Living on the Rock

So the longer I live on this Earth, the more I long for home- my eternal home. The older I get the more pain and heartache I see. This last week we have mourned with our church body the loss of a young girl. Megan was a week shy of her 24th birthday and fought a tough battle against cancer. Megan is one of so many people I can think of who's life seemed "too short". Pain and heartache does not escape any of us. As I reflect over the last few years, I can think of quite a few parents who have lost their only child in car accidents, people who have had to watch loved ones fight too hard to keep breathing, friends who have suffered extensively because of the sin of others. It's so tempting to say, "that's so unfair, why did God allow this" etc. That is our human side hurting and wanting to beable to comprehend a God who is far bigger than His creation. Although there are many times I wish I could understand why God allowed something, I am so grateful to serve a God I cannot fully understand. What kind of a god would that be if our finite brains could fully comprehend him? His ways are higher than ours, and for that I praise Him!
So often our blogs can be so decieving in the fact that for the most part, they only highlight life at it's best. Don't get me wrong, God has given us so many things to enjoy and love on this Earth. And so we can find ourselves in this difficult place of loving so much that we have here, and the dangerous place of loving it too much. And when one that we love is taken away, will we keep living? This is what has hit me this week as my thoughts have continued to return to Megan's family. What am I preparing myself for? What am I preparing my kids for? Because this place is temporary, I want to make sure not to lay down roots here. Am I spending useless hours on entertainment, or am I investing in my future? Am I teaching my kids to long for Heaven and preparing them for it? And what does that look like? For me it means that for now, while my kids are young, I help them lay a solid fondation of knowing God and so as we get down on the floor and play, I look for every opportunity to teach them and praise our Maker. To help them to know that their brain that helps them put together puzzles, is from God, their imagination as we play house, that comes from God. When we go for walks, looking for the beauty and creativity that God put all around us. Kacia knew Megan better than Kevin and I as Megan had spent a great deal of time serving the kids in our church before she got sick. So as I was telling Kacia of Megan's death, she knew and understood that we're not sad for Megan, we rejoice for her, but we're sad for her family and friends who will miss her. (Death is a very real thing to my kids, something we talk about often because of their grandparents. Heaven is often the conversation in our car.) Kacia took the news fine, she has a very compassionate heart. Then after about 10 minutes, she looked at me and asked if Miss Megan had gotten married, and I told her no, and then this look of sadness came across her face, as if to say "that's too bad". And I quickly reassured her that though that might seem sad to us, it's okay because Heaven is far greater than marriage! And now that Megan is there, she's not sad about it either. Yes, marriage is a gift God has given us, but it pales in comparison to all that awaits us in glory! I want my kids to see that nothing here on Earth is better than Heaven, nothing temporary and impefect can ever be greater than eternity and perfection! I want me and my family to be standing on the Rock so that when a storm comes (and it will), we keep standing. There may come a day that you get an unexpected diagnosis or a terrible phone call that changes everything, will you still be standing? Our world is full of pain and suffering, and yet as a believer, we have hope that it is not all in vain. We have assurance that we serve a Mighty God who sees the big picture, and who always loves us. This love does not keep us from pain, but it makes it bearable because we don't have to walk in it alone and without purpose. And this Big, Huge, God who created all and transcends all time, is also the same Father who holds you and comforts you in times of pain and rejoices with you in times of triumph and joy. What a Mighty God we serve! May we make each day an investment in our future. May we strive to live in light of eternity. May we make every effort to know God more so that we may never question Him. May we soak ourselves in His Word so that we will hear and feel His comfort when the tears come. May we keep our eyes and hearts focused on the One that ordains and orchestrates our days on this Earth and will someday welcome us home! "Come, Lord Jesus, Come!"
(A few verses to see God's sovereignty in our trials: Deut. 8:3, Ps 66;10-12, 2 Cor. 12:8-9, 1 Pet 1:6-7, James 1:2-3,12)

