Happy Winter? This morning I woke up and heard of snow everywhere. I excitedly looked outside and expected to see a white blanket brushing the grass...I was sorely disappointed and found nothing. But now it is afternoon and I am looking outside at the vibrant leaves on the tree outside my window, and I am happy to wait for snow. I get excited for winter to come, but get much more excited for it to leave, so I will be happy to wait!
October is prooving to be quite exciting. Joel is currently in KC spending a weekend with students from Ia State and others from all over the mid-west. Relationships have been exciting and encouraging lately for both Joel and I, and just last week, Joel had a pretty exciting evening. A student that he has been talking with had some follow up questions about God, and Jesus story and application to his life. At the end of the evening a light bulb seemed to turn on, and this student talked to God and told him so simply and so earnestly that he believed His story, and wanted to follow Him. God is so good, and it was pretty exciting for Joel to welcome him into the family!
Benjamin gets exponentially more fun every month. (as if he wasn't fun enough in the beginning!) He is teething, but I feel like I cant even complain. Every once in a while Benjamin will chew intensely on his fingers and be fussy for about an hour, but that is about as bad as it gets. He already has two teeth and I think two more will soon follow!
He has decided he doesn't want to bottle feed any longer, and would prefer to only nurse. I kind of love that he just wants me, it just means that I cant really leave him for more than an hour or two. Its probably more of a blessing than anything, because his demand increase has helped supply. He also "eats " cereal...He willingly eats the first bite, and then I have to trick him into eating the rest. Usually I just get him to laugh, and then shove some rice,oatmeal,apples,or sweet potatoes in. He doesn't spit it back out, so I call it a victory!
I have gotten much less motivated to make sure he falls asleep on his own, or has a schedule. I still lay him down while he is still awake, and 2 out of 3 times he fusses for 5 minutes and goes to sleep. But I have gotten a little more aware of the fact of how limited my days of rocking/nursing him to sleep are, so when he fusses/cries for much longer, I dont hesitate come to the rescue! I will only be his favortie hero for so long. :)
He is currently watching some woodworking show on IPTV, and just rolling around on the ground talking to himself. Life doesn't get much better than this!
God has been doing some construction on my heart the past few weeks. Rather than waiting till I need demolition and brand new construction its been more like renovation. He's been showing me a lot in the area of time management and convicted me tons about the phrase "dont have enough time." I am learning that I have time for most anything, however, I make choices concerning what to do with that time. I could pray for 3 hours a day, I choose to do other things that prevent this. I could sleep 10 hours a day, I can choose not to. I could take a walk every single day, I can choose to only walk some days or not at all, I may choose to have 7 one-on-ones with girls one week, but that may leave no time for Joel or no time for personal dates with God...I am accountable for the time I have been given and the choices I make concerning that time.
So whether I have a day full of diapers, or mopping, or bible study, or facebook, or sleep or ANYTHING, I am accountable for my choices. Not to be compared to other moms, or other christians, or to anyone, but to be true to how God has called me for this season of life, and for this day. This is a great responsibility and extreme burden lifted all at the same time!
And on this note I will say farewell. With a napping baby and traveling husband, I will now choose to have some quite time. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy these last weeks of Fall!
