This seaon of my life is a huge period of growth for my relationship with Jesus Christ. As a church, we are studying the book of James. It is a very hard, challenging, and excellent book. This study, lead by our pastor, has been truly life-changing for me. I am being discipled by the pastor's wife. I had never heard this term before I went to college -- discipleship groups. And even then, it was just a committed Bible study. This is so much more. This is about me looking to my elders for guidance and wisdom and accountability. Our group is very small (myself and one other lady), which is perfect for me because if there are many more people, I won't do a whole lot of talking. And I really want to engage in these conversations! I'm so thankful for this opportunity. So I wanted to share what we studied this past week about prayer. Our church recently started having a prayer service every Sunday morning. Every service is different, led by an elder, just 40 minutes of led prayer time (usually involving music, scripture reading, etc.). As a church body, we've been called to pray more. So our question for discipleship this week was Why Pray?
Why Pray?
My first answer was because Jesus modeled prayer and taught His disciples how to pray Matthew 6:5-14. I did a little online searching, coming up with a few websites that offered good reasons to pray. I didn't dig into most of the websites, just took a few scriptures and went off on my own with them. The first that struck me was 1 Corinthians 1:9. "We are called into fellowship with Jesus Christ." He simply wants us to spend time with Him. I am always looking for playdates and opportunities to spend time with friends and their kids because I enjoy the conversation and the company. I need to do the same with Christ.
The next place I went was Luke 11. The story Jesus shares tells of a man who will give his friend whatever he needs because his friend comes desperately to him and is very persistent. Jesus has called me his friend. If I am desperate in the sense that only God can give what I ask, and persistent about asking, God will provide for all my needs. A similar story is told in Luke 18:1-8.
I found this scripture after my studying -- Matthew 9:35-38. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for "laborers for the harvest." He told them to pray for servants who would be willing to do His will. The needs of this fallen world are great. There is so much work to be done that we need many workers. We need to pray for people who will be willing to labor for God's harvest.
The next thing I just had to do was find out what John Piper had to say about prayer. Andrew and I have been reading a good bit of his work the last couple of months and he just blows me away. The amazing thing is, I actually have the ability to understand what he says (although, his works can be incredibly lengthy!). We have delved into the deep thinking about God's sovereignty and, let me say, I will never understand it in this body. But it is incredible to think about! With that in mind, I read this blog post by John Piper called Praying From the Fullness of the Word. His answer to why we should pray, especially if God is sovereign in all things, is a quote from Charles Spurgeon. Summary & quote: If we believe that God has ordained all things, then our prayers are part of that. If all of our steps are laid out, so are all of our prayers and the answers to those prayers. "When we pray, we are producing links in the chain of ordained facts."
Two last thoughts that tie it all together for me are 1 John 5:14 & James 4:2-3. We need only to ask in Jesus name and He will give to us according to His will. If we ask according to His will, He hears our prayers. That is Mighty Power in our corner.
So why pray?
We pray to commune with God and to align our hearts and our wills with His. We desire what God desires for us because we trust Him to "work all things together for our good" - Romans 8:28 - that we will get everything we want, but that He knows what we need and what is best for us and we believe that God only gives good gifts and "every good gift is from God" - James 1:16-17.
I am learning to bend my knees and my will to God's will.
Jesus did.
I want to be like Jesus.
So I'm learning to pray.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
18 months old!
The 2nd of this month was the boys 18 month-iversary! I cannot believe how much they've grown. They are such big boys, but I love those sweet moments when they still want to snuggle like itty bitties. I think I might get a few more of those than mommies with single baby boys do, just because they usually don't get as much due to having a twin. But these days, I try to snuggle and cuddle whenever possible because I know it won't last much longer!!
Today was our well-child visit, and I wanted to post the stats because I hardly ever blog anymore (who has time with 2 toddlers??).
Jordan is 25lbs 3oz and 34 inches long = 40%tile for weight and 90%tile for height.
Aidan is 27lbs 14oz and 34 inches long = 75%tile for weight and 90%tile for height.
