Our Daily Bread

     To say it's been a while since my last post would be an understatement! Life has been crazy and I haven't had the time or inspiration to write much. But I have something on my heart that I need to share. Have you ever said The Lord's Prayer? I'm guessing most people have. You know the line that says, "Give us this day our daily bread"? I had never thought much about it until the last several months. Let me back up, in the fall of last year Bart was presented with an opportunity to change jobs. He was content at the job he had been working for the four previous years, but was open to a change and the possibility of providing more, financially, for our family.  We were hesitant to take the new job because after an introductory period it would be commission only. We prayed A LOT before we both felt a peace about our decision to accept the new job. Things started out pretty well. Bart was very excited and eager to work hard in his new profession. Anyone who knows Bart, knows he loves talking to people which is important in any sales position. After several months he seemed to hit a wall and was not able to be as successful as he wanted and our funds were getting low. We came to a mutual decision that even though we had prayed about this job and felt God was leading him to take it we needed to begin the process of looking for something with a more steady paycheck. Here is where we come back to the Lord's prayer. "Lord, give us this day our daily bread." When it says daily bread, it means what we need for today, not tomorrow, not next week or next month, but today. Until that point, neither of us had been at a place in our lives that we felt we had to fully rely on God for our immediate needs. We had both been struggling to understand why God would lead us down this path and then it not work out the way we had expected. Finally, one night we sat down to talk and came to the conclusion that God wanted us to learn to trust HIM. Yes, it's important to work hard and do our best in everything we encounter but it's ultimately God who has given us the talents and abilities that we possess. It's God who knows our needs before we can even ask. We went a couple of months with no income and God blessed us and provided just what we needed through our families as well as friends who had no idea what we were going through. It was a very stressful time but we were trusting the Lord to provide our needs and he has done just that! Bart has been at his new job for a few months now and he enjoys it very much. God decided we needed a reminder just this week of how amazing he is. We had discussed over the past couple of weeks that a part-time job would be a big help but Bart's hours are irregular making it difficult for either of us to find something that would fit our schedules. We hadn't even prayed specifically for God to provide a job but He knew it was on our minds. This week Bart was approached about a part-time job that is flexible and should work out well with his schedule. He found out on Friday that he should be starting there the beginning of December. God knows what we need! We are so humbled to serve such a loving God. We often go through things that we don't understand and we definitely don't enjoy but we can be sure that God always has a plan. He has what's best for us in mind. Jeremiah 29:11 is an awesome reminder, ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. As Thanksgiving comes around this year we are thankful for our Provider!

Gratitude

 
         Last night our family had the joy of hearing Ugandan Thunder, a children's choir from Uganda composed 22 of orphans. They arrived in the U.S. less than two weeks ago and will be touring all over the country for the next several months. As we were preparing to go to the church last night Carson came to me and told me he had collected some toys that he wanted to give to one of the kids in the choir. I was hesitant because I felt like they were sort of inadequate because they were used and not in perfect shape but we were running a little late so I decided not to argue and allowed him to bring the grocery sack of toys to church. The boys very much enjoyed watching the singing and dancing. After the service was over Carson made his way up to one of the boys and handed him the bag but didn't explain that he waned to give it to him so the boy handed it back. We came to another boy and I explained that Carson wanted to give the toys to him.  He accepted, expressed his thanks and gave Carson a hug. A few minutes later Carson asked to have his picture taken with the boy, whose name is Julius. He of course agreed, but it was after we took that picture that the most touching thing happened. He hugged Carson again to thank him for the toys and became so overwhelmed with emotion that he began to cry. He was so grateful for the few toys Carson had given him and I had almost interfered with the blessing that God had in store for Julius and for us. What we didn't know until the end of the evening was that yesterday was Julius' birthday. God had Carson pick those toys as a birthday present for a boy we had never met when we didn't even know it was his birthday. When I talked with Julius today I told him that Carson didn't know it was his birthday when he gave him the toys but God did! And he agreed, "Yes, He did!"

