Silent Tears

This Saturday, Max's soccer game was canceled because of weather. We did not find out this was the case until we arrived at the soccer field and it was deserted. We explained to Max what was going on, and he did not understand why a thunderstorm in the morning is reason to cancel the best sport ever. I can't blame him because it wasn't raining anymore. It was also very clear that he was very disappointed. He became quiet after that and after about 5 minutes Joey and I looked in the backseat to see our dear Max with huge, hot and silent tears streaming down his face.

Today I received an email saying that the school I was potentially going to be teaching at, did not receive the grant it needed to offer the class I was probably going to teach. It feels like I have huge hot silent tears streaming down my heart. This job seemed ideal. It would have been in the evenings, it would have paid well, and it would have been a nice outlet for me. With Joey's job situation the way it is, an extra income would have been very helpful.

So now we are back to square one. I am disappointed, but there has been something I have learned during this economic recession. And that is, God is God regardless of the economy. I have seen God provide over and above for us in the last few months.

Ann Voskamp (blogger at aholyexperience.com) said not too long ago, that instead of worrying we should wonder at how God is going to provide.

The teaching job did not work out. So now I wonder what God has in store for us.

I'll let you know.



(Btw, the baby seen in the picture is William and the cry was not silent.)

The Rainbow Promise

The first thing Noah did was to thank God for rescuing them, just as he had promised.
And the first thing God did was make another promise. "I won't ever destroy the world again."
And like a warrior who puts away his bow and arrow at the end of a great battle, God said, "See, I have hung my bow in the clouds."
And there, in the clouds - just where the storm meets the sun - was a beautiful bow made of light.
It was a new beginning in God's world. It wasn't long before everything went wrong again but God wasn't surprised, he knew this would happen. That's why, before the beginning of time, he had another plan - a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world, but to rescue it - a plan to one day send his own Son, the Rescuer.
God's strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more - but not on his people, or his world. No, God's war bow was not pointing down at his people.
It was pointing up, into the heart of Heaven.

(taken from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones)


It stormed this evening, and Max found the rainbow pictured above outside our front door. This is the first one he has discovered on his own. He was really excited.

3-year-old Max at the Beach

kung fu

learning to body surf.


is it just me, or is max just a really cool kid?

Grateful

This morning I am grateful for a new day.
Yesterday was not a good day. Parenting was difficult. I didn't feel good. The weather was weird. An egg was dropped on the kitchen floor. The boys fought. Laundry mounted. Joey had to work late. It was a rough day.
Yet in the end of that hard day, God gave a beautiful sunset that set the sky on fire. Endless shades of oranges, pinks, purples and blues illuminated the sky. Thinking back on it, it seems like God was saying, "See, even in the midst of hard day, I give beauty."
So here I am at the dawn of a new day, with the chance to see beauty in what seems like might be another hard day. But I know that grace will be new again today just as surely as the sun came up again this morning. I hope I take time to see it, receive it, and love through it.
Open my eyes, Lord!
Amen.

Mr. and Mrs. Blizzard

I just witnessed the lonely march of a newborn widow. Last night we were awaken by our dog barking madly, and we came to find out it was because a firetruck was at our neighbor’s house. Deep down we both guessed what was happening, but it wasn’t confirmed until early this morning when I saw our neighbor as I was strapping the boys into the car.
“Dad passed this morning around 3:00,” he said, the emotion clearly catching in his throat. He swallowed hard almost as if he was trying to undo what he just said.
“Mama will let you know how it all happened.”
“Please give her our condolences and please let us know if there is anything we can do,” I heard myself saying. It sounded hollow. Then I drove to church.
Making lunch I saw her, the woman whose marriage vow was fulfilled in the darkness of a new day. Leaning heavily upon the arm of her daughter she walked to a car. I do not know where they were going. For her, I am sure it is into the unknown. Decades of oneness have come to an end, and so she puts one foot in front of the other and just walks. She is walking through the valley I never want to walk through. The one that is dark and scary and lonely. The one without him.
I do not know their story. My guess is it wasn’t always great because what marriage is always bliss? But the point is, the stress, the hard times, the hurt feelings did not end the marriage. They walked together until the end. That is something you don’t see every day, and it stands as a pillar for me to see every time I look out my kitchen window and live. It challenges me to love patiently and passionately and fiercely until “death do us part.”

2nd Soccer Game

Max enjoyed his second game this morning. His team played against the Geckos. The weather in Columbia dropped by 30 degrees yesterday, so it took his team a while to wake up and warm up this morning. There were a lot of tumbles, running toward the wrong goal, using hands and day-dreaming. It was awesome.
Max has had a cold since Monday, so he valiantly ran up and down the field with a tissue in hand. We didn't see much action from him in the first half, but during the second half, he scored twice. Joey had the biggest grin on his face. He also tripped his same teammate twice as the little guy was trying to score a goal. He never did it on purpose. It just happened.
Max also had a guest in the crowd, namely Michael Spicher. This was a huge honor considering that Spicher had tickets to the World Cup in South Africa and ended up not going. Thanks Spicher for coming!!!
Will spent most of the game sitting on a blanket on the sideline shredding a Styrofoam cup.
In the end, the Kangaroos did it again and won 5 to 3.

Will Chad

If you have not met Will or have not seen him in a while, this picture pretty much sums him and his personality up.
Whatever he does, he does 100%.
He teases his older brother full force, but loves him with all his heart. Whenever Max is playing with trains, you know that Will will break the track at some point. But whenever Will comes to get a snack (like a cookie, a piece of cheese, etc.) he always asks for one for Max, too.
If Max is crying, Will is very distraught until Max is all better.
He has started pointing and waving with his pointer finger and saying, "no-no!" It is the cutest thing, but he says it about things he is not aloud to touch as he is touching them.
He loves the characters from Cars and Charlie the train, and dogs and chickens and babies.
Lately he is known to sneak out the front door or climb into the hen house.
He loves to snuggle and hug and give wet kisses. He loves to sing the B-I-B-L-E and shout, "Bible" at the end of the song.
He loves hotdogs and is known to eat 2-3 at a time.
So that is sweet William in a nutshell.
We wouldn't trade him for the world.

1st Soccer Game- Kangaroos!

Warming up with the team (and Will) before the game.
(Notice the kangaroo hanging from the top of the goal, so the kids knew which goal to run toward!)

A few seconds before he scored his second goal of the game.

Soccer Stud.
(for Tati)

Go Kangaroos!!

Max loved playing soccer. He broke away from the rest of the kids three times and scored twice. Joey and I were quite surprised by how well he was able to dribble the ball. Thanks to Opa, Maxi's cleats make him really fast. When he was on the sideline, he cheered his team on and was so excited anytime they scored. I have to admit, his little team is really strong and big for three-year-olds. I think the Kangaroos might be going all the way this season!
:-)