ABC's and 1-2-3's

Had J's second swimming lesson today. He wasn't as excited today as he was last week. His face seemed to say the water was colder than he liked and he seemed to have more fear this time about getting his face wet. He did like it when they brought out the toys to play with. Daddy was with us this time and they were throwing the ball back and forth. He also liked it when he got to "jump" from the side into my arms. Kept saying, "again?" but then wasn't happy when we'd go back to moving him in different positions. It will probably just take him a while to really get used to it.

In my devotional time today I read further in the book on Ecclesiastes (Is This All There Is). We are all looking for the secret to finding what delights us; the secret to contentment. Solomon, David's son, is the speaker in Ecclesiastes. He finds that there is nothing in and of itself that can bring contentment; that pleasure is fleeting. He asks, "What does pleasure accomplish?" Verse 10: I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work. Yet everything was meaningless, chasing after the wind. There was only momentary enjoyment.

I also started Luke 5. Jesus calls his disciples. What did they do when called? They got up, left everything and followed him. Could I have done that? Really? It is hard to imagine, yet that's what he was calling them to do. Beth shares how amazing it is that the Lord calls mere mortals to join him in his work. Being divine, he had the power to do it all himself, yet he desires that we join him. She says every person who believes has been summoned by Christ, they have been called. She introduces the idea that Jesus is working in every area of our lives. We tend to limit his true influence by thinking he's only working in an area visible to us. She brings up verse 23 in Colossians 3: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. That is something I need to keep in front of me. In all I do, to set my heart on doing it for the Lord. Sometimes in my heart I grumble or complain when I think L isn't doing enough with J or enough at home. It ends up taking away the joy it could give me to picture I'm doing the work I do for the Lord.

It was another cold and rainy day today so after lunch we played inside. We had a lot of fun reading his new book with sound buttons. The book has pictures of things that make sounds (a bird, a cricket, a water faucet) and you press the picture to hear its sound. We must have spent a good half hour reading over this book and pressing all the buttons. Later we spent some time at the library. We found a counting book and J was holding onto my finger and then pointing my finger at the pictures while he counted. It is so cute watching him learn 1 to 10. He found an ABC book that had little windows that opened and closed where different letters with pictures were hiding. These are two things he's focusing a lot on lately.

Our friends were kind enough to watch J so hubby and I could have a nice night out together. Thankfully, J loves playing at their house and was content to be there. We had a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant (Taste of India) and then parked the car near campus and sat and talked. Mostly about things we're focusing on right now in our lives and what the Lord is doing. L will have a couple days off next week so that'll be nice. Some of it he'll spend on his own since that's the way he really recharges his batteries. For some reason, J was fascinated with my eyebrows tonight. As I held him while saying prayers, he kept tracing my eyebrows with his tiny finger. He'd go from one eyebrow to the next and then back again. It was funny! He didn't say anything so for whatever reason they intrigued him tonight. Well, now it's time to go bring in a few plants so they don't get hit by FROST tonight! It is really cold out.