To The Beach

Today in Kansas City, it is freezing. The high today was something like 36 degrees. However, we hit that at sunrise this morning. Ever since then, the temperature has been dropping significantly and with the wind, it really feels bone-chilling cold. As we were leaving Bible Study this morning, I kept commenting to Lydia about how cold it was and how we had to hurry to get in the car. Once we were all settled in the car, I told Lydia that we were going home. As only Lydia can, she promptly told me:

"No Mommy, no home." I asked her where she wanted to go instead. And she looked at me very seriously and said, "The beach." Of course, I was totally shocked because I don't know that I have ever taught Lydia about the beach. But I immediately agreed with her that I wished we could go to the beach as well. Well, to a two year old, that is permission! She kept excitedly saying, "Beach, beach, beach" all the way home! Too bad that she doesn't understand that going to the beach would involve a long plane trip. Maybe we can imaginge a beach trip together when she wakes up from her nap!

 

This is a picture of Lydia from Saturday morning. Grandpa and Grandma Howard bought Lydia and Hannah a big rocking horse for Christmas. It is now a permanent fixture in our living room. Lydia is enjoying it more and more every day. Here she is enjoying posing for a picture with her new friend. We have been encouraging her to name the horse but as of now, he or she remains unnamed. We will see what name she comes up with! Also, just another side note: in order to properly ride her horse, Lydia has to be decked out in her cowgirl gear including her new red cowgirl boots from Uncle Griff and her cowgirl hat. She is quite the sight!

Look At Me

 

This is a picture of Hannah from last Friday. This is pretty typical of Hannah - she is such a good-natured child. She always has a very easy smile, and she loves to sit up to see all of her surroundings. She turned nine months old on Sunday - hard to believe! Last Friday, we had her nine month old appointment with Dr. Martin. Her statistics are as follows:

Weight - 19 pounds, 2 ounces - 50th percentile
Length - 29 1/4" - 75th percentile

As you will notice in the picture, Hannah still doesn't have a single tooth. As Dr. Martin was quick to point out, she will probably get six at once - her top four and bottom two. Yeah - I can't wait for that to start! :) Also, Dr. Martin seemed somewhat concerned that Hannah was not crawling yet. That wasn't even something that I was concerned about before we went to the appointment. But of course, afterwards, my "mom" defenses went up, and I have been thinking about it since then (i.e., should I be paying more attention to Hannah, do I not put her on her tummy enough, and on, and on).

But I have come to this realization. It is definitely our job to be an advocate for our children. I want to get Hannah the help that she needs (if she truly needs it). However, it is also our job to know our children best (better than even their pediatrician). At this point, I am not concerned about Hannah not crawling. She is a very laid back little girl and anything that she wants is quickly brought to her by her big sister. So, God is teaching me through this that everything will happen in His time - He knows Hannah better than I ever will. And He designed her exactly as she is. And as a good friend of mine said, no one will be asking when Hannah is in kindergarten when she learned to crawl, walk, etc. Amen! :)

Crushed Spirit

I (Brian) generally don't write much on the blog, but I came across this blog entry from Dan Miller (author of 48 Days to the Work You Love) in his weekly e-mail from 48Days.com. Not a commercial for his service/book, just for the words written below the stars. Even without a crushed spirit, these are great suggestions for living our lives.

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Recently I saw a 61 yr-old gentleman who lost his job back in May of last year. Whenever a long period of time has passed without a job I always suspect more life issues to be lurking in the sidelines. (Yes, even in this economy.) This was confirmed once again. He told me his wife left him four months ago, his daughter (“the joy of my life”) got married and moved away five months ago, his investments are now worth less than half what they were 3 years ago, He had worked for the same company for 36 years and then they let him go with a small severance package, he’s unconnected at his church and feels “rejected on all sides.” He made the last monthly payment three weeks ago on his dream house that now must be sold to settle the divorce and he’ll likely move into an apartment in town.

Where do we go from here? Proverbs 18:14 tells us “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” Or in the Living Bible it says “what hope is left?”

Each area of our lives requires that we are making deposits of success. Even tiny withdrawals with no replacement deposits will lead to bankruptcy in relationships, physically, spiritually, and socially as well as in jobs and finances. I know that in crisis the area of most pain gets most of our attention. But often it is by making extra deposits in other areas that a person can springboard back to success in even the most critical ones.

My advice:
Set aside time for vigorous physical exercise. Walk 3 miles each day – it will help wash away anger and stimulate positive creativity. Smile while you walk -- and notice all birds, trees and children.


Seek out a Godly mentor. Much of the success of AA has been in having another person to call in the lowest times. Don’t isolate yourself. Maintain strong family and friend relstionships.


Reduce TV watching and instead read or listen to inspirational material at least 2 hours daily.


Volunteer for a worthy cause. Helping someone else in need is a great way to ease the inward pain.


Forgive everyone in your life. Make peace with your past. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.


Get a job – even if it’s not your dream job or a great career move. Deliver pizzas or work in the garden department at Home Depot – to get moving in a positive direction while you continue to build for long term success. Yesterday’s Nashville Tennessean lists 1814 jobs – and we know that listed jobs represent only about 12% of what’s available at any given time; thus there are over 15,000 positions waiting to be filled in this average sized city.


At the end of each day, complete these two sentences:
"Today I am thankful for......"
"Today my most significant accomplishment was......."

Victory

I wanted to post a quick message about a new blog that I have added to My Blog List. In order to curb off questions that anyone might have, the blog's name is Victory over Sexual Abuse. This blog in no way suggests that I have ever had to suffer the trauma of sexual abuse. However, one of my girlfriends has unfortunately suffered through sexual abuse in her life.

She has started a ministry at our church called Victory over Sexual Abuse (VOSA). She has devoted herself to helping other victims of abuse and helping others to be aware of proactive ways that they can help to prevent abuse from occurring. God has certainly brought beauty from the ashes in her life. As she is very much aware of, a person cannot have an effective ministry without being wholly vulnerable. I applaud her for sharing her story so openly in the hopes of helping other men and women who have been affected in one way or another by sexual abuse.