My Ebenezer

Awhile back I posted a recipe for Scrumptious Blueberry Muffins. I stand by that recipe. My husband LOVES those muffins, and so do I. Trouble is, just about the only ingredient in that recipe which I am allowed to eat while on my current diet is the blueberries! Bummer. So after acquiring some spelt flour, which is much more light and airy than oat flour, I followed the recipe for what I am calling "Responsible Blueberry Muffins." Because let's face it, these are not nearly as good as the Scrumptious ones. They're the Minivan when you really want to drive the Ferrari. But you must admit, the minivan works, and with much less guilt! :) Responsible Blueberry Muffins 1 C Spelt flour 1 C Oat flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 C sugar 2 Tbs honey 1 C almond milk (you could use cow's milk) 1/4 C canola oil 1 egg, beaten 1 C blueberries Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients together. In another bowl, stir together the honey, almond milk, oil,...

Last Sunday evening, a young couple visited our church. They were glowing. I went to go meet them after the service, and the girl told me they were on their honeymoon; they had been married a little over a week. On our way home from church, I told Josh that the couple was on their honeymoon. He made some kind of indistinguishable noise, and said "Those were the days! Real life hasn't started yet, you've been showered with gift cards to all kinds of stores, you have no responsibility, and everything is wonderful!" I think he was a little jealous. :) We don't get much vacation time. I should say we don't take much vacation time. Not vacation in a way that I would define it anyway. I can't ever remember a vacation or even a weekend or even a date night where Josh's phone didn't ring and he was responsible to do something about the call....except while we were on our honeymoon. Nine and a half years ago. So my wish (whether or not it will happen remai...

As I was putting Noah down for his nap today, he came right out of the blue and asked: "Mommy, how old is God?" I started explaining about God not having a beginning and that He was never born, so we can't measure how old He is, etc etc. Blank stare from Noah. Maybe I should have just said, "Really Old" and left it at that... P.S. You're getting a lot of Noah stories lately. I know, and I can't help it. I keep looking at him and seeing a kid who is almost school-age looking back at me, and I feel compelled to record as much of his life as I can. I don't want to forget any of it!

This morning Josh left a book open on the counter with a passage marked "Jo." Here is what it said, and may I just say that this was just what I needed today! Thank you, Josh! "Many mothers have asked us how they can handle an unruly child. One of the first things we have them do is see how many times a day they rebuke the child and how many times a day they reward and praise him. Proverbs 16:24 says, 'Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.' Also, how many times does the mother say--and mean--'I love you'? A child needs to know that he is loved whether his behavior is good or bad. Often parents of unruly children give all rebuke and no reward. It is not the lack of punishment, but often the overuse of it without any positive, loving encouragement that causes the difficulty." -from Formula For Family Unity, by Walter and Trudy Fremont

I took this video while we had Brianne and Titus over this morning. It was such a rare moment of sharing a story together that I had to get the camera in case it never happens again. Kidding, sort of. :) Noah and Brianne argue a lot, so for them to be sitting together sharing a happy moment was a treat to be sure. In this video you can also see Titus walking around. He would have loved to get my camera. Little guy will be one year old next week!

Tonight in family devotions, our Bible story was about Joseph's brothers selling Joseph into slavery. Here was Noah's prayer after we were done: "...and dear Lord, please help Joseph's brothers to be kind to him and not throw him into that big deep well..." Clearly this is a child with no concept of time and the passage of thousands of years. And clearly, this is a child with faith that God answers prayers! I just had to write this one down. :)

"Turn to the book of Amos," the pastor might say. I gulp and start sweating as I try to flip like I know what I'm doing through the books of the Old Testament, hoping that Amos will magically fall open and I won't be the last one with pages turning. I should have learned the books of the Bible by rote as a child, but I didn't. I learned them over time by trial and error, and those minor prophets still give me pause. Thankfully, Noah's Sunday School teacher has begun teaching her class to memorize the books of the Bible, and hopefully Noah won't suffer my same palm-sweating hesitancy later on. :) So far, Noah knows up through Jeremiah, though I think in this video he skips Psalms. This is mostly for the grandparents, and Josh and me of course, to look back on years from now and marvel that he was ever that little. I've been doing that a lot lately--going back through my blog, looking at old pictures and videos of Noah and laughing and crying.... but tha...

