Saturday, April 26, 2014

Letter: 2 years (+ a few months)

Dear Harrison,

TWO YEARS!

Well actually a little more few months more than two years. I intended to write this letter on your actual birthday. Then days turned to weeks, and now it's well into spring and you are WELL INTO BEING TWO.


But I am finally here. Sitting down to write this little letter to my not so little toddler.

I think I've been dragging my feet for several reasons:
  1. Actually writing this letter means that you're growing up. No longer my baby, but fully my little boy. And I love it, but it is also sad to me how fleeting this life is. I'm trying to savor it all as much as I can! But time keeps marching on...
  2. In my head I have struggled with what exactly I want to write here. It's hard to summarize the past year, or even six-months into a concise letter that you (or anyone else) would probably want to read. So instead I am going to just write from my heart, about where we are at right now in this season of our family.
You love trains, cars, planes...basically any kind of vehicle. Lately you've been enjoying school busses and the garbage truck on our way to and from school. Your favorite position to play is laying on the floor, making your trains go "woo hoo" and zooming them around. They also go "cash" a lot!



You also love Disney/Pixar characters. Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, and Mater from Cars have been your longtime favorites, but you are also very fond of Nemo these days. Your pediatrician's office has two fish tanks and you LOVE looking for Nemo whenever we go in! You also know all the names of the Thomas trains. We bought tickets to go see the real live Thomas the train this summer, and I cannot wait to see your excitement when we actually get to ride on Thomas. It will be a pretty exciting day!

You can string so many words together, it honestly amazes us! It's crazy how fast you are picking up phrases and using new words you learn in the appropriate context. We get a lot of laughs at the things that come out of your mouth. The past couple of weeks you've been really enjoying the "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" song. Every time we sing it, he has a horse. Over, and over, and over! You also love reading books and putting puzzles together. You're getting pretty good at the puzzles we have, so I think it's time we get some more challenging ones.


One day after work I made the "mistake" of wanting to run and exercise outside. You had a blast chasing me up and down our street. I call it a mistake because now when we get home from school you are always asking me to "run, mama run!" This is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are some days when we have things going on in the evening and it just doesn't work out to run around outside (which usually makes you cry until we find something fun to do inside while I get dinner going).

You love dancing and playing around. You like to hide and think it's hilarious when we "find" you. You also enjoy helping out by passing out blankets to anyone sitting on the couch (especially at your Grandma and Papa Lamb's house). Tonight you were piling pillows up on Papa when he was sitting on the couch and couldn't stop cracking up. It was pretty funny!

Counting and talking about letters is also something you enjoy. You already recognize several letters (H, P, and W are the three I've noticed you recognizing most often). Whenever you see letters on clothing or signs you are so enthusiastic to point them out. You even like watching the credits at the end of a movie because you see so many letters. It honestly makes me giddy to think about teaching you to read someday (not too far from now...I swear, I will blink and you'll be in school)!


I could seriously go on and on my sweet boy. You are such a fun little person to spend time with. And despite moments when time-out is needed (and the occasional tantrum) you are such a tender-hearted little fellow. One of the moments I can't stop smiling about since you turned two was the first night you called me back into your room for more kisses.  We call them "smoochies" and you said "more smoochies mama". How could I resist that?!



Harrison Levi Matt. I love you so much! You made me a mama and keep reminding me of God's amazing grace and love that He would bless me with the honorable job of raising you up. This Easter I decided to start a new tradition. I chose a verse from the Bible to pray over you for the next year. When next Easter rolls around I will choose a new verse. I am so excited to be praying intentionally over your life...and it's a tradition I hope to continue throughout our whole lives. Someday when you get married and hopefully have some babies of your own I want to do the same for them. I love you and believe that God has good things in store for your life. And I know that there will be hard things too, but I also know that Jesus is there to help us carry those burdens. It is my greatest hope and desire to see you experience the love of God as you grow up. So here is the verse that I'll be praying over you this year:

Ephesians 4:2 :: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

It's funny, but as I've been praying this verse over you, God has given me many opportunities to also live it out as your mama. I think we both need extra patience and the remind to bear with each other through the challenging moments. That's how we will show our love to those around us most, by being humble and loving even when it isn't easy.

I love you when you are sweet and snuggly, and I love you when you are tired and cranky. No matter what I will love you, not perfectly, but with the love that God has given me I hope to love you well.

You're sound asleep right now as I finally get this letter typed up and posted. Good night and sweet dreams to my little mister!

Love always,

Mama




Thursday, April 24, 2014

THANKFUL for the Empty Tomb!

There is so much to say about Easter. This year was very special. I got to worship my RISEN Savior at church with not only my husband and son, but my parents and sister!

And then we had a wonderful sunny day filled with food, laughter, and childlike delight as we watched Harry experience the first egg hunt that he has actually been into.

I have pictures and reflections that I need to upload and write out...

...but for today I am so thankful that She Reads Truth is not "over" Easter. Celebrating the Resurrection is the most important day of the year for the Christian. But living in light of Christ as our Risen Lord is a daily...lifelong endeavor.

