Wow!

Tonight at church I got to pray with three kids to ask Jesus to be their forever friend!!! The second and third graders had a salvation message during Sunday School and then we went back to our small groups to talk about it more. While we were talking, one of the kids asked who the next person was after Adam and Eve. I reminded them about Cain and Abel and told them that it lists all the people in Genesis. One kid said, "Even our names." I reminded him that the Bible was written before we were born, so no, our names are not in the Bible, but there is a book that has all of our names in it. I told them about the "Book of Life" and how our names are written in it when we become forever friends with God. One kid said, "I wanna get my name in THAT book!" It was really fun and a great reminder of why I spend that time with those kids. I'm still amazed that God would use someone like me, but I'm glad he does.

Pain

So, a week ago Tuesday I woke up with a kink in my neck and shoulder. Yesterday I went to the doctor because its only gotten worse and now my left arm is throbbing too. She referred me to another doctor who can't get me in until Nov. 6. Argh! As annoying and painful as it is, I would take this anyday over not feeling good emotionally. So, I can happily deal with this for two more weeks when I'm feeling good inside.

Big Day!

Is it bad that we did baths, read books, put the kids to bed, came downstairs and looked at the clock to see 6:38??? It doesn't really matter. Micah will still come into our room between 5:00 and 5:30 tomorrow morning and ask if he can play in his room. If he stays up later like 8 or even 9, he comes in earlier in the morning. The other night he came in at 1:00AM and asked if he could play in his room. That time, I said no.

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with our friends Shondra and Ethan. Micah and Ethan have been friends since they were born a week apart 4 years ago. We had a blast. We went to Fir Point Farms in Aurora. We would highly recommend it if any of you haven't gone yet.

I'll load more pictures when blogger fixes its problem.

Superhero

I won't be able to do this justice, but I'll try. Minutes ago, Micah was sitting on the couch watching a new PBS show called "super-why." It does a lot with letters and sounds. Anyway, the "kids" on the show were going on a mission and they introduced themselves like superheros. Each one came out and said something like, "P is for Pig!" or "Little Red Ridinghood, to the Rescue!" They went through 4 or 5 of them and then the kid on the TV said, "What's your name?" Micah said, "Micah! With the power to breathe!!!"

...and then there is human nature

That last post was partially to encourage me that God is working in my kids even when I'm not aware of it. More often than not the scene is more like this: last night Micah stuck his tongue out at me while we were playing memory; Amelia slapped Micah on his face and hit him on his arms; Micah broke down in tears in the morning because he wanted to get dressed before Amelia and she "beat" him. Such is our sinful nature, I guess.

Our Boy

Lately Micah has been a bit... shall I say, annoying at times. But then we get little glimpses of what God is molding him to be and we stand amazed and in awe of what God can do.

Yesterday before Grandma and Grandpa got to our house I asked Micah to pick up his room so that the whole house would be clean (he has never done this on his own before and usually throws a big fit and cries about how hard it is). When G&G got here I went up to his room to see if he wanted to come down or if he wanted help. He said no, he'd come down when he was done and asked me to shut the door. So after a total of about 45 minutes in his room with his door closed, he came down. I didn't get to see his room until later, but it was spotless! He had everything put away. We were amazed and praised him a lot for it.

This morning he told me he wanted to write a note (yesterday he had Ryan write a note to Santa for him). I thought, great, I wish you would see how much more important Jesus is than Santa. Then he said, "No, I want to write a letter to Jesus." Here is what he told me to write... word for word:
Dear Jesus, I have two bibles. Thank you that you made the whole world. Thank you for making our house. Thank you for making our chairs and our table and our curtains. Thank you that you made my toys. Thank you that you listen to me when I pray. Thank you for our back yard. Thank you for watching the whole world. From, Micah.
I was almost in tears when he finished the note. He gets it. He knows that Jesus loves him and listens to him. That's all that really matters. Then he took it over to the fire place and put it on the bricks. I said, "You know what the cool thing about Jesus is? We can talk to him every day and don't have to wait for one day a year like Santa." Micah said, "Well, Santa will just bring it to God... or Jesus."

Last night after church we were putting Amelia to bed and Micah wanted to pray with her (because then he doesn't have to pray in his room). So he started praying and after he said one thing, Amelia said, "Amen!" We told her that we were still praying, so she folded her hands again and then a moment later she said, "ni-night" and reached for her bed. Obviously, she's not one for long-winded prayers.

One more thing... Micah was in the garage with Ryan yesterday (Ryan was getting stuff ready to work in the yard). Micah said, "Dad, where is the lily pad?" Ryan was confused. Micah pointed to the cupboard where Ryan keeps the gardening tools. He said, "You know the thing that we use to look between the bushes." Ryan said, "Oh, you mean the kneeling pad?" Micah said, "Yeah."

a foot?

Grandma and Grandpa came down this morning to visit. Micah came down from his room and Grandma said, "Come here, let me look at you. I swear, each time I see you, you grow a foot." Micah looked down at his feet... puzzled.

baby snotter?

This morning Micah was digging through the drawer of kitchen utensils and said, "Where's the baby snotter?" I started laughing. I showed him the turkey baster and proceeded to pretend to get a whole lot of snot out of his nose.

concerned

Last night we had a new babysitter for the kids. Ryan and I had a church function to go to, so the daughter of a friend of mine babysat for us. I picked her up at 6:30, so by the time we left, Amelia was already in bed and Micah was getting ready for bed. Needless to say, they didn't get to spend much time together, but Micah said he had fun. This morning he got up and came into our room and said, "Where's the babysitter?" I said, "We took her home." He got a very concerned look on his face and said, "Did you both go?"

Row, row, row your boat

Yesterday we went to Hearts at home. This is the mom's group at our church. It was so good to be back. Our small group is pretty much the same, but we have one new mom. I had to hurry to get the kids from the childcare right at 11:00 because I had to meet Ryan, swap the kids, and get to work by noon. Anyway, I picked Micah up in his room and then went to get Amelia. Micah got to her room first and said, "Look Mom! She's row, row, row your boating!" Amelia was standing in a wooden boat that is meant to be used like a teeter-totter, crying because she saw that we were there for her and she couldn't get out quick enough.