God uses my daughter for my sanctification: today's example

Today I had a rough day. I was sleep-deprived, I couldn't find half the stuff I was looking for at the grocery store, I can never find things (mostly papers) I need at home because our house is so messy, Rebecca made lots of messes that I had to clean up, she didn't take a nap, and we got our first quote for having our roof replaced, which was higher than we were anticipating. (We originally had thought our roof was fine, but it turns out the hurricane damage was more extensive than we realized, plus our deductible was significantly higher than we realized, and we still have some questions about our coverage.) I also had to make two phone calls today that I shouldn't have had to, due to incompetent people at a doctor's office and our mortgage company (all resolved now, thankfully, but I hate having to take the time to fix other people's mistakes.) Also, Steve has been busier at work this past week than he has been all year, and he's had to work a lot of (unpaid) overtime. All this on top of the ongoing disappointment in and fear of the direction our government is going....

I know that in the grand scheme of things, my life could be much worse, but since my body is already physically challenged, it does not handle emotional stress well. The last couple of months I have actually felt better than I have in the last three years, but still not like a "normal"person, and now I feel like I'm starting to decline again....

Anyway, the point of this story was...I was in the kitchen making dinner tonight, with a not-very-good attitude, and out-of-the-blue, Rebecca asked me to sing A Mighty Fortress is Our God. Well, not totally out-of-the-blue...we did just sing it in worship on Sunday, and we have been trying to teach it to her; but we hadn't been singing anything or talking about God prior to her request. What a song to set my anxious and angry heart straight! The phrase "faith like a child" is becoming better illustrated for me all the time.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing
Our helper, He, amid the flood of mortal ills, prevailing
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing
Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He
Lord Sabaoth His Name, from age to age the same
And He must win the battle.

And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us
We will not fear for God has willed his truth to triumph through us
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth
The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also
The body they may kill; God's truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever.

BTW, we sang this at my brother and SIL's wedding. :)
I need to keep teaching my baby girl more songs....

Proud voter

This morning I went to vote at our local community college. I only had to wait in line about 20 minutes, which I thought wasn't bad at all, although it was longer than I've ever had to wait for early voting, and this was despite the existence of several new early voting locations this time. However, when I was in the middle of casting my ballot (via electronic machines), I noticed it was asking me to vote for the wrong U.S. congressional representative; it had District 9 on the ballot, and I knew that I was in District 7, and the name of my beloved Representative John Culberson (voted AGAINST the $700,000,000,000 "bailout" both times, among numerous other reasons for liking him) was nowhere to be found. I didn't have my voter's registration card with me, so I had to talk to various people, and then wait while they had to call on the phone and wait to talk to other various people.

Meanwhile, Cutie had already finished the snack that I had brought for her, and she was getting very antsy. (It would have been easier for me to find someone to leave her with while I voted, but I want her to witness my participation in the political process so that she will be excited about participating herself oneday.) Providencially, there were a few breakfast snacks for the volunteers, including some animal crackers and orange juice, which they gladly shared with us. (Now Cutie thinks that voting means going to a room where they hand out animal crackers and stickers.)

They finally corrected my District in the system, but then I had to cancel the current ballot and wait to be issued a new "code", which took awhile because it initially said that I had already voted, even though I watched while my ballot was cancelled. An hour after I actually started voting, I finally left with my vote on an accurate ballot officially submitted. (And Cutie had missed storytime at the library, which she also missed last week when I had a doctor's appointment.)

The thought that I could just probably leave without voting and not bothering to come back did cross my mind at a couple of points, because my precinct and district and state are all heavily skewed (in my preferred direction), so I feel like my vote doesn't count for much anyway. (I would love to be able to vote in a borderline race where I felt like my vote made a difference.) But not voting would have been making a mockery of countless lives that were lost in fighting for this precious freedom, and would have been abdicating a biblically-mandated obligation to pursue justice, especially on behalf of those who cannot fight for themselves.

