6 years later

Well today is big man's birthday. 6 years ago, they wheeled him off to the NICU, and we were in a whirlwind of emotions. I won't walk down that memory lane, but we are astonished that all this time has gone by already. He's tall and lanky (gets that from me.....cough.cough.) He desires his Dad whenever he is available. Wants to dress like him, act like him, be like him. No pressure Dad. While he is growing into this new found big attitude, it seems easier to shapes than past phases. He can reason and understand what we are saying.....instead of throwing himself on the ground or sunken shoulders and pouting. His teacher says he is doing really well. Parenting doesn't look downhill from here or anything- and there are multiple things that I wonder daily if we should have done differently.....but he's a special boy. I decided to not do big birthdays every year so this year he is inviting a few friends over for a sleepover. He wanted to write them letters to invite them. I wanted to take a picture of the letter, but it had to be wisped away to school in time to hit his Thursday Kindergarten class. So this year, he wanted Mario cupcakes.

This little doll found some amazing pink boots that I picked up at a 2nd hand store for when she is older. She demanded to put them on and wear them all evening with her jammies.

She wanted to test them out with climbing the stairs and on the hardwood floor.

She is a breath of fresh air! She is talking so much and it gives us so much joy to hear her and play with her. She loves the boys and says their names and tells them "ny-ny" every night before she goes to bed. She has her moments too- but our family would be so incomplete without her.

Luke is doing a little better lately.....and just so I don't sound bias- note that he warms my heart daily as well!

Yesterday I turned in my letter of intent and signed the resignation box. A bit surreal. A bit exciting. Mostly peaceful. God has done so much in me to prepare us for this and the calmness that seems to be accompanying it. It's time. It's time for us to give our family what it needs and put it before all the needs around us. It's time we realize and trust that if this is what God has asked of us- He will work out the details. We'll take lots of prayers during this transition! (I will obviously finish out the year and the letter is for next year).

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As for the Kingdom experiment- I know I've been slacking on posting. After mourning- we did the third beatitude- "blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the kingdom of God." Meekness is a difficult attribute. Many associate it with being shy and reserved. Yet, biblically Moses is called meek and he was a strong leader. We studied how it incorporated humility and leadership strengths, while lifting other up. One of the challenges in the book this week was to leave a note or something for a night staff that doesn't get much recognition, etc. I have this wonderful custodian at school that is Hispanic and has been helping me learn Spanish. She is sooooo kind and considerate. I left her a note in Spanish and some homemade cookies. She thanked me a few days later, but I almost wonder if it made her feel uncomfortable, because she hasn't been acting her normal self. One challenge was to take a construction worker or someone out in the cold - a coffee and thank them for what they are doing. Jer took this one on and bought a coffee for the school duty that stands out every day in Ian's pick up line, ushering the kids to the playground. He bravely rolled down the window and said, "Hey man! I bought you a coffee! I wanted to thank you for standing out in the cold every day for our kids!" The man replied- "Oh, no thanks. I don't drink coffee." Wha whahhhhhhh. lol. (retract hand back into the car with the steaming hot coffee) Wouldn't you just take it? It's almost as if our society doesn't know what to do with kindness when it is so out of the ordinary. Us included. You are taken back- wondering what possibly might be the catch.

An additional challenge I did was to write an old teacher and tell them how much they impacted you. This one I looked forward to- especially being a teacher and knowing how much that would mean to me. I picked someone who impacted me because they embraced my personality- not because I remember what we learned. I picked an old English teacher, Ms. Grubb. I looked her up on the internet at our old school- (so easy to find any one's contact info- it's scary) and sent her an email. She replied within hours, responding and grateful for the update. I might do that with a few more teachers. Everyone loves to feel like they made a difference and we often don't know when we have.

Then the next week was "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." This week seemed to have less concrete challenges to do. One challenge was taking sermon notes during church for a month. I did it last week, and really enjoyed it. It helped me stay focused and get much more from it. Another was keeping the radio off while driving- to have more quiet time to think and pray. Uh......my mind is still wondering when I do that- just because I'm debriefing from whatever controlled chaos I just escaped.....

There were challenges on reading the New Testament in 90 days, and a few other ones. It was a good week to remember to be intentional.

This week is about mercy. One of my favorite concepts. A concept we could all learn more about, and practice more! :) Stay tuned. :)