Is it on sale?

I will repeat myself and say that if you want to know how others see you, get a 3 year-old. I was pretending with Trey the other day, he was mommy and I was Trey.

Trey (the real one): Trey, do you want something from the grocery store?

Mommy: Some fruit, please. Oranges and Grapes.

Trey: You can only pick one.

Mommy: Oranges then.

Trey: No, oranges are not on sale.

Mommy: Then grapes, please.

Trey: Grapes are on sale, but only purple ones, not green ones. So, you can only get purple ones.

..........

Story #2: Surprise!!!!

Mommy: Trey, what Bible story did you read in school today?

Trey: Jesus died on the cross.

Mommy: Why did Jesus die on the cross?

Trey: I don't know.

Mommy: Do you want me to tell you?

Trey: No, I want it to be a surprise.

...........

Story #3: The tech savvy generation

After being disciplined, Trey had to apologize to me and to God. He hesitates sometimes before doing this.

Mommy: Is it weird talking to God? It's strange talking to someone you can't see. Sort of like talking to someone on the phone.

Trey: Yeah, or Skype!

My Heart

I have been going through a lot of changes lately. The LORD has been transforming my heart through the Holy Spirit, and I just want to share (more of) what's on my mind. Much of what is written below comes from the book "Red Letters" by Tom Davis, but while the words are his, the thoughts have been in my heart for the past month (his words are simply more eloquent than my own).

I have been posting and discussing with some of you lately God's forgotten children (not forgotten by God, of course, but by us). We so often sit on the sidelines because we fear. 

"What if it costs money? What if the stories break my heart? What if it costs me my life? What if? What if? What if? Line up enough of these "what ifs" and they start to tower over us, placing us...back in the shadows. Well, what if you didn't wake up tomorrow? What if a tornado wiped out your house? What if you were in a terrible accident next week? The "what if" life is a paralyzed life, an imprisoned life." (92)

Another reason we stand-by as injustice reigns is our self-degrading attitude that tells us we have nothing to offer.

"Too often, we sit on the sidelines, waiting for some grand sign from God that we are supposed to get into the game. When that lightening doesn't strike, we shrug our shoulders and think, I guess God doesn't need me here. Meanwhile, as we sit drumming our fingers waiting for that burning-bush experience, people all around the world are crying out for help. Crying out for a miracle. Maybe you don't have something so grand as an answer for their poverty or a cure for their disease. But you can offer them something else, something that is just as much of a miracle: hope" (136) and I would add love. You can offer the love of Christ in it's physical form to someone who is hurting.

"Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

(Ezekiel 47:12)

I would encourage you to be "a tree planted by the streams of water, who in its proper season, bears fruit" (Psalm 1). Make a choice to bear fruit, and start now.

Faith

What does faith look like?

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced he fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised." (Romans 4:18-21)

"Then God said, "Take you son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."...As [Abraham and Isaac] went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here, " Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. (Genesis 22:2-8)

This is faith!!!

Photos by Trey

If you need a photographer, Trey is cheap. He works for fruit snacks.

The last few weeks in pictures

Coloring for the first time...

And loving every minute of it!

Painting (notice the blue on his mouth...thank the LORD for non-toxic paints)

I swear we feed him.

Blowing on his rice to cool it down :)

Baby Ray

Making a card (he uses scissors like a pro)

TREY UPDATES:

If you want to know how others perceive you, get a 3 year-old. I find Trey mimicking us constantly. Gary said something silly the other day and Trey responded with, "okaaay". With intonation that said, "you're weird, dad". I KNOW that comes from me. Here are some of our recent conversations:

Mom: "Trey you have a stain on your shirt. It looks like toothpaste or something." 

Trey: (looking down at his shirt) "yeah, it is toothpaste...actually, I don't know what it is, so let's just call it toothpaste"

Let me preface these next stories by saying that we have Biblical discussions with Trey, but in an effort not to overwhelm him, we don't get too deep just yet. We want him to be excited about serving the LORD, so just like all things we offer up a small taste and wait for him to come to us wanting more. We have not discussed heaven/hell too much thus far, and he is really just starting to understand about Jesus dying for our sins.

(While playing school, Trey said it was time for a Bible story. He "read" the story to me, and like any good student I asked a question)

Mom: "Why is Jesus important? Why do we need to know about him?"

Trey: "He killed us."

Yeah...he had that wording slightly wrong!

(A separate occasion...mommy tries to discuss the importance of Easter and Jesus dying for our sins)

Mom: "Even though we are the ones who sin, Jesus took the punishment for us so that we can go to heaven and be with him and God"

Trey: (with eager anticipation) "tomorrow?"

Even though he doesn't know much about heaven it's like he knows that it is going to be wonderful. It just blessed me so much to hear that excitement in his voice. Maybe I'm making too much of it though. He might have just been excited because he thinks we are flying there on an airplane.

