Love your enemies...

Dave here...

This morning Calvin came crying into the bathroom where I was getting ready, complaining about how Violet said she wouldn't play with him and shut herself in her room.  Often, I would fetch the other sibling and have them talk it over.  But, this time I felt a different approach would be more appropriate.  I empathized with Calvin, and let him know that he would experience rejection in life and that it is hard and it hurts.  He acknowledged that it hurt his feelings.  I have a chair in the bathroom, since I have a healing foot, so I pulled him into my lap, where he curled up and I just held him until he felt a little better.  I then explained that the Bible tells us we should be kind to those who are mean to us.  I'll admit, I had low expectations regarding how he would respond to that.  To my surprise, he 'got it' and announced that he would give Violet a piece of candy.  Then, unbeknownst to me, he went downstairs, got out a piece of paper and wrote 'i LOVE ViOLet'  He put a sticker on it and then gave it to her with an orange tic tac from his own personal tic tac box.  I was beyond amazed and very touched by this.  My 5 year old son set a great example for me today.

I love you, Calvin!

Dad

Eli - 15 month well baby check up (at 16 months)

Took Eli in for his doctor check up today.  I completely forgot he needed a check at 15 months for measurements, vaccinations, etc.  So I got in a month late. 

Stats:

26 lbs 14 oz (75th percentile)
32 1/2" tall (75th percentile)
19 1/4 cm head circumference (90th percentile)

Eli, we've always known you had a big head. :)

I took him alone since Violet and Calvin were both at school and Vanessa was in preschool.  It felt odd to be the only one pushing the stroller and pushing all the handicap door opening and elevator buttons.  Those things are always decided on if I go in with all the kids for someone's appointment so there is no fighting.

We arrived early for his 9:45 appointment time.  I dropped Vanessa off at preschool at 9:00 am so I took the liberty to fill my mug with Starbuck's coffee on the way and sip it on the 20 minute drive to the doctor.  thanks mom for the SBux gift card!  Made it to his appointment around 9:25 so he got plenty of time to run around the play area.  He loved going in and out of the little play house, down the hallway, and smacked his hands on the concave mirror on the wall.  When the nurse came back to call us she found Eli in the hall by the waiting area and had opened the control door for an air conditioner unit she never knew existed.  She thought that was pretty funny.

He got weighed on the scale, measured, then came to the exam room with me.  He was constantly walking and getting into something.  He wanted up on a chair, across the little side table, on my lap, back down, and the circle continued.  The only time he did sit still was for the doctor to listen to his heart and check his ears.  He seemed pretty interested in all of that.  He was reported to be very healthy.  I opted for tylenol for him before he got 3 shots and got over those pretty quick.  He was so happy sucking his paci and had his blankets before the pokes.  Screamed pretty hard, then when I picked him up went right back to sucking. 

I was pretty close to Rachel's place so I stopped over to see her for about 45 minutes before I needed to go get Vanessa.  She let me borrow a few dresses to try on for a wedding I am going to in November.

pics to come, I'll transfer them later.

Women's retreat recap

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to attend a women's retreat this past weekend with a bunch of other women from Bethany Bible Chapel.  The purpose of the weekend was to strengthen the bond between women, learn as a younger woman from older women, and focus on what is the basis of our worth.  I drove there on Friday, Oct 4th as a passenger in Rachel's car and I came home with Faith on Sunday (Oct 6th) afternoon.  (Rachel went on to IA City after the retreat for an ortho meeting)  Dave was home with the kids, but with his left foot still healing only 3 weeks past his flat foot surgery, I asked my parents to help out with child care.  My dad came on Fri night through Sun morning to help out and my mom came Sat evening and stayed til I got home Sunday afternoon.  I am so grateful to have such loving supportive parents to help out in times like this.

We did lots of singing together, hearing testimonies from 2 ladies, and had time to break up into small groups for part of Saturday and discuss this topic in detail and pray together.  Our culture does not communicate worth through the eyes of Christ, so we must look past "culture" and focus our eyes, hearts, and minds on the fact that our identity in Christ is what makes us worthy in His eyes. 

There was lots of discussion about this verse:

1 Peter 3:3-4

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
Some struggled with the phrase "gentle and quiet spirit" because they were given louder or more boisterous and outgoing personalities.  It says "spirit", not "personality".  This verse is describing the spirit and motive that drives your personality, not the personality itself. You can still be outgoing and strong and passionate, while also possessing a quiet and gentle spirit underneath.

That said, it’s also important to note that a woman can be painfully shy and quiet, while also possessing a rebellious and bitter spirit. It’s not the personality that this passage is addressing, but the guiding compass behind it. God cares about your heart.

Another point brought out was regarding this verse:

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the human to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.” . . . but for the human no suitable helper was found. Genesis 2:18 & 20

I had to look this one up to explain it again correctly because I didn't take notes during the conference.  But this article sums it up exactly as it was explained.  I like how this is written.

http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/a-suitable-helper/

Woman was created as "helper" which in Hebrew is specifically the word "ezer".  It is a combination of two roots, meaning "to rescue, to save" and "strength".   Ezer describes aspects of God’s character – he is our strength, our rescuer, our protector and our help!  And ezer was the Holy Spirit’s choice of word to describe the first woman.  Eve was someone who would provide valuable and vital strength and assistance to Adam.

The ladies as a group also ended the retreat with a fancy dinner where we got a chance to dress up formally and enjoy a tea party/dinner together and listen to Laura Woodhouse, our guest speaker, explain these same things about a woman's worth to us in her fun, southern way.

B elieve
E ndure
A dore
U nderstand
T rust
Y ield

Vanessa's preschool painting

Just taking a pic and posting. :)