Amazing

This song gets me every time. I cannot imagine going through the trials of life without the LORD. May this song direct you straight to the arms of our gracious Father!

What Did You Do Today?

As a mom, there are many days when you can look back and say that you did many things... and then there are the days when you feel like you did only one thing. Today was just one of these days. So, what is it that I did all day? Can you hear the drum roll in the background? ...

I tried to get Ladan to pee.

That's right, I spent 12 hours trying to get my child to go potty. Kind of funny that I've been spending the last four weeks training him to hold it (at least long enough to get to the potty), and then I needed him to go today, and he held it... for 12 hours!

For the last couple of days, he's been displaying signs of infection (fever, loss of appetite, general crankiness, darker urine, etc.). And for the last few weeks, he's been going in the potty really well. Basically, he says he needs to go, he sits on the potty, and then he immediately goes. Well, today, he kept trying and complaining that he couldn't go. I called the doctor's office to determine if these things could point to something fairly normal, but they wanted me to bring him in.

Let me back up and say that he didn't go to sleep until about 1:30 am last night (this morning) because he was trying to go to the bathroom, and he woke up again at about 7:30am. In between there, Gabe woke up twice to eat in the night (a lot for him at this point). So I started out the day completely exhausted.

On our way to the doctor's office, I was trying to explain to Ladan that we were going to go see the doctor and that we were going to get to do some fun things, like play with the trains in the office, stand on the black square (the scale), and speak kindly to the nurses and doctors. He was excited about standing on the black square... until we pulled into the parking lot and he recognized where he was. Immediately, he started saying, "Mommy, I can't stand on the black square. I can't stand on the black square."

We made it in, and the drama began. We had to sit in the exam room for quite a while before the doctor came in. Ladan was refusing to pee in the cup (not surprising). So I suggested we put one of those urine collection bags on his little body. We did this, and they let me leave for a while, which was great, because by this time, Gabe was starving and screaming bloody murder. This horrific sound doesn't come out of him very often, so added to Ladan's very angry screams at the doctor and nurse, it did not make for a pleasant listening experience. The doctor was sure to comment on their shrill voices. I was sure to respond with a smile and a nod.

So we loaded into the car again and headed across the street to sit and watch the construction crew building a new structure. It was pretty cool, and Ladan really enjoyed it. Still no pee, so we went on to Target for a while. Still no pee, so we went home to try to take naps.

By this time, Ladan had gone #2 just a bit in his pull-up, so I went to change it. There were probably about 2ml of urine in the bag, which is all they would have needed (for those of you who are unfamiliar with liquid measurements, this is about 1/5 of a teaspoon--not too much). The problem was that the bag wasn't sticking to him all that well anymore, so the stool had contaminated the opening to the bag, and I had to throw it away.

So I stuck him on the potty chair with the sterile cup inside the well of the potty. Didn't work. We moved the potty seat into the shower so the warm water on his feet and the sound of the shower might prompt him to go. Didn't work. I called the doctor's office to find out if we could work more on this tomorrow so I could put my exhausted child down for a nap. They wanted the "specimen" today.

Chet was gracious to come home right after class instead of staying for a regular meeting he has. I was SO GRATEFUL! I was able to leave Gabe sleeping while I packed Ladan back into the car and went back to the doctor's office. This time I took his potty chair with us hoping that it might prompt him to go.

We went into an examination room and settled in. I positioned the sterile cup in the well of the potty again and sat Ladan on it. Then I sanitized the seat of one of the chairs for use as a table and busted out his Goldfish (to make him thirsty) and full glass of water. He'd already had 3 glasses of water by that point, but I thought it was worth a shot. So we sat there for another hour and 15 minutes. Still no pee. They put another bag on him, and we went home with instructions for how to take his "specimen" (I keep putting this word in quotations because I think it's a strange word, and I'm not sure how I feel about using it) to the hospital lab after office hours.

All the way home, Ladan was saying, "Mommy, I'm not going to pee in this bag." Whatever. We got home, and he ate a little bit of a snack. It was about 5pm, and he was starving but didn't want to eat. He needed to go to the bathroom, but he "couldn't" go. And he was so exhausted that he couldn't fall asleep. So he basically just screamed a lot for about an hour and a half. Chet took him to his room and laid down with him. It was 6:30 at this point, and we still had no pee.

At 8:30, Ladan woke up. We thought that surely he'd have something by now, given the amount of water he'd consumed throughout the day. WRONG! He kept saying, "Mommy, I'm not going to pee in this bag."

