multitide monday

Psalm 145:10
"All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you."


a while back, a sweet friend sent me a link to this sweet blog and i have since been so encouraged by this woman who is a stranger in real life. we have been transitioning into this residency stage of life as adam completes his 3rd ward month in a row and it has been really hard at times. i have truly struggled with fleeting joy...i guess my happiness is too often dependent on circumstances: ___X__ amount of time with adam, __X__ amount of time with adam while he is actually awake, children that sleep through the night and obey quickly and cheerfully, __X__ amount of money that we can use for things other than bare necessities, a vacation...the list continues...these things are idols as they are the "one more thing" i think i need to make me happy/content/joyful. they are the things i subconsciously (and sometimes consciously too) think i need to add to Jesus to make things right. the truth is that i have been so abundantly blessed with grace upon grace upon grace. as God has worked on my heart, i heard of this thing call the gratitude community . of course, we don't need gadgets and things to make our hearts thankful instead of complaining ones...we need Jesus to do that. however, what i like about this little community is that it is just simple encouragement to give thanks for the daily graces and kindnesses that God showers upon us all the time...and that, my friends, changes our hearts...action first and then feelings second (as pastor george always reminds us). if we really step back and think about the tremendous work of grace He has done for us through His precious Son, our hearts should always be offering thanksgiving.



so here we go, i had this red moleskin that was blank. i love journals, but am a terrible journaler. it is bright and easy to find, i leave it in my kitchen so i can write in it when i think of something. adam has joined me. we write one-liners and we number them to remind us of the abundance we have been given...material and immaterial. we are just thanking. periodically ( on multitude mondays) i may post a few of the things we have written down.

1. blue sky speckled with pure white clouds
2. pudgy hands that hold mine
3. "toddler attacks"
4. blond curls
5. husband's early release from work
6. conversation with sweet sister
7. blooming calla lillies
8. kitten with limp, reminding me of God's grace with me
9. husband's boldness with neighbors
10. generous parents visit
11. soft brown eyes
12. a tooth in graham's little mouth
13. music by the river with husband
14. time today to read encouraging words
15. no injuries upon toddler falling out of crib
16. the joys of "losing you life"
17. post-call husband
18. sweet girl singing hymns with her daddy
19. neighbor visit
20. over-ripe bananas in banana bread
21. grace, grace, grace
22. my children are alive (after hearing of two who tragically died last week)
23. wiggles
24. peek-a-boo
25. banana bread (repeat)
26. the book of Job
27. frozen plums
28. marit running everywhere
29. that "dying is gain"
30. family walks
31. sweet mommy/child field trip with friends
32. farms
33. toddler excitement over how "big" horses are
34. no tooth damage upon first busted lip
35. road races
36. mother-in-law pound cake
37. jogging strollers
38. a most beautiful and kind wife (adam wrote that one...)
39. children's laughter
40. a Sunday off
41. kids sleeping through the night
42. light-hearted fun with ellen (adam again)
43. a cool morning
44. 2-tooth smile
45. long sleeves
46. warm sun shining through our window
47. sidewalks

see? in just a little over a week, we have compiled this light-hearted list as we look for God's every day graces in our lives. He cares about the intimate details because He is a good and personal Father to His children. join the community if you like, keep a private journal, or not...but do endeavor to cultivate thankfulness and allow God to change and soften your heart.

we did it!

we completed our 10k (6.2 miles) this morning in just over 56 minutes. it was a cool misty morning, the kids and a couple friends (nicole and katie) ventured out to this race and it was so much fun! here we are before.


the course was flat, the kids did really well...i broke out the cheerios at mile 4. i was unprepared for how much i would stand out with a bright green double stroller...i'm used to running races somewhat anonymously. here we are after.


after the 10k, marit ran her 100 foot tot trot and had so much fun



and look who got off work (after overnight call) just in time to see her finish! she could not have been more excited with her daddy and her ribbon!


it was a really fun family event and marit is still wired from all the gatorade...

when you have a bit of time...

i know it is scarce, but this sermon is so worth it. suffering will surely be a recurring theme over the next year as we study Job in my women's Bible study. already, it is so relevant. my life right now is not riddled with it (though we have suffered hurts and there are surely more to come as we continue on in this very broken world), but i have several friends who are hurting and struggling in real, tangible, mysterious ways. so this piper sermon keeps playing and it is just a good "kick in the pants" so to speak. i need to be reminded to fight the very human/american tendency to pursue my own comfort and ease...piper was speaking about missions, but it is very relevant to just about any season of life.

month day (yesterday that is)

happy first day of fall (you are right, tara, it is today not yesterday). in honor of me getting my days mixed up, i am updating the blog a day late for m and g's month day. yesterday they were 11 months and 26 months. whew, it really does fly by.


yesterday at dinner, marit burst out with "YO 'SUP!!" adam had been greeting her this way for a few days, but it completely caught us off guard and made for some good laughter. she has really enjoyed singing lately as well and her current favorite is Be Thou My Vision...she knows the whole first verse. she is finally back into her old napping rhythm after the disruption caused by operation pacifier untraining.

however, she is now going through a phase in which she is afraid of the potty. huh? why? she likes diapers...doesn't she know that big girl panties are so much more comfortable?




graham has been very mobile with his mode of locomotion we call the "slap and slide." he scoots around on his bottom and hands...making for a very strong upper body. he finally has two TEETH! they just poked their heads through the other day.

he has also started drinking a little cow's milk...i know he isn't a year old yet, but trust me, he is ready. and i am ready for him to consistently sleep through the night. we love this little fellow so much.


