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Friday, September 30, 2016

September days

My daughter is helping mix a quiche for dinner. And yes, she chose to wear Thomas pajamas today, and why not? Little decisions like that make kids happy and they don't hurt anything!

I think this might be the fourth time this week that these two have independently started playing nicely together. Could this be a sign of things to come as they get older? It makes me so happy when they behave like this.

BOGO Culver's coupons!
Sunday morning story.
Free frappe at DQ
A veggie Tale before naps.
I love these CUTE jeans on Caroline!

What Sunday evening church looks like around here. The kids in bed and John and I relaxing on the couch with a sermon playing on the tablet. "If we have the opportunity to hear the Word [of God] preached once a week, come rain, come shine, and to gather with other believers in worship, we have reason to fall on our knees and thank God, case closed.
How blessed we are! So blessed."
@mrsgoresdiary

Furnishing the dollhouse.
We had the Smiths over for dinner.
Cool enough for jackets!
John surprised us with apple fritters for breakfast!
A gorgeous fall day.
An evening at the park.
A picnic and evening at the park.

Pumpkin picking

Caroline chose this big pumpkin!

Luke picked out the little "baby" one he is sitting on, and enjoyed a windfall apple :-)

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Caroline said

"Can I put the list in the pot at church tomorrow?"
That took some discussion before we realized she was asking if she could put our tithe in the offering!
"Yes, Caroline. You may."

Caroline has on and off asked me for crunchy carrots for dinner, but whenever I serve carrots she doesn't like them. After some discussion with her I realized she was thinking of the cheese puffs John had bought for her birthday. Poor kid, haha. Asking for Cheese puffs and getting carrrots! 

A frequent conversation around these parts, "Mom?"
Me, "What?"
Caroline, "I love you!"

Caroline was discussing birthday present ideas for her fourth birthday, "I think this year maybe I might get a credit card..."
"Ummm, I doubt it, honey."

"Mama, will you take the paper off the eggs before we eat them?"
Translation,will you peel the hard boiled eggs?

"Will I have sticks on my big girl bed?"
She wanted to know if her big girl bed would have slats on the side like her crib.


Caroline, "Mama, I'm cold. Can we turn the outside air conditioning off?"
Me, "How about we try putting on a sweater instead?"

And Some Lukisms as well.....

I was rocking and snuggling Luke before bed just like I do every evening when he gave me a big smile and said, "I happy."
Me too, Dukie ♡

"Three, four, leven, eight...." Dukie counting in a game of hide and seek. One of the kids favorite games and it is hilarious to watch.

Duke combines thank you and you're welcome in the word, "Thankum."

Luke LOVES chocolate and always calls it chock chock.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Currently

Currently we've been watching this show and just reached the last season. I posted this on Instagram yesterday,

That sad moment when you finish the last episode of your show on Netflix and you have to decide what to watch next. On the bright side, we're eleventh in line for the next and final season of Person of Interest at the library :-)
Edited to say that not ten minutes after I posted this, John Facebook messaged me from his basement office (do other couples im each other from different rooms in their homes? ) to tell me that he got a Netflix notification that season 5 is now up and ready to watch. Yay :-). A new season of Longmire starts tonight as well so I'm sure our evening will include that!



Currently I've been wearing blue jeans and pearls, because that is how I roll :-)


Currently have been drinking wine and coffee, because along with the grace of God, how else do moms of littles survive ;-)
Kidding.....sort of, not really, haha.



I've been enjoying this blog. Sometimes I'm a bit blown away by how large the family's budget is, but I love reading blogs about other moms and families, and I like that this one is most definitely not a lazy, make jokes about her poor work ethic type mom. Those memes on face book where people joke about messy homes and piles of laundry drive me crazy as I posted this morning,

"When did we become people who think it is cute and funny to not do our jobs well? Instead of trying to do better we post memes joking about our messes and piles of laundry, glorifying poor work ethic. I totally get falling behind, being tired, or sick, etc what I'm objecting to is the attitude. I wouldn't let my children treat their work in such an irresponsible way.After some more thought, edited to say, lets take our jobs as moms and homemakers as seriously as our husbands take their jobs that bring home a paycheck. Let's build up and encourage one another in what I freely admit can be a difficult, challenging job, instead of tearing down our homes and work ethics with jokes about our failings. Most of all let us depend on the Lord to give us the ability to do our jobs in a way that brings glory to Him."




Currently I've been burdened and hurting. I've been held at arms length by some, and cut off by others because I am unwilling to say that I can overlook and sweep under the rug, sins against Christ and the church. I can forgive sin against me, though I need some kind resolution, but I don't speak for the Lord. Those things need repentance and wherever possible, an effort to make things right, not just continuing in sin.
I've been criticized for that, and for holding God's word in too much reverence.
Thankfully this has driven me to Christ, and I find comfort in these (and many other) verses from 1 John 3.

