Monday, January 24, 2011

Car Rides, Hiding Spots, and Squealing Children

I had an appointment today at the eye doctor that I used to work for. When I was pregnant with Hailey, on more than one occasion I found myself driving to work in tears as WBFJ played "The Cinderella Song" by Steven Curtis Chapman. I couldn't wait to meet my baby girl and the thought of her dancing with her daddy and just the relationship she would have with her daddy just overwhelmed my emotions. On my way to my appointment today, Chris Tomlin's song, "I Will Follow," came on and once again I found myself in tears because I can hear that same baby girl who is almost three years old now singing at the top of her lungs, "Where you go, I'll go. And where you stay, I'll stay. And where you move, I'll move. I will follow you." I could not control my emotions. There is nothing better than hearing children sing praises to our Lord =)

(And, on a side note, if you haven't heard Chris Tomlin's CD yet, "And If Our God Is For Us," you need to. It's amazing.)

Hailey's favorite thing to do these days is play hide and seek. She pretty much asks everyone who comes over to play with her. She hasn't quite gotten the whole "hiding" concept yet, but it's pretty cute to watch her try =)





"Biter Biscuits" are great. I think Caleb is getting his second tooth and the kid just needs something to chew on. I need him to chew on something. He does this squealing/screaming thing that is...well...ear-pearcing. It isn't a cry...it's more of a squeal...but either way, he needs something in his mouth. The downside to biter biscuits...the incredible mess they make.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

A little prayer...


Nothing super exciting going on around here today, except Hailey prayed for the first time. We have never really pushed her into praying. We have explained to her that it is just talking to Jesus and we ask her occasionally if she would like to pray but we have never pushed the issue. But today, she and I were playing and I was the daughter and she was the mommy and she asked me to pray for our food during our pretend trip to Chick-fil-A. I told her that she was the mommy so she should. So she said, "Thank you for the food, amen." I was kind of surprised she actually did. So then at lunch... this time me being mom and her being daughter =) ... I asked her if she would like to thank Jesus for our lunch and she said she did. She said "Thank you Jesus for the food. And thank you for this day. And thank you for the food. Amen." It was so sweet. My heart melted. This is one of the things that makes the time and stress and lack of sleep and all of the other crazy things that go along with being a mom totally worth it. It is so awesome to see God working in her little heart and softening it towards Him. Anyway, I was pretty excited. I know it was just a prayer of thanksgiving for her lunch but God hears even the tiniest of prayers =)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Anybody want a dog?

Four years ago, right after Randy and I got married, we...or...I decided we needed a dog. Well...I told Randy that I either needed a dog or a baby...and he chose dog. A few days later a girl comes into church with a sign she found at the grocery store for a dog that was "Free to a good home." And not only was he "free" he was a golden retriever which is what I/we wanted. So we call the number and make an appointment to go see the dog. He was a 10-month-old adorable golden retriever that ran up to us and rolled over as soon as he saw us. PRECIOUS. We paid no attention to the fact that the house no longer had carpet on the stairs or that the banisters had been chewed. No. We...I...had to have him. So we took Cooper home. And he was great. A few days later we find a nasty note on our apartment door saying we need to bleeping shut-up our bleeping dog. Apparently while we were at work he barked and whined and howled the entire time we were gone. Then, over the course of many months, he ate window sills and tore up carpet and ate three...THREE remotes. We move to our townhouse. He eats our blinds. He chews our banisters. He has a massive blow-out on our bedroom carpet. Fast forward a year and Hailey is born. I hate to say it but I couldn't handle his nastiness anymore so he went to summer camp...i.e. my parents' house. He spent the next year and a half there until we move into Randy's parents' house. We decide to let him live inside because we felt so bad for him. Caleb is born in May. He has moved out of his puppy phase where he has to chew everything but now he all of a sudden decides he has a ravaging appetite for diapers ...yeah...diapers. So I send his rear-end out to the dog lot and eventually switch to cloth diapers. Winter comes and it is way below freezing every night. So we make the decision that he either needs to live back inside or find another family that can allow him to stay inside. He comes inside and does great. Now...he has rekindled his long lost love for diapers. I only use disposables at night but he can't keep his disgusting mouth off of them. I can't give him away because he is like my first child and the kids love him. And I can't send him outside because it is way too cold and he loves being around people. But he is disgusting!!! I have 2 kids. So there are times when a bag of goldfish is left out. Or we forget to shut the laundry room door so the trash is ripe for the picking. I feed the dog twice a flippin' day! And right now, he is sitting on the back steps gawking at me with his big brown puppy dog eyes, begging me to let him in...but he is driving me NUTS! And he knows he has done wrong because he immediately tucks his tail and slumps in shame, YET he continues to do it! I can't get rid of him...I don't think. But, he had better straighten up or when spring comes he is going to become best friends with the dog lot again. Okay, I'm done. I feel better now. It's a good thing we love him...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I said I was going to post once a week, so here ya go...


