Jeff is crawling! Just started today.
(and by the way, the Dr. says he does NOT have a lazy eye; and he will probably become nearsighted like his parents and need glasses someday.)
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
more on Emily
other Emily-isms: "swamich" (sandwich), "there dis it!" (there it is). Also like Katherine did, leaving off the leading "s" of double-consonant words, such that we have "nake", "poon", etc. (instead of snake and spoon). We even have a stuffed snake whose name is "Nake". She has also started calling us "mom" and "dad" instead of "mommy" and "daddy" - I don't know why, but I've given up on correcting her about it. Ah well.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
making much of Christ
I loved John Piper's article in World recently called "Marry. Cry. Rejoice. Buy. And do politics as though you were not doing politics".
One quote: "Marriage - good or bad - is for making much of Christ."
Is it not so with other things as well? Every circumstance of our lives is crafted by God in order that we might "make much of Christ" by it, whether it seems to be good or bad. Barrenness or motherly weariness: make much of Christ in it. Health, or debilitating sickness. Joy, or sorrow: for Christ is our comfort in sorrow, and He is greater than our highest joy.
No matter what situation you have, God has given it to you that you might make much of Christ in it. Do not envy the grass that seems greener elsewhere; rather thank God for the pasture in which He has divinely placed you, for you have opportunity there to make much of Christ in a way that others cannot.
"...Political life is for making much of Christ whether the world falls apart or holds together. ... for the Christian the best is always yet to come. Always. The Lord gives and takes away. But He remains. ... The best this world can offer is short and small. In the long run Jesus wins. ... We are here to show, by how we use the world, that Christ is more precious than the world... to show that Christ, not the world, is our treasure. ... Make much of Christ, not Caesar."
Indeed. Make much of Christ - not children, or money, or health, or joy, or the lack of these. Make much of Christ!
One quote: "Marriage - good or bad - is for making much of Christ."
Is it not so with other things as well? Every circumstance of our lives is crafted by God in order that we might "make much of Christ" by it, whether it seems to be good or bad. Barrenness or motherly weariness: make much of Christ in it. Health, or debilitating sickness. Joy, or sorrow: for Christ is our comfort in sorrow, and He is greater than our highest joy.
No matter what situation you have, God has given it to you that you might make much of Christ in it. Do not envy the grass that seems greener elsewhere; rather thank God for the pasture in which He has divinely placed you, for you have opportunity there to make much of Christ in a way that others cannot.
"...Political life is for making much of Christ whether the world falls apart or holds together. ... for the Christian the best is always yet to come. Always. The Lord gives and takes away. But He remains. ... The best this world can offer is short and small. In the long run Jesus wins. ... We are here to show, by how we use the world, that Christ is more precious than the world... to show that Christ, not the world, is our treasure. ... Make much of Christ, not Caesar."
Indeed. Make much of Christ - not children, or money, or health, or joy, or the lack of these. Make much of Christ!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
quote of the day
"Live simply, love generously, and be kinder than necessary because most everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
Kid News - November 2008
The children keep growing, and I keep not having that convenient moment to sit down and write about them...
Jeff is 6 months old now, about average on the height charts and nowhere on the weight charts - he weighed in at 12 pounds at his 6 month dr. checkup, while the girls were both closer to 13 pounds at their 4 month checkup, and 15 or so at 6 months. But that's just Jeff. He's very laid back, eats as well and as often as Emily used to, and is developing normally in every other way. And is perfectly normal if you don't compare him to anyone else. :-)
Emily has finally stopped pulling her hair (we think) and is now growing a nice head of it, which actually has some body to it, in contrast to Katherine and Jeff's fine wispy hair. Actually I think Emily's seemed finer than it does now, before she kept pulling it out. I was praying that the hair pulling would stop if the thumb-sucking stopped, and it seems to have. (We used Mavala Stop on both girls for a few weeks, and thank the Lord, it did work for them to help them stop sucking their thumbs. Katherine's teeth and mouth were already suffering from the effects of thumb sucking, and I think Emily's were too.)
