Family Update

Well, it's been almost 7 weeks now since Zoe was born - wow! We're surviving this very snowy February and ready to get outdoors. The boys have been awesome during this more home-bound month and I couldn't ask for more from them.

Zoe is eating and sleeping very well these days (and getting cuter by the day!).

And I have learned how to take them all out for (short) outings to friend's houses or Crossroads or someplace where we all feel comfortable. Bill is extremely busy at work (blessing and also tiring!) and the firm is doing quite well these days. But he says his favorite place is right here cuddling his kids...

We've had so much love from friends and family - grandma visits, meals at least 3x/week, lots and lots of baby gifts from family, friends, co-workers of Bill's...the love has continued well beyond when we expected it to end! We are all so grateful for this help and support and blessing.

Right now, Bill and I are doing a 6 week series through Crossroads called "Free." It promises to be a great series with our group of friends and for our own relationships to God. (The materials are free - let me know if you want them!).

I've hit the highlights for February... here's to hoping March brings good weather with lots of outside walks and maybe even a few dinners out with just me and Bill for some much-needed adult conversation! Oh - and I forgot my major accomplishment - a few hours away for haircut and highlights!

Beauty, flowers and dads

I love flowers. My husband knows this and brings them to me often for no reason at all. I don't know when this love of flowers began, or maybe it's been there all along. Or perhaps I just needed someone to begin bringing them to me before I realized how much I really loved them.

My friends now know that, when we throw a party or baby shower (which we throw a LOT!), I would be happy to do the flowers. Arranging them is the best part. I love sorting through the colors and varities looking for just the right matches to put in bouquets. Putting them in stem-by-stem to achieve something greater than the sum of its parts. Something beautiful that I made. If I ever arrange flowers and give them to you, it is most definitely an act of both creative expression and love.

I used to think that this was a random, quirky thing about me. Until one day I told my mom on the phone that I was arranging flowers for a friend's baby shower and loving it. She said in response..."oh you and your father!" I stopped dead in my tracks. "What did you say?" I asked her. She said "You know your dad loves arranging flowers too." I said "No - I didn't know that." We didn't say too much more about it but I now know this is something that I share with my dad. A simple act of creativity and beauty and balance that we both enjoy.

I love that my dad and I are put together in similar ways - otherwise, could you possibly explain this random quirk that we share? I was thrilled to discover that I shared this with my dad. I felt like God let me in on a little secret...something he planted in both of us that few people ever will know about either one of us...but something shared between us.

Notes to Self

I'm shamelessly and semi-publicly ripping off a blog post from my friend Amy's blog (see "Deep Roots" blog link on lower left...that's her!). I know she won't mind. She posted a few days ago about a notebook she keeps around her to write "notes to self." For some reason, this really struck me. Not only did I have a good laugh: at hers and mine... but also it seemed like an excellent way to capture small realizations we have throughout our days.

God gives us language and words primarily to CREATE stuff. And I know from experience that when I write something down or log something (such as miles of runs for marathons) that things come alive as they weren't previous to words-on-paper. This is also why I love to write. And so, therefore, I thought when I read Amy's post "what a GREAT way to make things REAL that otherwise would just be in my head." Pretty much the essence of this whole darn blog but in a little, condensed, daily way. Love it.

So, here's my notes to self today... and I plan to send Amy my notes-to-self often as a way for us to keep in step with each other's hearts and minds from an ocean away...

Notes to Self on Thursday Feb 18:

• Not eating bread sucks but go look at the picture of myself in the Bahamas when my flesh is yelling at me. Or pray. I guess that'd be good too. :-)


• Books about how to get your baby to sleep better produce more stress than a baby who doesn't want to go to sleep.


• My cats are a nuisance: keep devising schemes to get rid of them.


• It's no big deal not to wash my hair for a day.


• Talk to God about what I want to study and learn.

Please, share yours!

Brotherly Love

Since I've been attentive to the blessings in my life lately, I couldn't escape a focus on our biggest one: Andrew and Luke receiving Zoe with love and acceptance! I prayed for the boys to experience unity and friendship during this time and also prayed for their hearts to be prepared for another child in the family. It seems that God has answered both of those prayers with a great big smile. We couldn't be happier about how the boys love Zoe and how well they play with one another during all these long days in the house. These 2 things make day-to-day life SOOOOOOO much more fun and light.

Each time Zoe is awake, Andrew wants to hold her or cuddle her or just "see her eyes" (which I guess are rarely seen with all her sleeping!). Luke is now his sweet-natured, lovable self with Zoe and often declares that she is "so sweet" (I agree) and is always asking "where's baby Zoe?"

These are a few snapshots of Zoe at 4 weeks old (yesterday!) with her brothers. The small ball next to her in the photo below was a generous gift from Andrew. (Although he gifted Luke's ball!).

We love these three. And we thank God for the blessing of brotherly love and sibling unity.

Isaiah 40

I've been reading Isaiah chapter 40 for several days in a row. I wouldn't call it "studying" this passage - just feeling drawn to it. I'm just processing here the few things that are sticking out to me in this chapter. Please feel free to add your 2-cents about any of it...


Verses 3-5: This is the well-known passage that gets repeated by John the Baptist later in the NT. "A voice of one calling: in the desert prepare the way for the Lord..." I am noticing that the place where we prepare for the Lord, according to this passage, is in the DESERT and WILDERNESS. The things that happen in this place are making level ground for God to be revealed.


V 11: "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart: he gently leads those that have young." God has a gentle character that is especially attentive to the young, new and defenseless. And he expresses that same character towards those caring for the young. I certainly have young!


V 12 - 26: The bulk of the chapter is spent upon who GOD is: bigger and more powerful, mysterious, knowledgable and unique than we can ever fathom Him to be. This leads into the next section of personal interest for me....


v 27 - 31: This section is about how God sees everything - no person or cause is forgotten by him. And those that he helps are WEAK and WEARY (i.e. those in the desert/wilderness!!). I tend to think that my causes are so small or that God is sometimes disinterested in me when I don't see/feel Him for a while. And this tells me that cannot be so. That IS NOT the case.

So today I am taking away from Isaiah 40 for me:

• That I'm in some kind of desert right now and therefore am being prepared for God's glory to be seen in my life in a new way in the future.
• That God is gently leading me - right now, He is treating me with some extra TLC. His heart is towards me.
• God is bigger than I can ever fathom. It'd do me good to bathe myself in scripture about this particular aspect of His nature. (Any suggestions?)
• That I need to repent for ever thinking that God isn't interested in my life and concerns!
• That when I feel weary or weak or inadequate is when he can give me the most, so I should embrace anytime or way I feel weak and ask for more of God in that area.

Just us girls.

Me and Zoe. I just realized that since the day of her birth, I don't have any pictures of just us! So here's one I like where we are looking at each other. I am getting to know my little girl these days. I'm trying to pay attention to the little things that make her, her! She's a fairly quiet baby. She needs me to be attentive to when she needs to sleep! If I miss her window, she'll let me know about it. She is a good eater - not an overeater like both of her brothers tended to be. :-) And she sure looks good in all those sweet little-girl clothes I've got!