Getting Back in the Groove

I know this picture is upside-down, but I think you'll still get the idea. That was my schedule last year. Each color represents a different person, and each square represents a block of time. This schedule assumes each day will proceed pretty much like the day before. It worked great for last year, but needed some serious revamping to accommodate all our activities for this year.
I had my new schedule hanging on the wall and ready to go Monday morning. I did this one on the computer, and each day conforms to its specific needs. I can already see some need for revamping, as there simply are not enough hours in a day to get everything done! But these last two days have already been 200% better than the last couple weeks as we at least have a plan for the day.Other differences on this year's schedule include the fact that my activities for the day are not scheduled. That is simply too difficult to do with a five-week old baby. I scheduled the school activities, and I know when I am needed for instruction and when they can complete an assignment or activity on their own, so I guess I'm floating where needed. I do miss that little square that said "blogging/computer time," however--I may have to work that in somewhere!

In other news, we went grocery shopping Saturday evening. A full van and $250 later, I am happy with my menu list and bursting pantry, fridge, and freezer.
I have several lists hanging on my refrigerator. One is a list of meals, another is a list for shopping, and finally, I have a list of things to do. One realizes the whole 'list-mania' might be out of control when your two-year-old-daughter runs to show you what she 'drew' on her paper: "Look, Mom, it's my LIST!!!!!"
I also just can't resist showing you my bountiful harvest of basil. I have picked basil and made pesto until I'm almost (but not quite!) sick of it. I pick this much one day, and three or four days later I go out and pick it again. What a blessing! I read online that the key to high basil production is continuous harvesting, and be sure to cut right above a set of double leaves. I guess they knew what they were talking about, because these plants have exploded! I'm freezing pesto to enjoy through the winter--please excuse my garlic breath!

Finally, Alan and I went out for supper last night, got to visit a friend and her new baby in the hospital, and we went to watch Inception before it leaves the theater. We had a great time visiting and reconnecting. Thanks so much for all your encouragement as I floundered in the chaos last week!

Computation Easton-Style

Here is the math problem:

You are a four-year-old boy drawing pictures quietly during church service with your six markers and a sheet of paper, when your two-year-old little sister decides she wants to draw also. Your mom tells you to divide the markers between the two of you. How many markers will each of you get?

(Mom is expecting three, right? Six divided by two is three.)

Easton math: I get four and she gets two. (At momma's lowered eyebrows ready to rebuke, he explains) "Because I am four and she is two!!!"

And speaking of drawing, I can't. Even my stick people are hard to identify as such. So imagine my surprise at Easton's drawing of a helicopter!!! Perhaps I'm too easily impressed, but I think this boy has got something I haven't!!

Putting Out Fires

This is how I would describe my life here lately. God and I are working on some selfishness, laziness, and disorganization. I don't like living my life in the state of just doing what absolutely must be done, taking care of whatever is screaming most loudly, and not feeling like there is some order. I must say, when I let things go, I do so in a mighty big way. It's not just one little area--it permeates every aspect of my life!

• Homemaking--I have no menu list. I have no shopping list. I have no idea what we are going to have to eat each day. I randomly run into a grocery store and grab a few things that I think might help tide us over until I can do "real" grocery shopping: a couple loaves of bread, a couple boxes of cereal, a can of formula, a bag of fruit. . .Let's not even talk about the piles around the house of things that need to be organized and given a home, or the typical tasks of laundry and such.
• Finances--We've fallen off the budget wagon. We just pay the bills that have to be paid today and are taking it one day at a time. We need to sit down, evaluate, get organized, re-designate where things need to go, figure out a payment plan for our adoption loan. It's so much more peaceful doing it the "Dave Ramsey" way (ha, ha--Financial Peace University).
  
• Homeschool--Believe it or not, this is the area that seems to be going the best. I have lesson plans done for 10-12 weeks for every child and every subject except history. If only I had history planned, however, I would feel so much better! This is just simmering underneath everything constantly asking me to get it done.
  