Emily has also hit that verbal explosion that Katherine did around that age. She could certainly talk earlier, but in the last 4-5 months she's gone from saying words to almost completely verbal, using more and more complete sentences, etc. She says things like "oh yeah!" and "I need go potty really bad!" and various other cute things.
Here are some funny words and phrases from the girls:
as of June / July 2008:
Katherine:
jingle jom (jungle gym)
moffering ("offering" at church)
smell (spell) something on the fridge
flyswapper (fly-swatter)
take a walk to the stomp (stump)
covereds (cupboards)
coveyholes (cubbyholes)
gab (gap)
escept (except)
(she still says most of these words this way, in November)
Emily (as of June/July):
tempy (empty)
when asked, "Did you...?" she might say, "did." (or "can you...?" - "can't.")
scoop (scoot)
choc-a-nems (m&m's)
thankyou-welcome (thank you)
no-welcome (no thank you)
coo-me-see (excuse me)
pum! (plum)
hop but-day you-you (happy birthday to you; sometimes used to mean "birthday", as in "hop but-day you-you cake")
she counts this way: 3,4,9,12,14
(as of August, this had changed to "1,2,3,8,9", and "happy day you-you" for "happy birthday to you")
Now in November, Emily has corrected most of those to be the correct way to say them, except for "coo-me-see" for "excuse me".
Katherine has learned to read, and does quite well - yay for her!
Emily loves the computer. I never thought it would be my two-year-old to whom I would have to say (more than once a day!), "no, you may not play on the computer right now! Go find something else to do!" Katherine does quite well at it too. They both like the game Peggle (which interestingly is fun for the 2 year old up to the Mommy and Daddy since it just involves clicking the mouse, yet can have some strategy and skill involved as well).
Emily is picking up a few sight words by playing with Starfall which she also loves to do. They both liked Rainforestmaths.com and are hoping there will be a time when its author decides to reopen the site.
I'm sure there's more to tell, but that's all for now. Here's a few pictures.
The girls both love books. Sometimes we have 30-40 library books checked out at once...
Happy Jeff - as usual. What a blessing!
learning to read
Jeff is 6 months old now, about average on the height charts and nowhere on the weight charts - he weighed in at 12 pounds at his 6 month dr. checkup, while the girls were both closer to 13 pounds at their 4 month checkup, and 15 or so at 6 months. But that's just Jeff. He's very laid back, eats as well and as often as Emily used to, and is developing normally in every other way. And is perfectly normal if you don't compare him to anyone else. :-)
Emily has finally stopped pulling her hair (we think) and is now growing a nice head of it, which actually has some body to it, in contrast to Katherine and Jeff's fine wispy hair. Actually I think Emily's seemed finer than it does now, before she kept pulling it out. I was praying that the hair pulling would stop if the thumb-sucking stopped, and it seems to have. (We used Mavala Stop on both girls for a few weeks, and thank the Lord, it did work for them to help them stop sucking their thumbs. Katherine's teeth and mouth were already suffering from the effects of thumb sucking, and I think Emily's were too.)
Emily has also hit that verbal explosion that Katherine did around that age. She could certainly talk earlier, but in the last 4-5 months she's gone from saying words to almost completely verbal, using more and more complete sentences, etc. She says things like "oh yeah!" and "I need go potty really bad!" and various other cute things.
Here are some funny words and phrases from the girls:
as of June / July 2008:
Katherine:
jingle jom (jungle gym)
moffering ("offering" at church)
smell (spell) something on the fridge
flyswapper (fly-swatter)
take a walk to the stomp (stump)
covereds (cupboards)
coveyholes (cubbyholes)
gab (gap)
escept (except)
(she still says most of these words this way, in November)
Emily (as of June/July):
tempy (empty)
when asked, "Did you...?" she might say, "did." (or "can you...?" - "can't.")
scoop (scoot)
choc-a-nems (m&m's)
thankyou-welcome (thank you)
no-welcome (no thank you)
coo-me-see (excuse me)
pum! (plum)
hop but-day you-you (happy birthday to you; sometimes used to mean "birthday", as in "hop but-day you-you cake")
she counts this way: 3,4,9,12,14
(as of August, this had changed to "1,2,3,8,9", and "happy day you-you" for "happy birthday to you")
Now in November, Emily has corrected most of those to be the correct way to say them, except for "coo-me-see" for "excuse me".
