Bedtime Worship

Play hard, sleep hard

When we put Samuel to bed each night, we incorporate a bit of praise and worship in our routine. It's a special time, bonding while we worship God together in singing and prayer. Sometimes he joins in for a little bit and sometimes he just lays on the floor and enjoys the music. Richie or I sing capella and somehow Samuel doesn't seem to mind. ;)

Saturday night, Richie and Caleb were out of town and Samuel was a little sad that Richie was gone. He's gotten used to Richie putting him to bed since Abigail was born and usually asks for him to do it now. Something I'm happy about, but truthfully a little sad as well.

So, things were out of routine already. Samuel was upset and I was getting a little frustrated. I decided to just start singing. Samuel stopped whining and I began to just focus on the Lord. Then the presence of God filled his small room and it was wonderful. Or rather, wonder-full.

There we were just sitting on his floor, mommy and toddler, soaking it in. Peace. Comfort. Joy. We've enjoyed this experience before, but the faithfulness of God never ceases to amaze me and what a precious memory God has given me in it.

Just Because

Abigail Ruth

God is Amazing!

Five Things To Be Thankful For

I have been meaning to post this for posterity (so one day when Caleb has kids I can show him), so I figured now was a good time in order to understand how much I've been needing the story that I shared yesterday as a mother.

My oldest son is extremely strong-willed, if you haven't picked up on that yet. I do plan to do a posting in the future of some of our more humorous experiences with it. I'm not sure of God's overall purposes for having Caleb share the Bible stories at camp, but I do know that God knew I needed that encouragement.

About a week and a half ago, Caleb was in a grumbling kind of mood. I finally had enough of it and told him that he needed to write down five things he was thankful for in his life. After two attempts that I had to reject completely over a span of 45 minutes, this is what I got...












Cap - as in marker cap, because they keep markers from drying up.

Wood - because we can build things, like houses, with it.

Wax - because that's how we get candles.

Blue - because it's nice and a lot of things are that color.

10 - because he likes that number, it's his favorite.

Yeah. No family, food, or house. No God, church, or friends. No toys, books, or pets. We get marker caps, wood, wax, the color blue, and the number 10. So, I accepted it, then we had a long talk about what would be more appropriate...again.

Beginning to wonder what he'll share at the table on Thanksgiving... :)

This Little Light of Mine

My mother's heart had a great warming today when Richie came home from overnight Cub Scout camp with Caleb today and shared the following story...


It was campfire time and all the boys were given the opportunity to tell stories, which they were using to try to scare each other. Caleb got up to take a turn and shared the story of Adam and Eve. He even told about the curse that was put on the snake. The boys continued to tell scary stories. Not Caleb, he went on to share the story of Samson and then David and Goliath through the night.

Caleb chose to share these stories on his own without any leading from Richie. Words cannot express the inner joy I felt when they shared what happened. The choice he made in that moment when all his peers were participating in something completely opposite speaks volumes to me.

The Bible is full of fascinating and exciting stories and I try to share them with enthusiasm to our kids. Caleb must feel this way at least a little since he picked them to share. The next time we pull out our fire pit, I know what we'll be doing. I can picture the Israelites passing down the stories of our faith to the younger generation perhaps at night in front of the fire. I bet this would make them even more memorable for our family and what a great way to spend family time.

Maybe I'll even have to ask Richie to dress up like Moses to storytell... :)

Hometown Antics

Every summer our local Fire Dept. has a Lawn Party for four days. There are rides, games, food, and parades. Fun.

We've made it to two parades in the past, but have never been to the actual Lawn Party. This year, we went and had a blast. Well, okay, I stood with Abigail the whole time and watched my family have a blast, but that was fun as Mommy.

I made Richie take a picture of me and Abigail.

Caleb found friends to ride with and Samuel and Richie hung out together a lot. Richie did make it on a few rides a little more thrilling than below with Caleb. We shared the best lemonade and a funnel cake. What more could you ask for?! :)

I love this picture!

