Marriage as ministry

On Saturday morning, we were going to go to the Farmer's Market which is held at the capitol square in Madison. It was the first one of the season. It was also the day of the Spring Badger football game so we decided parking would be too nuts and we'll take a raincheck. Instead, we planned for breakfast at Einstein's bagels and then a walk in the UW Arboretum. We hit the bagel shop and had my old standby the turkey sausage bagel with egg and neighborhood blend coffee. It was like a trip down memory lane. Back in our no-child days, we used to hang out several mornings a week at Einstein's with our coffee and bagel sandwiches and have our devotional time together. That's when he was working 2nd shift and I started around 10:30am while I was still working. What a different season of life! Anyhow, we didn't make it to the Arboretum since we really wanted to make sure J got a nap in before we headed out to our friend's place in the afternoon. He's been having too many meltdowns if he doesn't get that second nap.

After lunch, we headed to Black Earth where the town was having a weekend of garage sales. Our friend has 8 kids and her husband was taking 3 of them to the Badger game so we came to help with the garage sale. It was great catching up with her. We used to go to church together until we left that church around 2006. The kids had an even greater time playing in the yard and with all the riding toys. Daddy and J played some kiddie basketball. He just loves basketball. It was cute watching him try to throw the ball high. Later at home while J napped, I made a dessert for a BBQ our friends from our small group were having. It was a sunny day but the breeze made it feel cooler in the 50's. J had the most fun playing with all the balls they had (tennis, golf, basketball, soccer). He was in ball heaven. Our friends from the small group got to spend time playing with him too. That was nice. I had fun trying to teach the kids to whistle through an acorn top, which was something I learned as a kid. Their son was able to do it but the girls will have to keep trying. You have to have your thumbs in just the right V shape. After dinner, we all sat in front of a warm fire and talked and played Pictionary. It was a late one for J.

This morning was a nice and lazy morning since there was no peep from J until after 8am. While he napped, my intent was to have a devotional time but I couldn't keep my eyes open. These last few nights I was up late. Friday night I was making J's birthday invitations online until 1am and then last night it was 12:30pm. I really have to be more disciplined about going to bed before 11pm. Otherwise, I can't make it all day!

We packed a nice lunch again and had a nice afternoon at the UW Terrace. I had to feed J before we left though since he was too hungry. A couple ducks were hanging around so I let J throw them some bread. They were less than a foot away! I wish I had my camera. J and I took a nice long walk along the lake shore and it was so nice. A highlight was J wanting to go up and down the stairs several times with me holding his hand and him standing up (usually he'd crawl up stairs). He didn't want to go back to our table so it took a lot of coaxing.

We had church and then grabbed a bite for dinner with our friends and their kids. Their girls are so good with J. They pick him up, follow him around and are so gentle with him. He loves all the attention I'm sure. After that, we had groceries to do and it was time for J to go to bed. No bath night since it got too late. That'll have to be tomorrow. J had a lot of crying out of the blue today. He had a good morning nap but because of church he didn't get the afternoon one. He usually has a longer no-whine threshold, but not today.

After putting J to bed, I still had a lot of little things to do around the house. I had a kind of grumbly spirit too. And I grumbled to hubby (L) about a few different things that were annoying me. Then I had this thought come into my head, do you see how selfish you are? Most of what I was grumbling about were things that inconvenience me and aren't the way I like them. I had to ask myself, are those things really worth making a deal about? I said to myself, what happened to picking your battles? One of the things it made me think back to was when L and I talked about looking at our marriage as ministry. At times that's like oil and water! Yet it was such a good reminder to me that what I'm striving for is to respect and honor him and be a blessing to him and not the opposite. A good thought to sleep on.

More depth in my time with God

It is weird now to not have our cat Rio around anymore. I keep having "phantom cat" experiences where I'll think I hear her meow, or I'll think I see her out of the corner of my eye but it's our other cat Buca. It's been strange that way. Our other cat, Buca, seems unfazed by it. I think he is enjoying being able to soak up all the attention and sleep in our bed. He's definitely kept me company while I adjust to Rio being gone.

Today at breakfast, french toast was on the menu for Julian. He was about to start eating but saw daddy eating a waffle so that's what he wanted. When he didn't get it he started crying and was going for a few minutes but then just stopped and got back to eating. We all watched Elmo ABC's and sang some of the songs and Julian really seemed to like that. We also did some coloring which is becoming another one of Julian's favorite things to do.

At breakfast, I read a bit more of the "Quiet Rest" book. It was really good today talking about what she called "devotionless devotions". She speaks of times that we meet with the Lord but our hearts are just not in it and it ends up more of a routine. It is so true when she says, "I must make a conscious, deliberate daily choice to sit at His feet, to listen to His word, to receive His love, to let Him change me and to pour out my heart's devotion to Him." This is the kind of time alone with the Lord that I would like to have. Right now, I do enjoy my time of reading, studying and prayer, but I'm looking for more depth. I guess I'd say more devotion. I took some time to pray about that and asked God to bring this about.

David continues grieving for his son Absalom in 2Samuel 19 today. His commander Joab spoke harshly to him that his mourning was humiliating to the men who went out and just risked their lives for David. Joab told him to go to his men which he did. Some of them had been won over to Absalom and David won the hearts of the men and returned to Jerusalem as king. The man who had cursed David just before the battle now comes to ask for his forgiveness. There is still unrest among the men as squabbles arise between the men of Israel and the men of Judah.

While daddy watched the UW Badgers get beat in the March Madness basketball tournament, Julian and I enjoyed some time at the park. He had to take his Elmo book with him so I put it in his little car trunk when we got there. Today, Julian met a little friend on the jungle gym stairs area and spent most of his time there. He met a little girl who was maybe around 12-16 months old and he called her baby. We went down the slide without knowing the bottom was all wet so my bottom got all wet. It was cold too! Must have been from the melted snow.

We went to church this afternoon and our friends from France joined us. The main theme today from Luke was Jesus as the ultimate seeker. I had never thought of him this way, it was interesting. He described how valuable we are to the Lord, he will stop at nothing in his pursuit of a relationship with us. It was refreshing to remember, it's not just us who pursue God, he is continually pursuing us. We picked up Julian from the nursery and she said that he was talking a lot and loved saying hi to everybody. Our french friends invited us to their house for a BBQ since it was nice out (sunny but not overly warm). We were outside with the kids for a bit walking around the yard. We were looking at some plantings in one area and Julian said "make mudpies". He remembered this from a book I read to him a couple times. Good memory! They had a whole box of kitchen play things and toy food that he loved playing with. He got upset and cried a couple times like when he wanted to go upstairs with the kids but I couldn't tell right away what he was wanting. We skipped tonight's bath since we got home a bit past his bed time. We were getting out of the car and he was asking to go to the park again. He can't get enough of it I guess. He still wanted a couple books read to him and would've had more but I told him we'll wait until morning.