Spicy Magnolia

Hibernation

This time of year always ushers in a season of hibernation for me on the good ol’ blog. From Thanksgiving to the end of January, our family has one celebration after another. Depending on my outlook, I can be found either coasting through each day calm, sane, and enjoying the season of immense celebration or frazzled on the brink of watching a tornado rummage through my soul. Usually the emotions alternate depending on the day, or the hour. This year, I am most thankful that the former has ruled in my heart more than the later. There were definitely sacrifices made and things I chose to let go (i.e. no birthday party for Brennan, no cake balls for Aunt Julie). Also, the state of my mind still being freshly “baby-brained” gave way for me to unintentionally forget some things all together until the very last minute (who knew I had teacher gifts to get this first year of Brennan’s preschool? Not I!). 

This has been one of the sweetest Christmases of my life. It was slow, simple, intentional, celebratory, scattered with new family traditions, and treasured. This has been my favorite Christmas with Brennan, who is growing in his understanding of and excitement for the season. Most of what occurred these last six weeks has been written out in my personal journal and will remain tucked in my heart for the duration of my life to ponder and hold dear. 

Sandwiched between our new family celebration of St. Nicholas night (December 6th) and Christmas, Matt and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. It was a gift that my momma came up the week before for Brennan’s first ever school Christmas program and stayed the evening to let us have an early anniversary date night, because our anniversary proper was filled with more bodily fluids expunged than the sum total of what we’ve encountered from accidents the last week of potty training! 

Now that we’re through Christmas and New Years, we have a little man-child’s third birthday in a week and a half to celebrate, as well as a much older man’s thirty-fourth birthday! Plus, after a few months delay in getting to meet Kensington for the first time because of Ed’s heart attacks, we are most excited that Matt’s parents will finally get to lay their eyes and hands on our girl!

Alas, good and right reasons for my hibernation.

For the time being, I want to leave you with a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson called In Memoriam—Ring Out, Wild Bells. I came across it for the first time earlier this week and love it for the New Year.

Until I meet you here again, dear friends, Happy New Year from my family to yours!

In Memoriam—Ring Out, Wild Bells

By: Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,

For those that here we see no more,

Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

And ancient forms of party strife;

Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

The faithless coldness of the times;

Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

The civic slander and the spite;

Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,

Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

The larger heart the kindlier hand;

Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Simply trusting,

 

 

Lotsa Link Love

Y’all, I have so much to write about and pictures to share! For weeks I have kept a running list of things to blog about and/or links to share. For tonight, I’m gonna go with the random link love. There just might be a few nibbles of interest or encouragement here or there on which you can chew.

There are a number of items that fall under the category of “ordinary significance” that have deeply met my soul’s need for encouragement as it pertains to purpose, importance, and my fear of insignificance. It’s obviously a theme God wants to hone in on at the moment. First up is an excerpt from Lisa Broscious Beamer’s commencement address to Wheaton College, my alma mater. Lisa is most widely known for her book published after 9/11 called Let’s Roll! Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage (I recommend it highly). Her husband, Todd, died heroically in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In the latest of edition of Wheaton Magazine, an abridgement of Lisa’s speech was published. I loved the following:

We live in a world teeming with all sorts of opportunities, macro and micro, dramatic and subtle! He (God) asks that we wash the “least of these” in His love. That we proactively look in dark corners and behind closed doors for people who are wounded and abandoned. That we not be ignorant of His children who are poor and hungry. That we act as instruments to restore damaged relationships. That we be unusual in the value we place on each and every soul that He’s created. That we wake up the complacent as we radically care for neighbors and strangers alike. That we bring the Good News of peace and salvation to all layers of humanity.

So, as you wake up tomorrow, don’t be dismayed to find your life turn ordinary soon enough. When you realize that today is kind of similar to yesterday and a bit like tomorrow, ask yourself who is becoming whole again on your watch, what is being healed through your influence, how is God redeeming His creation by way of your life? Your good answers will surely be the mark of significance even in an ordinary life.

Good stuff, huh?

Also along the lines of “ordinary significance” is a post by Rod Dreher called “Steve Jobs or Coach Eric Taylor?” We all know who Steve Jobs is. But for those of you who don’t know who Coach Eric Taylor is, well, he has been a new-found love in my life, thanks to Mac and Julie who introduced me to Friday Night Lights, of which Coach Taylor is the lead character. It was a fabulous television series I devoured. Instilling courage and being an example of availability and trust to those in need, Coach Taylor’s character was a role-model for all of us ordinary folk, making him extraordinary. The post gives a great portrayal of how such lives can have a deep impact.