• Marriage--Do you ever have those times when you just feel somewhat disconnected? Life gets busy and you aren't talking about anything important? Alan has had two out-of-town business meetings in the last two weeks, and that's all it takes for me to miss talking to him! We've just been addressing what absolutely must be addressed right now, counting on having time later to sit down and really reconnect. I'm ready for that to happen!
  
• Child Training--I prefer to be a proactive parent. I like to have my children near me and to pay attention so I can observe misbehaviors and character training issues as they're developing and have the opportunity to steer them in a better direction before it becomes too big of a deal. These last few days I've been putting out fires--the kind that are blowing up in my face--rather than nurturing a little spark.
  
• The Schedule--What schedule?? Oh, this is a big one! I really like to have a schedule, especially in our home school. I need to know what time we are doing which subject, and so do my children. But this schedule needs seriously revamped. In the past I've been able to have one schedule that worked for every day, with just a couple minor adjustments (such as one class on M/W/F from 1-3pm, with a different class during that same time slot on T/Th). But this year we have more going on, and I really need a unique schedule for each day--or at least two separate schedules, one for M/W/F and one for T/Th. But I don't have it written out. So each day (for we've been back to school for a couple weeks now) feels like a series of little fires that I just run around putting out as we try to get done what needs done. When I have a schedule, the day just sort of runs itself. My goal: have that schedule completely done and ready to implement next Monday. Hold me accountable now!
• Spiritually--And isn't this really just the cause of the above symptoms? I'm not in the Word the way I want to be, the way I should be. My Bible study time has turned into an obligatory reading of a few verses to a chapter. I'm down to the "I know I need to be in the Word and I haven't read any today, so I'll 'put out the fire' by reading here for a few minutes before I go to bed." I much prefer to dig into the Bible, read a couple different translations of the same passage, cross reference different passages and/or look up a few Greek definitions. 'Putting out the fire' is just not the same. Indeed, I would much prefer to be LIGHTING this fire. I'm spending a lot of time in prayer, but need to get back into a listening posture as well.
  

I've gained some encouragement today and am looking forward to getting back on track in all these areas. In fact, today I made a menu plan and a grocery list to implement that plan. Once that food is in the house--ah, what a sigh of relief that will be! I spent some time with my husband this evening visiting and making some financial decisions to get back with a budget. I scribbled all over my calendar noting the children's different classes, lessons, sports, etc. in preparation for making a schedule. Perhaps next week I won't feel so much like a firefighter and will be more effective in serving where the Lord has called me to serve.

"Let's Not Eat Supper

Let's just eat the cupcakes."

This is what Easton said to me about the cupcakes he and Kiana made me for my birthday. If he had his way, he would eat donuts for breakfast every morning, a PB&J sandwich for every lunch, and cookies or ice cream for every snack.

As his mother, however, I know he needs a more balanced diet than this, so I try to feed him things that are better for him--foods that will help him grow and be strong and healthy.

I don't have prayer all figured out. There is so much to this subject, and as I've studied and practiced prayer, I find this blessing (and discipline) to be richer and deeper every year of my life. One observation I have, as I reiterate that I don't have it all figured out, is that God's dealings with us are much like my dealings with Easton.

Easton asks for what he wants--for what seems good to him according to his immaturity and his limited view of the big picture. But I give him what is best. Sound familiar?

Perhaps this is something that comes with growth, but it seems to me we must trust that God wants what is best for us. Things don't always seem good from our human perspective, but we don't see the big picture. I think of when someone I love dearly was caught in a pit of sin. He was not living for the Lord, and just kept sliding down a dangerous hill. When he was finally caught breaking the law and had to go to prison, my heart was breaking for him. But through it all, I prayed that he would come to know the Lord. "If this is what it takes to bring him to you, Lord, it will all be worth it," I continually prayed. It might have seemed good to skip supper and eat the cupcakes--for us to pray that he wouldn't have to serve the time--but how much better the work God has done in his life!! And not in his life alone, but the lives of many who walked through this trial with him! God's ways are so much higher than our ways! I see him now, surrendered to the Lord, growing in his walk with God, and honestly, being more of a man than I ever really even knew to hope he would be. That's how God works.

