Seriously

Sometimes I feel like I could implode with joy and gratefulness for my life.
Sometimes I weep in gratitude for the opportunities I have been given.
Sometimes I bask in the goodness of every day moments.

The one thing that will cause my spirit to soar and my heart to swell out of pure pleasure every single time is when I hold my babies on my chest as they sleep.

Seriously, beyond happy.

If there is rocking involved, forgetaboutit.

The comfort.
The satisfaction.

It's reciprocal.

Since this is my sixth time to enjoy many months of a baby sleeping on my chest, I've come to appreciate it even more. There is bad and good in that. Bad, because I know how fleeting that time is and that it can never fully be recaptured. Good, because it causes me to revel in the times I do get to be the one that provides a warm embrace of trust for my dear little one.

The other night I had such a moment.

I rocked my precious baby after he awakened in the night because of a cold. He fell asleep immediately after I held him. He relaxed into a satisfied sleep right there on my chest. I sat in that rocker much longer than was necessary for him.

I did it for me.

I sat there and soaked in every sensation. Wishing I could make it last much longer than I knew it would, not just that moment in time, but the season of his life. Knowing that my baby boy was growing and would be leaving this stage much sooner than I wanted. Crying because I feared it was my last season for such pleasure. Praising God for giving us each other.

I can not find words to describe the honor it is to me to hold my baby in such a mothering way.
I can not express to you the right words that tell you how my soul finds a landing place while doing such a thing.

All I can say, is, seriously, I love every stinkin' second.

Words in Red

Today is the day set aside for anyone who would like to share their Words in Red Challenge thoughts, including those who may have started the challenge after the initial one. It is also a time for us to share what words of Christ we are focusing on, learning from, being challenged by, or discovering anew.

So... who wants to go first? What? I'm supposed to go first? Ok... fine.

This month I've been a slacker and read some of John for BSF. I haven't meditated on it though.

Just keepin' it real.
And hoping one of you can share something better than that.

Take Care of Them

This month is Adoption Awareness Month. Don't leave! I'm not suggesting you have to adopt. I'm suggesting that Christians are called to care for orphans. Actually, I'm not suggesting it, I'm reminding us all that God himself told us to do this in James, chapter one. I also happen to think it's a good idea for non-Christians, you just aren't commanded.

I mentioned already that there are different ways of doing this, here in this post.

Today, I'd like to zone in on ways we can look after/visit/care for orphans (as the Greek word in James 1:25 means). Please know that I would never condone jumping into these activities without you first praying about it. I also would not condone you doing these things while your family suffers your attention, causing you to neglect your first calling. Seek the Lord's guidance on what you should do at this time and continue to seek His will. He may lead you to do different things at different seasons of your life. That's great. I know that's been the case for us.

1) Volunteer at your local boys/girls homes. Most residential treatment centers are always looking for loving volunteers, for all aspects of their program. Think about mentoring an orphan in one of these programs. Visiting once a month to show you care blesses the socks off these kids (trust me, I've seen it). Even if you can't visit very often, letters are treasured to these children. Someone who cares about them individually is worth their weight in gold. This could even be a family project to love and invest in an orphan. Letters and pictures for the child. Be creative on what you can/want to do to really bless a child in one of these kinds of homes.

2) Support an orphan financially. You can do this a few different ways. You can partner up with a local residential treatment center and 'choose' a child to help (giving funds in addition to what the state pays for their care... it's a joke, though not a funny one, what the state considers enough money for daily care). You can help a foster family (contact local child placing agencies for suggestions). There are several reputable organizations that help care for children internationally. Most of these children meet at least of the definitions of orphan. Currently, our family sponsors a Compassion International child. My Sweetie and I write letters and our kids send drawings. There are also plenty of international orphanages that could really, really use your help. These are a few of the orphanages and RTCs stateside and international that I trust (because I have been there or people I trust have been there or can vouch for them) for example: Mama Tara's, La Providencia, Restoration Gateway, Boys Town, St. Mary's Home, Texas Baptist Children's Home, Roy Maas' Youth Alternative, Medina Children's Home, Three Angels, and (one more coming... waiting to hear from my cousin).

3) Foster an orphan. Consider becoming a foster parent. This is a very, very special calling. I do NOT recommend it to everyone. Seriously. BUT I wonder if there are many people out there who would be wonderful foster parents, who are in the right season (and this involves a lot of different aspects) for it, but don't take the idea to God because they aren't willing to hear what He might say. While residential treatment centers are meeting a basic need, fostering does so much more than that.

4) Adopt an orphan. I'll talk more about this in a couple of weeks, but really, we can't deny this is the best way to care for an orphan.

Please, please share any other suggestions/ideas you have in regards to how we can care/look after/visit orphans. You all have a wealth of ideas, I'm sure.

Mighty Fine

Here's how you get my family to think a burger joint is the best place to eat in the entire world:

1) Greet and serve us with grins even though we place and replace and replace eight orders.
2) Tell us to pick, "Red, Yeller' or White" in a fabulous Texan accent for condiment choices on our burgers.
3) Provide the best and cleanest entertainment for my children I could have ever imagined, ensuring we have the most sterile hands this side of the Pecos since they were washed before, during, again during and after our meal.
4) Have a man who obviously has My Sweetie's (and my son's) sense of humor design the men's bathroom, giving it a very large two way mirror. The boys/men can take care of urinal business right in front of a window, making it seem like they are using the bathroom in front of the entire restaurant, snickering with joy. Meanwhile, the rest of us sit and chat totally clueless to the hysterical attraction the men's bathroom suddenly has on all males in the joint.