We started off the week with Hailey having an ear infection. She hasn't had one since she was a baby so I wasn't sure to start with if that was what was going on. It snowed/iced Monday evening so I got to take a trip to the doctor's office Tuesday morning in the snow/ice. Hailey was much better after just two doses of Amoxicillin. However...she has been pretty much a different child since Wednesday...a not so great different child. I think she has started having some jealousy issues towards Caleb which she has never really had. I was trying to figure out if we weren't giving her enough attention or something like that but I really just don't know. I hope this blows over soon. I need my old Hailey back. And if she doesn't start taking naps again I think I might just go nuts. SERIOUSLY!
We said goodbye to our sweet friends, the Truhes, on Monday. They will be gone for three years. And while skype is great, there is nothing like sitting in the living room having conversations with them while our kids run wild =)
Caleb turned 8 months old on Thursday. He is starting to look more like a little boy than a baby. His first tooth popped through this morning. I am really going to miss his gummy grin. Although, all that is there is a little point so I think I will still have it a little while longer.
On another note...I am getting old.... and I don't like it. A few days ago I realized that I will we 26 in two months. 26. I know that may not sound old but 25 was kind of hard for me. And 26 is closer to 30 than 20. I know it is inevitable. I also had to schedule myself an eye exam because I had to close my left eye and squint to read my book. And I found a bag of what-used-to-be-frozen baby food up in the cabinet where apparently I put it when I was finished instead of putting it back in the freezer. And, I can't finish sentences. And, I forget why I walked in the room. And, I mix words up all the time. I am getting old. Everyone keeps telling me to embrace it...I haven't embraced it yet.
I found a verse this morning that I have heard a million times but needed to be reminded of. Proverbs 15:1 " A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger." Note to self...think before you speak.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Reckless Faith

I just finished reading the book Reckless Faith and it was so good...well, good isn't even the right word. It was awesome! It came at a time in my life when I really needed it. Besides giving me the urgent feeling to pack my bags and my family and move to Mexico to minister in an orphanage and adopt a houseful of children, it also taught me lot of things...some things I already knew but just needed to be reminded of.
1. Jesus can use me. It's a simple thought but it is so true. I kind of feel like growing up I was pressured to make sure I got a college education because I would just not be able to make anything of my life if I didn't have that on my resume. And, honestly, that has been something that has weighed on me these last couple of years because I didn't finish college so I don't have a degree. God had actually been impressing this on my heart before I read this book that it doesn't matter what kind of formal education I have because it's not about what I can do but what God can do through me. And whatever I am able to do outside of my own abilities is just that much more pointing to Him working in my life. The lady who wrote the book, Beth Guckenberger, actually had a degree in Education but God used her so much more beyond that. And many of the people she spoke of in this book were not even educated past junior high and went on to lead awesome lives because they allowed God to use them.
2. It's not about me. Seriously. It's not about me. All this talk about me and my education I still feels like points back to me. I am learning...and it's a slow process...that this life is not about me. And if I could just let that settle in and take up residence, God could use me so much more. I am learning that God will be glorified. And God's will will be done. I just may miss out on being a part of it if I don't die to self and let Him take control.
3. God's plan doesn't always make sense. I love pulling for the underdog. And that is one of the attributes of God that speaks most to me..."He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might he increases strength." (Isaiah 40:29) I love the Beatitudes because they speak of hope...the underdog always wins! If God did everything that made sense to the world, why would we need Him? If the rich man always won what hope would we have? It is when we recognize ourselves as sinners and in need of Him that we are truly lifted up because we are forgiven and our strength is renewed.
4.Orphaned and abandoned children are a big deal. Okay, so I already knew this but it has just never been something that I thought much about. The second day I was reading this book I had to stop because Caleb woke up so I went and got him out of his bed and I sat and rocked him for a few minutes. As I was rocking him, the thought occurred that there are MILLIONS of babies and children out there who have no one to hold them and rock them and tell them that they love them. And even more than that, that there is no one to tell them that God loves them and that they are important and that God does have a plan for their little lives. I take for granted a lot of times the two little lives that have been entrusted to me and there are many days that I miss out on opportunities to show them a glimpse of Jesus because I let my busyness and my feelings get in the way.
5. Make every opportunity count. I am very much an instant gratification person. I want to see results. But I am learning that God does not always show me what I want to see right away...because...again...it's not about me. There are several things that I have been praying about and honestly getting a little discouraged about but I am learning that I may not see results this side of eternity. But God is God and He will be glorified. And I am glad I don't know everything.
6. See people how God sees them. I am a cup-is-half-full kind of person. I usually try to see the best in people. But even "seeing the best in people" isn't really seeing them how God sees them. I love how in this book, Beth was talking about how prostitutes and drug dealers are just orphaned and abandoned adults. It really taught me to look past what I see on the outside and the situation they are in and see them how God sees them...lost sheep. He would leave His 99 other sheep to go find them...so they are important. And even though they may never be able to do anything for me, and I may be put in uncomfortable situations and even though I may never see the end result, God has called me to reach out to those people and love them just like Jesus loves them.