I'm not a 'name it and claim it' person, nor do I espouse a 'prosperity gospel.' The Bible talks about people being healed because of their faith, but it also shows people being healed without faith (consider the lame man at the gate Beautiful who was healed by Peter and John but wanted alms, not healing) for the glory of God. The Bible says it rains on the just and the unjust. We don't automatically get what we pray for because we are following God, nor do good things always happen to 'good' people (as if any of us are good--but you know the saying). Prayer is neither a genie-in-the-bottle solution, nor a get-out-of-jail-free Monopoly card.

Perhaps that's why a part of me shudders when I hear a professing Christian tell another "I believe God WILL come through for you" as they are going through a very difficult time. God *will* come through for you?? My friend, God HAS come through for you! He sent His Son to die for you, to cleanse you of sin that you have no ability on your own to wash away, to reconcile you to Him. He has given you hope for eternal life, peace to live through this life, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Do we seriously want to put God into such a box that the only way He can "come through for us" is if we get what we want and never have any trials? Do we seriously want a diet of cupcakes? Do we want to forfeit the growth, endurance, faith, sanctification, pruning, and strength that comes through eating supper?

I think prayer, that wonderful avenue of communication, can help us accept supper, indeed, to appreciate supper. I think prayer might produce a perspective that recognizes and welcomes more nourishment than cupcakes can provide.

Weeks Are Flying By

I can't believe Tyrell will be a month old tomorrow! What a blessing he is! He is such a cutie, and I love the way he looks at people and objects, his beautiful smile, and the way he tries so hard to talk.
He is well-loved by many family and friends. Here his cousin, Nathan, gazes at him so sweetly.
And Easton still considers it his personal responsibility to entertain and teach Tyrell all the things a big brother needs to teach.


I am amazed at how quickly time is passing and Tyrell is growing! He weighs a whopping nine pounds, one ounce now, and is thinking about outgrowing newborn diapers and clothes. I'm not quite ready for this, but I'm glad he's healthy.

What Do You Get. . .

when you combine a length of garden hose, a pulley, rope, old cushions, a piece of wood, old springs, and the creativity and love of a 13-year-old boy for his younger siblings??
A hammock. . .a swing, complete with springs at the top for extra bounce. . .
and a zip line.
Otherwise known as a complete playground system. Hours of fun guaranteed! Sorry about cutting Easton off--I realized I was right in the way and reflexively pushed the button. (I was right, by the way, chuckle)

Don't Want to Forget

Destry came with me when I went to Tyrell's doctor appointment yesterday, and we had a really nice visit. We were talking about an excellent article I had read about strengths and weaknesses of home educated children going into college. We discussed some areas that we want to improve in, such as taking timed tests and meeting firm deadlines, and how we want to always do a little better than we have in the past.

At that point, Destry said, "Really, I am a perfunctory student."

Admittedly, this can be a fitting description, when he quickly hurries through his work just to get it done so he can go outside instead of completing his work to the best of his ability with the goal of learning. But I couldn't help it--I laughed out loud.

'Perfunctory' was a vocabulary word last week. Were he truly a perfunctory student, he would not have used this word in our casual conversation, and I told him so.

Zulu Knots Revisited

I hadn't fixed Kiana's hair in this style for quite some time. I forgot how much I like it!! It turned out so cute, and her face is so bright with her hair up like this!!!
It doesn't take too long to fix her hair in zulu knots (otherwise known as Bantu knots). The most time-consuming process is making the parts and separating the hair into sections. Then I just twist each section, wind it upon itself, and secure with a fuzzy. The worst thing about it is it only looks nice for two to three days, but it doesn't take long to redo since the parts are already in place.