I am proud that I was aware enough of the mistake (deemed to be an isolated manual error when my information had been entered into the system, which I don't understand, since I've voted several times in this district, and I've never had a problem before) that I could get it corrected; however, it made me wonder how many other people had mistakes on their ballots that went unnoticed, either because the voters were not aware of what district they were in, or the names of the candidates running in their district (in which case I don't think they should be allowed to vote at all), or because the hit the straight party ticket button without pausing to verify specific races. Make sure you check your ballot carefully when you go to vote!

Half-birthday camping trip

Today Cutie turned two and a half years old! We celebrated by going camping with Uncle David and Aunt Rachel. This was her second time; the first was last fall, when she was 18 mos.

Rebecca didn't do quite as well sleeping in the tent as she did last year (I woke up at 3am to find her sitting up on her pile of blankets, reading her Bible by moonlight, and Daddy had to help her go back to sleep); but overall it was fun. (Side note: Rebecca's favorite Bible story is "God Takes Care of Noah," and she insisted on leaving the Bible open to that page when we made her put it down so she could go back to sleep.)




Rachel did an excellent job planning our Tex-Mex themed meals, with fajitas for dinner, and breakfast tacos this morning; but we were so busy chowing down, that we forgot to take pictures of the fabulous spread, both times. We also had s'mores last night, but Rebecca liked the graham crackers and chocolate much more than the marshmallows. Here is David helping Rebecca eat a mid-morning snack.

The weather was perfect--70s during the day and 50s at night, and no rain.

Today Rebecca enjoyed her first kayak ride on a lake. Here we are ready for launching.

David and Rachel in the green kayak. I'm sure they would have picked orange, but Rebecca beat them to it. Blue is Rebecca's current favorite color, but that wasn't an option.

Rebecca enjoyed helping Daddy paddle at first, but then when the sun got to be too bright for her little eyes, she wanted to go back to the shaded shore.

She got to end the adventure on a good note, playing at the park with Uncle David while Mommy and Daddy packed everything up. We are already looking forward to next time!

Growth stats are:

height: 36 inches

weight: 30.5 lbs.

clothing size: 3t or 4t, depending on brand and style

shoe size: 8.5xw (no Target shoes for this kid!)

"Some food to make you feel better"

This is one of Rebecca's newer phrases, and I'm not sure whether to try to discourage it or not. It started a couple of weeks ago, when we were out running errands, she had had a long morning, and I knew she was hungry and tired. She started crying when we got home (because she didn't want to go home yet), and I told her she would feel better after she ate some food. Well, now, whenever she wants food, she says, "Want some food to make you feel better." (She refers to herself as you, because that's how we refer to her.)

I don't want to encourage the habit of eating for comfort, although I think I myself feel especially comforted by certain foods (a good salad, good Tex-Mex, cheesecake, Starbuck's frappacinos--especially pumpkin spice, and all of my mom's specialties, particularly when I'm not the one making them); but I don't necessarily turn immediately to food if I need comforting, and I've never (thankfully) had much of a problem with weight fluctuation. Coming from a different angle, I also want Rebecca to grow up knowing that sometimes Mommy HAS to eat to feel better, but that's because Mommy is sick (we'll substitue the word diabetic for sick and add more details as she gets older).

I've never really worried about Rebecca's eating habits...she eats a large amount, and likes a wide variety of foods, and is a healthy size; but I don't know how much to try to help her at this age to distinguish between being hungry and needing comfort. I don't think she would necessarily understand the distinction at this point, but I don't want her to repeat the phrase so often that she can't get it out of her head when she gets older, either. Am I making too big of a deal about this? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Sweet Sounds

My sweet, precious baby girl is in the other room alternately singing a children's version of The Lord's Prayer (Steve Green), and I am Jesus' Little Lamb (Trinity Hymnal), not leaving out a word. I don't think I have ever heard a sweeter sound. To think that a year ago at this time, I thought she would never talk!