I've had a lot to "count as joy" these days. :) For some reason, the Lord has seen fit to allow multiple physical trials into my life over the last month or so. To my shame, I have not always had a good attitude about them, but by His grace He can help me to rejoice even in the midst of them. It is a moment-by-moment battle for me. I know that God is sovereign, and that there are no accidents with God, and for that I do rejoice! I am so thankful for a God who always acts on purpose, and always loves me enough to allow the best thing for me into my life. I do pray that I would bring Him glory in my "momentary, light afflictions." You know all about the Eardrum Thing. Well, after a week on the antibiotics, I have acquired a secondary infection (which shall remain nameless due to squeamishness) as a result of all the good bacteria being flushed out with the bad. My body threw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. Right now I am praying that the Lord will sp...

This morning after breakfast, Noah and I made Josh cards for Father's Day. Noah couldn't even wait for the ink to dry before running into the bedroom and showing Josh his card. It was a very sweet moment. For the first time, I let Noah make the whole card himself. I told him how to spell "Daddy", which he wrote on the front, and then he signed his name on the inside. He chose a stamp and proceeded to stamp the inside of the card as many times as he could. So typical. :) I love my husband dearly, and am so thankful I have the opportunity to see him be Daddy to our little boy. I'm thankful for his patience and willingness to be involved in discipline, and how he loves working side-by-side with Noah. It's really special for me to see them working on a project together. I miss my own father, who died right before Father's Day the year I was 11. I always remember him at this time of the year. I don't have very many memories of him, but the ones I do have ar...

Being able to hear out of only one ear is a singular experience. (ha HA! I just caught that totally unintentional pun!) I've done it before for maybe a day during an illness, but this is the first time in my life I can remember days upon days of feeling like I'm underwater. My biggest challenge is in places with a great deal of background noise, such as being outside with the cicadas chirping to beat the band, or in a grocery store. I never realized before how much background noise there is in this world! Why do I notice this now? Because being able to hear out of only one ear, all I can hear is the background noise , where before I would just tune it out. I am now incapable of tuning it out. It's so weird. Example: I went to the grocery store this morning where, usually unbeknownst to me because I tune it out, they had music playing over the intercom. Also, I could hear some sort of fan/refrigeration/air conditioning hum. Could I hear what the cashier was saying? Nope. Had...

I am so blessed to be part of our church family at Truth Baptist Church! I never expected the outpouring of love and prayers over something as simple as a ruptured eardrum, but I got it! I mentioned Wednesday night at church my prayer request, and since then have received emails, phone calls, and even a meal and offers for a meal delivered to my door. It's astounding and so encouraging that the Lord uses His saints to minister to a child of His who is going through a trial. It's humbling and reminds me to do the same for others who might be facing a rough time. Matthew 25:35, 36, 40 "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me...The King will answer and say to them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." Thank you, church f...

We have been playing Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders with Noah for a while now, when we can stand it. Those games are pretty tough for me to enjoy as an adult anyway, but when your opponent literally has no idea where he's supposed to move his piece from one turn to the next, it gets pretty boring. Why boring? Think with me now: if you're playing with someone who doesn't know where to move next, and so you're basically telling him where to move and what to do when he gets to that space, one of you is unnecessary. For all intents and purposes, you are playing against yourself! And if I'm going to play something with myself, you can guarantee it's not going to be Candy Land. ;) But! At long last! It rained on Monday, so we brought out the games. Noah got the game set up, and proceeded to play without one iota of help from me!!!! A card with 2 orange squares? No problem. He moved the correct number of spaces without any help. He finally got it, too, when he was...

