Thursday, September 27, 2007

He really does delight in talking with us...Amazing!

So I'm sitting here reflecting on something I just read...I often journal during my quiet time with the Lord since it really helps me put coherent thoughts together...so I thought I'd blog it instead...

Dr. Olson just sent out an email to all the staff here at Northland encouraging us to be faithful in our prayer lives. He talked about how God delights in us coming to him. I was reminded of a great picture of this that made it all real to me. You'll have to excuse the emotional musings of a mother...

When I was in the hospital room after I had given birth to Sarah, I was waiting for our children to come and see her for the first time. I knew they were on their way and had been eagerly waiting for them to make their appearance and meet Sarah for the first time after nine months' wait and anticipation. I'll never forget that twinge of excitement I felt as I heard them timidly knock on my hospital room door because I was going to be able to show them such an exciting thing that I knew would please them so much! The awe and wonder they had on their faces as they made their way ever so quietly over to my bed where I was holding their tiny baby sister is forever burned in my mind. I wanted to so much for them to sit and talk with me and let them see this amazing gift I had to share with them. That time together was priceless...I wouldn't trade it for anything! The way we looked at her little toes together and the intrigue they displayed over her umbilical cord and their gigles of delight at Sarah grasping onto their fingers...Daniel and Hannah both were wanting to soak it all in with such an unusually hushed excitement.

What a tiny picture of what our prayer time with the Lord could be like! He is waiting for us to come to Him...when He hears us drawing near to Him the Bible teaches that He draws near to us. He delights in sitting and talking with us and wants to show us amazing things that we have no clue about. That sweet time of fellowship is something we should look forward to, just like Daniel and Hannah were looking forward to coming in and fellowshipping with Baby Sarah for the first time. He wants to sit with us and share things with us that He knows will please us and encourage us. He's sitting there waiting for us to peak our heads into the room and come before His throne. He's waiting for that little knock and to hear us say, Lord...can I come in...I have something I want to talk with you about; I want to see what special things You have to show me today. We can display such wonder over his character and attributes, and sit in hushed tones as we wonder in awe over His majesty and unmatched glory.

I'm a word picture kind of girl...the next time I go to the Lord for my personal time with Him. I'll be picturing myself knocking on the door and hearing the Lord say, "Yes...come in! I have been waiting for you...I have something wonderful I want to share with you!" And I will walk over to His bed and curl up next to Him and talk with Him and let Him show me what He has for me to learn about Himself. I'll sit in wonder and awe at how mighty He is and hopefully leave His presence with a renewed sense and desire to change whatever He pointed to in my life and become more like His precious Son than I ever thought possible! How thankful I am that we have a relationship with our heavenly Father who delights in spending time us and doing things for us as only a Parent could!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Some of my favorite pics from recent days--No text--just some pics!




What a great reminder!

I was reading a friend's blog just now and was a bit overwhelmed by how our feelings as parents for our children are only a small glimpse of how the Lord must feel about us as His children. Erin was talking about how her son has been really sick this summer and explaining the anguish of her "Mother's Heart" wanting so desperately for her son to be well. It must be the same but only more so as the Lord looks down at us with his perfect love and wants us so desperately to do what's right and serve Him. The sickness of soul that He must see in us as we choose our own way and the consequences that come from those choices must break His heart, much like we feel as we watch our children suffer. God is so good to us and we can learn so much from Him as our heavenly Father. What a mighty God we serve! And what a great example of parenting He gives to us.

(You can catch the blog off to the right here--it's Erin Neiner's blog...it's worth the time to read it and pray for her family!)

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

What all my children do best!

The other day I decided to take this video to post for all the family that lives far away to show them how Sarah is growing and rolling over like crazy to get wherever she wants. As I was previewing it, I realized that I managed to capture all 3 of our kids doing what they do best or at least what they do most! Daniel is playing his gameboy...pretty much oblivious to everything else--occasionally looking up to see if anything interesting is happening. Sarah is rolling all around the living room and coughing on demand. And then there's Hannah--at my elbow, copying just about everything I say, doing just about everything I do. "How sweet!" some of you might be saying, but let me remind you that she's right at my elbow...most of the time, saying everything I say...most of the time! Yes, it's sweet, but come on...you have to know, no matter how cute she may be, that gets a bit old after a while! She's definitely my little shadow!
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007

She's so much like her mother!

She tries, she really does try, but she is still so much like me that the poor thing is doomed to be a clutz the rest of her life! We bought this little toy for a dollar at Walmart before we went camping, and it was one of the highlights of our trip! It has 2 velcro paddles/mitts and a fuzzy ball that you use to "catch" the ball. Brent and the kids played with that goofy toy more than anything else! Maybe there's enough of her daddy in her that there's a bit of hope for her athletically, but I'm not holding my breath on this one!
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First Day of School!

Ready to go, but first we had to stop and get pictures of the first day of school! I'm not sure who's more excited, the kids or Mommy!!!
Daniel's starting 3rd grade. We've homeschooled up to this point so I'm a bit concerned about the transition to a traditional classroom. He seems to have survived the first week of school without getting in trouble. He was even disappointed that he didn't get to go to school on Labor Day--didn't bother to tell him how disappointed I was, too, that they didn't get to to go to school!
When I expressed remorse at my little girl growing up and leaving me for kindergarten, Hannah consoled me with, "It's okay, Mommy, we can still play together in the afternoon. I'll only be gone for the mornings!"
Yes...I know this pic is blurry...just imagine that it's how I saw it--through my tears--both of joy and sadness! :-)
We had sucha fun time picking out back packs! We had to open up every single option and see what it looked like on the inside before Hannah chose this princess one. The deciding factor was that this one came with a lunch bag that velcros onto the backpack for her snack for snack time! I'd like to think there might be an ounce of her daddy's practicality in her, but I'm pretty sure she's got most of my "It's all about how it looks over function" in her! Daniel however is most like Brent and chose his based on how much he could get in it and how durable it would be. His big decision was finding a good color--he is his Daddy's boy for sure!

Daniel gets baptized!

Daniel made a profession of faith a while back while he was attending a NBT program at a local church. We were fairly confident that he was saved, but rejoiced when he was adament about needing to be baptized. Brent talked with him on several different occasions from the Bible about why a person should be baptized, and Daniel showed as clear of an understanding as one can show. Our church does not have a baptism tank, so we have to head to a lake about once or twice a year to baptize people. There were 15 people that were baptized this time! It was an exciting time to see young people openly profess Christ as their Savior and a desire to live for Him. It was also a great thing to see many adults baptized--the Lord has been working in some great ways in our little church!
Each of the people getting baptized had to share their salvation testimony with the group of people gathered. It was a special thing to see our little boy, who used to be so shy and quiet (quite a long time ago now, it seems!), so boldly speak of his decision to follow Christ.
One of the neat things our church does is allow the dads to baptize their children or anyone who has discipled the person getting baptized. It was special for Brent to be able to baptize Daniel as his earthly father and spiritual brother. Here Brent and Daniel are watching other people get baptized. They had to go so far out to get deep enough so this is the best picture I could get!
Daniel is ready for Brent to "bury him in the likeness of His death..." Notice the speed boat in the background? One of the downsides of baptizing at a public lake on one of the last nice weekends of the summer!

We praise the Lord for our children. It is our sincere desire and prayer for them to live for the Lord with every ounce of their being from as early of an age as possible. It's quite a sobering thing to realize that they are growing up and our time to train them Biblically is ticking away.