Little Miss Extravert

On Saturday, I wasn't feeling that great, so we enjoyed dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. When we were getting out of the car to go into the restaurant, there was another family (whom we did not know) walking from the restaurant to their car. When Rebecca saw them, she yelled out with a big smile, "Hi, everybody!" Steve and I laughed because this is totally unlike either of us (and totally unlike every one of our parents and our siblings). Then while in the restaurant, she started smiling at and playing hide and seek with a family across the aisle from us (I was between her and the other family, so she was hiding behind me). I don't know how we are ever going to teach her to be cautious with strangers, although I'm glad she won't have any trouble making friends!

On Sunday, our friends Jung and Mary came over for dinner and cards, and brought some nice steaks for us to grill. Rebecca was very excited that they were coming over, and a little while after they had gotten here, she said, "Mommy and Daddy go bye-bye; Jung and Mary stay here with Rebecca." Poor thing, she's used to us not having anyone come over unless they are coming to babysit! At least she likes having babysitters!

Rebecca's first memory verses

Rebecca can now say two Bible verses in their entirety. She has been obsessed with the Steve Green "Hide 'Em in Your Heart" songs and videos, and has started absorbing them more quickly than I expected. I thought her first memory verse might be something short and simple, like "God is love" (I John 4:8). But, nope, her first two verses are much longer, and, I think, keeping with her personality.

The first one was "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). She asks me to sing that one multiple times a day, and most times, my heart is not that joyful, and I'm tempted to retort back to her, "He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him" (Proverbs 27:14); and although this happens at various times of the day, it always feels like early in the morning to me, since I am so tired all the time; but I usually lighten up after seeing how much she likes the song.

Her second memory verse is also very convicting for me: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23a, 25). This was one of my first memory verses, too, but somehow it doesn't seem like it's gotten much easier to apply in all these years. The way things are going at this point, I hope Rebecca rubs off more on me than I do on her!

What does "black" mean?

Ever since Rebecca learned her colors a few months ago, she would comment on whatever colors she happened to see, especially when we were driving in the car, which meant she said "red" and "green" annoyingly frequently. So we decided to teach her that "red" means "stop" and "green" means "go." Then she would say "red means stop" and "green means go" whenever she saw anything of those colors, not just traffic lights. Then Uncle Stephen taught her that "yellow means slow," although it doesn't always mean that where we live. Of course, it wasn't long before she wanted to know what all the other colors mean. So now, in addition to traffic light colors, we have:

• blue means information
• orange means caution
• purple means royal
• white means pure, and
• pink means pretty

Now, the other colors besides pink are arguably pretty, too, but we couldn't think of anything else to distinguish pink, so that's what we came up with. So now I'm trying to decide what "black" represents, whenever Rebecca asks me that one. My first thought is that it represents sin, but I'm not sure I want Rebecca saying to people whenever they wear black, "Black means sin!" Any ideas on what to tell her?

Decisions, decisions

I am struggling a lot right now trying to make wise choices about how to use my time and energy. (Who doesn't, anyway?) I've been asked in the past several weeks to: bring meals to families with new babies (no one needs to tell me how much it will be appreciated, but still I feel like I need to be the one receiving meals); help with VBS (fun, worthy cause, but also draining); and teach a beginning Spanish class for homeschoolers in my area of town (right up my alley, but again, very time-consuming and draining). I also have a big long list of people that I'd like to have over and get to know better, but haven't because I'm exhausted all the time, and I feel like I'm doing well just to make dinner for the three of us. And I feel like I've let the few relationships that I do have start to disintegrate, because I simply don't have the energy to call or write to people.

I know I have very limited energy, and it's hard to judge in advance how much I'm capable of (not as hard to judge in retrospect). Do I agree to do things that I feel obligated (and want) to do, and then just hope and pray that God will give me the energy? I've tried this before, and sometimes it works and sometimes not. Or do I say no to everything until my body is healthier? My energy level is not improving at all, but I don't want to live the rest of my life waiting to serve others until I feel better, because I'm not sure I ever will. Sometimes when I serve others, it helps me get the focus off of myself, and I end up feeling energized, happy that I was able to help someone. Other times, when I attempt to serve others, I feel worse because I end up stretching my limited energy too thin. How do I know beforehand which it will be? Is it better to commit to something and then back out, or not commit at all? How do I walk the line between taking care of myself, and taking care of others? I'd love to know if anyone knows anyone who is good at this, and how they do it....

A thankless job turns thankful

A couple of days before Mother's Day, I was changing Rebecca's diaper when she said out of the blue without any prompting, "Good job Mommy change diaper!" That was a wonderful Mother's Day present! She was genuinely thanking me for meeting her very real need, and has continued to do so rather consistently ever since then. It brightens my day to know that someone appreciates something I do! Now, if I can just convince her that the potty is even better than diapers....

First braids

My first-ever attempt at braiding Rebecca's hair...a little loose, but the best I could do with her squirming! Pretty, but I think plain pigtails will be easier this summer. We've been enjoying unseasonably temperate, pleasant weather the past few weeks.