We had the pleasure to visit and play with the choir kids today.

 They truly are such grateful, precious children!

Tweet Tweet

       Carson received a wooden birdhouse from his Nana and Grampa for Christmas. He of course had a great time painting it! He enjoys almost any type of art project. The finished product HAD to be put in the backyard. When I originally put it in the tree I didn't really expect any birds to come. A couple of months after we hung it up we noticed a couple of birds hanging around, one of which had some grass in its mouth. To our delight it made its way into the birdhouse!

The fact that the bird built a nest is exciting but of course there is usually a funny story to accompany most situations in our lives!  A couple of weeks ago I discovered Carson had used his climbing skills to take the birdhouse down. As I pick it up I realize there are baby birds inside!! My first thought is, "OH NO, what if the mama bird doesn't come back now!" SO I carefully put the birdhouse back on the same branch hoping the mama would come back. Thankfully she did! The birds are now growing! Carson and I have had a couple of conversations about the importance of not bothering baby birds. If these birds survived our yard they probably have it made!

Time is flying!

    It's been a while since I've posted. Things have been going much smoother since the first week in January which felt like chaos. I realized today as I took a 10 month picture of Canton how quickly the month has gone by! In the past week Canton has started pulling up and crawling in the traditional manner. For the past couple months he has been doing the "army crawl" and has mastered it! He had been up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth and today decided that must be the way to really get moving.
     Collin had a follow-up appointment today with a Pediatric Endocrinologist. Over the past 18 months his weight and height have been checked regularly because according to the growth charts he is below normal for his age. Our pediatrician first referred us to a Gastroenterologist and they tested for a couple things that can affect growth and nutrient absorption with the results being normal. He then referred us to an Endocrinologist who has done an x-ray to check Collin's "bone age" which was also normal. At our follow-up today his growth was minimal so they may perform a more invasive test to check his growth hormone levels after he turns three. But for today they just drew blood and will see him back in three months. I have very mixed emotions about the whole situation.  I really feel like there is absolutely nothing wrong with him but there is also that nagging thought that if he does have a growth hormone issue and it can be treated,  I would feel horrible if we didn't address it. At this point we will just keep encouraging him to eat and wait it out. For those of you who know me well know that waiting is not my favorite thing :)  I guess all those times I have quizzed Carson on the definition of patience will come in handy!!
     Carson on the other hand continues to grow so fast! He is very tall for his age and while hanging out with Papa the other day at Hydro Hose we discovered that he weighs 49 pounds! Last I knew he was about 44 pounds. He has begun to enjoy drawing much more than in the past. He is able to recognize most of his letters and knows quite a few letter sounds. He is also acquiring a list of scriptures he can quote. We are very excited about his willingness to memorize scripture!
     Bart had quite an exciting time last weekend. On Saturday night he and his good friend Scott "camped out" at the Buffalo Wild Wings that was scheduled to open Sunday morning. Why would he do this? The first 100 customers received free wings for a year. Bart just happened to be number 100! So it looks like we will be eating wings pretty often for the next year. Thankfully they have my preference, boneless wings, as well!
     We are all doing well. I am very excited I have made it to the gym four times this week! I have been enjoying the activity and the boys enjoy playing in the "Kid Zone"! I have also gotten on a reading kick over the past few weeks. I am enjoying a series by Terri Blackstock and have been staying up past my bedtime to get in some reading :) Hope all is well with each of you!
     

Back to normal!

    If you aren't a member of my family you probably haven't seen me in a couple of weeks. It's been crazy around our house lately! My last post covered the excitement that took place Christmas day. Well, New Year's definitely took the cake! Canton woke up at 12:30 with a stomach bug. By six a.m. he seemed much better only to be sick again that night. Monday morning he was not too spiffy when I got him out of bed. He had slept all night but seemed tired and really out of it. The pediatric clinic wasn't open so we ended up at the ER. It turned out that he needed IV fluids. After receiving several different test results he was cleared to go home.  Poor thing, he was pitiful and I didn't get a smile out of him for quite a while! It was Wednesday before he was really back to normal.
                                          

Don't worry the excitement doesn't end there!!