This post, “This is Your Daughter Speaking”, is incredibly moving and powerful for us parents who wonder if we’re actually making a difference in our children’s lives despite the amount of love, sweat, and tears we sacrifice. It’s a must-read post for any parent, regardless of the part of the journey of parenthood that you’re on, and I’ve bookmarked it (aka “pinned it”) on Pinterest <grin>.

Allrighty then, moving right along: Compassion Bloggers!! They have hit the ground running on another trip, this time to Ecuador. As I type, they are pouring out their hearts through the written word in posts that will be published tonight about their first day. You can follow their publications here. Pick a few to read throughout the week and leave a comment to encourage them. Also, if you’ve ever had an inkling to sponsor a Compassion child but haven’t yet, take a few minutes to read this post of Micha’s. It might just tip you over to that final decision. It’s a pretty amazing story.

This post isn’t going to be refined and polished. I have a number of other get-to items this evening, but my hankering to post at least something was so strong I couldn’t resist. And to give you a glimpse of content forthcoming:

Whatever you set forth to do tonight: dishes, reading, trying desperately to get a child to fall asleep, chillin’ in front of a good TV show, or homework, please know I think of you and wish I could reach through the screen to give you a hug. You are loved.

Simply trusting,

Worthwhile Watching

Hope y’all are having a great Fourth of July! Anyone planning to see an amazing fireworks display? All of ours were scrapped this year because of the horrible drought, but it’s not like we would camp out in the heat, endure the crowds, or stay up late to watch the dazzling color-fest tonight. Some years, yes. But not this one.

Instead, our highlights will be based around food: blueberry pancakes and eggs for breakfast, and some hefty burgers with chips and the tomato-watermelon salad with feta and toasted almonds for dinner. Other than that, it’s been a low-key day with rest and a few errands. I think I have a new store I need to better familiarize myself with: Kohl’s. It looks like a good one-stop shop.

There’s one thing I think is worthwhile to bring to your attention and ask you to watch for five minutes. My precious friend, Corrie, called me back in May to share an incredible story. It spurred the already twirling thoughts in my mind that were formulating this post. As a family, we stood with the Shireys rejoicing and giving many thanks to God, who clearly exhibited His power and His desire to show Himself strong, allowing 2.5 year old Guy to carry this treasured testimony in his heart for the rest of his life. Take a moment to hear all about it yourself. 

________________________________________________________

Thank you to those in centuries past and in our present age that have fought for, secured, and defended the freedoms we so liberally enjoy in The United States of America. May we continue to adhere to the spirit and intent of our Constitution, and know the One who gives us true and everlasting freedom.

“[The adoption of the Constitution] will demonstrate as visibly the finger of Providence as any possible event in the course of human affairs can ever designate it.”

--George Washington

Simply trusting,

 

The Lord's Prayer: A Child's Version

 

 

Hello Daddy!

We want to know you.

And be close to you.

Please show us how.

Make everything in the world right again.

And in our hearts, too.

Do what is best—just like you do in heaven,

And please do it down here, too.

Please give us everything we need today.

Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you.

Forgive us just as we forgive other people

when they hurt us.

Rescue us! We need you.

We don’t want to keep running away

and hiding from you.

Keep us safe from our enemies.

You’re strong, God.

You can do whatever you want.

You are in charge.

Now and forever and for always!

We think you’re great!

Amen!

Yes we do!

 

This is a paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6 found in The Jesus Storybook Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. This is my favorite children’s Bible to read along with Brennan. I was struck by the paraphrase when we read it together last week: its simplicity, the fondness found between the child and his Daddy, the dependence of the child upon the Father, the humility. I gained a fresh perspective of this prayer I’ve been praying for years from reading it through the eyes of a child.

