Prayers for the Vikings

In general Oliver definitely lags behind in maturity compared to where his siblings were at this age. Ian did have the advantage of having a December birthday. It doesn't help that Oliver's birthday is in August. In addition to behavior issues and schoolwork type skills, he also has seemed far more clueless in terms of spiritual development. Nadia and Ian both are concerned that Oliver hasn't become a Christian yet. I am grateful that they care and understand the importance, but I usually ask them to back off because I haven't gotten the sense yet that he comprehends enough to make that decision. However lately he has surprised me a few times.

A few days ago I was reading a book about the beginnings of Islam and the life of Muhammed. I was about to read about their connection with Ishmael, and I asked, "Who was Ishmael's (half) brother?". I was expecting Nadia or Ian to answer, but I was totally shocked that Oliver was the first to answer my question, and he gave the correct answer "Isaac." You could have knocked me over with a feather! Then yesterday I was reading a book about the Vikings, and Oliver shook my arm and said, "Mommy we need to pray." When I asked him why, he told me that we needed to pray for the Vikings not to be mad. Nadia was about to say something about the fact the Vikings died hundreds of years ago, but I bowed my head and listened to Oliver as he prayed for the Vikings. I'm assuming not too many people pray for the Vikings these days, unless we're talking about the football team. I've never been one to pray that my team (Steelers) wins, but I have prayed a few times over the years that they would play their best or that no one would get injured.

Today I'm giving thanks...

1. The kids and I went to the Little League Museum on Saturday. We usually go once a year. I almost skipped it this year to attend a Saturday Science program at Susquehanna University instead, but we ended up picking the museum because it is closer to home and didn't start as early in the morning. Paul didn't sleep at all on Friday night. He was at work at 1AM on Saturday morning and was utterly exhausted when he got home in the afternoon.

2. The Giants won on Sunday! This was their second win of the season. If my team was 2-8, I would have zero hope of making it to the playoffs, but my optimistic husband thinks there's still a chance they could be a wildcard.

3. I plowed through many thing on my to do list the past two days. It's a wonderful feeling! Saturday and Sunday I spent most of the afternoon and evening working on a big Shutterfly order. Before coupons the total was $332.10, but I paid a grand total of eight cents for everything! Yesterday my main project was writing two final exams. We also ran some errands yesterday including picking up their flag football pictures because we hadn't attended the closing program. One errand was to use two coupons (worth $23) at Sears to get some clothes for Paul, Oliver, and Ian.

4.The kids and I also enjoyed dinner at Friendly's (using a gift card). If we go there Monday-Wednesday, it costs $25 including the tip for the four of us to have dinner and a sundae because the kids' meals are only $2.99 (drink, dinner, and sundae) those three days.

5. It took me more than a week to finish it (as I watched 15 minutes here and there), but I was able to watch the movie Priceless on Amazon (for free).