A Sweet Long Weekend

This has been such a fun and sweet weekend. There were several commitments I had, all of which God just removed from me. I had three days to just relax and enjoy my family. Friday night I picked up hamburgers and told Xavier we could watch a movie before bed. He yelled, "Yea! It's date night again!" When I asked him what a date is he replied, "It's when you drink wine and pan-shane (champaign)" I didn't address his pronounciation, but corrected his perception of what a "date" is. I explained that it is when you get to spend time with someone and talk with them to learn more about their heart. I told him I often have dates with Mrs. Inglin or Mrs. Valentine and never do we drink either of those things!

The skin around my eyes has been bothering me since Wednesday but my eyeballs themselves are perfectly fine. The irritation grew each day and I woke up Saturday morning with both eyes very swollen. I'm not exactly sure why, but I suspect it's an unusual response to some ice cream I ate this week (but it began before I ate it! - only the Lord knows). No sympathy now - I know better! This is a boundary God has set and I sometimes begin thinking it's not real, it's all in my head, I'm just being picky... but then I eat dairy and I'm congested for weeks. So I've spent chunks of each day under the influence of Benadryl with no real benefit but catching up on hours of sleep . It hasn't had any affect on my face, but it's allowed for Xavier to watch lots of videos with me dozing in and out on the sofa. He couldn't have asked for a better weekend!




A feather found at the pond

In between doses I would manage to get outside with him for a while. We went fishing on Saturday. I really believe the Lord would have given me grace to get a fish off the line if he caught anything... but thankfully he didn't :-) We walked over to the creek and dipped our toes in for the first time this year, but it was still much too chilly to think of going any farther in than that.

back by the creek

Today I got to do my favorite household chore: Laundry! I love doing laundry and can't imagine ever growing tired of it, particularly when I get to hang my clothes and sheets outside. I just love it! I get giddy when I see the basket filling up! I'm sure most other moms wonder what it's like to have a day where you don't have to do wash, but it's a treat that doesn't come often enough for me :-) Then Xavier woke up and I got to remind him that it was Memorial Day. We talked about how we remember and honor the men and women who serve our country and protect us. We talked about Jesus being our greatest hero and the most important battle ever won! Then we talked about picking Seth up and all the candy they would get at the parade!


We had so much fun! I love parades! My favorite part is when the drums pound as they're going past and you can feel it in your chest. I also like the old cars, they're so fun. The boys liked all of the fire trucks and the old cars too, and especially the candy! In the middle of the parade one of the fire companies got a call. We saw a driver of the fire truck hand off a young child who had been riding with him and about five men and women who had just marched past turn around and run to the truck. They backed up and turned around quickly. The boys and I prayed for them and the people they were protecting. After the moment of initial surprise the crowd erupted with applause to honor these people for leaving a scene of glory to go serve yet again.

Root Beer floats after a long hot day

(soy ice cream - for the record!)

It has been so sweet to slow down and spend time with Xavier. He's really a funny guy and growing into a young man who loves the Lord. I bought a much needed new pair of sunglasses on Saturday and asked him what he thought. He said he didn't like how wide the sides were. I said, "I know, I'm not used to that either... but at least they have flowers on the sides there, that's kind of cute." He quickly, but gently replied, "Mommy, are you being modest?" I was so surprised by the question I just kind of giggled and wondered where that came from, but thanked him profusely for asking. Was I? I asked what modest meant. He said, "When you want people to look at you and they do and they say Wow!" I asked if he thinks that's what people say when they look at me (jokingly)... he said, "No... but I'm just asking cause I wouldn't want you to be 'un-modest'." I was so grateful for him seeking to care for me that way and most importantly to see God be glorified. I don't think I had impure motives in picking my sunglasses. I pretty much look for the cheapest pair I can get without those plastic nose grippers that aren't some outrageous shape or color. How funny and exciting that he would be thinking that way though!





While we were fishing the other day I was seeking to draw him out and asked how I could be praying for him. He said he didn't know. I asked, "Is there anything you need the Lord to help you with?" He said, "Well, catching a fish would be a good one." We just sat there laughing. I was laughing partly because I was asking myself : do I really want to pray for that?