    Tuesday morning Bart wasn't feeling too hot so he ended up staying home from work. Trying to care for a sick husband and a sick baby plus handle two rambunctious little boys is no easy task! But we survived the day. I was happy to be able to stay home Tuesday night from my part-time job and it turned out to be arranged by God! Bart and Canton went to sleep early and the other boys were in bed by eight p.m. or so. I decided to quickly vacuum the living room while there was no one in it, ha!As I finished and had just turned off the vacuum I heard the bathroom faucet. I thought Bart had woken, but soon heard a blood curdling scream. I ran into the bathroom to find Collin holding his hand up to his mouth. As he looks up I realize there is blood, a lot of blood! His top teeth went completely through his bottom lip. As there was no other place open, another trip to the ER was in order. This trip was MUCH longer than Canton's visit. I am so thankful my mom tagged along because she entertained Collin very well! We left the ER about 12:30 with a little glue on his chin/lip and a very sleepy boy. The insane part is the next afternoon as we read a book just before nap time he managed to pull the glue almost completely off without me knowing! Our Pediatrician checked the ER report and discovered that it was merely superficial and didn't really require the glue so we thankfully didn't have to make ANOTHER trip to the Dr. :-)

We've had a few somewhat calm (as calm as it gets with three boys in the house) days and are so thankful that everyone is pretty much back to normal!! Still praying the stomach bug germs are not secretly lurking around our house waiting to attack those of us who haven't been bitten!

Getting all three boys together and still for a photo doesn't happen often!

Late for Dinner

    Having watched Christmas Vacation last week, that is one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about our Christmas. For those who haven't seen the movie, Clark always has all these big ideas or mental pictures of what he wants something to be like but something usually goes wrong. I didn't have any big activities planned but I still had planned out how I thought things would go. Well the day did not turn out like I pictured! The boys woke up about 6:30 and we read a story book about the birth of Jesus. By about 7:15 Collin had thrown up twice, not a very pleasant start to the day! Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who willingly cleaned up the mess and ran to Walgreen's to get Sprite! So the big question, is it a stomach virus?!? I was praying, literally, that it wasn't. We had been around tons of family members less than 12 hours before. If we started a bug that got passed around it would not be a fun Christmas! Well after a few hours we still didn't know what had caused the upheaval but Collin was back to normal, running and playing. So we decided that it would probably be ok to attend the family dinner at my Gramma's house especially since we had seen them all the night before lol! I made the call and said I wasn't sure what time, but we would be there. I never really heard a definite time but figured since church wouldn't be out until about noon that dinner would be closer to 1:00. Well there was quite a miscommunication.We arrived about 12:40 and were late for dinner and I didn't even realize it! My call had been understood as don't wait on us, which made perfect sense.  I usually think of myself as somewhat easy going and laid back. This was not one of my better days. In my sleep deprived, stressed out state I was offended and hurt when we arrived to just about everyone already seated and eating dinner. I'm embarrassed to say I caused some drama. Which thankfully we all were able to laugh about within a few minutes. It was a good reminder that things don't always go as you plan or hope but it's not the end of the world! The rest of the day was perfect and I'm so thankful for sweet family who can just ignore crazy irrational days that women have sometimes! Especially thankful for a Saviour who is never surprised by the way things turn out because He's in control!

Money Saving Mom

   One of my favorite blogs is Money Saving Mom. Crystal, the author, does an excellent job of posting great bargains and coupon deals as well as just general information that is helpful to almost anyone. She has authored a new book entitled The Money Saving Mom's Budget. It's release date is not until January 2012 but you can pre-order it at the following link: The Money Saving Mom's Budget.