Another lovely day of vacation

Our vacation adventure continues. It's actually very laid back and relaxing. J is sleeping past 8am most mornings, we're spending a lot of our time just hanging out around Amy's house. Today we did some puzzles together after breakfast. One with my niece and nephew, and then J and I did a few that were for his age. He really liked these. J has gotten really good at entertaining his cousins. He's realized he can make them laugh by just making faces or saying words they ask him to say. We took a walk in J's car and his cousins each got to push the car one way. They were pretty excited about that.


Before afternoon nap, we spent some time swimming. J did great in the water wings today thanks to cousin Blake. He got them out and J actually wanted them today. It was amazing how relaxed he got in the water. He went from clinging to me to just holding my hands and stretching out floating on his tummy while kicking his legs. We'd do little bits of this, then I'd hold him close and tell him how good he was doing and then we'd do some more.


Dinner was great, having steak quesedillas on the grill. After dinner, we all went in the hot tub. This was J's first time. He really enjoyed it, especially after he found out he could stand on one side of it. Then he really got comfortable and was splashing and walking from me to the railing and back. The kids went into the pool and then J wanted to go. We went back and forth a couple times and all of a sudden it was really dark and time for bed. It was another good day.

In my times with the Lord this week, I've been reading Acts 10 and 11. We see Paul preaching to the Gentiles as Peter is preaching to the Jews. Two giants of the faith, Beth says, although they had different callings. Paul came to see that God accepts men from all nations who fear him and do what is right (Acts 10:34-35). Later, while Peter was on a rooftop to pray, he had a vision from God. In this vision, God was admonishing him to not consider anything impure that God had made clean. He comes to learn the meaning of this is the barrier between the Gentiles and the Jews. God sends the men of Cornelius (a centurion) to ask Peter to come see him. Peter accepts this invitation in obedience, even though meeting and certainly eating with Gentiles was forbidden for Jews. God through his word was breaking down prejudicial barriers through his followers who obeyed. Beth reflects a lot about this. It was good to think about where in my life do I have prejudices, especially spiritually. So often we can have spiritual pride where we feel superior to others and do not see our blind spot. This has happened to me and when the Lord has opened my eyes to it, it is very humbling. Later in Acts 11, Barnabas and Saul went to preach and be with the church in Antioch. When Barnabas saw the evidence of the grace of God there, he encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. Here Saul was teaching the principles of a godly life while Barnabas was encouraging them to stay faithful. Having a Barnabas in the body you are connected to is so powerful. It is also powerful when you get the chance to be a Barnabas to others. You never know when something you say will have an impact for good in a person's life.