My Ebenezer

Book # 2 on my Summer Reading List has been crossed off! As with any good book, I was sad/happy to finish it. I had read The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom, in high school, but reading it now was much more special and meaningful to me. I would strongly urge anyone who hasn't read it (or hasn't read it in a while) to do so! You will see far more about thankfulness, true joy, and our great all-sovereign God in Corrie ten Boom's story than you would think possible. Truly, our source of real joy is found only in Christ, and nothing can separate us from His love! He is our Hiding Place! READ THIS BOOK!! :)

Remember how it felt as a kid to receive a letter addressed solely to YOU? The thrill of tearing open that letter always gave me a thrill of jubilant importance. This letter. For ME! I was able to witness Noah express that same excitement when we opened the mail yesterday and discovered a letter from his "cousin" Samuel. (If he's my niece's child, how is he related to Noah? Any takers?) Inside was a dictated note, and an original painting by Samuel himself. :) Noah was so SO happy! He kept saying "Thank you, Samuel for sending me that letter!" as if Samuel could actually hear him. Thank you, Marisa, for helping Samuel accomplish something so simple, yet so meaningful! And thank you Samuel for sending Noah a letter! Keep your eyes open for one of your own. Snail mail is such a treat in this day of computers and junk mail. Who can you bless with a letter?

I have decided to quit making excuses as to why I don't have time to read and just DO it! Since deciding this, I have made time to read 2 or 3 books! Ok, so it's taken me a few months to plod through them, but still, that's better than nothing. (And I must pause to interject that I do read a lot, but for the last few years my repertoire has been limited to books like The Best Nest, Are You My Mother?, Corduroy, and The Little Engine That Could, to name a few.) So here goes: My Summer 2010 Reading List Shepherding A Child's Heart, by Tedd Tripp (finished it yesterday) The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom (currently reading) For Women Only, by Shaunti Feldhahn God Is More Than Enough, by Jim Berg On Becoming Childwise, by Gary Ezzo The Great Physician's Rx for Women's Health, by Jordan & Nicki Rubin Broke, USA: How the Working Poor Became Big Business, by Gary Rivlin (this one came in the mail for Josh, and the cover intrigues me. Totally not one that I wou

It can be very amusing to witness the verbal development of toddlers (read: kids talk funny!). Here are a couple examples of Noah's latest verbal blunders: While Natalie was here, he kept calling her "Nadia". One time Noah was looking for her: Noah: "Mommy, where's Nadia?" Me: "Noah, her name is not Nadia." Noah: "Where's Not-Nadia ?" Noah also enjoys singing. I overheard him singing "Heaven Came Down" the other day. Here was his version: "Heaven came down and glory filled my hole !" Kids. Are. Hilarious.

So my college roommate came in on Friday evening and left Sunday afternoon. Natalie and I had a great time catching up on each other's lives. I kept saying that Natalie looks exactly the same, and it's true! This girl hasn't aged in 10 years! :) I on the other hand, have added several gray hairs among other things. Saturday we went to the local arts marked down by the river, went for a jet-ski ride, made an authentic Guam meal, and talked and talked and talked. Natalie's life now is so fascinating to me, and I couldn't quit asking questions about all she's doing. She teaches high school English on Guam (it is "on Guam", by the way; I asked!). Do you know where Guam is? I didn't. *blushes* I definitely need to brush up on my geography. Guam is about a million miles away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Go to Hawaii, and then go eight more hours by airplane and you'll hit Guam. It is 85-90 degrees all year round there, and they ha

Somehow some computer gremlin stole my blog background! Being the computer-savvy person that I am (HA!), I should have this fixed in 5 or 6 years. :) Seriously, I hope I can get my nice background back. Or at least something other than the black screen I'm seeing... Until then, we're under construction.

I always had great roommates at college. Since roommates can tend to make or break dorm life at college (don't get me wrong; I know that happiness is not something controlled by circumstances, but it's easier to be happy as a dorm student when your roommates are great. I'm just saying.), I used to pray that all my roommates and I would get along and even be great friends. Natalie was an answer to prayer. She was one of my 3 roommates my sophomore year of college, and right from the beginning she and I bonded. We went to breakfast together almost every morning, and I'll tell you: any roommate who trudges off to breakfast with you at 6:55 in the morning is a saint. :) We eventually got to the point where we could finish each other's sentences, which to me is a really rare find in a friend. Anyway, all that to say that Natalie is on her way to visit me for a couple days!! She now teaches high school in Guam (on Guam?), which isn't exactly close. She's on

