strange day
it’s been an odd one. went to church this morning since i knew i’d be home with the sick kid tonight.
we always go at night. haven’t been in the morning in a long time. felt strange. but oh, the message was so good. we studied 1 corinthians 6:12-20. these verses stood out to me the most, 19+20, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? you are not your own; you were bought at a price. therefore honor God with your body.”
our pastor said this, “we belong to God, our Lord, by creation and by salvation. we need to keep our bodies healthy so we can honor him mentally, physcially, sexually, spiritually. nothing about us is an accident, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. psalm 139:13-16 says, “for You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. i praise You because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, i know that full well. my frame was not hidden from You when i was made in the secret place when i was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”
oh, how amazing. God knew, as He was forming me, that my body would be infertile. and yet my body is still a wonderful creation. and God knew, as He was forming amelia, that her body would develop epilepsy. and yet, her body is still a wonderful creation. Lord, i praise You because i am fearfully and wonderfully made. and i praise You because my amelia is fearfully and wonderfully made.
after church, i headed to our local Christian bookstore. had a coupon and wanted to get some things for the kids for Christmas. this was at 10:30am. found out they don’t open till 1pm.
got home a little before noon. kids still in jammies. amelia coloring at the dining room table. wilbur resting on the couch. orville building legos. josh working on tonight’s lesson for our Sunday school class. he had already done most of it during the week, but his computer had some issues and he lost it. at least for the time being. so, he had to start over. the kids slowly got dressed, one by one. then the wild came on disney channel. instead of starting lunch, we had popcorn. oh, Sunday afternoons.
at 1, i headed back to the store. on the way, i heard a message by crawford loritts. he was talking about what Jesus says about storms.
mark 4:35-41 “that day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “let us go over to the other side.” leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. there were also other boats with Him. a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. the disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t You care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “quiet! be still!” then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, “why are you so afraid? do you still have no faith?” they were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? even the wind and the waves obey Him!”
here’s what i jotted down in the car, some of what dr. loritts had to say. why are you afraid? why do you want to run? don’t hide from the storm. LOOK AT IT! God allows the storms. they are often the things we fear most. He allows them so when they are over, we look at Him with awe and wonder. even the disciples did. “Who is this? even the wind and the waves obey Him!” it’s not the storm that is the problem, it’s the unbelief in our hearts. He controls the storms. He controls everything we fear.
i thought of amelia’s epilepsy. the fear that if it comes back, we’ll have to go through the seizures all over again. the fear that if it comes back and we can’t control it, we could lose her. i thought of my dear friend who is going through a hard time in her family. oh, she is being so tested. but, beyond the test, you can see God refining her, making her more like Himself. and it is beautiful.
while sending this friend an email tonight, i said the following…“strange night and day ahead of me. so comforting to know God already had this planned and He’s gone ahead before me. wow! that just gave me chills. i pictured Jesus walking through the halls of the hospital and opening the doors that we’ll be walking through tomorrow. it’s like He’s saying, “I am here. just take the next step. keep going. I’ve already cleared the way.”
“tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take Him at His Word;
just to rest upon His promise,
and to know, “thus saith the Lord.”
Jesus, Jesus, how i trust Him!
how i’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
o for grace to trust Him more!
i’m so glad i learned to trust Him,
precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
and i know that Thou art with me,
wilt be with me to the end.
Jesus, Jesus, how i trust Him!
how i’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
o for grace to trust Him more!”
Louisa M. R. Stead, c. 1850-1917
another sick kid
this time it’s wilbur. just had him to the doctor to make sure it’s not strep. it’s not. but he does have a high fever and he just wants to rest. so unlike him! it makes for a much quieter house though.
we had so much fun monday. remember grocery shopping and then lunch with my friend?
the boys love the ‘truck’ carts. we call them lightning(the red one) and sally(the blue one) from the movie cars. oh, and the strings in the picture are from halloween balloons the store was giving away for free. thanks! having those kind of balloons around the house makes me crazy. which is why i execute them with scissors after the kids go to bed. shhh…don’t tell them. we always lie and say the balloons had tiny holes in them so the air all got out while we were all sleeping.
lunch was great. five guys. it’s a burger place. been? beware. the ‘little’ burger is like a regular burger and just a burger is a double. ran into a friend of ours there. he accidentally ordered the double. my girlfriend and i did on purpose!
the weather here was beautiful monday! we went to a local park after lunch so the kids could play. found tons of leaves. they had a blast!
i guess i should touch on the election we just had. not because i really want to talk about it, but because my husband was able to spend some time with the candidates and i thought i’d share some of his photos with you. and because i am not thrilled with the outcome of the election, but i am thrilled that God is still on His throne and this election was not a surprise to Him.
i was parent helper at orville’s school on wednesday. have i ever mentioned that the kids go to the same preschool i went to? pretty neat i think. and last year, wilbur was in the same room i was in when i was 4. wow. anyway, orville loves to ride the bikes in the muscle room.
and today was another good day for playing outside. a fairly cold day, but the backyard was covered in leaves and josh wanted to clean them up. made for great fun for amelia and orville. poor wilbur just stayed on the couch.
and one last thing. amelia’s EEG is monday, the 10th. please, please be in prayer. here’s some of her artwork she did recently for school. the assignment was to draw something that makes you happy. this is our family and josh’s parents, grammy and gramps.
a new week
my girl went back to school today. i am so thankful! though it was nice to spend so much one on one time with her, mama needs a break! so, we start a new week. hopefully this one will be normal.
my boys were in their preschool’s annual harvest festival last week. wilbur, last year, didn’t sing a peep. didn’t smile. didn’t acknowledge us much. i think he was overwhelmed with all the people and the loud singing of all of the other children. i wondered if orville would be that way this year for his harvest festival debut. he wasn’t, not at all. both boys were all smiles and sang every word of every song. too precious. and amelia got to be there too, since she was home from school. she got to bring her camera along and really enjoyed watching her brothers.
amelia waiting for the big show to start.
amelia’s idea of what the boys costumes will look like.
wilbur making his debut as a scarecrow.
orville making his debut as a carrot. he sort of got lost in the crowd.
orville showing off his carrot costume.
orville showing off his muscles after his teacher said, “show us strong carrots.”
wilbur showing off his scarecrow costume.
wilbur trying to scare us…
he’s too cute to make that happen.
off to the grocery store. then out to lunch with my good friend and her two boys. maybe we’ll take some pictures!
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