This morning I am sitting here waiting on baby toddler to wake up (so we can get our morning walk in before we meet friends at the park) and I am watching my ever-so-growing-up BIG toddler snuggled on the couch with his pillow/blanket and some milk.
I'm watching him and he seriously just looks so BIG. How did that happen??
One of my favorite new things (I actually call it a pleasant surprise!) is that in the past three weeks or so, he uses manners! This is music to my ears around the house because it's unprompted. Guess all those thousands of prompts are starting to show for themselves.'
About a month ago, he would - every now and then - say "thank you!" unprompted and it always blew me away. I'm sure I made a huge deal about it.
Funnier, though, is that now he does it about 90% of the time, but he has shortened it to "thanks." Cute.
He's got "please" down pat, too, and for those few times he forgets, he's quickly reminded.
Now here's the big one: in the past few weeks he has said "Yes Ma'am" to me! Sometimes it's out of context but still cute nonetheless.
For the record though - he still needs prompting with people he's not around all the time. Guess it's the shyness - I don't know. But that doesn't bother me at all. It will come. I've just been pleasantly surprised to hear it prompt-less with Jason and me (and even Noah sometimes which is super cute).
I think I finally hear the little guy - off to start the day! :)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Music
Music.
I love it. I breathe it...it can touch my soul and express my thoughts in ways that other things can't even compare.
Sometimes it's the only venue that feels right when expressing my thoughts and feelings to the Lord.
And then this morning on my walk I listened to a sermon on Revelations as it relates to worship (Driscoll) and the idea was posed (through different quoted theologians/Scriptures/studies) that:
Music just might be the language of Heaven...
He talks about how when Adam and Eve were created, the sang to each other...that the first spoken word was recorded after the fall of Adam and Eve.
That maybe, music is the language of Heaven and speaking is what a fallen people do.
Driscoll also talked about how God delights in our singing...that when we sing, our songs go straight to the throne of God.
It's interesting how God created music as means to use in worship and expression of adoration to Him, and how Satan has also had his way with this art; perverting it and using such a sacred form of worship to spurn evil thoughts and actions. Interesting.
Anyway, I'm not really sure where I am going with this post, but this whole concept of music has been very thought provoking to me throughout the day.
Music is the language of Heaven...I sure hope so. :)
I love it. I breathe it...it can touch my soul and express my thoughts in ways that other things can't even compare.
Sometimes it's the only venue that feels right when expressing my thoughts and feelings to the Lord.
And then this morning on my walk I listened to a sermon on Revelations as it relates to worship (Driscoll) and the idea was posed (through different quoted theologians/Scriptures/studies) that:
Music just might be the language of Heaven...
He talks about how when Adam and Eve were created, the sang to each other...that the first spoken word was recorded after the fall of Adam and Eve.
That maybe, music is the language of Heaven and speaking is what a fallen people do.
Driscoll also talked about how God delights in our singing...that when we sing, our songs go straight to the throne of God.
It's interesting how God created music as means to use in worship and expression of adoration to Him, and how Satan has also had his way with this art; perverting it and using such a sacred form of worship to spurn evil thoughts and actions. Interesting.
Anyway, I'm not really sure where I am going with this post, but this whole concept of music has been very thought provoking to me throughout the day.
Music is the language of Heaven...I sure hope so. :)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
shaggy
I like the long, curly, shaggy look...but not so much on my 1-year-old because it was still looking like baby thin hair! So today, unprompted (except for my disgust of the mullet), we got Noah's hair cut - SHORT! Shorter than I expected, but I like it. :) I think when he's a year older or so, he can totally pull off the long shaggy look (Lincoln's head will forever be too big for this fashion!). But until then...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Good News
We're jumping for joy around here!!!!
And granting tons of cheesy, toothy grins...
Coupled with soft, endearing smiles...
Because of 2 answered prayers:
Our house has an official contract for sale in order, with closing date set for June 2nd, but most importantly:
we just found out FOR SURE that our little nephew Jack does NOT have Cystic Fibrosis!!!! Praise the Lord!!! He is home now and doing fantastic!!
