31/365 Silent Prayers.

 

Team Schlatter was at it again -- enjoying our Friday off from home school.  (WACO has nothing on us we are on our second year a of four day school week!)  While working I was at peace with all of my yesterday worries.  I must admit I was taking great pride in biting my tongue when I wanted to seek revenge, and how I had got over it.  Then I got a call from my mom, encouraging words from my sister-in-law, love from my husband and children, and lastly words of encouragement from a dear friend on Facebook.  Intercession works -- they had sent me peace and silenced my tongue.  I am humbled and thankful for the silent prayers of friends and family.  Being and looking for the hands and feet moments in 2014 has taught me to except and give prayer.

30/365 Mom.

Have you ever had one of those days when you just need your mom?  Today was my day.  The world seemed to sneak up on me all at once.  I am so blessed with a mom who will laugh with me, dream with me, and today cry with me even hundreds of miles away.  My hands and feet moment was when I can hear her voice tell me, "take a deep breathe."  At that moment all was good again in my world.  Never underestimate the power of your words.

29/365 Stilts.

Another work day for Team Schlatter.  Today it was made clear how blessed we are to have children that love to help and learn.  They truly where my hands and feet at one point or another today with all the moving out of the kitchen, living room, and dining room.  Love our hands-on home school classes -- today dry walling and stilt walking!

28/365 Someday.

Do you, like me, save things/ideas for someday?  Our family room in the basement has a small kitchenette (from my daycare days), and SOMEDAY I was going to update it (Pinterest idea for the upper cupboards) and use my Coca-Cola collection rather than storing it away.    Today was the day, someday.  I took down the cabinet and installed a new backer of old boards and removed the doors.  I enjoyed my time with my tools again creating a custom open plate rack and mug rack.  The time was priceless, I could feel my creativity growing.  Team Schlatter hands and feet moment was the reminder to not wait for someday.

27/365 Second Chance.

Team Schlatter was in demo mode today on our remodel project.  With the help of my great employee Travis we are well on the way.  Our work day was filled with smashing tile, removing the fireplace, and scarping off an acoustic ceiling -- not to mention many stories and laughter.  Travis has become part of our family, and if we would have listened to the "world" we would have not hired him.  He has a past, don't we all, but a past that makes some judge and not forget.  We took a chance on him, and what a blessing it has been to our business and our family.  Today while having a great afternoon I was reminded that to be the hands and feet of Jesus we must listen to that still small voice and many days tune out the world.  Thankfully I believe and follow a God of second chances.

26/365 Boots.

 

Team Schlatter member Briana-Sue got new boots for Christmas this year.  She proudly wears them in support of her friend/couch Cinda.  Today at church she asked again for the church to pray for Cinda and her battle against breast cancer.  This is where I must confess at first I thought "NO, don't ask again, you ask every week."  Then I heard that still small voice telling me to be quiet.  With more thought I at that moment realized that she is fervently praying for her friend, she is praying without ceasing.  With even more thought I have to admit I'm not sure I have ever really done that.  (Wow!  Did I just admit that out loud.)  I was then reminded of Matthew 19:14 -- But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me.  Don't stop them!  For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."  Our Team Schlatter hands and feet moment of the day was Briana-Sue being fervent in prayer for her friend, unceasingly.  Teaching her mom what prayer really means. 

25/365 Autism Speaks.

 

Scrolling through Facebook world one morning I saw the above photo on a friends page.  Her words read that her daughters were making scarves (they called it "Wrapped in Love") as a fundraiser for Autism Speaks in honor of their cousin Ben.  My heart melted at the chance to encourage young ladies with servant hearts.  I also jumped at the chance to give to a charity that helps with autism as I too have a cousin with two children that battle the disorder.  Team Schlatter was able to encourage two young women, support a great charity, and get great scarves!

24/365 Flip.

 

We have all heard the saying the "cobbler's children have no shoes", but have you heard the one the flippers house...you can guess how the story goes.  Team Schlatter got their hands and feet moving today to kick off the flip our OWN house challenge!  Yes 16 years of marriage, two children, more pets than I can count or remember has put a long list of repairs and some much needed changes to our want/need list.  Cleaning out the main floor is our first task, ugh did I mention the 16 years part!  Easy to pick out what I want to keep and move to the garage or somewhere safe, it's just what to do with all those leftovers?!?!  Did I also mention convincing David of all my Pinterest ideas :)  Wish us luck, say a little prayer for us -- we did survive building the home while planning our wedding.  (However we were both still living with our parents!)