So I took it off. I got out a third sterile cup, positioned it in the well of his potty seat so that there was no way he'd miss it, and sat him on it. We told him he could have an airplane if we went peepee in the potty.

At 9:20pm, he looked and said, "Mommy, I'm going weebee (his new word--he's had many along the way) in the potty." I could hear it, and it sounded like there would be plenty. He stood up, and you'll never believe it! There was a ton of pee in the potty, but not a single drop had fallen in the cup!!!! Chet said, "Just dump it in and be done with it." So I did.

At 10:00, I was heading out the door to drop off my little boy's pee at the hospital. I couldn't find the entrance to the emergency room (not exactly great signage in my opinion), and the parking lot was totally full (also not ideal when people are experiencing crises). I decided to park across the street and walk. I entered a very busy emergency room where a little boy (probably about 18 months old) was vomiting profusely, and I had to try to figure out what to do with this cup of pee. All I could think about was how I wanted to help the seemingly desperate man with his little boy. I heard something about another guy having chest pains, and sensed an underlying feeling of panic in the emergency room (probably due to the impossibility of getting these people all checked quickly enough that they could be treated in a timely fashion). I was reminded of how grateful I was at that moment to only be in the ER because I was dropping off a cup of pee.

I approached the security desk where there were about 10 men in uniform checking in for their shift. I had to tell them what I had and where I was going. I said, "I have my little boy's pee, and I'm taking it to the lab." They all tried to hide their sly grins, and they kindly directed me to the right, up the elevator to the second floor, to the right, to the left, and down the hall.

I reached the lab at 10:20 to register my kid's pee. Kind of funny. They asked me all the questions they would ask if I were checking him in for a procedure. By 10:50, I was back home again.

When I walked in the door, Chet informed me that Ladan had gone #2 in the potty and had peed quite a bit more. In the next hour and a half, Ladan peed about four more times. All in his own time. I had to laugh as I was trying to get Ladan to go to bed. He kept insisting that he had to go potty some more. He looked up at me from his potty and asked, "Mommy, I'm going to go potty some more. Okay, Phyllis?" This is the first time he's ever said my first name in my presence. He went potty one last time, and went to sleep with his new airplane.

I have no idea what the results of this test will be tomorrow, but at this point, I'm just excited to say that I did accomplish something today... even if it was just getting my kid to pee.

Nine Days and Counting....

That is, until the semester is over for Chet and the summer can begin!!!!! There are so many reasons that I'm looking forward to this summer even more than usual. As I traced back through the summers since we were married, I realized that, while there were many exciting things that happened, these were generally all on the top 10 list of major life stressors. Here's a brief picture for you:

• Summer 2000--We got married! Aside from working and moving into our apartment, the wedding was pretty much the summer's activity (of course, this was no small thing)... along with about 10 other weddings of our friends and family. Fun times!
• Summer 2001--I graduated and began working at the University of Missouri--this was a relatively low-key summer except for a bit of traveling with the band.
• Summer 2002--Chet had just graduated, and we started raising support for him to go on staff at the church plant in Columbia; he was working three jobs and playing in the band at the time
• Summer 2003--We moved across town in Columbia; Chet's sister, Megan, moved with us
• Summer 2004--My dad died (in May); Ladan was born in June; Titus (my nephew) followed 9 days later
• Summer 2005--Chet applied and was accepted at Southern; we looked for a new place to live; we moved to a new state; Chet found a new job, and we did all the things it takes to uproot and plant ourselves
• Summer 2006--Moved across town to a new apartment; I was VERY pregnant with Gabe

So, as I consider this summer, I am already feeling the coming refreshment! Here's why:

• We don't have to move... to a new state OR a new house/apartment
• We don't have to unpack
• We don't have to look for a new place to live
• We're not having a baby, and I'm not huge! (Although I do still have a few inches to lose before I can fit into my normal clothing.)
• BUT, I can actually work out consistently because WE'RE NOT MOVING and I'M NOT HAVING A KID this summer.
• Chet is not taking any classes. He's going to begin preparing for Hebrew, which he'll take this fall. But he doesn't have to worry about crunch time or deadlines for a few months.
• I think my Old Navy job is going to be GREAT!
• We get to retrieve our grill from St. Louis (we weren't allowed to have it in our last apartment, and we haven't been able to get it here since we moved last summer). We can cook out with the neighbors, play Baggo, and just enjoy the sunshine. If I can't track down any Smart chicken, I'm going to request that our grocer begin to stock it. It's amazing, and I've been craving it for TWO YEARS! (May those of you who have access to Smart chicken never take it for granted!)
• I'm looking forward to full green trees, flowers everywhere, and opportunities to run and splash in the rain. Ladan should be able to join me on my adventures in the thunderstorms, which will be so much fun!

