Emilyweek – Icing on the Cake!
We had a great visit, but sadly now it is finished. Emily and kids actually left Friday, and I’m just getting around to writing my last post about out great adventure of diapers, sippy cups, silly songs, and macs (yes, there were three of us on our macbooks one night in the living room, but we were too busy I guess to take a funny picture).
Emily is much better about taking pictures than I am. She has a gift for capturing the moment with babies and kids, too. That is probably why most of my pictures from last week have me in them and not her!
One thing that is nice about being with an old friend again is the appreciation kindled for all the little things you love. You can’t experience these things even half as much with phone and email. For instance I love Emily’s animated spirit and “bouncy” personality. Even when she’s tired, she has a spring in her step. I could have said, “That girl never stops,” but I thought it was nicer to put it another way. 
I appreciate Emily’s willing heart to always help others. She is an active servant. Sure, she and I have our share of whining (adult-version of course, which is probably much worse!), but always jumping to help someone is really her second-nature, and I love this about her. I am thankful she has a listening ear for me and that she prays for me. I went through a really tough time a few months ago, and she called me almost every day and listened to me cry and shared my frustration as I battled my own sin and apathy. I know that I can tell her absolutely anything, and she will still call me her friend and choose to continue in a gracious response and offer her friendship. It’s so awesome, too, to have someone who likes to download a sermon and chew on it with me for days…
I could go on and on, but it’s ridiculously late. (Sorry for my horrible, bland grammar, by the way.) Emily will always say to me, “Kristi, GET IN BED,” to which I just laugh, because she knows I don’t speak that language. What I mean is I have grown up saying, “Get in THE bed,” and I say it to this day. The first time I said that on the phone one night in FL, she laughed and asked, “What did you say?” I said, “I have to get in the bed.”
“THE bed? Like THE bed? The only one?,” as if I had a whole matress store in my garage…
“Well, what do you say?”
“I say, ‘get in bed,’ like every other normal person.”
“Oh.”
I felt dumb. Why hadn’t anyone ever told me? Oh well. I be who I be. I love her.
What do you say? “Bed” or “The bed?”
Emilyweek – Afternoon Snack!
I said we wouldn’t do it, but it was inevitable. We have tried to cram every possible bit of fun and memorable activity into the last two days. We have made a series of trade-offs but still find ourselves pretty tired on the last evening of Emily’s visit. Although I know we are the most fun family on earth (ha), I can tell Ethan and Caroline will be quite excited to have their own beds to offer them a good night’s sleep when they return home tomorrow. Not to mention Emily and Brian will be happy to have their own bed, too!
Eric was so sweet to stay home this afternoon and early evening and keep all of the children while we went out for a few hours. We had some crazy and fun times. At one point we were talking about one of our favorite restaurants that we used to each visit in FL, and I said, “Ah, the oriental salad. That was the first meal I had there, and I remember it like it was yesterday. And although it never made it out of my mouth, the next immediate thought was, “Oh my – Where were the kids?” It took me a second to realize that I was thinking about a day when I was pregnant with my first child. Ha! It’s true that once you are a mom, you sometimes forget that there was a time in your life that they weren’t there yet.
We are hopefully stopping the picking up and packing tonight for a few hours to play Scrabble and talk Sola Scripturawith Eric. By the way, we played “Phase 10″ the other night, and I knew everyone would be happy to know that I came back and beat him fair and square. I was stinkin’ up the game for about 4 phases, and then it got really close between the three of us. Who knew?
Emilyweek – Pot Pie!
Our week ‘is zoomin’ by pretty quickly, but we’re not going to think about that too much! Ethan, Steven, and Lydia are going 
to be inseparable by the end of their visit, and Meredith and Caroline are keeping each other quite entertained. The other night we tried to fly a kite in the backyard, and I realized that kites don’t fly on mom’s enthusiasm alone – ha. Needless to say the boys loved chasing me around in the yard with no clue as to what I was doing, and Lydia in all of her three year-oldness wasn’t very impressed but rather disappointed that God didn’t answer our prayer for more wind.
