18 Month Words

For Christmas my mom gave me a thumb drive with tons of scanned childhood pictures (she speaks my heart language) :).

One of the scanned items was a piece of paper written by my dad with words and phrases I spoke at 18 months. It was precious that he wrote it and sweet to know what I , Has like then.

So, Joshua, here's my chance to do that for you:

18 Month Words

• Dada (Dadee)
• dos-uh (Joshua)
• Ba Ba (Mama...that's right, he calls me Ba ba ;)
• Gu gu (Gammy)
• Papa
• baa baa (Abby)
• Papaw
• pu dada (Plow Daddy)
• Na na (Nonna)
• (brother's name)
• ja ja (Aunt Lala)
• boo beh (blue bear)
• Ji jee (Lili)
• Addi
• Asa
• aaa aaa (chloe)
• orse (horse)
• boos coos (Blue's Clues)
• memo (Elmo)
• bye bye
• hi
• irsy (thirsty)
• up
• cup
• cook
• o's (cheerios...actually generic o's ;)
• go gur (yogurt)
• g's (eggs)
• bock bock (chicken)
• auce (sauce...and chili)
• ice
• ilk (milk)
• cook
• bow (bowl)
• ack ack (back pack)
• cacor (cracker)
• cooookie
• kkkkeeese (cheese)
• own (come on)
• uh oh
• ups (oops)
• GO GO GO GO
• no no
• ses (yes)
• baaa (bath)
• capca (captain...bath toy)
• oo-ace (tooth paste)
• eyes
• nose
• maaa (mouth)
• sers (ears)
• and (hand)
• wee wee wee wee (toes...from "This Little Piggy")
• tee tee (go potty)
• poo poo
• bi pup (diaper)
• boom
• vroom vroom
• vum vum vum vum vum (he has two motor sounds...of course ;)
• tuck (truck)
• woo woo (train)
• aa ane (air plane)
• jjjjjjj (air plane sound)
• caw (car)
• ball
• wee (swing)
•  tar (star)
• mood (moon)
• kircle (circle)
• i-ag-el (triangle)
• care (square)
• I-un (I'm one)
• tee (tree)
• kucks (ducks)
• birrr (bird)
• zizur (lizard)
• turr-tle
• animal sounds
• bock bock
• cack cack
• mooooo
• fish lips
• elephant
• roar
• meow
• woof woof
•  horse
• AAAAHHH (sheep)
• dis (this)
• dat (that)
• errr-is (there it is)
• Bible
• Goh (God)
• Zeezus (Jesus)
• buhhhhhh (brrr-cold)
• ha ha ha (hot)
• cock cock cock (rock rock in a rocking chair)
• ocks (rocks)
• cicker (sticker)
• ca ci (chap stick)
• ock (sock)
• ack-i (jacket)
• at (hat)
• zooz (shoes)
• cap cap cap (clap)
• gud girl (good girl...when he gives Abby a treat)



Abiding

I like measurement...every form of measurement. It keeps me on task, guides my decisions, and helps me stay sane: calendars to help me remember, clocks to keep me on schedule, yard sticks to keep me on the mark. And then there's evaluations (which I used to receive when I worked). These evaluations quantified my success in teaching skills to children based on their test scores and ability to function in the classroom.

Measurement was created by God and is good, but there are certain things that only God can measure. Spiritual fruit is one of these things. Last Sunday I heard a great sermon on John 15 about abiding in Christ and how if we abide in Christ we will bear much fruit. I left encouraged to surrender everything to the Lord with a fresh desire to abide in Him.

When we abide in Christ, fruit often is not immediately apparent. Too often I base my decisions on the feedback I get from others instead of my abiding relationship with Jesus. But I'm to please God over man (Galatians). Abiding is my job. Obedience is my job. Evaluating the product of my obedience is God's.

Think of the prophet Jeremiah. Thousands of years ago he preached to people who never listened. He didn't see fruit, but he was obedient--discouraged--but obedient. Based on his finite thinking, he told God he wished he had never been born (something he said in light of God having told him he was born to preach). I was just wondering the other day how Jeremiah might have felt to know that probably billions of people would be drawn to the Lord and drawn to repentance because of his preaching. That is the reality. He bore fruit, but he didn't get to see it in his lifetime. Jeremiah preached and his preaching impacts me in 2014. The reality is the same for those who abide in Christ.

Most of the people we will impact through our decisions in this life are not yet born. When I abide in Christ, that obedience will be bearing fruit into years after this body is buried and my soul is with Jesus. One act of obedience will produce fruit until Jesus returns and we're resurrected. So it's impossible for us to measure...and that's so encouraging. It takes faith to believe that abiding will produce fruit. That also helps guard against having or listening to a critical spirit which is what happens as a result of our inaccurate and immediate measurements. I don't mean we shouldn't count and celebrate how many people attended a ministry event or count and celebrate when people respond to the Gospel or celebrate how much money was raised to meet a giant need. Celebrate! But concentration should be placed on abiding one little moment at a time with a quiet trust that (seen or not) fruit IS produced as a result of abiding.

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013. It seems so long ago now, but let me take a post to tell how it went for us.

December 5, we were given a referral!!!! We're preparing to bring home our second child and are beyond words amazed and excited.

We went through the Jesse Tree as a family. One of my passions is for children to know God's story and understand the context of Scripture. There are several ways we teach the Bible in our home, but the Jesse Tree is perfect for the Advent Season.  Click here to check it out: The Jesse Tree Journey .

We also have a Little People Nativity Set. I love it. I guess I fell in love with this little plastic kid-friendly nativity when I was in college and visited a family with one for their children. (that sounds kind of silly...but it's true)

Other things we did:

Joshua saw Santa. He was not a fan this year. To be more specific, he was terrified. So I held him, stood by Santa, and we got the picture. I thought it was fun. We went with Papa and Gammy which made it extra special. As it turns out, I look like a reindeer. Perfect.

We had several family gatherings. Joshua got into the presents this year. Nathan and I decided a couple of years ago that we want a day to open presents and celebrate our personal traditions in our home for the years to come. We feel like this way, we get to have a Christmas morning at home and we still get to enjoy the celebrations with extended family. So December 17th,

The three of us woke up, ate a Red Door Café breakfast, opened Santa Clause presents, took home videos of present opening, made a big pot of chili, read the Christmas story, and rode the tractor, and finished our Jesse Tree Journey (which meant we started in November). It was beautiful.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also had the blessing of celebrating with extended family.

 

 

 

I hope next year we have all four of us together. We're ready. :)

 

As we are well into 2014 now, let me just say that this is my year to learn how to hope. There is so much exciting I want to share about this in due time. It's interesting that last year God was teaching me big lessons in faith. Great order, huh...1 Cor. 13:13...Faith, hope, and ...well I guess I know what word He'll put on my heart next year... ;) No seriously, I'm learning to dream to hope beyond hope. Our God is able not only to heal but to resurrect. I will hope beyond hope in 2014. I had this on my heart when I had the blessing of reading  THIS by Annie Downs. So, so good.