Tonight at supper he declared that if I am ever lost he will call 911. When I asked what he would say to them he replied, "My mommy is lost. She has brown hair, big brown eyes, a funny nose and a chewing mouth... giggles... and flowered sunglasses... giggles... and she looks beautiful!" Later he added big ears to the description! Was the big eyes comment meant to be a compliment... or a knock on my puffiness? Too bad for him he looks just like me!

Happy Birthday Xavier!

Please be kind enough to tell me if I ever sing like this! The lyrics are "Happy Birthday to me, in one more day"



Wow! 7 years! I am so thankful that I've had seven years with my son! He is such a joy to me and God has used him to reveal my sin more clearly than any other individual I know. It's been fun over the last couple of days recounting his birth story with him. I remember holding tiny baby clothes up and trying to picture a face in there... what would my baby look like? I was telling him tonight that when I first saw him I remember clearly thinking, "Oh, of course - how else would he look?" He was just right. He looked just like his family. I was able to let go of the soap opera fear that maybe someone would switch my baby and I wouldn't be able to tell - there was no denying this boy was mine! The sweetest part was the day after he was born ~ when God stripped me of my heart of stone and gave me a new heart of flesh! I look back and see how God was softening me over the months prior but there was a distinct turning point on April 25th as I lay there alone in that hospital room and the Lord drew me to repentance for a life spent on sin. In days to come I would get a taste of the magnitude of love a parent has for their child and this overwhelming desire to protect this little one. God allowed me to marvel at the work of the cross and how he crushed his son for a wicked rebellious thing like me. I love Xavier's birth story but it's extra special to me because of how inseparable it is from the story of God's saving grace over my life!



7 of My Very Favorite Things About Xavier

• His love for scripture - he is always very eager for Bible time each morning and evening and if we have a late night out he will ask me to come lay in bed with him to read so he won't miss out on it


• His sense of humor - we love being silly together and I love how he's learning to laugh at himself


• His desire to protect me and how he still insists he will marry me one day


• How he is growing in joyful obedience and self-control


• His admiration for men and how he is drawn to those he sees serving and caring for others


• How he is growing in repenting quickly, specifically and sincerely


• That he loves to rock - he shares my appreciation of music and amuses me with his taste. He has liked the band Skillet since he was about 3 years old. He told me the other day that he looked like Elvis when I gave him white athletic pants to wear (they did not have sequins down the side, just a green stripe! I have no clue how he knows about Elvis!) He heard a bit of Stayin Alive this morning by the BeeGees as I flipped past the oldies station and he said, "This is disco." I asked him where he learned that. He said, "I just figured it out."
  

Xavier wanted me to get a video of us singing Amazing Grace together because I've been trying to teach him this harmony. Sometimes he gets it, sometimes he just makes something else up (hey, he's his momma's son!) I told him he could cover his ears so he won't hear me singing my part when we do the harmony if it would help him. You'll see that it didn't work. He still sang something else, but it was funny. I'm embarassed to post this with me singing as well, but you've probably all heard me sing anyway.

Here we are getting ready for his party on Saturday and rather than sucking down whipped cream he asks me to squirt his mouth full of deviled egg filling. He is very serious about his deviled eggs.

This was Xavier's special birthday dinner on Wednesday since he'll be eating w/ Daddy on Thursday

Thank you Lord for Xavier Ryan Speedy Monkey Indiana Jones and thank you for calling me out of death and into life through your work on the cross!

Easter

We had so much fun celebrating Easter! I'm not very successful at getting holiday pictures because I'm not a very aggressive photographer. I always feel bad for the kid surrounded by relatives calling, "Over here" "Now look this way" "Here sweetie, look at me!" So it's very rare that I end up with a picture of children actually looking at me. I found myself walking around behind Xavier and my nephew, Braden, taking pictures of their backs while they were hunting eggs and realized what a fruitless effort it was. Here are two I did snap which we can look at in a couple of years and actually be able to tell who it is and what they were doing.




I wanted to get a full group shot because there were so many people there I love (including my brother-in-laws parents and our dear friends the Uchida's!) but my sister Cheryl, her husband Addie, and my darling niece and nephew weren't with us so it just didn't feel the same. We missed you guys and are looking forward to seeing you Saturday!!!

