Pondering Jonathan

What gives? I had a baby a year ago, almost. Almost a year ago!! Last year around this time people were telling me how big I was getting and asking when I was due. I had outgrown many of my maternity clothes even though my due date was weeks away. It doesn't seem like that long ago.

So how come all of a sudden he can stand, say words we can understand, and be old enough that we have to take away his pacifier? And be this pensive?

If You Can?

Grace Baptist Church of Arlington constituted yesterday, and we are excited! Join us in praying that Grace Baptist Church of Arlington would clearly and faithfully proclaim the Gospel in Northern VA, and that the Lord would be pleased to bear much fruit from it!

Mike preached another sermon from Mark yesterday, this time from Mark 9:14-50, If You Can?

The rest of the series...
Introducing Jesus (Mark 1:1-13)
Jesus is King (Mark 1:14-20)
The Authority of Jesus (Mark 1:21-2:12)
Jesus and Conflict (Mark 2:13-3:6)
Who's Jesus to You? (Mark 3:7-35)
Jesus Teaches about the Kingdom (Mark 4:1-34)
Jesus is Lord (Mark 4:35-5:43)
Jesus and the Valley (Mark 6:1-29)
The Compassion of Jesus (Mark 6:30-56)
Jesus and Reality (Mark 7:1-23)
Claiming Jesus (Mark 7:24-37)
Jesus the Shepherd (Mark 8:1-21)
Seeing Jesus (Mark 8:22-9:13)

Fetching and Throwing

Our boy loves balls! A typical conversation with him sounds a lot like, "Ball, ball, ball. Dada. Ball, ball. Mama. Dada, Dada. Ball, ball, ball."

Here he is, fetching and throwing his first love...

Call to Me...

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know," Jeremiah 33:3. Kathryn sings this and other Bible verses, and my heart is glad. How good it is to be reminded of truth from God's word...from my 2-year-old!

We've been listening to Seeds Family Worship lately, which I highly recommend, whether or not you have kids. I'm terrible at memorizing scripture, but these songs make it easy. Happy memorizing!

California

Two 5-6 hour flights, two "should take 3 but really takes 4" hour car drives later, and we're back from our trip to California. The travel was hard, but the trip was great.

Our cute kids, just before Bryan and Amy's wedding...

Kathryn and Daddy...

And the San Francisco Bay, which I'd never seen before...by the way, this was taken from our hotel window on Sunday night. I wish I could say I sat under that curved tree and read a book, but alas, we left early Monday morning.

Subtleties

I am an observer. I notice things like a person's change in disposition, whether or not a couple walking together is wearing wedding rings, and what time of day I might expect to see the same people around my town. I notice when something on sale at CVS has a matching manufacturer's coupon. I notice when my favorite peanut butter is suddenly 10 cents more expensive even though the jar is 2 ounces smaller. I'm no Adrian Monk, but I notice things.

There are other things, though, try as I may, that I will never notice. I'll never notice when my husband needs a haircut, or even that he's gotten it cut, unless he tells me. I won't notice when I'm tired, though I would probably notice if I was well-rested. And something I completely don't notice is the difference between a dark blue suit and a black one. I'm pretty certain the designers just say they're different shades to sell you one of each.

I mention this because I packed for our trip today and assured Mike that I didn't need help. I packed him four ties, for crying out loud, so he could choose from an assortment on the day of the wedding. You want your black suit? You've got it. Leave it to me, Dear, I don't get out much but I can handle packing a suitcase. I noticed in the evening that he was looking over what I'd packed...not so much in a critical sense, but in a curious one. He informed me that I'd packed his blue suit. Um, no...look again, I packed the black one. No, it's blue. You're kidding me. I held them next to each other trying to make the distinction, to no avail. I'll just take his word for it. In the end, he packed the charcoal one instead.

Preparation

It's. Not. What. You. Think.

Of course I didn't borrow my sister's puppy backpack leash for our upcoming trip to California. I scoff at those parents whose kids are so out of control that they have to restrain them in public places. Still, as embarrassing as the leash might be, it's better than losing our firstborn at the airport, and we wanted to bring the umbrella stroller for Jonathan instead of the SUV double stroller, since we think we'll only need it at the airports anyway. Kathryn was eager to try on the "backpack" and did not want to part with it before naptime.

That's right though, I mentioned that we're going to California! My girlhood dream of visiting the left coast is coming to fruition this weekend. Mike is officiating his high school best friend's wedding, and we are excited to get there. I'd say we're excited to be going, but the "going" part has me quite nervous. We think Kathryn will do fine, but any suggestions for what to do with a 10-month-old on an airplane for 6 hours? I'm all ears.