Postures for Lent

It is Sunday afternoon, a dreary, cooler day in Austin with touches of spring all around. I have a full tummy after eating Chuy’s Mexican food for lunch, and our little boy is in the process of getting his dirty diaper changed, having left a not-so-fragrant waft as he passed by me on his way to the bathroom. College basketball is on in the background, and I’m trying to put some semblance of a post together, fighting the urge to curl up into a ball and rest, letting the fuzziness of not sleeping well and losing an hour of precious slumber fade away. But my mind keeps going, trying to work its way around all that I’ve been reading and processing lately, all that I heard in church today, the first Sunday of Lent. It was all so meaningful and rich. This isn’t going to be a polished, well-crafted post. It’s simply one for me to record some thoughts that I hope linger in my soul.

This season of Lent, the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter, has been in years past, a time I’ve dreaded, wrecked with heart-ache. And yet, there was always light and hope that crept around the corner, non-coincidentally right around Easter when I could see the beauty that had arisen from the ashes of my grief. It might take a life-time to see it, or maybe it won’t be until we reach heaven’s side will we have eyes to see fully, but there’s nothing about death and grief that with Jesus won’t be turned into life and hope, used for good.

Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are has been pivotal for me in the last month. In the eighth chapter, she writes beautifully about trust and fear, and what it means to live a life of YES! to Jesus. Similarly, we sang “Blessed Assurance” today in church, and the last verse captures the content of Ann’s message perfectly:

Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

After reflecting on Jesus’ revelation to her about those things, she brings up a real point we all deal with come Monday morning, come the nitty-gritty of life. We forget. Things like schedules, burned toast, crying children steer away our focus from Jesus and His goodness and allow worry to creep in. And there are even bigger things than those that we can find on our plates: “Where is my child’s heart headed? Am I living God’s best for this life or am I bankrupting any legacy of faith?”

That last question stopped me dead in my tracks. I read it over and over again, and there was a pit in my stomach as I continued reading the chapter. I felt uneasy and unsettled. It’s a feeling I’m all too familiar with: fear, anxiety, worry. In a chapter that ironically is about trust and fear (the antithesis of trust, of active-believing faith) I was shaken by a question that wasn’t even the point of her chapter. But her example of that trap of worry is one I fell head into while reading! And maybe, just maybe, the legacy of faith that I’m allowing to be bankrupt from this life of mine is because I’m fearful: fearful of messing up, failing, of missing something important and vital to train my children, of making wrong decisions. And yet, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 NIV). In response, Ann writes, “If God didn’t withhold from us His very own Son, will God withhold anything we need?”

My fear of failing limits God, His faithful provision and His love, for both me and my children. What can He not give that He’s already given us in Jesus? He’s wisdom. He’s good. He’s never-ending love. He’s safe. And the more I know of Him, the more I want to trust Him—to live a life of yes. So this Lent, while our family gathers around the Advent-to-Lent Wreath around our dinner table and reads a devotion, there have been a few things that I want this season of Lent to look like in my life as I prepare for Easter. Instead of dreading Lent, of being in fear of what grief or heart-ache I might walk through like in seasons past, I want to be in a posture of the following:

• Having an attitude of humility, recognizing my complete need for Him and my frailty of living in fear; and instead, making a conscious Spirit-guided and Spirit-dependent decision to walk in trust, in active-believing faith.
• To slow down. To be content in the quiet.
• To remember and be thankful, recognizing the immense blessings He’s given; acknowledging His goodness; remembering Jesus Himself, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). To live in intentional gratitude, “counting blessings to discover who can be counted on.” (Henry Township)
• To be in prayerful, communion with Jesus.

Our church service today included the Southwell Litany, a set of twenty different prayers that were read aloud and a communal response of, “Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord,” followed. As we started praying, I consciously wanted to single out a few of the prayers that were meant for me, so to speak, ones that targeted my own weaknesses to take home and continue to pray through Lent. Well, out of twenty, every single one had a little sting to it as I recognized that my sins cover the whole gamut of life! But the prayers were so deep and meaningful, rich and comprehensive. I didn’t feel hopeless, just humbled recognizing my need for Jesus. I brought home the prayers to help guide me in my fourth posture. I hope to share a few of these along the way with you, but want to share this one today:

O Lord, free us from weariness in continuing struggles; from despondency in failure and disappointment; from overburdened sense of unworthiness; from morbid fancies of imaginary backslidings, raise us to a lively hope and trust in thy presence and mercy, in the power of faith and prayer; and from all exaggerated fears and vexations.

Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.

Blessed assurance, Jesus in mine!

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

 

There is no one like Jesus.

 

Simply trusting,

“A Christmas Hymn”

Our worship leader at church brought this poem to our attention. And I think it’s worth bringing to yours.