I'm sure there are others, but for now, you get the point. Unless the Lord does something to shake up my world (which is ENTIRELY possible and maybe even likely), we may just end up with a pretty chilled out summer! Praise God!!!

Have You Ever Numbered Your Days?

I'm going through a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss titled A 30-Day Walk With God in the Psalms. I'd like to take a minute to just say that I don't always tend to enjoy workbook-style studies all that well, but this one has been amazing so far! For the last few days, I've been focusing on Psalm 90. One of the key verses is v.12, which reads:

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

One of the application exercises in my study goes like this:

• Calculate approximately how many days you have already lived.
• If God gives you a lifespan of 70 years (25,550 days), how many days do you have left on earth?
• How do you want to live those remaining days?

My answers:

• I've already lived approximately 10,410 days.
• I would have approximately 15,140 days remaining if I lived to age 70. Okay, first of all, have you ever numbered your days before? This is pretty crazy! These numbers are not all that far apart from one another. I know I'm 28, but I guess this is much closer to mid-life than I realized. Someone could look at this and say, "Oh, wow! I still have 15,000 days left!" But when you think about how fast the first part of your life has gone by and realize that the last part will probably move even faster, this can be a bit sobering. I'm imagining that, for many, this type of exercise is a major reality check.
• Wow! How do I want to live my remaining days? Is there any way to answer this question without being totally predictable? (And is it necessarily bad to be predictable if you're a believer and really should have the same answer as everyone else who loves the LORD?) I want to live intentionally for the LORD, daily glorifying Him in thought, word, and deed. What does this mean? It means being a servant... in my home, in my church, in my community. It means being filled with the Word so that my mind is continually focused on eternal things. It means sitting under sound teaching and mentorship that will help me grow. It means caring for the things that the Lord has so graciously given me: a godly husband, two amazing kids, my home, my body. Ultimately, I desire to live my remaining days in such a way as to hear from the LORD, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," and to leave a heritage of godliness behind me so that, Lord willing, my children and many others will hear the same thing one day.

A scripture reference for further meditation is provided at the end of each study in this book, and they are always so good. Today's passage is 2 Peter 3:8-13. I think verses 14 and 18 should also be included in this meditation, so I'm printing the whole thing here in the English Standard Version:

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day
is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to
fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the
day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with
a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth
and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people
ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening
the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire
and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to
his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, be diligent
to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace....

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

So, on that note, how many days do you have left (if you live to 70)? And how do you want to live them?

The Best 10 Cents I've Ever Spent

So the other day, I went to the grocery store. When I returned, I came in with a load of bags.

Ladan (semi-shouting): "Look, it's a really special present!"

Chet: "It's a bunch of groceries."

Me: "Yep, groceries. But I did get you a present." I pull a banana out of the bag and take it to Ladan. "Look, it's a banana."

Ladan gets down from the couch, throws his hands in the air as he begins to jump up and down, screaming, "LOOK! IT'S A BANANANA! (Yes, there are four syllables in this word.) IT'S A REALLY BIG BANANANA! OPEN IT! OPEN IT! LOOK, DADDY, IT'S A BIG BANANANA! THANK YOU, MOMMY! THANK YOU, MOMMY!"

If you've ever spent $.10 and had a more exciting result, please let me know!

Other fun things:

• Ladan has started memorizing Psalm 118:24, which reads, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." We've been singing the song together in echo fashion for a week now, and he does such a great job. We have to get it on video, because he actually sings a bit of harmony each time, and it's really good.
• Chet only has a few more weeks of class in this semester. He has some crazy amount of stuff to do, but he's really cranking it out. He's getting things done in a jiffy.
• Ladan is potty training, which is going fairly well. However, I'm really tired. It will be worth it in the end.
• We had a great time playing with the Murray girls tonight. Ladan could join their family and have the best time ever!!!! And Gabe would have the time of his life too! And, I must admit, that hanging out with four very fun girls provides a great deal of satisfaction for me too! :)
• I officially have a photo of Gabe hanging in our house! We had his 6-month photos taken, and I was able to get one of Ladan and Gabe together framed, and it's on the wall already! The great thing about it is that I love the photo, frame, matting, and the price I paid at Hobby Lobby to put it all together.
• I wore sandals again today, and my feet didn't freeze! Could it be that spring is officially here?!
• I just realized that if I pick all the crumbs up off the floors of our vehicles (which haven't been vacuumed since July 2005), I might be able to fill an entire ziploc bag and re-use them the next time I need bread crumbs for a recipe. Totally kidding! Actually, the exciting part is that I am actually going to get this mess cleaned up in the next few weeks. I can hardly wait! We finally have access to outdoor outlets so we can vacuum our vehicles ourselves, and I'm not pregnant, so I'll be able to physically maneuver in such a way as to effectively extract all the nasty pieces of junk from our vehicles.