(And that's just a fun outside picture I inserted randomly).
Bring on summer!!!!!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Immense Faith
Over the past year, the theme of God's working in my life has centered around Him teaching me more and more about His faithfulness.
What a ride it's been.
Some stories here and there have been shared on this blog or in conversations I've had with some of you...others have been shared on our private blog about what God's doing in our hearts through our finances...
But there are stories and this verse has been the theme through them all:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6
Worry about NOTHING...because God is FAITHFUL.
Sometimes in the past I've taken that to mean "because he is faithful to work this out...to fix this problem..to heal this sickness..."
And those are all true statements, but it doesn't mean those things are His will.
You see I used to think of God being faithful as God "doing" something...but I have since leanred that God being faithful means that God IS.
God IS love...he loves me.
God IS good...therefore He intends me no eternal harm.
God IS believable...He is who He says He is...
God IS faithful...God IS.
Faith fights...it presses on through the trials, through the pain, through the uncertainty...because on the other side is eternal life with Jesus in GLORY.
Wanna know about a gift we received last night? A precious friend came to our house and blessed us with incredibly rich conversation about (you guessed it) God's faithfulness. He was, just a few weeks ago, at his wife's death bed letting her go to live with Jesus, and shared with us some of those final days.
He began to share how his wife had been praying that she would be given glimpses of Heaven on her death bed so that she could share some of what she saw in those final days on earth.
God granted her that.
She shared some of these experiences with her daughter and husband, and hearing him in turn share those with us ignited a mighty sense of JOY in my soul I can't even begin to explain on here. I challenge you to read their blog post about it and see if the same Joy might be ignited in your soul.
I came away from our conversations feeling like Jesus had just given me a precious gift. A gift encouraging me to keep fighting...keep perspective on what brings glory to His Kingdom and leave alone that which is selfishly motivated.
Oh and what was our Beth Moore subject this morning???
Faithfulness. :)
And just yesterday Lincoln was acting sick again and we thought Noah had pink eye. I knew what the subject was this morning and I wanted to be there more than any other time this semester. I felt it was an attack. Seriously.
So I prayed...I prayed against illness that I would be able to go and hear God speak.
He answered. :)
Here are some things on faith and prayer (which fuels our faith) that I have collected over the years...some scribbled throughout my Bible (particularly in the Hebrews 11 area) and some gathered through speakers and such:
Faith is believing God CAN...even if He doesn't.
Faith is confidence in God, even before we see Him emerging.
Faith is a certainty about God that transforms the way we live.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
When we get down, God gets UP, and the devils/evils of the world start RUNNING in fear.
What a ride it's been.
Some stories here and there have been shared on this blog or in conversations I've had with some of you...others have been shared on our private blog about what God's doing in our hearts through our finances...
But there are stories and this verse has been the theme through them all:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6
Worry about NOTHING...because God is FAITHFUL.
Sometimes in the past I've taken that to mean "because he is faithful to work this out...to fix this problem..to heal this sickness..."
And those are all true statements, but it doesn't mean those things are His will.
You see I used to think of God being faithful as God "doing" something...but I have since leanred that God being faithful means that God IS.
God IS love...he loves me.
God IS good...therefore He intends me no eternal harm.
God IS believable...He is who He says He is...
God IS faithful...God IS.
Faith fights...it presses on through the trials, through the pain, through the uncertainty...because on the other side is eternal life with Jesus in GLORY.
Wanna know about a gift we received last night? A precious friend came to our house and blessed us with incredibly rich conversation about (you guessed it) God's faithfulness. He was, just a few weeks ago, at his wife's death bed letting her go to live with Jesus, and shared with us some of those final days.
He began to share how his wife had been praying that she would be given glimpses of Heaven on her death bed so that she could share some of what she saw in those final days on earth.
God granted her that.
