little bits

family life:

This morning started with a bang. I awoke to a mountain of parmesan cheese spilled on my dining room floor, compliments of my mischievous Jameson. Before I even had time to think about a vacuum cleaner, the same little imp had managed to pour our entire Brita pitcher all over the floor. …at which point Daddy took him into the bathroom to discuss his disobedience when poor Ry discovered an absolutely awful diaper. Of course, dads are not terribly in the habit of dealing with such things, and so it managed to get much worse before it got better.

Okay. Right. What was I doing? Ah yes. The cheese.

Scratch that. William’s crying.

All before we’ve rubbed the sleep from our eyes.

Hey, you just gotta laugh.

Jameson:

Some things make me feel that, for sure, this kid is a boy. Lately he’s been doing little things that I just love. He’s not just a baby; he’s a little boy! Things like, for the first time, eating his toast and deciding that it looks like a gun, so bang bang! Or discovering that most of his pants have pockets — and we know how totally absolutely unmistakeably cool a boy with his hands in his pockets is! (Or at least, how cool he feels!) Or suddenly launching into this crazy flipping-kicking-falling-spinning routine that you realize you’re supposed to be really impressed by, because he’s showing you his moves. (The guns and the cool moves are totally just boy things, because the poor kid doesn’t watch anything “cooler” than Winnie the Pooh!) And then yesterday he found a pair of tall, thick socks in my closet and proceeded to put them on like gloves, pull them all the way up his arms, and then just wandered around the house touching everything (pretending something. I’m just not sure what.)

I love it!

He’s also hit his 2 year old stride in the last week and a half. If you know what I mean. Those episodes will be humorous in the future. That’s what I keep telling myself!

William:

Is so smooshy! But for growing so much, he sure is a messy eater. There’s milk everywhere when he nurses! He hasn’t spit up much, but I had to laugh today when I was holding him against me and burping him — and he suddenly spit up a ton, right down my shirt! At least his outfit is still clean!!

Okay. More later!

family

Almost 4 weeks.

Only 4 weeks? How can it be that I’ve only known this little baby for such a short time — and yet, I can barely remember life without him? How does a person, a total stranger, become so instantly a part of your world? So instantly loved? It just feels like of course William is part of our family. How could we be us without him?

He so instantly fits because God planned it. That’s why. He knows exactly who will join our family, and when. And why, for that matter. Thanks to Jameson and William, I am going to be stretched and changed and tested and caused to grow. I will understand and empathize and see in ways I wouldn’t have. It’s all a part of His plan. Amazing.

I like that God always knows what He’s doing. And He’s always doing good.

quilt

Recently, Jameson has gotten really into cuddling with the special “blanket” that Mama made for him. Naptime, reading time, bedtime… he likes to have his quilt. You can imagine how much I love that he loves it. And how quickly I decided that William would have a quilt.

But I don’t have any money for a quilt. They cost money, you know. Fabric isn’t free, unfortunately. What to do?

I’ve been mulling it over for a couple of weeks, and then yesterday, I suddenly knew what I would make and was actually excited about it.

So this morning, when Ryan took Jameson out for a bit, I tucked William in his wrap and got started.

The best, best part? It’s all from scraps and old shirts. All of it.

I’m thankful.

from elisabeth elliot: live by the Word

I need this reminder over and over in my life. Ears get tickled too easily. Flesh looks for an easier way. Flagging perseverance wants something new.

But no. His Word is the only way.

(And, to those who follow me, I am reminded of my responsibility to accurately live the Word. Woe to me when I cause them to stumble… Serious stuff.)

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly” (Psalm 1:1, AV).

At a recent convention a young woman told me that her husband had wanted a divorce, but consented to see a Christian counselor before making it final. A member of the team in the counseling center told him that he himself was divorced and very happily remarried. That was all the husband needed. The man to whom he looked for help set the example he was hoping to find. Of course he went ahead and divorced his wife.

The twenty-third chapter of Jeremiah describes what is happening in our country today. The land is full of adulterers. Pastures have dried up. Powers are misused. Prophet and priest alike are godless, doing evil even in the Lord’s house. Jeremiah’s description of the prophets seems terribly fitting for some of those from whom Christian people are seeking guidance: “The vision they report springs from their own imagination. It is not from the mouth of the Lord…. To all who follow the promptings of their own stubborn heart they say, ‘No disaster shall befall you.’ But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord, seen him and heard his word? Which of them has listened to his word and obeyed?” (Jeremiah 23:16-18, NEB).

Here is a good test to apply to any of whom we seek counsel. Has this person stood in the council of the Lord? Seen Him? Heard His word? Listened and obeyed? Note the few who have actually paid a price for their obedience (like Jeremiah who was flogged, imprisoned, dropped into a pit of slime, etc.). These few are the ones to follow.

The chapter goes on to describe prophets who speak lies in God’s name, dream dreams, give voice to their own inventions, concoct words of their own, and then say, “This is his very word.” They mislead with “wild and reckless falsehoods.”

“If a prophet has a dream, let him tell his dream; if he has my word, let him speak my word in truth. What has chaff to do with grain? says the Lord” (v. 28).

Beware of those who are afraid to quote Scripture, who say it’s too “simplistic,” doesn’t apply here, won’t work. Beware of the counselor who is “nondirectional.” Be cautious when the advice given makes you feel comfortable when you know you’re really wrong. “Do not my words scorch like fire? says the Lord. Are they not like a hammer that splinters rock?” (v. 29).

It wasn’t only the awesome prophets of the Old Testament who spoke this way. Think of the words of Jesus. Though often He spoke “comfortable words,” words that brought peace and hope, He spoke also those words that seared like fire (“Depart from me, I never knew you”; “Get behind me, Satan!”) and splintered rock (“You will never get out until you have paid the last farthing”; “Whoever wants to be first must be the willing slave of all”).

“The form of words you shall use in speaking amongst yourselves is: ‘What answer has the Lord given?’ or ‘What has the Lord said?'” (Jeremiah 23:35, NEB).

This applies, of course, only to those who care what the Lord wants. Those who have already decided to do their own thing need not apply for truly godly counsel.