Spilled Cheerios and Other Such Nonsense

This is one of my all-time favorite "caught-in-the-act" pictures of Ethan when he was about 18 months. It makes me laugh every time I see it b/c he looks so guilty (and because if you zoom in, yes, that's one huge booger hanging from his nose! Eewww! Why didn't someone tell me that boys were so gross!)

At first he just kept digging into that bag of Cheerios, trying to get as many down his gullet as he possibly could before I caught him and "dealt with him." But it was one of those parenting moments when you know that you should use this opportunity to teach them something, but all you can do is burst out laughing. Yep, that's what I did. :)

Of course he started laughing too.


What a mess. (sigh)

Thankfully our Heavenly Father doesn't always just tear into us when we are going at things the wrong way. He is good and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

"If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared." Psalm 130:3,4

I have so much to learn about this whole parenting thing. :)

Thoughts after the weekend

My parents were up this weekend, along with my expecting sister Ruth and her husband Nate. It was such a fun weekend. Mom, Ruth, Simon and I went to a baby shower in honor of baby Austin (due in 6 weeks!), and he received lots of airplane clothes and blankets! His daddy is a pilot in the Air Force, so they've decorated the nursery with an airplane theme. So cute!

Ethan just LOVES his Uncle Nate, and he had so much fun doing puzzles with him, playing ball, and playing chase. Oh, and of course, showing off a few of his "gymnastics" moves. If they can even call 2 year old movements gymnastics... :)

I read this verse today, and have been meditating on it:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification... that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor." I Thessalonians 4:3,4

I wrote down, "Does what I am doing right now set me apart for the Lord's work and bring Him honor and glory?"

I've been trying to think about it all day, as I go about my daily tasks. Am I choosing His way or am I choosing mine? This is so hard for me! The here and now really clouds my view of HIS WORK, and so often I find myself going through the day without ever really pausing to see what He's doing (and what He's doing in me).

As a SAHM (Stay-at-home Mom!), most of my daily tasks are very mundane, thoughtless things, like wiping noses and changing diapers, cleaning bathrooms, and changing out laundry loads. So how, Lord, can possess my life in a way that sets me apart for Your work and brings You glory?

I'm not sure of all the answers yet, but today the Lord has been showing me how He wants to take control of my thoughts. Instead of just getting through the day, "surviving" it, He would have me meditate and think on Him while I work and teach my children. And then to speak of Him aloud, wherever I might be. Usually, that's at home with the kids, so that's where I have to start. Are my kids getting the picture that my life belongs to God, and am I lifting Him up in their eyes? Causing them to see what a great God He is?

Yes, Lord, help me to learn how to do that.

Pumpkin Patch

Last Friday morning we met some of our MOPS friends at the pumpkin patch north of town. The boys had so much fun! There were hay bales to jump in and all sorts of tractors and wagons for the kids to climb in. Here's Simon chewing on some hay. :)

More pics of the fun.......

The train rides were $1.50

On Sharing the Gospel

A million thoughts were going through my mind on the way home from work today. It was a quiet day, with lots of moments for conversation with co-workers and patients. I've been convicted recently about sharing the gospel with everyone my life comes into contact with... but this is hard for me. Something I do with a lot of anxiety and fear.

But I so love the Lord, and as I'm getting to know Him more and more, I'm overwhelmed with the thought of how much He cares for all these lost people. He deeply desires a relationship with them, to restore them to fellowship with Himself, to bring HIM glory. And so little by little recently, it seems like my fear is being replaced with an attitude of, "Yes, Lord, I'll do it! Whatever you say, Lord."

Not that I'm perfect in any way. Or always have the perfect words. But I was struck tonight by the fact that my hesitance to delve into spiritual conversation with people has less to do with fear of what they will say...but ultimately stems from my selfish desire to be comfortable, to do what I want to do. After all, the Lord wants me to be well respected at work, right? I so easily allow myself to buy into this lie.

I ran across this quote by Elizabeth Elliot on a blog I read, and was so humbled.

Sometimes I am asked to speak to young people who are toying with the idea of being missionaries. They want to know how I discovered the will of God. The first thing was to settle once and for all the supremacy of Christ in my life, I tell them. I put myself utterly and forever at His disposal, which means turning over all the rights: to myself, my body, my self-image, my notions of how I am to serve my Master. Oswald Chambers calls it “breaking the husk of my individual independence of God.” Until that break comes, all the rest is “pious fraud.” I tell these earnest kids that the will of God is always different from what they expect, always bigger, and, ultimately, infinitely more glorious than their wildest imaginings.

Lord, do whatever it takes to break my independence of You. I want to be at Your disposal. It's YOUR glory I'm after, not my own.

Life at our House

This is what we get when we ask Ethan to smile--What a cheese! And on a more sober note...

Just thought I'd post these pics b/c they depict real life around here... it's either very, very happy or a little on the sad side, there is always someone moving at all times (notice how I can't even take a picture without it being blurry from movement), and my boys are always together (as close as they can possibly be to each other...this is usually Ethan's preference, not always Simon's :). But I know the day is coming that Simon too will be craving this sibling nearness. He already loves his big brother and is always laughing at the stunts Ethan pulls. It is so fun to watch.

Lord, thank you for sharing these 2 darling boys with me and Dave. We LOVE being their parents, and we just pray that You'll give us the wisdom and patience to raise them in a way that brings glory to You. Keep our eyes focused on the big picture, that someday they will be men and not just mischievious little boys. Our greatest desire is that they might come to know You in a personal way, to realize early their need for a Savior, so that none of their years will be wasted by the deceitfulness of sin.

Painting the Living Room, Take 2

In the evenings, after the boys are in bed, Dave and I have been painting our living room again. Yes, we only moved into this house 3 1/2 years ago, and yes, we did paint everything when we moved in. But a girl is entitled to change her mind, right? At least I still like my furniture! (Okay, yes, we're painting SOME of the furniture right now, but gimme a break here)

Our living room is open to the split level staircase, and the wall coming up from the landing is probably 20 feet high. The landing is only about 2' x 4'. Here's a picture of me cutting in the ceiling last night.The color we chose is a Behr Satin Interior called Mochachino. We are planning to paint our dining room one shade darker called Twig Basket. Already it looks so much better than the sage green we originally had in there.

Remember the table and chairs I found at that garage sale? Well, Dave has finished painting them black, and he's planning to spray a coat or 2 of polyurathane this weekend. We'll post some pictures soon!