Remember my cold from last week? It morphed into an ear infection and peaked into a ruptured eardrum last night. That's right, a ruptured eardrum. As in, worst pain I think I have ever felt, bar none. Labor was fun compared to this. Really. As in, I can't hear out of my right ear. As in, all I can hear in that ear is a constant high-pitched ringing that has got to be right at dog-whistle-frequency. As in, I now have a constant trickle of ear-fluid leaking out of my ear. Gross! (As if you really needed to know that last tidbit, but it's true nonetheless. While I'm at home, I have been hanging a tissue out of my ear to soak up the yuck.) So enough about the grossness. How did this happen? Yesterday I laid down for a 30-minutes snooze on the couch while Noah was napping. When I woke up, I could not hear out of my right ear. "Interesting," I thought, and went on about my day. We were preparing for a ladies' meeting at our house, and I had a gigantic mess sta...

Noah caught a cold early in the week and was kind enough to share with his mommy! Thank you, sweetheart! :) This cold has come complete with a fever, which always wipes me out and plants me on the couch for the duration. God's grace is always new though, and today I discovered that I *can* mop the floor and keep up with the cleaning in spite of my achyness (who knows how to spell that?) and general mental incapacity. Blessings! Noah managed to bounce back after only one day with a fever, but so far I've had 2 days of it. Being sick as a mother has taught me so much about God's grace, and has reminded me to be thankful for my own mother, who also never got a sick day. So to all of you who have ever yearned for your pillows, some tea, and a bottomless tissue box, and got a broom, mop bucket, and a child with bottomless energy instead, Thank You. And keep on praying for more grace--you'll need it! P.S. I'm supposed to sing in church on Sunday, which at this point seems...

Josh has been working overtime lately on a myriad of new projects. He recently bought a 16-unit property (a group of 4 buildings with 4 units in each), plus he's been managing a few other properties for his dad. And I thought Josh was busy before! It has been reminding me more and more to take my own advice to Dave and Andrea at their wedding: don't find your sufficiency and your joy solely in your spouse! I can be happy and joyful even if Josh leaves earlier, comes home later, and works more days. "I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely...In Your presence is fullness of joy..." Ps 16:8, 9, 11b

I overheard Noah talking to our neighbor girl from across the street as they were playing together. Noah had picked a scab on his leg (one of the many!) and it had started bleeding, which must have triggered his next thought: "Did you know that Jesus uses blood to wash our sins away?" I was convicted. When was the last time I shared the gospel--or even part of it--with one of my unsaved neighbor friends?

Brianne was feeling a little shy on Dave's wedding day. They had asked if she could be the flower girl, and she wasn't quite sure about that. She buried her head in Jen's skirt anytime someone asked her about it, so Matt and Jen began preparing for "what if Brianne chickens out at the last minute, and won't go down the aisle?" They thought maybe Noah could walk with her and help her be brave. They practiced. Well, it must have seemed a little too real for Noah, because he wandered off by himself just before Dave's wedding. After scanning the beach, we spotted him down by the water (I know ! I won't comment now on all that did to my insides as a parent, because I'm sure you can imagine). I ran down to retrieve him, and after a stern "what were you thinking" type warning, I told him it was almost time for the wedding, and we needed to hurry back. Dragging his feet, he said, "Mommy do I have to marry Brianne?" "No, sweetheart...

Here are a few photos from our time away at Dave's wedding. Based on how long it was taking these to upload, I had to drastically reduce the number of photos I chose to share. Also, some of these photos are borrowed. Here's a hint: if it looks too good to be a photo of mine, it's somebody else's. :) Enjoy! Mom and Dad Rowley with the grandchildren who were able to make it. My honeybear and me! Brianne as Flower Girl. There's a funny story about this that I may tell one day if I remember and have time... Andrea walking down the aisle Dave hugging his mom. Andrea hugging her too. These were very sweet moments! The Kiss! Happily married Josh's immediate family. There is a pic somewhere of all of us, including the wives and kids, but I'll have to go track that one down. Yes, this would be an example of a photo I definitely did NOT take, but wish I did. :) At the reception And THIS! This is baby Lauren, Joel and Hannah's new baby who was 7 1/2 weeks ear...