And, finally, I've really been enjoying Psalm 73 lately (printed here in the English Standard Version):
A PSALM OF ASAPH.
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, "How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself,
you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

What is this teaching me? When my focus is on the LORD, nothing else will be more important or more desirable to me. He WILL fulfill ALL His promises! He is gracious and helps me redirect my attention to what really matters--even when I am like a beast to Him. What an amazing God! Worthy of our praise and worthy of all glory! May He also be the strength of YOUR heart and YOUR portion FOREVER!

Think Before You Speak

I have to tell you all about a situation that had us cracking up here in our house last night. Chet's mom (Glenna) and sister (Megan) were here in town (they left this morning), and we were outside in the back yard playing and having a picnic. Glenna was holding Gabe, and I suggested that Chet take a photo of her because it was a cute pose. She said that she didn't think she looked very good at the moment and wanted to wait to take the picture. So here's what I said back...

"Well, if we wait until YOU look good, we'll never get a picture."

What??!!!! Can you believe I said that? What I meant was, "The boys are happy now, and they might not be ready for a photo whenever you feel like you're presentable for a photo. You look great, so let's just go for it now." But it DID NOT come out like that! Thankfully, she was gracious and was able to laugh with me about my blunder! I mean, really, did I THINK that would sound good?! I've been laughing about it ever since I said it.

I haven't written in a while, so I'll give a quick update.

• We had a fabulous time visiting my brother, Amber, and Titus in Texas a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to get some photos together to send out. Amber took some really great ones, so I'm going to have a hard time choosing.
• Ladan is not yet potty trained, but he's talking about it more. The problem is that he's a bit stubborn and tends to hold it for about 10-12 hours until he gets a diaper on again before bed. So I removed his guard rail the other day (so it's easier for me to change his sheets in the middle of the night if necessary), and this week, I'm going to start sending him to bed without the diaper. He'll wet himself a couple of times, and hopefully he'll at least realize that he has no other choice except to go in the potty during the day.
• Gabe now has two teeth, eats cereal and fruit, and rolls and scoots all over the place. He is such a happy kid! He's still got some chub on him, but he's getting long and lean like his brother. He's already down to the 25th percentile for his weight, but his height is hanging in there at about the 60-75th percentile.
• I got a summer job at Old Navy, and I am super excited! I was trying to think of ways I could develop relationships with people who may or may not know the Lord (ideally, this group will include some college students), and I can't afford to go to Starbucks at the same time every week to hang out with the baristas and customers. It's all too easy to get stuck in a bubble when you're in seminary, and now that Gabe can be independent of me for longer, I thought this was a good way. I decided this was a great way to accomplish the goals of branching out and earning some money at the same time. Plus, we buy more than half of our clothes at Old Navy, so the discount will be very helpful as well.
• Chet and I saw Amazing Grace on our last date night, and it was SENSATIONAL! Every person should see it.

Chet just let me know that it's time for him to head off to class, so I'll finish more later.

A Day in the Life

What a fun day! I have lots to do tonight, so I'll give you some quick highlights:

• Gabe woke up with his first tooth!
• It was 55 degrees outside and SUNNY!
• We played outside with our neighbors for several hours.
• Ladan rode his stick horse around the yard.
• Ladan practiced his field goal kicking skills with the football. He likes for us to hold the ball up on its end so he can kick it. Since he watched Facing the Giants, he's been doing this most every day.
• Ladan shoved mud into his right nostril. I didn't know it until we came inside. It took him about 6 noseblowings to get it out. I would have been shocked if he had made it to the age of three without shoving something up his nose!
• We went to church for a potluck and prayer service.
• Ladan ate all his food and asked for more!
• Our new neighbors stopped by after they went for an interview. They are SO MUCH FUN! What a blessing to have them on the other side of the wall!
• Chet said "Hasta luego" to Ladan. Ladan responded, "Pasta LaLego!" as if he was repeating Chet's words with precise accuracy.