Then, Friday came and we did something I NEVER thought we would do. We put out lawn chairs on the sidewalk of Main St. at 8:00 am. Oh.yes.we.did. It was a tough decision, one we couldn't believe we were making after years of shaking our heads at the ongoing line of chairs each year. Alas, we have now joined the ranks of the hard core parade goers in this town. And you know what, I'm okay with it because I got a front row seat to the parade. We've already decided that we'll do it again next year...will wonders never cease? ;)

Saturday, Caleb and I had a spontaneous "date" night and went to the Lawn Party again. I've been feeling like I'm not getting to enjoy the kids as much right now and each could use some Mommy alone time, so we went with the rule being no riding with friends, just Mom and Caleb. It was fun and I sucked it up like a big girl and we rode a few rides. Of the fast spinning kind. Youch. But of course, I'd do it again for my boy.

You Might Be A Mommy If...

You have ever felt a common bond with the milking cow.

No, I'm not developing a new approach to evolution. No, not because of size, I said milking cow, thank you very much. :) Some days I feel like I could supply half our town with milk. Food shortage in the world, no problem. Send the little ones to Mama Jo's, she'll nourish them.

And seriously, could we design a pump that didn't make you feel like you should be in a stall and mooing? :) Don't get me wrong, I love my Medela pump, we've been through a lot together, but it makes me feel like, well, a cow. Maybe I should just go by "Bessy" for the next year or so...

(Sorry in advance to any Bessy that may stumble across this one day.)

Beauty Treatment

Abigail became a hand model at the tender age of 18 hours. So, maybe not a model, but we were asked permission to allow her to be photographed for a spread they were doing in our local newspaper on hands. This is her hand with one of the nurses we had at our hospital.

As I realized a couple of weeks ago that I called her pretty girl very frequently and I thought of our joking about her being a hand model, I became aware of how easy it could be to unintentionally attach value with physical beauty. That is certainly not our intention as parents!

I am thankful to God that my eyes were opened to it. No, it doesn't mean I think there is anything wrong with physical beauty. That would be like saying God made a mistake. What I am saying is that my goal as a parent is to have a godly approach to it and to make sure my children are raised with an understanding of godly beauty. My desire is to see them grow as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside!

In a culture that emphasizes the outward appearance, we must consistently and frequently battle to have our kids look inward to the condition of their hearts. I could go in a million different directions with this whole topic, so I'm going to try to stay focused on what I originally intended to jot down.

Side note: This is where I begin to see how raising boys and girls is different. Not in character issues, but in actual gender differences. Differences do exist, no matter what the feminist movement tries to say. It's acceptable and a good thing. God made it that way.

We women have a need to feel beautiful. And yes, I will continue to tell my daughter she is beautiful, but I don't want her growing up feeling like her acceptance or worth as a person is based on it. Proverbs 31:30 reminds us:

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

What I'm trying to share is that I became very aware of how easy it would seem that I was praising her beauty. Her character has yet to really begin to show, but I want to make sure as a parent I praise my children for looking like Jesus, not their looks. I want to pass along a heritage to her that won't pass or fade, a heritage that will lead to eternal life with Jesus. I want this for all my children.

Going Solo

I took my first grocery shopping trip with all three kids today by myself and it actually went so smoothly! Lest you think I am patting myself on the back and thinking I'm some kind of miracle mama, let me thank God right now for allowing my first trip to be peaceful!

I pushed the "kid" cart - Samuel in the seat and Abigail in her car seat in the actual basket - and Caleb pushed the "food" cart for me. Okay, so I kept Samuel distracted at first with looking for lollipops in each aisle (which we never even saw somehow) and after that got old, I gave him a snack. But, that normally didn't work when there were only two kids! An hour of pleasant shopping with three pleasant kids...what a gift.

I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am to have had such a good experience the first time out! It does not make me rush to do it again any time soon, but it will keep me going when I do not have such good trips.

Now, what I didn't think about was how to get said kids settled back at home with lunch and other needs fulfilled, all while unloading groceries and making sure all of it got put away. Yeah well, at least the shopping trip didn't involve any of us crying, right?! :)