(Wednesday)
This morning I woke up at like 5:30 with the worst gastrointestinal feelings and it came out of nowhere. I started to break out in a cold sweat and had the chills and everything. This never happened so bad before. It lasted for only about an hour and I was able to then get a bit more sleep. I wondered if it would come back but thankfully it didn't.
I tried to get my quiet time going today while J was still awake, but it didn't work. He was so full of energy I figured there was no way he was wanting his morning nap so he stayed up. We had a lunch date today with my friend Heather and Joan. We met up at a kid's cafe called
Bean Sprouts. I wasn't sure what to expect, I just heard that is was really neat for kids. And it was! They had an area just for playing with a little kitchen, a place to color, and big chalk boards. J started playing in the kids area right away. Trying to decide what food to get him was the hard part. Their kids veggie pizza was awesome. On the way home, I caught Nancy Leigh DeMoss with a guest who was sharing the difference it has made in her life to memorize scripture. She wrote a book about her journey in this called
His Word in My Heart. This really captured my attention because it's something I've thought about and thought about and told myself I want to do but just haven't made much progress. She said something that struck my heart as a friend of hers was saying she also really wants to memorize scripture but she just isn't disciplined. She told her friend how she is disciplined; that she eats three meals a day and doesn't let days go by without eating. She said with raw honesty to her friend it was because she wasn't hungry enough to do it. It was like the Lord was speaking to me again and filling me with a desire to get more of his word in my heart.
When we got home, we played bubbles outside. I wasn't out of the car very long and J comes over with the big bubble wand and says "here". I love an activity we can do outside together like this. We did that for a while as well as him throwing all the balls we own into the driveway and then some time after he says, I wanna go inside and get blankie so I took that as a hint it was time for a nap. One thing new that I noticed is that I'll sneeze and hear this little "bless you" from J. It's so cute.
I got to have my quiet time and started Luke 10 today. Jesus was passing through Jericho and a man named Zaccheus was determined to see him so he climbed up a tree. Jesus called out to him to come down and he'd be his guest at his house. It says he welcomed Jesus gladly. He wasted no time accepting his offer. Beth mentions here about obedience while talking about Zaccheus' response to Jesus. God delights when we obey with joy yet he honors obedience even when we are kicking and screaming. Zaccheus later declared he would give half of his possessions to the poor. His actions represent a heart that was changed.
J is getting better at using a fork now. We ate spaghetti and he barely got any on the floor which for him is huge. We got going early to the Y since tonight was my mom's night out. I got a good workout in but it was really warm and humid in there. I tried to prepare J that I would be going out with the Titus mom's so I was telling him how daddy was going to play with him. He says "mommy play?" I said, you want to play with mommy?" he says, Yes. So I went outside with him and right away says "I wanna blow bubbles" so I got the bubbles started and handed it off to daddy but when I was leaving he was outside watching and his little face was so sad. It tugged so hard on my heart to watch his little face fall and almost crying. I was so close to stopping the car to run out and give him a big hug but then thought that may make it worse so I left with the sad feeling. As my focus turned to mom's night out and meeting up at Starbuck's, I was sensing this time was really something I needed. We thought it was funny that we all go out to get away from the kids and the home yet all we talk about is diapers, grocery shopping, potty training, stories about the kids. We had a lot of laughter which was the best part. On the way home, it was such a nice night so I had my windows opened wide and just reflected on how nice it was to get out for a night. At home, L told me that after I had left, J was really crying and took a while to settle.
(Thursday)
It was weird this morning waking up. I looked at the clock and it was 7:45 and I couldn't hear anything from J. I planned on getting up and the next thing I know I'm opening my eyes and it's 9am! I had no sense of time passing other than I had some very vivid dreams that I remembered. J was just quietly playing in his crib. I heard daddy reading to J when I got out of the shower. It was so cute watching J follow the story while sitting on his daddy's lap while he read in these really funny voices. There's something so precious about seeing tender interactions between father and son!
After breakfast, I introduced J to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. It definitely took me back remembering how I used to watch it as a child. He really liked the little trolley that goes back and forth on the show. We did one nap today, a late morning/early afternoon nap. Daddy took over feeding and watching him while I went to my bible study. I enjoyed today's time as we continued in Ecclesiastes. Part of Bettye's prayer today was seeing our get together as a divine appointment to meet with the Lord and come into his presence. This really hit my heart and I was thanking God in my heart for this group. She handed out a page of scriptures that all included "fear of the Lord" as our focus today was on gaining wisdom. It is amazing all the things that are promised to us as we honor the Lord in this way; having a "fear", a reverence for him.
L, J and I went to the Dawley Conservatory/Dunn's Marsh by our house to take a nice walk (out in the 85 degree heat and humidity). For some reason, the heat felt great to me. We saw some wildlife on the way; a little turtle crossing the road that we got to examine, a ground hog, a gardener snake and a little chipmunk. Most of the walk was shaded with a really great breeze. We also had some time in the park too. After that daddy was meeting a couple friends from work and J and I went to Culver's for dinner. When we got home we did his latest and greatest thing, blowing and chasing bubbles until he wanted to go in and read all the latest books I got for him from the library. Now daddy and I are going to watch the first movie together that we've watched probably in the last year, called Gifted Hands. I'll share more about it tomorrow.
