Category Archives: Family

Here’s what we look like today.

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Home Again…

Was gone much of the last week for our last (immediate) family wedding.

Random “over-heards” from the weekend.

A tee-shirt on the groom:

No, I don’t have a girlfriend.
But a know a girl who would be pretty upset if she heard me say that.

After the wedding:

60-something uncle: So, [Groom] what are you planning on doing tonight?
Unbelieving stare from groom.
40-something uncle: Has it really been that long since you were married?

And then there was the one on the drive home where my oldest asked,

Are we going to Fairbanks and real-Alaska, now?

And here we are, at almost 1400 miles of driving, five in a Subaru Legacy, in less than a month.

Family 8/07

Do we look a little dazed to you? (In case you didn’t know: these pictures are “clickable.” Click to see the picture full-size.)

Now, Lord willing, my goal is to really set up house and find a balance now that sickness, dog (yes, dog 🙁 ) and crazy-fast weekends across the state are over for the present.

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Elisha’s First Fishing Trip

On Friday Morning Mom and Dad picked up the kids and me in the truck and we all drove to the lake for a day of fishing.

Elisha was itty-bitty the last time we went, so it was the first boat trip he didn’t sleep through.

gettin in jacket

He got to wear his infant life jacket, play with worms, and find his sea legs.

E & Worm

Things got a little more complicated when he got tired. We both had to take off our life-jackets in order for him to nurse. He streched out that moment as long as he could.

Snuggling

“Oh Grandma, you’re not going to make a kid this cute get back in that nasty jacket, are you?”

Yup.

W/ Papa

But he recovered, and spent some time figuring out what Papa was doing.

Melody

Everyone was tired and snuggly by the trip home.

I didn’t realize till I went back through the pictures: I got none of Natasha.

But this shouldn’t be my last picture post, so I’ll make up for it somewhere.

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So long… Farewell…

So we’ve had to end this dog-round-2.

Reasons we could give, but that’s the conclution.

Two nights ago after the new home was nearly confirmed I told the girls.  Melody was impassive, but Natasha was very sad.  Distressed.

I told her what I could, and felt how unhappy she was about it.  And prayed about it.  Thought a lot (and asked advice) about what else to say.

Came up with nothing.  Kept praying.

Next morning Natasha got up and, very cheerful and lucid (she’s not normally a morning person), explained that she was very sad last night but she thought about it and had a dream, and was thinking about it and now she knows that Shadow just has to go.

“Because, she’s just, got to go.” She gesticulated with her open hands and made that self-conscious grin and the half-laugh she gives when she’s testing the waters about being more grown-up.

Just like that.  The most simple, basic answer to prayer I could have gotten.

God is so good.

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Ouch!

Natasha was playing on her bed today, flopping backwards onto her pillow. After a while she misjudged and fell into her headboard instead (there was a nasty crack).

For a while she could only cry while I held her, and wouldn’t answer my how-are-you-feeling question.

“Can you see okay?” I asked, trying a different tack. She nodded. “How about when you hit your head?”

“When I hit my head it really hurt, and my eyes twinkled.”

“Are they twinkling now?”

“No, not any more.”

///

Back on Tuesday the girls were at Ruth’s house while I was in class.

Ruth was sort of surprised at Natasha, because she’d been hitting and throwing things. When she threw a spoon into the lake Jon had to use a rake to get it out.

At that point Natasha said, “I’m ornery tonight. I didn’t get a good nap.”

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Weekend Nuggets

Twice as we were driving to Wasilla and passing roadwork Natasha shouted, “Daddy!  Look!”  Both times there was the quick glacing about for the source of her delight before she pointed to the side of the road and said, “Dirt!”

We couldn’t help laughing.

On the way home the girls were asking something about clouds and where they come from and where they go.

Melody shared her content analysis matter-of-factly :  “Don’t you know– that snow and milk make clouds?”

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Admiring Daddy’s Work

Jay did a fantastic job cleaning up the house Saturday while the kids and I were visiting a friend.  He’d picked-up all the floors so I could see most of the living room.

I was complementing Jay again on how nice the new floor looks, thanking him again for his hard work.

“Isn’t it great?” I said to Melody.

“Yes!” said Melody, enthusiastically.   “I like the new floor.  Daddy made it all slippery and stripy.”

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Improving

Jay is so kind to me.

I’m noticeably improved today (less tired, less coughing) and he is still staying home to manage things and let me rest.

It really is the sensible thing to do– not to quit too soon– and I’m thankful Jay has the flexibility at work to be able to choose that for us.

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Gotta love what they take away…

We read the story of Adam and Eve last week from the girls’ bible.

I read the part about Eve’s creation and reminded the girls what ribs are (Natasha’s favorite book for a while was the Eyewitness Skeleton book, so that pleased her).

Incidentally, I loved that, since I don’t see any reason to encourage the idea (perpetuated by the Halloween marketers) that skeletons are something to be afraid of. I think they are marvelously designed, and it’s good to appreciate that.

Anyway, the girls were talking on their phones to each other, playacting being other people, when this exchange took place and I had to drop everything and write it down.

M: How are you doing today?
N: Not so good. God just took a rib out of me to make a woman.
M: Oh my.
N: Yes. And When I woke up, it was awful! I went to feel my bone and it wasn’t there– it was all mushy.

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How do we know?

And does it matter?

Melody came to her doorway (opposite mine) tonight and said, “Mommy, I asked Jesus into my heart.”

