a note about the poem

I meant to include more notes along with the poem, but in my rush to type it up while the book was beside me, I failed. This is actually a poem from a book by Paul David Tripp, entitled A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble. I don't have my own copy of the book, but at a recent girls day with some of my in-laws, someone brought copies of several chapters in this book for us to read. This one really hit home. The whole first section deals with so many things I struggle with day to day as a mom. I want things to be on my time, easy, unobstructed! But life with children brings me challenges in just those areas every single day. I'm sure if I didn't have children, there would be other areas of my life pressing me in just those areas, as well. Realizing that carving MY will into stone is really self-worship is incredibly convicting and revelatory. It's even made me revamp my discipline "chats" with Kate. I don't just need to promote obedience to Mama, I need to point her to obedience and worship of her Creator (and mine)! I have yet to read all of the poems that were in my hand-out, but I'd love to pick up the book. Each chapter contains a meditation on Psalm 27, some are poetry & others are in prose. Here's a link to Amazon so you can see what the book looks like. I hate to recommend a book I've never read the entirety of, so I won't.

a poem

The Worship of Another
by Paul David Tripp

Psalm 27:6
I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord

Sacrifices,
I don't want to have to make
sacrifices.
I want my plate
full
and my schedule
empty.
I want to be with people
I like,
people who are low in
maintenance and high in
appreciation.
I want control over
my time
my energy
my money
my things.
I want my days to be
predictable
and my plans
unobstructed.
I want to experience
success
and successfully to avoid failure.
I would rather be served than
to serve.
I would rather get the gift than
to give.
I guess this all points me to
one stunning reality.
There is never a day when
my life is
idol-free.
There is never a week
when I don't give myself to the worship
of another.
It is sad to say and humbling to admit,
that the chief of these false deities
is none other than
me.
I am the sovereign
I want to serve.
I amt he king
I want others to obey.
I am the lord
I want to rule my days.
Yes, it is true,
Dear Father,
I want to be
You.
My dissatisfaction is not because
You are not
wise
faithful
loving
good,
but because I do not get
my own way.
So, once more I
bow,
once more I make my
confession,
once more I plead for
mercy
pardon
power
deliverance.
Once more I ask,
Dear Savior,
Please free me
from me
and cause this selfish heart
to find
joy
satisfaction
motivation
delight
in doing the
one thing
I was given breath
to do:
offer myself as a
sacrifice
in the service of
You.

from me to you

We had a 4 month photo shoot last night, and I got a wild hair to take pics in some of the gifts that you have given both to Rachel and Kate a long, long time ago.

to: Kate
from: Kelley

Now little sis looks adorable in it!

to: Kate
from: Jamie

she says, "it makes my eyes look really blue!"

to: Rachel
from: Sean & Lisa

so cheery!

to: Kate
from: Imee & Phil

she wore this last Sunday & I got a picture of her in her grandparents recliner.

ps. As you can see, she LOVES to put her hands in her mouth. When she wears dresses, frequently the dresses are also found in her mouth, as in the last picture where she's heading towards that.

4 Months

Two girls at 4 months
Turning Over: Rachel is proficient at turning over both ways, and has a predilection for one side. Kate didn't roll over from back to belly the first time until she was 5 months old.
Eating: Rachel has the same *basic* schedule that her sister did, but instead of taking 1 hour to eat, she eats in about 10 minutes. What?!? I can't believe I birthed her!
Playtime: Unlike her big sis, Rachel enjoys playing on the floor both on her tummy and her back. She's started to enjoy the few toys I put out for her to push around the floor as well. My eye hasn't witnessed it, but I believe she can do some sort of traveling across the floor because she's always in such a different spot. In fact, she's so happy on the floor, that I haven't moved up the Exersaucer or the bumbo.
Personality: Rachel is starting to smile A LOT! If she sees me in the room, or passing by her bouncy seat, she gives a huge grin. She's also fairly content. Some days this week, she's had much more fussiness, and I wondered if she was beginning to teeth. The few little teething tabs I gave her seemed to help, but I haven't seen any signs of teeth cutting in yet. She gets along pretty well with big sister, too, and tolerates quite a bit of cheeck smooshing, kisses, scooching, toy management and general expressions of toddler love from Kate.

Rachel

Kate

Kate obviously had way more hair, and the more I look at pics of them, I see so many distinctions. However, when I'm holding Rachel, I just get dejavu!

the littlest (and most obedient) ones

At least, it was true on Monday. Some fun clips of Lauren singing to Rachel. See if you can catch a common thread through at least two of the videos.

growing up is fun to do. . .

As Kate rounds her 2nd year and heads toward the 3rd, I'm amazed by the weird connections her synapses make. Case in point, we were going to Gramma's to eat lunch with her in her downstairs apartment, but Kate was most concerned about where everyone was going to sit. You see, Gramma only has 2 chairs in her pad, and Josh was going to eat with us as well. Well, not only does she think about logistics & planning ahead sort of things, she also is pretty observant. For instance, she noticed that Rachel had a wet diaper. I'm clickety clacking at the computer, happy that my two children are letting me get some e'mails done. I turn around and look on the floor and find THIS!


*Helpful* Kate took Rachel's diaper off & headed off to the nursery to deposit said diaper. I think I interrupted her before she got the replacement diaper. She had found a disposable diaper trash bag & was waving it in the air, trying to get it to open. It'd be great if I could harness this awareness of diapers & train her to get the new diaper out BEFORE she takes the old one off.


Another funny example, I was doing an exercise video at the house last weekend. Kate has probably NEVER seen me exercise like this in her memory. Immediately she's enamored with my mat, and thinks there's something very obviously missing -- can you find what she brought to the room to complete my exercise kit? Then, she started watching the video herself and attempting some of the moves. I was laughing so hard, it was difficult to finish some of the stretches. Lastly, she saw that I was sweating and became so anxious for me. "Mom, you're sweating! You don't want to sweat!" (ha!) She ran to the bathroom and grabbed a tissue and even proceeded to wipe the sweat off of my face. I guess I haven't let her see me work hard enough. . .


Just plain cute! Rach is now rolling over from back to tummy. So, now she likes tummy time because she can make it whatever time she wants -- back, tummy, side, spinning, whatever.