Faith Like a Child

This is an email that I sent to my son today after he prayed a prayer of salvation with me. Scott and I created email accounts for our kids so that we could keep a journal of sorts of their lives. (I think I saw this in a google commercial or something). Anyway, today is an amazing day! Rejoice with us!

Timmy,

This morning on our way to preschool we were discussing tornadoes and how the mostly come in the spring and summer. You said you hope you never see one because you're afraid of the wind. I told you that if you ever are in a tornado you just need to be smart and then pray that God would keep you safe. You said you'd pray for the tornado to stop. That works too. :)

Anyway then you were asking lots of questions about all kinds of things and you said "I wonder if all the people would die like your grandma did. She died right?" I said yes. And you said, "so we'll never see her again right?" I replied, "I will see her in heaven because she believed that Jesus was her savior and so do I, so we'll both be in Heaven someday." You said you believed in Jesus too. I asked if you believed that Jesus died so that your sins could be forgiven and you said yes. I asked you if you wanted to pray and ask Jesus to be in your heart and you said. "Yes mom, I believe all of those things." So we prayed, and you repeated after me to be forgiven for your sins and that Jesus would be your savior.

It was such a sweet moment. I am not sure I ever would have said that I think a four and a half year old can fully grasp what salvation is, and I still don't know if you understand everything you said today. I do believe you meant it and that the Bible teaches us to have faith like a child. Today you expressed your faith. I'm so proud of you, and Daddy and I will continue to pray that you would walk with Christ every day of your life. We love you and are celebrating with you today!

Love Mommy & Daddy

teeth and other happenings.

Linkers finally cut his first tooth. After what seems like weeks or months of working on it its here. And he's a mess. He's crawling like a maniac, standing up next to furniture and generally getting into trouble every chance he gets.

Timmy is another sort of mess. He spent New Year's Eve at Scott's parents house and bounced off a dog and landed his head on the corner of a fire place. The gash on the middle of his transparent skin covered forehead was atrocious. A week later, its almost healed.

Scott started his second semester of MBA-ness at DePaul. Accounting and Economics. He says its boring, but two nights a week will give me ample opportunity to work on these 2012 goals. Especially the one about losing 15 lbs. I think I can eat less if I'm not cooking and I can definitely find some time to spend with Tony Horton and P90X if Scotty's not around to distract.

As far as progress on my the other goals:

-3 stretcher frames are built and staple guns located for canvases to be stretched. Now I just need some staples. (Its harder than you think to find time to go to a hardware store with two kids)

-at least 2 potential buyers lined up for said paintings

-Worked out 4 days this week (basically back at pre-Christmas weight)

- Read Daniel 1 & 2 a couple of times

- Prayed for friends three times this week, one prayer specifically already answered! :)

- Timmy has not learned to swim - I think this goal will wait until the summer

-Brought my lunch to work three times

A decent first week I'd say!

Goals 2012

One of my goals for this year is to write at least one blog post a month for 2012 - when we lived in China, posting regularly was easy because life was so ridiculous. Living a normal life here makes blogging seem silly until I look back at the few posts from the last couple years that seemed mundane at the time, but in hindsight are such a great chronicle of our life and kids. So here are my official goals or resolutions for 2012.

1. Start and finish at least 3 paintings

2. Sell at least one of those 3

3. Teach Timmy to swim

4. Read and study the books of Daniel & Isaiah

5. Lose 10 pounds

6. Pray consistently for Scott and my friends

7. Write a blog post at least once a month

8. Pay off our credit card

9. Bring my lunch to work more than once a week

10. Read 3 non-fiction books

Thankful

Timmy is a super crafty kid. Here's his latest project...

During November we tried to write down something he was thankful for each night. We didn't remember every night, and some of his illustrations took up to much room, so the list isn't quite complete, but close enough for a four year old.

1. Playing (illustrated with his interpretation of a monster truck)

2. Mom & Dad

3. My Family

4. Evie Timmy

5. Tanks

7. Tanks (again)

8. Cow

9. Books

13. God

15. Friends

17. Bey Blades

20. School

22. My House

Firsts

This has been a month of firsts...
Lincoln's first food...

Timmy's first day of Preschool...

I made my first homemade baby food - carrots. It was a success.

Scott and I ran in our first 5K - the Warrior Dash. Also a success - we survived!

Scott started his first two classes towards earning his MBA at DePaul.

Praise God for change. I love it!

Instagram Summer!

One Month In...

Lincoln is just about one month old now. We've survived two kids thus far, and I only had to wake up once last night to feed him...happy birthday to me! He's getting huge: 10lbs 13oz at four weeks! How does that even happen?

Anyway, the point of this post is to thank all of you for bringing food and gifts and entertaining Timmy while I recovered from the not so great labor and delivery experience that brought us such a blessing. Especially big thank yous to: Mom & Dad, Jim & Cindy Nelson, Sarah Erickson, Lauren Johnson, Jean Rezutko, Amy McGann, Samantha Johnson, Elaine Nelson & Cheryl Wedyck. We feel very loved!