One Night with the King

Big Sissy was watching the Veggie Tales version of "Esther," where all the girls were performing to win the title of Queen. She got inspired to do her own rendition of "Wheels on the Bus," which was just so cute. Doesn't every king love "Wheels on the Bus"?

Two Thoughts Converging

Last night in my class we were talking about kingdom theology. This is the idea that we Christians are to seek first the kingdom of God and to pray that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Ancient Near Eastern culture, one way the king established his dominion was by multiplying his image throughout the kingdom (typically statues, etc.). God, our King, is establishing His dominion by multiplying His image through humans, those made in His image. Thus the command to be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth and rule it, etc. As Christians, we actually have a responsibility to have children and to train them to follow God. Interesting, isn't it? In our world where children are viewed as an inconvenience and more than 2 is definitely viewed as odd...

So today at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), we had a panel discussion on homeschooling vs. private schools vs. public schools and the pros and cons of each. It was really enlightening, and no one was overbearing in their opinion. My "take away" thought, though, was that no matter what we choose we have an obligation to be involved. Even if we choose private school, it is no one else's job to train our children in the things of the Lord. If we choose public school, we better be getting our little tails over there to get to know the teachers, the principals, the curriculum, our children's friends, etc. I'm not saying we shouldn't let our children breathe, but we need to know what other sources they are being influenced by. I always say I will never homeschool. I'm still not sold on it, but after today I'm more open to the idea. There are so many more options out there now (ie. doing a hybrid with the public schools, community college, professionals in the area willing to teach a certain subject, etc.).

I started to get a little smug last night that I was doing my part in building God's kingdom (having 3 children in 4 years), but then the weight of the responsibility sunk in. First, I'm just thankful that God has allowed us to have children. Not everyone can, and that doesn't make them less obedient to God. But then bearing the children is only the beginning. Now their souls are at stake, not to mention the souls of all the others God has placed in my life (and in missions fields). Thankfully God is in charge, not me. I would be crushed under the weight of all this, but it is a little sobering to think about how complacent I have become. God has initiated this covenant with me; now it is my turn to respond. What does this mean exactly? I have no idea, but I am at least motivated to start seeking the answer to that question.

Pictures from the Park

These are some cute pictures from the park last week. We tried to go to the Butterfly House, but they are closed on Mondays. They still had fun just playing at the park. In the last picture you can barely see Big Sissy, who was supposed to be "holding" Little Sissy while they went down the slide. I don't think that really happened, but all turned out well.

Weekend Update

We had a GREAT relaxing weekend. It was crazy for a little while Friday while all Hubby's family was here to have a birthday party and we were still packing the car, trying to show them where everything was in the house, give gifts, cut cake, etc. But once we got there, it was so relaxing. My homework just didn't get done. Oh well. There's always next week.

Saturday morning Hubby and Big Sissy did their first letter boxing and geocaching outing. Big Sissy loved going for a walk to look for treasures. She did get an ouchy when she fell on the trail, but she still felt like a big kid for getting to go. I stayed back with the napping little one, but later I got to go on a boat ride with Big Sissy while Daddy stayed back. The kids and daddies went fishing that night, and some of them caught some catfish in the lake. Sunday morning we had breakfast duty (the families took turns being in charge of the meals). After that was over, we worked together to clean the place and then my family went to the outlet mall for a little while before we headed home. I wish I always had 3 other families helping me clean and cook!

We still haven't heard whether Hubby has to go to Salt Lake City. I hope that means he doesn't have to go or it's going to be really crazy tomorrow! At least I feel much more relaxed now and ready to face a new week. It was great to be able to spend time with our small group, getting to know them better, and time to just hang out as a family.

What Am I Thinking?!

Today I am completely overwhelmed with all I have to do, so instead of doing it, I'll just tell you about it. Now that fall has started, Mondays I have class. This week alone my assignment is to watch 2 video lectures, fill out the accompanying study guides, write a 2-4 page paper over each lecture, memorize 11 crucial dates in church history for a quiz on Monday, read the entire Book of Hosea, read the intro to the study Bible I had to buy just for this class, and read 4 chapters in a commentary.

Tuesdays I go to MOPS, which has no homework (thankfully). Wednesdays I am a shepherd for our kids' program at our church. That just means I stay with the same group of girls and guide them through applying the Bible time, help them do their crafts, etc. They're really cute girls. They're K-2nd grade. Thursdays Hubby is trying to spend time with us. This week on Friday (tomorrow) I'm having a friend over for lunch, then my in-laws (all of them, including the 6 from Indiana) are coming to our house for my niece's birthday party at 3, then we leave for the lake with our small group at 6'ish. I'm really excited about all of this, but this means I need to be cleaning my house (the in-laws from Indiana are staying at our house all weekend while we're gone), grocery shopping, writing papers, packing--all tonight. Since it's already 10:30... It feels like finals week all of a sudden.

