Faith like a child...

There are so many things that we can learn from parenting and I am trying not to let any lessons pass us by. A few days ago I felt like the Lord really gave me a visual of what he meant by having faith like a child. As I was thinking hard about how I wanted the house to be cleaner and how I needed to get the laundry done, something struck me. Asher does not worry about tomorrow or even a few hours from now. At each moment he gives his all to what he is doing right then and he really does "let tomorrow worry about itself." This might not make a lot of sense but I was just thinking about the things that Jesus talks about in the gospels and I noticed that my son is showing me an example of what Jesus was talking about. Asher does not worry about what he will be wearing tomorrow or even what he will be eating for the next meal. He lives each moment just thinking about that moment. I think this is what the Lord wants from us too. He does not want us to be worried about anything but to live each moment in joy trying to honor Him with what we are doing. I think we can learn so much from our children. Maybe this is what the Lord meant by telling us to have faith like a child. I hope to learn from my son not to spend time worrying about things in the future or even worrying at all for that matter. We never know when Jesus will call us home and how sad will we be when we get to see how much time we wasted worrying about things that do not matter!

Mark 10:15
"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

Matthew 6:34
"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

More of the kids...

We have been cooped up in our house lately because of the really cold weather and the fact that we are trying to get over a cold that we have had since Zoee was born. I try to make things as fun as I can but I am ready for some nicer weather so we can go outside more. Here are a few pics of the kids before we ventured out on a walk... I really am so thankful for how sweet Asher is to Zoee. He really is so tender with her. I cannot recall one time so far where I have seen him angry with her- even when she is screaming at the top of her lungs!

Dear Zoee...

Dear Zoee,
I want to start early documenting your life and all the wonderful things you do. Already you are either VERY joyful or VERY upset. When you are happy, your smile is so huge and just makes me want to cry. I just love it. You are already "talking" and that is also so precious! Right now you are not doing a whole lot more than eating, pooping, spitting up (yes- you have reflux like Asher did), crying, sleeping (a lot, which lets me get a lot of sleep too), and smiling. You are absolutely beautiful though and we love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

ps- you LOVE taking baths!

Dear Asher...

Asher,
This post is for you when you get older. I wish I had started this a long time ago. Time is just going by so fast and I want to document all the funny and sweet things you do! Here are just a few things from lately...
1. You are learning your manners... I am trying to teach you to say "yes please" and "no thank you." Well, the other day I asked you if you wanted to get out of the bath (you had been in there for almost forty five minutes) and you nicely replied "no-chu-chu"- which is your version of "no thank you." It was so cute. Then you went on playing with all of your bath toys.

2. You really love Zoee. I was worried that you might be frustrated that she came into your life but you are rarely frustrated with her. The other day I was trying to make lunch and she was crying. I peaked in the game room to check on her and you were leaning down trying to kiss her as she was crying. So precious. You are a great big brother.

3. You love to eat. You snack ALL day and you love bread. I try to make things as healthy as possible because you love to eat so much. Here is what you had yesterday...

- 1 1/2 banana muffins (with hidden spinach in them)
- 1 breakfast bar
- 3 spoons of peanut butter
- 1 1/2 go-gurts
- 1 bowl of steamed broccoli with cheese
- 2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
- 3 organic cookies (small animal cookies)
- 1 brownie
- 1 cup of applesauce

4. You LOVE cars and trucks (especially the trash truck!) You play cars all day long and anything that you can turn into a car- you do.

5. You love to climb in anything. From the dryer, to boxes and the laundry basket- you love adventure!

6. You love to make sure things are in the 'trash.' You pronounce that word with so much intensity that it makes us laugh a lot.

7. You are very smart and love to tell us what colors things are. You love "jean" (green), "ya-ya" (yellow), "boo" (blue), "pa-pa" (purple), "back" (black), "yed" (red)

8. It's funny because sometimes the different things that you are trying to say all sound the same. Here is an example of some things that sound the same but the meanings are very different and you get really frustrated when I cannot figure out what you are trying to say...