This whole time (you know, a whole week) I’ve been struggling with how to properly encourage Natasha for her choice without making it look… too good, so Melody wouldn’t just be a little mimic. I really thought I did pretty well, so I wasn’t expecting mimicking behavior.

I felt a little stunned (you might have thought she said “Mom, I’m pregnant,” I felt caught so off-guard). Not wanting to discourage her, but wanting to know more, I asked, “How did you do that?”

“In bed,” she said matter-of-factly.

I sent her back to bed with a smile and hug, not sure what to think. Natasha returned from bathroom a trip a bit after, and I heard Melody say, “Natasha, I asked Jesus into my heart.”

“That’s great!” Natasha responded enthusiastically. Then I heard her pray.

“Dear Jesus, thank you that Melody asked Jesus into her heart!”

Now, that would have been a natural place to start, I thought. I went into the room, not sure I’d heard right.

“Did you say something, Natasha?”

“No, I was just prayin’.” She looked a little bashful but was smiling so big.

Then Melody asked “Can you pray with me, Mommy, to ask Jesus in my heart?”

So I prayed with her– or started to– the repeat-after-me bit, and she took off with her own way of praying (and looked at me funny when I said the bit about obeying).

I lay everyone back down again and went to talk to Jay about it. I asked, “How do we know this is real? Does it matter?”

He said “I really don’t think it does. Treat it as real, and work form there.”

And, I guess he’s right. God knows their hearts, and I don’t have a reason to doubt or discourage her. It’s an ineffable feeling of relief to see both my girls’ hearts “safe home.” I never expected I’d feel this way.

It’s like that 20-lbs I lose every evening when Jay comes home and lifts Elisha off my back. That mixed with a little vertigo and the feeling of being outside right after it’s rained. I don’t know. I felt a bit like this after Natasha last week, and maybe it’s doubled now…

~

It is nice to know the stories we read together can now be more for them than just stories. That they can have the same significance for both girls.

I’ve felt a difference between the girls’ listening this past week, and wonder if Melody will hear differently in the morning.

Actually, she was more intrigued tonight than she’s been in the previous week, so… maybe God was already working on that part of her heart. And she was asking questions about Great-grandma and heaven after bible time.

Not like Natasha did, so I didn’t really think anything of it at the time… but it really seems like she was doing some level of processing this evening.

It makes me think of when I felt Elisha move at something like 3-months gestation.

I didn’t think before I felt him that it was physically possible, but when it happened I knew it was real. I guess my mind is growing into that place with Melody, thinking about the progression of the evening.

~ ~ ~

If you take any prayer-requests away from this reading, please pray that both these two new babies would be “rooted and established in love,” and be eager to grow– in their love of Scripture, in prayer and in obedience.

Pray especially for Melody to learn self-control, as lately she’s been having a hard time controlling her reactions to things (just and unjust).

And pray for my faith too, that I can trust that God will use these young confessions of faith, and allow them to spur one another on as they continue to grow on very parallel tracks.

Thanks for reading (and praying).

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About Feeding…

One of the largest concerns in my mind after Natasha made her decision for Christ was how to feed her. And then, how did I know it was real?

I poked around on-line and made some calls (knowing I’ve seen a very competent “arrival kit” for adult new believers I hoped there might be something I could use with my 4-year-old). Not easily finding something, my mind went next (I’m sorry! It’s been trained!) to “Maybe that means I should write something myself…”

Then, as my mind was there, I began to wonder how I could know if Natasha knew what she was doing (after all, 4 is awfully young…). I didn’t want my clumsy efforts to guinea-pig her and cool her interest in things of the faith.

God graciously encouraged my heart, though.

  • Natasha didn’t want to call and tell anyone (e.g. grandparents), which was what made me wonder in the first place, but when I was on the phone she wanted me to tell them.
  • She’s had an increased appetite for the Word (tell me that isn’t inspiring), wanting the real thing.

I grabbed the picture-bible because it was near-by and I was nursing the baby, but she said, “No, Mama, I don’t want the picture one, I want mine.” “The one with just words?” “Yes.” And she went and got it.

  • She’s been willing to pray “publicly” for the first time (volunteering to pray over dinner tonight)
  • And she told grandma about her decision as soon as she saw her.

So I was encouraged. And I did find a couple picture books that bring up concepts I wanted her to think about (because I expect she’ll still want picture books at her age).

The break-through for my first concern came when a church secretary called me back and said none of the right people were around to ask the curriculum question of.

Then she pointed out that with her three daughters (all grown, and all raising their children in the Faith) she had just continued with the same tack as before, reading bible stories, talking about the things of faith. The difference being that after a decision for Christ those talks have more meaning for the child.

This was such a wonderfully simple truth and I had never seen it this way. It lifted my concern (that I believe most young parents have) about how to feed my baby “right” on my own.

~

In all the bible stories we’ve read since Wednesday night, I’ve been able to bring up questions about our response to God and how He interacted with the people in the stories.

As a storyteller, the idea of staying with the stories themselves is so freeing. I don’t need to find a way to introduce a “simplified” Romans or Galatians to my 4-year-old. There is plenty of time for that later. For now I can be thankful for the many truths that God has provided in the stories he gave us.

From Balaam and we’ve already filled-in some gaps I had woken concerned about the morning after. God is faithful, and will always make provision for the right thing at the right time.

In the same way that I can say, “No, we’re not reading about Judah and Tamar,” knowing it’s not age-appropriate, I can wait on many other things as well.

“Jesus loves me, this I know,” is a beginning that has confounded scholars and kept them busy long enough to let my daughter grow ready for other eternal truths.