23/365 One Question?

Team Schlatter is joining the "throw back Thursday" theme found on Facebook today.  Today is Debra Lund's (David's cousin) birthday, and this photo is from the daycare days at her house.  Today when seeing it was her birthday I was reminded of a question she asked me one day back then.  "Would you be interested in buying a rental house?"  She had known I was tinkering with the idea of a flip house.  That one question spurred me into a search for my first rental property.  Although I never bought a rental for her, it did lead me to my first flip house, then second, then third ... you get the idea!  So today I am reminded of a hands and feet moment of the past that started with one simple question.  Her question encouraged something that was brewing within me, that I might have never went after had she not asked.  Victory Lane Adventures started with that one question, and I am thankful.

22/365 New Door.

 

Team Schlatter hands and feet moment is thanks to the work of many men!  Today LTR Auto, Inc. started the process of putting in a quick service oil change bay.  As owners we hear and see what customers are needing, and we hope this new service will serve our customers well.  

21/365 Tumble.

 

Team Schlatter girls got out to cheer on the tumblers at the WACO basketball games tonight.  Fun night to see two little Crawfordsville girls show their skills!  Seems like yesterday that Briana-Sue was tumbling with Ariel Energy.  What a blessing to see so many proud mom and dads, being the hands and feet of Jesus to their children.  Never underestimate the power we as parents have to encourage our children and build them up, or discourage.   

20/365 Steps.

 

In life we all come up with great plans for our lives and the steps we are going to take to get there.  Problem is, life.  Life does not always go as planned, and actually one of our Team Schlatter motto's is "if you want to make God laugh, make plans!"  Some of you may know that we had a miscarriage after the birth of Briana-Sue and before Ben.  It was a dark time as we had made plans, the baby was coming at the perfect time right at the beginning of summer which worked great in our schedules.  But then life, "I'm sorry Lori but there was no baby present today in your ultrasound."  Even though life did not go as we planned, we did three months later get news that we were again pregnant.  In God's time not ours.  Today Team Schlatter is packaging up a gift of encouragement to a family who too made plans, but life happened to them.  Please pray that they too can rest easy in God's timing, it is perfect.

19/365 Play-date.

Team Schlatter hands and feet moment was given to mom and dad by two wonderful children and a grandma!  Grandma called to ask if the kids would like to come visit the cousins that were staying overnight.  "Sure, we will stay too!" Ben answered.  Briana-Sue not so sure.  Ben then announced, "Briana mom and dad need a night for a play-date, you can go to grandmas!"  Love that boy :)  As parents we are very eager to set up play-dates for our kids.  It was a wonderful much needed surprise to get to enjoy one for mom and dad too!

18/365 Yes.

How could Team Schlatter member David turn down an offer of, "Would you like to bless someone tonight?"  A simple question that lead to an evening of blessings.  David excepted the challenge thrown out to him from his friend to fix a strangers truck that had left him stranded north of Washington.  Ryan got the truck back to his shop and volunteered to be David's assistant by holding the flashlight!  Being a Saturday night Ryan had plans to go to a local church that was having a men's retreat and supper.  So he kindly took the stranded man to the church for a warm meal to wait for his truck.  While at the retreat he ate and fellowshipped with men and won the grand prize drawing, his number being drawn out of hundreds to choose from.  When going to except the prize he told of his bad luck that had brought him there in the first place and the kindness of a man picking him up and another fixing his truck while he was there eating.  He had never experienced such kindness.  He then told about his sick wife at home that forced him to work two jobs to make ends meet.  Men from the retreat gathered around him and prayed for him and his wife and lead him to the Lord!  The banquet came to an end and a man and his youth group that the stranger had been sitting with took him back to the shop to check on his truck.  As they arrived David was ready to start the truck.  It started and he was back on the road, taking with him his winnings, food from the retreat and from Ryan's family, and his new found faith.  He would be able to make his midnight deadline tonight to clean a commercial building in Oskaloosa.  David's "yes" is our Team Schlatter hands and feet moment of the day.

17/365 Wrestling.

Team Schlatter hands and feet moment was Ben on and off the mat.  He showed great progress in his wrestling, in his confidence, in his sportsmanship, and being a good team mate.  He was graceful in his wins and his lose, what a difference a year makes!  So proud of the young man he is becoming, and proud of his silver medal tonight. 