 

A Christmas Hymn

By Richard Wilbur

A stable-lamp is lighted
Whose glow shall wake the sky;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
And straw like gold shall shine;
A barn shall harbor heaven,
A stall become a shrine.

This child through David’s city
Shall ride in triumph by;
The palm shall strew its branches,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
Though heavy, dull, and dumb,
And lie within the roadway
To pave his kingdom come.

Yet he shall be forsaken,
And yielded up to die;
The sky shall groan and darken,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry
For stony hearts of men:
God’s blood upon the spearhead,
God’s love refused again.

But now, as at the ending,
The low is lifted high;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry
In praises of the child
By whose descent among us
The worlds are reconciled.

For His Pleasure

Sometimes my motivation for blogging and interacting with the online world gets so muddled. I’ve come to love blogging and having an outlet to write. And while it brings me much joy, there are times when the battle inside me rages and I am bombarded with the ways that blogging highlights my many weaknesses.  Nearly every area of weakness in my life gets targeted when my focus is not where it should be with writing: comparison, insecurity, jealousy, selfish ambition, pride, discontent. Oh golly, when I look at that list, it’s enough to discourage me from ever writing another post. It would sure be easier. But somewhere deep down inside, there is the hope of Truth that while I am weak, His grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in my weakness. And hopefully, prayerfully, He can sift through all of my wrong motivations and twisted desires for fame to use it for His glory, His fame.

Lately I’ve realized that a very simple prayer has been absent from my life recently. It’s a prayer that has been blanketed in genuinely praying for “His will to be done”, but the delight and pure desire to please Him has been absent from those prayers. It used to be a desire within my heart that made its way through my lips as I talked to Jesus. Lord, I want to be pleasing to you. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. He knows, He knows very well that over the past five or so years, I have put my hands out in arm’s length out of fear of what He’ll ask of me, out of fear of what the Lord will allow me to face. So of course, why wouldn’t the desire to please Him slip ever so slowly and subtly out of my heart when I lack the faith to trust Him, to believe that He is good all the time and that He desires my good? Over the last few weeks it has come to my attention that I have been out to please myself, and it has masked itself deceitfully in a way of wanting to protect myself…from Him.

Everything from the books I’m reading (The Mark of the Lion series and Radical), to the Bible study I’m doing on Believing God, to friends and family I get to share life with, to some of the blogs I read, they are all things the Lord is using to bring me back to Himself, to strip me of my fear and to replace it with the desire to live for His pleasure…to live by faith.

You know the Compassion bloggers trip to Guatemala I’ve written about? I’ve wanted to encourage them and pray for them so much! I’ve known about bloggers trips before, but for some reason, there has been a special tug on my heart for this trip. So I’ve read nearly all of the four bloggers’ posts about their last few days in Guatemala and their experiences getting to meet their sponsor children. For those unfamiliar with Compassion, Amanda gives a great summary of the organization here, and I will borrow some of her words:

In a nutshell, Compassion International is a child development organization that serves over one million children worldwide. Six hundred thousand sponsors are currently partnering with this organization to rescue children from poverty in Jesus' name. Compassion's aim is to be an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty, and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults. This is largely achieved through monthly financial support from one sponsor to one child.

The adrenaline pumping in me after reading some of the posts cannot be explained other than that Jesus has been a part of their trip! There’s no other reason for the sheer joy and excitement (all the while challenging me in my faith) I have over what the Lord has done in and through this team the past week. I heard about Compassion a number of years ago but last year, we decided to become sponsors to Rubina, whom I wrote about in my last post. I wanted to be a sponsor, however, with mixed motives once again. There was such and such a blogger who was a Compassion blogger, and then this one, then that one, and well, it just seemed to be the ‘cool’ thing to do among the community of bloggers with whom I was interacting.

Over the past year, we’ve enjoyed corresponding with Rubina but haven’t been great at praying for her. The Lord has used the Guatemala trip to rekindle in me a desire to please Him with our interactions, prayer and support for Rubina! Through the posts of the team, I have a better understanding of Compassion at large; their commitment to work with local churches; the emotional, physical, and spiritual support they are for families. In the case of Guatemala, they helped several families rebuild homes after Hurricane Agatha. I read about children who can’t wait to write their sponsor, if only their sponsor would take the time to write them first so they could start corresponding. I read about children whose lives have been eternally changed because of the relationship between them and their sponsor through letters. There is such joy in receiving letters, both for the children and the sponsors!

