Standing Up

It's official. Tali no longer enjoys merely sitting on the floor, happily reading her books. Now, in order for any "fun" to be had in her life, she thinks she needs to be standing. And so, with wobbly little legs, she pulls up. Here are some shots of her latest milestone. Oh, and one picture of her enjoying her newest trick: climbing up the stairs.

Read More

Home Again

Enjoying a walk after our yummy dinner at "Fried Green Tomatoes"

Re-visiting the Arboretum where we got engaged

Where we were blessed to stay: Pine Hollow Inn, Galena

The Lord was so kind to richly bless our time away. Josh and I felt overwhelmed by how truly good the time was; it even exceeded our expectations. We drank-in the beauty of our bed&breakfast out in the woods, ate some yummy food, played Dutch Blitz and Speed Scrabble, revisited the arboretum where we got engaged, had wonderful fellowship, talked about goals for our marriage, worked on generating some names for baby boy, checked out quaint little shops, got soaked in a downpour, and enjoyed just being in love. God was so kind to us and gave us many sweet memories to treasure. Thank you for your prayers!

One of the things that I most appreciated about our time was that God filled me with fresh faith for all of the good things that He has in store for our marriage. It was a joy to fellowship with Josh about how God has and will continue to change us, through the power of the Gospel, to help our marriage more reflect Christ and the Church. After all, that's the ultimate purpose for our marriage. It was good to be reminded of that and to think about how I can better reflect that by faithfully and joyfully living out my role as a wife.

I am so grateful for Josh's care for me and the way that he encouraged me during our trip to trust God for growth in our marriage and in other aspects of my life. It can sometimes become much easier for me to dwell on my sin than to dwell on the kindness and mercy and grace of God, shown on the cross. How it must grieve the Lord when we are so busy looking inward that we fail to look upward and worship Him for the redemption He's purchased.

On another note, we came back to a daughter that has suddenly decided she needs to stand up all of the time and now even tries to climb on top of things. What happened to my little baby? Thankfully, I've got another coming. :)

That's it for now!

Read More

And We're Off!!!

We're packing the car (or more accurately, Josh is) and about to take off for our little get-away! After fighting colds all week, it seems like the two of us are healthy and Tali's just a bit under the weather. Hopefully, she continues towards 100%.

I'll post some pics when we return from Galena. We'd love prayers that the Lord would richly bless our time, drawing us closer together and that Tali would be happy with Grandpa Red and Grandma Billye. Thanks!

Read More

Trusting His Promises

Josh & I have been been reading through Genesis in our quiet times/devotions. I am so grateful that God is giving me fresh eyes to look at this book anew and to benefit from it. In particular, I have been struck by how faithful God is to keep His promises.

Today I read Genesis 21, where God grants Abraham & Sarah their promised child, Isaac. Verse 1 stuck out to me: "The LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as He had promised." Much earlier, (Genesis 15) the Lord had promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. When Abraham was a whopping ninety-nine years old, God reiterated the promise to him, but it had not yet been fulfilled. Abraham was one hundred years old when he saw God's promise fulfilled in the birth of Isaac.

I just love in Genesis 21:1 where it says that God did as He had said and did as He had promised. This is the God we serve. He is a promise-keeping God. What seemed like an outlandish and impossible promise was fulfilled by the faithful God. He always keeps His word and all of His promises prove faithful. As I consider that truth, I'm filled with fresh faith today to trust Him. Why would I doubt that God will give me grace to fight temptations to sin when He has promised me in 1 Cor. 10:13 that God will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear? Why would I doubt that God will help me to grow in being a loving wife when He has promised in Philippians 1:6 that He will bring to completion the good work that He has started in me? Why would I fear the changes that will come with caring for two children instead of just one when God has plainly told me in 2 Cor. 12:9 that His strength is made perfect in weakness? God always proves good on His word so I can bank on His promises. What hope and joy there is in believing that truth!

May you be encouraged today as you seek to trust Him, knowing that our God is a God who faithfully keeps the promises in His Word!

Read More

Flowers

Our girl loves flowers. And so, over and over again throughout the day we see and hear her going "sniff, sniff" ("flower" in sign language). It's hilarious and very sweet. Tonight, we had a friend come over and after waving to him, she quickly pointed at the flowers on the counter and went "sniff, sniff." It's very important to Tali that everyone who enters our house sees the flowers and loves them as much as she does.

