DAWGS

These are my "dawgs" all dressed up and ready to go to the party at their school today.

P.S. This was super easy--take a hoodie (preferably one you got for a dollar on clearance at Wal-Mart) and get creative with felt!

thoughts on sprained ankles

Ezra wearing "shoe" pajamas

• 29 pounds is really very heavy. It doesn't matter how much you switch from arm to arm. Still heavy. 
• Taking toddlers to get x-rays is among the top five things I recommend avoiding if at all possible. 
• When you meet a parent carrying a child with a sprained ankle, something NOT to say: "I've heard that a sprain is worse than a break." Also: "I've heard that sprains can take three weeks or more to heal." 
• "Put ice on the ankle and elevate it for 20 minutes five or six times a day."--not so easy to do with a toddler 
• If you're 31 years old and you call your mom crying and narrate the horrible x-ray experience, she might be awesome enough to get your dad on board and drive six hours to help you out. 
• Slides can be dangerous. It might be best just to stay home and keep your child wrapped in bubble wrap. 

Really, Ezra is doing much better. He is starting to stand again and took a few steps tonight. So it's been a week--we're hoping he'll be back to normal in another week. This one must have really hurt because it takes a lot to keep this kid from running at full speed on most days. Thanks for the prayers! Also, thanks to my parents for being heroes! 

Quote Of The Day: "No, pee! No, pee! Don't come out yet!" --Isaiah (spoken while running to the bathroom)

this little guy

This guy sprained his ankle yesterday. Can you believe it? I took him to the doctor and they checked him out and prescribed tylenol, ice, and rest. He is really having a hard time, though. Lots of crying, refusing to stand up, and wanting to be held all the time. Thankfully, he only woke up a few times in the night.

Please say a prayer for quick healing for him! Also, please say a prayer for me as D. will be out of town all weekend. In the Bahamas. Sometimes life isn't fair.

New words this week: "Chase." "Go." "Bike." "Tut tut." (as in "Tut tut. It looks like rain.") I know. He's a prodigy, genius and also incredibly handsome. We are so blessed!

wow.

Read this. Such a thoughtful, insightful post about adoption. The truth is that all of us who are followers of Jesus should already be doing all we can to care for the orphans in this world--whether they are our next-door neighbors or our neighbors in Africa. I think it's important to acknowledge that adoption is complex, but it is also beautiful. Sometimes the hardest things are the most beautiful, right?

Quote of the Day: "Excuse me guys, if it is pink, then it is. Now stop it!" --Isaiah

New Word of the Day: "nake." (Snake.) -- Ezra
P.S. We are at the science museum. Don't worry!

fall shmall

You might have fall, but we still have 87 degrees out. What, you say? You wouldn't like an 87-degree- October? Well, I say that I will be laughing at you when we are playing at the park in January! I hate to be cold, love to play at the park in January, and 87 degrees is relatively cool if you think about it. If you live in South Georgia where July and August are like an inferno. So, in celebration of 87-degree October, please enjoy these photos, which I actually took in September. 

New Feature

I think the Quote of the Day is my most popular feature. Because this blog is well-read enough to justify language like that.

Anyway, I am adding a new feature. It is called "New Word of the Day." Little brother is starting to talk quite a bit himself, and he is coming up with a new word just about every day.

Sunday's New Word of the Day: "poon." (aka "spoon")
Monday's New Word of the Day: "Salsa."

Quote of the day: "Tomorrow I'm gonna be in a band. I'm gonna be the drummer and I'm going to play the drums as loud as possible." --Isaiah

Quote of the day: "When I am a grownup, I want to be the one in charge." ---Isaiah

on Story

I recently read this article on cnn. Basically, author Kenda Creasy Dean, who D. and I heard speak at Asbury Seminary's chapel, says that most teenagers in America today are "fake" Christians. She says that parents are raising kids whose faith is "a watered-down faith that portrays God as a 'divine therapist' whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem." 


I have been thinking about this article for weeks, and I've been thinking about one thing Dean mentions. She says that parents must live out a radical faith in front of their kids. Here's a short excerpt: 

"What can a parent do then?

Get 'radical,' Dean says.

She says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips.

A parent's radical act of faith could involve something as simple as spending a summer in Bolivia working on an agricultural renewal project or turning down a more lucrative job offer to stay at a struggling church, Dean says.

But it's not enough to be radical -- parents must explain 'this is how Christians live,' she says." 

I have been thinking about this idea of radical faith in terms of my own life, and in terms of the idea of story. I recently read Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. 

I love the way Miller talks about story, and the way he asks us to live a better story. I want so much to live a life of radical faith out in front of my children and in front of the students D. ministers to and mentors. 

What Dean is saying is basically that when parents live into the story of God and invite their teens into that story, they are giving them the gift of authentic faith. I want this kind of radical faith to be part of my life.

What does that look like? 

Right now, I feel like the moves we're making are small. I have been feeling so convicted lately about my materialism and my desire for material possessions. We are trying to let go of a lot of the possessions that we would like to buy or own and change our habits. And I am asking Jesus to change my heart regarding material possessions. Christmas in our house is going to be small this year. I believe with all my heart that a small Christmas is a good gift for my children. 

I also feel that a radical step (for me) happens every day when I sit down to write my dissertation. Every day this is hard. It is challenging, and I have to push aside feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. Sometimes even a daily task can be a radical step. 

I have lots of dreams about living out a radical faith for the future as well, and D. and I are prayerfully seeking Jesus to discern how we might fit some of those dreams into our lives. 

I am so grateful to my parents who took my brother and I on missions trips for Christmas several years in a row, and who invited members of our local migrant community into our lives. I think these radical acts had a huge impact on me as a teenager.