LUKE UPDATES:

The words are beginning to come. The newest and most prevalent is "mow" (more). He says it whenever he wants something. He knows how to climb up on things AND get down safely for the most part (finally!). He has begun to show a big interest in books, especially those that have built in noise-makers. If you came to our house you might think we were trying to potty train him, because he constantly wants to read a potty book simply because it has a button you push to make a flushing sound. I can assure you though, I am NOT ready for the challenge of potty training him. His attention span is beginning to lengthen as he attempts shape sorters and puzzles. He loves to run, and boy is he fast!!! We have been spending time up at the tennis courts and the playground in our community lately, and Luke's favorite pastime is to stare longingly at the pool. Look out summer, Luke is ready...but, is mommy?

"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 

"Lord, if it is you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

(Matthew 14:27-31)

Maybe YOU are Peter. I am Peter. I say, "LORD, tell me to come to you." And then I panic at the slightest breeze. My faith fails me and I begin to sink. As I read his words I know what he wants from me: "Come follow me...and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19), "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16), "freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8). "Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for your journey, or extra tunic, or sandals, or staff" (Matthew 10:9). I am actually not even as faithful as Peter. I fail to climb out of the boat entirely and feel the cool water on my toes with unfailing faith that I will not drown. Did you know that there are between 147 and 148 million orphans in the world? 148 million little Treys and Lukes without Garys or Lindsays. People are starving to death right now!!!! Dying of diseases that can be cured for less than the cost of a Starbucks coffee!!! Yeah, well what am I supposed to do about it:

"You give them something to eat." (Matt 14:16)

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons" (Matt 10:8)

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20)

People ask, "if there is a God, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?" Look in the mirror and ask again. I have, and I am disgusted!!!!! I always thought I was a pretty good person: well then why do I feel so dirty? God commanded the things above, He should be asking us, "I gave you plenty. Why are there starving people? Why are there orphans? Why are there people dying of disease?" I am as guilty as anyone, so don't read this as an accusation against yourself. Read it as an agent of change. I want to give my time, talents, and treasures to find God's lost sheep, and I'm in the process of transforming my life to make it look the way Jesus tells me it should. It won't be an easy journey, and it won't happen overnight, but won't you join me and step on to the water?

Funny Stories

Trey was recently chasing Gary around the house with a stuffed Shamu given to him by his friend, Brandon. Trey has no idea who Shamu is.

Gary: "Are you chasing me with Shamu?"

Trey: "Daddy, this isn't shampoo. It's a whale."

Trey wants to know, "what kind of animal gives us snacks?"

And he thinks, "rice comes from cows."

When he was acting goofy, Gary asked him, "why are you so silly?" He said, "that's how God made me."

But the sweetest thing of all was when, one night while sick he ended up in our bed. I looked at him and said, "I love you, Trey". His reply: "I love you too, mommy. I love ALL my family."

Luke loves his brother. He laughs at everything Trey does. I told the boys some stories in the car to keep them quiet, and when I finished Trey began telling a story. "Once upon a time there were 3 ducks..." Luke laughed and laughed. He now has 11 teeth with one more working it's way through. Here are some pics of a recent trip to the botanical gardens.

"Crazy Love" Lessons

I have been reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I'm only 2 chapters in, so don't ask me how it is yet...AWESOME!!! Here are 2 of my early lessons from it:

"Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?" My thoughts: I know I do. I forget that I am God's NOT the other way around. I act like He should work around my schedule and submit to my timetable. I always thought, (perpetuated by a lie unknowingly told by many Christians), that Jesus was just pleased when I gave Him any little part of me or my time. Hello!!!! Not even close!!! God requires ALL. I had heard that before too, but I always felt pretty good about what I gave to Him, and figured He understands that I am a busy wife and mother. Life revolves around me. Which brings me to another stand-out point in the book. "There is that perplexing command: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4). You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important."... When I am consumed by my problems-stressed out about my life, my family, and my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities." My thoughts: Okay, I read this and laughed. It sounded so silly to me when I actually thought about it. My life is nothing more than a "2/5 of a second long scene" in the movie of life. The reality is that 50 years (give or take) after my death, nobody will remember me! This really isn't as depressing as it might seem. So long as Jesus knows me and I have brought Him glory, I could care less.  "The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift." ... I know that you all are waiting for more pictures of the kids and more stories. They will be coming, but I'm trying to take them in and not disrupt our giggles with the camera. Just to give you a feel for how they are doing, here are some brief updates: Luke has pretty much stopped talking. He babbles, and continues to say mama and dada, but mostly he tries to get away with pointing, waving, signing "please", and throwing tantrums :) They are quite silly. He rolls back and forth on the floor, cries, kicks his feet and hits a lot. His favorite game is peek-a-boo/hide and seek. He loves to hide behind Trey's long curtains, and he won't let me fold a blanket or make a bed without running and diving into the blanket to hide his face for peek-a-boo. His dimples are enough to melt my heart. Trey is on the verge of reading/spelling. He constantly wants to know what letters different words start with or what things say. He will randomly tell me something like, "mommy, turtle starts with "T" just like Trey". He can spell his name, "Luke", "Mom", "Dad", and "Hot". He is great at spelling words with a little help from us. I knew that English was hard, but try explaining to a 3 year old that "C" says Car and Ceiling, but "K" makes the same sound as "C", and so does "S". "G" says grass and giant, but "J" says jump even though the "J" and "G" sound the same. How weird! I'll try harder for pictures soon. Love, Lindsay