It might just be one of my favorite styles of the summer!

Raining and Pouring

As you know, if you've been following my blog for any amount of time, an adoption journey is a huge faith walk. Time and time again, prospective parents learn to trust and lean on the Lord as every step is out of our human control. And time and time again, the Lord reveals His faithfulness to us, delivering peace, comfort, patience, and confidence in His perfect will and timing.

He has poured blessings on us throughout our journey to Tyrell. But one thing I love about Him is the way He just keeps on proving His faithfulness.

You may remember that we had girl clothes. I still had girl clothes saved from when Kiana wore them, and my Bunco friends blessed us with several darling girl outfits when we were expecting to parent Cleara's baby girl. Even after Cleara decided she wanted her mother to parent her daughter instead of us, we were presented to numerous birthmothers expecting girls. I even wondered over this, curious what the future would hold.

We didn't have any little boy clothes. We didn't have any "gender-neutral" clothes (Kiana wore mostly pink and purple!). When we learned Crystal was expecting a boy and was considering us. . .well, we just didn't worry about it. We had learned, along this ride, to trust God and things will work out as they are supposed to. God is able to work out the details.

And work out the details He did!!! The way He uses His people when they are willing to be used brings Him glory every single time. My friend Breanna insisted I take the newborn boy clothes her son just recently outgrew. She was just sure I would need them. She was right, and we were so blessed to hurriedly pack her clothing as we rushed to the airport to meet Crystal and our new son.

We were subsequently flooded with generosity. My friend Jenn offered more newborn clothes that her little boy recently outgrew. My friend Shela went through some boy clothes and picked out four or five outfits of each size through size 12 months. My friend Misti pulled out her 'boy' tote and passed it my way. My friend Corin offered me my own personal garage sale of her boy clothes, which were the perfect season as her son also has a July birthday. My friend Kristina offered some boy clothes she has been collecting as she expects a baby in just a couple weeks. My sister brought down some outfits from her son. My friends Bree, Andrea, Jenn, Diane, and Misti bought cute little outfits and gifted us with them. My mom, in-laws, and some aunts sent sweet little boy outfits. (And I'm just talking about the gifts of clothing, because that's the focus of this post and God's provision that I want to note so I don't forget--I'm not even mentioning the gifts of diapers, wipes, Moses basket, Bumbo seat, photo shoot, etc. at this point).
Would you check out this pile of clothing! We had not one article of clothing for a little boy. Yet God, in His wonderful provision, working through His people, has provided an abundant wardrobe for our little boy. These piles represent sizes 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9. I have a box packed with clothes from 9 mo to 24 months.

God will provide. Genesis 22:8
How much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? Luke 12:28

God is so good to reassure us of His continued provision and blessing as we now face repayment of our adoption loan and the myriad challenges every parent faces in striving to raise children in the 'nurture and admonition of the Lord.' We are reminded, yet again, that He is able to bring us through every trial and supply every need that faces us.

Oh how great is thy goodness,
which thou has laid up for them that fear thee.
Psalm 31:19

Sunday Sentiments

There's within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
in all of life's ebb and flow.

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings,
stirred the slumb'ring chords again.

Feasting on the riches of His grace,
resting 'neath His sheltering wing,
Always looking on His smiling face,
that is why I shout and sing.

Tho' sometimes He leads through waters deep,
trials fall across the way,
Tho' sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
see His footprints all the way.

Soon He's coming back to welcome me
far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall live with Him on high.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know,
Fills my ev'ry longing, keeps me singing as I go.

L. B. Bridgers

I was so blessed by some of the songs we sang today, including the one written out above. Truly, Jesus is the sweetest name I know. He alone provides grace and rest. He alone gets us through the trials of this life. He alone keeps me singing as I go.

Lend a Hand. . .

to help a brother. . .

Stuck in the Mud!!