I know you all don’t have time to go back and read the bloggers’ posts. But please permit me to share with you a few of the nuggets that grabbed my heart.

Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama:

Our letters are more important than our money. Our words more valuable than our automatic withdrawals. And we can change the course of history by investing in the person instead of just the payment plan.

Did you know that Compassion sets up a way to be a letter corresponder to children who have sponsors but no communication!? I had no idea, but I think that shows the heart of Compassion is more about relationship than just sending money. Maybe you’re interested?

Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience wrote a post that contained the following quotes:

…Compassion is more than bread and a blanket; its ultimately the beliefs of a man that will save him. Walfred will have to hide the Jesus words, wear them as armor, to survive the crime of this place, to avoid the gangs that kill 16 people everyday in the city of Guatemala, to climb out of this pit and this is why Compassion does everything in Jesus' name.

About a family who the team visited because the local pastor said they needed particular encouragement:

Compassion is more than funds --- it's about a family that holds you tight when you are slipping. That knows your name and your needs and never gives up on you. That believes in Jesus and believes in His good life in this place, in you --and affirms you --  and does this in all in Jesus' name.

About a young boy who was falling into disrespectful and rebellious behavior because of bad examples in shanty town who was changed through Compassion’s Child Development Program with mentors that modeled Christ’s love and life to him:

Compassion is more than giving money from our pockets --- it's about giving moral and spiritual mentors to communities where desperate poverty leaves the door wide open for stalking Satan to come stealing in.

Ann writes a great summation:

How does my theology press through the grid of this geography? How does my faith in a land of iphones and ipods and ipads respond to a whole city of people in ramshackled tin and relentless rain washing them away? Because whether consciously or not, intentionally or not ---  faith is always responding. Either with indifference or with intercession, either with apathy or aid. Faith cannot have a non-response. Once we have seen, we are responsible --- we will make a response. One way or the other.

And I still encourage you to read her post, “How to Make Your Life an Endless Celebration”.

Amanda at Baby Bangs got to experience pure joy meeting her sponsor child, Stefanie, and her family! If you choose just to read one post, you’ve got to read this! I can’t do the post justice picking out a few nuggets.

Last but not least, Lindsey at Lindsey Nobles has a great point for all of us to ponder:

There are no lack of someones to love in my life. They might not come in the package I expected. But they are here. They are there. They are everywhere. If I would just open my eyes. Are you ready to stop asking God why and when and start asking him how and whom?

Their final posts about their trip will be published tomorrow morning here, so you’ll have to read them to glean your own nuggets <grin>. Undoubtedly, there will be some. Each of these bloggers stepped out in faith to go to Guatemala. Each of them probably had their own challenges and anxieties about getting on that plane. But they still went, in Jesus’ Name, and oh, how I know He’s taken such pleasure in them this week! He’s sure used their team in my life, too. I wish I could see each of them personally as they landed back in the U.S. to give them hugs and to tell them how much, even from afar, their trip has impacted my life.

Along with the other things and people I mentioned above that have been shaping me, this team has served as a reminder of how much Jesus loves the unlovely, the poor, the outcast, our enemies, those who curse us, the lonely, the ones with messy lives. I know I’m a mess myself and sometimes I’m so unwilling and scared to love on others out of fear of taking on some of their mess, too. But as I’ve had the honor of encouraging and praying for the team and reading through the Guatemala posts, I’ve been heavily struck by how much God is in the center of loving others (it’s what He commands us to do, after all). He takes such pleasure in it and is deeply honored by it.  Maybe you’d like the opportunity to love one of the least of these, too?

Lord, strip me of my fear to love You with my whole heart and to love others well, in Your Name. Keep stirring in me a desire to live to please You. Take my mixed motives, my messy life, and my inadequate words and use them for Your glory. You are everything, Jesus.

Hallelujah!

  

  

Hallelujah! Praise God from heaven,
      praise him from the mountaintops;
   Praise him, all you his angels,
      praise him, all you his warriors,
   Praise him, sun and moon,
      praise him, you morning stars;
   Praise him, high heaven,
      praise him, heavenly rain clouds;
   Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—
      he spoke the word, and there they were!

