An Eventful Day

This "little guy" was in Dash's dog house late yesterday afternoon. Suddenly, Dash started barking like crazy while looking at his dog house; his tail was stiff, and he was not about to settle down. He wasn't barking like he usually does when someone is walking by, so I figured there was probably a snake or another animal close by. Sure enough, this guys was in the dog house. He may have slithered out on his own, but Dash never gave him the chance to do so. Joey took care of the situation when he got home. The snake struck the hoe once, and then finally slithered out of the dog house a lot quicker than I expected him to move. We thought he was gone, but then we saw him under a tree next to the dog house. Next thing we know, he was up in the tree.


Earlier yesterday, the boys and I went shopping. Will had the seat belt on in the shopping cart. I was just in the middle of lifting Max up to put him into the basket part of the cart, when Will somehow managed to stand up, get out of the seat belt, lose his balance and fall backwards into the basket of the cart. I am so thankful he didn't fall on the floor. He hit the back of his head pretty hard though and still had a considerable lump last night before bed.

I wonder what today holds?

More Easter

Since Joey and I go to an Anglican church, Holy Week is a very big deal. These first two pictures were taken before we went the the service Saturday evening. (This service is one of my favorites, and I am planning on writing about it later on.) Anyways, I thought it was a good opportunity to get the Lederhosen and Edelweiss shirts out of the closet. :-)

Max's Easter basket. It was hard to get a good picture of him because I think he has allergies for the first time this Spring, and he had just woken up. He really was excited about the paints. He will sit for a long time and just paint. (Be on the lookout, Omi. Your requested masterpiece is headed your way!)
Joey and I have been talking about how we want the boys to remember Easter as being a huge celebration in our home, comparable to Christmas (minus the gifts). I don't want Easter to turn into a mini Christmas, but I do want to have a feast and a great time with family and friends as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. This year's feast was an orange roasted chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, home-made rolls, fruit salad, punch and a home-made carrot cake. It was awesome!
We were glad to have our friends, Hannah and Michael, over to celebrate with us. Of course, Uncle Mik was home too, which was wonderful. We miss him now that he is back at school again.
Will is now a choco-holic. The boy is crazy about the stuff. I had to hide his Easter basket because he would try to eat the chocolate with the foil. I just have to say the word chocolate, and he will sprint into the kitchen and eagerly point and reach up to the freezer until the treat appears.

Running

I ran 3 miles yesterday.

This has been nine weeks in the making. I started primarily because although I had already lost most of the baby weight I had gained, I had also lost quite a bit of muscle. So the initial goal was to firm up so that I would feel decent in a bathing suit this summer.

I started a program called Couch to 5K. I guess the first step on this journey was to admit that I was out of shape and in need of a slow start into a healthier lifestyle. As much as I wanted to have quick results, I knew I had to stick to the program even if it hurt my pride to walk more than run during the first few weeks. What I love about the program is that it challenges you but doesn't ask for too much so that you think the goal is unattainable.

This week is the last week of the program, and I will be running 3 miles two more times. I have seen positive changes in my body, but I have seen positive changes in other areas that outshine the physical ones.

1. I have a lot more energy.
2. I tend to be in a better mood after I have run. I know that something happens chemically in your brain when you exercise so that you are happier in the end. But for a task- oriented person and mother of small children like myself, I am happy and energized just to have completed something. House work is never done; taking care of children is continuous; there is always another meal to cook. But at the end of the day, I can look back and know that I did run a full 3 miles. I started it and I finished it.
3. I can think more clearly, so it is easier to guard my mind from going in a downward spiral of discontentment and at times maybe even self- pity.

These changes are making me a better wife, mama and home-maker.

I wasn't looking for an outlet that energized me, even though I should have been. But I am so thankful to have found this one. Running energizes me. I am sure that there are some other things that energize me as well. I love to write, for example. (I just don't do it very much. Hmm.)

All that to say:

What energizes you?

(I would love to hear from you.)

Easter Egg Hunt

Our church's Easter egg hunt is in a huge flower garden that belongs to an older couple in our church. Besides finding eggs, it is a great place to explore.

Will found one egg, figured out there was chocolate in it and could only then be persuaded to look for more eggs if I took his chocolate away. Here he is doing his best not to lose any of the big chocolate piece in his mouth.
I was with Will, but Joey told me that Max was a pro at finding the eggs. He was so fast and good that Joey said he needed to be with the big kids.
Max and his friend, Kendrick.

Easter Egg Hunt Now and Then

They grow and change so much in a year. The only thing that doesn't change is that I cannot get a good picture of them together.

Lent- Lead me in the way everlasting

The everlasting way stands in contrast to the offensive way that David asks God to search for in him. Whereas the offensive way is painful and idolatrous, the everlasting way makes whole, brings health and follows the true God.
Other words to describe everlasting are a "long duration, antiquity, futurity." When I put that concept together with the idea of way, I see a worn path that stretches out all the way from the past to all the way in the future. You can't see a beginning and you can't see an end. But there is a path, meaning others have walked there before you, giving this path significance and substance.

