A mom day - Sara

You moms will laugh and appreicate what a day I had today:

After sleeping (rather, laying) on the couch all last night with Isaiah, I decided to call his dr this morning to see what was up. It was the start of a very adventurous day for us - I loaded all 3 kids into the van and headed out to the dr's office for a 10am appt. Turns out, Isaiah has pneumonia, and the other two are infected by the same bug, but likely won't get it as bad as a baby does. So we did a nebulizer treatment for 5 min ("Breathing smelly mist in this mask will be much more fun than crawling around! Let's try it!") but that didn't help much. Thankfully, G&O were interested and talked to Isaiah while I clamped the mask to his face. It worked.

Next dr. said we should go across the street and have chest X-rays done. Great. I wasn't planning on this - no toys, books, etc for kids to occupy themselves with. We paraded as a small preschool class into the radiation lab and had an impromptu lesson about x-rays and lead aprons and all kinds of cool stuff. I thought it'd be awful, especially since the kids already had waited over an hour at the dr's office. But the tech was a sweetie and worked with G&O really well while I pinned Isaiah into uncomfortable positions for the camera to shoot.

After all that, we had to drive all the way out to the south side of town to buy a special mask that allows babies to use an inhaler. It looks like a duck sucking a tube. Cute. How much will this duck cost me, I wonder? Did I mention I couldn't find this little shop and had to stop and ask directions? All the while the kids are being incredibly patient and didn't complain once, although Grace felt the need to remind me not to go into the ditch (NO, I haven't been there recently!) So we bought our duck on a tube and proceeded to drive the 45 min home. I couldn't believe the kids were being so good. And it was past lunch time. Owen is usually starving and reminding me we need to eat way before now.

Chicken nuggets sounded like a good reward for such wonderful patience, but I had no cash. So we drove around, found an ATM, then headed to BK. I was way too exhausted by this point to haul 3 little ones into a fast food restaurant during lunch hour, so instead we had a "picnic" in the van. They thought it was a pretty cool idea. I laughed so hard at myself - here we are, sitting in the backseat of the van eating fries and nuggets while Isaiah sleeps (please don't wake up b/c I forgot to pack a bottle!) all while parked in the back corner of Yntema Funeral Home's parking lot. There are trees there. We thought it seemed more "outdoorsy" and picnic like.

So, if you think having three very young kids means you can't get out and "do stuff," think again. I would NEVER have planned a day like this one - but I learned a lot about myself, my kids, and literally what trusting God step by step feels like. I attribute two things to the "success" of our outing: God's providence (Xray tech, prizes at dr's office, etc) and the three kids entertaining each other to pass time. I'm amazed at how an 8 month old and 2-yr old can capture each other's attention for so long, or how a case of the giggles in one can relax a nervous baby better than Mama's words and hugs. I'm so proud of my kids for learning how to make allowances for each other and figuring out how to operate as a family. I see the benefits of closely spaced children more and more. Of course it's not peaches and cream all the time, but they are little blessings, and I thank God for each one.

Creativity Under pressure - Sara

It seems that I always find myself halfway through about a dozen projects that all need to be completed in the next week or so. Many people ask me what kind of stuff I'm working on, and because I need to get it straight in my own head as well, here's the list of what's started or soon to be started:

KNITTING
-sweater for Grace (body down, 1.5 sleeves to go)
-baby booties (1 bootie down, 7 to go before end of March!)
-cozy for my Palm Pilot (what else do you do with yarn scraps?)
-felted booties - undecided who the lucky recipient will be

SEWING
-flower girl dress for Grace (have the material now! Wedding's in April)
-cello stand cushion cover (challenging b/c of 3D nature - need Mom VO's wisdom)
-flannel bunnies (2 to go, no deadline)
-knitting needle case out of old jeans & funky cotton print
-Quilt: 42 12" squares quilted, border to go then sew the binding on (project started 1999, time to finish!!) Might have to call Ann to have a "bee" with me and share her expert advice

DESIGN
-logo/stationery for church (sending to press next week)
-misc ads/promos for small business (all summer/fall)
-postcard for church

OTHER
-accordian photo book for Isaiah
-felt Advent magnets (7.5 of 25 completed)

Desiring God - Steve

I read a lot of John Piper on vacation, from his book, Desiring God. His main point is that we glorify God most when we enjoy Him and take delight in Him and find our deepest satisfaction in Him. Here is a piece on what it means to be converted (hint: not just to believe).



"Once we had no delight in God, and Christ was just a vague historical figure. What we enjoyed was food and friendships and productivity and investments and vacations and hobbies and games and reading and shopping and sex and sports and art and TV and travel... but not God. He was an idea - even a good one - and a topic for discussion; but He was not a treasure of delight.
"Then something miraculous happened. It was like the opening of the eyes of the blind during the golden dawn. First the stunned silence before the unspeakable beauty of holiness. Then a shock and terror that we had actually loved the darkness. Then the settling stillness of joy that this is the soul's end. The quest is over. We would give anything if we might be granted to live in the presence of this glory forever and ever.
"And then, faith.... confidence that if I come to God through Christ, He will give me the desire of my heart to share His holiness and behold His glory."



Part of being a Christian means wanting different (and better) things than unbelievers around us want.

How about you? What do you desire most?

Once you have answered that question honestly, which may take a few hours, days, or even weeks to ponder, then ask yourself this: how does God fit into my deepest desires?

Welcome

For some, the pen is mightier than the sword. Others still struggle with holding a pen in the proper way. For the rest of us - who have given up pen and paper entirely - we seek to arrange 26 symbols into combinations that will convey the depths of our hearts and minds. And in "e-land" I'm told those 26 squiggles are all reduced to 1's and 0's. On. Off. Off. On. Absolute clarity lies behind jumbled words.

Off. On. There's no gray area here, no fractions. Off. On. On. It is a division that unifies. Your heart bursts with my joy or hangs heavy with my sorrows because of the unequivocable separation that has been made. Our relationship is deepened because of the division and the unique way that it is brought back together – the word.

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints an marrow; it judges the thoughts an attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

The word is the great rejoiner of things divided. But it divides in its own right, separating into On and Off. There is both division and unity in the Word.

-sah