"pa-pa" could mean one of many things:
- Pa-pa (your wonderful grandpa who you adore)
- puppy (you love animals)
- purple (you are always telling us the colors of everything)
- propel (we give you this instead of juice b/c it has less sugar)
- paci (you love your pacifiers are they really do calm you down quickly)
- poo-poo (I think you are close to potty training but still not there yet)

Wow it gets hard to decipher your language but I love the challenge and it does make me laugh a lot!

I think that is it for now!! You are just so wonderful and we love you so much. You just started sleeping in your "big-boy" bed two days ago and now are sleeping really, really late! It's almost 10:30am and you are still asleep!

Love,
Mommy

Spending time together!!

I honestly do not have a lot of time to "blog" but I want to remember this lesson that we have learned recently so I will try to hurry and hope this all makes sense...

Sonny and I have gotten to spend some great time together lately- thanks to our wonderful family and the amazing Kaitlyn Burke offering to babysit and the Lord really has used that time to teach us so much. Here recently Sonny and I have had about 7 different times where he will say something and I will have JUST had that same thought. It has been so weird. The last time that it happened, Sonny said that it had to be some kind of illustration that the Lord was trying to teach us. It sure was. Sonny has been teaching our students through the book of Deuteronomy and telling them again and again that if they want to really KNOW the Lord they must spend time with Him (Deuteronomy 6) and learn His word. It all makes so much sense. In a marriage, the more time you spend with one another- the more you love one another (if you are both pursuing Christ together) and the more you know each other. You can get to the point where you almost finish each others' sentences. You also need to make sure that you get time with just the two of you- away from kids, jobs, and anything stressful! This is so important to have a healthy marriage- time alone with each other to continue to grow together as one and share struggles, joys, burdens, hopes, etc. This is so similar to our relationship with Christ. We should be delighting ourselves so much in Him that we know right away what He thinks about things. We need to make sure that we get alone time with Him where we really are able to love Him with an undivided heart. This is what Christ died for. He died so that we could be near to the Lord (1 Peter 3).

This has honestly been such a challenge for me lately. Our family has been fighting (and losing to) a cold/virus since Zoee was born. This has made it very hard for me to have great times with the Lord. When the kids are finally asleep and I get some time to myself- there are LOADS of laundry to do and a house that needs to be sterilized to kill all the germs!! I am trying to delight myself in Christ throughout the day- even when I am doing the small things like reading a book about trucks to my little man. Even if we feel swamped- we can still try to delight in Him and be in His presence throughout the day. I have to tell myself this often so that I do not try to do life without being near to the Lord (I have tried some days to do this mom thing on my own recently and I end up being such a mess!)

I hope this encourages you to be in the presence of Christ today!

Asher colors

This is our sweet little boy saying his colors! Notice that when Sonny asks his about the green cup, he ends up making up his own color- "ya-ba"- a great alternative to "green." =)

Never Sleeping...

From the title of the post, you might think that I was going to start talking about how little sleep we are getting with a newborn but thankfully that is not the case (so far =) ). I was getting to spend a little time with the Lord this morning reading Psalm 121 and something in it really stuck out to me and encouraged me so I thought I would share. As you may know, having a newborn means that you do not get as much sleep as before. Granted- you might get a baby that sleeps well, but you will still have to wake up to feed them during the night or just to check on them to make sure they are breathing (trust me- if you do not have kids yet, you WILL do this). Well, in Psalm 121, the psalmist writes about how the Lord, who is our Protector, never sleeps. This was so comforting to me. I think that we often forget that the Lord is not like us- He does not need to sleep at night to refuel for the next day. He is always watching, protecting, providing for, and loving us. I sure hope that the Lord will remind me of this when I am up at 4:30 feeding my sweet little girl. Even when we think that we are the only ones awake or when we feel all alone, the Lord is near. He wants us to spend time with Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. I know this isn't that earth shattering of a revelation but it sure helped me this morning. I love that we have a God that is near to us who loves to spend time with us and interact with us. I hope to remember this more.

"My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will never slumber."
Psalm 121:2-3