Fun on wheels
Yesterday Eric pulled Steven’s buddies in the red wagon (Christmas gift from Papa and Grandmama), and Lydia rode behind Eric’s bike in the bike trailer. It started rainy but turned out to be a beautiful day outside, so the kids really enjoyed a few minutes to be out in the fresh air. Here is Steven in the wagon with his favorite teething pal Ethan!
The bike trailer is made for two kids to ride, but Lydia sure does like having it all to herself (pay no attention to the dorky look on my face).
We are counting the days and hours until we get a phone call from Eric’s sister Amanda; we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Amanda and Leslie’s first baby, Seth Owen! He could be born any day now, but personally I am hoping for my birthday, which isn’t too far away (I know Amanda is wishing it to be sooner than later)! We will have three boys in the Sparks family: Samuel, Steven, and Seth! We like “S” names, can’t you tell?!
Gentle Shepherd
There are times in all of our lives that we feel overwhelmed. As a Christian I know that when it’s all said and done, I’m not the one in control anyway – God is. The non-Christian hates to hear this while a believer in Jesus finds true comfort in knowing such relief and knowing where to go for peace. Here is what I read this morning, courtesy of a link from the Girl Talk blog:
Remind yourself that you need a Savior. Feeling overwhelmed is often a sign that we’re trying in our own strength to do what He’s called us to do. We will never succeed with mere physical and mental stamina. We desperately need His grace and the power of the Holy Spirit. He has made us to need Him. If appropriate, repent of pride and declare your complete dependence on Jesus. Tell yourself the gospel in detail. Here are a few sections you can look up to soak yourself in the truth of the gospel: Romans 3:23-26, Romans 5:6-11, Romans 8:32-39
I love the following verse because it speaks to where I am now in my life.
Isaiah 40:11: He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
God truly is my Shepherd, and to think that the God of this universe would gather me in his arms and carry me close to his heart is amazing. He gently leads me, a young mother!
I hope you know the gentle leading of God today as you work and remember that He never leaves his children.
Mealtime Prayers
A couple of years ago I was urged to write our own family prayers for meals after reading a good book about traditions. Noel Piper explains how it shaped their children’s lives and gave them something tangible to knit their family together as they prayed over their meals together. I decided I wanted to start using some prayers as our own children grow and learn to spend meals together as a special family time. I was excited to find these prayers today when I was searching in a folder of documents for something else. I am excited because I tucked them away and forgot about them, and now it will be a wonderful thing to teach Lydia because she is really talking more. I thought I could share them with you – there are three for the obvious reasons: breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Of course we can’t sit down as a family every day for every meal, but we can learn three prayers for these occasions when time permits. Enjoy!
BREAKFAST
God of mercy, we come this early hour
To know the goodness of Your love and power.
You are good to awaken us,
Good to give us rest,
For You know and desire what is best.
Sustain us with Your everlasting grace today,
In the name of Jesus, this we pray.
Amen.
LUNCH
Father and Savior, to You we raise
Hearts abounding with mid-day praise.
We are thankful for this meal
And bounties of Your rich love,
Knowing every good gift comes from above.
Like salt and water, send us on,
In the strong name of Your Son.
Amen.
DINNER
Maker of every day’s end
To You we come, on You we depend.
You have been gracious to us this day
Give us thankful hearts, we pray.
You are good when we are not,
You are our portion and our lot.
At the Cross of Jesus we humbly fall,
For You sustain the great and the small.
Amen.
Remembering Papa
I’ve been meaning to post my thoughts about Papa and Nanny for several weeks. For those of you who know us well, you will remember that Eric was visiting SC for a wedding when he heard the news that his grandparents and Aunt Brenda were killed in their home on that day by Brenda’s husband. It was of course a shocking and surreal day for everyone who knew and loved them. 
In God’s goodness Eric was in SC and able to immediately be with his parents, who found the scene of their deaths. It has been a long, hard month without them. I’m not going to even attempt to discuss the thoughts and questions of eternal and unsolvable nature that I have here on my blog. Those are truly between my God and me, and I will daily leave them at His feet where they belong. You might like to know that I am not angry with God. I am at peace knowing that He does with His children as He pleases, both for His glory and our good. For anyone that would call that statement curt or insensitive I must say that it’s simply not true. I miss both of them so much, and in some ways I feel like the last memories with them and hopes of future memories with them were whisked away with no explanation. We are trusting God in this. The only way to abide in Jesus Christ (John 15) is to rest in the fact that God knows everything and apart from living and trusting Jesus with every question and “breath” of our minds and hearts, we would be nothing and could do nothing. We will not survive the harshness of this fallen world without Jesus Christ. Papa and Nanny especially knew and lived this, so let me share a little bit about them with you. Obviously everyone who had the pleasure of knowing them likely has a different perspective and different memories. I knew them for seven years, so if you would like to be blessed, sit a minute and take in their aroma; I invite you to smell a truly pleasing aroma that magnified the God of this universe, the Savior to fallen hearts.
