childlike faith!

Our furry friend Clifford the hamster finally passed away. He will be missed! Nathan struggled with this and did a lot of crying today because he missed Clifford and didn't know where he was. We had a funeral, buried him, talked about the fact that Clifford's body didn't work anymore and that he went to heaven. This seemed to make Nathan feel a bit better but not quite satisfied.

But that is not the actual point of this post.

As Nathan and I were saying our bedtime prayers and singing our nightly routine of "Jesus loves me", I saw the sparkle return to his eyes. He sat up with pure excitement and joy and interrupted with "MOM!! Clifford is with Jesus now! Isn't that cool?!" I responded with "yes Nathan, he is! And it is cool! Would you like to thank God and Jesus tonight for taking care of Clifford?" and of course he did. And as I left his room he shouted, "make sure you tell Ava that prayer too!" How lucky am I to be able to witness such faith in him and his eagerness to share it with his sister?!?!

I am constantly amazed by the gift of my children and in awe that God has given me the opportunity to glimpse at life through their little eyes every once in a while.

Mark 10:13 - 16
¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

"God Knows Best" - Helen Steiner Rice

GOD * KNOWS * BEST!

Our Father knows what's best for us,
So why should we complain ...
We always want the sunshine,
But He knows there must be rain.

We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer;
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear.

Our Father tests us often
With suffering and with sorrow;
He tests us, not to punish us,
But to help us meet "tomorrow."

For growing trees are strengthened
When they withstand the storm;
And the sharp cut of the chisel
Gives the marble grace and form.

God never hurts us needlessly,
And He never wastes our pain;
For every loss He sends to us
Is followed by rich gain.

And when we count the blessings
That God has so freely sent;
We will find no cause for murmuring
And no time to lament.

For Our Father loves His children,
And to Him all things are plain;
So He never sends us "pleasure"
When the "soul's deep need is pain."

So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong,
It is just God working in us
To make "our spirits strong."
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

tid bits

The children were asked to bring in canned goods for the food bank for Vacation Bible School this year. We took the children to the grocery store and had them each pick out a few cans to give. Here is the conversation that occurred when it was time to pack them up for VBS:

Me: Let's get our cans together to take to VBS
Nathan: I don't want to
Me: You know how when you are hungry, you tell Mommy "I'm hungry"?
kids: yeah
Me: What does Mommy do?
kids: FEED US!!!
Me: That's right. But some families do not have enough food at their house and when those kids tell their mommies they are hungry, their mom and dad may not have enough food to give them. Their bellies stay hungry.
Kids: (looks of pure confusion and hurt)
Ava: They can have all my cans!! I don't want them to have hungry bellies EVER!
Nathan: Ok mom, They can have my beans, I don't like beans...... but not my corn.
Me: (hand on forehead) Nathan, God has blessed us and he wants us to give to others that are less fortunate.
Nathan: (with big eyes) They can have ALL the beans mom! Just not my corn.

By this point we really have to just get going and Nathan has gone to the pantry, put his corn away and gotten MORE beans. I guess this is something we need to continue to work on ;) I foresee us making a lot of donations to the food bank in the coming future in hopes to reiterate the concept of giving.

Just say no to stickers!

I had a doctor’s appointment the other day and being that I tote my kids around just about everywhere with me, they of course came along. They were E X C E L L E N T, so good in fact that my doctor let them choose something from the toy chest and pick out stickers. GREAT! Since we were all the way out at blue Ridge Rd (don’t get me started, we have tricare), we of course had to stop and see Aunt Amanda at work. As we pulled in I caught a glimpse of Nathan in my rearview mirror ………….. he had placed his stickers over his ears like ear muffs. I chuckled, thought nothing of it and didn’t feel like a challenge so I left him alone with his earmuff stickers. He walked around the entire mall and went to lunch with those things. By the time we got to Grammie’s he was zonked (maybe it was the peace and quiet). Take a look. Remember, there is one on each side ………

Hahahaha ………… funny!! But oh wait, Nathan wakes up and we begin to realize that the stickers are NOT coming off. Though Grammie was able to loosen the edges a bit with some magical remedy, we still had no luck. At bath time we soaked and soaked and soaked and they started to peel off! Unfortunately the stickers actually separated from the glue and the glue was still attached to Nathan’s face. After more soaking this evening we are almost rid of all traces of the sticker crisis!

Did I mention that Nathan has a blue fleece blanket ....... after it combined with the glue on his face he was the cutest little blue bearded man :)

Dear Martha ............

Dear Ms Martha Stewart,

I am writing to inform you of the serious damage our relationship is having my confidence and self worth. When I eagerly committed to begin making your "cookie of the month" posted in each Living magazine, I was under the impression that it would be a positive or at least enjoyable experience. After several months of failed recipes and attempts I am kindly asking that you cut me a break. Would it be possible for next month's cookie recipe to be something I could possibly reproduce? Though I am not a culinary expert, I don't consider myself to be half bad ....... at least I didn't before venturing on this cookie journey. I value our relationship but if things don't change soon Betty Crocker may return to my top go to girl for recipes. I do hope you take this request into consideration.

Sincerely,
Aubrey