Multitude Monday

Birthday stay-cation week has come and gone.  The girls and I are missing Derek (and my family, and Brad, Julia, Brynne, and Hadley) as we go it alone once again.    It was a wonderful week full of so many blessings and even some hard eucharisteo. But I’m grateful and I’ll let the gifts speak for themselves.

2210-  of the ways that God showed He loved us this week.

• Brad managing to pull of his surprise for Julia and getting her down here to visit with us without her ever having caught on! 8+ months of planning a success for him!
• 4 toddler girl twins roaming in my living room
• Hadley’s excitement about the boat in the pool
• Aeralind swimming all the way across the pool all on her own!
• Brynne and Bronwyn struggling through their own pool disappointment but coming out smiling
• Extra long naps
• Guys going shopping while girls stayed home and chatted
• Wandering slow and face to fact through grace and marriage and family
• Laughing again about the Maggots
• My girls sharing grapes with Julia’s girls
• Pizza outside while the rain held up
• Walking, running, and squealing through the park
• Bronwyn running back to keep checking on Brynne and Brad and smiling
• Hadley running back and forth between me and her momma, grinning as I tickled her
• Failed attempts to get all four girls to sit on a swing and look at a camera
• Aeralind lying on bench swings and asking to “wock”
• Being present while while two tired toddlers sing Skinamarinky dinky dink “eye lub you!” to me and Derek
• Night time hugs
• Worn out babies and parents
• Long nights
• Husband warm and curled around me in pain
• Clean and empty tummy and bowels
• The body’s ability to cleanse itself
• Julia, Brad, and girls having a morning to themselves while I recovered
• Cool air and warm sunshine
• Beautiful wooden rocking horse give to us by our moving neighbor
• Bronwyn yelling “neigh!” and Aeralind repeating “wock” as they ride their new horse
• Quiet morning of shopping alone
• Little Aeralind climbing down the stairs at 9pm so apologetic that she was unable to climb back into her crib to sleep
• Girls pulling newly stained stool out from under our bed to snuggle with us under the sheets
• Taking pictures of Julia’s family at the park

• The perfect little birthday party: small and including all of the girls favorit things (spaghetti, the pool, owls, cupcakes, sugar)
• Pefectly half-frozen slushie textured soda.  I never drink soda and it was so good!
• Watching Bronwyn sip Ruthie’s soda slushie.  Her cold face was hysterical!
• Aeralind scared of blowing out her candle.
• Bronwyn gleefully blowing out both candles.
• Toddler running laps around chairs squealing, panting, and falling.
• Aeralind climbing out of her crib, standing quietly in the hallway until daddy saw her.  Her whispering “Daddy, ca ca.” (poop).  So sweet.
• Little girls cleaning windows and walls and tables with rags.
• New birthday morning tradition: Birthday Tea!

• Girls enjoying sips of watered down and milked up with a dash of sugar tea
• Birthday omletes
• Half a cupcake with breakfast
• Aeralind climbing in our bed shortly after she woke up- annoying, but oh so sweet.
• Derek being home for over a week
• Getting a morning showering instead of a naptime shower multiple times this week.
• Million of daddy changed diapers: what sweet sacrifice!
• Perfect birthday morning at the park
• Girls transfixed and delighted by being surrounded by ducks, geese, and pigeons as they tossed bread.

• A hysterical impromptu romp in the fountains
• Probably some of the last running around semi-naked moments caught on camera

• Super surprise visit from Jen and Abel.
• Seeing Aeralind be bashful
• Watching Bronwyn love on Jen
• Momma made sleep sacks
• Missing Derk now that he’s at work– he’s beyond helpful and so amazing!
• Hearing wisdom preached.

I run razor across legs to remove growth that was not there mere days ago.  Half-awake, a sudden thought jolts me present.

Is growth always nearly imperceptible?

Do we only see growth when we’re looking?

A hard week has slipped by- one full of grumbling and fear and culminating in tears as I presided over a mountain of borax spilt by toddlers in the kitchen.  A nearly nake toddler wrapped arms around me as I sobbed, both of us now covered in white dust.  I feel weak.  I feel hopeless. I feel resigned.

Standing in the shower, jolted awake by thoughts, I finally spot the growth.

I am weak.

I am hopeless.

But God.

I wrestle hard again with perfectionism.  I am reminded again that the cure is humility, the surrendering, admitting, and (dare I say it?) the resigning to the power nad grace of God.

I turn off the shower.

I resign control to Him.
2194-2209

• Aeralind mostly stayin in her crib despite her newfound climbing skills
• Pool budddies!!
• Bronwyn so tired from swimming and playing that she actually asked for a nap
• Two snuggly girls lying on me, drinking water
• Fun Fat Quarters arriving
• Quilt half cut out
• Dresser almost done
• Only closet doors and a little glazing left before I can retire my paintbrush for 2011
• Unless I decide to glaze the bathroom with leftover paint/glaze
• Baby gates
• exhaustion when I over do it
• Play dates!
• Long naptime chats with my ssiter
• Papa and girls slding down the tall slide
• Cleaning with Derek
• Rest

Sometimes I stare at a blank post window for what seems like hours.

Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to say of value.