Katherine has learned to read, and does quite well - yay for her!
Emily loves the computer. I never thought it would be my two-year-old to whom I would have to say (more than once a day!), "no, you may not play on the computer right now! Go find something else to do!" Katherine does quite well at it too. They both like the game Peggle (which interestingly is fun for the 2 year old up to the Mommy and Daddy since it just involves clicking the mouse, yet can have some strategy and skill involved as well).
Emily is picking up a few sight words by playing with Starfall which she also loves to do. They both liked Rainforestmaths.com and are hoping there will be a time when its author decides to reopen the site.
I'm sure there's more to tell, but that's all for now. Here's a few pictures.
The girls both love books. Sometimes we have 30-40 library books checked out at once...
Happy Jeff - as usual. What a blessing!
Katherine helping make meatballs one morning - in her pajamas
Play-doh
learning to read
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
the LORD reigns!
The LORD reigns... and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Ps.93:1,92:15).
We Christians in the West tend to fear our freedoms being taken away. Our brothers and sisters in hard places rather fear that they might dishonor the name of Christ. They pray, not for times to be easier, but that they might not fail Him.
We should learn from them. Richard Wurmbrand, in prison, put it something like this (in an article I can't find any more...), "what law of God is there that I could obey better in other circumstances? I will not pray to be free..." and he was right. Our flesh could wish for easier times. But our spirits can obey God by His grace just as well in any circumstances.
May we not be afraid, no matter what the election results may be. Trust Jehovah who reigns over all! His goals are not primarily for America's good, but for His Kingdom's good. Nations rise and fall, but His Kingdom is the one that will stand forever, the rock that became a mountain and filled the whole earth! (Dan.2:34-35,44).
We Christians in the West tend to fear our freedoms being taken away. Our brothers and sisters in hard places rather fear that they might dishonor the name of Christ. They pray, not for times to be easier, but that they might not fail Him.
We should learn from them. Richard Wurmbrand, in prison, put it something like this (in an article I can't find any more...), "what law of God is there that I could obey better in other circumstances? I will not pray to be free..." and he was right. Our flesh could wish for easier times. But our spirits can obey God by His grace just as well in any circumstances.
May we not be afraid, no matter what the election results may be. Trust Jehovah who reigns over all! His goals are not primarily for America's good, but for His Kingdom's good. Nations rise and fall, but His Kingdom is the one that will stand forever, the rock that became a mountain and filled the whole earth! (Dan.2:34-35,44).
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Womanly Dominion book
Pastor Mark Chanski has just published a new book called Womanly Dominion [More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit]. If you're a woman, get this book and read it! It will give you a solid Biblical view of yourself and your noble and influential place in God's world, in His way. If you're a man, read this book anyway, and encourage the women in your life in their God-given spheres of influence and responsibility. (And by the way, if you're a man, I understand that his earlier book - Manly Dominion [In a Passive Purple-Four-Ball World] - is a great antidote to culture's message to men in our day. I haven't read it yet but have heard good things about it. Go get a copy!)
Chanski's message is that God's creation mandate was to both man and woman, to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over [it]" (Gen.1:28, ESV), and that this mandate still holds today. Men and women are given different spheres of life, fitted by God for different responsibilities in His world, and we are each to go "subdue and have dominion" in the areas He has given us. Not to be passive or sit helplessly in our situations, but to go rule them for His glory.
Chanski's message is that God's creation mandate was to both man and woman, to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over [it]" (Gen.1:28, ESV), and that this mandate still holds today. Men and women are given different spheres of life, fitted by God for different responsibilities in His world, and we are each to go "subdue and have dominion" in the areas He has given us. Not to be passive or sit helplessly in our situations, but to go rule them for His glory.
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