If you are wanting to know more about Jesus and/or are needing a way to focus your time reading the Bible, hop on over to She Reads Truth and start reading their new study "The Risen Christ".

It is SO GOOD. Today's reading literally gave me chills and made me tear up. Jesus is SO GOOD! And the fact that He is alive and at work in our lives is such amazing news. The BEST NEWS in fact!

Click here to go straight to Day 1 of The Risen Christ reading plan.  And just to make it easy, here's the link to Day 2's reading.

A quote from the first post in this series: 

"The Empty Tomb is not the end. It is the start of EVERY NEW BEGINNING." 
  
#shereadstruth

Friday, April 18, 2014

Almost Easter :: Good Friday Reflections

"Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, 
yet we considered Him punished by God, 
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us PEACE was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed."

|  Isaiah 53:4-5  |


Jesus lived a perfect life.
He died the death that I deserve.
He bore the sin & shame of the whole world on the cross.

It is finished. 

My peace in this life and my salvation (the promise of eternal life with Him) is secured by what Jesus has done.

Jesus was killed, on my behalf. And on yours.
He conquered death and is reigning and alive today.
He is my savior; I am HONORED to call myself a Christian.

Tonight I am reflecting on what it means to pick up my cross and follow Him.

He is MORE THAN WORTHY of my worship.

It is by His wounds that I am made whole.

THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Thursday Truth

Here's a little "print" that I made this morning.

So thankful for this truth leading into Easter weekend.

Jesus is ALIVE and He is our perfection!!!


Friday, April 11, 2014

She Shares Truth :: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5


Have you ever journaled using the SOAP method? I learned about it quite a few years ago through a friend, and was just reminded once again of how powerful it can be to journal in this way.

SOAP stands for:

Scripture
Observation
Application
Prayer

I'm going to just journal out my response to 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 using SOAP here in my blog today.


| S | 

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NLT)

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling.  And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.  I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.  

| O |

Paul relied on the Holy Spirit to give him the words that preached. He was humble and recognized his weakness and need for God to speak through him. Paul was focused on one thing: Jesus and his work on the cross. That's in. He didn't need impressive words, or wisdom from others. All he needed to do was keep his eyes, mind, and heart on Christ. When Jesus was on the throne, nothing else mattered...because the only thing that truly matters in this life is the work of Jesus on the cross. Everything else is secondary.

| A |

Paul had one focus: Jesus.

I love Jesus, but I have a lot of other focuses. 

My marriage, parenting, work, family, friendships, things that I enjoy doing (like reading, photography, crafting, sewing...etc). None of which are "bad" things. In fact I think they are all very good things, but clearly not the better.

Paul knew and lived out the truth that Jesus is truly the better in comparison to all things. It all boils down to Jesus being our only need.

 I hate to admit it, but often times my own selfish "needs" take up too much of my thoughts and time. I do focus on Jesus; His church and the relationships I have with other believers are a very important part of my life. But how often can I honestly say that I have decided to "forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified"?  Not enough. Not even close to enough.

This week has been my spring break. Aside from the normal spring break things that I always set out to enjoy (extra sleep, fresh air, books, the park, and family time), I also set aside some time to be alone, with my Bible, journal and most importantly Jesus. It was clearly just the beginning of a work that I am sure will take quite some time, but I felt like the Lord was calling me to focus on Him. To literally forget everything else and just go straight to Him - with my fears, my hopes, my joys, my whole heart.

The only way that I am ever going to really live out my belief that Jesus is enough (more than enough actually) and my only need is to be more like Paul and forget everything except for Jesus.
I am so thankful for God's TRUE WORD that has reminded me of this throughout the past week.
Will you join me in continuing to pursue this kind of mind/heart shift?

| P |

Lord Jesus. You. Are. EVERYTHING! All else in this life is nothing in comparison to your glory and the work that you have done and continue to do in my life and in the lives of all believers. Please help me to live this out. Please train my eyes to focus on You alone Lord, and convict me when I stray and wander. Your grace astounds me Lord and I pray that you would reveal it to me more and more as I continue along this journey of discipleship. Fill me up to overflowing so that Your grace will spill out of my life and into the lives of all those around me; not my "impressive" words or actions, but rather the Holy Spirit living and working through me.

Amen.

.    .    .

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Spring Break: Mom Gone Wild!

It's spring break in my life right now.

Things are getting pretty wild! I'm up past 8:00pm and am drinking a glass of wine while watching the latest episode of one of my favorite TV shows, Parenthood.

I may even stay up until 10:00pm tonight. Who knows...I don't have to work tomorrow so the possibilities are endless!

My husband and son will be taking me to the beach tomorrow. Wahoo!

I'll be going to the zoo at some point, plus I'll be meeting my cousin's little baby girl.

And...I'm going to be having some "me" time.  More on that later.

For now I'm settling into the couch. Sometimes being an adult is tiring and hard and not all it's cracked up to be. And other times it is simply glorious! Tonight it's feeling pretty glorious. I have so much to be thankful for - and I'm looking forward to a week of just soaking it up.

:)