 "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.  Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."


Currently I have been loving this facebook page and everything they post. They encourage me so much in my desire to have a gospel centered home and style of parenting.
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Life Lived Beautifully
ed me to quit running the wrong race. When life gets hard, to-do lists get longer, and rest seems non-existent, my natural response is to just quit. Quit trying hard. Quit fighting for joy. Quit dreaming big. Quit my phone. Instead of quitting what God has called me to, I need to quit myself. The evil we fight is not Instagram, other people, our phones, the laundry, or the dishes. We are waging war against the enemy, and it is time we quit letting Him steal our purpose and joy by making us think the race we run is one for perfection. Only Jesus is perfect, we've got to run to Him.

I am choosing today to quit listening to the lies Satan whispers, and believe the truth for which Jesus died. I quit worrying about what is not in my control. I quit comparing myself to other Christian women and entrepreneurs. I quit looking into the mirror for my identity instead of the Word. I quit finding success in growth and numbers. And most importantly, I quit chasing the world so I can chase Jesus with all my energy. Quitting the right things brings freedom, joy, and peace. When we stop clinging to the world and ourselves, we can better cling to Christ! Will you quit with me? What is God calling you to quit today?



Perfect hair


Last night when we were watching Person of Interest, I commented to John that Root's hair is always perfect. Even when she is killing people, running for her life, hacking national security, etc. Mine gets messy just taking care of kids, and doing housework.
John replied, "Maybe that goes to show that taking care of kids and a house is harder work than killing people, etc, etc."
"Excellent answer, dear." :-)

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Marvel not....

Taking comfort in these verses today. I'm tired of being hurt and criticized and cut off because I value Christ, the church, and God's word. "This word of thine, my comfort is in mine affliction."

The least of these

I've been thinking about these verses in regard to my parenting so I created this at nap time yesterday.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Parenting

This article was excellent so I wanted to save it.

If you asked me the single-most important insight that has shaped my parenting, it would be this: Children are people.
It seems self-evident. Clearly, they have arms, legs, ears, and mouths enough to qualify. But the idea of their personhood goes far beyond just possessing a human body. It goes to the core of their being and speaks to their worth. Children bear the image of God, just like adults. Well, not just like adults—it’s true they are developing physically, emotionally, and spiritually at a different rate than adults, but their intrinsic worth and dignity does not increase or decrease depending on the rate or extent of their development. As Dr. Seuss famously noted, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
If you asked me the single-most misleading statement I’ve heard with regard to parenting, it would be this: The Bible is relatively silent on the topic of parenting.
On the surface, this statement appears true. When we think of “parenting passages” we typically think of those that explicitly mention parents, children, authority, and instruction: Deuteronomy 6, the fifth commandment in Exodus 20, spare the rod and spoil the child, train up a child in the way he should go, children obey your parents in the Lord, and a smattering of other verses. We may even throw in the example of the Prodigal Son or the parenting woes of the patriarchs for good measure. But other than these, few passages mention the parent-child relationship specifically, leading many to conclude that, for the most part, God must leave us to figure out this parenting thing on our own. An understandable conclusion.
Until we remember that children are people.
Because if children are people, then they are also our neighbors. This means that every scriptural imperative that speaks to loving our neighbor as we love ourselves suddenly comes to bear on how we parent. Every command to love preferentially at great cost, with great effort, and with godly wisdom becomes not just a command to love the people in my workplace or the people in my church or the people at my hair salon or the people on my street or the people in the homeless shelter. It becomes a command to love the people under my own roof, no matter how small. If children are people, then our own children are our very closest neighbors. No other neighbor lives closer or needs our self-sacrificing love more.
Suddenly, a great deal of the Bible is not silent at all on the topic of parenting.
Recognizing my children as my neighbors has impacted the way I discipline them, the way I speak to them, the way I speak about them to others. It has required me to acknowledge how quick I am to treat those closest to me in ways I would never treat a friend or a co-worker. It has helped make my children objects of my compassion instead of my contempt. I am better able to celebrate their successes without taking credit for them, and to grieve their failures without seeing them as glaring evidence that I’m a terrible parent. Recognizing my children as my neighbors has freed me up to enjoy them as people rather than to resent them as laundry-generating, food-ingesting, mess-making, fit-throwing financial obligations.
Except for the days that it hasn’t. And on those days, I must be reminded again what Scripture teaches about loving my neighbor, confess that I haven’t loved my child that way, and begin again. And Scripture provides ample help. Here are just a few “unlikely” parenting verses that point me back to neighborliness on the days that don’t go as they should:
When I want to correct my kids with harshness:
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov. 15:1)
When I want to lecture them:
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19–20)
When I want to make them make me look awesome:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3–4)
When I find meeting their needs to be an imposition:
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matt. 25:37–40)
When I want credit for how hard I’m working as the mom:
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matt. 6:3–4)
When I don’t want to extend forgiveness for their offenses:
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph. 4:31–32)
When I’ve completely lost sight of the forest for the trees:
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Tim. 2:24–26)
That last one is on a note card on my fridge. 
It’s true that our kids are God-given responsibilities we are to steward. But we will only steward them as we should by remembering that, first and foremost, our children are people we are to treasure. When we treasure our children as our neighbors, we remove from our discipline any hint of condemnation, shame, or contempt. We alter our language to communicate love and value, even when we must speak words of correction. And we replace our prayers of “please fix my frustrating child” with prayers of “please help me to love the little neighbor you have placed in my home, even as you have loved me.”
Fred (“Mister”) Rogers understood well the value and dignity of children. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he spent his life preaching the beauty of neighborliness on public television to small people: “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. . . . Won’t you be my neighbor?” His message is a good one for parents as well. Children are people. Our own children are our closest and dearest neighbors.
Mom and Dad, use each “beautiful day in the neighborhood” to show preferential love to the neighbors who share your roof. And be encouraged: the Bible overflows with help for you.