Special Photo Post for Aunt Marcy

Well, if you're getting tired of seeing pictures of our sweet, newest blessing, you can blame this post on his Aunt Marcy who is dying to see more pictures! :)
This is pretty much what things look like around here all the time. Tyrell is getting lots and lots of love. Easton and Kiana love to touch him. . .and hold him. . .and feed him. . .and sing to him. . .and read books to him. . .and share toys with him. . .(they are lots of help!)

Tyrell is really enjoying this little play center. He just kicks his feet and waves his arms and looks at all the cool things right where he can see them. Kiana likes to explain what all the toys are.

Tyrell is starting to enjoy the swing Uncle Sheldon and Marcy purchased back when we adopted Easton. It's seen a lot of good use--such a handy thing!Easton and Kiana think it's for their babies too--pretty cute!

Biggest sister burping her baby brother.

Biggest brother lovin' on his littlest brother.

Easton loves to hold and feed and talk to Tyrell. I think Tyrell likes Easton, too, because he just looks and looks at him.Hope that will tide you over, Marcy! :)

And I'm still trying to decide whether or not to go private, but I just want to publicly thank everyone for your reassurance and for letting me know you're reading. It makes me feel *so much* better to know who some of my readers are, even as there are still some locations unaccounted for on my traffic feed.

Go Private?

I'm thinking about going a little more private with my blog. It's such a hard decision. I think it's a pain to have to login to read private blogs, but yet it sort of weirds me out wondering who all reads my crazy thoughts and looks at pictures of my kids! The more I think about it, the more I wish I knew who was reading it, and people just don't necessarily leave comments to let me know. That was one feature I liked about xanga that I miss--I could see 'footprints' of who had viewed my blog!

But it would also be a pain to remember emails to invite people to read my blog, and I'm sure I would forget someone, which would make me feel badly. . .hmmmm. Several people already leave comments with some regularity and I so appreciate those people conversing with me, giving back as I share my personal thoughts, experiences, and family life.

I've set my blog to private a couple times lately trying to figure out what I want to do, but I'm reluctant to actually make it permanently private. So, how about a compromise?! If you're reading my blog, let me know! You can click on 'follow' if you read it regularly. And please, leave comments, so I know you're reading. Let me know who you are.

It's just good manners, after all. :) Proper blog etiquette--don't be a lurker, just spying on someone's thoughts they share. Come out of lurkdom and give back. Go ahead, reassure me that I don't really have to go private.

Meeting Brothers and Sisters

Love, love, and more love!!

Everyone had to have a turn holding him at the airport--we just couldn't wait to get somewhere else!

Kiana thinks she is big stuff holding him, and even feeding him a bottle. But you have to stay right there helping hold him, because when she's ready to go play, she'll just push him off her lap!


We have lots and lots of helpers--I don't think he'll lack for being held nor will he lack for food! :)
The story behind the next picture involves Easton's precious "kiki" which he has calls his blue blanket he's had since he was an infant. He loves this blanket, sleeps with it every naptime and at night, and rubs the silky part between his fingers.

Notice he thinks Tyrell needs his kiki--he covered him up with it in his bassinet, and also gave Tyrell a baby to sleep with. This brotherly love just melts my heart!And here is our first family photo, taken by Alan's mom when we met them at McDonald's so they could meet their youngest grandchild.

Observations

You know, I've always heard that travel broadens the mind, and I believe it to be true. I really enjoy travelling, but haven't done much of it recently--with three adoptions in four years, travel hasn't really been an option. So I think I had forgotten what 'the world out there' is like. I'd forgotten how different people can be. I had forgotten (and truly, this makes me giggle) that life is different outside of northeast Missouri. (Go ahead, giggle with me.)

For one thing, there is so much diversity in Orlando. There are so many different people, different walks of life, different nationalities and ethnicities, different beliefs and lifestyles. It's an amazing reflection of God's creativity. I really enjoy this diversity--it's so interesting. I think sometimes it might feel comfortable to be with others who are like us, others who think like we think, believe what we believe--but it can also be stifling, boring, or stagnant. Diversity can challenge us and bring about growth and compassion and even jolt us out of our self-centered lives.

