Straw Success!

Caleb had a successful test run with the straw sippy-cup! Hurray!

He was very pleased with himself--and how fast the apple juice was coming out!

"The Little Feet Behind You"

"Be careful little feet where you go

For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow..."

--Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

The other day I was checking my favorite blogs for updates. One of them, "Virtuous Reality" by Vicki Courtney, had a music video by a group called Casting Crowns. It had a very strong message about the error in thinking that "little sins" can't really hurt us that badly. The song goes on,

"It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade..."

It's saying that it's all the "little sins" that break us down until we are so weakened that we can't stay away from the "big sins." (Of course, we know that God doesn't view sin as "little" or "big"...sin is sin and God detests it.

That night Josie started walking around in my shoes. The words to the song came to my mind and hit me even harder. I must be careful in every decision I make because there are little feet toddling along right behind me...watching me, imitating me. I know there is no way I can be the mommy Josie and Caleb need me to be on my own. I must go everyday to the One who gives me Truth and clarity in life. I will make lots of mistakes....I've already made millions, but praise God for His Grace!

"I Want Some Zert!"

Josie was emphatically asking for "zert" (dessert) even though she didn't eat a sufficient amount of her supper. Wesley teased her by saying, "What? You want dirt?" When she laughed and said, "yes", it wasn't two seconds before Wesley was out the door with a bowl and spoon in hand. What did he come back with? REAL DIRT! When she refused to eat it, he put water in it, making mud pudding. Maybe she'll know better next time than to joke with her daddy.

"It Needs Batteries"

Yesterday evening Wesley and Josie went for a walk. Before they had even gotten down the driveway they made their first discovery--a dead frog. I'm not trying to gross anyone out, but it was flat from being run over by the car. Wesley could tell Josie was confused so he explained to her that it was dead. Josie studied it very hard and with a furrowed brow, she looked at Wesley, nodded her head and stated, "It needs batteries."

Starting to Crawl

Caleb started to crawl on Sunday, August 3rd. We filmed this on Tuesday, the 5th. We are so excited! However, I know the days of me putting him on the floor with a toy and momentarily turning my back are forever over.

I've really been thinking about how fast my babies are growing up. So often we will say, "I can't wait until Josie is completely potty trained" or "I can't wait to stop buying so much baby food" but I realize as we say those things, their lives will fly by and we will be watching them graduate from high school, get married and have children of their own. I know I'm being sentimental, but I needed a reality check.

Another thought that I had while I watched him crawl for the first time, was that as we celebrate this milestone, we will hopefully soon be celebrating others--walking, running, jumping, leaping, etc. What would happen if he kept growing but never moved past crawling? There would obviously be something wrong, right? I think we often forget this concept when it comes to our spiritual lives. When we first come to a relationship with Jesus we are so excited, but some of us don't develop any further. (We're simply content with our "get out of hell free" pass.) We move along the path God has laid before us on our hands and knees, instead of walking along side Him as He intends for us. No wonder we get frustrated when the pathway gets difficult and rocky--talk about skinned knees!

Beth Moore touched on this idea at the simulcast I recently attended. Using scripture from 2 Kings 19: 29-31, she made the point that when our relationship with Christ begins, He provides opportunities to be spiritually nurtured through His wonders or through hearing the exciting words of others, and by His grace, allows us to grow rapidly from them. However, after a little while He wants us to "grow up" and take ownership in our spiritual development. In other words, He will continue to provide opportunities for growth, but the size of the spiritual "harvest" (development) will depend on our efforts to "sow and reap" those opportunites. I hope that makes sense. She has such a beautiful gift for explaining God's Word.

So, what is keeping us from growing up spiritually. If it is God's will for all of us to grow (which it is) then what holds us back? Is it fear? Of what? Is it laziness? (Personally, I tend to fall into both categories). Let us pray that God would grant us the courage and the discipline to bravely open His Word and trust that He will provide us with the understanding we need to grow into men and women who will walk (not crawl) along side Him.

May you grow!

~Paige

Beth Moore

Last weekend I attended a Bible study by Beth Moore live via satellite. It was great. Josie is also a fan of Beth Moore. She had informed Wesley she was doing her Bible study, so naturally, I grabbed the camera. (In case you are concerned for the crying infant in the background, Caleb was eagerly awaiting his milk to be warmed up.)

"Who Are You Talking To?"

Josie has a cell phone (Wesley's old one that doesn't work anymore), but I'm afraid we've created a monster. She loves talking on it. This particular day she was talking to Amanda, one of the college students who comes to our home for Bible study.

Princess Manners

Many of you know we tried to avoid the "princess" thing, but as you can see, we were unsuccessful.

I just thought this was funny. Sorry if it grosses you out...I just couldn't resist. But I guess she comes by it honestly...