Today I will start by writing to you about our Papa. I will save my thoughts concerning Nanny for a separate post. I assure you, Nanny would not like this, making them separate and all, but I am taking that liberty because they deserve a little more space on my cyber-paper so I can devote more thinking time to each, and you can read them better. I hope for our family this is a sweet reminder of the blessing they will always be to us, and for those who did not know them, that it will inspire you to love God more. Indeed, that’s what they would want.
Papa was a big man – not overweight, just really tall. Perhaps it was the ceilings in their quaint house, but when I walked through the door, he would tower over me. He would hold the door open with a big smile, 
and there would be no delay for a big hug. I loved to see his big eyes, his big smile, and his gorgeous, white hair. He portrayed the image of God of “a very present help in time of trouble.” If I were in trouble, I would want Papa there to help. When I walked in the door of their home, Papa would always smile and say, “Well, helllllo, Kristi!” (He’d say the hello really long and drawn-out, but he’d say my name really short. I think that’s because for the first couple years Eric and I were together, Nanny called me “Krissy,” and no doubt Papa was probably always trying to remember if it was Krissy or Kristi!” haha) Well, the point is that he always tried to make me feel welcome, as if I belonged there just as much as that coat rack he stuck on the wall. Papa would perch himself on the stool in the kitchen or his favorite armchair in the living room, and he would smile and listen to whatever conversation we had to share that day. Usually at some point he would interject a story about “way back when,” and we’d all have a good laugh by the time it was over (because he was often quiet, and when he would speak, he could get somewhat long-winded at times).
He had such big, strong hands. I sometimes entertained the sad thought that I never knew him when he had the energy to work harder than his later years offered him. He loved to fix things and was very handy. He repaired our vehicles many times, and anything that anyone needed done, he would try to do. He worked for decades on the railroad, 
and it had a way of shaping him into who he became. Just as the news article upon his death mentioned of his constant Scripture reading and study, I can say that I witnessed him many times sitting in his chair, quietly meditating on the Word of God. He treasured it As much as we know, every morning Papa and Nanny sat together and read a daily devotional. It was usually the monthly Lifeway publication, Open Windows, which they would pick up at church; no doubt they would spend time reading the Bible alongside it. Nanny also faithfully read Journey for women, which I will share about in my later post. After they were killed we found the books setting on the kitchen table where they usually were, opened to December 17th’s reading. “Be Steadfast” was the heading, summarized by 1 Corinthians 15:58. 
A prayer concluded the reading as follows, “Lord, thank You for setting the perfect example of perseverance. Help me to keep my eyes on the tast You have for me.” It was regular habits such as these that made Papa the man he was. Papa was loyal to his church, his family, and to Jesus. His head was full of the knowledge his faith, yet his feet walked by it. Usually he was watching TV if we came by in the afternoons, but despite his age, his brain wasn’t “turned off.” He was the epitome of “quality time,” and just being together was his pleasure. He was a perfect gentleman. He loved holding our babies and playing with them. His life radiated the joy of “doing what is right” and living to take care of others, even though his own health failed him in his last years.
Unlike many elderly men, he was beaming with joy when he was in church. I think a true disciple of Jesus grows happier as they age, not the grumpy complainers that some older folks sadly become. That’s what I dream of becoming when I think of myself 
as an elderly woman who is excitedly waiting to be with Jesus (I want long, beautiful gray hair, by the way)! He embodied this verse from Psalm 84: My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. Papa’s quiet contentment and humility were his strength, and through those he brought much glory to God. He was the resilient fixture of his home, at times a silent statue of joy in His Savior, providing a simple and peace-loving headship for his family and all who entered his life. I, like others in the family, see such striking physical and spiritual resemblances between my husband and Papa. Eric genuinely revered his Papa in so many tangible ways; in fact that was one of the very first things I notice about my husband-to-be. I thank God incessantly that he had such a willing and beautiful example of Christ-like humility set before him during his youth.
The best thing about Papa’s life is I confidently rest in the fact that his story had a happy ending. His painful death here carried him peacefully into the arms of the lover of His soul, Jesus Christ. I don’t believe for a minute that Papa is just “in a better place.” No, he is there, in the perfect house of the living God, dwelling with Jesus Christ forever. In Scripture Paul writes, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). Because of this and only because of this — Jesus, the perfect God, took the place of our wretchedness and died a cruel, horrible death on a cross, was buried and then brought back to life by God’s power — Papa lived on earth free from the chains of death, and now free from the agony of hell. No, hell is a place that Papa never had to see. Call me the biggest fool in the world, but this is the truth: Papa Ford is alive and spending every waking moment in the most amazing place with the Church and the One and only God and Savior, Jesus Christ!