I'm pretty sure they were both around 30 inches long at 12 months (and we missed our 15 month appt). To me, 4 inches in 6 months seems like a LOT! They have definitely lost some weight, but it's probably a combination of sickness and activeness and teeth. I was dressing them today and thinking I might have to borrow back some of the 18 month pants I gave away - the 24 month/2T are just too big around! The jeans anyway. Cotton pants or lounge-around pants can be rolled until the end of time, as far as I'm concerned. (It might be that I'm not bottered by that or I think it's normal because it's what I always do... hm. I might have to get someone to show me how pants are really supposed to fit.) They love trucks and trains and dinosaurs and fish. They love books and coloring. They've just starting loving blocks and are now able to stack the mega-blocks (big lego-like blocks)! We have a mini set of those old cardboard blocks that churches and doctor offices used to have, and they love to stack those and run big trucks through them. I'm thinking the 2 year birthday will be trains, if not Thomas the Tank Engine. We'll have to see what I can find at the multiples sale. I'm still considering the train table, but I'm leaning towards 'no' on that. They're room is so small anyway. I'll be SO glad for warm weather where we can run around the yard with trucks and rocks and water!! And THEN.... it'll be time for potty training, which I'm certain I am not prepared for in the slightest. But we do have potty seats in the bathroom that they will at least sit on fully clothed. We're working on going potty before bathtime with no clothes on, but they're very against it for whatever reason. It'll come soon enough!
Today was our well-child visit, and I wanted to post the stats because I hardly ever blog anymore (who has time with 2 toddlers??).
Jordan is 25lbs 3oz and 34 inches long = 40%tile for weight and 90%tile for height.
Aidan is 27lbs 14oz and 34 inches long = 75%tile for weight and 90%tile for height.
I'm pretty sure they were both around 30 inches long at 12 months (and we missed our 15 month appt). To me, 4 inches in 6 months seems like a LOT! They have definitely lost some weight, but it's probably a combination of sickness and activeness and teeth. I was dressing them today and thinking I might have to borrow back some of the 18 month pants I gave away - the 24 month/2T are just too big around! The jeans anyway. Cotton pants or lounge-around pants can be rolled until the end of time, as far as I'm concerned. (It might be that I'm not bottered by that or I think it's normal because it's what I always do... hm. I might have to get someone to show me how pants are really supposed to fit.) They love trucks and trains and dinosaurs and fish. They love books and coloring. They've just starting loving blocks and are now able to stack the mega-blocks (big lego-like blocks)! We have a mini set of those old cardboard blocks that churches and doctor offices used to have, and they love to stack those and run big trucks through them. I'm thinking the 2 year birthday will be trains, if not Thomas the Tank Engine. We'll have to see what I can find at the multiples sale. I'm still considering the train table, but I'm leaning towards 'no' on that. They're room is so small anyway. I'll be SO glad for warm weather where we can run around the yard with trucks and rocks and water!! And THEN.... it'll be time for potty training, which I'm certain I am not prepared for in the slightest. But we do have potty seats in the bathroom that they will at least sit on fully clothed. We're working on going potty before bathtime with no clothes on, but they're very against it for whatever reason. It'll come soon enough!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas Recap
Since I haven't blogged much lately, I'm going to give you the rundown of why and how how holiday season went in a quick (probably not) little post.
The boys did really well with the Christmas tree, for the most part. We put it up while they were awake, but just the tree itself at first. It was an old tree of my great-aunt's, probably 45 years old. The kind that is just a wooden pole that you stick the branches into - kind looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! It really wasn't that bad, it's the same tree we've always used & the one I used in my college apartment. Perfect for showing off a small amount of ornaments. So the boys "helped" us put it together and then we put the lights on while they napped. I also hung all the breakable ornaments and the ones that I really care most about, leaving the bottom branches empty. When they got up, we let them "help" us hang the soft, non-breakable ornaments on the bottom few rows. They loved looking that ornaments and were pretty good about not taking them off the tree. I think the tree lasted about 2 weeks. See... I left a little walk-space beside the tree because I knew they'd want to see it from all sides possible (they mostly laid underneath and looked up at the lights). But one day Jordan went behind it & was probably reaching for an ornament and lost his balance. He pushed it over. Thankfully, no one was under it. I really was afraid at first that Jordan was under it, but then I saw him in the corner looking scared. Just a few ornaments broke, but it was a mess! One was a big glass ball that just shattered. So anyway, that was the end of the old tree & we went without the rest of the month. It kind of took a lot of the spirit out of me, not having many other lights in the house. But we ended up not having much a Christmas, so it didn't really matter!