She shared some of these experiences with her daughter and husband, and hearing him in turn share those with us ignited a mighty sense of JOY in my soul I can't even begin to explain on here. I challenge you to read their blog post about it and see if the same Joy might be ignited in your soul.
I came away from our conversations feeling like Jesus had just given me a precious gift. A gift encouraging me to keep fighting...keep perspective on what brings glory to His Kingdom and leave alone that which is selfishly motivated.
Oh and what was our Beth Moore subject this morning???
Faithfulness. :)
And just yesterday Lincoln was acting sick again and we thought Noah had pink eye. I knew what the subject was this morning and I wanted to be there more than any other time this semester. I felt it was an attack. Seriously.
So I prayed...I prayed against illness that I would be able to go and hear God speak.
He answered. :)
Here are some things on faith and prayer (which fuels our faith) that I have collected over the years...some scribbled throughout my Bible (particularly in the Hebrews 11 area) and some gathered through speakers and such:
Faith is believing God CAN...even if He doesn't.
Faith is confidence in God, even before we see Him emerging.
Faith is a certainty about God that transforms the way we live.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
When we get down, God gets UP, and the devils/evils of the world start RUNNING in fear.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Update on Jack
We have a little miracle on our hands and his name is Baby Jack. :) I got some pictures from my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law that they have been taking on their phones to share with you all. The first one is super sad and it wrenches my heart to see, but it's imperative for what's to come so I wanted you to see what this little guy's had to endure:
The poor little guy had to have a ventilator to breath, another tube down his throat to clear his colon, a feeding tube, and IV's for pain medication (along with the bag outside of his colon to collect waste). Doesn't it just break your heart?!! But GOD IS FAITHFUL.
Below is the picture my mother-in-law took of Jack from her phone TODAY:
PRAISE THE LORD!!! This sweet angel is off the ventilator, is drinking milk (not getting fed from an IV), decreased pain medicine, off the tube down his throat that cleans out his colon, and do you wanna hear the best part??? Through some preliminary test results that came back today, they think it is very unlikely now that Jack has Cystic Fibrosis - a big concern turned hardly a concern at all in a matter of a day!!!
So just wanted to share God's faithfulness, His deep LOVE for us, and His promise that He will take care of us - no matter what (and I am confident this is true even the results would have turned painful).
And here are some more pictures - just cause he's so darn cute. :)
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Worry Worry Worry
I hate it.
I tend to do it (or so my mother has told me for years).
It can consume me more than most sometimes.
I don't think it's biblical (the Bible says DON'T worry! Not, "don't worry...well, unless you're child is sick, then you can worry...")
So my line of defense when I start to do it is to pray (this works for me everytime).
And I feel like this past week I've been praying a lot! :)
So here's what I'm fighting worry on; I tell you so that it's written down, away from me, because I know I can joyfully look back down the line and see there was never a reason to worry.
*Baby Jack. They still don't know what is wrong with him, but finally got the lung issue resolved and he is breathing completely on his own as of this morning! (See - why am I worried?? God is in this!).
*The House. The inspection is first thing tomorrow morning and they are also bringing us a sale purchase contract. So why am I worried? Because we agreed on a price that is ridiculously low for our house, and therefore are selling it in "as-is" condition. Buyers are currently okay with this but I'm worried something's going to turn up in the inspection that neither of us have the money to fix.
*Bruce Wayne. He hasn't eaten normal for the past week and a half now. Some days he completely goes without eating his food. His energy is boundless and there are no other symptoms, so I haven't paid much attention to it. Until last night when I googled it (google and worry are a freaking time bomb, btw!) and now I'm praying he's okay. We're going to the Vet in 2 hours, so that should be a quick answer.
*Last night was full of worry and panic. Though it's over, I didn't get any sleep and I'm feeling it's effects still. Lincoln has a cough and we've been giving him medicine right before bedtime for it. He came in our room last night close to midnight (very abnormal) and when Jason went to put him back to bed I told him to give him his medicine because I had forgotten to.
He did and sent him back to bed.