A Little Bit of James

So for those of you who know my brother James, hearing that his first word was "yump" (aka jump), that he learned to walk at 9 or 10 months ( I can't quite remember), and taught himself to ride a two-wheeler at the ridiculous age of 2 1/2 probably doesn't surprise you. James is the type of kid (now young man, I suppose) who has always been good at every sport, really good at most. He is very stubborn and determined and absolutely loves to do anything that others might see as slightly "crazy". If you have ever seen him on a wakeboard or snowboard, you would know that James doesn't have too much fear, and loves to go bigger and higher on whatever. (This is why when he purchased a motorcycle a couple of years ago, I panicked a little!) Anyhow, all of this to say I am beginning to see a little bit of James in my 9 month old son. I found him a couple of weeks ago on his way up our slide. Sure enough he made it to the top with great ease, and has no fear of doing a faceplant off the top platform. Oh, life with a boy is so different! At least it looks like Kacia will have a sibling to go on the big roller coasters with!

The Blogger Slacker!

Lincoln and Landon are only 10 days a part!
They were kind of like little puppy dogs crawling all over each other, pulling hair, and Lincoln's favorite game- stealing the pacifier.

Kacia getting a little too close to Weston- she's going to be my little flirt!

So I know I have slacked a little recently! I had good intentions of posting at the beginning of the week, but in all honesty, I don't know where this week went!

Well, last week Kevin went down south to the Shepherd's Conference. He had a great time, came home with a completely new library (we already needed bookshelves after selling our entertainment center, now we really need some!) and feeling a little nostalgic of our college days. But while he was gone, my very dear friend Suzy came down to visit with her 3 boys. Suzy and I have been friends since I was in the 7th grade! It is hard to believe we hadn't seen each other in 4 years! She hadn't met Rylin or Lincoln and I hadn't met her youngest, Landon. But there are those friendships that are just rooted in such a strong way that not "seeing" each other doesn't really change the friendship, and this is one of those. We've walked through a lot of life together, there are bonds that just go beyond distance. We talk on the phone and read each others blogs, but it was so great to spend time together- to watch our kids interact and play, to stay up late eating ice cream and talking, and just catching up on lost time. I greatly appreciate her making the drive down from Oregon. I think it is good neither of us knew that she would have to face snow, hail and buckets of rain beforehand, but hopefully it was worth it in the long run (it was for me!). Her boys don't love the camera, so I unfortunately only got pics of Landon and I snuck a picture of Weston, her 7 year old. Somehow I didn't get one of Logan (he's 5) or the two of us! I guess we used her camera more than mine!

Thanks for coming Molens!

All Boy

So this little guy is all boy! This last month can be summarized by this statement - 3 ear infections, 4 new teeth, and still going strong! Ear infections or teeth alone were always reasons that life seemed to stop with the girls, but this is not the case with Lincoln. It was occasionally obvious to me that he wasn't feeling quite like himself because he wouldn't eat as much and he would have fussy times where I just couldn't get him happy, but for the most part, he just kept pushing through with his big ol' grin. The dr. rechecked his ears today and said the infections had cleared up, so we are just praying for no immediate runny noses in his future!

Kevin and I are wondering if we picked the wrong presidential name, perhaps Hoover would have been more fitting because this kid sucks up every little and big thing he can find on the ground. He has also discovered that climbing is quite entertaining (did I mention, he was all boy?). It used to make me nervous when he would climb under our coffee tables, but after watching him, he very methodically thinks his way down, and then does it over and over again! He is also pulling himself up on everything! Yesterday Kevin moved his crib mattress down because he discovered he could stand up in his bed, and who wants to lay when you can stand? He has taken a couple of falls, (it appears that curtains aren't the most stable thing to hold onto,) but he is quite tough, it doesn't seem to faze him much, because he just does it again. He is growing up way too fast, but at least he is making it so easy to enjoy every minute!