I hope you know Him, oh, how I hope you know Jesus. If you don’t, call His name right now. I can’t wait to be with Jesus and with all of my family who love Him. I can’t wait to get there, walk in, and eventually hear that big, tall man say, “Well, helllllo, Kristi!”
A Shower in the Jungle!
On the sign and the cake were the words “We’re Going ‘APE’ over Aiden!”
Aiden gets a fly-by of his amazing cake made by Kristie D.
Emily, Ethan, and his Nana; Amy, Aiden, and his MiMi
Aiden finally fell asleep contentedly on Gigi Z.; she has the touch!
l-r: Emily, Kristie, Amy and Aiden, me
(all four of us seemed to be at the food table quite a bit during the whole shower)!
Eric took Lydia and Steven to my sister’s apartment so they could sleep; after they got back to the shower, Steven was ready to PLAY with his friends!
Hmmm, there’s something “everyday” about this picture….
Aiden was certainly showered, but we were the blessed ones. It was so nice to finally meet him! His mommy and daddy are very special people in our church, so we hope to see them a lot!
Emergency!
(Disclaimer: I do not work for the CIA, and I haven’t been watching too much TV. Just ask my husband. I haven’t been normal ever since he met me! Okay, now you can keep reading….)
Last night I was cleaning out our bedroom closet and revisited my home emergency bag in order to update it. I once made a bag of supplies like a “survival kit” in case our family was ever in an emergency situation. Lydia was a few months old when I made the last one, so in it I found 6-9 months girls’ clothes and some infant supplies. I thought, “Ooo, this would not be good for us now!” So I made a new one. I know, some people might think it’s a little wack-o or extreme to do this, but especially after seeing what happened with Hurricane Katrina and other recent events, I think it wouldn’t hurt to take some basically effortless precautions.
One thing I’ve learned in the last couple of years is that if I’m honest with myself, I live with so much more material possessions than I really need. Especially when you have young kids, you think you “must have” every little gadget to get by with daily life. It’s nice to have some comforts of home, but last night I asked, “Hmmm, what would I be desperate to have for my family and me if we were stranded on a bridge, stuck in a bathroom with no power, wandering through a destroyed city, living in our car for 3 days, or taking refuge in a shelter?”
I got one of those heavy plastic bags with zippers and a handle built-in that comes with a comforter or big blanket when you buy it. You can really jam a lot of stuff in there. These are most of the things I put inside:
- Blankets (for padding, to be pillows and/or warmth)
- A change of clothes for everyone in the family
- Socks
- Travel-size toiletries
- Pain-reliever
- Paper, Envelopes, Pen, Scissors, Rubber-bands, Tape, matches
- Rain ponchos, flashlight, batteries
- A couple trash bags
- Diapers (size 4 since Lydia wears 4 and Steven wears 3)
- A couple towels and wash cloths
- A couple cans of food, can opener, couple bottles of water, plasticware
- A Bible
I was packing it and looked over at Eric with tears. “Honey, can you imagine what it had to be like to be stuck on that sweltering, putrid bridge for days with no clean diaper for your baby?” Oh, it must have been pure suffering for so many of them. Thoughts flooded my mind as I made this simple little bag for the four of us. “What are you going to do if some terrible storm washes you miles away, or an unthinkable terrorist attack comes like a thief in the night?” No, I’m not hiding in a hole down in Florida scared out of my mind. But God knows that none of us are exempt from these kinds of things happening; we may be in a “quick, grab-’n-leave” situation someday. The first thing I’d grab is whichever child Eric told me to get! Then it would be this bag. I put my bag in a safe and easily-accessible place in our house, and then I thought about Psalm 37:
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! (Psalm 37:1-7)
I know it’s sad that we live in such dangerous times…. but the truth is ever since sin came into the world, it has been full of danger. I’m no prophet, and I’m not a Y2K evangelist (although I did buy a big pair of flashy earrings last week)…. I trust and rest in the perfect providence of my Sovereign God. He will save His children how He pleases from whatever peril comes to them. My biggest fear is still my own sinful heart, not even the worst terrorist. But I couldn’t help but think that God might just be putting this thought in my head to help me prepare, if ever I am in a situation when my family is in need of the basics to survive. You should make one for your family, too, because then you might be able to help someone else out in an emergency. Please comment if you have any other ideas of stuff that would be good in an emergency-survival bag. Until then, I’ll try to work and pray hard and never take my bed, shower, or refrigerator for granted!!!!!
quick feed
bookmarks
photos and small videos
email me