SO with all that...I don't know if I am supposed to uproot our family to another country or adopt a houseful of children...but I do know that I need to obey God in the small things. I know that I can't reach every person around the world, but I do know that I can reach my neighbors and my friends and the lady in the check-out line. I need to strive to be uncomfortable...to let God take control...to have a reckless faith.

"For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Monday, January 3, 2011

I always say this, but it has been WAY too long since I have been on here. One of my New Years resolutions is to blog at least once a week. I have to have enough interesting things go on in my life that I can at least do once a week. And if I set my goal to high, like blogging once a day, I will stress out about it and then not do it. So once a week is good...

So my little Caleb is about to start crawling. I am loving the sitting-up-and-can-roll-but-can't make-it-across-the-room-quickly phase. He is really trying hard to crawl. He has mastered the getting up on his knees and rocking and he can make himself go backwards but just not forwards yet. I CANNOT believe he is almost 8 month old. I miss him being small but I am enjoying every new phase. He is getting TONS of personality. He has started to be a bit of a ham for the camera (I wonder where he gets that from =) ). I don't know if it's coincidence or not but every time I bring the camera out he puts on this enormous grin, which, by the way, makes him look SO much like his daddy.

Hailey is also growing up way too fast. Tonite she and I were talking about what we are going to do for her THIRD birthday. She wants a pink party. Pink cake. Pink ice cream. Pink presents. Guess what her favorite color is =) I told her I was going to let her have a tea party and invite some of her friends over. When I asked her which friends she would like to invite, she replied, "I don't want to invite any friends." "Why not?," I asked. Her response was, in a most serious manner, "Because I don't want them to eat my cake." Now, I could have taken this moment to exert my parental duties and have a discussion on the importance of sharing, but I couldn't keep from snickering so I saved that for another day =) Speaking of personality, this girl is such a goofball. I mean, between her daddy and I and the rest of the nuts in our family she really didn't have much of a chance of not being at least a little goofy. One of her favorite things to do is make up songs about random stuff and sing it to the various tunes she has heard on barney or veggie tales. I have heard songs about toilet paper and airplanes and spitting and brushing her teeth and wiping her buns. She is potty trained now which is AMAZING! I am a firm believer in the statement "When they're ready, they're ready." This was my third attempt at potty training and I really didn't have to do much at all except remind her the first couple of days to go. She even wears panties to bed most of the time.

On a side note, I am reading a book right now that my sweet mother-in-law gave me called Reckless Faith It.Is.Amazing. It is something I really needed to read right now. If you haven't read it you should.

I have so many posts that I feel like I need to catch up on so if it seems like I am a bit out-of-order...I am =) But I have some things I really want to get recorded!

Here is one quote from Reckless Faith I want to leave you with:

Reckless Faith always has one foot in eternity. It measures people by their actions and not their belongings. A reckless faith believes when there is no evidence and hurls itself at what is unseen but promised. A reckless faith isn't "refined" in the least. It does not make sense to the world, and yet, the world often seems fascinated by it.