To whom it may concern,
No, I'm not crazy. I know Father's Day is in June and Mother's Day is this weekend. But I'm going to use Mother's Day as an excuse to write about how awesome of a Dad my husband is! Seriously! The only reason I can thrive as a mom is because Noah is such an awesome dad (and husband). Seriously! I could go on and on. But let me just say, yesterday I had a final "breakfast" with my Purity Bible Study girls. I was hoping to get either Ellie or Josie up and ready before I left and help Noah out, but of course both girls slept in. I wanted to leave the house at 8 am. Josie woke up at 7:58 and Ellie at 7:59. That left Noah with two little girls to get up, dressed, on the toilet, diaper changed, teeth brushed, bottle fed, breakfast, etc. etc. Meanwhile I got to go enjoy a delicious breakfast with 5 women and hear how God has continued to transform their lives!! That's awesome, right?? Not only that, but then last night, my dearest friend Jen and I got to get some "Mom's time out" We've been wanting to get pedicures for weeks- and we finally got a date worked out. I left Noah home last night with both girls awake. He had to get them all ready for bed and put them to bed, clean up house, etc. etc. Meanwhile, I was getting a pedicure, going out for cheesecake and shopping at Target. Happy Mother's day to me!! As if Noah hadn't already done his "Daddy Duty" this week- turns out today is the day I've been planning ahead to for weeks- as a day to get on campus for "final" meetings with three students I've invested in for the past few years. I haven't had a day on campus since before Josie was born. (Typically this semester I just have one meeting at a time and mostly, I just have girls come over here and meet while E& J are around.) But I had decided I'd schedule three meetings from 9:30-2 so I could see them all one last time. SO that's right, Noah took care of everyone here so I could get to campus. As we wrap up four years here at the U of I, it was a total TREAT to spend the day on campus with these three ladies. An iced chai latte at my favorite coffee shop, one last chance to eat in the dining hall, a sweet conversation with one of the first students I met here in Champaign, time in the Word, praying outside in the sunshine as I said a very sad goodbye to a dear student friend were all highlights of my day. And I came home to two happy well-loved girls and a picked up home! I did NOT expect all of these things to fall within a 30 hour time frame, but I'm so so so grateful for Noah. I couldn't live this life without him! Oh, and did I mention, tomorrow I have a haircut that I scheduled months ago, and Noah will be watching the girls for one more hour for me? Oops, thanks honey!! Sincerely, A very grateful mimom of 2 "littles"
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BrokenFor the third consecutive spring semester, we have held an "Into the Light" group on campus, designed to help students confront and find victory over areas of sexual enslavement and brokenness in their lives.
This semester, seven brave young men joined us at 7am each Wednesday to discuss the challenges and temptations they face, and receive strong exhortations and encouragement to live out of their true identities as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). These Into the Light groups have played a significant role in helping students find freedom to live holy lives, after years of living in the deep darkness of their sin. This year, we decided to try something new, adding a "closing ceremony" at the end of the semester as a rite of passage and jump-start into their summers. We read from the Scriptures, lifted each young man up (literally!) in prayer, burned pieces of wood with words written on them describing each's former life (some words that came up: fugitive, unprepared, bitter, slave to sin), and finally, gave them an opportunity to exhibit some holy zeal against the unrighteousness and sin that kept them in chains for so long. We collected some old computer equipment, a reminder of the internet pornography that enslaves most men, and gave them some weapons to destroy them with. With a sledgehammer, baseball bat, and iron stake, these guys took it to the computers in what was a very solemn act of godly anger. I saw fire in some of these guys I had never seen before, as they took out their pain and shame on those pieces of metal and plastic. It was incredible. Below are a couple pictures of the aftermath. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. --1 John 3:8 Praise God for what He's doing in the lives of each of these guys. Please pray that they would continue to vigilantly pursue Christ and lives of holiness! When Ellie was a baby, my mom and sister always told me, "She is not a normal baby!" and now I get it! As soon as Ellie learned a new thing (sleeping from 11 pm-7:30 am @ 5 weeks for example) she never looked back. She just kept doing it from there on out. As long as WE didn't change her routine, or wake her from a nap, or keep her up too late, she didn't change! Almost every time she had a bad nap or a bad night, I could look back and see that I messed with her, and she wasn't responding well! This made her "easy" in many ways. But it made it very undesirable to mess with her schedule!
We really value sleep training, and after Ellie it would've been easy to walk away and think we knew the "secrets" :) You can imagine my surprise as sweet Josie Kate has been a far more "normal" baby- and changing often. The "secrets" just weren't working:) As soon as you figure her out, she changes! Apparently that's pretty typical :) It's been quite the journey of "figuring her out" and learning how to help her get good sleep. But I'm grateful to report that at 5.5 months, she has a bedtime! Not only that, but Ellie & Josie almost always go to bed around the same time (between 7-8 pm) and wake up around the same time (between 7-8 am). I still feed Josie once at night in the 10:00 hour, but this routine is amazing! I'm grateful Josie was more demanding, as figuring her out and rocking her to sleep was a guarantee that I got good time with her each day (and Ellie didn't steal all of my attention :)) but I'm also very, very grateful that we all can get a good nights rest! We're in a very busy season, and I can't imagine trying to do this without sleep! *Sigh* The sweet relief of being back in a routine as a family of four! A few weeks ago Noah dropped Ellie & I off at church, and then had to park pretty far away and carry Josie (in her carseat) into church. Carrying a heavy carseat many blocks when you're all dressed up for church on a muggy day isn't ideal, but as he walked in he reminded me of people in other parts of the world who walk miles just to get to church.
Amazing the difference a change of perspective makes! It's been an exhausting day today- trying to take care of the girls, get some errands and cleaning done, starting to pack some boxes for our move, cleaning up after a girl who spits up... A LOT and then finding ants all over our kitchen, it's easy to be upset! It feels like life is one step forward, five steps back. But then I open up the book I'm reading about Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic who is praising the Lord relentlessly in the midst of being wheelchair bound for decades, chronic pain, cancer, chemo and pneumonia. Amazing the difference a change of perspective makes! I'm tired, I'm overwhelmed at the demands of daily life. And I think that's okay to feel and be real about. But, I also know that I just need a change of perspective sometimes. To think through life in someone else's shoes and take time to recognize how much I have to be grateful for! To recognize how the Lord is walking before me and beside me through each little challenge I face. |
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