A reminder

Risen Motherhood
15 hrs
When it comes to "quiet time" with God, I often want the ideal.
I want the whole house to be silent so I can have a long string of uninterrupted thoughts. I want my coffee fresh and hot. I want to sit in my favorite chair with a snuggly blanket. I want my #givemejesus journal with a special pen & a well-marked bible. I tend to think that if all these criteria are met, THEN I will have a full & fruitful relationship with God.
But that's rarely how it really looks. Instead, I'm usually creeping through a dark house with good intentions, only to groan with frustration when I wake up a child. I'm sipping coffee that's grown cold, & trying not to let my journal became too smeared with syrup from breakfast. I'm getting up from my reading again & again & again to break-up a conflict or change a diaper. And because my "ideal" wasn't met, I often leave feeling like maybe my time with God didn't count.
However, by God's grace and the wisdom of others, I'm learning that my ideal "quiet time" can't be the foundation of my faith in this season of life. Times of solitude are as important as date night in marriage - it is wonderful & special to sneak away with your husband every so often. But if you are waiting for date night to have an intimate connection with your husband, & neglect day-to-day connection, you probably won't have a thriving relationship.
In the same way, I'm recognizing that my relationship with God is about worshiping him at all times of the day, finding ways to connect with him & know him. It's listening to biblical teaching while I'm cleaning up toys, singing praise songs in the car with my children, praying at all times, & remembering to talk about him in the normal moments.
If you are also sometimes stressed & tired, waiting for the perfect time to meet with God, remember that your relationship with him needs to be about more than just "date night". Your sisters-in-Christ around the world in less-than-ideal situations are learning to trust & follow Jesus - maybe without even a full bible in their native language. God can sustain them, & God can sustain you too...even in the loud, chaotic places.
<3 Emily
(This was inspired by the Gloria Furmann interview on Risen Motherhood - Ep. 32.www.risenmotherhood.com)

Monday, September 19, 2016

22 months old

I shared a long update on Luke last month so don't have much new stuff to share right now.
So I'll leave you with a conversation Luke had with John yesterday.
Luke, "Ahhh spitting." Big grin.
John, "Why?"
Luke with another grin, "Because."

Then later John was looking for the kitchen towel and asked where it was.
Luke very helpfully pointed to where it hangs and said, "Right there, right in front of you."
John, "No, Luke. It's not there."
Luke, "Ohhh!" Runs into the living room and retrieves it from where he had put it.

Luke also has special hiding places for his treasures. He keeps rocks stashed between couch cushions here, and at Grandma's for instance.
Guess who wasn't cooperating?

The name of Christ

photo source
I don't usually post controversial things, or share my opinion on here that often.  But yesterday as I was scrolling through my news feed on facebook, I clicked on an article on Christian marriage. As I read, I was horrified and sickened to discover that there is a movement out there that teaches that it is godly and biblical for husbands to physically,and emotionally abuse their wives. The author had mixed in enough truth from scripture to possibly deceive someone into thinking that God teaches and requires this behavior. He took something beautiful that God created, marriage a picture of Christ and the church, and turned it into something disgusting and evil, all in the name of Christ. Unfortunately I have some experience of oppression, and adding requirements to God's word in my past so this kind of thing greatly upsets and scares me. I've seen the kind of damage that can come from false teachings :-(
So my thoughts after reading this? Christian friends, read your Bible, study it, know it inside and out, cover to cover so if someone tries to teach you a false doctrine, covered in a little truth, it will hopefully be immediately apparent to you and you can flee that teacher. And keep our teachers, pastors, authorities in prayer, that they will use their position for good, and not for evil. And as for my myself, I'll try to be more careful about what links I click on. I can never "unread" those things :-(