  

 

  

He set them in place
      from all time to eternity;
   He gave his orders,
      and that's it!
  

 

Praise God from earth,
      you sea dragons, you fathomless ocean deeps;
   Fire and hail, snow and ice,
      hurricanes obeying his orders;
   Mountains and all hills,
      apple orchards and cedar forests;

 

 

Wild beasts and herds of cattle,
      snakes, and birds in flight;
   Earth's kings and all races,
      leaders and important people,
   Robust men and women in their prime,
      and yes, graybeards and little children.

 

Let them praise the name of God—
      it's the only Name worth praising.
   His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky;
      he's built a monument—his very own people!

 

  Praise from all who love God!
      Israel's children, intimate friends of God.
   Hallelujah!

 Psalm 148 (The Message)

Crammed With Heaven

Guess who’s 18 months old today!

It’s true when people tell me that I’ll end up loving each of your stages. Well, at least so far I’ve found it to be true. And I’m optimistic about the future stages, even though I am bracing myself for some turbulence over the next few years. But I’ll tell you what, Buddy, I wouldn’t miss a minute of it with you, and I am thoroughly delighting in you! This particular stage is sweet to me as it’s obvious you are learning so much, your personality is shining through, and your heart is so tender.

As I write this, you are sleeping soundly at Pops and Meems’, dreaming about all of the amazing adventures you’ve had since being there. And I am counting down the hours until I can snatch you back up in my arms and hold you tight. I wonder if you’ll squirm to be put down and ignore me, or if you’ll receive my kisses.

I keep track of my favorite moments with you from each day we share together and there are some general themes I’m seeing these days:

Words. You’re constantly asking, “What’s that?” I’ll tell you what it is and respond with, “Say ____.” It’s not until you’re good and ready in your own time to say the word back to me that we hear it uttered from your mouth. You want to master it in your mind first, or somethin’. But you’re adding to your vocabulary regularly and these words are often heard:

Good girl     Squirrel     Star     Go       Bye-bye     Dada     Momma     Dog     Ma (for Meems)     Nose     Shoes   Jesus (Sounds like Sss Sss)         

I’ve even heard a form of “I love you” on several occasions! I believe Meems has received the clearest and loudest, “I love you,” that I’ve heard.

"No” is the one word used more than any others. Sometimes it’s said nicely. Sometimes you mean to say “yes” but say “no”. And other times, it’s a resounding "No!” 

Books. You love to read! I’ve had nursery workers tell me that when they bring books out, you’re the first to sit in front of them ready to read. You point to pictures saying, “That?” and you try to point super fast to a bunch of pictures one right after the other to get us to answer as quickly as we can. You can identify nearly all of the pictures in First 100 Words. Your most favorite book is the Texas Wildlife book on our coffee table. You’re fascinated by all of the animals.

Helper. You are the biggest helper! When you get a paper towel or dish cloth, sometimes you start dusting, or at least after you throw it down, you pick it up when I ask you to <grin>. You have to have a grip on the Swiffer whenever I use it to clean Molly’s hair off the tile floor. The other day I accidentally knocked some books off a shelf and you came over and started putting them back on the shelf.

Gentle Heart. You sign ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ sometimes without me asking you to say it. We’re in the stages of learning how to share and not grab toys from other kids, but most of the time, your heart is kind. You don’t even mind so much when other kids want to eat your snack out of your snack cup you carry around, or you bring rocks (a favorite thing of yours) to share with another person. There are some specific areas we’re honing in on as far as training and teaching you, and for the most part, your heart is soft and receptive to our correction and guidance. You listen well and already in your young life, I have record of good choices you’ve made on listening and obeying us! You’re not perfect and we don’t expect you to be. In fact, I’ve devoured more parenting books lately because we have no idea what we’re doing and obviously have a toddler on our hands, but I do want you to know that I love your kind spirit and appreciate your heart, little boy. I also love how you hold your hand to your heart when you hear the Name of Jesus spoken. That’s a special thing Meems taught you.

Cars. That goes for cars and trucks on the road and your toys. That goes for Lightning McQueen and Mater…your names for them are “Go!”. And that goes for a fascination with car keys and trying to figure out how they fit (or don’t fit) into various items, like Molly’s ball.

