“We’ve left our house in Spokane and are moving to a department (apartment) in Chicago,” Amélie confided soberly. Moving is NO FUN! I was just Amélie’s age (5) when our family moved from Indiana to Michigan, and I was heart broken, particularly because I wasn’t sure how I’d find my way back home so I could marry my boyfriend (also 5) when we grew up. It was the summer of 1956, and “Que Sera, Sera” was playing on radios everywhere! “Whatever will be will be.” 
Somehow, I found the words comforting and remember singing them to myself as I explored our new home in East Lansing. Little people feel things with every bit as much passion as adults! In an effort to soothe the kids, Jon gave us all a little slide show of their home and friends from Spokane, and I think it might have helped Amélie in her efforts to process everything, but poor little Sophie (3) burst into gales of inconsolable tears. 
Jon and Linda have been doing everything they can to ease the way, but there’s no doubt about it: Moving is tremendously unsettling! Yes, it’s fun to spend some time with Nana and Grandpa, and yes, it will be fun to spend some time in Germany and visit with Gerlinde’s family, but leaving all their friends and moving from their lovely home out west into Chicago—one of America’s biggest (and scariest) cities—is paramount to panic! 
Are you facing a move? I think it’s good to get in touch with our feelings during transitions, but I also think it’s important to track our thoughts. We shouldn’t just listen to ourselves, we should talk to ourselves too…speaking truths into our lives to give us courage, such as Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” 
God loves us. He is doing a good work in us to make us more like Himself! Rather than being fearful about the future, let’s ask God for the grace to claim Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” 
P.S.—I am so thankful for my courageous daughter-in-law, who is a beautiful example of Sarah from the Bible (and her mother Sarah, who left her homeland and followed her husband to the mission field in Tanzania). “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement” (I Peter 3:6).
“When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother
What will I be
Will I be pretty
Will I be rich
Here’s what she said to me
“Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be
“When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart
What lies ahead
Will we have rainbows
Day after day
Here’s what my sweetheart said
“Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be
“Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother
What will I be
Will I be handsome
Will I be rich
I tell them tenderly
“Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future’s not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be
Que Sera, Sera.” (—Composed by Jay Livingston)
“Nana, I just overcame the Green-eyed Monster!” Amélie announced with bright-eyed pleasure. “Sophie’s present is bigger than mine, but I don’t mind.” 
Since the girls have been with us, I’ve probably read through all the Berenstain Bear books multiple times (as has Uncle Joel and other doting adults). 
The books date back to the years my kids were growing up, and they tell stories about children grappling with all the common challenges kids face, such as the importance of telling the truth and learning good manners, dealing with friends (and not so friendly kids), going to school, the dentist, church, etc. 
The authors (and those of us caregivers who read them) are definitely trying to instill good habits and moral values into our kids, but you never really know seriously kids are taking the lessons. 
The Green-eyed Monster is about learning to overcome envy, and what a joy to see Amélie’s excitement over understanding the problem and implementing the solution in her own life! 
Weary caregivers, take heart! Little ones do hear. I think most people hear. May we be faithful to keep planting seeds of Truth into the lives of those we love!
“In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good” (Ecclesiastes 11:6). 
“Show a Little Bit of Love and Kindness”
Elanor is the youngest of our 16 grand children, and things can get very chaotic when we have a quorum together for the holidays! However, I’ve noticed that when she’s sitting on her mother’s lap, staring into her mother’s eyes, she is usually the picture of contentment!
My grandson Reid asked his mother for a watermelon cake for his birthday. Apparently they’d seen a picture on Pinterest. Carlie says it tastes like a cold wedge of fruit salad, and everybody who tried it liked it, although there was some dissension over whether or not it really qualified as a “cake.” So, I think this might make the perfect “wedge salad” to serve for the Fourth of July. If you bill it that way, don’t you think the kids will love it? Think how (relatively) healthy it is as a dessert, too…just watermelon frosted with sweetened whipped cream. I’m definitely going to try it on my grand kids. If you try it, let me know what you think, and I’ll do the same!