Then the crazy tornado child appeared. For the next 2 hours he was up and all over the place, crying, screaming, acting like he was terrified, completely restless, fidgeting like he was hurting...I've never seen him like this and it scared me!
Then after 2 hours, he crashed in a matter of seconds - this as equally as scary.
It hit me. I went and woke Jason up and asked him how much cough syrup he had given him (b/c i wondered if he had heard me wrong telling him the dosage).
He had heard me wrong. He had give him (total accident) 5x the amount of sedative cough syrup he was suppose to! I freaked and called poison control and after being on the phone with them for 45 minutes, they thought he would be fine but wanted me to make sure I could wake him for the next few hours. What they told me also made sense why he was acting so erratic and crazy for the past 2 hours...side effect I guess.
So it all turned out to be completely fine, but it scared me last night!!
SOOOO...here's to me writing down my worries, kicking them in the butt, and knowing God is control of all things. Isn't it nice to know that??
******Note****** - Since I wrote this post I have taken Bruce to the vet and they seem to think he's just a food snob. :) And when I was juggling to kids to get Bruce there, I noticed Lincoln had dried-up blood in his ear canal??? What is that!? Oh today.
I tend to do it (or so my mother has told me for years).
It can consume me more than most sometimes.
I don't think it's biblical (the Bible says DON'T worry! Not, "don't worry...well, unless you're child is sick, then you can worry...")
So my line of defense when I start to do it is to pray (this works for me everytime).
And I feel like this past week I've been praying a lot! :)
So here's what I'm fighting worry on; I tell you so that it's written down, away from me, because I know I can joyfully look back down the line and see there was never a reason to worry.
*Baby Jack. They still don't know what is wrong with him, but finally got the lung issue resolved and he is breathing completely on his own as of this morning! (See - why am I worried?? God is in this!).
*The House. The inspection is first thing tomorrow morning and they are also bringing us a sale purchase contract. So why am I worried? Because we agreed on a price that is ridiculously low for our house, and therefore are selling it in "as-is" condition. Buyers are currently okay with this but I'm worried something's going to turn up in the inspection that neither of us have the money to fix.
*Bruce Wayne. He hasn't eaten normal for the past week and a half now. Some days he completely goes without eating his food. His energy is boundless and there are no other symptoms, so I haven't paid much attention to it. Until last night when I googled it (google and worry are a freaking time bomb, btw!) and now I'm praying he's okay. We're going to the Vet in 2 hours, so that should be a quick answer.
*Last night was full of worry and panic. Though it's over, I didn't get any sleep and I'm feeling it's effects still. Lincoln has a cough and we've been giving him medicine right before bedtime for it. He came in our room last night close to midnight (very abnormal) and when Jason went to put him back to bed I told him to give him his medicine because I had forgotten to.
He did and sent him back to bed.
Then the crazy tornado child appeared. For the next 2 hours he was up and all over the place, crying, screaming, acting like he was terrified, completely restless, fidgeting like he was hurting...I've never seen him like this and it scared me!
Then after 2 hours, he crashed in a matter of seconds - this as equally as scary.
It hit me. I went and woke Jason up and asked him how much cough syrup he had given him (b/c i wondered if he had heard me wrong telling him the dosage).
He had heard me wrong. He had give him (total accident) 5x the amount of sedative cough syrup he was suppose to! I freaked and called poison control and after being on the phone with them for 45 minutes, they thought he would be fine but wanted me to make sure I could wake him for the next few hours. What they told me also made sense why he was acting so erratic and crazy for the past 2 hours...side effect I guess.
So it all turned out to be completely fine, but it scared me last night!!
SOOOO...here's to me writing down my worries, kicking them in the butt, and knowing God is control of all things. Isn't it nice to know that??
******Note****** - Since I wrote this post I have taken Bruce to the vet and they seem to think he's just a food snob. :) And when I was juggling to kids to get Bruce there, I noticed Lincoln had dried-up blood in his ear canal??? What is that!? Oh today.
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