I want to appreciate the beauty of what God has made like my daughter. There is not a day that goes by that Tali does not beg to go outside (aka: point outside, sniff-sniff, then whine a bit) and look at the flowers. They absolutely captivate her. How many times do we simply become familiar with a beautiful flower, or a sunset, or a cool breeze? And to think that God made it all.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

The beauty of what Tali is sniffing about is a testimony about God. All that He has made loudly declares that there is a God and He is good. So sniff away, sweet girl, and maybe your mommy will join you.

Read More

Winning My Heart, One Potato at a Time

My husband most definitely knows how to bless me and make me fall in love with him all over again. What did he do this time? He not only went to the grocery store for me in search of things like "exactly two pounds of potatoes" and "ten ounces of pearl onions" and brought home each and every item on the list, he then helped me slice and chop it all. And he did it with joy, despite the fact that he is possibly even more tired than I am right now.

It made me think about how often I take for granted that God has blessed me with the best husband in the world and how much I lack the servant-mindset of Christ. Josh actually enjoys serving me; it's not a chore for him. I, on the other hand, can adopt a "martyr" mentality about serving him. I think I deserve some huge accolades if I actually keep the kitchen relatively clean and do a couple of loads of laundry for him. Not only do I think I deserve praise, I think I've done my quota and can't possibly be expected to do any more for the day. It's not an attitude of delighting in serving my husband like he delights in serving me. It's most definitely not the humble, outward-focused attitude of Christ, described in Philippians 2.

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Even though this mindset is one that I am often far from possessing, I am blessed to have a husband who is modeling this for me daily. I don't want to take that gift for granted.

Thank you for the ways that you sacrificially serve me, Babe!

Read More

We Love This Season!

Cool nights, hot tea, and cute jean jackets. Around our house, fall is a time to be celebrated! Tali loves to play outside and isn't quite sure what she thinks of this change in temperature, but she loves her jean jacket and that seems to help quite a bit. A couple days ago she scooted over to the spot where her clothes are stored and she pulled out this jacket. She quickly brought it over to me, pointed at the jacket, and started babbling. I said, "Do you want Mommy to put your pretty jacket on you?" She nodded and I put it on her. Then she proceeded to proudly touch it and point to various spots on the jacket, grinning from ear-to-ear and babbling away.

Thank you, Andrea & Aaron for this adorable jacket that we are hoping magically fits her for at least the next five years of her life. :)

Read More

Find Mommy

I didn't expect to love each and every month of motherhood a little more than the last, but so far that's the case. Having a 10 month old is the best! Each day Tali does something new. I love getting up in the morning and anticipating what new and fun things she will bring to my day.

This week the new thing for her has been the "Find Mommy" game. I run (as much as a six month pregnant woman can) into a room and start calling, "Where's your mommy? Can you find Mommy?" And pretty soon I hear the clomp of my little scooter giggling and going as fast as she can towards my voice until at last she finds me. She starts waving her arms and grins ear-to-ear with pride. It is so much fun to play with her.

I am an imperfect (or more honestly put-a sinful) parent. And yet, I delight in watching my daughter live and learn. It is so amazing to think that God, the perfect and Holy Father, delights in us more than we could ever delight in our own kids. It's definitely not because we're cute like Tali, but because He has made us His children though the redemptive work of His Son. What a reason to praise Him!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Read More

Beginnings

Even though I'm no longer officially a "student," something inside me gets really excited about the start of a new school year. I'm not a teacher, I'm not in school, I don't have any children of school age, but I still feel as if a new beginning has arrived with the start of a new school year. So as the children around my neighborhood march off with their new backpacks and cool lunch boxes on their way to a brand new classroom, I want to have a beginning as well-sort of my very own "something new". And so enters this blog.

There's no big theme or mission I'm out accomplish really, aside from keeping friends & family up-to-date on our lives. I want to share how God is at work in our home, teaching me to trust Him in the "little" things of being a wife and mom. So you can expect pictures of Tali, posts about great date nights with my hubby, and just the every day sort of thing that God is teaching me. I'm planning on posting every Friday and possibly some throughout the week, depending on time. My hope and prayer is that this blog can echo the heart of Ephesians 4:29 and speak "only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Thank you for reading!

Read More