16/365 Telephone.

 

Team Schlatter had the privilege to be the hands and feet today to Grandma Vivian.  Our Thursday visits have been a staple of each week of home school since the beginning, and our summers too! (You know where you can find Team Schlatter on Thursdays at 10:30am)  Today we were able to deliver an amplified telephone to her, and then be there to witness her first phone call.  With great excitement we got to hear her say, "I can hear you!"  What a blessing to give something back to a woman who has given me so much. 

15/365 Frost.

The Team Schlatter hands and feet moment is thanks many family and friends.  Our summer project was building a cattle shed that included the ability to cool down the livestock in the summer heat.  The up side to my "go big or go home" husband is our summer shed is also a great winter shed since he installed geothermal.  Team Schlatter has been delighted to open our doors to two winter calves that were losing the battle of the winter freeze.  My photo of the day is "Frost" who was born 10 days ago and was bit by the frost of winter on his ears and nose.

14/365 Words.

 

Today I am thankful for the hands and feet moments that happen in the darkness of driving at night.  What a blessing to have conversations and singing with my daughter and niece after a night of basketball.  Don't underestimate the power of your words, and the power of listening.  Blessed.

13/365 JH Boys.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. Hebrews 10:24 (NLT)  Tonight the Team Schlatter girls used our hands & feet to help cheer on the WACO JH boys basketball teams at their season openers. 

12/365 Mat Side.

What can be better than an invitation from a friend to a Hawkeye wrestling meet?  Your coach being one of the officials for the matches and you both get mat side seats!  Coach Mike has been a great inspiration to both of these young men, and today was made a little better from his kindness.  A true hand & feet moment that they will never forget.

11/365 Lambs.

Sometimes Team Schlatter gets a little dirty being the hands and feet.  We helped Uncle Todd move one set of ewes and lambs out of the lambing barn, and cleaned pens to set up for round number two.    

10/365 Shawn.

Our Team Schlatter hands & feet moment was thanks to the crafty-ness of Ben.  Today he created a "flower" bouquet of Dum-Dum suckers for a Birthday surprise for Shawn.  I must say Team Schlatter is blessed with great employees that support our shop-life, home-life, and mission-life.   

9/365 Trumped.

My photo today is of the little thank you note I prepared and took to my dental hygienist after my morning cleaning with a bottle of our homemade lotion.  My planned little Team Schlatter hands & feet moment.  BUT I must say what is amazing about this daily adventure is God always reminds us who is truly in control.  Today Chuck and Nancy woke up on their trip to Florida to find our Haiti truck with a puddle of tranny fluid underneath.  Chuck was directed to a local NAPA store (not kidding!) and at the door asked the gentleman leaving who he should find in town to fix the transmission line.  That would be me he said.  He had a service truck right in the parking lot, and had Chuck up and running in 1 hour!  The man would not take money for his time or materials.  God is so good.  So today our Team Schlatter hands & feet moment was trumped by God himself showing His awesome power.  Miracles happen.  Keep praying.

8/365 Sanity.

Sanity is defined as the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health.  I'm not sure about you, but for me as a mom I most days struggle to find my sanity.  However if you are like me there are little things you do to keep yourself in check.  My little sanity keeper is a balanced checkbook.  Now when I say balanced, I mean to the penny.  Today my hands & feet moment was given to Team Schlatter by our wonderful bank tellers and bank.  They kindly upon my request went back and re-printed three months of statements so I could find my SANITY!  I found the mistakes and today I have three balanced checkbooks, and for one little moment in time, I have sanity.  (The photo of the day is an antique PSB deposit bag from my Grandma Vivian, best money woman I know!)

7/365 Spoons.

Today's Team Schlatter hands & feet moment is thanks to many of you.  Today we said good-bye to Chuck and Nancy (Our Water 4 Haiti connection.) as they drove away the FULL box truck of supplies headed to Florida.  Just weeks ago I put a challenge out on Facebook for everyone to collect spoons for two churches and many orphanages we work with.  The response was amazing and one of the many boxes on the truck is a box of 359 spoons!  What a wonderful surprise it will be to these children who will get their own spoon at meal time, no sharing or waiting.  We have emptied the large cup and saucer on the counter at LTR Auto, Inc. in Wayland to fill it again!

6/365 Love Language.