My favorite Easter decoration I saw this year was a wooden cross someone had standing in their front lawn. It was about 5 feet tall and I could tell that there was something written on it as I was driving past. I slowed down enough to see on the cross bar it read, "SO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO". Another one I loved were the banners waving from a big old church next door to my work. They were bright purple with a gold crown of thorns on them and simply said, "Thank you Jesus!" The Lord gave me a sweet season of contemplating the price he's paid for my soul. No one needs a Savior more than me!Thank you Jesus!!!

I saw these cute little toys while I was shopping before Easter and couldn't resist picking them up for my nephew to play with on Easter. I figured I would get some for Xavier too so they could both play, but apparently the novelty increases with age. They have suction cups and springs so a few seconds after you push them down they pop up in the air and you can catch them in the basket. No one was very successful at it, but Lori and Jason seem to be enjoying themselves with Xavier. Braden was in the background throwing one up in the air and trying to catch it. I love being silly with them :-)

A New Look for Christmas...

We had such a fun time celebrating our Savior coming with our family. Almost all of my immediate family was able to go to church together on Christmas Eve. (Even Dawn was able to leave in the middle of her work shift, despite the fact that they were over-worked and short-handed her coworkers wanted to release her to be with her family at church! What kindness from God!) Xavier was giddy over the fact that he got to hold a lit candle at the end of the service. My 21 month old nephew, Braden, was pretty excited as well. Through the service he collected as many unlit candles as his little hands could hold from other family members.

Christmas morning Xavier found his last verse in the stocking for this year, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11 Then we finally read over the biblical accounts of Christmas. We had our traditional holiday breakfast of cinnamon rolls, then Xavier and I opened presents together - Thanks Dawn for taking him shopping for me, that was so much fun!.

Later we joined my family for lunch and lots of snuggle time with my niece and nephews. Evening brought more relatives and mountains of presents. We are so blessed to have a large family and all live so close together! Thank you guys for how you love to lavish Xavier with gifts. We're so grateful for your generosity! Hopefully this weekend I'll get around to finding a "home" for all of the new things he received. They're still sitting under our tree waiting to be put away.

Annelise, Braden, Logan & Xavier

I think the highlight of this Christmas for Xavier was the "gift" he got on Christmas Eve. He's had a wiggly tooth for a few weeks now and was finally able to pop it out on Monday. He kept saying, "I can't believe I'm going to lose my tooth on Christmas Eve!!!" When he realized it was pretty close to coming out he became frantic and started saying, "Call the Ruths!" (our landlords) He knew he would see the family in a couple of hours at the church service and wanted to surprise them. But our dear neighbors the Ruths had to know now! As soon as he was able I let him call them and they very kindly received his news with much enthusiasm :-) They are so precious to us!

Sock-it Stuffing

I openly admit to not correcting Xavier when he uses cute names for things instead of proper titles. I was reminded again this Christmas that he hasn't yet caught on to the term "stocking". I think each year he gets it down by the time Christmas actually arrives, but when he finds them in the box of decorations he gets all excited to hang his "sock-it".

We hang them on our bedroom door knobs since we have no fire place. In the past I've done the traditional small gifts in the stocking while he's sleeping on Christmas Eve for him to find in the morning. This time he was so eager he kept asking me the day we hung them (December 1st) if I would put candy in while he slept. I did not. It didn't dampen his enthusiasm in the least. The next morning while I was in the shower he emptied his candy jar into my stocking along with a note that read, "I love you Mommy!" I realize at this point it's a great opportunity to meet his anticipation with a fun and memorable way to lay the gospel before him... but how? I'm not creative and I avoid contexts where I'm expected to be, but God kindly meets me in my weakness and gives me "light bulb moments" any way.

The next day we began a new tradition. I stuff his sock-it every night and when he wakes he finds a "secret message" which is a scripture prophesying the Messiah. He reads it to me and we talk about how Jesus fulfilled it. He then pastes it on a sheet of paper so he has a visual reminder of (just a small portion of ) the ways Christ was proved to be the promised One. In past years we've read through the accounts of Jesus' birth in the Gospels, but this has been so refreshing for me. It's provided times for considering what it was like to wait so eagerly for Immanuel to come. Living this side of the cross can be so comfortable for me. I am able to see God's plan for redemption in a way that his people could not 2000 years ago. In the midst of this season I've been introduced to the song "Hope Has Come" from the Sovereign Grace Christmas CD. I love that song!!! May I never take Christ's arrival for granted! Alleluia! Hope has come!