5) Put time and effort into designing the women's restroom so that my daughters come out saying, "Mama, it's like Extreme Home Makeover in there!"
6) Serve up big juicy delicious all natural beef burgers and crisp fries.

7) Offer only Blue Bell as the option for shakes.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't discovered Mighty Fine, please allow me to share the joy. Head there the next time you are in the finest state capital in this country (that would be Austin, in case you're a Yankee and you are confused).

We saw a billboard touting a burger raved about in Texas Monthly and decided it would be worth the effort to find. How right we were, pardner'. It felt like a little amusement park stop with delicious food and added a whole 'nuther level of fun to our road trip.

Definitely a Mighty Fine pit stop.

(Even though I couldn't figure out how to fit the CleanTech500 in the back of my suburban!)

(My apologies to my ex-pat Texan readers for the tease... at least you can add something to your next stateside trip! ;-))

Memorial Stone in Words: A Piece of Plastic

Memorial Stones in Words in an opportunity to share a time when God made himself apparent to you. A story you don't want to forget. Something you want to share with others. I'd love it if you had a story to share. If you post one on your blog, say that in the comment. If you don't have a blog, but you'd like to email me your story to post, please do so! Check out the original post for a more full explanation

The Boy started crying after he had been asleep for awhile. He was about eight months old. I went to comfort him. No doin'. More screaming. I rocked. Screaming. I changed his diaper and searched his body for some kind of bite or injury or something. I could find nothing. Still screaming. I tried to nurse him. He would start and then pull away crying. I finally sat down on the floor of the bathroom and cried right along with him, then I prayed.

"Lord, I can't find anything wrong with him. I don't know what's wrong. This is very out of character for him. Please help me. Or comfort him."

I tried nursing again. Then, I acted upon something that hadn't even formed a full thought in my head. I put my finger in his mouth and searched. There, stuck to the roof of his mouth was a tiny yellow floppy piece of plastic the size of a nickel.

It was the plastic filter from my nursing pump. I hadn't even known that it came off of the pump until I found it there in his mouth. I took a deep breath. He stopped crying instantly and started nursing. I started crying as the full realization hit me.

I looked at that piece of plastic in the palm of my hand. It was the perfect diameter of his trachea. He could have stopped breathing in his sleep and I never would have known. Instead, it was suction cupped to the roof of his mouth and God moved my fingers to find it.

I prayed again a prayer of thanks. My precious baby had been playing with the pump parts earlier that evening and I didn't think twice about it because I didn't know that there were actually any small pieces. I wouldn't make that same mistake again.

But for that moment... I praised my loving God who kept that piece of plastic in an annoying place instead of dangerous place.

I'd never been so happy to have an aggravated baby.
I'd never been so happy to have a God who moves. Even fingers.


Thank you to Texas Heather for reminding me to post this! Oops! Twelve days late is better than never, right? ;-)

I'd love to read a Memorial Stone from your life!

Works for Me: Cookware

I had been telling My Sweetie for quite awhile about the issues of non-stick cookware. He thought I was loony. He thought I was paranoid. He thought I was wrong.

Then Alton Brown did an episode on proving whether or not some kitchen myths were wrong. He did a segment on non-stick cookware. He proved me right.

My Sweetie smiled at me and said, "Wow. Did you hear what Alton said? Let's get rid of our non-stick cookware. Is that ok with you?"

Sigh.

Anyway, we decided to go with cast iron and have been using it for almost everything for just about a year. It works great. The clean up is similar to using stoneware. The surface becomes non-stick after you've used it awhile. The health benefits are nice. The fact that they last forever is fun (just in case I have little financial inheritance to leave my children... they'll each get a piece of cast iron cookware! yippee!). Enameled covered cast iron is also great for pots. I don't like them, personally, for pan cooking because they need to have a good amount of liquid in them. I LOVE my enameled cast iron dutch oven for all my pot needs (I have a 7qt, but we have quite a few people to feed).

I asked for Lodge pieces for Christmas (so did Pioneer Woman, because... ya' know, we're so much alike) and also picked up a few pieces at yard sales this spring.

I will admit it takes a bit of getting used to, but I really like them and they Work for Me.

Check our We are THAT Family for other ideas on all kinds of things.

Another Challenge

If you are a Christian, I'd like to rock your world.

If you are not, I'd like to rock your world.

Here's how: read this book.

This book is the one that prompted The Words in Red Challenge. This book is what God has used to shake my faith. And sift it. And reform it.

It's what God has used to draw me back to the Bible in a fresh way. To Christ in a new way. To my Lord is a real way.

It's a very short and inexpensive book, but don't be deceived. It's very challenging.

Come on, read it and then we can discuss it! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Wouldn't you like to see how the Christian church behaved when it was just formed?

Wouldn't you like to see a bit of what the church fathers believed?

Wouldn't you like to learn what the early church believed about the kingdom of God?

This book peels away layers of doctrine that are not founded in Christ's church.

I'm warning you that it might make you uncomfortable on some levels. Or a lot of levels.

I'm warning you that you will not look at the words of Christ the same afterwards. Or the rest of the New Testament, for that matter.

So, are you up for another challenge?