The weekend before Christmas was my extended family get-together in Huntsville. I had been sick just before we went, but it was just a 12 hour bug or something. So Saturday the 18th, we had a church Christmas function downtown (here) at lunch where we gave gifts to less fortunate families and had lunch with them. We left at the boys naptime and headed to Huntsville. We had a great meal and gift time for the kids (although, I forgot that all my "aunt" Pat makes is roast beef and I couldn't have it! made for a sad meal for me). Our boys got some big dinosaurs, a dinosaur book, and a fishing puzzle/game - all of which they love! We stayed until bedtime and then headed home. The boys did great.
The boys had gotten the runny noses and we'd started doing a couple of breathing treatments a day, just to make sure nothing got too bad. But Aidan just kept coughing and sleeping in our bed. On the 23rd in the middle of the night, I woke up to him wheezing and wimpering try to take breaths. When I got him good and awake, his breathing was making a whistling noise. So I took him to the ER at Children's & we stayed in the ER until lunch the next day. He had 3 breathing treatments & never got his O2 sats up enough to please the docs. So he was admitted on Christmas Eve. Some swee friends from small group brought Aidan a few toys & some snacks and then Andrew came up for a couple of hours. Aidan was really good the whole time, but just a little freaked about the hospital room, O2 sat monitor & cord, and oxygen cannula (the nose tubes). He got breathing treatments every 3 hours and we did actually get some sleep, but he was still sleeping on top of me. Andrew brought Jordan up there Christmas morning because we really didn't think we'd get to leave for a few more days (his numbers weren't very good & usually they require kids to be off oxygen 24 hours before discharge). But our fabulous pediatrician (we love all 3 in the practice) came by and said we were capable of doing everything he needed at home, minus oxygen. So we were home by lunch on Christmas Day! We were very thankful for that & we got to spend a quiet day together at home. Andrew and I just had a couple of gifts for them. We were sad to miss Christmas with my family & my dad's family that day. But home is better than hospital. So we continued treatments and meds and A recovered pretty quickly.
Well you know who got sick next. Probably 2 days after Christmas, Jordan started looking worse. Now he was sleeping with us instead of Aidan. I took him into the ped office on Thursday & they were not pleased with his numbers there. Our doc knew we needed to be admitted, but said the hospital was full (!!). So J got 2 treatments in the office & a dose of steroid. We had to pull a crazy night of 6 breathing treatments from 5pm to 4am (not a lot of sleep for me & Andrew, but there hadn't been lately anyway) and go back in the next day. On Friday, the doc was much happier with how he sounded and looked, but he was still a sick boy. He is much better now, but still on 4 treatments a day.
Saturday was Andrew's sister's wedding. Adrienne had wanted our boys to be ring bearers & I had made them john-johns. Wasn't going to happen! We were all so sad that they couldn't be in the wedding, but they got to visit with my parents who graciously offered to come and keep them during all the festivities. They came up Friday afternoon so Andrew & I could go to the rehearsal dinner, which was a lot of fun. They kept them Saturday during the wedding & brought them to us toward the end of the reception. But Aidan started running a fever again that afternoon. They did really well with all the craziness this past weekend, but we could tell they still weren't 100% themselves. They still really aren't. Jordan is still on the meds and Aidan looks like he might need them again. We see the doc AGAIN on Thursday. :) It's supposed to be well-child visits - we'll see!
So that is our month in review. That's why I haven't blogged, too!