BTW, here’s an earlier fruit extravaganza that Carlie made some years ago to help feed our youth group! Talk about talent and good taste! 🙂 Thanks for being such a stellar daughter-in-law, Carlie! You’re a doll. (Actually, I have to say, I’ve got five of the best son and daughter-in-laws in the world!!! No prejudice!!!) 
It seemed like it should be a snap to get that last fastener hooked under the seat, but Linda spent about 15 minutes trying to get our three car seats fastened into the back seat of our car properly, and then I tried for another 5. 
Where were our husbands when we needed them? (On the road, being heroes, of course, but sadly not at home at the moment.) How in the world do women without husbands manage?? Thankfully, I had a stroke of brilliance: Joel works just a few minutes from our home! I drove over, and in about 30 seconds, he was able to fasten the last latch for me…first try…no groaning, straining, or having Amelie grab our legs and try to help by adding her little 5-year-0ld frame on our side of the tug of war with the strap. 
There are just a lot of things that men can do easily that a woman really can’t do!
I know there are also things that—no matter how much I stress and strain—I cannot do! But, God can! 
Godpower is beyond manpower. Needing help? If you just can’t get it done “by self” (as my kids would say when they were little), why not ask God? He’s just a prayer away, and He promises to help us if we’ll ask!
I’m not exactly sure what the laws are in Michigan, but I do know children have to ride in car seats, so I (quietly) freaked out when I discovered that my three little grand daughters arrived at the airport without car seats. Several options flashed through my mind: A. Smuggle them home riding low and loose in the backseat B. Buy three new car seats at a store and rush back to the airport while they waited, or C. Try to rent some car seats at the airport. Option A was illegal and unsafe, so that was out. Option B was too costly and time consuming. That only left Option C, which we decided to do. Of course, none of the car rental agencies would rent me car seats without renting a car for 24 hours, but I saved $50 for insurance by leaving the car parked on the lot and just using the car seats in my car.
This morning at 4:30 am I sent my husband off on a grand adventure to Spokane, Washington, where he’s going to be helping our son Jonathan drive all his “worldly goods” in a moving van (with his car on a dolly) back to GR. 
Jon has just been appointed as the director for Moody Bible Institute’s new Center for Global Theological Education, so his family is moving from the West Coast to Chicago (but via Grand Rapids and Germany, where they’ll be spending his sabbatical between now and January 1, 2017). 
Meanwhile, back at Tanglewood Cottage (our house), all Jon’s “worldly treasures” (i.e. his wife, Gerlinde, and their three darling, preschool-age daughters) are in the air flying eastward to Grand Rapids. 
Sooooo, I’m rushing about stocking the fridge and freshening up the house in preparation for Gerlinde’s arrival this afternoon. We will all be together here for the month of July before they head to Germany for the fall semester. I am super excited to see them, but I’m sharing all this to say that—although my head is swimming with things I want to share from the past weeks— 
such as how impressive Venice looks sailing through the Grand Canal, 
or how much fun we had on our last birthday club outing to the Living History Museum in White Hall, Michigan,
or how amazing the new Cypress Unit is at Pine Rest, 
where we attended the dedication and reception last night…
As happy and exciting as life is right now, 
I am anticipating being a full-time grandma (“Nana”) and mother for the next weeks, and as such, my blogging time will be reduced to little bits and pieces. 
Therefore, if I don’t post often, or if my posts have approximately zero to one photos attached, know that this is “the best” I have to offer at this point…perhaps just a patchwork of little thoughts. 
It reminds me of something I learned as a young mother, when my personal quiet times of meditation and prayer were often interrupted by needy infants. 
I read somewhere that our prayers to our beloved heavenly father don’t have to be a like a big, ornate blanket. 
God knows our hearts and our needs, and He appreciates quilts too…simple moments of time when we lift our hearts to praise while nursing an infant…or when we send up little (or HUGE) requests for grace while struggling to keep calm and mother on in the midst of messes. 
Whatever you’re doing this July, I pray that you’ll be busy practicing the presence of God, as I also hope to be doing. May we find peace and rest in His presence, and may God bless you on your spiritual journey!
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits,
