It's only for a moment you are mine to hold The plans that heaven has for you Will all too soon unfold
So many different prayers I'll pray For all that you might do But most of all I'll want to know You're walking in the truth
And If I never told you I want you to know As I watch you grow
I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams And that faith gives you the courage To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings So let my love give you roots And help you find your wings
May passion be the wind That leads you through your days And may conviction keep you strong Guide you on your way
May there be many moments That make your life so sweet Oh, but more than memories
I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams And that faith gives you the courage To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings So let my love give you roots And help you find your wings
It's not living if you don't reach for the sky I'll have tears as you take off But I'll cheer as you fly!
Gabriel Matthew,
Everyday you remind us that God is still preforming miracles in our midst. We love you more than we ever knew possible and are constantly amazed at your love of life and perseverance through your struggles. Although you don't know you're struggling, the world does and you continue to prove them wrong each and every day. You are the smile in our hearts, the lyrics to our life's song and the beat of our hearts. We love you, little man!
A few weeks ago I read the following on a blog that I follow:
"I'm trading the American dream for the Kingdom of God."
And I've been unable to get that thought out of my head. Matt and I are certainly not living the "American dream" but it was always a nice idea in the back of my head. Now, however after prayer, reading the Bible and just good old thinking I've decided the American dream is just not for me! Having a big house, 2.4 (how do you get slightly less than half a child I ask) children, new cars and lots of things just doesn't interest me anymore.
While I'd like to have a bigger house; it's not for the extra square footage and pretty rooms anymore but it's more space for more people. I've always wanted to be able to give my children a 'comfortable' life; not having them be spoiled but ensuring that they have the 'stuff' they 'need. Now I'm desperate for having Gabe (and his future siblings) store their treasures in heaven and not in their toy box.
I'm not entirely sure what John Piper is all about, but I dare you to watch this video and not be inspired.
Being born an orphan in Ethiopia, being traded as a sex slave in Rwanda or starving on the streets of Guam will not keep you out of heaven, but being rich... and loving your money will.
When Matt graduates with his MBA, I desire for him to find a job he loves that pays more than this one. But no matter how high of an income he ever makes, I can't see us living a lavish lifestyle. That's just not us.. we LOVE our 14 year old, 200+ mile Civic aptly named Pete, I can't fathom every wanting a really big TV or even an insanely large house (because I'd have to clean it, I'm way to obsessive-compulsive to let someone else do that!).
But we would be able to make a difference in a different way. Doing local missions is fabulous and it's one of our passions to get involved in our community but having the iincome to adopt as we feel called and not stress about where the money is coming from would be heavenly. To sponsor more children through World Vision, donate to more charities, go on missions trips to different cities and countries... that's what extra money would do for us.
If being rich would keep me out of heaven... I'll keep my 3-bedroom house and cram it full of all the children, love and laughter it can hold. I'll drive 8 or 14 year old cars, forgo manicures and cable to save a little money, make a little bit of a difference and not forget who I am.
Money doesn't close the door to heaven, loving it does. But when you look in the news, it seems that so many of the 'rich and famous' forget about what they can do with their wealth and become infatuated with their status.
So this is it, American dream no more... my dream is different, bigger, better... and oh so worth it!
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Two Sundays ago, I had the opportunity to serve; to be His hands and feet and to show some love 'to the least of these.'
Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.
~Mohammed Ali
Let me back track for a second, I belong to an awesome church who in the past couple of years has become a church that serves; a church that goes out into the community and tries to make a difference. We have huge service projects like Serve Elyria and the Family Fair and wonderful missions trips to 3rd world countries but there also lots of 'little' service projects that can make a big difference.
Besides belonging to an awesome church I have the best (and I mean best) Life Group (small group, community group). Our group contains 5 families totalling in 10 adults and a soon to be 10 children ages 5 and under! We have so much fun together; laughing, sharing, chasing after babies and of course, growing closer to Christ.
It is with these 9 other adults that I have had the opportunity to serve. August 1st we had the privilege of serving dinner at the Salvation Army for the homeless and hungry. We've done it before but this time it felt different; a little more real and a bit sadder than last time.
This is what we served:
Taco's with all the fixings!
Variety of homemade cookies. Yum!
And everyone did their part:
But it felt different because last time we only served about 40 people and had lots of food left over. This time we served around 90 people and had to go out and buy more food when we saw all the people lined up. Before dinner even began we had 67 people lined up; some homeless while others were just desperate for a warm meal and a kind smile.
It also felt different because last time there were only older children who came to eat. This time there were a lot more, ranging from young toddler to hungry middle schoolers.
"But the needy will not be forgotten..." Psalm 9:18
Due to a lack of a babysitter (i.e. the only person he will stay with - Nonny) baby Gabe attended as well. And it was an awesome experience to see how one little boy could create such smiles and light up the eyes of the old and young who came to eat. I think it would probably be a good idea to alternate bringing our children so that they can learn at an early age about serving but also to provide a few extra smiles to the people that come to share dinner with us.
And just like last time, we left the kitchen much cleaner than it was when we came in :) What can I say, we just love a clean kitchen.
"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11
For weeks prior to the appearance of Gabe's first tooth, he was a drooling machine. And occasionally his teeth would bother him enough that'd he would become cranky. Since crankiness is not one of Gabe's normal attributes (I swear that he is one of the happiest babies ever) I knew we needed to do something to allieviate his symptoms (i.e. his crankiness).
Now, I'm not opposed to using medicine to allieviate pain however, I'd prefer to keep Gabriel away from medicines as much as we can. That thought coupled with the fact that there have been so many pediatric drug recalls lately, we were hesitant to give Gabe tylenol or motrin unless completely necessary.
And while I was researching natural methods for teething pain I came upon a lot of information for Baltic teething necklaces and I was intrigued. Now this wasn't the first time I'd heard of teething necklaces: a few years back when I worked at the child development center I had a mother ask if her son could wear one to school. The answer was an immediate no; just for what I thought was the obvious choking hazard.
But I digress. So I did a little (well, a lot) of research on teething necklaces and decided to give them a try. And then I did even more research to find the perfect one. And I think that I did!
Gabe wears his teething necklace fairly regularly; when I notice he's extra drooly or when he begins to fuss and put even more things than normal in his mouth :)
It seems to be working; he seems to have less teething pain and is quite happy when the excessive drooling and 'putting-everything-possible-in-your-mouth' starts.
And besides being effective, isn't he just the cutest person to ever where a necklace?
In case you're interested the site we ordered his necklace from is right here!
