Number 2!

In case Xavier didn't show you his latest "man badge" yet, he lost another tooth on Saturday. I sent a baggie and gauze pad with him to school on Friday since they were on a field trip and he gets a little dramatic when he sees blood. But I'm so grateful the Lord has allowed me to be there for both teeth coming out so far. However, I had a bad mommy moment right after it came out. He was spitting blood into the sink, so as soon as I had him biting on the gauze I turned on the faucet to rinse the sink and sent his little white trophy right down the drain. A popsicle helped him forget my little blunder. One more reason to be thankful I've never fed into the Tooth Fairy lie. (He told me last time it would be ok to put money under his pillow anyway)

This week Xavier was in his first school play. The poor little guy yawned through half of it and would zone out at times for a line or two, but really enjoyed himself. He had some friends come out to see his debut and celebrate with him afterwards. Thanks for being there guys! We treasure your families and the friendships the Lord has given us!

This is the whole school (K - 6th) !

Xavier's two-line duet with a classmate

the After-Party with friends

The Definition of 'Redeem'

When I was a child my sisters and I had this cassette tape (which we thought was pretty cool at the time) by a man named Jonathan Sprout. I'm still amused by the thought of it. There was one song I remember entitled "Word Worm". He sang about how he loved to grow his vocabulary and got excited over big words. It doesn't surprise me that should be the one to stick in my mind 20 years later. I've been fascinated by language for as long as I can remember. I feel this compulsion to know the definition, correct spelling and proper usage of words - even outside of the English language! Many times I'll hear someone use a word (sometimes while CB's preaching) and if I don't know it I just jot it down to go home and study it. I even have dictionary.com saved as one of my "Favorites" links on my work computer so I don't have to wait until 5:00!

Tonight I was looking in my throat with a flashlight and wondering what the purpose of a uvula is. My assumption is it's some sort of choking prevention mechanism, but enlighten me if I'm wrong. I thought my trusty dictionary may be able to shed some light on it so I looked it up, but alas, all I learned is that in Latin it means "little grape"!!!??? As usually happens, while I was flipping to the desired page other words were catching my attention that I wanted to read about. The dictionary has been a tool for worship to me countless times over these last 6-1/2 years. Tonight God kindly drew my eyes to the word 'redeem'.

Hopefully this encourages your heart the way it did mine. According to The American Heritage Dictionary:
re-deem 1. to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum. 2. To pay off (e.g., a promissory note). 3. To turn in and receive something in exchange (e.g, a coupon) 4. To set free; rescue. 5. To save from sinfulness. 6. To make up for: redeem an earler mistake

Now it hits me differently when I consider Christ Jesus "who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:14, but start in verse 11 because that whole section is awesome!) He has redeemed me in every sense of the word. May I ever grow in my consciousness of that truth and live in response to it!