Oh, and to top it all off, Hubby told me tonight there's a chance UPS might send him to Salt Lake City, UT, for the next few months. He'd come home only on the weekends. Some kind of emergency there and they "need" him (what about us?!) If this happens, he'll leave Monday. He gave them our sad story about a 2-year-old, a 1-year-old, and I'm pg, but UPS does what UPS wants to do. This seems like a good time for a chocolate donut binge with lots of coffee. Since I'm pg, I guess I'll go have some chocolate milk and try to focus on the tasks ahead. What am I thinking?!

Last Class

Tonight I started my last class at seminary. I've been working on this degree for 8 1/2 years, so this is a victory that I've arrived at my last class. It's a little sad at the same time. For one, it's a guaranteed night out each week. Now that Little Sissy is weaned (yeah!), it's much easier to put her to bed so Daddy is happy about that. Also, I just love classes. Right now I'm taking OT Prophets, which I'm totally intimidated by. I may not do well in the class, but I need to just go where I've been scared to go before. I'm scared partly because I just don't understand it and scared partly because I've grown up with all the charts and evangelists and bad predictions, etc. This class is sort of like medicine; it kind of tastes bad going down but is really good for me. Poor Hubby has to wait until I get home at 9:30 to go to work. This is the latest he's ever worked. We'll see how it goes... Tomorrow we start MOPS, so at least we'll be out of the house for a few hours in the morning while he sleeps.

Baby Dedication

Today we (finally) had Little Sissy dedicated. I wanted to do it before she was a year old, but we've had so many dilemmas in the past year...like do we baptize or dedicate? For that matter, where do we even go to church? We moved in January and have been bouncing around ever since. Just last month we finally decided to go back to the church we attended a couple of years ago. Of course there are some things I don't love about it, but that's always going to be the case. The important thing is that the people love God, teach the Bible faithfully, and love us well. It feels like home to be back.

Hubby got to take the microphone briefly and talk again about the grace of God in our lives allowing us to have 2 children after such difficulty even conceiving the first one (thus the name of our child). And then we got to share the news that we're having another one, which I'm sure answered many people's questions since I am really starting to blossom. :) God's grace is so amazing, and today was another reminder as we stood before a congregation of people and promised again to give our children to the Lord for His service and to teach them faithfully about God. What a responsibility! Little Sissy was quite the charmer and I'm not sure the people got to hear all of what the pastor was saying. She was working the crowd, waving to everyone. I missed much of it too, because Big Sissy was sitting spread eagle on the platform when I noticed that she wasn't right beside me. Both sets of grandparents got to attend, and that was special to us.

Busy Week!

We've had a super busy week and I haven't had time to post, so I have a lot to catch up on. Monday was Labor Day, and we drove to my hometown (for the 3rd time in 1 week) to go to the Homecoming. It's a tradition there. Friday night is the homecoming football game and then there's a carnival in town that the whole town attends. The last few years I have had to go to the beer tent to see most of the people I graduated with. They are always surprised to see me there but too drunk to realize I'm still not drinking. Anyway, now many of us have children and so I get to see people from high school at the kiddy rides.

Wednesday I took Little Sissy for her 1 year doctor visit. She's healthy but gained less than a pound between her 9 month visit and 12 month visit. She's dropped down to the 37th percentile for weight. That's a big shift, since we've always been around the 90th percentile! Thursday I went to the doctor to check out Tiny Baby. I heard a good heartbeat, and the next visit I'll have the big ultrasound to find out the sex. Exciting!!!! Then Friday we took Little Sissy for her big one-year photo shoot. We discovered a new place called Portrait Innovations, which I love. They do everything digitally and print them that day. We were there about 2 hours and spent WAY too much money, but this is the first time we've ever had really good pictures of Little Sissy. I got to keep the "free" CD, so I can legally post some of the pictures.

Little Sissy Turns 1

I can't believe my baby girl turns 1 tomorrow. Today we had a party for her. Poor Hubby just got home last night, and today he spent all morning picking things up for me (balloons, cake, etc.). The party turned out really cute. Little Sissy got to indulge in her cake, and the other kids had free reign in a church gym. Tons of fun! People in my family were very sweet and brought Big Sissy presents too. It looks like Christmas at our house! It wasn't as stressful as I thought it might be, mostly because Hubby and my mom were such great help. I'm kind of tired now, but I also have an adrenaline rush still (or maybe I'm still on a sugar high). Happy Birthday, sweet baby!