Action. You love yourself some good ol’ action and movement. If you could, you’d climb just about anything. You made your way up some indoor playscapes on your own for the first time recently. When we’re in a place with lots of people, you’re quite content exploring on your own. But in a smaller group setting, you like hanging with the older kids to keep up with them. I’ve noticed that you’ve started not only initiating games like chase or peek-a-boo, you’ve also started making up some games to play with us.

We’ll go to your 18 month well-check appointment on Tuesday. Since I was spacey and totally didn’t realize you were supposed to have a 15 month check up, I’m eager to know how much you’ve grown these last 6 months. I just bought you a whole bunch of 2T sized clothes and you’re wearing a 7.5 sized shoe. I finally realized I was stuffing your foot into your size 6 shoe like a sausage. Your poor tootsies.

A poem has garnered my attention over the last few weeks because I’ve run across it in a couple of unrelated readings. By Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

I love you, angel boy. So, so much! You have my heart, always. You are one of the biggest, most profound ways my life is crammed with heaven. Even in the most ordinary days of our life together, I want to stop, look, and go barefoot.

Catch Up

Hey there, dear Internet peeps! For whomever is still reading this blog, I know it’s been a crazy long time since I’ve posted anything. So before I settle in to watch the series finale of Lost, I thought I’d touch base.  I’m crazy excited and crazy sad all at the same time. It’s been one of the most amazing shows ever!

I have exactly 35 minutes before the show starts, so I best get to it: let’s get caught up. (I obviously wasn’t able to wrap up this post before the show started and my head is whirling trying to figure out the ending!)

Last Saturday, Matt’s mom came to visit us for a few days before heading out to California for the birth of our new niece or nephew who will arrive any day now. We haven’t seen Matt’s family since Thanksgiving and won’t see them again until Christmas, so it was great to have a special visit from Nana. Brennan was glad to have an extra buddy to read him books. And Nana was able to see the fella in action.

I was especially grateful to Nana who was here to help with Brennan after I was up all through the night on Monday becoming all too familiar with the porcelain throne. Whether it was a stomach bug or food poisoning, I’ll never know. All I know is that it was disgusting and knocked me out until Thursday. At least I had beautiful magnolia blossoms to admire and waft their fragrant aroma my direction.

Thursday night and all day Friday we spent with our dear friends, Chris, Jill, Harrison and Haddie who had to sell their home and move to Dallas. Words do not begin to express our sadness. I’ll spare you the emotion right now, but I said “good bye” to one of my closest friends, my closest friend in Austin whom I’ve had the privilege of knowing for the last 7 years. And Brennan said “good bye” to his closest buddies. We’re thankful we’ll have opportunity to see them several times through the summer, but it does not replace their regular presence here in our lives. We love and miss them deeply!

 

As you read this, I’d ask you to please stop for a few minutes and pray for our friends Robert and Aimee and their three small kiddos. I’ve written about Robert before as he is in the fight for his life against cancer that has spread throughout his body. His most recent medical procedures have been to treat the tumors in his brain, but the cancer continues to rapidly spread despite an astounding number of medical treatments Robert has been through. The time for a miracle is now. Robert and Aimee know Jesus is a God who can heal, and we continue to pray for that healing. Pray also for peace as they spend sweet time together with family and friends and make some important decisions. You can read any of the latest posts, one of which was written this morning by Aimee at Fight for Feuille.

In response to one of Robert’s tweets not too long ago, a friend of his wrote the most Truth-filled, hopeful statements that has affected my outlook on Robert’s battle. And I believe it ministered to Robert as well. Robert’s friend wrote in essence, “No matter what, the Fight for Feuille will end in victory!” There’s so much I don’t understand about suffering and how the Lord allows it to be a part of our lives. But Robert knows (and I pray continues to have peace about this in the coming weeks) that because of Jesus’ own suffering in His death and the power of His resurrection, what Robert is facing is not in vain. There is a bigger picture and plan that only God in His wisdom and love knows right now and it will be for good. Please know I am not trying to sound trite with this nor dismiss what our friend and his family are enduring. I am deeply grieved by all that our friends are experiencing, and I have cried out to God consistently for them. I find Robert’s friend’s statement chalk full of truth and hope to hold onto despite the waves of sadness and doubt that are fighting to overcome me. Robert’s present suffering cannot begin to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in him! As ultimately, Robert’s battle has been won at the cross. Thank God! Through Jesus Christ, we have victory over sin and death!