We have enjoyed a week away. Our trip started in Columbia, MO for a friends wedding. We then made a seventeen hour trek to the East Coast to visit friends and enjoy to the ocean in Wilmington, NC. We are now in Lynchburg, Virginia visiting our friend, Rie. We have had such a wonderful time being away together as a family. A highlight for sure has been seeing the kids experiencing the ocean for the first time. The expressions on the kids faces were priceless. When we drove into Wilmington we went straight to the beach. The kids ran straight into the water . . . in their clothes and loved every minute of it.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
truth
"O let my trembling soul be still,
And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by Thee."
By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it.
from Spurgeon
And wait Thy wise, Thy holy will!
I cannot, Lord, Thy purpose see,
Yet all is well since ruled by Thee."
By honour and dishonour, by evil report and by good report, by plenty and by poverty, by joy and by distress, by persecution and by peace, by all these things is the life of your souls maintained, and by each of these are you helped on your way. Oh, think not, believer, that your sorrows are out of God's plan; they are necessary parts of it.
from Spurgeon
Thursday, May 21, 2009
remembering
the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies they never come to an end
they are new every morning, new every morning
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord
yesterday morning I remembered this song. it's probably been 15 or more years since i heard this song. i'm thankful that yesterday it came to my mind and strengthened my hope in Christ.
His mercies they never come to an end
they are new every morning, new every morning
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord
yesterday morning I remembered this song. it's probably been 15 or more years since i heard this song. i'm thankful that yesterday it came to my mind and strengthened my hope in Christ.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Love is Patient
Our day together started off lovely. Actually, really beautiful. I'm referring to my day with my sweet Lia-Joy. We cuddled, talked about the day ahead and snuggled some more. I love those sweet moments.
Somewhere between our snuggle time and about 1 hour ago something went wrong. She has been sitting in her room for one hour refusing to pick up her books. I helped stack them and all she has to do is put them on her bookshelves. Simple. But she keeps shouting, "I'm not going to do it!"
I gave her some time to calm down (time wasn't helping) and then I set the timer. I explained that I gave her instructions and if she chooses to willfully disobey that I will have to give her a spanking and she will still need to pick up her books.
As I walked out of her room, everything in me is hoping that she will hop out of her bed and put her books and puzzles away. The timer is going to go off in a few minutes. I don't want to spank her but I very well may have to. Sigh.
Parenting is the most beautiful and challenging experience I've had in life. Lia challenges me in ways I never thought possible and exposes every weakness of my heart.
What made her so angry in the first place? Me folding laundry and not allowing her to jump on the bed while I did it? Was it my attention being on something else--not her? Was it simply my request for her to pick up her books? It's quite possible that it's all of the above.
Right now she says she doesn't like me and my heart aches because I love her so much.
The timer is going off.
Somewhere between our snuggle time and about 1 hour ago something went wrong. She has been sitting in her room for one hour refusing to pick up her books. I helped stack them and all she has to do is put them on her bookshelves. Simple. But she keeps shouting, "I'm not going to do it!"
I gave her some time to calm down (time wasn't helping) and then I set the timer. I explained that I gave her instructions and if she chooses to willfully disobey that I will have to give her a spanking and she will still need to pick up her books.
As I walked out of her room, everything in me is hoping that she will hop out of her bed and put her books and puzzles away. The timer is going to go off in a few minutes. I don't want to spank her but I very well may have to. Sigh.
Parenting is the most beautiful and challenging experience I've had in life. Lia challenges me in ways I never thought possible and exposes every weakness of my heart.
What made her so angry in the first place? Me folding laundry and not allowing her to jump on the bed while I did it? Was it my attention being on something else--not her? Was it simply my request for her to pick up her books? It's quite possible that it's all of the above.
Right now she says she doesn't like me and my heart aches because I love her so much.
The timer is going off.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
A very Happy Mother's Day
I enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day with my family and a few friends. Todd had been asking me for a couple of weeks what I wanted to do and I couldn't decide. Mother's Day was only a few days away and I finally decided what would make my day wonderful--my family and a few special friends. Todd grilled some fish and we had more vegetable kabobs then one can imagine! Delicious! Our friend Bethany had just returned from Ethiopia and brought over some Ethiopian coffee beans--we roasted the beans and then used the french press to make a delightful cup of coffee. It was really a lovely day!
A funny from the day . . . our neighbor Michael really wanted to play with Lia. Michael is at our door just about every day and Mother's Day was no exception. We told him that Lia couldn't play right now because we were having lunch so he returned home with his head hanging low and started shouting at Lia from his yard. It went something like this:
Michael: "Can you play yet?"
Lia: "No, Michael. I'm with my family."
Michael: "I'm waiting for you, Lia."
Lia: "I can't come over right now."
Michael: "Lia, my heart is pumping fast while I wait for you."
Seriously! His heart is pumping fast. We need to watch this boy. I'm a little nervous that they will be in Kindergarten together next year. :-)
A funny from the day . . . our neighbor Michael really wanted to play with Lia. Michael is at our door just about every day and Mother's Day was no exception. We told him that Lia couldn't play right now because we were having lunch so he returned home with his head hanging low and started shouting at Lia from his yard. It went something like this:
Michael: "Can you play yet?"
Lia: "No, Michael. I'm with my family."
Michael: "I'm waiting for you, Lia."
Lia: "I can't come over right now."
Michael: "Lia, my heart is pumping fast while I wait for you."
Seriously! His heart is pumping fast. We need to watch this boy. I'm a little nervous that they will be in Kindergarten together next year. :-)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
one liners
I need to carry a little notebook with me to record all of Lia's funny one liners.
Here are a few recent funnies from our little Lia.
"Mom, I'm through with Dad. I'm done with him!" (Todd wouldn't let her wear something and she got angry)
"Hey Dad, you are just like a farmer. We can be farmers!" (While planting our garden)
"I'm going to throw Big Pink outside and never see her again." (Angry that I told her that it was time for bed. She insisted that she wanted to stay up all night. This is what happens when she has a short power nap. We tried to keep it from happening but she fell asleep and was reenergized for the night)
"Big pink doesn't like the trees at night. She says they look like monsters." (Change of heart)
Here are a few recent funnies from our little Lia.
"Mom, I'm through with Dad. I'm done with him!" (Todd wouldn't let her wear something and she got angry)
"Hey Dad, you are just like a farmer. We can be farmers!" (While planting our garden)
"I'm going to throw Big Pink outside and never see her again." (Angry that I told her that it was time for bed. She insisted that she wanted to stay up all night. This is what happens when she has a short power nap. We tried to keep it from happening but she fell asleep and was reenergized for the night)
"Big pink doesn't like the trees at night. She says they look like monsters." (Change of heart)
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