Another thing I've noticed is the extreme materialism. This is a temptation anywhere we live, but it's rampant here. For example, the clothing amazes me. Admittedly, if you know me IRL, you know clothes are not important to me. Truthfully, they are almost a burden for me. I just use clothes to cover my naked body--I don't care what brand they are or how stylish they are, and I'm not great at determining what matches. The worst thing about having children, in my opinion, is obtaining clothes for them to wear. And then they just outgrow them and I have to get more. If I'm ever filthy rich I will have two people in my employ--a hairdresser to wash my hair every morning (ahh, I just love that head massage) and a personal shopper. But I digress.

People *dress* around here. Almost all the women at the mall were wearing heels--three inch heels! And they were all perfectly coordinated with the outfit. Is this the place to mention that I wore my ubiquitous orange flip flops for my flight here--and didn't pack any other shoes? I'm just sure they match with everything. . .But heels at the mall? And at the airport?

I don't tend to feel uncomfortable around people, but there have been a few times this week that I have felt sorely out of place as I try to guess at the cost of the outfits people are wearing--the clothes whose colors are bright, whose fabric is starchly pressed--while I am wearing my brown gouchos I bought three years ago and have worn at least once a week nearly year round since. Certainly, there are plenty of people at home who dress better than I do, but the difference is so stark here. Interesting. And it's not just the clothes--it's the cars and the houses and the jewelry and the haircuts. . .

One final observation from this experience (and then I really need to pack to come home--oh procrastination!) is the reminder that many people have a transient lifestyle. Alan and I tend to be 'roots' people. He has worked for the same employer for 16 years, we have lived in the same town for that time, and at our current residence for 8 years. We get settled, comfortable, secure. That's not unusual where we live. But here. . .people move and change jobs with regularity. It's hard for me to contemplate moving a few states away, let alone to a different country. It's hard for me to imagine switching jobs, let alone careers. Yet even as it's hard for me to imagine, it intrigues me at the same time--the thought of being so flexible, so adventurous, so experienced and well-rounded.

This has been a good experience for me, a good opportunity to look around and see what's going on outside of my little world. Even better than that, it has brought some perspective as I return to my normal life.

Worth Keeping

This encouraged me today, and I thought it might encourage someone else as well. Besides, this way I know where to find it when I need to read it again!

1 Corinthians 13 for Homeschool Moms
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and teach my children Latin conjugations, Chinese and Portuguese, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, and no matter what I say, they will not hear me.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know my children’s bents and God’s plan for their lives, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and am the keeper of the teacher’s editions and solutions manuals, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, and even keep up with my giant piles of laundry and dishes, but do not have love, I am nothing, even if all the people at church think I’m Supermom.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and my formal dining room gets turned into a schoolroom and our family vacations look more like educational fieldtrips, and if I surrender my body to be burned, never having time to get my nails done, put makeup on or even take a bath, but do not have love, it profits me nothing, because all my family cares about is the expression on my face, anyway.

Love is patient with the child who still can’t get double-digit subtraction with borrowing, and kind to the one who hasn’t turned in his research paper. It is not jealous of moms with more, fewer, neater, more self-directed, better-behaved or smarter children. Love does not brag about homemade bread, book lists, or scholarships and is not arrogant about her lifestyle or curriculum choices. It does not act unbecomingly or correct the children in front of their friends. It does not seek its own, trying to squeeze in alone time when someone still needs help; it is not provoked when interrupted for the nineteenth time by a child, the phone, the doorbell or the dog; does not take into account a wrong suffered, even when no one compliments the dinner that took hours to make or the house that took so long to clean.

Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness or pointing out everyone else’s flaws, but rejoices with the truth and with every small step her children take in becoming more like Jesus, knowing it’s only by the grace of God when that occurs.