The boys did really well with the Christmas tree, for the most part. We put it up while they were awake, but just the tree itself at first. It was an old tree of my great-aunt's, probably 45 years old. The kind that is just a wooden pole that you stick the branches into - kind looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! It really wasn't that bad, it's the same tree we've always used & the one I used in my college apartment. Perfect for showing off a small amount of ornaments. So the boys "helped" us put it together and then we put the lights on while they napped. I also hung all the breakable ornaments and the ones that I really care most about, leaving the bottom branches empty. When they got up, we let them "help" us hang the soft, non-breakable ornaments on the bottom few rows. They loved looking that ornaments and were pretty good about not taking them off the tree. I think the tree lasted about 2 weeks. See... I left a little walk-space beside the tree because I knew they'd want to see it from all sides possible (they mostly laid underneath and looked up at the lights). But one day Jordan went behind it & was probably reaching for an ornament and lost his balance. He pushed it over. Thankfully, no one was under it. I really was afraid at first that Jordan was under it, but then I saw him in the corner looking scared. Just a few ornaments broke, but it was a mess! One was a big glass ball that just shattered. So anyway, that was the end of the old tree & we went without the rest of the month. It kind of took a lot of the spirit out of me, not having many other lights in the house. But we ended up not having much a Christmas, so it didn't really matter!
The weekend before Christmas was my extended family get-together in Huntsville. I had been sick just before we went, but it was just a 12 hour bug or something. So Saturday the 18th, we had a church Christmas function downtown (here) at lunch where we gave gifts to less fortunate families and had lunch with them. We left at the boys naptime and headed to Huntsville. We had a great meal and gift time for the kids (although, I forgot that all my "aunt" Pat makes is roast beef and I couldn't have it! made for a sad meal for me). Our boys got some big dinosaurs, a dinosaur book, and a fishing puzzle/game - all of which they love! We stayed until bedtime and then headed home. The boys did great.
The boys had gotten the runny noses and we'd started doing a couple of breathing treatments a day, just to make sure nothing got too bad. But Aidan just kept coughing and sleeping in our bed. On the 23rd in the middle of the night, I woke up to him wheezing and wimpering try to take breaths. When I got him good and awake, his breathing was making a whistling noise. So I took him to the ER at Children's & we stayed in the ER until lunch the next day. He had 3 breathing treatments & never got his O2 sats up enough to please the docs. So he was admitted on Christmas Eve. Some swee friends from small group brought Aidan a few toys & some snacks and then Andrew came up for a couple of hours. Aidan was really good the whole time, but just a little freaked about the hospital room, O2 sat monitor & cord, and oxygen cannula (the nose tubes). He got breathing treatments every 3 hours and we did actually get some sleep, but he was still sleeping on top of me. Andrew brought Jordan up there Christmas morning because we really didn't think we'd get to leave for a few more days (his numbers weren't very good & usually they require kids to be off oxygen 24 hours before discharge). But our fabulous pediatrician (we love all 3 in the practice) came by and said we were capable of doing everything he needed at home, minus oxygen. So we were home by lunch on Christmas Day! We were very thankful for that & we got to spend a quiet day together at home. Andrew and I just had a couple of gifts for them. We were sad to miss Christmas with my family & my dad's family that day. But home is better than hospital. So we continued treatments and meds and A recovered pretty quickly.
Well you know who got sick next. Probably 2 days after Christmas, Jordan started looking worse. Now he was sleeping with us instead of Aidan. I took him into the ped office on Thursday & they were not pleased with his numbers there. Our doc knew we needed to be admitted, but said the hospital was full (!!). So J got 2 treatments in the office & a dose of steroid. We had to pull a crazy night of 6 breathing treatments from 5pm to 4am (not a lot of sleep for me & Andrew, but there hadn't been lately anyway) and go back in the next day. On Friday, the doc was much happier with how he sounded and looked, but he was still a sick boy. He is much better now, but still on 4 treatments a day.
Saturday was Andrew's sister's wedding. Adrienne had wanted our boys to be ring bearers & I had made them john-johns. Wasn't going to happen! We were all so sad that they couldn't be in the wedding, but they got to visit with my parents who graciously offered to come and keep them during all the festivities. They came up Friday afternoon so Andrew & I could go to the rehearsal dinner, which was a lot of fun. They kept them Saturday during the wedding & brought them to us toward the end of the reception. But Aidan started running a fever again that afternoon. They did really well with all the craziness this past weekend, but we could tell they still weren't 100% themselves. They still really aren't. Jordan is still on the meds and Aidan looks like he might need them again. We see the doc AGAIN on Thursday. :) It's supposed to be well-child visits - we'll see!
So that is our month in review. That's why I haven't blogged, too!
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