Fun memories —
Yesterday our kids’ naps were kind of out of sync, so we decided to brave a Goodwill shopping trip with ALL of the kids. It went basically well, but when I got outside to the van I saw a plastic hot dog in Lydia’s hand. “Mommy has to go inside and return this!” I didn’t shame her about it, but we had a little talk about stealing. I ran inside and told the clerk, “My child stole a hot dog.” Lo and behold when we got home that I discovered two more wieners in the back seat, and I don’t mean Lydia and Steven. Oh, dear. I guess the great thing about Goodwill is I can take it right back and there won’t be a hassle!
Today we were out on the town with the kids, and we saw a man who appeared to be homeless. We were taking five to eat a bag of cheerios, and Lydia, my child who never meets a stranger, asked the man, “What’s your name?” He said, “Ernie,” to which she piped back, “Oh. I have a fish named Ernie, but he’s dead.” What do you do?
Emilyweek – Appetizer!
This is so much fun! Emily and her kiddos have come to visit us this week. Yay! I thought I could blog our week of fun like a meal. The last several days have been like a big yummy appetizer of nachos or 
crab cakes (at least that’s what I like for an appetizer). There’s not much else that can top being with one of your best friends for a day or two except being with her for a whole week! It has been great, but I am sure it is going to fly by and will too soon be gone. I am going to try to enjoy every minute because it will likely be several months until we can do something together again.
Since last Wednesday we have gone to the beach, played in the yard (Ethan calls the playhouse “myGODGE!” [garage]), attended church worship, and made as much of a mess as possible (well, not really) with five kids under the age of four. My incredibly generous husband stayed home while we had an afternoon out to go shopping at Goodwill, our favorite consumer destination, and he, Emily, and I have had some great late evening theological discussions. I am so thankful for a friend who my husband loves to hang out with almost as much as I do!
I love it when Emily takes pictures of our family for us. She has a great way of getting the kids to look at the camera. Like in this one: didn’t she do a great job?!
Next to blog will be a main dish!
Lessons from King David
Most of us can think of various things we have learned from King David. This morning I read 1 Chronicles 28 and 29, the story of God anointing King Solomon to rule after his father, David the King of Israel. Suddenly again I feel the great, glorious weight of responsibility and the delight found in my duty as mother. As I read the word of God my mind raced with the implications of living a life of narrowed passion for God’s glory. King David did not passively pass on the heritage of obedience and faith to his son. Toward the end of his reign he wanted to built a house for the ark of the covenant.
But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ Yet the LORD God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever…He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.
God was clear that he did not want David to do this task, and it was his son he had chosen. Again it was a time in which God purposed his will, and the heavenly Father reminded that he was the ultimate Father. What did David do? What would I have done in his place? Did he fight God or despise his decree? Did his passion for serving dwindle in light of God’s plan?
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”
On it continues of how much David gave for his son to perfom the great task of building a house for the ark of the covenant.
And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?””
Wow, the servant-hearted leadership and sacrifice that challenged the people challenges me to pour everything in my ability (and then some from a giving heart) out as a blessing on my children, so they may follow God and life a live worthy of his glory. This is a great and glorious task!
How did it end? So beautifully. Solomon started his reign, and David blessed the Lord. He gave God the glory because he was the One who truly deserved the praise and credit.
Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
He made sure that God’s desires were carried out as much as it depended on him and his children. At the end of David’s life, the Bible states that he was at the end of his life full of joy and honor. I have so much joy in reading this and pondering the ways that I can be a sacrificial servant who helps Eric stir our children on to live for God’s glory. As we lead them to God’s throne, in our sin and in light of their sin, we cry “Jesus!” every day of our lives. How truly blessed are the children of God, leading on more children, and dancing in the light of the kingdom of of our Savior!
photo from christiansunite.com
Screen Kids
I had just finished reading this article by Al Mohler about the dangers of letting our children be “electronically babysat,” and admittedly I thought, “I agree with this, but we don’t even watch TV, so we probably don’t need to worry about it so much.” After I finished reading Steven came into my room, and we were making my bed. I said, “Hey Steven! Do you know who is coming to visit you soon? Ethan! Your buddy Ethan!” He smiled and said (I’m assuming in reference to ichat and the blog posts I show from Emily regularly), “The real Ethan?” Not computer?”
Maybe I have something to ponder after all!
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