Love bears all things even while running on no sleep; believes all things, especially God’s promise to indwell and empower her, hopes all things, such as that she’ll actually complete the English curriculum this year and the kids will eventually graduate, endures all things, even questioning from strangers, worried relatives, and most of all, herself.
Love never fails. And neither will she. As long as she never, never, never gives up.
Misty Krasawski, December 8, 2008

Precious

There is just something so precious about a baby sucking his thumb.
I could gaze at him all day.

Sweetness personified

The Book I'm Reading Now

Below find a synopsis, a review, and a preface to the book I am currently reading, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I'm so excited to read it, especially in light of a statement someone recently made to the effect that the purpose of entertainment is to distract us from thinking about God!!

• Television has habituated us to visual entertainment measured out in spoonfuls of time. But what happens when we come to expect the same things from our politics and public discourse? What happens to journalism, education, and religion when they too become forms of show business? Twenty years ago, Neil Postman's lively polemic was the first book to consider the way that electronic media were reshaping our culture. Now, with TV joined by the Internet, cell phones, cable, and DVDs, it carries even greater significance. Elegant, incisive, and terrifically readable, it's a compelling take on our addiction to entertainment.

• As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman's dark picture of our media-saturated future. But time has proved Postman right. He accurately foresaw that the young would inherit a frantically all-consuming media culture of glitz, gossip, and greed. --Camille Paglia

• Is it really plausible that this book about how TV is turning all public life (education, religion, politics, journalism) into entertainment; how the image is undermining other forms of communication, particularly the written word; and how our bottomless appetite for TV will make content so abundantly available, context be damned, that we'll be overwhelmed by "information glut" until what is truly meaningful is lost and we no longer care what we've lost as long as we're being amused. . .can such a book possibly have relevance to you?

Doesn't it sound fascinating?!

Marvelous Provision

Have you ever noticed how God provides our every need? He just never lets us down. The times that amaze me the most are when He provides what we didn't even know we needed. Those are the times I just want to tilt my head back and sing at the top of my lungs "You are amazing, God." (And sometimes I do--but not usually when people are around, for they would surely ask me to please be quiet.)

I saw one of these moments Sunday. We met with a church just down the road from our motel and were privileged to fellowship with a loving and welcoming body of believers. Everyone was so friendly, and one of the couples even invited us to join them for lunch where we got to enjoy great conversation. We went back for the Bible study that evening, and another family invited us to Friendly's (woo-hoo, we love Friendly's, which we only get to enjoy when on the east coast--this was our third Friendly's experience).

We thoroughly enjoyed this family. Their children were so nice and mannerly and interesting to visit with, as were the parents. Frank, the father, rode with us on the way to the restaurant (so we wouldn't get lost, ha!) and he and I had a wonderful discussion about economics--I could have talked with him for hours!

All of this was wonderful by itself. But what blessed me even more, and provided what only God knew I needed, was the fact that this couple grew up in Jamaica. Have I mentioned that Crystal, Tyrell's birthmother, is Jamaican? They shared wonderful stories about growing up in Jamaica, different foods of their culture, and we even talked about the history and politics of Jamaica. They gave me a peek at Tyrell's heritage--God, in His goodness, provided a connection. We visited with our new friends for hours. We finally left the restaurant at 10 pm after exchanging contact information and making tentative plans for them to come and visit us.

Don't you just love the assurance He provides?

More Baby Sweetness

Alan's trying to get Tyrell to smile again here--making all sorts of silly faces and noises. But Tyrell just looked at him like this. "Weird daddy," he's thinking.

I stole his attention away from daddy!

Awww, those chubby cheeks are telling the story--all he does is eat and sleep! He sleeps best in mama's arms. Uh-hem.

I promise I don't hold him all the time--here's proof!

Just chillin' with daddy.

And below is another picture for perspective--he's still tiny! He has such skinny arms and legs--and long, skinny fingers. I think he's going to be tall!

Just thought somebody out there might need to see more pictures of this little one to tide them over until we get home. :)