A few Snapshots

Elliott was sitting on Noelle's lap...too sweet! Reminds me of this picture from almost two years ago:

Wow how my babies have grown!

We had a family picnic at St.Vital Park. What fun!

This is the birthday card Noelle made for her good friend Eiley. I just love the way she draws her people! And she's been making some real progress with her printing too (thanks to Auntie Steph who printed out alphabet tracing papers for her)!

MMM....chocolate pudding and bananas with Daddy

Life is good. And it's 21 degrees and sunny today! Hallelujah!

Our little Miracle

side profile

face peeking out

Today we got to see our precious little one! It was wonderful. It was just as special with this one as it was with the other two. I have found that with the third I am so much more distracted with taking care of my family, so seeing he/she made this all seem more real. Bless you, little one! We can hardly wait to meet you!

Love and Respect

These past few months Ty and I have been a part of a small group from our church studying the DVD series called 'Love and Respect' (there is also a book written by the same man, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs). IT was powerful. Definitely different from any "marriage" material we've read/watched. I would TOTALLY recommend every single married person, or person who hopes to be married, to read this book or watch the DVD series! It's definitely provided some insights which are helping me (with God and the Holy Spirit) to better understand my husband, and even my kids, and my relationship with Jesus! Here are a few tidbits:

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Ephesians 5:33

"...a wife need not feel respect in order to show respect."

"...the culture teaches that respect must be earned whereas love is unconditional...Like needing oxygen, she needs unconditional love and he needs unconditional respect."

"Love empowers a husband to energize his wife. Respect empowers a wife to energize her husband."

"Unconditional love reveals a husband's imitation of Christ and thus love for Christ. He shows his love for Christ as he loves his wife.

Unconditional respect reveals a wife's reverence for Christ. She shows her reverence for Christ as she respects her husband."

"My response is my responsibility. This reveals who I am. You do not cause me to be the way I am, you reveal the way I am."

There was so much more that I gleaned from this material, it's hard to summarize. I really liked what he was saying about how marriage is not really about our spouse, it's about our relationship with Christ. SO even if we don't feel like showing love/respect, or if the person doesn't deserve it in our eyes, CHRIST DOES DESERVE IT!!!!!! He talked about seeing Christ over our spouses shoulder, and loving/respecting them as unto Him. What a freeing concept! Another freeing concept was the one in bold above: nobody can make us act or react in certain ways. When we react harshly or angrily it is revealing something about US that needs to change, not our spouse (or our kids for that matter).

Anyways, I hope those of you that haven't seen/read this material will consider it. There were two couples in our group who were taking it even though they'd done it before, and were still learning from it.

You can also go to www.loveandrespect.com to learn more:)

Thoughts on Mother's Day

Sometimes I'm not sure if those stopping by here just want to see pics and updates about my kids, or if I should write stuff too. Well, since it's my blog, I guess I can decide! I'm not much of a writer, so it doesn't happen often, but with Mother's Day coming up there are things I'd like to process. So feel free to join me, or not:)
Mothering....one of the most awesome and terrifying and amazing and rewarding gifts. I seem to be on this crazy cycle at times. Sometimes I feel like I'm on top of things, leaning on the Holy Spirit to help me through my day. And other times I feel out of control: worrying about the list of things that run through my head....are the kids healthy? are we disciplining them correctly? how can we raise them so that they will choose a relationship with Jesus when they're older? And daily....sometimes hourly....I make mistakes as a Mom, and then I add guilt to my list of things that run through my head. Surely other moms don't make mistakes, right? I must be the worst. (I know this isn't true, but it's amazing what the path of guilt can lead you to).
So every once in a while...or maybe more often than that...I feel totally overwhelmed at the thought that I am a mother. I am responsible for these children. And what if I make a mistake?
I was reading an amazing blog post this morning which totally encouraged me. Please drop by http://aholyexperience.com/ and read it. But if you don't have time, here are a few choice excerpts:

"We have to accept the reality that there is much uncertainty in parenting. Parenting is very much a walk by faith rather than by sight. God has planned it this way. Rather than relying on ourselves and our capabilities, we are constantly thrown upon the throne of God, feeling helpless and overwhelmed. That is right where God wants us---at his feet. So the source of so much pain in parenting, sends us to source of the greatest solace---God himself." Leslie Leyland Fields, author of "'Parenting is your Highest Calling' and 8 Other Myths that Trap Us In Worry and Guilt"

“If I pursue God first as my highest call and am satisfied in His love, then I am freed not to love my children less but to love them rightly.” (same author)

"When I focus on loving God first, then it seems to set everything in a clearer perspective.I can resist the constant temptation to see my children as extensions of myself, which gets me into a lot of trouble!I can resist the temptation to find my identity, significance and purpose through my children instead of through Christ.When I get this order right—loving God first—an amazing thing happens. I have so much more love—the right kind of love!-- to offer my children. I have less pride, more understanding and patience to offer. My kids benefit in another way as well. I’m no longer looking to them to provide what only God can provide!"

"Godly parenting begins not in the rules we or other people make for our children but in pursuing a genuine relationship with God.” Reb Bradley “Solving the Crisis in Homeschooling”

"But our largest responsibilities as a parent, our spiritual responsibilities, are not accomplished by these same means; not by rules, efficiency and lists, but rather, by our own authentic hungering after God. We are such do-ers! We want to make our children godly and spiritual by doing as well! But ultimately this doesn’t touch the heart. If it’s all and only human effort, it doesn’t work." Leslie Leyland Fields

Wow...lot's for me to chew on. But so encouraging as well! IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!!!!!! It's all about my relationship with God. What a relief!
Lord, thank you for the incredible children which you have blessed us with. We love them so much, and are so grateful that you have entrusted them to us. Help us to spend our time with You rather than allowing ourselves to feel overwhelmed with worry and guilt. Thank you that You are waiting with open arms to help us on this journey, and all we have to do is follow You! Please be with all of us Moms (and Dads) today...help us to recognize the worrisome/guilty thoughts that run through our brains and "take every thought captive to obey Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:5). Thank you Jesus for your mercy and grace! I receive it, along with all of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (from Galations 5:22-23). Amen.

p.s. I will be giving away a book called "Little Blessings from a Big God: finding more of God through the lives of your children" by Michelle Medlock Adams to the first person to comment!

Randomness

Elliott and Noelle jumping in dresses:) Oh, the joys of having an older sister!
Noelle and Elliott were awesome helpers with taking off the wallpaper in Elliott's room...Noelle actually said she didn't want to take a lunch break because she wanted to keep working:)

Elliott's peanut butter and jam face. It always amazes us how they will eat a sandwich straight through the middle which of course results in the messiest face possible! Someone gave me a great suggestion...cut the sandwich into smaller pieces....sheer genius I tell you!

Another funny anecdote for the week: the kids had a babysitter on Wednesday night, and in a ploy to delay bedtime Noelle said something about how they couldn't go to bed because there was a very important hockey game that they needed to watch! Smart cookie, hey?

Have a great weekend everyone!