I approached this last line with some sadness, knowing that the Lenten season is almost over. I have really needed this time to dig down deep and let God expose darkness. I am coming out of Lent a changed person. My heart yearns to stay close to God in this way.
But just because the Lenten season is closing in five days does not mean that the being searched and known by God has to stop. In fact, it should never stop because the heart is deceitful above all else and needs to be exposed.

But there are two types of exposure.

One brings humiliation, and the other brings healing. Without the celebration of Easter and remembering that God is not only with us, but for us, there would be no hope in Lent. Without this hope, all we would be is an exposed, humiliated, open- wounded, smelly heap of a humanity. But Sunday we remember that it is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus that we don't have to stay on the offensive way. Now, we can be on the everlasting way.

Yes, we are exposed, but our Savior binds our bleeding wounds. Yes, we are exposed, but our Savior washes us, cleaning us of all filth, and dresses us in white. Yes, we are exposed, but we are lifted to our feet and put onto the everlasting way.
Yes, we are exposed, but now we are made whole.

This is what gives Lent (and being searched by God) its power.

Lent must end in celebration of the risen Lord.

Dandelions and Ant Bites

Will LOVES dandelions.

He has learned to blow, but now he just has to figure out how far away to hold the flower as he blows it. (Sometimes I think he just likes to eat them though.) As soon as we are in the front yard, he runs around and finds every single one that is round, white and fuzzy so that he can experience the magic of flying white parachutes over and over again.

(On a side note: you may notice the ant bites on his arm. The boy is just as fascinated by the ants as he is by the dandelions. Yesterday, I caught him scooping up fists of dirt from an ant pile with a huge grin on his face. Amazingly, no ants bit him that time.)

The Power of Smells

This morning it is raining and there is a gentle cool breeze. I had to open the windows. And suddenly, as the breeze swept through the house and brought in the earthy wet smells of Spring, I thought I was in Austria on an Alm, early in the morning.

I treasure these moments.

Lent- See if there is any Offensive Way in me

I was almost asleep when I was startled by a galloping sound. "Are there horses in our neighborhood?" I wondered. I was still getting used to the new sounds that come along with a move. And then, there it was again. It came out of nowhere and was gone in a flash. It didn't take me too long to realize that no, we did not have a band of Mustangs running past our home in the middle of Columbia, SC, but rather it was Dash, our huge Chow/Shepherd puppy. Dash is now four years old, and he still runs from one side of the house to the other at full speed. He usually does this when he is "guarding" the house or really excited to see someone familiar walking toward the house. This practice has left a perfect arch in our grass that now connects one side of the house to the other.

This is the picture that popped into my mind when I studied the word "way." My understanding of way is a road, a direction or a conduct that has been tread on, marched on and even trampled underfoot. This way is a familiar road, one you could walk in the dark, one where there is no grass left. This road is so familiar that sometimes you don't even realize you are walking on it. (Have you ever pulled into your driveway after work, and you wonder how you got home? Yes, I am guilty of mindless tired driving, too.)

In his cry to God, David wants to know if there is anything in him that is so familiar to him, that maybe he can't even see it anymore, even though it is offensive or hurtful.
But this is what punched me in the stomach, the Hebrew word that is translated here as "offensive," can also be translated as "idol."

Can I, like David, ask God to look and see if there is anything inside of me that is so familiar to me in my way of thinking and doing that I don't recognize it to be an idol; a god I made for myself?

Isn't this what Lent is for?
Sure, people start doing or stop doing things they shouldn't or should be doing, but what's the point if there is no long term change? As I learn more about the season of Lent, I find that it is more about internal exposure as apposed to external behavior. Lent is not for the faint-hearted. Lent is a time to say, "Check me out, God, and open my eyes so I can see how you see."

I think I may need to let that marinate for a while.

When a Forest Burns.

Two Handsome Lads.

Tubes

Waiting at the hospital to be admitted. This was at 6 am. Will had to check everything out of course.

Here we are waiting to be taken back to where Will would have his tubes put in. He sat down in a prime location so that he could see everyone coming in and out of the waiting room. Whenever someone passed by he said, "hi!" and waved.
The hospital staff was amazing and a blessing. Both Max and Will got a soft teddy bear. I thought the baby hospital gowns were so cute. Will wasn't convinced, especially after he couldn't find the hospital bracelet they put on his ankle. (That was his second one, since he managed to pull the wrist one off within a minute of having it on.)


He was not a happy camper after the procedure not because anything hurt, but because he was hungover. Once the drugs started wearing off, our little happy Will came back and even went down the slide at Chick-Fil-A a few times. He is exhausted and happily asleep in his bed now. (Kinda wish I were in my bed, too.) Thank you all who prayed for us today.