What a blur!

We had a fabulous time over Christmas with all our children and grandchildren here. We know we cannot have everyone every year but it sure is fun when it is our turn. We thank the Urso, Meyer and Ovrebo families for sharing the kiddos. I am grateful that our daughter could travel home for the holidays too despite being in a new job.

One family and E #2 had the upstairs guest rooms. The other family had the lower level guest room and family room and we all lived and hung out on the main level. It was tight but it was great fun having the two little cousins together in one house.

Between cooking meals and cleaning up etc. my photo taking was sporadic at best. I know that at least two others with professional quality cameras were covering  all the action anyway but I still tried to get some of my own.

Some of the highlights were the sledding in the backyard and up at the school and the times when both little ones would sit and let someone read to them. They had matching PJs for three days in a row. They liked grandma’s animal crackers from the teddy bear jar and also the suckers that they enjoyed while sitting on the step. Many times it was hard to catch the action and my camera just recorded a blur of motion.

I love the the emerging language and the ways that they communicate now. Maverick calls Callie “Kaki” and she calls him “Maaaav.” Maverick says “no” even when he means yes and “uh huh” to just about any question. Callie is more accurate and her “uh yes” means yes and “nooo” means no. If Mav wants something  he says “peez Daddy” if his mom asks him to say please Mommy he says “peez Daddy Mommy.” Callie can point to all the objects on the pages of her books with Elmo and soccer balls being her favorites. Both kiddos learned to stop whatever they were doing and say the” bongs” along with the mantel clock marking each hour. Such fun!

These are some the best years no doubt about it. The time went so quickly.

   

All shined up again

It took a couple hours and was a dirty messy job but it is nice to see the bright shine come back on the silver pieces. It seems right to get them shined up before we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus once again. With the two one year olds coming we may not even set a formal table this year but at least they will look like they are properly cared for sitting on display in the dining room. I think once again of those who owned and polished these pieces before me and the beautiful holiday tables that I sat at. I am blessed.

What one mom (me) prays for her adult children

Father let them know their need of you. It is good that they have skills and abilities that you have given them to use for your kingdom, let them know how to best do that with your guidance. Let them be compassionate in their places of work and at home with those they cherish most. Let them be a good friend to their friends old and new and appreciate the value of friendship in softening the harshness of this life. Let them know their need to gather with other believers to encourage and to be encouraged. Let them laugh and have times of joy. Let them weep with those who weep as you do Lord. Let them know that they will have tragedies as well as triumphs common to all earth dwellers. Let them accept those things with grace and not be bitter. Let them seek your will for their lives and hear your still small voice among the deafening shouts of earthly pursuits. Let them be content with what you provide for them. Let them seek your wisdom through prayer and the words of scripture. Be as patient with them as you have been with me. Let them know that your presence will always be with them no matter what. Let them praise and worship you for who you are, who else has made billions of galaxies and still seeks relationship with the lowly humans on planet earth? Let them be humbled before you and not think too highly nor too poorly of themselves. Let them know their status as your beloved adopted children, through no effort of their own. Let them know that their earthly parents will always love them too. Let them desire to teach their own children about Jesus. Amen

Here is a passage I like from a contemporary translation called The Message, of the words of Paul in Romans Chapter 12. I wrote out my prayer thoughts before finding this passage again. It expresses a lot of the same thoughts I think.

 ^1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

³ I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
^4-6 In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.
^6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

^9-10 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
^14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
^17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”
^20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.