When David and I were first married I LOVED buying him gifts.  Then would be disappointed that he didn't really love them as much as I did giving them.  Then we read and studied the book 5 Love Languages.  It showed me that I LOVE presents, and David not so much.  So today the Team Schlatter hands & feet moment is clean sheets!  Might sound funny, but I know when I wash all the bedding, David feels loved.  This has been a hard lesson for me, and I must admit I still struggle with it.  However I know it is important to give love to people in a language they understand.

5/365 Sunshine.

 

Sometimes being the hands & feet of Jesus means taking a leap of faith.  In the past I have felt the nudge to contact someone, and I consciously made the choice to not do anything about it.  However in 2014 I am making the choice to follow my hearts lead and to be obedient when I am nudged.  So today is my first little leap, I'm sending out a "little box of sunshine" to someone who needs a smile or two.  Hopefully when they open it they will smile and know that Team Schlatter wrapped it in love.  (I'll post a picture later of my little box, but not till it has time to get there!)

4/365 Trucks.

Today's Team Schlatter hand & feet moment has been a dream of David's since our first trip home from Haiti.  We along with others from Hawkeyes Helping Haiti had the awesome task of stuffing two vehicles loaded with supplies bound for Haiti.  (Including a green drum set!)  What a blessing to married to a dreamer, and that he is passing his "go big or go home" mentality to his children!  What a blessing to have a truck load of donations and the funds to get them there -- THANK YOU to all who donated.  (Prayer warriors: pray that when the truck leaves Tuesday it makes it safely to Miami, FL where it waits for its boat!)

3/365 Drum Set.

Today our Team Schlatter hands & feet moment is from Ben.  He is donating his drum set to a church in Haiti.  He is ready and willing, I am struggling with letting go of the memories that the drum set hold for Team Schlatter.  David and I got the set of drums on a three way trade including cash and old ewes. (yes sheep!)  The cow bell is from our favorite drummer once "basement dweller".  Lastly as a mom I can still see him coming down in great surprise that Santa brought them to him, and how happy he was that Santa uses duct tape!  (They were used and the previous owner had duct tape on the heads.)  I was confronted today that we can step in the way of some one's giving if we are not careful.  I could have easily been selfish and kept them for the memories.  Then I came to the realization that the memories are in my heart, and how blessed I am to be raising a giver.

2/365 Hair Brush.

 

Have you ever been in a hurry at Wal-Mart carrying your cat food and kitty litter, and the crazy lady in front of you is buying 104 hair brushes!  Yep, that was our Team Schlatter hands & feet moment today 25¢ hair brushes in the clearance isle.  They will bless many people near and far -- the man behind me with the cat supplies not so much!

1/365 : Hands & Feet.

Happy New Year from Team Schlatter!

The encouragement we received during the 365 photo-a-day challenge is what spurred our NEW Team Schlatter 2014 blog. While the photo-a-day challenge was started to encourage me to use my new camera, God truly did something much bigger to Team Schlatter. Not just I the photographer (which that soon changed too!) but our family as a whole.

The lessons learned are too many to list but here are a few, if you look for good you will find it, if you look for bad you will find that too. If you live a life with a purpose you have something to wake up to each day. If you approach life with a team they hold you accountable on the days you don't want to. Lastly we learned that if you step up, God will bless you and go with you, but don't be fooled the enemy will be there too, he is real.

In 2014 Team Schlatter is challenging ourselves to follow the words of Hebrews 10:24 (NLT):

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works." 

Some call it "random acts of kindness" or maybe "pay it forward". However we are taking it a step further by removing the "random" and replacing that with daily. Our ideas are small, big, for ourselves, for one another, for friends, for strangers, for our community, for other nations, but one thing for sure they are with purpose -- we are purposely striving to daily to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now." ~Saint Teresa of Avila.

Follow us. Encourage us. Join us. May 2014 be our best year yet.
With Sincere Love, Team Schlatter.

365/365 Tongue.

Just like the 364 days prior to this last day of the challenge, I have one plan, and God has another.  I planned a funny post about ending the year with pop-tarts since I started the year on saltines sick in bed.  However Clara (niece) took this picture in the lamb barn tonight and I just couldn't ignore it.  Then I couldn't find the words, and then I found this quote.  Amazing.  If I could strive for one thing in 2014 it would be that my tongue would first ask my brain these three questions FIRST!  Team Schlatter wishes you all a very blessed 2014.