple of special occasion outfits. Likewise, five pairs of socks, five underwear, etc became the rule in my mind. We receive a lot of hand-me-downs from friends- and this has been a huge blessing to our family, but I realized that just because I got a whole bin of 2 T clothes, I did not need to get all of them out and store them in their drawers and closet.  I could go through, pick a handful of outfits, and leave the rest stored away until the first set wore out or needed a season change.  If I knew I would not use them, I went ahead and passed them on to the next family.

This saves time in several ways:

1. No washing, drying, folding and carrying clothes twice because they fell back into the dirty laundry pile
2. No pawing through drawers looking for things that match- with just a few choices, this is fairly quick
3. No matching dozens of pairs of socks
4. No working to put everything away.  The drawer or basket space is plenty big to hold what they have
5. Its easy to update for a size or season change, and with this mindset, when you are going through the clothes, it is quick to make a donation or giveaway pile when you are getting new clothes (or new-to-you clothes).

The film is the telling of the story based on the life of Zach Bonner, a boy inspired by real life events to get out and make a difference.  While viewing the evening news and seeing the devastation nearby families were facing due to a storm, Zach gets inspired to collect the leftover storm supplies from his neighbors to send to the victims of the storm who had lost everything.  Through this experience, he learns of the more permanent problem of homelessness and determines to devote his time to making a difference in the lives of children who are without a home.  Throughout the course of the film, we see how he goes from simply collecting things from his neighbors to learning how to rally additional support for his worthy cause by utilizing publicity and perseverance. He, along with his mother, learn how to work their way through the bureaucratic red tape that threatened to derail his cause. With his matter-of-fact and calm demeaner, he inspires a  few key individuals to support his cause and help him overcome the financial and legal hurdles he faces along the way.

As a complimentary, but separate story line, you learn that one of Zach’s neighborhood friend had to face the loss of his family home and shows how he and his mother struggle- first with paying their rent, then a job loss, then ultimately leading to homelessness.  Their life of homelessness spiraled from simply seeking to health, to finally turning to petty theft to survive.  This film certainly did not make stealing look acceptable, but it gave us an opportunity to talk with our daughters about her choice and to discuss her options.  We also discussed why some people make poor choices during stressful times that others- not affected by the tragedy- can clearly see. These choices often lead to less and less good options. This story line was a good compliment to the movie, but was tied together beautifully at the end, but not in a contrived way- we found ourselves rooting for this family and being thrilled with any small victory they had.  This was certainly inspiring to us to want to do our own small part to help others in a hopeless situation.

This film had many positive elements and certainly left us inspired to try to “do our part” in a great cause.  However, it certainly earned it’s “PG” rating.  I would not let my younger children (ages 7 and 2) see this film.  Zach’s sister is an antagonist in this film and is foul-mouthed and sulky throughout most of it, which was very disturbing for my own teen girls.  She has a nasty mouth and spends most of her screen time yelling at her mother or discussing her dating life.  At age 17 she seems bent on running away and leaving her current situation, elements that would be confusing to a younger viewer. Indeed, at more than one point in the film, she actually packs bags to leave.  Frankly, we were ready for her to go near the end of the film.  They do try to redeem this part of the story at the end, but by then we were so disgusted with her obvious selfishness and attention seeking behavior, that we were left wondering why this part of the story line was included. Perhaps it was to show that this family was not a fairly-tale family without their own problems, but this could have been accomplished in a less painful way.  As for family-friendly, I would agree- as long as your children are older and you are with them to discuss and filter this young lady’s behavior. Her character certainly made me thankful for my own daughters and the relationship we have with them.

Here is the synopsis from Grace Hill Media:

Summary: From the director of “Rudy” and “Hoosiers,” LITTLE RED WAGON is based on the inspirational true story of an eight year old boy’s quest to help homeless children after the devastating Hurricane Charley ripped through his hometown.

Surviving the hurricane unscathed, Zach Bonner’s life was changed forever after watching news reports of the tens of thousands of families left homeless. Wanting to help in any way he could, Zach set out with his trusty, beat-up old red wagon to gather supplies from his neighbors to donate to the Relief Fund.

Against all odds, Zach’s mission to help homeless children was an overwhelming success. As the youngest person to ever create a Foundation, Zach blazing spirit of philanthropy has transformed homelessness not only in his town but in entire communities across America. His “Zach Paks” – a backpack filled with necessities and a toy — are distributed to needy kids across the nation.

To gain support for his cause, Zach walked from his home to the State Capitol…to Washington DC…and ultimately he walked across America to help the nation’s homeless children. Overcoming bureaucrats and blisters, Zach Bonner captured the hearts not only of his family but an entire nation

Talent: Chandler Canterbury, Anna Gunn, Frances O’Connor, Daveigh Chase

Rating: PG

Release Date: 11-02-2012

Running Time: 104 minutes

Now for the fun part:

I get to give away a DVD and movie poster of Little Red Wagon!  To qualify, leave a comment below and I will draw a winner from among those who comment. For additional chances to win, add a link to this review on facebook, twitter, or your blog and leave me an additional comment to let me know you did it.  Contest ends on January 20th.