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:6

"......where he warns all people, as they will answer it at their utmost peril, not to offer any injury to one of Christ’s little ones. This word makes a wall of fire about them; he that touches them, touches the apple of God’s eye.
Observe, First, The crime supposed; offending one of these little ones that believe in Christ. Their believing in Christ, though they be little ones, unites them to him, and interests him in their cause, so that, as they partake of the benefit of his sufferings, he also partakes in the wrong of theirs. Even the little ones that believe have the same privileges with the great ones, for they have all obtained like precious faith. There are those that offend these little ones, by drawing them to sin (1 Cor. 8:1011), grieving and vexing their righteous souls, discouraging them, taking occasion from their mildness to make a prey of them in their persons, families, goods, or good name. Thus the best men have often met with the worst treatment in this world.
Secondly, The punishment of this crime; intimated in that word, Better for him that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. The sin is so heinous, and the ruin proportionably so great, that he had better undergo the sorest punishments inflicted on the worst of malefactors, which can only kill the body. Note, 1. Hell is worse than the depth of the sea; for it is a bottomless pit, and it is a burning lake. The depth of the sea is only killing, but hell is tormenting. We meet with one that had comfort in the depth of the sea, it was Jonah (Matt. 2:249); but never any had the least grain or glimpse of comfort in hell, nor will have to eternity. 2. The irresistible irrevocable doom of the great Judge will sink sooner and surer, and bind faster, than a mill-stone hanged about the neck. It fixes a great gulf, which can never be broken through, Luke 16:26. Offending Christ’s little ones, though by omission, is assigned as the reason of that dreadful sentence, Go ye cursed, which will at last be the doom of proud persecutors."
Matthew Henry on Matthew 18:6

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Holding hands

The moment when you see your children doing this and you run for your phone and snap about 20 pictures praying that one of them will turn out well! The cuteness is overwhelming. They were going to "help" Hunter take care of the neighbor's dog, and Luke was a little nervous so Caroline offered him her hand ♡

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Busyness

This meme encouraged me this morning since I am not always the most secure person in the world and often feel a little intimidated by other moms on facebook. Moms who are homeschooling five or six, or more,  moms who are crafty, or who are up on all current events and have educated opinions on them, moms who feed all organic foods, and on and on. 
Then there is me who really just wants a quiet ordinary life with the ones I love, and doesn't always have the energy, and ability to do all the things above. But as John has reminded me, those things in themselves are good,  but they aren't necessarily what God has called me to do TODAY. So today I'll do my best to run the home God has given me and fulfill all the responsibilities He gave me, but most importantly I want to keep my eyes on my biggest goal which is teaching and showing the gospel to my children. Without that everything else is pointless. Busyness and productivity are great, but only if I have my priorities in order. May the Lord help to keep my eyes on what is most important!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Caroline's dollhouse

I'm excited about this nice big sturdy dollhouse that John's dad made, and now Caroline has inherited. It obviously needs some cleaning and painting work before she sees it though! Does anyone have suggestions for some nice sturdy (toddler proof) wooden dollhouse furniture? I think Caroline (and Luke) will have a lot of fun with it!

Hunter is priming the dollhouse during nap time. We're waiting till it's a cleaned, painted, and fixed up before we let Caroline see it. I've taken on the job of furniture, but since quality stuff isn't super cheap I'll probably gradually furnish rooms as I get swagbucks for gift cards. I know they'll have fun with it even before it is furnished :-)

The "new" dollhouse.

Boat ride

Pictures from our boating adventure. I was a little less nervous this time though of course I was caught on camera hanging on to the side, haha. But we all had fun, and have you ever seen anything as cute as Duke in his life jacket?!

We went out on another boat adventure this evening.

Monday, September 5, 2016

A giant spiderweb

Truth.  Last week was a hard one, and it is very hard when you have a situation that you want to fix, but you can't find the beginning, or the the end, or the whole truth. So you pray, you do the next thing, you do the best you can with the responsibilities God gave you, you pray more, and you trust that God will make it right in His time.

Catechism

I was so encouraged by the fact that our church put out various materials, charts, stickeres, cds, books, etc to help parents in catechising their children. It's wonderful to have a session who takes these things seriously and have a heart for our children.

Hunter and Caroline enjoyed putting stickers on their new catechism memory charts from church!