Perhaps, that’s a good thing:

When there are many words, transgression in unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.  Proverbs 10:19

So today I’ll just keep silent, and let the blessings that Christ poured out on me this last week speak for themselves.

Counting 2182-2193 of the thousands of gifts He gives each day.

• Little girls insisting on trying on momma-made PJs
• Bronwyn’s new headband obsession
• Dinner and Dancing out with Derek
• Aeralind’s often unexpected tackle hugs
• Serious enjoying stripping furniture with Derek
• Too big T-shirts made into little girl dresses for next spring/summer
• Planning a favorite things birthday party for the girls
• passing the 3 hour glucose 
• 72 degree morning at the park
• Confident kiddos on steps, stairs, ladders, and slides
• Discipline-even when it’s hard
• One thing to be thankful for about maggots: Laughter caused by random maggot-inspired phone calls 🙂

One evening last week I opened the back door to two things.  A Palmetto Bug (think: the world’s largest cockroach) and a perfectly woven tiny little nest.

The bug didn’t last 45 seconds.

Then nest is still sitting in my kitchen, quietly bearing witness to the beauty that God weaves daily.

This week thing are finally starting to come together in our spare-junk-room to be turned into a nursery.  At almost 8 months pregnant, I’m finally beginning to nest.  The excitement of creating this room is almost too much for me to fall asleep some nights.

This morning it strikes me: can you imagine the joy God gets out of creating the world anew each day as a space for His children if I’m getting so much joy from painting and sewing pillows and putting together a crib?

I slap yellow paint on walls and stroke grey gently on a dresser and each second I’m more excited about this new little person to love.  

Can you fathom the love in each sunrise and sunset, perfectly painted gifts from above?

Counting #2151-2181 of the breathtaking things He creates for me each day.

• 23 Months with Sweet girls
• Laughter between crib rails as I tickl toes
• Finally a dresser from Craigslist!
• Immediate response for my Queen mattress and bookshelves.
• The prospect of finally having enough space in the nursery to be to paint!
• Curtain panels cut
• Becca watching the girls (and taking them to the pool: brave lady!) while I had a long OB appointement
• Quiet long hours at the OB sewing felt food
• Phone call from Julia telling me she was praying for me
• Watching “Mighty Machines” in Brady’s bed (Becca’s son) and his sweet snuggles
• Tickle fights with Brady
• Bronwyn super excited about the “gucks” and “gars” and “ah pane!” in Brady’s room
• Quiet morning at the park
• Carseats on sale provide for by my generous parents
• The spanking spoon
• Toddler words I can understand
• “Psycho Baby” rolling, twisting, kicking, and generally going nuts inside of me!
• Girls eating chunks of raw squash that I’d hallowed out to stuff
• Baked Apples
• Fun at Roper Mt.
• Girls ‘bocking’ at the chickens
• Crowing at the rooster
• Derek picking me a bouquet of “weeds” he was digging out of the corn
• Little girls curled up on a genuine rope strung feather bd
• Watching them tuck each other in and giggle
• Walking through the heirloom garden “melling” flowers and sampling herbs
• first coat of nursery paint finished
• drawer fronts primed and painted
• Pumpking doughnuts baked
• Perfect little bird’s nest right outside my back door
• unexpected overtime
• Watching a movie and snuggling at the end of a long weekend

If we admit it, there are days when even sitting through the best sermon is drudgery.  Where our minds can’t connect what we’re hearing to our hearts, whether it’s from distraction, stubbornness, or just sin.

Yesterday was one of those days where distraction and sin tried to make a good sermon drudgery rather than a two-edge sword to pierce my heart.

The Holy Spirit eventually won out.

The passage was short and one I had often looked over:  James 1:26-27

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue be deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Oh, how I have deceived my heart!  How I have seen myself as pious, but turned and whipped my husband with words that do nothing to build up his heart.  Or I have sat and read the Word, and then lost my temper with a whining toddler.  Or I have quietly stayed home when I could have been forging relationships with those who need grace most.

May the truth of this word continue to pierce me through.

Counting #2129-2150 of the good and perfect gifts He continues to give me in love

• Rainer cherries on super sale- sooo good
• Publix frozen chocolate yogurt
• Nighttime cards with Derek
• First ay to pick up my CSA share
• Unexpected pizza dough and peppers 🙂
• Praying for the girls before naps
• Toddler girls crawling into each others laps to comfort the crying sister whose hair is being combed
• Time to cook a few meals while the oven was hot
• Discovering the mouse in the closet
• Discovering the one thing Bronwyn might be scared of: mice!
• Derek and I working until bedtime on kitchen and closet clean-up
• Picking beauty from my front yard
• Feeding cottage cheese to the girls
• Appetizer dinner night (yum yum!)
• Derek graciously letting me take a nap
• Derek making banana bread out of smashed bananas the girls pulled off the counter (when did they get that tall?!) Best banana bread ever!
• Two CSA-inspired vegetarian dinners.  Oh my, eggplant Parmesan is so good! Recipe that I basically followed here (I breaded and baked first rather than grilling).
• $1 thrifted flannel crib sheets made into PJ sets for the girls.
• Trying my hand at making a pattern even if they ended up as PJs
• Listening to a challenging message
• Attempting to apply
• Freedom to pray for wisdom whenever I need it