Mr. Bluetooth Himself Nope, I'm probably not talking about the "bluetooth" you're thinking of. And really, I don't even know what bluetooth is. How's that for sad? Anyone want to explain it to me? I'm talking about what happens when you eat huckleberry pie. And we would know, since we've been enjoying pie this week! A man from church brought in bags and bags of huckleberries that grow in his yard, and he gave them away to anyone who would take them. I snagged us a bag, and went home to google "huckleberry pie recipe." Oh my. It is delicious! Aside from my usual piecrust debacle (see photo above: I have yet to make a pie crust that rolls out the way it is supposed to. Mine *ALWAYS* stick to the countertop no matter how much flour I sprinkle, and they *ALWAYS* rip and fall apart when I'm trying to lift them into the pie dish.) Yes, it's blue teeth for us all around.

You may or may not notice some slight changes in how my blog looks. I tweaked it some, and will have to see if the changes are something I want to keep or go back to the old look, or do something entirely different. But, no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you; I've changed the way the blog looks. :) This morning Jen and I took our kids and met Jean (a lady from church) at her neighborhood pool. I haven't been swimming in an actual pool in quite some time, and I had missed it! Pool swimming is so much different from ocean swimming: the pool's clear water, no salty water threatning to gag you should you accidentally swallow a mouthful, the predictability of the waveless water, knowing that you're not at any moment in danger of stepping on some unsuspecting crab who will then pinch your foot with every ounce of strength it has.... (Yes, it's happened! To me. I will never forget it.) Pool swimming is SO for me. I think Noah has only been in a pool a couple times be

Have you ever had someone tell you something that was not what you wanted to hear, but deep down you knew it was what you needed to hear? The loving honesty of a true friend is a wonderful thing: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy....Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Pr 27:6, 17 My niece Marisa left me a comment on my blog post yesterday, and the Lord has used what she said in my heart to let me begin to see another perspective. Thank you, Marisa, for loving me enough to tell me what I needed to hear, rather than what I wanted to hear. I count you as my true friend! :) My continuing prayer is that the Lord will help me rejoice in His will for me and to do it wholeheartedly, whatever that may mean. "I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime." Ecc 3:12 "I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart." Ps 40:8

I've been silent on the infertility front lately, not because I have nothing to say about that, but because I'm afraid I will either bore you or weird you out and then you won't read my blog anymore. (Sound like kindergarten? "You wanna be my best friend?") So do me a favor; if you stop reading my blog, don't tell me. I like it better thinking at any time I could have zero or a hundred readers. Keeps things interesting, you know? Anyway. I wrestle with my infertility Every Single Day. Sometimes every single hour. Honestly. It's a wrestling match between my desires and what is apparently God's will for me, and it goes on all the time. I'm constantly going in the following pattern: Wanting a baby so badly. Seeing or hearing about yet another person who is pregnant or just had a baby. Feeling my heart literally ache. Feeling jealous over their blessing. Feeling guilty about feeling jealous. Reminding myself that God has chosen this path

The fireplace is a work-in-progress. I have not yet found the right picture/knick-knack combo on there, so it's still in the process of tweaking. When Mom Rowley was here, she suggested stenciling around the french doors. It only took 3 hours, and has made such a difference! The divider between the kitchen and dining room. One of these days I want to dig out all our "before" pictures so you can see what each of these rooms used to look like, and then what they looked like "during" the renovations, so you can fully appreciate the "after" photos. For now though, I'm just thankful to be (mostly) out of boxes and having our house feel like home! One thing at a time, right?

Some of my earliest childhood memories include me, sitting in the church pew with my mom. Sitting very, very still. If I did not sit still, I risked The Look; or worse yet, The Knee Squeeze. These memories came flooding back to me last night at church as we tried everything in our parenting arsenal to make Noah sit still. Let me back up: Pastor Matt and Jen went out of town this week, so we met for church at the Geisenburgs' home. Sometime late yesterday afternoon, I realized with a cold jolt that this would mean no childcare for Noah during the service. (Our current arrangements are with a neighbor across the street from Matt and Jen who graciously offered to keep our children for us on Wednesday nights during church. Kellie has been a blessing beyond blessings!) Last evening, after pointing out our childcare dilemma to Josh, we decided we would keep Noah in the service with us for as long as possible, and if things got Really Bad, Josh would take Noah away to Lowes or Home Depot