...marit and graham have been doing well with room-sharing lately...talking, fussing, singing to sleep together.

today, a tragic story has reminded me of the frailty of life, the gift that each day is, and the tremendous suffering some must endure. kiss your loved ones a few extra times today and pray for this sweet family...they are friends of friends and they know Jesus and oh how they need His comfort.

last week in review

i am putting too much into this post, but it was a fairly eventful week. my sweet husband turned 30! we had a week of celebration, completed by our friend the swine flu. we seemed to get a mild case, but everyone (except me) had fevers and aches for several days. poor marit spent a lot of time like this:


on monday i surprised adam by having two of his best buds and their sweet wives over for dinner.

adam has not been able to spend time with these guys since residency started, so it was a real treat (have i told you that adam is a "love me with quality time" kind of person, which is great except for when he barely has time himself to brush his teeth, much less spend time with others...). sweet katie made a yummy cake!


all week i was compiling a list of my 30 favorite things about adam and i must say that though adam was thankful for the list that i put in our marriage journal, my heart too was softened and encouraged by the process...something about being actively thankful and loving changes the way we actually feel. more about thankfulness and my new endeavor to journal daily gratitudes later.

we went on a walk to the river to get the poor feverish kids out of the house and this adorable little thing came running out to us meowing.


i picked her up and she immediately started purring. she had obviously been abandoned, most likely due to the fact that she has some sort of leg injury that makes her limp. the vet said she probably would always limp. i was trying to find a home for her since we already have pax, but marit adores her...
here she is multi-tasking-holding kitten by neck and talking on the phone.


adam said "i don't know why we can't give her a try. i like her!" how could i refuse him this during his birthday week? so she is ours for now.





i feel like we are starting to have a farm in our urban dwelling, but i guess one dog and one cat isn't that many pets? adam and i both have bleeding hearts and i imagine our home in the future to resemble that of william Wilberforce with all kinds of injured and rescued animals...we have been calling her "flip" because the tip of one of her ears is flipped up permanently...she seems thankful and is just a little bit of brokenness in our home to remind us of God rescuing us (is that too cheesy? maybe, but i think it does honor God to care for His creation...as long as they don't become idols...another time, another post). sometimes i do wish people were as easy to rescue as animals are...




on friday, my parents came to babysit so adam and i could go to the avett brothers concert. we had so much fun, but were unprepared for the droves of screaming females who knew all the lyrics to every song. as usual, we forgot to get a picture of ourselves, but here is one from yesterday.


and graham with my mom...he likes her lap very much



in other exciting news, adam shared the Gospel with the crack dealers across the street...pray for us as we continue to have these conversations with our neighbors. of course we want the drugs out of our neighborhood, but we would really love it to be because these guys decide to love and serve Jesus instead of themselves and the easy money they make dealing drugs. it is truly discouraging to watch the addicts parade by every day as their lives are slowly destroyed...yet another reminder of the real broken world so much in need of the hope and freedom that can only be found in Christ.

decorating quandry

this is where i use my blog to completely mooch off of my more creative and color-savvy friends. please excuse the clutter in the photos...i have two little hurricanes ok? we are finally painting a few walls in our house. my sweet husband donated his day off to turning our kitchen from mint to orange.

before


after




the mint was nauseating me (no offense if you have mint in your house, but it just did not go with the other greens in ours). so we painted the burgundy wall green to match the rest of the entry-way below chair-rail.

before


after



as you walk in the door you can now see, yellow above chair-rail, sweet anne green below, georgian leather kitchen, red dining room, and way back light blue mud-room. let it not be said that we do not like color...

the next question is what do we paint the living room (right now it is just primed and really needs a coat of paint)?


in general, i'm not a huge fan of neutral-colored walls, but maybe if it was the right shade. we have a red dining room and a lot of red accents (chairs, rugs) and brown couch. i really like crocodile tears green, which is a much lighter shade of what is in the entry way, but a similar tone. is that too much green? it is my favorite wall color... should there be an accent wall? should we paint the not-working fireplace a different color? nicole thinks the green would work and maybe paint the fireplace georgian leather? we are thankful for any advice you super decorators might have...

i'm sitting here teary eyed because of this

lovely blog

beautiful poet, mom, wife, and best of all she loves Jesus

music for monday (and it is actually monday)

here is a taste of another favorite band of mine. i love her voice, though adam and my dad do not agree with me. as my sister-in-law says, "it always sounds like she is smiling." enjoy


Brotherhood of Man

All day, since your haircut in the morning,
you have looked like a painting, even more than usual.
We are in the wind, planting the maples.
We meet an older man who seems to know
I miss my dad.
And he smiles through the limbs.
We talk easily with him
until the rain begins.
This is the brotherhood of man.

Waiting at the airport on my suitcase,
a girl traveling from Spain became my sudden friend,
though I did not learn her name.
And when the subway dimmed
a stranger lit my way.
This is the brotherhood of man.

I never can say what I mean
but you will understand,
coming through clouds on the way.
This is the brotherhood of man.